“I should have expected as much from the Domain of E. But with this gesture, we’ve made an important connection, so just like Lord Aaron, I’m headed for the Domain of E too!”

  “It’s not as easy as that, you know.”

  “Oh? Really?” Miria frowned at me, an earnest furrow creasing her brow. “It isn’t?”

  If there was one thing you could say about Miria, it was that her strength of spirit dictated her way of life. Did she really think it was possible to create a bond with someone by trying to crush their hand? I’d have been shocked if that were all it took.

  “Ugh, how disappointing,” said Miria. “I officially regret shaking your hand.”

  “Oof, talk about cruel…” I said. “It’s like all you want to do is hurt my feelings.”

  But Miria simply bounded toward Roxy, the person she revered above all others. We would have to find a way to work together. Mugan had asked me to keep an eye on her. Being that I was older, I figured I just had to grit my teeth and bear it.

  “I’m so glad to see such a friendship blossom,” Roxy said, smiling as she strode toward the Goblin Grasslands. “Well, let’s get to it, shall we?”

  “On my way, Lady Roxy!”

  I knew precisely what was going to happen. It felt exactly the same as when we had traveled together to the great canyon of Galia. In short, Roxy would alternately scold and dote on Miria as we traveled. Miria was used to this now, so she wouldn’t try to change at all. It was a self-perpetuating cycle, and I gained a renewed appreciation for Mugan’s suffering.

  “I haven’t forgotten that you saved me in Galia, so…today I’ll be a good partner,” said Miria.

  Maybe she’s growing up after all, I thought. “Happy to hear it,” I said. “Glad to have your support.”

  “But just so we’re clear, don’t bother trying to be kind to me or anything like that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  I didn’t get an answer. Miria simply ran back to Roxy’s side. I had no idea what she meant about “being kind.” As I walked on, thoroughly confused, Greed spoke up through my Telepathy skill.

  “That girl,” he said, “she’s got her reasons, just like you did.”

  “She doesn’t look like it.”

  “She just doesn’t want to show it. Eerily similar to somebody else I know…”

  “Ouch. Low blow, Greed.”

  Greed cackled. “I’ve been with you from the beginning. I know you inside and out.”

  Greed had been my constant companion ever since I bought him from a weapon stall in Seifort. We’d been together for less than a year, but a lot had happened in that short span of time. I didn’t know exactly what kind of life Miria had lived before she joined the kingdom’s army, but I knew that she’d grown up in an orphanage. Perhaps she’d gone through her own trials and tribulations, just like I had.

  Past the gate, heading toward the grasslands, Miria acted as Roxy’s loyal guard dog. Every time I wandered too close, she’d snap at me. She said she’d be a good partner, but that only seemed to apply to how she acted around Roxy. Not that I cared, really. I had a whole night of private lessons to look forward to…just Roxy and me, alone together.

  Miria would be so jealous she might even cry tears of blood. I wore a devilish grin as the grasslands came into sight.

  It had been a long time since I’d seen them, but I remembered the grasslands vividly. It was the very place I had first tested my powers of Gluttony. The long grass hid goblins of all types, and they multiplied fast. Or at least, that was what I thought. The fields we encountered now were different. Aside from the gentle, undulating waves of grass, we saw no movement in the fields. There was no trace of any kind of goblin at all. The grasslands were empty.

  “How can this be? The goblins are nowhere to be seen,” said Miria. “Lady Roxy, the reports claimed that the goblins were lower in number, but…”

  “It’s certainly strange. Unbelievable, considering their breeding habits. It hasn’t been like this since the founding of the kingdom.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  “Fate,” said Greed. “Look to your feet. There are goblin footprints, and they all lead to the Hobgoblin Forest.”

  “You’re right…”

  I told Roxy and Miria, and with a shared nod, we turned our eyes to the dense outline of the Hobgoblin Forest.

  “I don’t know how to say it, but…I’m getting worse vibes than usual from that place,” said Miria.

  “There’s a magical power emanating from it, and I don’t like the feel of it,” said Roxy. “What do you think, Fay?”

  “We don’t have a choice,” I said. “We won’t know what’s happening in there unless we check it out for ourselves.”

  We unsheathed our swords and readied ourselves for a battle at any moment. Then we walked toward the Hobgoblin Forest—and the ominous magical energy that emanated from within.

  Chapter 4:

  A Crimson Full Moon

  THE HOBGOBLIN FOREST was completely silent, but I felt innumerable eyes pressing down on us from the darkness of the distant trees. The pressure made my hair stand on end.

  Miria saw my trepidation and stifled a chortle. “What’s the matter with you? So hesitant and careful all of a sudden. It’s just the usual goblins, isn’t it?”

  “We’re here because this situation is unusual. Did you forget that?”

  “Of course not! Need I remind you that I’m more than capable of handling myself?” Miria spun her flamberge around as if to show off the fire magic that resided within it.

  “That’s why you’re here. We’re all counting on you, Miria,” I said.

  “You can say that again!”

  “I really am glad you’re here,” I continued. “Is there a more powerful magical blademaster in all the kingdom?”

  “Oh, stop, I’m not that powerful…” Miria giggled.

  Her expression suddenly softened. It seemed that she had a weakness for compliments. She was a simple girl at heart.

  I’d lifted her spirits with flattery for the sake of the party, but Roxy needed her focused, so she pinched Miria’s cheek.

  “I said to be careful and on guard, Miria!” she said, her voice edged with annoyance. “What are you doing?!”

  “Sorry…”

  “But we do have to be very careful. Listen. It’s quiet, eerily so.”

  “It’s nothing like it used to be. This place always swarmed with hobgoblins.”

  “Let’s head deeper into the forest,” said Roxy. “But be on guard. I can feel that we’re being watched.”

  “Understood,” Miria and I said in unison.

  “It’s like replying to my orders is the only thing the two of you are good at doing together,” Roxy muttered, shaking her head as she walked on.

  I activated my Night Vision skill to help counteract the gloom of the forest. It was sure to improve things, if only a little. But as we moved deeper into the forest, the presence of the monsters retreated in turn. It felt like we were being lured somewhere. It also seemed that the goblins were moving with more order and control than usual.

  “Do you think it’s a goblin king?”

  “Who knows? But one thing’s for sure—goblin kings only ever act big and arrogant around regular goblins. I’ve never heard of one giving orders, let alone commanding a real horde.”

  “Indeed.”

  We walked until we reached the only clearing in the Hobgoblin Forest—a meadow carpeted in wildflowers. The remains of a huge, withered tree sprawled across the center of it. I knew this place very, very well. I had killed a goblin king here and unlocked Greed’s first level. Soon after, Greed’s second level had unlocked when I slew Hado Vlerick on the same ground. It was a place intertwined with my past. Greed must have been thinking the same, because his shrill laughter echoed through my Telepathy.

  “Fate, you must really love this place! Maybe we should live here,” he said before bursting into laughter once more.

  He spoke his mind, but there was something to his words too. There was something…fateful about this place.

  We walked on, well aware that we were likely walking right into a trap. The aura of magic radiated from the forest around us. We were entirely surrounded.

  Finally, they unleashed their attack. Our enemies rained arrows down on us, the shafts flying from every direction. I chopped them out of the air with my angular black sword, and I watched Miria and Roxy do the same. We had all been to and battled in Galia, and an attack like this was practically meaningless. When they finally tired of watching their arrows get cut out of the air, the goblins finally crept out from the tall grass of the forest.

  There were the usual goblins and hobgoblins, but when I saw ten goblin kings emerge from the tree line, I was taken aback. How was it possible for so many of them to gather in one place?

  Goblin kings are extremely territorial, yet here they are, seemingly cooperating without a problem, I thought. It was unsettling.

  “There’s something weird about the way they’re approaching us,” I said. “Roxy, I need you playing a support role in case something happens.”

  “Okay. I’ll leave this to you and Miria, then.”

  “Understood!”

  They were just goblins, but all the same, I gripped the black sword tight and cut them into bloody bits. All the while, I worried, unable to shake that bad feeling. Nonetheless, the familiar metallic voice echoed in the back of my mind, informing me of my rising stats. However, these goblins were little more than bland, tasteless snacks as far as my Gluttony was concerned. Only the goblin kings provided any sense of satisfaction.

  “Getting lively, Fate!” said Greed.

  “It’s been a while since I had a good meal,” I said.

  I punched the hobgoblin before me until it was an unrecognizable mass of broken flesh, then leapt into the air with my sword raised. I let the momentum carry me toward a goblin king and removed its head in a spectacular arc of blood before it could flank Miria.

  “Hey! That was mine!” Miria cried. “No kill stealing!”

  “Complain all you want when we’re done,” I said.

  “What?! You’re the worst!”

  I could see that Miria was much more accustomed to duels, not yet used to fighting whole hordes. She was having trouble deciding which foes to prioritize, and the uncertainty was evident in the subtle confusion of her bladework.

  I noticed movement in the grass, and suddenly arrows once again flew at us even as we battled waves of goblins in melee.

  Do these guys not even care about killing their own allies?!

  More importantly, our party was only three strong, and we couldn’t afford to be pulled into a battle of attrition while completely surrounded.

  “Why all this dodging, Fate?” said Greed. “You’re in the Domain of E. None of this can hurt you.”

  “That’s rich. It was you who told me not to get into the habit of just eating attacks because one day it would come back to bite me!”

  “Ha! Was just checking to see if you remembered! Dance then, Fate! Dance!”

  Why did he expect me to forget when he only told me last night? I thought.

  I fought evasively, weaving left and right, and sometimes using a hapless goblin as a living shield. Meanwhile, the impatient Miria began to get frustrated by the overwhelming numbers and make mistakes. It also impacted the strength of her strikes.

  That was when Roxy swooped in for support to protect her soldier. “Focus, Miria! Not just with your eyes. Feel their presence and fight accordingly.”

  “I’m sorry, Lady Roxy. I know, but—”

  Miria was good with a blade, but she still couldn’t move, fight, or focus as Roxy instructed.

  It would be good for her to get in some training with Aaron, I thought. I wondered if her fighting style was a consequence of all her battles partnered with Mugan, who could fill in the gaps in her technique. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it was a disadvantage at present.

  As I fought and dodged, I kept track of a very particular arcane signature. It was located about a quarter mile away from us, and it was using its position as a base from which to send magical energy toward us. There was no doubting it now—that was the root of this goblin attack, perhaps even something like their nest.

  There was a time for investigation and there was a time for action. Now was the latter.

  “Greed, are you ready?”

  “Who do you think you’re talking to, Fate? I, the legendary Greed, was born ready. I’m just waiting for you to say when.”

  I poured ten percent of my stats into the black sword and readied the Bloody Ptarmigan attack. As my stats drained from my body, Greed transformed into an ominous black bow, which I aimed toward the south. Just as I pulled back on the bowstring, a pillar of red light appeared right where I was aiming.

  “What?!”

  “Fay, look down!”

  “Huh? What is this?”

  Another pillar of light began to coalesce where we all stood. The red light sent a chill down my spine. Anyone caught in that light was sure to suffer some kind of attack. But perhaps not if I attacked first.

  “Miria, get out of here!”

  “Lady Roxy!”

  Roxy quickly grabbed a hold of Miria and threw her out of the light. The goblins, too, ran away.

  “Fate!” Greed shouted. “Fire!”

  I released the bowstring, unleashing the Bloody Ptarmigan. It ripped up the earth as it flew into the pillar of red light, and then swallowed it entirely in its explosion.

  “Did we kill it?”

  “I don’t know,” Greed said. “I don’t know what magic that was, but it looks like you interrupted the spell.”

  “Just in the nick of time, then.”

  All that remained was the tiniest glow of red light shining upon me and Roxy. Even as the light faded, I felt no effects from whatever spell that was supposed to be.

  “What was that?” Roxy asked. “Some kind of attack?”

  “Greed doesn’t know either,” I said. “But it seems like it was what the goblins were aiming for. They might have failed, but they retreated as soon as it happened.”

  “You saved us, Fay. That technique you used…it’s enormously powerful.” Roxy stared at the marks left by the Bloody Ptarmigan. Then she suddenly seemed to remember something. “The Hart family estate… So this is what you used to decimate the northern valley.”

  I groaned. “I am so sorry about that, really.”

  “It’s fine. After all, you were doing it to protect the villagers from a kobold attack. Your attack now was no different. I’m sure the kindly queen of the kingdom will forgive you a little destruction.”

  The Hobgoblin Forest was one of the kingdom’s sources of fresh water, and destruction of the natural habitat was prohibited. Mugan had warned me about that, so I’d tried my best to avoid doing so. Fortunately, the Hobgoblin Forest was huge. In terms of destruction, the Bloody Ptarmigan attack had covered a space that was a hundred feet wide and over a quarter mile long. I was sure that if I apologized, Eris would simply laugh at me and shrug it off.

  “All the same,” said Roxy, “perhaps it’s not the best idea to provide Eris with any evidence of wrongdoing.”

  “Exactly what I was thinking,” I said.

  Roxy was careful to monitor my extraordinary stat totals and the way I channeled them. This time it was fine, but even I knew it was better to keep the use of Greed’s secret techniques to a minimum. It was just hard to ignore that Greedy voice in my head, always pushing me to fire whenever the opportunity arose.

  “Fate! Just one more time!” Greed said, as if on cue. “You have to fire the Bloody Ptarmigan again just to make sure!”

  “Were you even listening to what Roxy just said?”

  “Does it matter? Fire, Fate! Fire!”

  Greed was never satisfied until I got so close to the line that I managed to cross it again, so I ignored him as I looked to the south. I couldn’t feel the spellcasting monster’s presence anymore, but I didn’t know if I’d actually killed it.

  “Let’s head over to ground zero to investigate. Miria, are you good to go?” asked Roxy.

  “Ready,” she replied, her eyes downcast. She’d been less effective in battle than she’d hoped. She even needed to be rescued by Roxy. Clearly, it had hit her pretty hard. I didn’t feel like I could leave her like that, so I opened my mouth, but as soon as I did so, Miria backed away from me.

  “Just leave me alone!” she said.

  Miria could be hard to handle, and sometimes she reminded me of Myne. That girl was always silent, leaving me to do most of the talking.

  Where is she now? I wondered. Myne was ridiculously powerful, so I wasn’t worried about her getting hurt, but whenever I thought of her last words to me, some feeling stabbed into my chest. At times, I wondered if I should have gone after her, but I knew that if I had, I wouldn’t have survived. I had a feeling that if that had happened…the situation would only have worsened.

  Shin, the white-haired boy with the black spear, was trying to do something—something massive. It seemed Myne wanted the same thing, so I knew she was with him. Eris had put feelers out, so if anything strange happened, she’d know. That meant all I could do until then was keep training and readying myself for when it did happen.

  “She’s so difficult…” I muttered as I watched Miria run to Roxy’s side.

  “Give it up, Fate,” said Greed, his voice serious for a change. “You’re not suited to that kind of thing. Remember Roxy and all the twists and turns you had to go through for that to work itself out?”

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “It’s the same thing. But if you really want to make yourself useful, start by taking a good look around you.”

  I heaved a long sigh. There was Miria, yes, but there was also Memil Vlerick. Well, she wasn’t a Vlerick anymore, now that her family had essentially been abolished. Some time had passed since she’d arrived at Barbatos Manor as Aaron’s adopted daughter, but I still didn’t know how she felt.

  “Make your mistakes while you’re still young, that’s what I say. All this fretting, and you’ll only end up bald from pulling all your hair out!”