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Golden Goblin.

In the game, it looks just like a goblin, but this monster is characterized by its golden body, wearing a crown and carrying a bundle.

It’s pitifully weak, but as a monster that spills money everywhere, encountering it is like trying to catch a star in the sky.

I just realized that this Golden Goblin actually exists.

I was looking down at the man… no, at the Golden Goblin in front of me.

I don’t know how much he has, but it doesn’t seem like it would be less than I have.

But thinking about it.

‘Is there really a reason for me to save him in exchange for money?’

He attacked first, and I won, right?

“Can’t I just kill him and take his stuff?”

As I thought that, I noticed him trembling with fear.

‘What’s with everyone?’

Is he shaking just from receiving a punch?

The goblin before was the same; I hadn’t done anything, but they’re scared for no reason.

Hmm…

As I contemplated what to do, a light bulb lit up in my head.

“Ah! How about we play a game together?”

“A g-game?”

“Yeah. If you win, I’ll spare you. If you lose, you die. Isn’t it better to try something than just waiting to die?”

“I don’t know what it is, but I’ll do it!”

“You’ll do it?”

“I’ll do it!”

Although I said it was a game, one could think of it as being for his health.

“Okay then, take off your shoes.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, he tossed off his shoes at my command.

“I have some preparations to make before the game, so just sit still.”

I pulled out a Ninja Spike from my inventory.

Then, I kindly stuck one in the soles of his feet as he sat there shoeless and well-behaved.

“Argh!!!”

“Shh. It’s good for you.”

In Earth, people stick needles to their bodies for health and wear uneven slippers for disease prevention—this is nothing to whine about.

-Thunk.

“Ahhhh!!!”

-Thunk.

“Ugh!!!”

Although I couldn’t stick many due to the size of the Ninja Spike, it looked impressive with about ten stuck in his soles.

“You said you’d spare me!!!”

“I never killed you, so why act like I did?”

What a funny guy.

Anyone would think I had a knife to his throat or something.

“Alright. It’s over. Now stand up.”

“W-what? You want me to stand up like this?”

“You have to stand to play the game.”

“Ugh… before standing, could you at least explain what the game is?”

“Your words are getting shorter.”

“…Please.”

He already agreed but is acting like a brat now.

Can’t he understand his situation?

“I’m wasting time; should I just kill you…?”

As I muttered to myself, he seemed to hear me and suddenly stood up.

The sound of him gritting his teeth was just a bonus.

“Ugh…!”

“See? You can do it.”

In the military, there was nothing you couldn’t do! I even carved mountains with just a shovel!

Of course, I was in civil service.

“Those pressure slippers are good for your health. I’m doing this for you, so why look at me like that?”

“…”

He looked at me as if I were crazy.

But what can he do? He’s the one who agreed to this.

“Now I’ll tell you how the game works. You just need to walk ten steps, and I’ll spare you.”

“T-ten steps?!”

“Or you can just die.”

“…I’ll do it.”

He’s trembling just from standing; it looks tough for him.

Soon after, he bravely took one step forward.

“Ugh… Ahhh…!!”

He grimaced with every step he took.

And blood poured from his soles, where the Ninja Spikes were embedded.

I couldn’t help but clap.

So this is what they mean by rolling out a red carpet!

“One.”

I had to keep count since it was a game.

With renewed courage, he took another step.

Two, three, four, gradually increasing until he was nearly at ten.

“Ugh… ugh….”

By the end, his moans sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

I’m getting health and sparing his life with just ten steps; isn’t that a two-for-one deal?

Why is he so sad?

I don’t get it.

Anyway, I won the game, so I should let him go and be on my way.

“I’ll spare you because you’ve won. But don’t let me see you again. If I do, I’ll really kill you. Got it?”

-Nod, nod, nod, nod.

He fervently shook his head.

Squatting down, he hurriedly yanked out the Ninja Spikes, then, once he pulled them all out, he began to hop away on tiptoes.

‘He could run just fine; why the fuss?’

Alright, now.

As I watched the man start moving further away, I sprinted towards him.

Did he hear my footsteps? The fleeing guy glanced back at me, and our eyes met.

“Here’s Luke~”

I gave him a grin, and his eyes were filled with terror.

He turned back and started running even faster than before.

But there was no way he could escape me with those holes in his soles.

Eventually, he was caught.

The guy, who had been running diligently, tripped and fell in the end.

“You said you’d spare me!! I won!! I won, so why are you following me!!”

“Hi there. We meet again! What did I say would happen if I saw you again?”

“You crazy bastard!! You’re the one who followed me!!”

“What are you talking about? It was just my irresistible force pulling me toward you.”

“What nonsense!!”

Argh, so noisy.

Honestly, I have no reason to spare him, right?

People like him just come back stronger or tip off their superiors about me—classic plot twist.

I’m not a typical protagonist with a naive personality; I don’t leave pest issues unresolved.

“Whatever~”

“What does that mean—?”

His sentence never finished.

Because his neck sprawled out on the ground.

Thud, his body fell forward.

[Level Up! Check your stats!]

“?”

I was bewildered by the sudden level-up.

Thinking about the stats, an information window I hadn’t seen for hours appeared before me.

[ Information ]

Name: Luke

Gender: Male

Age: 20

Grade: None

Magical Power: 0 / 0

Level: 16

[ Skills ]

Inventory (F)

[ Stats ]

Strength: 15

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 0

Stamina: 10

Stat Points: 1

I checked to see if it was a mistake, but I really leveled up.

“Wow, you can level up even by killing people?”

I pondered whether to find some dark guild for mass slaughtering; it could be ultimate grinding.

However, having killed two people and still being level 1 indicates that the efficiency is awful.

It would be much better to just take down a monster or two instead.

I pushed the status window aside and rifled through the corpse’s belongings.

“Ooh, that’s shiny.”

There were exactly two items that came out of the body.

One was the money pouch the deceased spoke about, and the other was an unknown key.

“I thought it would be heavy, but it’s really not.”

There were 2 silver coins in the money pouch.

I directly transferred them to my money pouch and stored them in the inventory, keeping the key for no particular reason.

Still not satisfied with this, I stuffed the sword the corpse had into my inventory too.

Maybe I could earn a few coins later at a blacksmith or general store.

Now that I had taken everything, I returned to square one.

“…Hey.”

As I was back at the spot where the cart had been and rifling through the first corpse I had killed, I turned at the sound coming from behind me.

There stood a woman with dark blue hair and silver eyes, bound in handcuffs and shackles.

‘A Beastman!’

It’s something I could never see on Earth, standing right before me!

With her ears and tail that matched her hair color, she was unmistakably a beastman.

Plus, she was beautiful—another testament to the average beauty here in this otherworld.

“Thank you for saving me.”

I hadn’t specifically tried to save her.

Now that I think about it, she must have heard the screams and come here.

I almost forgot my original intention of robbing the unlucky Golden Goblin.

“Ah, yeah.”

She should be able to go on her way after I saved her.

I should finish looting the corpse.

“Um… did those men have a key with them?”

What? How did she know?

“They had it, but why do you ask?”

“It’s the key to the cuffs and shackles we’re wearing…”

Oh, what? I thought it was a key to some hidden treasure or something.

That’s annoying.

I pulled out the key that I had pocketed.

“Here.”

“…B-but we’re bound, you know.”

Why such high expectations? They could have just asked verbally.

Reluctantly, I used the key to free the beastwoman in front of me from the cuffs and shackles.

Once they dropped to the ground, she happily jumped a few times, reclaiming her stolen hands and feet.

“Do the rest yourselves.”

After handing over the key, the remaining women began to release each other.

‘Now I see it wasn’t just self-defense but a real lesson here.’

They clearly had a mix of beastmen and humans; it seems like they were slaves.

From what I know, slavery is banned in this world, but there are always those who do what they’re told not to.

Even when the law makes it impossible, some will find loopholes to break it.

Perfectly illegal from what it seemed—killing them makes it unnecessary to argue self-defense.

Once all the women were freed from their restraints, they came to express their thanks.

“Thank you for saving us.”

“Ah, yes.”

I gave an indifferent reply, and just as I was about to turn back toward the empire now that I finished looting.

“Excuse me.”

“What?”

“Do you know the way to the Empire?”

The memory of getting lost came flooding back.

 

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