Dislocating a few joints, I set the raal in scale mail in the entryway before grabbing Ria and bringing her indoors. Looking over Imira’s kills on the way, while the first was a bit on the risky side, it was an advanced maneuver in the first place. Considering the physical requirements to impale through a skull, and quickly retrieve it from the other side without losing much momentum, she’d done well with how poorly the attack suited her at the moment.

Returning inside, the three awaited me at what served as the dining table. Unfortunately while the abundance of lumber and carpenters meant houses in Medean’s domain were quite well built, there was still a lack of comfortable furniture. I sat down across from Lorn and Harlod with Ria on my lap, and Tagalong Girl moved to stand slightly closer to me.

“You did well out there to protect your sister. I should have guarded her myself.” No matter which path she took, I could praise her for her benevolence. It showed she was still thinking of her duty as a test, assuming I would not want to interfere, maybe even thinking I would chastise her for leaving Ria’s safety to someone else. Tagalong Girl might be having trouble with discerning the duality of motives, while it had been a test for her, it was also a real mission. I hoped she properly understood the implication it was okay to do poorly on the test if it meant protecting someone.

“It’s not certain why at the moment, but from that setup, and the two I found indoors, the goblins have an interest in staying here for the moment.”

“There were two in here? But we didn’t hear anything…”

“What little remains of them is in the cellar. Goblins are fond of dark areas.” I waved aside Harlod’s question. There hadn’t actually been any, but I couldn’t just say I was letting them all fight it out by themselves for no reason, especially when I could so easily resolve a fight. Instead, I’d taken two goblin corpses from Inventory and splattered them across the floor and wall. “After you all started fighting, I was in a rush, so I couldn’t question them, luckily you’d left some alive for me to capture.”

“Hmph.”

“Left some alive? You absolutely slaughtered the whole group.” Lorn scoffed, but her husband seemed rather giddy. He was the one who pushed for certainty in their mission after all, while Lorn wanted speed and profit. I’d like you to limit your greed in front of my disciple, display some grace.

“With all their backs turned to me, they were simply stationary targets. I am rather happy with my strength though.” Unable to play it off, I downsized my feat before moving on. “In any case, it seems like they’re either searching, or waiting for something here. I’ve only known them to be motivated by nests, food, or weapons, and none of those things can be found here. One smart enough to order them is here somewhere, and there may be a larger group nearby.

“So do you have the supplies necessary to hole up here for today and tomorrow? After asking that guy a few questions, I’ll head out and clean up town. After that we’ll stay until the agreed upon time to guard against anything else while salvaging the place.” I almost said the word looting. Lorn looked pensive for a second, again too focused on the idea I was getting first pick of town.

“It sounds agreeable. But we will have priority when it comes to materials for the fields and reinforcing our home.”

“I’m not greatly interested in making off with a wagon-load of hoes and hammers. Accepted.”

“That includes any stores of livewood oil. Since you can make your own, that’s not too much to ask either.”

“That’s not a problem either. Lucy, help them inspect the shutters for weak points, get the hearth started after reinforcing possible entrances. After I go, it’ll be up to you to watch Rea once again.” I dipped my head slightly “I’ll be setting her down in the workshop. There’s no need for finer work to board the windows I take it?”

“Hmm…” Speaking her name, Ria stirred in my arms. I stood up and everyone went to do the tasks assigned to them. Moving her to the carpentry area, she opened her eyes halfway. “Geh, so, hunting goblins. Lemme stand… I can do that now.” I placed her feet on the floor, and while she reeled to get her balance at first, her legs remained steady.

Slowly swinging her legs around, Ria stably made it to the next room with her odd gait. Mmm, not that impressive, but it showed she was trying for some independence. That in itself hopefully wouldn’t become a problem.

“So, have any particular questions about where we are?” Exterminating goblins wasn’t pressing, as everyone remained safe inside, and my various senses would locate those nearby with ease. Better to take the rare opportunity to try and raise my friendship out of the negative. Ria’d been less hostile as of late, so things looked hopeful.

“No. If not… for this skin I’d’ve gotten as… far away from you as I could. Though there’s Imira too…” She seemed to have trouble taking small breaths in between sentences, only gasping for air when she ran out of wind. At least she kept these cover-blowing words quiet; she could have been louder, even with her constitution.

“You’d rather travel with me than be dead— it’s not quite all I ever hoped for. I can accept it for now at least.”

“Hmf, I’m the one who has to… accept the way things are. Vicious trickery… I can only hope. The Patriarch’s gone and blessed… you.”

“My hand is bloodied, and mind calculating, but my fangs shall ne’er point towards a brother in arms. I think you do me ill by saying I’m vicious, but even so, my viciousness will not be aimed towards those in my care. Even should I be a villain, I would keep my promise. Neither of you would face my wrath. Ah…” In retrospect, the words flowed too well and I spoke my mind too truthfully. A heroic mentor should not be speaking of straddling the line of villainy with wrath and viciousness, especially when his student may carry some of those same traits.

“So that’s it…” Ria narrowed her eyes closed, and climbed down to the ground using my arm and leg as a support. Setting herself in an obstructing position in the room’s center, I gently scooched her over to one wall. As I did so, her light brown hair trailed along, so I needed to watch my step. It had been well over a month by this world’s count since I arrived, and being bedridden for some time before that meant no one ever thought to give her a haircut in all this time. Hair didn’t grow that fast, but it was reaching a point I should probably ask her opinion on the matter later.

ing the dirt out after straightening her up, I stepped out of the room pondering what she’d said to me. She came to the conclusion that staying with me was in her best interest, which was a huge relief. If she actively tried escaping— even phrasing it like that hurt— it would make things quite difficult. I didn’t want to actively restrain her, though doing so might even let us move more freely through the public eye. If she disguised her condition, then I could simply shadow her, though finding a cure would be many times more difficult that way.

No matter how restricted Ria felt, it wasn’t as if I would just knock her over the head and throw her over my shoulder. So if she really meant it, her staying by my side was a good start. Now if only I could get rid of that idea I was vicious…

“*Well, that’s going to be a bit difficult now, ain’t it friend?*” I picked up the unconscious goblin I was about to interrogate and headed outside.

Re-locating his joints as we headed to the house across the street, I took out a Tiger’s Bloom. When in contact with softer tissue, they would cause a sharp, but altogether harmless burning sensation. Nor did the effect last long, so it was a wonderful(if slightly vicious) alternative to smelling salts. Casting to clean him up a bit, I opened his mouth and stuck a petal on his tongue.

“Kyeehk!” Caught of guard, he coughed and wheezed, about to make an escape attempt before I shoved him back to the ground.

“You, raal. Speak Derriad?” I choked out in my best goblin. Looking more than a little surprised, he remembered what happened right before he was captured and prostrated himself before me.

“Little! Living, because little!” It seemed like too little to be of use though.

“You spawn Iyrkraal?” He nodded emphatically “Why here?”

“Ordered. Wait blood spawn.” Bloodspawn… if I recalled correctly, that might mean one directly spawned from Iyrkraal himself, instead of one arising from his nest. Sadly, Vamp was more of a musclehead, so there was pretty much no chance he’d come here to take command. Besides, introducing him to the party would be incredibly awkward.

“Give armor. You flee. Run away.” Without his armor, this fellow wouldn’t be much of a threat. Well, he might be to some, but a lone goblin was still pretty much doomed. I’d at least give him that 0.01% chance of survival. After tossing the scale mail at my feet, he looked towards me warily, before fleeing.

It’s tossing a snake back in the grass, but it’s just a snake, and it already lived there. One goblin was negligible.

In the end I hadn’t bothered to ask about his comrades, since the language barrier felt like too much a pain. Besides, the goal was just kill everything in the area, no finesse required. I already knew where 15 others were, and that was about the right number. So I decided, to Lorn’s unknown chagrin, on scouring the houses between myself and the goblins.

Popping out of the eighth house, I’d not found much that caught my eye. There were some objects of slight interest, like what looked to be religious symbols, or otherwise sentimental keepsakes, but nothing utilitarian enough to make me finally want to go through Inventory. At this point I was just putting it off. The sky turned dark after my fruitless searches, and it seemed the goblins were on the move.

Eh, I was feeling lazy.

“*Hey, it’s about time to give your bones a good stretch isn’t it? Been cooped up an uncomfortably long time in there, haven’t you, sorry about that.*” Pulling Clavi from the ether, I handed him his sword. His mandible clacking happily, he gave me a hug and I patted him on the head. “*Alright, I’d like you to go clean up all those goblins, okay*?”

Ah, the delicious vagaries an intelligent being could follow. Dumping all of my mana as Negative Energy imbuement on Clavi, focusing on improving his strength and dexterity, he sped off like a white missile. I took a few moments to relax and watch him through mind’s eye.

He homed in on his opponents, only detouring for buildings. As I could see the goblins the information must have been able to be relayed to him, since he knew exactly where to go. In the meantime, I could relax and recover my mana.

Not 15 minutes later, the last of the goblins had been slain.

“*All hail the returning champion!*” My little pile of bones came back with a spring in his step and nary a scratch. This emotive rascal, he does so well, I can’t just put him back right away. I smiled and took back his sword. “*So we have about a day and a half to kill. Let’s go play around a bit.*”