Shortly after meeting Jeri and the other mercenaries, a call brought the rookies together near the village entrance.
The mercenary leader stood tall in his worn leather and chain mail armour, with messy hair and an enormous sword on his shoulders. He gazed at the recruits, most of whom trembled from his piercing gaze.
They trembled from his aura alone.
How many men had he killed?
Leonhardt gazed at the man, who looked quite normal. His face didn't drip with sweat like the other recruits. Instead, he compared the man to Zafira. Leonhardt didn't carry a weapon like the others, who wielded rusted iron swords and makeshift shields.
Meanwhile, the goblins didn't join Gobbolas and were hunting in the western forest, constantly providing Leonhardt with a stream of experience, dungeon and evolution points.
『I wonder how strong I am right now...』
Leon watched the smaller man beside Axel.
After listening to the gossip earlier, he learned his name was Gale. He looked to have a speed-based combat style. Gale wore light armour with a cape that hid half his face, and his boots made no sound, even on the gravel.
"Recruits, you will only get one chance to join our Crimson Hawks." Axel's voice was extremely loud, almost causing Leon's ears to pop because of their enhancements.
『Annoying』
"We will not allow you to flee once you join us, so if you choose to give up. Leave now! Or our blades will slay you."
"Understood!"
"Yes Sir!" The recruits mustered a shout to the large male, but Leonhardt didn't really feel the need to. Instead, he mouthed the words and cracked his finger inside his robes.
There was a feeling of dread coming from the recruits.
They wore cheap cloth and padded vests, with no one having full armour or anything like Leon, who wore a noble leather tunic and cloak.
Leon could almost taste the sour scent coming from their bodies, lacking any personal hygiene.
'Hmm... I can sense Gobbolas and the other goblins. Have we come close to my dungeon?'
He peeked back and noticed that the mercenaries looked bored—several of them held makeshift crossbows and crude bows. There wasn't anyone with expensive gear apart from the leader with that huge greatsword.
'I want a cool weapon...'
"Hey, Max this fool still doesn't have his weapon, what an idiot."
"Haha, ignore him... this noble upstart is going to regret it."
The recruits seemed to have formed two groups: one with Leonhardt and the others who hated him for merely looking like a noble. Ever since Axel arrived, all of them stopped trying to hide it. At least, that's how it appeared to him.
"Get moving!" Axel yelled once again.
Shockingly, the ragged men with beads and matted hair holding crossbows aimed them at the recruits!
Well, the truth was that mercenaries were nothing like adventurers.
It was at that moment that Leonhardt heard something that Gale whispered to Axel as he and the group of nine commoners began moving towards Gobbolas.
"So, did you send someone to contact the guild to make the request, Gale?"
"Yes, boss, it seems that the outpost and village are growing faster than we anticipated..." Gale spoke with a muted yet rough voice while holding his neck.
"The additional quest and warning was posted to the three local towns and cities by our new scouts."
Axel's voice became distant as he took a moment to respond, but thanks to being a monster created by two creatures with enhanced senses.
Leonhardt could hear things like butterfly wings flapping over 1000 metres away.
"Remember, once they start to run away, make sure you kill them. Do not leave any proof of our failure—we will never lose our members again." Axel's voice vibrated with his emotions, an angry tone filled with irritation.
"What about the noble...?"
"Heh... if he can survive, let's give him a chance."
"After all, rich kids can be worth quite the coin when held for ransom!"
'I see... that's quite interesting. We were never supposed to survive.'
He didn't feel any strange emotions—in fact, since he became aware. Leonhardt felt the same way about killing monsters or humans. Thus, although he could understand what the emotions were, there wasn't anything that compelled him to feel that way.
'They will become sources of experience, so let's not allow those fools to kill them.'
The fools were the mercenaries, who were like moths to the flame.
『Since they want to play this game~ I'll Play!』
Leonhardt's crimson eyes seemed to grow darker whenever he thought of these humans attacking his goblins and dungeon.
It was like natural anger, something he couldn't control.
Maybe this was his only true emotion after being created this way.
Meanwhile, outside the dungeon, Gobbolas perched atop a wooden wall. The goblins crafted spiked logs from the swiftly regenerating chopped trees.
A wall that stood just over ten feet off the ground, using the planning and basic building book for idiots that Leonhardt bought for him.
『Master seems to have gone somewhere... I don't understand Master well, but he treats me well.』
Gobbolas held his black bow—the sleek sensation of the metal wrapped around the leather grip in his narrow green fingers felt good.
"Gobbo A move to the right watchtower!"
"Gobbo C support the second group with building the second wall!"
Outside, the dungeon now looked completely different after an entire day's work by the various goblins.
A small village with seven wooden huts and a small area where they seemed to have tried preparing the land for farming. They created a large hut at the back of the outpost that blocked the view of the dungeon entrance.
"Work Work!"
"Build, Build!"
"Train, Train!"
"The Gobbo's goes to war~"
'It seems that these new gobbo's like to sing while working... is it because they heard master singing to the rabbits and flowers?'
After evolving, Gobbolas began to develop intellect and wisdom, which increased the more he helped the other goblins grow.
'Master, what is your plan?'
Gobbolas closed his eyes, remembering the vibrant scene in which his master appeared and used fire and magic to crush the evil elf and humans who had killed his brothers.
Those emotions and feelings on the brink of death still followed him as he suddenly heard a shout.
"Humans!"
"Enemy here!!"
"Master?!"
"What?" Gobbolas shook his head, his eyes snapping open and gazing to the southern area where a group of ten humanoids started to approach.
No one of them was waving to them... with a wide grin on his lips.
『Master... why do you seem so angry? Can Gobbolas help you?』
At that moment, with his enhanced vision, a perk of becoming a special archer, Gobbolas noticed his master was mouthing a series of words in Goblin's speech.
"My."
"Children."
"I've."
"Brought."
"Dinner!"
'My children I've brought dinner?!' Instantly, Gobbolas hit the black metal sheet, causing all the goblins to howl and make strange noises with their mouths.
They rushed from the forest, both east and west, hopping onto the walls, grabbing bows and knocking arrows.
This green mob was the army that Leonhardt was building.
His lovely Goblins, who he named—The Emerald Guard.