17. Goblins attack!

It was indeed an angry mob. More than thirty goblins, all brandishing crude spears, clubs, and other makeshift weapons.

Some even held burning torches as they swarmed toward my castle, shouting loudly and snarling with raw fury. Worse still, there were two particularly large goblins who were literally twice the height of the others. They carried massive stone hammers and looked far more muscular and terrifying than the rest, with white chalk painted across their faces in fierce, claw-like patterns.

(Are those evolved goblins that grow stronger as they level up? Or some special elite type?) I wondered.

Either way, the sight sent a brief chill through my stone foundations. It reminded me of old fantasy stories, making me feel like I was some kind of evil tyrant facing an angry mob of villagers. Except, well, I wasn’t Dracula, and the mob was made of green goblins instead of pitchfork-wielding humans.

Of course, I couldn’t understand what they were shouting, since I didn’t speak Goblish.

But I could easily guess the meaning.

(Did they somehow find out that I killed their kin?)

(But how?)

Every time I killed a goblin, I made sure none escaped. And as they say, dead men tell no tales. Surely a dead goblin couldn’t warn the others… right?

Unless—

The dead turned into ghosts and returned to their tribe to rat me out?

(Yeah, that was ridiculous. Probably not.)

Another possibility was that they had some kind of tracking ability.

(Now that I think about it, goblins do have unusually large noses. Can they be highly sensitive to smell, like dogs? Can they smell the blood of their own kind — the ones I had mercilessly killed and fed to raccoons?)

…That was a deeply disturbing thought.

Or maybe I had simply been careless, and some goblin had witnessed everything without me noticing through the trees.

Either way, it didn’t matter right now.

The real question was — what the hell was I supposed to do in this situation?

Should I try to bribe all of them and hope for the best? Maybe they’d forgive me and accept my offer of citizenship?

Or should I keep my gate shut tight and do nothing, waiting for them to tire themselves out?

But before I could decide, the goblins attacked!

The two muscular goblins wielding the stone hammers charged forward first, letting out thunderous war cries that shook the clearing. The rest followed behind them in a chaotic wave, rushing straight at me with wild abandon.

I braced myself for impact.

As they closed in, the two giants raised their heavy hammers and slammed them against my iron gate with all their strength, trying to break through!

(Oh shit!)

I needed to come up with a defense plan, fast!

…

…

…

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But then, moments later…

Bonk!

BONK!

BONK!

Erm…

Well, for some reason, it only tickled.

I knew those big goblins were trying their absolute best, but… it was futile. It felt like someone was repeatedly hitting your leg with a spoon. It was more annoying than painful.

Either way, the muscular goblins certainly looked terrifying, but that was only compared to the smaller ones, who were about the size of human children.

In truth, they just looked like some average dudes who had spent a little bit more time at the gym. Sure, their muscles were bulky, but they were still too weak. Their blows couldn’t even damage my sturdy iron gate in the slightest.

With that realization, all of my worries vanished in an instant.

Looks like I was scared for nothing!

After all, my walls were thick and sturdy, and my gate was made of solid iron. It wasn’t something that could be broken so easily by a bunch of angry goblins.

(But damn, those goblins are persistent!)

They kept attacking without pause.

BONK! BONK!

Clank! Clank!

Some of them even tried committing arson. They hurled burning torches over my walls, trying to set me ablaze.

But… well, I was an empty castle. It’s not like I had anything flammable inside. At worst, they could burn a bit of grass in the courtyard.

Still, I didn’t want to take any risks.

So before the torches could even touch the ground, I activated my inventory skill.

[Ding!]

[Obtained: 1 Torch]

[Obtained: 1 Torch]

[Obtained: 1 Torch]

[Obtained: 1 Torch]

[Obtained: 1 Torch]

[Obtained: 1 Torch]