"Are they still following us? Well don't mind them, don't mind them, little Ayame, cute little Ayame." (the muttering voice of the god) "But we better hurry up! It'll be dark soon, and it's dangerous for a pretty goblin like you to be wandering after dark. There are some real crazy people out there you know."
From the pouches around its waist the goblin took out the little balls of ingredients it had prepared and spread them throughout the area.
As minutes passed, they heard the rustling of innumerable little feet, and the sound of excited chittering.
The vermin were rodent-like monsters, growing to the size of a small dog, and they were a usual part of the ecosystem of a large city. The herbs admixed into the bait gave off an irresistable scent, magnifying the allure of rancid flesh...
The goblin rubbed an oil it had previously prepared over its knees. And when the scent of the bait faded, the invisible path of the goblin remained in the air.
Like this, it led the army of vermin through the suburbs of Marvar.
It was nearly evening when the goblin arrived at the noble house that had contracted it. The goblin washed off its legs at a fountain in front of the mansion.
Meanwhile, the masters of the noble house heard sickening sounds outside that were growing impossible to ignore. It seemed to forecast just one more calamity on top the one they were already facing.
The servants were no longer able to tolerate the growing infestation of spiders. Many of the servants were in the middle of preparing their resignations when they heard a visitor knock politely at the door. The head butler rushed to open it, hoping that competent Adventurers had finally arrived from the guild.
But it was again the goblin. The monster freely entered and walked purposefully inside, intermittently scattering an unknown powder on the floors.
The head butler was no longer afraid of the young master's rebuke for assaulting the goblin. The tide of opinion in the house had turned against the monster, and the butler felt self-righteously vindicated in his initial appraisal.
The goblin seemed incapable of understanding human speech, so he did not bother with verbal castigation, but skipped immediately to rolling up his sleeves. Desiring to physically punish it, he ran about wildly, squatting and trying to catch the goblin in his arms.
But he stopped when he noticed a strange noise originating from the main entrance. And as he came out onto the mezzanine above the main hall to investigate, he saw a sight that would remain with him for the rest of his days.
Thousands of rat-like vermin were swarming through the great threshold, climbing one over the other in their wild purpose and filling the fawn-colored floors with streams of grey and brown bodies.
The great entrance - through which the countless persons of great dignitaries had passed, symbolizing the power of the House - now seemed too narrow to contain the massed desire of the monsters.
So great was the shock, he was not even able to scream.
In the meantime, the goblin was diligently carrying out its work. After distributing the powder throughout the mansion, it was now going through the surrounding grounds.
After two more hours, the goblin was finished with its task. The sky was growing dark - dangerous for a young girl going back alone - and the god Yutaka contemplated sleeping at the mansion. But remembering the vermins inside he reconsidered this idea.
He estimated that most if not all of the spiders would be exterminated by the evening of the next day. Until then, it was better to keep a distance from the noble house. Vermin were often carriers of diseases, and Yutaka did not want his dear goblin protagonist to get infected.
There was no helping it. They would wait it out back in their garret apartment. In the meantime, he would give his goblin a much-deserved rest.
"You did well, gobby, you did well." (Yutaka)
