It was terrible.
Most of the time, they simply wandered through the forest for hours, scavenging whatever edible things they could find along the way. Berries, wild plants, mushrooms, and even bugs made up the bulk of their meals. If they were lucky, they might stumble across a dead animal that hadn't started rotting yet. Nine days out of ten, they went to sleep with empty, rumbling stomachs and nothing but a few bitter leaves to quiet the hunger.
Even though Gopuro was the designated hunter of the two and sometimes went after small animals or tried his luck at fishing in shallow streams, most of the time he came back empty-handed, tired and defeated.
That meant something like this berry bush was practically a treasure to them. Even if the berries tasted absolutely awful, to the two goblins it still counted as a rare delicacy.
No wonder they had reacted so strongly when they first saw the fresh meat I gave them.
Just then, Gopuran suddenly noticed something clinging to the bark of a nearby tree.
A bug. A big bug!
It was round and glossy, about the size of a small leaf. Its hard shell shone bright orange, dotted with tiny round blue spots, like some kind of giant fantasy ladybug with an unusual, vibrant color pattern.
But before I could even fully process what was happening, she had already snatched it off the trunk with surprising speed...
...and eaten it!
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
"Mmmmmhhhh!" she moaned in delight, her eyes half-closed in pure satisfaction.
Then she licked the green, slimy bug juice that oozed from the crushed insect onto her fingers as if it were the most precious and delicious thing in the world, savoring every drop.
(Urrggghhhhh!)
I shivered internally. And at the same time, I was so freaking glad that [Vassal's Eyes] didn't come with synced sense of taste too. It would be a disaster if it did.
Because back in my previous life, me eating bugs? Yeah, not gonna happen! Not even in a million years!
Hell, just seeing a cockroach in my room was enough to scare the shit out of me, especially when the damn thing suddenly flew straight at my face.
(But… errr… well, protein is protein, I guess.)
After that little snack, Gopuran moved on, and we continued exploring deeper into the forest. Barely ten minutes later, something genuinely interesting caught our attention.
A faint purple glow shimmered near the roots of a massive tree.
It was a tiny mushroom, growing right on the body of a dead rabbit.
"Gopuran, look!" I announced.
She had already noticed it too.
"Big Boss, it a Purple Cap!" her voice filled with excitement as she hurried over.
Using a broad leaf from a nearby plant, she carefully wrapped the mushroom before picking it up, making sure it never touched her bare skin. Her movements were surprisingly cautious and precise, treating the tiny thing with real care.
"Gopuran, this purple mushroom is edible too?" I asked.
Up close, the thing looked even cuter, like a tiny cone-shaped gummy candy stuck on a toothpick, except this one glowed softly with purple and white specks that glittered in the dim light.
No wonder Gopuran had gotten so excited. From her reaction, I honestly thought it might be some rare delicacy.
However, Gopuran shook her head.
"No, poison!" she said. "Eat this mushroom, you paralize!!"
"Oooh!" I gasped. "But if it's poison, why pick it up?"
"For hunting!"
(Eh? Hunting…?)
Right! I instantly understood what she meant.
By extracting the poison somehow and spreading it onto the tips of their spears or daggers, these goblins could turn simple weapons into deadly poison tools. That way, even a small wound could paralyze their prey in seconds.
Very interesting indeedd.
I wondered how strong this mushroom actually was.
So, "Can it... paralyze a Horned Wolf?" I asked.
"Yeah!"
Gopuran nodded confidently.
(Damn…)
I could hardly believe it. This tiny little mushroom—barely the size of Gopuran's pinky finger—had enough poison to paralyze a bull-sized wolf?
If possible, I would love to research this mushroom later. Mainly, try to see if I could grow it or cultivate more of them. It would be a valuable addition to my arsenal.
"Alright. Be careful then. Don't put it with your food."
"Yup!"
Since it was poisonous, instead of dropping it into her pouch, Gopuran wrapped it carefully with two more layers of dried leaves, then… stashed it into her hair bundle.
Whoa… I gotta say, her creativity was quite impressive!
We then moved on, continuing to explore the area.
And just like that, somehow, this goblin girl had turned the entire exploring quest into an exotic food tour.
Tree bark, suspicious berries, glowing mushrooms, more bugs…
She literally had an appetite for everything!
Through her expertise, I was learning a surprising amount about this biosystem: what was safe to eat, what to avoid, and what could be turned into a weapon.
Still… if someone abandoned me here alone, I would rather starve than eat any of those gross, creepy bugs!
*****
But then, while we were busy examining another mushroom, Gopuran suddenly froze in the middle of her movement.
Her whole body went completely still.
Her large ears perked up sharply, and her head snapped toward the deeper part of the forest.
"Big Boss, you hear?" Gopuran asked, her voice dropping to an urgent whisper.
"Huh? Hear what?" I replied, caught completely off guard.
I had been too focused on the strange blue mushroom in front of us to notice anything unusual. Its spotted cap had been oddly hypnotic.
Just then, Gopuran's ears twitched again, catching the sound once more.
And this time, I heard it too through our shared senses.
Goblins.
It was frantic shouting in the goblin language.
The voices sounded small and distant, carried thinly through the thick trees and heavy canopy. Whoever was shouting had to be quite far away, yet the raw panic in their voices was unmistakable.
And since I could understand Goblish, I was able to make out bits of what they were screaming.
"Aaaa! RUN!!!"
"AAAAAh!!"
"It coming!!!"
It was not just one voice, but three or four distinct voices overlapping in terror.
High pitched, desperate screams.
The kind that sounded like goblins being chased by something truly dangerous.
The fear in their cries sent a chill racing down my spine even from this distance.
"BROTHERS! SISTERS!"
Gopuran dropped the mushroom. It tumbled forgotten into the moss as she burst into a full sprint toward the sound.
Even when thick bushes blocked her path, she did not slow down. She simply leaped onto the nearest tree trunk, her axe digging into the rough bark, and dashed into the branches with shocking agility. She swung and jumped from tree to tree, moving so fast that her vision blurred.
"Gopuran, what's going on?!" I asked her in panic.
"My brothers and sisters! My tribe!"
From the sound of it, those desperate cries had to be coming from Gopuran's tribemates, other goblins from the same group she once belonged to.
(What is going on?! Are they being chased by that other tribe?)
(If so, this is way too dangerous!)