After abruptly cutting off the elder mid-conversation, Aku left the tavern with a scowl etched upon his face. Talking with Old Yurn had left him displeased, but beyond that, an odd sensation gnawed at his mind.

He felt as though he were in a dreamlike state, where reality seemed distorted. Despite abstaining from alcohol, a strange dizziness overcame him, causing him to sway as if intoxicated. His ears throbbed with a piercing noise, creating a painful sensation within his head

"Shit... this is weird..."

It must be a symptom of the infection continuing to spread and overtake his body. It's a miracle that he's still aware of himself, but that's not the case. There's another reason he can't quite pinpoint.

Suddenly, Fatima emerges in front of him as he walks down the dark road

"Are you okay?"

"Fatima... move or I'll kill you"

He didn't have any intention of killing someone, especially someone so young, but in his current state, his hand might slip and end her life. However, Fatima didn't take his threat seriously. She simply smiled and asked as the goblin passed by her.

"Do I look alive to you?"

After all, she was already dead.

Upon hearing her response, he looked back, but Fatima was nowhere to be seen. Did she disappear? Surely, that seemed implausible, or perhaps he was hallucinating due to his severe mental state. He simply shook his head, dismissing it as his own delusion

...

Meanwhile, Fielma kept watch. The grandmother and Nitch were already asleep, but she couldn't simply lay on the bed and close her eyes without worrying about what was happening to Aku. So she waited in front of her bedroom.

Aku's room was next door, so if he finally returned, she would definitely see him pass through, and that would be enough to ease her worries. If she waited for him in the living room, she guessed that the goblin would berate her, hurl hurtful words and insults... He'll surely call me a bitch, or say, 'What are you, my mother?' She was already starting to adapt to the goblin's harmful behavior, but hearing those words still hurt her heart

She heard the door open at the entrance, followed by the sound of footsteps climbing the stairs. Peeking cautiously around the corner of the door, she strained to see who it was—was it the goblin, or someone else entirely? If it turned out to be someone else, the mage was determined to spring into action, but in her current state, she might end up being the one harmed. After all, she was a pure mage—not skilled in swordplay, knuckle magic, or any other form of weapon-based combat.

Being a pure mage meant she specialized in utilizing high-level spells that manipulated dense mana within her body, a skill that a knuckle mage might struggle to control. If they lost control, they risked exploding. That's what made being a pure mage so challenging—she relied on a mage's staff to help control, regulate, and amplify her mana. Without it, casting even the most familiar spell carried a significant risk of fatally backfiring

It seemed that the one who passed through was indeed Aku... Fielma breathed a sigh of relief. Now that Aku had returned, she could finally sleep without anything weighing on her mind. With a contented smile, she leaped onto her bed, burying her beautiful face into the soft, fluffy pillow. Her blue hair shimmered with glittering shades as it was kissed by the moonlight streaming through her wide-open window.

...

Five figures, who's skin painted in blue, ascended to the second floor of Grandma's house. They didn't consider themselves thieves, although one among them possessed a talent for it, effortlessly unlocking the window to access their target's room.

With utmost care, the unidentified intruder silently slid open the window and stealthily entered the room. Inside, they found a young girl engrossed in peering through the slightly ajar door, completely unaware of the five mysterious figures slipping into her space.

"It seems she hasn't noticed us," one of the homorotabi remarked quietly.

Another homorotabi pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for silence.

"He's finally here," the girl muttered to herself. With a sigh of relief, her tension dissipated. She turned around, jumped onto her bed, and quickly fell asleep..

She remained oblivious to the presence of the five humanoid who had entered her room. They skillfully concealed themselves by pretending to be a furniture. One of the muscular men balanced a lampshade on his head, mimicking a lamp. Another settled into a chair, pretending to be the chair, while another crouched low, masquerading as the floor. The fourth member held a fake flower, attempting to pass as a vase, and an additional member, lacking an obvious disguise, improvised by wearing one of Fielma's panties on her head, pretending to be a hanger. It wasn't entirely surprising given that Fielma's clothes were hanging in the room to dry, and the nearest item at hand happened to be her panties, which she had borrowed from the elderly woman.

It remained a mystery why Fielma hadn't noticed them—until she finally did, and let out a startled shout

"What the heck!"

"Shh!" a homorotabi tried to silence her by pressing a finger into his lips.

"Who the hell are you people!? Thieves? You're not here to night crawl, aren't you?"

What she means by "night crawling" is a genre of erotic game where a man enters a woman's room and engages in sexual activity with her until she wakes up. This concept is also rooted in old Japanese culture, where a man would secretly enter a woman's room to engage in consensual sleeping activity with of course, the female's consent.

"Why would we?" they denied.

Despite their denial, Fielma crossed her arms tightly, gripping her shoulder in fear.

"Five men against one girl... W-WHERE'S YOUR MORALS!!"

"C-Calm down, miss. We don't have any bad intentions, we're gay." the homorotabi defended

"Don't lie to me! You're too big of a man to be feminine! BBC!! Big BLUE C\*CK!!"

The four male homorotabi exchanged puzzled glances, unsure of their next move. They had hoped that pretending to be gay would earn her trust, but they already knew deep down that it was a long shot. As warriors of the castle, trained to use their bodies to protect the royal bloodline, they were all quite muscular. If one were to touch their bellies, they would feel the hard bumps of muscle, as solid as stone.

It was no surprise that Fielma didn't believe a word they said. Nevertheless, they nodded at each other, prepared to do whatever was necessary, even if it meant sacrificing their dignity.

"Slay, girl, sheeshh. Girl power!!" the huge, bulky homorotabi exclaimed, raising his hand and kicking his left foot backward in a mockingly feminine manner.

"Ah, yes, you're gay. But that's not the point here. What do you want!? What happened to granny and Nitch?"

"There's no need to worry. I've erected a barrier that can block out noises coming from within this room," a homorotabi wearing Fielma's panty on her head stepped forward. Compared to the rest of the huge, bulky men, this particular person was petite. It didn't take a second to realize that she is a woman.

"Erection!?" Fielma covered her wide agape mouth in shock.

"Hello, it must be the first time we've met, despite your well-known fame, Hero Fielma. My name is Senazwein, the 14th princess of Homorotabi. By I mean 14th, I meant the 14th princess in our history. I apologize for meeting you in this manner," the princess bowed her head respectfully to the hero.

"You should be! This should be illegal. Also, why are you wearing my panties as a mask?"

"Why not...? This is so soft and comfortable," the princess remarked, taking the panties and gently caressing them, rubbing them against her cheeks to feel the sensation of softness from the gentle fabric. The male homorotabi followed her example, doing the same since there were many panties hanging around in the room.

"P-Princess, stop that! Look, the gay dudes are enjoying it!"

"I am truly sorry, Hero Fielma. We did our best to locate you as quickly as possible, but we couldn't find any trace of your whereabouts. I didn't anticipate you being this close to us. By the time we found you, it was already nighttime, and we felt compelled to invite ourselves into your room..." The princess closed her eyes briefly, then reopened them with a sharp gaze that seemed to spark. "Like a ninja," she added confidently.

"I-I see. You could always try again the next day, you know"

For Fielma, it didn't feel strange that the Homorotabi knew what a ninja was, considering she had pieced together information about the origins of this creature. The Homorotabi were known to travel between worlds, planes of existence, and universes. A faction of their nomadic group had ended up in Japan and lived there until they found themselves caught in the violent upheaval of the Great Celestial War, a series of seven disastrous events that nearly led to the extinction of mankind.

"It should be the time where we say what we come here for. Hero Fielma, the king invited you to his presence."

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"Why?"

"We need your help"

"Why me?"

Fielma's response to her question appeared to shock the princess. She had assumed that if she mentioned it, Fielma would be willing to exchange her life for their freedom. Historically, this had been the case for the Homorotabi before the Endless Winter, as the Dungeon of Roots of Akasha instructed adventurers to obey them through the Dungeon Quest, offering access to upper floors in return. However, with their technology now unusable and portals too unstable after Magroth's berserk episode, the Dungeon provided different quests for adventurers to follow.

"Because you're our hero... aren't you?"

Fielma was also known to be a hero, and the princess believed that heroes should be selfless, willing to help someone in need regardless of the circumstances. However, Fielma had been forced into this role without her knowledge or consent.

"The god sealed in the Igrus temple will soon be freed, if we don't do anything..." the princess continued.

"Sorry... But I'm not really a hero, you know. I just defeated that Fragmentor that time since it is already weakened, but compared to my seniors, I'm very weak"

Then she remembered something. A part of her memory that seemed to be cut off. A flash of visions about Fragmentors attacking them and giant luminous humans descending from the sky. She finally recalled how terrible Fragmentors truly were. The first time she killed one, it was already so rotten that it would break if left alone. And killing one Fragmentor would actually trigger it to spawn more.

That vision was enough to make Fielma's expression turn to stone as she remembered that her friends or party members...

They were all dead.

How could I forget such a thing?

She couldn't accept the fact that she had forgotten. Her eyes seemed to drown in despair as she remembered, but she forcefully suppressed her emotions. "Sorry, I can't help you..."

Even though the hero didn't openly display her true state of mind, the princess was sharp enough to read the room just by looking into her deadened eyes. She knew that Fielma was in no state to fight; forcing her onto the battlefield for their sake would only result in her death without putting up a fight.

"You have nothing to apologize. It was our fault that we attempted to put our burden into your shoulder when you have nothing to do with it. I am the one who should apologize for pressuring you into this situation."

"Princess, are you just going to give up?"

"Don't worry, I'm not placing our hope into the hero alone. I also have a hero of my own"

Hearing her words, Fielma's worries almost vanished. She understood the gravity of the situation concerning their God, Magroth, and pretending that the problem didn't exist would only exacerbate it. However, if there were other individuals who could fill the role of a hero, then there was no issue. Fielma was also curious about who this new hero might be. The person in question must be more reliable and stronger than herself if royalty acknowledged them.

As the barrier disappeared around them, the princess left her room. A moment later, Fielma realized that the princess and her entourage had exited through the door, not the window. Curious, she tried to peek through the door to see what they were up to. They might have had difficulty descending from the second floor, so they used the stairs. However, when she looked, she saw the four men carrying Aku along with his bed.

"HEY! Where are you taking Sempai!" Fielma shouted though the group ran at full speed exiting the home. It prompted Fielma to chase them down. "COME BACK HERE!"

...

"When will he going to wake up?"

"Is it really a goblin?"

"Shh..."

"He's waking up..."

The goblin woke up to the sounds of murmurs around him, coupled with stares that triggered his defensive instincts. His vision was still blurred, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep. He was too exhausted to get up for a whole day, but the strange feeling crawling under his skin compelled him to rub his eyes and force them open.

With a yawn, he sat up in bed. As he was found waking up, Fielma began to sing, "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you"

With Fielma starting the song, the rest of the present Homorotabi followed suit, singing while clapping their hands to keep the beat. "Happy birthday, happy birthday... Happy birthday to you."

Aku looked around, trying to make sense of his surroundings. He found himself in a grandiose space, where some furniture was made of gold. There was a wide empty expanse around him, and the Homorotabi were looking at him with excitement, eager to see his reaction. The chandelier hanging from the ceiling emitted an aura of elegance with its diamond glitters. A red carpet lay beneath the bed Aku was in, a symbol of royalty.

"What the fuck?" Aku muttered, his confusion evident. "What the hell?" It finally dawned on him what was happening. His bed was in the Throne Room, and the supposed King of Homorotabi was staring at him. He was certain he had entered the right room and slept in the right bed, but for some reason, he had woken up in this grandiose setting, with an important-looking person amusedly watching him.

"He heeh," Fielma couldn't help but grin.

"What did you do this time?"

"I-It's not me, I'm also a victim!"

Fielma found herself dragged along as she chased after them, despite her earlier refusal. Eventually, she ended up accompanying the princess instead. Despite her initial resistance, she couldn't help but find it amusing to see how the goblin would react to this absurd situation orchestrated by the princess to coerce him into working for them.

The princess believed that by embarrassing him, he would feel compelled to reclaim his dignity by doing them a favor. Otherwise, he would feel guilty for making the King wait for him to wake up. However, she failed to realize that Aku had a thick skin; such tactics wouldn't affect him, but rather, they would only serve to make him resent them even more.

"I'm glad you're finally awake. We've been waiting for almost 6 hours, goblin," the King of Homorotabi, Mefilsus, said, his deep voice grumbling with weight. He sat upon a large throne, accompanied by a female Homorotabi with one side of her hair tied in a short ponytail standing beside him. On his other side stood his daughter, his only daughter, Senazwein, who appeared to be sleeping while standing up.

"Who the fuck? W-WHY AM I HERE!?"

"I apologize for the actions of my daughter. She's a good and smart kid but sometimes, she could be a bit naive and airheaded. But now that you are here, we could now talk"

"This is about controlling the Igrus temple, is it?"

"How did you...? Precisely it is, if we don't do something. This floor will soon meet its end"

"We decline"

The goblin immediately cut him off. The King didn't know how he knew it was about the Igrus temple. Perhaps his daughter had told him? But based on the reports, they had kidnapped—borrowed—him while he was asleep, so there should have been no chance for Senazwein to do so. However, the information had been delivered by Old Yurn to Aku, who had died many years ago.

"But Sir Goblin, aren't you the salvation delivered by the God of Happiness?" one elder of the round table asked. He is named Renoa.

"I don't know what kind of crack you consume but I am not from nor a follower of any kind of God, especially that god you are spouting about."

In fact, it was likely the God of Happiness who reincarnated him as a goblin. There was no other explanation, given that his body had been offered to that god by the hero Albert, and the next thing he knew, he was a goblin. Aku harbored a tinge of hatred towards that particular god, but he couldn't fully hate it because, thanks to the god's intervention, he now had a second chance to seek revenge and protect his sister. Of course, that was provided he could survive the terrors of the dungeon.

"And besides, we're not obligated to take this mission. This is your problem alone, not us. Do your own damn business, will you?"

"Arrogance! Do you realize who you are talking to? You are in front of the king of all Homorotabi! A person who deserve utmost respect!" Teluria, an elder of the round table shouted.

"I don't care if you're a king or if you're a god or whatever. In the end, you're just a sack of meat that couldn't do his own damn job"

The king wasn't hard of hearing to ignore what was said. He had been tapping his finger all this time, attempting to understand the goblin's situation in order to find common ground. However, it seemed that Aku was brutally blunt in his choice of words, showing no inhibition or hint of respect in how he spoke. As a result, the king paused and spoke up to show his place.

"Do you know what kind of position being a king is?"

The weight of the king's words hung heavy in the air. No ordinary commoner could comprehend the immense pressure he bore. The burden of kingship was suffocating, a weight that felt like it could strangle and slowly kill him due to the impossible amount of responsibility he carried. Aku couldn't grasp this, as he had been born a poor man, responsible only for himself and not for an entire country.

"Yes, the role of the king is to sit on this throne and be handsome," the king declared, running his hand through his light blue beard.

"Huh?"

"My King! Leave the rebuttal to me!" the female Homorotabi beside him shouted. Her name is Quarea. Despite being the mother of Senazwein and thus the Queen, she appeared quite ordinary, dressed in plain clothes that did not befit her royal status.

"A-ah, ok." the king submitted to his wife's desire. Quarea leaned in close to him, whispering what he should be saying in this situation.

"Hero Fielma and Goblin, I understand your prostitute-" he queen corrected him sharply by pulling his ears, causing those nearby to wince in pain.

"Frustration" Quarea corrected him.

"I understand your frustration about this predicament. We won't force you to do it but I want you to understand that we can't enter inside temple as it repel us by force. Igrus, the fish-"

"First"

"AW!"

"FIRST!"

"Igrus, the first king made the temple so that no Homorotabi could enter them but it could be entered by those that is not from our blood. If the situation is not resolved as soon as possible, all of us will die"

The king's humiliation at the hands of the queen was palpable, causing those who witnessed it to struggle to maintain their composure and suppress their desire to laugh. It appeared that in the hierarchy of the Homorotabi, the wife held significant power, perhaps even more so than the king himself. This indicated a shift in the societal dynamics of the Homorotabi, which were no longer as rigid as they had been in the past.

Returning to the problem at hand, the Homorotabi were powerless to take action against the temple, even if they desired to do so. As a result, they needed assistance from outsiders, the so called adventurers.

"I don't care if you all die. Are you done? If that's all, we'll take our leave," Aku said coldly, turning his back and grabbing Fielma, forcefully pulling her along by her arm, startling the mage. He wanted to take the bed with him as well, but he knew there was nothing he could do about it now.

"Think about that old granny and her granddaughter. Do you want them to die?" Quarea questioned him, drawing his attention. It was clear they had discovered the whereabouts of the old granny and her granddaughter after locating Aku and Fielma. "You may think that letting them run away will allow them to avoid their fate, but we're dealing with a god here. No matter where they hide or run, the curse will eventually reach them."

Magroth was not the type of god to wreak havoc aimlessly out of anger. The god simply wanted to wipe out the Homorotabi and had no desire to harm anyone else who happened to be in the vicinity. It didn't intend to kill someone who wasn't involved in the problem, but accidents could still happen. The issue was that Magroth's wrath was specifically directed towards the Homorotabi themselves. Therefore, no matter where they ran, Magroth would relentlessly pursue them and make them suffer.

"Sempai..." Fielma looked nervously at Aku. She didn't want the old granny and her granddaughter to die, especially after they had shown kindness and hospitality towards them, treating them like members of their own family. However, she had probably already guessed that Aku would still ignore their plight and insist that their lives didn't matter.

"Oh, I misspoken. I just realized that goblins actually have no empathy. So what would I expect to a creature like you" the Queen taunted.

"Fine! Happy now?"

"I am so pleased. Thank you."

The queen targeted a sensitive spot in the goblin's psyche. Unaware of his past as a human, she sensed that challenging his values and morals might be effective. This triggered an internal dilemma for Aku, forcing him to confront whether he still considered himself human or perhaps a monster. Though he had previously answered that he was both, he remained unsure.

Aku click his tongue in irritation, "You goddamn bitch. I'm gonna tear off that crappy little face" he spat out angrily. However, Quarea simply ignored him and turned her attention to the mage instead.

"How about you, hero?"

"I would appreciate it if you stop calling me a hero. But I promised that I will follow Sempai until he die"

"What the fuck? Don't jinx me!"

Quarea smiled in hope. "Now that we have an agreement, let's tell you about the rest of the details"