Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"How many goblins did we catch this time?" Agatha carefully poured the potion from the spherical bottle into another potion bottle, then pushed the bottle away and quietly observed the changes in the potion.

"Thankfully, the total number of goblins in my clan has surpassed 3000." Sharl stared at the potion on one end of the testing table. His clan now had 3270 subordinates, meaning he had sat upright in the chair for over four hours to complete the entire ankle-touching ritual. "Is this stuff even useful?"

He pointed to the potion that Agatha had just prepared. The liquid in the bottle was slowly changing color, gradually deepening from light blue, and then showing a tendency to turn green. The bottle was not capped, and Charles could see very tiny bubbles flying out of the bottle opening, floating a short distance before bursting.

"This isn't soapy water, is it?" He smirked, somewhat doubting the potion's effectiveness.

"I followed the recipe you gave me exactly, not a single step was wrong," Agatha said, taking off her gloves and picking up the recipe Charles had copied for her from the lab table, glancing at it again. "That's right. The herbs are a bit rare, but fortunately, most of them are found in the forest. The steps are also correct. But you, where did you get this recipe?"

"Uh, from Torch City." Charles thought for a moment and decided not to tell Agatha the actual situation yet. This potion, which is said to strengthen the soul, was the recipe given to him by the evil book. If he told her the reason, it might make Agatha interested in the evil book. According to rumors, the evil book will attract people to open it and read its contents, and eventually they will gradually fall into it and become its slaves.

Charles hasn't felt anything yet, attributing it to the evil book's long-term strategy of casting a long line to catch a big fish, initially throwing out a lure and then gradually increasing the temptation.

So he took the initiative to contact Agatha and adjust the potion.

Therefore, Ciel still harbors deep suspicion towards the evil book, even though the evil book has now voluntarily changed its name to "Your Ever Faithful Servant, Little Book".

"How about we try finding some kind of creature?" Charles suggested.

"I think we can give it a try," Agatha put down the formula in her hand and shook her head. "However, if this stuff might only work for the two of us, it probably won't have much effect on other people, unless you get the formula so that ordinary people will die instantly or go insane after drinking it. In that case, it might be worth a try."

"Is he insane?" Charles's lips twitched. He didn't think the evil book would use such obvious methods. At most, the potion would give him some pleasure, and then he would unconsciously continue to prepare it, and finally open the evil book again on his own initiative.

“My suggestion is that you could have John ask the person who provided the formula again,” Agatha turned to look at Charles, a glint of light in her eyes, as if she were quite interested in the person who provided the novel alchemy formula. “Or you could ask some experienced alchemists.”

"But I don't know any alchemists either," Charles shrugged.

"Hmm," Agatha lowered her head and thought for a moment, then pointed to the slightly yellowed potion on the experimental table with her pale, slender finger and said, "Why don't you have John take that thing to ask that druid from the Church of Life? I know that the Church of Life has some quite good alchemists, and perhaps they can make a proper assessment of the strength of life."

"You're right, I've thought of that method before." Charles nodded. In a couple of days, Little John would give him the chameleon cloak he made through the portal. He could take this opportunity to ask Sophia to help him find someone in the Church of Life. Since the name is the Church of Earth and Life, it must have something to do with life magic.

"Anything else?" Agatha stood up, walked to the desk, poured hot tea from an oddly shaped square pot, and then looked at Ciel while holding the tea.

Charles glanced at the square pot. He knew that it was engraved with the runeword "Temperature," which was specifically used to maintain the temperature of hot water. However, there were only a few of these square pots for the time being, and not many had been made yet. He was still considering whether to ask the blacksmiths in Goat's Horn to make some iron pots. Ordinary pots would break after only a few uses because they could not withstand the energy of the runeword.

"Take a look at this." Charles jumped off the chair and took out a crystal-clear blue bone from the cloth bag he had brought. "It should be the bone of a magical beast."

"It's crystallized?" Agatha walked over with some surprise, reached out and picked up the bone. It looked like a section of an animal's shinbone, about the length of a human thigh.

"There's a whole set of bones like this. I only brought this one. Of course, there are some other kinds of animal bones as well." Charles walked over and poured himself a cup of tea.

"It looks like crystallized magic, which is a type of magical beast material," Agatha examined the animal bone, even flicking it with her finger in the middle. "It's a good material for making magic staffs. It would be even better if the magic content inside was higher."

Xia Er took a sip of tea, nodded, and said, "We have a lot of these materials now, and as our tribe expands its range of activity in the forest, we have more opportunities to come into contact with magical beasts. When Nine Fingers led people to collect herbs before, they encountered a mutated white bird, but it was scared away by his Firebird spell."

"I want to build a secret magical tool making workshop in Giesecke Town. I've already found a craftsman, but I don't know if it's feasible. After all, I don't know what kind of shady dealings are involved in this industry."

"A magic tool making workshop?" Agatha was immediately intrigued. "I don't know much about this, but I came across some back in Plantagenet. As far as I know, it, along with the alchemy workshop and the scroll copying workshop, are known as the three major magic trading companies. Unlike the latter two, this kind of workshop usually only appears in big cities."

"Moreover, I remember that these workshops generally dislike small workshops," she thought for a moment and continued, "After all, it depends on the craftsman's skill level. Each craftsman has a different understanding of various materials and techniques, and the best craftsmen have long been monopolized by those large chambers of commerce."

"I know a craftsman whose skills are probably fine." Charles recalled the rumors he had heard about old man Marshall in Plantagenet City. His skills were indeed fine, but he was not very sociable.

"If you want to build such a workshop, I suggest you don't attract too much attention," Agatha advised. "After all, you have so many materials and a qualified craftsman. If too many magical artifacts appear, it will definitely attract the attention of others, especially since Goat Horn is located on the edge of the forest and many adventurers live here."

"You're right," Charles took a sip of tea. "Indeed, we're developing too fast right now, and it seems we've infringed on the interests of quite a few people. Mary told me before that quite a few adventurers have complained when buying potions that they can't see goblins in the forest lately, and even herbs are scarce."

"If we openly make magical artifacts, it will definitely attract attention and cause unnecessary trouble."

"Shahr decided to consume the magical items he made within the tribe first, and try not to sell them. Although they could not generate revenue for the time being, at least they were safe."

After all, others can't even find an ear that costs 3 silver coins, and you suddenly pull out a bunch of magical materials, which will make anyone suspicious.

"Then let's build the magic tool workshop next to the clothing workshop. That location is on the edge of Goat Horn Town, a newly cleared open space where not many people usually come and go. Now that the clothing workshop has just been built, after a while, it will mostly be rural women from the surrounding area passing by, so probably no one will notice it," Charles said with a smile. He was eager to see the expressions on the adventurers' faces when they ventured deep into the Nightmare Forest and encountered a goblin holding a magic bone staff in one hand, a magical beast tool in the other, dressed in magical leather, and wearing a mage's hat.

They'll probably look at their iron swords and tattered leather armor with a bit of surprise, then turn around and run away in envy.

"Alright then, you go ahead with your work. I'm going back now. I've had too much going on lately, and I have a terrible headache." Charles downed the tea in his cup in one gulp, picked up the bottle of potion that had turned a deep red, and turned to leave.

…………

After dusk, in the reception room behind the "Undying Alchemy Workshop," Charles looked at the "Silver Wolf Earl" Gene with some curiosity.

After Count Herbert the vampire introduced this border count of the Kingdom of Savoy, Charles learned more about him. His full name should be Gene Mullett, and his family crest is a silver wolf head howling at the sky, so he is also known as the Silver Wolf Count. Unlike Herbert Dawn, Count Gene is a werewolf. He basically does not choose to go out at night because if he accidentally sees a full moon, he will uncontrollably turn into a werewolf. Of course, if he encounters danger, he will also actively transform into a werewolf.

Moreover, Charles could somewhat deduce the Earl's personality. It was said that the entire Murlett family was stubborn, and they were also known as stubborn donkeys in wolf's clothing. Just thinking about how the people in this family would rather touch silverware a few times in their spare time, gradually developing a resistance to silverware, and as a result, many people in the family history died from this "allergy", Charles couldn't help but chuckle.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Earl Silver Wolf," Charles greeted with a smile.

The brown-haired count with a thick beard scrutinized the goblin opposite him. Thanks to Herbert's introduction, Charles did not wear any disguise this time and showed his true face.

"If anyone had ever told me that I would one day meet a well-dressed, polite goblin, I would have torn their mouth apart." Gene glanced at Herbert standing to the side, then extended his hand to Charles. "I am Gene Mullett."

After speaking, he did not continue to look at Charles. Instead, he looked up and scanned the entire reception room, not missing a single corner.

Upon seeing the other man's appearance, Charles reached out and grasped his hand. "Count, as you can see, it is very safe here. As you suggested, I have ordered the doors and windows to be closed and sealed off, so that not a single breeze can get in."

"You can just call me Gene," Earl Silver Wolf said. "Please forgive my rudeness, but it's better for both of us to be cautious."

Are you worried about the city hall or the police?

"No," Gene waved his hand, "what we're worried about is jealousy."

"Jealousy?" Charles was taken aback. "You mean the demon lord is jealous?"

“Yes,” Gene frowned, then glanced at Herbert beside him, “you didn’t tell him why?”

"No." Count Herbert shrugged.

Gene sighed and said, "Both of our families were transformed by envy. The reason was the same: we were looking for that damned ear. The difference was that the Dawn Clan was transformed first and became vampires. Then, for some reason, Envy decided that they needed someone to keep an eye on the Dawn Clan. So one day, my ancestor was transformed into a werewolf."

"From then on, we became enemies. Even though our two families' territories were not adjacent, we had to keep a close watch on each other so that we could find ears for our jealousy as soon as possible."

"Then you..." Charles wanted to ask, since you don't seem to be very hostile to each other right now.

"Things have progressed to the fifth generation," Count Gene said calmly. "At that time, my ancestor felt that things could not continue like this, so he secretly sought out his ancestor."

He raised his chin and pointed to Herbert beside him, "From then on, our two families started playing along."

"Just playing along?" Charles chuckled, finding the situation of these two families quite interesting.

"Just pay attention to whether there are any thin fabrics fluttering in the wind around you. The power of jealousy can be reflected in the fabrics that are blown by the wind." Count Gene frowned and scanned the reception room again.

"Cloth?" Charles was somewhat surprised, recalling that he could teleport through the mirror world before, so this Lord of Jealousy was projecting through cloth being blown by the wind. "That's an interesting way of observing."

“It shouldn’t be able to get into this room,” Gene nodded, then asked, “So, goblin, what are your thoughts?”

"Let's sit down and talk," Charles said, gesturing to the sofa next to him.

After the three of them sat down, he briefly explained the matter of the Chamber of Commerce bank loan and also stated his own thoughts.

"So you plan to hand over those gold coins to me and then exchange them all for Fran silver coins?" Count Gene smiled, his canine teeth standing out prominently.

The gold coins of various countries on the continent are basically the same in size and gold content, only the patterns on them are different. This is the result of many years of war. However, the Kingdom of Savoy has many silver mines. The territory of the Silver Wolf Earl has several silver veins, and the quality is also very good. This has led to the fact that gold coins can be exchanged for more silver coins in the Kingdom of Savoy.

"Yes, Mr. Gene."

"So, what can you give me?" Gene ignored Herbert's wink and looked calmly at Charles.

"He's quite stubborn," Charles thought to himself. "I can pay you a certain fee based on market prices."

"This is troublesome. Although we are quite adept at printing silver coins from the Kingdom of Fran, there is still some risk involved," Count Gene squinted his eyes, "unless you can offer something more interesting."

"Something interesting?" Charles pursed his lips. "What do you need?"

"A promise." Gene reached into his white coat. "One day in the future, you will need to lead a team to sweep through the western part of Nightmare Forest."