To be honest, Goblins are nothing more than pathetic creatures—green monsters smaller than children, just like in the novels.

Sure, people were terrified when they first appeared on this land ten years ago, but now? They’re just annoying pests that pop up from time to time.

To put it harshly, they’re basically on the same level as neighborhood stray cats or mutts.

’Did a natural dungeon spawn nearby recently? I haven’t heard of anyone spotting one around here.’

I don’t know much about the ecology, but most of these Goblins drop dead the moment the dungeon spawns and they set foot on this soil.

Unless it’s a massive dungeon appearing near a major city bustling with Hunter activity, these natural dungeons in the countryside are small in scale.

They pop up yesterday and vanish tomorrow like mushrooms—look away for a second, and someone’s already plucked them.

Even if they breed like crazy, it’s pointless. The dungeon entrance—their lifeline—disappears, so they naturally get culled.

Moreover, even if they manage to survive a few days, their main spawn points are deep in the mountains. They’re forced into a survival competition with the local apex predators.

They get pushed out of their territory by wild boars, beaten to death by humans while fleeing, or trampled by elk.

In a sense, they really do vanish in the blink of an eye, just like those mushrooms I mentioned.

’But if the masters ruling this area have died off like this, that’s a different story.’

Frankly, the scariest thing for a Goblin is a wild boar. But since the number of wild boars around here has been steadily decreasing lately, the survivors hiding somewhere will likely try to expand their territory soon.

Of course, no human around here is afraid of Goblins.

Just keeping a large dog at the farm is enough to keep them from even daring to approach.

And even if they’re starving and desperate, there are at most three or four of them. Who would be afraid of that?

[But if that’s the case, you didn’t need to go out of your way to find them! Those things that popped out due to the Gate’s instability will die off soon anyway!]

’True. But wouldn’t I be searching for them like this because I have a use for them?’

[...You have a use for Goblins?]

As the SD Character tilted her head, puzzled by my laid-back attitude, Mufasa began to growl low in his throat, taking a defensive stance.

’Well, as expected.’

Just as I thought, about three or four green dwarfs were down by the stream, washing the dirt off some wild boar meat they had dragged there.

’There aren’t any caves nearby suitable for them to live in. Once they pick that boar clean down to the bone, they’ll inevitably come down to our farm on their own.’

[...]

Having confirmed their habitat, I began to stealthily descend the mountain so as not to be detected.

Just then, the message system, which had been maintaining silence until now, suddenly popped up a screen in front of my eyes as the farm came into view through the dense trees.

[A new quest has arrived!]

’?’

What is it this time?

Unlike the usual playful tone from the tutorial days, this message had an extremely business-like tone.

I slid my finger over the screen, and an interface in the form of a letter unfolded before my eyes.

[You! You, who may not be solely responsible for the future of this country’s livestock industry, but are nonetheless contributing to the food culture of modern people! If your pigs could save the future of someone living in another world, what would you do?]

’...Well, if a future depends on it, normally you’d save them, right?’

No matter how you look at it, you can’t compare pigs to human lives.

As soon as I finished speaking, a new message window popped up.

[Then please prove it! Prove that even though you are a deviant breaking a proud Knightess into a sow, you are still a human being who recognizes the nobility of life deep within your heart!]

It seemed a bit contradictory to talk about the ’nobility of life’ to someone who sells pigs for a living, but I immediately tilted my head at the message that appeared before me.

[Number of pigs to ship: 0 [↑/↓]]

’...What is this?’

[As you can see, you are to decide the number of pigs to ship to the other world! The more pigs the Master Breeder sends, the more lives can be saved!]

’Hmm... Even so...’

I do this work for money. You want me to send my source of income to someone in another world for free?

Of course, if someone was collapsing from starvation right in front of my eyes, I’d willingly open my wallet. But I’m not enough of a saint to just give away my property like that.

However, the message window seemed to notice my hesitation and immediately sent an additional message.

[Of course, it would be unconscionable to ask you to give them up for free for people you’ve never even seen! Therefore, specially! A reward has been prepared for each head shipped!]

If there’s a reward, that changes the story!

With a slightly fluttering heart, I waited, and the reward details floated up before my eyes.

[Reward 1: Cash compensation amounting to 150% of the current market price for shipped pigs, plus free feed provision! Reward 2: ????]

This time, it was my turn to doubt my eyes.

Honestly, the offer of free feed was tempting, but since there was no exact figure on how much would be given, what immediately caught my eye was the message offering to buy them at 50% above the current market price.

’Wow...’

My finger wouldn’t leave the button increasing the number of pigs to ship, as if attracted by a magnet.

[Fufu, you’re happy, aren’t you! You’re so happy you’re speechless! You snob! You hesitated when I said lives were at stake because there was no money, but look at you grinning now that cash is involved!]

Call me a snob if you want. Honestly, from a merchant’s perspective, selling at a high price is all that matters.

Who cares if someone swears at me? It’s not like my conscience is going to hurt!

After setting the number of pigs to ship, I pressed the OK button.

A final confirmation message appeared.

[Do you wish to ship? [YES/NO]]