Survive in the parallel world, please!

“What do you mean master?”

Mia was sitting in the wooden floor following his master with her gaze.

The first thing that Ryu asked Bardun when the woke up after being unconscious for several days was to allow him to set Athela free and he agreed on the spot. Everything would have been fine if not for Ryu’s distrustful nature.

Whenever things went too smoothly he started second guessing himself.

“I’m not sure if setting Athela free was the best choice. What happens if she goes to Celarent and then comes back with an army and exterminates the goblins?”

“I don’t think she would do something like that you know”

“But, what if she tells everyone I sided with the goblins or something”

.....

Distress wouldn’t even begin to describe how Ryu felt right now.

“We don’t need to worry about that master, after all she’s in no condition to travel”

The long time imprisonment weakened Athela to the point she wouldn’t even be able to go back to Celarent on her own, and her maid’s condition was even worse.

“Hello”

A goblin, who they were able to recognize as Thoba, entered Ryu’s house as if she owned the place. Knocking on doors wasn’t a thing for goblins and it annoyed Ryu to no end, but he couldn’t complain since they had veen very kind to him.

When Bardun started learning human language most goblins were against it, Thoba included, but after Ryu killed the megalania and saved the village, every goblin in town tried to learn. At this point, the only one who was able to hold a conversation was Bardun, but the others learned some basic words and used them to communicate with Mia and Ryu.

“Come”

She pointed at Ryu and Mia who then followed her across the street, into an elevator and then inside the goblin leader’s house.

“Good, you came, sit”

“Why did you ask for me?”

“Today first day I healed, we need to drink”

Ryu’s instincts were on high alert, if they made him drink something weird he might as pass out or worse. But he was pleasantly surprised when they brought two bowls of a clear liquid that Ryu was able to identify.

>A bowl containing Goblin’s liquor

A bowl was placed in front of Ryu by Lauda, who then retreated a few steps back and alligned with the rest of Bardun’s wives. They all showed great respect in their faces. Mia didn’t understand the situation, but she silently stood up in the opposite wall.

“Goblins drink to become brothers, you drink with me”

It was a sacred ceremony for goblins that held an important significance in their race and it was the first time in goblin’s history that someone from another race was allowed to participate.

Ryu, who was able to perceive the importance of the matter and sat in front of Bardun without saying a word. He limited himself to mimick the goblin’s movements and drank the whole content of the bowl in a single gulp.

Although it looked like regular alcohol Ryu couldn’t help but think it might taste awful, but it not only tasted delicious, an enjoyable tingling ran across his his body relaxing his body and mind.

“Today we become brothers, you me big brother now. As brother, you are goblin now. Name is Bardun”

The goblin said solemnly as he poured another bowl for Ryu.

“My name is Ryu”

Every goblin present, including Bardun, repeated Ryu’s name while nodding as if it was the first time they heard it.

“Names important for goblin, names are not forgotten by goblins”

Now Ryu understood why he refused to tell him his name the first time he asked. It wasn’t that they didn’t have names, but they didn’t trust him enough at the time.

“Thank you for allowing me to release Athela”

“You ask for the female yes, wife?”

“No, she’s not my wife”

“Good, she no good warrior. You take goblin wife, I take human wife”

After Bardun said those words several goblins entered the single room house, bringing along Athela’s maid and Mia chuckled at the sight of the female goblins lining up in front of Ryu.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea”

Ryu said in a soft tone of voice trying to avoid offending his host. The female goblins heaved a sigh of relief after he rejected them, but the maid didn’t even understand what was going on.

“Good. I no like humans, they ugly”

The goblin snorted playfully.

“Would it be possible for me to release this woman too?”

Ryu pointed at the maid. Even though he knew she despised him, he had to at least try to set her free.

“Possible? yes. Good? no. I need more words”

The gobblin looked troubled at Ryu’s request, it showed how difficult it was for him to refuse. Ryu could only nod in understanding and the maid resigned herself to a life in imprisonment.

“How about improving her living conditions?”

“Good”

The goblin smiled.

After that, the female goblins retreated taking Mia and the maid with them. Once Bardun and Ryu were alone in the room, the goblin became serious again.

“What do you know about curses?”

“I know they kill their bearers with bad luck or by draining their energy”

“Yes, true. But not all. Cursed and enchanted, same. Goblins know this. Now you goblin too, now I tell you goblins history, you listen. Goblins older than the sun, older than trees”

Ryu paid attention to the story that Bardun told him. It was a mythological tale that felt like the ravings of a madman, but coming from the mouth of what everyone considered a beast rather than a sentient creature made it more believable.

Acording to Bardun, Goblins were the first sentient creatures that walked the planet. They lived in peace and harmony until the planet was invaded by gods from other worlds.

At first they considered it to be a good thing and received them with open arms, despite being gods they weren’t much stronger than goblins and the only difference was that they had the ability to use mana to create things out of thin air.

Soon enough the land was filled with plants, treasure and all sorts of creatures giving birth to a golden era where goblins ruled with wisdom above all the other races.

But everything changed when the sun was created because humans, who up to that moment depended on fire and magic to be able to see in the dark, thrived in the new environment and soon became strong enough to challenge the goblins.

The gods, who never meddled in the goblin’s affairs, sided with the humans giving them an edge over goblins who didn’t know how to use magic. Feeling betrayed by the gods they welcomed into their world, they fought back with everything they had and eventually won the war against the humans.

But things didn’t end like that, one of the gods created a new race, stronger than the others, turning the tide of war and almost erradicating the goblins completely. That race was the horrible mix between humans and beasts and they were unstoppable, a single one of them was able to kill hundreds of goblins before falling.

Decimated and tired, the goblins made a deal with another race, a long forgotten one. They were few, but powerful enough to keep the enemies at bay.

For centuries things remained in a standstill and the whole planet was divided in half. Believing that everything was over, the goblins and the other race thought to be safe, but the god who created the beastkin did the unthinkable.

He started eating his own children and, by doing so, he became the strongest god and ended the war in a single battle.

As a result of that, most goblins perished cursing the god who killed them with their last words, giving birth to a supreme weapon that allowed them to defeat the god and force him into slumber for thousands of years.

“So, If I understand this correctly, curses are enchantments too? and there’s a goblin weapon that can defeat even gods?”

The goblin nodded feeling elated for the first time after speaking with Ryu, not being able to communicate properly was his main source of frustration, somehow Ryu now understood what he was trying to tell him, but the man himself wasn’t feeling so great. Making sense out of Bardun’s words took a toll on him producing a major headache and he couldn’t wait to get some sleep.

The goblin village was dark at night because they didn’t need any sort of light source to be able to see in the dark and despite Ryu’s night vision skill, it was still difficult to move around since his range of vision became shorter and he wasn’t able to distinguish colors.

He entered silently on his room and lied on his bed next to Mia. They became quite close after their feeding session, but it didn’t get to the point of being romantic. For Mia, sleeping next to Ryu was a necessity, since she was able to feed off the excess energy that manated from his body, thus reducing the amount of fluids she would need to ingest later.

For Ryu matters were entire different.

He found comfort in sleeping together with her, especially now that both Mochi and the amarok were lost in the forest. Ever since Rina broke up with him his pets had become the sole object of his affection, and that included Mia as well.

He lied next to Mia and caressed her soft hair as he usually did before falling asleep. Only this time Mia stiffened up and trembled lightly, he found her behavior odd but paid no heed to it and kept going until his eyelids closed.