Bata went in front of the goblin warriors who had declared allegiance to Don and ordered them by their features.

Ritand asked for them to remove all their things except their clothes and put their things into his dimensional storage pouch.

Many days later, Don sent two goblins out of the forty to work with Kyra and Cali. At the public servant office, they took on basic requests like carrying dugout chests and other items of significant weight.

The two assigned goblins, Twerp and Birdie, improvised a song about Sam’s fall. Twerp handed to Birdie a mechanical toy that had fallen from the office counter in the night. Kyra put each of them under direct management of Cali, who swore that her father sent them to her.

Twerp wanted to make sure his small duty made waves for Don, whom they described as a troubled leader.

It was Ritand who handed them documents on how to handle Kyra and Cali.

When they opened the documents, the only thing that read was “Don’t tell them about this, but please get me a small mechanical toy from there.”

Birdie told Twerp to ignore Ritand’s requests and focus on getting Kyra and Cali whatever help they needed. Don made sure he funded them enough to enjoy themselves and start a business.

Twerp looked confused most of the time. This made Kyra give him the most physical work, while Birdie got some time to learn his hand at calligraphy.

Birdie put each word into perspective, grabbing the small parts of it and turning it into a spell.

His mana was insufficient for a spell, and even if he threw money at the papers, his improvised spells failed to manifest.

Twerp operated on every muscle in his body, imagining how far and wide his reach could be if he had a magic for it.

These two goblins had similar dispositions with the rest of the goblin race toward magic and humans.

Twerp reified this disposition through creating a small mana potion with Cali after she showed him the way to combine the elements.

Birdie wanted more out of his daily activities as a public servant’s assistant. He asked Cali who Kyra's “employer” was. He meant “the employer that directs her and tells her what to do in her life, not work.”

Cali pointed to the memorial outside of the city mayor Sam. She said, “Sam was also my father’s ‘employer.’”

Earlier, Don sent Ritand and Bata to the office.

By the time they arrived, it was right after Cali pointed at the memorial, where the two young goblins were walking toward her.

They met Birdie first outside the office.

Ritand said, “Have you done your trivial assignment?”

Birdie raised a brow and got Twerp to come out.

Twerp looked at Birdie and imitated his expression of disappointment. “Why did you come?” he said, his voice somewhat tired but excited to humor himself and those around him.

“I needed a little bit of that help for a grand project with the... big bad.”

“‘The big bad?’” said Solvent, putting one foot in front of her before leaning against a wall that retained a small forest. “That’s Don, isn’t it?”

Twerp observed the clashing expressions of the two goblins and Solvent, nudging Birdie for them to leave. The two goblins left and continued their tasks, stopping Kyra from inquiring about the three outside.

Solvent put down her crutch and asked: “Is Don still alive? Sounds like it.” She had a smile that fit the V-shape in her armor. “She’s a she, right?” She laughed too long for it to sound genial.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Twerp peeked from a window, making sure that his whispers to Birdie were dead silent. “What’s up with the tall human in Orlata City?”

“Don is a shell of imperviousness, and her spirit forbids all infiltrations.”

“Eh, tough times we have here—”

Meanwhile, nearby, having lived through the assassination, Solvent stomped her foot forward and then stayed standing.

After a stare between the two shaking goblins and the raid leader, Solvent fell to the ground, slamming against the pavement.

She cursed, asking the two for help.

Twerp and Birdie came out to help her get up.

Ritand held onto Solvent’s hand and pushed her back down. “How’s that for a beatdown—”

“W-what is this?” Kyra asked. Cali followed and inquired the same.

“I assuaged Solvent’s deep threats against the Sam memorial right here,” Birdie said as he read Ritand’s intentions from his face. He had listened to Ritand explain before the two public servants came.

“Where is this Solvent? This?” Cali stepped in front of Kyra and held up Birdie’s skirt.

“Excuse me?” Birdie was half-laughing. He moved his skirt out of the way and gestured toward Solvent. “Pile of dog water fell from the sun.”

Solvent had a blank expression on her face, as she stared at Birdie and then at Cali and Kyra. “Not a nice way to go about this.” She stood up, supporting herself with her crutch again. She chuckled when she half-tripped, taking in the pitying expressions around her. “Stop, stop.” She was smiling, and then, she frowned. “Stop. Too long. Manners, manners.”

Cali put her hand on her hips, bringing Kyra back inside. She gave Birdie and Twerp a meaningful glance as she left.

Twerp’s mouth was agape, and Birdie wanted to ask Don who Solvent was.

Solvent half-smiled.

Cali and Kyra were quiet and finished their business, coming out a few hours later.

They went down the street, passing the road as lizard-drawn carts and hare people made up the only official vehicles.

Cali and Kyra separated ways, as Cali hurled herself down a flight of steps and landed on the bottom with her legs fine.

She opened a door and spun her way inside, looking at the fishmen younglings sleeping in different corners of the room.

Cali lost the flow of her father’s money when Sam died. Moreover, she lost the properties that her father dedicated to Sam and would pass down to her.

She wanted to start again as someone else now that her father stopped paying her to work at the office. She had learned that her father only found a hopeless future after the assassination.

She remembered the two goblins and their dedication to their small work. She asked them the first time they came why they were here. Birdie said: “Don has everything prepared for us. All one needs to do is receive it.” Twerp was like “What he said.”

When it was still dark in the morning, she traveled through many social paths outside of the city to the foot of a cave. She remembered that Twerp described Don’s presence as brooding. She brushed her thoughts aside and reminded herself to focus on getting everything out of the way. She took opportunities: sometimes, these risks failed like the one her father offered her.

She wanted to know if this one would kickstart a better life for her. Her children had to wait for her to get strong before she could teach them how to be strong.

She looked inside the cave, seeing a bunch of goblins telling each other spooky stories.

The goblins stood up, naked and barehanded.

She screamed and ran around, jumping around until she leapt from the cave and past the trees.

She returned, staring at the goblins who stared back at her.

She asked them about Don.

They turned around as they sat on their boulders.

One of them was Birdie.

“I’ve been expecting you,” he said, smiling with his cheeks dimply.

She muttered a curse and trudged forward. “Why,” she said, “did you not give me any information that could have made sure I did not fall, trip, or die?”

Birdie’s expression became awkward.

He thought that Cali would learn how to navigate this place as he did. “Did you get lost?”

“No. I saw more than 10—15—goblins staring at me. So close to catching me!”

Birdie gave a nervous laugh and led her inside.

Don was somewhere there, standing up and reading a doorstopper book. “Why would I?” she said, asking Solvent.

“Were you not supposed to ‘die’ with me?” the raid leader said, holding the hand of one of the adventurers under her. This adventurer underling was shaking.

“Ah, I see,” said Cali.

“Dysfunctional relationship,” Birdie said.

Cali gave him a confused stare.

Birdie scratched his head. “You’ll see what I mean.”

Don stopped talking when she noticed Cali.

Cali saw Solvent and said, “Oh, that crutched—”

“Crutched? Please get your words right, ma’am.” She gestured to herself standing up and dashing around.

“You. Lying?”

“I did, not for bad reasons, you see. I love helping others, don’t I, Don?”

Don was rubbing her chin, looking to the left past Solvent at the wall.

Solvent gave a nervous chuckle and pointed toward a seat in the far left of Don. “Sit there, Cali.”

Cali gazed at Birdie.

“Cali, yes, all accounts point to that being her name, most certainly,” Birdie said, losing his voice projection. “Wow, who has the answers to such a phenomenon?” He cleared his throat.

Cali turned away.

“Excuse me,” Birdie said. His tone was quiet and serious.

Don watched the small goblins converse with the human. Behind her face, she was thinking about where they should drop in the middle of the human war.

Eventually, their conversation ended on an open-ended note, allowing time for their relationship to grow naturally. Don's goal here was simple—to keep his current position clear and safe from disruption and scrutiny, especially since he was the one who had killed Sam. But even the wounded goblin warriors didn't know that. Indeed, Birdie and Twerp had no idea about Don's murder of Sam and Sicario.