One day later...
Long Yixiang and Lilith were sprinting for their lives across the savanna.
It had all started during their exploration. They had believed these ancient ruins were devoid of life, but they unexpectedly encountered other humans. Before they could even approach to confirm, another group of uninvited guests arrived. Using nets, ropes, and harpoons, they hunted down the screaming people one by one, dragging, carrying, and throwing them into prison carts like livestock. The sight horrified Long Yixiang.
These monsters were mostly shorter than a person, with grotesque, ugly features and green skin, wielding bone clubs as weapons. Their mere appearance was enough to sicken anyone.
Long Yixiang was no stranger to these creatures. Not long ago, he had led a nest of them into cooperating in his 'hero-saves-the-beauty' act.
But the current numbers were far beyond a single nest. Not only were there more, but unlike their wild counterparts outside, these goblins attacking them now coordinated seamlessly, wielded various weapons, and displayed a certain level of organization.
Goblins, as monsters, already possessed physical strength superior to humans. Now, armed and organized, they were like tigers gifted with wings—utterly terrifying.
A spear flew past, piercing clean through a young woman standing near Lilith. The arriving monsters picked up the wide-eyed corpse, stripped off its clothes in a few swift moves, and, like the other unlucky souls, efficiently nailed it to a meat rack positioned behind them with spikes.
The two hid in a reed bed, the tall reeds temporarily obscuring them from view. But he had underestimated these monsters' intelligence. After dealing with the people outside, the goblins began probing the reeds with long-handled scythes. While the tall reeds hid them for now, it was only a matter of time before they were discovered if the search continued.
"Maybe we should just fight." Lilith's fists slowly clenched, mana swirling around her body. The mana caused her clothes to flap noisily in the generated wind.
Although she was an excellent mage, the circumstances were different now. They had no backup and faced these ferocious monsters. These ugly, disgusting, and utterly frightening creatures undoubtedly ranked first on any girl's list of monsters they never wanted to encounter. For a beautiful woman to fall into their hands meant a fate worse than death.
Their only hope now was having enough mana to fight their way out, but judging by the enemy's formation, breaking through wouldn't be easy.
Suddenly, an idea struck Long Yixiang. "We can hide in the water!"
"In the water?"
"It's the Japanese ninja reed-straw diving technique! Just need a hollow reed to breathe through. Hide underwater, and no one will notice." Long Yixiang felt suddenly grateful for the cultural knowledge he'd picked up in his previous world. "Come on, help me!"
Moments later, the goblin hunters reached the riverbank.
They looked around, their keen sense of smell detecting that two people had been here recently, but their eyes found nothing. Puzzled, they began searching the area.
It seems they really can't find us. Lilith, hidden underwater and breathing through a reed, felt a surge of relief.
Pfft! Hah——!
A huge splash disrupted the river's calm surface as one person burst out of the water, gasping for air...
"Japanese ninja reed-straw diving technique! It's all a damn lie!"
Goblin Prison Cart
Long Yixiang offered an awkward, apologetic smile to the girl staring motionlessly at him.
"So... why couldn't you hold out?"
"I've never done that before..."
This 'ninja reed-straw diving technique' seemed to have a high skill floor. Regardless, the hollow reed provided far too little oxygen. Long Yixiang wasn't a ninja, of course he couldn't endure it.
He'd heard tales that ninjas could stay in one place for days without food or water, or hang upside down from eaves by their ankles for hours. Even in his previous world, he'd never seen it, wondering if it was just boasting.
If I'd known, we should have just fought. Now look at us, dragged right out of the water, unable to even put up a fight. To make matters worse, we had to strip to dive, and now we're down to our underwear, almost completely naked, being transported in a prison cart to the goblin nest to be used as breeding tools. While he could appreciate Lilith's figure under different circumstances, the current situation was hardly appropriate for such thoughts.
"Don't mention this to anyone after we get back," Lilith said.
"That's assuming we can get back first..." Long Yixiang scanned their surroundings. "Just what is this place?"
"Goblin Kingdom," a faint, weak voice spoke up.
"What?" Both turned simultaneously towards the source of the voice.
A young girl huddled in a corner of the prison cart, dark circles under her eyes and hair disheveled, looking thoroughly terrified.
"Are you a villager from nearby?" Long Yixiang ventured to ask.
"Wait." Lilith stopped Long Yixiang. She gently placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, and seeing no rejection, met her gaze, projecting kindness through her eyes. "Don't be afraid. We're not bad people."
The girl looked at Lilith, perhaps finding her face trustworthy. After a long moment, she gave a slight nod.
"She looks fiercer than I do..." Long Yixiang muttered under his breath.
Ignoring the noise from Long Yixiang, Lilith continued soothing the girl. "Is it okay? Can you tell us? Don't be nervous. You don't have to speak if you don't want to."
The girl nodded again. "I... I'm from Lambeth Province in the Gabriel Kingdom... I'm the shrine maiden of my village."
"Shrine maiden?" Long Yixiang was taken aback.
"Some places have folk customs. They believe maidens serving as shrine maidens can heal villagers and pray for village peace. It's essentially simple folk belief," Lilith explained. "The Kingdom can't reach everyone, especially in villages below town level. There are no public medical or educational institutions. When famine or plague strikes, it's devastating. Villagers spontaneously form this kind of faith as a form of spiritual solace."
"Doesn't your Truth Church handle this?"
"Eradicating heresy is the duty of the Judgement Domain. Our Redemption Domain prefers gentler methods," Lilith sighed. "But honestly, the healing magic of shrine maidens like her is really low-level. Most are self-taught, without formal training. The efficacy is... hard to describe... It's more psychological comfort, better than nothing."
"Eradicate? I meant, doesn't your Church usually help these people? Doesn't your doctrine preach, well... universal love and such?" Long Yixiang hadn't expected her to misunderstand and clarified his point.
"We can only do our best. Resources and personnel are limited, after all..." Lilith said helplessly.
"But your Truth Church's dragon carriages are made of solid gold..." Long Yixiang sensed some irony. While he wasn't an idealist or someone seeking to uphold justice, living in such an environment for a long time had subtly accumulated negative emotions within him. When justice is suppressed, it's like a dark fog obscuring the sky, making it hard for people to see a ray of sunlight.
"Is that relevant?" Lilith caught the dissatisfaction in his tone and shot him a glare. "I said we're already doing our best to help. No one can guarantee perfection. How can you blame the rescuers?"
"Isn't the Church God's representative? Aren't they omnipotent? Usually, you boast so highly, but when people need help, you can't do anything. Is that reasonable?" Long Yixiang pressed.
"Do you have any idea how vast this continent is? Can the Church take care of you like your mother?" Lilith's brows furrowed slightly; Long Yixiang's words clearly made her uncomfortable.
"If you don't handle it, then why do you still collect tithes from them?" Long Yixiang, getting somewhat agitated himself, unconsciously raised his voice.
"Are you questioning me?" Lilith's volume also increased.
"See? This is your Church's logic. Whenever you encounter a question you can't answer, you change the subject. I always thought this so-called Church was utterly hypocritical," Long Yixiang said with disdain.