Lucius considered using his remaining [Magical] item upgrade on the armor, but since the bracer's were only [Enhanced], he decided to save the upgrade for now. He was hoping that the centipede carapace might be [Magical] grade. If so, he would use the upgrade on that, but he would need to inspect it later to confirm.

He smacked his arms together a few times to test his new armor. The bracers felt sturdy and did an excellent job absorbing the shock from the hits. Jack walked over and examined the items on Lucius' arms, tugging on the leather straps a few times to ensure they were snug. Satisfied, he gave a nod. Only then did Jack suddenly notice the new group of people standing beside Lucius. He stepped back, looking the soldiers up and down with an uncertain expression.

"Who’re your new friends?"

"That’s what I called you here to talk about. Let’s wait for the others to arrive."

Jack squinted at Lucius for a moment before shrugging and pulling out a chair to sit down. As he waited, he dug through his pocket and retrieved a few pieces of hard candy. He popped one into his mouth and slid another across the table toward Maryanne. The candy was smudged with dark, soot-like fingerprints—probably carbon from the forge—but the child didn’t let that stop her. She quickly snatched the treat and popped it into her mouth.

It didn’t take long for the room to fill with people. James had enlisted his friend Sarah to help spread the word, and the two had made quick work of the task. Many of the attendees were unfamiliar to Lucius; he had exchanged barely a few words with most of them. When Mary walked in with a group of older women, Maryanne’s eyes went wide. She leapt up from her seat at the table and scrambled across the floor toward the oldest woman in the group.

"Nana!"

The old woman froze in her tracks, startled. She raised her hands to her chest in surprise before taking a good look at the child rushing toward her.

"Who—Oh my, Maryanne?"

The old woman bent forward when she recognized the child, catching Maryanne in her arms. Her confusion quickly gave way to misty-eyed joy as the overwhelming rush of emotions suddenly hit her.

"How did you get here? Are your mother and father here too?"

The woman glanced up at the other newcomers expectantly, her joy dimming slightly when she realized the other family she had hoped to see was not among them. Lucius stepped forward to explain the situation when he saw Maryanne struggling to find the words as she refused to release her grasp on the old woman.

"I take it you and Maryanne are family. That’s a very lucky coincidence. I found her alone in her family’s cabin purely by chance while scouting the area."

Lucius went on to explain how they had run out of food and how Maryanne's parents had disappeared, one after the other, under strange circumstances. He suspected that the centipede, which hunted close to the cabin, might have been responsible for their disappearance, but he held out hope that he was wrong.

"I intend to search for them soon. For now, I hope you can take care of Maryanne for me until I find out what happened to her parents."

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

"You can call me Nana," the old woman said. "Maryanne is my granddaughter, so of course I’ll take her. But I hope you’ll do everything you can to find her parents. My son David is her father—he’s a strong and capable man. If he hasn’t returned, then he must be in serious trouble."

Lucius nodded firmly at the old woman's request as he patted Maryanne on the head one last time before returning to the table. After clearing his throat, he introduced the soldiers.

"These three men are part of a large special forces military unit, with thousands of people under their care..."

He introduced Tiber, Roland, and Garrick one by one, then explained the situation with the Goblins and the mission the men were on. Silence filled the room for a few minutes after he finished, until James’ mother, Mary, spoke up.

"We have to help. It was our original plan to seek shelter at the military base. We could just as easily have been in their shoes. I’ll start clearing and planting the second and third fields early, and Patrick can move the plans to organize hunting parties forward. That way, we won’t lack for food—at least not in the short term."

Lucius nodded at her words, then turned his gaze to the others in the room, waiting for their opinions. Jack knocked his knuckles against the table to draw everyone’s attention, speaking up with a frown.

"I don't know about this. How are we supposed to fit that many people here? This farmhouse barely has room for the few dozen of us already living in it."

Tiber stepped forward at the question, nodding toward Jack before addressing the room.

"Don’t be mistaken—we do not intend to be a burden on your community. We still have a few months' supply of rations to feed ourselves, and we’ll be bringing enough tents to house at least half our population. Between the farmhouses and barns in the area, we should be able to settle the rest temporarily while we work on building more permanent shelters. The main reason we want to relocate here is that this area is deep in the forest, adjacent to many renewable food sources, and easily defensible. However, if you decide to accept our relocation, we’ll need to discuss some preliminary defensive structures that must be built before the move."

Roland stepped back beside Lucius when he finished speaking. Lucius glanced at Jack to see if he had any further considerations, but Jack shook his head when he noticed the questioning gaze. Lucius nodded and continued addressing everyone.

"Does anyone else have anything to add?"

This time, Paul spoke, letting out a frustrated sigh before voicing his opinion.

"Why should we get involved in this? They’re going to lure the goblins right to us. I, for one, don’t want to end up locked in a goddamn cage again, waiting to be fed to a spider. I vote no."

Lucius looked up at Tiber, expecting to see anger on the man’s face. Instead, the solemn soldier simply closed his eyes, maintaining his ever-serious expression as he patiently waited for Paul to finish speaking. Then, the tall man stepped forward again, calmly addressing Paul’s concerns.

"If I thought you would be safe from the goblins if we moved elsewhere, I would gladly make that choice. But that’s not the case. The goblins are spreading like a virus. They breed impossibly fast, and more pour in daily from the anomaly in the center of their camp. They will find you sooner or later, and when they see how few of you there are, they won’t even bother with small raids. They’ll overrun this settlement in a single attack."

Tiber stepped closer to Paul, towering over the shorter man as he spoke.

"You won’t be captured and kept as a slave this time. The goblins have stopped keeping human males as slaves recently. More likely, the hobgoblins will cut off your head and use it as a casting material, trapping your soul in endless torment until you lose any lingering rationality, becoming a mindless weapon."

Nana covered Maryanne’s ears as Paul’s face turned increasingly pale at Tiber’s words. When Tiber was confident his message had been understood, he softened his tone slightly and continued.

"We don’t have the luxury of being individualistic anymore. Our only chance of surviving is to support each other with everything we’ve got. From here on out, humanity has to be one people. I hope you’ll make the right choice."

Tiber finished speaking and stepped back, patiently waiting for the group to come to a decision. Lucius asked once more if anyone wanted to speak. When no one did, he turned to Tiber and reached out his hand. When Tiber accepted the handshake Lucius finalized the agreement with two words.

"We accept."