Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Have you seen any other humans?" Charles asked, frowning. The Valentine incident had just happened, and he was still very wary of humans appearing in his territory.

"There are no humans." Broken Tooth shook his head like a rattle.

"Hmm?" Charles didn't understand. Did Broken Tooth mean that someone had lost a white horse, and then the white horse traveled through the forest to its territory and then wandered around the cave entrance?

He stared at his subordinates, thinking to himself, "This scene seems familiar. Is a monkey with a hairy face and a thunderous mouth going to descend from the sky with a stick and shout, 'Green-skinned monster, hand over my master!'"

"Go check it out." Charles checked the contents of his pouch, making sure the speed-enhancing spell and the magic scroll for getting away with slips were in an easily accessible location.

Several goblins came to the bushes behind the tree. Sharl took out his binoculars and secretly watched the "white horse" in front of him.

This is a magnificent creature, pure white, like shining white starlight. Its neck, hooves, and tail are covered in golden mane, which is as smooth as brocade in the breeze. The spiral horns on its head reflect an ivory-like luster in the sunlight.

"It's a unicorn," Charles exclaimed softly, but he immediately covered his mouth, afraid of disturbing such a beautiful creature.

"Is this the white horse you were talking about?" He turned his head to look at Broken Tooth, wanting to kick him, but he knew that such creatures were very rare. Broken Tooth had only ever seen horses and mules, so he easily called it a "white horse".

"Don't disturb it." Charles gently instructed his subordinates, while gesturing for the goblins to slowly retreat. He had read in Agatha Christie's natural history books that unicorns were rare and beautiful, and that they would only allow kind-hearted creatures to approach. If any evil creature dared to approach, it would rush over and stab the creature with its horn. Unicorns were immune to many spells, which led some unscrupulous individuals to try to kill unicorns and skin them to make equipment that could resist magic.

Most unicorns choose to settle in a forested area and protect it. Historical records also indicate that some powerful nature mages or druids would choose to have unicorns guard sacred areas or artifacts. This has led some relatively weaker races, such as goblins, to follow the trail of unicorns and settle in the areas guarded by them.

All unicorns possess natural healing abilities; they will touch the injured with their horns and heal illnesses and injuries in a very short time.

"Retreat slowly." Charles instructed his men to keep quiet as much as possible. If the enemy discovered them, they might just rush over and kill the goblins with their heads.

"Pat-pat," the unicorn lowered its head to eat grass, then slowly walked towards the direction where the goblin was hiding.

"Why are they coming towards me?" Charles's heart tightened, and he secretly felt for the grenade fruits in his pouch. If the other party realized that he was really rushing over, he would have no choice but to throw a few to warn them first.

As the distance between them gradually closed, the unicorn even stopped grazing and raised its head to look around.

"This guy must have spotted me." Charles and his men continued to retreat slowly, afraid of making a sound that would give them away.

After searching for a while, the unicorn fixed its black eyes on the direction of Charles, and then it walked step by step toward the bushes where Charles was hiding, until it was just a few steps away.

"Big brother, we didn't mean to spy on you." Charles forced a smile. He didn't know if the other party could understand Common Tongue, so he could only try to keep a low profile and hope that the other party wouldn't care too much about the reputation of the goblin's evil race.

He regretted it a little; he should have brought Cao Cao along. But if he had actually brought a 3-meter-tall troll, there would have been no way he could have secretly scouted the place.

The unicorn didn't speak, but just stared at the goblin in front of it. After a few seconds, it lowered its head.

Charles watched as the unicorn lowered its head, its ivory-like horn pointing directly at him. He swallowed hard, fearing the unicorn might crash into him.

However, after completing its previous actions, the unicorn did not attack. Instead, it walked directly to Charles's side and quietly ate the grass on the ground, which made Charles hesitate to make any rash moves.

"Does Big Brother disdain killing goblins?" Sharl turned to look at his subordinates huddled in the bushes, then at the unicorn that completely ignored him.

He thought for a few seconds, then mustered his courage and slowly approached, afraid that he would be kicked away by a hoof at any moment.

Fortunately, he was not attacked when he stood next to the unicorn, and the unicorn stopped grazing and looked up at him.

Charles reached out to touch the creature before him, but he realized that he had gotten his hands dirty while hiding. So he wiped them on his clothes a few times before slowly touching the beautiful unicorn in front of him.

"This unicorn is so well-behaved; he lets people pet him." Charles chuckled foolishly, standing on tiptoe to stroke the unicorn's neck.

Sensing the aura of this forest spirit, I wondered, "Were you raised by some great mage? Are you lost? Why aren't you wearing a tag around your neck?"

After petting it for a while, Charles stopped, and the unicorn went to the side and started grazing.

"Don't disturb it, and whatever you do, don't frighten it," Charles immediately instructed his men, while preparing to return and inform everyone.

Just as he was happily walking towards the fortress entrance, a voice rang in his ear, "Big brother, how did you manage to get the unicorn to let you touch it?"

Shansio reverted to his invisibility, flapped his wings, and hovered in front of Charles. He clenched his fists, his eyes filled with admiring stares, as excited as a fan seeing their idol.

"You've sneaked out again." Charles stared sternly at the little imp. "Didn't I already tell your father that the forest isn't safe lately?"

"How could that be?" Sansio waved back and forth in front of the goblin like a bee doing a figure-eight dance. "The appearance of unicorns means this area is safe, and those evil creatures can't get close."

"Hmm." Charles chuckled coldly. He was afraid that Count Valentine might turn around and come back to the fortress to cause him trouble, so he strictly ordered his men to stay in this area for a certain period of time and in a certain number of places. He also informed the goblin chieftain of any potential dangers and advised him not to leave the fortress.

"Brother, why don't you tell us how you successfully fooled the unicorn?" Shan Xiao was still fixated on this question.

"What nonsense! Why would I, a goblin, need to be lied to?"

"Brother, don't you really know what they mean in the forest?" Shan Xiao called out, and began to ramble on about what the elders of the tribe had said.

…………

"You should know what this means."

A goblin clad in black leather armor, gripping a sword hilt, shook a parchment in his hand and looked contemptuously at the group of centaurs before him. "If you don't sign this pledge of allegiance, your race will be wiped out in a few days."

The centaur chieftain, who was in the lead, tried his best to suppress the anger on his face, while signaling to the surrounding tribesmen not to act rashly.

"Envoy," he said in a slightly trembling voice, "could you allow us to discuss this?"

"Discuss? This is General Evilthroat's last act of mercy towards you," the goblin shouted, as the dozen or so tall ogres behind him raised their thick wooden clubs and howled.

"But..." The centaur chieftain hesitated, pondering how to secure greater benefits for his people.

"There are no 'buts,' sign or not," the goblin threw the parchment in front of the centaur tribe. "Sign and we'll spare your lives; don't sign and we'll raze your huts to the ground in a few days, and you'll all become slaves of the Evilthroat Army."

"Don't think you have anything to negotiate with. You only have two choices," he said, holding up two fingers, "obey."

"We can also disobey!" a shout rang out, and a female centaur rushed out of the crowd and picked up the parchment.

"Stop her!" The centaur chieftain immediately ordered his men, and together they stopped the female centaur's actions.

"Evita, you're being incredibly reckless!" he shouted at the female centaur, then ordered several men to drag her away. At the same time, he took the parchment of the contract that his men handed him; the parchment had almost been torn apart earlier.

"You need to keep your daughter in check." The goblin chuckled, watching Evita being dragged away, while someone tried to cover her mouth to stop her from cursing loudly.

"She almost destroyed your people's hopes for peace."

"I know, Your Excellency, I am very sorry." The centaur chieftain bowed respectfully.

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking," the goblin suddenly changed the subject, walking slowly in front of the centaur crowd with his hands behind his back. "Don't even think about running away. Our slave-catching teams are everywhere around here. If you catch one, you'll be a slave of the Evilthroat Army."

"And you should stop thinking about those old things. Now there is only one will in this forest, and that is the will of General Evilthroat," the goblin turned and stared intently at the centaur chieftain. "There will be no more unicorns. Your totem beasts have long since disappeared and died."

"Submit, serve the Evilthroat Army faithfully, herd livestock, cultivate crops, and charge into battle for the general when needed," he said with a smirk, glancing sideways at the centaurs around him. "Perhaps the general will be pleased and capture a unicorn for you."

The centaur chieftain stretched out his hands, trying to reassure his people, while cautiously saying, "I understand, but I still hope you can let us discuss this."

"I'll come again tomorrow at this time." The goblin smiled as he walked up to the centaur chieftain, gently patting his face with his palm. "You'd better think it over."

Then, he turned around, laughed heartily, and left.