Chapter Thirty-Three: The Sorrow of the Handsome Goblin

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Sorrow of the Handsome Goblin

Ada's words sent a chill through Shaya and the Pitiful Creature. The natural, effortless coldness in his tone made both of them shudder inwardly.

Shaya thought even further: this Ada was undoubtedly a ruthless villain who devoured others without leaving a bone behind.

The Pitiful Creature glanced at Shaya, pondering how to persuade him to abandon the idea of seeking the dragon. She had never been enthusiastic about this adventure from the start; if she’d had a choice, she would not have followed this country bumpkin here. And now, Ada’s mysterious tone suggested that going further was certain death.

“Well?” Ada’s dazzlingly handsome face wore a mocking smile at the corner of his lips. “Do you wish to seek that dragon as well? Would you like me to lead the way?”

“Shaya!” the Pitiful Creature called hurriedly, her gaze serious as she fixed it on Shaya. “Don’t go!”

Shaya remained silent.

“Don’t go!” her tone softened, even carrying a hint of gentle pleading. “If even those mages weren’t a match, then we stand no chance. We have no hope—treasure may be tempting, but only if you live to spend it. I promise you, if you need money, once we return, I can pay you a generous reward!”

Shaya was silent for a moment. Then the last traces of hesitation faded from his eyes, replaced by resolve. “Let’s take a look.”

“You—?!” The Pitiful Creature was nearly frantic. “Are you mad?”

“Of course not,” Shaya shrugged. “I know full well that life is most important. But since we’ve come this far, to turn back now feels… unsatisfying. Let’s scout ahead. We don’t need to get close, just observe. Besides… perhaps the mages have already succeeded. None of us has seen for certain that they’re dead.”

Ada looked at Shaya, confirming he wasn’t merely bluffing, and a satisfied smile appeared on his lips. “Fine, I’ll lead you… but I have a condition first.”

“What?” Shaya eyed him suspiciously.

“You’re after the dragon’s treasure, aren’t you?” Ada said coolly. “If there’s a chance… all the treasure is yours, but as payment for leading you, I want only a single item from the dragon’s lair.”

Shaya snorted, dissatisfied. “Hey, Ada, don’t forget—you’re my Soso now! You eat my food, wear my wolf pelts, even your life was saved by me! What right do you have to make conditions with me?”

Ada didn’t argue. He glanced at Shaya, sighed, and shook his head. “What a pity, a real pity…”

With that, he ignored Shaya and slowly walked to the nearby pit, swiftly stripping off the dogskin from his waist—a move that made the Pitiful Creature shriek and turn away, eyes squeezed shut.

Ada jumped into the pit, his head just above the edge, gazing up at Shaya with calm composure. “Come on.”

“Huh?” Shaya’s mouth hung open.

“If you won’t agree, then bury me here. Pretend you never saved me,” Ada said, voice serene, tinged with disdain. “You three—your gear is shoddy, you’ve suffered much to get here, endured hardships. Hmph… go ahead and search without my help. This mountain range isn’t large; you could search peak by peak, and in three or five years, if luck is good, perhaps there’s a thirty percent chance you’ll find it.”

Shaya stared wordlessly, meeting Ada’s gaze for a long time. Anger flickered in Shaya’s eyes, while Ada’s remained calm and clear. After a lengthy standoff, Shaya finally yielded, shaking his head in irritation. “All right, all right! I concede. Who would have thought someone would insist on being buried alive… Well, my goal is the treasure, I have no interest in anything else.”

Ada finally climbed out of the pit, donned his dogskin again—while Shaya secretly gloated. This fellow may be a bit more handsome than me, he thought, but his equipment is a bit less impressive. Hmph! The old man always said, as long as a man’s equipment is big enough, it covers all flaws!

(The old man smiles in his grave…)

With Ada as their new companion, the group continued deeper into the mountains.

“Hey, since we’re comrades now, you should share some information. What exactly is that dragon like?” Shaya asked.

Ada walked ahead, clearly familiar with the terrain, guiding them through the mountains. Upon hearing the question, his stride slowed, and he turned, frowning at Shaya. “You mean you know nothing about this dragon, and you’ve come to seek its treasure?”

“…Nothing,” Shaya answered honestly.

Ada sighed, his gaze toward Shaya tinged with pity. “Now I almost feel sorry for you. Is wealth really so alluring? You don’t even know the dragon’s power and dare to come?”

“What difference does it make if I know?” Shaya was candid, grinning broadly. “I know dragons vary in strength. But I also know my own abilities—against even the weakest dragon, I’d stand no chance. So, whether the dragon is strong or weak, what does it matter to me? My plan is just to fish in troubled waters, not to be some dragonslayer hero.”

“Dragonslayer hero,” Ada echoed, a hint of mocking flashing in his eyes. “You’re not there yet. From what I know, only the greatest human masters can slay dragons. You? Just a rookie warrior?”

Shaya’s character seemed immune to mockery. He tightened his belt and snorted. “Call me a rookie if you want, but did you come out of the womb with all your hair grown?”

Ada’s expression turned rather complicated; he gave Shaya a strange look and simply turned away, refusing to engage with this crude bumpkin.

But after a while, Ada spoke a few words without turning his head.

“It’s an earth-elemental azure dragon, a mature female, adept at earth magic, and its physical defense and offense are top-tier by human standards. If anything, earth dragons are slightly weaker against water magic. Those mages I encountered? None were water users. That’s why I said they were doomed.”

Shaya perked up at once. “Then… I’ve heard the dragon is weakened right now—what’s that about?”

Ada’s calm voice came from ahead. “Seems you’re not entirely ignorant—the dragon’s eyes are blind.”

…

Throughout the journey, Ada seemed unwilling to waste words with Shaya. His temperament was peculiar; his tone wasn’t particularly harsh, and he sometimes even smiled. Yet whether Shaya or the Pitiful Creature, both felt that even when Ada smiled, the gleam in his eyes was piercing, as if he could see through a person entirely.

Moreover, Ada’s demeanor carried a natural, noble pride. This wasn’t affected, but exuded instinctively in everything he did. He never acted arrogantly, but his relaxed composure made it seem he cared nothing for anything—or was it, perhaps, that he had everything well in hand?

Putting aside such thoughts, Ada was at least truthful about one thing.

He was indeed familiar with this place.

Leading Shaya and the others, Ada guided them through valleys, across forests, up rugged slopes, scaling cliff after cliff.

The journey took six full days.

During these six days, Ada showed another strange side:

He’d occasionally converse with Shaya, even treating the lowly goblin with amiable politeness.

But toward the Pitiful Creature, Ada showed not a trace of kindness. In fact, his words were sometimes cruel, his eyes cold, with undisguised aversion.

This deeply frustrated the Pitiful Creature.

The bumpkin merely regarded her as ugly, but Ada, beautiful beyond belief, acted as if she carried a virus—just a glance would dirty his eyes! Such an attitude—

Simply intolerable!

For someone of Adeline’s status, to encounter two human men on the Wildfire Plains, both with such issues!

By the sixth day, even Shaya could hardly stand Ada’s blatant dislike.

“Really… you shouldn’t discriminate against the Pitiful Creature so much,” Shaya tried to advise, since after all, they were now traveling companions.

“I dislike ugly people,” Ada replied icily.

The Pitiful Creature nearly coughed up blood at this answer.

Too outrageous!

The bumpkin was one thing, but was Ada blind and perverse too?!

For a moment, the Pitiful Creature herself felt close to madness, doubting her own looks: Am I truly ugly? Were men in the past only flattering me because of my status?

“Um… honestly, he’s rather pitiful,” Shaya said kindly. “Looks are given by parents; you can’t blame him for being ugly.”

“I hate all things in this world that aren’t beautiful,” Ada declared, tone almost reverent. “If not for your wild masculine aura, I wouldn’t speak to you either.”

Shaya was delighted, dismissing the Pitiful Creature’s grievances, and slapped Ada’s shoulder enthusiastically. “Hahaha! Of course—we’re both handsome men!”

Then he frowned. “But… you dislike the Pitiful Creature, yet you’re so friendly to Oaks? Oaks looks…”

Ada shook his head. “By goblin standards, Oaks is a handsome fellow.”

Fine!

The Pitiful Creature was internally wounded: the bumpkin at least thinks I’m better than a goblin, but Ada finds me worse than even an ugly goblin!

(Oaks weeps: Oke-oke~ I’m a goblin pretty boy!)

By evening that day, Ada led them to an open marsh.

The terrain was strange; the marsh was nearly a hundred meters wide, flanked by endless mud pits stretching out of sight.

“To reach the dragon’s lair, this is the only entrance,” Ada pointed across the marsh—about two hundred meters away, a patch of forest. “Cross the marsh, through the woods, and the mountain beyond is the dragon’s lair.”

Shaya eyed the marsh, feeling a sudden alertness—the air was stiflingly hot, making him sweat.

He looked at the mud pits on either side. “Here…”

“You noticed? The mud pits are impassable—step on them and you’ll sink, bottomless pits beneath. This vast mire can’t be circumvented. Only this narrow hundred-meter stretch is marsh, with a thin layer of hard soil. We must sprint across; if we’re slow, the hard soil will collapse… and if you fall, I guarantee you’re dead.”

Ada smiled. “But even the hard soil isn’t easily crossed.”

He reached into Shaya’s leather bag and pulled out a wild pheasant—one Shaya had caught for supper.

Ada tossed the vibrant bird onto the marsh; it chirped cheerfully and dashed across the hard soil. After ten meters, the ground suddenly caved in ahead—

A loud boom! A pillar of fire erupted from below, soaring four or five meters high!

When the flames subsided, the pheasant had become a charred chunk. The fire faded, the hard soil settled, bubbling briefly before returning to normal. From a distance, Shaya caught a strong whiff of sulfur, the heat stifling his breath.

“Damn! What is this thing?!” Shaya exclaimed in horror.

“See clearly?” Ada turned, smiling at Shaya’s shocked face. “This is a treacherous passage—beneath the hard soil is fire, which erupts unpredictably. Step here, and the flames might roast you alive.”

“Damn it!” Shaya cursed. “You call this the safest route?”

Ada’s face was cold. “I guarantee it’s the only safe passage—the other ways are far more dangerous, unless you want to try elsewhere.”

“But… what’s safe about this place?” Shaya swallowed. “Charge in and you’ll get barbecued!”

“Finding the dragon’s lair is no easy task,” Ada’s eyes narrowed with a chill. “This is a magic array; beneath the mountains lies underground fire. The dragon is earth-elemental, so the magic array alters the terrain—making the hard soil fragile, resulting in this situation.”

Shaya eyed Ada’s cold gaze, coughed, and then turned to the trembling Marquis Oaks, rubbing his chin and grinning wickedly:

“You! Oaks! You go first!”

“Huh?” The Marquis’s legs shook, his face ashen, and he collapsed to the ground.

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[First, a sad note: it’s the weekend and I’ve got some things to attend to, so only this chapter today.

But! It’s a longer, extended chapter! See for yourselves the word count~

A bit of trivia about the book: some readers asked if the goblin race is an allusion to a certain island nation… I firmly deny it! Goblins are too cute to compare with the Japanese! Goblins aren’t human, but they’re at least better than the Japanese~

Protesting on behalf of goblins~

About the goblin language style: it’s just set as simple inverted subject-verb-object sentences. Some invented goblin words do have special origins.

For example, “Soso”—actually, this word comes from a shamanic language of a minority group, as explained to us by an expert during a writers’ workshop. In shamanic language, “Soso” refers to a male’s root… haha~

And “Si Ji”—this is a phrase I picked up from Uyghur, where “Si Ji Si Ji” is a vulgar curse, equivalent to a three-character expletive…

As for the Pitiful Creature’s true name, Adeline, I explained in the text that it means “noble” in Byzantine aristocratic language. A reader pointed out that “noble and beautiful” isn’t the meaning in Byzantine (well spotted!). The truth is, Adeline in Germanic means “noble.”

So, here’s a bit of explanation—I did put some thought into writing~

Still striving for votes—casting votes is a noble activity, good for mind and body~]