After a few minutes of exploring the new trait, I understood how weak it was. If for any reason, I should die or perhaps break my vow the clan would cease to exist. Because of that it also didn’t give any benefits which had interesting implications not just for this clan trait but for the rest of them as well.
After some describing of what had happened the other members of the military in this meeting room gave the vow. I could instantly feel the trait becoming stronger and resonating better with the nation as a whole. There were now things that needed to be sorted out most likely the current leadership structure but that could wait a few days when everyone had sworn the vow. We needed to wait a few days so the rest of the scouts could return from their missions.
Honestly, this was so interesting that I just wanted to dive into it more but I should wait until there were more members to deal with it all so it would be easier to find the aspects of this trait. I also had another big thing that I wanted to discuss.
This meeting should have already been over hours ago as we were soon starting to approach midnight, but I don’t think that I could wait any longer. Simply because some of the scouts have already reported goblin activity close to our border beyond the river.
Everyone started to get up and leave so I readied myself. “Before everyone leaves there is something I want to bring up. There were talks about sending scouts to find out where the goblins that were seen are from. I know exactly where their encampment is located.” It was hard to get those words out and I could see everyone noticed that but even more interesting was how I could practically see the tension in the air rising.
Almost everyone was suspiciously looking at me but one of the Knights was the first to speak up. “Encampment you say. Those don't just appear in a few months. I find it disturbing that you have not mentioned goblins as a problem. If they have an encampment that should have been one of our first priorities.” He wanted to continue but I stopped him from speaking by simply looking into his eyes. I have no idea what my face looked like but whatever he saw made him stop and even take a half-step back.
“The reason why I have not brought this up as a concern is because they are not a concern. At least not for now. Yeah, no need to start explaining it to me, I know more about goblins than probably anyone here. At least about the the goblins that are around here. You might not know this about me, but I have fought a battle against them and killed their previous leader.” That stopped everyone as they slowly sat back down and started to listen.
“After I received my class quite soon after that I started to have problems with goblins. After a few small fights which were getting progressively harder, I decided to protect my land and so I decided to find out where they were coming from. That led me to discover their breeders.” When I mentioned that name everyone grimaced, but I continued.
“I launched a successful operation which ended up killing all the breeders.” There were shouts of disbelief, but I waited for everyone to calm back down before continuing not answering their questions but just continuing my own story.
“That did not go over well with the goblin leader, and he organized a big attack against me. Thanks to some defensive planning and luck I was able to win but one of those reasons I was able to win was because one of the other goblin higher-ups decided to betray their leader.” To that everyone nodded like it was normal which made some sort of sense.
“Now that goblin and his forces could have killed me but they decided to spare me. I mean they would have still lost a lot of fighters but I’m quite certain I would have died.” The disbelief in everyone’s eyes when I answered one of the questions on how many goblins there were was satisfying to witness but I continued knowing that they were not going to enjoy the next part.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“The reason why he wanted me alive was because he wanted to use me for my knowledge. He’s a clever goblin and could do something very few others can and when I mean others, I mean absolutely every intelligent being in this world. He could look into the future and when I mean future, I mean 10, 50, 100, 500 years into the future. He could see what his people needed and that was stability. He was looking for knowledge on how to get a class.” I was expecting an outburst but there was complete silence.
“I learned their history and their language and concluded that they were some kind of weapon meant for attrition battle against an enemy which ended up costing them their civilization. Yes, I am quite certain that once they were a civilization similar to our own. My first clue came from their language. It's seemingly simple but it’s fucking brilliant.
Anyways we started to tentatively trade but that changed when other goblins didn't like what they were doing. You see they stopped evolving breeders and trying to live as a tribe.” Half of the people had their mouths wide open while the others were frozen in shock. No one spoke so I continued.
“The forces against them were quite strong but like I said their leader is clever. They hired me as a mercenary, and I helped them win their war. The most interesting thing to happen during that war was that the leader actually got a class. Probably the first class any goblin has received in a few thousand years.”
Now the silence was broken. “Are you crazy? That’s not allowed. Monster races can’t be helped like that. You have called upon us the black masks. They will kill us all and erase our existence.” It was now my time to be confused.
“Honestly, I’ve never heard of those people, but we will discuss them later. But whatever I have done is already done so there’s no need to worry about it. Plus, they are not a monster race. Technically they are a fallen race,” I said. That took the wind out of the sails of many of the people here. They stop yelling to think about it. I can say that it brought me relief when I saw the relief in their eyes. They all sagged back into their seats. I was just happy we did not have to deal with another problem.
That made me think about the rock creatures. They were most certainly not a fallen race. But that reaction and apparently a dedicated force to handle monster races clarified why there was so little diversity in this world. They committed genocide on the regular to stay as the top sapient civilizations. I was not going to start unpacking that pandoras box any time soon.
“If you are correct then there should not be any problem” The person who spoke earlier barely got those words out before he completely eased himself onto his seat, but he still looked like he had grown 10 years older in the last minute.
I let everyone digest this news a bit before I continued. “So, because of my efforts in the war, I am getting quite a good amount of tin and copper. You can relax David. There is no set amount to be given to me. We settled that they would decide how much they think my services were worth.”
David looked at me and said, “I don’t know if I should be impressed or upset but I’m leaning towards impressed.” I looked towards him and gave a weak smile. “Yeah so, I believe we have trade relations with them. At least I do and because I am a part of this nation, I believe our nation has this as well. I have a good relationship with them so I’m hoping that whenever you have to deal with them you will at least be cordial.” It took quite a long time before everyone slowly nodded towards me.
“We can discuss this sometime later. I believe everyone wants to go to bed.” I started to get up but this time it was David who interrupted everyone. “Rich, perhaps there are more earth-shattering revelations that you might want to inform us about.”
I started to seriously think about it, and I noticed everyone growing nervous. Was there anything like that. Well, the dungeon stuff was certainly up there and perhaps a few more things but those were too early to discuss.
“I have some plans with dungeons but that will take some time before anything comes of it. So, currently not.” I gave them all a big smile which for some reason didn't placate them but they also accepted my answer.
I did see their shoulders droop before we ended the meeting with concluding goodbyes. Everyone dragged their feet obviously exhausted from all that had happened. I started to head towards my own home finally feeling the need to sleep.