Goblins are small, green-skinned creatures.
As one of the standard monsters of a magical world, goblins can be found across countless different realms. Perhaps because of the differences between worlds, even though they share the same name, goblins vary greatly from place to place.
In some worlds, goblins are nearly as tall as humans. The female goblins there are even graceful and alluring.
In other worlds, however, there are no female goblins at all. Male goblins can only reproduce by abducting females of other races, which in turn has given rise to certain special professions, such as Goblin Slayer.
The otherworld Naohara now inhabited was a textbook magic world, so goblins naturally existed here as well.
Compared to goblins in other worlds, though, the ones here were the classic short, green variety. There were no charming female goblins to be found.
A real pity.
"This should be it."
In the forest, Momonga looked around at their surroundings.
After finishing their group photo and chatting briefly with the red-haired woman, the three of them had gone to the counter to accept a Goblin subjugation quest.
Under normal circumstances, they wouldn't have been allowed to take it. As Copper Plate adventurers, they were only supposed to handle minor jobs.
Cleaning work. Picking a few dandelions. Or even ridiculous tasks like delivering love letters on someone's behalf.
But after discussing it, the three of them unanimously decided to pass on those.
They were here to go on an adventure, not to run errands. They weren't some yellow-haired traveler who accepted every request that came his way.
In the end, after half an hour of negotiation with the receptionist—and with the passive effect of Naohara's World-Class Item [Millennium Rod] subtly at work—they finally secured the Goblin subjugation quest.
Right after that, they slipped into a nearby alley. Once they confirmed no one was watching, they lazily opened a [Gate].
In just a few seconds, they crossed a distance that would normally take half a day, arriving instantly at the quest location.
"If it weren't for me, do you think we could've gotten such a good quest?"
Naohara pointed at himself shamelessly.
"Give me a break, Naohara. That was clearly thanks to [Millennium Rod]."
Herohero walked up beside him and delivered the line mercilessly, instantly deflating Naohara's smug expression.
"Don't say that. The staff helped, but Naohara played an important part too."
Momonga stepped in with a smile to smooth things over. The moment he said that, Naohara perked right back up.
"Exactly! Momonga really gets me. Blackie, you're miles behind him."
Naohara ran over to Momonga's side, pulled off his helmet, and made a face at Herohero.
"Naohara, you—!"
Herohero frowned, irritation bubbling up inside him. He wasn't even sure why he was so annoyed. Was it because Momonga had just outclassed him?
He lunged at Naohara, intending to knock some sense into him, but grabbed nothing but air.
"Hehe, can't catch me, can't catch me! Too slow, my friend!"
Naohara had already appeared several steps ahead, laughing as he took off running.
"Don't run!"
Herohero immediately gave chase, swearing that if he didn't teach Naohara a lesson today, he'd smash himself into a tree on the spot.
"Slow down! At least think about the mage here!"
Watching the two figures grow more distant, Momonga reached out helplessly. But by the time he finished speaking, they had already dashed into a small grove.
He let out a resigned sigh.
Not one of them ever considers how I feel.
After muttering a few complaints, Momonga raised his staff and began casting a series of spells on himself.
[Fly]
[Self-Time Acceleration]
[Wind Stride]
[All Ability Boost]
[Gravity Negation]
…
After layering dozens of acceleration spells on himself, Momonga slowly lifted off the ground, breaking free from gravity and rising into the air.
With a swing of his staff, a burst of air exploded behind him, and he shot off in the direction Naohara and Herohero had disappeared.
For a proper mage, using magic to move around was perfectly normal. Surely no mage actually preferred swinging a greatsword around. No way. Right?
...
In the forest, Naohara weaved through the trees at high speed, trying to shake off the stubborn pursuer behind him. But no matter how he changed direction, Herohero always pinpointed his location and stuck close on his heels.
"Not bad, Blackie. You've got some endurance."
Naohara laughed as he leapt from branch to branch, glancing back at the figure chasing him.
"Don't even think about losing me, Naohara. I've already marked your pheromones. You're not getting away."
Herohero replied calmly. As a Slime, his sensitivity to pheromones was exceptional. After spending so much time together, he had long since locked onto Naohara's scent. Trying to shake him off now was pure wishful thinking.
"What a pain. Slimes really are freaks."
Naohara clicked his tongue. As expected of an ancient pitch-black ooze, it even had abilities like this.
"Hm? What's this feeling…"
Just as he was thinking of another way to escape, Naohara suddenly stopped. His expression shifted as he looked around, sensing a familiar presence.
"Got you now, Naohara! This time I'm going to—"
"Shh. There's someone nearby."
Herohero had just caught up and was about to speak when Naohara cut him off.
Seeing the seriousness on Naohara's face, Herohero immediately dropped the playful tone. As much as he wanted to settle their score, he knew when to separate personal matters from real threats.
"What's wrong? I don't sense anything unusual."
Herohero carefully scanned the surroundings but found nothing out of place. There was a presence rapidly approaching from behind, but that was clearly Momonga.
"Dragons are extremely sensitive to pheromones. We're not inferior to Slimes in that regard. I can sense a familiar scent. They've hidden it well, but not well enough. It's close."
Dark-gold dragon pupils flickered into view as Naohara slowly surveyed the area. His gaze finally settled on a massive tree nearby.
"Come out."
He lifted his chin slightly and spoke calmly toward the towering trunk.
The moment those words left his mouth, Herohero reverted to his true form, transforming into a humanoid Slime and entering combat stance. Drops of viscous slime dripped from his hands.
"What's going on?"
Momonga descended from the sky and landed beside them, his tone turning serious at the sight of Herohero's battle-ready posture.
At the same time, he dispelled his disguise and returned to his Undead form. The staff in his hand vanished, replaced by the divine-class item Dragonkin's Blessing.
Silently, he released the suppression of forced calm imposed by [Eternal Seal]. They might need that World-Class Item soon.
"So we've been found. I knew we couldn't hide forever…"
Under the watchful eyes of the three, two figures slowly revealed themselves atop the giant tree. They leapt down and landed steadily in front of Naohara and the others.