SRS 119

“Huff, huff… Oh, has the Lord arrived? Goodness. I definitely wasn’t sleeping…”

The one who burst through the open door was a goblin so thin and frail that Yohan jumped in surprise. He was roughly the same height as Yohan, but his body lacked so much flesh that he looked like he’d snap if you poked him. Yohan was speechless at the sight of this water strider-like goblin. The goblin clasped his hands and explained that he hadn’t ignored the knock on purpose, then he froze.

“Huh…? You’re a face I don’t recognize.”

The goblin bowed and then lifted his chin to stare at Yohan. His eyes were filled with suspicion. Yohan held out the envelope Professor Will had given him.

“Please take this. A professor from Fantasiademia asked me to deliver it to you.”

“A professor? Didn’t you just say you’re the Lord’s representative?”

“…I’m that as well,” Yohan added calmly, even though he felt his face heat up.

The note had told him to say that. Since one of his nicknames was Acting Headmaster, it wasn’t exactly a lie. It was just within the limits of his conscience. The goblin scratched his head and took the envelope while he looked at Yohan’s youthful face.

“Well. Your face is very young, but I’ll believe you for now. Let’s see, this letter is…”

He tore the envelope and pulled out the paper. The goblin read it through, clicked his tongue, and then handed it back to Yohan.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do it.”

“What?”

“Tell the Fantasiademia professor I can’t. I refused before, but he sent someone again. This really bothers a goblin…”

The goblin grumbled and shoved the letter against Yohan’s chest. He forced him to take it and then gave a stiff bow.

“Then, if you’ll excuse me. It was an honor to meet the Great One’s representative.”

His behavior was a masterpiece of balancing between being polite and being rude.

Bang!

The door shut again. Yohan and his friends blinked at the closed door before they looked at each other.

“…What should we do?”

Yohan expected this to be difficult since it was Professor Will’s personal request, but he didn’t think the goblin would be this uncooperative from the start. The goblin’s attitude was so firm that Yohan didn’t dare knock again. When he looked at his friends, Suhyeok looked interested in Professor Will’s letter.

“Can’t we just read the letter? We need to know what he wrote so we can try to persuade that goblin.”

“Uh… Is it alright to read it?”

“It’s not polite to read a letter that isn’t for you.”

“So you aren’t curious, Kylus?”

“……”

The four heads huddled together. They struggled with their conflict over the paper until Mikael reached a conclusion.

“Let’s just look.”

He sounded like an angel because he solved the conflict, but his words were rude in terms of manners. Suhyeok quickly agreed. Kylus feigned a cough and nodded as if he weren’t interested. It was three against one.

“Mmm… I still don’t think it’s polite…”

As Yohan hesitated until the end, Suhyeok snorted.

“You just told him you’re the Acting Headmaster without a second thought, but now you’re worried about this?”

“Th-that’s different!”

Yohan tried to argue because it felt unfair, but his friends’ stares were cold. Eventually, he had no choice but to unfold the paper as he was swept up by their momentum.

“…To be honest, I was a little curious.”

Since they decided to look, he couldn’t claim he was innocent. He confessed as a fellow accomplice. Suhyeok chuckled and said he knew it. Yohan swallowed his embarrassment and read the letter with everyone.

“Wow.”

“…Isn’t this a threat?”

“Since we know Professor Will’s personality, it’s probably not a threat. He likely just wrote down exactly what he’s thinking.”

“……”

Suhyeok was impressed, Kylus expressed concern, and Mikael simply analyzed Professor Will’s character. Yohan couldn’t say a word. Who on earth writes in a request letter that they’ll burn your house down and drag you to a lab if you don’t help? It was written politely, but it basically said he’d destroy the house, kidnap him, and force him into labor.

Professor Will was one thing for writing it, but the goblin was also extraordinary for just clicking his tongue and going back inside after seeing such a letter. Yohan looked at the first sentence of the letter again.

‘Lord Gerog. I have a request for you, who was once a great goblin warrior before choosing the path of a master craftsman.’

According to the letter, the goblin named Gerog was definitely a warrior in his prime. Yet he had such a slender frame. This was hard for Yohan’s common sense to accept.

“Maybe we came to the wrong house?”

Yohan argued using the goblin’s fragile appearance as evidence, but Mikael shook his head.

“If that were the case, he wouldn’t have reacted like that after reading the letter. He would’ve asked who Gerog is instead.”

“Right. That goblin spoke as if he’s received these requests often. So he must be the person in the letter.”

Since his two rational friends agreed, Yohan let go of his doubts. The conversation turned back to what to do now that Gerog had closed the door.

“First, I think we need to know why he’s refusing. That way, we can figure out a way to persuade him,” Suhyeok suggested. They agreed with him.

“Then our goal for today should be to hear his reason for refusing the request.”

“Yohan. Can you call Lord Gerog again?”

“…Yes.”

Yohan took a deep breath for his role and knocked. He persistently knocked until his polite tap-tap-tap became a bang-bang-bang. Gerog opened the door with an exhausted expression.

“What does the Great Representative want now?”

His words were polite, but his tone screamed for them to disappear. Yohan started to look apologetic, but his friends poked his back, so he put on a solemn face instead. Mikael and Suhyeok had advised him that being authoritative would be more effective than being humble when dealing with Gerog.

“Lord Gerog. I’m sorry for calling you out again. However, if you’re going to refuse the Professor’s request, we must hear the reason for that refusal.”

Yohan didn’t add any pleas for understanding because he feared he’d look too weak. Gerog rubbed his pointed ears and sighed.

“I’m just a back-room patient now. I can’t make the great things Fantasiademia wants, and I’ve lost the ability to do so. Find another craftsman. I’ve said this many times already.”

“Is that really the only reason?”

“What?”

“Professor Will is a professor at Fantasiademia. If a person like him kept requesting your help even after hearing your reason, it means your excuse isn’t sufficient or lacks credibility. If Lord Gerog truly wants people from Fantasiademia to stop visiting your home, you need a better reason.”

Gerog stared at Yohan after that cold advice. Yohan didn’t flinch and calmly met the goblin’s gaze.

“Ha.”

Gerog eventually lowered his head in defeat.

“You’re clever. I guess you aren’t the Lord’s representative for nothing. Well… the inside is humble, but I can’t keep a noble guest standing outside. Come in.”

Gerog sighed and weakly opened the door to welcome them.

“You move slowly. You look like a resident of this territory, yet in the empire, when the Lord visits… mmmph!”

As Kylus tried to point out Gerog’s bad manners, Suhyeok quickly covered his friend’s mouth. Yohan exchanged a look with him to signal well done and entered Gerog’s house. The inside was just as deplorable as the outside. It was a mess, with dampness and various trinkets overturned as if a storm had passed through last night.

There was literally no place to step, so Yohan walked on his tiptoes toward the table Gerog pointed out. Books and weapons were piled like towers on the table as well. Gerog swept everything to the side and guided the group to the cleared spot.

Yohan sat down while he barely hid his disbelief. The old wooden chair creaked. Yohan worried that the worn-out chair might break under his weight.

“…Where should I start?”

The goblin rubbed his ears and groaned with the four students sitting in front of him.

“I’d like you to tell us everything you can,” Yohan added quickly, as he sensed the goblin’s hesitation. The thin goblin stood up to bring some tea and returned with a tray of five cups. He stumbled on the way, so Kylus jumped up and took the tray for him.

“Thank you.”

The goblin chuckled at being served by a guest and looked at the four students. After a moment of silence, Gerog revealed the truth.

“…Since it’s come to this, I’ll tell you. I’m under a curse.”

“A curse?”

Yohan was shocked by the unexpected reason. That was because not even a single ounce of dark energy came from Gerog.

“I know why the professor is trying to drag me out. Will and I were friends who roamed the battlefield together in the past.”

The other three students looked at the goblin in surprise. Gerog chuckled and wrapped his hands around his cup with an embarrassed look.

“The story goes back a long way.”

With those words, Gerog’s story began.