“Everyone, draw your bows and aim for the leader,” I whispered.

All the goblins readied their arrows. Sharp and smooth iron arrowheads replaced the initial rough ones. The fat frogman was in their sights. It paced around the stage, completely absorbed in its nonsensical spluttering and croaking.

I followed its every move, waiting for the right moment to strike. The frogman turned its back to us and began to proselytize in front of the crowd. “Fire,” I commanded.

A flurry of arrows whizzed through the air, but before the preaching frogman could react, it was too late. His deformed back became riddled with arrows like a pin cushion filled with needles. Its lifeless body dropped to the ground, dropping the dagger. The praying frogmen cried in pain and grief and noticed us at the top of the crater. They drew their weapons and charged at us.

“Bombarding Cannon Beryl!” A large crystalline cannonball flew forward to meet the charging frogs. Several of them died from the impact, the explosion sent others flying. The frogmen were at an extreme disadvantage as they stood at the bottom of the crater. The hunters shot arrows one after another, dropping the frogs like flies.

One of them picked up the dagger and began to flee back to the swamp. “Intercept it!” I yelled.

The goblins sprinted to the other side of the crater, but that frog cast some sort of spell, making it more agile. With mighty leaps, it managed to jump its way out of the crater. The muddy and wet environment was perfect for someone with webbed feet. We lost sight of the frogman and that dagger!

I kicked up piles of leaves and punched some trees in fury. We were now forced to enter prolonged combat, and against that artefact too. Imagining the rain of daggers falling over my camp... I suppressed such thoughts. "They might have had a powerful magical weapon, but we had the weapons and armour!" I repeated in my head.

We stripped the corpses of the frogmen from their clothes. The others dragged the body of the gargantuan frog back to camp. There was some solace at least in this spike of food. I had hangups about eating humans, but I had no qualms about eating an oversized frog. The cooks and butchers skinned and drained the corpses. The humans bought anything we didn't use.

I mounted Dodge, my personal goat, the sound of hoofs hitting stone ringing through the camp. I travelled to the village of Woodwick. I did not expect them to answer the call of battle. Our relationship was purely transactional after all, but I could hire them to help us. The constant rain had affected them too. Their streets were too muddy to walk through, the wooden and stone walls had sunk into the ground. I made my way to Clara’s small tower, where she was going over stacks of paperwork.

“Gild Domov, I assume the flood has washed you in here,” she said.

“I didn’t expect the town to survive, but I decided to check on you as your trusty trade partner.” I made myself at home in her office.

She leaned back in her chair and blew a tuft of red hair from her face. “Alright, what do you need? We’re a bit busy here, the flood has gone and ruined everything. Our food stockpile, our resources, even some of our defences. We don't have time to spare, the war has started after all."

“The flood has hit us too, but our numbers are far too little. So I came here to ask you for your workers. Wait, you said war?” I asked in confusion.

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Yeah, you saw that explosion, didn't you? The court mages fought their fight, now it's time for the nobles to make their move. If you want me to send workers to you, you're going to need to pay a lot of money.” She emphasised the words ‘a lot’.

"Alright, we'll talk about that later. I am fighting my own war right now and I need some help." From a clean cloth, I revealed a gem, it was the [Fear Inducing Amethyst]. Clara’s eyes grew wide with awe and greed upon seeing the shining, lustrous jewel.

“I want to hire the entire village.”

She immediately snatched the gem and began looking through it in the light. “Deal.” Her smile grew wide, and the purple of the amethyst reflected in her eyes.

We later discussed the details of the agreement. Since I was overpaying by a severe degree, Clara accepted most of my conditions. The villagers would move to us and stay there until they finished their work. We would provide them with housing and food. The village had a population of 40 people, but only around 33 were work-ready.

Clara went to break the news to the villagers, many were sceptical about going to work at a goblin camp. But Clara reassured them with the promise of a large paycheck. She corroborated this by showing them the amethyst. In the end, these people’s homes were damaged and food stores ruined. They had no particular choice.

The workers packed their essential belongings and travelled to the camp. The goblins weren’t thrilled, but they took this chance to learn from experienced personnel.

The goblin blacksmiths apprenticed under the human ones. The human women worked as crafters, sewers, weavers, cook, taught the goblins. The men carried blocks of stone, mined tunnels, made houses, cut wood, weaved rope and so on.

It was impossible to finish all this work before the fighting would begin, but these new workers eased things up. After a few days, each warrior sported an iron spear, helmet, chest plates and shield. Underneath their armour, they wore snake leather armour. As for me, I received iron pauldrons, gauntlets and shin guards as well. It was time to use the fruits of our labour.