Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

The author, Kapibala, who enjoys taking baths, is waiting for you with "The Forest Doesn't Keep Idle Goblins".

"How are you feeling?"

Charles placed a wooden bowl containing medicine on the table and turned to look at the Holy Crusaders commander on the bed.

"I'm still having a little trouble breathing, but the wound is starting to heal." Diana looked down at her chest, where a thick bandage was now wrapped around it. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me." Charles waved his hand. "It was your four swords that brought you here, and it was the little fairy and the mother tree that saved you. I just carried you over with my men."

"I still want to thank you," Diana said, pulling the blanket up a little. She was still recovering from her serious injuries and sitting on the bed, feeling somewhat weak. "Could I see the little fairy and the Mother Tree?"

"Want to thank me in person?" Charles smiled. "Yuncia doesn't like humans, but I can pass on your message. And the Mother Tree dislikes appearing in front of ordinary people so casually."

"Alright then, please convey my gratitude to them. If it's alright, I'd like to do something for them."

"Actually, you can do something right now." Upon hearing the other person's words, Charles's eyes lit up immediately.

"What is it? If it's about slaying a demon, you'll have to wait until I've recovered a bit." Diana's hair was loose now, no longer tied in her signature high ponytail, and her four swords stood against the wall in the room.

"Don't worry, I've brewed you some medicine to speed up your recovery," Xia Er pointed to the medicine on the table. Although the medicine was very clear, the bright green color of the soup gave people some unpleasant thoughts. "Drink it when it cools down. After a few bowls, you should be able to get out of bed and walk around tomorrow. You can leave the forest area tomorrow night."

"it is good."

"Uh," Charles paused, "aren't you afraid I'll poison the medicine?"

"If you wanted to kill me, you would have done so when I was seriously injured," Diana said calmly.

Charles smirked and shook his head slightly. He had indeed had the thought of pulling the sword out of the other man's chest earlier, so that the President would die in front of him quickly, and might even reveal an ability like [High-Ranking Commander].

However, he quickly dismissed the idea. Someone like the Commander-in-Chief of the Crusades must possess various abilities, and might not necessarily unleash them as Sharl expected. It's like playing a game where you painstakingly defeat the final boss, hoping that it will drop the [staff] you need, but instead, the boss drops a shield for warriors.

Therefore, the best way is to use "some kind of magic" to directly imprison the final boss and then force it to fight, which will give you the highest combat power boost.

That's exactly what Ciel is planning now.

He discreetly checked himself, confirming that the [Mass Intelligence Reduction Curse] and [Mass Language Curse] were still in effect, before forcing a smile. "You can choose to help me. After all, I am now protecting the little fairies and the tree-people of the Mother Tree. Helping me is helping them."

"You..." Diana glanced at Charles, then looked at the medicinal soup on the table. "There might not be any poison in it, but there might be something else in it, like an obedience potion or something."

"Hehehe," Charles chuckled awkwardly, "that potion only contains various nourishing herbs and ingredients, absolutely nothing else."

"And what could possibly make a goblin like you consider seeking help from the Crusader Commander?" Diana tilted her head, looking at the goblin opposite her. "Could it be that you drank some kind of courage potion?"

"I just thought," Charles paused, organizing his thoughts, "that since you were ambushed by your own people, it would be difficult for you to return to the Crusade. Why don't you stay and help me?"

"Wouldn't you call this using a favor to your advantage?" Diana smiled, but there wasn't much anger in her smile. "And you even managed to tell that I was ambushed by my own people."

Charles shrugged, saying nothing; it was so obvious that no special explanation was needed.

Diana lowered her head somewhat forlornly and said softly, "You are indeed very clever, cleverer than a goblin."

"I can explain this..." Charles hurriedly spoke up, but was interrupted by the other party raising his hand.

"There's no need. Everyone has their own secrets. I've seen even stranger things before," Diana shook her head, indicating that it was nothing.

"So your answer is..." Charles pursed his lips, then immediately added, "Of course, you don't have to decide right away; you can think about it some more."

"To be honest, I'd rather go back to the Crusaders," Diana said, looking up at the cave ceiling where many blue glowing mushrooms grew. "But like you said, maybe I can't go back. This time, my conflict with him has become public. If I go back, those paladins will definitely not have a good ending. But if I leave, maybe he'll have some reservations and won't harm the survivors."

"Him?" Charles keenly sensed the oddity in the words.

"The vice commander of the Crusade," Diana glanced at the goblin opposite her, "that guy who got slapped away, and also one of the Church's chosen ones."

The words "chosen one" struck Xia Er like a hammer blow. He hadn't expected to have just missed out on a chosen one. "You mean that guy?"

He raised his hand and made a few gestures on his face to describe the other person's appearance: "His hair was messy, his face was a bit long, and he looked flustered."

"Uh," Diana frowned slightly. She had to admit that this was exactly how Lingard looked when they saw him return from the forest. "I guess so."

"Sigh, I should have killed him back then." Charles slapped his thigh. Killing a confirmed chosen one would definitely throw the war of gods into chaos. At the very least, he could have told Sophia directly and then exchanged some benefits with the Church of Earth and Life.

"Regretted it?" Diana smiled. "To be honest, I also regret not killing him outright when we sparred."

Hearing this, Charles smiled. This commander of the Holy Crusade was quite interesting. He was quick-witted but not reckless, and had a certain level of judgment. Combining this with John's account of their first meeting, Charles was even more eager to hire this commander.

"So what's your answer?" Charles got up, picked up the medicine soup from the table, and came to the bedside.

"Don't you think it's ridiculous for me, the president of the Crusade, to suddenly become the commander of a bunch of goblins?" Diana didn't take the medicine directly, but looked at Charles calmly.

"I don't think so," Ciel smiled. "Goblins may be stupid, but they also have their merits in some ways."

Diana listened attentively.

"As long as you prove yourself stronger than them, they'll easily obey, sometimes even to the point of being morbid," Sharl said with a smirk. Perhaps it was because the goblins had endured so many days of hunger and cold that this life was better than they could ever dream of. Now, the tribe was even starting to believe that their leaders were divinely inspired and bestowed upon the goblins. Of course, the high priest was the most powerful proponent of this idea. "Of course, I'm also learning some military command theories myself, but it will take time."

"Theories of commanding troops?" Diana looked at Charles with a smile. "Is it experience gleaned from hunting?"

"No, you've read 'The Art of Command in War,' haven't you?" Charles shook his head.

"The works of Alexander I, these are books that every commander should study." Diana was somewhat surprised, but when she thought of John the Baptist, she understood that it must have been the books he bought for the goblins. "But just reading a book doesn't make you a commander so easily."

"So that's why I came to you," Charles smiled. "Of course, I also know some other theories."

"Warfare is based on deception. Therefore, when you are capable, make it appear that you are incapable; when you are active, make it appear that you are not active; when you are near, make it appear that you are far away; when you are far away, make it appear that you are near."

"Therefore, the best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans; the next best is to disrupt their alliances; the next best is to attack their army; and the worst is to besiege their cities. A skilled commander subdues the enemy's army without fighting, captures their cities without attacking, and destroys their state without prolonging the war."

He tried his best to translate the knowledge he remembered into common language, while maintaining a calm and composed expression.

But Diana's eyes widened. She had initially wanted to see what "brilliant ideas" this goblin would come up with, probably something like "first, gather a large group of minions, then find a way to surround the enemy, then intimidate them, and finally charge in for a group beating." But as Ciel spoke, Diana's expression became more and more serious, and her shock became increasingly apparent. Finally, she unconsciously reached out and took the medicinal soup Ciel offered.

After nearly half a minute of silence, the commander of the Crusader lowered his head and said, "I have never heard of such content before, but it is clear that it is indeed very insightful knowledge of warfare."

"Or the art of war."

"I learned it from somewhere else," Charles shrugged. "Everyone has their own secrets."

"Alright," Diana sighed, "I understand what you're thinking, but..."

She hesitated for a moment, then continued, "I still want to refuse."

Charles raised an eyebrow, looking at the other person, waiting for further explanation.

"Your team's configuration is too strange. It's completely different from the configuration of a normal army or a Crusader. Goblins are all short infantrymen. Even without the help of mages, these 'light infantrymen' can't do anything on the battlefield with their swords drawn."

"So you mean there's a problem with our troop composition?" Sharl frowned. To be honest, he knew the tribe was in this state. They lacked elite cavalry, the centaurs were at best light cavalry, and they were even more lacking in heavy infantry in the center of the army, which was the backbone of every battle.

Red-Eyed and Grass alone won't do; they can only deal with petrified lizards that don't have much of a brain. If the enemy is a group of humans, they won't be able to do much.

"Besides, I've seen your men. They don't even have clothes, let alone armor. I can't just issue an order and have them shot down by a hail of arrows."

"Well, now that you mention it," Charles clicked his tongue. Indeed, they had previously relied on the blacksmith shop in Goat Horn Town to produce armor suitable for goblins, but that was too slow. More importantly, there were many other iron items that needed to be produced by the blacksmith shop, such as the shell of the grenade fruit.

This is also a major problem that has been troubling Charles.

However, after thinking for a few seconds, he continued to persuade, "I understand your concerns, but I think we can start training first. Training and combat are two different things."

Seeing that Diana was about to shake her head, Charles had a sudden idea. "How about this, don't rush to refuse. We can make a bet."

"bet?"

"Yes, you said my tribe doesn't even have decent clothes. Give me five days. After that, I will produce 50 uniforms."

As he spoke, Ciel pointed to himself.

"Five days?" Diana looked at Charles. He was indeed wearing a well-fitting set of clothes, but the style was a bit strange, not the clothing style of humans on the mainland.

"50 sets? You didn't prepare them in advance and then try to trick me, did you?"

"Of course not, I swear on the integrity of a goblin." Charles smiled and raised his hand.

"Hehe," Diana chuckled a few times, "Alright, since you did save me, I'll just have to believe in a goblin's integrity for now."

"Clap!" The two clapped their hands to confirm the bet was settled.

"Then you should get some rest, and remember to take your medicine." Charles waved his hand with satisfaction, preparing to leave.

"I haven't seen this medicinal soup before. Where is the recipe from?" Diana looked down at the wooden bowl in her hand, where the bright green soup was bubbling.

"The recipe was given by Little Book," Charles said casually. "Oh, it calls itself Little Book in front of me, and its original name is 'Mushroom Spores and Variants of Life.'"

"An evil, heretical book?"

"It's not that weird," Charles said with a smile, quickly leaving the stone chamber.

Diana looked down at the wooden bowl in her hand, her brows furrowed, and a few seconds later, she drank the medicine in one gulp.

"So what if I die?" she said softly, looking at the bottom of the bowl.

"However, it tastes quite sweet."

…………

In the town hall of Giethoorn, old Jules looked down at the documents on the table.

He read through the document line by line until he saw the statement "Taxes across the entire territory will continue to increase by one-third," at which point he sighed and put the document down.

Jules isn't very old, maybe around 50 at most, but now that he's taken over as mayor of Giethoorn, he looks much older.

"We also need to collect recruitment fees from the adventurers." He frowned.

Unexpectedly, the Earl would sign such an order. If the adventurers did not want to be conscripted into the army, they would have to pay a fee in exchange for their freedom.

"Sigh—" he sighed, "It seems the Earl is determined to go down this path to the bitter end."

Such documents irritated Jules, after all, he had been an adventurer before, but that was 30 years ago.

Just as he was feeling a bit worried, a pair of fair hands pressed down on his shoulders.