“Aunt Myrtle, do you have anything for Sanity damage?” I ask. “I’m a reincarnator and thinking about my past lives hurts my head.”

I decide to just cut to the chase and receive the oddest look from my aunt in response. She sighs and pours me a sippy-cup of warm herbal tea, describing it as chamomile with ginseng.

“Chamomile with ginseng should help,” Aunt Myrtle says with a sigh, making a pot and pulling out a sippy-cup for me. She taps the teapot a couple times and says, “[Rapid Infusion]. [Adjust Temperature].”

She pours me some tea. I take the sippy-cup and make a sippy-sip of warm, soothing tea, perfectly steeped and the perfect temperature to give a toddler. (Or anyone else who doesn’t have heat resistance, for that matter.)

“If you’re a reincarnator, then you should have known better for all your trouble-making,” Aunt Myrtle says.

“Can you blame me for exploring, though?”

“No, but I can make sure to ground you for the next decade,” Aunt Myrtle says. “Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

“I overheard one of my cousins talking about possessed students and got scared,” I say. “But my mom told me it’s not really the same thing.”

“No soul comes into this Hearth without Corwen’s say-so. Well, you’re going to stop faking not being able to read and start going to school, then. It’s never too early to start grinding Knowledge skills. You can head there first thing in the morning.”

“Grandma Laurel wants to drag me back out to the goblin village to talk to their Elder Witch and I’m the only one that can translate,” I say.

Aunt Myrtle sighs. “Well, I can’t supersede Laurel, but I can make you sit here by the fire and drink that tea while I get you a bowl of soup. You might be a reincarnator, but you’re still a child of this Hearth, and I’m not letting any of you brats go to bed hungry.”

Aunt Myrtle’s tea soothes my Sanity damage, and it’s back up to full after finishing three cups, one for each point that had been lost dredging up bad memories. It’s nice sitting by the fire and winding down after an adventure like I just had, but I immediately wind up with family members asking me questions about my past life which I mostly blow off for the moment.

Morning comes too soon, as people seem to think it starts when the skymotes are azure even when I’d prefer to sleep until they’re green or even yellow. They use actual clocks too, but it seems easier to say azure or green instead of 6 a.m. or 9 a.m. in practice.

Milo’s hair has been washed, cut, and combed, and he’s wearing a simple black woolen tunic and toddler-sized trousers. He’s smaller than me, but we always have plenty of hand-me-downs laying around with the number of children who constantly need new clothes.

Grandma Laurel has brought out her creepy monster horse with glowing green eyes, and she and Aunt Heather are waiting for us expectantly at the edge of the square. It’s a testament to how much the residents of Corwen are used to Laurel’s weird pets that they’re just giving the horse a wide berth and not screaming and running.

“Is… this creature to be our mode of transportation?” Milo asks hesitantly, staring at the creature with wide eyes.

Grandma Laurel chuckles once I translate for her. “Boo is a Legendary monster, and is quite capable of carrying two women and two small children. Don’t worry. He won’t bite. Unless I tell him to.”

Milo doesn’t look terribly reassured, but doesn’t have much choice in the matter as Aunt Heather picks him up and helps him onto the horse. The saddle is made for two, so Milo and I are having to ride in their laps.

Once we’re settled in and secure atop the monstrous steed, Grandma Laurel guides Boo through the gates and sets off north, in the direction of the Hedge Maze. While it took us a full day of hiking to reach it on foot, Boo is able to reach it while the skymotes are still azure. We pause there while Grandma Laurel takes a look at the tracks, not even bothering to get off the steed since these are so clear.

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“I would have expected you’d have brought along the Ranger to show you the way,” Milo says.

“I’m a Beastmaster,” Grandma Laurel says with a chuckle. “That’s an upgraded Ranger class. My Survival (Tracking) skill is so high the trail practically glows in my eyes.”

Retracing our steps, Boo takes us past the remnants of Skullborn Outpost and straight to the opening leading down into the Underside. We have to dismount at this point, as the tunnel isn’t large enough for head clearance from atop the monster horse.

We head down through the tunnels and approach Grubwick. The goblins guarding the main gate look incredibly nervous as we approach and they notice Milo among us.

“Hello, goblins!” Laurel calls out with a wave.

Milo, having already figured out that much Common at least, repeats the phrase in Goblin. One particularly foolish guard chucks his spear at Laurel anyway. She doesn’t even try to dodge. It just bounces off her skin. The spear-thrower shouts something in a panic and ducks inside.

“He said ‘Sorry! Sorry!’,” Milo says in accented Common.

Grandma Laurel just laughs and strides forward, sandwiching me and Milo in between the two Legendary adventurers and their Legendary horse.

Before we get far, an elderly goblin woman steps into the gates. She’s wearing a crude hide dress and holding a wooden staff that even I can tell is just a simple walking stick than a magical implement.

Grandma Laurel speaks in Common, and I repeat it in English, which Milo repeats in Goblin, and then in reverse to relay Griza’s words. It’s a bit clunky, but necessary at the moment until people can actually learn language skills.

“I see Grabrat went and led some humans can to our Hearth,” the goblin woman says.

“If my grandkids hadn’t come home, we would have found you regardless,” Grandma Laurel says. “My name is Laurel Corwen. We’re here to talk, not fight.”

“I am Elder Witch Griza Grubwick,” says the goblin woman. “You say you want to talk. Strange times we live in, that humans want to talk to goblins.”

“You cursed and kidnapped my nephew,” Grandma Laurel says. “Some of your tribe members were killed when my grandchildren went to rescue him. I’m willing to set aside our mutual grievances, though.”

“You could wipe out our village in an instant if you so choose,” Griza says. “What do you want from we poor goblins?”

“It seems our grandsons have decided to work together,” Grandma Laurel says. “I came to see what this goblin Drake befriended came from. And learn of your own intentions.”

“I intend to help my grandson achieve his destiny,” Griza says. “As he has been given no quests, I assume that destiny is to do as he chooses. I do not know where this path will lead, but if we are meant to ally ourselves with humans, then so be it.”

“The only chance I have of living past 21 is to reach Elite before I turn 7,” Milo says, speaking for himself in both English and Goblin. “I have to get some good Deeds in as soon as possible. And I believe my best chance of that is with these humans. I have ideas that will let Grubwick—and indeed all goblins everywhere—prosper, but I must get stronger first, and wealthier, and more knowledgeable about the world. They’ve treated me well so far.”

“If you believe they will help, then take whatever aid they may offer,” Griza says. “I will tell your foolish cousins that they should not attack humans unless attacked first so that we do not have any further embarrassing incidents like what happened when you arrived.”

“Great!” Grandma Laurel says. “The little reincarnators want to be merchants. How about we come inside and help them work out a trade agreement between our Hearths? I’m sure you have access to some Underside resources that would be useful to us, and likewise we can bring you things from the surface.”

The goblins are still wary, but fearful of these two adventurers (and scary horse) who are well beyond their pay grade. As we head inside, dozens of goblins watch us from a distance.

We couldn’t wait until someone here was actually fluent in both Common and Goblin, oh no. Grandma Laurel seems to understand the timetable Milo has to work with and is intent upon giving him an opportunity to prove himself. She’s helpful in giving Milo information about what Corwen wants and what we can provide while letting him work out the details.

Milo hammers out an agreement to exchange mushrooms from Grubwick for wool from Corwen. We’ll be sending humans (and Milo, and probably me if Milo doesn’t learn Common quickly) down to facilitate the trade as goblins on the surface might attract negative attention at the moment. Once the deal is finalized, a system message appears in my third eye.

Congratulations! Your party has negotiated a trade agreement between Grubwick and Corwen. Skill acquired: Language (Translation)

We leave with a variety pack of mushroom samples and a promise to send someone bearing wool in a few days’ time.

“This will be far simpler once I actually learn Common,” Milo mutters in English. “That was exhausting. I am reminded of that one scene in I Love Lucy where they had to bring out a drunkard to help translate because no one at the Paris police department spoke English.”

I don’t tell him that I never watched I Love Lucy and just chuckle and nod.

Once back outside, we mount up on Boo again and ride home. I think I preferred walking, even if these monstrous hooves practically eat miles. At this point, I’m looking forward to sitting in a nice, warm room and reading some books now that I don’t have to pretend I can’t read.