"Norn, i wanted to ask you how is your world different from ours..."
As they walked they had nothing to do, thus that little chat Erika started.
"It's boring. It had no mana until very recently and only humans live in it. Well, animals too."
He tried to brush it off as he really had nothing to say about it.
He didn't know too much about his world, but from his initial experience of living in it...
It was trash. Yeah, it was much better than before and he didn't need to think too much about things like food or anything...
But it was just not for him.
He spent most of his time reading fantasy novels. Some were degenerate, some were nice.
"Oh, how do you know about dungeons and all that then? Did it all come from those... novels you told me about earlier?"
She wasn't really interested in his world, she only wanted to know Norn better.
"Yeah, i spent most of my time reading them. Had no personal life, no friends, no achievements..."
His voice got quieter the more he talked...
However, he noticed it and stopped this line of thought.
"But, if i werent like that i wouldn't be who i am now, and it's not like i regret any of it."
He chuckled as he said it, not looking at anything in particular.
"I see... Well, from my standpoint you are gifted in many ways, so i dont think why you would not have any achievement back in your world."
It really was like that. Even if he was a reincarnated and obviously had something special about him...
Well, his understanding and decision making were definitely above average.
It impressed her a lot, this guy seemed to have many insights about thing she didn't even know about.
"Nah, you only say that because you haven't seen any good people from my world. I am an idiot compared to most."
He didn't even try to hide it.
His world really did have many outstanding people and comparing Norn to them was...
Uh... it would be same and comparing a grade-schooler with several genetic diseases to a holder of several nobel prizes in his prime.
Only a complete and utter retard would even place the two together.
"Well, even if that is the case... so what? I'm not going to leave you just because you are worse than they are..."
Erika didn't show it, but she was somewhat offended by what Norn just said.
It seemed to her like he didn't cherish himself at all.
Why would he say that he's not worthy, stupid and all that?
It was strange for him to say so, but she understood his standpoint clearly.
To her, Norn's world was a place filled with geniuses and outstanding people.
She didn't know anything about it since the only information about it came from Norn, who only put it like that.
As such, she felt unsure about it.
He clearly felt inferior to many, she couldn't grasp the reason.
Forget about being a goblin, even if he was an elf oh high origin his talent would still be outstanding!
So... Does that mean that people in his world were even better than he is?..
That was... somewhat scary to think about.
"Sure."
Norn didn't want to talk about it anymore as they were close to the village anyway.
...
As Norn and Erika got to the middle of it they saw some goblins carrying stuff.
It puzzled him a little and he asked them:
"What are you guys doing?"
As he said it, many goblins looked back at him, but only the bigger one answered:
"We attacked the wagon, this is what we got. Wagon is there"
He pointed to his left as he said the last few words.
"I see, did you find anything interesting there?"
He didn't bother too much about it, it was just a random merchant.
At most he would have some gold and whatnot...
"Coins, food, cloth, weapon."
Goblin recited as he wracked his brain.
"Good, give weapons to big goblins, food to everyone. Bring clothes and coins to my house."
He instructed him immediately.
"Understand, Chief!"
He cried out and ran off in a direction opposite to the one he pointed at.
Since it was late, Norn didn't want to bother too much with anything.
He was tired and simply wanted to sleep.
As such, he got back to his new house.
It didn't take long for him to fall asleep on Erika.
It was better to sleep on her than on a bed, she was softer, warmer and felt better in general.
More than that, she caressed him gently!
"Fucking hell, i wont be able to sleep without her now..."
Was his last thought before he dazed off...
...
Next day came.
"So i get transported every second time i go to sleep?"
He was still lying on Erika, she knew that he wasn't sleeping though.
"Then why didn't i get transported the first few times?.."
He tried to find way to "transport" to his other body. It was somewhat easy.
"Oh, maybe because i wasn't even conscious? I was hurt badly... It could be..."
He didn't think too much about it as he wasn't even sure that he got transported after every second time he got to sleep.
Well, he will know for sure today.
"Chief! Assess kids!"
A cry sounded from outside the house.
"What?"
Norn said quietly. He didn't bother to get up.
"What did he say?"
Erika asked him as she caressed his bald head.
Did it feel nice to her too or did she do it only for him to enjoy?..
"He said "Assess kids", the fuck does that mean?"
Norn chuckled as he said it.
The phrase itself was just too funny.
"Oh, goblin throw away kids that look weak or feeble, it looks like they want you to deem whether or not they're good."
Erika explained to him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"How do you even know that?.."
Norn asked with a hint of confusion in his voice...
"I read a lot of books~"
It was a plausible explanation, Norn didn't think too much about it.
After getting up lazily, he dressed up and went outside.
He told Erika to continue working on whatever surprise she had for him, as he is not going anywhere.
She complied without a second thought.
As such, Norn stood outside. Before him were several goblins with crying children in their hands.
It didn't seem like a normal thing at all.
"Okay, take turns and give me them..."
He didn't even know what he's supposed to do.
Assess kids? How does that even work?
How does he understand which one is good and which isn't?
But, since he's a chief, why not at least try?
First goblin came to him and presented a kid.
It looked feeble and barely even alive at this point.
Norn wasn't sure if this wasn't a joke or not.
From what he could see, it wasn't even breathing.
"Eh, throw that thing away after chopping off it's head, it's clearly defective."
He didn't want a ghost of this abomination to haunt him, thus the command to kill it beforehand.
Goblin's reaction was the opposite to what Norn thought would happen.
He thought that he would protest, it was his child after all.
However, he didn't even bother as he immediately killed it.
It didn't shock Norn as he felt that it was natural.
This thing was defective, why bother? He didn't need someone like he was in his previous life.
Doesn't matter how absurdly it sounds but it was the truth, he knew perfectly well that he was a useless leech.
Second goblin came right away.
The kid that he presented looked strange, it wasn't weak or anything, but it's body...
It looked somewhat... Strange...
Norn didn't think of anything better than to take it in his own hands.
But, as he did that, he was shocked!
That wasn't a male goblin, that was a fucking female!
What the fuck is going on!?
There were only males in 95% of the stories that included goblins, why is there a female here!?
"ERIKA! COME HERE!"
He cried out immediately, he was too incopetent in such things!
Not even a second later Erika barged out of the house, almost breaking the door.
Her speed shocked Norn and all of the goblins present!
She looked around cautiously before looking back at Norn.
"Sorry for scaring you sweetie, i was a bit shocked... Look!"
He said as he presented that female goblin child, just like that scene in Leopard King.
"What?!"
She couldn't believe it either!
This world didn't have any female goblins at all!
"Yeah, a female goblin. I wanted to ask - are they normal here?"
His expression was strange as he asked it, he could crealy see that she too was surprised by such a sight...
But, what else could he ask about? How is she doing?
"It's not! This is a new species! How outstanding specimen!"
She got closer to the female goblin as she inspecter it.
She spent a considerable amount of time doing so.
Not that much, but around 5 minutes or so, which was way beyond what Norn spent on her.
"It really is a goblin, but a female! This might be a start of a new race! We need to keep her alive!"
She exclaimed after concluding her thoughts.
"You heard her. If this goblin were to die you will be punished."
Norn said as he looked at the goblin who brought it.
"Understand, chief! I keep child safe!"
He understood how important it was, the Chief even had to call his wife for help!
How serious this matter was!?
It's not like goblin were stupid and didn't understand that she was strong...
They didn't at first, but still, now they did.
More than just strength, their chief called her nice words, that meant a lot!
After giving the female goblin back to the one who brought it Norn continued to check out the kids.
This time, however, he had Erika's helping hand in it.
Sometimes she would throw away kids that seemed healthy, but she said something along the lines:
"Faulty, too weak, sick, a mutant"
And all that. Norn was amazed by her knowledge and insight!
She clearly knew what she was doing, as if she had ample experience with it!
As such, not even 15 minutes later from the moment it started - the whole "Assess kid" event ended.
In total there were 17 kids one of which was a female.
7 of them were thrown away by Erika, Norn didn't object her, why would he?
As such, there were only 9 "Good" goblin kids left, as Norn threw one away.
It wasn't a bad result, since most of the time smaller goblin tribes of ~50 goblins wouldn't produce as much.
At best it would be 3-4 a week, how he had a solid 9, every one of which a great goblins specimen!
After instructing goblin to feed their kids from time to time, as they too needed to eat, he went back to the house.
As he entered he saw that goblin brought him clothes and coins, they placed it to the pile of his loot.
It wasn't anything big, just a few boxes of god knows what.
Even Norn didn't know what was in them, as it was Erika who chose them.
Since he didn't know what else to do, he decided to practice magic.
This time, however, he wanted to make sure he'll be able to heal his human body.
As such, he took the knife that he got from the dungeon and inflicted a wound on his body.
It wasn't deep or anything dangerous, but strangely enough, moment after he did so Erika came in the room with a worried expression...
"What is going on!?"
She exclaimed as she looked at Norn, her face filled with complex emotions.
"What?"
That was all Norn could say right now, he didn't understand the commotion.
"Who hurt you? What happened?"
She asked again, this time specifying what she meant.
"Oh, that, i did it myself to practice healing magic, i need a wound to heal, after all."
He explained with a smile, as it was completely normal to inflict wounds on his own body.
"Dummy! You could've asked a goblin or even me! Why would you hurt yourself!?"
She was still agitated and even said something strange...
Why would he hurt HER of all people?
"Eh... Okay, but it's fine Erika, sorry for scaring you..."
He didn't even want to know how she knew of that wound even before he could take the knife away from it.
It's clear that she placed some sort of a spell on him...
He didn't dislike it... She was caring and all that... Well, a little too much caring, but so what?
She was still a gorgeous woman!
So what if she is a bit... crazy?
"Okay, if you need any help you can call me anytime..."
After she turned around and was about to leave...
"...sweetie..."
Sounded quietly.
Not too quietly, as Norn could hear it almost perfectly.
He smiled as he continued to practice healing magic.
It wasn't as hard now, but he felt like something just wasn't right...