Even goblins are dangerous in this other world!

Page 39

Chapter 34 The Fortified Territory 25 Years Ago

It's the height of summer right now, and we're indoors.

But as Luo Xiu looked at the words on the booklet in his hand, he inexplicably felt a chill.

As if a cool breeze had swept by, Luo Xiu shivered.

Only now has he finally found the answers to all his questions.

No wonder Dave's commander told him to stay back as much as possible after the battle started.

No wonder the two sons of the Lord of Bandanda wanted to visit Wheel Town.

No wonder those nobles still flocked to Chelun Town even though they knew war was coming.

Because they knew this wasn't a war at all; it was just a staged performance.

A rare spectacle.

In this drama, only the guards and soldiers who charge into battle will be injured.

After this spectacle, the kingdom will achieve a nominal victory, the nobles will be able to leave laughing after watching the performance, and only Wheel Town will be injured.

Just as Lady Chelsea said, there will be no lord in Wheeltown next, because there is no need for one.

The slimes will take over this place.

Luo Xiu remembered what Cole, the newspaper delivery boy, had said to him that morning.

"Mr. Luo Xiu, slimes are very powerful monsters. In recent years, although the kingdom has managed to defend against the slimes' attacks on other places, it has also suffered heavy losses and has never achieved a complete victory."

Therefore, this kind of settlement should have occurred more than once.

The kingdom may be very familiar with this process, and may even regard the process of acquiring land as a kind of ceremonial ritual.

That's why those nobles brought their families here.

Even though he hadn't rested all night, Luo Xiu still felt that his mind was unusually clear.

He traced the entire sequence of events and found that only a few details remained unclear.

To unravel these mysteries, one must find a specific person.

Old White.

Luo Xiu stretched his neck, which had become stiff from looking down at the book for so long.

While he was looking through the dictionary, he re-translated the sentence on the last part of the parchment scroll.

Leila's previous translation was mostly correct, but some words sounded strange when translated into Gran Continent language, so the dictionary simplified these words again.

For example, the place where the sun rises corresponds to the east.

The cold place, in this context, refers to the north.

After changing the literal translation to a more interpretive one and refining it, the sentence at the end of the parchment scroll became:

The enemy to the east is too powerful, and most of our comrades are located to the north. Please be patient and hold your ground.

In terms of location, although the goblin settlement that Luo Xiu wiped out last time was located north of Wheel Town, it was actually located in the south of the entire goblin territory.

Combining this with the previous sentence, the whole sentence means:

The slimes have taken the gray area as part of their territory. They are powerful, and the main force of the goblins is in the north. The goblins in the south that border the gray area can only endure and hold their ground, and cannot enter the gray area on a large scale.

It was only after translating the entire sentence that Luo Xiu realized a problem.

He had been in this world for so long, yet he had never understood the situation of the slimes, the kingdom, and the goblins.

However, he believed that old White could give him an answer to this question.

……

Through the small window in the door, Luo Xiu finally saw old White sitting quietly drinking tea inside the exchange; it was no longer an empty room.

He looked at old White and activated [Scrutiny].

A second later, he finished his inspection and pushed open the door.

Ding-a-ling-ding-ding—

The familiar sound of wind chimes rang out as Luo Xiu entered the shop.

Good morning, old White.

Luo Xiu greeted him with a smile, as usual.

Good morning, little Luo Xiu.

Old White put down his teacup, smiled, and said:

“I heard from my parrot that you came to see me, and more than once.”

"Yes, where have you been lately?"

Luo Xiu found a chair and sat down diagonally opposite old White.

“I met some people. You know, quite a few people came to town, and I knew some of them.”

Old White skillfully poured Luo Xiu a cup of tea.

His words sounded a bit strange, as if he hadn't finished speaking.

Normally, "a friend I know" would sound more natural.

Luo Xiu didn't dwell on this detail, took the tea, and said:

"I thought you would leave the town; I've seen many people leave."

"Leave the town?"

Old White chuckled and shook his head:

"Little Luo Xiu, I told you long ago, this isn't—"

"This is not a war."

Luo Xiu picked up the conversation.

With a smile, he slowly spoke, meeting old White's incredulous gaze:

"This is a land reclamation, right?"

Almost instantly, old White's face darkened.

As a result, the room temperature seemed to drop a few degrees.

But Luo Xiu's expression remained unchanged, and he still looked at old White with a smile.

His other hand, which wasn't holding the teacup, was in his pocket, tightly gripping the thorns for protection.

The deep yellow color had a faint green glow, which was the light he had just seen emanating from old White when he was examining him from outside the door.

He never imagined that the old man he often drank tea with would be someone who was about to break through to the fourth rank.

However, it ultimately did not reach the fourth tier.

With Thorn Protection, Healing Spell, and 30 available points, Luo Xiu deliberately avoided sitting directly opposite Old White, maintaining a certain distance.

Therefore, he was confident that even if old White really turned against him, he wouldn't be completely defenseless.

The two just stared at each other.

A few seconds later, old White let out a long sigh.

The room temperature returned to normal.

"Who told you that?"

Old White looked helpless.

"No one, I just happened to find them."

Luo Xiu laughed.

"What do you want to ask?"

Old White began.

"My first question is, I see many people have left the town. Will these people who left be able to escape this war?"

Luo Xiu spoke up.

Old White shook his head:

"Now that you've determined that this slime siege is in a 'familiar territory,' you should also know what 'familiar territory' means."

"When the kingdom first makes this deal, it will specify how many people will be in the vassal state, including each person's name, health condition, and what they can do as slaves."

"The list of people to be included in Wheel Town must have been decided from the beginning; the kingdom wouldn't dare to break the agreement."

"It's only a matter of time before those residents who left the town are brought back."

Luo Xiu nodded thoughtfully.

After thinking for a moment, he spoke:

"second question."

"who are you?"

"I?"

It seemed that Luo Xiu's question had stirred up some memories.

Old White stared wistfully at the teacup in his hand, and slowly began to speak:

"I don't know if you know this, but there was a 'kept' in Wheel Town 25 years ago, a 'kept' initiated by goblins."

"Of course, what the kingdom claims is that it was a battle."

"That was indeed like a battle, because the war was lost."

"Someone knew about this before the war in the swamp and led a group of people to fight fiercely against the goblins. No one expected that they would actually fight the goblins to a standstill without the kingdom's help."

"The goblin forces in the south were greatly reduced, and they feared that the slimes in the east would take advantage of the situation, so they took the initiative to withdraw."