Kobold Delivery System: The Goddesses Won't Leave me Alone!-Chapter 151: VvVv

Ragnar and Lila walked in heavy silence toward the river, the morning air still cool against their skin.

The trees thinned, and the sound of running water grew louder, steady, like a heartbeat.

Lila stopped at the edge without a word. She peeled off her torn tunic and leggings, letting them drop to the moss.

Naked, she turned to him, chin high, eyes daring him to look away.

After what he’d done back at the Valos field, standing between her and those spears, she figured he’d earned at least this much honesty.

Ragnar swallowed hard. He stripped too, faster than he meant to, heat crawling up his neck.

Her body was all hard lines and soft curves: thick thighs that could crush bone, heavy breasts that rose and fell with each breath.

He forced his gaze up to her face before it lingered too long.

They waded in opposite directions, their backs to each other, the cold current biting their calves.

Water swirled around them as they scrubbed dirt and dried blood from their skin.

For a long minute there was only the river’s murmur.

Then Lila spoke, voice quieter than he’d ever heard it, almost fragile.

"...Did you ever wonder why I trained so hard?"

Ragnar paused, hands still on his arms. "You train like the world’s ending tomorrow. Figured you just hated getting looked down upon"

Her laugh came out wet, broken. "Revenge."

He turned his head slightly, not enough to see her, just enough to listen.

"When I was small," she went on, voice thickening, "I loved valva berries. Couldn’t get enough. My parents... they took me picking one spring. Before, Valos claimed that field as his den."

She stopped. The river kept moving.

"He was there. Waiting. My mother shoved me behind a boulder. My father screamed at me to run." Her breath hitched. "I ran. I heard the screams stop. I kept running."

Ragnar’s chest squeezed. He could picture it too clearly, a little girl scrambling through underbrush, thorns tearing her legs, the wet crunch of something terrible behind her.

He waded closer, still facing away. Slowly, carefully, he reached back and laid his palm between her shoulder blades. Her skin was warm despite the water.

"Your parents didn’t die so you could spend your life choking on hate," he said softly. "They wanted you to live. To be happy."

Lila’s shoulders trembled under his hand.

"I promised myself," she whispered. "I’d kill the Valos. With these hands. No one else."

Ragnar’s throat closed. He rubbed a slow circle on her back, the way his own aunt used to when nightmares woke him as a boy.

"I’ll help you," he said. "Same as you helped me. You don’t have to carry it alone anymore."

She turned then, eyes glassy, searching his face. "Really?"

He nodded. "I can’t keep taking from you and give nothing back."

For a heartbeat they simply looked at each other, two bruised, stubborn people standing naked in cold water, sharing something heavier than words.

Then a guttural shriek tore through the trees.

A Female Goblin was shouting, probably in pain.

They scrambled out, yanked clothes over wet skin, and ran.

The blood trail was fresh, bright against the dirt.

At the end of it crouched a goblin woman, one ankle twisted at a sick angle, blood pooling under her.

In front of her stood a massive black hound, two curved horns sweeping back from its skull, eyes like burning coals.

Lila’s breath caught. "That’s the thing from last night."

The beast snarled, lips peeling from yellowed fangs.

Ragnar’s pulse roared in his ears. "Move!"

Lila charged first, slamming her shoulder into the hound’s ribs.

It staggered but whipped around, jaws snapping inches from her throat.

She rolled, came up swinging, fist cracking against its muzzle.

The hound roared and lunged again. This time its claws raked her forearm; blood sprayed.

Ragnar threw himself at its flank, dagger flashing.

The blade bit shallow, barely a scratch. The beast didn’t even glance at him.

It wheeled on Lila instead, rearing up, front paws the size of shields.

She braced, caught its weight, boots skidding backward in the dirt.

Her face twisted in pain and fury as she held it there, muscles shaking.

Ragnar struck again, slash, slash, but every hit of his was useless. Pinpricks. Nothing.

’Why am I so fucking weak?’ The thought burned hotter than shame. ’She’s bleeding for me, again, and I can’t even make it look at me.’

He screamed, raw and desperate, and drove the dagger into the soft spot behind its knee.

The hound finally yelped, staggered. Lila seized the opening, drove her knee into its throat, then smashed an elbow into its eye.

It retreated, snarling, limping into the undergrowth.

Both of them stood panting, chests heaving.

The injured goblin stared at them, spear trembling in her grip. "Why are humans here? This isn’t your territory"

Lila wiped blood from her cheek and snorted. "Should’ve left you to be dog food, then."

Ragnar stepped forward, hands raised. "We come in peace. We need to speak with Aria. The chief’s daughter."

The goblin blinked, wary. "I’m Mia. I work as a patrol under her." Her voice cracked. "Please... carry me back. The wolf would kill me if I don’t leave"

Ragnar nodded at once. Lila moved silently to help.

Together they lifted Mia between them, her injured leg dangling, and started toward the patrol camp.

As the crude wooden stakes of the patrol camp came into view, goblins spilled out, spears leveled, teeth bared.

Mia’s blood had painted both humans red; to them it looked like murder.

Ma shouted, voice shrill. "They didn’t do this! They fought the monster and saved me!"

The goblins hesitated, eyes flicking between the bloodied trio.

Then the crowd parted.

Aria stepped forward from the main tent.

Tall, taller than most goblin women, lean muscle under green-gray skin, silver hair braided with bone beads. Her gaze was cold, sharp, unreadable.

Ragnar’s stomach dropped.

’This is it,’ he thought. ’One chance. Say the wrong thing and we’re dead. Or worse, Lila and I dragged the two tribes to war because I couldn’t find the right words.’

He met Aria’s eyes and forced his voice steady.

"We need to talk."