“Chief! Some women are giving birth!”

I was incredibly exhausted and this news struck me like lightning. An electric dread spread through my body. “Boiling water! Boiling water! Bring clean cloth!” I cried as I tried to get up from the ground, almost slipping on my sweat.

I ran to the break room, to see two women on their backs, scrunching their faces and gritting their teeth in pain. All the non-combat capable goblins and the goats hid in the break room during the raid. The goblins stood around the two women, giving words of encouragement and cheering them on.

“Get out! Give them space!” I ordered. They quickly obeyed, and the crowd of goblins and goats dispersed. A goblin came running over to me with a pail of hot water and some cloth.

“Oh, one’s coming out!” Someone cried.

I quickly dipped my hands in the water, cleaning them and ran towards one of the women, Voglo swiftly followed suit.

"Don't worry Chief! This is a job for a shaman!" He yelled.

The baby came out fairly easily on its own, it was incredibly tiny, much smaller compared to a human one. The baby's skin had more of an orange tint to it, and its ears were pointed but not long. It wailed and cried, which despite the noise, provided me with relief, knowing that the baby was okay. Voglo cut the umbilical cord with a sterilized knife and then wrapped the baby in a warm blanket.

As my body was about to collapse, another one started to come out, and the same process quickly repeated. I handed the babies to the mother, which she immediately started to breastfeed. The other goblin woman also gave birth safely, to a single goblin baby. As I quickly learned from the first-hand experience, female goblins feel much less pain and give birth much easier than human women, but that didn’t make me any less nervous the first time around. We had 3 new members of the tribe, 2 girls and 1 boy!

"Hehe! The first of the new batch is here!" Voglo cackled, followed by joyous laughter from the others. As I have come to learn, goblin children weren't raised by their mothers, but by the tribe as a whole. Generally, the mothers would recognise and take care of their own children, but the fathers were most often unknown, so the children were collectively raised by the tribe.

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"Now, what are you going to name them?" Voglo asked while patting my back.

I was shocked. "Name them? Shouldn't the mothers name their children?" I protested.

"The chief always gets to name the kids! It's an opportunity for the chief to influence what the new generation will be like. Well, most chiefs stick to the same names, but you still have to name them! It is tradition!" Voglo explained, and lead me closer to the babies.

I was digging my heels slightly into the ground. "But what about if the tribe gets really big? How can the chief name so many kids?"

"That's up to you to figure it out!" Voglo yanked my arm with a sinister grin. "Come on now, they're just babies!"

I was nervous to approach them, I did not feel like disturbing them as they were being breastfed. However, I did not want to break tribe tradition, all the goblins, even the mothers, were expectantly looking at me to give them good names.

I wanted to give these babies beautiful names, that would inspire others, nothing like "Gok" or "Bim". "The girls will be, Tatianna and Anastasia. The boy will be Konstantin!" I declared.

"Oooh," went the crowd, clearly impressed "Those are some nobles' names!" One cried out. "I never heard of a name like that before!" Another yelled. The mothers' faces were extremely pleased with those foreign and exotic-sounding names.

Voglo cracked a wide smile. "With names like those, it's a sure bet that this batch will do some great things!"

After handling the births, the wounded were tended to. Their wounds disinfected and patched up with salve. The night passed quickly as I fell asleep on the cold floor of the cave, too tired and exhausted to drag myself to my bed.

I woke up in my room, someone had dragged me to my quarters. With a groggy head, I summoned Voglo. “Give me the damage report,” I yawned.

“Well," He cleared his throat. "Over half of the palisade has been destroyed thanks to the fire, and two towers were broken down.”

I shook my head and gestured to him to skip over that, after all, we could always rebuild the camp. “And the goblins?”

“We lost 5. A fisher goblin, 2 hunters and 2 craft goblins. All men.”

The death of more people was never a good thing, however, one could find a shallow reprise in the fact that only 2 hunters were lost. Other goblins could compensate for crafting or fishing, but hunting was truly a difficult and essential skill. Losing 2 of them meant that the situation was still salvageable.

I let out a loud groan. “Any good news?”

Voglo smiled. “The enemy had lots of equipment we could repurpose, and they will provide excellent meals.”

I ignored the last part of that statement, I would let the others have their fill but I couldn't help but be averse to consuming human flesh. However, their equipment was truly a blessing in this situation.

As I walked outside, the entire tribe was gathered in front of the statue, including the mothers who gave birth yesterday. They were all kneeling once more, waiting for me to begin. I couldn’t have fended off those bandits alone, and yet with the help of these weak creatures, we managed to beat them back. Isn’t that something?

I activated my skills once more, [Orate] and [Preach]. “Yesterday was a battle for our lives, to determine the fate of the tribe. 5 Valiant heroes sacrificed their lives, but thanks to them we live on, and new life can continue. And we will continue! Continue to live and to prosper alongside our companions, our families, and the Great Gemmed One!”

Interface You have raised your Preach (Beginner) to Preach (Novice)