Epilogue

With a strained expression, I loaded as much of the village girl’s massive baggage as I could onto the pack frame, making sure it wouldn’t get crushed, and tied down whatever didn’t fit with rope.

Just like a Sherpa on an Everest expedition. That’s what I thought to myself as I sighed at the mountain of luggage towering over my height.

“Huh? Mr. Goblin, you’re injured, aren’t you?”

Injured? Ah right, I did get a slight cut on my neck when I dodged the knight’s thrust.

“It’s just a scratch. It’ll heal if I leave it alone.”

“That won’t do! Even small wounds can be deadly.”

Saying that, the village girl skillfully applied herbs and wrapped a bandage around the wound. Not too tight, not too loose.

It was simple treatment, but I realized how skilled she was.

“Thanks, Village Girl.”

“You’re welcome.”

She smiled as she said that. I want to protect this smile. She wasn’t a beauty, but when she smiled, she was adorable. Something about her had this soft, gentle air.

We were trying to kill each other just a little while ago, weren’t we? I’m so simple-minded. But wow, this is healing.

I lifted the now-huge load strapped onto the pack frame.

“Village Girl, ready to go?”

She closed her eyes for a moment and clenched her fists. Then she slowly opened her eyes.

“Yes, let’s go, Mr. Goblin.”

I’ll never forget the expression she had when she said that.

The villagers were still holed up in their homes. The whole place was eerily quiet, like a ghost town.

At the village entrance, she almost stopped for a moment. But she didn’t stop walking, stepping forward with firm resolve.

According to her, it would take about two weeks on foot to reach a town called Rock Cliff. If you’re fit and don’t get held up by rain, it could be done in a week. But if you’re not confident in your strength, or get stuck in the rain, or carry lots of baggage, it would take about two weeks.

I figured we could buy food at villages along the way, since I had money, but the nearby villages were so rural that they preferred bartering over currency.

The closer you get to Rock Cliff, the more currency becomes usable. In backwater villages, even if you have money, you can’t spend it unless a traveling merchant comes by.

Upon hearing that, I decided to go back and retrieve the dried meat from my hideout. But the village girl didn’t seem physically capable of walking through the forest.

I could have her wait on the road with the luggage, but that would be like inviting bandits to loot her.

Troubled, I decided to carry her bridal-style through the forest. Maybe because I had leveled up after defeating the villagers, my physical abilities had improved.

She was embarrassed at first, but after a while of me carrying her, she was kicking her feet playfully, saying, “This is comfy.”

I hadn’t thought of her as a woman before and meant nothing by it, but wow, it was dangerous.

The soft warmth of a woman and a sweet scent after a year without any… my primal instincts almost revived. I kept a straight face, but inside, I was desperately counting prime numbers.

I got the dried meat and returned to the road. While walking with her, I talked nonstop. Silence scared me.

I wondered if she resented me for taking her home away. The thought terrified me.

Fortunately, there was plenty to talk about. I knew nothing about this world. So I asked, and she answered. That’s how we passed the time walking down the road.

She patiently explained common facts that everyone else would already know, without ever once looking annoyed or questioning why I didn’t know them.

We talked a lot. Shared a lot. Since we’d never had a relaxed conversation before, I spoke to her politely after we left the village.

She told me it was creepy and to stop. Rude. We never ended up asking each other’s names. We just stuck with Village Girl and Mr. Goblin.

When we were tight on time to reach the next village before sunset, I carried her and ran. My heart pounded like crazy. Was this love?

One day, while traveling like that, I suddenly realized something. She resembled a woman I used to date.

Not in looks, but personality. Low self-esteem, self-sacrificing, not taking care of herself, a bit absent-minded.

Maybe I was chasing the shadow of my ex, trying to soothe my frayed heart after living like a wildling. Once I realized that, it was like a fog had cleared.

Even in another world, I was clinging to an old flame. Pathetic. Knowing that, the strange dependency I felt vanished.

I stopped seeing her as a replacement for my ex, and instead, started seeing her as her own person. And I found myself attracted to her again, but this time for real.

Some time later, we were forced to camp outdoors because there wasn’t a village nearby, no matter how fast we walked.

After setting up camp, I stood watch by the fire at night. Now that I thought of it, I hadn’t checked my level in a while.

To check their level, people need to use a magic device in a church. That’s what she told me.

I guess being able to check mine anywhere is strange. Since I was always with her, I hadn’t had a chance. She was asleep in the tent now.

This was my chance. After making sure it was just the two of us around, I quietly muttered, “Status Open.”

Whoa, my level’s pretty high now, and I got new skills. Also, humans give a lot of experience, huh? Must mean war heroes have insane levels.

I might be stronger now, but I shouldn’t let it get to my head.

The new title “Monster” is probably because I raided a village and killed a lot of people.

That hits kind of hard. That god really has a nasty personality.

The day after I killed the villagers, I had a terrible nightmare. The crazed face of the village chief appeared again and again, cursing me over and over.

But that was it.

Since then, no more nightmares. I barely feel any guilt now.

Did killing too many goblins desensitize me to taking lives? Or did the god who rebuilt my body change my heart too? Or maybe I’ve always been a psycho and never realized it. Doesn’t matter. Better than being crushed by guilt.

This world isn’t the peaceful Japan I knew…

Our journey continued smoothly. I thought bandits would attack us at some point, but they never did. A man hauling a giant load and a single girl seems like an easy target.

When I said that, she told me bandits, mainly starving farmers, wouldn’t dare attack someone who could carry that much and still look unfazed.

So this massive load was a bandit deterrent too. She might be smarter than I thought.

As usual, we walked along the road. I asked her something I’d wondered about the day before, that people who kill a lot in war must reach insane levels, right?

“A merciful god does not approve of killing your own kind. That is why killing the same race gives almost no experience. However, killing elves or beastmen does give experience. It is easier to kill other races than dangerous monsters using poison or ambush, so many died that way. And in turn, many humans were killed by them. Sadly, humans, elves, and beastmen continue to fight.”

Her words shocked me. Me, who loves fluffy beastfolk, at war with them? How am I supposed to pet them now?

But that wasn’t it. The real issue was this: killing humans barely gives experience.

And yet, I leveled up a lot from killing humans.

What does that make me then? That title… “Monster.”

She kept speaking, but none of it registered. The world went silent. A ringing filled my ears.

Hey, god. This joke isn’t funny at all.