novelnext Page 8
Page 8
"Master... I feel a bit swollen here."
Just as he finished figuring out what was going on with the newborn goblin, he returned to find Joel's fair face flushed with embarrassment as she asked for his help. Lifting Joel's sweater, Niu Zida discovered that her breasts, which had been swollen, were now swollen. When Niu Zida reached out and gently squeezed them, a few drops of milk spilled out, and the room was instantly filled with a milky fragrance.
"Ah... Master, please don't do this..."
"I'm...I'm sorry...Joel."
"You're really perverted. Miss Joel was in so much pain, and you, as her perverted master, still had to torture her."
"No, I was just checking the situation again."
"Hmph, who knows what you're thinking with your filthy heart."
Misato Shizuku also took the opportunity to launch a sarcastic attack on Ushiko-ta, but fortunately, Yoel shook his head, indicating his trust in his master.
"Master, please help me squeeze it out quickly, it hurts so much."
"Yeah, that's true."
Niu Zida originally wanted to pounce on it and savor it, but considering that Misato Shizuku was watching, he knew she would scold him to death if he did such a thing. So he could only find a bowl and personally squeeze Yoru's large snowflakes. Amid Yoru's slightly humiliated panting, he squeezed out all the milk from the snowflakes. One bowl wasn't enough; he squeezed out five bowls, and in the end, he used almost every container he could find.
They fed the newborn goblins freshly squeezed milk, and sure enough, the goblins opened their eyes very quickly. By the afternoon, they were able to walk on the ground. Goblins truly lived up to their reputation as a race with a strong reproductive capacity. By the next day, these goblins were already jumping and hopping around just like human children.
After inquiring with other goblins, he learned that goblins typically reach maturity within a week of birth and the opening of their eyes. After all, a race whose majority are less than 1 meter tall would likely have gone extinct long ago if their development period were so short. Even so, this was beyond Niu Zida's expectations; he hadn't imagined that goblins would develop so quickly.
Of course, it would be a waste to give all the remaining milk to the goblins, so Niu Zida gave it to the old woman to make cheese, so that it could be easily preserved and kept for his own enjoyment later.
The process of making cheese is actually not complicated. The old woman pours fresh milk into a container, churns it to extract the cream, and then places the milk in a warm place to ferment. When the milk has a sour taste, it is poured into a pot and boiled until the yogurt has a tofu-like consistency. Then, it is scooped into cheesecloth and squeezed to remove the water. After about ten hours, it can be eaten the next day. Now that it's winter, it can be stored for a long time.
By the third day after giving birth, Joel had indeed recovered quite well and couldn't stay still in bed. Niu Zida then allowed Joel to get up and move around. Of course, she still wasn't allowed to take a bath for fear of catching a cold. Niu Zida insisted on observing her for two or three days before making a decision. After all, the custom of postpartum confinement in his original world had a deep influence on him, and he didn't want his beautiful maid to suffer any postpartum complications, so he preferred to be cautious.
To avoid disturbing Joel's rest, the repair and expansion work was suspended for the past few days. It wasn't until the third day that Niu Zida started ordering the goblins to work again. In addition to improving the fence around the farmhouse, the farmhouse itself was expanded into a master bedroom with a living room and a nursery. The other side of the nursery was connected to the old woman's residence, so that the old woman could come and help take care of the little goblins at any time.
A warehouse was built near the farmhouse to store supplies, while the other goblins set up tents, shacks, and simple huts around the farmhouse, which had become the main building, for living. Although these goblins only lived in caves, they were surprisingly familiar with building houses. It was later learned that goblins are naturally very skilled at constructing simple buildings. If they have enough food and a safe and stable environment, they will build their own houses and villages. Of course, to avoid being hunted by human adventurers, goblins closer to human settlements tend to choose to live in caves, which can better protect them.
In addition, Niu Zida briefly counted the weapons the goblins currently possessed. There were about a dozen short swords. These were supposedly made by the goblins themselves from iron they had collected. They were rather crude. They were fine for stabbing people in the dark, but in a head-on battle, even 10 goblins might not be able to defeat a human soldier with these things.
It seems that his goblin gang is really weak right now, completely lacking the ability to fight head-on. Niu Zida was originally thinking of gathering goblins to expand his territory, but with this little strength, he probably couldn't even defeat the four or five hundred bandits they encountered before. Speaking of which, those bandits haven't come back since they killed those few grunts. What have they been doing lately? Are they still keeping an eye on Aponia's village?
Chapter Twenty: Village Siege and Defense 1
Chapter Twenty.
On the fifth day after Yor gave birth to the goblins, the five newborn goblins had fully matured and become ordinary mature goblins, blending into the group. These goblins have a natural lifespan of about fifteen years, and their combat strength and intelligence are roughly at the level of a ten-year-old human child.
The total number of goblins has been counted: eighty-three were brought in, plus five newly spawned, making a total of eighty-eight goblins. Niu Zida estimated their combat strength: without his two maids fighting, these eighty-odd goblins could probably ambush a bandit team of five or fewer in a head-on battle. However, if the head-on battle was anticipated, even a prepared bandit team of five would likely be unable to take them down.
"It doesn't seem like the right time to cause trouble for those thieves."
With a wry smile, Niu Zida looked at the not-so-bright goblins and felt that the current situation was a far cry from his ideal of building an army of at least tens of thousands of goblins and several thousand troops composed of various goblin classes.
The food in this area is not enough to support a large-scale population expansion until at least spring. Otherwise, if too many goblins were produced, they would probably eat themselves to death before they could expand. Unexpectedly, the first major thing Niu Zida did after becoming the goblin lord was to solve the food problem.
Damn it, where are all those other novels where the protagonist is a master strategist, a master manipulator, and uses his superior strength to participate in political struggles, becoming an important force in the kingdom and being courted by all sorts of beautiful noblewomen and charming ladies? Why is it that when it comes to me, all I'm left with is whistling and ordering around a bunch of stupid goblins every day?
If it weren't for the two beautiful maids (one of whom had a rather unpleasant remark about him) keeping him company, Niu Zida would really rather find a high place to jump off and start a new account in his current miserable state.
However, despite the complaints, the practical problems still need to be solved. The first problem is food. For the time being, we can only control food consumption by relying on goblins hunting and gathering, as well as food rationing. Fortunately, because of our absolute strength and the existence of the Goblin Bone Whistle, as long as we don't starve to death, we can still control these goblins by eating less.
Joel was now completely free of movement issues, indicating that she had recovered without any problems after giving birth to the goblin in three or four days. Although Joel herself felt that she could have started moving around earlier, she was fully recovered in two days.
Now the goblins have broken the original structure of three communities and have been organized by Niu Zida into four teams: a hunting team, a construction team, a gathering team, and a guard team. They are assigned tasks to each team. When the construction team finishes its task, it will be temporarily assigned to the hunting and gathering teams to find food. The task of scouting outwards is given to the guard team. Niu Zida has also specially used goblin bone whistles to assign and appoint leaders to the four teams.
All five goblins born by Yoel were incorporated into the guard team and were directly responsible for the security of their main house. Although they had the Goblin Bone Whistle to control the goblins and Yoel and Misato Shizuku had strong fighting power against the goblins, Niu Zida was still very careful and could not easily trust these goblins recruited from outside.
That day, Niu Zida took Yol and Misato Shizuku to a distant place to scout out the surrounding area. The matter of gathering goblins had delayed them for about ten days. Niu Zida had been particularly concerned about the village of Aponia that the bandits had mentioned earlier; it was said to be twenty kilometers away, and the bandits' lair was about ten kilometers to the north. Looking at it this way, their place should be sandwiched between the two places. No wonder the bandits said they would pass through here when they went to scout out information about the village. But then another question arose: why didn't the bandits pass through here again afterward? Perhaps the ravine to the north made the road to this place difficult to traverse?
Because he couldn't understand this, Niu Zida became increasingly worried and decided to take his two maids to check it out. Before leaving, he told the goblin that if they encountered an attack by the bandits while he was away, they should protect the old woman and retreat back to the cave they had been in before, and not to get into any conflict with the bandits.
The village of Aponia was south of their own stronghold. The road there wasn't too difficult. After walking through the dense forest, Joel, carrying Niu Zida, and Misato Shizuku walked for about five hours. By midday, they could already see signs of farmland being cultivated, indicating that there were indeed humans living nearby. But even in winter, it was clearly abnormal that not a single villager could be seen near the farmland.
But as you go further ahead, you can clearly feel that something is wrong. Some of these farmlands are cultivated, some are barren, and there are even traces of burning. It is obvious that a battle has taken place here. And if you go further ahead, you can see the roof of the church. That must be the church building where Aponia is located.
Niu Zida didn't rush into the village. He had two maids lead him to a nearby hilltop where he could overlook the entire village. When he arrived, he discovered that it was a small village with about a few dozen houses, arranged in a staggered pattern around the church. A long fence surrounded the entire village, making it clear that the church was the center of the village.
However, on the outskirts of the village, Niu Zida understood why there were no people to be seen outside. A large group of about two or three hundred bandits were outside the fence, trying to break through it. The villagers inside the fence stood behind it as a barrier to prevent the bandits from entering. The bandits used bows and arrows to kill the villagers from a distance, while the villagers used iron pots and wooden planks for protection. Even if someone was injured, someone would quickly take their place. Although their fighting ability was obviously inferior to that of the bandits, their will was firm, and they were clearly organized and orderly.
"No wonder these thieves haven't come here; they've all been focusing their attacks on the village."
"Master, what should we do? Should we go and help these villagers?"
"Don't rush. It seems these villagers can hold out until night. There are many thieves, and we would be in danger if we went to help them during the day. Let's wait until night."
Upon hearing Niu Zida's arrangement, both Yole and Sanxiang Shizuku agreed. Thus, the three of them remained hidden on the high ground, watching the villagers fight back fiercely until nightfall. Although several people were injured, they managed to withstand the thieves' onslaught and hold the fence.
"This group of villagers seems to be well organized."
"However, my physical strength has reached its limit, and it seems that it is only a matter of time before we fall."
Shizuku Misato coldly pointed out the crux of the problem, and Tatsuya Ushiko agreed, saying:
"So tonight is our chance to strike..."
Chapter Twenty-One: Village Siege and Defense 2
.
Chapter Twenty-One.
Niu Zida, Yoel, and Sanxiang Shizuku explained their tactics for the night. They planned to harass the bandits who had been fighting all day under the cover of darkness. Since the bandits had suppressed the village, they probably assumed that the village wouldn't have any ability to go out and fight, so they would be less vigilant at night, which would be their opportunity.
"Judging from the daytime battles in that village, there really aren't many young people left."
"I guess they were all conscripted and taken away. Aunt Liddell said that since her husband and son were taken away to serve in the army because her village is so remote, even more people will be taken away from this village."
Yoru was afraid that Niu Zida would get cold, so he held Niu Zida tightly in his arms. This also made it easier for Niu Zida to hold Yoru's big snowball and talk to Misato Shizuku. Of course, Misato Shizuku was used to this scene. If she had just come to Niu Zida's side, she would have complained, but now she didn't care. Sometimes Misato Shizuku herself sighed that humans are really creatures that can adapt to the environment quickly.
They waited patiently until evening, during which time they ate something. Niu Zida ate the cheese that the old woman made with Yoel's milk and gave it to Misato Shizuku. Misato Shizuku rolled her eyes and preferred to eat some of the dry food they had brought. Yoel was a little embarrassed, but under his master's insistence, he reluctantly took a bite.
"How is it, Joel's wife? The cheese made from your own milk is delicious, isn't it?"
"Master is really something..."
Somewhat embarrassed and unsure how to answer, Joel could only mutter a soft complaint before hugging Niu Zida and falling silent. Seeing this, Misato Shizuku gave a cold snort.
"Please don't do such disgusting things and make things difficult for Miss Joel, okay?"
"What did I do wrong? I just treated Joel to something to eat."
"Who doesn't know how that disgusting stuff of yours is made?"
"What is that? Are you saying that Joel's milk is disgusting?"
"You pervert..."
Misato Shizuku realized that Niu Zida had caught her out and outmaneuvered her, which might cause Yoru to misunderstand. She was so angry that she didn't know what to say. Seeing this, Yoru quickly tried to persuade the two of them not to argue. Misato Shizuku could only roll her eyes at Niu Zida and stop arguing. After spending a few days together, Misato Shizuku had a good impression of the gentle Yoru, but she was increasingly disgusted by Niu Zida's lecherous stares at her and Yoru and his demands for her services.
"Alright, alright, Shizuku Misato, it was my fault, don't be angry."
"Who is your wife? I haven't recognized you as my master yet."
Niu Zida didn't want his relationship with Misato Shizuku to become too strained, so he took the initiative to soften the stance. However, Misato Shizuku's response was very clear: she would never acknowledge Niu Zida's abilities until she saw them. Although Niu Zida could issue commands through the bracelet, this would only exacerbate the psychological distance between him and this proud and beautiful girl. Therefore, except when necessary, Niu Zida could not use such a forceful method to command her.
Night finally fell, and the thieves simply set up some tents and lit campfires outside the village to rest. They only set up a few sentry posts around the village. Although they outnumbered the villagers, they were nothing more than a rabble. No wonder they couldn't take the village despite their numerical advantage. If there were more young people in the village, Niu Zida felt that the villagers might be able to counterattack the thieves based on their previous level of organization, without his help.
"We can begin once they've fallen asleep."
Niu Zida waited patiently for another two or three hours. Gradually, the noise from the bandits' camp subsided, and it seemed that most of them had gone to sleep. Niu Zida waited for about another hour, and after confirming that everyone was sound asleep, he directed Joel to hold him while ordering Misato Shizuku to attack from both sides.
Niu Zida's tactics were simple: the two of them would charge into the camp from two different directions and keep advancing, attacking anyone they encountered, regardless of whether they succeeded or not. Then they would turn around and launch a combined attack, repeating this three times. After that, no matter how many casualties they inflicted, they would return to the high ground to regroup, never lingering in battle.
Joel had Niu Zida ride on the stirrups tied to his waist, holding onto the ropes around his neck to ensure Niu Zida was securely on his beautiful back. Then he and Sanxiang Shizuku split up and quickly took down many people in their attack, throwing the camp into chaos. After the two charged back and forth three times as planned, the thieves who had been fast asleep in the darkness had no idea how many people were attacking them. They only felt the faint glow of the campfire and heard the screams of pain as shadows approached, as if death itself had descended.
As agreed, they charged three times. Afterward, Joel and Misato Shizuku retreated to the high ground and watched from a distance as flames soared into the sky in the bandits' camp. Some of these flames were accidentally set by the two women while they were charging back and forth to create chaos. At this point, the bandits were confused about where the enemy was, and in the chaos, some of their own men even killed each other by mistake.
Is that enough?
"Of course, we are outnumbered and cannot confront the enemy head-on. A brief charge will suffice. We should find a place to rest first and see how these bandits fared tomorrow. After such an unexplained attack, I think they will definitely retreat. If they don't leave, we can come back the next night, specifically targeting these bandits when they are resting."
Niu Zida said this with great confidence. Sanxiang Shizuku followed Yole and Niu Zida to find a sheltered place to rest. When they got up the next morning, they found that the chaotic bandit camp from the previous night was completely deserted, except for a messy campfire and the remains of burning tents.
"Master is amazing, defeating the enemy just like that?"
"This was just a harassment while the enemy was off guard. Although you two are stronger than them, you are still too few in number for a head-on battle, which could easily lead to accidents. Attacking them while they are resting at night is the most economical option. As the saying goes, 'When the enemy is stationed, we harass them; when the enemy is tired, we attack them.'"
After hearing this, Joel nodded in agreement, while Shizuku Misato merely snorted coldly, still somewhat unconvinced. Ushiko Tatsuya knew that such a small victory wouldn't truly convince Shizuku, so he deliberately said to Joel:
"Yol, let me check your data. You haven't checked it since you got pregnant, have you?"
"Huh? Master, you're here?"
"Yes, of course. Don't be shy. I've checked every part of your body."
Seeing that Joel was a little shy, Niu Zida reached out his big hand, put his arm around Joel's fragrant shoulder, slipped inside her red sweater, and pressed down on her big snowflakes to bring up Joel's panel attribute panel.
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Villagers' Misunderstanding
Chapter Twenty-Two.
Niu Zida used his large hand to press and hold down the large, white snowflake of Yoel, opening Yoel's panel attribute bar. The data he saw was as follows:
Combat Talent:
Speed: 107
Power: 82
Agility: 99
Magic: 0
Special skill: Concealing one's whereabouts.
Reproductive talent: Goblin Assassin.
Special talent: secreting milk.
Corruption Value: 60
"Sure enough, the data increased significantly after I got pregnant."
This was also the first time that Misato Shizuku had seen Yoel's attribute panel. To her surprise, Yoel's stats had surpassed hers in every way. Moreover, according to Niu Zida, the significant increase was due to her pregnancy. This caused a slight wavering in the heart of the proud Misato Shizuku. What she could not accept the most was that she was weaker than others.
"Master, have you finished reading?"
"Oh, I've finished reading it. Sorry, Hayor's wife."
After kissing Yole's snow-white cheek, Niu Zida turned off the panel attributes. He'd already done enough to shock Misato Shizuku. Then, he climbed onto Yole's beautiful back and carried Misato Shizuku to the camp. Seeing the thieves taking away their companion's corpse, Niu Zida said:
“This band of thieves retreated fairly orderly this time. It seems they'll attack the village again in a few days once they've settled down. Let's go and negotiate with them to see if there's any chance of cooperation. At the very least, we should remind them not to be careless. But you two can talk during the negotiation. I'll hide for now. Being discovered as a goblin could be very troublesome.”
As Joel carried Niu Zida, they approached the village. The villagers seemed unsure how the thieves had disappeared. They had come out in the morning to find the thieves gone and assumed it was some kind of enemy trick. So the villagers were on high alert. As Niu Zida got closer, he realized that there were really no young people left in the village. The youngest were all men in their fifties. No wonder they were so well-organized but didn't dare to take the initiative.
Yesterday, they could only hold out against the fence, standing there like iron turtles to be attacked by thieves. If these elderly people were to fight alone, they would probably be quickly crushed. This also confirmed Niu Zida's suspicion that these rural elders must have someone organizing them behind the scenes to be able to defend themselves in such an orderly manner.
"Hello, we mean no harm. We've come to request a meeting with your village chief. Is that alright?"
The villagers were incredulous when they saw the two beautiful women approaching. In this rural area, they had never seen such beautiful women except for Aponia. They were so beautiful that it seemed unreal, and no one dared to answer Joel's question.
"Excuse me……"
Finding himself ignored, Joel felt a little embarrassed, wondering if it was because he was being too strange. Meanwhile, Shizuku Misato, wearing black stockings, stepped forward and initiated a conversation:
"I hope to meet your village chief."
"Who are you?"
"The thieves who were killed were driven away by us for you."
"Ok?"
Hearing what Misato Shizuku said, the villagers were somewhat skeptical. After all, how could two or three hundred thieves be driven away by just these two beautiful women? It was simply a fantasy.
"What you're carrying on your back is..."
Someone had already spotted Niu Zida lying behind Joel. In fact, Niu Zida didn't want to show his face so quickly in order to conceal his presence, but now that he had been seen, he had no choice but to straighten up and reveal his face by supporting himself on Joel's slender shoulders.
"Goblin??"
"Who are you?"