"What?"
Godrick looked at the robed man in disbelief.
The man in the robe continued, as if he had expected that reaction.
"I'm very interested in monsters, you see. I know there's a village that raises slis... but this is the first ti I've seen such a docile sli with my own eyes. What do you say? Are you willing to sell it?"
If this proposal had been made on the day they t the sli, Godrick might have asked for a price and considered selling it.
However, by now Godrick had already made up his mind to use the sli to succeed as an adventurer.
"No."
"What a sha. If you were willing to sell it... I was prepared to offer this much."
The man in the robe took out a pouch and showed the money inside.
Godrick glanced at the amount and was surprised.
'He's offering this much?'
It was twice the price Godrick had originally considered when he first thought of selling the sli.
"You're really offering this much!?"
Godrick wasn't the only one shocked by the amount.
Skol, who looked into the pouch, was also taken aback and stared at Godrick.
"Boss! What should we do?"
Skol looked back and forth between the sli and Godrick in surprise.
That reaction helped Godrick regain his composure.
"What do you an, what should we do? We're not selling, so move."
"Hehehe, what a sha. If you ever change your mind, just let know~."
The man in the robe didn't push further and stepped aside.
When they entered the restaurant to order food, Skol asked Godrick, "Boss, are you really okay with this? He was offering so much money."
The image of the pouch full of money still lingered in Skol’s mind.
Hawane laughed and said, seeing Skol like that, "Pfft, Skol really is short-sighted."
"What! What’s short-sighted about !"
"That amount of money? We’ll make plenty of that from taking on quests anyway. Besides, we haven’t even done a single quest with the sli yet, so trying to sell it already is just stupid."
"What help could a sli even be!"
"Ha, it's stronger than you, Skol."
"Hey!"
While Hawane teased Skol, Def gently stroked the sli sitting on his head and spoke.
"Hehe. Just wait a few more days, Tongtong. Let’s definitely do a quest together."
The sli trembled excitedly and responded to Def’s words.
***
Three days later.
After repeating herb gathering quests, Godrick’s party was finally able to take on an E-rank monster extermination quest.
They chose the goblin extermination task and headed to the reception.
"This one."
"Yes, goblin extermination quest confird. That’s a sha. The apothecaries were quite pleased with the herbs you brought in."
"We didn’t beco adventurers to pick herbs, we ca to slay monsters."
"Of course, I understand. Then I wish you a safe return."
‘Monster extermination!’
The sli trembled in joy, thrilled that it could finally join in on a quest.
While gathering herbs, Def had comforted it, but the sli longed to grow stronger and evolve.
Thanks to the new city scenery, it hadn’t been bored, but it never forgot its original goal.
On the way to where goblins were known to appear, Skol asked Godrick, "Boss, there’s no limit on how many we can hunt this ti, right?"
"Nope. The more we catch, the more we get paid, so go wild."
"Alright!"
Herb gathering quests had strict limits on how much could be collected due to resource concerns, and the rewards weren’t great either.
That’s why Skol was more motivated by the monster extermination job, which had no such restrictions.
"Hehe, Tongtong. Let’s do our best!"
Boing!
Before long, Godrick’s party encountered a group of goblins.
There were four goblins in sight.
The sli imdiately jumped down from Def’s head and rushed ahead.
‘Exterminate!’
The enthusiasm it had been holding back while being comforted by Def finally exploded.
WHAM!
-KIEEEEK!
The sli’s tackle took out one goblin before it even had ti to react.
"Hey! Don’t go running off on your own!"
"Hmph, guess it was itching to fight."
"Skol, calm down. There are plenty of goblins to go around."
"Tch. Yes, boss."
"Tongtong! I’m coming too!"
Godrick’s party began hunting goblins together with the sli.
They harvested one ear from each slain goblin as proof and packed them into their bags.
While the bag they had brought was being filled halfway, the party hunted goblins almost nonstop.
"That should be enough for today."
Godrick checked the goblin ears in the bag and suggested they withdraw.
"Let’s head back!"
"“Yes, boss!”"
It had already been two hours since they started hunting, so no one complained about leaving.
"Hah! Fighting goblins really is boring!"
On their way back to town, Skol boasted while swinging his dagger through the air.
"Sheesh, the one who caught the most was Tongtong, though."
"Shut up! I caught plenty too!"
"Hehe, Tongtong was super strong! It even took down two goblins at once!"
Boing!
When they first tried working together with the sli, they hadn’t seen its skills.
But when they saw the Bounce Tackle for the first ti, the entire Godrick party widened their eyes in shock.
And Godrick, too, thought as he watched the sli’s Bounce Tackle.
‘Wouldn’t this be enough to take down even an orc easily?’
A green monster with a pig snout, about the size of an adult man.
Rank-wise, orcs were classified as D-rank, but with the sli’s tackle, it seed possible.
At this rate, everything might go smoothly.
Just as that vague plan was beginning to take shape in his mind—
-Kyah!
A goblin appeared.
But it wasn’t an ordinary goblin.
Normally, goblins had light green skin, but this one had bright crimson-red skin.
"What the hell is that red guy?"
"…B-Boss. That one’s dangerous."
Hawane, who was always smirking creepily, spoke in a trembling voice.
"What’s wrong, Hawane?"
"That crimson skin… there's no mistake. It’s a Scarlet Goblin."
"A S-Scarlet Goblin? What’s that?"
"It’s a mutated goblin. It’s about three tis stronger than a normal one."
"Hah! You’re scared of a goblin that’s just three tis stronger?"
"And it’s said to be violent and cruel. Boss, it’d be better if we just passed it by."
‘Hawane wouldn’t say this without a reason.’
Listening to Hawane’s advice, Godrick decided to avoid it.
anwhile,
▶Oh, it’s a red goblin. That one tastes a little better. [Noblesse Fire] ▶ A goblin, acting all red and proud.
▶This old geezer is flexing over colors now lolol. So is it stronger than Squishy?
[Just Slam First]▶You think the Squishy I trained is weaker than that red goblin?
▶LOL these humans trying to run from that thing lolol.
▶What could weakling humans possibly do?
From the perspective of intelligent monsters, watching Godrick’s party hesitate and try to walk around just a Scarlet Goblin was pure cody.
‘Three tis stronger? Three tis!’
But for the sli, the important goal right now was to defeat stronger monsters and evolve faster.
Boing!
“T-Tongtong!”
“What the hell is that dumb sli doing!”
“Hey! Stop it!”
Godrick’s party rushed to stop the sli, but they couldn’t catch up with its speed.
-Kkyak?
The Scarlet Goblin looked at the sli that had suddenly appeared before it and grinned with a cruel smile.
The Scarlet Goblin, known for its vicious and brutal nature, thought to itself.
There’s a weak sli here.
A sli weaker than .
It dares appear before without fear.
In one of the goblin’s hands was a short sword.
It was a weapon no goblin could forge on its own.
It was taken from a novice adventurer who had recklessly charged the Scarlet Goblin and been killed.
But against the sli before it, such a weapon wasn’t even necessary.
Just stomp it, stomp it, stomp it.
Crushing a weak and fearless sli like this was the right thing to do.
The Scarlet Goblin lifted one foot and tried to stomp on the sli in a single motion.
Then—
Boioioing!
The sli leaped straight at the Scarlet Goblin’s face.
An attack at a completely unexpected speed.
Even if it was said to be three tis stronger than a regular goblin, it wasn’t quick enough to react to a surprise attack like that.
WHAM!
The sli’s body slamd into the Scarlet Goblin’s face.
Fueled by the thought of growing stronger, the Bounce Tackle carried even more power than when it had taken down two goblins at once.
The Scarlet Goblin’s face caved in, and it was hurled backwards, crashing headfirst into a tree.
Crack! went the sound of its skull breaking.
Thud! The Scarlet Goblin dropped to the ground, twitching with its head lowered.
Though it hadn’t died—proving the claim of being three tis as strong wasn’t a lie—it was essentially on the brink of death.
And witnessing that scene, Godrick’s entire party stared with wide eyes and open mouths, completely stunned.
They had believed avoiding the Scarlet Goblin would be the safe route, yet the sli’s tackle had brought it down in one hit.
Unaware of the others’ thoughts, the sli bounced over to Def, jumping in place multiple tis.
‘Got it! The Scarlet Goblin! I got it! Finish it! Finish it!’
The sli rembered Def’s words about doing their best together and wanted the whole party to finish off the Scarlet Goblin together.
Even though it had practically taken it down alone, the sli believed that if soone else delivered the final blow, it would count as a team effort.
“Y-You’re amazing, Tongtong!”
Boing!
“What the hell did I just witness? That red goblin’s face totally caved in!”
“Hawane, that was really a Scarlet Goblin, right?”
"No doubt about it, boss. Even the soles of its feet are red."
"…Then what the hell is this Tongtong that took down a Scarlet Goblin in one shot?"
"I’m not quite sure myself. Pfft."
“Why are you laughing?”
“Oh, it’s just funny how I got scared for no reason when we’ve got a party mber stronger than a Scarlet Goblin.”
Boing! Boing! Boing!
The sli bounced in circles around the Godrick party, then moved over to the still-twitching Scarlet Goblin.
Even soone as clueless as Skol understood what that ant.
“Boss, I think it’s telling us to finish it off.”
“Yeah, looks like it.”
‘It really wants to cooperate in hunting monsters……Though this can barely be called cooperation.’
They were relieved the sli was on their side.
Godrick drew his sword and approached the fallen Scarlet Goblin with the others.
Shrrrip!
The mont Godrick sliced the Scarlet Goblin’s twitching neck—
[You have earned 10 coins.]
The sli heard the system’s voice.
‘Coins? Why?’
[You earn coins for contributing to the defeat of significantly stronger enemies compared to your level.]
‘Wow!’
[Also, when total coins exceed 100, the coin shop will be unlocked.]
‘Shop!’
The sli perked up at the familiar word it had seen in the chat window.
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