Chapter 5: Preparing the Plan
'Yeah, I'll die from diseases instead in this place if things continue the way they are…' Lance thought to himself.
Starting from the food to the fact that he hadn't even had the chance to take his bath and clean himself of the dirt that smeared his skin. With knowledge of microorganisms from the 21st century, there was no way he could relax without it coming across his mind.
That aside, Lance woke up with a terrible stomach ache the following morning after eating half-done wild meat. He couldn't say if it was the fact that the meat was half done, or if it might be an infection from surviving bacteria in the meat, regardless of which, it wasn't good news at all.
Even then, Lance knew to focus on his job rather than think about his potential death, or at least, that was how he saw it at that moment. There was still a chance that his immunity would increase, but there was no way in hell he would survive if a blade was lunged at his neck, or if his head was split open.
The camp buzzed with activity as the goblins set to work under Lance's direction. The tension of distrust hanging in the air, looming over Lance as he supervised their work, a constant reminder that he was still an outsider in their eyes. Yet, necessity had forced them into a fragile alliance for the time being.
Lance was crouched in the center of the camp, a makeshift map sketched into the dirt before him. The fact that there was no better way to draw the map spoke volumes about the situation out there in the forests.
He'd spent the morning pacing back and forth, explaining his ideas to Lia and the rest of the elders, who had reluctantly given their approval after much consideration. In the end, they couldn't understand all of Lance's plans, but the way he spoke about them made him appear intelligent with a good idea of what he was doing.
"Move faster!" barked a female goblin with short, spiky hair, her scarred arm rippling as she hauled a bundle of branches herself. Her yellow eyes flicked toward Lance, filled with suspicion. "If this human's plan fails, it's our heads on the line."
She had spoken loud enough for her words to reach Lance. He straightened himself up, wiping his hands on his tattered pants. "If my plan fails, it'll be my head first," he said evenly. "So let's all make sure it doesn't."
The goblin glared at him, her lips curling into a sneer. "Easy to say when you've barely lifted a finger."
"Rikka," Lia interjected sharply, her tone carrying authority. "Enough. Let him do what he's here to do."
Rikka grumbled but turned back to her work, her movements sharp and irritated.
Lance sighed and knelt by the map again, gesturing for a group of goblins to gather around. Most of them lingered at a wary distance, their postures stiff and guarded. One more thing Lance couldn't understand about this world was how an entire goblin tribe would only have female members. It was more than out of the ordinary.
"Okay," Lance began, keeping his voice calm and steady. "We've already got a decent amount of wood and rope. That's good. Now, here's what we're going to do with it."
He pointed to the edges of the map, where he'd drawn rough outlines of the camp and the surrounding forest.
"First, the traps. The goal here isn't to kill every enemy that steps into the forest, it's to slow them down and throw them off their game. Pits, tripwires, deadfalls. Anything that makes them hesitate, we set it up."
Looking behind him, he gestured to Rikka who reluctantly joined them, "Rikka, you'll lead a team to start digging the pits here, here, and here."
He tapped specific points on the map, marking narrow paths where the forest was densest.
"Why me?" Rikka asked, her tone laced with defiance.
"Because you're strong and fast," Lance said without missing a beat. "And you've probably got better instincts for this than I do. You know this forest better too. We need that."
Rikka blinked, her sneer faltering slightly. She didn't respond, but she gave a curt nod and stomped off to gather her team.
Lance had to spend more time explain what he meant by tripwires and other terminologies he had just thrown out without consideration of whether the goblins understood what he meant. Surprisingly, everything was incorporating rather smoothly into this new language he spoke without a hitch, it was almost magical.
The next few hours were a whirlwind of activity. Lance moved from group to group, checking on their progress and offering advice where he could.
One group struggled with setting up a deadfall trap, their rope fraying as they tried to secure a log above the path.
"Wait, stop," Lance said, stepping in. He crouched by the rope and inspected it, his fingers running over the rough fibers. "This isn't strong enough. You need a double knot here to hold the weight."
A younger goblin, barely more than a teenager, frowned at him. "And what does a human know about traps?"
"I don't," Lance admitted with a wry smile, while suppressing the urge to shoot back at the goblin, understanding his position. "But I do know physics. If the weight isn't balanced right, this log's going to fall the wrong way and take out one of us instead of the enemy. Here, let me show you."
He demonstrated the knot, tying it slowly so they could follow. The goblin watched with wide eyes, her initial skepticism giving way to a flicker of interest.
"Like this?" she asked, mimicking his movements.
"Exactly," Lance said with a nod. "That's some scary proficiency with traps… it's almost like game stats are speaking into reality." He murmured to himself in amusement. All it took was one try for them to get it.
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