Black Cat Chapter 22: Goblin’s Heart

Support the translator on lazytranslations.com

　It was near the end of February when my second brother left home.

　In past years, those looking for work in the city would leave the village early in the new year, but this year there was so much snow that the wagons could not get through.

　Perhaps the situation was similar in the neighboring villages, and I could say that job hunting in the city is just beginning… But those who originally lived in the city must have already found work.

　If job seekers from the surrounding villages hadn’t come, the town would have become a seller’s market with a shortage of workers, but after nearly two months had passed, even with the lack of workers, jobs started to circulate.

　Then, the number of jobs would have been insufficient for the job applicants, and now it would have been a buyer’s market.

　Perhaps because of the difficult situation to find a good job, my brother’s expression was dull as he left the house.

　Our family doesn’t exchange many words.

　For better or worse, catkins are individualistic and capricious, as they retain a strong feline temperament.

　They will cling to you when they feel like it, but if they don’t feel like it, they won’t even look at you.

　Even though he didn’t give a satisfactory explanation, I guess I should have guessed it without saying it… When my father and brother complained like that, I thought it was really annoying.

　My second brother is four years older than me, but I am aware that he has been older than me since I was born, as I remember my memories up to the age of 16 in my previous life.

　Whenever my older brother, whose mental age is ten years younger than me, said something incomprehensible to me with a face that seemed like he knew something, I was annoyed, and I hardly even had a conversation with him.

　About ten days after he left the village, Mr. Zeol asked me to accompany him to the town for a three-day visit.

“Hey, Nyango. The day after tomorrow, I’m going to the city, so come with me.” (Zeol)

“What business do you have in town?” (Nyango)

“The village chief is going to visit the church to discuss the Nest Leaving Ceremony, so I’m going to escort him on the way there.” (Zeol)

“Even if I go with you, it won’t be any help as an escort.” (Nyango)

“What are you talking about? You can go up much higher and look down from above if you want to, can’t you? When you are in the middle of a crowd in the city and you are involved in a commotion, it is a big advantage to be able to see what is going on from above.” (Zeol     )

“I see, that would certainly be helpful.” (Nyango)

　The day before we left for the city, we went into the mountains to pick prone mushrooms.

　I was going to bring them to the restaurant that had bought them from me during the Nest Leaving Ceremony and make some money this time.

　I found the best place to pick prone mushrooms was in a pool of water at the bottom of a rocky stream bed.

　The wind-blown fallen leaves had rotted into a fluffy humus.

　The humidity rising from the stream is probably keeping the humidity just right for the prone mushrooms to grow.

　When going to pick prone mushrooms, I must of course be careful of monsters and beasts, but I must also make sure that I am not being followed by villagers before heading for the hole in the ground.

　According to village rules, if you find prone mushrooms, you are supposed to bring them to the village chief’s house.

　If you sell them in town, you will make a big profit, but if you bring them to the village chief’s house, he will buy them for two small silver coins.

　This is ten times the price of a Forest Mouse.

　If anyone finds out about the hiding place, they will uproot the herb, and it will be impossible to harvest after that.

　Even today, I am camouflaging myself by carrying baskets for gathering medicinal herbs on their backs.

　This time, only three of them were big enough to be sold, but some smaller ones are growing.

　I’m sure they’ll still sell for a lot.

　The prone mushrooms are dug up by the roots with the soil and placed in bamboo baskets to prevent the caps from breaking.

　The bottom of the basket is covered with a damp cloth to keep them fresh when I go to town.

　When we came down to the stream after picking prone mushrooms, I encountered a goblin.

　It seemed to have come to the stream to drink water, but it didn’t seem to notice me in the shade of the rocks.

　I looked around for goblins and listened for noises with my ears perked up.

　Most goblins usually work in groups of two or three or more, but this goblin seems to be alone.

“What should I do?” (Nyango)

　I haven’t given up hope of eating the heart of a monster in order to increase my magical power.

　The goblin that acts alone is a good choice, but if I fail to kill it and it calls its friends, it will be a troublesome situation.

　As I continue to observe, the goblin checks its surroundings very carefully and approaches the stream with trepidation.

　It is probably extra cautious when it is eating or drinking water, as it is more likely to be targeted by enemies.

“Alright, I’ll try that magic.” (Nyango)

　I have been thinking for a long time about the magic to defeat monsters safely and effectively.

　The hint for me, a lightweight catkin, to surely defeat monsters using a light weapon made with void magic was discovered in the battle with Kobold.

　One is how to come down from a high place and take full advantage of my weight by gaining momentum.

　The other is how to take advantage of my opponent’s weight.

　When I fell after receiving a blow, I quickly stood my spear up against the leaping Kobold, using the ground as a support.

　Since the frozen air spear was invisible to the eye, the Kobold was skewered by its own weight.

　One characteristic of void magic is its fixed position.

　I noticed when I was practicing [Shield] that if you fix it in a particular spot, it won’t move unless it is destroyed.

　If an opponent is rushing at me, I can fix a spear or sword in its path, and it will kill itself on its own.

　An invisible bed of spears, for example, would be too evil.

“[Death Choker]” (Nyango)

　I chose one of the fixed weapon prototypes.

　After activating the magic, I picked up the stone and threw it at the goblin.

　The stone was not intended to hit the goblin to injure it.

　In fact, the stone, thrown at random, fell on the rocky ground and made a loud “thud”.

“Giii… gufu…” (Goblin)

　The goblin, startled by the sound, jerked and immediately fell down, spewing a large amount of blood from his neck.

　The blood that flowed from the goblin turned the water in the stream red.

“Wow, it’s more brutal than I imagined…” (Nyango)

　The [Death Choker] is a doughnut-shaped ring with a sharp inside surface.

　This was placed around the goblin’s neck and a rock was thrown to startle him.

　The first time it tried to get up, it was cut in the back of its neck.

　Surprised by the pain, this time it sliced its throat.

　The goblin ran into the invisible blade and killed itself.

　I carefully approached the goblin, which had stopped moving, and poked it with a long spear made with void magic and confirmed that it was completely dead.

　Fortunately, most of the blood the goblin had spilled was in the stream, but even so, there was no guarantee that other monsters and beasts would not be drawn by the scent of blood.

　I used void attribute magic to make protective clothing and hurriedly began dismantling.

　Since I had already experienced dismantling in the fall, I was able to proceed without any confusion.

　I cut under the ribs with a void attribute knife and took out the organ that contained the magic stone and today, the heart.

　I tore open a chunk of meat and took out the magic stone, washed it in a stream, and threw it into the basket.

　Finally, the heart of the monster, which I have longed for, but it looks dangerous here, so I move to a safe place.

　I followed the stream down toward the village and descended near the Folding Screen Rock.

　Sitting on a rock near the stream, I used void attribute magic to make a cutting board and a sashimi knife.

　I heard that one must eat the heart of a monster raw in order to increase one’s magical power, but what worries me is the presence of parasites.

　As I recall, I have heard that filaria, a parasite of dogs and cats, can be found in the arteries of the heart and lungs, so it would not be surprising if the goblin’s heart is infested with such a parasite.

　I split the heart in two but found nothing that looked like a parasite.

　Carefully, I shave it into thin, thin slices, but I don’t see anything moving.

　When I have cut half of the heart into pieces, I stop for a while.

　In the first place, I don’t even know how much to eat, and I’m not comfortable eating raw monster meat.

“This is liver sashimi, this is liver sashimi… Wasn’t liver sashimi banned? It’s fine, I’ll eat it!” (Nyango)

　Determined, I throw a thin slice of goblin heart into my mouth.

　As I expected, it was quite chewy, expected from an organ that pumps blood throughout the body.

　I had expected it to be rawer, but although it tastes like blood, the freshness of the meat doesn’t bother me too much.

　It’s like overly chewy horse meat sashimi.

“I thought it would be better with garlic soy sauce, ginger soy sauce, and other condiments.” (Nyango)

　After eating three or four slices, I felt a strange sensation in my stomach.

　The feeling of getting hot and bothered was just like when I drank alcohol in my previous life without my parent’s knowledge.

“Is this magic elements…? Guu!” (Nyango)

　I am fine because I learned how to control the magic elements from my body enhancement magic training, but a large amount of magic elements is taken in from my stomach, and it’s trying to run around my blood vessels and magic veins.

“I can control this much, but… what should I do? Should I eat more?” (Nyango)

　If I do something reckless and end up losing consciousness, I might fall prey to monsters or beasts, or I might fall into a stream and drown to death.

　And if I got sick, I would not be able to go to Ibouro tomorrow.

“Nevertheless…” (Nyango)

　I knew the risks, but all I could see in my mind’s eye was the scene at the Adventurers’ Guild, where they had measured my magic index.

　My magic index was 32 and Horacio’s was 465 when he was recruited by the Knights.

　A year has passed since then, but I can’t get that number out of my mind.

　The difference between the numbers which was close to fifteen times at that time may have widened.

　I promised Horacio to say that I would go to the Royal Capital someday, but even if I went to the Royal Capital, I would not be taken seriously.

　Horacio and I live in different worlds and may never speak to each other again.

　The complex of being a catkin was invading me without me realizing it and amplifying my impatience.

“One more slice… just one more slice…” (Nyango)

　I couldn’t stop myself from putting a piece of goblin heart in my mouth.

T/N: If you like the series rate, review and add on your reading list on Novel Updates. You can also donate through Paypal or Ko-fi, or subscribe on Ko-fi. Thank you!

Support the translator on lazytranslations.com