Chapter 41

Chapter 41

Otherworld Demon King Survival Guide.

Episode 41: Hobgoblins (2)

These bastards were really living well!

About thirty of them had gathered and formed a village.

This wasn’t befitting of a demon lord. Those mere monsters had established a village. Kyuse, from the Demonic Territory, hadn’t even properly completed a single dungeon yet.

Anyway.

It was definitely dangerous.

The reason I hadn’t come across these village-dwelling guys before was probably one thing: they must have moved from somewhere else. Otherwise, I would have seen them by now.

And if they had moved here… Inevitably, they would scout the surroundings as soon as possible. What if our home dungeon was caught in their scouting radius?

War, that’s what!

Oh!

I was scared!

Oh!

A sudden feeling of anxiety, as if an angered MBLAQ fan had been summoned, washed over me. Having made that judgment, I analyzed their strength.

“Grr! Grr!”

“Grrrrr!”

Firstly, among these hobgoblins, there seemed to be children, adults, women, and elders. If you consider that… the number of warriors who could fight was probably around 30%?

Still, about ten of them, damn.

“…”

Should I just set fire to their homes using a demon breath and flee? I considered it but decided against it. The time wasn’t right. There was no fun in attacking now.

Swish.

I first checked the location of their homes and hid myself.

A clash with them was inevitable. If so, I needed to annihilate them to survive.

We needed to reinforce our strength.

“Sharan, hurry up. We’re running out of time.”

“Sha.”

Sharan nodded and grabbed my wrist as if she had been waiting.

“But you said there are humans in the middle realm.”

I hadn’t seen a human, let alone a trace of one.

Seeing that these hobgoblin tribes had established a village in this jungle… were we quite far from the human habitats? That would be good news. Clashing with humans would be problematic.

But wasn’t it obvious that there would be excavations where there was a dungeon?

Human greed was limitless. There must be some who would come this far seeking profitable ventures. Even if they didn’t know better, wouldn’t they capture and take a demon, hoping for a hefty sum?

Damn.

Considering this, our current situation was not very favorable.

Let’s focus on the situation at hand.

“Anyway, I don’t know if you guys understood, but there’s a hobgoblin tribe nearby. It’s certain we’ll clash with them.”

“Heh.”

“Ugh.”

My subordinates, seated and focused on me, looked really dumb.

I gathered the little ones and explained about the hobgoblins, but it seems they didn’t get it.

“Assuming you’ve understood, we’re switching to a state of emergency. Dungeon expansion work is on hold for now.”

“Heh?”

“From now on, we will focus on troop augmentation and group combat training. Hey! New recruit!”

“Heh!”

At my shout, the spirited new recruit stood up and took a formal stance.

“Chuckle.”

Upon seeing it, Buril seemed satisfied, flashing a goblin-like grin. A heartwarming sight. However, this was not something one could merely appreciate and move on from.

“Goblins can also be trained perfectly.”

That means they could be organized into an army, just like the Hobgoblins. Look. Our second goblin, Rookie, who hadn’t been here for long, was maintaining such a disciplined stance.

These creatures possessed the innate qualities of soldiers.

A soldier didn’t need to be as strong as an individual warrior. They just needed to follow commands and control well.

“I, Kim Kyuse, discharged from the army with the rank of Staff Sergeant, will turn you into perfect soldiers.”

An army must be countered with an army.

This was basic common sense.

Let’s pause the dungeon expansion for a moment and organize a goblin army. Considering the size of our dungeon… firstly, eight. We needed to control eight goblins.

“To do this, Sharan-ah, I desperately need your help.”

“Shaa?”

Initially, Sharan was a major object of fear for these small monsters like goblins. And my control magic worked very well on monsters engulfed in fear. Let’s utilize that to its fullest. We should be able to quickly increase our troops.

Up until now, we didn’t expand the troops due to food issues, but from now on, it was a wartime regime. We needed to increase our forces quickly.

“So, Sharan, shall we play the tool-making game again today?”

“Shaa!”

Sharan, who jumped up, approached the wood. It seems she intends to make a spear or shovel.

I stopped Sharan.

“Sharan-ah, wait. Today, I need something different.”

“Shaa?”

“Look closely. Like this.”

ㅡSwooosh.

I drew circles and squares on the ground, just the right size for a goblin to hold.

“This is called a shield, both the round and square ones. Can you make whichever is easier?”

“Shaa…?”

“You hold it like this.”

I explained while demonstrating how to hold the shield. If Sharan was smart, she would understand.

“Shaa… Shaa! ShaaShaa!”

Sharan grinned widely.

“Oh! You understood it!”

Sharan immediately approached the wood, but then? She suddenly changed direction to another tree. It seemed like she was choosing a specific type of wood.

ㅡGoooo.

Soon, Sharan began to cast magic.

ㅡPop! Poppop!

The vines grew rapidly, starting to coil like a whirlwind.

“What’s that… Ah! Oh! That’s it!”

ㅡPoppop.

The grown vines coiled like the spiral shell of a snail. A vine shield shaped like a spiral was created. To describe its specific appearance… Yes, like the snail character. It felt exactly like the “@” symbol.

“Shaa.”

“You really are smart, Sharan! So pretty!”

ㅡSmooch!

I hugged Sharan and gave her a peck on the cheek!

“ShaaShaa.”

Then Sharan seemed pleased and licked my cheek in return. Ah! So now this level of intimacy was okay? If I kept pushing the boundaries like this… maybe I could even touch her chest?

“Chuckle…”

“Giggle…”

“Giggle…”

My subordinates were looking at me. What was it to them? After enjoying as much intimacy as I wanted.

I checked the vine shield.

“Hooh.”

This was a real gem.

It looked like a somewhat sturdy vine wrapped around, making it seem quite durable. And impressively, there was a handle attached to it. The real charm was so beautiful. A vine shield with a wooden spear? It was absolutely perfect.

Anyway.

The training started immediately.

“Alright! Rookie! Hold this shield!”

“Keurek?”

“Buril! Take the spear!”

“Keurek-keurek.”

Upon my command, Rookie picked up the shield, and Buril grabbed the spear. They were a splendid pair.

“You’ll be the shield-bearer, and you’ll be the spearman. Now, Rookie, stand in front with the shield up. Buril, stand behind him.”

“Keurek?”

ㅡTrudging along.

They moved according to my directions.

In the front was Rookie with his shield.

And right behind him was Buril with his spear.

A perfect duo.

“Keurek?”

It seemed they still didn’t understand the significance of this formation, but that’s what training was for!

“Rookie, raise the shield! Buril, aim the spear forward!”

“Keurek…?”

“Hey, can’t you understand?”

I had no choice.

I quickly took the shield from Rookie to show him.

“Look, Rookie. Hold the shield just like this. Bend down and cover your body with the shield!”

“Keurek?”

“Try it.”

“Keurek-keurek.”

Rookie, holding the shield, imitated my actions. Good. I positioned Buril behind him, holding the spear’s shaft in place.

“Alright. This is the basic defensive stance. Got it? When I say ‘Formation Ready’, you do this. Formation Ready. Understand?”

“Keureung.”

I kept emphasizing “Formation Ready”. They’ll get it eventually.

“Now, Buril! Thrust the spear forward!”

“Keurek!”

Buril, hiding behind Rookie, thrust his spear forward.

ㅡSwoosh!

An excellent move.

Because I taught him spear techniques, he could do this.

“Good. Very good, soldiers! Your training seems to be going quite well! From now on, the spearmen will hide behind the shield bearers and attack!”

It was a sort of goblin phalanx.

Considering the narrow pathways of dungeons, placing the phalanx squad inside the dungeon would be very effective. The phalanx itself was a defensive formation. There was nothing better for dungeon defense.

With such a formation, even if a horde of hobgoblins came, they wouldn’t break through easily. They only fought in groups with axes or spears, without using advanced tactics like this.

They would be swarmed the moment they entered the dungeon.

“So, we’ll fight like this… Ah, damn. You don’t get it. Buril, go to that tree’s end. Rookie! Go in front of that dungeon!”

“Keurek!”

Swift movements.

“Now!! Formation Ready! Formation Ready!”

As soon as I gave the command,

“Keurek?”

Rookie hesitated!

Damn critter!

“Keurek-keurek!”

At that moment, Buril shouted and gestured to Rookie.

“Keureung!”

Finally, Rookie rushed with his vine shield and stood in front of Buril.

ㅡThunk.

Smart Buril immediately aimed his spear forward!

“Keurek!”

And then looked at me for approval!

“Wooooooow! Buril! Well done! Rookie did well too!”

I immediately patted their heads vigorously!

“Keureurureung.”

“Keureung.”

Their cries seemed pleased!

These guys grasped the basic concept just from a little demonstration! If I kept training them this way, I was sure they would produce the results I desired!

“Kkeureuk?”

“Gyusat?”

“But what are you guys?”

Once I finished forming the goblin squad, I planned to form an imp squad next. They could throw flames. If I lined them up and made them throw simultaneously, they would definitely inflict damage.

The kobolds were good diggers, so they could be used as workers.

Perfect.

Goblin Phalanx.

Imp Artillery.

And Kobold Workers would make up my demon army!

“So, guys! Today, let’s go out together and increase our comrades!”

“Keureuk!”

From now on, we will be seriously bolstering our troops!