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It wasn’t too difficult to bring the goblin chieftain back to the town. He agreed upon hearing Cody’s plan. However, convincing the goblin was the easy part, it was slightly more difficult to arrange for him to meet the guild master.

“The mission specifically states you require the head of the goblin chieftain. I can’t accept this.”

Cody pointed at the goblin. “Are you kidding me? Here’s the head! You never said it had to be detached from the body.”

The goblin was standing with his shoulders hunched, glancing at the people around him. Everyone in the adventurers’ guild was staring at him, and he couldn’t help but wonder whether or not this was a terrible idea, wandering alone into human territory—heck, it was a bad idea to enter human territory even as a group.

The receptionist scowled. “You want me to accept the goblin chieftain’s head, but you won’t let me cut it off. What exactly do you want me to do?”

“Yeoman here can talk to goblins,” Cody said. “I want you to take this goblin chieftain to the guild master, let them have a conversation together, and give us the reward for the quest.”

The receptionist exhaled. She put her palm to her forehead and swept her hair back. “You know what? Let me get the guild master. As a receptionist, I’m not allowed to break any rules, but the guild master can be more lenient.”

“Thank you,” Cody said, punctuating each word in exasperation. “Would it have been so hard to do that from the start?”

The receptionist glared at Cody before turning around. She went up the stairs and disappeared behind a corner. A few minutes later, the guild master came down. It might’ve been Yeoman’s imagination, but the guild master’s leg looked a bit swollen. He furrowed his brow upon seeing the goblin chieftain. “Alright,” he said. “You better have a good explanation for this. Don’t tell me you’re too softhearted to kill a goblin. You think you’re the only ones who’ve had this idea?”

“Yeoman here is a bit softhearted,” Cody said, gesturing towards Yeoman. “However, he definitely does have a good explanation for this. He can speak to goblins.”

The guild master stared at Yeoman and the green patterns on his skin. “You’re a crossbreed?”

“No,” Yeoman said, shaking his head. “I ended up like this due to … a curse.” Curses existed in The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons; fairies put them on people all the time. Blessings existed too, and Yeoman figured it’d be the perfect explanation; after all, he couldn’t go around telling people they were fakes created by aliens, right? “I guess you can say I was blessed with a gift of tongues. I can understand goblins, and they can understand me.”

The goblin chieftain bobbed its head up and down as if to demonstrate the truth of Yeoman’s words to the guild master.

The guild master frowned. “And so? You can talk to goblins, so you’re too softhearted to kill them. Is that why you brought it back? To hand off the responsibility of its death to someone in the guild?”

Yeoman scratched his head and looked at Cody, but the Asian man gestured for him to speak. Yeoman cleared his throat. “No. I was hoping to establish communications between humans and goblins. I’m not completely sure of the conflict between the two, but humans and goblins are both intelligent; surely, they can resolve their problems without violence.”

“You don’t know much about the conflict between goblins and humans, eh?” the guild master asked, raising an eyebrow. “There isn’t that much conflict. Goblins are pests. They plunder crops and rob merchant caravans. They don’t respect humans at all, often eating the ones they kill.”

Yeoman looked at the goblin chieftain. “The guild master says goblins plunder crops, rob merchant caravans, and disrespect humans by eating them.”

The goblin chieftain bobbed its head up and down. “We have to. The humans cut down the trees. Our territories shrink, and we can’t find enough food to survive. The only way is to take the food that the humans grew on what used to be our land. The merchant caravans come into the forest, hunt and kill the rabbits and boars we eat to survive. They are taking what is ours, so why can’t we take it back?” The goblin chieftain raised its arms up and down, gesturing wildly. “We respect humans greatly; it’s why we eat them. We don’t let a single piece go to waste.”

“He really understands this?” the guild master asked Cody.

“Pretty sure,” Cody said. “Though, it just sounds like a bunch of clicks and hoots to me.”

“What an interesting blessing,” the guild master said and stroked his chin. “It seems to transcend languages rather than teach him how to speak goblin.”

Yeoman nodded at the goblin chieftain before turning to the guild master. “He said that humans cut down the trees, shrinking their territory. There isn’t enough food for them to survive, not without taking crops off of the farms where they used to live. They rob the merchant caravans because the caravans are plundering resources from their territory; they believe they’re taking back what is rightfully theirs. He said that goblins greatly respect humans, and to show that respect, they don’t let a single piece of the human body go to waste.”

The guild master sneered. “Do you know how many newbie adventurers die to goblins per year? Over a hundred.”

Yeoman repeated what the guild master said. The goblin chieftain wrinkled his nose. “For every human we kill, they kill ten of us. They can kill us, but we can’t fight back?”

After hearing what the goblin chieftain had to say, the guild master crossed his arms. “Humans wouldn’t be killing goblins if they just left us alone.”

The goblin chieftain laughed after hearing Yeoman’s words. “Every time humans cut down a tree to build a house, they’re killing a part of a clan. Goblins are only doing what they have to do to survive. It’s the humans who are pushing us into this position.”

Yeoman translated, and the guild master shook his head. “This isn’t something that can be solved with words. We need more land to feed the growing population. The goblins need land as well. Wars have been fought over territory all the time; this isn’t any different.”

“Have you considered assimilating the goblins?” Cody asked. “All they want is food. You can hire them to work on your farms. Heck, you can even train them to become soldiers. Aren’t humans at war with the demons? If the humans worked with the goblins, wouldn’t the demons be easily defeated?”

The guild master’s eyes widened. “I’ll have to send a report the king, see if this is viable.” He stroked his chin. “If the king approves, we’ll need your friend here to teach the goblins how to speak our language. Perhaps we should start an education camp for them; would that work?”

Yeoman repeated what Cody and the guild master said to the goblin chieftain. The goblin chieftain bobbed his head up and down. “My clan will definitely cooperate. As long as you feed us, we’ll do anything.”

“Wait a minute,” Ella said, pushing her way past Cody and Yeoman. “If you take Yeoman away to become a teacher, our party will have a tough time completing missions without him.”

The guild master scowled at Ella while touching his thigh. Evidently, it was still tender. “What are you suggesting then?”

“Why don’t you promote our party if Yeoman succeeds?” Ella smiled. “We’ll settle with rank A.”

The guild master snorted. “People are promoted based on their abilities,” he said. “Promoting you at your current level of skill, you’re guaranteed to die on your first A-ranked mission.”

“Yeoman,” Ella said. She gestured at the guild master with her chin. “Punch him.”

“Huh?” Yeoman and the guild master asked at the same time.

“I’m just curious,” Ella said. “The guild master didn’t get to judge your abilities since I interfered. You’re the strongest one in our party, but we don’t know how you rank compared to regular adventurers.”

The guild master scoffed. “Someone too scared to enter my attack range can’t be strong.”

“Like I was saying.” Ella gestured at Yeoman with her fist. “Punch him.”

Yeoman thought it made sense. He really did want to see how his strength compared to someone enhanced by a game-like leveling system. When adventurers killed things, they absorbed the mana in their foes’ bodies, growing stronger in the process. Exactly how much stronger did they grow? Yeoman balled his hand up into a fist and glanced at the guild master.

“Fine,” the elderly man said. “I’ll receive an attack of yours. Let’s see whether or not your appearance is just for show.” He walked out from behind the counter and raised his hands in front of his torso.

“You’re not going to block with a sword?” Yeoman asked.

“It’s just taking a hit,” the old man said. “Quit being so timid; punch me already.”

Yeoman took in a deep breath. Takeo had told him karate’s power came from the breath, so even though Yeoman’s body didn’t need oxygen anymore, he still pretended like it did. Yeoman took a deep step forward with his left leg, and his right hand shot out like a rocket, heading straight towards the guild master’s chest. During Yeoman’s training at the warehouse, he had been instructed to punch as if he were aiming at the space behind the target. It had hurt Yeoman’s hand whenever he punched like that, so he had always held back a little. However, as a zombie, Yeoman didn’t care about pain anymore. His muscles rippled, and the green lines on his skin aggregated towards his right arm as if they were reinforcing it.

The guild master was relaxed, but the instant his hands made contact with Yeoman’s fist, the elderly man’s expression stiffened. He bent his knees and jabbed his pegleg into the floor, creating a hole. His hands wrapped around Yeoman’s fist, and the old man’s arms bent until his wrists were touching his chest. A grunt came out of the guild master’s mouth, but that was it. “I underestimated you.” His eyes narrowed at Yeoman as he released the zombie’s fist. “Your body is about as strong as a B-ranked adventurer, almost A-ranked. I’m surprised I haven’t heard about you before.”

Yeoman’s brow furrowed. With the strength of a gorilla, chimpanzee, orangutan, grizzly bear, and zombie fungus added onto his optimized body, he wasn’t even strong enough to count as an A-ranked adventurer?

“Let me try,” Cody said, running forward and punching at the guild master before the old man could say a thing.

The old man easily slapped Cody’s fist away, knocking the Asian man off balance. “Pathetic, not even rank D.” The guild master looked around and sighed. A lot of the people there were looking like they were going to approach him to get tested. The elderly man shifted his gaze onto Yeoman. “I’ll send a message to the king and alert the other guild masters. If goblins can coexist with us and help us fight the demons, the king will pour rewards onto you himself; you don’t have to worry about ranking up. You might get a title of nobility with as much status as an S-ranked adventurer.”

Yeoman frowned. A title of nobility might’ve been valuable to a regular person, but it was worthless to him. The aliens wouldn’t award him any points for it, and he didn’t even know if he’d be able to keep it. Would the aliens ever send him back into the world of The Blue Mage Raised by Dragons after this? Even if they did, the central continent wasn’t the main setting after the first book; a title of nobility here wouldn’t help him in other places. However, since a viable plan had been created to help the goblins, he couldn’t abandon them just because he wouldn’t get any benefits. It wouldn’t sit right with him.

The goblin chieftain tapped Yeoman’s shoulder. “You’re going to help us, yes? Please, if you do this for us, we’ll never forget your kindness.”

Yeoman nodded. Hadn’t he decided to preserve his humanity? Turning his back on these goblins now, he couldn’t do it. Though the task was daunting, in the end, it was just that, a task. It wasn’t Yeoman’s first time leading a group; he’d think of it like a project at work. If he broke it down into simple steps, then it’d be manageable. “As long as the king approves, I’ll be able to help you.” Yeoman couldn’t think of any reasons why the king wouldn’t approve. The goblins were an additional labor and military force. It was a bit regrettable the goblins would certainly face discrimination in the future, but it was much better than slowly dying out due to habitat loss. Eventually, a champion would appear for the goblins, and perhaps they’d enact a civil rights movement, letting goblins stand on equal grounds as humans. …Or someone would frame them as scapegoats and start a genocide. Yeoman sincerely hoped it’d be the former.

Joanne held her forehead with her palm. “Are you a moron? Can you not think logically?” she asked and lowered her hand, glaring at Yeoman. “If you do this, you won’t pass the stage, and you’ll be brought back here once a new stage begins. Are you going to repeat this over and over? Help the goblins, watch the stage reset, help the goblins, watch the stage reset, help the goblins, don’t you see the cycle doesn’t end? Eventually, the animals on Earth will far surpass you, and you’ll be eaten, or perhaps people will hunt you down for being a zombie. They might not be stronger than you now, but two or three stages later after you’ve fallen behind? You’ll die.”

Aakash nodded his three heads. “It is commendable to show mercy when you can, but it is foolish to show mercy at the cost of your own life.”

“I hate to say it, but I agree,” Kat said once Yeoman’s gaze landed on her. “We aren’t like you; we didn’t clear all the missions. I’d rather get points by ranking up than help goblins who won’t even remember what we’ve done and get zero points in the process.”

Yeoman nodded; he understood their arguments, but he wasn’t going to change his mind. He turned his gaze onto Ella. “What do you think?”

“Isn’t the solution simple?” Ella asked. “You teach the goblins, and once you get a capable few, send them to us. We’ll use them to help us complete missions. Look at those dungeon-clearing missions. I’d say twenty goblins could easily substitute for Yeoman, maybe not in strength, but definitely in utility.”

Cody snorted. “You stole my idea; I was going to say that first,” he said. Yeoman wasn’t sure if the Asian man was lying or not, but it didn’t really matter. “As the leader, I’m investing your strength into the goblins in hopes of a higher return. Do what you have to do, but don’t forget about us, alright?”

Yeoman nodded, feeling a bit lighter inside. Honestly, he didn’t care much about Joanne’s, Aakash’s, or Kat’s opinions, but if Ella and Cody were supporting him, then Yeoman knew he was doing the right thing. Then again, their minds were crooked, so if they supported him, maybe he was doing the wrong thing…? Yeoman shook away his doubts. “Well, we still have to see whether or not the king will support an integration.”

“If he doesn’t, we’ll just go to the demons,” Ella said, loud enough for the receptionist to hear. “It’s not like they don’t have an adventurers’ guild.”

Yeoman scratched his head. Was execution for treason a thing around here? He didn’t remember any mention of it in the books, but he was pretty sure Ella shouldn’t have said that out loud. Thankfully, no one of authority seemed to be bothered by her remark. Yeoman looked at the receptionist. “How long would it take to get a response from the king?”

“It shouldn’t take very long,” the receptionist said. “A day at most.”

Yeoman smiled at the receptionist and nodded. “Thank you.” He patted the goblin chieftain’s shoulder. “We’ll find out the results in a day.”

The goblin chieftain swallowed. “If the king says no, you’ll still take me back to my home, right?”

“I’ll try,” Yeoman said, not entirely certain the guild master would let the goblin walk free. “We’ll see.”

The goblin chieftain swallowed again. “If I die, I want you—only you—to eat me. Can you promise me that?”

Yeoman was a bit surprised at the chieftain’s last wish, but judging by the rumbling in Yeoman’s stomach, his body already knew how he’d answer. “Of course. Out of respect, I won’t waste a single piece.”

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