Most of them were indifferent to the fact, except for Faity and Iben. Venusia is a highly contested continent between the Unur Dynasty and the Church of Mahalia. And within this continent was the Raiden Forest, where the largest concentration of goblins are known to live. Although they number only over ten thousand, it is still enough to warrant concern between the two superpowers. "Are you telling me King transformed from green goblin to what he was now?" Faity asked.

"Yes," Morgana said.

"How is that even possible?"

"Oh, you didn't know."

"What do you mean I didn't know? Of course, I don't know. Unless you are trying to imply something." Faity pointed at Morgana, "My Church had no knowledge of this fact. This is new to us just as much as it is new to everyone in this room."

"Calm down." Iben said, "No is accusing anyone of anything."

"Of course," Morgana relaxed her tone, "No one is accusing anyone. I just thought that since the Church operates primarily on Venusia that, you know what, forget." Morgana walked to the center of the table. "This event may seem tiny, but we still lack information about the goblins. We do know from the observations from the Walz Kingdom that the red variants during this event also transformed into a similar appearance to King and his subordinate."

"And not only appearance but their level of intellect also rose, am I right?"

"That's right, Unur Iben. And this could be a problem. We currently know of a few goblins that reached this level, King, his commanders, and the goblins that defeated him. And Hart has given us the identity of the leader of the goblin army that defeated King."

Hart leaned in on the table, "His name is Sun, and I met him just recently."

"And why should we care?" Datu asked.

"Because I wish to nominate him as a Golden Condottiero."

Randy jumped out from the table and roared, "I refuse. And how do you lot know it was another goblin that killed King."

George yawned, "Well, it can't be one of your clan members. Besides you, the rest of them are jokes."

"What did you just say?"

"Enough!" Iben yelled. The tower shook from the sound of his voice. Randy ran back under the table, startled like a dog hearing thunder for the first time.

"Are you insane?!" Morgana yelled, "Don't just shake the tower so carelessly."

"My apologies did not mean to shake this old building's foundation. Trust that my intentions were good."

"Fine, but don't do it again." Morgana paced across the table, "We plan to make Sun a Golden Condottiero so we can keep him and his goblins under our control. We've already sent the offer to the new leader of the goblins city, and we even got a response right away. Guess what the letter says?" The other members assumed the nominee accepted. "He declined our offer."

"So what?" Datu asked, "Doesn't that means he's just another band of thieves hiding in the forest. Unless there was more to that letter, I see no reason why we should care."

"Well, there is more. He's planning to turn the ruined cities in the forest into proper, functioning cities. And with those cities, form a nation of goblins." The mention of a goblin nation has caught the interest of half of the members. "A country of aliens born on the surface of our world. That's a reality the entire world has to face. So far, we have kept outsiders from taking over our world, whether they came from the sky and the stars or from the depths of the Infinite Sea. But the goblins have managed to stay under the radar for one hundred years."

Iben rubbed his goatee, "This does seem to a problem, but I doubt we have to worry. For this goblins nation to exist legally, their leader will have to participate in the Church's mock exam. Because if they don't, then we'll have to deal with them. I assume that is the real problem behind all of this." Iben stood up and leaned on the table, and stared at Morgana. "If he declined your offer, he is unchained which means he could be a threat. But since he declared his intentions of building a kingdom to us, the tower is debating whether or not to recognize their nation."

"But why not just exterminate?" Elie asked. "I bet tower and the Church have the resources to kill them, reduce their numbers to zero. After all, their numbers are already low, to begin with, just as you told us."

"The tower's view of this topic is still being questioned." Morgana sighed, "Their numbers are low, too low to be even considered a threat. But the event that transpired two months ago was concerning to the upper echelons. There are some that want to cut the stem before the infestation could become a problem, and there were those that question the ethics behind the plan. After all, they are no longer closer to beasts. They are very much like us when it comes to reasoning. And the majority of the tower would love to study their inner workings."

"And the dean kept his mouth shut, didn't he?" Iben asked.

"The dean believed that it is best to ask those gathered today for nomination for the next Golden Condottieros for a solution. More specifically, he wanted to know if the Church is willing to let the future goblin king take the mock exam." Morgana looked at Faity.

"What?" Faity covered his c.h.e.s.t, "Are you serious? The Pontiff is a busy man."

"Call him."

"No!" Faity protested and stood up. "I'm leaving." Faity reached for the doors, but Morgana teleported in front of him. Her eyes burned through her mask.

"I will not ask again!" She yelled. "If you do not call your leader, then I will. After I take your holy necklace from your corpse!"

Faity shrank back to his chair and removed his necklace from his pocket. He opened the locket attached to the silver chain and pressed his thumb on the glossy surface. The locket opened, revealing a purple glass showing a beautiful sky. Faity placed the locket closed to his mouth. "Holy seer, I need your guidance." The locket began to ring for a few seconds until a young man's voice came through the glass. "What is it?" The man asked.

Morgana snatched the necklace from Faity's hands before he could answer. "This is Morgana. The Dean's Assistant to Diplomatic Affairs, I need your confirmation, Johnathan."

"How dare you say the Pontiff's name!" Faity lunged at Morgana, but she protected herself with an invisible barrier. Faity slammed his head on the wall of mana, knocking himself unconscious.

"What was that?"

"Your diplomat got a carried away. But that doesn't matter. What matters now is the resolution I have introduced to everyone in this room."

"I can feel an odd presence through the glass. More potent than the dean's aura. Who is that?"

Iben got close to Morgana, "Sorry, that must be me."

"Unur Iben." The locket's glass began to crack, "To think you'll be present. If I had known you'd be there, I would have marched my army and called for another crusade."

"Not like you'll win, even if you were there."

"Gelilili!" George laughed, "That was a good one."

Hart tossed a coin in George's mouth. George coughed out the silver piece on the table. "A war between two superpowers is no laughing matter, George."

Iben nodded in agreement, "If only the other leaders could hear you say that."

"Nevermind your quarrels!" Morgana yelled. "We are wasting time. We haven't even discussed the other two candidates for the position of Golden Condottiero." Morgana climbed back on the table, "Now, the question of the goblin nation's existence is worrisome, to say the least, and we need immediate action. The decision lies to everyone in this room. Should we exterminate the goblin species, or should we let their race be part of our world? Letting them found their kingdom could result in another crisis similar to past invasion by alien forces, but the chances of that are still low. For those in favor of the former, raise your hand."

Randy crawled out from the table and raised his hand. None of the other members followed in his example. "Are you serious? We're letting some goblin savage from the heart of that godforsaken forest become a legitimize king!"

"Wait," The Pontiff raised his voice, "Is this about the goblin that defeated King? That rumor was real?"

"I'm afraid so," Morgana answered.

"Interesting, I thought it was the doing of Randy and his animalistic house. But I guess I was wrong. And now he is to become king of his kingdom."

"Yes,"

"And why do you need me for? All that goblin have to do is pass the mock exam the Church provides to upcoming heirs. We will let him take it."

"We need your Church to keep a close eye on the nation and to stop them if they show any signs of hostility towards the world. Placing them under your umbrella should keep their country on a leash. And besides, what if he doesn't pass?"

"Then he will not be recognized by the church, and we will deal with them as we all do with the other barbarians."

"Exactly, Johnathan."

"Are you suggesting I let him pass even if he failed? That will defile the sanctity of our holy ritual and our state. Besides, why should any of you care what we do to the goblins if their leader fails the test? Isn't the other option to kill the goblin race?"

"Johnathan, you know full well the ethical repercussions of such an event. And even Meredith would agree that such an extreme action will destroy our moral values."

"I can't believe you would bring our holy mother into this, but fine. It seems like you care about them a lot."

"I don't care. I represent the interest of the tower and the dean. And we have mixed feelings about this race already. Our organization believes in the eradication of all enemies of Tinia, but the goblins are hardly an enemy for our world, even with this sudden change. And if we do keep them around, we will like to study them closely to understand the circ.u.mstances behind their existence."

"None of this makes any sense." The Pontiff sighed, "But for you, my friend, I will accept under one condition. King, I would like to speak with him."

Iben and Morgana raised a brow, "King? What do you want from him, exactly?"

"You should be aware of what that pagan has done to our followers up north."

"And you want to speak to him just for that?"

"Yes, is that a problem?"

Morgana paced back and forth on the table with a frown on her face. "Fine. I will send you King's whereabouts, but I will be present when you speak to him."

"Of course, I will only need a word with him. Make him repent for his sins, forgive him. You know the drill. I would just like to do it personally since I have you on call."

"Is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think."

"Good!" Morgana closed the locket, ending the call, and threw it back to Faity laying unconscious on the floor. On the other side of the world, inside a dimly lit room, the Pontiff sits on his chair. He was hidden behind towers of paper sitting on top of his desk. He sighed and opened a drawer, taking out a pen and paper.

He wrote down King's name and circled it. Then he glued it on the wall with his mana. He stared at the name for minutes until the door to his room opened. A man wearing black clothes walked towards his desk and handed the Pontiff and an envelope.

The Pontiff opened it and read the letter. The dwarves and dark elves have banded together and blocked access to the forest. Not even the tower could enter the forest to retrieve King's henchmen. He laughed nervously. There was still a chance for them to learn about his connection with King. But now he could visit King personally and erase his memories. Then sway the new goblin king to his side, or kill him. The next mock exam will be available in a month, near the end of summer. He will wait till then.