He cracked the stones under his fingers and let the current of magic flow into his lungs. One after the other, thirty stones in total, he crushed them and inhaled it's contents until the bags were all empty, leaving only pieces of rock laying on the ground. He turned around to see Hlung and the other hobgoblins staring at him, three on each of the golden one's sides.

Pressuring, they smiled content and expectant. Thom felt his beating in his chest. The meeting of today had left him perhaps a little too worried, having met all the leaders of the horde, all their menacing faces painted different colors from the herbs they consumed.

Thom bowed slightly in front of them and they did the same. Hlung crossed his arms and showed him a complacent smile, saying:

"We will be waiting for your results, Lord Thom."

A complicated cluster of emotions formed inside the young human's chest as he swallowed dry and nodded firmly.

"Yes. I'll do my best."

That had been a week ago. However, the poor Thom had not been able to meet any of the hobgoblin's request, and anxiety kept welling up in his stomach with every passing minute.

The first request was already hard enough: "We'll provide you with the materials, so please work hard to use your increasing magic power to give a name to each of our dear goblins, please."

Thom had been trying to give names to the goblins of the black horde at the very least, but it became increasingly frustrating as the same kept happening every time he attempted to do it. No matter how hard he attempted to control it, he could not share a portion of his raw magic with anyone. He hadn't received any alert from Skill Master either, which was extremely worrying on its own.

After a few days of trying to come up with a solution, Thom got to the conclusion that it was impossible to give names if one did not possess a magic system per se. That had thrown him into a difficult spot on itself, but then there were other things to worry about.

He had also been asked to expand the fields of his farm from three hectares to twelve, so he would harvest for every section of the horde instead of just Clung's. He was aware of his ability and his absurd skills, but he was still only one man. He could not take care of twelve hectares of land all by himself, not now, not ever.

Third, the matter with the orcs. Monsters with massive bodies and aggressive tendencies that loved hunting and butchering. They were not many since the rate at which they reproduced was much slower than goblins, but even with their small population, the goblins had been having a hard time holding them back.

Compared to a regular human, they were three times more dangerous in terms of raw physical prowess. Not only that, but they also knew the art of iron smithing and formed complex tribal societies. Although their war tactics consisted of "Charge, kill, retreat", their physical strength put them in an advantage when using this sort of strategy.

What the horde had asked of Thom was to get rid of them as soon as possible.

"How the hell did they get to the conclusion that I could do that?" He clicked his tongue in the darkness of his room. "I never demonstrated skill for anything beyond farming. It would be troublesome if they got the wrong idea of me like this. Shit... I don't even have my sword or my bag, either..."

While he was biting on his nails and thinking about what to do with his life, the door to the cabin opened. Suu placed her hand on his head, and Thom turned around to see her warm smile waiting for him to whine about something.

"Why are you sulking this time?"

"Suu... I'm sorry for dragging you into everything."

"It's a little bit too late to apologize about that, Thom." She crouched by his side and placed her hands on her knees. "Let me guess. Somebody gave you a big amount of magic stones in exchange for something that you are physically unable to do. Something like naming all the goblins in the horde."

"Did Clung tell you about it?"

"He was excited about the horde becoming more powerful. I didn't pop his little bubble and didn't tell him that you're not actually able to do something like that. And, before you ask how I know that you can't, it's because I have Skill Master, too."

The girl reached inside her pocket and pulled a small wooden box, showing it to Thom. She opened it and a butterfly opened its wings, fluttering inside the room for several seconds before bolting out the window. Confused, Thom glanced at her in need of an explanation.

"That butterfly there was dying until I found it. I was thinking of killing it quickly so it would stop suffering, but then I got the idea of giving it a name. And, there you go, the little thing acted as if it had been infused with life. Its wings turned from a brittle brown to a strong translucent color. I hadn't noticed, but the butterfly wasn't actually dying from a wound, it was just at the end of its life."

"That's amazing..." Thom looked outside of the window, searching with a sparkling gaze for the newly named butterfly. He didn't find it, however, and returned his eyes to the smiling girl in front of him.

"I got what you were looking for. The skill is called [Grantor]. I more or less understand it now. If it's about the actual naming part, it is pretty much just a symbolic thing, a way to mark someone, saying they belong to you. What actually powers them is that you're connecting them to you, to your... ehm, how could I say that? If I had to explain it somehow... I guess you could say you're connecting them to your soul?" She snickered with embarrassment after saying something so cheesy.

"So there's a link... And the link between your soul and their soul is your refined magic energy? Why that? Is it because it's something that belongs to your body...? Or is it because it's something that doesn't change, even if it exits your body?" Thom caressed the lower part of his beard slightly as he delved deep into thought, and Suu smirked mockingly at him.

"I'll shave that for you. You look way better without it."

"E-Eh?" Thom's train of thought was broken as she said that so out-of-the-blue, and he was for some reason suddenly very self-conscious about his facial hair. "Really?! Does it really look bad?!"

"You're looking like Chamgue, you!"

"Chamgue looks badass!"

"He's two feet taller than you and a lot more masculine! Now let me get that thing off so I can see your cute smooth shiny face again!"

After a few minutes of fighting over it, Thom was coerced into a shaving session. She tied a shirt around his neck and grabbed a bit of water from the water crate they kept in a corner of the room, then drenched his beard as he twisted and shifted his lips with low groans of complaint.

"You can use that fast brain of yours to come up with a solution while I shave you, can't ya?"

"Well, it's not really just the naming thing, tho."

"Oh yeah? What else is it?"

Carefully, the girl tied up every strand of Thom's long hair so she wouldn't cut one by mistake. She could willfully accept his hair being long, but that beard, which reminded her of that old man she called Grandpa when she was a little girl, had to go.

"They asked me to... multiply the hectares we're using right now for farming. Twelve, instead of three." Thom sighed. "It's clear that they don't know much about agriculture if they're asking for something like that as if it was nothing."

"You can do it, though." She smiled. "And I can help you with that. I'm a farmer too, ya know? Besides, I've been really practicing my magic lately. I'm sure I can learn a spell that can help with that."

The dagger cut into the thick hair on Thom's face and moved downward in a motion carried by Suu's steady hand, removing the upper layer of thick hair from his left side. She carefully brushed with the dagger along his skin, although she was well aware that the blade wouldn't hurt him even if her hand was less careful than that.

"I know... I know I can." Thom closed his eyes. "Nothing's too hard if it's just about farming. But this other thing they asked of me... That is... Something that I cannot do."

"What thing?"

"They told me to attack the orc tribe, the one north from here. They keep fighting over resources, and they're getting into a lot of fights as of late. The hobgoblins want me to kill them, or lead an army of goblins to kill them, or whatever the hell they want me to do." Thom closed his eyes and felt the dagger grace his skin.

"Thom... You're not a weak person. You lost against Miel only because you lacked experience, not because you were not strong enough to win. If it's against a bunch of monsters, I'm sure you can do it. I can help you with that if you want to, and I'm sure Erina would do it too. Hell, she's way more experienced than any of us with this sort of thing. The girl is just lacking a little... endurance, in many ways."

"I didn't need to know that." Thom smiled. "But... Even if you were to help me, and I'm sure you two would do a better job than me in that regard... I'm still concerned about something. It's not even about winning or losing anymore..."

"Then?"

"It's just that... After what happened in Seashore, I've been thinking a lot."

Thom put his hands together. Suu hadn't heard what he had to say yet, but she more or less knew what it was about. She felt warmth in her heart, thinking about how this stubborn man had actually heard what she had to say, to the things that had happened around him.

She asked him what it was. He showed a doleful face and spoke.

"If we're really gonna follow up with this whole 'becoming a king' thing, or even if we're gonna be in a mildly-high position of power, every little mistake of ours is gonna kill someone. I know how much it hurt you when... all of that happened, and if I can avoid hurting you again and anyone I care for, then I shall aim for that."

"Oh man..." Suu held back her tears as she rested her chin on Thom's head. "Were you really thinking like that? How cute can you be, you!" She excitedly swept her hand, and felt an earthquake go from Thom's back to his neck.

"Gyah! Why are you infusing the blade with magic energy?! Control your excitement, hey! You're hurting me!"

"Ah."

She removed the blade from the side of Thom's face and cleaned her tears with the other hand. She started giggling when she saw Thom's wound slowly healing, and resumed her shaving.

"Well, it could set a good precedent for the goblins if you do that— submitting the orcs in a peaceful way, I mean. They could learn that doing something like razing Pontya to the ground is stupid and unachievable. A regular army would probably take several months in conquering a city like that, so thinking that it can be done with only a few goblins is extremely ridiculous."

"Hm-hm. That's right..."

Thom seemed to like the idea. He had already told Hlung that he would only allow soldiers to be killed in the invasion, but setting an example with a population that was closer to the horde was not a bad idea in the slightest. If he could, he would do it himself. However, he was still worried about his weakness. What if negotiations did not work? He would have to fight, and he was not sure if he could win or not in his current situations, even against a single orc.

"The hobs did tell me that orcs are fanatics of strength contests." The young man muttered. "If that's the case, with my skills it should be enough. But..."

"But what if you took Erina with you?" Suu leaned on his hear. "Imagine that... Erina, plus Skill Master. Erina with [Golem's Strength]. How messed up does that sound? Is that even human? I don't think so."

"You're making it sound like a bad thing." Thom smiled. "But you've given me a good idea. I was thinking of making Erina join the Skill Master wagon soon, either way. I felt it was unfair that she was still the only one walking around without even knowing about it between us three."

"Do you like her?"

"She's a good girl." He nodded his head slightly. "She's a good sister-in-law. And a good swordsman, an excellent swordsman. Even at my current level, I don't think I could match her skill with the sword. What about you?" He lifted his eyes to look at the girl behind him.

"Are you kidding? I saw her cut off a piece of a mountain with a bone dagger. And she's the one that has been helping me train my defense. Her aura-infused attacks can even pierce my skin like paper."

"Well, whatever it is, I'm sure we're good if we have her in our team. I think she has some degree of disgust for the goblins, but you're keeping her close to us even in this situation. So, good job there."

"It's not like I'm doing it because of that, ya know?" Suu finished with the left and the right side of Thom's face, and began to cut down the mustache and the remaining goatee. "I genuinely like her."

"I know, I know. Sigh, I envy you, truly."

A few more minutes passed in silence as the young man pondered about things for the future, near and far. The last strands of hair fell down to the ground, and Thom breathed a more relaxed air, his skin shinier and smoother. Suu, content with herself, proudly placed her hands on her hips and waited for praises from the man.

"I think it looks nice." Thom closed his eyes with a smile. "I don't have a mirror, though."

"Oh well. I know how you look, and you look nice. You must actually be my brother, because you're looking just as fine as me."

"Yeah, yeah." Thom chuckled as he stood up. "I've resolved myself. I've got a solution to the naming problem. Let's do this quickly so we don't have to waste any more time."