"Mother... are you there?"
Reaching out to the woman in front of him, Bane called out to her.
'I am not sure how this will end. But it's a litmus test anyway.'
Till now all Bane did was talk to himself in whispers. He was aware that most people in the fuck nest won't be interested in a talk of his.
In the first place, did he even knew how goblins talked?
A baby shouldn't be able to talk normally, wouldn't he?
And lastly, now that he was a reborn as goblin, would he be unable to talk human speech?
The thought had bothered him and he could only do so much to find out.
Even now, his efforts were going no where.
"I guess its not worth it, is it?"
The eyes of his mother were lifeless. It seemed like she wasn't even aware what was happening around her.
Bane's voice had failed to reach her.
*Sigh*
"I was expecting too much."
But at that moment as if to betray his expectations...
"Ack!"
His mother cried in pain. But it was just her usual moans and nothing special.
"This is..."
But Bane could see it.
Perhaps he was being delusional but it felt as if his mother was trying to move her lips albeit slowly.
"Can you understand me?" Bane responded a bit excited.
But no response came along.
The lips that had been parted also closed shut.
"Sigh"
*Skill Telepathy has been used*
*Connection is being formed between the user and the caster*
*Allow bridging consciousness?*
*Yes/No?*
A series of messages caused his pupils to shake.
"Yes!"
*Connection established*
Bane could here a feminine voice ringing in his ears, quite contrary to the robotic voice he was used to hearing normally from his system.
"H-How?" a shrill yet soothing voice asked him with a questioning tone.
"Can you understand me?"
"You aren't a normal goblin. H-How do you know our language-e?"
Bane could hear her voice splutter even when she was using Telepathy. Perhaps she really was shocked.
Bane was worried how she was able to talk normally to a goblin in the first place,
'Bingo. So my speech really is a human's?'
Bane had always wonder if it was just his delusion... but even after being reborn the speech that he used didn't seem to change other than the usual 'Griguek' that seems to be coming out automatically. He was still using the Sprintee language that was considered the most common language in this world.
'The grunting probably had to do with something related to how goblin vocal cords are but that is unimportant now.'
Glad with such a development Bane sat beside his mother as his baby legs seemed to be giving out. Even if he was doing his best, he could only do so much.
"So you do understand me after all. I was considering the possibility that since I am reincarnated I might not be able to use human speech anymore."
"Reincarnated?"
Bane continued to talk to her aloud while she replied in his head.
"Yes, I was a human in my previous life. Now I am reborn as a goblin. I was born from your womb but with my memories intact."
"Is that really possible? I have never heard of it before."
'That's a nice question.'
Bane wasn't sure how to reply to that.
Actually he might have some idea but would it be really a good idea to tell her that?
She was at death's door already. What kind of decision would she make if she were to hear Bane's story?
A silenced followed as Bane pondered over it.
"I don't think that it is possible for a normal person."
"S-so what about you?"
"When I died I had a deep rooted grudge against the humans and the heavens. I think that's why they kicked me out of underworld into a goblin's body."
"..."
Another silence followed.
It was as if Bane could feel her emotions that were in a turmoil.
The reason for that was well understood.
She too had a grudge against them just like Bane, but after going through tremendous suffering she had given up on most of it.
She was driven to a point that she would wish for death.
And now if she were to learn that someone just like her was reborn. How would she react to that?
Would she give up on everything and choose after life?
Or would she hold onto it even stronger than before?
Bane wasn't even sure what the outcome would be.
Was he fueling her revenge and destroying her after life? Or was he giving her a ray of hope? He had no idea.
As if to break the ice a meek voice rang in his ears.
"I-s that so? I guess it might not be too bad, reincarnating as a goblin..."
It turned out she preferred the later.
"Oy! Goblins are all male species you know. Do you want to become a man? You are a lovely woman, you shouldn't wish for something like that."
Bane retorted. For he knew it was wrong.
Forsaking after life and peace wasn't something one should do.
But even if he himself knew it was wrong, he couldn't give up on his grudge. It ran too deep that he was beyond help.
'But that didn't mean that she can't recover.'
Bane knew that she had already given up most of it.
And he wished for her to find her happiness as a fellow comrade.
If need be, he would bear her grudge too and fulfill her revenge so that she doesn't have to go through any sufferings.
But Bane couldn't say that aloud, for he himself had chosen otherwise.
"Ha Ha, though I am not sure about the 'lovely' part. After all, I was reduced to this state because I was forsaken by the others."
Bane didn't ask who the 'others' were for he knew all to well. Further fueling her memories would be no good.
"I will be honest with you. The first time I saw you after being born, all I thought was 'gross'. You were beyond injured to be labelled as anything human. But after I realized that you were my mother and I shared a connection between you since I was in your womb, I naturally began to think that you were lovely. Even after you were brought by the goblins to such a state you didn't bear a grudge against them, I think that alone is weird and commendable."
"What the goblins did to me, it was just my bad luck you know? It was no one's fault. And to be honest, it didn't feel too painful."
"Sigh"
'How can she say that when her soul is literally roaring in pain?' Bane thought.
But he understood what she meant.
The goblins had assualted her. It was definitely painful. But it was something physical quite unlike the pain that was caused to her by humans. It was like they had wounded her heart instead.
For Bane it was the same.
The thunder from the tyrant dragon.
And the thrashing before being born.
They were but physical pain. Like every storm , they too would pass in due time.
But perhaps Bane was broken even before he had died in his previous life. In front of that all the other things seemed pale in comparison.
"So it is 'them' that you hate huh?"
"..."
"I guess you are right," she replied.
"Then, I won't ask about it anymore. Whatever you choose, I wish that you don't regret it."
"I do have regrets though. There were a lot of things I wanted to do. I wanted to learn how to cook. Climb mountains. Dive into seas. It would have been fun, but things took a downhill pretty fast... so much so that before I could recover from them I was already here."
Bane's lips pursed.
It was a side of his mother he hadn't realized existed.
For all he knew he never had such regrets.
All he had ever wanted was revenge.
Bane was attached to her because they shared the same purpose.
'But I guess she has something unique about herself too huh?'
Bane had just realized it, but she was probably younger than his past self. It was a given that she would have a lot of things she would want to do.
"If that's the case... then if you manage to reincarnate. Let's do those together."
"P-promise?"
"Yeah"
"You better keep it then, otherwise I would kill you like those bastards."
"That will never happen."
"We will see."
'That seemed like a threat somehow, probably had something to do with her past.'
"Hey, what is your name?"
"... Silvia Alfeyl"
'Alfeyl huh? Never heard of that name. Am I even in the same world as before?'
Silvia's name brought Bane nothing but worry.
The possibility of Bane being reincarnated to another world, wasn't improbable. But Bane would probably not want something like that to happen for the sake of his sanity.
Bane shook his head.
'That's something I would have to face eventually.'
"I see. That's a nice name. Then I should call myself Bane Alfeyl, shouldn't I?"