We entered the village and even got permission to stay there. The goblins were more friendly than we thought. The kid goblin's name is Earl, the one we saved from the beast. He took us to his home, and after that he showed us around the village. He couldn't stop talking, always like "big bro, big bro," clinging to me. And I didn't hate that.
When I was in the demon kingdom, goblins other than Varner were treated as low-lives, so I was prohibited from even talking to one.
But now I am able to talk to one, and that feels great. As for Pears, he was keeping a close eye on me, and Tank was sleeping in our hut. Maria and Selena didn't like talking to goblins at first, but now they went to the forest to gather fruits with them. I never expected they could accept humans like this.
And suddenly, Varner came towards us. He asked, "Rudo, is everything okay for you guys? Don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."
"Calt, I'm here… can you hear me? I'm here…"
Calt replied, "I can hear you, Bojo. What is happening there?"
Bojo replied, "Some humans are in the village. They look like a group of travelers."
Calt said, "Humans here in the demon village?"
Bojo asked, "Are you going to tell this to our king?"
Calt replied, "No, no… we can't tell him now. If we tell him, he might destroy the goblin village, and my plan for Varner will end in vain. You just do as I say. I will talk to you later."
Bojo laughed and said to himself, "Calt… as clever as ever."
I was talking with Varner and asked him, "Why do you care about your village this much?"
He looked at me in shock, then smiled and said, "Rudo, when I was a kid, my father was the chief goblin here, but he was powerless. Most of the other demons could toy with our people. They would send us to fight humans just to test their power. No one cared about us.
One day, a high-level demon came to our village and selected five goblins to go to a dungeon… a direct hell for demons like us. Those five goblins were kids.
My father wanted to save them, so without thinking, he went and told the high demon face to face, 'I cannot send my people to death anymore. I want to protect them.'
The high demon got angry and kicked my father out, and he forcibly started taking the children.
My father was not that strong, but he wanted to save them… so he challenged the high demon to a battle.
Every other demon laughed at us… at my father… but he didn't give up.
He was beaten badly by the demon, but he still stood up and fought. He was almost killed… but then he did something—he gave his life and killed the demon.
The other demons were then attacked by our village people.
I ran towards my dying father…
He said to me, 'Listen, Varner… you have to protect our people. From now on, no one should die in our village.'
I took those words to my heart.
After that, many demons came to our village for revenge, but Master Daris came here and protected us. He ordered the other demons to stay away from us.
I learned everything from him and became strong enough to protect this village.
My father gave his life to protect this village… that's why I cherish it."
Rudo was stunned by Varner's words. He didn't expect Varner to mention Daris.
Back in the village, Maria and Selena came back from collecting fruits. They were having a good time here. Tank woke up from his sleep, and Pears came out.
We all gathered for a feast. The goblins were throwing a party for us. There was food, there was alcohol, and they lit a fire—it was about to begin.
The goblins and we started dancing around the fire. There was only laughter. Varner was standing there, having alcohol with Pears, and Tank went to have food.
I was enjoying my time with Earl. Tank ate almost most of the food and was still eating. Maria drank too much alcohol and couldn't stand straight. Selena was with us. Pears and Varner were talking.
We were all enjoying our time…
and I almost forgot my mission.
But when I remembered it… it didn't feel good. A goblin child saw a toy near the forest. The kid followed the toy, and Bojo kidnapped the child.
We didn't know what was happening, as we were at the party, and later we all went to sleep.
In the morning, when I woke up, I saw the villagers searching for someone, and Varner looked restless.
He called us and asked, "I didn't want to ask this, but did you see a goblin girl?"
We replied, "No. After the party, we didn't see anyone."
Varner said, "I'm sorry, but one of our goblin children has gone missing. If you could help us search for her, it would be helpful."
We agreed, and all of us started searching for Marta.
We were shouting her name in the forest and around the lake, but there was no response.
Suddenly, a blue-colored demon appeared before us. He appeared before Varner and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Chief Varner. My name is Bojo… and I know you are looking for a lost child. Well… I have her."
Varner immediately got angry and moved to attack, but the demon stepped back and said, "Wait, wait, Chief… if you kill me here, that girl will die. If you want to protect her, you have to do what I say."
He paused for a moment.
"First… I want to talk to you alone."
Varner agreed, and both Varner and Bojo went behind the lake to talk.
Varner asked him, "What do you want? If anything happens to Marta, I will kill you."
Bojo replied, "Ouch… don't get too mad, Chief. As long as you obey me, she will be alright."
He continued, "I came here to talk to you about this… a new dungeon gate has opened, and deep inside there is a scroll. I want you to get that for me. Also, I want some of your goblin soldiers to attack a human village on the west coast."
Varner stopped him. "What are you talking about? The human village on the western coast has one of the strongest armies in the human kingdom. My people don't stand a chance against them. I can't do this."
Bojo replied, "You can't disobey me, Chief."
Varner said, "If you want, I will attack them myself—"
Bojo interrupted, "Wait, wait… I want you to go to the dungeon, and at the same time, you have to attack the human village. You can't do both, so you must choose some other goblins to do that."
Varner was trapped. He didn't know what to do.
Bojo left with a sinister laugh.
Varner came back to the village.
We were all waiting for him.
One of the goblins came forward and asked, "Chief… what happened to Marta? Can we save her?"
Varner replied, "I'm sorry, everyone… for failing to protect Marta. We will get her back… but we have to do something first."
He paused.
"I didn't want to involve you all in this… but we have no other choice."
He then explained everything to them.
The goblins replied, "Chief, we will give our lives… just save our child."
Varner felt both happy and sad at the same time hearing their words.
We were genuinely shocked by this.
We stepped forward and said, "We want to help you. Ask us anything."
Varner hesitated. "You are our guests… we cannot ask you to put yourselves in danger."
We replied, "Don't treat us like strangers now. Let us help."
Varner looked at everyone and said, "Thank you… if you truly want to help us, I want you to go with my goblin people to the western coast human village and guard them."
(He didn't mention they were actually going to attack the village. He told us they were going there for stealing.)
I immediately said yes.
But Maria quickly pulled me aside.
"Rudo… did you forget? He is there… that's his hometown."
I frowned. "Who?"
She replied, "Arden".