Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Miss Mary, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." The old stonemason Mount took off his cloth hat and placed it on his chest, smiling and bowing repeatedly.

"Please come in." Mary quickly invited the guest into the reception room and poured her a cup of tea.

"I've been wanting to visit you for a while, but I felt it would be a bit offensive. I didn't expect to receive an invitation today, so I came right away." Mount sat on the sofa somewhat nervously.

"It sounds like you've wanted to work with me for a long time." Mary smiled and sat down opposite her.

“Yes, you have no idea how annoying old Wick has been lately. He’s always bragging to us about the big commissions he’s landed,” Mount said, holding his teacup in both hands and looking at the dignified young woman in front of him. “And he’s brought in a lot of helpers. I heard he’s going to expand his carpentry workshop.”

"Oh, is it him?" Mary nodded. "We do have a lot of business dealings."

“Old Wick said it in a drunken stupor: the church behind you is planning to build a grammar school, and now many workshops in town want to contact you,” Mount took a sip of tea, then wiped the tea residue from his white beard. “You know, the Earl recently raised commercial taxes, and there’s much more carpentry work than stonemason work in Gieseckle, so my stonemason workshop…”

"I understand," Mary said, extending her hand in a gesture of respect. She had heard that many workshops had been experiencing some difficulties recently, partly due to the season and partly because Earl Valentine had increased taxes. Although everyone had some complaints, the corpses of those giant spiders and giant cave bees had still left many people feeling apprehensive. "So I do have some orders here. I wonder if your workshop can accept them."

"Sure, we can do anything as long as it's a stonemason's craft," Mount replied immediately, his beard trembling with excitement.

"It's not that difficult," Mary picked up a few forms from the side and placed them in front of the other person. "Take a look at the requirements first."

"Hmm," the old stonemason Mount picked up the list and looked at it, "the stone foundation for the simple wooden house, that's not difficult, we used to make it often, uh, this quantity is indeed quite large."

"What types of stone bricks are these?" He continued looking at the other orders. "The quantity is not small, and it also requires cement adhesive."

After thinking for more than ten seconds, Mount replied seriously, "Miss Mary, if I may be so bold, my workshop is temporarily unable to deliver the goods within the timeframes specified on these orders. The timeframes are too short, and your demand is quite large."

"Okay, I understand," Mary said, looking at the order form in the other person's hand. After thinking for a moment, she asked, "The timeframe can be slowed down, but is there any way to expedite the process?"

"If I want to complete your commission as soon as possible, I need to work with several other stonemason workshops in Giethoorn. Also, it's winter now, so it's easier to hire people. I heard that the Earl has also levied taxes on those villages, and quite a few people are looking for work now."

"Alright then," Mary said with a smile, without taking back the order forms. "How about this, I know you have a very good reputation in Giesecke & Sulphur, your products are good, and you're a very honest person. I can sign these purchase contracts with you. As for how you cooperate with other workshops and how you allocate resources, I won't interfere, as long as the quality of the goods is good."

"Are you serious?" Mount exclaimed in slight surprise. He hadn't expected Miss Mary to offer such a solution. According to her, he could also transfer some of the orders to several other workshops, so he would only need to pay attention to quality issues.

"I think you can reconsider, after all, the demand for the purchase order is indeed quite large," Mary pointed to the orders and reminded the other party.

“No, no need, I’ll take care of it for you,” Mount said immediately. “You are indeed as wise and kind as old Wick said.”

He also wanted to say that Old Wick and the others said you are a god of wealth walking among men.

“Then, I’ll go prepare the contract,” Mary nodded, getting up to get the form and pen. “That will solve one of the things the boss asked me to do. I’ll be meeting a few other workshop owners later.”

"Oh, by the way, I wanted to ask if these wooden houses are difficult to build?" She took a few steps, turned around, and asked.

"It's not difficult. As long as you have enough manpower, I can also give you a simple diagram of how to build a wooden house. Just follow the diagram," Mount replied immediately, seemingly afraid that this order would slip through his fingers.

"Then please give me a few more, ten will do," Mary tilted her head slightly and asked with a smile, "After all, we need to build so many wooden houses."

"Bang, bang, bang," someone knocked on the door, and a voice outside asked, "Is anyone home?"

"You'll have to wait a moment," Mary apologized to the old stonemason Mount, then hurried over. (Your favorite fantasy novel genres are all here. Welcome to visit p>)

"Miss Mary, am I too early?" After exchanging pleasantries, old carpenter Wick was led into the reception room by Mary.

"Hey, Mount, you old codger's here too." Old Wick's lips twitched, a hint of displeasure on his face.

"Please wait a moment, I'll go get something and be right back," Mary said apologetically, clasping her hands together. Then she turned to retrieve the contract.

"Miss Mary actually asked you to buy things," old Wick said, reaching up to wipe his cheek, where there was still a slight bruise.

"What, am I allowed to come here alone?" Mount glared at the other person. There was something he hadn't told Mary earlier: when he was drinking with Old Wick, the guy got drunk and brazenly said that he wanted to work for him. At the time, he was so angry that he punched Old Wick.

"Then I wish you even more money," old Wick said, turning his head away somewhat resentfully. He then glanced at the several lists on the coffee table. "What a huge grammar school this is for!"

"I don't know, but judging from the list," Mount glanced at the list, "these cabins are enough to house at least 200 people."

…………

"Are they settling in well?" Charles stood beside Evita, watching the centaurs chopping wood in the distance.

"I'm alright," Evita said calmly. As soon as the migration was over, she immediately cut her long brown hair short and put on the golden beast tooth chieftain necklace that her father had left her. Since that night, Charles had never seen her smile again.

"Once this large area is cleared, we need to build several deer breeding pens," she said, taking out a piece of parchment from her backpack with a detailed layout drawing on it. "It will take time to build all of these pens."

"No need to rush," Charles looked up at the layout map, which he had planned according to his own territory map. It included many of the herb gathering points that used to be, but now they were all planned as breeding pens for giant deer. "Take it one step at a time. I've already asked someone to order those building materials for you. You can move to the ground to live in them then."

"Thank you. I never thought my people would have the chance to live in wooden huts," Evita said sincerely. They had previously lived in thatched huts, but after her people arrived at the fortress, Sharl immediately suggested that the centaurs build wooden huts.

After all, while thatched huts are easy to build in the forest, they are loose and not durable. After a few heavy rains, they leak everywhere. The most troublesome thing is that they are not fireproof. In contrast, wooden huts are much safer. They can be built very sturdily and are waterproof. As long as you pay attention, fire prevention is not a big problem.

"It's nothing. We've moved to a new place anyway. If we were still living in thatched huts, all our efforts would have been in vain," Charles said, waving his hand. He had spared no expense in trying to keep these centaurs, hoping they would be a great help in the event of a crisis in the future.

"Without the tools you provided, we wouldn't have had such a smooth experience." Evita glanced at the goblins beside her who were throwing the felled wood from the worker ants' cargo box onto the ground.

The centaurs are now using axes, saws, hoes, and shovels provided by the Shire to "tidi up" the forest, while many goblins and worker ants are also helping them to build a small deer pen as quickly as possible.

The mimicry monsters have all been placed in the fortress's stone chambers, and they will need to be raised individually in those small compartments after the walls are built.

"Just some tools," Sharl said dismissively. He knew the centaur tribe lacked these things, and now he needed to equip them with more. "Are they all used to the food?"

"Yes, everyone thinks it's good." Evita nodded. This was indeed something that amazed the entire tribe. They hadn't expected that the goblins ate better than them. They especially liked smoked fish, which had a completely different flavor from venison and tasted even more novel and delicious.

Charles didn't speak, but was recalling the scene of the centaurs "slaughtering pigs" that he had seen earlier. He had killed two mimics to make food, and after peeling off their skins, he was drooling over the white, fatty meat. He hadn't expected that these creatures would have so much fat, much more than the large, fat pigs raised in the village.

However, with the recent increase in population, White Hair has become somewhat overwhelmed, and several of the female goblins are about to give birth and can no longer do heavy work. Therefore, Sharl had to send some of the goblins to help White Hair, the "head chef."

"Once the first batch of buildings is completed, you can cook whatever flavors you like," Charles said with a smile.

"Hmm," Evita gazed at her tribesmen bustling about in the distance, remained silent for a moment, then unconsciously stroked the beast tooth necklace on her chest and whispered, "I will try my best, Father."