Gazing at the Boat on the River—Dias

The banquet was over, and Eldan had left for Mahati. The traveling performers were doing the rounds of the border stations, but in Iluk Village life was back to normal, and we were getting ready to see the goblins off on their journey home.

Uncle Ben, Hubert, and Sahhi had all looked into the river that stretched down to the ocean and said that it wasn’t as deep or as full as you’d expect of most rivers because of how recently it had been created. Still, it had depth and it was flowing, and they all told me that the goblins would be fine taking a boat down it to the ocean. They said that once we’d properly tinkered with the riversides and the spring it’d turn into something more like the stream that ran through the plains. In the future, we could anticipate using it to transport goods more thoroughly.

Speaking of the Iluk stream, the cavekin had pretty much finished their work on it. The water flow had improved, and they’d even dug out a few ponds here and there off to the sides so the livestock could get their fill more easily. The plan was to direct it towards the new river to improve the water flow through to the sea, but the cavekin weren’t going to connect it directly with the spring, what with that being a sacred site and all.

In any case, we were preparing a modest boat for the goblins so they’d have what they needed on their trip home. It was just about done, which meant once we had all their provisions ready, it wouldn’t be long before the goblins could head out.

“And there’s a roof too, huh?” I remarked.

A few days had passed since our last banquet, and I was standing by the riverside near the laundry space. The cavekin were testing the boat in the river to make sure there weren’t any last-minute problems, and I was looking at the baar fabric canvas that stretched over the top of it.

“The goblins are pretty sensitive to sunlight,” said Narvant, standing next to me. “So it felt right to make sure they have some shade when they need it. It’s a pretty basic thing—just fabric stretched over a metal frame—but this is about as much as we can do given the size of the boat.”

“Yeah, well, you can’t make it too big or it won’t fit down the river,” I commented. “Just needs to be big enough for the goblins and their provisions. I’ve heard talk that we’ll use the new river to carry stuff back and forth in the future, but, uh, how does the ‘back’ part of that plan work? Are we equipping the boats with something to work against the current?”

“Well, we added a sail that they can use when the winds are good, but with a group of fishkin on board, they can just pull the thing too. Yeah, they’ll be pushing upstream, but without any mountains or valleys in these parts it won’t be all that hard on them. Everything’s lighter when it’s floating on water, and it’ll be easier pulling a boat than it would be our baar wagons. And besides, if the goblins get tired they can just drop anchor, drink some booze, and sleep ’til they feel good to go again!”

“Huh, okay,” I said. “Well, the boat looks like it floats just fine, so all we have to do now is load it with provisions and the goblins’ souvenirs for home. Guess it’s about time we got onto assembling all those provisions.”

“It’s only a few days to the sea, so if you ask me, booze is more important than food, but...you just do you, young’n. The boat’s good to go, and we’ve crafted the spears and tools the goblins asked for, so once you’ve got the packing done, they’ll be all set.”

Narvant then took a hold of the rope connected to the boat and began to pull it together with a few of the cavekin who’d been waiting on standby. They were real cautious about it, almost obsessively so, and I remembered then that cavekin couldn’t swim—Narvant had told me once that cavekin were real heavy. They just sank in the water.

When that thought hit me, I could understand the cavekin being so careful, so I waded into the river myself and helped push the boat out of the water.

With that done, the twins ran up to me with their woven baskets in hand.

“Dias!” cried Senai. “It’s a delicious harvest! The field’s all grown up!”

“This year’s going to be really exciting!” added Ayhan.

The girls held out their baskets and I took a peek into them.

“Wow, look at the size of those carrots,” I said. “Beautiful color, well-rounded, and chunky to boot.”

They really were impressive carrots—nothing like the sorts I was used to seeing. It must have been the power of the twins’ field. At some point, I’m not sure when exactly, they’d started telling me the field was “growing up.”

In any case, they got advice from their parents, they fertilized the fields with verdant leaf stones, and they never slacked when it came to their produce. Finally, all their hard work was starting to pay off for them.

“Eat one! Eat one!” cried Senai. “They’re delicious and nutritious!”

“Carrots are really easy to grow!” added Ayhan. “Everyone will like them, so everyone will be happy!”

“Everyone?” I replied. “It doesn’t sound like you’re talking about our villagers... Ah, you mean the horses, huh? Yeah, I’ve heard that horses just love carrots, but Aisha was never a big fan. I reckon you’ll be best off preparing her some fruit so she doesn’t get sulky.”

When I said that, the twins gasped as if they’d realized something, then got all serious.

“You’re right!” said Senai. “We’ll go get some from the forest later! But for now, carrots!”

“But it’s not just the horses!” said Ayhan. “The goblins will like them too! Make sure you pack some for them! But before that, a taste test!”

“All righty then,” I said, nodding. “They do look mighty tasty.”

That was all the twins needed to hear, and they dashed off to the laundry space to wash the carrots. I watched them work, and Narvant sidled up with a big fat grin on his face.

“You always know what those girls are talking about,” he said. “I had no idea they were talking about the horses—not until you said it. I guess that’s family for you.”

“You think? I was just talking with them like I always do,” I replied. “But yeah, I guess it helps that we live together. Ayhan has a bit of a lisp, but it’s getting better every day. They’re really shooting up... Won’t be long before we’re talking to them like adults, and then they’ll have more and more friends, and then eventually they’ll be all independent.”

Narvant’s smile deepened, and he didn’t say anything else. I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of the look on his face, but then the twins came back with their washed carrots. They handed one to me, and they handed the rest to Narvant and the other cavekin helping to check on the boat.

I had to say, the one I bit into was fantastic. No rotten parts or anything, a satisfying crunch, and it was full of flavor. Before I knew it I’d eaten the whole thing.

According to the twins, carrots lasted a little while if you wrapped them in baar fabric and kept them in a storage pot. They weren’t especially well suited to long periods like preserved foods, but they’d easily last the few days that it would take the goblins to get back to the ocean. That made them kind of perfect for the trip when I thought about it—they were delicious and good for you, they didn’t go bad quickly, and you didn’t have to cook them. There was of course the question of whether or not the goblins actually liked carrots, but we’d cooked with carrots before without them complaining, so I figured they’d be fine.

But I guess it pays to be sure...

I told the twins to come along with me and together we headed to the temple. Iberis and the other goblins had been offering prayers at the temple every day, but they also took lessons from Uncle Ben, who shared the temple’s teachings as well as things to be careful of in the kingdom proper.

The paladins spent a lot of time at the temple too, so the goblins had taken to learning team tactics from them. The goblins were masters of fighting in water, but on the land they still hadn’t quite found their feet, so to speak. The paladins excelled when they could fight together as a four-man unit, and the goblins wanted to hone that skill for themselves.

The twins and I headed down the road and eventually the pub came into view. The temple was about a stone’s throw from there, and when we arrived we caught the goblins in the midst of another training session with the paladins. The paladins all had wooden scepters and the goblins all had wooden spears. It was a squad-versus-squad battle, and it was the paladins who had the advantage on account of their experience.

The paladins weren’t just stronger; they were also a bit more capable and, like I said, they excelled at teamwork. Still, the goblins parried skillfully with their spears, and their reflexes were astounding. From my point of view, the goblins just needed to get their teamwork in order and then they’d be a real force to be reckoned with.

The goblins were smaller and lacked the paladins’ sheer strength, but they withstood the paladins’ attacks and parried them well. This was thanks to them having their big, long tail fins. They could drive those tail fins into the ground to act as a third leg, and sometimes they could even stand on their tail fins alone.

Whenever the goblins used their tail fins to help them out, it always took the paladins off guard, and for a brief second they weren’t sure how to react. The goblins used this to their advantage to launch surprise counterattacks. I couldn’t help thinking that with a little more teamwork and a few new tail techniques, they’d be a real menace on the battlefield.

As I was thinking about all of this, the paladins and the goblins finished up and Fendia came out with tea for all of them. She even had cups ready for me and the twins.

But when the twins saw Fendia passing out tea, they quickly followed her lead and started handing out carrots to everybody. The paladins and goblins looked a bit puzzled, but they took the carrots all the same, and when the twins told them to eat, they did just that. They must have liked what they ate too, because soon enough everybody was smiling and moments later everyone had polished them off.

“Now that’s a good carrot!” boomed Patrick.

“You remember those carrots we used to grow and eat back at the temple?” said one of the other paladins.

“I bet this would taste just as good grated,” said another.

The goblins, however, reacted a little differently. It looked a bit more like they were keeping their thoughts in—they were chewing slowly and staring up at the sky. This got the twins pretty worried that maybe the goblins didn’t like the carrots, but then Iberis let out a supremely satisfied sigh.

“Amazing...” he whispered.

If the twins’ expressions had been cloudy before, then this lit them up like the sun. Still, we couldn’t help but wonder why the goblins had reacted like that, so we asked Iberis.

“This journey has brought us countless experiences,” he said, “and it just brings a tear to all of our eyes. Our journey here was one for the history books, for starters. But then we encountered a god and met with the most generous hospitality we’ve ever known. Could anything make a goblin happier? What is this if not a blessing? We’ve learned to live upon the surface, and we’ve tasted so many different foods. We’ve found a home here and put down roots of a sort. The idea of going back is truly bittersweet. We love the ocean, and it will always be our home, but this place feels like a second home, and we can’t help feeling a little lonely at the idea of leaving.”

All the other goblins nodded in agreement, their gazes all turning skyward as they reflected on their time here. It made me think, and so I told them I’d be right back and headed to my yurt back in Iluk Village. I took a wooden box from one of the shelves and ran back to the temple. The goblins were still staring up at the sky when I got back.

“Duke, is that...?” asked Iberis when he saw me opening the box.

I knelt next to the goblin and took from the box a pendant.

“You’ve probably noticed that everybody here has one of these, so you might already know what they are, but just in case you don’t, these are pendants I make in my spare time. Every resident has one. Now, I realize that you hail from the ocean and that it’s your home. You might never be residents here quite like everybody else, but I imagine you’ll be back often for trade and whatnot, so you can think of these pendants as express permission to visit whenever you feel like. I want you to know that you’ll always have a place here, so there’s no reason to feel lonely or sad. You’ll always be welcome in Iluk.”

Iberis reached out with trembling hands to accept the pendant I held out to him, and I went around giving them out to the other goblins too. That said, the goblins had pretty thick necks—they were about as thick as their bodies, in fact, so we had to make the strings a bit longer. But in the end everything worked out and all the goblins had pendants.

The goblins all toyed with their pendants, a little awestruck at first. But they were proud of themselves too, and they put their hands to their chests in a sign of respect.

“Oh, Duke Baarbadal, hero of the great continent,” said Iberis, his voice trembling. “Your generosity is deeper than the sea itself, and all we can do is apologize that we have nothing for you save the gratitude in our hearts! You won’t hear us goblins talking of loneliness or bittersweet partings any longer! And I promise you this! We will return to the sea, full of its endless bounties, and we will bring them to you and all the people of Baarbadal! Let it be known, here and now, that this is our reason for returning home! You have inspired in all of us a great bravery, and for that as well, you have our gratitude!”

Iberis’s fellow goblins then chimed in with shouts.

“Glory to the duke!”

“Glory to Baarbadal!”

“May the lands be as blessed as the seas!”

“Let’s rejoice in our unbreakable bonds of brotherhood, bro!”

“We are as grateful as the sea is deep!”

I made sure to shake each goblin’s hand in turn. They would all be leaving in the next two days or so, and I had to admit that even I was feeling a little lonely about having to see them go. I felt that now more than ever, but it also warmed my heart that I’d made such good friends.

Aboard the Boat—Iberis

With most of Iluk’s residents watching, the boat floated downstream, filled with supplies.

“To our beloved Baarbadal and all the wonderful people who call it home!” said a goblin from the deck of the boat. “I promise you we shall return!”

He looked up at the sky for a moment before one of his brothers picked up where he left off.

“Look! The river is not especially wide, but the flow is strong! This is the wonder of Baarbadal, and the wonders of their wisdom—the wisdom of the continent! We have learned much on this journey of ours!”

Iberis stood at the bow of the boat, which took the form of a baar’s head.

“Truly it is so,” he boomed. “The duke was working on this river even before our arrival, and it’s commendable in every way! We can travel downstream with ease and make our way home. His foresight is truly a thing of awe... Just how far into the future does that man see? It will be some time before the river is deep enough for active trade and transportation, but it’s not a problem at all for us.”

One of the goblins keeping an eye on things beneath the water—at the bottom of the boat—then popped up and waved their hands, giving Iberis the all clear. There were in fact two goblins under the water, whose job it was to look for danger and let the rest of the goblins know if it was necessary to stop or unload their supplies. The water’s depth shouldn’t be an issue, but one could never be too careful, and the goblins wanted to be ready for surprises.

The last goblin was in front of the boat, leading it on its path with a rope. This was the first time the goblins had ever traveled in this way, and in truth they were all a little nervous about it. Still, as worried as they were, they still trusted Iluk’s craftsmen and had no doubts that their boat was of the finest make.

“Not only were they able to craft a fine boat in a startlingly short period of time, but they gave it to us without asking for anything in return,” said Iberis. “I have no words for such generosity. It makes me question the humans we have met until now. But we must endeavor to return this generosity in kind, and that means making it to the sea and its bounties! We’ll bring them all the aromas of the sea breeze we so love!”

The goblins all raised their fists and let out roars of agreement, their teeth glimmering in the sunlight as they smiled at the future before them.

Watching as the Goblins Sail for Home—Dias

“So even if there’s no water flow the goblins don’t need to use their sail,” I said to myself. “They can just pull the boat along, and that’s why it’s such a simple design.”

All the pieces only really clicked into place for me as I watched the goblins set off. Narvant was with me and he nodded.

“Basically, yep,” he said. “They don’t need rudders or any such stuff. And if we wanted to make something bigger for the open seas, nothing much would change. They don’t need a kitchen because they can hunt for what they eat in the ocean, and the ocean also means they don’t need a laundry space, a bath, or even privies. The boys can sleep on the waves so they don’t even need beds. May as well just build them a big floating box.”

“Huh,” I muttered. “Well, the goblins aren’t in danger if they fall overboard, and running out of food isn’t that big a deal for them either. Apparently they can drink seawater just fine too. The goblin people exist all over the open seas, so I don’t see them running into trouble. They can even sense when storms are coming, from what they tell me, so even without a boat they’ll be okay.”

“But with a boat you’ve got a place to rest and you can transport things without them getting wet,” said Narvant. “I reckon those are about the only real upsides for the goblins. We gave them that one with trade in mind, but in a worst-case scenario you could tie a rope to a barrel and they could bring us stuff that way. The only other real bonus is how you can transport folks like me and mine, who don’t fare well in the water.”

“Ah, now that you mention it, there is that,” I said. “I think my brain was just too stuck on the whole trade part. Boats are much more of a necessity when you start considering safe passage over the water. And if you’ve got goblins protecting you, you’re even safer. And you can travel faster over the sea than you can on land, right? Maybe there’ll be a lot of people who’ll want to ride the goblins’ boats in the future?”

“If they start taking passengers, they’ll need to set up their boats accordingly, though. But you’re right—it’ll be safe traveling with the goblins, so there’ll definitely be demand for it. Even with monsters, pirates, and other military sea vessels, the goblins are masters of that domain. And if war breaks out and you’ve got goblins delivering soldiers and supplies, your opponent might not even have a chance.”

“I see. So if we get a bunch of turtles attacking us again, we can send our boats to intercept them and help anybody in trouble.”

Narvant pulled a face that I’d never seen before, but it kind of looked like a smile. Then when he saw my confusion he burst into laughter.

“I reckon that’s enough of that, young Dias,” he said. “If we ever want boats capable of transporting troops, we’ll need a whole lot of timber that we don’t currently have. That sort of thing is like a distant dream to us at present. The goblins might not need rudders, but keels they certainly do.”

According to Narvant, just the body of a boat alone required a considerable amount of wood.

“But then again, with the goblins helping us, maybe it’ll be easier than I’m thinking,” continued Narvant. “They could buy the wood and have it delivered via the river, or maybe there are islands out there they know about flush with timber. Wood lasts a long time if it’s been soaked in seawater, and it’s much easier to float it to your destination than to pull or carry it over land. Also, if you make that timber into a raft it can carry goods for you as well. I’m no merchant, so I can’t say anything for certain, but I reckon we might see some big goblin merchants in the future if they can find themselves the trade partners.”

Some of the people around us must have been listening, because they started to get real excited. Goldia, Aisa, Ely, Ellie, Aymer, and Hubert all started jumping up and down and talking excitedly, and their excitement had them all walking off together towards the assembly hall. I figured they were heading off to keep the good vibes going, and I wondered what was on all of their minds.

I bet if any of the Peijins were here they would have been just as excited...

It was around then that Alna caught my eye. She was staring up at the sky, and the twins were right there with her doing the same thing. I watched them watching the sky, and then I noticed the birds flying over us. Alna spun to make sure I’d noticed, and a smile grew on her face.

“Migratory birds, Dias!” she declared. “Winter preparations have begun!”

The twins jumped up and cheered, and just like that, the loneliness drifting around the village lifted and Iluk was bustling all over again.

Heading to the Border Station—Dias

So with our population having exploded, I assumed that we were looking at one heck of a winter prep season, but to my surprise that wasn’t the case. For starters, Joe and my old buddies having joined us meant we had a whole lot of extra hands. Then there were the storage cellars and preservation pots, which were already helping us to store food over long periods. All our fields were coming along real swell, and we’d received literal caravan loads’ worth of food from Eldan and Peijin, who’d come to celebrate the opening of our new temple.

All of the above meant that we already had plenty of food to spare, and though Alna and the twins had spent last year busy in the forest foraging, this year they were more relaxed about it. In fact, it felt like their visits to the forest were more just a way to unwind. It also helped that the twins had spent the year carefully cultivating the forest—berries, nuts, and mushrooms were practically growing out of the rocks.

All the extra food in the forest meant more food for the local wildlife, which in turn boosted their numbers and made them plump and good for hunting. We could expect good hauls across the board. To top it all off, the especially tasty mushrooms the girls had discovered were also ready for gathering.

Yep, Alna and the twins were just itching to reap the rewards of their hard work. I really wanted to see the forest myself, but on the first day of our winter prep I had my breakfast, hopped on Balers, and headed in the opposite direction.

I was headed for the western border station.

I had two reasons for heading west. The first was that we had all the extra helping hands in Iluk now. It wasn’t “in fashion” for a duke to get their hands dirty, I was told—at least not when it wasn’t necessary. The second reason was that the mine was now in working order, and Narvant wanted me to inspect it myself.

The mine was north of the western border station and about halfway up a mountain. Cavekin had already started working there and amassed a pretty considerable amount of ore, from what I’d heard. It was good stuff, and all the cavekin were pretty happy about it. They wanted me to visit and see it with my own eyes.

“We’re doing our darndest here at the mines,” they’d said, more or less. “We want you to see the ore we’ve mined, and check out the tools we’re planning to make with it, and just see all the hard work we’re doing.”

It was only natural for the cavekin to feel that way, and it was important for a domain lord to see and acknowledge the work of their subjects. That was why I tried not to think about how much I wanted to go to the forest.

I figured that while I was up that way, I could also see the fields they’d been working on at the station and get a feel for the harvest they were looking at. All in all, it was going to take at least a full day’s work to check on everything, so the forest would have to wait at least a day or two.

All the same, I was admittedly pretty curious about the mines, and so I set my mind to just enjoying the day ahead of me. Balers was mighty pleased to be heading out for the day, and there was a cool fall breeze in the air. It felt really nice, and I honestly couldn’t complain about what the day had in store for me.

I let Balers set the pace and we galloped along the road to the border station before turning down the road to the mine. The cavekin had built the road themselves, and it was a sturdy piece of work—just what you’d expect of master craftsmen. It wasn’t as wide as the main road, but you could ride a single cart over it just fine. As Balers and I followed that road, I noticed the stone walls on either side of us. They weren’t especially tall, but they were thick—the kind you’d expect of a castle.

Ah, so they’re for dealing with monsters, then.

Monsters weren’t uncommon in the northern mountains, so if you were building a mine up this way then you wanted to make sure you were prepared for any unwanted visitors. I’d left all the construction and defenses to Narvant and his cavekin because they’d requested it.

They even made sure the road to the mine is well protected.

As we ventured farther north, the grass turned into rocky earth, and the walls grew thicker...but they still stayed pretty low. It made me scratch my head for a while, but then I figured they were low to accommodate the short stature of the cavekin. Maybe the low walls were fine for them and they’d just fight monsters off with spears and whatnot. But then I noticed some ballistae set up inside the walls.

“W-Wow, so they’re going to fight monsters off with these?” I muttered. “But from what I can see, they’re not complete... Maybe they’re still getting all the parts ready for them?”

A cavekin happened to be working on the other side of the wall and heard me talking to myself, and he peeked up from it. I hadn’t known he was there—he really scared me for a second.

“Nah, we make the ballistae like that on purpose,” he said, answering my question. “We bring out the other ballista parts when we need to use them. That way we don’t have to worry about bandits or whatnot using them against us.”

“Oh, okay. They look like they’ve got some kick to them too, but just how powerful are they?” I asked.

“They’ll pierce an earth dragon shell without issue,” replied the cavekin. “We’ve got some with your usual firing mechanisms and some with the magical stone type. Those magical stone types have some crazy stopping power, let me tell you. And I know what you’re thinking—how do you fire them with magical stones, right? Well, it works pretty much the same as the magical stone furnace, but if it’s the deets you’re after, talk to the boss.”

The cavekin even knew what question I had in mind while he was speaking, and he answered it before I said a single word.

“Thanks,” I said. “I’ll ask Narvant then.”

I had Balers walk on, and we passed more ballistae on either side along the road. It felt a lot like a walkway at a fort or stronghold.

The road got steeper and started leading us up the rocky mountain. On the sides of the road were little stone fortifications that reminded me of small hills. They were nothing like the towers and forts you found in the kingdom, and they were different from the border station too. The best way I could put it is that they were more rugged.

The fortifications looked a lot like rocks had just been thrown together before the insides were hollowed. In fact, if they hadn’t had ballistae on the top of them I never would have guessed that they were fortifications at all. I mean, I assumed they were tough as nails because it was the cavekin who’d built them, but all the same they were quite the sight. And they weren’t just by the sides of the road either—some of them were built at a distance.

The cavekin are really serious about fighting off those turtles, that’s for sure.

Occasionally we passed ballistae that were pointed upwards, which I assumed were for handling flame dragons and dragonflies. As we continued on, I noticed more fortifications and higher walls.

I guess higher walls are fine when you’re intercepting enemies on their way in?

All the same, I had to wonder when the cavekin had put all of this together. I mean, sure the raw materials were right here where they were building, but their speed plain baffled me, not to mention how sturdy everything was. Those cavekin sure were mighty impressive.

There were also signs up around this part of the road that read Mining ahead! Danger! Do not enter! Past those signs were big stone huts with chimneys. Smoke was pouring out of them and I could hear clanging coming from inside—I figured they were doing some smelting and whatnot. Then I noticed strange paths leading from the huts that were made with long steel bars on blocks of wood. I must have hit the main part of the mine, and so I let out a relieved sigh and started looking around for the cavekin that Narvant had put in charge.

“Lord Dias!” cried a voice. “You’re here!”

The voice came from a hole in the mountain, and out of that hole came a strange box with wheels, riding on one of the steel and wood paths I’d just passed. The wheels were made to fit the steel bars exactly, and the cavekin inside was using a lever of some sort to control the speed of the box.

“What do ya think of the minecart?” the cavekin boomed with a laugh. “Looks like an honest-to-goodness mine here, wouldn’t you say? Nothing says cavekin like a mine, nope! You can almost hear the mining songs just looking at the place! We built everything here out of stone, yes we did! The floors! The walls! The ceilings! The furnaces and workplaces too! The little stone huts you see around the place are cavekin homes!”

The cavekin moved the wooden lever in his hand to stop the cart, then kicked open one of the side doors. A bunch of cavekin flooded out and headed all about while the driver trudged on over to me.

“If I remember correctly, you’re Barnite, right?” I said. “I’m shocked. You’ve built a whole mine in record time. And did you call that thing a...minecart? Whatever they’re called, them boxes with wheels sure look helpful.”

Barnite was a cavekin with bright red hair and a leather apron over his usual clothes, and his beard swayed left and right as he boomed with laughter.

“The mine and the minecarts aren’t picture-perfect just yet, so best be ready for more surprises! So far we’ve got a rest area, our kitchen, our smelting area, and our furnaces, but we’ve still got a lot of clearing to do and then we’ll have a real mine on our hands. Huh? Oh, I know what you’re thinking—it’s just a mountain; what’s there to clear? Well, the inside of the mountain of course! We’ll clear it, make a firm floor, and keep on building. The ground you’re standing on was angled before we straightened it, and that’s how we can construct buildings on it. Still, we want to make this space a bit bigger.”

So saying, Barnite put his hands on his hips and pushed out his chest with pride. He was so happy to show me their work he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, and his beard just kept swaying like it was an expression of his mood.

Narvant had told me that Barnite was one of the younger cavekin, but to be honest, I couldn’t guess their ages if I tried. That said, Barnite didn’t quite have the bushy beard that Narvant did, so I wondered if that had something to do with it. Barnite didn’t have enough hair to cover his entire mouth and jaw, but his beard was still impressive enough that it had two braids.

In any case, Barnite boasted experience well beyond his age, and more than anything else he was passionate. Narvant said he was one to keep an eye on, and that’s why he’d let Barnite oversee the mine.

“Oh right!” Barnite shouted. “There’s something I’ve got to tell you. We’ve set monster traps around the mine, so don’t go wandering off the road, yeah? You’ll be safe in the main areas, but stray too far and you might walk into a trap set for an earth dragon. Be careful, okay?”

He was smiling as he spoke, and I hopped off Balers to reply. A cavekin ran out of the rest area to take the reins from me and look after the horse.

“I don’t really have much reason to come to the mine, and I don’t imagine I’ll have much of a reason to stray from the road when I do,” I said. “But are wild animals safe from those traps you set? I know that wolves live in packs around these parts—aren’t they in danger of setting off those traps too?”

“Nah, they’ll be all right! We put up fences around the traps and sprayed them with scents that the animals around here steer clear of. Huh? Oh, lemme guess: What’s the point of a trap with a fence around it, right? Well, when monsters set their eyes on you it’s full speed ahead, fences be damned! They’ll plow right through most traps, even if they’re right out in the open! But even if they do avoid our traps, there’s only so many directions they can go, and all of them lead to a ballista or ten!”

Barnite’s laughter echoed loudly all over again, and he started showing me around and explaining everything. He always seemed to know what I wanted to ask and answered my questions before I could ask them. I figured it was just one of the guy’s unique characteristics.

“Huh?” he said at one point. “I know, I know—why have magical stone ballistae, right? Well, there are so many monsters around here that we can’t go through ’em fast enough. So our furnaces, our ballistae, and soon enough our sewer system will all be magically powered!”

Barnite seemed to think they’d build up a surplus pretty quick, but he warned that I should stay away unless I had business here. He said it was because of the miasma.

“Even a little miasma won’t be good for you or your steed,” explained Barnite. “We cavekin have our beards, and everybody else has some magical energy so they’ll be okay. You and Sir Ben just need to be a little more careful than the others.”

Barnite paused for a second, taking in my expression.

“Oh, I know what you’re thinking,” he said. “Magic can fend off miasma? Well, the answer is mostly yes—when there’s only trace amounts of miasma in the air, anybody with magic flowing through their body changes it into magical energy. Oh? Yeah, don’t ask, I know—magic and miasma are two sides of the same coin. When people run out of magic, they replenish it by absorbing miasma and converting it.”

Barnite just kept on answering all my questions like he was a mind reader.

“Yeah, but this is the first I’ve heard of magic and miasma being part of the same thing,” I said.

“It’s common knowledge among cavekin,” said Barnite plainly. “When you use a lot of magic, you lose a lot of magical energy. To recover it, you need to convert miasma, and that leads to ambient miasma levels dropping. When you’re all out of miasma, your magical energy won’t replenish, and over enough time you’ll lose the ability to use magic entirely. But with all the monsters wandering around, that’s not particularly likely.”

Barnite said that most races fought monsters with the aid of magic, and that’s what kept miasma levels low.

“But when miasma is too thick, you convert so much that it becomes poisonous. But it’s because we’ve got magic that we’re all alive and kicking... Basically, they say that magic originally came about as a means for lessening the miasma.”

And with that, Barnite led me to the refinery where they did the smelting. I could tell he was way more excited about explaining this to me than he was lecturing me about magic and miasma. The refinery was the biggest stone hut in the whole place, and according to Barnite it was also the linchpin of their operations. It was all part of the plans to make steel for our workshops, which would in turn make us all sorts of tools.

“We’re going to make you some great tools, Lord Dias!” said Barnite. “Some really amazing weapons and armor too, just you wait! Life’s going to get a whole lot brighter! You watch us go! You’re going to be amazed!”

He shot me a big grin and I nodded.

“I can’t wait,” I said.

“And before I forget, let me show you something!”

Barnite dashed into the refinery, and I took another look around while he was gone. All the chairs and tables were stone, there were no windows, and all the light came from lamps and the fires from the furnaces. I’d only expected to see furnaces, but there were places for crushing and mixing materials too. There was also a giant mill, and even the furnaces themselves came in different sizes.

Those furnaces look more like they’re for tools than steel, so I guess the steel furnaces are deeper in?

All the smoke produced from the furnaces was funneled up towards a chimney in the ceiling. It was a bit smoky outside, but I figured it was even smokier for the cavekin who did their smelting and whatnot up close and personal.

That smoke can’t be good for them, but I guess with their beards purifying the air, it doesn’t really bother the cavekin at all. Miasma, smoke, toxic clouds—those cavekin beards sure are handy.

I was fine here because I had my pendant on, but I didn’t think Balers would be too comfortable in a place like this. I wondered if maybe I should get him some cavekin protection as well. But then I realized that the idea of wild animals being weak to miasma was a curious topic. How did they get around it? Did they just flee places where the miasma was too thick? Or could they use the magic in their own bodies too?

I figure I would have heard more about that kind of thing if animals were capable of magic, but I haven’t heard anything about it. Not even once. And on that note, what about baars? I mean, their wool doesn’t produce magic, does it? Then again, if there were animals that helped disperse miasma, that would naturally keep the levels low, which makes sense.

“Lord Dias! Over here! Come here! Get a look at this! It’s a raw metal, and it’s a real beaut! Tough as nails, and listen to the clang when you knock on it! Sounds like a song!”

He handed me a squarish lump of metal, and I gave it a knock with my fist just like he said.

“Yeah, that’s a real piece of work, that one!” said Barnite. “We’ll be able to make some fine tools and armor with that, let me tell you! With better tools, work only gets easier! I’m talking everything from sewing needles to hoes to full sets of armor! The cavekin have got you covered! That said, at present all the raw metal goes to the boss. That’s our main job right now!”

Barnite boomed with laughter again while I took a good, long look at the metal in my hands. I knocked on it again and tilted my head. There was just something about it... It looked like beautiful steel, but the sound it made was strangely distinct from any steel I knew, and I couldn’t help wondering about what made this so different.

“That’s Lord Dias for you!” said Barnite. “You’ve noticed, haven’t you? That steel there’s got some coal and magical stone mixed into it. Makes it more resistant to rust! Strengthens the stuff something fierce too...but makes it pliable and easier to work at the same time, which is a real godsend when it comes to processing. Used to be called magical steel back in the day, but that doesn’t have much of a ring to it, does it? I reckon we call it Baarbadal steel. No! Just baar steel! Great!”

I held the metal by the edges and tried bending it. I was just curious as to what Barnite meant when he said it was pliable.

“Steel’s something I’m familiar with,” I said, “but steel with magical stones in it is a first. Then again, I’ve never actually put much thought into what the difference is between even iron and steel before. I thought it just referred to where it came from or color differences, that sort of thing. Hmm... For pliable steel, this stuff is hard to bend.”

“Look, Lord Dias, it’s one thing if it’s a sheet or a pole, but a clump of metal doesn’t just bend. We make it like this so it’s easier to transport, but... Whoa! Holy smokes! You’ve put a bend in this thing! Not even the cavekin can do this, Lord Dias!”

Barnite held the chunk of metal at eye level and stared closely at the surface. It had bent—just a tiny bit. I guess I’d put a little more into it than I should have, but at least I knew the stuff was good and tough. And if it was easier to smelt and work, then all the better.

“I wonder if we’ll be able to sell baar steel the way we sell baar wool?” I mused. “I mean, it’s not just iron, so we have to be careful about it, but what do you think, Barnite?”

“Well, for sure selling it straight is an option, but I reckon it’s better to sell it as part of a finished object. You’ll make more money that way, and that’ll ease what’s got you worried—we don’t want to be putting weapons in the hands of potential enemies. Best to be cautious.”

Barnite closed an eye and took a good look at the raw metal I’d bent, then put it on a shelf against the wall. He was careful with it though, like it was precious. Then he took me around to the other mining facilities and talked me through it all. He even took me to the cavekin houses.

Wherever we went, cavekin were hard at work, swinging hammers or crafting tools I’d never seen before. All of them, without exception, looked really in their element. Just, totally content.

At the kitchen cavekin were happily cooking, and, uh...making some kind of inky black soup, while a bunch of young—I think?—cavekin waited hungrily nearby for the cooks to finish. Some of the other cavekin were drinking, and others were examining some pots filled with berries, which I guessed were alcohol in the making.

Yep. I guess this is just a regular portrait of cavekin life.

From what I’d heard, the cavekin had been through a lot as a people, and they must have all been pretty happy to finally have their lives back. And sure, they’d decided to start those lives in monster territory, but they were tough folks with tough defenses, so I had to imagine they had things covered. They were mostly fire-resistant too from what I could tell, so it’d take one heck of a monster to really give them trouble.

Once Barnite was finished showing me around, I said goodbye to him and the others, then hopped aboard Balers once more. My horse was in a real good mood now, and it looked like the cavekin had spoiled him. We headed to the border station, where we were due to spend the evening, and there wasn’t any hurry, but Balers was in such a good mood we practically flew down the road. I had to make sure I was right there with him because whenever I messed up in the saddle he got mad at me.

It wasn’t long before the border station came into view, along with all the fields that spread out in front of it. And boy were there a lot of fields. They went from the border station into the domain proper, and there were so many that they had multiple wells, and even huts for storing their farming tools. The scope was so big I scratched my head and wondered if the entire station crew was working on them.

I mean, that just might be the case. There’s not much else to do but drill and patrol.

The fields boasted a variety of different produce, and I saw dogkin running about too. They must have been helping out with the fields. It wasn’t just dogkin either; I also noticed some falconkin—a few of them were taking little breaks on the scarecrows that stood in the fields. The border station must have hired them—regular birds of all sizes feared the falconkin, and they steered clear of our fields when there were falconkin around.

It was actually thanks to Sahhi and his wives that the fields in Iluk remained undamaged by bothersome birds, and it looked like the hired help was having the exact same effect.

I rode Balers down a road through the middle of the fields and took in the border station walls. They stretched out on either side of the border station and were even more impressive now than when I’d last seen them. We trotted into the station proper, where people were bustling happily back and forth. There were the usual guards, but there were also some beastkin I’d never seen before.

Huh? Beastkin? Who are they?

One of the station guards noticed me and ran over to look after Balers while I saw to business. Moments later Mont arrived, his wooden leg clacking excitedly with each and every step he took towards me.

“So you’ve finally come. You’re curious about them beastkin, aren’t you? Remember how we saved some from the earth dragons a while back? Well, that’s them. They come here every now and again for trade.”

Mont told me the beastkin brought rare items to sell and bought up the produce the border station farmed, so it was a good deal.

“It ain’t got the fanfare we get with the Peijins, but we’re happy to have people buying up our surplus vegetables. That’s why we’ve got the market going today. We use it as a chance to teach them things like the local language, the teachings of the temple, and our customs. One small step towards good relations, you know?”

“I did notice the gigantic swath of fields out there,” I said. “So you’re selling produce too, huh?”

“Huh? The more fields the better, no? You sell the extra, and whatever you don’t sell gets bought up by the domain lord. A thriving agriculture makes for a strong military, and— Ah, wait a sec. The kingdom works by different rules, don’t it? And we don’t have an orphanage here either...”

I wasn’t following Mont, so I asked him to explain, and he told me about the laws that governed the empire.

Over there, the domain lord had a responsibility to buy up any produce that wasn’t sold. That produce was then cooked up and served to the domain’s sick and its orphans. Sometimes the domain lord bought the produce directly, and sometimes they bought food that was about to go bad. Prices had to be set so that farmers and merchants could maintain their living standards, but basically it accomplished two goals—it kept the needy fed, and it kept the farming industry thriving.

When farmers knew that everything they produced was a guaranteed sale, they always tried to grow as much as they possibly could and actively looked for ways to expand their farms and produce more.

I thought maybe this would mean that eventually the domain might produce too much food, but Mont said that agricultural land was limited in the empire, so that was never an issue. He said it was as simple as changing the laws if things ever got out of hand.

In any case, that was why Mont had it in his head that the more fields you had, the better. The end result was what I’d seen on my way here.

“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea,” I murmured. “We could help a lot of people with something like that, so it might be worth implementing. I mean, we don’t have an orphanage here, but...”

“Then just build one,” said Mont matter-of-factly. “Might not be any orphans here, but they’re around all the same, and people will be glad for us taking some in. Well, that said, we need to put ourselves in a good enough spot that we can take them in. Things’ll be nice and settled here by summer of next year, so maybe then?”

Before any of us could say anything else, a beastkin child called out to Mont and grabbed his attention. They looked like a little dog beastkin of some sort, and their tail was wagging like crazy. Looked to me like they knew Mont pretty well.

I hadn’t been to the western border station in a hot minute, so all this was new to me. I was kind of at a loss and just watched for a bit.

A Port Town in the Empire’s South—A Cavalry Knight

The port town felt like it held the last remnants of the empire’s summer, and it was here that the cavalry knight stood, gazing out at the sea stretching out before him. Fearing for the nation’s future, he had recommended the empire strengthen and expand its navy, and his impassioned cries had seen him win permission to do so.

The cavalry knight had moved with the entirety of his people to this port town, and he stood now at a stone wharf, watching the goblins at work. Some carried heavy packages as if they were nothing, some threw recently caught seafood into baskets, and others floated upon the water as they rested their weary bodies. The cavalry knight was nothing if not impressed by the fishkin.

“These people are an indispensable part of us strengthening our navy,” he said. “Their mobility in the water will be a great boon, and we’ll need it for a truly powerful naval force.”

“Truer words never spoken,” said the knight’s attendant. “It would appear that Sanserife keeps them at arm’s length, and as such their navy is nothing much to speak of. Cooperation is the key word... I would discard any desire to control or manage such a race. Sea, land—their world is an entirely different one to ours, and only the gods could ever truly rein them in.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that,” the cavalry knight replied. “I don’t know how it works in Sanserife, but seafood is a dietary staple for us. If we were to anger the goblins and lose access to it, the damage would be significant. I had heard that they do not simply trade in seafood but maintain balance in the sea by actively avoiding overfishing. I understand how terribly unwise it would be to get on their bad side.”

“Indeed, indeed... Seafood is an essential part of life for us Meowgen, and a healthy working relationship with the goblins is essential. With their cooperation, we can make the most of our unique family characteristics and see a grand navy built. The emperor will be told of your grand strategy, and the future for both the emperor and the Meowgen line is bright.”

“Perhaps if everything should fall in our favor, yes, but we cannot take anything for granted. You have keen instincts, and your past comments still worry me. We must also remember it is Dias whom we face... We will move slowly and surely, and should the worst come to pass we will fall back on the plans we made.”

The plan in a worst-case scenario was for the Meowgens to flee the empire entirely and fall in with Dias. The cavalry knight had worked hard to see everything in place should it come to pass, and most importantly he had seen his entire family moved with him to this port town. Ordinarily, such a thing would have been impossible—after all, the young and the elderly had no place in a military mission—but through smooth talking, scheming...and a few bribes, the cavalry knight had made it reality. It had not been easy, but it was better than any of his people one day becoming a prisoner of war or a hostage.

“But with the goblins aiding us in our efforts, we will never even have to consider such options!” continued the cavalry knight. “We will build and strengthen our navy, win battles on the open sea, and accumulate wealth for our family. And all the while, we feast upon the bounties of the sea! I knew it was the right move, bringing everybody along with us! Look for yourself! Today the children eat, and they eat well!”

The cavalry knight pointed to a storehouse not far from the wharf, where a child no older than five or six ate a fish that a goblin had just caught. The child’s face was alight with delight, their catlike ears twitching and their tail trembling with excitement. In the empire’s northwest, fish was near impossible to get a hold of, and even when one could acquire seafood the most they could hope for was the disgusting pickled variety. But here, fresh fish was in abundance, and the Meowgen people could eat to their hearts’ content.

The cavalry knight’s heart was warmed to see his people eating so well, and he knew that, as their leader, he had made the right decision. With the support of the goblins the empire’s navy would grow strong enough to fight back against the kingdom. And following their great achievements would naturally be great wealth in equal measure. The cavalry knight nodded to himself, and his attendant smiled at his master’s confidence.

For a time, the cavalry knight was blessed by the rays of a bright future on the horizon. But after about ten days, that view was covered by dark clouds.

It started in the early hours of the morning, when the cavalry knight was woken up by a great commotion and voices speaking excitedly among one another. He ran out to the wharf, where he found the goblins running around excitedly and diving into the sea. He stopped one of them to ask what was going on.

“Heroes among us have successfully trekked across what we thought was only barren wasteland!” cried the goblin. “But on their adventure they met gods! They formed a bond of friendship with a heroic savior! Now that they have returned home to the western seas, a grand banquet is being thrown in a few days’ time to celebrate their feats! It is our duty as goblins to attend... To miss this party would be to invite only lifelong regret! Sir Meowgen, I apologize for how sudden this is, but we will return to work in short order!”

“W-Wait! You said west? How far west?! Are you talking about imperial territory or Sanserife?! And who is this heroic savior you speak of?!”

The cavalry knight had not been able to catch everything the goblin had said, such was the fishkin’s excitement, but the goblin did not stop swimming and instead raised his voice on his way out.

“I don’t know for sure! But given the distance, it’s not imperial territory! The hero’s name was Baar-something or other! We’ll all be back after the banquet, and then we’ll tell you everything!”

And just like that, the goblins were gone, leaving the cavalry knight stunned.

“Dias,” he muttered, crumpling to his knees. “Again...”

A Room in Sanserife Castle—Narius

Prince Richard’s orders had seen Narius running all over the kingdom, and it was with great exhaustion that he finally returned to the castle, his duties done. He was given a room in the eastern wing that Richard had prepared for him, and Narius quickly collapsed onto a most lavish bed.

As a commoner, such sumptuous furniture was usually beyond Narius, and he quickly felt his consciousness fading into the land of dreams. But as he began to doze, he heard excited shouts, stirring him from sleep.

The voices belonged to the kingdom’s civil servants, who were busy confirming and tallying all the tax money that was coming in from throughout the kingdom. Richard’s reforms had proven extremely successful, and there was a great deal for the civil servants to work through. It was more than they had ever known in previous years, in fact.

The war is over, change is sweeping the lands, and the economy is on the up.

Narius rolled over and closed his eyes, the excited voices just another part of life in the castle. Some were rushed, others were shouting at subordinates to hurry up, but all rang clearly of joy. The civil servants were nothing if not buoyed by the work they were doing.

Taxes had risen, but it was not this that excited the civil servants. Rather, it was the fact that they did not have to worry about their budgets any longer, which meant they could funnel money into areas that, at least until now, did not get the attention or help they needed. The civil servants knew that with the money they now had at their disposal, they could improve much across the entire nation.

This was what civil servants longed to do, but they had been denied it throughout the entirety of the war. It was no wonder they were happy, and no wonder that their excitement echoed through the halls. Narius felt himself drifting once more into sleep, comfortable among such excitement.

“Narius! There’s a job for you!”

The voice that called out belonged to Sild, the elderly knight always by the prince’s side. Narius lifted himself up, shook his head, and wiped at his eyes. But even then, when he got up and left his room, he felt traces of the slumber he so craved trying futilely to drag him back to bed.

A Bedroom in Sanserife Castle—The King

The prince’s reforms were reshaping the country, and the excitement could be felt down every hall and in every room. Meanwhile, the king was now little more than a king in name and name alone.

Until now it had been domestic governance where the king had done his best work, but it had been conservative and based on past principles. He had achieved nothing so revolutionary as Prince Richard, and while one could still say it was the king who had seen Sanserife to where it now was, the gap between father and son was obvious for all to see.

The king tried to explain that the prince’s reforms only worked because the nation was in a time of peace, and that it never could have succeeded during the war, but his words fell on deaf ears. The king had succeeded in domestic governance but little else, and many called upon him to name his heir and retire. So many, in fact, that the voices had become deafening.

How can I name an heir now, with my children split into factions, each of them wielding their own power? Richard and his people may be the right choice, but none of the others will accept the decision. Any declaration of an official heir will rock the entire nation and might even break it apart. The whole reason there are factions in the first place is because of Richard’s own errors during the war... Had such errors never come to pass, we would not be where we are now.

The king slumped into the chair by his bed and put a hand to the lavish book by his side. He found himself wondering what his son might do with him. Their relationship as father and son had long since deteriorated—an unfortunate but seemingly inevitable schism. The king felt certain that Prince Richard would not show him any mercy.

Which left what? A merciless killing? Exile and confinement to distant lands? Regardless, the king did not want to accept any such end, and his face scrunched with discomfort at the very thought. He reached under his pillow and brought out a slip of fabric, feeling the texture between his fingers.

It was baar wool fabric, and a specialty of the western frontier. It was soft to the touch, and its gentle texture brought healing to the king’s battered heart. He wondered just what sort of creature this fabric came from. What did it eat? What life did it lead?

The king had heard much from the western frontier. It was all unfathomable to him. The salt plain, the border stations—each report left the king’s imagination racing as he pictured Baarbadal and what it might look like.

Ah, to relinquish the throne and live out the rest of my days in the peace and quiet of a far-off land.

The king’s position would never allow it, of course, but even then the idea had a charm that he simply could not let go of. He knew that logically he could never make that decision, and yet more and more his heart yearned for that distant dream.

So deep was his desire that money and even a boat had been prepared for that eventuality. His loyal retainers—dwindled to just a handful now—had felt the king’s intent and made preparations on his behalf, though he had never uttered a word about it to any of them. All that was left now was for the king to make the decision and then be off.

With winter on its way in, it was no time to be making voyages by sea. And yet, the king had heard that the southern lands were warm even during the winter and that the winds blew steady over the colder seasons.

Perhaps winter was, in fact, not a bad time to leave at all. And perhaps it would even be easier to escape, as nobody would expect the king to leave during winter. Then again, even leaving in spring or summer would no doubt take people by surprise.

The king told himself he was just indulging in fantasies, but all the while his heart inched closer to something like resolve. He knew that he would have to make a decision in the not so distant future.

That moment was creeping up on him, faster and faster. And so, while he still had moments to spare, he let his mind wander through the grassy plains he saw in his imagination.

A Manor in the Western Lowlands of the Beastland Kingdom—Yaten Raisei

The Beastland councillor Yaten Raisei’s manor was, in a word, garish. Gold and silver foil were used in abundance, the pillars were decorated in jewels, and each paver was itself a luxuriously cut stone in its own right. It was a single-floor manor done in the traditional timber style of the beastkin people, but it was nonetheless so offensively tasteless that people’s eyes were drawn to it even when they desired nothing more than to look away.

In a room at the far end of the manor was a finely crafted, ostentatiously decorated chair. Upon said chair, sitting cross-legged, was Yaten Raisei. He’d just received a report from a subordinate he had been paying under the table, and the news was not good. His brow furrowed.

Yaten’s subordinate had worked discreetly in the plains for many years now. They had surveyed to ascertain its full breadth, investigated the current size of the onikin population, and even cajoled a few to make insider connections. Yaten wanted to ensure the plains could be put to use should the time come, but his subordinate now reported that all their preparations were falling to pieces.

The Peijin family, for one, had been aiding Yaten, but he could no longer rely on them. Then his onikin insiders had cut ties.

To make matters worse, Baarbadal had now built a gigantic border station, blocking Yaten’s spies from any further access. It had always been Yaten’s plan to maintain a quiet watch over the grassy plains, but the people of Baarbadal had been growing like weeds. They’d reached out to establish connections. Then of course, there had been the earth dragons...

Any more than this, Yaten realized, could spell trouble. He feared that the shifting winds of change might stretch as far as even his own home. He wondered if he had made the wrong decision.

Should he have been more active in setting up his plans? No—that would not have been easy with Kiko involved, and more so now with her allied with the people of Baarbadal. In truth, no matter how much Yaten thought about it, he did not know the right course of action.

If Peijin & Co. were to fall in line and offer support, much would be settled right then and there, but their movements of late—especially recently—told Yaten this would not be likely. It was also unwise to take action against a trading company of such size. Yaten still had options, but all were forceful in nature, and thus came with substantial risk. The nation struggled with a great many domestic issues, and as such Yaten was hesitant to take unnecessary risks.

It was a conundrum. Yaten felt as though his hands were tied—any action would only lead to greater problems in the future. And yet, to do nothing offered little solace.

And so Yaten sat, stewed, and labored.

After days of thinking over the problems, Yaten finally settled on a direction. He did not think it terrible if a small number of beastkin and Peijin & Co. sided with Baarbadal—he could still prevent any growing influence. Furthermore, he could slowly squeeze Peijin & Co., eventually drawing them to his side.

But he would make no big, forceful moves. He would move slowly, decisively...

With his mind made up, Yaten got to work. But it was not until a few weeks after his plans were in motion that Yaten heard the news that Dias and the Peijins had encountered a heretofore unknown god...and later, in hindsight, Yaten would very much regret his course of action.

???—???

“If he gets too friendly with that group, it’s going to be trouble.”

The man spat his words with venom as he stared at something in the darkness. But when he received a reply, it was not at all what he expected.

“Huh? That’s what they’re there for?!” he spluttered. “What the heck?! Nobody told me that!”

The darkness spoke, and the man did not bother to hide his frustration.

“What?! Testing him?! What in the world are you even saying?! Why would you—”

The man was livid, but in response to his expressive rage, the darkness spoke calmly, a cool that only served to stoke the man’s anger. It was a fury that took quite some time to burn out.

At the Border Station Cafeteria—Dias

Upon spending the night at the border station, I realized two things. First was that the border station had guest rooms for visiting VIPs. These rooms were more spacious than the rest, their walls and pillars were finely decorated, and the floors were carpeted. The carpet looked a lot like Alna’s work, actually.

They also had impressive furniture in them—some that looked made by the cavekin, and some that had a very different flair I wasn’t totally familiar with. I was made to sleep in one of the VIP rooms on account of being the domain lord, and I had to say, the comfort just plain blew me away.

The second thing I realized was that the border station had hired a number of beastkin to work as assistants. I saw them rushing to and fro, but they looked happy to be busy, and from what I heard when they were talking to one another, the pay was good too.

I’d left the management of the border station to Mont and everybody else working there, so I didn’t take issue with them hiring help or anything, but I was surprised that the people they hired were from the nation next door. The border station had even hired a few kids, but they only worked as much as they enjoyed it, and they really loved Mont.

I put two and two together when I saw that, and I realized that the unique furniture I’d seen in the VIP room must have been bought from the beastkin. There were other such antiques and decorations here and there in the border station too.

Still, I guess I should ask...

“You sure this is okay?” I asked Mont over breakfast in the station cafeteria. “I mean, you’re letting foreign citizens get a good look at our border station. Won’t that maybe be a problem?”

“Nope, no problem whatsoever,” he replied, waving his fork in the air. “It’s like Juha always said: When intel leaks and you don’t know about it, that’s a problem, but if you’re in control of what leaks, how much, and when, then there ain’t no problem. And besides, we keep the important places locked up tight.”

Mont was actually more interested in letting the beastkin in than keeping them out. He wanted them to see what kind of place our border station was. He said that letting them get to know us was the best way to ease any worries they had about us.

“If we assuage their fears, they won’t be so cautious around us,” he said. “That’ll have the effect of putting war a good ways out of their minds. Best-case scenario, they see this border station of ours and decide it’s too much effort to make us their enemies. And by opening up and letting the beastkin in, I want them to know we’re friendly. It’s good old-fashioned Mont-style diplomacy!”

“Diplomacy, huh? Well, I guess that’s not a bad idea.”

“I’m within my rights to do this much,” said Mont. “I’m just making friends with the neighbors. All there is to it. Anything on a national level is for you to decide. And look, it’s a really beautiful border station, but look at it through another set of eyes and it’s pretty intimidating. Downright terrifying, even. If we decided we weren’t going to do business with anybody, and we were just going to keep everyone out, I reckon that’d pose problems.”

“Still, we did get the Beastland Kingdom’s permission to build the border station...”

“Like I said, that’s a national thing. It’s not a personal thing. Lords and politicians can use big words and say what they want, but that’s not going to help make their people feel any safer. Some don’t even bother explaining things to the regular folks. Worries can creep up into your people when that happens. They warp over time and turn into nasty rumors... That’s where the likes of racism and discrimination start. But we’ve opened our doors and welcomed exchange between our communities. We’ve told the beastkin that working with us is a good deal. All I’m doing is allaying fears so we nip any future issues in the bud.”

“I see. Yeah, you make a good point.”

“Hmph,” Mont snorted, looking awfully satisfied with himself. “Damn straight.”

The two of us went back to our breakfasts. Mont finished first, and when he was done he gave me a look that told me he wanted to talk about something in private. I responded with a nod, and when I was done eating I stood up, tidied myself a bit, and went to Mont’s room.

“Took your time,” he said.

He was waiting for me in a chair, polishing his wooden leg. His room was real neat and orderly, like somebody had just cleaned it.

“This is something of a continuation of what we were discussing before,” he started; then he paused to think about it a little more. “Well, maybe it ain’t, but since we’ve started talking to the beastkin I’ve been able to gather some intel. Turns out it’s not just beastkin living in the Beastland Kingdom but other races too. A good deal of demi-humans, from what I hear. And when it comes to demi-humans we have a loose connection with, well...there’s Senai and Ayhan’s former home.”

“Oh yeah. Now that you mention it, they came here with Peijin-Do all that time ago...”

When I thought about it, it made sense that the forestkin would live across the border.

“Yeah, them idiots who drove the girls out of their own home,” said Mont. “I know it doesn’t bother the girls much, and they’ll tell you all about it if you ask, so I guess it’s neither here nor there for them, but how do you want to handle the forestkin? If they hear that two of their own are living pretty here in Baarbadal, there’s always a chance that they try to do something about it. I figure we should settle on our stance, and the earlier the better.”

“To put it bluntly, I don’t want anything to do with them,” I replied. “If they want in, drive them away. Ignore whatever reasoning they try to give you. The girls and their parents didn’t do anything bad or wrong, but their village drove them away all the same. I’ve no interest in doing any business with people like that. I know they believed the girls to be a disaster or whatever, but the twins have never caused any trouble since the day they got here—the forestkin reasoning is trash as far as I’m concerned.”

Mont grinned, then broke into a chuckle.

“All right, so they’re not allies in your book then. You never have been very lenient on your enemies, and I’m happy to follow your lead.”

“Wait wait wait, this isn’t about enemies or any of that—”

“Look, I know you go easy on the people who meet you straight, but anybody who tries anything else? You’ve never shown them any quarter. Maybe it’s unfortunate for the forestkin that the twins ended up with you, but don’t worry—I’ll handle things here.”

And with that, Mont stood up, and he made to leave, but not before giving me a look that said to get out. I did what Mont’s eyes said and a beastkin kid ran in as I was leaving. He started dusting and cleaning and whatnot without missing a beat. Mont looked upon that little one with unbridled kindness, and then I realized another thing.

Just when did Mont become captain of the west station, anyway?

I’d left the border station in the care of Joe and my old war buddies and figured that eventually somebody would take charge. I knew that Mont was leading the security detail and training, but now it seemed he was in charge of overseeing the whole station.

Well, it’s not like there’s anybody more suitable, and I’m okay with it as long as everybody else is too... I guess I’ll check on that a little later.

But when I thought about it, I could see that things were going pretty smoothly at the station, and nobody was voicing any opposing opinions, so it looked a lot to me like everybody was in agreement already.

I spent the morning looking around the border station saying hello to everybody and catching up. Balers was well rested and raring to go by the time I mounted him, and when we left the station he raced down the road back to Iluk. The temple came into sight before I knew it, and I noticed Lady Darrell at the little shaded section by the temple proper, giving a lesson of some sort.

“Is that...the Wives’ Club?” I murmured to myself.

I slowed Balers down to get a better look and noticed there were some dogkin with Lady Darrell. They were all wearing dresses made from baar wool, so I assumed they were all women. Lady Darrell was in the middle of teaching them all how to curtsy, so it must have been an etiquette lesson.

Some of the dogkin were mothers, but others were children who’d been born just last year. It looked to me like the lessons were part of the babysitting that Lady Darrell often handled. I rode Balers up to the little class and hopped off to greet them. All the dogkin curtsied to me just like Lady Darrell had taught them, and Lady Darrell told them all to take a short break.

“Hello there, Lord Dias,” Lady Darrell said, walking up to me. “I assume the mine and border station are going well?”

“Yeah, no problems to speak of. Were you giving an etiquette lesson just now? I’ve seen you teaching the kids before, but you teach adults too, huh?”

“I do indeed,” she replied with a smile. “With Lady Alna and the twins absent, I’ve more free time. I thought perhaps I could help with the winter preparations, but it would seem we’ve more than enough hands already. Fortunately, the Wives’ Club asked me to teach them etiquette, so I’m holding classes for them.”

“I see. No harm in learning manners, and it might be a good thing for the kids to learn with them too. I’m surprised though—they sure look to have gotten a hold of things real quick. You’re one heck of a teacher, Lady Darrell.”

It was an honest compliment, but Lady Darrell responded with a slightly troubled look.

“To be honest, I’m just as surprised as you are,” she admitted. “The ladies told me to go slow with them because they’re not as quick as their children, but they needn’t have said any such thing—they’re fast learners, all of them. They’re naturally quite obedient, and everything is going swimmingly. It’s so strange... I’d heard that things were much harder for them when they lived in Mahati... I can’t help but wonder if perhaps all the dogkin needed was the right environment or conditions to truly make the most of their natural potential...”

“Yeah, I’ve felt the same way since they got here,” I said. “There’s gotta be something. Aymer gives the kids lessons for their education, and she’s been surprised by how bright they all are. I wonder if maybe it’s a matter of them setting their hearts on something? Maybe that’s what sets them on the path to really knuckling down.”

“One of many potential reasons...which is simply to say that a clear answer is difficult to determine. I suppose Aymer came from similar circumstances. Her people made a home of the desert and lived by hunting their food. The hopping mousekin are known for their astounding leaps and their hunting prowess, but Aymer herself says she is not skilled in either. Instead, she has a memory that easily matches any scholar in the capital, and the intelligence to match. In that way she reminds me of the small-ilk dogkin. Perhaps it is a special skill of the smaller beastkin? Something innate, even...?”

“If that’s the case, they could all be mighty helpful in a whole range of different areas.”

“I feel the same way. There’s no need to rush, of course, but when we have some more time and resources we might want to make Aymer’s lesson plan more official and build this section into a respectable classroom in its own right. We can invite scholars to share their teachings and pay them accordingly to support their research. Naturally, it won’t be as simple as just asking scholars to teach us their ways, but some may be enticed by the offer of research grants. Those of our citizens who want to learn from said scholars can be encouraged to do so, making for a path to nurturing talents among our own.”

“Back at the border station, Mont was talking about building an orphanage. It’d be nice to have a classroom and dedicated learning facilities to go with it. If orphans can study and learn, they’ll be provided the tools they need to live on their own when they grow into adulthood.”

Lady Darrell was surprised and delighted. “What a wonderful idea,” she said.

And so it was with great gusto that her lesson recommenced. I think all the kids and everyone in the Wives’ Club must have really appreciated the break, because they threw themselves into things with just as much energy. I watched them for a bit, then decided to head back to Balers and head home, but...Balers was gone.

I wandered around the area looking for my horse, and that’s when I found a patch of white grass where some baars were munching away and eating their fill. Balers was right there too, watching over them. He wasn’t eating though—instead, Balers had his ears peeled and his eyes on the horizon, like he was their bodyguard. The baars already had a group of masti dogkin looking out for them, but all the same Balers stayed vigilant.

As I walked closer I saw that the herd of baars was mostly made up of Ethelbald’s wives, and some of them were pregnant. Balers must’ve wanted to be doubly sure the expecting mothers were safe. Unlike Francoise the year before, these pregnant baars could still go outside and mostly live like they always did. It reminded me that Francoise having six baby baars at once sure was a pretty amazing feat.

I mean, Ethelbald’s wives still had a bit of trouble walking and things were certainly tougher than usual for them, so it wasn’t all rainbows, but at least they were all being taken care of. I was pondering on the baars and their lives when one of the young masti dogkin ran up to me with a brush, which he passed to me with a big smile. It was pretty obvious what the message was, so I nodded and started brushing the baars who were done eating.

I took my time, neatly brushing the baars while I listened to the class Lady Darrell was holding nearby. The baars seemed to feed off the energy from Lady Darrell and the dogkin practicing their etiquette, and they started to sing. Soon after, the dogkin were dancing in time with it.

It was all so natural I had to imagine it was something that happened pretty often. I wondered if it was just something they did after meals. In any case, I kept brushing, and after a time Uncle Ben spotted me and came out with a brush of his own. The two of us brushed away quietly while the baars sang, but eventually I felt like I should say something, so I brought up the topic of a dedicated classroom at the temple.

“I see,” said Uncle Ben thoughtfully, thinking over everything I’d said. “The flow of life here is changing. Until now we’ve been building what we needed, but now that we’ve got all the basic facilities covered, we’re moving on to renovations—making what we have even better than it was. I guess with more timber on the horizon, it’s only natural that we turn our attention to improvements.”

“I don’t think we’re doing all that bad with what we’ve got,” I commented.

Uncle Ben just smiled and shook his head.

“Maybe that’s how you see it, but for the others it could well be a different story. If Alna learns that we can make the kitchen range even more useful and convenient, she’s going to be over the moon. Same if we improve the laundry space. And with the stables and goose pen filling out, it’s worth improving them wherever we can. Same applies to the pub, the classroom, our fields, and even our border stations.”

Uncle Ben seemed to think that at some point we’d want to upgrade our guest houses to more than just yurts. It all made me realize that we really had our work cut out for us here.

“You’ve got to shift your mindset,” Uncle Ben continued. “It’s time to turn your attention to the matter of how to make the village better and how to improve the lives of your subjects. None of that will happen overnight, of course, but we’ll want to be working towards it all come spring or summer. By then we’ll have iron coming in from the mines and wood via the ocean, so in the meantime you’ll want to talk to the folks here and at the stations to get a feel for what they want out of life.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said, dropping into thought.

I thought and I brushed, and I thought and I brushed, and as my brush moved my mind was on the puzzle of what lay in Baarbadal’s future.

I returned to Iluk, where Alna updated me on the state of the forest, and finally, the next day, I could head out there myself. I rode Balers to the border station so they could look after him, then set out with the twins, Alna, and Aymer. They’d done a lot of work and the place had changed a whole lot. It reminded me a lot of Uncle Ben’s talk the other day about renovating and improving.

A lot of trees had been cut down since I last came to the forest, which meant more sunlight and more wind through the trees still standing. All sorts of different plant life had grown, and the tree branches had stretched out and become burdened with fruit. Some were loaded to the point that their branches were bending over. I thought they might even break from all the extra weight.

I know they put in a lot of work over time, but I never imagined the forest could change so much from that...

All the extra fruit, grass, and whatnot meant more animals too. What this meant for us at Baarbadal was that we could really throw ourselves into hunting and gathering in a way we simply couldn’t the year before. We could fill the baskets on our backs, hunt the wildlife, and then call upon the dogkin to take everything back to the border station while we started all over again.

“So this is what you girls were talking about last year, when you told me you wanted to improve things here...” I murmured, tossing some fruit in the basket on my back.

“And it’s even better deeper in the forest!” Senai proudly proclaimed.

“There’s so many mushrooms!” Ayhan declared.

“I can’t wait to see it all,” I said.

The girls were all smiles as they started climbing a nearby tree. They scrambled up it real quick, and with a lot of confidence. I watched them as they plucked the fruit up there and let it drop to the ground, and I realized this must have been what they’d done the other day too.

Alna and I picked that fruit up and put it in our baskets, and Aymer hopped around like a real pro helping out too. We all proceeded deeper into the forest like that, and eventually we reached an area that was fenced off. It was a much sturdier looking fence than it had been last year, and I realized that Klaus and the border station guards must have done some work on it.

Behind the fence were the mushrooms that the whole village loved, and the twins were trembling with excitement. We all hopped over the fence and I wondered how many there’d be for us to gather. Sunlight streamed down from between the trees, and boy was it bright.

“The soil here is just right,” said Senai, pointing. “They’ll grow really well here!”

“The ground has to be warm enough!” explained Ayhan.

It was then that I realized there weren’t any especially thick trees in this area, just thin ones. On top of that, most of the leaves had fallen from them all.

I wonder if this is how it has to be for the mushrooms to grow in abundance?

Aymer and our dogkin guards started sniffing the air and running all over the mushroom field. Soon enough they pointed to parts of the ground using tree branches they’d picked up.

Senai and Ayhan immediately dug into the ground with branches of their own, and there they were—the mushrooms we’d picked the previous year. They were dark and round, and the unique smell was unmistakable. The girls didn’t put these in their baskets, though—they put them in pouches they carried at their waists.

That must be because of how much they treasure those mushrooms. And given how much everybody just loves the smell of them, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

“Need some help?” I said.

Alna and I helped the twins dig up the soil, and honestly, we were looking at a real impressive mushroom haul. We filled four big sacks with mushrooms, and we gave one to Klaus and all the station staff. Then we headed back to Iluk with the rest.

It was only our second day of winter prep, but because the forest was so full, the twins told me that I still hadn’t even seen half of it. They said we’d be busy gathering for at least the next few days. In the end, we spent five days in the forest gathering for winter!

But the day after that brought a new surprise...

“Dias!” cried Sahhi. “The goblins are back! I saw them pulling a boat upstream!”

We couldn’t quite believe what the falconkin was saying, and I wondered if maybe something had happened to them. I readied Balers as fast as I could and galloped off for the wasteland.

The Wasteland

I was shocked, I really was. I’d expected the goblins to return some time in spring of the following year, and no earlier than midwinter if they hurried. I almost thought Sahhi was playing a trick, but I knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t the type to joke about that kind of thing.

I rode Balers down the road into the wasteland, which eventually became just a beaten path awaiting further construction. We galloped along that and I looked out at the stream that continued down here from the plains. We passed a few test areas and then the salt plains, at which point the path split. Farther south was the miracle spring, which had formed a lake and river that ran to the ocean.

Come spring we were planning to build another rest area—a hut, really—that was going to have a whole lot of uses, but for now we just had the basics in place, mostly for the falconkin to catch their breath.

The cavekin had been steadily constructing facilities now that there was a reliable water source, and so the wasteland no longer had quite the same desolate atmosphere as it once had. We even saw birds and insects around the place now, and the cavekin had told me it wasn’t uncommon to see mice every now and again.

The twins had been out here spreading seeds pretty regularly, and they said that by spring next year we’d probably see our first plant life. We’d most likely see it around the area that the girls called the stone-picking square, which was where they’d been the most active. The name the twins gave the place came from it being rife with verdant leaf stones. It was where the dogkin always dug them up for us, and according to the girls, they didn’t really have to take care of any seeds they planted there because the stones would do the work for them...or something like that.

I’d been hoping to see that square myself if I could get the time, but for now I hopped off Balers, gave him some feed, and took him to the spring for a drink. We took it easy there for a while because Balers had been running at quite the pace, and while I wanted to see the goblins as soon as I could, I didn’t want to break my horse either. I wiped Balers’s sweat from his body and gave him a good brush, then finally decided we were good to continue south. Before I could even get on Balers again, however, Sahhi appeared in the skies and landed on the roof of the rest area.

“Hey!” he said. “The goblins will reach you in just a few minutes! Is it okay to take them to where we’re going to build our wharf?”

“Sure. Nothing there but rope and a few stakes, but it should be enough to moor their boat.”

Sahhi took to the skies and headed south again.

“Guess there’s no need to rush at all,” I muttered to myself. “Looks like you can take things nice and easy, Balers.”

I gave the horse’s face a pat, and then we started walking to our proposed wharf, which was built right around where the spring’s lake met the river proper. I say “proposed” because it really was just a few stakes and some rope. We’d done some work to the riversides and the bottom of the river to make it easier for boats to navigate, but we didn’t even have a pier.

Or at least, so I thought.

Imagine my surprise when I got to the wharf and found that there was a pier. Narvant must have built it knowing we’d need something. The goblins had no issues whatsoever in the water, so they didn’t actually need a pier, but it was still a necessity when it came to loading and unloading goods.

It wasn’t long before I noticed the goblins and their boat on the horizon. The boat itself was filled with goods, while the goblins were swimming in the water around it. And boy were there a lot of them. I saw four or five at the front of the boat and a number on either side supporting it, and I assumed there were more both behind the boat and under it.

There must be at least twenty of them...

Sahhi was perched on the roof of the boat, directing the goblins to my position. Then a goblin peeked up from the water at the bow of the boat and grinned at me.

“Duke! Duke Baarbadal! What a sight for sore eyes! We’ve brought everything we promised! How’s everybody in Iluk?! Is the wind still as refreshing as it once was?! The oceans we call home are as bountiful as ever, and we’ve brought with us but a small sample! Take them with our thanks!”

“Hey there, Iberis!” I shouted back. “Good to see you well!”

I didn’t know why Iberis was talking so nostalgically—it had been less than a week since the goblins left! All the same, I was happy to see him. Clearly he’d made it safely home, and given the energy of his greeting, he’d made it back here without issue too.

Iberis sure was excited. His tail fin splashed against the water, and it pushed him at great speed. He was at the pier in no time, tying the boat down. I’d never secured a boat before, so I wasn’t sure if he’d done it right, but it looked secure enough.

While Iberis did that, the dogkin group that had been following me arrived, and all of Iberis’s fellow travelers emerged from the river. It’d just been me a few moments ago, but now the riverside was bustling.

Everybody helped to unload the cargo from the boat, starting with the barrels that Ellie had entrusted to the goblins. Ellie had put salt in the barrels, but she hadn’t filled them. Actually, when we’d loaded them on the boat they’d been pretty light, but now they were pretty dang hefty. The weight of the barrels told me that Iberis and his friends had done exactly what Ellie had asked and then some.

Each goblin that emerged from the water helped to unload the cargo, and when we were done Iberis spoke on behalf of his traveling party.

“We’ve brought delicious fish as you asked. It’ll take a good while for them to go bad, and we’ve cut off the heads and dressed them too! They’re packed into all the barrels you gave us! We’ve also brought sacks full of fruit from places near the ocean and a few deserted islands. As for the timber, we found a great island full of beautifully thick trees, and we’ll be ready to deliver it in the near future.”

Iberis sheepishly explained that the goblins weren’t very accustomed to logging, so we’d have to wait until after winter.

“As for dried food, we tried, but there aren’t many good locations for it. I’m thinking that the best course of action is to build a village at the inlet. What do you say?” asked Iberis.

That was fine by me, and I nodded. I knew that the goblins wanted somewhere safe on land to raise their young, and this was just the way to get it. The village reps and I had all decided that the inlet at the southern end of the wasteland would be the domain of the goblins anyway. It was too far a location for us to actively manage, so in the end we thought it best to let the goblins manage it themselves now that we were allies.

Because we were all in agreement, the plan was to help the goblins build a village and a port in exchange for the right to use that port. That was what we wanted, but at the same time we had to wait to hear what the goblins decided after Iberis talked it through with their elders.

“We’d be glad to have a village at the inlet,” I said. “We can talk through the finer details, of course, but mainly we’d like to have access to any port that you build there.”

“You got it!” said Iberis, grinning.

I figured that settled things, and so we set off to the hut by the spring lake so we could talk more leisurely.

It hadn’t been long since we’d last met, but there was still a lot to talk about. While we walked to the hut I asked Iberis if he and his friends were all well, and how it was returning home. As we neared the hut, we noticed Ellie hurtling towards us on horseback.

With Ellie was Aymer riding Aisha, and behind them—going noticeably slower—was a group of dogkin with Hubert, carrying a cart along with them. The new arrivals stopped us from entering the hut so they could unload the tables and chairs they’d brought and spruce the hut up a bit. They told me that the goblins were guests who’d brought us a whole bunch of fish and that they deserved a warm welcome.

So they laid out some carpet, plopped a table on it, put some flower-filled vases on the table, lined up chairs around the table, and finally readied some documents. The documents had something about rights to use the goblins’ future port, and official agreements on where their new domain would be. There were a few variations of this last document in case the goblins ended up taking more or less land than we’d spoken of in person.

When Iberis looked through all the documents, he put a halt on proceedings.

“Hang on a sec,” he said. “We took the subject of the inlet becoming our domain to our chieftains, and they’re not sold on the idea. We goblins call the sea home, and while we sometimes spend time on the surface, our chieftains don’t see us claiming a right to own any of it. They also don’t like the idea that if we get attacked in the future, we’d have to defend ourselves on land. Ugh. Our older folk are wusses, I tell you.”

Iberis shook his head and went on.

“So the wasteland is your domain, Duke, but we ask that you let us build a village there. That’s what our people have chosen. I know it’s not easy for you to get to the inlet, so if governing it is difficult then we’ll select a representative from among our people to take on the responsibility. The land, however, will still officially be your domain. We don’t mean to spit on the kingdom’s good graces by just using its land, but I do hope you have the generosity in your heart to accept these conditions of ours.”

“If that’s what you want, we’ve got documents drawn up and ready to go,” I said. “But you’re sure? I’m a duke, which means I can grant you ownership that will last several generations, or at least as long as the kingdom still stands...”

Iberis grinned.

“If the circumstances change and we need a new home, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” he said. “And maybe we’ll use our experience and smarts to create a new base of operations for ourselves on an island somewhere. We goblins are adventurers! We meet change as we encounter it, and we push on! Whatever the elderly might say, it’s up to the younger generations to shake off their fears and keep moving!”

“Then I guess we’ll be signing the most detailed of these documents. It explains that the south will remain under Baarbadal’s rule but that you’re allowed to build residences there. We’ll have ownership of the port there too, but you will of course have complete access to it as well, as long as you don’t do anything that breaks the law.”

In the distant past, when the kingdom was much bigger, distant domains weren’t governed by the kingdom’s laws but were in fact self-governed. The inlet would work something like that...well, according to Hubert, anyway.

“I’m sure Hubert will chat with you about all the details later,” I said, “but I want to make sure you can all live comfortably.”

“For the duke himself to say such a thing fills us with the deepest gratitude!” said Iberis. “And relief, to boot! We’ve been truly blessed to call someone so generous and kind an ally and a friend!”

Iberis grinned again, and all the goblins lined up behind let out relieved sighs. It struck me then that Iberis had come to Iluk this time with an entirely different group of goblins. I didn’t know exactly how to tell them all apart, but all the goblins that left had been wearing their crayfish armor—now the only one in armor was Iberis. Some of the goblins with him looked like they might be female, and others were small and clearly young.

All the goblins outside of Iberis had looked a bit nervous and hesitant, eyeing me with some caution, but after the goblins heard our conversation, that had melted away into relief.

“Ah, I suppose I should introduce everybody,” said Iberis. “These are the people with whom I have the closest bonds. Family, you might call them. When we got home and told everybody about our adventures, some wanted to see Baarbadal for themselves, and some thought it was all a big prank. Others were just plain worried about me going back, so I brought everyone with me. I know it’s quite the entourage, but that’s part of the reason we made it back here so quickly. Once we’re a bit more used to the journey, I think we’ll be able to make the trip in a single day.”

“Oh, relatives, huh?” I said.

Ellie, however, came rushing up to my side when she heard what Iberis had just said.

“Did you just say a single day?!” she exclaimed. “From the ocean to the spring in one day?! Are you telling me that you could potentially bring us live seafood?! What I mean is, could you fill barrels with seawater and bring live seafood here?! Do you have any idea what a sales opportunity this is, Iberis?! You could sell the seafood as it is or process it in Iluk! Fresh seafood is no different from rare jewels in the kingdom!”

“Live seafood is...well, impossible,” said Iberis. “Now, of course there are things we could bring alive, but most of it would suffocate on the way. You’re right that we aquatic life breathe in the water. But stagnant seawater will suffocate fish over time or otherwise go stale. Whatever you’re transporting won’t reach its destination alive when that happens. I think it’s a better idea to dress your seafood in advance and transport it on ice or in cooled seawater. If you’re happy with that idea, we can get fish to you a day after we catch them.”

This idea was one Ellie liked very much. She took Iberis’s hand and told him that dinner tables across the kingdom were going to get a whole lot more exciting, and they were going to make some great sales because of it. Iberis looked happy to see her so delighted, and he nodded.

Ellie’s excitement ended up derailing our discussions for a little while.

While Ellie was talking business plans with Iberis, Alna arrived with Senai on the latter’s horse, Shiya. Ayhan was with them on Guri, and the Wives’ Club wasn’t far behind pulling a cartload of stuff.

As soon as they arrived, they spotted the barrels the goblins had brought and their inspection began immediately. They took some of the fish in hand, smelled them, and started asking the goblins about the best ways to prepare and eat them. Moments later, Alna started issuing orders and the Wives’ Club started unloading bricks and wood from their cart. It wasn’t long before they’d built a simple kitchen range with three simple cooktops.

Alna brought the fire starter wand to me and asked me to light the kitchen fires, which I did. Pots were placed on those, and the Wives’ Club was off to the races.

“We’ve got guests and we’ve got fish,” said Alna. “The goblins deserve a warm welcome, and we’re going to do it right here. I don’t have much experience with fish, but I asked Moll about it before we came and I think I’ve got things covered.”

While Alna spoke, the Wives’ Club was taking fish out of barrels and separating them into jars based on their types, then washing the salt off them. Once the fish were washed clean, one of each was cooked so Alna could taste them. With the basic flavor profiles down, Alna was quick to issue even more orders, explaining to the Wives’ Club how each different fish was to be prepared. The Wives’ Club didn’t need to be told twice—they got right into it.

Some of the fish were skewered and cooked over an open flame, some were cut into pieces and used in soup, some were fried in pans with vegetables and herbs, and some were placed in pots of oil to be deep-fried. When the deep-fried fish was ready, it was neatly lined up on plates, where Alna flavored it with a sauce made from wine, vinegar, and sugar. The scent filled the air, and people were licking their lips, as excited as they were hungry.

Ellie quickly wrapped up her conversation with Iberis and started barking orders to her own dogkin team. Carpets were laid out and temporary tables were made with wooden boxes. The Wives’ Club placed the deep-fried fish on these tables before politely approaching the goblins.

“Please, have a seat,” one said. “It’s all rather simple fare, but we do hope you enjoy it.”

The goblins all grinned and took a seat on the carpet. “Thanks be to the great seas for this blessing of food!” they cried. It must have been something they said before they ate.

Anyway, they dug in with gusto, and the Wives’ Club started bringing out the other fish. There was fried fish topped with thin strips of melon and seasoned with a sweet and spicy sauce, there was a soup with mushrooms and a whole lot of butter, there were fish and potatoes cooked with cheese and sprinkled with bright red spices...and that was just the start of it.

I’d never seen any of these dishes before, and so I joined the goblins in tasting some of it. It was an amazing explosion of flavor, and I found myself supremely impressed once again by Alna’s cooking. I couldn’t believe she’d whipped up all of these fantastic dishes just by asking Moll about them.

“Whoa,” uttered Iberis. “We cook fish back home, but we’ve never cooked up so many different flavors. I knew that Lady Alna was an amazing cook, but I never imagined that she’d outdo herself like this. We eat these fish almost every day, but I feel like I’m experiencing them for the first time!”

And just like that, it was like we had a little feast on our hands. Or maybe you’d call it a seafood taste-testing party. Either way, there were smiles all around and tempting scents drifting through the air. When every belly present was full, the Wives’ Club circled around tidying up and getting ready to leave.

“It’s about time the Wives’ Club and I returned to Iluk,” Alna said to me. “Grandma Maya and her friends never believed they’d ever get to try fresh fish in their lifetime, and they’re very excited. When I told them of the goblins’ arrival, they jumped to their feet and started preparing cutlery and dishes. I want to get back and give them what they deserve.”

“Yeah, I know how they feel,” I said. “Until now I’ve only ever eaten poorly salted ocean fish, and it was disgusting. I can imagine their excitement. When things wrap up here we’ll head back to Iluk with Iberis and his family. Please see that yurts are prepared for them.”

Alna nodded and started on the road home.

“Lady Alna!” cried Iberis. “Wait just a second! We appreciate the hospitality, but there’s no need to prepare a place for all of us! I mean, first you cook us up a feast and then you fix us the warmest welcome we’ve ever seen? You’ve hit us right in the hearts with your kindness! We feel indebted to respond in kind, which means we’re sending some of the crew back right this instant to get you more seafood!”

Iberis turned to Ellie and went on.

“Miss Ellie! Please get us some more salt and barrels as soon as you’re able! And don’t worry about a thing! It’s the sea—it’s chock-full of bounties! We could easily fill a thousand of these barrels, maybe even ten thousand! And with enough ice we could bring you things like shellfish and prawns too! They’re a real treat when you fry them up!”

“Hmm? Wait just a second,” uttered Ellie, processing the new information. “Just how many goblins does it take to fill a barrel of this size? And how long does it take?”

Ellie knew that there were a lot of fish in the sea, but she didn’t have any concrete information when it came to catching them. Something about what Iberis had said had caught her attention.

“Huh? Well, with four goblins you wouldn’t need much time at all. Give them a full day to fish and they’ll fill ten barrels for you. You’d have to prepare nets, and the haul differs a bit by the day, but that’s a rough estimate for you...”

Ellie froze at that. Aymer, who’d been eating with the twins, put a hand to her mouth and gasped. Hubert, who was helping to clean up empty plates, was so stunned he suddenly looked unsteady, like he was ready to collapse. Fortunately, the nearby dogkin helped him stay on his feet, but all the while Iberis looked confused. He couldn’t tell why everybody was so surprised.

“If your entire tribe were to fish together, how much could you catch in ten days?” asked Alna. “How many barrels do you think you could fill?”

“Hmm... Well, including catching them, dressing them, putting them in the barrels, and gear maintenance...and assuming we have all the salt and barrels to do it... Look, it’s just not realistic, but if we’re talking about hypotheticals, then three or four hundred? Maybe five? With that many fish you’d have to look at circling a whole lot of different fishing spots, which means it might not be quite that number, but it’d be pretty close.”

Alna let out a sigh of pure awe. Despite the dogkin’s efforts, Hubert crumpled.

“But that’s even more than the kingdom’s entire southern port can fish!” he uttered, holding himself up with his hands as his head slumped. “I never imagined in my wildest dreams that you’d be capable of such numbers. Please, may I ask you some more questions?”

So Hubert asked his questions, and Iberis answered them.

Hubert: How do the goblin tribes fish, exactly?

Iberis: When we fish solo we use spears; when we fish in groups we use nets to catch schools in larger numbers.

Hubert: How do you acquire your nets?

Iberis: We use nets that humans have discarded in the sea, or otherwise whatever the waves bring us.

Hubert: Are your fishing expeditions consistent in terms of amount?

Iberis: Every year’s about the same, yep.

Hubert: You don’t have good and bad seasons?

Iberis: No such thing as bad seasons for us goblins. We’re careful about managing the environment.

Hubert: But I would have thought that the seasons or the tides would have some impact on fishing conditions, no?

Iberis: When you can’t find fish in one sea, you go to another. Simple as that. But like I said, we goblins are careful about the environments we live in. We never overfish. Come to think of it, I always used to wonder why it was that humans would sometimes cast their nets where there were no fish, but that makes a bit more sense now that we’re talking.

Hubert: What happens after you catch fish in your nets?

Iberis: We take them to where our buddies are waiting and we eat them. Sometimes we’ll cook them up on the surface, but not often. Fish are easier to digest when they’re cooked, so usually that’s what we do when somebody falls ill.

Hubert: What else do you eat outside of fish?

Iberis: Crabs, shellfish, squid, octopus, and seaweed, mostly. We can eat sharks and whales, and other bigger fish, but they don’t taste great and they’re a pain to hunt, so we don’t usually go for them. We only hunt them to cull their numbers when there’s too many.

Hubert: How many monsters are there beneath the sea?

Iberis: The sea’s a big place, so bear in mind that there might be a whole lot of monsters living where we’ve never been. That said, miasma weakens the deeper you go, so we usually only see monsters closer to the shallows.

“I...see...” murmured Hubert. “That was most informative...and extremely educational. Thank you so much. One last question, if I may: If, say, we requested that you bring us a set amount of fish on a regular basis, would that be possible?”

Hubert’s eyes were on the tables as he asked his question. Iberis must have really liked the seafood, because he’d eaten a lot of it. He washed another mouthful down with his drink before answering.

“Yeah, I think so,” he said. “We’d need to get paid appropriately for the work, of course, but fishing is part and parcel of our daily lives, so it wouldn’t be a big deal. The hardest part is dressing the fish and then carting them over here, which is why we’d expect some payment. As for what we’d accept, some steel tools from the cavekin would be most welcome. The stuff we brought back with us earlier was really popular, and most of the goblins back home were blown away by it.”

Hubert thought long and hard about Iberis’s answer, but Ellie, who was standing next to him, clenched her fists in excitement.

“Yes!” she cried. “Yes! A thousand times yes!”

“The fish cuisine is mighty tasty,” I said, eating a little more of the cheesy fish dish, “so I get why you’re happy, but is it really worth getting that excited about?”

Ellie nodded vigorously.

“Narvant and the cavekin tell me they’ve got quite the ore surplus from their mining so far. If we can use that in exchange for fish, we’ll be that much closer to being an entirely self-sufficient domain! We won’t have to rely so much on outside imports!”

Ellie explained that usually we had to be especially careful when it came to who we sold our ore to, but the goblins were basically residents.

“It’s not like people are going to go trawling the oceans looking for weapon-worthy steel, right?” Ellie continued. “And I know this isn’t the nicest way to say it, but the steel is going to wear away more quickly in the sea too, which makes the goblins good customers!”

At that point, Ellie’s thought spun off onto a tangent.

“Oh, and about those nets of yours,” she continued to Iberis. “The cavekin are awfully talented when it comes to knitting and whatnot, and they might be able to make you nets from baar string. Baar wool is so valuable that we won’t be able to mass-produce nets for you, but I’m sure we can help with your fishing industry all the same. Given that toolmaking and baar wool are domestic industries, we’d be more than happy to trade them directly for foodstuffs!”

“Ah,” I said, putting it together. “Our fields are starting to finally pick up, but we’ve been relying on Peijin and Eldan this whole time. Expanding our trading partners is a good idea... And with all the ice we’ll gather over the winter, we can chill the fish we get and sell it elsewhere. That’s something to look forward to as well.”

The cavekin had built an ice reservoir and a number of storage cellars in which to put all the ice we made over winter. We were going to have a lot of ice on our hands come the end of the season. I’d figured we’d use that for what we hunted and gathered in the forest, but using it for fish wasn’t a bad idea either.

If we had loads of fish coming in, I thought it might be a good idea to build more storage cellars too. We might need the extra space for everything that was coming in.

“Lord Dias, that’s not all,” said Hubert, scribbling Iberis’s answers on a piece of paper and sounding very excited. “Some fish are good for wonderful oil and fertilizer! You can make it by boiling certain types of fish and putting them through a compressor. That’s the oil part, but if you let the oil dry then you’ve got fertilizer!”

Now I knew exactly why Hubert was so excited—fish was so much more than a source of food. If we were able to secure regular deliveries of fish, we’d be well on the road to thriving in a whole host of different areas.

“When fishing seasons go poorly, it can send nations into turmoil,” Hubert explained. “In Sanserife’s history there are records of clashes between communities that occurred as a direct result of famine when fishing hauls were especially low. Whole cities were left starving. But with the goblins’ help, we won’t have to worry about such problems—we’ll have a secure, stable supply of seafood!”

Hubert was aware we’d need ports before everything could be truly set in stone, but because the goblins were so mobile in the water, the ports weren’t nearly as big a deal as they would have been if we were only dealing with ships.

“Unloading will be much easier with dedicated ships and ports,” said Hubert, “so we’ll still want to get all of that infrastructure built. Actually, now that I think about it, is overfishing something we should be concerned about?”

“If you take too much from any one place, then yes,” Iberis answered, “but that’s not easy to do, even with the whole tribe fishing at once. We don’t even have enough boats and barrels as it is. But even if you had bigger barrels and were filling them with one, maybe two thousand fish, the sea would still be plenty full. There’s a lot of ocean out there, and near endless bounties in it. And at the end of the day, we goblins will make sure overfishing is never an issue. If we feel like we’re stepping towards the point of no return, we’ll let you know.”

Hubert nodded happily, then took some of the fish wrapped in bread and ate it. That just made him even happier still, and his smile grew. Iberis grinned at the sight, and all his pals grinned right there along with him. Some of them even stood up like they wanted to go fishing right away, telling Iberis they’d go looking for barrels and start readying the boat. Ellie saw that and she decided to help...which put an end to our taste-testing session, because the rest of us all decided to help out too.

Seeing the Ship Off

We readied salt in barrels, hauled them onto the boat, and then watched as it sailed back down the river towards the ocean. With that done and dusted, we got to cleaning up—we gave the cutlery a light wash to take home with us, then put the carpet and the table in the hut. This location was going to be an important trading center in the future, so we were sure to use the furniture and carpets again.

I thought it might be worth leaving the cutlery too, but I knew that Alna would be mad if we weren’t thorough about cleaning it with one of her herbal soaps.

The goblin women and children hopped on horses or in the carts we’d brought, and the rest of us were on foot. The domain was a real sight for all the new visitors, and their excited voices filled the air with each new discovery and thought.

“It’s true!” cried one straightaway. “The horses carry things!”

“And there are other animals at the village too, right?” asked another.

“And there’s more than just seawater! They have things like milk and alcohol here!”

“I can’t wait to see everything they cook up over open fires!”

“Baars! I want to touch a baar!”

We could all tell that the young goblins had heard about life in Iluk from Iberis, and they were bubbling with curiosity about life on the surface. You could see them trembling with excitement, their eyes practically sparkling with anticipation.

I couldn’t blame them—if I’d heard a hero’s story and then been given the chance to walk the same path, I would have been excited too. And now that the young goblins were actually here, and on the way to the actual Iluk Village they’d heard all about, they couldn’t contain themselves.

And truth be told, now that I’d heard about the ocean from Iberis, I wanted to see it for myself. I wanted to see all the creatures you couldn’t see anywhere else but the sea, and I wanted to experience all the colorful fish that were everywhere you looked.

“What a strange thing the heart is,” muttered Iberis, walking by my side. “It’s only been days, and yet I’m getting all these nostalgia feels.”

“We’ve just started on winter preparations so it’s a bit hectic at Iluk,” I said. “But it’s still the Iluk you remember, I can guarantee you that.”

Iberis flashed me all his teeth as he smiled and nodded.

“It is, is it? Just like I remember, huh? This is no adventure like our last visit, but it sure sounds like I’ll have some new stories to take back with me all the same! We brought a lot back from Iluk the last time, but you know what? Everybody loved our stories the most.”

“Tales of adventure, huh? So how was it when you guys got back to the ocean, anyway?” I asked. “Everyone was happy to see you, I assume?”

“You don’t know the half of it! When some of our fellow goblins spotted us from the inlet, they started screaming with joy!”

Before he could go on, a little goblin ran up and started talking to us excitedly.

“Hey! When we get to the village, will there be carrots?! Will there be heaps of carrots?! They’re, like, hard, but they’re also, like, sweet, and you, like, can’t find them anywhere in the ocean and they’re, like, so delicious!”

“Yeah, there’ll be lots of carrots,” I said. “Everybody worked really hard to grow them, and this year was a really good harvest from what I hear.”

That little goblin’s smile was about as big as his entire face, he was so happy. He started laughing and running on ahead of us.

“Let’s talk about it later, when we get to Iluk,” said Iberis. “I think I’ll want to keep an eye on the kids and make sure they don’t get themselves into any trouble.”

Leaving me with that, Iberis took after the young goblin who had dashed ahead. We had Sahhi up in the sky and dogkin all around, so I didn’t think we were in any danger, but I could understand Iberis worrying about his own family. We all kept walking while I took in all our new visitors, and we arrived in Iluk a little before sundown.

We ended up throwing a welcome banquet for Iberis and his family. You might think the main attraction was all the seafood because of just how much we’d received, but actually it was Iberis’s stories.

Everybody in Iluk was as curious about the ocean as the goblins were about the surface. And with all the delicious scents of seafood filling the air, everyone wanted to hear all about the world that Iberis and his family called home. So we all gathered in the square and prepared a little platform for Iberis, where he stood to tell us all about it. Iberis was only too happy to oblige—he had a full stomach and some wine to help it go down, and he gave us his best storytelling voice.

“On the day we arrived home, we were met by the homely scents of the sea breeze and the cheers of our brothers and sisters!” he started. “Tears of joy ran down their faces, for they had worried that we would never return home. We were glad to have completed our mission, and we felt moved in ways that none of us will ever forget!”

So began Iberis’s story of the ocean and of adventurers returning home. All the while, everybody enjoyed their food and drink, hanging on every word.

A Few Days Earlier, at the Inlet—Iberis

As Iberis and his brothers rode the boat down the river, they saw where the earth had split into the inlet and were greeted by the southern sea breeze. The moment the aroma met their nostrils, excitement filled their hearts. Even the goblins who were swimming in the river rose to the surface to take in the smell of home.

The river water bled into the sea, and those on the boat dove into what was now seawater, splashing around wildly and crying with joy at their arrival home.

“Iberis?! No way! Iberis, is that you?!” came a shout. “You’re alive! What’s with the boat?! What happened to all of you out there?! What did you find past the wasteland?!”

“Whoa! They’re back!” cried another voice. “The heroes return!”

“Big bro?! Are you okay?!”

“Ha ha ha! The young’ns are back!”

Some ten or so goblins were waiting at a small hut at the inlet, constructed from driftwood. It seemed they were a search party, and the hut was their base of operations.

Iberis chuckled at the sight of the simple hut—Dias and the people of Baarbadal were friends to the goblins, and they would not care in the slightest that the hut was built on their land, but had the domain lord been anybody else, would things have been different?

As the boat was carried towards the inlet, some of the goblins swam over to the search party. They were happy to see familiar faces—partners, siblings, parents, and children alike. Iberis, however, stayed with the boat. It was his duty as the party’s leader to ensure it was safe.

Goblins hugged one another with relief, glad to be reunited, and some took off past the inlet for the ocean proper to inform the rest of the tribe about Iberis’s return.

“Welcome home!” came a powerful shout.

The voice belonged to a woman, and it was one that Iberis had for a time thought he might never hear again. He smiled brightly.

“We’re home!” he shouted in reply.

Iberis and his friends took their time catching up with their friends and family, then unloaded the boat’s provisions into the inlet hut. With that done, everybody dove into the water and headed for the ocean—for home.

Some swam with everything they had, others let the water carry them, some simply took in the underwater sights of the sky through the sea’s surface, and yet others took pleasure in catching and eating passing fish along the way. Every goblin indulged in the waters they so missed as they drifted to the bottom of the sea and to their village down there.

The goblin village was built into a cave in a wall near the bottom of the sea. It was a sight for sore eyes, and though the light of the sun rarely reached the village, it was still bright with coral and sea shells and decorated with furniture and tools that had drifted there from the surface. The goblins breathed deep, taking in the unique scent of their village, and it was then that they felt they had truly arrived home. They caught up with friends and family in the unique way that they did when communicating underwater, but eventually they all swam to the surface.

Iberis climbed a reef and made himself comfortable upon it, stating, “If we’re going to talk about an adventure on the surface, what better place to have it than the surface!”

Goblin after goblin climbed the reef to join Iberis, though some stayed in the water, floating upon the waves or leaning on stray driftwood. But no matter where they were, all the goblins were waiting with bated breath for Iberis to tell them all about the journey he’d been on. And Iberis was just as excited to give them what they wanted.

“The wasteland past the inlet is a horrid place!” he told them. “It is a place where moisture seems not to exist, a sea of sand where water is unwelcome. It gets in your eyes, in your mouth, and under your scales, and oh how it stings! We lacked the water to wash it all away, and as we trekked on we bemoaned that such an outrageous environment even existed!”

They’d thought back, he said, on what their ancestors had said about never venturing past the inlet. “But the appearance of that strange lizard changed everything! It asked us to step into the unknown, and we answered its call. It was because of that decision that we met with a winged hero—one who darted through the skies as freely as we goblins traverse the seas!”

Iberis’s own excitement had reached a peak. His tail fin smacked against the reef, and everybody around let out a collective gasp. They were taken by wonder, and as they leaned in to learn more, Iberis continued.

“Past the wasteland lie lands of green!” he cried. “Upon that land live creatures that survive on grass! And caring for those creatures is a man—the most powerful of any surface dweller! Such is his strength that he can vanquish a dragon alone! He has fought back the monsters numerous times, and now the dragons fear him! He is Duke Dias, lord of the grassy plains, but he is not just a skilled warrior! He is a man of great character, his soul as clean as the clearest ocean waters!”

Iberis regaled his listeners with the tale of how Dias had helped the goblins when they had been on the verge of starvation, and how he’d praised them for their bravery. That night, he had thrown a most unbelievable banquet to welcome them all to his village.

“We have all seen humans celebrating at the port towns, but none of those parties compare to the likes of what we experienced in the village of Iluk! Wondrous scents filled the air! Celebratory energy captured all our hearts! Smiles were everywhere, and the village was truly alive! To call it a paradise is no exaggeration, for in Iluk Village all races and animals live in harmony!”

Iberis spoke with great passion, and as his story unfolded, goblins emerged from the water with nets filled with fish. It was the men who had accompanied Iberis on his journey, and they passed the fish around. Joy and delight filled the air as a smile grew on everybody’s face. Iberis paused his story and dove into the sea to partake of the fish as questions bombarded him from all around.

Who is this Dias you speak of? What kind of a place is his village? What sort of people call it home? How do they survive?

For each fish Iberis ate, he answered a question. His friends saw how fierce his hunger had been, and they joined him in his feast, making for an impromptu reefside party of sorts.

The goblins were in awe of Iberis and impressed by his courage. He and his brothers had left the goblin home in part because of a mysterious lizard but also because of a longheld promise that stretched back generations. While they had all prayed that Iberis would return home safe with stories to tell, the story he told them was beyond anything they could have imagined.

And so the goblins were lively like never before, chatting with each other and listening to Iberis speak, and none were bored. This was what it meant to be alive for the goblins of the sea, and it was these moments that they all thought of as priceless.

As Iberis continued his tale, the excitement among the goblins only grew, and if one turned their gaze not far from the reef they would have seen the elder goblins listening just as intently, even though they were stubborn and not fond of such boisterous parties.

On the face of it, they were listening because they wanted information about the surface world, but one look at their faces told everyone that they were all engrossed by Iberis’s story. Iberis’s brothers all felt proud of their leader, so they did their utmost to assist him—shuffling fish around, gathering more when they ran dry, and passing out their new haul.

The oceans were unpredictable and the state of them changed often, so the goblins did not often eat to bursting as they wanted to be ready for anything. Today, however, was a special occasion, and so the hunting went on until each and every goblin was plump and full, all of them amazed by this tale of a world that felt straight out of fantasy.

“And then we encountered gods!” declared Iberis. “Gods of incomparable power! One was a baar god that emerged from the earth and slew a dragon with a single strike! The other a lizard god who split the wasteland grounds and called forth the river that now runs all the way to our sea! One man among the Iluk villagers spoke to the gods—Bendia, uncle of Dias...”

The goblins had thought they couldn’t be more excited, couldn’t have been more engrossed in Iberis’s tale, but they were wrong. All of them cheered loudly at the emergence of the gods, and such was their elation that their banquet went on until the sun sank beyond the waves. It left many a goblin in awe of the surface world.

Listening to Iberis in the Village Square—Dias

I honestly felt like Iberis went a bit overboard with his embellishments and probably made us sound like much more than we actually were. I didn’t think our celebrations were all that crazy, and surely they had to be similar to the kinds of parties they threw elsewhere. I liked to think that Iluk was a pleasant place to live, but I had to assume that some people would see our way of life and disagree with some of it, so I wasn’t sure you could call it paradise either.

That said, it felt real good to have someone praise the life we’d built for ourselves out here. I just didn’t want any of the other goblins feeling let down or disappointed by what they saw. But as I looked around at our new visitors, I didn’t get that sense from them at all—if anything they were completely taken by what they saw and loved the banquet we’d thrown for them.

But I wonder if our lifestyle seems lavish from the eyes of the goblin people?

In the end though, I just shrugged the thought off. If the goblins were having a good time and enjoying themselves, then that was enough for me. I turned my attention back to Iberis, who was still talking and still had plenty of energy to spare.

Some of Iberis’s entourage said they wanted to learn more about life on the surface and decided to stay with us a while. The rest elected to help unload the boat when it arrived with yet another round of the sea’s bounties. This time they brought salted fish along with cooked shrimp and shellfish.

Needless to say, Iluk saw its meal variety explode with new options, and among all of this was some other good news—namely that Joe and my war buddies were officially getting married to the onikin women they’d been spending time with. It had already pretty much been decided when the boys had arranged betrothal gifts of dragon materials, but apparently things weren’t final until the betrothal gifts were officially accepted, so this was just another step in the process.

As it turned out, the weddings were all going to be held at once, and preparations were already underway. Everybody felt it was better to give me one report on everything rather than inform me of each individual couple’s status as it developed.

I wasn’t sure I understood that logic, because good news was good news, and the more you got of it the better. Still, everybody was trying to be considerate and I wasn’t going to hold that against them.

There were eleven onikin women working in Iluk now, and some of them had chosen to do so because they wanted to think things through. Well, it seemed like they’d made up their minds, and every one of them was going through with their marriage.

The weddings were set for three days’ time. Three days might sound oddly specific, but that’s because the lostblood brothers had set off to buy some things that were needed for the ceremonies. But once we had everything, we’d invite all the families, hold the ceremonies, and then start sorting out the yurts in Iluk and the rooms at the border stations so the couples could start their married lives in earnest.

As for what the lostblood brothers were purchasing...well, it was livestock. With Joe and the others traveling between the village and the border stations, they’d need horses. Once we started talking about that, the onikin women said they wanted geese, goats, and white ghee so they’d have more options for food. Apparently that was part of why they’d stayed in Iluk before getting married—they’d wanted to get a feel for life in Iluk and what kind of animals they wanted to raise themselves.

Joe and my buddies had asked Ellie and the lostblood brothers to purchase what their brides-to-be wanted, and they were told it was going to take three days. The list of livestock was pretty long, all in all, and I found myself looking at our already-impressive stable wondering how we were going to make more space.

“For now, we’ve accepted the five goats, the four white ghee, and the thirty geese from Duke Mahati,” said Ellie, her jaw in her hand as she thought. “We’ll have some problems on our hands if we take on too much at once, so the rest we’ll bring in a little at a time. Still, the horses that the onikin women asked for aren’t on that list you’ve got.”

Ellie had the lostblood brothers going to the Beastland Nation to buy the horses. She hadn’t been sure we could do that, but Seki and his brothers had told her that Peijin would be able to cut us a deal.

“And they were right,” continued Ellie. “We sent a request and Peijin & Co. said they’d arrange things for us. That said, it’s a bit of a sudden request on our part so we won’t be getting any military-grade steeds—they’ll all be farming horses. Still, the onikin women were all happy with that, so I’ve got the boys buying eleven of them.”

“All righty,” I said. “If the women are happy, then I’m happy. Horses are horses at the end of the day, and farming horses will come in real handy when work starts to pick up in the wasteland.”

“Oh, which reminds me,” said Ellie. “The livestock we’re buying are all going to belong to the new couples...which is to say they’ll be personal property. I want you to bear that in mind, please. Until now everything we’ve bought has technically belonged to you, papa, but it’s been shared among us as a whole. But because the arriving livestock won’t belong to you, you’ll have to pay the owners when you want to use them. But don’t worry. The new couples will also have to rent space if they want to use the stables, so it should all even out.”

“Got it. I’ll make sure we’ve got the money on hand when we need to hire some extra help.”

I took another look around the stable and thought. Even if the new couples owned their new animals, they’d still need stable space and the equipment to look after them. All of that meant we’d need to expand things here or over at the border stations. If the new couples decided they wanted a stable of their own they could ask the cavekin, but they’d need timber, which they’d have to buy. That meant I’d have to think about how much our timber was worth.

I’d never had to think about prices for our stuff before. Until now, all our yurts and furniture and materials had been shared among us, so it just hadn’t been a necessity. Now it was. Our yurts were made with baar fabric, and that meant the price would probably change drastically depending on the size of the yurt.

Is that something someone can just easily buy? Would a wooden hut or cottage be cheaper than a yurt?

I found myself with all these new questions drifting about in my mind as I chatted with Ellie about what we’d need and what work we’d have to do in the near future.

And just like that, three days passed. I was waiting to the west of the village, expecting the lostblood brothers back, and soon I saw them riding their carriage along the road with horses and livestock in tow. The dogkin guards were all kept real busy running around because of all the animals really stretching things out, and that was when I realized that there were some hefty, powerful-looking horses coming this way. Not just a few either—there must have been about twenty of them.

Did the boys buy them at some kind of bulk discount...? Or were the Peijins feeling especially generous?

I was mulling over the possibilities when I saw Seki in the driver’s seat of the carriage, looking down and out. This was odd, because the lostblood brothers always came back with big, bright smiles on their faces, and they were always real happy to deliver their reports.

Bringing back this many horses should be a big win, so I gotta wonder, why the long face?

I waved to Seki and he replied with a somewhat stilted wave of his own. I started getting worried and wanted to run over to find out what was going on. Still, I held back, knowing that if I just waited the boys would get to me soon enough. When they got to me, Seki gave me a report the way he always did.

“Our trip to buy livestock went as planned,” he said. “We acquired everything we were after, and a lot of quality merchandise besides, but...I have some bad news. Things aren’t looking good in Beastland.”

“Welcome back,” I said. “And for starters, I’m glad you’re all safe. But what’s this about Beastland? What’s going on?”

For a second Seki looked troubled, like he wasn’t sure where to start. But he settled his resolve, took a breath, and replied.

“All we have at the moment is what we’ve heard from Peijin, but it looks like Yaten Raisei has lost his position...or is on the verge of losing it. The domestic balance of power is crumbling as a result, and we might be looking at something like civil war. The Peijins gave me a letter to pass to you. I don’t know the particulars, but they’re requesting your help.”

I was stunned—shocked stiff, in fact. Yaten had come to Iluk as an official representative of the Beastland Kingdom, and in our meeting we’d agreed to friendly relations. How’d the guy go from that to losing his position? And if he did lose his position, what did that mean for the agreement we’d made?

My mind raced, but in the end I figured it wasn’t going to get me anywhere until I read the letter from the Peijins, so I took the envelope Seki held out to me and I opened it right away.

The letter was written on real nice paper in sort of blocky handwriting. In it, the Peijins said that there were a number of different factors that put Yaten on the verge of losing his position. The first was that the Peijin family had elected to put some space between themselves and the councillor.

At the time, the Peijin family had not expected their actions to have any massive consequences—the Beastland Kingdom was home to a number of large merchant companies, and the Peijins had thought that in making space between themselves and Yaten, that space would quickly be filled by another merchant.

However, the Peijin family had impressive momentum behind it thanks to its successful dealings in baar wool, and they were well respected for their manners and their patience. Still, they’d never imagined that when they chose to distance themselves from Yaten, every other major merchant company would follow suit. This made things considerably more painful for Yaten.

The second reason for Yaten’s predicament was that he had erred in his judgment of my character. To put this in context, the Beast King had received intelligence regarding my person from a number of sources.

Firstly there were the Peijins. When they had first met me, they had informed the king that there were good prospects for trade with me and that I was not a threat. Basically, they’d told the king that I looked every bit the part of a good neighbor, and I would not look to harm or invade his country.

The king had also received news of me from another councillor: Kiko. She had come to Iluk herself and deemed it a safe home for her three sons—Seki, Saku, and Aoi. She had praised our village when she reported to the king, and like the Peijins she had said that I was a good leader who lived in harmony with human and beastkin alike.

She had assured the king that I was safe, and encouraged him to pursue friendly relations with Baarbadal. Her thinking was that friendly relationships would not result in issues with the Sanserife Kingdom, and that it was better to act now, because if I were replaced, the next domain lord might not be so open to diplomacy.

Naturally, Kiko’s report was only her opinion on things, but given she’d entrusted her own family with me, her words carried great weight with the king.

When it came to Yaten’s report, however, the king had received an entirely different opinion. Like Kiko, Yaten had come to Iluk to appraise me firsthand, and he had come away thinking me dense, ignorant, and third-rate.

To be honest, I kind of thought he was right. I was all of those things.

Regardless, he had excitedly informed the king that their options were great. They could use me if such a situation was favorable, or they could just as easily wipe us out completely. Given that Yaten had seen us as no threat whatsoever, he had advised the king to simply keep an eye on proceedings for the time being.

The king had been left extremely confused.

The reports he’d received on my person were nothing if not conflicting, but in the end he had chosen to lean on Yaten’s counsel—they would not take any immediate action and instead watch how things developed before settling on a plan. Now, however, voices around the king had been speaking up, telling him that he’d been mistaken.

First had come the report that we’d built a fortress on our western border with them, complete with a military force that had the vanquishing of multiple dragons under their belt. This was no easy feat for even the Beastland Kingdom’s most decorated platoons. It had been reported that the western border station had a burgeoning farming industry. Smoke seen nearby indicated that they were actively smithing as well.

All of this indicated that Baarbadal was not going to be as easy to dispose of as previously thought. More importantly, the border station was now of such size that serious thought would have to be put into the simple question of how to attack the place, let alone disposing of the inhabitants beyond.

And then I had encountered the gods themselves.

During the battle with the aqua dragon, a so-called “god in the form of a wild beast” had appeared from the ground at our feet to lend us aid. This might have been written off as mere hearsay if not for Peijin-Do having witnessed it all firsthand. The news had left the king astounded.

All of this had impressed itself heavily upon the king and left him with entirely the wrong idea about things. You see, he had seen the border station and the slain dragons, and he’d decided all of that had to be because we had the blessings of the gods at our backs. From here, a thought had begun to plague his mind: Why would a god in the form of a beast aid Baarbadal and not the beastkin people?

Such was the king’s concern that he had fallen ill. And while it hadn’t been anything serious—he had been back on his feet in a few days, according to the letter—it nonetheless carried great meaning. In short, the responsibility for all of it fell on Yaten’s shoulders for his counsel. After all, it had been Yaten who had called me—a man favored by the gods themselves—third-rate. It had been Yaten who’d advised the king to observe passively as Baarbadal boomed.

Yaten had been slammed for his report while Kiko and Peijin had been praised for their foresight. Kiko had never meant to back Yaten into such a corner and attempted to mediate proceedings, but there was little she could do—Yaten’s position grew more precarious by the day.

There was one last reason that Yaten was in such a bad position, and it also happened to be the reason civil war was brewing. According to the Peijins, it was due to...the securing of the border. The border had been a source of conflict in the past, but in securing a treaty with Baarbadal and having us build a border station, past worries and concerns had dissipated.

Naturally, I thought this was a good thing, but it had resulted in unforeseen problems. Before I’d arrived at the plains, Sanserife attempted a number of attacks on the Beastland Kingdom. Bandits had also moved in, looking to kidnap people to sell as slaves. Apparently, even some beastkin were willing to sell their own into slavery. But when I’d come along, those problems basically evaporated.

What this meant was that all the guards whose duty it was to protect the nation no longer had anything to do. Some of the Beastland lords were even saying they should launch a war of vengeance on the kingdom, and they were building their forces to do exactly that. I mean, they didn’t need to, because we had a treaty in place, but yep...that was just how many soldiers were left twiddling their thumbs.

I always thought that when you didn’t have things to do you could always train, or otherwise just get a different job, but it seemed that soldiers across the border had a different perspective. In short, because Sanserife wasn’t the threat it had once been, some of the Beastland Kingdom’s domain lords saw this as an opportunity to turn their idle military forces to domestic conquest.

To be honest, this part of the letter didn’t make much sense to me no matter how many times I read it, but I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn’t reading things wrong and I did my utmost to wrap my head around it.

In short, an uprising was brewing, and the reason for it was Yaten and the treaty he’d made with me. That’s what people were saying across the border, anyway. Kiko had agreed with the treaty, and so had the king, so by that logic they were at least partially responsible too, but nobody rallied against them. In the end, all of it was coming down on Yaten.

The Beastland Kingdom had always had a lot of internal conflict, and Yaten’s job was to mediate things between the domains. It was for this reason that his job saw him on the road all the time. But with his position weakened so considerably, the precarious balance keeping things together was crumbling. Everybody was seeing the situation as a chance to make good for themselves.

As I read on, I started talking to myself. I couldn’t help it.

“No,” I muttered. “Nope. No. No siree. No way. Nuh-uh...”

All the stuff about Yaten had been complicated, but it was the stuff that came after that was really problematic. The Peijins, Kiko, and the other councillors wanted to avoid an insurgency and were working hard to make sure it never happened. Unfortunately, they couldn’t make any promises.

Therefore, they were asking for my assistance to mobilize our troops if all else failed.

“No,” I mumbled. “No, no, no, no...”

It was one thing to mobilize troops and move them within your own nation, but it was a whole other thing to move them into another nation. There was no way that was ever going to fly, and I just couldn’t help moaning to myself at all the trouble we were suddenly maybe drowning in.

After Reading the Letter

“I know we can’t just send our forces over the border,” Seki told me once I’d finished moaning. “I know it’s complicated too. But keep in mind that the Peijins are asking out of desperation. They and many in the beastkin nation are worried about turmoil and chaos in the future. If we can’t mobilize troops, that’s not the end of the world. They’ll be happy with any support you can provide, in whatever capacity.”

I moaned again, then said, “Hrmm... And I do want to provide support in whatever way I can...outside of mobilizing our forces. But is the situation really so dire that they have to resort to calling on help from a foreign nation?”

“In a word? Yes. With winter creeping closer every day, this is the worst time for an uprising. The domains preparing for action and those preparing for the fallout are both expecting food shortages—which means they’re requisitioning the villages’ winter stockpiles. The lords inciting trouble want all of the unrest, however—they see it as increasing their chances of victory.”

“But that’s so reckless,” I replied. “When a country is left weak from internal conflict, they’re risking outside invasions too. Neighboring nations don’t usually sit idly by when there’s an open door in front of them.”

I wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed by any means, but even I knew that much. If these insurgent domain lords in the Beastland Kingdom were even duller than I was, then their chances of victory were probably as low as one in a million.

“But the whole reason they’re taking these risks is because that neighbor is Sanserife, and they’ve deemed it no threat.”

Seki knew we couldn’t just march our military over the border, but we were talking about his home—he looked exasperated and helpless. I’d never seen him like that before. It was clearly giving him a real headache, and I ruffled his hair with a hand to reassure him a little.

“I know I don’t need to tell you, but I’ll make it clear all the same—we’re not going to attack the Beastland Kingdom. I’ll swear that on my parents’ graves. But civil war is just not a smart move. Does that kind of thing happen often over there?”

“Not often, per se, but unlike Sanserife, the Beastland Kingdom doesn’t have a dynasty... Is that what you call it? What I mean is, it doesn’t have a royal family like the one here. Instead, the nation’s king is the leader of the strongest clan, or whoever wields the most authority.”

Seki said that in the beginning, the beast kings were elephantkin, and then after three generations it was a bearkin, followed by another elephantkin, and so on.

“Because of the way leadership can shift so suddenly, every clan believes that if the circumstances are right, they, too, can rule the country,” Seki explained. “My parents are of the belief that the elephantkin should found a proper dynasty for the sake of stability, but others think differently.”

It seemed that many believed the precarious state of the nation kept everybody on edge and at the ready—a steel-sharpening-steel kind of idea.

“But the truth of the matter is that the heir of the elephantkin tribe, their princess, is missing. Even if they wanted to establish a ruling dynasty, they couldn’t do it without her.”

When Seki laid it all out for me, I couldn’t help getting a real bad feeling about everything. I just felt like if they stuck to the path they were on, the road ahead was going to be a rough one. My gut told me that the situation was all set to spiral out of control. I didn’t want to think too much about why I felt that way, so I changed the topic.

“The state of the Beastland Kingdom’s royal lineage is something we’re going to keep our noses out of, even more so than talk of mobilizing forces,” I said. “So let’s turn our focus on what we can do. I’m guessing that the Peijins sent us these fine horses because they’re in need of help, right?”

“That’s the gist of it. The horses are called...heshirs, I think. In any case, they’re as strong and durable as they look, but they’re also placid and hardworking. That said, they’ve got big appetites. I’ve heard that some trading companies have gone bankrupt because they’ve had too many heshirs in their stables. I think the Peijins thought it best to put them in your care because of the threat of food shortages. They know how much Alna loves horses, so it’s also likely they thought that this would be a good way to nudge you towards helping out too.”

Well, that certainly clears things up, and it does sound a lot like what the Peijins would do. I wonder what Alna will make of it though.

Alna and the onikin in general liked horses that were fast and a bit on the wild side. Horses that were a bit...slimmer than these heshirs. I folded up the letter from the Peijins, put it in my chest pocket, and walked over to get a better look at our new horses.

From a distance I’d guessed there were about twenty, but in total there were twenty-five. They were big animals with thick fur and strong legs, and they made Balers and the other horses look like foals by comparison. Naturally, they had big old faces to go with their bodies and a kind of tranquil look in their eyes. In their gazes there was a clear mix of smarts, kindness, and calm.

The eiresetters and sheps were quick to run out and look after the new horses, and boy did the heshirs love that. I knew that if I kept looking at them all indulging in the care I was only going to get sleepy, so I kept on moving through them. But then I walked straight into something that stopped me in my tracks.

“Wh-What are you doing?!”

It was a group of onikin women, and they were clinging to the heshirs, their faces buried in the horses’ thick fur coats. They turned to look at me and I recognized them as the women who were helping out at the border stations. They were living there on account of being engaged to the soldiers on duty, and I’d thought they were all busy with wedding arrangements.

But here they were, hugging heshirs.

“This one is mine!” one of them proclaimed.

“Oh, I, uh... I see,” I said.

And, well, we had gotten the horses brought in for the weddings, and they were for my war buddies and the onikin women they’d be living with, so in that sense, yeah, they did have a rightful claim to ownership. I just didn’t think they had to be so assertive about it. I realized then that the women were looking for a connection with the horses, and when they found one, they didn’t want that particular horse to be taken from them...hence the hugging.

I would have thought they could have just marked the reins or something, but I guess that wasn’t going to be enough for any of them. They’re all worried their picks will be taken.

Then again, it was clear as day just how taken all the women were with the new horses, and I had to hand it to the Peijins—they’d known what they were doing when they sent them, that was for sure. We couldn’t accept them and do nothing in return, and we couldn’t just return them either. Not anymore.

I guess we’re offering our support, and that’s that.

As for exactly how Baarbadal could assist the beastkin nation...well, I figured I’d talk with everyone to figure that out. For the time being though, I wanted to put the upcoming weddings first and think about all that other stuff later.

I told the onikin women they were free to get their fill of the horses, then went back to thank the lostblood brothers and all their guards for all their hard work bringing back the livestock. I set about helping them unload and sort the boxes they’d brought back so they could all take a well-deserved break.

Joe and the guys arrived from the border station a little after the lostblood brothers, and after a quick hello we all headed to the village square. All the wedding preparations were in full swing, with Alna leading the proceedings. Well, she had been leading the proceedings, but then she spotted the heshirs, at which point she only had horses on the brain.

“Wh-Wh-What?!” she exclaimed, running over. “Where did all these horses come from?! They’re so big! Such powerful legs! And thick, muscular chests! These horses are amazing!”

It wasn’t long before she noticed the onikin women hugging tight to their preferred horses, and she read between the lines. I didn’t need to explain a single thing. Alna knew then that the horses weren’t hers, and her shoulders slumped dejectedly.

“Don’t get the wrong idea!” cried one of the women, still clinging to her horse. “We don’t want all of them!”

“Pick out a good one for yourself, Alna!” cried another, also clinging to her horse. “Better do it before the others get here!”

“Lady Alna, we acquired more horses than planned,” explained Seki, “so some will most certainly become Iluk’s horses.”

She perked right back up hearing that. There was a spring in her step and a glimmer in her eye as she went around talking to the horses, patting their faces, and feeling the muscles in their legs. She was in full horse-appraisal mode, and when she found the one she liked, she wrapped her arms around it and buried her head in its fur.

I get the feeling that all the hugging and face stuff might be a cultural thing...

I wanted to say that there was no need to hurry, and that we should put the weddings first, but I didn’t want to spoil the mood. I let the onikin women enjoy the horses and went about my own preparations.

The wedding ceremony was pretty similar to Klaus and Canis’s wedding, with one notable difference: This time we had eleven couples getting married. When Alna and I had gotten engaged it had been done in the onikin style, and that was a whole affair. I remembered it being real lively. Then again, my betrothal gift had been the better part of an earth dragon, so it was no wonder Alna’s family and the onikin had all been over the moon.

There was a potato vine too, but...it all happened so suddenly that I can’t remember the exact details. I just remember that we think of weddings as quiet, solemn affairs in Sanserife, complete with prayer recitals. I guess it all comes down to cultures and customs, in the end.

Still, we had prayers ready for this wedding too, and I had to be on the ball for them. Usually, the prayers at a wedding were recited by a priest, which meant it should have been Uncle Ben’s job. Joe and all my old war buddies were a bit jealous of Klaus, however, and so they asked me to read theirs.

What this meant was that I was asked to do a priest’s duties in front of an actual priest, which was a bit crazy if you asked me. Still, the guys had been with me through thick and thin, so it wasn’t like I could just throw their request back in their faces. As such, I was pulling out all the stops.

I changed into the priest’s outfit that Alna had prepared for me back when Klaus and Canis were married, and Uncle Ben had a scepter for me that was used especially for these occasions. So, with a scepter in hand—decorated with potato vines to symbolize fertility—I was ready to go.

Fendia and the paladins arrived to help coach me through my part while I was getting ready and make sure I had things right. It was a lot of pressure.

When I finally made it out of the yurt, everything was ready to go—the village square was packed with all our residents. There were the brides- and grooms-to-be, the twins, Aymer, all the baars, the grandmas, Klaus and Canis, Mont, Hubert, Lady Darrell, a whole lot of dogkin, Sahhi and his wives, Goldia and the gang, the lostblood brothers, the goblins, and all the folks who’d come from the onikin village. Oh, and the cavekin were there, already prepping for a whole day of boozing.

The timing was as coincidental for the goblins as it was fortuitous, so naturally they all attended. The kids among them couldn’t have kept still if they’d tried. They were brimming with curiosity seeing a wedding on land for the first time, and there was a ton of food waiting to be eaten afterwards.

Yep, Iluk sure has grown a whole heap, hasn’t it? We’re officially welcoming new residents through these weddings too.

Gonna have to pick up my game, I reckon.

I did my best to lead the proceedings, and the weddings went off without a hitch... Uh, mostly. During my reciting of the holy verses I earned myself a couple of elbows from Uncle Ben for making a few mistakes, but that aside everything went swimmingly.

Once the verses were read, the attendees all took that as permission to throw the most impressive feast we’d ever known. The dogkin found a place to go through their usual wedding festivities—like all the single people among them chasing down the newly wedded men and playfully slapping them.

I was just watching them and enjoying some food when Mont came over with a cushion and plonked it down by my side. I’m not sure if it was the noise or what, but he spoke in a voice that was just almost lost in all the cheering and chattering.

“Heard all about it from Seki and the boys,” he said, “and I’ve been thinking through what options we have when it comes to the situation across the border. But all you need to do is just sit pretty and leave it with me. I’ve been hearing about their country for a while now and I’ve got some ideas.”

“I don’t mind leaving it in your hands, but what’s this about ideas? What’s been on your mind, Mont?”

Mont took a swig from his cup of wine, then slammed it down onto the low table.

“All sorts of things. Without Juha here, somebody’s gotta do the thinking, and I figure it may as well be me, so I’ve been doing it like you wouldn’t believe. Every day I’m poring over things, working them through, and everything came together when the lostblood brothers let slip about the elephantkin in the Beastland Kingdom.”

He told me he’d heard about it all from the dogkin, and he thought it was a real volatile piece of intel.

“As soon as I heard that the elephantkin used to be in charge, and an elephantkin heiress is missing, well...there’s only so many people you could be talking about, you hear me? And from there, it was child’s play to work out what a certain wicked ruler had in mind—namely, a scheme to see that heiress give birth to his child as an excuse for invasion. But even if he never went through with the invasion, a son from that kind of bloodline sure would make for a certain authority and power over the border. For anyone with access to trade routes, that kind of authority would come in really, really handy, don’t you think?”

Mont seemed to think that there was more to it than just that. He thought some of it was domestic. After all, the beastkin nation hadn’t taken any overt action even when their own people had been abducted and used as little more than products to be bought, sold, and used.

“I reckon with the throne in a place of uncertainty, and tensions running high, others sought to make alliances or provide military power in return for political sway. Probably lots of other schemes you could dig into too. Then again, build a nation on your own whims like that wicked ruler and there’ll be areas to exploit, so I’m not sure I blame ’em for trying.”

And with that, Mont swiped the food off of my plate, shoved it into his mouth, and then rose to his feet and tottered off elsewhere.

Well, that was about the wildest story I’ve heard in some time, and I would have stopped him to talk more about it if it wasn’t a special day. I don’t want to derail the celebrations to discuss all this, so,yep,I’m just going to set my mind on enjoying the banquet.

It just so happened that the eiresetters were all lined up and dancing at the time, and I had some fun watching them. That was when Iberis stumbled over looking a little tipsy but also on cloud nine.

“You guys at Iluk really know how to party!” he boomed. “All bright and cheerful and lavish! My whole family’s having the time of their lives! Won’t wipe those smiles off their faces for days! And then you top it off with plans that benefit all of us? We goblins couldn’t be happier!”

As it turned out, Mont had told Iberis and the goblins that he wanted fish brought in, and plenty of them.

“I mean, it’s an honor to have brought you our fish and see it all prepared here now, and to see how much everybody’s enjoying every bite! It’s just an honor, it really is!”

Iberis took a seat where Mont had been sitting just minutes ago, and started happily talking—mostly to himself—about how much fish to bring in and whether or not it was worth getting his whole village behind their efforts.

When the sun began to set, celebrations only intensified, and the cavekin brought more alcohol to really ramp things up. You see, the cavekin had noticed that the wedding celebrations were a mix of onikin, Sanserife, and dogkin traditions, and they wanted their own traditions in the mix.

And for the cavekin...yeah, that meant more booze.

But according to the cavekin, the stuff they’d brought when the sun began to set was special—they’d brewed it in a unique way and they were very good at it. That said, it wasn’t really about the flavor, per se, but more about the potency.

Point being, it was the strong stuff.

The idea for the cavekin was that you served it in little cups to the men, and if they had the fortitude to withstand a cup, then that proved they had what it took to lead and protect a family.

It looked pretty rough too. After Joe and the others downed theirs they clutched at their throats and rolled around on the ground writhing for a while. It must have been the good kind of excruciating though, because they all held out their cups and asked for more.

The cavekin were beaming to see just how much people loved their best stuff, and they brought out bronze bottles to serve yet another new alcohol. The baars saw all of this and decided that things needed to get livelier still, and all of them started bleating a song like a big old choir.

“Just don’t overdo it, guys!” I shouted over all the singing and cheering.

Alna and some of the others brought out more food, and suddenly the celebrations were coupled with a real seafood smorgasbord. Some of the dishes were pretty simple barbecued fish, and the lostblood brothers pounced on it.

“Ugh, this fish is so good!” Seki cried.

“I could eat this every day!” Saku added.

“We never had anything like this back home!” Aoi laughed.

I couldn’t disagree with any one of them. Iberis and his family had brought us truly tasty fish. It was worlds apart from the pickled stuff I’d suffered in the past. It didn’t stink, there weren’t any weird flavors mixed in with it, and it didn’t feel like pouring a bag of salt down your gullet.

Seriously, the stuff I’d had to endure during the war was downright vile, and some soldiers had straight up refused the fish we’d had even when they were starving. But because there was little other choice—it was edible, and it replenished your salt levels, after all—people turned to trying to find ways to wash down the putrid taste.

But it wasn’t just me and the lostblood brothers who were obsessed with the new fish. Everybody loved it. The dogkin, the falconkin, the cavekin—none of us could get enough, and the goblins were just overflowing with pride for the flavors of their home.

So, the banquet went on and the sun went down, and little by little the twins started to doze off by my side. They’d been bustling around all morning, and now that they’d eaten their fill, they were spent.

I knew Alna and her pals still had their hands full for a good while yet, so I took the twins in my arms and headed to our yurt to put them to bed. Aymer and Grandma Maya joined me to help wash them and change them into their pajamas, and it wasn’t long before the six young baars waddled in looking asleep on their feet. I put them all to bed too. With that done, I closed my eyes for a brief second, and then wouldn’t ya know it—I fell asleep too.

When I was washing up the next morning and getting ready for the day ahead, I heard what sounded like Iberis talking, and real excitedly at that.

“With these we’ll be able to prepare you even better fish!” he cried.

I wondered what had gotten them all excited, and so after I’d washed my face, I walked over to where I’d heard him talking. He was standing in front of the storehouse as people went about putting away the stuff we’d used at the banquet yesterday. In his hands he held pairs of scissors in different sizes.

“Scissors?” I muttered.

I didn’t really get it. I couldn’t tell how scissors would impact the flavor of a fish.

“Now these aren’t like the scissors Alna uses to cut fabric,” explained Narvant, who had made the scissors and given them to Iberis. “I guess you’d call them fishing scissors. I heard that for you goblins, being able to dress your fish in the ocean means you get a tastier catch, and I figured that scissors’d be more helpful than a knife for some of that work. That’s why I threw those together for you.”

“So does the seawater...make the fish tastier...because of the salt?” I asked them.

Iberis immediately burst into raucous laughter.

“Nah, nothing like that,” he replied. “Time is of the essence when you kill a fish. That means the longer you leave them, the more the flavors suffer. That’s why some people cook their fish on the boats where they catch them. It’s common knowledge to us goblins, so we try to dress our fish as quickly as possible, but it ain’t easy with a knife or spear.”

With scissors, however, it was a different story...apparently.

“But now we can cut our fish up, dispose of the innards, wash out all the blood, and then cook them up right when they’re still as fresh as it gets!” stated Iberis. “Or if we’ve got pals on rafts nearby, we can have them put a little salt on the fish or wash them one more time if there’s any bad water in them, and put them in barrels of salt right there! These scissors Narvant made us don’t rust easily, and they won’t dull in the water either. With these, we can salt our fish even more quickly than before!”

“Oh, okay,” I said. “So is that why the lostblood brothers were gushing over the fish they ate last night? Did it have something to do with how you prepped them? I’ve heard that beastkin have more sensitive taste buds than humans, so if the boys thought the fish were tasty, then they’ve gotta be.”

“Speaking of which,” said Narvant, “I reckon those dogkin with their enhanced senses of taste and smell will be really helpful when it comes to us bringing in barrels of fish and other produce and selling them. They don’t even need to look in the barrels—just a sniff and they can tell you how fresh the fish are, whether they’ve been preserved well, and naturally if they’re rotten or not.”

It wasn’t that Narvant didn’t trust the goblins, but it was true that unscrupulous merchants sometimes hid bad produce at the bottoms of barrels, under the better-quality stuff. Narvant didn’t want us accidentally doing just that. Fortunately, it looked like the dogkin could sniff out any problems before they happened.

“Remember that we’ll be dealing with beastkin merchants in the future, and many of them will boast senses just like Iluk’s dogkin,” added Narvant. “They’ll know bad produce when they see it...or smell it. Accidentally selling bad produce is a producer’s nightmare, so having the dogkin do a quick check before we buy or sell goods will be a real boon—a very helpful assurance, I’d wager.”

“And don’t forget our magic’s indispensable,” added one of the onikin women who was passing by as we spoke. “We’ll know if anybody’s trying to cheat you. Make sure you take a couple of us along with you next time you head out for trade, okay?”

The woman had only just gotten married last night, and she was helping with the banquet cleanup. It reminded me of just how effective Alna’s soul appraisal had been when we’d first traded with the Peijins.

But now we had the goblins using the cavekin scissors to dress fish early to keep them fresh, we had the dogkin to confirm the quality of the fish, and we had the onikin helping to prevent any merchant looking to cheat us.

“It’s the kind of trade we can do here because we’re all in it together,” I commented. “Then again, we’ll be giving aid and support in the near future—not so much doing business. Still, I reckon it’ll reassure everyone, so it’s worth doing.”

Iberis, Narvant, and the onikin woman all responded with decidedly cheeky smiles.

“Well, yeah,” said Iberis. “We’re spreading our tasty fish around in the name of keeping people fed, but how will they be able to buy anything less than our stuff after they’ve tasted what we’re offering?”

“Hmm,” murmured Narvant. “And no merchant’s going to be able to provide similar produce no matter how hard they try. I think it’s best we keep our fishing scissors to ourselves—that means no selling them.”

“Ugh, are you serious?” asked the onikin woman, her face full of glee. “I literally just got married, and we’re already talking about a booming economy in the future? This is the best!”

The smiles on their faces were the smiles of schemers if I’d ever seen them.

After Breakfast—Mont

Breakfast was a lively event, and everybody in Iluk was basking in the revelry of the previous day. When he finished his breakfast, Mont ambled over to the laundry space by the stream to help the twins with their work. He took a seat at one of the chairs set up for washing dishes and dried what the twins washed with a baar wool towel before placing it neatly in a storage box. It took some time, but in the end everything was cleaned up and ready to be stored away.

“Thanks for the help!” said Senai.

“Yeah, thanks!” said Ayhan.

The girls then carted the boxes off to the kitchen range. Mont was happy to see them so cheerful, and he was watching them walk away when Joe approached.

“I hear you’ve got a scheme brewing,” he said. “So I’ve got two questions: What happened? And where’d this come from? I didn’t think you had much interest in anything other than building friendly relations with our neighbors.”

“You’re a newly married man, Joe,” snapped Mont. “Why are you here talking about this and not spending time with your wife, huh? Mrgh, but you’re here now, so here’s what’s what—the truth is I’m still not especially interested in the beastkin nation, but there’s a group living over there... A group that drove away a couple girls I hold very dear to my heart. You get what I’m saying?”

Mont was still sitting in his chair, but he’d taken to polishing his wooden leg while he spoke. Joe’s eyes narrowed—he knew exactly what Mont was saying. He took a few steps closer.

“You mean the forestkin who drove away the twins and their parents?” he whispered. “You don’t intend to sneak into Beastland for revenge, do you?”

“Of course not, you damned fool,” Mont snapped back, also whispering now. “You think Dias’d stand for that? You think the twins would stand for that? It’s not about vengeance, but I do want those forestkin to know who we are. I want them to know full well what they’re in for if they dare to try messing with us. I want to do it for both us and them. We can avoid any unnecessary trouble, and the forestkin will hold off from doing anything stupid or suicidal like making Dias angry.”

Joe’s eyes almost bulged out of his head, but after a little thought he nodded. He was on board with the idea, and with a wave he headed off back to his yurt to see his wife.

There’s always a chance that the forestkin will try something, and if I move first as a representative of Baarbadal, I can turn their attention away from Iluk, Dias, and the twins. I can redirect any enmity they might have to us at the border station. That’s the plan, but first I’m going to need Dias to let me go over there in the first place.

Mont continued working on his leg until a dogkin ran up and offered to help. The dogkin must have noticed the troubled look on Mont’s face and assumed it was about his leg. Mont chuckled and thanked the dogkin, and when it was time, he let the dogkin help him to his feet and headed off.

At the Storehouses at Around the Same Time—Ellie

“Iberis, we’re going to sell the fish you’ve brought us to our neighbors,” said Ellie, “but don’t forget that you always have the option of selling your fish to them directly. Bypassing us will make it cheaper for them and get you more out of it. If we’re being honest, you could even say there’s nothing in it for you goblins to go through us.”

Ellie was readying salt in empty barrels for the goblins. Iberis was there with her to confirm the number of barrels, and he listened silently as Ellie went on.

“We’re not after a monopoly on the fish market or any unscrupulous business practices like setting sky-high prices as the only seller. Stunts like that are doomed to failure, and as a merchant myself, I just won’t do it.”

Iberis couldn’t quite believe what he’d just been told.

“Yeah, but are you really sure?” Iberis asked. “You’re already giving us salt and barrels, and even specially made scissors to help us dress the fish. Now you’re telling us we can sell wherever we want? I mean, we’re grateful—we’ve opportunities to the east—but still...”

“Of course I’m sure,” replied Ellie confidently. “The more fish you sell, the better off you are. And the better off you are, the better business you’ll do. No complaints here! You’ll pour more energy into your fishing industries if there’s profit to be made, right? And that’ll likely lead to more people exploring how best to prepare various seafoods, I’m sure. It’s all good news for us, and it’ll make you neighbors we can lean on in times of need. So please, don’t feel like you have to hold back out of obligation or anything like that.”

At the end of the day, Baarbadal couldn’t really ban the goblins from selling their fish when the opportunity was there anyway. And even when it was prohibited by law, merchants found ways around the rules and ways to slip through the cracks. Ellie knew this better than anyone, and Iberis nodded and smiled, impressed by her foresight.

“I feel like every day I’m reminded of just how lucky we are to have our ties with Baarbadal,” he said. “You guys here are a treasure unlike any other. We’ll do as you’ve recommended, and we won’t say no to opportunity if it presents itself. We’ll hold our heads high and sell when the going’s good. But at least for the time being, we want to make Baarbadal our priority—we’re proud to be doing our business with you.”

Now it was Ellie’s turn to be impressed, and she couldn’t hide the joy that spread through her features.

“Thank you,” she said. “Truly.”

A Little While Later, at the Assembly Hall—Dias

After breakfast we all took care of our work around the village, then gathered to discuss the situation in the Beastland Kingdom and what we were going to do about it. Aside from me, in attendance we had Alna, Aymer, Mont, Grandma Maya, Hubert, Marf, Narvant, Ellie, and Goldia.

Ordinarily we also would have had Uncle Ben, Fendia, the other dogkin tribe leaders, and Sahhi with us, but they had all elected to stay out of things for various reasons. The dogkin leaders and Sahhi just weren’t interested and had said that they would go along with whatever was ultimately decided.

As for Uncle Ben and Fendia, they simply didn’t think it was right for people of the cloth to take part in a discussion that might lead to war with a foreign nation. They explained that the temple shouldn’t get involved in political decisions. This was how it had been way back when Saint Dia had put some distance between himself and the founding king. Uncle Ben had said he was happy to hear my thoughts on the matter, but that was as far as he would go.

I’d also reached out to Klaus in case he wanted to be a part of the discussion, but he had all the goings-on of the eastern border station to manage, so he had declined. As for Ellie and Goldia, I’d actually thought that just one of them turning up would have been fine, but because the discussion involved trade, both wanted to take part.

“So that’s where we stand,” I said after laying it all out for everyone. “Now it comes down to how we respond. I don’t think we should cross the border. I don’t want it to look like we’re invading, because if rumors like that spread we’ll be in all sorts of trouble. That said, I don’t want people starving either, so I’m on board with the idea of selling fish and provisions in Beastland... It’s just that with winter coming up, we’ll have to be careful about how much we sell.”

We all sat on a big circular rug that Alna and her friends had woven, around a big round table of cavekin make. Aymer and Grandma Maya nodded in agreement, and I actually thought we’d pretty much settled on what to do when, to my surprise, Alna spoke up.

“Here’s where I stand,” she said. “I don’t care all that much about the beastkin nation. But the Peijins have been good to all of us on the plains for many years now. I’d like to help them as much as we’re able. I also understand that something like this can potentially impact your reputation and standing, but if I’m hearing you right, then we can take action... We just have to keep it secret. As long as nobody finds out, we’re fine.”

I was stunned. Alna could see it on my face, so she explained what she meant.

“Don’t say it—I can read you like a book. What I’m saying is that as long as we go over the border under the cover of concealment magic, that shouldn’t pose a problem, right? The onikin expeditionary parties already do something similar, so I suggest discussing this matter with Zorg too. He’s led onikin expeditions into Beastland a number of times already, and he’ll be an excellent guide.”

Alna’s revelation was a double whammy, and I wasn’t alone this time. Aymer and Hubert had their mouths agape, and for a time there was only silence in the assembly hall.

“The idea of using concealment magic is, on its own, a wonderful suggestion,” said Hubert, breaking the silence. “However, the problems arise from the ‘as long as nobody finds out’ part of the equation. We all know that when it comes down to it, Dias is the worst liar ever born. He’s practically incapable of it. If at any point he is questioned about an incursion into Beastland territory, the truth will come to light. Even if we hid ourselves completely and didn’t leave a trace, all somebody would have to ask is ‘Did you do it?’ It’s far too risky.”

His reasoning hit home with Alna, who nodded reluctantly.

“It’s still not a bad idea though,” said Mont. “If the unrest in the Beastland Kingdom reaches Peijin & Co., that spells big losses for us. And if it continues, I think it’s safe to say we’ll have refugees to deal with too.”

But Mont had a plan too.

“So here’s what we do: We meddle with the idiots causing the uprising just enough to stop them from achieving their goals. The Peijins’ll owe us a favor, and that’ll put them in our pocket. Just because Dias can’t go doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t.”

Mont proposed that we disrupt and sabotage the military forces attempting their coup. We’d steal provisions, cut off supply lines—that kind of thing—and do it all under the cover of the onikin’s magic.

“Naturally we’ll want to provide aid to the beastkin in need of support too, but I reckon you can leave that with the lostblood brothers,” Mont stated.

He then looked over at Ellie and Goldia, both of whom nodded. The glint in their eyes said they were very much on board with Mont’s idea and had been thinking along similar lines.

“The lostblood brothers already have a link with a Beastland Kingdom councillor, so we make them the face of our aid operations,” explained Mont. “Behind the scenes, however, me and mine will be sowing seeds of havoc and confusion. As for Dias being questioned, there’s ways around that.”

Opportunities to even ask me anything would be limited, and we’d have aides speaking on my behalf, among other things. In the worst case, I’d deflect with a “no comment” strategy.

“Even our blockhead duke is plenty capable of doing that,” he added. “But I reckon we set it up so it looks like he’s in charge of the lostblood brothers’ assistance. We’ll send him over to the border station and have him look like he’s in charge—won’t be easy for our neighbors to accuse him of underhanded tricks then.”

But Mont still wasn’t done, and he launched straight into talking about who to put on what team. It was like he just assumed his suggestion was accepted.

He put himself in command, and he wanted Zorg and the most experienced members of the onikin expeditionary parties helping out. He also wanted Joe and Lorca as part of his forces, with Ryan keeping watch over the border station to ensure it was still guarded.

Sahhi would carry messages between us, and three or four masti dogkin would come along in a guard dog capacity. Mont decided against bringing horses, however, thinking it best to procure them on-site should they become necessary.

“That just leaves the question of where to cross the border,” mused Mont, “but I reckon the Peijins’ll help us out there. Still, if we want to hide our operations from them too, then we can always ask the goblins to get us there via the sea. We still don’t know exactly where the insurgent armies are located, but I reckon the sea is faster and stealthier than marching in on foot.”

“That still leaves some uncertainty regarding the matter of magical reserves,” commented Grandma Maya. “It won’t be easy for the onikin to keep their spells cast for the entirety of your time across the border. They are incredibly adept at storing their magical energy, but even then it will be difficult to maintain spells over a period of days or weeks.”

Grandma Maya was usually pretty quiet during these meetings, but today she was surprisingly involved.

And come to think of it, she must be pretty good at magic herself if she’s been teaching Alna and her friends some new tricks. I guess that’s why she’s making comments like this one.

“We’ve got some options when it comes to magical reserves,” said Narvant. “We can provide the onikin with magical stones from which to draw the magic they need... Magical power and miasma are two sides of the same coin, and the onikin are experts when it comes to converting miasma into magic. If we provide some of our stone stock, they’ll have enough to last them about a month.”

Oh yeah, I think I remember Barnite mentioning a surplus of magical stones when I visited the mines.

“I don’t think there’s much the guild can do to support you with this,” said Goldia. “Buying up stockpiles of food in the middle of winter is expensive, and pushing it is only going to lower our standing. What we can do is support Seki and his brothers in their efforts. Let me handle the provisions for the, uh...what’d you call it again, the expeditionary party? We can do that without having to make any big moves, right?”

Goldia’s last question was directed at Ellie, who nodded.

It was beginning to look more and more like Mont’s plan was a done deal, but as for me...well, I wasn’t exactly against it. I just had mixed feelings. I mean, I didn’t want the Beastland Kingdom to erupt into chaos, and I wanted their domestic uprising quelled sooner rather than later if at all possible. I also wanted to put our efforts towards helping people too.

So maybe it’s okay to just let Mont do his thing?

I looked out at all the faces gathered around the table. Alna was clearly on board, Grandma Maya showed no signs of wanting to stop things, and Hubert and Goldia were both already planning their parts to play in it all. Marf actually looked pretty excited about seeing Beastland territory firsthand, and even Narvant seemed to be okay with it all. But then a light caught my eye from Aymer’s glasses, and when I looked over at her I could see she had some thoughts of her own. She pushed her glasses up her nose and spoke up.

“I understand where you’re all coming from,” she said, “and while I can’t say I’m entirely in agreement, I’m willing to go along with what has been suggested. However, if you want my vote towards this plan, I have one condition—I have no issue with Mont commanding our military forces over the border, but I ask that you allow me the position of commanding officer of our expeditionary party. In other words, I will direct how we move and when we fight.”

Aymer could see, from one look at me, that I wasn’t entirely on board with Mont’s idea. She knew that I hated war just as much as I hated looting, ransacking, and the stuff that came with it.

“I will act as Dias’s proxy in the field, overseeing our activities,” Aymer continued. “Should we enter battle, however, Mont will take over.”

This was a covert operation first and foremost, she explained. Diplomatic trouble was to be avoided wherever possible, and she was against the idea of leaving everything to a military man.

“More importantly, I believe I am right in stating that neither Mont nor any of his forces understand the native beastkin language. And what about me, you ask? I studied the dictionary we received from the Peijins and should be able to communicate without issue should it come to that!”

Aymer puffed out her chest a little. She looked mighty proud of herself. Mont looked like he wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth no words came out. Instead, after a little thought, he nodded—albeit a little reluctantly—to show he agreed to Aymer’s terms. Alna saw the interaction and grinned.

“I think we’ll all feel relieved with Aymer in charge,” she said. “She’s been with us since the early days, and she lives in our yurt. She’s heard the stories you’ve shared with us of your time in the war, and she’ll know what decision you’d make in pretty much any circumstances.”

Alna looked at me expectantly. Truth be told, I was a little relieved too. I thought sending Aymer in my stead was a much better idea than sending me, and I was confident she’d see us through to success.

“Well, all right then,” I said. “If Aymer’s willing to be the commanding officer, I want to put her in charge. I know it’s a little extra pressure on you two, Mont and Marf, but I want you to listen and follow her instructions. Seeing as we’ve pretty much settled on a plan of action, we’ll need to fill Iberis in on the details. He’ll be transporting more than just supplies though, so we’ll need to prepare boats for them. Everybody okay with that?”

Everybody around the table nodded, and Marf dashed from the yurt like lightning to bring Iberis over. Once Iberis was up to speed, he put a hand to his chest and addressed all of us.

“You don’t even have a responsibility to your neighbors, and yet here you are, prepared to save as many lives as you can. There’s nothing else to call it but awe-inspiring. It would be an honor for us goblins to aid you in your efforts, and we will give it everything we have.”

You could hear the pride in every one of his words.

With the key points covered, Aymer hopped right into action.

“Well, we’ve got Iberis on board, so now we need to confer with the onikin and the Peijins,” she said. “Our whole plan is a wash if we don’t have the onikin concealment magic, and we’ll need the Peijin family’s support to be at our most effective. If we can’t get both sides to help us, we’ll have to start over from scratch.”

Aymer was going to have Sahhi send word to the onikin and the Peijins. In the meantime, she’d get to work on a way to mask the expeditionary party’s scent. Concealment magic hid targets from sight but did nothing for the other senses. Aymer hoped to mask their scent with whatever foods were popular in Beastland, or otherwise spices and perfumes.

“I’ll need your help with our preparations,” said Aymer to the lostblood brothers. “We’ll have to be able to fool your noses if we want any hope of working covertly across the border.”

Aymer then turned to me.

“What’s important before we start on anything else, however, is deciding how this ends. I propose that our longest period over the border be two weeks, but if we’re able to efficiently weaken the insurgent forces, we’ll return home earlier. There’s no need for us to see things through to the very end. If we do have to be there any longer, it’s probably over for the Beastland Kingdom as we know it. Oh. On that note: Ellie, will you please do a rough calculation of how much you expect two weeks’ worth of food to cost?”

Mont, Hubert, and Ellie all followed Aymer as she bounded out of the yurt, then split as they received their instructions. The air around them spread through the village, and suddenly Iluk was once again bustling. The excitement showed no signs of stopping, and I found myself wandering off.

Eventually I saw the temple come into sight, and not far from the building side was Uncle Ben. He was sitting on a length of carpet and talking to some baars, and they were lying around listening. As I got closer, I saw that it was Ethelbald and his wives. His wives were looking very plump now, and I had a feeling they’d give birth right in the middle of winter.

I bet their kids are going to be just as rambunctious as Fran and the others...

“What’s wrong? Why the long face?”

Uncle Ben called out to me when he noticed me staring at the baars, and I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of face I was wearing, so I told Uncle Ben about the discussion I’d just had.

“I see,” said Uncle Ben, stroking his beard thoughtfully. “Look, Dias, here’s what it comes down to. You’re the type of person who likes a battle where you know exactly what you’re protecting. Back in the war, you were looking out for Goldia and your friends, and by extension the nation you called home. Here in Iluk, you were protecting the village whenever you fought dragons. And over in Mahati, you fought for your good friend Eldan. And while on one hand you could look at what’s happening out west and say you’re protecting the Peijin family, there’s nothing attacking them directly, is there?”

Uncle Ben had hit the nail on the head. He knew that even though we were helping the beastkin people, it was their own nation that had chosen the path towards insurgency. We didn’t have anything to do with it, so essentially we were just butting our noses in.

“Now I know you, and I know you want to help Peijin and Kiko,” said Uncle Ben. “I know you want them to live in peace next door. But no uprising has actually really taken place yet, and while you’re all moving to stop it before it starts, in your heart you can’t help thinking that this is their responsibility, not ours. You feel the way you do because your mind can’t quite grapple with what’s in your heart, so you can’t put it into words. It might’ve been different if you’d actually visited the Beastland Kingdom yourself, but regardless, that’s where you stand.”

“Yeah...maybe that’s it,” I muttered. “But even now that you’ve explained it all to me, I don’t feel any real relief.”

For some reason, my defeated comment only brought a grin to Uncle Ben’s face.

“If we break it down, then basically it’s like so—if we’re only thinking about ourselves, we should take action. Still, your heart can’t get behind that idea. In all the battles you’ve fought until now, you haven’t had to give fighting a second thought—you’ve just thrown yourself right into the fray. Now it’s different. I think part of it is that we’re planning to hide what we’re doing. We’ll be working undercover, and that doesn’t sit right with you.”

Uncle Ben explained that if I were speaking for just me, I probably would have voiced my opposition to Mont’s plan. But now that I was a domain lord, I had to value the opinions of my subjects, and that was weighing on me.

“Let me share some advice with you, Dias. Your ability to take action without hesitation is a virtue of yours, and if something’s stopping you, then you should listen to that feeling. But if you still can’t come to terms with things, then look over here...towards the bellies of the baars. You see what Ethelbald’s wives are asking of you? They want you to be here with them, to protect them. You can see it in their eyes. I know you’re a busy man, so I try to be here with them when you’re at work, but make no mistake—it’s you they want. So stay here, Dias.”

Set my mind on the baars was the lesson here, more or less. In fact, don’t even give myself time to think about anything else.

“Now go and make sure the carpet’s ready at a moment’s notice, you hear?”

I looked from Uncle Ben to the baars, and all of Ethelbald’s wives looked sad—on the brink of tears, even—and they were bleating in this pleading, begging kind of way. To be honest, it all looked a bit forced to me. But even though I knew it was probably an act, wouldn’t you know it, I still felt like a weight was lifted. I felt like I could smile again, and I went around giving each of the baars a good pat on the head.

“Yep,” I said. “I’m going to do exactly that, Uncle Ben.”

Uncle Ben looked mighty pleased.

“You just leave all that ruckus next door to the others,” he said, nodding. “They’ll do a better job out there than you could any day of the week, and they’ll see that everything comes to a fitting end.”

I knew he was right, but boy was he blunt about it. That was when Alna ran up to me.

“Dias, you didn’t look so good when you left the assembly hall. Is everything okay?” she asked. “I’m sorry if it feels like we forced your hand. If you don’t like the way things went, we can always talk things over again. We can work out another way to do things. Wait a second... Why do you look so content all of a sudden? What happened?”

“Thanks, Alna,” I answered, “but it’s okay now. I’m just going to leave the Beastland matter to Aymer. Meanwhile, I’m still plenty useful here, so I’ll do my utmost to support Etheldia and the others. Some of the dogkin are pregnant too, right? There’s still lots to be done right here at home, and that’s all I need to be worried about.”

I put a hand on Alna’s head to reassure her, and after a brief instant of surprise at my sudden change of mood, she broke into a great big smile of her own.

With Preparations Underway

Everything came together as quickly as it did smoothly. It was staggering. First, the onikin accepted our request in a heartbeat. In fact, they told us that if we didn’t do something to quell what was going on over the border, they would. They had traded with the Peijins for so long that they pretty much saw them as family now—they felt compelled to act.

So just like that, we had six onikin on our expedition, with Zorg leading them.

Talks with the Peijins went just as smoothly, and they promised to aid us in all manner of ways, from securing a safe place for us to land our ships to preparing necessary supplies and helping the party stay camouflaged.

Admittedly, I’d expected this much—after all, the Peijins had been the ones to ask us for help in the first place. Of course they were going to help. They even had Peijin-Re at the border station, which made discussions go by that much quicker.

The cavekin set about prepping a boat for transporting our expedition, but because of the urgency of the situation, it was a pretty simple build. Still, with the goblins helping to guide the party I didn’t expect them to run into any trouble out on the water.

The only problem as I saw it was the number of people you’d get on board. Narvant told me that we were looking at twenty people, max. Not that there was much that could be done about it—the boat had to carry supplies and equipment too, so...

Yep, it was what it was.

Fortunately, a lot of stuff that you’d usually have to build for boats—sails and whatnot—wasn’t necessary thanks to our goblin guidance system. That actually opened up a lot of space for our crew.

Aymer was tiny and Sahhi was happy on the roof or the bow, so neither really occupied any space. That left the six onikin, Mont, Joe, Lorca, and four masti dogkin. Though in terms of space, all the dogkin together amounted to about two people. Oh, and there were nine men picked out from Joe’s and Lorca’s squads too.

So the boat ended up being the perfect size.

But all the same I couldn’t help being a little worried. Was twenty people going to be enough to get the job done? In the end, though, there was nothing left but to trust in the decisions that my friends made and believe in them.

Joe and my old war buddies were all decked out in dragon armor that they’d made a while back. I’d seen them at work back when they first started, but they were really impressive now that they were all done. They’d patched the armor together from leftover pieces of all the various dragon materials. Whatever they could get their hands on, they used. They had weapons too, of course, and thanks to some good old-fashioned cavekin ingenuity, their armor was even more effective than Klaus’s earth dragon armor.

Joe and the guys used earth dragon materials where they needed the raw durability, wind dragon materials where they wanted things lightweight, and aqua dragon materials where joint flexibility was a priority. In the end, they were quite the colorful sight, I had to say—they were covered in greens, reds, and purples.

Actually, even Aymer had an armor set crafted for her. She’d been in the thick of battle with me a number of times, and she’d fought enemies with her trusty pin sword back when we quelled the rebellion in Mahati. With that in mind, she was every bit deserving of protection, and so Narvant, Mont, and even Lady Darrell got together to whip her up the appropriate equipment.

Aymer still had her pin sword, but now she had a throwing knife to go with it, not unlike my hand-ax. Narvant said she could throw it if need be, but she could also just as easily use it like a hook. Aymer was so lightweight, and her jumping so impressive, that the knife would make for an easy way for her to scale both walls and potential enemies. It sounded a lot like acrobatics to me, but she could stick the knife in, jump, and repeat to climb just about anything.

As for her armor, the focus was on keeping it light. The crew didn’t want her wearing any armor that would hamper her natural jumping ability. At the same time, it had to look imposing in its own right—something befitting a commanding officer, in other words.

Aymer’s dignified armor set took the form of a dress, not unlike what Princess Diane had worn when she tried to invade. The design was why Lady Darrell had been brought in to help. Armored dresses were apparently in vogue in the royal capital, and they served to raise morale among allies. But they weren’t just for show—armored dresses had to be as practical as they were impressive, and that’s where Mont and Narvant came in.

As for the rest of the expeditionary party, Sahhi and his fellow falconkin had wind dragon armor, the masti dogkin had their trusty earth dragon fangs and scale cloaks, and the onikin had earth dragon-buffed bows. Yep, everybody had at least a bit of dragon on them somewhere, no matter where you looked.

But while our expedition was getting ready to leave, so too was our secondary party, with the lostblood brothers heading things up. They’d be traveling with Goldia, Ellie, Aisa, Ely, a number of masti dogkin, a few of Ryan’s squad, and three onikin with expedition experience. On the face, their job was trade—they’d take the road across the border and sell salted fish out of barrels. Behind the scenes, however, they’d be providing Aymer’s party aid where necessary.

As for what they could provide, the merchant party would be sharing intel and supplies, and carting any injured party members back to Iluk. Goldia, Aisa, and Ely were all well-versed in this sort of work, apparently, which was why they were tagging along.

We were up against considerable numbers, which was why both parties had opted for a large number of guards. If Aymer’s party found themselves in trouble, they could always meet with the merchant party and double their fighting force. That said, because the merchant group didn’t want to draw attention to themselves, they were going in without armor—they couldn’t just act like merchants, they had to look the part too.

Yeah, I can’t imagine a merchant party getting much in the way of a warm welcome if they arrive armed to the teeth.

“I have to admit,” I muttered, “as soon as Aymer took the lead, everything came together at a blistering pace.”

Three days had passed since we decided on a course of action, and I was at the storehouse tidying things up. I was with a young shep who was writing on a piece of paper glued to a board by the storehouse. They’d only just officially become an adult, from what I knew.

“Yep, that’s just Miss Aymer’s leadership,” said the shep. “Leave things to teach, and she’ll make sure everything goes smoothly. I don’t think you have to worry about a thing, Lord Dias.”

The young shep was one of many dogkin who took Aymer’s lessons, and they were a real wonder when it came to anything that had to do with writing and calculations. This didn’t seem to be because they were taking Aymer’s lessons—plenty of other dogkin studying under Aymer were regular dogkin, through and through. This young shep had a spark of genius, much like Aymer herself.

“I see,” I said. “I reckon you’re right that I can rest easy with her in charge. Truth be told, there’s not a lot for me to do since I decided to stay here. Just odd jobs like this one right here.”

“I think it’s fine for you to stay behind, Lord Dias,” replied the shep. “Make your presence felt and put your efforts into protecting the villagers. Joe and many of his comrades can work that much harder knowing that you’ll be here to look after their new wives. So stand tall, smile, and put your people at ease.”

“Huh... Yeah, okay. But Carlitz, I gotta say, you speak some real wise words for a dogkin who was a pup not so long ago. I’m impressed.”

Carlitz’s tail wagged a mile a minute when I said that. They burst into a grin, but then they cleared their throat and stood tall.

“Well, that’s because I’m an adult now!” said the dogkin. “Now please get the next box ready—we’ve still got work to do!”

And with that, young Carlitz strode into the storehouse.

The boat was ready and the equipment was ready, so the lostblood brothers set off with their party. They were taking the lead, but it wasn’t long before Aymer’s expedition was ready to set off too.

Iberis arrived with a few goblins I recognized, all of them decked out in their dragon armor. There were another ten goblins with them, and they took to carrying the boat for us. With that many goblins seeing us through the water, I knew that Aymer’s party would get across the border real quick.

“Be careful out there, and don’t be reckless,” I said.

We were at the lake in the wasteland where the lizard had appeared, and now it was a real respectable lake in its own right. Aymer was standing on Marf’s head and she met my gaze with confidence.

“Leave everything to us!”

Once she spoke up, Joe and many of the others all joined her to voice their confidence.

Yep, with this kind of energy behind them, they’re sure to be just fine.

“But that goes for you and your pals too, Iberis,” I added. “No matter how things play out, I’m going to see that you’re all rewarded, so no unnecessary risks.”

The line of goblins could have blinded me with their glimmering toothy grins.

“We’ve got this, Lord Dias!” Iberis replied, pounding his chest with a fist.

The expeditionary party boarded the boat and got ready to depart. All the newly wedded wives were there to see off their husbands, along with the masti dogkin’s families and Senai and Ayhan. Fendia and the paladins were there too, offering prayers for victory, and soon enough the boat was off. It proceeded down the lake to the river, which I noticed was much wider than when I’d last seen it.

Carlitz spoke up when the boat was out of sight. “Well then, it’s time to get back, everybody! We’ve had to move some villagers to the western border station to make up the numbers over there, which means we’ve got our work cut out for us back in Iluk!”

And so we all hopped on our horses or into our carts and headed on back for another big day of work. The twins made sure there weren’t any stragglers who were supposed to be on the boat, then hopped aboard the camels they’d rode here. I’d come by camel too, and we all got a feel for riding them as we ambled on back home.

I’d been told that camels usually lived in hot, arid environments. They’d developed over time to become especially resilient to such climates, so I’d assumed this would have made them weaker when it came to the cold. As it turned out though, that wasn’t the case at all. When the temperature dropped, the camels simply grew a thicker coat and got nice and plump... As a cold weather countermeasure, it really worked.

The dogkin and the horses did similar with their fur, but camel fur was really thick. It was almost a match for baar wool. That said, while they looked fine even though the rivers were threatening to freeze, the camels still preferred warmer weather, and that much was clear in just how happy they were to be out in the wasteland. There wasn’t as much wind out this way and the air was a few degrees hotter, which made it a nice little respite for our camels.

But without any grass out here, they’d come wandering back to the village eventually, which feels in keeping with what I know about camels, honestly.

As we headed through the wasteland to the plains, my camel moaned with hunger. It took off all on its own, heading north up the makeshift road we’d built, and then it started sniffing around for tasty grass. In the process, it paused for a moment and shot me this look that I understood instantly.

“As soon as I find something I’m gonna eat it. Don’t bother me.”

The message was loud and clear, so I hopped right off. I was going to find a place to sit and wait for it, but at that moment a young eiresetter came running towards me out of nowhere.

“I’ll take care of the camel, Lord Dias!” they said. “Once a camel gets eating, they’re pretty lackadaisical about it. It can take a while! So please, feel free to head back to the village!”

“Is that so? I guess I’ll leave you to it then... I hope you don’t mind?”

“Not in the slightest! You’re always taking great care of all of us, and more importantly we don’t know when the expecting mothers are going to give birth, so I’d prefer it if you were nearby in case anything happens!”

That eiresetter was all smiles, so I thanked them and walked over to meet with the twins and head on back to Iluk. It was going to be a bit of a walk, but I figured that sometimes it was nice to slow down a bit.

“Aymer’s gone again,” Senai muttered. “I like it better when she’s with us.”

“Yeah...” Ayhan agreed.

“Come on, girls, she’ll be back before you know it, and I bet she’ll bring some souvenirs too. She knows what you two like, so you’re sure to be delighted.”

“Ooh, souvenirs...”

“You think she’ll bring back meat?”

We took our time enjoying the walk back to Iluk, and once there I proceeded on to the temple. We’d put up a big yurt by the side of the temple, which we were using as a maternity room, and all the expecting mothers were in there. It was next to the temple on account of the fact that Uncle Ben and Fendia were a constant source of support. Also, we kept the childbirth carpet at the temple, which meant that we could respond quickly to any emergencies.

I didn’t think we could rely on everything happening all at the same time like last year, so we were depending on Uncle Ben to take care of all the mothers until they’d all given birth. I basically played backup, which just meant I filled in when Uncle Ben needed a break.

I found Uncle Ben by the maternity room. He was sitting under the clear blue skies giving another sermon and making himself available for anybody who wanted to talk. There was a crowd around him, just like there always was, and today there were the baars, some dogkin—even Bianne, Sahhi’s wife...who looked like she might possibly be pregnant herself.

The falconkin laid eggs, which made giving birth a whole different thing for them, but that didn’t necessarily lessen the worries, which I suppose brought Bianne here to the maternity room.

But I think when falconkin get pregnant, it’s maybe four or five days before they give birth. I guess she’ll be out of here quicker than the others...

Sahhi had told me that after about four or five days, an expecting falconkin mother would lay one egg a day for about three or four days. Once the eggs were laid, it was a matter of keeping them warm until they hatched. During that time, Bianne wouldn’t be able to leave the house, which meant it was on Sahhi to make sure she was fed and taken care of. But with Sahhi out on expedition, that responsibility was to be taken up by the Wives’ Club.

Both Sahhi and Bianne were relieved to know that things were taken care of, and all the rest of us could do was pray for a safe birth.

So began my days of going back and forth between home and the maternity yurt. They were peaceful and uneventful, and before I knew it five days had gone by. When Bianne gave birth—which is to say, when she laid her first egg—it all happened so fast that the childbirth carpet never even left its spot in the temple.

According to the falconkin herself, if the first egg was laid without a hitch, then all the others would follow suit. It must have been a relief, because she sure looked at peace. We were all celebrating in the village when we heard a booming voice from up on high.

“D-Did she give birth?! Really?! You’re amazing, Bianne! Thanks!”

Sahhi had raced back to Iluk as soon as the news reached him. He was all set to head home and see his wife when he suddenly remembered something and flew to me.

“Dias! This here’s a status report from Aymer!” he said, passing me an envelope he held in his talons. “She wrote it this morning, so it’s the most recent intel we have! In any case, I’ve got a wife and eggs to help look after, so I’ll talk to you later!”

Sahhi was off like a flash before I could even say thanks, so I shouted it to him and took stock of the letter Aymer had written. The envelope was thick with paper, and Aymer had made sure to seal it with a footprint in place of a wax seal. I opened up the envelope, took out all the papers, and checked out the first page.

“General Report Summary...” I muttered, reading the title.

Below the title was an itemized list of everything that had happened since the expeditionary party left. They’d arrived at the Beastland Kingdom two days after departure and met with the Peijins’ greeting party.

From there, they’d started their operations immediately, and as of this morning they successfully occupied three enemy strongholds. They had also secured five provision storehouses, rescued an imperial citizen held prisoner, and achieved all of this without casualties on either side.

I couldn’t help but tilt my head going down the list. Part of it just didn’t make sense to me, and no matter how many times I went over it it refused to sink in. All the same, I pushed on and did my best to read the rest of Aymer’s report.

After Reading Aymer’s Report

My head was horizontal by the end of the first page.

From the second on, Aymer got into all the details, and boy were there details. I couldn’t believe what I was reading, and I felt a headache coming on before I was anywhere near done.

“Dias!” cried Senai. “Is Aymer okay? How about everybody else?”

“What’s going on? When will they be able to come home?” asked Ayhan.

I pressed a hand to my throbbing head and got down on a knee so I could address the girls.

“Well, uh... It looks like they’re all doing well,” I told them. “Really well, in fact. So you don’t have to worry about them being hurt or anything like that. As for when they’ll be back, I still haven’t read everything yet, but I’m guessing they’ll be back earlier than expected. Just hang tight a little longer, okay? I’m going to read the rest right now, and then I’ll fill you both in.”

The twins smiled and nodded. It seemed like all they needed to know was that everybody was safe, because they dashed off towards the maternity yurt hand in hand. I thought maybe they were running an errand or something, but I didn’t think on it too long—there were still more pages for me.

A Few Days Earlier, When the Expeditionary Party Arrived in the Beastland Kingdom—Aymer

The party sailed downriver, then due west upon reaching the ocean. It was a long journey, to be sure, but there wasn’t even a hint of exhaustion to be found upon the face of any of the boat’s crew members. Any work that needed to be done for the ship—including the handling of it—was done by the goblins, who had even prepared food. The expeditionary crew had expected some difficulties when it came to reaching Beastland shores, but the goblins had provided smaller dinghies, which they pulled to shore.

As such, the expedition could simply sit back and relax, and indeed some even slept until their arrival. The tiring sea voyage that they had expected was instead surprisingly pleasant. Ordinarily, sea sickness would have reared its fearsome head at some point along the way, but such was the goblins’ care that the ride was nothing if not largely smooth from start to finish. Thanks to their efforts, the party arrived on the shores of the Beastland Kingdom raring to go.

“We’ll leave the boat in your care then,” said Aymer to Iberis. “Be sure to take it far enough away from shore that it doesn’t get spotted.”

“Understood.”

The goblins thus took their smaller dinghies back to the ship, which soon vanished from sight. When Aymer saw that it was gone, she hopped aboard Marf’s head. Moments later, three figures leaped from the shadows dressed in black and landed deftly in front of the hopping mousekin.

“People of the Ram’s Horn, we’ve been expecting you,” said one of the figures, adding a neat “ribbit” for good measure.

Under no circumstances was the expeditionary party going to announce that they were from Baarbadal. All the same, for them to have no name at all made for difficulties in communications, so the Peijin family had come up with a code name of sorts—one that reflected the local culture. To further hide their identities, the expeditionary party wore hooded robes that gave the impression they hid large ears under the fabric, and around their waists were tails that could have belonged to any number of beastkin races.

The hoods were worn by all except for Aymer and the mastis, who boasted features that no beastkin would find particularly suspicious.

Aymer had arranged for these disguises, and while she was fully aware they would be running their operation under the cover of the onikin’s concealment magic, she knew that the danger of them being spotted always loomed. And if they happened to be spotted as they were, some among them would be recognized as human or onikin in an instant. Thus, these cloaks had been devised.

With the party under the cover of their cloaks, any locals would likely assume them to be beastkin at a glance, and thanks to Aymer’s cunning designs, any curiosity would be directed at their exact race more than their identities.

It would be unlikely for any to believe them human, though for all her confidence Aymer couldn’t be totally sure given that this was their first time in the field. Still, the fact that the stubborn Mont put his on without so much as a complaint was a testament to the craftsmanship of the cavekin and grandmothers who had helped make them.

“Have you encountered any trouble?” asked Aymer. “If not, we’d like to head north directly for the base camp you’ve set up. We can take a short break there.”

The three frogmen informed Aymer that the coast was clear and directed the expeditionary party into a forest of trees bent in ways that none had ever seen in Sanserife. As they ventured in among the trees, Aymer’s ears perked up to listen for potential enemies, and then she gestured to the onikin to let them know it was safe. An instant later, they vanished, hidden by concealment magic.

The party proceeded in a tight formation to ensure that none of them accidentally peeked out from the barrier of the spell, and they proceeded into the woods, careful not to make a sound. Aymer’s senses were on high alert—it was their first stealth venture into enemy territory, and it brought with it a most unique tension and excitement. They went on until exhaustion started to itch at them, then stopped to catch their breath.

During this break, the onikin shifted to a new concealment caster, and the frogmen drank water from round, wooden cylinders they’d brought with them. Even while at rest, everybody stayed vigilant, and as aware of their surroundings as they could. They listened carefully, sniffed for changes in the air, and made sure they would be able to move immediately.

But just as the party began to feel well rested, a shriek pierced the air.

“Was that a woman?” asked Aymer, immediately regretting she’d said anything.

In truth, nobody else had heard the shriek. Nobody else could. It was Aymer’s sensitive ears that had caught the sound. She could have remained silent, but she’d been caught off guard. Now it was too late to take back what she’d said.

Dias’s old war buddies narrowed their eyes, and a certain bloodlust began to waft from them. They had fought by Dias’s side, and in many ways, they worshipped the man known for his “ball busting” punishments.

So when the men became aware that a person might be in need of help, they did not react with big words or bold movements—rather, their very aura resonated with a desire to help, mixed with a readiness for battle.

Aymer glanced at Mont for support, but the man simply shrugged and shook his head—a gesture that said it was too late for regrets. Aymer then looked to Zorg, but the onikin were emitting the same eager battle readiness that wafted from the others. Realizing now that stopping the men was helpless, she instead issued orders in a low voice.

“We’re going to send out a small reconnaissance team,” she whispered. “Joe, Mont, Marf, and myself will head it up, together with three of the domain guard, Zorg and two onikin, and one of the frogkin. Air support is pointless in woods as thick as these, so the falconkin will stay put.”

Everybody agreed with Aymer’s plan. Ordinarily, reconnaissance was done with a much smaller team, but Aymer had specifically chosen Mont to join them, expecting that his leadership might be necessary depending on what they encountered. The rest of the expeditionary party read in her orders that even Aymer herself was prepared to go to battle to help whoever it was in need.

The team formed quickly, with Aymer, Marf, and the frogkin taking the lead. Next were the onikin, with Mont and the rest taking up the rear. It wasn’t long before they heard a young woman’s voice and, soon after, the voices of others.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m not a lostblood?! Dammit! Why doesn’t anybody here speak the continental language?! Ugh!”

Two men barked something indecipherable. They must have been speaking the native language of the beastkin nation. Unfortunately, they spoke quickly in their anger and Aymer could not make out their words through the whipping of the wind through the trees. The third among them, however, spoke the language of the kingdom.

“Shut up!” he barked. “Stop saying you not lostblood! You lostblood! You obey pureblood!”

Exactly what the man meant was unclear, but the situation was not good. Three options presented themselves to Aymer—they could run in, see how things developed, or ignore the woman’s predicament and pull back. Aymer tried to calculate the best course of action, but as she did there came a scream and a roar. The woman ran right for them, and before Aymer could issue another order, the woman was right in front of them.

The woman had black hair, and from her head sprouted two furry ears. She also sported a lithe tail, but outside of these two characteristics she appeared otherwise human. She reminded Aymer of the lostblood brothers. She wore light armor, likely for the mobility it afforded her, but her clothes were dirty and torn.

Everybody responded differently to her approach, but Aymer was the first to react, whispering before anyone moved.

“Don’t kill anyone!”

She did not like the idea of the domain guard’s eagerness for battle resulting in tragedy. Next to react was Mont, who could not believe his eyes.

“What’s a Meowgen doing here?!” he cried.

Next, the domain guard sprung into action, slipping around the young woman to meet her pursuers. As for those pursuers, they quickly found their shoulders impaled on onikin arrows. They slumped to their knees, crying out in pain, but after a few quick punches from Joe and the domain guard, all were unconscious.

Aymer bounded over an instant later to check on the situation.

“No casualties!” she reported, though it was unsure whom her report was actually for.

The young woman had been involved in a strategic move by the imperial navy. She had boarded a small vessel and sailed west where an investigation or survey was to take place. Before arrival, however, her group had encountered a storm that saw their boat capsize. Fortunately, she had been saved by a fishkin woman, but she did not speak the continental language—which in the kingdom was simply known as the language of Sanserife.

Unfortunately, the inability to effectively communicate meant that the young woman had been unable to convey that she hailed from the empire and wanted to return. She also had no way of knowing which sea they’d been sailing and in which direction she needed to head for home. As such, the fishkin woman had simply brought the young woman to the Beastland Kingdom.

The fishkin had thought herself to be doing a kindness, yet in truth it was anything but. The greater Beastland Kingdom knew nothing about the empire and instead assumed the young woman was herself a citizen.

“I am not! I’m an imperial citizen!” she’d cried. “All I need you to do is contact the Meowgens! Tell them I’m here! They’ll send help! You’ll be rewarded! You just have to get in touch with the empire, which is beyond the kingdom to the east!”

The young woman had done her absolute best to explain, and indeed she had been forced to do so over and over, but even those who understood what she was saying had not listened.

Instead they had thought her delirious, simply because she looked like any other lostblood they knew. The lostblood people were deeply despised, and in some places they met with fates far worse than mere discrimination. Because of how bad things were for the lostblood, everybody had simply assumed that the young woman had developed a fantasy in her mind to escape the hell that was her reality.

The young woman had thus found herself thrown into prison, where she had been fed scraps and treated as less than even an animal.

One fateful day, a group of men up to no good had come to the prison, and the young woman had been able to catch them by surprise. She had attacked them, stolen a key, and launched a jailbreak. However, after so long in prison, she was weak and malnourished, and it had not been long before the men had caught up with her. As they bore down on her, evil grins on all of their faces, she had been suddenly saved by Aymer and her expeditionary party.

The domain guard had supplied the young woman with one of their spare cloaks, and while Aymer mended her clothes with her sewing kit, the woman had been provided a simple meal. In return, Aymer had asked for information and had sat upon Marf’s head and listened as the young woman spoke of her experiences until now.

Aymer, having heard her out to the end, responded, “Ah, I see... It’s been an incredibly rough road for you, hasn’t it?”

Aymer sorted out what she’d been told, thinking things through.

So this young woman is a member of the imperial military. It’s likely she was part of a covert spy operation that was lost at sea. She tried to obfuscate some of the details, but it did her no good—she’s too honest, and hardly a good fit for subterfuge.

It’s clear that she was unable to get any useful intelligence, so it wouldn’t cause us any problems to simply release her. However, if we were to do so here, she’d only run into the same problems she encountered before. If we were to take her back with us to Iluk, we don’t have any connections we can contact behind the empire’s borders.

We could always take her to Duke Sachusse, seeing as his domain sits on the border. But we’re not at all beholden to such duties, not to mention the fact that in doing so we may be providing her with information she can use.

Hmm... What to do?

“Mont, what do you advise?” asked Aymer.

Mont was a former imperial citizen himself, and so Aymer felt his counsel to be of great value.

“I say we take her back to Iluk and send her back to the empire by boat. I reckon our ocean pals’ll be happy to help, but we wouldn’t do it for free. So...we could have her save up the money for her trip by working in Iluk. Alternatively, she can earn her trip back by helping out here in the field with us.”

Mont explained that the Meowgen people were at times volatile and fickle but that most were honest and dependable, especially when it came to following orders or repaying debts. He seemed confident that the young woman would not get up to any mischief.

“Now it might seem odd, putting someone so honest on a spy mission,” Mont continued, “but the Meowgen people have incredibly supple bodies, they see well in the dark, and their senses of smell and hearing are top notch. Their stealth skills also lend to battle prowess. Between all that and their loyalty to their commanding officers, they’re unbelievably handy.”

“I see. In which case, we’ll have her rest and recover in Iluk before sending her home via a sea route,” Aymer decided. “As for how she can pay for that trip... I think it’s fine to let her decide that for herself. What would you like to do?”

The young woman looked at Aymer carefully and took only a short moment to answer.

“You saved me, and you’ve promised me a route home,” she replied finally. “I’ll help out with your plans, and I’ll do whatever you ask of me. You haven’t had to say anything for me to get a pretty good idea of where you’re from, but even then you decided to help me. I’m in your debt. But let me make one thing clear... I take orders from the mo—ahem, the hopping mousekin, and nobody else. I’ve had more than enough of men for my liking, and I don’t like the bloodthirsty look in all of those eyes. By the way, the name’s Aruharu Gale. What’s your name, miss?”

“Aymer Jerrybower. Well then, Aruharu, looks like you’re my new aide. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. For now, we’re simply on the move, so just do your best to remain hidden from any potential enemies. The men we knocked out have been bound, but we’ll do our best to keep you apart. Until we have a place to keep them, please just make the best of the situation.”

“You got it.”

Aruharu removed her hood to reveal a smile on her face, then held her hand out towards Aymer. The message was clear: There was only one head suitable for her to ride, and it was this one. Aymer thus leaped from Aruharu’s hand to her head, seating herself between the Meowgen’s two ears.

From here, Aymer could see that Aruharu’s hair lacked sheen but was silky to the touch. Aymer felt it would only take a little care to really shine. Within Aruharu’s slightly slanted eyes were irises of a jewellike green. The young Meowgen was skinny from starvation, but with some food she’d prove to be healthy, capable, and pretty. Her body was thin but resonated with a supple strength. When she stood to full height, Aymer couldn’t help noticing that she stood taller than even the domain guard.

“So, where are we going?” asked Aruharu. “That way?”

Aymer was astounded when she realized that Aruharu didn’t make the slightest sound when she moved, even as she crushed dead leaves or old branches underfoot. She was completely silent. Not only that—she was fast.

“Stop! W-Wait just a moment!” sputtered Aymer. “Please keep pace with the others. We’re moving under the cover of a spell, and you’ll want to stay within its boundaries. Once we reach our base of operations we’ll take a break and then begin in earnest. It’s fine for you to take as much time as you need to recuperate. You don’t need to aid us in our mission until you feel good and ready.”

Aruharu stopped, crossed her arms, and tilted her head slightly as she dropped into thought.

“I’ve been given more than enough food,” she said with a grin. “A little power nap and I’ll be good to go. I want my revenge, and I want you to see what I’m worth, so let me at them.”

True to her word, Aruharu only needed a short rest before she was ready. And in her scouting operations with the Peijins, she proved exceptional—her efforts saw them occupy an enemy stronghold in one fell swoop.

Meeting Aruharu was a stroke of good fortune for Aymer’s expeditionary party. As it turned out, her former prison was in an insurgent stronghold. She still remembered all the intel she’d gathered for her prison break and was more than happy to share it. Her intelligence was worth its weight in gold.

Made largely of timber, the stronghold’s barracks and facilities were surrounded by fences and watchtowers. A skeleton crew ran the show inside, and there was a lot of coming and going—usually in the name of firewood or provision collection. Lookouts and night watches were also kept to a bare minimum—the stronghold simply didn’t see battle, and nearby threats were few.

“The group that attacked me claimed they were procuring firewood,” said Aruharu. “That left no more than ten within the stronghold itself, based on what I heard of their voices and footsteps. I don’t expect that number to have changed much. The stronghold and its guards don’t strike me as military types—not in their attitudes, their security, or just the general air of the place. It’s not built for battle. It’s more like a glorified supply post.”

To help make her point, Aruharu looked in the direction of the ocean.

“Have you noticed that the sea’s not too far from here? My guess is that once they unload their supplies from the port, the supply stronghold is where they keep them. I couldn’t make out much of anything of what the guards said, but they kept mentioning something they called ‘miyako.’”

“I think your suspicions are very much right,” said one of the Peijin frogkin. “Miyako means ‘capital,’ which indicates that the supplies come from there. They arrive at a nearby port and are stored at the stronghold, which acts as a collection center from which supplies are moved to the front lines. This is all preparatory work for the uprising...and it’s not built to guard against military forces at all. All they’re concerned with is keeping any potential bandits at bay.”

And just like that, the value of Aruharu’s intelligence doubled.

“A poorly guarded stronghold filled with lazy guards. We move to take it at once,” Aymer declared.

“On the double,” Mont added. “We don’t want them getting suspicious that their pals still haven’t returned either.”

With their next move set, it was up to Mont to settle on a strategy, which he devised in an instant. Using the cover of the onikin concealment magic, Aruharu and the frogkin scouts would enter the stronghold and confirm that it was ripe for the taking. If it was, they would take out the guards on duty, after which the rest of the party would enter to seize the stronghold.

Mont explained the plan, everyone agreed to it, and the party got to work in no time.

“I miscalculated a few things, I’ll admit,” Aymer commented. “I greatly underestimated the guards’ slack, as well as just how powerful your vengeance is, Aruharu. I never imagined that the scouting party would capture the entire stronghold on their own. Still, there were no casualties, so I have no complaints. Hmm... There weren’t any casualties, right? Aruharu...?”

Aymer was moving towards the stronghold barracks with Aruharu as she spoke. Aruharu grinned and shook her head. Still, her claws and cloak were stained red, and she was very much savoring the taste of a vengeance served in full.

“Then please go straight to the well and wash that blood off,” said Aymer. “As for the rest of you, please make sure to keep the stronghold neat and tidy. Don’t break anything if you can help it. There’s something I’d like to try, though admittedly I’m not sure how well it will go.”

Aruharu momentarily forgot about washing herself as curiosity seized her. “What are you planning?” she asked.

Mont and Zorg were just as curious and listened in.

“Well... As I said, I’m uncertain how this particular plan will go, but I’d like to keep the stronghold running under our command. Supplies are sent here from the capital...the miyako, yes? That means there’s a chance we can intercept and keep those supplies for ourselves...by merely accepting them.”

Aymer seemed to think that because security was so lax and the guards were so poorly trained, it was very possible they could get away with acting as either the stronghold guards or the supply carriers.

“If we play our cards right and continue to seize other strongholds, the insurgent forces will simply run out of supplies, rendering them incapable of any further action.”

Aruharu, Mont, and Zorg all looked skeptical, but they were willing to give Aymer’s idea a shot. They knew they wouldn’t lose anything if they failed, so why not see how it went? Aymer had actually expected the Peijins to be against the idea, but the three frogkin put their hands to their jaws and thought through the idea before voicing their support.

“Not a bad idea,” said one. “We’ll hire some beastkin of the same race as the stronghold captain and the supply team and dress them up for the part. If there’s official paperwork or passwords to deal with, we can always interrogate the guards we’ve captured to get them. We know the group in charge of the nearest port, and they can be bought. Leave it with us. If they’re the ones doing the supply transport...everything else will just fall into place.”

“And if that’s the case, then you can leave all the supply handling to us,” added another. “Of course, you’re free to take what you need to feed the hungry or take it to base camp as necessary.”

“Let’s keep everything under concealment magic so it’s all nice and quiet,” said the third. “And don’t worry—if we’ve got mountains of supplies in hand, the higher-ups will be more than happy to lend us a hand. Won’t matter if a few issues crop up later; they’ll have already profited. All’s fair in love and war here in the Beastland Kingdom.”

Mont thought on this for a moment before offering some thoughts of his own.

“If we can disguise ourselves as supply carriers for the other strongholds, that might be a way in for us. We can’t put all our eggs in the one basket though, so you Peijins work on the disguise angle and the rest of us’ll get to taking out the other bases. By the way, Aruharu, did any other Meowgens arrive here like you did? If you’re aware of friends being held in any strongholds, we can make them a priority.”

“Hmm...” murmured Aruharu before shaking her head. “I think it was just me, though I suppose it is possible that I just never ran into any of the others. I couldn’t really make much sense of anything at the time. First there was the ship capsizing, then the nearly drowning, then the being arrested. I barely had a moment for anything but my own survival. Still, there weren’t even ten of us on that boat, so there won’t be many left if they’re out there. But please, if you do find them, save them—a lot of the people here are terribly cruel to people like us.”

Aruharu then departed for the courtyard to finally clean herself up. Aymer was worried about the young woman and followed her out of the barracks. Aruharu stopped and placed a hand out, which Aymer used as a springboard to settle on her shoulder. The two went to the well together, chatting casually while Mont and the others discussed the details of their plan to run the stronghold.

Later, when Dias would read Aymer’s report, he would be convinced that any attempt to run the stronghold as usual would end in failure, and in this he would prove sorely mistaken.

Dias believed that all people in military positions were like Juha, who understood the value of supplies and supply routes and managed both with an iron fist. This was simply the way things were as far as Dias was concerned, but the same could not be said for the insurgent forces.

In the end, the stronghold plan didn’t just go swimmingly. Rather, it went so well that Aymer and the expeditionary party found themselves wrapped up in a whole other predicament...

The report detailing that would not arrive for some time.

A few days had passed since the expeditionary party began intercepting and stealing supplies. In the beginning, everyone had been doubtful Aymer’s idea would work, but to their surprise everything went without the slightest hitch. The party’s supply stronghold quickly amassed a huge surplus of goods.

“I never imagined we’d be looking at mountain loads like this...” uttered Aymer from atop Aruharu’s head.

“You’re so smart, Aymer,” said Aruharu, her ears twitching with delight. “I’m telling you, you could make a fortune if you came to the empire.”

The two stood at a corner of the stronghold taking stock of their loot, which was veiled in concealment magic. Much of it was food, and everything that the expeditionary party did not need for themselves would go to the Peijins, who planned to take it to small, starved communities in the area to sell at a discount. The expeditionary party had recommended simply giving the supplies away, but the Peijins said that doing so would only draw suspicion—instead, they planned to set their prices based on the circumstances of the communities they sold to.

Weaponry and equipment were a different matter, however. Because they were difficult to sell, and because they might simply end up back in enemy hands, these were to be taken back to Baarbadal as spoils of war and split with the onikin tribe.

“I’m not particularly interested in the empire,” Aymer replied. “And what I’m interested in right now is the issue of how to get all of this home.”

Aruharu’s ears shifted backwards—a clear sign that she was sulking.

“Hmph. I see,” she said. “So you came here to steal supplies, but you never thought about how you were going to see it safely home?”

“No. We had a trade party enter the nation well before us for just this reason; we just never expected to be dealing with so much. They won’t be able to handle all of this alone.”

“Yeah, that makes sense. And if the stockpile keeps growing, then we’ll want to start thinking about a ship. Seizing a ship is one thing, but capturing a whole dock to work out of is another thing entirely.”

“Mont and his party have been launching surprise attacks disguised as supply parties, and they’re due here with everything they’ve looted,” said Aymer. “I’m still not sure what we’re going to do with it all. We’ve been rather bold in our movements so far, and I fear it’s only a matter of time before the insurgents become aware that something is amiss. Time is very much of the essence.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about it that much, do you? Take home what you can, and ditch the rest in the sea or something. Doesn’t matter how sharp a sword is or how tough a breastplate is when they’re rusting at the bottom of the ocean.”

“Yes, that’s one option, certainly. But it feels like such a tremendous waste, given the amount we’ve acquired. I’m thinking we’ll just have to get ourselves a ship, and as for the dock... Well, I’m certain we can work something out along the way.”

“Wait. Isn’t the dock the most important thing?” asked Aruharu. “What good is a ship if you don’t have any way to load it?”

Aruharu still didn’t know about the goblins because Aymer still hadn’t told her. Aymer said nothing however, and instead she dropped into thought.

She knew that the goblins could easily load supplies onto a ship from the beach, then get it all safely to the wasteland. From there, Baarbadal’s newly acquired heshir horses could be put to work lugging it all to Iluk.

This was all well and good, but they still didn’t have a ship to carry all the supplies. Aymer began wondering whether or not they might be able to build one.

Given that it’s just supplies, even a basic raft would do. Or perhaps we could have something built in Iluk? Maybe Peijin & Co. can purchase one for us...

In the end, Aymer decided that buying a ship was the way to go. It was a far better idea than using up Iluk’s construction resources, and much safer than anything they’d be able to build out here on their own. Aymer expected that they might even be able to buy multiple ships with the money they made selling food. If push came to shove they could sell some of the weapons and equipment they had, but Aymer would want onikin approval when it came to what was to be split between them.

Aymer was just about to tell Aruharu to go to the others so she could propose her idea to them, but she noticed that Aruharu’s ears had folded back. Her ears always did this when she got into a mood about something. Aruharu had a good heart, but her experiences had left her traumatized. She pouted and sulked whenever Aymer left her and whenever Aymer wasn’t paying attention to her. These bad moods of Aruharu’s also struck whenever men got too close...and whenever she was hungry.

But no matter the mood Aruharu was in, it always showed first in her ears, then in her tail, and then in the hair on her head. When Aruharu’s mood was especially dire, it was like she turned into a different person entirely. Her tail would puff up and stick out straight, every hair on her head would stand on end, and she would don a harsh expression that made her gaze feel like a dagger to whatever was on the receiving end of it.

The dogkin had similar traits, but they were especially noticeable in Aruharu. According to Mont, that was just the way it was for the Meowgen people. They were light, flexible, and incredibly physically gifted but emotionally fickle and prone to mood swings. Meowgen abilities were prized in the empire, and they were often active in the military, serving as both scouts and cavalry knights.

Aymer saw the Meowgen people as lithe, lightweight, and flexible, and so she’d assumed they would be ill-suited to being cavalry. However, according to Mont, their speed and dexterity actually made them extremely well-suited to the position, particularly because they were very adept at taking down heavily armored opposition. The Meowgen cavalry ran circles around heavier foes and made clever use of parrying when under attack—all in all they were several times more effective than their human counterparts.

“Oh, I just remembered,” said Aymer. “Peijin & Co. were kind enough to provide us with some snacks. I don’t suppose you’d join me for a few? They’re very sweet—covered in sugar from what I hear. The Peijins tell me you can’t get them anywhere else, and the use of seaweed gives them a most unique mouthfeel.”

Aymer felt for Aruharu. She wanted to help the young woman and befriend her. She also hoped that, if such a thing were possible, Aruharu might become an Iluk resident someday. This was not just because Aruharu showed great potential as a soldier but because Iluk was the perfect place for one whose soul had been battered. Aymer was sure that Aruharu could enjoy herself in Baarbadal and live happily, and it was these feelings that had her reach out with this offer of kindness.

“Snacks!” Aruharu cried. “I’ve never had any sugar-covered treats in the empire! Oh, we do have honey there though!”

Aruharu’s eyes grew wide. Her ears splayed out to the sides, and the tension in her tail dissipated into an easy curve—all signs that her mood was swinging back to placid comfort.

“Then let’s head to the break area,” said Aymer. “We also received some local tea, so let’s make sure to brew a cup to go with the snacks.”

Aruharu’s eyes narrowed to slits as a smile spread across her face. Such was her joy that she practically pranced down the wooden corridors to the break area.

But all the while, Aymer thought. She thought of the ship they needed, of Aruharu, and of the many ways the insurgents might take action in the coming days. When she reached the break area, however, she decided to put all of those thoughts aside and simply enjoy her time in Aruharu’s company.

Seated in the Village Square, Reading Aymer’s Report—Dias

I’d come to expect Sahhi’s arrival in the morning with a new report from Aymer. Today I had a look through Aymer’s third letter updating me on the expedition’s progress. She’d already written to me about how they’d been taking the enemy strongholds and what Mont was up to, so I knew they were working in disguise and it was going well.

To be honest, at first I’d wondered why Aymer hadn’t just written everything out for me in chronological order in her first report, but apparently that was intentional—Aymer didn’t want to lay everything out in case one of her reports happened to get lost and end up in enemy hands. She said that she’d save the final, most detailed report for when she got back. I had to admit it was all very Aymer of her. I was glad we’d put her in charge.

Anyway, I was sitting in the village square with her third report in hand, and I wondered what she had in store for me this time.

“Hurry up, Dias! Read the report already!” cried Senai.

“Yeah! What’s in it? Hurry up and tell us!” added Ayhan.

The twins were sitting beside me, squeezed onto the same chair, and they were missing their favorite teacher. So for them, the reports were always something to look forward to because they were filled with surprises and—let’s be honest—pretty unbelievable. They’d shake with anticipation when a new report came in. Even Alna was here, peeking over my shoulder to read ahead.

“It’s important to stay up to date, right?” she said. “We might have to spring into action and prepare something depending on the report. Right now we’re training the heshirs in preparation for carrying everything the expeditionary party intends to bring back. We’ve put Carlitz in charge of things—that little dogkin is crazy enthusiastic about it and has already been to the wasteland a number of times to get things in place.”

“Great, got it,” I said, then turned my attention back to the report.

As per usual, the first page of the report was Aymer’s “General Report Summary,” laying out the overall details. From that, I could tell that the undercover operations were still going well. Actually, they’d gone too well. The insurgent forces had caught on, and they were sending their main force to deal with it. According to Sahhi’s scouting report, that main force was two thousand strong.

The expeditionary party had noticed some suspicious movement among local bandits and the unions working the ports, so the party decided to withdraw.

The plan was to get as much of their supplies to the beach as possible, then load them onto a ship with the help of the goblins. They’d depart for the wastelands—and then for home—once everybody was aboard. In order to buy time for loading supplies, the expeditionary party would send a small group to run a sabotage operation to keep the insurgents busy.

“Huh?” I uttered. “Huh?!”

I couldn’t help it. And once again, I was back to reading the lines multiple times just to try and make some sense of them. As far as I could tell, there were two thousand troops bearing down on a party of about twenty, and more trouble brewing elsewhere. How the heck were they going to keep two thousand troops busy?

My heart was about to jump out of my throat. I just wanted them to ditch all the supplies and run...but then I noticed Aymer had written one last thing on the very last line of her report summary.

Please relax. This is all within our expectations, and our strategy was prepared well ahead of time. Everybody will return home safe.

Okay, I knew Aymer was smart, so there wasn’t really much I could argue if she’d written that. Not that there was much of anything I could do even if I wanted to... I realized I’d just have to trust her and wait. I could also feel some pretty pointed gazes on me from Alna and the twins. They were expecting me to turn the page and read on, so that’s what I did.

Overseeing the Supply Loading—Aymer

Peijin & Co. had provided the expeditionary party with carts, which had been loaded with supplies packed into wooden boxes. Those were now being pulled to the beach under the cover of concealment magic. At the beach was a merchant ship, which the Peijins had hurriedly arranged, and goblins were currently hard at work loading delivered supplies on board.

The goblins were capable of controlling water through magic, but their powers stretched well beyond simply handling the flow of water. They could completely bend water to their will, and in this way they ensured that every single box was packed onto the ship entirely dry.

I’d expected all of this, but I do feel a touch sorry for the Peijins. They’ve said this ship is ours once it reaches Baarbadal’s shores because any attempt to return it might only draw suspicion...and potentially trouble. Still, seeing as they readied us a ship out of the goodness of their hearts, it would be a shame not to put it to good use.

This is quite the stroke of good fortune. Yes, we’ve paid a fair sum and a share of the most expensive equipment we looted, but all of that pales in comparison to the value this ship brings us.

Aymer was sitting on Aruharu’s head overseeing the supply loading when Aruharu spoke. The young woman was dressed in new clothes now, having recently picked out some that suited her from among their supplies.

“That falconkin sure has some eyes on him, huh?” she said. “It couldn’t have been easy counting two thousand troops from the sky.”

“Oh, he didn’t count all of them,” commented Aymer. “He only needed to count a portion of them. That portion could then be used to estimate the overall size of the force. Ah, I see you don’t quite follow. Let’s look at an example—take a look at the heap of boxes before us. Now, make a circle with your fingers and look through it. How many boxes do you see in that circle?”

Aruharu—dressed in her new dress, shirt, and waistcoat—did as she was told.

“Uh...four,” she replied.

“Very good. Now I’d like you to count how many of those circles it would take to cover all the boxes you see. There’s no need to be exact; we don’t require an exact number.”

“Uh... About ten circles,” said Aruharu.

“So we have four boxes per circle, and one heap of boxes about the size of ten circles. That gives us forty boxes. We also know that there’s another row of boxes behind the ones we can see, so if we double that we reach eighty in total. Now, I know for a fact that there’s a total of seventy-six boxes there, so in the end we weren’t too far off.”

Aymer explained that this was the method Sahhi used to count the number of soldiers in the insurgent battalion. Because armies often marched in orderly formations, this counting style was very effective.

“Naturally, you end up with a rough estimate and not an exact number,” said Aymer, “but nonetheless it’s especially helpful when you’re in a rush or you don’t want to be spotted.”

“Huh... And so now that we’ve counted the rough number of what we’re up against, we’re going to run subterfuge on them...? Is that even possible? I saw you giving Zorg orders. You’re going to use the concealment magic and late night attacks—is that it? Because to be honest, I don’t see it going very well given the disparity in numbers.”

“They don’t have to do the job perfectly,” replied Aymer. “All they need to do is buy us some time. A day—or maybe even half a day—should be enough. We’ve largely accomplished what we set out to do, and all that’s left now is to retreat, which is the easy part. We already have our escape route and means secured.”

As far as Aymer was concerned, all they needed now was just a little extra time.

“And while two thousand troops is a lot,” Aymer continued, “stopping their march for even a little will only eat into what supplies they have left. In truth, the insurgents lost the moment they ordered such a large force to address us. We’re the reason they’re low on supplies, and yet they’ve chosen a strategy that will only waste a great deal of what they have left. You really have to wonder how long their morale will hold out...”

“Hmm... And I know firsthand how much it sucks to starve,” Aruharu noted. “It’s thanks to you that I can eat my fill again, but up until I ran into you guys, it was hell.”

Aruharu clasped her hands behind her head and stared at the boxes of supplies before them. Most of it was equipment, but there was a little food among it all, and it was this that Aruharu had her eyes on.

“The food is for our trip home,” said Aymer. “You’re not to touch it any earlier, please. We’re going to wait here until our friends arrive to load everything, and they’ll likely bring food with them—expect lots of seafood.”

“Wow! Seafood! Now there’s something to look forward to! Sure, sure, no touching the food. I get you. Not like I’d go and do it behind your back anyway. I don’t want you scolding me.”

Aruharu chuckled. While Aymer couldn’t see her friend’s face from the top of her head, she knew Aruharu well enough now that she knew the girl’s expression without looking. With a little sigh, she turned her gaze to the north, where Zorg and the others had set off to disrupt the enemy, and silently prayed for their safe return.

Hidden in the Shadows of a Tree—Zorg

Zorg hid in the shadows, his breathing so slow and light it was almost like he wasn’t breathing at all. He held in his hands a magical stone from which he drew power to cast his concealment magic. He had washed off his own scent in river water, masked it in mud and various other local scents, and decked himself out in camouflage. He peeked out from behind a tree and watched as armored troops marched along mountain paths.

The path the soldiers walked had been made by clearing the trees. Zorg noticed that they had been split into platoons by race, and one in particular caused him to let out a short, surprised gasp. The soldiers were dressed in silver-white armor, with bows crafted from white wood over their shoulders. Their long hair wavered in the breeze, revealing long, pointed ears—ears that Zorg had seen before.

“I’d heard they might be here,” he whispered, “but I never expected them to play a part in all of this.”

“So what now?” one of his fellow onikin asked. “Do we let them go? They’re the same race as your nieces, right?”

“We’ve no good reason to let them go. They’re the ones who kicked my nieces out of the village they called home. I’ve half a mind to teach them a harsh lesson as a message that they’re not to come anywhere near the twins, but I’m not about to disobey Aymer’s orders. Right now, that’s our focus.”

The onikin nodded, and the group walked through the trees, each of them carrying magical stones and rope.

“All we have to do is follow orders,” whispered Zorg to himself. “Aymer will have worked something out for the twins should anything happen.”

The time had come to put their plan into action, and Zorg gripped his magical stone tight.

Marching Through the Mountains—A Beastland Soldier

Everything had been going smoothly until the supply issue had reared its ugly head. Provisions and equipment had stopped reaching the front lines, and a battalion had been sent to investigate. What was important was that the appropriate response was prepared—the problem might have been bandits, but it might also have been a rival military force.

The insurgents readied a battalion that, it must be said, was entirely overkill for the task of simply checking on supplies. At the front of the battalion was an armor-clad bearkin reviewing his map. He looked left, then right, then down at his map, then tilted his head.

“Huh? Something’s not right.”

The bearkin’s superior officer, realizing something was amiss, rode his horse from farther back to address the issue.

“What’s going on? Report, soldier.”

“S-Sir. The road on this map... It’s not here,” the soldier replied. “The road is supposed to split in two, at which point we follow the path to the right, but— Look, sir. The road we’re supposed to take is, well, it’s just forest. The road to the left appears to be there, but... It just doesn’t make any sense.”

The soldier scratched his head.

“A ways back there was supposed to be a big boulder—a landmark,” he continued, “but it wasn’t there. I had a feeling something was off, but because we only needed to follow the road, I didn’t think we could possibly have been on the wrong track. I just figured that the boulder had been taken for the stonemasons or something like that, but now that the crossroads is just...gone, I don’t know.”

“Boulders don’t just disappear, soldier, and neither do roads. Either your map is wrong, or you read it wrong. Hey! You! We’ve other scouts reviewing the maps, don’t we? Call for them, now! You’re going to compare your maps and come to a conclusion. Let me know if we push on or head back. In the meantime, we’ll have to take a break and wait.”

The superior office turned back to address those behind him.

“Halt the march!” he shouted as he rode back towards the other soldiers. “Send word through the lines! We’re halting the march! Take a break!”

Beyond the soldiers comparing their maps and scratching their heads, standing on the road the insurgent forces should have been marching along, were a number of onikin, crafting the illusion of a forest with their magic.

Concealment spells weren’t exclusive to making things invisible. They were also helpful for creating illusions. It was this second benefit that allowed them to hide not just their yurts from potential threats but all traces of them on the grasslands. Without the ability to cast illusions, the onikin concealment magic would have been useless—hiding their yurts only would have left a very suspicious open space where everything stood.

When the onikin cast their concealment magic to hide their village, they also cast the illusion of the grassy plains around it. It was this that kept them hidden from danger. The concealment spells allowed it to look like nothing more than a snowy landscape in the winter as well and to make their village look much bigger than it actually was.

Because concealment magic drew from the scenery around it, it reacted naturally to the elements. Illusory tree branches wavered in the breeze alongside real ones, illusory yurts were pelted with rain much like the genuine yurts nearby. All of this made concealment magic extremely convincing.

The onikin drew from the nearby trees to create their forest here as well. Their illusory trees shared the exact same branches, patterns, and scratches of those nearby. It would have been a strange sight upon closer inspection, but the soldiers noticed nothing out of the ordinary. Their way forward had vanished, but not a single soldier thought anything odd about the scenery. Rather, they turned their focus inwards, assuming they had made a wrong turn somewhere or read their maps wrong.

The soldiers went over their maps over and over, yet no matter how much they reviewed and discussed, any answers eluded them. Their confusion was reaching a breaking point.

“But there was only one road to follow up until now...” muttered one.

“Yeah, but just based on the topography and how long it took us to get here, we should be staring right at the crossroads. You’ve all got the same maps as me. You can see it, no?”

“Then where’s the crossroads? We can’t walk a path that isn’t there! What are we waiting around for? Let’s push on!”

“I agree. What other choice do we have? To go back? And if so, how far? Imagine all the time we’ll be wasting!”

“And we still haven’t seen the landmark, right? The big rock? If we haven’t seen that, then of course we haven’t seen the crossroads yet.”

The whole point of having a number of soldiers carry maps was to ensure that any potential mistakes could be nipped in the bud and no wrong paths were taken. After much discussion and deliberation, all the soldiers were in agreement: They would march on.

All the while, the onikin had looked on nervously, unable to completely fight off the sneaking feeling that their ruse would fall through. But now, when they heard the soldiers come to their conclusion, they couldn’t help but grin.

Word was sent back to the battalion’s superior officer, who commanded his troops to march onwards. The battalion pushed on and encountered no landmark rock. By taking the road to the left, they instead arrived at a deserted village. At that point they had no choice but to admit that they should have retraced their steps. All of them believed that they’d totally missed the crossroads.

Still, others felt they’d come too far to turn back. The battalion’s superior officer did not berate his soldiers for their bad decision, though he did penalize them for it.

“Then we’ve no choice but to camp out here for the night,” said the superior officer. “As for you navigators—if we can even call you that—you’re to handle whatever odd jobs there are around camp while the others eat, and you’re on first watch tonight. You are not to eat or sleep until you are relieved.”

By this point, the battalion was already low on food, and what was left had gone cold. They’d gone without sleep for long enough already, but still the soldiers were relieved to have escaped harsher punishments and obediently nodded their heads. However, every soldier placed on first watch that evening disappeared.

The onikin had stolen into camp under the cover of magic, waited for the right moment, and then attacked. They had rendered the soldiers on guard unconscious, bound and gagged them, and then carried them away. Those on the second watch assumed that the first would have noticed any intruders, and thus believed that those soldiers had deserted their posts.

Desertion of a military post was punishable by death, but it was not entirely uncommon, and the soldiers on second watch did not report those who went missing.

For one thing, they did not want the deserters or their families to bear them grudges, and they did not want to make a scene. They knew that to report the missing soldiers would only wake everyone and draw their ire, so the soldiers on second watch went on with their job as if nothing had happened.

As a result, however, the soldiers on second watch were also bound, gagged, and dragged away by the onikin, along with those who woke to relieve themselves, and even a few who were fast asleep. Nobody was any the wiser until the third watch, at which point the camp exploded with panic. Guards were gone, soldiers were missing, and almost half of the battalion’s supplies had vanished.

Had somebody attacked? Had a portion of the battalion planned a group desertion? The battalion shrugged off the first possibility—after all, who would attack a battalion of such size? They thus assumed desertion and had no choice but to accept what had happened and pack up camp immediately.

It was still dark, but the battalion set off back the way it had come. They did not have time to drag their feet—time was not on their side. It was clear that unless they procured more supplies, the battalion would starve and morale would plummet. They either needed to find the path they were looking for or return to the front lines.

However, the darkness only plunged them deeper into confusion, and they quickly found themselves lost in the mountains. They walked around in circles in search of the road back, but come dawn they were still walking, and when they finally thought they were on track, they found themselves at the same deserted village where they had set up camp the day before.

In the middle of the village, the battalion found a group of soldiers tied up with rope—the very ones they had all assumed deserters. The battalion’s commanding officer, in all his shock, found himself unable to stay on his feet. For a time, he could not even find the energy to speak.

Moving Through the Forest—Zorg

The onikin had finished their work. They’d all been skeptical of their chances, but everything had gone swimmingly.

Their mission complete, they got to carrying their stolen supplies back to the rendezvous point, but it was taking longer than expected—it was a bigger haul than any of them could have asked for. In the end, they decided to ditch some of the supplies in the mountains.

After making a number of trips, they were finally down to the last lot of loot. On the plains they would have used horses, but they did not have that luxury here—they carried the loot on their own backs and covered their tracks with magic.

Still, the insurgents showed no signs of movement. They’d been walking through the night until dawn and were still at the deserted village—those who weren’t asleep gazed into space, their souls broken. Zorg had a falconkin watching over them just to be on the safe side, but the battalion was so physically exhausted and mentally destroyed that it hardly seemed necessary.

With the enemy so completely and utterly defeated, it would have been fine for the expeditionary party to lower their guard, but the mastis remained on high alert, and the falconkin above kept their eyes peeled for potential threats. The onikin’s magic was still at work too, and they stayed unseen.

The onikin still had a great many magical stones in reserve, and things were going smoothly. Admittedly, however, the all-nighter and the supply deliveries had left them a bit wanting for energy.

Still, I can’t believe those forestkin appear to have completely lost touch with their magic. The twins see through our spells in an instant, so I wonder... Is it a case of them being the same race but worlds apart in terms of potential? But given how talented the girls are, just how did the others end up like that?

Zorg was thinking as he walked through the forest, careful not to make any noise. It was then that one of the young onikin approached him carrying a bundle of bows.

“Zorg, look at these,” he sighed. “We took these bows from the soldiers we captured. They’ve done nothing to them—they’re just pieces of bent wood with string attached. It’s good wood, and there’s some power in them, but imagine what they’d be like with some of our upgrades. It’s such a waste.”

“I thought that might be the case when I saw their bows from afar,” replied Zorg, “but a part of me just couldn’t believe it was possible. They wore bulky metal armor too, and it’s obvious that they approach their bows in a completely different way to us. I don’t get it. I’d heard that war broke out here all the time—you’d think they’d have developed their weaponry, but this is as basic as it gets.”

Zorg felt the last wisps of magic leave the magical stone he carried, so he put his supplies down and brought out a new one from the pouch at his waist. Then he picked up his supplies again and walked on, his spell never wavering for a moment. The forest was clearing, and beyond it he saw the road that led to the coast.

“Just a little more,” he whispered to his men. “Don’t let your guards down.”

All the members of the team knew they’d be able to rest after just a little more work, and so they pushed on, slowly but surely, to meet with Aymer and the others.

Watching over the Cargo Loading—Aymer

Joe, Lorca, and the domain guard loaded supplies as Aymer watched from her now-usual spot upon Aruharu’s head. The supplies were taken from carts and piled on rafts, which were surrounded by goblins who made sure everything was stable and dry. Then the rafts were taken to the ship waiting offshore and loaded aboard.

“I never saw it firsthand, but I think their weakness came down to mindset.”

Aruharu spoke plainly, as if it were obvious, but Aymer wasn’t following.

“Weakness?” she asked. “What do you mean?”

“You’ve heard how the insurgent forces here feel about the lostblood. How they talk about them. They don’t even try to cooperate. They believe themselves superior, and that’s the end of it. It influences everything they do, right down to their military, and they look down on anybody who’s different. Their bigotry has them fighting among themselves to create a nation of purebloods.”

Aruharu sighed and continued, “It’s ridiculous. As far as weaknesses go, it’s just plain stupid. The better idea is to gather talented, able-bodied people from far and wide, each with their own unique skills. The insurgents had numbers, but they’re an army of idiots. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that in the end their strategies are just as stupid as they are.”

“Oh, I see,” said Aymer, catching on. “And it’s true to say that the Beastland Kingdom is filled with a great many different races, each with their own unique strengths. Were they to put their differences aside and unite, they would be most formidable. Instead, their inability to get along leads to internal conflict, which only serves to reinforce their enmity and increase discrimination against the lostblood.”

Aymer thought for a moment, then posed a new question.

“Hmm... I suppose great power is one thing, but whether or not a nation’s leader can make good use of it is entirely another. Is it different in the empire? Is there a variety of other races including your own?”

“Well, we had a lot of people doing a lot of things,” Aruharu answered, “but everything came to a crushing halt because our forces were ground into dust by this one guy. Seriously, it was insane. He was insane. Race, skill, strength—none of it mattered. That guy ran roughshod over everybody. Some of the beastkin among us fled as soon as they realized how powerful he was, and they did it right before battle. The higher-ups raked them over the coals for insubordination.”

Aruharu shook her head.

“And get this,” she continued. “Even now the empire is in a panic trying to rebuild their military. Apparently they’re even taking a more favorable view to the beastkin races too. But I mean, seriously, they can rebuild their forces and recruit more beastkin, and that’s all fine, but what’s the point if you can’t stop an unstoppable force? Guess that’s why the empire’s plan seems to be patience—they have to hold on until that one guy gets old and frail or just croaks.”

“Oh... Oh...” Soon enough, Aymer realized whom Aruharu was referring to. “Is...that so? I can...scarcely imagine such a person...”

“What’s wrong, Aymer? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“Uh, it’s nothing. Really. I was just thinking that when all of this is over, we’ll have to think about your future. We’ll be able to set you up without issue; it’s just a matter of working out how to get you home.”

“Huh? Well, at least you guys are open to discussion, unlike the insurgents here. And I don’t think there’s any need for me to rush either. Even I know that it’s not a simple task to travel through Sanserife to the empire. I’m thinking it might be best to send a letter with Sahhi. I’ll decide what to do once I get a reply.”

Aruharu put her hands behind her head and stretched her back. There was a sense of release in the gesture—excited anticipation, and freedom on the horizon. She’d been through a lot in the Beastland Kingdom, and she was finally going to be clear of it. The relief was palpable.

Aymer, however, was still deep in thought and looked rather troubled. All the same, they went on talking and watched as the ship was loaded.

Loading Supplies While Aymer and Aruharu Watch—Joe and Lorca

“We didn’t get to do much of anything out here,” said Joe, carrying a big box along the sand. “After getting married, I really wanted to come out here and do something, you know? Make a name for myself.”

Lorca, who was helping him with another box, wasn’t quite so disappointed.

“For a former carpenter and stonemason, I reckon we’ve done pretty good for ourselves. No injuries to speak of, and we’re heading home with a surplus of loot. It was us against two thousand, Joe. Two thousand. Our wives are going to be stunned when they hear that we beat the odds and came home unscathed.”

“Yeah, I know, it’s just... For us it was a lot of heavy lifting and behind-the-scenes work, you know? We didn’t actually go toe-to-toe with anybody. And I know we got some juicy intel to go with our spoils, and that’ll come in handy down the line, but still...”

“‘But still’ nothing, my friend. It was good enough. More than enough. Maybe we didn’t stand out, but we put in the work, we earned some valuable info, and we’re going to take it back to Lord Dias to help him out. It’s what we’ve always done, and you know as well as I do how important intel is—Juha drilled it into us both. So what’s gotten you all bothered this time?”

“It’s just a feeling, I guess. I just feel like Lord Dias is going to soar to all new heights again, and we’re going to be left behind in his wake.”

“Look, Joe, that’s never going to... I mean, really, it can’t... Okay, I’ll be honest, it’s more than possible. Still, worrying about what hasn’t happened yet isn’t going to get you anywhere. And you know Lord Dias, Joe. The slow and steady path, the behind-the-scenes work—he rewards and acknowledges it all so long as you put your heart into it.”

“Yeah, look, I know,” said Joe, “and I’ve no complaints when it comes to getting paid. He treats us really well, he really does. I just... I hope next time I get a little taste of center stage, you know?”

He let out a sigh, and Lorca chuckled at his friend. Lorca hefted his box onto a waiting raft, then ran back for the carts—it seemed he didn’t like the feel of the water soaking into his boots. Joe did likewise and followed after his friend. It was then that an onikin raised his hand. He’d been on concealment duties, and he’d spotted somebody approaching.

Everybody stopped talking in a heartbeat and stopped in their tracks. They scanned the area around them and eventually noticed a number of men approaching in dirty, tattered rags. Their eyes were misted over, their gazes distant, and while they had a certain violent aura, they lacked spirit and were terribly gaunt. It looked very much like they were all starving.

The men looked human at a glance, but parts of their bodies retained characteristics unique to beastkin—a sign that they were lostbloods. Iluk’s residents knew it because of all the time they’d spent with Seki, Saku, and Aoi. Aruharu had been treated like a lostblood long enough to know too.

The expeditionary party watched on as the lostblood vagrants looked around and, upon finding nothing, wandered off elsewhere. Everybody stayed silent long after the lostbloods had disappeared, returning to work only after Aymer let out a whisper to say that the coast was clear.

“It’s quite likely those men are bandits,” she said. “They’re so thin, and with winter soon to arrive, I have to assume that crime is their only remaining option. We can’t leave them any weapons, but we can leave them a little food. They may return, and hopefully they’ll find what we’ve left when they do. That’s the most we can do for them.”

Any food left on the beach meant less for the trip home, but nobody spoke up against Aymer’s suggestion. After some time the last onikin party arrived, the remaining supplies were loaded, and some rations were left on the beach.

Then the expeditionary party began the journey home—across the sea, through the wasteland, and on to Iluk Village.

It was just as they set off, however, that a number of boats arrived from the west. In them were crews of rough- and rowdy-looking beastkin, all of them powerful and muscular. When they saw Aymer’s ship sailing away, they took up their oars and gave chase, but they soon gave up when they spotted the goblins around the ship.

It was the strangest sight. They simply turned around and returned whence they came as if they’d seen nothing at all.

Joe and Lorca were standing at the edge of the ship, scratching their heads, when a goblin popped its head out of the water and explained.

“Nothing to worry about!” said the goblin. “Those sailors know us well, and they wouldn’t dare lift a finger against us! I’ll bet that they don’t even say a word about seeing us either! They know that if they do, they won’t have work on the open seas anymore!”

That was enough for Joe and Lorca, who thanked the goblin. They added that particular fact to the list of things they would report to Dias, including what they’d learned of the lostbloods. To make sure they didn’t forget, they even took some paper and charcoal from their pockets and jotted it all down in detail.

Neither Joe nor Lorca knew if their intel would truly be of use, but they wrote it down all the same, not even fearing the potential seasickness it might bring as they sailed for home.

At Iluk Village—Dias

A light snow was beginning to cover the village square while I was cleaning up at the storehouses. That was when I heard the unmistakable flapping of wings and looked up to see Sahhi in the skies with a few of his comrades. I knew at a glance that they weren’t just bringing back another report this time—they were coming home.

If Sahhi and his friends are back, it means that Aymer and the others have arrived at the wasteland. We sent Carlitz with the supply carriers early this morning, so they might be meeting up right this moment.

Sahhi and the other falconkin swooped down and came to rest on the perches that were set up at my yurt, and for some reason they all looked totally flummoxed.

“Welcome back, guys,” I said. “Thanks for all your hard work over the border. Are Aymer and the others on their way here?”

“Oh, uh...yep,” replied Sahhi, trying to take it all in. “They met with Carlitz and they’re loading the carts as we speak. They’ll be here soon enough. But, uh...it looks like you had some trouble of your own to deal with right here at home, huh?”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it trouble, because it didn’t really cause us any,” I replied. “Everybody’s safe and everything’s nice and peaceful. Aymer’s report said you had quite the haul though—we sent some horses and carts, but is it going to be enough?”

“I’m not sure, but I’m guessing they’ll be fine. Not to worry—they can always lean on the goblins for some extra helping hands if they need them. That river the lizard made is pretty deep now. Wide too. Everybody’s calling it Lizard River, right? Anyway, it’s perfect for rafts. I think that’s what they’ll do for anything they can’t fit in a cart, at least until they get to the lake.”

“If they can get all the supplies that far, then they’ll be fine,” I said with a nod. “We’ve started calling that Lizard Pond, by the way. The stream from the mountains runs to Lizard Pond now, which meets Lizard River and runs all the way to the ocean. Actually, that stream that the crayfish made up north is also going to end up in the wasteland—the cavekin are working on it as we speak. I guess we’ll be calling that one Crayfish River soon enough.”

“Crayfish...? Oh,” said Sahhi as it clicked into place for him. “You mean the aqua dragon. If we can get another stream running through the wasteland, you’ll start getting more animals and plant life with it. In any case, the expeditionary party has a lot of stuff to sort through, so I expect that they’ll get to Lizard Pond tomorrow or maybe the day after. But I’m beat, so I’m going to head home for a break.”

And with that, Sahhi took off. His pals bowed politely and set off after him. I could only imagine how tired Sahhi was—after all, he’d gone back and forth between Iluk and the Beastland Kingdom a whole bunch of times. I figured that we could help him and his pals recover with a little celebratory dinner.

I should run the idea by Alna. Oh, and I should let the twins know that Aymer’s on her way back while I’m at it.

That night we held a dinner for Sahhi and the falconkin. The next day, I was still cleaning up when Seki, Goldia, and the trading party arrived. Nobody was hurt, and because Peijin & Co. had kept most of the provisions, the trading party had made it back in record time.

A part of me wondered if we’d even needed to send the trading party at all, but with the beastkin nation in a state of high tension, they’d been able to get a host of good intel and start building Baarbadal’s reputation as a trading partner—which basically meant letting the locals know that we were safe to work with. These were huge wins, the way they put it.

Until now, only the lostblood brothers had had permission to trade across the border, but now Goldia and the others had that same permission. They were free to visit the Beastland Kingdom for trade thanks to the local domain lords giving them special permission. They had written documentation and everything.

This kind of blew me off my feet, because at the end of the day we were still foreigners. I guess it was partially thanks to us already having Kiko’s seal of approval, and then the fact that the locals really appreciated all the fish we sold for so cheap. It was such good news that we ended up throwing another party that same evening.

The next day, Carlitz, Aymer, and the goblins arrived with the expeditionary party and the supply carriers in tow. When they arrived, Aymer spoke on behalf of everyone from atop the head of a girl they’d rescued called Aruharu.

“Ahem. I think we achieved quite the success, all things considered,” she said. “We were able to accomplish what we set out to do, and as of this moment the attempted uprising in the Beastland Kingdom has been quelled. We were careful to ensure that the food we procured was spread to beastkin people in need, and we’ve returned home with a huge amount of weapons and armor. So yes, you could respond with awe and great cheers at our triumphant return, and indeed we are returning triumphantly, except...”

At this point Aymer paused to scan the village square.

“Um, what is all of this?” she asked. “Really. Seriously. What is going on? What in the world happened? I require an explanation, please.”

There was no “we’re back!” and there was no report. Instead, Aymer demanded an explanation. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she stared at me, and all I could do was scratch the back of my head and turn to look at what I’d been cleaning up until the expeditionary party had returned.

It was all dragon materials.

“Yeah, so, uh... Three flame dragons appeared a little while ago,” I explained. “It was a whole thing. The falconkin with nests in the mountains were in a panic, and wolves flooded the plains... Y’know, even the onikin were freaking out.”

I told Aymer that I’d figured I’d have to do something about it at the time, but I’d barely needed to raise so much as a finger. The cavekin had ballistae set up near the mines, and they’d shot one dragon right through the guts. They’d managed to hit the wing of another, and I’d finished it off. The last one had gone crazy with rage, but I’d been fine on my own from there—it hadn’t been much of a bother.

“But who would have thought we’d ever have to face three at once?” I said. “I was shocked, really. All the flames were a bit annoying, but thanks to my new armor I barely even felt the heat. No burns or nothing either. Anyway, we’re just about finished up here, so don’t even give it another thought. You’ve earned a good rest, and damned if you don’t deserve it. We’ve got some food and drink ready for you, and we’re going to throw a banquet tonight. Take a couple days off after, okay?”

With my impromptu report done, I thought I’d say a few words to Aruharu.

“Aruharu, right? We’ve built a yurt for you to stay in, so consider it your home while you’re here. I’m not sure how we’re going to get you back to the empire yet, but we’ll do our utmost to see you reunited with your family and friends, and you’re welcome to live here until then.”

“Oh! Come! On!” Aymer cried, sulking from atop Aruharu’s head.

“I knew this was going to happen,” Joe complained. “I told you.”

“That you did,” Lorca sighed.

All of the domain guard shared the same exasperated look, and they all shook their heads in disbelief.

“I’m just glad everybody’s safe,” said Zorg, who still didn’t look entirely satisfied.

“I knew it,” the girl named Aruharu groaned. “Somewhere inside of me I knew it all along... People kept on saying it. They kept on saying ‘Dias,’ but I told myself it was just one of those things where maybe lots of people in Sanserife are called Dias. But you’re him! You’re the guy!You’re the unstoppable force! And even now you’re just as insane and out of your mind as you were then! Oh, so you’ve got some ballistae, huh? How does that explain you taking down three flame dragons?! At once?!”

I’d kind of expected her to introduce herself, so in the face of her outrage I wasn’t actually sure how to respond. So I didn’t.

“Ah, my surprise worked a treat!” said Carlitz, grinning from ear to ear. “I didn’t say a word because I just knew it would blow Miss Aymer away, and boy was I right! I’m delighted!”

A brief second later, Aymer launched herself at the young dogkin. That was around the time that Joe’s and Lorca’s wives arrived with the other newly wedded women, and suddenly the village square filled with excitement and joy as everyone reunited.

That night, Aymer drank a shocking amount of alcohol, and she and her new pal Aruharu partied until well into the evening.

Afterword

As always, I’ll start with thanks.

Thank you to everybody still supporting my work, those reading it on Shosetsuka ni Naro, and the people who send me letters. Thank you to the book’s editing staff, the proofreaders for their excellent work, Kinta for all the illustrations, and the book’s designer. Thanks also to Yumbo and their assistants for the manga adaptation, and the editing staff on that version of the story.

I know I say it every time, but thank you all so much! We’d never have gotten to volume 13 without you!

Volume 13 focuses on a trip to the Beastland Kingdom and introduces a new character. It’s a lively volume, that’s for sure. We’ve got ships entering the mix, and you can just tell that the sea is going to play a role in future volumes.

Dias is as Dias as always, so I think it’s safe to say he’ll make things work with the new character. It’s a really meaningful volume for the twins and for Aymer, but there’s lots still to come on the horizon.

Volume 13 went on sale in 2025. Volume 1 was released in 2018. That’s seven years, and all of it in the blink of an eye. I knew it was coming, but it just doesn’t feel real. I still feel like it crept up on me somehow. I was just so engrossed in writing the story that I feel like it brought me all this way...and I feel like I’ll say exactly the same thing when I get to ten years too.

2025 also happens to be Earth Star Novels’s ten-year anniversary, so congratulations! Thank you so much for publishing my story over seven of those ten years!

But you know what I did realize? I’m an old hand now. I can’t believe it. I’m supposed to still be a rookie—the new guy. There were so many authors I looked up to for their work, and I was just a newbie who squeezed in. But now I’m an experienced hand.

What the heck?! What happened?!

It’s true what they say—time flies. A lot has changed, but also it feels like everything’s still the same. I just hope for days of peace to continue into the future.

Earth Star Novels is doing an event for their ten-year anniversary, and if you’re interested, check their X account for details.

On to volume 14! Winter arrives, and this year it’s a season of births! It’s going to be busy and bustling, but expect energetic little ones, maturing little ones, and another story from Dias’s past! I think his old stories are going to become a winter staple in Iluk.

I sure hope you enjoy it when it comes out!

I’ll sign off here, but I look forward to writing you all again at the end of volume 14!

Fuurou, Spring 2025

Bonus Short Story: Tales of the Wise Mouse

In Dias’s Yurt—Aruharu

About a month had passed since Aruharu began living at Iluk Village.

“Hey, Aymer! You in here?” she called as she stepped into Dias’s yurt.

Aruharu was looking for her friend so they could chat. She got along with Aymer better than anybody she’d ever known, and their time together was precious to her.

“Yes,” she heard in reply. “Just a minute!”

Aruharu turned in the direction of the voice to see a one-floor wooden manor built to Aymer’s dimensions. Not so long ago, Aymer had called a wooden box home. It had been furnished with furniture of the right size, but more recently she’d had a proper residence built.

It was the cavekin women who’d done it. They simply loved detailed craftwork and already enjoyed crafting accessories. They’d even made Aymer her furniture, in fact. They’d had so much fun building it that the momentum had carried them right into building her a whole new home.

In the manor were tables, bookshelves, closets, beds, and even an Aymer-sized mirror. When Aruharu found her, Aymer was right in the middle of cleaning.

“Would you mind giving me a hand, Aruharu?” asked Aymer. “The place is a touch too big to easily clean on my own.”

“Sure.”

Aruharu could hear the sweeping of Aymer’s tiny broom as she reached out and removed the manor’s roof. The manor had in fact been constructed especially so it could be easily disassembled. It wasn’t just the roof either—each room could be removed piece by piece. This meant that cleaning was as simple as detaching a room, removing its furniture, and giving the room a few gentle pats with a human-sized hand.

Aruharu helped Aymer do this with each room in turn. It was during this process that Aruharu noticed a room with items neatly arranged on shelves. There were cutlery made from a walnut shell, an empty ink pot, Aymer’s trusty pin sword, a scented piece of wood, herbal clippings, a small chunk of salt, a piece of a bee’s nest, and a bone fragment.

“What’s with all the junk?” Aruharu asked.

Aymer couldn’t help but laugh.

“Those are to commemorate special memories,” she replied. “Since arriving here I’ve been to a great many places and experienced a great many things. I keep all these mementos so I don’t forget. I still use the cutlery you see there, and I carry my pin sword wherever I go, but... Yes, see that piece of rock salt? I picked that up when we first visited the salt plain. I took the bit of bee’s nest when the twins completed their hive, and the bone fragment came from a student. Oh, and I picked up this stone to commemorate first meeting you, Aruharu.”

Aymer reached out to a shelf and took from it a beautiful stone, which she held up to show her friend. It was white on its surface with a green running through it that glimmered in the light. It was perhaps a gemstone of some sort. Aymer marveled at it and let out a long sigh. There was a simple joy in her voice as she went on.

“When I lived in the desert, just surviving was a struggle, and I was largely useless. But then I was brought to the kingdom, and the day I first touched a book? Everything changed. Little by little I began to learn about the world, and I became interested in all sorts of different subjects. Coming here to the plains, too, provided me with a way to put my knowledge to use. Every day is exciting and fun, and the excitement never stops. I feel like I’m in the midst of a great adventure.”

Before she knew it, Aymer had become the chief instructor to a duke’s daughters, the duke’s own trusted confidante, and the resident village teacher.

“I’ve come so, so far from where I once was. Why, if I told everybody back home, nobody would believe me. Meeting you was another chapter in the adventure, and while there were shocks and worries squeezed into that time, I feel like it makes for a great story to look back on.”

Aymer returned the gemstone to its shelf and gazed at the other treasures that filled the room.

“Ah...so that’s what they are,” said Aruharu. “I get it. I chose to take to the seas because I wanted some spice in my life, and since the moment I got here it’s been shock after shock. I still can’t believe it. And sure, there’s been a little fun and excitement mixed in too. You ever think about going home, Aymer?”

Aymer didn’t even have to think twice before answering.

“I never want to go back,” she said, still staring at everything that adorned the room’s walls. “I sometimes long to see old friends and family, but if I returned I would go straight back to being what I was. A day trip to see everybody and catch up would be wonderful, but...not particularly easy, unfortunately. Still, I think one of these days I’ll ask the falconkin to deliver a letter for me. If that letter happened to entice a few of my friends to come visit, I’d welcome the chance to reunite.”

“Huh. Well, I guess it’s been a rocky road for you too,” commented Aruharu. “But just a letter? No, you should send a book back. You should write all about your life and all the adventures you’ve been on, bind it in a cover, and then send it back. Make it like a grand tale of discovery and adventure. Even if you kept things to just the plains, I bet it’d make for a pretty long novel, no?”

Aymer giggled.

“A wonderful idea! Not that anybody would believe it was me. Still, it’s very much worth writing all the same. But if I were to write it, what would I call it? Something like ‘The Adventures of Aymer Jerrybower’ perhaps?”

“Didn’t you say you made up your last name when you got here? Nobody back home’s going to be familiar with it, and it’s rather long. Maybe just ‘Aymer’s Adventures’ or...you could even leave your name out of it altogether. That could be fun. Then it’ll be up to the reader to work out that it’s you.”

“That’s rather cunning, isn’t it? Heh. Then how about ‘Tales of the Wise Mouse’ as a working title? I’m willing to bet my life savings that nobody, not friends or family, will know it’s me. I don’t even think the mousekin I came with will work it out. Last I heard they were all on their best behavior, but I do wonder how long that will last...”

“Huh? What? Who’s that? The mousekin you came with? You never told me about them.”

Aruharu leaned in, intrigued, but Aymer remembered then that she was still holding her broom and informed her friend that the story would have to wait until after their chores. Aruharu’s face twisted with annoyance, but all the same she continued to help, hoping they would finish quickly and get back to chatting.

After a time, they finished cleaning all the rooms, put all of them back together, and placed all the furniture back where it was supposed to go. It was a beautiful sight.

Aymer then left via the front door for the table and chair placed in front of it, complete with paper and a small pot of ink. She dipped her tail in the pot and took a trip down memory lane, revisiting her memories of her first visit to the plains.

Tales of the Wise Mouse made Aruharu laugh raucously and shout angrily, and it kept her on the edge of her seat from start to finish. It was, without a doubt, a wonderful time.