The path we were travelling along was quite familiar to me. The scenery was all the same, but when on the hillside path that I once walked, I could no longer see the goblin village. “Let’s enter the forest from here,” I said.
“Why here?” Penrin seemed confused as to why I wanted to descend to the Eastern Forest at this random location.
“There’s someone I want to see before we complete the quest.” The three of us went down the hill and stepped into the spot where a village once stood. There was no more blood or gore. One couldn’t tell at all that this was the site of a massacre. What did still remain though, was the grave that I dug.
I walked over to the gravestone and dusted off some dirt that had built up on top of it. I thought about the goblin that I had spared. Were they now living in the Demon Kingdom safely? Were they still despairing over losing their tribe?
“Did someone die here?” Newmill asked.
“Yeah.” I poured some water over the grave to clean off the grime.
Newmill looked at me with a sympathetic expression. He was delicate with his next phrasing. “I’m sorry for your loss. I want you to know that they’re probably smiling down at you from heaven above.”
“I doubt it.”
“Why is that? You don’t believe in heaven?”
“Not that. It’s just that the deceased has no idea who I am, and I haven’t the slightest clue who they are either.”
“Huh?” Newmill was puzzled. “Then why are you taking so much care for their grave?”
“Because I made it. I don’t want to see my glorious creation covered in mud.” I finished polishing the stone and got up. “Shall we continue?”
Penrin asked, “Was this a grave for an animal? A human probably wouldn’t be buried all the way out here.”
“It’s a grave for a goblin,” I explained.
“You made a grave for a goblin? Why would you spare any sympathy for creatures like that?” said Newmill.
Penrin agreed. “You should’ve left the corpse for the wolves. Monsters don’t deserve any consideration.”
“I hope when you meet my friend, you’ll change your minds.”
We journeyed deeper into the woods and came upon the river that I met my mimic friend at. Sure enough, a giant chest was present by the riverside. Its mouth was closed and it was stationary. It had probably been drinking some water from the river.
“Hey, friend.” I waved while approaching the mimic. I realised it probably couldn’t see me waving but I made the gesture anyway.
“Careful, Yarm! That thing can gobble you up in seconds.” Newmill warned me but I carried on.
The mimic did not move at all. It was slightly unnerving. I worried that maybe it was dead. When I got close, I started stroking the top of the chest. “Did you miss me?” I whispered. As I did so, the mouth opened.
“Watch out! It’s going to eat you.”
I saw sharp pointy teeth and a gaping maw. The mimic leaned towards me and extended its tongue out to lick my face. I got covered in rather smelly saliva. “Your breath stinks. Time for another brushing.” I pulled out my toothbrush and began cleaning the mimic’s teeth. There was far less gunk this time around, so it was relatively easy to clean.
“What’s going on?” Newmill asked Penrin.
“I don’t know. First he cleans a gravestone and now he’s cleaning a mimic’s teeth. Does he have the Dentist title or something?”
I threw some mint flavoured snacks into the mimic’s mouth as a treat. My teammates were still wary, so I invited them over to caress the chest. After taking a long time to overcome their hesitance, they both touched the mimic.
“We didn’t get eaten?” Penrin said in amazement.
“Not yet,” Newmill replied.
The mimic began to eat some grass at our feet.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” said Penrin. “Mimics only eat humans. That’s the purpose of their camouflage. A human thinks they’re looting a chest and then bam! A mimic eats them.”
“It seems as if this one is an anomaly,” Newmill said.
“Now do you two understand? My friend here is a decent fellow. I don’t want any harm to come to it.” The mimic nuzzled against me while eating. “If you two are fine with killing monsters, then does that mean you want to kill this mimic too?”
“This mimic is just an abnormal case. There are thousands of other bloodthirsty mimics. Should we spare them all simply because this one is nice?” Penrin argued.
“If your doppelganger committed a crime, would you be fine with being punished alongside them because the prosecutors couldn’t tell you two apart?”
“Obviously not,” said Penrin, “but the scale is completely different. I’m not about to have mercy on all monsters just because a few of them are nice.”
“What about you, prince?”
Newmill was deep in thought. “Initially, I was against the slaughter of all monsters because I believed it was immoral to kill those that had intelligence and sentience like us. My logic was that the smart ones were capable of being good, so we shouldn’t kill them.”
“And now?”
Newmill tenderly rubbed the side of the mimic. “I was wrong. There are other monsters, like this one, who deserve to live. I’ll help you, Yarm. In your quest to save innocent monsters, I’ll provide whatever assistance I can.”
I considered that another small victory for myself. I was changing people’s minds. Little by little, I was doing something. That filled me with great hope for the future.
“Can we get on with the guild request, please?” Penrin rolled her eyes at the consideration Newmill professed towards monsters.
I led the team through the forest, towards the direction that I met my rat nemesis. I couldn’t remember where it was exactly, but I had a general idea.
“What’s our battle strategy once we find the monster?” asked Penrin.
“The strategy is you two stay back while I deal with it.”
“Are you insane? Giant rats are dangerous!” Penrin said in an exasperated tone.
“Which is exactly why I can’t allow you to fight. I won’t put children into needless danger.”
A giant rat burst out of the bushes and locked eyes with us. It looked even bigger than last time. Its fur was thicker and its eyes were redder. There was a new menacing aura that surrounded it. The cause of these changes became apparent when I looked above its head and saw that it had increased its level to 21.
“Are you sure you can take this thing alone?” Penrin was already in a fighting stance. This monster had ignited all her instincts for battle.
I stammered quietly, “Maybe I do need a little bit of help—"
Newmill loudly spoke over me, “Have some faith, Penrin! If Yarm says he can do it alone, then that’s what he’ll do. You should trust him.”
A bead of sweat ran down my forehead as I stared down the terrifying beast in front of me. More quietly than last, I whispered, “You don’t have to trust me all the time. Even I make mistakes sometimes—"
Penrin interrupted, “You’re right. I should believe in him. He took down the duke so he should be able to handle this with ease.”
My legs shook as I pulled out a sturdy acupuncture needle.
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