Somewhere, West Virginia, USA.

With the town being delegated to, Morty could focus on exploitation of the minerals more. Of course he wasn't going to micromanage everything, he's just kinda had to since the goblins have been so... unreliable. But with them actually starting to grow into competency he was looking forward to letting them handle the everyday stuff.

The Red Caps should have little issue policing the town in the meantime, he thought as he watched progress continue as the forest was being chipped away at. The ever present sisters not far away, keeping an eye or two on him and the surrounding area for any threats. Now he just had to figure out how to set up his resource exploitation. The obvious answer would be the Noble Goblins. They've been getting more intellectually minded and some have been helping him in matters of finance and bureaucratic nonsense.

But while that solved WHO would oversee it, it didn't answer HOW it would be done. Did he treat it as a plantation style system where they were merely overseers over plots of land? Or did he go for an old aristocratic system and actually GIVE land to some of the Noble Goblins to rule and exploit, further delegating matters he didn't actually want to deal with?

Every plan had its pros and cons of course. If he went with the former then he would have more control but it would still be more work for him to personally be involved in. The latter had the opposite where he had little actual control over the affairs of things but didn't have to actually deal with anything, good or bad.

The more he thought about the more he preferred the aristocratic system. Less work for him, and if any of the Noble Goblins weren't up to snuff then he could simply replace them with one that was! Of course it won't be for some time that they'll actually have to do their duty of tending to the fields for cash crops and food, but getting them used to it now would help pay off when they do.

With that idea forming he turned to the workforge, or what was left of it. He decided to just scrap it for, well... scrap. Instead he would have specific specialized workshops/factories built to process things. Like a masonry to work the stone, a lumbermill for the lumber, and so on and so forth.

Of course that came with its own problems down the line. Either the Noble Goblins would have to start getting their hands dirty or he would have to greatly limit how industrialized he got. Because it was guaranteed that the dragues couldn't run a cotton gin let alone a industrial iron smelter!

While some of the smarter goblins weren't averse to tinkering and working, it was the dragues that made up the heavy lifting in terms of actual physical labor. It was certain that the dragues would be more of a liability should they be involved in anything more than manual labor.

As Morty contemplated more he was soon interrupted out of his thoughts as the head butler caught his attention.

"Master? Some people are here to see you."

Morty cocked a brow.

"Oh? Who?"

The head butler scrunched his face as he tried to recall.

"Lords, something or another."

Lords? As in actual nobility, Morty thought. Curious he, and the sisters, followed the head butler back towards the manor to meet these "Lords". As he passed through the manor he noticed some of the goblins were still dressed up in gowns and suits. They seemed to like dressing up. Even if there wasn't an event or known guests to entertain.

He didn't care though. If they were to be "nobleized" or whatever it was to make someone noble, they would have to start looking the part.

They reached the foyer where he found a group of people. There were maybe twenty odd people in total. Most were black-haired humans while the rest were platinum-blond, some even outright silver or white, with long pointed ears.

"Huh? So elves are a thing now too."

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At the sound of his voice the group ceased their idle chatting and murmuring and turned towards him. The second they saw him, the sneers and looks of disdain for his home and the staff vanished as if they weren't there to begin with and in an instant false smiles filled their faces instead. It was a strange feeling, though one he didn't hate, pretty much everyone he knew that hated him made no secret in hiding it.

But these people were making an active effort in hiding their true feelings for their surroundings. Two people marched towards him with those same fake smiles and bowed before him. One was a man with dark hair that stood at a few inches taller than him. The elf on the other hand looked to be a whole foot taller! It would be intimidating if not for the sisters who easily dwarfed the elves in height. Something the elves noticed and caused their plastic smiles to dip slightly. Their presence caused all the noble's fake smiles to dip, if not outright shatter.

The dark haired man spoke first. Having more will and control to keep his smile going despite the presence of the ogres.

"Lord Mortimer! It is a pleasure and honor to meet you personally! Unless their is a different, greater, title that we should be addressing you by that we did not catch during your... exotic entrance earlier today?"

Goblin King, Emperor of West Virginia, were a couple that came to mind, Morty thought. But he thought it best not to count his chickens just yet.

"Lord is just fine currently."

"Excellent! I am Lord Halifeor! I represent as well as lead the human nobility of Daele!"

"I am Lord Caeywin! I too represent and lead the elvish nobility of Daele!" The elf declared.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance! How may I entertain you this evening, my Lords?" Morty asked as he tried to recall those dumb classes that were drilled in him in being a prepish ass to your, supposed, betters.

Lord Halifeor made to speak but his elvish counterpart beat him to it with a wide smug smile.

"A simple request, My Lord. We are far from home and are in need of fitting accommodations. We, naturally, thought that you could provide such."

So you're here to kiss my ass so I can let you eat my food, drink my booze, and breath my air. Is what Morty wanted to say. But if they truly are nobility, and given their presence with the Mayor and the other members of the council earlier and their current attire, it was safe to assume they weren't some local bums looking for handouts. Well, they were, but these bums no doubt had actual power and influence over the people that just arrived.

Morty smiled widely and dipped his head in a bow.

"Of course! It would be my honor to host your Lordships at my home!"

"Excellent!" Lord Halifeor said as he turned and gestured to one of the other humans who wasn't near as finely dressed as he or the others, he bowed deeply and left out the doors. An elvish servant soon followed as the elvish lord did the same.

Soon a train of large luggage and bulging baggage trailed into the foyer, strenuously strewn about as they quickly got the noble nap bags and lordly laundry into the confines of the manor and out of the elements.

As the collection of chests and carry-ons increased. Morty gestured to the head butler.

"My head butler here will show you to your rooms!"

The lords and their entourage bowed and followed the goblin towards the guest wing of the manor. As they did the servants groaned and began picking up and carrying the baggage up the stairs as they trailed after their masters. He briefly considered having the serving staff help out, but given their shorter stature and the sheer amount of noble shit that was piled about, he thought it better to have the human/elvish servants handle it while the serving staff continued their duties.

Speaking of, most, if not all, the food was just given out. So Morty made for his office to call for food delivery. It would normally be brought at the start of every month but he just gave this months out earlier today. He would've called them regardless but now he had guests he needed to spoil and so needed it a little more urgently.

He got on the phone with the delivery company and made the order. Though he decided to quadruple it given just how many mouths he had to feed now. It was going to take a chunk out of his income that was still more or less on life-support right now thanks to the large order of uniforms and now the food. But with the mines soon to be started and some real money will start to come in he wasn't going to worry about that for now.

With that taken care of he had a bottle of bourbon brought to him as he relaxed and waited for the nobles to get settled before inviting them for... oh yeah, he didn't have any food left. He was loathe to bring out his booze for anyone but it would have to do to get them tipsy enough that he could maybe order a pizza... or twenty, until the delivery arrives later tonight or in the morning.

-----

The Colonel meanwhile was getting into his new role. While Morty was dealing with stuffy nobles, he was organizing his troops into squads that would patrol the town and see to the safety of the people. They were being led to a couple of apartment buildings that had been abandoned and cleared of the ferals.

While they were quite wary of the goblins, and even the Red Caps once they got close enough for people to see the lingering goblinoid features, the idea of shelter appealed to them more than their fear and distrust of them.

Of course not everything was sunshine and lollypops. As they were herding people to shelter in the abandoned buildings they already had to put the boot to several groups of ferals who were using the dense population to target lone or small groups isolated from the rest. Likewise, unsavory elements among the new townsfolk were already rearing its ugly head as they've chased down several thieves and would-be gangsters who were preying on the people.

Normally the Colonel would be able to deal with any threats to the peace of the town. But with how many people there were, and how few men he had, it was a taxing process. Even with the majority of the Armee here he was having issues just trying to keep up!

He was grateful for the new position as it afforded him more time to spend with Molly, but he could tell already that it was going to be a chore to get things in order before the Nation Guard show up. Morty wanted people to think he was in control and it was the Colonel's duty to make it seem so. But he simply didn't have the numbers to police so many! He thought about maybe recruiting among the newcomers. Surely some amongst them would've had to have been guards back where they came from.

He heard a call come from one of his men that informed him that trouble was being had somewhere. He groaned and marched along towards them. The sea of people parting fearfully of him. Despite Morty's recent gesture of goodwill, the newcomers were still fearful and distrustful of him and his men. But that would change the longer they were around them. Once they have proper shelter and realized that they were there to protect them, they would come around.