Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Where did you get all this stuff?" Sophia wandered around the giant fish skeleton, even playfully crouching down to try and squeeze through the gaps in the skeleton, but she was too short and failed.

"The chief sent me to bring this over; chartering the boat cost me a fortune," Little John said somewhat guiltily.

He knew that Sophia, the female druid, was very clever and not easily fooled, so he could only tell half the truth.

"So you're planning to sell the materials from this magical beast to me?" Sophia turned to look at Little John. "I should make it clear beforehand that the Church of Earth and Life doesn't usually accept these kinds of things. We're not like those lunatics from the Church of the God of War."

"No, it's not for sale," John said, putting on a smile as the other party brought it up. "Let's sit down and talk."

After Mamadou left, he and Uncle Musa assembled the teleportation stone ring together and successfully made contact with Shar. As a result, the first task given to them by the leader was to find a craftsman who could make magical items from the giant fish bones and chameleon skin.

This task is simple in theory, requiring only sufficient reward, but it is also quite difficult in practice. Monster materials, especially complete sets of monster materials, are generally of interest to the Kingdom's Security Department unless they can provide a legitimate source, such as documentation from the Adventurers' Guild or a commission from a noble. There are also people on the black market who accept orders for monster materials, but those are for small-scale items. Such a large set of materials will inevitably attract the attention of those with ulterior motives.

After visiting the only two high-end magic item crafting shops in Torch City, they were rejected by both without exception. The shops were very tactful and did not explicitly refuse, but the implication was that "I'm not done living yet."

After discussing it, John suggested that they try the church route, since the four major churches also have their own craftsmen who make magical items.

So after breakfast, John invited Sophia to the warehouse, while Uncle Musa disappeared to avoid meeting her.

After Sophia finished breakfast, she was about to go back to sleep when John ruined her mood. She was very glad that the church hadn't assigned her any tasks during this time, so she could sleep in comfortably for a while longer. But this "idiot number one" was so inconsiderate, choosing this time to come find her.

While in the carriage, she had already dozed off against the side of the carriage. When she got off, Little John subtly reminded her of the drool on her face. Fortunately, Sophia was quick-witted and simply wiped it with the back of her hand before politely thanking the coachman, who didn't notice anything.

"If this is what you mean by 'show me something amazing,' then are you prepared to face my wrath for disturbing my sleep?" Sophia sat down in the chair, looking at John with hostility.

"Of course, but these things are really amazing, aren't they?" Little John smiled as he poured chrysanthemum tea into both of their cups. "Island chrysanthemum tea, made with large chrysanthemums in autumn, tastes the best."

"If you're not planning to sell these materials, then why are you asking me?" Sophia picked up her teacup, blew on the tea a few times, and then tried to take a sip, but it was still very hot, so hot that she couldn't help but stick out her tongue.

"Can you help me find a craftsman who can make magical artifacts?" Little John asked eagerly with a smile on his face.

"I remember there are two magic shops in Torch City..." Sophia looked up at Little John across from her, and immediately understood the meaning behind his smile, "These things were all obtained by Green Egg, right?"

"Green egg?" Little John was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that the other party was addressing the leader. The difference was that he knew the leader was Sharl and usually called him "boss," but the druid opposite him didn't know that. Sophia probably only knew the leader's goblin name. "Yes, it was the boss who sent me to come and try to find you."

"That fishbone was hit so hard, I even knocked on it a few times. It looks like a mid-level magical beast," Sophia said, turning to look at the fishbone. "The goblin tribe does encounter magical beasts more often in the forest than ordinary humans."

"Although they're easy to encounter, these magical beasts aren't easy to deal with," Little John said at the right moment. Although he hadn't hunted these two magical beasts with his boss, he had indeed experienced other things before and had heard about the tribe's deeds.

"It would indeed be difficult with just the strength of goblins, but if the monsters were facing gods..." Sophia stopped halfway through her sentence. She felt it was better not to tell others that the green eggs might be the chosen ones of the Church of Earth and Life, as this had not been confirmed, and the matter of the divine war should not be known to ordinary people. "If they were facing a race of green eggs, dealing with them should be much easier."

"Easy?" Little John was stunned. He thought about what had happened in the tribe before. All the goblins were defeated in one move by the Mind Flayer. If the Mind Flayer hadn't been weak, and if the boss hadn't had an item that could counter it, and hadn't used a treacherous scheme to outmaneuver the Mind Flayer's mastermind, the goblin tribe would probably be Goblin Evolvers by now. But against that Fallen Druid, everyone was in a tough fight. Sansio almost died. If this was what Sophia meant by "easy," then Little John wondered what "difficult" would be like.

"I think you might have some... well, strange understanding of my boss's capabilities," Little John said evasively, unable to be direct.

"Strange, isn't it?" Sophia smiled and pointed to the huge fish skeleton. "I think those things should prove that what I said is true."

"Okay, let's not talk about this," Little John sighed inwardly. He didn't understand why the goblin tribe, struggling to survive, seemed like "future rulers of the forest" in the eyes of this druid girl. "I've already contacted those two shops, but they refused to help me."

"So you want to see if there are any craftsmen in the church willing to accept the commission, since the money is good, right?"

John smiled apologetically.

"I am not a high-ranking member of the church, and I am only a druid who accepts assignments outside the church. With my level, I cannot help you order those craftsmen to do this, this personal matter." Sophia paused and took a sip of her tea.

Hearing the other party's reply, John could only sigh. He had only wanted to try his luck with Sophia before, and to be honest, he wasn't very confident. Now it seemed that was indeed the case. "Okay, I'm sorry to bother you. If you don't mind, I can treat you to lunch as an apology."

"For lunch, I'd like to try the spicy grilled fish at that old shop in the east of Torch City," Sophia nodded and said calmly. "Many city officials like to eat that spicy grilled fish, and the price is not low now."

Just as John was about to nod in agreement, Sophia continued, "Besides, I didn't refuse to help just now; I just said that finding church craftsmen might cause trouble."

"Hmm?" Little John blinked a few times. "If not church artisans, then who?"

"You can find craftsmen in the market."

"I've already looked at those two shops..."

"Alright, come with me." Sophia put down her teacup, then stood up and walked to the warehouse door. "We need to hurry. He lives in a bit of a remote area. If we take too long, we might miss the grilled fish."

"Oh, oh." Little John followed, completely bewildered, with no idea where the other person was taking him.

…………

This is the southeastern part of Torch City. There are very few two-story houses in the entire city, or rather, most of them are single-story bungalows. A small river with an annoying stench runs through the city and flows south directly into the sea.

Many children in tattered clothes were running around in the neighborhood. When they saw John and his companion dressed in church robes and clean clothes, they immediately gathered around them.

They showed no fear, but instead shouted with all their might, "Sister, please have mercy!" "Sister, you are so beautiful!" "May the gods bless you!" and then stretched out their hands, presenting them to Little John and his friends.

John pursed his lips, reaching out to protect the leather bag at his lower back. The orc had given him a brilliant pickpocketing demonstration, while simultaneously pulling out a copper coin from his person.

"No, don't give them money," Sofia said softly, then turned to the children and said, "I'm here to see Martial; you should know the rules."

As Sophia's voice faded, the children wisely lowered their heads and walked away, while little John stopped what he was doing. "Who is Martial?"

"Follow me." Sophia continued to lead the way.

Soon, they passed through the filthy and garbage-strewn town. Many people huddled behind doors, watching John and his companion with greedy yet fearful eyes. John, in turn, kept glancing around. He was all too familiar with those eyes; he had seen them in the eyes of many when that damned tax collector came to his old village; he had seen them in the cages of goblins held by slave traders when he walked through Goat's Horn Town, leaving the Adventurers' Guild to repair his weapons; he had seen them on the faces of goblins who had just been captured or joined the tribe a few days ago when he stood beside Shire.

"This area is inhabited by dockworkers," Sofia said slowly as she walked ahead. "A year ago, it wasn't like this."

"A year ago?"

"Yes, back then," Sophia sighed softly, "Torch City was still Baron Melo's residence, and laughter often drifted from the homes of these dockworkers. The city wasn't this dirty and chaotic."

"Unfortunately, things have changed." She fell silent as she spoke. The city had changed hands, and the new officials had no governing ability like the Baron. They were constantly fighting amongst themselves and exploiting the lower-level workers, which led to the city becoming what it is today in just one year.

After a few seconds of pause, Sophia continued, "The person we're going to visit is also a magical craftsman, but he's a bit special."

"Special?" Little John looked around. "How special can it be? Is it more special than Furu?"

"You're right," Sofia smiled. "He's a human, just one of his hands and feet isn't made of flesh."

As soon as he finished speaking, John saw the druid girl in front of him stop. He looked past her and saw a very inconspicuous mud-brick house with its door tightly closed and a lock on the mottled wooden door, as if the owner was not at home.

Sofia walked straight over and kicked the wooden door open with a "bang," saying, "Old man, I'm here."

"Damn it, I heard that! Do you know how much a wooden door costs?" A curse came from inside the house, followed by a clattering sound.

"Go in." Sophia ignored the whispers around her and stepped into the dilapidated bungalow.

After Little John entered the room, an old man with a bald head and a messy goatee, whose hair seemed to have its own thoughts, leaned against a dilapidated cabinet. He was pointing at the wooden door on the ground, staring at Sophia across from him. "A wooden door, made of good materials. You'll have to pay at least one gold coin for it."

"Alright, old man, I've brought you some business." Sophia ignored him and turned to Little John, saying, "This is Martial, the magical artifact craftsman from Torch City."

"No, he's Torch City's best magical artifact craftsman," the goatee-wearing old man opposite him corrected angrily. "If not..."

"If you hadn't insisted on making that entire beast bone armor, you wouldn't have had your license revoked by the kingdom and been banned from the magical artifact industry forever, right?" Sophia shook her head slightly. "He used to be a craftsman in Golden Flower City, but unfortunately, he was greedy and made magical artifacts for others, which led to him being reported by nobles and ending up here."

"So how did you meet him?" Little John raised an eyebrow; there seemed to be a story behind it.

"It's nothing, this guy charges less," Sophia smiled. "Sometimes battles damage magical items and they need to be repaired. I prefer to save the money for food. I ran into him by chance. He was squatting in front of those two magical item shops, trying to attract customers."

"Buy food?" Little John thought for a moment. "The church should provide food, right?"

"Hmm, I have a big appetite," Sophia said casually, then turned to the fuming old man Martial and said, "I've brought you a big client. Don't say I'm not patronizing your business. A whole set of intermediate-level magical beast bones and a whole magical beast hide—money is no object."

After saying that, she glanced at Little John and said, "Right?"

"Yes," John nodded quickly, "Money is not a problem, as long as the skills are good."

"Really?" Old man Martial immediately tugged at his goatee, and his action allowed Little John to see clearly that the strange old man's right hand and left foot were actually iron prosthetics, no wonder there was a "clattering" sound just now.

When Martial saw John's scrutinizing gaze, he chuckled dryly, then bent down and moved the wooden door, revealing a tattered rug on the floor.

He yanked off the carpet, revealing a square wooden board.

"Click," Martial pulled up the wooden plank and walked down the stairs. "Welcome to my studio."