The next day,I woke up quite early as I started to plan the next course of action we currently had some water issues so i needed to think about that for a second i also wanted to send the other female goblins into a mass hunting session to get more meat and pelt which we really lacked in other than that gobuhiko and gobusaku both evolved and turned into hobuhiko and hobusaku individually their looks were also really beautiful close to hoboku but they were all different in their aspect unqiue to their characteristics for example hobusaku looked like a ice cold woman who had a cool charm while hobuhiko looked like a wild girl who was up for everything.These two were also really proud of their evolution showing off in front of me,their size was also close to mine between 5 to 6 feet tall i gave them some compliments and also distributed their own equipment which were 2 sets of leather armor and 2 short swords 1 each of them.

And when i finished dealing with these two i started to wake up the others getting them ready to start the hunting party most of them were really sleepy but they all stood up in the end a half-asleep thou but they quickly woke up when they smelled the steam coming from the pot that i set up when i woke up food was about to get ready soon and everyone rushed to get something in their belly......woman really eat a lot.

A thing that i noticed was that hob-goblins eat 3 times that of a normal goblin it seems giving me some worries concerning future food supplies but thinking about their growth rate i wasn't that much worried the only thing i was worried about turning into a chef instead of a leader...

-Okey everyone start forming into 2 different groups !

I ordered.We were finished with most of the preparations while i sorted them into 2 different groups 1 group having 1 hob-goblin each making them the temporary captain of the party.I decided that i would take hoboku and the slimes with me towards the river i was confident in hobokus ability and the slimes gave decent vision and support of course i didn't forget about calar as she would stay inside the cave with some slimes which she was quiet fond of..at first i thought that i should bring her along with me but then i realized it wouldn't be that safe so i just let the slimes babysit her until we returned calar herself seemed a bit sad about it but didn't object nodding obediently almost breaking my heart and making me stay with her inside the cave but i was strong and held it in starting todays tasks.The female goblins were standing all in their respective group awaiting my order hoboku was also standing beside me holding a straight posture she seemed really delighted that i preferred her protection then the other 2 hob-goblins and was all smiles beside me.

I looked towards the people making one last check to see if everything was fine and as i did so i noticed the rotting corpse that was still on the field beside it were another 5 pups lying down beside the mutilated corpse of their now passed parent the small was awful i even tried to do something yesterday about the corpse but the pups would always try to keep me at bay barking at me ferociously when i got near,hoboku suggested that we should just kill the pups and dispose of the body but i refused because i didn't have the heart for them to die like this having lost their parent i couldn't imagine how it felt like for them to stay like this because i never had parents myself...i was a killer a murderer i admit it but i wasn't heartless.

I tried to give them food yesterday almost getting bitten myself for doing so the 5 bowls that i had placed near them were still at place untouched and also mold forming inside of them the little pups were also really tired and messed up too their once shining crimson fur was now only reduced into dirty dark red color i could see them a bit starved but they seemed determined to not take hand outs from me for some reason ? did these animals have their own pride ? I wondered.

I sighed while looking at them,I started walking towards them hoboku was also following me watching my everyone move to make sure i was safe and sound she seemed really determined lately it wasn't a problem it made her more dependable more so.

As i walked towards the pups now only 4 meters away from them one of them slowly started to get up weakly walking up to me keeping a distance of 1 meters i could see it was struggling to keep itself standing depleted from most of its energy from the lack of food it had i also noticed the rest of the pups trying to stand up but failing this pup seemed to be the last one with the sufficient energy to stand up it was truly brave as it looked at me with hostility determined to protect something that was already gone from this place.

I crouched down for a looking at the dirty little crimson pup i lead my hand towards it to touch it as it started to bark at me.

-WOOF WOOF !

For a moment i started to hesitate to bring my hand forward but that was just for a second until i could hear the pitiful bark it gave out to keep me away it was truly weak without its vigor like the day before and so i continued to lead my hand towards it head very slowly,hoboku watched my action with puzzlement she didn't try to interfere nor speak up just keeping a watch at the little pup almost drawn to pull out her dagger which was only few inches away from her hand.

The pup seeing my action took a stance to get ready and as it saw my finger tips only a few centimeters away from its head it launched its attack...which wasn't really frightening.

(Chomp)

Oww....shit...that really hurt...a lot really...uhh.

Droplets of blood started dripping down as the little pup bit onto my index finger,hoboku who was standing by my side got alert as soon as it took the sudden movement drawing her dagger about to impale it through its skull the others react the same way seeing the scene drawing their weapons hateful towards the little pups about to step in until i raised my hand to them i used my transmission link to order them all at the same time.

-No,stop and don't interfere !

They seemed confused by my order and a bit unwilling to obligate but in the end they sheathed their weapons even hoboku who seemed the most unwilling drew back the weapon but not quite letting go of it staring at the pup as if daring it do something else.

I looked back towards the little pup,it was still holding its bite onto my finger trying to put more force into it but failing greatly the first bite was a slight sting coming from its sharp teeth but it couldn't continue shredding its way through the flesh without anymore energy even now the blood that was coming from my finger was keeping its mind somewhat stable inserting a bit of energy into its body giving light to its eyes.

-I get it your alone i am too but i still have my companions here

I said as i started stroking its head with my other free hand feeling its dirty fur on its head.I spoke in a very strange language made out of deep tones as i looked at the crimson pup,i could see a light of astonishment when it heard my words,but it still held onto my finger with its jaw clenched so instead i raised the pup into an embrace which temporarily threw it off,it had no way of getting away in my hug as i started to approach the corpse of the crimson wolf struggling faintly almost non-existing the other crimson pups noticing my approach also started to get up but much slower then this little guy making a wall protecting their mother,they weren't able to barking thou being already too tired but instead shielding their mother with their bodies.

I kneel'ed down in front of them touching the grass that was near them they were puzzled by my action and as they observed me i started activating a skill i never used before my target was the dead crimson wolf and as i evoked the skill green particles started to appear next to my hand spreading to the corpse and with that countless strands of grass started to grow covering the corpse and growing on it the wild grass was getting bigger and bigger covering the whole corpse until finally it turned into a small hill made out of pure grass there was no sign of the body that could be seen the now obvious stench of rot was also being blown away by the wind as the little pups watched the hill without movement.

-uuhh..hyuunn~~

The little pup that i was holding in my hand growled in a sad tone releasing my finger.I could feel warm tear drops falling down onto my arm as it started to lick my wound that was caused by it the other pups also made a small mourning sound as they turned back to my now sitting watching me with passive eyes i put the little pup back to the center of his or her group as it surprisingly started talking to me.

-We are alone and so are you then can we become your companions?

Its eyes were determined and i could also see gratefulness in them making me smile for a second as i summoned a very large piece of meat from the storage it was the last piece of meat we had it wouldn't go to waste as i placed it next to the pups telling them.

Seeing the meat the little pups were drooling and astonished by its size seeing me place it next to it made them even more so greedy for it but they didn't start moving to ravage it because they were careful as to not take it without my consent as i told them.

-If you eat this then you are official my companions and in the future i will give you more we're companions after all.

A bit wide-eyed the pups started to quickly move towards the large hunk of meat their movements now stronger then before they started shredding through the soft and juicy meat-eating it all up in a couple of minutes and while they were doing so a strange light started to appear before their forehead only to disappear after another few seconds replaced by a emblem.They didn't seem to have noticed or didn't care to notice as they ate the meat making me smile some more their individual names also started to appear in my companion tab called crimson wolf 1 to 5 i reminded myself to give them names later on as they finished their meal.

The pup who bit my finger probably the leader of this little group now stepped forward towards me bowing its head to me followed by them doing the same as it told me.

-Us brothers and sisters are forever grateful towards you and we swear to follow you.

I laughed and started stroking its head getting it into my embrace it was really cute little pup a bit dirty but that could be fixed it was a bit surprised when i suddenly started hugging it a bit happy too but also regretful looking at my small injury that was caused by it.The other 4 pups seeing me stroking the their leader seemed a bit envious and started to approach me leaning onto my legs to get more attention to themselves their once feeble state was lost replaced with a cheerful attention seeking mood as i started to pat them one by one hugging them and stroking them by their belly.

-uhh...

I could hear a very faint groan coming from hoboku who was standing beside me seeing the dogs getting patted by me her eyes were excluding jealousy like the rest of the female goblins that were standing behind me so i asked her.

-Do you want to pat it too ?

She looked at the crimson pup that i raised to her glaring at it with contempt the pup was doing the same instead snorting at her there were some small sparks flying between the pups and hoboku but i didn't notice at the time and just decided to bring them along with me to the river to clean them up for a bit.

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