My body was frozen still, I looked up at Olma who was smiling broadly. "Thank Yantago..."

Luckily Voglo started howling and cackling, diverting attention from me. "Finally! Finally! Finally, we have an heir!" He danced around with tiny tears of joy flying from his wrinkly eyes. The other goblins laughed and also celebrated the good news.

As much as I wanted to flee into my room, I remained in place and allowed myself to be the centre of the goblins' joy. They danced, performed and sung for me, all to rejoice in the news of an heir. I supposed this was a significant milestone for them, but I was beyond worried. Heirs needed training and education, and I didn't have a great track record of raising them. I rubbed my temples and sighed, "It will be different this time," I hoped to myself.

The day after the festivities, I met with Voglo and Rugum to discuss the state of the people. Both of them had close connections to the individual members of the tribe.

"Let's start things off simply. I can only see the population of the tribe in my interface, I do not know the exact details. So, how many women, men and children do we have, and how many people have classes?" I took out a piece of rough-dried pigskin and a piece of charcoal.

Voglo stroked his beard and counted his fingers. "Let's see... Right, in total we have 63 people, 12 men including us, 20 women..." He began counting his knuckles. "31 Children, 15 boys and 16 girls."

I wrote everything on pigskin with charcoal, but in my frustration, I pierced my parchment. We had a gender ratio of roughly 1 to 2, meaning for 1 man we had 2 women. Goblins weren't insistent on monogamy like humans were, there wouldn't much social strife. But having a 1 to 1 ratio would be ideal for population growth, this would be fixed on its own over time.

"And classes?"

Rugum sat straight and cleared his throat. "All the men who fought have classes now. I am now a [Hunter], Zotnik is a [Beast-Master], Vo-"

"I'm now a level 12 [Shaman]!" Voglo cut Rugum off.

"Gatrom is a [Bombardier], we have a [Scout] and 3 [Hunters]. The rest are skilled enough to earn experience through their daily tasks. They should be getting their classes soon."

It was a difficult situation, most of our workforce could not fight and we had a lot of children. Not to mention the brewing war. To use my [Goblin-Thrall Conversion] spell, I need to fight and capture the enemy, it was a great risk. Yet the expansion of the workforce was a necessity.

"Right, what are the humans up to then?"

Voglo stroked his beard in contemplation. "They finished the stone wall a long time ago and they took their payment too, but they haven't left. They're too scared of the Baron to go back. So now they're helping around town, building nice huts and buildings and stuff. They started on working on a barn for the Glimmer Goats."

These humans were a good source of labour, but I felt uneasy about having them so close to us, despite having been one.

"The humans are quite useful, but they might also be a liability. We know too little about the outside world," Rugum voiced his opinion.

"Indeed," Voglo added. "They brought this crop that's used for alchemy. I've been using it in every potion. But it's hardly edible. Their Baron was stocking up for something big, so the war thing might be true."

I needed to gather more information, but I doubted that a goblin can stroll through the streets of a human town.

"Let's ask Clara. Since she is relying on us for protection, she needs to contribute to the tribe." Rugum nodded and swiftly brought back the redhead.

"What is this about? Your archer boy dragged me here without a word. " She yoinked herself free.

I leaned back into my throne. "Since you're hiding here from the baron, don't you think it would be only fair if my tribe knew it was what dealing with?"

"Sure, but I can't go back into town they might recognise me," she whined.

I raised my eyebrow. "Who's going to recognise you? You're an ex-thug and a mayor of a backwater hamlet. I need to know a few things, like who is fighting who, why they are fighting, and when will they fight. You can get this from just asking around in a bar."

"Right, right!" She waved her hand dismissively. "I knew this was going to happen, so I'll do it. But just so you know, this doesn't make me your lackey!" She took a shot from her flask and stormed off. I took in a big breath to calm myself down, but instead, my nose twitched.

I got up from and throne and rode around the mine on Dodge, following the faint scent in the cave. The weak aromatic trail led me to the bottom floor of the cave, into the corner of some wall. As I pressed my nose to the wall, I could make out the faint smell of paprika.

"Miners! There are gems here! Come dig them out!" My yell echoed through the mine, the goblins thundered down, ready to dig. They chewed through the stone, leaving nothing but a trail of rubble behind them. They dug for hours and hours without a moment of rest. The mineshaft grew deeper and the smell of paprika intensified, to the point I felt my nostrils burn.

"Guys! There is some light coming through a crack!" A goblin pointed to a small red light shining through a tiny crack in the stone wall.

The goblins pounced upon it and the wall came tumbling down, revealing a blinding red light. Everyone flinched back and covered their eyes, but we grew accustomed to it. As I opened my eyes, I saw a large cave filled to the brim with glowing, scarlet red crystals. Soon a wave of heat blasted from the cave and flooded through the mine, but it was bearable. I picked up a loose crystal and it felt hot to the touch.

Interface Gem Appraisal This is Torchite. This gem has magical properties.