Chapter 143: Big Body, Small Brain

Red just couldn’t understand what in their brain made them hate him so much. He was not even being aggressive or offensive. He was offering a valuable insight that there was a dangerous creature lurking in the jungle. They must make the plan with that in mind, yet that seemed to trigger the Goblin Champion.

’It’s just their bodies that are big. Their brains are small.’

The Chief sent him away from the discussion, but the Chief agreed that they would not attack the kobold village tonight.

He told them to limit the food for the next morning. He didn’t want to deal with the noisy goblins, after all. The Chief didn’t respond, maybe ignoring him.

Red realized that the Chief had returned to the old Chief. It was different from the Chief who asked for his strategy. Having the reinforcement under his command changed the Chief. He was just glad that the Chief protected him from those Goblin Champions.

Red was walking around the village, looking for a place to sleep for the night. He was carrying a piece of cured meat. That was just for an act that he also ate. Again, it was just to avoid a stupid suspicion.

He was not eating the meat in his head. Meeting Darla changed his perspective on food. The one in his hand was not food, but meat. It was an ingredient, not something he would eat.

He found his way to the edge of the village, where he was away from the group. He didn’t really have "friends" or "comrades" now that he thought about it. He didn’t know anyone in this group, and he didn’t plan to change.

Red saved the meat into his Storage Pouch and picked the hay bed to sleep on. It was too early for him to sleep, but there was really nothing to do. He would work on his skills, but then he needed to reserve his mana.

He didn’t know what would happen, so he needed his mana to be at maximum all the time. It was not wise to use his mana when he was in a war campaign.

He rolled around on the hay bed, and he didn’t know how long, but he eventually fell asleep. He woke up early; the sun wasn’t up yet. It was still dark outside; half of the torches were dead, and what was left of the bonfire was just smoke.

Red did his round and found out that no one was on guard. The goblins that were supposed to be guards were sleeping at the entrance.

He clicked his tongue. They were done for if the kobolds sent another force to attack.

’Maybe wiping them out will buy us more time...’

He thought of slapping the goblin to wake them up, but he changed his mind. He took out the cured meat in his storage pouch, throwing it next to the goblin. Then he left the village, going into the jungle.

His belly was protesting, so he decided to have his breakfast in the jungle. He climbed the tree and went further into the jungle. He went around forty trees deeper into the jungle, as he was afraid the goblin might pick up the smell.

Red made sure not to eat along the route he established. That was to avoid the lingering smell. He was hungry, but this was another problem for him. Which one to eat?

His food was not just any food; it was blessing food. They were supposed to be his buff in the fight against the kobold, not to fill his belly. Now he regretted not bringing the normal food.

"Which one provided the longest blessing?"

That was the best course of action, and he could only eat one of them.

"Or maybe I should wait until the sun is up..."

That might be the better option yet. With that in mind, Red waited a little bit longer. Over an hour, maybe almost two hours. By that time, he decided what to eat.

Mystic Grilled Dire Wolf Leg

The blessing lasted for 6 hours for this dish, the longest duration for his blessing. While the portion was not that big, it was better than nothing.

He quickly devoured the meat, leaving the white bone in his hand. He threw it randomly as he realized eating the dire wolf leg was a mistake. It didn’t help with his hunger; in fact, he was getting hungrier after that one portion. The hunger was getting worse.

"Might as well eat them all!"

Red ate the remaining six different dishes. That helped him with his hunger, and of course, he had his excuses for eating them early. He realized this might be the only time he could eat his food.

He had to lead the force later on. So how did he eat without getting caught that time? This was the only time he had to eat his blessed food.

He didn’t eat them because he was hungry, but because he might not have the chance and the place to eat. He convinced himself so, and was smart enough that he didn’t return immediately.

Red decided to stay a little bit longer to get rid of the smell. He only returned after the smell faded, and the village was rowdy again.

The goblins nearby stopped chattering, looking toward him. They seemed to remember yesterday’s warning as they gave him a path to walk on.

He went to the Chief, who had woken up, holding a big piece of cured meat in his right hand.

"Where are you from?" The Chief questioned.

"I woke a little bit earlier and went to check the route." He lied with a straight face.

"Is there any problem?"

"Nothing to be worried about. As I said yesterday, there’s no beast around."

"Good. We leave now!"

The Chief stood up, followed by the three Goblin Champions.

"We are leaving! We are going to destroy the kobold village and steal their food! We will kill all kobolds!" The Chief roared, which was met with laughter and cheers from the goblins and hobgoblins.

As Red reported, the trip to the kobold village was pretty much safe. They didn’t encounter any beast on the way that worked in his favor. But the trip truly took time. Based on the duration of his blessing, it took them one hour and thirty-nine minutes.

He made sure to stop the goblins and their main force in the distance. He didn’t want the kobolds to find them out.

Red brought the Chief and the three Goblin Champions, showing them the village. He could see the change of expression on the Chief’s face. The same with the three Goblin Champions. That confirmed that they were underestimating his report and were surprised like this.

"So what do you think, Chief? I think we should follow our original plan."