Kevin waited in the lobby of the inn, anticipating the arrival of a representative from the Magi Guild to discuss job opportunities with him. He was unsure of what to expect from the entire process, but he had confirmed that it was nothing like the operations of the Fighters Guild and the Adventurers Guild. He’d been chatting with some of the other people eating in the common room, and had learned more about how the other guilds operated.

The Adventurers Guild had a notice board behind the front counter, and adventurers would simply choose the requests they wanted to undertake. If a request was for an individual or a group, the guild representative would remove it from the wall and note who had taken it. Failing a mission was grounds for corrective action, similar to the Magi Guild. If any associates failed their mission or conducted themselves poorly, they could be in danger of being expelled from the guild or at least demoted in rank. And if anyone was demoted to F rank for more than a month, they would be ejected from the guild, too. This seemed to be a standard practice across all three main guilds.

Kevin sat nursing a cup of tea when suddenly, Gesel, slowly but resolutely, walked to his little table in the corner and seated herself. "Lord Kevin, I've been holding something in, and I need to talk about it."

"With me?"

"Yes, with you. I can't discuss it with anybody else."

Kevin coughed into his fist. "I'm flattered, and thank you, but I really don't have time in my life right now for a relationship."

The goblin woman blinked at him owlishly before laughing softly and covering her mouth. "That's not what this is about, although I do admit it would be easy to mistake it for that. I'm not in love with you. That would be—"

"What?”

“What? Oh, troll dung," the woman cursed. "I wasn't supposed to say anything. Just pretend you didn't hear that from me, okay?"

"Okay," Kevin said slowly. "So what is this about then?"

The goblin woman sighed and rested one of her hands on top of the other on the table. "I'm afraid that my group isn't going to find work. After you leave, I’m scared we won't be able to live well. I haven't wanted to talk to you about it because you've already done so much for us, and I know that you have enough to do already. But I don't know how else to say this: even though we don't have many options right now other than mining, I don't want to be a miner, and neither do any of the others. We're not very good at it, but I also don't want to end up in the slums here. Have you been to the slums?"

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Kevin shook his head no, and Gesel sighed. "Most goblins in Clearmine live there. There are some orks too, and they keep to themselves, but a large group of goblins are in the slums, and most of them are barely surviving."

"Why don't they go back to Tallridge Hollow?" asked Kevin.

"For a lot of the reasons we can't go back. There are clan issues that make it hard for some to return. If there's bad blood between any tribes, you need protection to live anywhere close to Hergersak, the capital. I think there is something like five different tribes here that have all been kicked out of Tallridge Hollow over a hundred years. Living here is bad for them, but going anywhere else would probably mean death."

"I understand not going back to the goblin country, but what about going somewhere else?" asked Kevin, trying to make sense of it all.

Gesel laughed without humor. "It's so strange having to explain the basics of being a goblin to another goblin. This feels like a weird dream. I really wish you'd tell us where you grew up, Lord Kevin. It must be quite a story for you to not know any of this."

"Yeah, well, some things happened," he said, scratching his cheek. "But I truly want to know, why can't goblins go to another country, like Lakewalk?"

Gesel shook her head. "Even though goblins have had Tallridge Hollow for a while now, we still remember the last few big wars. Goblins were on the side of the demons. It is not a happy thing to remember. You know about the demon ‘cursion, right?"

Kevin nodded. "Of course."

“Good. I couldn't be sure since you didn't know much about goblinkind, and the demon business doesn't really look good for goblins. Orks and goblins were used by the demons over five hundred years ago. I, we, worry that some of the other races might hold grudges.”

“Based on what you're implying, the grudges are actually a certainty." Something suddenly occurred to Kevin. "Is this why you and your group were building a settlement out in the middle of nowhere?"

The goblin woman quietly nodded. "Yes. If nobody will share with us, then we wanted to make something of our own. It's just normal goblin luck that right after we started making something good, the bad orks came and, well, you know the rest." She shuddered out a sigh and gripped her hands together tightly. "I know I should just feel lucky that I'm still alive, and I do. Also, I'm sure I can survive. I'm still fairly young and healthy, and I've already trained a little bit before to fight. But I don’t think everyone in my group will survive if we have to go through all that again."

Kevin knew she was probably referring to everything they’d been through; the attack, the imprisonment, and the uncertainty now. "So what exactly are you asking from me?" he inquired.

Gesel laughed nervously. "Just what I said. Please help us find work. Not mining. And if you can help us find a place to call our own, that would be even better." Then with uncommon seriousness and gravity, placing a hand over her heart, she said, "If you help us, I will pledge my loyalty to you for the rest of my life. I know the rest will too. We've traveled with you and we know what sort of person you are. Even though you deny it, it's extremely obvious that you have noble blood. I do not know what your future tracks look like, but as long as you help my group this one last time, we will be loyal till death."

"Do you truly speak for the others right now?" asked Kevin curiously.

She nodded. "It hasn't been official, but we've talked about it enough that I'm about as sure as I can be. If you can help us, they will all join hands with me and become your people."

Until now, Kevin had known that the goblin group he was watching over had been through many trials and tribulations. He'd just assumed they were shell-shocked and seeking stability, but it turned out at least one of them was thinking far ahead to the future. He nodded slowly. "I can't find any flaw in your logic, and although I will not confirm or deny anything you've said about me, I'll consider it seriously."

Gesel gave him a big, sincere smile. "Thanks for listening. That is a weight off. Now good luck with whatever you have going on now."

"What do you mean by that?".

"The human man who just came in doesn't look normal." She pointed.

Kevin glanced up and saw what she was talking about. A man with an elaborate headdress and dangly bits all over his robe, some actually hanging from his ears, approached. Kevin got the distinct impression he was the Magi agent who was supposed to be meeting him.