WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: HidingTurtle

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◈ I Became the Ophidian of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 33: Ululullulu! Ululullulu! Ululullulu!

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There are races born to be miners.

Dwarves are like that, and so are Gnomes, though their numbers have now dwindled to almost nothing.

And though it is not widely known, Goblins are born miners too.

They are weak, but their small bodies are well suited to burrowing into the ground.

More than anything, they possess the virtue of diligence.

Which is to say, they obey well.

Goblins cannot unite. That is common sense.

They live scattered in tribal societies and cannot form a proper kingdom.

But in history, there were two times when a Goblin king existed.

If one asks which comes first, the kingdom or the king, then naturally the kingdom comes first.

A king cannot exist without subjects to rule.

But that is not the case for demihuman races like Goblins.

Historically, there were two Goblins that evolved into "monarchs."

Goblin monarchs gathered up the countless Goblins scattered across the continent.

Whenever that happened, the continent was engulfed in flames of war.

In the modern age, contempt for Goblins has become widespread.

But statistically, a Goblin monarch could be born at any time.

Aware of that latent danger, the kingdoms...

「Analysis of Demihumans: Goblins, Part 2, Author Unknown」

* * *

Clang! Clang! Clang!

For almost a year now, a racket had rung out beneath Elephant Rock every single day.

It had started after the Krok Tribe occupied Elephant Rock.

Elephant Rock was exactly what the name suggested, a massive rocky peak.

And naturally, that rock stretched its roots deep underground.

The noise came from smashing apart the stone below.

Clang! Clang!

With the Goblins' crude iron tools, mining went painfully slowly.

Even so, they had dug quite deep by now.

"Dig straight, you bastards!"

A well-fed Hobgoblin with a belly jutting out swung a whip.

One Goblin struck by it crumpled to the ground.

They were Goblins from other tribes, conquered by the Krok Tribe and turned into slaves.

"Hey, old man, stop exaggerating."

"S-sorry, I'm sorry. Kgh!"

The Hobgoblin kicked the elderly Goblin who had been trying to get up.

"Oh? You're not getting up?"

"Kgh, urk..."

Every time the old Goblin tried to rise, the Hobgoblin either kicked them or lashed the whip again.

Only after their face had turned blue and swollen from bruises were they able to pick up the pickaxe once more.

The other Goblins did nothing but keep digging, pretending not to see.

Fear was the easiest way to rule Goblins.

There was another reason none of them even thought about resisting.

Digging beneath Elephant Rock was not work reserved for the very lowest class.

There were people even more pitiful than they were.

"Huh."

One of the Goblins swinging a pickaxe jolted in surprise.

Then they quickly raised a hand and shouted.

"Something turned up again!"

"What!"

A Krok Tribe Goblin holding a whip hurried over.

They closely examined the section the pickaxe had just uncovered.

Traces of a structure. Something artificial had been hidden among the natural rock.

"It's been a month..."

Since the excavation began on the chief's orders, they had found artificial structures four times in total.

Since the first discovery, the interval between finds had been growing steadily shorter.

That meant the dig was gradually reaching its destination.

Of course, only the chief seemed to know what was hidden down there.

"Bring the prisoners!"

At those words, the faces of the Goblins doing the digging brightened.

They would get a short break.

Three Goblins were dragged over by the Hobgoblins.

All of them had faces marked by heavy beatings.

They were the ones who had ambushed the Runga Tribe's warriors by the river, failed, and fled.

They trembled as they took up pickaxes.

The Hobgoblin pointed at one of them.

"You first. Get over there and dig!"

"Redeka, please spare me!"

These were not slaves. They had originally been warriors of the Krok Tribe.

They had even known the supervising Hobgoblin personally.

But the Hobgoblin slapped the Goblin who clung to them.

"You bastard, if you didn't want to become a prisoner, you should've died fighting."

"Hhk..."

"Heart-Eating Snake? You got beaten into this state because you fed the chief that kind of bullshit."

The defeated became prisoners, worse off than slaves.

With no choice, the Goblin took a pickaxe and approached the exposed structure.

They carefully dug away the dirt.

If the pickaxe ever stopped, a savage beating would begin.

"You might live if things go well. If the chief is pleased, that is."

That tiny sliver of hope was why they had no choice but to keep holding the pickaxe.

Everyone else hurriedly retreated.

Only the prisoner Goblin remained and cautiously resumed the excavation.

About thirty minutes passed.

"Huh?"

It was the cry of someone who had found something.

Then a strange sound rang out.

Ting.

That was the moment flames burst out from inside.

"Aaaaagh, aaaagh!"

The Goblin holding the pickaxe was swallowed by fire.

They let out a horrific scream, then collapsed.

Silence fell.

It was the Hobgoblin who broke it.

"Next."

"Hhk, ugh..."

"Next!"

This was how they got past traps.

A brutal method, feeding prisoners and slaves into them until every trap had been used up.

It took a long time and spilled plenty of blood, but it certainly worked.

The one who had ordered all of this was the chief himself.

Krok, the Hop Goblin King.

A burly warrior, a full head taller than an ordinary Hop Goblin, watched the entire scene unfold.

Krok wore armor made by linking together pieces of iron.

Normally, a Goblin tribe's chief and shaman shared power.

But not Krok.

He had killed the Great Shaman with his own hands, then taken the Great Shaman's place for himself.

He had killed the chiefs of other tribes and strung their skulls into a necklace.

His appearance was savage beyond words.

Yet there was a young Hobgoblin beside him who still dared to raise his voice.

"Father!"

But fear still clung to that voice.

Krok, who had once only been a stern father, had now become a brutal ruler.

"Please, I beg you. Spare Nanaruk and her younger siblings."

"..."

"I'll do anything you want, Father!"

Krok behaved as though he had not heard his son's plea.

Then suddenly, he turned to look at him.

"Chandal."

Chandal, Nanaruk's lover, felt his breath stop for a moment.

It looked as though flames were flickering in Krok's eyes.

Then Krok suddenly grabbed Chandal by the face.

Squeeze!

"Kghk."

"You anger me."

Chandal struggled wildly, but his father's grip was like solid rock.

Krok put more strength into his hand and lifted Chandal clean off the ground.

"If you had asked me only to spare Nanaruk, I might have listened. Looking after your woman is a man's instinct. But... asking me to spare her siblings too?"

"Khk, urk."

"My own son!"

Krok bellowed as if he might breathe fire.

"Making such a weak request!"

"Ghk..."

"You will kill those little Goblins with your own hands."

Chandal's eyes flew wide open.

"If you kill those young Goblins yourself, I will let your woman live."

"..."

"If you don't, then you will die, and so will your woman."

Chief Krok never spoke carelessly.

He flung his son aside.

Chandal understood the fate now hanging over him.

Blood and spit streamed from his split-open mouth.

Whether his son wailed or not, Krok paid no attention.

The only thing he cared about was what they were excavating.

It had to be in there.

The power that would make Krok the true king of the Goblins, the monarch of every Goblin on the continent...!

* * *

Heh heh.

There was one disappointing thing about becoming a snake.

I couldn't sing.

Not that I had some hobby of singing, but even when I was in a good mood, I couldn't hum to myself.

All I could do was flick out my tongue and hiss.

With that in mind, I hoped my next evolution would give me a rattle on my tail.

There were rattlesnakes, after all.

Having a musical instrument attached to my tail didn't sound bad.

The reason I was in a good mood wasn't anything special.

It was because I got to eat something delicious.

Crunch.

I bit into the bright red fruit hanging from the tree.

Juice spread through my mouth in a rush, filling it with sweetness.

Fruit had tasted good when I was human, and it still tasted good now that I was a snake.

Nanaruk copied me and ate one too.

Then she spat it out.

"This is poisonous. It'll make your stomach hurt if you eat it. Are you okay?"

Hmm, so that warm feeling in my gut had been because of that.

Still, my Venom Resistance was already high enough. A fruit like this couldn't do anything to me.

"Snakes really are amazing. I wish I'd been born a snake too."

Nanaruk was a Goblin who knew what was what.

I was walking through the forest near the village with her.

It was sort of like a date.

-Keep your head on straight. There's Blue Water Star Herb over there too.

Pelerian urged me on.

I tapped Nanaruk on the shoulder and pointed with my tail, and she dug up the herb.

"This one?"

I nodded.

Those were the herbs Pelerian had pointed out.

A great many of them had already been piled into the carrying basket.

After hearing that Elephant Rock had been occupied by a Goblin tribe called the Krok Tribe, Pelerian had started getting anxious.

-There is no way mere Goblins could break through my Dungeon's defenses. I layered it with multiple defensive devices and even prepared guardians to protect it.

Pelerian said that, but the hurry in that voice was obvious.

No matter how thorough the defenses were, time was frightening.

Those Goblins might really force their way through the heavy security.

And more than anything, it was simply infuriating.

-To think they would dare lay hands on what is mine...

Exactly. That was why I was furious too.

The things in there belonged to Pelerian, which meant they belonged to me too.

-There, pull up that Lily of the Valley as well.

I tapped Nanaruk's shoulder, and she picked the Lily of the Valley.

-This should be enough.

The gathering was finally done.

I tapped Nanaruk on the shoulder to signal that we should head back.

Well, all I really did was shake my head around and twirl my tail in circles.

And somehow, Nanaruk understood.

Who would've thought there'd be a Goblin I could communicate with this well?

"You're such a strange snake. Sometimes you don't feel like a monster at all. You feel more like a Goblin. You even understand our language."

I'll take that as a compliment, Nanaruk.

We went back to the village together.

Naturally, I drew attention in this Goblin village.

A snake that understood speech, I'd think that was fascinating too.

And on top of that, the snake was up to something strange.

"Wait here a second."

After saying that, Nanaruk brought over a large iron cauldron.

It was the cast-iron pot I had pointed at with my tail that morning and asked for.

-Have her fill it with water.

So I did.

Thanks to Nanaruk, my excellent assistant, everything moved along smoothly.

If you're wondering what I was up to, I was making a potion.

-In the Great Forest, all kinds of plants grow. It's rare to find an ingredient you cannot obtain.

I had known Pelerian was a mage, but Pelerian was really the sort of know-it-all who seemed to know everything.

Pelerian even knew how to brew potions.

My potion supply was nearly gone. If I wanted to break through the Goblins' guard and get into Pelerian's Dungeon, I needed more potions.

-Put in the crushed Bloody Frog first. You need to skim off the foam.

How was I supposed to express skimming off foam?

I did my best to mime the motion.

Nanaruk understood immediately.

"Like this, you mean?"

Hmm.

'I'd rather travel around with Nanaruk than with Pelerian.'

-You little brat!

Pelerian had heard that.

-Do you have any idea how valuable this potion recipe is? I once sold a single potion recipe and got an entire castle.

'Hmm, is it worth that much?'

-It is!

Then I ought to memorize it too.

Maybe someday I could sell it and get my own castle.

By the time I had boiled a full cauldron of potion down until it turned sticky, less than half remained.

Several Goblins gathered around, probably thinking I was cooking something. A few shamans were mixed in too.

"What exactly are you making?"

Nanaruk didn't know what I was making either.

You'll all find out soon enough.

Nanaruk prepared ten bamboo water flasks.

When I poured the potion into them, it fit perfectly.

──────────────

【Adriana-Style Red Potion】

Shows tremendous effectiveness in healing wounds.

Its recipe is highly secretive, making it difficult to obtain

──────────────

Oh, so it really was true.

It looked like a genuinely decent potion.

Aside from not restoring mana, it looked better than the potion that brat knight Zain carried around.

-You've really been getting fooled all this time.

I slid three of the ten flasks toward Nanaruk.

It was payment for her work.

-What a waste.

'I worked her hard. I should give her at least this much. She did almost all of it.'

Nanaruk was grateful too.

"But I don't know what it is. Do you drink it?"

Nanaruk uncorked one of the bamboo flasks and tried to take a sip.

She didn't even know what a potion was, yet she had no fear.

I stopped her.

It'd be faster to show her what it could do.

Then I walked over to one of the Goblins who had been watching.

Step right up.

"M-me?"

It was a Goblin with an injury on their hand.

"All right."

Why was this Goblin speaking so politely to me?

For the moment, I wrapped my tail around the open flask in Nanaruk's hand and poured the potion over the Goblin's wound.

Sizzle.

"Ah!"

The Goblin jumped in shock as steam rose from their hand.

Then they saw the wound heal and stared in disbelief.

"It really was Ululullulu!"

At that sudden shout, the Goblins watching nearby began murmuring.

What was with all this Ululullulu talk again?

Then one of the shaman Goblins who had been watching came hurrying over.

She looked back and forth between me and the cauldron, her face flushed.

"Is this truly the Water of Life?"

It's a potion, though.

Apparently Goblins had no concept of potions.

Quite fiercely, the shaman took out a knife and cut her own palm.

Then she smeared the potion left in the cauldron all over it.

Steam rose, and the wound healed.

Pelerian's special potion really was effective.

"Ah... So it was true that the sacred snake understands our words and bestows the Water of Life..."

The shaman murmured that name with a pale face.

"Ululullulu..."

Several of the Goblins who had been watching pressed their palms together and began chanting Ululullulu.

-Oh my. This is...

Pelerian's expression turned strangely sly.

I found it amusing too, so I gave my tail a wave.

"Ululullulu! Ululullulu!"

A few of the Goblins waved their hands along with me.

This is kind of fun.

Footnotes:

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