Chapter 34 The Wish Granting Song

Helen's sudden shift in demeanor was nothing short of dramatic. It was as if a storm cloud had suddenly blown away, leaving a bright and sunny sky in its wake. With an air of casualness, she continued, "Oh, yes, the feast, my dear Kazuki, will be gracing us with its presence in a mere two days. But fret not, for I believe dear Lumi will entertain you with all the intricate details, sparing me the task." She flashed a dazzling smile that seemed to sparkle with its own radiance.

"And now, if you will excuse us, we must be on our merry way. Good day to you, Kazuki, Goblinworth," she said with a flourish of her hand as if bidding us farewell with a royal decree.

With a nonchalant wave, she beckoned to Olivia, their silhouettes gracefully gliding away. The air seemed to shimmer around her, leaving me in a momentary daze as she disappeared into the distance.

Turning my attention to Goblinworth, I couldn't help but be drawn to his oddly charming and slightly haphazard appearance, standing in the street only with trousers on. His crooked, mismatched butler attire seemed to carry a story of its own, and his attempts to regain composure after Helen's presence were nothing short of comical.

I approached the goblin, my eyes fixated on his crooked and mismatched butler suit. The poor attire seemed to be engaged in an epic battle with the goblin, struggling in vain to conform to his touch. It was a battle of wills that had resulted in a fashion catastrophe of hilarious proportions.

Suppressing a chuckle, I couldn't help but comment, "Well, that's quite the fashion statement you've got there. I must say, your butler suit is quite the rebellious one."

The goblin let out a distressed squeak, his eyes wide with panic as he attempted to adorn his unruly attire once more.

 "M-Master, I am trying to wear this thing, b-but it won't listen! It's like it has a mind of its own! I think it's mad at me, really mad! Look, it's eating my tie! Bad suit! Spit that tie out this instant!" he whined, his voice a comical blend of desperation and frustration.

I couldn't hold back my laughter as I watched him tussle with the suit's stubborn buttons and unruly sleeves.

 "Oh, I see! So your suit decided it wanted to be the boss today, huh? Well, I'd say you're giving it quite the run for its money," I teased, a grin tugging at my lips.

The goblin's distress escalated as he attempted to tame the rebellious fabric.

 "N-No, no boss here! Just poor goblin trying to do a good job! No, no, you silly suit! Go down, not up! It's a butler suit, not a tree! Come on, suit, play nice!" he cried, his attempts at professionalism contrasting hilariously with his disheveled appearance.

The goblin let out a pitiful wail, his arms flailing in a comical display of distress.

 "My effort seems futile! The suit doesn't understand effort! It only understands buttons and zippers and... and... chaos!" he shouted, his voice rising in an exaggerated tone of despair.

The goblin shot me a panicked glance, his eyes wide and his voice laden with desperation. 

"Oh, sir! This blasted contraption refuses to yield to my mastery! It's an absolute nightmare, I tell you!"

Suppressing my laughter, I offered my assistance. 

"Allow me to lend a hand, dear goblin. Together, we shall bring order to this chaos."

His eyes widened with a glimmer of hope, and he nodded frantically. 

"Oh, kind sir! Your generosity knows no bounds! If anyone can tame this fiendish suit, it's surely you! Master!"

As I began to adjust the misaligned buttons and straighten the haphazard tie, the goblin let out a symphony of distressed squeaks, his commentary escalating in both urgency and hilarity.

"Above, below, left, right, oh, the dimensions of this nightmare suit! It resists every tug and pulls with a vengeance!"

"Wait! No! Not the left cuff, it has a vendetta against symmetry!"

"By the stars, it's alive! The collar just attempted to bite my finger, I swear!"

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of comical struggle, the goblin's outfit appeared somewhat more presentable. He let out a triumphant cheer, his voice a mixture of relief and pride. 

"Oh, kind sir, you've tamed the beast! This suit, once a tormentor, is now a servant to my style!"

With a hearty laugh, I patted the goblin's shoulder, utterly entertained by his theatrics.

 "You've shown remarkable courage in the face of fashion adversity, my friend. Your triumphant victory over the rebellious suit shall go down in the annals of history!"

A sudden revelation surged through my mind like lightning. It was as if a thousand puzzle pieces had clicked into place, forming a picture that was both shocking and unsettling.

I couldn't help but think aloud, my voice a mixture of astonishment and disbelief.

 "Hold on a second, something just doesn't add up. Helen's behavior - the nonchalant attitude, the air of intimidation, the mocking tone at the end... What if she's actually involved in the attacks on Lumi?"

As my mind raced, Goblinworth's ears perked up, and his eyes widened with a mixture of confusion and alarm. 

"Inv-involved? Attacks? Oh dear me, Master Kazuki, what in the realms are you talkin' about? Goblinworth's poor goblin brain is twistin' like a leaf in a storm!"

My urgency grew, my words pouring out in a torrent of realization. 

"Think about it, Goblinworth! The crystal, the deliberate crack - what if she orchestrated it all? What if she lured Lumi out with a pretext of crystal maintenance, collaborated with Valerius and Boss Cat to inform him of our whereabouts, and even used Olivia to keep Alitia distracted? She knows Lumi inside out, and she anticipated Lumi's enthusiasm about the pet sanctuary!"

Goblinworth's eyes bulged out, his distress evident as he stuttered, "Oh heavens, this is twistier than a goblin's dance moves at a feast! Are you suggestin' Lady Helen's a schemer? How dare you, sir!"

I nodded firmly, the pieces of the puzzle aligning with eerie precision.

 "It's starting to seem that way. You need to be cautious, Goblinworth. There's more to Helen than meets the eye."

Goblinworth's ears twitched, and his mismatched ensemble seemed to tremble with frustration.

 "By the wobbly knees of goblins! What kind of blasphemy is this, Master Kazuki? Master Helen is my goddess! Our goblins goddess! This is blasphemy to talk like that!"

However, this theory was nothing more than a web spun from speculation, lacking any concrete evidence or leads. As my mind churned with these possibilities, I took a deep breath and turned to Goblinworth, who appeared utterly distressed, his usually dimwitted demeanor now heightened by the complex situation.

I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, offering a friendly smile to ease his worries.

 "Goblinworth, I know it sounds strange and I will not jump to conclusions without proper evidence. Let's just forget I said anything. Let's play a game of 'let's forget about it', alright?"

"Oooh uhh! Goblinworth knows that game very well! Master Vincent thought me well! But u-uh, Master Kazuki, what should we do now? Th-this is all so confusing, and I'm getting a bit tangled in my thoughts here, what are we doing here again?" Goblinworth stammered, his eyes wide with panic.

"I don't know, you're the guide of the day."

Goblinworth let out a sigh of relief, his skinny frame practically deflating as if he had been carrying a mountain of anxiety on his shoulders. His beady goblin eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as he addressed me, his voice filled with energy.

"Y-yes, Master Kazuki, that's right! I'm your trusty guide, Goblinworth! You can count on me for all your adventuring needs! Why, I'm the best guide in all of Luminecia if I do say so myself! I know this place like the back of my knobbly hand, every nook, every cranny!"

Goblinworth's excitement seemed boundless as he continued, his words tumbling out like a waterfall of enthusiasm. 

"And here's the kicker, Master Kazuki! How about this? You toss a shiny coin into the fountain and make a special wish! It's like adding a dash of extra excitement to our adventure! Oh, the places we'll go, the treasures we'll find!"

I pulled a coin out of my pocket and tossed it in, Goblinworth looked at the coin glint in the water and started to sing.

"In Luminecia, where dreams come true,
With a coin and a wish, for me and you!
So toss it high, reach for the sky,
In Luminecia, where wishes never die!

Toss a coin, oh, don't be shy,
To the fountain's depths, let it fly!
Make a wish with all your might,
In Luminecia, it's a magical night!

So when you visit Luminecia's gate,
Don't hesitate, it's not too late,
Toss a coin and watch it gleam,
In the fountain's magic stream."

But just as he was about to launch into another wave of exhilaration, his pudgy goblin tummy growled with hunger, causing him to pause mid-sentence. He let out an exaggerated gasp and lovingly patted his belly as if it were a dear friend.

"Ahh! Did you hear that, Master? It's the call of the goblin stomach, it is! Food time beckons, and you know what they say: a well-fed goblin is a happy goblin! We mustn't keep our tummies waiting! Once we're all filled up, then the real adventuring can begin, and we'll explore this marvelous town like never before!"

Goblinworth's face twisted into a grotesque expression as he gingerly picked up his shoes, eyeing the unsightly dirt smears that one of the mischievous goblins had maliciously smeared on them. A low growl of irritation rumbled from deep within his throat, a sound akin to a disgruntled rat who had just been woken from hibernation.

"Ugh, those little hatchlings! Look what they did to my shoes," Goblinworth grumbled to himself in a voice that sounded like gravel being ground together. 

His tongue, which resembled something between a slug and a rotten mushroom, shot out of his mouth with alarming speed, and before I could fully comprehend what was happening, he was licking those shoes with passion. A strange blend of disgust and amazement filled the air as he scrubbed, slurped, and slobbered all over the once-dirty footwear.

Goblinworth's voice echoed with a muffled, saliva-laden speech as he muttered to himself in a language that resembled a cross between a goat's bleat and a cauldron bubbling over.

 "Oh, yes, oh, yesss, filth must flee! Nasty dirt, naughty grime, begone, begone! Clean, clean, make it clean, shiny shoes, like a queen."

As Goblinworth's tongue worked tirelessly, the shoes slowly transformed from a state of filth to a state of unnatural gleam. The once-dirty footwear now shone with an unsettling brilliance, as if they had been polished by an otherworldly force.

Finally satisfied with his bizarre cleaning method, Goblinworth carefully placed the now gleaming shoes back on his feet, one by one. With each shoe, he muttered strange incantations, "Shoey, shoey, now be nicey. Keep Gobby's feet all snug and cozy!" he chanted as if he were sealing some unholy pact with his footwear.

The goblin's enthusiasm knew no bounds as he began to wave his hand at me with a grin spread across his face, revealing his jagged teeth that seemed to gleam in the sunlight. 

"Come, come, Master! Follow me and prepare for the delicious food!" he yelled, his voice filled with boundless excitement.

As we strolled along the streets of Luminecia, I couldn't help but notice the weather taking a turn for the worse. Dark clouds gathered ominously in the sky, and the once-blue canvas transformed into a murky gray, a sure sign that rain will be soon upon us.