Duval Estate.

No, this simply won't do, Gerard thought as he gazed upon the form of his most recent failure in creating a animal suitable for goblins. This time he had a couple of local bobcats captured by the bugbear scouts thrown into a small spawning pool. Just like last time however, the result was less a goblinized animal and more of an... abomination.

The furred goblin with cat ears, fur, and cat-like eyes hissed and darted away before it could be properly disposed of. Several more were able to spawn and depart as well with swifter feet than any goblin was capable of before the contaminated spawning pool was destroyed. They weren't even fully rid of the sheeplins either as it appeared that some managed to spawn and bound away before the tainted pool could be disposed of.

Their infernal braying has startled more than a few of his fellow goblins already and it seemed like no matter how many they captured and killed more kept appearing, Gerard thought as several goblins were pushed into position before starting the brutal process of creating another genepool.

While nothing but failure, and the cursed crying of the lamblins, has resulted so far, Gerard has managed to at least partially prove his theory that balancing out the essence within the pool could recreate the "goblinization" process that occurred to the trolls and humans into their current forms.

Hitting this balance was trickier however, Gerard thought as he turned his sight to several "goblinized" hogs. They retained their porcine body and surly attitude, but their hide had turned into a goblin green. The most frightening aspect however was their faces! It turned into an unholy mixture of a goblin's large nose, ears, and beady eyes, and the hog's snout and tusks!

While appearance wasn't necessarily an issue it certainly assisted in him quickly having the beasts terminated along with the spawning pool before anymore such abominations could form! Even if they weren't hideous even by goblin standards, their temperament was the worst of both goblin and hog and they were instantly consumed in frothing rage and aggression!

Gerard sighed.

"Back to the drawing board as it were."

As he gestured for some rabbits to be readied for the next phase of testing however, he was interrupted by the arrival of several messengers. One was a maid from the manor, another he recalled from the iron mine outpost, and the third was one of his human intermediaries. He turned to the outpost messenger first.

"What news?"

"We were attacked. But we managed to hold them off thanks to some of the early fortifications and the trogs." The goblin messenger reported back.

Some good news at least, Gerard thought.

"What about the stone quarry? Have you heard anything back from them?"

"No. Nothing."

"Nothing?" Gerard asked. Surely they should've at least heard that they had been attacked.

"Nothing. Sent a scout over their way but he didn't return." The outpost messenger stated.

So much for good news, Gerard thought with a sigh as he pinched his nose in irritation.

"Very well. Gather some men and keep an eye on the quarry and report back of anything of note."

The messenger saluted and departed once again. Gerard then turned towards the maid with a cocked brow. She curtsied and began to speak.

"The human and elvish nobles are planning treachery against Master Mortimer."

"How did you gleam this knowledge?"

The maid rolled her eyes.

"They were not exactly subtle about it. Practically shouted it in front of everyone nearby."

Gerard sighed. What little respect he had for the worthless nobles from another world being smothered in its crib at her report. Were they really so incompetent that planning a coup so openly was the best idea they could come up with? Poisoning of Mortimer's food, subtly bribing the guards, mustering a force in secret. Literally anything would've been at least respectable even if ultimately futile. But just outright declaring rebellion in the middle of the manor?!

Leaving a note saying they were planning rebellion would've been more subtle, Gerard thought. He turned to the maid after a minute of calming himself.

"How has the process of la coup de sang been coming along?"

"Mixed." The maid said.

"How so?"

"Seduction of the male heirs has been a success. Though we had to request assistance with some of the male staff for some of them."

Not unexpected, Gerard noted. Most of the male heirs were within the age where hormones would all but take over and the younger heirs would be easy to puppet. Though the knowledge of some of them preferring the same sex might come in handy as blackmail if need be. From what he's gathered of the nobles, they weren't exactly the most "open-minded" of sorts and would no doubt frown upon, if not worse, should it come to light that the potential future of their bloodline was threatened not from the goblins' seduction but by their own sexual preferences.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Then again, blackmailing the noble heads at this point seemed like bargaining with a disease. It would be better to cut off the gangrenous flesh and take the chance at a healthy transplant. Still, better to have it than not, he thought as he gestured for the maid to continue.

"Seduction of the female heirs has been far less successful however. The younger heirs are more easily swayed by the etiquette of the Noble Goblins, but the older heirs are more firm and resolute in their disdain for their advances. A minority of them also prefer the affections of the same sex, a smaller minority however have sought companionship with us in secret."

Again, not unexpected. The males were used to having the attention of suitors and making some of the goblin maids dress more provocatively and having them all but throw themselves at the male nobles was all but guaranteed a success. The females however were more than likely going to be used as bargaining chips to cement alliances or agreements with other nobles or people of influence and required a bit more effort on the Noble Goblins' part to seduce them.

But of course there were outliers. Those seeking the affections of goblins in secret could be influenced to weaken the bias in the others, opening the door for them. The knowledge of same sex attraction among the females wasn't as worthwhile as with the male heirs though. While he had no doubt consequences would come of such knowledge being made public, the outcry would probably be lesser than if the same was proven of the male heirs.

Again though, better to have it than not, Gerard thought before speaking.

"Good. Cement our hold over the male heirs before proceeding to phase two. Inform those assigned to the females to exploit their secret rendezvous in order to thaw attitudes of the others, use the threat of exposing such meetings or even the sapphic leanings of others if they resist too heavily, but don't do so unless all other options have been tried. We wish to woo them and blackmail and other such indelicate measures must be only used as a last resort, do you understand?"

"Yes Gerard." The maid declared with a curtsy before departing as Gerard dismissed her.

He then turned to his human messenger acting as his go between to other races.

"What have you to report?"

"Attempts to garner cooperation and business with the dwarves at the hub has been shot down. They didn't like the obs- obsu?"

"Obscuration."

"Yeah, that. They didn't like not knowin' who I worked for. Didn't like the idea of doin' business with someone they weren't familiar with. But."

Gerard cocked a brow and motioned for him to continue.

"But, as I were headin' back. I stopped for a bite to eat and ran into the head of the independent guilds."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Though he's a dwarf, he's rather bristly when it comes to the expansion of the Ulrin Clan into town. When broached with the subject of cooperation and business, he accepted. Not sure if it's because it means work for his boys or to snub the other dwarves though."

While the loss of cooperation with the dwarves at the trainyard was disappointing, having an in with a consortium of independent guilds was still a boon that he wasn't going to turn his nose up at.

"Excellent. I will draft letters of introduction and business proposals when I am able. What news on the progress with the locals in town?"

The human messenger produced a piece of paper and handed it over to Gerard who took it and read quickly before throwing it into a nearby fire.

"Good. Make the necessary arrangements and proceed as planned."

"Yeah boss." The messenger said and departed.

Affairs in order for the time being, Gerard departed himself to assemble a complement in the likely reclamation of the stone quarry. They just recently hit the spot and were in the process of building the necessary fortifications and infrastructure when the attack came on the manor. If they wanted that continuous supply of stone for construction, repairs, and a bit of money, it would need to be retaken fast if for no other reason than to prevent their enemy from having a foothold in the area.

He looked upon the remnants of the battlefield as he entered the army camp. There were still some fires from spilled oil or charred remains from their flamethrower division, or flammenwefer korps as they preferred to be called for some reason. But aside from that there was still plenty of bodies being hauled away and back towards the appropriate spawning pools while the ones that popped up here and there from the battle were either being disposed of for convenience or allowed to spawn until it eventually stagnated and became nothing more than a sickly green pool of goblin biological refuse.

But the most damage was against the wall that surrounded most of the previous borders of the estate grounds. Since their lack of a source of stone, as well as price of ordering it, far too much has gone unmaintained in recent weeks and have fallen to disrepair in some places that weren't outright broke down to make room for the ever expanding Vert Armee.

But with a source of stone, they could now repair, reinforce, and even expand their fortifications against such simple attacks like that of the trolls or even the most recent ones. He wasn't a fool however, he knew the capabilities of this world's modern military. Of the helicopters, tanks, rockets, and drones. But if those sorts of weapons were being used against them, then it wouldn't matter what they did and would just hope to survive and perhaps sue for a peace in the aftermath.

Which was why he disagreed with Morty's order to assault the mountain. It would draw attention and tensions upon themselves when they were in short of proper defenses and equipment! Not only that, but it was anyone's guess as to which factions would form in town from such an event. If reports are true then the dwarves were attacked as well which should make them allies. But that hasn't panned out for even basic business let alone an alliance of convenience.

Then there was the attitude of the locals in town as well as the newcomers. Neither held much love for Mortimer nor the goblins and while they both seemed to fear the hillfolk to various degrees, it didn't necessarily mean that they would assist the goblins in a war even if they were the defenders.

Gerard sighed. There were plenty of ways to exploit such a conflict, some of which he was already preparing for or even setting in motion. But he didn't like the idea of the same being done to them. This conflict would be long and bloody and he doubt that a peace would be had in the near future. His only hope of lessening the damage done to them from it would be to secure the fledgling quarry and begin fortifying the Outremer and make conflict all but moot against solid fortifications. Hopefully then Morty's temper will have cooled and plans to assault the mountain are scraped in favor of a solid defense in order to shore up their supply lines and hold over the South of them.

"So much work to do." Gerard said as he walked up to the Red Caps in charge of the local forces.

Unlike those in town who held a disdain for goblins in general, even the Noble Goblins, the local Red Caps had grown to at least respect his authority. Though he would still catch some sneering down at the Noble Goblins from time to time. At the very least, they trusted and respected Gerard enough to follow his orders.

"Captain. Assemble a small force and make ready to potentially do combat at the stone quarry."

"Any idea of forces we might face?"

"None yet. But assume it to be similar to what we faced recently."

"When should we make ready to march?"

"As soon as you are able. We require that stone for a great many things and every second we go without is another which leaves us vulnerable." Gerard declared.

The Red Cap captain saluted and began to prepare a force, barking out orders to goblin grunts and abusing dragues to get them to gather the equipment and supplies needed. Gerard left him to get ready as he headed towards the manor, he had some things of his own to take care of. Like writing letters and proposals for the guilds, researching biology to hopefully better find a balance with creating a goblin friendly beast, as well as noting down the information regarding the nobles and their heirs before securing in the usual spot that he keeps particularly sensitive information stored.

Morty and a small handful of other Noble Goblins are aware of the stash of information mainly to make sure the information just doesn't go forgotten in the event of his death and can still be used should the need arise. So far Gerard hasn't had to resort to breaking anything out, yet. But it brought him a small amount of comfort and assurance that it was there.

Of course it wasn't his ONLY stash. There was another he had known only to himself and two other Noble Goblins. This stash contained records and letters by Morty and his family that had never seen the light of day, and with good reason. He was loyal to Morty and was grateful for everything he had done for him and the goblins. But he wasn't a fool. There may come a day where Morty's temperament gets the better of him and being associated with him would bring far too much vitriol and violence against the goblins just by association. With this information though, he could keep the worst of Mortimer in check if he had to, or to potentially bargain a way out for him and his people if need be.

But that was a matter for a future he didn't really want to think about at the moment. For now, they hit a speedbump in their expansion and plans. But a course correction wasn't necessary and they would be back on track soon enough. If he can get Morty to impregnate a goblin, or several, they might be enough to temper his worst aspects enough to make a dignified ruler.

Similar to what he was doing to the nobles. If he can usurp their name and blood he could use it in order to facilitate better relations between the goblins and the newcomers. If he could get the worst of Morty under control he could better relations with the locals as well. As long as they were busy shooting at one another and not at them it could work. But this recent declaration of conflict could spell trouble if not handled correctly, Gerard thought as he pulled out a map of the area and began to formulate plans for expansion South and how to keep it theirs.