The Normal Summon interface opened with its familiar green glow.
I had the team gathered at the clearing's center.
Napoleon occupied his senior consultant position near my left boot. He was my first summoning, who had been present for every summoning so far, and clearly considered himself the authority on how these things went.
Timber stood at a respectful distance, patient and still. He must be eager to meet the new companions.
Kaira stood with her arms folded; the sheer excitement was visible on her face.
"Hey! Hey! What will you summon this time?" she asked enthusiastically.
I didn't bother replying—after all, I wasn't sure of it myself.
Aldric? As composed as ever.
But the interesting part was that Lys was here today as well, and she was eagerly waiting for what I had promised to show.
The spinner cycled.
Mystery slot... eagle... mystery slot... lion... mystery slot...
It slowed and drifted until it settled on a mystery slot with a final soft klink.
Warm and unhurried golden light bloomed as usual.
When it faded, a goat stood in the clearing.
It stood at approximately waist height, its fur and coat a white so luminous it seemed to generate its own light in the morning air. Her curved horns caught the sun at a self-satisfied angle. Her eyes—those distinctly unsettling horizontal pupils—surveyed the assembled company with an expression of serene and absolute judgment.
[It's... quite a decent summon this time. Congrats, Human. Your luck is changing, it seems.]
"Wish it could just get better and better."
[Greedy!]
---
SUMMON INFORMATION
Species: Lunara Goat
Rank: Initiate ★★★★★
Age: 3 years
Trait: Moonblessed Lactation
Loyalty: 52%
Special Ability:
[Lunar Milk] — Produces milk with mild restorative properties during moonlit hours. Potency increases proportionally under fuller moons.
---
"Restorative milk?" I muttered calmly. "That's nutritional value, medicinal potential, trade value—all in one. More importantly, this is exactly what the settlement needs right now."
"Marfin! Marfin!! What have you summoned right now!? This weird creature—what is it called?" Kaira shot a barrage of questions as she excitedly jumped around it.
"It's a Lunara Goat."
"Ohhhhhhhhhhh—" Kaira exclaimed, trying to understand what it was, even though there was nothing to understand about a name.
"An Initiate five-star goat with a moon-linked restorative ability," I added, hoping that would help.
"Restorative ability?... so it's basically doing a potion's job?" Aldric questioned for the first time.
"Well... in a way, yes. We'll see it when we drink the milk."
"And when will we do that?"
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. First, get more comfortable with it... then, certainly, it would let us have its milk."
The goat walked three deliberate steps to the left, located a patch of farmland edge that apparently met her personal standards, and began eating grass.
Napoleon approached with the cautious authority of a senior official evaluating new personnel.
The goat ignored him completely.
Napoleon crowed once at moderate volume. Establishing terms.
The goat continued eating.
Napoleon retreated with dignity intact—or at least with the performance of dignity intact, which for Napoleon was functionally the same thing.
"Lunaira... that'll be her name."
[Loyalty: 52% → 54%]
She didn't look up from the grass, but she certainly liked the name.
[Inhabitants: 8/9]
I need one more to expand.
I reached into my interface.
The Epic Summon Ticket had been waiting since the Drake disaster. It wouldn't be polite to keep it waiting.
"Zero," I said. "Open the Epic Summon interface."
Zero paused for a few seconds.
[And before you allow yourself any expectations—statistically speaking—]
"Zero?"
[Sigh... Opening Epic Summon interface.]
What materialized was larger than any interface I had seen before. Its glow was deep gold. Unlike the Normal Summon, it looked extravagant.
"Are you a summoner as well, Master?" Before I could start, Lys interrupted me.
"I am... not. It's all dark magic. Very complicated. Maybe I forgot to tell you, but there's a lot more extraordinary things I can do... I'd prefer it if none questioned me."
"I—I am sorry... I didn't know!" She panicked.
"It's fine." I patted her head and, at the same time, spun the gacha.
The sound the Epic interface made was nothing like the Normal Summon. It was deeper. Resonant.
It slowed.
Stopped.
Almost instantly, a brilliant crimson light descended from the sky, forcing my eyes shut.
"What the—!"
Then it faded.
And on the spot where it had descended, sitting in the cleared earth of the northeastern farmland... was something very small.
At a glance, it looked like a lump of green meat.
And upon closer inspection—
I was sure.
It couldn't have been longer than my forearm. Green-skinned, enormous-eared, with eyes so large relative to the rest of its face that the proportions seemed almost deliberate. It sat in the dirt with its small legs splayed outward, blinking slowly.
It was... a Goblin.
An infant goblin.
It looked at its own hands.
Verified they were present.
Then looked up at me.
The silence in the clearing was considerable.
Why wasn't Zero cussing at me? Surely it would have mocked me a thousand times because of a lousy summon...
That was the only thought spiraling in my mind.
I looked at the system window above the infant's head.
---
SUMMON INFORMATION
Species: Evolved Goblin (Infant)
Rank: Evolved ★
Age: 0
Trait: Devourer
Loyalty: 2%
Special Ability:
[Consume] — Absorbs abilities, traits, and attributes from devoured materials and living beings. Potency and range of absorption scale with current evolution stage and accumulated consumption.
[Note: Current physical condition is critically fragile. Extreme caution advised in all interactions.]
---
"Holy fuck..."
The writer in me—the part that had spent decades constructing stories, populating worlds, tracking what certain combinations of trait and circumstance produced over time—read it once and understood everything.
Everything.
Isn't it... a protagonist trait... right there?
Devourer.
If I had to categorize it as a power fantasy protagonist skill, then it would certainly fall into an SSS-tier ability.
With a protagonist trait like that, the book name would surely have been—
SSS-Ranked Devourer Goblin.
Or, I Reincarnated as a Goblin in Another World with a Devourer Skill.
I was certain of it.
The goblin sneezed.
It was the smallest, most cosmically unimpressive sneeze in the history of the Great Jura Forest. Its entire body lurched forward with the effort. It nearly tipped over, catching itself on both hands in the dirt, and then looked up at the assembled company with an expression of profound personal offense at its own biology.
From beside me came a sound I hadn't heard before.
Small. Involuntary. Immediately suppressed.
I turned.
Lys stood with both hands pressed firmly over her mouth. Her amber eyes were wide above them, fixed on the infant goblin with an expression she was clearly attempting to suppress—and failing at completely.
It was the closest thing to delight I had seen on her face since the cave.
I looked at her.
Then at the goblin.
Then back at her.
"Lys."
She straightened immediately, composure reconstructed with impressive speed.
"...Yes?"
"I don't know how to raise a goblin."
A careful pause.
"Neither do I."
"You're going to figure it out."
Her eyes widened. "I...I certainly will!" she exclaimed, approaching the goblin and poking it with her finger. "Thank you, Master, for trusting me with your baby..."
"Wh...wha...that's not..."
"You have summoned something we are familiar with at last!" Before I could finish, Kaira chimed in, sitting right beside Lys as she studied the goblin infant with excitement. "Or maybe not... goblin infants are usually disgusting and stink, but this one is quite the cutie."
[Territory Expansion Available]
[100m → 200m]
[All Requirements Met.]
[Would you like to expand your territory?]