Leo had offered to help bring the villagers back, but he hadn’t expected just how annoying of a task it would be. Marem and Koram were able to carry one villager each, the goblin unable to carry one on his own. This left Leo to carry six people while trying his best to not drop them.
After Koram had summoned vines to tie a few of the villagers to Leo, it was only slightly easier. Leo trudged through the forest, with his arms full of people and wearing his newfound human backpack. It took only a few minutes into the journey back for him to regret offering.
When they finally returned to the village, Leo let out a sigh of relief. His relief was short-lived as the villagers started to awaken while in his arms. It took the group another twenty minutes to calm everyone down and explain the situation. After the situation was explained, the village elder invited the group into her home.
“I would like to give my sincerest thanks to you all,” she said, giving them a bow. “If it wasn’t for the help of your group, then who knows what would’ve become of Qigai village. I would like to offer you all a reward of ten gold coins each, as a token of our appreciation.”
“No thank you,” said Koram, “I help because I wish to do so, not because I seek a reward.”
The goblin laughed, “I’ll grab the coins then!”
“He won’t, ignore him,” Koram put a hand up in front of the goblin. Surprisingly, the goblin accepted this and sat down, but he was grumbling to himself.
“No thanks, I don’t really buy things,” Leo said.
“What he means is, none of us need a reward for helping your village,” Marem explained to the elder.
The village elder had a glum look on her face. “It would be a shame on our pride to give nothing in return to those who’ve saved us. Surely there must be some way to repay the four of you.”
Leo spoke up first. “Do you think there’s a house that we could use to talk? We have a lot to discuss and I’d prefer to do it inside.”
The others looked amongst themselves, but they couldn’t find any reason to disagree with him. “Please, use my house for your meeting. I will go tend to the villagers, just let me know when you intend to leave,” The village elder said.
The three of them muttered their thanks, while the goblin was too busy staring at the ceiling. Once the village elder had left her house, the four of them finally had a chance to discuss at length in peace.
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“The name’s Legrun, since y’all was wondering!” Legrun shouted, his high-pitched voice full of bravado and confidence.
“Nice to meet—” Leo started to speak, but he was cut off by Legrun.
“See, it all started when I was a lad. I was born in the ShimSham tribe, but I knew I was born for somethin’ more. I asked the heavens for a sign, and they delivered one. It was night time and the head gob was chewin’ me out, but that was when a dead wolf flew through the air and squashed him.”
That sounded oddly familiar, but before he could ask any questions, Legrun continued. “Then I cross the desert and head off for my destiny! I was making it big, working for a dark lord that called his self Graytith. Though I always wondered if he had a lisp, since he called himself ‘The Graytith’. Either way, I went to use the can, and they were all mush when I returned.”
No, this was all definitely familiar. Leo was realizing that he had accidentally played a large role in this goblin’s life. Koram spoke up, hushing Legrun. “After that, we managed to cross paths. We’ve had a temporary agreement, where he will help me on my journey and I will assist him in his goals.”
“What are his goals?” Marem asked.
“I am not certain of that. He says that it’s private.” Legrun had started spacing out as Koram talked. “He is certainly eccentric, occasionally to a worrying degree, but he has been of great assistance. He has keen senses and an aptitude for fighting, something that I needed.”
“Okay, so how did you end up fighting against Cordylia?” Leo asked, hoping to get away from the Legrun talk.
“Well, I had no intention to fight against her originally. While I traveled through the Magnacio forest, I was able to feel that something was disturbing the balance of nature. As a druid, it was my responsibility to help.” Koram explained, a pained look starting to form. “As it turns out, I wasn’t the only druid to attempt to do so. An infection was spreading rapidly, and most druids who got close to the source ended up becoming infected.”
“It took time for me to learn how to cure the infection. I had to distort my spatial magic, alongside practicing more on my finer control of plant life. After a few dangerous attempts, I succeeded.”
Koram looked towards Legrun, who was paying no attention to the conversation. “There was one attempt in particular that I realized just how dangerous this infection was. While I was curing a small caravan group, an armored knight threatened me. She revealed her true nature, as a being focused on destruction and conquest. If it wasn’t for Legrun protecting me, then I would’ve died in that fight.”
“But you can cure it though?” Marem asked. “The biggest struggle we’ve had was with curing people.”
“I can, but the magic behind it burns through my mana. If I make the smallest mistake, then it could have horrific consequences. So I can only do it a handful of times before needing to rest. I just wish that I could do more to help.”
Leo looked into Koram’s eyes, a stained grief that had never been there before. Even after Buddy’s death, he still went forward into the world. He had gone through so much more in just a matter of months. But even as he felt sympathy for his friend, part of him couldn’t help but feel happy at the news.
Not only could Koram find a way to remove Cordylia’s infestation from people, but he also had an insight on what her goal was. If Leo could find out what it was, then they’d be able to finally start taking her down.