Chương 37: Goblins

Standing in front of the town square where I had performed a ritual before, I patted the back of my mount, Moonfurry, while I watched the bone tree with the ashes of humans beneath it.

[IMAGE]

From what I had heard, after I entered the town, Moonfury rushed after me, destroying the wall with its antlers instead of just jumping over it, and searched for me while killing every human it saw.

After finding me fighting with the human, the beast, without a second thought, turned its back and made its way to the stables to eat the animals there. It stayed there all the time, eating the horses and cows, until Sylianner brought it back.

"My prince, the goblins are here," one of the Knights whispered to me.

The reason I let the goblins enter the town and even granted them an audience is because they were wandering merchants passing through here for the first time. Our scouts reported that their forces numbered around a thousand, with only a few dozen trolls, which is small for goblins since they are one of the weakest but most populated races in the realm. Of course, I also sent our rangers who probably already took their place to ambush them.

From our last night raids, we have acquired so much human equipment that I essentially wanted to melt and reuse. However, since the merchants were here, it would be better to sell them in exchange for something more useful.

Taking my gaze off the tree, I looked at the goblins who were walking towards us.

Goblins were weak, short, ugly, greedy, sinister, lustful, and cunning creatures. When I was an elven guardian, they had a kingdom of their own with a mountain-sized royal castle made out of gold. They were the richest race in the realm. However, they decided to join the war against the elves because of their greed. I destroyed their kingdom, which forced their gods to descend to the mortal realm to fight against me. I killed 2 out of 3 goblin gods, bringing an end to their kingdom entirely. When I read about them in my time while learning magic, I learned that they were never able to recover their land or their riches because every other race in the realm raided their kingdom after I destroyed it, leaving them with nothing to rebuild. As a result, they decided to live a life of nomads, traveling the realm as merchants and mercenaries.

There were about 65 goblins, most of them male. Fifty of them were probably guards since they had armor. Ten of them were handlers, as they were pulling carts. Four of them were probably the wives of their leader with how lavish they were dressed.

Their leader wore an overly luxurious robe that looked like it was entirely made out of gems, and he was sitting on top of a dragon lizard with golden armor. While the mount was called a dragon lizard, it didn't have a fraction of dragon blood in it. It couldn't breathe fire, can't use magic, or speak. It was just a giant lizard called a dragon lizard because of its size.

*Thud*

Hearing a stomping sound beside me, I turned my head to see Moon Furry looking at the dragon lizard with crazed eyes and saliva dripping from its mouth. While the dragon lizard didn't back down and glared at Moon Furry, challenging the beast, it was failing miserably since the lizard was shaking.

Patting Moon Furry's neck, I brought the beast back from its frenzied state.It looked at me, and I shook my head, to which the beast just huffed in displeasure and left, probably going to the stables.

"(Greetings to the noble elves, I'm Imor the green merchant. I humbly present myself in your great presence)," Hopping off his dragon lizard, the goblin greeted us enthusiastically.

"He said, greetings-" Holding my hand, I stopped Sorceress beside me, who was translating the goblin's language to me.

I know every language ever spoken in this realm, thanks to Archon Lyrei, who forced me to learn since she believed that it's better to understand your enemy and allies by yourself than to trust someone else. But I refused to speak any other language than Elvish. I didn't want to dirty my tongue and honor by speaking in another language.

"State your business, goblin," I gazed into the goblins eyes. When our gazes met, he shuddered, and I saw fear in his eyes. Quickly averting his eyes, he did a little bow.

Just as the ranger tried to translate our language, the goblin spoke.

"(I am just a humble merchant who came here to offer my services)"

"You know our tongue, goblin."

"(Yes, I do)"

Simple confirmation. Since he is not willingly giving any more information, taking it forcefully could cause him to withhold information or lie completely. Goblins are greedy creatures. If I give him something valuable, he will readily give me what I want, even if I want his soul.

Seeing that the goblin understands our tongue, the Knights surrounding us became tense as they tightened their grip on their bows.

"800 sets of heavy armor and swords, 200 sets of leather armor and bows. What can you offer in return, goblin?" I made an offer.

"(I could offer a gold quarter of the equipment's weight. If you don't like the gold, I have games, artifacts, elixirs, scrolls, and more. I have everything you want and don't want, as long as you have what I want)," the goblin said with a cunning smirk as his handlers brought carts closer and opened the top of them. One of the carts was full of gold, another was full of gems, and yet another was filled with silk. Each cart had a different item in it, showcasing his riches and resourcefulness. But this was just a small part of what he had. It was merely a display. His real treasures were away at his caravan, where he had at least a few hundred carts identical to the ones before me, according to scout reports.

"(Don't let your eyes deceive you, noble elf. This is just a fraction of what I can offer. And as a goodwill gesture and to establish our business relationship, please accept this gift of mine)," he beckoned to the handler who was pulling the cart with silk.

One of the Knights moved towards the cart and took one of the silks, then brought it to me.

Taking the silk, I felt its contents. It felt soft and comfortable, that is, if we take the standard of the realm. If I were to compare it to Elven silk, it was worse than a rag.

Leaning forward, I looked into his eyes. "I don't need your gifts or gold, goblin. What I want is, How do you know Elvish? Our tongue is sacred, forbidden to teach to outsiders."

"(Keke)," he let out a nervous laugh as Knights grabbed the handle of their swords.

"(Now, now, no need to get violent, noble elves. I learned it from you guys.)"

With his words, the knights pulled their swords, ready to attack at any moment.

"(I mean, I learned from elves, not you guys. From the ones at the north, in the Ever Winter Mountains.)"

Raising my hand, I beckoned for the Knights to stand down as I delved into deep thought.

Knowing that there could be other elves, it got me a little excited and unknowingly I released my aura for a moment, breaking the ground beneath me and momentarily stunning others around me as female goblins and handlers passed out.

Those damned emotions, gaining control over them has possibly been my biggest hassle. Even after having them for more than half a century, I still have yet to fully grasp control over them.

As far as I know, there was no other elven settlement in the realm other than the elven city inside the bright forest. It was like that even when I was an elven guardian. Elves always lived together. Sure, a small number of elves left the city to build their own villages, but they still built within the elven forest.

I need to get more information. This could be critical for our survival.

Just as I was about to speak, I felt the world around us get darker for a moment. Then I sensed movement in my shadow. Looking back, I saw Alleria slowly materializing from my shadow, which means that she marked me, allowing her to reside and teleport to my shadow whenever she wants.

Her arrival startled the already nervous and scared goblins from my aura,they reached for their weapons for the first time, but their leader stopped them because he knew that the moment they tried to use their weapons, they would die.

"Ten thousand years ago, after the fall of the elven guardian, some elves, around a few thousand, left for the north because they believed they were no longer safe. They feared that other races would seek revenge against them. However, even after they left, they still maintained contact with us to report their situation and learn about ours. After a few millennia, they stopped connecting with us, and we believe that they are dead." Alleria, who was still covered in shadows, appeared like a dark entity as her features were covered with shadows while her eyes and tattoos glowed purple. She wrapped her hands around me and whispered in my ears as she licked it gently, tickling the most sensitive part of my body, causing me to stiffen.

"Did the ruler of that time send any of his scouts?"Shaking off the feeling, I asked her.

"He did, but scouts never returned."

Now, that was concerning because it means two things.Scouts died or worse, they betrayed the kingdom.

I moved towards the goblin. Standing in front of the goblin, I looked down at my feet since, with his height, he was only as tall as my knee.

"Tell me their location, goblin," I towered over the goblin, while he looked up at me with fear.

I need all the information I can get, not that I trust the goblin, but the goblin knowing Elvish and what he said about elves residing in the Everwinter Mountains,with Alleria basically confirming that there was once a time elves traveled there before, gave me hope that there could be truth to the goblin's word.

"(I never really go to their settlement, noble elf. They just found me whenever I pass close to Everwinter Mountain. Even if I knew their location, I would never tell you because even if you see me as a pathetic goblin, I have my own honor.)" While the goblin tried to act righteous and loyal, I could see the greed he had in his eyes behind the fear.

I could threaten him and get the information, but I do not have the necessary experience and knowledge to confirm its truthfulness.

"The equipment is all yours in exchange for the information."

"(Noble elf, please stop insulting me. I value loyalty above all else. I really can't tell you the information, even if you give me so little)," the goblin said with a sly smile.

Gathering my magic, I covered his guards and ripped their spines out as their green blood splattered around. Using the spines like a spear, I pointed them at the leader goblin.

"Your life, goblin. I will let you keep your life as well. How does this offer sound to you?" I lifted him up with magic to my eye level while spines circled around us.

The goblin was sweating buckets and trembling as if struck by lightning. He spoke with a low voice as a golden liquid drop from his legs.

"(I...it sounds wonderful, noble elf...keke)"