At dawn, Eli warped to the goblin hospital, realizing as he did so that he still hadn't learned the name of this town. He thought to himself that he'd have to ask Arti once the goblin caught up. Heading into the hospital, he couldn't find the doctor from his last visit. So, Eli just began healing everyone he saw, going from room to room.
Eventually, he ended up in a larger space where sick and injured goblins lay in the open, with only thin strips of fabric hanging from the walls to separate the different beds. It didn’t take him long to heal the forty or so goblins there, adding an extra heal or cleanse wherever needed to dispel a surprising number of curses and afflictions that'd taken hold in mostly male goblins. All of them looked strong, but dirty, like they'd been working manual labor when whatever landed them in the hospital struck. He was about to ask them about the origin of their ailments when a doctor finally caught up with him. This doctor was younger than the one Eli had met before, with a tired look on his face and a pair of very wide and thick glasses perched on his long, pointy nose.
Raxi. Goblin. Level 18.
“Who are you, and what are you doing here?” Raxi asked.
“I’m Eli. And I’m healing,” Eli replied simply.
“You are the healer?” the doctor asked, adjusting his glasses. Raxi looked over his shoulder and then back at Eli. “We are so grateful you are here. Do you mind staying a little while? We’ve put some procedures in place to bring other goblins who need medical attention here.”
“I can give you a little time,” Eli said, “but then I have to go see the council. I’ll be able to return here regularly, so make sure the critical cases outside these walls find me first.”
“We’ll bring a chair for you to sit out front if that works,” Raxi suggested.
“Sure,” Eli agreed.
It was about an hour later when Eli finally called it quits. He had cast several Sigils of Light to heal groups of goblins, rather than working through the crowd one at a time. A few more cursed goblins had shown up, then shuffled away once their afflictions were cleansed. Eli asked Raxi about it, but the doctor wouldn’t say much, and Eli didn’t press, as it was more a matter of idle curiosity.
When Eli arrived at the building where the goblin council gathered, it was still rather early, but all the members were present. He wondered if his delay at the hospital had been pre-planned to give the council time to assemble. It didn’t matter much, but as he stood before them, Eli felt anger bubbling to the surface.
“You are liars,” he began, standing tall and looming over the low table. “You painted an incomplete picture of Solomon.”
“We told no lies,” Sameno replied. “No words out of our mouths were untrue.”
Eli snorted. “Lies of omission are still lies. You need him to keep this place running, yet you made it impossible for him to stay. Now this has all ended up a convoluted mess.”
“We don’t need him,” another council member, Kalina insisted. “We need the others who followed him. Solomon will never be allowed to set foot here again after what he has done.”
“Inciting a war is terrible,” Eli agreed, “and it can’t be excused. But you could put him under house arrest or something and allow him to keep working. He has taken my entire building hostage!"
Rasmunda, the old female goblin, replied with a sigh. “That’s what he does. It’s always been what he does. If he doesn’t get his way, he finds a path through the rules and past the regulations to get the outcome he's looking for. That is why we cannot have him here. Goblin society is unlike yours. A pebble in the machine can unravel everything.”
“Is his progress really that bad?” Eli asked.
Rasmunda raised an eyebrow. “Did he tell you the cost of that ‘progress’? About his experiments?”
“No, he didn’t get into that."
“That’s because he didn’t want to tell you,” she replied. “We have lost animals, loved pets, and even several goblins to his experiments. The mana-shaping he is doing is dangerous, yes, but the way he’s going about it is incompatible with our laws.”
“Experiments on goblins?” Eli asked, frowning.
“He did,” Leil said, banging a fist on the table in front of him, his voice heated. “He says they’re safe but that he cannot bring them back just yet. We’ve come to terms with their loss and have even held their funerals already. But Solomon must pay! Not just for the dead goblins at the foot of your stone tower, but for those lost before then. The war—the war between goblins and humans—must come to an end, especially since it was started under false pretenses. We will take our share of the blame, but it is time for Solomon to pay the price for his transgressions. When you bring him back to us, he will be executed.”
“That might lead to the death of everyone in my building,” Eli said slowly.
“Then evacuate,” the goblin said firmly. “We do not have room for you here, but we have seen the wooden houses you are building. Build more."
"Solomon indicated that he can come and go as he pleases within our walls and beyond. I wouldn’t put it past him to have tampered with the houses as well as our building,” Eli said.
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“I cannot allow you to take him,” he continued, his voice full of steel. He softened somewhat as he added, “I’m sorry.”
The goblin leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table between them. “Then he is your problem from this day forward. You keep an eye on him and keep him away from us.”
“But—” Eli began.
“No,” Sameno cut him off. “He will not return here. Have the others return to us, keep Solomon away and under close observation, and we will allow that poor excuse for a goblin to live on. Against our better judgment.”
Eli looked around the room, but he saw only resolute eyes staring back at him. There would be no changing the council's minds. He nodded slowly. “Agreed, then. I’ll have the other researchers back here soon, and I’m certain they will come willingly as long as they are allowed to continue their work.”
The goblins nodded. “As long as it is done ethically. You may tell the others that they can continue their work back in their old workshops and libraries.”
“Deal,” Eli said.
“Deal,” the council intoned, almost as one.
Eli immediately returned to Solomon's miniature village in the forest. Arti hadn't shown up yet, but Eli couldn't wait. The area was a bustling whirlwind of activity as the researchers, except for Solomon, were already packing up their gear and notes. When Eli arrived, they all looked up as one, their faces showing a mix of excitement and trepidation.
Eli nodded to them. “You are clear to return to your people.”
Solomon exited his hut at that moment and asked, “Does that include me?”
Eli turned a glare on him. “It does not. They told me some of what your experiments entailed.”
“Anything for progress,” Solomon countered, not looking the least bit ashamed of his actions.
“Progress at any cost leads to tyrants, or worse,” Eli replied firmly. “You keep goblins trapped in those rooms of light.”
“I told you, I haven’t been able to retrieve them just yet,” Solomon said defensively. “But maybe you can."
"Me?"
Solomon brought out the device he'd used to send Eli to Sasha. "With this, I can send you to all those places. Just return with them."
Eli tried inviting Solomon to his party. It did not work. The system didn't recognize the goblin as a valid invitee. Casting Warp, he couldn't bring Solomon with him, either.
He shook his head. "Doesn't work with goblins."
"Interesting," Solomon said, bringing out a notebook that he began scribbling in. "Very interesting."
“It doesn’t work,” Eli repeated. “I have to be in a party with those I’m bringing for my Warp spell to include them. I can’t bring them back, so you’ll have to.”
“How?” Solomon asked, his frustration showing. “I already told you, I can’t work here. The mana is all wrong.”
“The goblin council was clear—you’re not allowed back,” Eli said. “But they’ve agreed not to take your life for what you’ve done. Instead, you’re coming with me.”
“With you?” Solomon asked, raising an eyebrow. “What makes you think that’s a better option?”
“You can either stay here by yourself, unable to do much of anything,” Eli said, crossing his arms, “or return to the goblins and have your head cut off. Or whatever method of execution goblins use.”
“We don’t usually execute our criminals,” Solomon muttered, biting his lip before nodding. “Okay,” he said, resigned. “I’ll come with you—but I get my own floor.”
“I’m sure we can work something out,” Eli said, though he wasn’t exactly looking forward to having this maniac so close to the people he was trying to protect.
“The basement,” Solomon said, a gleam in his eye.
“I’m not sure the building even has a basement,” Eli replied.
“It does."
“Fine,” Eli agreed, “but you are not using humans for your experiments, and any research you do will be focused on retrieving those who are lost so we can return them to the goblins. Also, you’ll deactivate all traps in the forest. I don’t want to hear about anyone getting hurt because they stepped in the wrong spot.”
“You drive a hard bargain,” Solomon replied, a hint of a smirk on his face. “But yes, we are in agreement.”
“I’m giving you far more than you deserve,” Eli said sharply. “If you weren’t holding the entire building hostage, I wouldn’t even be standing here talking to you. The goblins would have taken you back to a dark cell by now to figure out which method of execution they prefer.”
Solomon opened his mouth to speak, but Eli cut him off, his voice cold. “One more thing, Solomon.”
“Yes?”
“I am very disappointed in you. When we first met, you told me you were a librarian—not a mad scientist.”
“I am a librarian,” Solomon said. “That’s my official job title.” He paused and added thoughtfully, “Well, not anymore, I suppose. ‘Mad scientist’ does have a nice ring to it, though.”
Eli sighed and shook his head, feeling weary. “I’ll come check on you once you’ve arrived."
With that, he warped back to the office building, leaving Solomon to pack up his remaining things.
Quest Complete: You have found Solomon the goblin and dealt with him.
Reward: 100 Gold Coins. Experience.
Ding! You have reached level 38.
Back at the office building, Eli was quickly approached by Samantha and Simon. They looked around to make sure no one else was listening in before Simon spoke up.
“We found quite a few devices scattered across different floors,” he said, his voice low.
Samantha nodded, gesturing for Eli to follow. “You should see this.”
They led Eli to one of the devices, and he, just like them, was unable to identify what it did. All they could agree on was that it certainly hadn’t been brought from Earth. It didn’t resemble any technology they recognized.
“Can we turn them off?” Eli asked, leaning close to examine the intricate copper wiring that wound around it. The device hummed faintly.
“Not unless you want to risk blowing us all up,” Simon warned. “I’ve seen quite a few strange devices in my time, and they all go boom unless you’re sure of what you’re doing.”
Eli sighed and straightened. He quickly explained what had happened with the goblins and Solomon. Surprisingly, Samantha didn’t grumble.
“Well, at least this means he won’t blow up the building or make good on his threat of teleporting everyone away,” she muttered. “Doing so with himself still in it wouldn’t be very smart, and I’m starting to see that this little shit is clever, if nothing else.”
“We’ll keep an eye on him,” Eli said. “Hopefully, he won’t try anything here."
“Sounds to me like it's time to head back to some good-old-fashioned killing,” came a voice from behind. Eli turned to see Cruella grinning. “So, are we going back to the dungeon? People are already starting to level up pretty seriously, and I don’t want anyone reaching or surpassing me.”
“What does that matter?” Eli asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Easy for you to say,” Samantha scoffed, shaking her head in mock disgust. “Mr. Highest-Level-of-All.”
“I do sort of want to go myself,” Simon added. “I still haven’t gained a single level since leaving that fake church.”
Seeing no pressing matters, Eli agreed. “Alright, let’s go.”