I Became a Magical Genius After Regression

Chapter 15

“Wind.”

As Randell quietly murmured, the direction of the wind changed. The wind that had been blowing forward now blew towards him.

Now, there would be no chance of being detected by scent.

The reason for being this cautious was simple.

Randell was hiding in the bushes directly opposite the cave where the goblins had settled.

‘The vigilance has become much stricter.’

The usual single guard had increased to three.

Moreover, the atmosphere was unusual.

Even though there was a hobgoblin inside the cave that they trusted without a doubt, the guards were visibly tense.

“Come on, let’s go hunting quickly.”

Randell muttered while watching the cave.

This was Randell’s daily routine.

It wasn’t grand.

During the day, he waited for the goblins to come out of the cave, just like now.

And when they came out?

He would secretly follow and kill them.

The goblins must have been driven to madness.

Whether they went out for reconnaissance or hunting, the chance of returning alive was less than 50%.

Of course, the rest were all killed by Randell.

‘Are there about half of the goblins left now? At this point, the hobgoblin should step out directly.’

Even though the Blood Goblin had special abilities, it was still just a goblin.

It was just as impatient, and if things didn’t go its way, it would go on a rampage and act wildly.

Regardless, it was time for it to step up.

They served the Blood Goblin to survive, but if it didn’t lift a finger while its kin were dying?

The goblins would have no reason to serve it.

Therefore, the Blood Goblin had to show its charisma and worth before that happened.

‘But why isn’t it coming out? Isn’t it a combat type?’

Even so, the fact that it was holed up in the cave likely meant it couldn’t fight directly.

The abilities of Blood Goblins varied widely. Some could shorten the fertility period of female goblins or increase the stamina of their subordinates.

‘Huh?’

At that moment, Randel saw two goblins.

They seemed to be heading from the forest to the cave, as if they had gone out while Randel was sleeping.

What they were holding looked familiar.

It was the corpses of goblins.

The ones Randel had killed.

‘What is this?’

Randel narrowed his eyes at the sight.

Goblins had no burial customs.

They were very affectionate towards their kin, but indifferent to the dead.

So why were they taking those corpses?

“Ah… those filthy creatures.”

Randel muttered in disgust as he found the answer.

The reason the goblins were retrieving the corpses was none other than to eat them.

‘They’re stockpiling food.’

After waiting a bit longer, it seemed many had gone out during the night, as goblins kept entering the cave.

And they were bringing back as much edible stuff as possible.

The number of goblins, which had been around eighty, had decreased to forty.

Naturally, there were fewer mouths to feed.

Moreover, by gathering the corpses of their kin, they wouldn’t have to worry about food for at least a week.

Randel knew this situation very well.

“Are you ready to move your nest?”

From that moment, Randel began to examine the entrance of the cave more closely.

The number of goblins, the amount of meat and fruit being brought in, the fatigue and atmosphere, and so on.

The conclusion he reached was.

“In about three days, perhaps.”

Swish.

Having figured out the goblins’ moving date, Randel hid himself among the bushes.

To prepare for a surprise housewarming before they moved.

* * *

In the middle of the forest.

There was an abandoned hut in this secluded place.

Originally, it was used by hunters, but it was abandoned when the game around here dried up.

The peculiar thing was that even if you cooked inside, the smoke wouldn’t be visible from outside.

This was to avoid being detected as much as possible while the hunters ate.

Animals aren’t fools, after all.

And now.

“Hmm, let’s see.”

It had become Randel’s nest.

Swish.

Wearing gloves made of deer leather, Randel carefully rummaged through his pockets.

“Glowing mushroom.”

What came out was a mushroom.

The mushroom, true to its name, emitted a faint light in the dark hut.

The mushroom itself was nothing special except for its glow.

It wasn’t toxic, so animals often nibbled on it.

“But…”

Randel took out other ingredients from his pockets.

Green herb, iron oxide powder, a bottle containing goblin blood.

After crushing these well and mixing them with the mushroom, then boiling it a bit, it would harden like a red stone.

And if you put that stone in a mortar and grind it well…

“It’s complete.”

Randel shook the glass bottle containing the red powder.

Then he threw a little into his palm and blew on it.

“Whoo―”

The powder was so fine that even a weak breath scattered it all away.

Randel looked at it with satisfaction.

The effect of this powder was singular.

‘Paralysis.’

It had little effect on humans.

The weight limit was about 40 kilograms.

If the opponent weighed more than that, they would need to consume a large amount, but there weren’t many fools in the world who would willingly ingest such a suspicious powder.

In that time, it would be much easier to paralyze them by hitting the back of their head with a rock.

‘But goblins are different.’

Due to their small size and fast blood flow, the effect was immediate.

It was as if it was made solely to target goblins.

In fact, it was only natural.

‘Because it was made solely to target goblins.’

Randel’s anger towards goblins was beyond imagination.

At first, he went around killing goblins directly.

Then he suddenly thought.

―Wouldn’t it be much faster and more efficient to kill more goblins if everyone killed them together instead of just me?

From then on, he worked like crazy as a mercenary to save money.

And with that money, he commissioned the Alchemist Guild.

He didn’t need anything else, just a poison that was easy to make and effective against goblins.

This was the result.

‘In the past, everyone used it a lot.’

Randel had fully disclosed the recipe for this drug.

So that more people could make more of it and kill more goblins.

Later, he heard that it was mainly used in pioneer villages.

But this powder had one drawback.

‘The anesthesia time is too short.’

The time to immobilize was at most 5 minutes.

It seemed long, but when you think about it, it wasn’t.

That was the case for Randel now.

The place where Randel was going to use this drug was a cave wide enough to house hundreds of goblins.

Even if he poured the powder, it would be difficult to spread it to every corner, and it would take a long time.

If unlucky, the goblins at the end of the cave might be paralyzed while the ones near the entrance could recover.

Moreover, they might notice something strange and flee in groups while it spreads.

‘In other words, if you recklessly enter after sprinkling the powder, you might get surrounded and killed by the ones who recover.’

So, he planned to reduce the number of goblins as much as possible before starting.

By the time the goblins woke up from paralysis, there wouldn’t be many left alive.

Those could just be killed.

But now the situation had changed.

The goblins were preparing to flee. If he missed the hobgoblin here, it would be difficult to catch it again.

The forest behind Randel’s village and the mountain range beyond were that dense and wide.

“Revenge must be taken.”

Randel muttered, his eyes glinting.

No one would know how much he wanted to grind that creature in his past life.

Instead, he had caught numerous goblins, but Randel’s anger had not dulled even after many years.

Sssrrrk.

Randel carefully transferred the additional red powder he had completed into a glass bottle.

In his past life, Randel’s life had many twists and turns.

But if there was one thing he wanted to change and regretted the most, it was undoubtedly the death of his family.

The curse and anger that had oppressed Randel’s life.

Now it was time to release it.

* * *

A dark night.

Unlike their appearance, the diurnal goblins showed vulnerability at night.

The two goblins standing guard were no exception.

“Kii…”

One of the guards, who was sound asleep, even mumbled in his sleep, feeling good.

It was thanks to the cool breeze that had been blowing since earlier, providing relief from the unseasonable heatwave of late autumn.

Moreover, this place was a terrain where the wind didn’t blow well, but today, the wind kept blowing without stopping.

But that feeling didn’t last long.

“Sniff, sniff.”

Suddenly, a strange smell brushed the tip of his nose.

It smelled like blood, but there was a strangely sweet scent mixed in. And that made it even more ominous and disgusting.

“…?”

The guard goblin opened his eyes drowsily.

Thud, thud…

It wasn’t just the smell; he also heard something approaching from beyond the darkness.

It didn’t take long to realize that the footsteps belonged to a human.

‘Kreeek! Kreeeek!’

The guard goblin quickly shouted to wake up his sleeping comrades inside.

But something was strange.

He was shouting desperately, with all his might, as if his throat would bleed, but the world remained silent.

“Kiik… Kii…”

All that came out was the sound of his breathing.

It was only then that the guard realized something was wrong with his body and struggled.

But his limbs, which had already gone numb, moved very slowly, as if swimming in water.

Thud, thud…

In the meantime, what had completely approached through the darkness was a human.

No, it was a monster.

Its body was that of a human, but it had a long beak like a bird protruding from its head.

“Thanks for standing guard.”

The monster human spoke warm words that even the goblin captain hadn’t said.

But at the same time, the flying axe blade was colder than the crescent moon in the night sky.

Slash.

The goblin’s head spun in the air.

* * *

Thud, thud, thud…

A small, rhythmic sound echoed through the cave.

The goblins didn’t know, but it was the sound of an intruder striking his own palm with a hand axe.

The sound reverberated through the cave, invading the ears of the paralyzed goblins.

Soon, along with the sound of footsteps, a silhouette appeared at the entrance of the cave.

An intruder leisurely emerged through the red dust.

That figure was truly the grim reaper for the goblins.

“Kii…”

“Kiek…”

The terrified goblins made sounds full of fear.

But they couldn’t even tremble as they wished.

Their already paralyzed bodies couldn’t even express their fear.

How much time had passed like that?

A new sound began to resonate.

Thud. Thwack.

Thud. Thwack.

With each step the intruder took, the deaths of small creatures faintly spread through the cave.

At the same time, the smell of blood spread.

It was the sound of the intruder walking steadily, smashing the goblins’ heads with a hand axe.

Even while doing so, the intruder seemed to be looking for something, constantly glancing around.

Occasionally, he folded one finger at a time.

“200, 199… 170, 169…”

He was counting the time left until the goblins’ paralysis wore off.

As the numbers decreased, the intruder’s steps quickened.

Approach, check the skin color, smash the head with the hand axe, then pull it out.

A simple process, but with so many goblins, it was no easy task.

“One minute left.”

The intruder, Randell, frowned.

He needed to quickly find and dismember the hobgoblin before the paralysis wore off, but it was nowhere to be seen.

Usually, it would be in the center or the deepest part of the cave, but it was in neither place.

But then it happened.

“Kesha! Khacha!”

A furious roar echoed from one side of the cave.

Randel quickly turned to look in that direction.

Staggering up from the corner was a goblin with red skin.

It was undoubtedly a Blood Goblin.

“Found you, you b*stard.”

The Blood Goblin surprisingly looked unscathed.

Whether it was because the paralysis didn’t work well due to the mana, or because it was in the corner and inhaled less of the powder, it didn’t matter.

Randel’s eyes widened as he saw the Blood Goblin.

Even in the face of his own death, and even in the absurdity of regression, Randel had not lost his sanity.

But now, his head was hot as if his eyes would turn over at any moment.

It was only natural.

The enemy of his family was right in front of him.

He had heard that it was killed by a knight of the subjugation squad before the regression.

But this time would be different.

Today, here, without doing anything.

‘You will die by my hand!’

Randel gripped his hand axe tightly.