Late after the third day of work finished. A certain group moved amongst the woods. It wasn’t the builders who lay exhausted in their tents off the road. It wasn’t the man who sat patiently at the table either. No this group was an enemy of mankind.

Or so one would be told.

The group arrived at the peak of the slope and slowly slide down carefully. Three goblins carefully meandered through the newly opened field they looked at the scene cautiously but continued in the direction of the lone man.

Without a word between the parties they sat at the table across from the man.

Three Goblins sat across from the man. Only one was familiar to the man. Gally sat on the left side of a scared bony goblin. He was clearly the oldest of the three and seemed to command their respect.

Beside him sat another, his eyes were closer together and he seemed to squint at the world. He was very interested in the tools left out by the builders.

"Is this a bad time?" Gally asks glancing at the various tents in the distance.

"No, no problem. They should be asleep and if they caused you any trouble I will send them away. They are my guests same as you."

"He really does speak Gilbish." The squinting goblin says breathlessly.

"Indeed." The oldest says nodding in equal shock. "You are our benefactor. I can not thank you enough for telling us the secret to the ritual mask."

"Ah, no problem. Hows it going on that? Have you had success?"

Gally and the squinting one frown at the question.

"Before that allow us to introduce ourselves." The leader says rising and bowing to the seated man. "I am the Chieftain of the Gu Tribe, Gunt. You know my Daughter Gally, and this is our… He is a researcher. Goin is intrigued by human technology and often attempts to reverse engineers it for our use. The crossbow some of our soldiers now carry were built with his help."

"Amazing." The man says in true reveration for the goblin. "It’s an honor to meet you both."

"Ah you are our beneficiary. There is no need for that." Gunt says with a smile. "You are indeed just as Gally said. Truly a strange human. Don’t you agree Goin?"

"Indeed. I’d love to research him."

Gunt emits a loud laugh banging on the back of Goin. "That’s for later. For now explain your dilemma you two."

"Dilemma?" The man asks tilting his head in confusion.

"Mhm." Gally nods. "We can’t replicate it no matter what we try. The flowers are difficult to find and each test uses too much."

"Ah well that may be my fault. I collect quite a bit." The man shrugs. "I can tone down my collecting for…"

"Ah no! That’s not necessary. We don’t want to deprive you of them. You are the person who told us about it so we would feel bad…"

"Oh! What if we cultivate them then?" The man suddenly says with a smile. He glances at the cleared field behind the house. Originally he planned to replant tree saplings but turning the area into a garden might not be a bad idea.

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"Cultivate." Goin says gulping carefully. Being a scholar he of course knew about it. Human's will plant the core of a plant and recreate it. He understood the concept but goblins had never even attempted it. "Lets try it!"

"Mhm if Goin says so then I approve. We will help you out in any way possible."

Although saying so, it would prove more difficult than the group of goblins imagined. In all of the man’s searching he had only once found the strange white berries that the seeds of the plant come from. And at the time he hadn’t even known that was the case so he left them alone.

Facing a stalemate on the situation the goblins sat in silent contemplation. They too had seen the berries in the forest before but often times they’re eaten by rabbits or birds.

It was the arrival of a third party that changed the discussion.

"Bear?!" Gunt shouts, readying his pointed metal rings.

"Bear." The man says smiling fondly. "What brings you tonight, you brought meat just the other day?"

"Grrrr.grwl." Bear replies calmly dropping a white ball of fluff at the foot of the forest a few hundred feet away. He then carefully nudges it with his nose, grunting a third time to indicate haste.

"Alright, alright I get it." The man replies turning to Gally and smiling to calm the group. "He’s a friend I promise. Would one of you mind grabbing that from him?"

"You want us to approach…" Gunt asks with a hesitant but brave tone.

"I would myself but he can’t stand the smell of me. Even this much is probably asking a lot. He seems to think its important so I trust him. So, would you mind?"

"No… I…" Gunt begins, glancing back at bear who sat in the hedge with a foolish grin. "Understood I will collect it."

Gunt ventures carefully across the rough ground towards Bear. Arriving he glances between the rabbit and Bear almost rhythmically. Finally grasping at the ears he dashes back towards the table as fast as his legs would carry him.

Panting he barely audibly murmurs the words. "Stealing prey from a Magic Beast is something I promised myself I'd never do again."

Eventually turning his attention back towards the seated Bear he let out a sigh. He wasn’t pursued like the last time. ‘Thank the forefathers’. A scar on his knee lightly tingled but he brushed it away.

"I brought it." Gunt stammers dropping the lifeless rabbit on the table.

From the temperature it had been dead for minutes, maybe even less. Bear is indeed an expert now.

"Why did it bring it though? Isn’t it strange for a beast of the forest to bring prey to a lesser creature? Is it not an insult?" Gally asked looking cautiously between Bear and the rabbit.

"No this is different. When he brings food it’s large things like deer or boars. And like I said he just brought food. So I think this is something else." The man explains, staring at the rabbit carefully pondering. "What do you want me to do bear?"

The question was not intended for the bear though. It was purely rhetorical. Just a question to exercise his mind.

"Ah!" The man says sticking a finger in the rabbits mouth before plunging it into his own.

"What are you….!" Gunt begins to shout in confusion.

Gally and Goin too looked shocked and a bit disgusted. From the looks of it the man had just taken a fingerful of bile and blood from lips of the fallen animal.

"It’s definitely poison." The man replies spitting a number of times and swishing some water in his mouth to lessen the bitter taste. "This rabbit was likely just eating berries moments ago. We can probably find seeds in its digestive tract. Depending on what the seeds are like they might even be found in poop."

At this point the man turns to Bear in the forest. "I can’t thank you enough. Time and time again you're a life saver."

Bear only lightly snorts. Bear believed it was the opposite, eternally he owes a debt to the man in the forest. The man saved his life. Tended his wounds. And most importantly, he had given Bear the chance to acquire his new-found strength.

No amount of meat could ever repay that.

Bear stuck around and listened as the man surgically disassembled the rabbit. It seems he had accomplished what he set out for. The man was talking happily with the goblins holding a handful of small red seeds.

Bear understood his task and set off.

It wouldn’t be hard. Kill and eat everything that smells like benefactor. In fact he might even enjoy it. Suddenly his stomach was like a bottomless pit. Nothing will escape.