One year.
Fifteen months old.
It had been one breeding season since Alruk’s first breeding ceremony.
This would be his third breeding season since his rebirth, making it one year since the stream incident.
He was now fifteen months old, already an adolescent by goblin standards because of their rapid growth rate.
Many things had changed during the past year—both for him and for the tribe.
First, after the incident at the stream, Alruk had remained within the village as instructed.
At least, that was what the other goblins believed.
Although he could not leave in front of the others, he could still sneak out.
Using a spell from his past life, he was able to move unnoticed at night.
Every night, he would go to the stream to bathe.
It had taken him a few days to master the spell.
After all, stealth had never been one of his strengths.
In his past life, he had always preferred dealing with problems directly.
He had only learned the spell to handle certain situations when he had been a low-ranking lord.
Now, however, he used it every night.
As a result, he was always clean.
It wasn’t only him, though.
The chief had forbidden the young ones from leaving the village, but he had never said the older goblins could not bathe.
Whenever the group responsible for fetching water went to the stream, they often took the opportunity to wash themselves as well.
Because of this, the goblins looked healthier—and even slightly more relaxed.
Only the older males, along with the young ones, had not started bathing.
During that year, the population of the village had also changed.
Some of the older goblins had died, including Elder Folg and the old female hobgoblin.
Folg died from disease.
As for the old female hobgoblin, she died because the tribe no longer cared for her.
During Alruk’s first and second breeding seasons, she had failed to become pregnant.
That was because she had already reached menopause before evolving.
Evolution did not make a creature younger.
It simply elevated it into a higher species while giving it a body equivalent to its current age.
So even after becoming a hobgoblin, she remained at the stage of menopause.
The only way she could have overcome that limitation was by gaining complete control over her bodily functions, something she was far too weak to achieve.
She was separated from the other females and given only leftovers until she eventually died.
It was cruel, but it was the reality of the tribe.
That was not the only depressing thing.
During his first and second breeding seasons, Alruk had watched the males bring back females from other races.
During the first breeding season, they captured one elf and three human women.
Alruk could only watch as they were dragged into the cave, where they would be forced to bear goblin children.
He wanted to help them.
Though he was now a goblin, he had not lost his humanity.
But he was powerless.
The same thing happened during the second breeding season, when two human girls were brought back.
He also watched them carry out the human girl who had been captured around the time of his birth after the second breeding season.
She was dead.
The only good news was the increase in the tribe’s infant population.
From the first breeding season he experienced, twenty-nine infants attended their bloodline ceremony during his second breeding season.
As for those born during the second breeding season, he would find out tomorrow, when they held their own bloodline ceremony.
During the last ceremony, two of the eight males had died during the hunt, while another two had been deemed weak through the blood ritual.
There had been only one female in that generation.
Cooking for the entire tribe had been stressful for her, but it had also become much more hygienic.
After the incident at the stream, the tribe began paying closer attention to what Alruk did.
They noticed that every morning he washed his meat in clean water before gathering several plants and mixing everything together in a bowl over the fire.
Using a spoon he had carved from wood, he stirred the mixture before allowing it to simmer.
After some time, he removed it from the fire.
This continued for several days before Juff and some of the others from his generation approached him, curious about what he was doing.
“Brother Al, why you do this?” one of the females, Lish, asked.
She was one of the two females from their generation who had awakened the bloodline.
The others looked at him expectantly.
“Open mouth,” Alruk said before giving each of them a spoonful of the soup.
The moment they tasted it, their eyes lit up.
Thuk, one of the males, shouted loudly enough for the rest of the tribe to hear.
“Brother Al!
“Brother, please make for us,” Juff pleaded as they all looked at Alruk hopefully.
Instead of agreeing immediately, Alruk gave them instructions.
The following day, they brought their own meat from the previous hunt, and Alruk helped them prepare it.
Because of the larger quantity of food, they needed a much bigger bowl and considerably more water.
That immediately attracted the attention of the rest of the tribe.
The group responsible for fetching water that day became angry, believing the young goblins were wasting it since the water used to wash the meat and plants was simply poured away.
Raka, who was part of the water-gathering group, stormed toward them.
“Alruk, what you do?
Throw water away?” she demanded.
When Alruk cooked only for himself, it had never appeared this wasteful.
Before he could answer, the chief walked over.
“Alruk, what exactly are you doing, throwing water away?” he asked.
Alruk and the other young goblins quickly stood.
“I remove dirt from meat and plants, then mix in bowl and make food.
Taste better,” Alruk explained before quickly handing a small bowl to the chief.
The chief accepted it.
The entire village fell silent as he drank the soup in a single mouthful.
After tasting it, he asked for two more bowls.
“It is very good,” he said with a broad smile, revealing his yellow teeth.
“Alruk,” he called.
Then he continued,
“Teach our women how to prepare meals as good as this.”
He grinned as though he had just solved every problem in the world.
From that day onward, the tribe’s cooking gradually improved.
Some of the youths from Alruk’s generation also began following him during his training.
Eventually, it became part of their daily routine.
Now, nine young goblins from his generation trained alongside him.
Every morning, as Alruk ran laps around the village, the other nine followed behind him.
Because of this, Alruk’s stats had improved significantly.
‘Info.’