Chapter 27 Cats in Armor

Goblinworth gazed at the statue and seemed to be in his own goblin-induced paradise. With a whisper that was between a prayer and an incantation, he mumbled, "Oh, radiant and magnificent Master Helen, you're so... so... beautiful! Oh, sweet Master Helen... so radiant, so divine. I would... I would trade my goblin soul for a single touch... a single embrace."

Goblinworth's voice wavered with a mixture of reverence and longing, his tone carrying a strange mixture of awe and... something else. As he continued to stand before the statue, Goblinworth's eyes seemed to roll back slightly, and a twitching grin stretched across his face, revealing his yellowed teeth. His fingers moved to clutch at his chest, pressing against his meaty ears as if to hold onto the moment, his touch fueling the vivid fantasies playing out in his goblin mind.

"Oh, Master Helen! Your radiance is beyond compare! Your elegance, your beauty, your-" he paused, the word he was searching for seemingly eluding him in his heightened state of arousal.

"Your um, wonderfulness!" His drooling became more pronounced as his fantasies deepened, and he seemed to drift further into his own world.

"I-I can't even find the words, Master, to describe the brilliance of Master Helen's existence. Such grace, such... oh, what's that word? Stunningness?" As he whispered to himself, his voice took on a singsong quality, accompanied by soft moans of pleasure.

"Gorgeous, yes, gorgeous! Master Helen, you are truly the most gorgeous being to ever grace our realm!"

While the goblin was drooling at the statue, my eyes were drawn to the sight of numerous cats scattered about, leisurely lounging in various positions. However, what truly captured my attention was the fact that these seemingly ordinary felines were adorned in attire, ranging from simple clothes to what appeared to be miniature suits of armor.

My curiosity piqued, I tugged at the goblin and asked, "Goblinworth, I've been noticing these cats everywhere since we left the mansion, all dressed up and seemingly guarding every corner, alley, and rooftop. It's almost as if they're observing us, watching our every move. What's the story behind that?"

Goblinworth chuckled blissfully, clearly used to the sight.

"Ah, you've noticed them, have you? Those are the Watchful Felines, guardians of Luminecia's peace and keepers of order, a cat people," he explained.

"They are watching over the city and its dwellers, their piercing gazes ever vigilant, no one can escape their gaze, and no evildoers or troublemakers will go unnoticed," Goblinworth continued.

My mind raced with the weight of the goblin's words, sending shivers down my spine as I contemplated the sinister implications.

"I can't believe it... If what the goblin said is true, then these cats are supposed to be protectors, guardians of this town. They should have stopped the attack on Lumi, but they didn't do anything! It's as if they were in on it from the start," I muttered to myself, my voice tinged with disbelief and a hint of dread.

Suddenly, my mind replayed the scene of Boss Cat, the leader of the cat people, appearing just moments before the attack.

"It can't be a coincidence, there's something more sinister at play here." I thought grimly.

With a sense of foreboding, I began to piece together the puzzle.

"If my theory is true, then it would make sense. Valerius and Boss Cat could be in cahoots, working together to orchestrate these attacks. On Valerius' orders, Boss Cat must have instructed the cat people to turn a blind eye to the attack. It's all part of their twisted plan to harm Lumi," I whispered, my throat dry with anxiety.

The goblin's eyes widened in an almost comically dumbfounded expression as he observed my muttering. He scratched his head and in his high-pitched, nasally voice, asked, "Master Kazuki, uh, you okay?"

I shook off my momentary lapse and offered Goblinworth a reassuring smile. 

"Oh, don't mind me, Goblinworth. Just thinking out loud," I replied, trying to dispel any worries he might have.

His beady eyes blinked rapidly, and he nodded as if he understood completely, even though my words probably made as much sense to him as quantum physics would to a fish. 

"Ah, yes, of course, Master Kazuki. Deep thoughts and all that," he chimed in, a hearty nod accompanying his words.

"Hey, Goblinworth. Do you think there's even a tiny possibility that the Boss Cat might've had bad intentions toward Lumi? Or maybe they've clashed over something?"

The goblin, clearly unaccustomed to such intricate thought processes, launched into an exaggerated display of drama, flailing his arms and contorting his features in an attempt to convey the gravity of the situation. 

"Oh, sir! How could you even utter such blasphemous words? Unthinkable! Lumi and the Boss Cat are practically inseparable, bonded by the threads of friendship woven by the gods themselves!"

His voice escalated with each word, as though he were auditioning for a melodramatic goblin theater troupe. 

"Their friendship is as pure as the morning dew, as unshakeable as the mountains, as..."

"Alright, alright, Goblinworth, I get it," I interjected, hoping to halt his theatrics before the entire town echoed with his fervor.

In the midst of our conversation, an unsettling shift in the atmosphere occurred. From the shadows of a dimly lit street corner emerged a horde of goblins, their shrill laughter echoing through the air. With a manic fervor, they scuttled toward the statue.

"Yippee, statue fun! Shiny rock, shiny rock! Haha! Looky, looky! Big rock man! We poke, we lick! Ha ha!" one goblin squealed, leaping onto the pedestal with a gleeful giggle.

"Me climb! Me king of a mountain now!" another goblin cackled, clambering up the statue's base and striking a triumphant pose.

"Rock taste good? Rock taste good! Shiny butt-stone! I bite!" a third goblin chortled, attempting to take a bite out of the stone surface.

As if in a chaotic symphony, their voices overlapped, creating an incomprehensible chorus of gibberish.

"Rock! Rock! Play with rock! Goblin smashy statue! Me king of rock squishing!" a goblin cried, spinning around with the grace of a drunkard and crashing into his fellow goblin, sending both of them tumbling.

"Shiny, shiny! Me lick rock, taste like dirt!" another goblin announced, gleefully sticking out its tongue and attempting to lick the statue's surface.

"Me swing! Rock friend! Me swing!" a goblin howled, grasping onto the arm of a statue and attempting to swing around, only to lose his grip and crash to the ground.

"Rock dance! Dance rock!" a particularly enthusiastic goblin shouted, shuffling awkwardly around the base while clapping its hands together in an erratic rhythm.

Amidst their wild racket, they clambered upon the statue with reckless abandon. Their grimy hands left smudges of dirt and who-knows-what as they fondled its surface, an eerie spectacle that twisted the once-beautiful monument into something macabre.

"Gooey-gooey on a rock! Sticky-sticky fun!" a goblin yelled, rubbing something unidentifiable onto the statue's smooth surface.

"Smell like a goblin! Make rock smell goblin too!" another goblin declared with a triumphant air as if their peculiar scent was an accomplishment to be celebrated.

Goblinworth's response was a furious spluttering, his words a jumbled mix of fury and disbelief. 

"No-no-no! Bad goblins! Glorious statue! Not toy! Not for a lick! Bad, bad! No! Bad goblins! No lick rock! Rock not for goblin-lick!"

In a chorus of unintelligible shouts and giggles, the goblins paid little heed to Goblinworth's outburst. Instead, they gleefully continued their destructive frolic, completely oblivious to the gravity of their actions.

One goblin, perhaps the ringleader of the chaos, pointed at the statue's nose and yelled, "Look! Look! Big green booger! Ugly nose! Hehe!"

Goblinworth's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets as he shouted, "No booger! No big green booger! Nose beautiful, not for booger-pick!"

With a disturbing level of enthusiasm, they began treating the statue as their personal playground. Climbing its noble form, they poked it, licked it, and indulged in a repertoire of unsavory acts. The scene was nothing short of a grotesque spectacle.

Goblinworth watched the sacrilege unfolding before his eyes. His face contorted into a nightmarish expression, a horrifying mixture of fury and disgust. His tiny fist clenched with a fierceness that seemed almost comically disproportionate to his size. His eyes squinted with rage, and his lips trembled and twitched, struggling to contain his infuriation.

With a snarl that was more like a high-pitched growl, Goblinworth scuttled toward the group of mischievous goblins, his movements more akin to a furious drunk monkey than a civilized creature. 

"Y-y-you imbeciles! D-don't you see the sheer beauty and allure of this statue? It's been disgraced by your grime, sullied by your filthy touch! You bumbling dumdums, you should be tending to the food farms, growing and harvesting, not smearing your ignorance all over this magnificent creation!"