Chapter 59: Ignorance is Bliss

After the ogre nodded, Petricia turned toward Alex.

"King, let's go. They will show the way."

The group then started walking, passing through the goblin settlement. Sёarᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

They could see many goblins looking out from the windows of their houses with wariness and fear. The houses inside were also made of wood, resembling simple village huts.

As they kept walking, BAM!

Suddenly, a rock was thrown, almost hitting Emily, but the ogre intercepted it, putting its club in front just in time.

A goblin child with snot and tears could be seen from where the rock was thrown.

"Uukka, kaa! Umma... Na…!?" the goblin child screamed with a sob.

The kid had no hair and wore plain leather as clothing.

Normal goblins are about half the height of an average human; this kid was even shorter, at half the height of a normal goblin.

"What is the kid saying?" Emily asked.

Alex sighed. He didn't fully understand the words, but he knew what the kid meant.

He had seen and heard everything Petricia did through Vesa.

That's what had made him ask that question before Emily.

When Petricia returned, she was bombarded by questions from other goblins.

Where are the others? What about the hunt result?

Petricia ignored all the questions and went directly to the lord.

She did this because she felt guilty toward the rest; she and one other goblin raider were the only survivors.

The rest had died. Petricia didn't know what to say to them.

She couldn't just come and say she had met the incarnation of a god.

The normal goblins wouldn't understand its importance; their minds were only focused on surviving each day.

There was a reason why Alex had only found wolf howlers outside the settlement; the goblins had hunted the other animals to the point where they were almost extinct.

Those that survived had run away from the goblin stronghold as far as they could.

Alex had just entered this dungeon, but the goblins had been staying in this area for some time.

The high goblins had already decided to start eating the wolf howlers if they couldn't get another meal.

Each hunt resulted in casualties despite the small amount of meat they brought back. The monsters they could hunt had started gathering together, making every hunt even riskier.

Even though goblins could breed like rabbits, it took time for them to grow, and not all goblins could be trained to become part of an army.

What if the hunters arrived then?

When all their army was dead, and they didn't even have the wolf howlers?

The result was certain—only death.

The food stock also kept dwindling, forcing them to make hard choices. They kept the army and higher-ups well-fed, but as for the civilians, they started rationing.

The goblins were in this dungeon, not by choice. Their only sin was trying to fight back for independence and failing.

The whole clan was then punished and put in this place.

Their mission was to kill the hunters; if they succeeded in defending, they would be forgiven.

There was a reason the Association rated Goblin Hollows as a category two dungeon; the success rate of dungeon dives here was very high.

And for every successful raid, the goblin clan residing there was massacred.

Petricia bowed her head to Emily.

She didn't like Emily much, but she was her king's sister, no matter what.

"I am sorry, Lady Emily. Please forgive him. He is just a boy, so he doesn't know any better."

The rock hadn't even hit her, so Emily didn't feel mad. Even without the ogre's move, she could have easily caught it.

If anything, she felt more wary when the ogre moved, but since she didn't sense any bad intentions, she didn't react.

"Lady? I don't care if you call Alex 'King,' but for me, just call me Emily. The word 'lady' makes me cringe," Emily said with a frown.

"Alright, Lady Emily."

"So, why did that goblin throw a rock at me?" Emily asked.

"He lost his father in the last hunt; he was one of the goblin warriors under me," Petricia said with a sigh, then continued,

"He doesn't have any other family, so he's like this. Don't mind him; there are many other kids like him."

Hearing this, Emily could empathize since she also lost her father, but that didn't mean she would magically view them in the same light as fellow humans.

After all, her hatred for monsters from dungeons had been festering for years.

But she felt curious about Petricia's words. "What do you mean, many kids like him?"

Petricia then told her about the situation in the goblin settlement. The more Emily learned, the more she couldn't see goblins as only monsters.

She then glared at Alex again, her eyes silently cursing him for not telling her this. Emily was sure now that Alex knew about it; that's why he had asked her that strange question before.

Sometimes, we believe we want to know the truth, only to discover we were happier in ignorance.

This sentence quickly surfaced in Emily's mind.

Every hunter knew these words; it was what the current Association president told them when they became hunters and each time they got promoted.

If she could turn back time, she would prefer not to know all these truths.

Her mind knew this wasn't her problem, but Emily's heart couldn't help feeling guilty.

Just like if someone throws a banana peel on the street without care and then returns to their activity, only a few hours later, an unsuspecting individual walks over it and falls.

It can become a simple, silly joke that triggers laughter.

But what if the one who falls is elderly? Or someone with special conditions? Or someone pregnant?

That small thing can become a tragedy that results in someone's demise.

If the one who threw it knew the result of their action, they might regret it, try their best to repent or go into a breakdown of depression.

But as long as they don't know anything, they will continue their daily lives.

Truly, being ignorant is bliss.