Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Captain, are we really going to deliver supplies to those goblins?"

On deck, the first mate stood behind Byron Lack with a bitter face. The other sailors were all busy on deck in silence, their faces ashen and their words silent, as if they were about to face death, showing no joy at the prospect of escaping the Nightmare Forest.

"Alas," Captain Byron sighed, "do you think I wanted to? What else could I have done in that situation?"

He turned to look at the first mate. "Every time that goblin leader smiles at me, I feel like he wants to eat me alive. If I don't agree, there might be several big iron pots pushed in front of me."

"But they're goblins," the first mate said, looking troubled.

"I know they're goblins. There are still quite a few adventurers in Girth, and the sheriff patrols every day. If they find out we're delivering goods to goblins, they might just arrest us and hang us." Captain Byron covered his face with his hands. "But if we hadn't agreed, we would probably be cooked by now."

"How about we go back and not fulfill our obligations..."

"Not honoring the agreement?" Byron rubbed his cheeks with both hands. "Do you think that goblin didn't realize what that glass of water we drank before we left was?"

"What kind of drink are you referring to?"

"Yes," Byron nodded, "the green bladder, it tastes quite astringent, with only a hint of alcohol. Did you really think it was alcohol?"

"Didn't you say that was a drink to celebrate our first collaboration?" The first mate frowned, unconsciously raising one hand to his mouth.

"There must be something in there, I don't know if it's poison or what. I think if we don't finish on time, we might die from the poison." Byron shook his head and sighed again. "It's better to die from the poison. If we were to be covered in itchy sores, that would be worse than death."

"Ugh." Upon hearing the captain's words, the first mate immediately started gagging, trying to vomit something.

"Stop it, it's not that easy to throw up." Byron glanced at the first mate, stopping him from doing so. "I've already tried it."

"Captain, what should we do?" The first mate lowered his hand and stopped moving, but his face was clearly pale.

"Let's go back and check. Help them transport some goods. Hopefully, this transport will sever our connection with the goblins." Byron turned to look at the deck. Many sailors were secretly watching him, but once their eyes met, they lowered their heads in fear.

"Go and tell everyone," Byron instructed the first mate again, "that no one should reveal our transport contract. Under no circumstances should anyone else know. If word gets out, we're all doomed."

"I know, Captain." The first mate nodded heavily.

"Go on, we'll be at Girth of the Colour docks soon." Captain Byron dismissed the first mate, his eyes gazing at the distant Darren River. He now deeply regretted accepting the Crusaders' commission. If he hadn't been so greedy, he wouldn't have run into this mess. "They called themselves the invincible Crusaders, the mighty force of the Church, what a bunch of trash! They couldn't even defeat a bunch of goblins, and I ended up losing my own cargo ship."

"Fortunately, we can just sail along the Dallen River, and the round trip is quite fast," he muttered to himself. "I wonder how much money I can make. I hope I won't lose money."

After saying that, Byron slapped himself lightly again. "What am I thinking? The other side is a goblin. They'll probably try to pay with some rotten leaves and broken stones. We're definitely going to lose money this time."

Thinking of this, he frowned, his thoughts drifting to Girth. "The goblins have goods at the docks, which means someone has already made contact with them and placed a large order. Who could it be?"

The entire town of Giethoorn is now exceptionally prosperous, with many ships coming and going at the docks. I've heard that quite a few craftsmen have come to town looking for work, "I think it's some kind of 'White Shell' trading guild?"

Byron muttered to himself, then his eyes widened suddenly. "No way?"

The "White Shell" Chamber of Commerce is doing business with goblins.

…………

"Do you really believe that captain?" Agatha asked, her head bowed as she studied the Crusader armor on the platform, without even looking up.

"I wouldn't say I believe them," Charles took a sip of tea. "It was more of a test. I thought it was a good opportunity to temporarily intimidate the captain and sailors by taking advantage of the victory over the Crusaders, and then entice them to transport goods for me."

"The tribe's population is already quite large, and the consumption of various resources is enormous. Relying solely on Mary's teleportation portal is simply not enough. If everything is transported through the portal, she won't be able to do anything else."

"That's true." Agatha took a magnifying glass and examined the circle of runes carved on the armor closely.

"And this captain is also a good candidate," Charles said with a smile, holding his teacup. "He dared to accept the Crusader's commission to enter the forest, which shows he's a somewhat greedy fellow. If this transport agreement is finalized, he should be able to calculate the costs and profits himself, and then he'll probably have a different idea."

"Aren't you afraid they'll betray you and ruin your plans in Giesecke & Sorrow?" Agatha turned to look at Charles, after all, she was nominally part of the "Undying Alchemy Workshop."

"It would be a lie to say I'm not worried," Charles said with a smirk, "but this is a step we have to take, sooner or later."

"I've already told Mary that the captain is very clever and may have already discovered something. Mary also has an invisibility cloak, so if things really change, it won't be a threat to her life. But it's different for Captain Byron. Clever people like to overthink, and they especially like to speculate."

"Besides, before these people left, I had a celebratory drink with them. It was Naga-made algae wine, and the taste of that stuff..." Charles thought for a moment, then shook his head with a smile, "I hope it didn't leave them with any psychological trauma."

Upon hearing this, Agatha shook her head with a wry smile, "Hopefully, this captain won't be discovered by his fellow captains."

"Don't worry, he's smart. I think he should be able to find a way," Charles shrugged. "But what have you figured out about this armor?"

"There have been some results," Agatha put down her magnifying glass and picked up the teacup beside her. "These have some lines of runes from the Four Gods engraved on them, or more precisely, runes from the God of War."

"The runes of the four gods are different?"

'

"I compared several rune examples in the book, and they should be different," Agatha took a small sip of chrysanthemum tea, then frowned. "It's a bit cold."

Then she took another sip. "This stuff is different from arcane runes and our runewords. It's the Crusader's own magic that creates a resonance to trigger the effect."

"What effect is engraved on it?" Charles raised his chin and pointed to the Crusader armor on the platform.

"I don't know," Agatha shrugged. "The book doesn't record all the runes, and I don't think the Church would allow them to be leaked. But I imagine they're something like strengthening defenses or protecting against magic."

Charles frowned as he looked at the armor. It was engraved with several rings of runes, some of which were even painted with gold, making it look quite magnificent. "So, without magical activation, these runes won't work?"

"That's the principle," Agatha nodded, "but it's not really a problem, since these tortoise shells are made of dwarven steel, which is harder than steel but still has some toughness."

"Hmm, that's true," Charles said with a smirk. "This material is very rare. When I was in Golden Flower City, I heard that even the great nobles only had a small amount of dwarven steel equipment, and the high-ranking knights only had a few pieces."

"The dwarven royal court in the snowy mountains to the north has always controlled the outflow of dwarven steel materials. This casting technology has always been in their hands, and it is difficult for other races to get their hands on it."

"So you plan to give all the armor you acquired this time to the Naga?" Agatha asked, sitting in her chair with a teacup in hand, watching Ciel.

"Well, not all of them, mainly the upper body armor. The Naga can't use the lower body armor either," Shar nodded. "We need to build good relations with the Naga now. Only with them can we effectively control Lake Darren and its basin, and also know the enemy's movements in advance. With the armor, these Naga warriors will have fewer worries. Furthermore, my next move will require the Naga's participation."

"You mean potions?" Agatha narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, Pazzani has provided several potion reagents, which I've given to Lame and Nine Fingers. We don't know what the reaction will be yet. Pazzani said that this kind of potion has a certain time to take effect, but I don't know how it will affect the goblins." Shar took another sip of chrysanthemum tea. "If it works well, that's the result I want. It's just some dwarven steel armor, so I'll give it away. Besides, I've given the rest to the magic craftsman Marshall. I wonder if he can concoct something with it."

"Do you know that what you're doing now could very well turn the world upside down?" Agatha asked calmly, holding her teacup.

"subversion?"

“Yes, if goblins can use magic, it means that other lower races can also learn it,” Agatha said, her gaze fixed on the slightly swaying tea in front of her. “Centaur can learn it, gnolls can learn it, and even kobolds who hide underground mining can learn it.”

"Is there a problem?" Ciel asked calmly.

"That would humiliate humans, elves, and dwarves, since they've always claimed that magic is superior and that learning magic is a talent only superior races can possess." Agatha swirled her teacup and looked up at the Charles.

"It doesn't matter," Sharl smiled. "I don't think that only one race can do a certain thing. Some people used to say that goblins can't cook properly, but now White Hair's cooking is quite delicious. Some people used to say that goblins can only dig holes with their claws, but One-Eyed is doing it quite well now. I think that maybe one day in the future, a high-level mage will appear among the goblins."

"Have you heard of the Spellcasting Association?" Agatha sighed softly.

"Hmm." Charles nodded. This highest organization composed of mages and sorcerers was well-known to many nobles.

"The Confederation is made up of humans and elves; there are no dwarves among them. Even though many dwarves know some elemental magic, I've heard they reject even dwarves, let alone goblins." Agatha gazed at Charles, finally voicing her concern, "If one day they find out you're a goblin practicing magic, these guys will definitely…"

Seeing Charles frowning silently, Agatha let out a soft breath and changed her tone, "Of course, the Spellcasting Association is a loose organization, and many of its members have their own ideas. Perhaps not many people care about goblins learning magic, but if one of them has such thoughts, it will be bad news for your race."

"I know," Charles said with a smile. "I have considered this possibility, but it cannot be an excuse to stop me. If goblins do not know magic, they will be at the mercy of others. I do not want my kingdom to be bombarded by several fireballs one day. If that day comes, I think I might regret not exploring and letting the goblins learn magic."

"I will definitely guide goblins onto the path of learning magic, even if they face setbacks or reckoning in the future. This is preparation to fight against contempt. There is no difference between having a sword and not using it."

“Alright,” Agatha shook her head slightly, “but I still have to remind you that not many people in your kingdom know the Common Language, so they may not be able to understand the spellbooks.”

"Uh," Charles hesitated for a moment, "that is a problem."

He rubbed his temples and sighed. "This problem has been bothering me for a long time, and I still can't solve it. I don't know when I'll find a solution."

"But that's a good thing too. This way, the goblins will be able to slow down the time it takes to master magic, and you won't have to worry about us attracting the attention of the Spellcasting Association."

"That's true." Agatha nodded.

"Alright, I'm going back now. Why don't you study this armor some more?" Charles finished the remaining tea in his cup in one gulp and placed the cup on the table.

"Hmm, let me take another look." Agatha sat down in her chair and said slowly, "I want to try and see if I can combine runewords with this thing."

"Can it be used like this?" Ciel raised an eyebrow.

"We should at least give it a try."

…………

In the backyard of the Moonlight Inn in the western part of Gieseckeville, Diana stood there, mouth agape, staring blankly at the large flock of griffins tethered to stakes. The griffins were nervously tugging at their ropes and making cries.

"How come there are so many Crusader griffins here?"