I Never Run Out of Mana - Chapter 110
Chapter 110 – Karin, the Goblin That Does His Job Well
“Keruru! Human, sir Karin is here!”
Karin didn’t even reach 50 cm in height.
With saggy flesh all over his body, he was chubby to say the least.
His skin was shriveled up with lines running across everywhere, his arms and legs were short.
His appearance as he crossed his arms caused me great discomfort.
Just looking at him made me uncomfortable.
In a split second, my expression changed.
I had to do whatever I could to coax information out of him.
“Oh? Oh my, sir Karin is here?”
“Keru? Of course, of course! It looks like you’ve finally come to your senses! You must always be courteous with me.”
“But there are many days still left before the day of promise….. What brings you here?”
“Kel kel kel. Do not be afraid, human! I won’t be harming you today. I’ve come to play since you are amusing.”
“Oho…. Wow, thank you…..”
It was a soulless and dry response, but it seemed that he took quite a liking to me.
Rubbing his bulging belly, Karin continued to speak.
“Keruru….. Human.”
“Hm?”
“You are my subordinate, right?”
“Well…. Sure, let’s go with that for now.”
“Kel kel. Then take me on a tour of Earth.”
“You want me to take you with me on a tour?”
“That’s right! It was hard getting permission from sir Berdan to come here. I do not have much time!”
“Hm…. Then what will you do for me?”
“I won’t eat you alive right now. I will let you live in peace for the 80 days that are still left.”
“……”
“Why. Are you not satisfied?”
“Of course not. You and I can’t hit each other in the first place.”
“Oh…. Human. Unlike the others, you are pretty smart. Looks like you’re a mutant among your kind.”
“Whew….. Ok…. Thanks.”
“So do you have something you want in mind?”
“What’s it like in…. No. Just stay with me until you return to the demonic realm. I mean, you won’t have anywhere else to go anyways.”
“All right. You treat me well. Must be because you are afraid of me! Kerukeru! I think I will stay on Earth for the next 3 days.”
I wasn’t sure what was going through his head for him to come visit me.
However, from looking at his expression, I was sure that he had come here to look for something new to amuse him.
No matter how stupid he was, if I interrogated him about the demonic realm right away, he would probably become suspicious.
It seemed best to amuse him for a day or two before casually throwing him some questions.
I spoke to him.
“Karin.”
“What is it.”
“Are you going to walk around like that in broad daylight?”
“Why? Is this a problem?”
‘Why wouldn’t it be a problem? Stupid goblin piece of shit.’
I was so close to saying that out loud.
“If other people see you….. Maybe they’d want to play with you. That’s right. Would you like to stay in this bag for now?”
“Keruru! Human. You have quite the jealousy. Sir Karin is good at keeping promises. I won’t play with idiots.”
“……. So you’re saying that you won’t go in.”
“And do not worry. Including you, only three humans can see me. Even if the other humans want to play with me, they cannot.”
“Is that so? Thank goodness. Okay. What did you want to see on Earth?”
“Keruru…..”
That’s how I ended up being accompanied by a goblin that looked like something was missing in his head.
I had no idea why his speech was so unnatural.
When I asked him if this is how he speaks normally, he said that he is speaking this way on purpose, because he thought that I wouldn’t understand him otherwise.
How kind.
This situation was ridiculous and infuriating, but what could I do.
This ugly looking goblin had the upper hand.
I had to grant his every whim.
Starting from the center of the city, I took him to the seas, mountains, parks, and other such places.
I walked with him all day.
To think that my first date would be with a goblin.
However, since it was a price to pay for the bigger picture, I barely contained my rage.
Just like that, the sky became dark, and I became famished due to missing all my meals.
However, Karin seemed pleased by Earth’s scenery, as he seemed plenty amused.
It felt awkward, but I decided to bring him home.
No one could see him, and he couldn’t harm anyone.
I spoke to him.
“Karin. Let’s go home.”
“Huh? What’s a home?”
“What? Do you not even have a home? Well, it’s a place where you sleep, eat, and wash.”
“Sleep? Food? I’m not sure what you’re talking about, but it seems fun. Let’s go, human!”
“……..”
As if he had found another topic of amusement, he wobbled ahead.
****
I headed into the estate with Karin.
An average person would be slack jawed with the size of the estate, but he didn’t seemed that amazed.
“Young master, have you returned?”
“Yes, I’m back.”
“The madam has fallen asleep.”
“It doesn’t seem like Jong Ho-hyung came back yet?”
“Yes. He said that he’ll be returning home tomorrow.”
“He’s working hard…..”
“Should I have dinner prepared?”
“Yes, please do.”
“Understood.”
“Uhm… butler!”
“Yes?”
“I’m quite hungry today, so could you prepare 3 to 4 people’s worth of food?”
“Haha, understood. You are at that age. I will let them know.”
I had a curt chat with my butler.
Looking at that, Karin spoke.
“Oho! Human! Are these the ones you are in charge of raising?”
He spoke quite loudly.
I was worried that they would hear it, but it seemed that no one else heard him.
It was almost as if I had cast Silent.
I answered him in a quiet voice.
“By your standards…. Yes, that’s right.”
“Oh…… I had my suspicions that you were quite the smart human!”
“Looking at you, it doesn’t look like you wash yourself. You should eat at least, right?”
“Did you say food? What’s that? I have been curious this entire time.”
“…..Whew. Just stay in my room for now. I’ll wash myself and come in a bit.”
“Ok. Is this where I have to go to? Hurry up, human. Keep your promise of showing me around.”
“Alright, alright.”
It didn’t take long for me to finish my bath and go to my room.
However, I heard a strange noise coming from my room.
-crack.
“What’s that noise?”
With a worried look, I quickly opened the door to my room.
“Keruk! Keruruk!”
My worry was short lived.
Hopping up and down my bed, his laughter was enough to make me shiver in disgust.
He was acting as if he was a child jumping on a trampoline for the first time.
On top of that, he was pulling out bloodstones from his pockets and chewing on them as if they were peanuts.
Looking at the size and color of the stones, they seemed to be beyond S ranks.
Seeing me arrive, Karin spoke.
“Kel Kel! Human! What is this! It feels very nice.”
“Whew….. Where do I start in teaching you…..”
“But didn’t you speak of this thing called food before?”
“Yes. Let’s eat some food.”
“Yes! Show me this thing called food already.”
I sat at a wide dinner table.
Many of the workers around the house were waiting for me there.
I spoke to them.
I couldn’t allow them to see me appear as if I was talking to myself, since they couldn’t see the goblin.
“Excuse me….”
“Yes, young master. Is there something you need….”
“No. I’ll put away the dishes in the sink when I’m done eating. For some reason, I want to eat alone today.”
“Haha. Yes. We’ll leave you be, young master.”
“Thank you.”
They left and I immediately started my meal.
Due to being the guide for this shitty goblin, I wasn’t able to eat all day.
However, Karin was just staring at me in amazement.
“What?”
“Keru? What are you shoving in your mouth, human?”
“It’s called steak. Do you not eat anything at all?”
“Keruru. Do you have to eat that to gain strength?”
“…..”
“This is precisely why the demonic races are far superior to humans. As long as one from the demonic race has magical energy, they could live without eating. Well, if they feel pretty good, they eat bloodstones once in awhile. Keru.”
“Is that so…..? So how do you eat magical energy?”
“You have to kill.”
“Kill?”
“That’s right. If you kill monsters, you absorb the magical energy they had. I could become full with that.”
“Oho…..”
“That’s why sir Berdan chose you. It’s because you have a lot of magical energy.”
“Is that so…. But I haven’t killed that many monsters though?”
“Keruru. Human does not know too many things. Zekill, who you killed, had magical energy. You also ate all the magical energy of the humans he was raising.”
‘Just like how lead or mercury poisoning goes through a food chain, magical energy continues to gather and get passed on.’
This was the first bit of information I was able to obtain from him.
It was about magical energy.
Just like this, I needed to lower his guard while obtaining as much information as possible.
“Alright, sorry. Don’t just look at me like that and go try one.”
“Keru? You mean that?”
Karin’s sharp toenail pointed towards the well done steak.
Since I asked for proportions far greater than what one could eat, there was plenty of food to go around.
The smell and color was enough to make one drool, but he didn’t seem that excited by it.
It was probably because he had never eaten food.
“Yeah. It’s not like you’re going to die from eating, right?”
“Keru. Alright.”
Not just the steak, but he shoveled even the plate into his mouth.
To think that I was able to witness high class table manners of the demonic race.
‘I guess it’s good that there won’t be any dishes left to wash.’
After chewing for a long time, he shivered.
And then he yelled out loudly.
“Human! Human!”
“What?”
“What is this?”
“It’s called steak.”
“Do you eat this every day?”
“Well, not every day, but I do eat it often. Why? Is it weird?”
“……”
“If it is weird, don’t eat it. I have lots of bloodstones in my room. You can go grab some if you want to eat those instead.”
Suddenly, Karin put a stone from out his pockets onto the table.
I wasn’t sure what kind of pocket he had, because the amount of stones that were coming out seemed impossible.
Looking at me, he spoke.
“The stones I have been eating until now wasn’t that good.”
“…..”
“Let’s trade. I’ll give you stones, so give me ste…… stats!”
“S. T. E. A. K.”
“Yes. Give me steak.”
“Guess you liked it a lot.”
“This is a lot more tastier than magical energy.”
“Okay……”
I gave him all the food that was prepared.
Karin ate it all, including the plates.
As if he was still hungry, he was flicking his tongue in anticipation.
It seemed that I found a way to easily coax him after all.
If someone else heard this, they would laugh, but the method was using steak as bait.
To the goblin that was looking around for more, I spoke to him.
“Do you want more?”
“Keruru. How did you know, human. You’re quick on the uptake.”
“Ah…. thank you for the compliment.”
“Kel Kel. Is there more?”
“Of course. I could get you as many as you want. But I want to trade it for something other than stones…..”
“What is it? The only thing I have are stones.”
“It’s……”