It seemed that an ordinary goblin my age was weak enough to lose to a horned rabbit.
Gobmi, who mainly subsisted on nuts until today—though it had only been a few days, to be fair—taught me this. Even though Gobmi’s name included the character for “beauty” when translated into Japanese, she wasn’t pretty at all. She was just as ugly as the other goblins, though maybe slightly less so, for what little difference that made. To be honest, I could only make rough distinctions in my current state.
I was in a pretty similar situation myself. I realized this when washing off in a nearby river. According to Gobmi, I was way more handsome than other goblins, but considering what she was comparing me to… All I could think was, Even if I’m popular among goblins, so what? I just couldn’t feel good about being called a handsome goblin when those words conflicted with each other.
I looked off into the distance to calm my mind.
Oh, by the way, Gobkichi was considered average. So, that was good news for me.
Anyway, newborn goblins were usually weak. That’s why only the naturally stronger, luckier, or smarter ones managed to survive here. It was a form of natural selection that ensured only those capable of truly becoming part of the group survived. The conditions were extremely harsh. According to Gobmi, several goblins had already fallen prey to the horned rabbit’s horn.
When I heard this, I couldn’t help but say, “No way, seriously?”
I mean, the average-sized horned rabbit was really just a bit bigger than an ordinary wild rabbit. Even though goblins could attack from above using bipedal locomotion, they were still getting killed and eaten? Well, I guess anything is possible.
The other goblins did not even have the intelligence to arm themselves with sticks. They resorted to barehanded fighting, so it was no wonder they got killed. The horned rabbit had its own horn to use as a weapon, so attacking it unarmed was difficult. The smaller size of the horned rabbit might also be an advantage because it could easily stab upwards into a goblin’s abdomen.
I have noticed that some of the more intelligent goblins have been imitating me and Gobkichi by arming themselves with sticks. And today, as thanks for the information, Gobmi got to join us on our hunt.
Horned rabbit is seriously tasty.