Where did it all go wrong?
Or perhaps this was the inevitable result of nothing ever having been wrong at all?
I don't know.
I don't know, but I'm going to die.
"So this is… karma…"
Looking back, that goblin named Razraz had been wrong from the very first moment I laid eyes on him.
When you said "goblin," you thought of a battle-crazed brute with nothing but violence on its mind.
And yet, Razraz had eyes that harbored deep intelligence.
I followed my instincts and used Appraisal, and saw its Skills.
n%I＝W It was the same Skill that Nightmare — that spider Monster — had possessed.
The same Skill as that abomination beyond all measure.
I felt a foreboding sense of danger.
At the same time, I thought of it as a chance.
If I could tame this goblin, it would bring me benefits down the line.
It wouldn't measure up to a nightmare-level abomination, but it would surely be stronger than an ordinary goblin.
The Skill called Weapon Forging, something I'd never seen or heard of before, was also incredibly appealing.
With that Skill, I could escape the desperate situation of the frontier, where weapon resupply was nearly impossible.
That explained why the goblin had been able to widen its range of operation.
I succeeded in taming Razraz using my Skill.
But this was merely the starting line.
To truly command a Monster, I had to earn its Loyalty.
Loyalty was a special status that only applied to tamed Monsters, maxing out at 100.
A Monster whose Loyalty reached 100 would obey its master's every command without question.
Conversely, at low Loyalty levels, you had to micromanage every order — or it might slit your throat in your sleep.
Raising Loyalty was simple.
First, you break their spirit.
Completely and utterly.
Make them understand: they cannot defeat their master. They cannot defy them.
That was the key.
I made Razraz kill the goblin beside him, then made him eat its flesh.
This would earn a Title while also forcing him to experience the intense trauma of destroying someone close with his own hands — breaking his spirit in the process.
That was how it was supposed to work.
Razraz's spirit did not break.
If anything, he used his fury to maintain his sense of self.
Lazalaza, whom I'd tamed around the same time, had his spirit broken effortlessly over guilt for failing to protect his village.
After that, I continued trying to break Razraz, but every attempt failed.
So I changed tactics and tried treating him with as much care and gentleness as I could, but his Loyalty never climbed above zero.
By that point, I already had a bad feeling.
His
His other Skills were rising steadily too — it was obvious Razraz was biding his time, watching for an opening.
And yet, I couldn't let Razraz go.
Because I had a reason to prove myself quickly and return to the Empire.
Razraz's abilities had enough appeal to make that possible.
The power to conjure high-performance weapons from nothing.
If I could publicize that unprecedented ability to the Empire's Upper Layer, maybe my exile to the frontier would finally be lifted.
That was the faint hope I clung to.
And this was the result of giving in to that greed.
"How pathetic."
It all started with that subjugation mission for the Nightmare, as it turned out.
Back then, I hadn't wanted to go on any mission at all if I could help it.
At my age, my wife had finally become pregnant.
The due date happened to fall right in the middle of the mission period.
I wouldn't be there to witness my child's birth.
The timing was terrible.
And the creature we encountered was that Nightmare.
Only I and Lord Ronant survived.
What's more, from what I heard afterward, the guide had fled midway through the fight, and the Nightmare had ended up escaping the dungeon entirely.
Mission failure, loss of my unit, and the sin of unleashing a dangerous Monster upon the world.
Forced to bear responsibility for all of it, I was shipped off to this accursed mountain range.
At least I didn't lose my head, I suppose. But I never got to see my family.
I was told a baby girl was born safely, but in the end, I never got to see her face.
And then, just recently, a letter arrived from my wife — our daughter had been kidnapped by someone.
I wanted to return to the Empire immediately, but if I went back now, I'd be treated as a deserter, and this time my head really would be cut off.
The only way to return with my dignity intact was to earn a feat of valor.
The identity of the kidnapper was unknown.
They said it wasn't a lone actor — multiple people were involved, a coordinated crime.
It even included high-ranking mages among their number; traces of wind magic had been found at the scene.
An acquaintance in the military was handling the search, but there were no leads.
I didn't know what I could do even if I went back, but the current reality of being helpless from so far away was unbearable.
"Do you hate me?"
I suddenly felt curious and asked.
The moment the words left my mouth, I realized it was a stupid question.
Of course he hated me.
I had forced him to kill his own family with his own hands.
There was no way that could be forgiven.
Ah.
Right.
Even Monsters have familial bonds.
The one Razraz had killed and eaten at the start — that must have been his younger brother or sister.
Lazalaza had been an older brother, I recalled.
What must he have thought, seeing what his brother had become — twisted and transformed under the domination of my Skill?
The trigger for this carnage must have been that they somehow realized we had destroyed yet another Goblin village.
I didn't know how he'd broken free of my Skill, but perhaps a rage so fierce it simply overwhelmed my power.
It's pointless to think about these things now.
Razraz raised his sword high and brought it down, as if to say this was his answer.
Given everything I had done to him, the ending was only natural.
But I still had things left undone, and so— "What regret."
At the very least, before I died, I wanted to see my daughter's face just once….