After Rae had entered the cavern to slay the Dire Boar, Norton and Roland were left alone.

Roland had been wondering something ever since he met ‘White’, so he decided to ask. “Boss, why do you refer to White as ‘him’, instead of ‘it’?

This question could not totally be blamed on Roland. Goblins were referred to and treated as things long before he had even been born. So when he saw that Norton, who normally didn’t give a rat’s ass about goblins, treating ‘it’ differently, he was curious.

“Roland, have you ever thought why the goblins are our slaves?” Norton had been thinking of the status of the goblins, and his own thoughts about himself since he had spent time with Rae.

Roland replied instantly. “Nope, it’s just always been that way, y’know? And since it’s always been that way, why think about? I try hard not to think of existential and philosophical questions in my free time. Only booze and women for me,” he replied in his trademark carefree manner.

Norton looked at Roland with a solemn face. “We humans have mistreated goblins like tools for our own use and have thrown them away when they provided none, ever since we could remember, but why?” Norton paused for a moment and then said, “I’ve given it some thought, and it’s because we can.”

He added, “Doesn’t that make us the same as the shitty noble types who used and threw us away during the wars we’ve been through?”

Roland looked at Norton in disbelief. He had never thought of it like that. He would always go on about the nobles he hated in a drunken stupor but would never think too deeply about them. He just knew he hated the way they treated him after they fought so hard during the War of Belikaan. The “higher-powers” who fought over mount Belikaan for the resources in it and their greed. It was the tipping point for him.

He could only sit there quietly, contemplating on the goblins, the way they treated them, and himself.

“I don’t want to be like them,” said Norton.

“Also, he’s strong. He deserves my recognition.”

While they were thinking, there was a monstrous roar from the cave.

*ROOOOOOOOAAAAAR*

Norton and Roland looked at each other with surprise.

“Boss, was that really the roar of a Dire Boar? That seemed pretty powerful… even had me shaking in my boots for a second,” said Roland while not noticing he was quivering slightly.

Norton looked at the cave while pondering. “That was definitely the「Roar」of a Dire Boar, but it was many times stronger than a normal one. That shouldn’t be the case since the stronger beasts that lie deeper in the forest never come this far out…”

As Norton was lost in thought, they both heard another booming cry.

*ROOOOOOOOAAAAAR*

“Let’s go!” Norton pulled Roland up and the two dashed into the cave.

When they arrived at the end of the cavern, all they saw was a dried up pile of what looked to be organs and meat, and Rae, unconscious on the ground.

“What the hell happened here? I thought a Dire Boar would be a cinch for the little guy, but after hearing those roars, I would beg to differ. Yet, he managed to turn it into bloody oatmeal,” exclaimed Roland.

“It was probably weakened from whatever else is out there judging from the blood we saw earlier,” Norton said.

Roland and Norton went and inspected Rae. They saw that he had no major wounds, only one on his head for falling over. They also noticed that Rae looked different.

“Boss, does White look a little different? I also feel like it’s taller,” said Roland with a puzzled expression on his face.

Norton responded. “He’s a monster so it’s not too surprising that his appearance changed after leveling up.”

When they were done looking over Rae, Norton decided they should search the cavern for clues on what happened.

After searching for about half an hour, they couldn’t find anything except slash marks around the pile of boar that was left.

That was when they heard Rae groaning.

“Roland, wake him up,” ordered Norton.

“Got it, Boss”

Roland crouched down to Rae and slapped him. The echo of the slap reverberated throughout the caver.

“Not like that…,” sighed Norton.

“Didn’t specify ‘how’, Boss,” retorted Roland with a devilish smirk.

When Rae came to, although he felt invigorated, there was a slight stinging sensation on his right cheek.

He looked around and only saw Norton and Roland standing over him.

He then turned to see the remnants of the Dire Boar and felt a headache at the thought of trying to explain how it ended up like that. ‘Looks like I’ll have to channel my inner Mary and bullshit my way through again before figuring out what happened after absorbing all the blood,’ thought Rae.

Norton looked at the now awake Rae and asked, “White, what happened?”

Rae turned to make eye contact with Norton with his crimson eyes and said in his most distressing voice, “Master, the Dire Boar was extremely weakened when I got here. There was strange magic eating at its wounds so I thought I could kill it easily if I snuck up on it, but it was stronger than I thought. It noticed me and charged. Before I was hit, I managed to stab my sword into the wound that looked most serious on its neck. I was knocked back and losing consciousness, but it would appear that one strike was enough to kill it and it let out a last howl before dying. Its body started disappearing and that’s what I saw last before everything turned dark.”

Rae looked at Norton and Roland and could see the doubt in their face. He decided to kick it up a notch and forced himself to start tearing up and quivering his lips. “I-I h-h-hope… M-Master… isn’t d-disappointed… t-t-this one… w-wasn’t able t-to...k-k-kill it on… its own.”

Norton was mystified at what to say. Rae looked like an extremely beautiful elf. Coupled with the tears that were streaming down his face. “It-it’s alright, White. Even though it was already weakened, you still did well killing such a strong beast on your own,” Norton squeezed out with a wry smile.

Rae made a 180 in his appearance and let out a resplendent smile. “Thank you, Master! Master’s praise makes this one incredibly happy!” Rae nearly vomited at spouting out such lines but he reasoned that a momentary disgust with himself would be preferable to the suspicion that could lead to much more trouble. He didn’t notice, but there was a subtle yet larger resistance to his current behavior.

Roland was standing there in wonderment and nearly coughed blood at the face Rae was making. ‘FUCK! This is supposed to be a damn goblin?! And I could swear it looks more beautiful! Is that because it leveled up? I need to head to Daisies and spend this entire month’s earnings when I get back, or something might awaken in me…’ Daisies was Roland’s preferred brothel at Frento.

Roland turned to Norton who was visibly better, now that he didn’t have to deal with the crying Rae. “There have been known sightings of serpent beasts with acidic attacks, but they never come out this far. They’re mostly located on the west side of the forest. Also, I didn’t notice any tracks or signs of a serpent beast.” he said. Although he did not doubt Rae, he still felt inconsistencies in the situation.

Norton deliberated for a moment, then said, “We’ll need to do an investigation on why there are beasts as strong as this Dire Boar and something that managed to weaken it to such a state that White could kill it, wandering around the edge of the forest. Even if you didn’t see any serpent tracks, you have to realize, you didn’t notice tracks of any other beasts either. That means this other beast is specialized in stealth.”

“Oh, that’s true! This is why you’re the boss,” flattered Roland.

“Alright, let’s go back to the compound. And be vigilant! That other beast, whatever it is, is dangerous,” instructed Norton.

Rae sighed in relief. ‘Whew, looks like they bought it. I need to check my status before we exit,’ thought Rae.