Quite a few hours later, 32 goblins walked the earth once more. Leaving the minions to hide as usual, I headed back to Oirk. I wanted to check in if Ychk found any good weapons in their armory before returning to the village. Heading to the dome, I met with him without incident.

“Chief will speak to you again. Sorry for the behaviour. Iyrkraal sends regards.” The human goblin declined his head slightly in apology. It felt more reminiscent of someone apologizing for a party member’s usual antics than anything genuine, but he wasn’t exactly at fault in the first place.

“I suppose I shall see him then.”

Entering, the flames that fed on the bones ran lower, only leaping to about waist height—for a goblin—before flickering out. The embers along the bottom gave off a dark crimson glow; the colors of the world seemed much more vivid than I remember those on Earth being, or perhaps I simply can’t remember correctly.

Khtraal seated himself opposite of the flames, with a look indiscernible to a human. It was either joyful smugness, or somberness. Who even knew. He gestured for me to take a seat.

“I see you and Khthju didn’t get along very well.” The Chief grinned; probably trying to look great and terrible, but I only saw him as a conjurer of cheap tricks.

“They were just wondering as to the extent of my abilities. We didn’t part on terms where they would engage in hostilities. Not that he could anymore.”

“Hkejk, you are a human that can really understand goblins! Why don’t you watch your back while fighting...unfortunate events can happen to those who are blinded by greed.”

“Hoh?” This was a little too straightforward to refer to the very person you’ve tried placing into a trap. The metaphors were a little to blunt, even if you did like to give your opponent ironic foreshadowing beforehand. Though a bit transparent in his little schemes, the raal wasn’t this foolish, so I concluded it had to do with tKlor’t’t. “What might happen when someone tries to eat more than their fill?”

“Their leader may become upset with them.”

“I’m sure their...comrades would like to have them removed as well then. If that’s what the leader wished.” We played around with metaphors for a bit, which moved across cultural barriers quite well, even if a host/guest metaphor would have been more natural to me. I was already conversing with a foreign species in a foreign language in a foreign world, so desiring metaphors I liked better was a bit presumptuous of me. In the end the raal decided to get to the point.

“He did inform you of the battle plan, did he not? After the main battle is over, you can make your way back to him and execute him once you and the army make their way back to Yhrack. As you may have realized, his loyalties aren’t stable, once he’s commanded his armies and helped win, his presence only makes things uncertain. Since you will be departing soon, the fallout surely won’t trouble you, and the blame can be carried away to lands unknown.”

“My, what a clever plan.” I suppose if I weren’t the one in the dangerous position it wouldn’t be a bad idea at all. Only if I were sending a powerful goblin to assassinate one of the few people who can rival me in power, I would be somewhat more concerned about where their loyalties lay. Khtraal may have overlooked this, but it would be best to assuage him with a very trustworthy emotion, banking on my acting skills and foreign expressions to get me through. “But what exactly is in it for me? I’m already doing a great deal for your clan for a very low price. Admittedly I am fine doing even more, however the risks of this seem a bit more than the simple task of fighting thousands of lesser goblins. I don’t particularly see much in your possession that I happen to desire to compensate.”

“There are plenty of riches I have stored away. Many of them are rarities that have been collected over the generations. Some have little use to us, but a shaman like yourself would find them useful. After the battle, I’m sure I will accumulate even more.” He may have called them useful to me, but didn’t he just say that they were basically trash to him? This guy was getting a bit too heavy handed, always wanting me to take his junk as payment. Well, I wasn’t in it for the rewards, and the treasures the goblins amassed over years of conflict did intrigue me.

“Good enough, though just one might not be satisfactory.”

“Make sure you finish him, and you can have a dozen.” Oh wow, a dozen; I guess that must mean these are really valued items, Chief. Seriously, you’ve gotten way more arrogant since I first saw you, was that victory really such a show of your power?

“I thank you for your generosity. And my payment for participating in the battle?”

“Ychk should have it ready by now. That will be all.”

Dismissed, I stood up and walked out of the cavernous dome. Sure enough, Ychk waited with a sword in hand outside. Such a magnificent sword, it was so powerful it radiated an aura of familiarity—

Hey hold on. Isn’t this one of the swords the Poran brought with them?

Oh man, it really was. I resisted the urge to smack my head against the adobe wall until it cracked. If I had wanted, I could have gotten one of those myself.

The real reward was the corpses, experience, and soul power that awaited me, so I didn’t feel too bad about it. Besides, the sword actually wasn’t all that bad. Ychk informed me that the spear I desired would be given to me after the battle, the weapon was needed by one of the warg riders, and I couldn’t monopolize both of the the clans ‘best’ weapons. It was actually a bit pitiful that it could even be fobbed off as one of the best. Opposable thumbs and tool use really were great, not to mention being smarter than a dorf.

Since I didn’t know where tKlor’t’t was, there was no way to casually pass by and interact with him. Vamp was still away on some mission of some sort, so there was no point in staying any longer, and I left.

Back at the village, I let Pan speak with Ria again over dinner. Not sticking around to eavesdrop, Ross and Troy were beginning to dig up the foundation for the house, and I headed over. Since there weren’t many shovels, only a few people were able to help at a time. Trading off with Markus(Corsair’s father), he stuck around for a few moments to chat with me before heading off.

Digging around, Ross and Troy talked about the upcoming tax season. Due to rising tensions with Mersk[sic], there was a drop in the number of merchants about, including the ‘tax flies’. A rather interesting concept, while the paladins and their crew preferred coins, they naturally ended up needing to accept goods from the countryside. There was a limit, and of course they demanded much more than the standard market price, with lower rates for more cumbersome items.

Naturally, some merchants would try and take advantage of this by coming around before the paladins, buying up goods for a slightly less criminal price. This rarely was a deal, but for a place like a village which sat two weeks from Glaucen, they wouldn’t have time to go and exchange their goods at market price every season. These unscrupulous merchants were called tax flies, since they were often found buzzing about during that time of year.

However their presence, while making things a bit more convenient for the members of the church they preceded, it also dropped the value that could be extorted. When periods of conflict rolled along, Derriad found itself in need of more resources. So along with artisans that created useless gew-gaws, the middlemen were conscripted as well to increase both their army and profit.

One might slip in before the paladins actually arrived, but the brothers warned me against taking any of their deals. Besides, Pan planned ahead for every fall to minimize the unfair losses. The village didn’t have to hand over a pound of flesh to make their taxes each year, or at least not any more than the usual 12 ounces.

It turns out that part of Corsair business in the city was making exchanges for items the paladins could easily accept as payment for taxes. I guess there had just never been a reason to tell me, though that still didn’t excuse his rude behaviour.

After a while of digging it became late enough that everyone called it a night, and we split.

Naturally, my day would not be finished so soon.

“Allllright! Let's keep up the pace a little looonger~” In imitation of a personal trainer, I gave words of encouragement to Tagalong Girl as we(she) ran. I watched her more closely this time so I could better gauge when to stop. “Okay, that’s far enough!”

We ran for only a slightly shorter distance than the day before. Endurance needed to be built up over time, and I wasn’t going to make the stupid mistake of forgetting that everyone else in this world happened to have normal bodies. Maybe other stupid mistakes, but not that one in particular. Tagalong Girl would properly build up stamina by exercise and getting plenty of protein. Well, other than fish, all I really had were chikans, and I guess some alchemical herbs to act as spices.

“So today…” Taking out the spear and tossing it, she made an attempt to catch it, but it fumbled away into the grass. “We will be training up dynamic vision and *kinesthetic* sense. The basics are constant, but you are you, everyone develops their own style. At least, all the successful fighters do. Well, not all successful fighters, but the good ones, some people overlevel to wreck *scrubs*.” Hmm, I should probably plan out my speeches a little more. Nah, that’s way OOC for me. “Point being, now that you know some of the basics, you’re just going to keep facing things to get used to handling the weapon.”

So it wasn’t so much me tutoring her as training not under live fire. That’s how I learned playing all my VR games, although when I really got into a weapon I suppose I did have the magic of the Internet to back me up at times. This would be like that, a bit of practice that wouldn’t be of any danger to her, and Tagalong Girl would be a Legendary Spear User in no time.

“How am I supposed to do that?” I started stepping away, and Tagalong Girl was confused about what she was supposed to do. About to follow, she stayed put when I stopped about 10 meters away.

“Keep your eyes on the ball lass.” First impressions are important, so the first shot would be a bit difficult. Snapping a piece of stone from Inventory, in an instant it flew past her face. Tagalong Girl did start to raise her weapon, but by the time the spear was in position the cloud of dust was already settling.

“Wha—”

“Ahaha~ don’t worry, I’ll lowball these next ones. Don’t go for the two handed block, even though it looks easier. These things may not be tough but they’re still rocks.”

In my hands I juggled a few softball to baseball sized rocks. With the help of I definitely looked cool doing so. Then, I began tossing. It’s not quite as cruel as you think, I wasn’t pitching 100mph fastballs of stones larger than my fist at a small girl; what purpose would that even serve?

Serving underhand slow throws to her left and right, Tagalong Girl of course didn't even graze the first dozen. They passed harmlessly as planned. It would have been nice had she hit them, but whatever, I had plenty.

Around the 15th, she finally seemed to get used to using one hand as a fulcrum. Slightly intersecting with the stone’s flight path, the spear broke it to pieces. After applying decay energy, the structural integrity resembled a cloud of dirt. Not at all something pleasant to be hit by, but even in a freak accident it wouldn't do anything more than bruise.

Along with the fact I pitched to miss her and could pretty much spontaneously summon to grab a poorly deflected missile, it was incredibly safe.

Rocks still look like rocks though, and Tagalong Girl put her all into trying to swipe them down. It was a motivating sight, even missing she would continue to keep swinging full speed to meet the next one. Connecting more, I began throwing them on paths that could intersect with her.

It may have been on easy mode, but she didn't get hit once. I felt quite proud of her.

Exhausted, the tiny girl kept swinging, the spear visibly slowing; yet she pushed on. Not calling quits herself, her thin arms trembled after a while, using the weapon as a walking stick. I pushed a little farther than I ought to have.

Slumping, a stone came straight for her face, but was slapped down by a . Even so, the surprise was enough to make her stumble back and collapse on the ground. The fatigue this time seemed to be more mental than physical, but that didn't stop her from breathing heavily.

“Mmn, you did very well.” Praising, the few surviving rocks that survived impact with the groans floated to my Inventory as I cleaned her dusty self up. Crouching down, I scooped her up like last time.

“Why are you carrying me?”

“You just collapsed, didn't you? *Aniki* won't be troubled by such a light weight—” I tossed her up a few inches. “—and you were too tired to stand.”

Tagalong Girl gave me no further complaints as she was carried back to the village.