YuujiEveryleaf

The previous chapter's poll is still up about whether you ask Fig to search for a stronger wielder or keep encouraging and helping him train, but for now it looks like this sword is doing his best to be as nice as possible. At least to the friendly goblins (enemies... glhf). I have to say I'm very happy for this adorable sword and will be cheering him on! :D

Fig exits the tent with you on his back and closes the cloth “door” behind him. You don’t need telepathic abilities to know what he’s thinking.

“You wouldn’t kill me just for using you, right?” Fig asks you.

/Of course, I wouldn’t! I like you./ You reassure the young goblin.

“Why would Sikglib imply that you might be dangerous?”

/I might be if you used me without care. I feed in combat. Thus far that has been enough. But who knows how it could get if I went a week without a meal. That’s why you need to train with me! You must strengthen your body. But perhaps even more important than that—you must strengthen your mind./

You check your stats.

Satiation: 99/100

Down one point already. Has it even been an hour?

“Meal, huh?” Fig looks into the distance. Then you both hear his stomach growl. The goblin blushes.

/You should eat something too./

“No, it’s not even close to dinner time. And I promised to go help with guard duty. I can’t sit here stuffing my cheeks with un-earned potatoes when my fellow goblins might come under attack by wolves or wild wargs.”

/Wild wargs?/

“We call them wild,” Fig sighs and goes in the direction of the fields. “Wargs are important combat units in the Demon Lord’s armies, and usually used to form elite cavalry units. They’re precious for their potential use and truly “wild” wargs are collected and trained in Milreg. The wargs that sometimes come roaming in these territories are the ones that some sick bastards set loose during their stay in these regions. Just to keep their hunting instincts sharp. The job of the guards is to just wound them enough to dissuade them from attacking further. Most of the time warriors in villagers such as ours couldn’t kill a warg if we tried.”

/These wargs sound like the perfect targets for your training./

As Fig walks with you through the potato fields you can’t help but feel some pity for the goblins. You see how much effort it takes for them to work this harsh land. It would not be easy even if they did not have such weak bodies from malnutrition. And the wind that is free to build up across miles of even plains keeps picking up the dust and ash and blowing it straight in their faces. The make-shift masks some goblins have cannot possibly protect them properly.

“Ah!” You hear a female scream coming from up ahead.

“Wargs?” Fig’s voice is full of worry. But through your connection you sense he’s not worried about himself or the possible combat ahead, but whether there’s a villager wounded or killed that he would’ve failed to save because he delayed. Fig rushes to the site, along with several other goblins that hurry from all directions.

When you both arrive at the scene you realize that there was no warg attack. A goblin woman—with a body as thin and scrawny as many others—is lying on her back, trying to press a wound in her stomach. She’s impaled by a pickaxe that’s under her back. You see Petunia rush to the woman and drop on her knees at her side to look at the wound.

“S-she pulled too hard and lost her balance,” another goblin woman says through tears. “Oh, Milty…”

“How many times I told you not to keep sharp tools lying around like that,” A goblin screams with anger, though he himself has watery eyes.

“It’s bad,” Petunia says and looks at Fig. You see the gray soil under the goblin rapidly turning red as it greedily absorbs the woman’s life force.

“Mommy!” you hear a young boy's voice coming from behind you.

“No keep him back! Petunia, keep him away!” another shout.

/Don’t you have some kind of doctors or healers in the village?/

“Healers? As if,” Fig whispers. “We learn to treat wounds and sicknesses as best we can, but this…”

You curse silently. This isn’t a problem you can swing at and kill— you have an idea! You bring up your status screen and swiftly read through your skills. That’s it!

[Life-leech – Ability to leech the life of others. It can be used for healing yourself or your wielder, as well as satiating your hunger and increasing your power. Always active.]

You can heal your wielder. If Fig gives you to this woman, you could heal her. But that will require the life force of another. You're an offensive weapon. It will mean striking one goblin to save another.

Is it fair to ask someone else to risk their life to fix a mistake this Milty made herself? Not only that, but Milty would have to attack another with her own hands, possibly killing her fellow villager to selfishly save her own life!

But leave the kid without his mother? Without even a chance to save her?

YuujiEveryleaf

Keep throwing those ideas for the sword's name. Will put up a poll for that in the next chapter (which will probably be after 26+- hours from this chapter's upload date).

Thank you for reading! I hope you're enjoying this! ^.^