The Monster King's Legacy

Chapter 25 Signs of Trouble

After the event with the ogres, the goblins remained vigilant, just in case another group of ogres was to appear out of nowhere to perhaps take revenge or anything of the sorts. If those ogres were a part of a mercenary guild or association, and they went missing without contact, it was only natural to believe that their comrades or partners would look into the matter, and into the places they had been known to appear at.

As for the bodies, the goblins made sure to dispose of them properly to remove as much of the evidence that the ogres were there, as possible.

Lance had thought of leaving their bodies to the wild animals to feast on, but not only was the area they lived in devoid of many predators, that plan would require them to leave behind the ogres' weapons and every other thing, to really paint a believable picture that it was the work of beasts. Since Kaeli would need the tools and the goblins would make use of the weapons and other things the ogres had with them, they decided against it.

Instead, they had come to the conclusion to burn the bodies and dispose of the bones in the river.

Even with such measures, the goblin scouts stayed vigilant and went a bit further than they normally do when patrolling.

This particular day, around a week and a half after the incident, the goblin scouts returned at dusk, their faces tense as they slipped silently into the camp. Zarra, leading the group, headed straight for Lance's quarters, her usual smirk replaced by a grim frown as she made her way through. She found him near the fire close to Lia's tent, going over plans with Lia and Rynne.

"We've got a problem," Zarra said without preamble, crouching next to the fire.

Lance looked up, his brow furrowing. "What kind of problem?"

"Humans," Zarra said, her voice low. "Traders passing through the forest. We listened in on their conversation. They're saying dangerous things."

Lia's eyes narrowed. "What did they say?"

Zarra glanced at her scouts, the ones who had stuck with her, they nodded in understanding before leaving. "They're talking about kingdoms, human ones, planning to purge 'dangerous goblin tribes.' They didn't name us specifically, as in this region, but you can bet they'll come this way sooner or later."

Lance leaned back a bit, placing his hand in the dirt to support himself, his chest tightening. "Purges? Why?"

Zarra shrugged. "Humans don't need a reason to hate us. But from what we heard, they're scared."

Lia's expression darkened a bit. "But why? Why would they be scared of us goblins, we've scarcely ever been a threat."

Lance who understood what she wanted, gradually started patting her hair. Unlike most, Zarra had shorter and wilder hair that looked a weird colour of a fade of green and red, though, the green took precedence. With every gentle and warm stroke, Lance could feel her loosen up and melt into his lap.

For Lance, he quite enjoyed it, and didn't have to bother with one thing he thought would be a problem, which was his 'young man' waking up.

After about quarter of a minute, Zarra continued, "it normally wouldn't take long, but given the fact that we don't even know what direction the other goblin camps may be in, we won't be running into any soon. It'll take some time." She explained.

At this point, Lia and Rynne weren't paying much attention to what Zarra was saying, they only took notice of her bold advances that caught them completely off guard. Zarra seemed to have noticed their sudden interest, and as though to rub it in their faces, she turns, and with a big happy smile, hugs Lance while snuggling her face into his stomach, almost like a cat or puppy would.

Lance once again, was taken aback as he wasn't expecting it, but he appeared to handle it rather better than what he would have thought, himself. "What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" He asked, completely oblivious to the shock of the other two, and the stares they were giving Zarra at that moment.

"Oh, nothing. Hey, why don't you come with us tomorrow to explore a new area? We've been expanding our territory a bit, you know? Also, you haven't really had a lot of time to practice lately." Zarra proposed, pulling away from Lance a little, her wide and happy smile still plastered on her face. Lance felt that if she had a tail, it would be wagging all over the place at that moment.

"Hmm, it doesn't sound like a bad idea. I could also use the opportunity to see how much we've covered so far." He said, thinking about it while he continued stroking her hair again.

"Ok, we can do that too."

"Mm."

...

A/N:

For the time being, I'll slow down my updates to 1 chapter a day. This way, I will retain consistency, and you the readers, will be guaranteed an update everyday without fail.

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