It took Kei very little time to return to the village. He was now on his way to the goblin cave.

(I have be cautious with how I act when I’m around here.)

To avoid getting into any pointless scuffles, he made sure to take the path with the least chance of encountering goblins. He knew he could probably kill most goblins if any situation were to arise, but he wanted to make use of as many of them as possible in the future to do his dirty work. Therefore, preserving the number of goblins in the village would be essential. Plus, with “Observe”, he could see that almost every goblin had the same ability (which wouldn’t really benefit him since he already acquired those skills). It’s true that stealing a skill multiple times will strengthen it, but doing this with one that he’s already strengthened before won’t have that much of an effect on it. Additionally, he could just steal the goblins’ skills later on once they’ve sacrificed themselves for him. However, to re-enact this plan of dictatorship, he felt that he first needed to get stronger.

(I need to get two things done on this trip. The main goal is to look for younger goblins that will be easily swayed by my welcoming attitude. This will make it easier in the long term to use them as meat shields. But, before that, I’ll activate “Observe” and steal special abilities from any goblin babies in the vicinity if I find any. Although, I doubt I will.)

Similar to before, the cave was quite dim. Kei kept both “Night Vision” and “Echolocation” activated. He walked for a few minutes before finally noticing an area dense with red dots on his radar. He was close. Noticing a bright light not too far ahead, he ran towards it eagerly.

(Woah… this place is huge…)

Having arrived at his destination, Kei found himself in a large, well-lit room. Within it were dozens of baby goblins, along with a few dozen younger goblins. The babies were all grouped together on one side of the room. They were currently sleeping while covered in grass. On the other hand, the younger goblins were scattered across the room. They were mostly sitting in groups of five or more and chatting away.

(They’re not noticing me. That’s good.)

Before searching for underlings, he decided to sit down with his back rested on a side wall of the room. This would make it seem less suspicious when he looked around and activated “Observe”. Since Kei could only activate it on one person at a time, this process would take a while. He pretended to be tired and squinted his eyes. This was so that no one would notice what he was doing. Therefore, they wouldn’t suspect that he had any ulterior motives.

(Man… I really wish I could just activate “Greed” and steal the abilities of all the kids here. That would take much less effort. If I didn’t have to think about the future, I probably would have done that already. Unfortunately, I have to pick and choose what I need to steal for now. These little guys are lucky that they’ll be of use to me later on...)

After searching the room for a few minutes, he noticed that not all of the baby goblins had “Job: Spear User”. The two that didn’t were isolated and ignored by the rest of the younger goblins.

(Interesting…)

Kei also noticed that there was only one goblin with a different ability than “Job: Spear User” and “Goblin Language”. It was a baby. When he activated “Observe”, the screen displayed the following:

Name: Rourou

Rank

Goblin

Skills

“Absorption”, “Job: Spear User”, “Goblin Language”

Wanting a new skill, Kei decided to activate “Greed” to steal “Absorption”.

{Greed has been activated.}

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

{Your opponent is within range. “Greed” has successfully stolen the following skill: “Absorption”.}

{Absorption (beginner): this passive skill allows the user to gain skills upon devouring their target. A mechanism that comes with this ability also allows you to widen your mouth and eat almost anything. Since “Greed” and “Absorption” are similar skills, when “Greed” is activated, this skill will also take effect.}

(This can’t be one of those situations…)

Kei was shocked. He couldn’t believe that a random goblin had a similar ability to his. After contemplating for a while, he came up with a theory.

(The only way that this monster could have had this kind of cheat ability would be if it was also reincarnated just like me. If that’s true, then I’ve become really lucky. He could have been a real pain in the ass to deal with if he lived any longer.)

Relieved, Kei began slightly snickering. After a while, it was hard to contain his laughter. This situation was very fortunate for him. Although he didn’t gain any new abilities from the goblins in the room, he was able to thwart a potential roadblock to his goal of ruling this world.

(My goodness… what an unlucky guy! I wonder what damage he could have done in this place if it wasn’t for me. That’s too bad. Even though I stole his skill, I won’t feel safe unless I kill him. The knowledge that he probably has could be just as useful for him as the skill I took.)

It would be hard to kill the baby goblin in front of everyone. However, since it was not too far away, he could manage. After activating “Job: Spear User”, he took a small rock and aimed it to land beside the baby. As he thought, the different choice of weapon could still be used with this skill.  The rock managed to land right beside the baby goblin.

(Time to execute.)

He got up and pretended that the rock was something important to him. As he bent over to pick up it, he made sure that no one was looking. Kei activated “Greed”. With the new skill “Absorption” which now activated along with “Greed”, he could now open up his mouth much wider. He swallowed the baby goblin in one go; leaving no trace of its existence. He then walked back to the wall to sit down.

(That goblin actually tasted much better than anything I’ve eaten so far. I guess I can also use any goblin that annoys me in the future as food on top of the skills I can take from them… sweet!)

As he was searching for subordinates, he remembered the situation that he previously noticed was occurring between the younger goblins. He decided to walk towards the two that were alone.

(Emotionally vulnerable children… this makes my job easier.)

After approaching them, more details could be seen. One was a boy and the other was a girl. It was evident that they were malnourished. Kei assumed that they couldn’t hunt for food, and were therefore deemed useless by the other goblins. This made the most sense. Now he knew what way to start the conversation.

(And so the acting begins.)

[Hey! Do you kids want some food?]

Two younger goblins: [*long pause*… Yes… food...]

[No problem, come with me!]

(I somehow feel like this sort of conversation and approach would be illegal in my previous life. Especially since they’d be seen as minors. What the hell am I even thinking about…? I’m a weirdo. Time to focus on the task at hand.)

They followed him outside of the cave.

(Getting them to follow me was just a bit too easy. How naive are these kids!? Well, beggars can’t be choosers...)

While leading them to his shed, he asked for their names. The girl was named Ai and the boy was named Yujin. They explained their situation. Before the younger goblins are forced out of the cave to make a shed of their own, they are tested. Therefore, beforehand, they fight against very weak monsters such as rats. This allows them to have at least some form of practice.

(Good thing I’m not a rat anymore…)

Ai and Yujin couldn’t kill a single one. Therefore, the others shunned them. Since no one shared food their food, they ended up starving.

(Gaining their loyalty will be child’s play.)

He told them to wait outside of his shed. After a few a minutes, he came back with a piece of snake meat for both of them. Their faces lightened up and it was visible that they were extremely grateful. They were wolfing it down.

(That’s it… take the debt. Owe me with your lives. That’s what I’m talking about! Thinking back, now I know how Lelouch felt in Code Geass. “Obey me Subjects. Obey me world!” Hahaha!)

The energy of the goblins was now restored.

Ai: [Thank you mister! If you need me to do anything for you then I will!]

Yujin: [Me too! I owe my life to you.]

(They reacted just how I expected. No... Maybe even better. Are they basically asking to be my slaves? Time to increase my loyalty points!)

[No. We are equals. You don’t need to owe me anything. However, if you wish to, I would like for us to hunt together.]

Yujin: [Mister you’re too kind! Of course I’ll join you.]

Ai: [I’m very bad at it, but I’ll do whatever it takes to help you!]

(This is pathetically simple. They took the bait hook, line, and sinker.)

[Well then that’s settled. Before we continue, let me introduce myself…]

(Man… do I really have to stick with my new name? Oh whatever… I’ll figure a way to change it eventually.)

[My name is Kawai. We will spend this afternoon preparing and then head off in the evening.]

Yujin and Ai: [Yes sir!]

Having accomplished what he wanted, it was time to solve a few problems. He needed to find a way to deal with the weaknesses of the goblins he just picked up. Also, Kei would need to find a solution to not expose his true identity while fighting. However, these problems were manageable. With new subordinates, he was just thrilled that he could now continue hunting for skills.