Chapter 552: Chapter 551: Surrounded by Lunatics

Noah woke up the next morning with a far clearer state of mind.

The conversation between him, Arachne, and Ailetta aided in that far more than he expected.

The talk was as deep as the previous ones he had during that day. It was simply him discussing everything about himself, his new changes, and what that may entail.

Unfortunately, the peace didn’t last long.

The moment Noah shifted, something tightened around his waist almost immediately.

Noah slowly looked downward.

Eve was wrapped around him like some kind of parasite that discovered a heat source during the night.

At some point, the vampire had apparently deserted her room that she should’ve been sharing and attached herself directly to him instead.

One of her legs was even hanging halfway across his stomach while her face remained buried against his shoulder.

Noah stared blankly at the sight for several moments.

"...stupid," Eve mumbled something incoherent against him before tightening her grip slightly instead of waking up.

Unfortunately, that movement caused another reaction nearby.

Noah slowly felt two separate stares boring directly into the side of his face.

The intensity behind them was so noticeable that he didn’t even need to look immediately to know they were aimed at him.

With growing resignation, Noah slowly turned his head toward the corner of the room.

Ava and Diablo were both standing there, shoulder to shoulder, silently staring him down.

Ava’s skeletal face somehow still managed to radiate visible judgment despite lacking proper expressions.

Meanwhile, Diablo remained standing beside her like a silent executioner overseeing Noah’s crimes.

Noah’s eyes slowly moved between the two of them. It was difficult determining exactly what either stare was supposed to mean.

But he strongly doubted any of it was positive.

"...Surrounded by lunatics."

The quiet mutter escaped him almost instinctively.

Strangely enough, saying it out loud helped him accept the situation slightly faster.

At this point, Noah was beginning to feel like resisting the absurdity surrounding him every day was simply wasting energy.

Carefully, he pried Eve off himself enough to finally sit upright.

Now that Noah was fully awake, he realized two people were missing.

—

Towards the edge of their territory, facing the northern side where the goblin village settled in the distance, both Ailetta and Arachne stood beside one another quietly discussing something amongst themselves.

"...I still think you worry too much."

Arachne’s eyes remained fixed toward the distant village.

"And I still think you don’t worry enough."

Ailetta looked genuinely amused by the response.

Before either of them could continue, both suddenly paused at almost the exact same time.

Then slowly turned to look behind themselves.

Unlike before, Noah wasn’t suppressing his presence at all while approaching them.

The pressure radiating from him spread naturally throughout the surroundings, making his location impossible to miss.

And more importantly.

The moment Noah locked onto their location, they both became aware he had found them.

"I told you he’d find us quickly." Ailetta’s smile with an "I told you so" attitude.

Several moments later, a dark figure descended from above before landing beside them with a soft thud against the ground.

Noah’s eyes slowly moved between the two of them.

"What are you two doing all the way out here this early?"

"Scouting." Noah’s gaze shifted toward Arachne instinctively, waiting for her to elaborate further.

But the spider remained completely serious.

The lack of immediate explanation caused Noah to slowly look back toward Ailetta instead.

"We’re planning what to do with the goblins. We don’t know how much time before the humans make their move, so we should start preparing as soon as possible."

Noah quietly followed their line of sight. Truthfully, the situation had already been lingering in the back of his mind since the previous day.

He didn’t mind even if they wanted to deal with them today. But as he was thinking about who they should bring, he paused, looking towards Ailetta once again.

"You said, planning... What happened to the original plan?"

He had thought that they had agreed that Ailetta would use them all to empower herself.

Their numbers were useful to Noah.

But if he had to choose between expanding the territory’s forces or increasing Ailetta’s individual strength, he would’ve prioritized her without hesitation.

Ailetta’s expression gradually became calmer to his question.

"When I made that decision before... I was being selfish."

Beside her, Arachne looked mildly surprised, hearing her admit that so openly.

Ailetta, however, didn’t appear bothered by the admission at all.

"At the time, all I cared about was becoming stronger as quickly as possible. Every time there was an opponent we couldn’t face, it was always you who had to confront it alone."

"I hated watching you do that."

A faint sigh escaped her.

"But after everything that happened yesterday... I need to have more faith in myself."

And more faith in all of you."

"What matters now isn’t simply immediate strength. It’s what benefits us the most long term."

"And my conclusion is that we should bring the goblins under us. And not just rule them, but to have them station themselves here."

"With the dungeon’s mana spreading throughout the territory, the goblins will only grow stronger to the point that we can begin to put them to use."

Seeing how Arachne didn’t react to any of this, Noah could see that they were both in agreement on the whole thing.

If this was a decision that they made together, then he wanted to support it.

Truthfully, this was what he wanted from the very beginning.

For them to slowly stop relying on him for every single decision. For them to eventually become capable of guiding the territory alongside him instead of merely following behind him.

However...

Supporting their decision didn’t mean blindly agreeing with everything without first questioning it.

"So how exactly are you planning to make them listen to you?"

The question immediately caused a very small crack to appear in Ailetta’s confidence.

What immediately followed was that particular smile she put on when she knew she was caught.

"Well..." She lightly coughed, regaining her earlier confidence as if earlier never happened. "That’s the part where we still need you."

"Those goblins were willing to serve you before, right?" Then, as long as we turn one into one of your Fallen, then making it the strongest amongst them should naturally force the others into submission afterward."

Noah considered the plan silently. He had to admit that the logic itself wasn’t bad.

Goblins naturally followed strength and hierarchy, probably even more so when the threat of death was involved.

Creating a single overwhelmingly dominant goblin under their control would absolutely stabilize control over the others much faster than attempting diplomacy.

Especially if the strength of that goblin eventually became something the others could strive toward themselves.

Using the promise of strength as a reward could serve as proof that loyalty could lead to power, as long as they followed it.

But even so, there was still one part of it that Noah didn’t like.

"We can go along with that, but if we are planning on doing this, then kill at least half of them."

The two women both had similar reactions. They didn’t know where Noah was going with this.

"Half? Is it because you want me to be able to create a stronger soul?"

"No. Although that’s a good point too."

"It’s because if we suddenly absorb an entire population of goblins into the territory at once, then eventually they’ll become more difficult to manage than they’re worth."

"They reproduce quickly anyway, so it’s best to have them start over. With each new generation, they’ll become easier to manage."

A faint coldness gradually entered Noah’s voice.

"We’re not that desperate that we need an army of savage monsters."

Noah watched the two women look at one another again. He could sense what they were feeling.

The one time they truly tried to make a plan of their own, they immediately overlooked several important problems. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Eventually, Arachne turned back to Noah first.

"Then should we kill more?"

Noah considered it. It was true that even half was probably too much to bring in. But he also had to consider the impact that would have on the goblins after being forced to join.

Noah was already preparing to explain his thoughts further when he suddenly stopped himself midway.

"I’ll let you two decide that part."

Both Ailetta and Arachne looked slightly surprised by the response.

"Just remember that plans rarely ever go exactly how you think they will. But you can still count on me to help."

Despite the warning, both women didn’t take it as such.

Noah quickly saw through what they were trying to do.

He was trying to show that he trusted them to share his burdens.

Ailetta was the first to fully understand that.

Her expression softened faintly before she gave a small nod.

"We’ll be careful."

With that, Noah gave a small nod and was about to go back to finish what he didn’t do the day before. He only made it a few steps before he turned back around.

"Le... Do you know why Eve was in our bed?"

There was a small foreboding when he saw Ailetta’s eyes light up at the question.

"I was wondering if you would ask," she gave a small laugh. At almost the exact same time, Arachne’s face visibly gained a faint shade of pink while she looked away entirely.

"That little devil became curious about Gwen’s blood in the middle of the night."