Kanae and Mitty stepped out of Grint's cabin to an outrageous sight. The entire village of goblins they had saved were crowding around Thedia and Ingrid like a scene out of a cosplay convention. The ladies were the cosplayers, and the pesky goblins were surrounding them. Instead of taking pictures, however, they were throwing around all sorts of trashy pick-up and trying to hit on them.

"P-Please, be my wife for the sole purpose of breeding!"

"Rate my dick!"

"I want to spit-roast you with my twin brother!"

"Would ya like a license to park that ass on my cock, sweetie?"

They were more than just perverted. This was straight up sexual harassment.

"Goblins," Thedia muttered derisively. "They are one of the most cowardly, shameless races that will hit on anything with a womb. If that wasn't bad enough, they are terrible at flirting, and anything that comes out of their mouths makes me want to retch…"

Several brave goblins were swatting at Thedia's tail, and it wasn't until she brandished her sharp, feline claws did they finally back away.

Meanwhile…

"Stay away from her! She isn't interested in you lot!" Takumi was holding a sword and wooden buckler he had picked up earlier to guard Ingrid. She was sitting on a log at one of the firepits and smoking a cigar stolen from an Outriders, clearly uninterested in what was going on.

"Come on, bozo. We can share!"

"Yeah! Brothers from another mother, right?"

"We'll triple-team her!"

Sighing, Ingrid got to her feet and flicked the butt of the cigar into the nearby firepit. She put an arm around Takumi's shoulders, glaring at the other goblins with one eye filled with enough venomous spite to make up for her missing one.

"Only green-nosed prick I'm interested in is this one. So the rest of ya can fuck off, alright?" Ingrid growled.

"Eh?" Takumi gawked at her and turned red.

"Eh?" Kanae mirrored his confusion.

It seemed as though Takumi had made some progress in the relationship front with Ingrid without Kanae knowing.

Disappointed that neither Ingrid nor Thedia were going to budge, the goblin crowd began to thin. Then they saw Kanae and both groups swarmed him in seconds. If their licking eyes could rape just by looking, then he would have been gangbanged to the three hells and back already. They came so close, he could smell how horny each goblin was, and their erections were showing through the loincloths and trousers at what they saw was an easy woman.

"Heya, toots!"

"Hot damn, succubus are really packing! Show us them titties!"

"How's about you take the whole village?"

"The… The whole village?" Kanae gulped, his crotch quickly getting damp.

"Uhm…" Mitty, the shy goblin he wa, made himself known by raising his voice, but even then it was barely a whisper. "K-Kanae and I will be going… to find the regnis mushroom, so c-can you save this for… later?"

The village went quiet. Every goblin traded glances with each other like a bunch of confused prairie dogs. One would have thought they stopped talking at Mitty's request to let them through.

Until one of them bursted out laughing.

"Huu, huu! What a fine lady you got there, Mitty. Gonna tell her how pretty she is?"

"Why don't you try giving them your flowers?"

Their ridicule earned even more laughs from the other goblins, causing Mitty to shrink and hide behind Kanae. They were bullying him to tears, and it seemed perfectly normal for them. Goblins weren't aggressively violent like Kanae had thought, but they sure maxed out on the mental torment department instead.

The goblins eventually dispersed, going back to what they were doing around the village as though nothing was out of the ordinary. A few lingered back with vain hopes that they still had a chance with the girls.

"They may not be the most civilized race, but I feel rather terrible for the little one," Thedia whispered.

"Green shits have just as hard a time keeping their mouths shut when it comes to this, eh?" Ingrid spun on the log seat to face them.

It didn't matter what world it was, there would always be bullies. If only there was a way to help Mitty be more confident and not take the abuse.

"How's Edina?" Takumi asked. "Honestly, if she goes, at least I won't have to pay my losses on the damn card game."

Kanae socked his friend in the arm. "Sorry to put a damper on your hopes, but we're finding that mushroom and saving Edina."

"And, shall we come with?" Thedia asked.

"No, too dangerous." He shook his head. "Mitty and I will go alone. I prefer if you guys stay here and not risk anyone else getting hurt. Besides, you can keep Arenade company so she doesn't blow a lid being the only one getting hit on."

The others walked Kanae and Mitty to the edge of the village. Four goblins who were guarding the entrance pushed open the wooden gate between the palisade wall. Beyond was the forest in which the dangerous poison fang roamed.

"How's about we go for a quick fuck, lady? You might not see tomorrow again going out there, so I can give ya a good last memory." One of the goblins who opened the gate winked.

"You goblins really lay it on thick," Kanae muttered.

Glancing over at Mitty, who was fidgety just being next to a girl, Kanae wondered how he turned out so differently compared to the other goblins.

As they were about to take off, Thedia placed a hand on Kanae's shoulder.

"I really do think it best that I accompany you two," Thedia strongly insisted. "I may not be crowned with a class, but without Edina, you have no keen senses from a beastman to rely on. As a feline, I have excellent hearing and eyesight even in the dark."

"Are you sure? Edina and I together still couldn't fight the poison fang. If something happened to you, Renya might pull her flintlock on me," Kanae said, bitterly recalling the pirate lord's idea of a joke.

The cat girl maid nodded and smiled fondly, likely reminiscing a better memory in stark contrast to Kanae's. "Rather… My lady Renya would pull her flintlock on me should anything happen to you."

The three ultimately agreed to set out together.

With Mitty leading the way, they were much more confident in traversing the forest at night. He walked with confidence and purpose, only stopping when his ears caught the sound of rustling bushes. Even a low fog blanketing the forest up to their knees didn't stop the goblin. The only thing holding them back was that they were forced to search at night.

"How exactly does the regnis mushroom look like?" Kanae asked their goblin guide.

"It has a blue cap and fuzzy stalk. They can grow on any tree as long as it's been covered in blood. We normally find them next to animal corpses that have been hunted by dire beasts," Mitty explained, seemingly with more energy than at the village.

"You know, you're less shy when it comes to talking about flora. I'm guessing the cabin with the underground garden belongs to you?"

"H-How did you know?" The goblin squeaked. 

"Sorry for barging in," Thedia began, "but when we saw that the village was abandoned, we looked everywhere for a clue and came across your little house."

"I just… like flowers… They have many uses and I think they're really pretty. Only, my village always makes fun of me for it… " he said, pressing his fingers together out of embarrassment.

Feeling sympathy for the goblin who was mocked for what he liked, Kanae walked closer to him until they could feel each other's body heat.

"You know… I bet they wouldn't make fun of you if we had sex," Kanae whispered seductively, causing Mitty to hiccup and turn red.

It was too much, too cute. Kanae remembered being shy just like the goblin around girls, and having boys make fun of him for his girlish appearance. A double negative that made it difficult to befriend anyone even into high school until he found the manga club.

Being able to tease Mitty in such a way gave Kanae such a thrill that he might not actually mind giving the goblin a good time.

About an hour into the search, and they had gone much deeper into the forest than any of them expected to go. The vegetation was darker here. Moonlight had a harder time passing through the canopy. However, as a succubus, feline beastman, and goblin, the three had a slightly easier time seeing in the dark thanks to their racial traits without the use of a torch or Arenade's Blinding Light skill.

Their Pathfinder suddenly gasped and raced ahead. As Thedia and Kanae caught up, a foul stench made them recoil. Lying half buried under dirt and leaves was a slain deer, its throat slashed and insects swarming all over it.

"Chances are blood must have splattered on the trees! But we have to hurry. Wolves hoard food for later by burying them. Whatever killed the deer might come back," Mitty said.

They fanned out to search the many trees in the vicinity, and by a stroke of luck, Mitty found it in a matter of minutes. He hollered to the both of them, and they gathered around to see the tiniest dried patch of blood on a tree trunk. A single mushroom, with a blue cap and fuzzy stalk the length of Kanae's pinky finger, was growing out from it.

Mitty produced a small pruning shear and snipped the mushroom from the base, then folded it up on a piece of linen.

"Now we can cure Edina, right?" Kanae asked, awash with relief.

The goblin nodded, but his attention was taken by something on the same tree they were next to. Slowly, he circled behind it, revealing deep notches along the trunk that had to have been done by claws.

Thedia's furry ears twitched.

"I hear something large approaching. We should hide or leave while we can," she warned.

They quietly crept their way to the shrubberies for cover while listening to the heavy footfalls of a giant dire beast. Just as they were about to reach cover, Thedia snatched the two of them back. 

A gray wolf landed where Kanae and Mitty were just about to walk into. Three more jumped down from the trees to encircle them, all snarling.

"Damn it. I don't have time to deal with this. Edina needs an antidote, so get out of my way— Turn Horny!" Kanae casted the spell at the wolves, stimulating them into heat. The four began to mate with each other on the spot, having forgotten about the prey.

"I suppose that is one way to deal with them." Thedia giggled at the pack's orgy.

However, in doing so, the commotion attracted the attention of the poison fang. A piercing howl sent shivers through them, and more wolves leapt out from the trees and bushes.

"Run!" Kanae screamed.

Throwing caution to the wind, the three booked it through the forest. The large dire beast closed in with its powerful legs, leaping over obstacles and weaving through trees. Although it was too high level to deal with, Kanae chucked Turn Horny and Charm spells at the other wolves. He commanded them to attack their larger counterpart, biting the legs, jumping onto the back, but the poison fang bucked them off easily.

At this rate, they were going to be caught and Edina would die. So Kanae did the only thing he could do to repay her— he stopped to face the dire beast.

"Wait!" Mitty cried.

"Keep going! Get back to the village to help Edina!" Kanae urged them, and Thedia pulled the goblin despite his protests.

Kanae never had a reason in his life to be heroic. He spent most of his time on the computer or at work. His hobbies consisted of cosplaying and crossdressing, pretending to be a girl to look cute and get hit on, and consuming as much anime and manga as possible to escape a meandering life. Until now, he would never have considered risking his life for others to live.

His only regret was that he didn't have sex with Edina sooner, foolishly waiting for the perfect moment even though she was so willing. He wanted to be more with the squirreling who had saved his life many times now.

The snarling poison fang lunged at Kanae, but he threw himself down a slope to escape the jaws of death and crashed into a tree at the bottom.

"Ow…" Kanae rubbed the back of his head, then gasped at the claw wound on his right calf that oozed with blood and green venom. He dove out of the way as the wolf jumped down, too. It took a harder fall and was dazed by the impact, so he seized the opportunity to make a run for it.

Every part of the forest was foreign to him. Each tree looked the same. No matter where he turned, the surroundings became like a labyrinth. With the poison slowly causing his body to spasm, the fear of actually dying began to set in. 

Suddenly, Kanae's bravery had vanished. He didn't want to die. He wanted to continue living in this world and see his friends again..

Someone… Please, save me… he begged.

And someone answered his prayers.

Mitty took Kanae by the hand. "Follow me! I know a place to hide!"

"M-Mitty? What happened to Thedia?" Kanae asked.

"I gave her the regnis mushroom and came back. I didn't want to leave you!"

They jumped into a creek where the goblin lifted a blanket of vegetation below the roots of a giant tree, nailed to what was actually a rotting hatch. As soon as the two entered and closed it shut, wolves and a much angrier poison fang landed in the shallow waters, sniffing the air vigorously.

Once the pack had left, Mitty and Kanae gasped for air, not realizing that they had been holding their breaths the entire time. Kanae fell to the ground, clutching his chest as the poison fang's venom worked its way into his system. It was getting harder to breathe, and his vision blurred.

"Oh, no… You were hit by the poison fang?" Mitty hovered over him, unsure of what to do. "I'll go find another—"

"No… It's too dangerous…" Kanae grabbed Mitty's arm to keep him from leaving.

Mitty hesitated, then helped Kanae farther into the underground hovel while lighting towers on the way. Kanae was stunned to find a whole home had been carved underneath the tree, with leaves and fur pelts covering the floor, a small wooden burner to keep the place toasty, and shabby shelves lined with tattered books. 

The sturdy curtain of roots from the tree above, reinforced with planks against the natural wall and wooden posts connecting to the ceiling, prevented the area from caving in. Several alcoves had been dug out to accommodate beautiful, vibrant flower beds.

"Stay still! I'll make a poultice," Mitty said in panic, laying Kanae down on a large fur pelt that must have belonged to a dire beast.

"Did you build this place all by yourself?" Kanae tried his best to stay conscious and fight the needle-like pricks in his veins by talking.

"Yeah… This is the only place I can grow flowers without being made fun of. It's lame, isn't it?" Mitty's shoulders slackened as he laid eyes on the flowerbeds. He went to work cleaning and disinfecting the wound. Next, he plucked several flowers and roots from his garden beds, and using a mortar and pestle to grind them into paste, applied it to the cut which immediately numbed the pain.

A goblin pathfinder with a hobby in growing flowers. Not what Kanae expected to find, coming to this world. It was always one surprise after another.

"I don't think it's lame." Kanae smiled.

"Y-You shouldn't talk so much… Please conserve your energy." Mitty scooped the rest of the paste onto a small leaf. "Eat this, it should slow potential infection from the scratch." 

Kanae opened his mouth to receive the medicinal mixture and clamped down on Mitty's fingers. Eager to tease the goblin, he sucked and licked them clean, causing him to turn red and shy away.

Though bitter, the citrus and minty aftertaste made it more bearable.

"Why did you come back for me? You could have gotten hurt," Kanae asked.

Mitty hesitated to answer. "You were… the only one nice to me… I didn't want to let you get hurt…"

Their eyes met, and Kanae gave into the temptation that tugged at his heartstrings. He leaned in to kiss Mitty, who backed away and went bright red, but Kanae wanted more.