[It is now 1500.]
‘Thank you.’
“So Chief…apart from the improved sensation we’re all getting from you, are there any other changes to being Tier 3?”
‘Is that a sparkle in his eye Velora?’
[No, I don’t think so.]
‘No, I see it! His eyes are sparkling!’
[…]
‘Is that the silent treatment?!’
“Um Chief?”
“Uh sorry, I was thinking about your question.”
“Ah was it too much to ask?’
“No no, you will soon be Tier 3 yourself anyway, but not much changed for me. I still look the same, and I can already tell I’m both stronger and faster than before, but so far, I haven’t noticed anything else too significant. Though I plan on doing various tests to confirm that.”
“Oh okay, I can tell that I’m close so I couldn’t help but think about it. Thank you.”
“Ah of course Jaba. Actually, it’s good that you’re here, the tribe has gone through a lot of changes while I was gone huh”
“Yes! I’ve been very proud of our progress! The three squad idea has gone down really well, with Geedi, Tars, and Dal being great squad leaders. It led them to reaching Tier 2 around a week after you left, and a number of Tier 0 Goblins reached Tier 1. Before long, the entire tribe with the exception of the new ones will be Tier 2.”
“Right..new ones. I did notice there were a bit more Goblins than when I left. I’m assuming that means a number of you guys decided to engage in Goblin baby making activities.”
“Yes…there was some of that. It was all by the Tier 0 Goblins though. None of the Tier 1 Goblins or any Tier 2 did anything like that. I’m not sure why that’s the case but that’s how it happened. So instead of around 20 something Goblins, we now have 43 Goblins, not including the group you brought back. Oh that number is including myself , Geedi, Dal and Tars.”
“That’s a big increase…but I dont see any pregant Goblins, or any babies at all running around. Why is that?"
"Well they all kind of stopped at some point. Again, not sure the reason there. Regarding babies...it actually takes only about 7 days for a baby to grow into a full fledged Goblin. The mother also only stays pregnant for 14 days. So once you left it all happened very fast...Honestly it was a bit much at first but things have calmed down since then.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
"Plus the addition our numbers was good and we were able to do some new things due to that."
'7 days to grow and a 14 day pregnancy? We're like bugs Velora! No wonder people want us gone, if left to our own devices we could multiply like crazy in the span of just a few months...'
[Yes, I could see how that would pose a problem, but remember Jaba said they stopped after a while. Perhaps it was just an instinctual desire to reproduce that the lesser Goblins found harder to ignore.]
'There you go again with the smart stuff...well it's not something I can figure out in the short term, but its good to know we could very easily face population problems in the future.'
"Right...so these new things you mentioned Jaba, does that include scouting? Is that why i ran into that lone Goblin on the way back to the cave?"
"Yes! So how we go about things have changed slightly once all the babies stopped coming, and the previous ones grew up. We still kept three sqauds, but one will go through training with me, while the other rested and guarded the back exit in the cave, and the active squad will handle hunting and scouting.
"So not including myself, Dal, Tars and Geedi there are 39 Goblins. 24 of them are Tier 1 now and are split between the 3 squads evenly at the moment which was just a nice coincidence. The other 15 are still Tier 0 and are mostly made up of the 'babies'. They are split evenly as well, but this time on purpose.
"That makes three squads of 13, one squad leader each, and then me."
"Wow...thats actually really good. You guys are amazing Jaba."
"Haha...thank you."
"Ah don't be shy now!"
[Stop teasing him.]
'Your no fun!'
"Anyways Jaba, that brings me back to the whole escort thing with Geedi. What will we do now with the remaing members of her squad? And who'll be the new leader?"
"Actually I don't think we'd thought that far ahead but your the Chief, what do you think?"
"I am the Chief now aren't I...let me think."
'So Velora what do you think?'
[Weren't you the one that was supposed to think about it?]
'This is me thinking about it! But fine...hmm...what if we just make Geedi's entire squad the new escorts...and then the other two will still kind of be the same, but the squad not hunting will help with things around the tribe...like building...yeah Wala and Dran know how to build things but they can't do it all themselves, so they'd need help.
'While the escort thing...I still feel a bit weird about it but it makes sense I guess. What king didn't have a royal guard? Plus wasn't the Royal Guard suppose to be a step above the rest? Ah...I just got an idea! My 'Royal Guard' does need to be step above the rest...so no one below Tier 2 for now!'
[Does that mean your going to reject their wishes to give you an escort?]
'No...but they need to be evolve quickly if they want to join my guard and they need to be cut from a different cloth as well. So I'll 'reject' them but only until they become Tier 2. '
[What about the new Goblins you brought? Are they going to be ingrained in any squads?]
'Hmm another good question...well Wala and Dran could be the very first members of our new building squad, but the others...I guess with Kida and Zargi we could create a magic division? Sigi and Lagi though...I'm actually not sure. I can just ask them I guess.'
[You didn't need my help afterall.]
'Yeah yeah whatever you say.'
"Alright Jaba, I my answer. Please call the others back in so I can just say it all at once."
"The entire tribe or just the new Goblins and the squad leaders?"
"Hm good question..."
'I suppose I should do more delgation now huh, let the squad leaders get more and more used to handling their own squads.'
"Just squad leaders and the new Goblins."
"Got it Chief."
'Its going to take some time to get used to that.'