Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"How come there are two Starhounds?" Agatha exclaimed.

Then she whirled around, staring at Charles standing behind her. "Did you do something?"

Charles wanted to say that his plan was about to succeed, but he looked at Agatha with an innocent expression and said, "I don't know."

Agatha looked suspiciously at the 1.3-meter-tall, bald goblin in front of her, trying to glean clues from its innocent face.

"Perhaps Lupus felt comfortable here and brought his companions along," Charles said, shrugging.

Agatha turned her head and glanced at Ciel a few times before beckoning to Lupus. Lupus didn't use his jump; instead, he slowly walked over and sat down in front of Agatha.

The red astral hound followed, but didn't get that close, seemingly still a little wary.

"It's about a size smaller, and we can't tell from its appearance yet, but it's likely female." Charles stroked his chin, staring at the red Starhound.

"Don't you think something's wrong with my portal?" Agatha stroked Lupus and turned to ask Ciel.

"What's the problem?"

"What if this portal opened a rift in the astral plane, and then..." Agatha stopped mid-sentence and turned back. "Never mind, I didn't come up with such a stupid conclusion."

After chuckling a few times, Charles suggested that she try a few more times. If Lupus could bring back an astral hound each time, wouldn't that prove that the astral rift had been opened?

After a few times, Agatha stared at Rupert lying in the stone circle and said, "I knew it. How could a student like me, who got perfect scores in every subject in the grammar department, come up with such a stupid conclusion?"

"It's alright, after all, it's the first time we've met." Charles looked at Agatha, who seemed a little dejected, and thought for a moment before saying, "Didn't you ask me before why Dilat from the Grammar School was rejected by the Countess?"

"Yes, Dilat was handsome and highly educated at the time, and the Countess initially liked him quite a bit."

"Well, because that guy did something stupid. He tried to create a chance encounter for the Countess, and he did it seven times in a row. He even spent half a day loitering in front of a women's lingerie store in order to run into the Countess, and then the Countess's friend saw him."

Charles waved his hand with a smile and said, "Even someone like Dilat, whose grades are comparable to yours, does stupid things. It's nothing for you to do stupid things too."

Agatha rolled her eyes at Charles, then said, "I'll do a few more experiments and see."

"Alright, I'll go check out the fortress first," Charles said.

Before long, he arrived at the underground river platform, rang the small bronze bell, and with a "whoosh," Lupus jumped out of the crack, along with the red astral hound.

"Well done." Charles looked at Lupus with delight. "You brought one back so quickly."

He circled the two astral hounds, examining them closely, eager to see if the red astral hound showed any signs of pregnancy.

However, he chuckled a few times, "No one has ever seen an astral summon give birth to cubs. We don't even know if it's a birth through pregnancy. If it's a birth through splitting, that would be interesting."

"I'll have White Hair prepare double the amount of offal for you guys later. Try your best to bring a few more over," Charles said happily, rubbing Lupus's chin.

"Chief." A voice rang out from afar, and Nine Fingers crept up to Xia Er's side. "The 'Guangguang Fruit' has been harvested."

"You look like a thief," Charles said, staring at him and then looking around.

"White, White Hair is looking at me," Nine Fingers whispered.

Charles smiled and said, "Have you finished harvesting all the 'Guangguang' fruits? So fast?"

"Yes, it's all thanks to his limp. That blue ball of his is very convenient; it can fly and transform, but it's not strong enough to carry heavy loads," Nine Fingers nodded. "He even named that blue ball 'Big Baby.'"

"This name is really..." Charles laughed out loud. It really is the naming style of goblins. But it's good that these goblins can be used to clean up the underground stone chambers of the druids. Then, a few worker ants can be sent over to dig underground spaces. Once a new entrance is dug out, the original entrance can be sealed off.

"Okay, I understand. There will be new things to do tomorrow." Charles glanced at the white-haired man who had been watching them. "You should go now, or you probably won't be able to leave later."

He watched as Nine Fingers darted along the edge, disappearing quickly from the underground river platform like an eel. Charles felt that Nine Fingers should especially need a magical ability like Teleport.

After calming Rupus down, he returned to the fortress gate. Agatha stood in the middle of the stone circle, arms outstretched, smiling at the Charles.

"Did you succeed?" Charles asked.

"Yes, I tried it once, and it works!" Agatha said excitedly. "I can make my own portals now!"

"Congratulations." Charles clapped his hands in celebration for his old classmate. He was also very happy that he could finally begin to integrate this area.

"Teleportation arrays! Only grand mages can use them, things even ordinary nobles can't even dream of. Escape tools that only high-ranking nobles can afford to spend lavishly on, and I can actually make several more!" Agatha's voice trailed off as she spoke. "I can create ancient runes, but nobody knows, not even my sister..."

"Alright, don't worry, we'll keep it to ourselves. As long as we continue to grow stronger, one day the world will know that you are the most amazing historian." Charles walked over and comforted Agatha.

He knew that he couldn't let anyone know about these runic words yet, otherwise it would definitely attract the attention of those with ulterior motives, or even be stolen, and his goblin tribe would surely be wiped out immediately.

"Anyway, as long as we benefit ourselves, that's fine." He smiled confidently. "Such a great historian, could you make a few more teleportation arrays?"

"Yes, we still have some white stones. How many does the chairman need?" Agatha bowed slightly and asked politely.

"One druid's underground chamber, one anthill, and then..." Charles calculated how many he needed, and after a few seconds, he looked at Agatha and said, "Make eight."

"So many?" Agatha was startled.

"Hmm, I want to place six at the fortress entrance." Charles nodded. Due to the lack of slimes and mind-eating monsters, the fortress's defense level has dropped sharply. If an enemy attacks at this time, there will definitely be heavy casualties. He decided to place a row of teleportation arrays in the passage so that if an enemy accidentally stands in the teleportation array, they can be teleported away by simply operating the controller.

"It can also be considered a defensive measure."

"Alright, I'll get it done as soon as possible," Agatha said, and then she went off to find Furu and the trolls to help her move the stones.

"It seems we also need to speed up research on worker ant saddles and cargo boxes. Let the craftsmen make a prototype first." Charles bent his knuckles, calculating how many cargo boxes were needed. "If the experiment is successful, make four or five first, and then make some others."

"We need to finish making it as soon as possible, and then have the worker ants carry the portal components to see the queen ant. That way, we can deliver the honey to her. I don't want to carry it myself."

…………

"Miss Mary, the cargo box you mentioned isn't difficult to build." Old carpenter Wick looked at the blueprints in his hand, carefully studying the various parts of the structure.

"That's good, Mr. Carpenter." Mary poured the flower tea and pushed it over.

"Ah, thank you." Old Wick quickly stood up slightly and picked up his teacup.

Now the "White Shell" Chamber of Commerce has almost become his major customer, not only ordering a large amount of furniture from him, but also making more items.

He had previously speculated that the church was going to set up a primary grammar school here, but now, with the increase in orders, he was becoming more and more certain of his judgment.

Moreover, he heard that many craftsmen in the town had received orders from Miss Mary, and the demand was quite large.

Looking at the beautiful young lady in front of him, dressed elegantly with her hair perfectly styled, old Wick couldn't help but wonder who was behind her. Perhaps it was the church, or a nobleman, or even the Earl's mansion.

"We can hold off on the previous orders for a bit and focus on making these items first," Mary said, pointing to several blueprints on the table.

"Yes, Miss Mary, we will try our best not to affect the previous orders." Old Wick nodded. He had already called over his former apprentices and his brother through the Craftsmen's Association. Now they had just enough manpower, and it seemed that Miss Mary still had quite a few orders.

He heard that some craftsmen had also recruited workers, so this winter would definitely be busy.

Being busy is good, because being busy means you can earn more money. Miss Mary is a nice person, pays quickly, and doesn't haggle much. Everyone likes doing business with her.

"Then I'll be waiting to see your goods," Mary said with a smile as she saw old Wick off.

Then she closed the warehouse door and went to the wooden crate in the corner, which was filled with all kinds of weapons and equipment, all belonging to the Brotherhood of Storms.

"The inspections at the docks are getting stricter and stricter. I don't know why, but I heard some big shot is coming." Mary smoothed her braid and frowned slightly as she looked into the box. "I was originally planning to find a ship to take them to Torch City to sell, but it seems I'll have to store them for a while."

"Fortunately, there aren't many items yet. If we piled on some more equipment, it would be too much of a hindrance."

She walked through the middle door to the "Undying Alchemy Workshop," put away the "No One Here" sign, and then took out a notebook from the counter.

"We're running out of medicine bottles and have to wait for the supplier to come. I don't know when he'll arrive. The supplier Miss Virtini recommended should be alright, right?"

"A big shot?" She circled it in her notebook. "Have John go to the Ear Cleaner's Tavern to inquire when he has time. They have the best information there."

"It shouldn't have any impact on the boss."