I Became the Tyrant of a Defense Game [EN]: Chapter 355

Several hundred years ago. In a magic research lab in the Western Human Kingdom, a married couple, both mages, discovered a dying goblin nearby. The goblin was pregnant, and while dying, she gave birth to her young, but most were stillborn. However, the last one survived and came into the world. The baby, crying pitifully in the arms of its dead mother, was in an immature state. If left alone, it would either be eaten by wild beasts or die from exhaustion. What kind of pity moved them? The mage couple rescued the baby goblin and placed it in the magic incubation facility inside the lab. Whether it was a natural mutation or whether the abundant mana in the magic incubation facility caused some special effect, when it grew healthily and emerged from the incubation facility, this baby goblin had a height and intelligence that were incomparable to other goblins of the same age. And it followed the mage couple as if they were its parents. The mage couple decided to raise this goblin themselves. The Western Human Kingdom was a region chronically attacked by greenskins [a general term for races like orcs and goblins]. The mage couple hoped that by taming this baby goblin, they could come up with countermeasures against these attacks. Or perhaps, it was because the couple had been infertile for a long time. So, seeing this baby goblin grow, and seeing it follow them like parents, they might have been swayed. Whatever the reason, the mage couple decided to raise this baby goblin and gave it a name. Alexandr. It was the name of a great human king who once ruled the western part of the continent. *** Alexandr was brilliant. To be precise, he was excessively brilliant. His learning speed was much faster than that of human children of the same age. As a goblin who reached adulthood at the age of five, his brain development might have been faster as well. By the age of three, Alexandr could speak as well as an adult human, and by the age of four, he could assist the mage couple in their work. And by the age of five, he could read all the books inside the lab without difficulty. The mage couple had employed Alexandr as an assistant in the lab from the age of four. For the elderly couple who had been handling all the work by themselves due to a lack of budget, the intelligent and robust Alexandr was a great help. The problem arose just one month after Alexandr started his assistant work. They had brought in a few chicks from a nearby village for experiments, and it was the day after the mage couple woke up. “I, I’m sorry… I couldn’t bear to hear these chicks crying, so…” Overnight, Alexandr had killed all the chicks. He had brutally torn, ripped, and devoured them. Covered in feathers and blood, Alexandr mumbled blankly. “But… why shouldn’t I kill them?” “……” Only then did the mage couple realize. No matter how brilliant he was, and even if he spoke human language perfectly, the child in front of them was a goblin. A monstrous beast whose nature was cruel and ferocious, who would tear apart anything smaller and weaker than itself. The mage couple discussed for a long time. Should they kill this goblin? Or should they abandon it? But, however—they had already grown attached to it. So, instead of killing or abandoning Alexandr, the mage couple decided to civilize him. “Alexandr, let’s read this from today.” The mage couple brought in many books that young children would read from a nearby village. From fairy tales to novels, history books, and even poetry collections…. The couple believed. Even if a cruel nature was inherent, if they exposed him to rich culture and treated him gently and warmly, this goblin child could adapt to human society. Alexandr diligently devoured all the books the couple brought. The young goblin liked all the books, but he especially liked poetry collections. He was moved by the emotions that great poets had engraved like constellations, and he even shed tears. With the couple’s constant education and dedication, Alexandr gradually moved away from his cruel instincts. Now, Alexandr was even in charge of raising the chicks. And it was the year Alexandr turned five. A festival was held in a nearby village, and the couple wanted to show the festival to Alexandr. “Come on, Alexandr! Let’s go see a play together!” Alexandr wore long clothes and gloves to hide his green skin, and he wore a mask on his face. Holding hands between the mage couple, Alexandr entered the human village—the festival was in full swing. Children wearing festival masks were everywhere on the streets. Alexandr was able to enter the theater of a traveling troupe without any suspicion. And Alexandr saw a new world. It was a play based on history. On the stage, the actors recited lines, acted, sang, and recited poetry. Everything Alexandr had read in books was embodied on that stage. Alexandr watched the play for two hours, crying incessantly. For a long time. It was the most intense memory of his life, one that might not be forgotten even after hundreds of years. *** Happiness did not last long. The fact that a goblin was being raised in the lab had spread by word of mouth. Eventually, the village chief of a nearby village came to the lab to protest. “Raising a goblin right next to a village that is always in fear of greenskin attacks… Are you out of your minds?! What if that goblin calls its own kind!” “Our Alexandr is not that kind of child…” “Now you’ve even given that monster a name?! You’re really crazy!” The village chief and the villagers demanded that the goblin be killed and thrown away immediately, or that the lab leave the village altogether. The mage couple did not hesitate for long. They decided to move the lab to a more rural village. “You are living proof that goblins can live with humans, Alexandr.” The mage couple comforted Alexandr, who was sobbing, knowing that he was being chased away because of him. “And you are also our son.” “Wherever we go, we can live happily.” The family of three, consisting of the mage couple and Alexandr, prepared a moving cart. The small cart could not carry much luggage, so all the books that Alexandr liked had to be thrown away. The mage couple promised to buy him a new poetry collection in the next village. Alexandr nodded happily. The next village was a three-day journey by cart. Driving the cart slowly, the three family members enjoyed it as if it were a trip. During the day, they looked at new scenery, and at night, they lit a bonfire and looked at the sky, singing together. The moving cart was attacked by a group of greenskins the day before they were to arrive at the next village. *** The ambush was instantaneous. Orc cavalry riding wolves attacked the side of the cart, and the heavy cart, loaded with luggage, fell over. The wolves bit and killed the horse, and the husband mage, who was riding on it, was killed without even a scream, bleeding from the sword swung by the orc. The wife mage, who was thrown out of the overturned cart, tried to use magic while lying down, but she was trampled to death by the wolf ridden by the orc cavalry that appeared next, her neck broken. The suppression was over in an instant. The two orc cavalrymen laughed contentedly. “Krrrk! Loot, loot!” “They were mages! There must be expensive things! Take everything!” Following the orc cavalry, goblins came to loot the cart and righted the overturned cart. When Alexandr, who had lost consciousness inside the overturned cart, regained his senses, what he saw was—the horribly dead bodies of the mage couple, and two orcs rummaging through their bodies. Thud. At that moment, something snapped in Alexandr’s head. The ‘humanity’ that the mage couple had carefully tied up inside Alexandr was burned away. “Haa… haa…” When he regained his senses, Alexandr was standing on top of the two orcs’ corpses. The two wolves were dead with their entrails spilled out, one of the two orcs had his neck severed, and the other had his limbs completely crushed. While riding on top of that orc, Alexandr was slowly raising the orcish sword he had taken from him. “Goblin… you slave…” That was the last thing the orc muttered. “How dare you… to a great orc…” Swoosh! He had never received combat training. But Alexandr instinctively, smoothly, and violently swung the sword and cut off the orc’s neck. The orc’s head, flying through the air with green blood splattering, rolled down to the ground. There, a group of goblins was trembling, looking up at Alexandr. “……” When Alexandr looked at them with bloodshot eyes, the goblins immediately fell to the ground and began to tremble. “Kilik! Kililik!” “Spare us! Just spare our lives!” “We will obey! Please don’t kill us!” “We will serve you from now on! So please!” Ignoring his own kind, Alexandr went to the side of the mage couple’s corpses. The parents who had loved him for his short life were dead without even being able to close their eyes properly. Alexandr dug the ground with his own hands and buried his parents’ bodies. And throughout this entire process, the goblins did not move a single step and continued to lie prostrate on the ground. They were slaves. They needed someone to give them orders. “……” Looking down at his own kind who were trying to serve him, Alexandr let out a long sigh. “Hey.” “Ki, kilik! Speak, strong goblin!” “……Where is the base of these orcs?” “It’s, it’s a mountain fortress not far from here… why do you ask, kilik?” Alexandr muttered briefly and took the orc’s sword. “I’m going to kill them all.” The goblins, who had been watching him, quickly followed him as he left. Alexandr left them alone, whether they followed or not. This was the first group that Alexandr had formed. And with this group, Alexandr began his revenge for his parents. *** For the next 10 years, Alexandr lived on the battlefield. He killed orcs indiscriminately, and he accepted the goblins who had been living as slaves under them into his group. He had a natural talent as a commander. Having read human military strategy books also helped. He calmly defeated and killed the orcs who charged at him, relying only on their strong bodies, with strategy and tactics. Above all, he emphasized military discipline to his soldiers. He demanded that they not fight according to their instincts, but that they become an army that strictly followed his orders. During the greenskin civil war, he was completed as a commander, and his soldiers also became a well-honed army. Ten years later, Alexandr had killed all seven orc lords with his own hands, and the orc army was annihilated. The greenskin civil war ended with the victory of the goblins. The goblins, who had been slaves of the orcs since birth, now enslaved the orcs instead. When Alexandr regained his senses, the revenge was over, and he had become the ruler of a vast greenskin kingdom. “Kililik! Great Alexandr!” “The goblin among goblins!” “Oh King! What will you conquer next?!” Alexandr answered his subordinates’ questions concisely. “We will not fight anymore.” “Kilik?!” “What do you mean, kililik…?” “Now, our goblins will not attack other races.” His army was ruled by strict military discipline. Alexandr believed that his entire race could live by the law like this, just like his parents had believed in him… that they could be civilized. And so it was. As soon as Alexandr’s order was given, the goblins stopped all looting. Peace came between the greenskin kingdom and the nearby human kingdoms. And, not long after, a human delegation came. Alexandr wore human clothes and a steel mask to greet the delegation. The envoy was bewildered, but he told Alexandr his business. “I have come to deliver the words of our great king, as the ruler of the greenskins has changed this time.” “Speak, human.” “Now that the seven orc lords are dead, the greenskin combatants are only goblins. If we wanted to, our human army could wipe you out.” “……” “But our merciful king does not wish for unnecessary conflict. If you continue to not attack us and maintain the border as it is now, we can have peace.” The envoy’s tone was arrogant, but Alexandr was a generous king. Alexandr nodded. “I also do not wish to be hostile to humans. Let us have peaceful exchanges.” “……You seem very intelligent for a goblin?” “I will take that as a compliment. You there! Treat these people with the utmost respect!” The delegation was horrified at the mention of goblin hospitality, but Alexandr provided them with human-style food and drink. The delegation was impressed by Alexandr’s fluent eloquence, outstanding knowledge, and friendly attitude towards humans. By the end of the short banquet, the delegation was completely on Alexandr’s side. “When I return, I will speak well to our king. That we can have peaceful and cultural exchanges with the new king of the greenskins!” “I’m counting on you.” The envoy and Alexandr, who had become close in the meantime, shook hands. The delegation left the palace, escorted by the goblin king. Alexandr thought that he would now exchange with the human kingdoms and spread culture to the goblins as well, that he would clothe them, teach them language, and show them the joy of poetry, song, and theater. But the delegation did not return safely to their kingdom. Before they could leave the border of the greenskin kingdom, they were all killed in an attack by a small group of goblins. *** “Why did you kill them?” The goblin group that attacked the delegation was all captured and brought before Alexandr. Standing in front of them, Alexandr growled. “We could have lived peacefully with humans. Without war, we could have accepted their culture and prospered together.” “……” “But you ruined it. You ignored my order to prohibit attacks and looting, and you killed the delegation from the human kingdom of all things!” “……” “Why did you do it? Why? Were you hungry? Did you need wealth? Or did you have a grudge against those humans?” “……” “Why don’t you answer when I ask why you killed them! Answer me now!” Swoosh! One of the goblins, who was tied up, had his neck cut off and flew into the air by the scimitar that Alexandr had drawn. One of the goblins, trembling as he was hit by the splattering blood, answered. “Ki, kilik… we, just…” “……?” “Just, wanted to kill…” “What?” “Couldn’t, bear it… Couldn’t kill or take anything for a long time, so something was boiling inside…” At those words, Alexandr, his eyes wide with madness, began to swing his sword wildly. “Damn it! You barbaric! Morons! You bastards!” Thud! Thwack! Swoosh! “Just for that reason! Just for that reason!” When he regained his senses, Alexandr was covered in blood. The compatriots in front of him were all torn to pieces and dead. Alexandr slowly raised his hand and looked down at his blood-soaked hand. He realized that the corners of his mouth were smiling. He remembered when he had torn apart and killed the chicks when he was young. From that time until now, nothing about him had changed. He had to admit it. It was enjoyable. The slaughter. Tearing apart and killing those weaker than himself was enjoyable, and he couldn’t bear it. Looking around, the eyes of his subordinate soldiers, who were lined up without moving as he had trained them, were burning with a strange desire. To kill, to take, to burn—the desire for destruction. ‘Ah.’ Alexandr now realized. He now admitted it. This… was the nature of goblins. Civilization? That was just crazy nonsense. “Kilik! Kililik! Oh King!” At that moment, a guard goblin rushed in from outside. “The human army is coming! They have already crossed the border! Kilik!” “……” “They seem incredibly angry about the killing of the delegation! What should we do, kilik?!” What should he do? “……Everyone, take up your weapons.” If this was their nature. If they were born this way, there was no choice. What should he do? “As we trained, prepare for defense. Prepare for battle.” Still, since they were born, they had to live…. Kilik! Kilik! Kilik! Thump! Thump! Thump! His soldiers all slammed their spears on the ground at once. It was an action that came from instinct, one that he had never taught them. After looking around at the goblins who were excited by the smell of blood, fire, and ash, “My beloved and hated compatriots.” With a feeling of looking into a mirror, with both self-loathing and self-pity, Alexandr said. “Let’s kill and burn.” He decided to accept it. “……According to our nature.” The fact that he, too, was just a goblin.