Trust

Hibana slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he noticed was the crackling of a fire, its warmth licking at his scales. He found himself inside a cramped wooden hutch, the scent of roasted meat thick in the air. A hole in the roof allowed the smoke to escape, casting shifting shadows along the walls. Over the fire, a makeshift spit turned with a large haunch of meat sizzling over the flames. Beside it, a goblin sat hunched, his beady eyes watching intently. Hibana glanced down at his haunch—his wound had been cleaned and primitively dressed. Before he could process the situation, the goblin let out a high-pitched cry of excitement.

"You not dead! You wake! This good!"

Hibana tried to speak again, but, just like before, he couldn't properly control his throat muscles, jaw, or mouth. The sounds that escaped were little more than squeaks and strange, guttural noises.

The goblin grinned. Picking up the spit, he craned the roasting meat closer to Hibana's face.

"You need food! This yours! Eat! Grow!"

Hibana stared at the goblin, his mind racing. This... isn't what goblins are typically known for. The creature certainly looked like a goblin, but his behavior was strange—almost reverent.

The rich scent of roasted meat filled his nostrils, and his body betrayed him. He couldn't resist. The moment his teeth sank into the juicy flesh, the goblin nodded eagerly.

"Yes! This good! You grow strong! Become protector of tribe!"

Hibana was beginning to piece it together now. He tore into the meat ravenously, his gnawing hunger quickly fading with each bite.

"I see... this goblin wants to recruit me as their protector. But why? I couldn't even defend myself against a simple predator. What makes him think I'd be of any use?"

Suddenly, the goblin shot up, eyes wide with excitement.

"I tell Chief! He want to know you wake up!"

Without another word, he scurried out of the hutch, leaving Hibana alone with the fire.

Hibana tore off the last scraps of meat and, without thinking, swallowed the bone whole. He sat up, picking at his teeth with a claw as the warmth of the flames wrapped around him.

"I've played hundreds of RPGs in my life. Goblins are usually bloodthirsty monsters. But then again… I'm not human. I'm a monster myself. Maybe this is just how things are in this world."

His gaze flickered to the doorway where the goblin had vanished.

"I wonder what this chief has to say. If he rejects me too for being an F-tier, I wouldn't blame him."

Not long after, the hut's flap opened. A much more muscular goblin stepped inside. His red eyes gleamed under the firelight, and he wore colorful yellow and red leather rags, adorned with hoop earrings that clinked softly as he moved. Unlike the younger goblin, he carried himself with grace, settling cross-legged in front of Hibana with practiced ease.

"Forgive Grek for his excitement. He's only six years old," the goblin said, his voice calm and measured. "I am Goroh, current chief of this tribe."

His gaze lingered on Hibana for a moment before he continued.

"After appraising you earlier, I confirmed that you are indeed an F-tier dragon, just as we expected. And your name… is Hibana." He paused, nodding slightly. "It is most fortunate that your parents did not kill you, and that we were able to bring you here. The tribe has not had a dragon among us since the last one abandoned us many, many generations ago."

Hibana tried to speak again, but like before, nothing recognizable came out.

Goroh nodded, unsurprised. "Dragons usually speak from birth. This must be part of your F-tier weakness." His red eyes studied Hibana carefully. "But here, among us goblins, you are a boon of great rarity. And I can tell that you understand me."

He leaned forward slightly, his tone shifting, more solemn.

"We goblins are hunted. Always have been. The Three Kingdoms cull our numbers, take us as trophies. It has been this way for so long that even our oldest stories have forgotten when it began." He tapped his chest. "And so, we live in the now. The now is where we survive. The now is where we grow. Tomorrow? Tomorrow is when we die. And tomorrow is when new goblins are born to replace us."

He let the words settle before continuing.

"But while you are here, we will feed you and help you grow. Until the day you are slain by humans… or the day you leave us." His expression was unreadable. "But for today, we ask this—let us protect you. And in return, you protect us."

Goroh's voice lowered, as if speaking a truth that could not be ignored.

"And then, when you are strong enough, you can choose. Rejoin your kind—who will never accept you as an F-tier. Or die with us, protecting our tribe."

His red eyes met Hibana's.

"The choice is yours."

Hibana drifted back to his past life as Tetsuo.

"Work, pay the bills, put food in your stomach. A no-brainer. Goroh is offering me a job. Do my job, get paid. Only this time, I'm not mopping floors or cleaning toilets. This is honorable. And it's coming from goblins—creatures that were always the lowest-ranking mobs in every RPG I've played."

His thoughts darkened.

"Just what kind of world is this, where goblins have lost all hope of ever having a real name for themselves? What keeps them from the greatness they deserve—the same greatness they've shown me with this generous offer?"

Hibana moved closer to Goroh. His new dragon instincts stirred again, overtaking the remnants of his human self. Without fully thinking, he lowered his head into the goblin chief's lap.

Goroh stiffened, his red eyes widening in shock.

"Mighty dragon, you honor me with your touch!"

A moment passed before the goblin chief slowly placed a hand on Hibana's muzzle, his voice steady but filled with awe.

"I'll take this gesture as a sign that you approve... given that, for some strange reason, you are unable to speak."

Goroh stood up, brushing the dust from his rags. "Come, Hibana. Let me show you what you shall be protecting."

Hibana grunted as he pushed himself up, wincing as pain flared through his haunch. It's healing faster than I expected… His mind flicked back to something he had seen earlier. Must be that passive Regenerate skill from my status screen.

That thought led to another, curiosity stirring. Surely I must have gotten some XP by now, right?

A familiar screen flickered into his vision.

[STATUS WINDOW]

Name: HibanaSpecies: Lesser Dragon (Hatchling)Tier: [F-Tier]Level: 1

XP: 0/1000

Vitals:HP: 30/30MP: 10/10Stamina: 50/50

Stats:Strength: 2Dexterity: 1Intelligence: 3Vitality: 2Magic Affinity: 2

Resistances:Fire Resistance: 5Cold Resistance: 2

Hibana blinked. Zero XP?

"Huh... I guess I have to actually kill something or finish a quest to get XP in this world…" He let out a small huff, stretching his wings experimentally. "That's fine. I can probably try again later."

Hibana followed Goroh through the tiny, makeshift camp. Goblins bustled around him, each occupied with some task—tanning leather, crafting weapons, repairing hutches.

"Where's the agriculture? Don't they know how to grow food for themselves?" The thought nagged at him.

They approached Grek, who turned and grinned at Hibana. "You better now after food, yes?"

Goroh nodded. "Yes, child. He's better."

They continued until they reached a special hut, larger than the others. Goroh gestured for Hibana to look inside.

Food. Dried meat, a few vegetables—not much. Not nearly enough for all the goblins that lived here.

Goroh met Hibana's gaze. "We goblins are a fertile bunch. We multiply quickly. We do this so that no matter how many of our number are slain by adventurers, there will always be more of us. As is our way."

He gestured toward the meager supplies.

"Because of this, food is a constant concern. We hunt as much as we can, but sometimes we are forced to steal from the farms of the kingdoms. When we do, the kingdoms send adventurers to cull our numbers. And thus, the cycle of our lives repeats endlessly."

Hibana's stomach clenched.

"They just gave me a massive roast. Enough to feed five goblins easily… I can't believe they did that. They gave me so much when they have so little."

A new thought took root in his mind.

"Perhaps… I can help them with their food problem somehow."

Then the thought occurred to Hibana. he smelled animals just outside of the camp. the smell was faint, but he oculd detect it. he took Grek's hand in his mouth and led him to one of the wooden spears being made. he took a spear with his draconic hand and put it in Grek's hand. he then ran to the edge of the camp, signaling Grek to follow him. Grek looked to Goroh. "I think he want's you to follow him." Grek answered. "Yes, cheif."

Grek and Hibana wandered into the woods outside the camp. Hibana's nose twitched—the same scent as the meat he had eaten earlier. He followed it, leading them to a wild boar grazing among the underbrush.

Grek's eyes widened, but he remained silent.

Slowly, they crept forward. Hibana circled to the other side, positioning himself behind the boar to flank it. Grek tightened his grip on the spear, steadying his breath.

With a swift motion, he loosed the spear.

A direct hit. The boar let out a bloodcurdling scream, thrashing before locking eyes with Grek—then it charged.

Grek barely had time to react.

But before the boar could reach him, Hibana lunged from behind, tackling it, his fangs sinking into its neck.

The boar thrashed violently and with a powerful jerk, threw Hibana off, sending him crashing into a tree.

"Ow! That hurt!" Hibana thought, dazed from the impact.

The boar turned, eyes burning with pain-fueled rage. It charged straight at Hibana.

But before it could reach him—Grek tackled it from the side.

The goblin grunted from the effort, clinging to the beast's back as he pulled out a small stone knife and, with one quick thrust, drove it straight into the boar's heart.

The boar spasmed, let out a final gurgling breath, and went still.

Hibana groaned, pushing himself up before limping over to the fresh kill. Without a word, he bit into its leg and began dragging it back toward the camp.

Grek, panting from the struggle, grinned and hurried to help.

Goroh turned his head as a goblin pointed toward the edge of the wilderness.

Hibana and Grek had returned.

And on Hibana's back was a large boar, its weight dragging against the dirt as the baby dragon limped forward. Grek was beside him, helping him lift the massive beast.

For a moment, the camp fell silent. Then, goblins rushed forward, eager to help.

Goroh stood there, dumbfounded. Perhaps… they wouldn't need to steal from a farm so soon after all.

Hibana, finally relieved of his burden, staggered over to Goroh, his limbs heavy, his breath ragged.

His jaw moved, struggling, his throat working to form something coherent.

"....I... glurgh… help?"

His voice was rough, broken, barely understandable.

Goroh's expression softened, then broke into a wide grin.

"Yes… I suppose you did!"