Chapter 36

Beorn was sitting opposite of Divine.

“... adventurers guild's golden days have long passed. They cleared the way for the kingdoms’ and the empire’s development. I still grew up with the stories, how adventurers protected the people, drove back monsters and magical beasts and explored the continent. That was when being an adventurer still meant something. They were the people’s first line of defense and many noble houses originated from glorious adventurers. But these times are over now that the only wild regions left on the continent are the Witching Forest, the Misty Mountain Range and the Chaotic Plains, where the orcs and lawlessness rule." Beorn sighed melancholic. "I'm rambling on again, but that should’ve covered it. Lord Divine, was there any word or anything else you didn't understand?"

"No, I understood every word." Divine answered.

Divine still had that strange accent, but every word the creature said in Cathalish was perfectly understandable.

"Good… Well…" Beorn hesitated momentarily, but he steeled himself. "I think there is not much left that I can teach you." Beorn was a little worried, telling his captor that he wasn't useful for him anymore.

But Beorn had a plan.

That was why Beorn continued talking without giving Divine a chance to get a word in.

"I know how you can continue..." Before Beorn could finish his sentence, Divine interrupted him.

"I thought of something. Is there a word other than ‘adventurers guild’ for a group of organized criminals?" Divine not only wanted to annoy Beorn, he also really didn't know the word they had for mafia, gang, triad, crime syndicate, or whatever term matched their criminal organizations.

Beorn gritted his teeth. What group of organized criminals?

But he really wanted to tell Divine his idea and chose to ignore Divine’s provocation.

And if Beorn had trained something here it was holding back.

"A group of criminals is called a 'gang'." Beorn explained.

Divine decided to translate the word Beorn told him into ‘gang’ in his head. Maybe he would change it after he met one of these gangs they had.

Before Beorn could start to pitch his idea again, Divine had already thought of something else to ask.

"Next tell me about expressions used to curse at people and offend them." Divine ordered.

"You want to learn swear words?" Beorn looked at the goblin with a weird expression, but on second thought it was the most goblin-thing Divine had done.

Divine only nodded, paying attention to remember the word they used for ‘swear words’, he hadn’t known that one yet.

“Let me think... Ahm… ‘Thundercunt’ is a combination of the thunder in the sky and the female genitalia that describes a person, who is acting like such a cunt, that people wish for them to be struck by thunder. Someone who’s saying stupid stuff all the time is called a ‘shitpouch’, because that someone is full of shit… And… Ahm… What other bad words are there? ‘Cocknose’, it means your nose looks like a penis. Ahm… These are all things I heard in the tavern. That’s where people cuss the most." Beorn explained, because it was a little awkward to curse someone who had power over him to their face, but when Divine didn't get angry, Beorn started to really get into it.

“’Tosspot’… ‘’Cow’… ‘Asshole’… ‘Crap’… ‘Cocknose’… ‘Assbastard’… ‘Gobshit’… ‘Bugger’… ‘Cocknose’… ‘Idiot’… ‘Damn’…" Beorn still wanted to continue and curse the creature for eternity, but he couldn't think of anymore swear words and he had already said ‘Cocknose’ three times.

He knew he couldn’t go overboard, lest Divine punished him.

And he still wanted to tell Divine his idea.

"That should be enough, at least I can’t think of any more swear words right now on the fly. Lord Divine, I think you really know Cathalish as well as me by now. If there is anything I can still help you with please don't hesitate to ask, but I think..." Beorn was interrupted, again.

"Yes, I'm really good. We can end this lesson here for today and I will think of some words for tomorrow, or something else I want to know about." Divine just got up and left, giving Beorn no chance to finish telling his idea.

Beorn wanted to scream and curse, but he didn't dare, not without permission and in hearing range.

Then he wanted to cry, but no tears came.

Dejected he could only wait for the next opportunity.

----------

Two lessons later, Beorn finally got the chance.

“…you know most of what I can teach you by now. Lord Divine, if you want to learn more, you should really talk to Nola.” Beorn leaned closer and conspiratorially lowered his voice, as if he was reporting an incredible secret. “I suspect that she is a lady of a noble house. It’s in the way she talks and holds herself. She definitely received a much better education than me. I see things like that. She only joined our expedition team last minute, clearly on the run from something. I think her family was accused of treason and she had to hide.”

“At the start of our journey,” Beorn hesitated for a second. “Before everything went sideways, before that damn shadowcat and before…” Beorn didn’t dare say it, but he obviously meant Divine. “…it had been much more obvious that she is a noble.”

“I can’t even read more than my name, but she is different. And all your questions about the empire, the kingdom and their history and all that stuff.” Beorn made an effective pause. “She can tell you definitely much more than me.”

Beorn was excitedly waiting for Divine’s response.

The goblin looked intrigued by the idea but stayed silent otherwise and only watched Beorn with his sharp eyes.

“Ahm… And it’s not like I’m not available for you anymore if something comes up.” Beorn decided to heap on the arguments until Divine gave him an answer.

…

“…for example, poor people have always just washed with water. The more affluent add either flower petals or herbs, but I heard a rumor that nobles and mages use some kind of potion that not only cleans the body and smells nice, it’s said it even cleanses the spirit. Even better than the soap you’ve made… Not that your soap isn’t great… Anyway, I only know rumors about these things, but Nola is different. Just one lesson and you can see for yourself.” So many good arguments, Beorn was slowly getting antsy, because Divine still hadn’t said anything.

Silence reigned between them.

But not for long.

It made Beorn uncomfortable and he resumed piling on arguments.

But Beorn also realized that he had overplayed and his manipulation had lost all subtleness.

“I can help in other ways if I don’t teach anymore. I could help more with the soap production or keep working on the tunnel…” Beorn hoped, if Divine had to think he was getting at something, it was best if the creature thought the tunnel was Beorn’s aim.

----------

To Divine, Beorn’s scheming was obvious.

But that didn't mean his idea was bad.

And Beorn needed something that would keep him much busier than their lessons anyway if Beorn had enough time to scheme.

The problem was what work to give him.

Any kind of busy work like transporting stones, building furniture, soap production and rope braiding would only give the human mind more opportunities to wander.

He would have to think of something.

But first to Beorn's idea of letting Nola teach him.

The more Divine thought about it, the more he liked it.

"We will try it and see how it goes. Go to Nola and explain her new task to her. Then tell her to come to see me." Divine ordered, rising from his sitting position.

He stepped up to the wall, they had been sitting in front of, and looked at his murals.

----------

Nola was only a little hesitant as she neared Divine.

The goblin stood before the wall, looking at his murals.

He did not turn around, when she arrived, even though she was sure he had noticed her.

"Lord Divine, Beorn told me that I should come over." She took the initiative.

Divine turned around and looked at her. "Did he also tell you why I want you? “

"Yes, he said I should teach you from now on." Nola quickly answered. "Even though I wouldn't know what. Your Cathalish is already incredibly good."

Divine nodded. "I know the basics, but I want to learn much more. And I don't only want to refine my Cathalish. I want you to teach me much more. How to read and write for starters. And I want to learn more about the empire and the rest of the continent."

"Oh, I don't know if I'm capable. I don't think I am knowledgeable enough." Nola shied away from the task.

Divine just looked at her and raised one eyebrow. His expression made it clear, he knew she was lying.

Was it Beorn? What did that damn man tell this damn goblin?

"Now that I think about it, it's probably best if you teach me everything a noble in the empire is taught during their upbringing." The goblin said.

"You want me to teach you poesy, drawing, music, etiquette, dancing and even stitching and weaving?" Nola asked half-jokingly, listing the things a noble lady would learn.

"Yes, you can show me some of that, too. At least I want an impression of the standards currently existing in the empire. But more importantly, I want to know about things like the history and geography of the empire and the whole continent. And as much about the national and international politics as you know." Divine stated. "But if we find the time, we can dance, too." That he said in a specific tone.

Was that goblin teasing her?

"How would a woman like me learn things like that?" Nola asked.

"You are a smart girl with noble upbringing. And if you weren’t given lessons regarding that, you definitely have at least one sibling that had been taught these things. And you probably listened in to their lectures." Divine knew there were many different ways, she could have picked up the knowledge he was after, but he wanted to see her reaction.

Nola didn't deny anything anymore.

The sudden sorrow in her eyes when he said ‘sibling’ was telling.

After a longer pause, Nola replied to him, "I can teach you, but..."

This time the pause was deliberate.

"What do you want? I can reward you for good work, but don't ask for the stars." The goblin really had a unique way to talk, but she understood what he meant

What did she want?

Leave? Where to? And then what?

She wasn't ready to start her revenge yet.

Gathering power until she was ready was the plan for now.

And personal strength was a good foundation to build power on.

Her old foundation, the status of a noble was still better, but she would have to make do until she could wield that again.

"In exchange... I want you to teach me your knight technique seriously and explain all the details to me in Cathalish." Nola didn't want to only be tolerated copying their movements, she wanted to learn the technique completely.

"It's a deal." Divine agreed readily and immediately got started. "Knight techniques... Mmh... Beorn only had little information about them. Tell me more."

That was how Divine started receiving the education of a Cathalish noble.

----------

"Master, where does that hole in the wall lead?" First Disciple was curious about the tunnel leading to the Lost Tooth Tribe.

Divine was alarmed.

"That hole is called a tunnel. Why do you ask?" Master Divine asked back.

"Because the human Beorn is always standing there and looking. Why does he do that?" First Disciple looked at her Master with her big inquisitive eyes.

"Because he is stupid." Divine answered shortly, hoping to end the topic with that.

Divine didn’t want the goblings to look down on Beorn or on humans in general, but he wanted the goblings respecting Beorn even less.

Who knew how that schemer would influence them then?

"Why?" She continued asking.

"Everyone is stupid sometimes. Some very rarely, but most beings are stupid all the time. That's just the way it is and it’s a curse and a blessing for the world." Divine said.

First Disciple giggled.

She was successfully distracted and didn't develop the thought to go out yet.

Divine knew it was only a matter of time until he would have to let his disciples loose, but he wanted to delay it as long as possible.

For completely altruistic reasons of course. The goblings would plunge the surroundings into chaos.

And not because of the hassle it would create for Divine, especially the tall task of ensuring their safety, he really looked forward to that.

If the goblings wanted to go out and explore, he wanted to wait until they grew up a little more and at least had their first breakthrough.

Also, Divine had called it, Beorn definitely had to be kept busy, so that he didn't have so much time with his bad thoughts.

The cavern could use some furniture. But he couldn't let the two men alone work on it and the minions had already other jobs.

Divine pondered until an idea came to him.

It was time for another batch of minions.

Only the space in the cavern was a little small for more people. So the cavern's expansion would be their first job.

He thought about just ordering the next batch that brought his offerings to get him some goblins, or he could also directly keep them.

But some things were best done oneself.

His target group were young goblins that could potentially live a few years, but not as young as the goblings.

On the cusp of adulthood like himself would be best.

Still moldable, but old enough to know how this world worked.

Collecting five new prospective minions was as easy as picking up wood in the forest.

One tour through the tunnel to the main cavern was all that it took.

Divine just picked five goblins that looked promising and ordered them to follow him.

All of them complied without a fuss.

"Beorn, you are responsible for these five goblins now. Congratulations!" Divine introduced the minion prospects to Beorn and told him about his new duties. "Lead and teach them to work well. With the new goblins the cavern must be expanded. I will break down the wall and your job is to transport the loose stones and earth. Just spread it through the cavern like you did before."

Beorn would definitely be very busy with the new goblins.

And the goblins could keep an eye on Beorn for him.

Two enemies with one spear and Divine didn’t even have to do much.

---------

Beorn looked at him stunned.

"Eh...? What? You... Me... Lead goblins?" Beorn really hadn't expected that.

"I assume you have learned enough Gobble by now to get by, right?" Divine asked in a weird tone, sparking Beorn's paranoia.

The damn goblin creature noticed even more than he would've thought.

What could Beorn do now except accept?