Author's Note:

Now that the worst part is over, I hope I can get back to my planned writing schedule. Unfortunately, I just found a few finished web novels (With 500+ chapters) that I like and I am very tempted to read them instead of writing this. Goblin god give me strength.

By the way, tomorrow is probably the Q and A day as there is no way I will have time to write a whole chapter. 

Oh hey, btw I got the novel cover done!

Chapter 14- Loot Drops

Day  18

***Cani's Cave***

***Cani***

"What should I do with you?"

          I stared at the enemy soldier kneeling before me, pondering my next move. Her skin was blackened with soot and both her Ki'th and her golden yellow hair was slightly singed. A classic look of someone who survived through a fire. She kept coughing from time to time, probably from the smoke inhalation. My mind say that I should finish her off, but my gut say to take pity on her and let her live. As I was thinking what to do next, I noticed everyone stopped working to wait for my verdict. I looked up to reprimand everyone.

"Why did you guys stop working? Except for those 2 holding down the enemy, everyone needs to keep working! We need to prepare for another attack! Clean this fucking cave up now!"

           Everyone jumped at the sound of my voice and kept carrying the corpses out of the cave to be disposed. I turned my attention backed to the slightly toasted goblin.

"Why did you attack us?" 

          She glared at me bitterly with a pair of angry eyes and refused to talk. I kicked her in the stomach to punish her insolence. I didn't want to damage her face. With her slightly curly golden hair and a cute face, she gave a goblin version of "ojou-sama" sort of feel. She fell on the floor face down and coughed severely. My 2 goblin guards picked her up and I continued to question her.

"Why did you attack us?"

"You are just a male goblin, what right does a weakling to question a strong female!"

"Weak? I think you want to re-evaluate yourself here. I am the one that leads this tribe. I am the one that wiped out your attack force without losing a single goblin. I am the one that defeated a bear and made it into my Ki'th. On the other hand you are forced to kneel before me. I ask you now, who is the weak one?"

             If a stare could deal damage, my head would have a hole in it by now. She glared at me with hatred and wants to rebut my statements, but she could not find a single word.

"The weak must obey the strong. I ask again. Why did you attack us?"

            She hesitated a bit, but reluctantly she finally gave an answer.

"Our tribe grew too large to fit in that cave. We needed more room."

"How many goblins did you bring over to attack us?"

"You slaughtered 65 of us."

            What was with that answer? Was she trying to get me to feel guilty about defending our home? 2 goblins passed by carrying a corpse at this point. One of them lost his grip and dropped the corpse. When they lifted up the corpse to continue on their way, something shimmer dropped onto the ground from the body. I picked up the shimmering piece  and my heart started to race with excitement. It was a slightly burnt necklace made of copper. I ordered the 2 goblins holding the prisoner to stay put and ran deeper into the cave. Looking around frantically, I finally found an intact spear and examined the spear head. It was made of copper as well.

"Queenie! Get someone to gather up all the spears and spear heads that the enemy drop! Make sure you don't miss a single one! Search the corpse for something like this as well!"

          I handed her the necklace to teach her what copper is like and what to look for. With this, we can take a huge step towards the bronze age. I need to think of a plan to capture the other goblin tribe if they do in fact have the ability to produce copper goods. Pacing back and forth a bit, I decided I needed a bit more information from the captive. I returned to the front of the cave holding one of their spears.

"Did you make these?"

"Of course, I did. Every competent goblin makes her own spear."

"No I am talking about just the tip. Where did get the material to make it?"

         She remained silent at my question. I kicked her in the stomach once again and grabbed her by the throat.

"Where. Did. You. Get. The. Copper?"

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          She stared at me defiantly and spits blood in my face. I took a deep breath and let my Gamer's Mind do it's job to calm me down. I used my fur sleeve to clean the blood off my face. I stared into her green eyes for a few seconds.

"Ah, so your cave have a copper vein. Excellent. We shall take over your cave soon."

          She opened her eyes wide in surprise and horror to my words.

"How did you know?! I didn't say anything!"

"The goblin god told me." I answered nonchalantly. "You two, I want her alive. Tie her up, throw her into the food storage, and guard her. Make sure you gag her as well. I don't want her to disturb my sleep tonight."

          In truth, it was just an easy deduction. If she got the copper from a trade, there was no reason to hide that from me. There is only one reason why she would want to keep silent: the answer would severely affect her clan. Using a small bluff, I confirmed my suspicion. Thank the goblin god that these goblins are gullible.

"My lord we have gathered all the copper in the sleeping quarter."

          I went to the sleeping quarter to see my loot. It wasn't much but there were all sorts of things made from copper. A few necklace, a bracer or two, a small dagger, and a lot of spears and spear heads. Something was bugging me when I saw the spears though. In the back of my mind, I knew something was wrong. I did a quick count of the spears. When I finished, I yelled out for Queenie.

"Queenie, are you sure we got everything? Did some of our goblins kept a few spear for themselves?"

"No my lord. Everything is here. We have swept through everything several times already to make sure we have picked up all the copper."

"Damn it! Tell everyone to keep on high alert on all times. We missed three of them."

Day 18 (Night)

*Welleborn Mountain Range Forest"

"Unknown Goblin Soldier"

          3 goblins runs in the middle of the night. It is clear that they have been on the run for quite a while as exhaustion permeated across their faces. Finally, one of them couldn't endure and collapsed onto the forest floor. The other 2  realized that their comrade has fallen and turned around to pick her up.

"We need to keep going! Who knows *Gasp* if they saw us and decide to give chase?" 

"If that's the case... *Wheeze* its better you go ahead without me...*Wheeze*... I will....*Gasp* ... stall them as much as I can.... I can't run anymore." 

"*Wheeze*I think we are safe though. I haven't seen or heard anything *Gasp* behind us. I think we should *Wheeze* rest soon.

        All three goblins used their spear as a crutch to help them keep themselves moving. They know that they need to bring the terrible news back to their camp as soon as possible. After walking for another 20 minutes or so, they finally gave up and sat on grassy ground.

"We are still at least 3 days away from our home. It is impossible for us to keep moving without rest for that long. I think it is better that we rest up right now so that we can deal with any dangers. We should take shifts to guard each other."

"Fuck you, I am not trusting you to guard my back. You were supposed to guard that area. How could you not see a whole army right next to you!"

"I admit it! I was just too tired after marching a whole day. On top of that, I ate a bit too much. I fell asleep on the watch. But it is not completely my fault. The captain should have told us to take shifts instead of having 5 of us guard the whole night."

"You should of said something then!"

"You didn't say anything as well!"

"Alright, that's enough from both of you. There is no point in arguing. The important thing is that we survive to tell the tale. I will take the first shift, then you, and lastly you. Each shift will be 2 hours, giving us 4 hours each to rest. After that, we will continue our way. Any objections?"

"..."

"..."

"I will take that as a no. Go rest up you two."

         The two goblins lay their spears besides them and dropped on the ground like a rag doll. They were too exhausted. Silence fell among the goblins for a while. One of them finally couldn't hold her emotions any long and started sniffling, trying to stifle her tears.

"Will you keep it a secret that I fell asleep? I don't want to be punished. I don't want to die."

          The others turned towards her. Both of them started to pat her head gently to console.

"Of course we will do that. We won't let anyone hurt our  cute little sister, even if it is the matriarch."