章節 4: Smell
Thud! Scratch!
"Skree! [What's inside?]"
The sounds of scratching and pounding jolt me awake. I confirm the totems are no longer glowing.
How did they break? Is it goblins or did humans set them up to fail? Did monsters overwhelm the sanctuary spell with numbers?
Also, whose voice is that? Are they leading the goblins?
I lie down prone on the rafter beam.
I hear the splintering of wood. Dull moonlight reveals the end of a primitive goblin club. It's a pointed rock twined to a wooden shaft. It rotates in place and splinters the wood as it's pulled back out.
I hear the sound of a crowd of goblins, and simultaneously I hear chanting, "Break! Break! Break!"
This leaves me confused, but I crawl into the hay to hide. Soon I hear footsteps below and more human voices overlapping the sound of goblins.
"KeKee Grrr. [Anything good? Anything good?]"
"Chit pa. [Shut up!]"
"Ka Poot. [Delicious scent, only mud!]"
"Slah. [Delicious mud]"
"Chu Ha. [There's small delicious scent. Up! Up!]"
Crap! Are they trying to climb up here? Is a human talking or can I suddenly understand goblin? Could they be under a spell allowing me to understand them or am I under one?
I could only continue hiding in the hay because I am no match for a horde of goblins. I focus on the possibility of my sudden comprehension ability.
This actually wasn't the first time I could hear words overlaying monster noises.
Back in Castle Everest, after my ears lost their numbness, I could suddenly understand the abomination's words as well.
Nevertheless, I'm unable to bring skills and powers to this body... However, this skill is different I got it after dying. Back then, I also lost the numbness of my lips and tongue.
Could it be?
The first time I reincarnated, and the goblins cornered me I thought they might've understood my shouts. Only after I did not respond due to being unable to understand their words did they get bored and kill me.
I theorize that I somehow inherited the ability to understand and converse with monsters.
Unfortunately, this is merely speculation. I'd rather not test it unless it's absolutely necessary. Who knows? If I must confront the goblins, maybe I can convince them not to eat me.
Goblins are too short and stupid to use the ladder mechanism, but a horde of several hundred goblins is incredibly destructive. Eventually, they manage to collapse the support beams and I feel the loft tilting.
Oh no!
The hay I am hiding in begins to slide away. I try to dig my fingers into a groove in the boards to no avail. Succumbing to gravity, I tumble landing on my butt in the pile of hay below.
"Scree! [Human!]"
The walls of the slaughterhouse are like swiss cheese allowing me to see my surroundings. A sea of goblins encircles me. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, the squirming beneath me is also a goblin. Most of the goblins are watching me warily but several overzealous goblins continue to smash the walls with their clubs. The ominous half-collapsed ceiling doesn't seem to bother the goblins as much as my presence.
"Wait! Wait! I'm no tasty human." I try to imitate the speech patterns I heard earlier.
"Kar Pa. [Then you goblin?]"
"Yes! Yes! Me goblin."
"Su pa. [Don't look like goblin.]"
The goblin I was sitting on worms its way out and adds, "Chit Chit Kerpat. [Don't smell like goblin.]"
"Due to curse. KeKe." I gain confidence and add an improvised goblin laugh.
The goblins inhale sharply and back away to crowd the walls. Even the perpetually frenzied goblins stop destroying the walls and swinging on hooks.
"Eah Chit Ka Pu Pu. [Stay away, curse make you laugh like sick dog.]"
I frown. My laugh wasn't that bad, was it? Oh well, at least it aided in convincing them I'm cursed.
"Sha Halla Keek. [You, poke cursed goblin with stick.]"
A goblin with a long branch approaches me and pokes me with it saying, "Pu Pu. [Poke! Poke!]
I ignore the goblin and begin to stroll towards a hole in the wall I could squeeze through.
"I leave now so you no get curse."
Unfortunately, the sea of goblins doesn't part for me. In fact, a goblin, likely the one I landed on earlier, approaches and grasps my sleeve.
He says, "Shi Shi Tu. [Smell good! Give! Give!]
"You want this?" I tug at my sleeve.
"Pu Sha Pu Sah. [Yes. Want.]"
Perplexed, I take off my coat.
If I just hand it over, they will think I'm an easy target and continue to make demands. But will they really take items from a so-called 'cursed goblin?'
"What you have for trade?"
The goblins start chanting a variety of different sounds, but the overlaying words are the same. "Trade! Trade! Trade!" They raise an assortment of items: knives, clubs, spears, bones, sticks, bits of rope, even loincloths.
The sounds the goblins make seem dissociated from their meaning. No wonder conventional wisdom says goblins don't have a language. How can they even understand each other?
I trade with a goblin in my path for a relatively sharp but crude spear. The goblin bites into my coat, and his head shakes like he wants to tear it. The goblins nearby begin squabbling and try stealing my coat biting it as well. This allows me to advance a few paces toward the exit.
I feel a tug on my shirt from behind.
"Squa Ik. [Trade! Trade!]"
"Why you want this?"
"Keek Sha Si. [Smells delicious.]
I wonder who wanted to kill this boy so much. To go to the extent of smearing his clothes with something goblins find irresistible and dumping him in the wilderness. He's only a beggar, wasn't he?
I managed to exit the slaughterhouse but, in the process, I traded away all my clothes except for the loincloth. I was both surprised and thankful they didn't insist on trading for that as well.
I exit the field to pick leaves so I can sew clothes. Earlier, when I traded my pants, I received a bone needle and thread.
Along the way, I convince the roaming goblins to stay away by calling out, "Cursed goblin here! Make way. Keke."
The laugh really sells it.
...
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