"yaaaarit!"

"Hahaha"

The sound of laughter reverberated through the night. Everyone seemed to have unloaded the stress from the long journey earlier.

"Human come over!" With hearty laughter, Elric was immediately called upon by Zriork as he entered the lake.

With that call, almost all the attention was drawn to him, adding to his now naked condition a surge of embarrassment rushed through his body. Fortunately, there seemed to be a lack of shame on both goblin and human sides.

"Ha-ha, how's everyone doing?" With a dry laugh, Elric tried to divert the attention but it seemed he thought too much. Everybody went about their previous activities.

"Young master over here!"

"Elric over here!"

The voices of George and Davis also came over. It seemed they had gathered with Zriork and the shaman to talk about something important. Not having any other options, he simply went to join them.

"Young master, the goblin chief, and shaman were just about to explain what the human gathering would be like," from the expression on both of their faces you could tell they were full of excitement.

At this point, the goblin shaman spoke up. "Firstly our final destination is called the land of freedom, although it's known as a human gathering other races can still be seen from time to time for examples the the the merchant guild run by the harpies or the pleasure palace by the fox tribe," as he said this, they all seemed to show a smile only men would understand.

*cough cough* bringing back their attention the shaman continued, "however what you need to be careful of is not the race that lives there but the Gods that reside there. As you may know, most gatherings from the smallest of villages to the largest of kingdoms need the guardianship of one or many deities, if they want to have a foothold in the Land of Elias, however, this does not mean that it is necessarily a good thing to have God in watching over your town"

Ignoring their confusion with a solemn face, he spoke, "depending on the God in charge of the gathering place, the effects on the inhabitants differ," as he spoke his voice seemed to get lower.

"As you might not know, each God has a domain or authority he or she represents, like a God of war will hold the power of war, or the sun God the power of the sun, with them promoting their authority within their territory of control.

Unfortunately for the town of Freedom, the Gods in charge are Furtificus the God of thieves, Syno̱mosía the Goddess of conspiracy, and Latet the God of lies.

And as you guessed, due to their authority, the town is one where conspiracy, theft, and deceit are the norms." As he said this George and Davis's expectation for tomorrow's trip seemed to have gone down by a few percent.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"However do not fear my human friend! if anyone comes to you just tell them you are friends with I Zriork of th-"

" *ahem* *cough cough* Lord Zriork I think it would be more effective if I introduced them to one of my acquaintances there." Seeing that his lord was about to go on another ramble, the shaman quickly interrupted him.

"You have acquaintances there?" Surprisingly even Zriork exclaimed with George and Davis, obviously he did not know this information

"Yes you see, while lord Zriork was busy with the tribe's affairs I went there regularly to trade resources with them, in which I made a few contacts and connections"

The eyes seemed to turn back to Zriork to which he responded with a dry cough.

Saving him from the questioning eyes, Elric asked a question that has been on his mind. "But what about all the thieves, lies, and deceit can your acquaintance be trusted? No offense."

"....." However he was met with a bit of silence, obviously, he had experienced something too embarrassing to tell.

"If you feel awkward, no need to say anything."

With a heavy sigh, he replied, "nevermind, it's all in the past anyways, it's just that during my first trade there, I ended up losing all my goods to another goblin trader in an attempt to pick a bargain," although he said so with a straight face, anyone could still hear his embarrassment.

"However, it was that misfortune that led me to meet this acquaintance, a female orc of the cat-man tribe, by the name of Aoma. She was the one who helped me in finding the goblin who scammed me of my goods, while also helping me secure a good deal. Apparently, she is the daughter of Reinhardt merchant group owner, a popular group throughout the land of Elias and she would like to establish trade relations with me as that was her first day of arriving at freedom city." As the shaman spoke this mid seemed to go back to the day of the event.

"Now that I think about it, what was a big person like her doing walking about alone without bodyguards?" However, the question was quickly thrown out of his mind. After all, how can he, a small goblin shaman, understand the thoughts of bigshots who have made a name around the world of Elias.

As he finished speaking, Elric suddenly felt that maybe the goblin shaman was the protagonist instead of him after all. He had already met the female lead, with the powerful family, whereas he was still here bathing with tribesmen and goblins.

"So lord Zriork, don't you think it would be less troublesome if I introduce them to someone I know inside the city? At least that way, the name of lord Zriork can be used as a secret weapon." Not noticing Elric's many emotions, the shaman spoke once again persuading Zriork not to announce his name as they enter the town.

Although annoyed by the earlier interruption, Zriork still agreed, however, he still felt he needed to add something. "But, if your acquaintance doesn't work, we shall remind them of the presence of I, the great Zriork of the greenskin tribe." Feeling he had completed his lines Zriork left the conversation with a smile on his face.

Watching Zriork go deep into the lake Elric and the rest eyebrows, couldn't help but twitch, feeling this not-so-serious goblin chief was a bit funny but seeing the shaman in front of them with a dark face they wisely held it in.

"Sigh..." noticing the awkward atmosphere the goblin shaman waved his hand signaling dismissal of the crowd. "It seems that the lord's mood has been getting better ever since he started saying with these humans." Thinking back to the gloom that hovered around his clansmen, from losing their hometown to discovering a traitor, the shaman couldn't help but think maybe it was fate that led them to these humans.

After a few more hours of fun, everyone decided to go get some rest, bringing an end to the first day on the journey to freedom town.