8. Intermission

Yes, an intermission.

          It was the next evening that he arrived back in Thornwick and he decided to take a couple days off of field work and to step back down to regular quests for a while after that. He arranged a meeting with Aldrich on his return and went over his notes on everything he saw and learned about what was going on. He couldn't explain how he learned of Gorgoth or the other robed figure so he tried to be vague based on the evidence around the scene describing hoof prints and electrical damage, as well as turning in Haga's claws although there was no existing bounty as they had already been thought dead. For three days after that he treated himself to something like a weekend, still training in the mornings but otherwise focusing on crafting and enchanting or getting to know the locals better. His growing pile of gear was making his stay at the Iron Flagon increasingly cramped and he asked about properties for sale in the town. A bare parcel of land had been sitting in the eastern side right on the riverbank, a twenty by fifty five metre plot with nothing but unkempt lawn, stones and a couple of willow trees. It was already fenced but the fence had gone into disrepair and it had sat so long because the owner was considered to be asking an unfair price for it that nobody locally could afford: 100 gold for the title.


          The lot had sat for years due to its price, the seller had inherited the lot from their deceased mother and claimed sentimental value behind their steep ask. For Kire the price wasn't really the problem so much as paying them on the principle but Kire felt drawn to it, doodling ideas for how he would lay out his home there. (One more quest and I'll settle the decision.) He told himself, although he knew he was basically salivating at the idea of such a project.
          The quest board has a fresh posting that immediately catches his attention, his eyes focusing in on one word from the entire wall of pictures and writing: Goblins.
          (Muahaahahaha...)
          *Oh. Oh no.*
          (...MUAHAHAHAHAA!)
          Dantan the gnome was the receiver of this job number and it was his first time dealing with Kire. Put off by the questionable adventurer's creepy grin and eagerness for the job he processes the job ticket with a deeper explanation on the job details. "Lady Aveline's husband passed away a few months ago and left her with a sizable farm she has been struggling to make due with. Half the help has quit ahead of the harvest season and to make it worse Goblins have been sneaking in at night to filch food. She's had enough dealing with the grief and figuring out how to collect the crops without losing more of what they still have left but the Goblins have proven too slippery to catch. The job is to track them down and 'end their problems' by whatever means the questor sees fit."


          Kire had yet to actually come across any Goblins; They were a sentient race but a hold-out from the civilized collective, remaining rooted in the wilds with their traditions. This was largely enforced by poor relations with the civilized races where they were often treated with hostility as pests but Kire drew parallels to the oppression of minorities in his own world and he wondered how much of the conflict with Goblins was caused by them or if it was spurred on by the scorn and aggression of the settled folk. Regardless, lacking any of the commonly established prejudices of this world Kire had no intention of running into this as an extermination mission.
          *Why are you so fixated on a Goblin waifu?*
          (Something about green skin really does it for me. Dunno what to tell you.)
          Kire felt a queasiness come through the other end of the psychic tether.
          (God forbid a man have interests! I could bed enough humans in my own world, let me enjoy the scenery a bit huh?)
          *Just please no trolls...*


          Lady Aveline's farm was to the west of Thornwick at the end of a road running between several other farms. Hers was the last that bordered the wooded foothills of the Ironspikes and it was a refreshingly short trip compared to the ride for his last job as he was able to walk it in 5 hours. He did not need to pack any camping gear and instead his sack bore an extra variety of fresh foods. There were a few labourers weeding the fields but there was certainly the feel of a doomed enterprise in the way they carried themselves. A knock at the door summoned the lady of the house.
          The client was a mature woman in her fifties with a commanding and matronly aura that reminded Kire of Jameson's wife. She invited him in for water as she had run out of tea with no chance to get more sooner and it was clear she was struggling under the burden of taking on all the extra work and especially while grieving her husband. She explained that one of the remaining loyal retainers had run in to town for shopping and would be back that evening with the tea but it didn't take much to warm her up to admitting how bad things had gotten with the workforce.


          "About half our seasonal workers quiet within a week of Estre's passing. Some of them didn't think a woman was fit to operate the farm-Not bothered that I already managed most the sales and paperwork! Others were worried they wouldn't be paid with the harm to the estate it might do, and others followed on the concern that the farm was on a timer before things got worse. Now with Goblins raiding our stores these last few weeks morale is at an all time low and...And..." She pulled a handkerchief from inside her sleeve and plunged her face into it as she broke down sobbing. "The farm is all I have left of 'im...I can't lose it. I can't let his memory down."
          Kire stood quietly and moved around the table as she sobbed, gingerly putting an arm around her shoulders. "I'll do what I can."


--


          The Goblins' den wasn't actually hard to find so much as the few remaining workers on the farm had not been willing to venture far enough to pursue them. Pointed in the direction the Goblins had been seen fleeing Kire kept a lookout for any suspicious terrain features and not more than five hundred metres in a straight line he saw tampered foliage around a rock. Creeping around to the other side of that rock revealed a tunnel into the ground.
          Goblins were cathemeral with varying activity cycles between night and day. Given they were forced to hide Kire estimated he had a few hours yet until they would come out so now seemed like a good time to craft a translator. The brass artifact was formed in the likeness of an ammonite shell, fine holes around its surface to pick up sounds which would be played converted from its open end. The centre of the spiral was a button to turn it on or off with a small volume dial around that and he affixed it to the right strap of the harness over his chest. Also unpacking a small glowstone lantern he had made, able to fit in the palm of the hand with a fold-over shutter to control light distribution he straps this to the left side of his harness. He reviews the fit of his chainmail under his clothes including a new set of leggings he had made to ensure everything is snug and sealed right up to the top of his neck. He did not intend for this to be a conflict but Goblins were proficient herbalists with a knack for leveraging poisons to compensate for their poor strength and he wanted to be prepared. The only thing in his belt pouch was two antidotes and a healing potion and he had a tear gas cartridge loaded into his bracer despite planning to go in unmasked.


          He waits roughly an hour thinking about what to say and going over all the ways this might go down when he finally hears the faintest echo of voices from inside the tunnel. Though they would still not emerge from some time they were at least awake.
          *You know exactly how a bunch of scared, in-hiding thieves are going to react to a human barging into their home right?*
          Kire strapped his sword to his backpack which he tossed up to hide on a tree branch since the tunnel would make it useless anyway. (With charcuterie, wine and blowjobs. Naturally.) The tunnel was not more than five feet high and he had to crouch, trying to be quiet but his brushing the sides of the cave walls made it impossible to be totally stealthy. He had the aperture of the lantern barely opened to cast only a small light on the ceiling by his head and the translator gave a low click as it started to pick up the voices ahead whose tones changed to a higher pitch. It seemed they had heard him coming and were now on alert but the words didn't come through yet.


          Slowly coming around a bend there are several shrieks and squeals as he reaches the opening of a stony chamber not much taller than the tunnel he was in but deep and wide enough to probably fit the whole goblin community. The scarce, controlled light of his lanterns crossed over with a couple beams of evening sunlight trickling through vent holes in the ceiling and a couple of small fires to make it hard for his eyes to adjust but he could make out half a dozen bodies lined up before him brandishing short spears.
          "Stop! Stop you evil beast!" Kire's translator buzzed along the croaked barking of one Goblin. He had already stopped and had his hands up in front of him, ready to block his face with his arms in case one of those spears were thrust at him in this vulnerable position.


          "I'm not an evil beast, I am a Kire! I come only to talk with you." He wanted to close the shutter of his lantern but did not want to move his hands in a way that would provoke them. He was glad his translator seemed to work; without being able to actually program languages into it he tried enchanting it to read the speakers rather than just the sounds to gauge the intent and meaning of the one speaking rather than literal word-for-words. It seemed like a stretch but he understood their first warning clearly and they seemed to understand whatever came out of the brass shell well enough to take a reluctant half-step back, looking at each other uneasily. A number of other goblins were huddled defensively behind the first rank and a few had slunk off into side tunnels with a panicked haste.
          "I come with empty hands, I mean you no harm."
          The first Goblin who'd spoke exchanged looks with another at the end of the line who called over his shoulder in their own tongue, "Bring the common speakers!" Nearly all eyes were fixed on the translator in wonder of how it could possibly work. Three more Goblins were coaxed forward behind the spear line, two of them trembling and looking too terrified to even speak. The third...Locked eyes with Kire, the only one in the room to do so. Rather than afraid she looked curious. Fascinated, even.
          Kire smiled. "Will you lower your weapons so we can talk peacefully? I would also like to turn my light off, I have decided it is unnecessary, your home is well lit and warm enough already."


          The spearmen backed up into a semi-circle and indicated with their weapons points a spot for Kire to settle. "You sit there. Turn off light. Then we talk. Maybe." Kire obliges and his eyes feel more able to relax when he closes the glowstone's aperture. He also lowers the volume on the translator to give more room for them to do their own talking if they had their own translators to do so. Kire relaxes his arms into his lap, palms up, and the Goblins slack their weapons in kind although he wonders if their twitching noses and craning heads towards his sack had anything to do with it. Finally Kire could have a moment to really take them in.
          At a glance they seemed to average three and a half to almost five feet tall with mostly bright green skin tones though a few were darker or more yellow. They had hair on their heads but seemingly nowhere else, shamefully under-dressed as they were. He found it hard to peg what their relative ages were on appearance and instead tried to make a rough measure from their attitudes. The translator girl had not stopped staring at him and he returned her gaze with a gentle smile. She had short brown hair that was longer at the sides and she stood at the taller end of the observed height range with large round, dark brown eyes. (She's cute...And she also seems to be the least mortified by my presence.)


          One of the warriors speaks and Kire ignores the translator on his shoulder a moment to see how they handle communications. The girl he'd been exchanging looks with seems to be the elected primary speaker and suddenly puts on airs, pulling herself up and pushing out her chest to point accusingly at Kire with a pout. The posture looked like it was supposed to be the face of prosecution but instead it was just adorable. "Why has the Human come here to talk?! Humans are not good to Goblins, Goblins avoid Humans!"
          Kire bows his head deferentially, trying not to smile more at the unintentional cuteness of the court. "Goblins have not avoided Humans so well as to be not caught stealing food. This deeply upset the growers of the food, and I have come to find a solution."
          The two more timid translators who had flanked the warrior line then translate Kire's words to the rest of the assembly behind them. (Oh, so that's how they juggle it both ways. Interesting.)
          "To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking, Miss? I would like to know your name, as I have already given mine."


          The young woman looks a touch flustered as she repeats his comment on the thefts to the others who become agitated and suspicious about the problem and what he might intend as a solution. She tries to compose herself to convey the 'angry Judge' tone of her peers but Kire almost thinks he sees a darkening on her cheeks. "Goblins have no choice but to steal! Goblins not safe to live, not allowed to grow or hunt. Goblins got separated from clan when migrating and chased ever since. What solution does Human have when Humans chase Goblins?" She spoke with only the slightest lag behind yet another one of the warriors who had not yet addressed him but she didn't quite maintain the indignant anger of her clanmate. After she finished translating her eyes swept back and forth with a slight fidget of her feet. "...Gobby is who you speak to. Key-ray?"
          Her framing his name like a question made him pause. He wasn't sure if she was just testing out saying it or if she had something to add. "Do you have an idea Gobby?"
          She visibly brightens at being asked and the others all bolt their heads to look at her as she goes off-script. "What if...What if Goblins worked at farm?" Now finally she seems to be overcome with nervousness, but not because of him.
          The other goblins immediately start to protest, turning their anger towards her when the outer pair of translators repeat what she is saying but Kire cuts them off by raising his voice. "I think that's a wonderful idea actually, and I would have suggested exactly the same."


          Discussions were tense to navigate from there. Turned out Gobby, despite her agonizingly unoriginal name, was something of a radical thinker among their tribe and this was not the first time she had made the suggestion. While the rest of her clan were too wary to approach the thought and scolded her for her interest in humans Kire tried to delicately make the point that if a good solution were not found the next people hired would likely seek to exterminate them. This was upsetting but the truth was evident enough to them all that it only got him almost, but not quite actually jabbed with spears. Reluctantly they agreed to at least begin the talks.
          Kire slowly removes and opens his bag under watch having promised that he brought gifts to ease the conversation. "I happen to think Gobby is a very smart girl," he said pulling out a loaf of bread wrapped in cloth. (And if we can get Aveline on board it double solves the problem of her labour shortage.) Once the bread was unwrapped the spears all seemed to be immediately forgotten as did the fear from the crowd in the back as all eyes and noses homed in on the waft of soft goodness baked just that morning. Kire lays out the cloth and starts tearing up the bread-The hungry eyes that surrounded him were still too nervous to get close, which at least gave him room to work.
          "You are all hungry, and the farm makes food." He tries to pick his words carefully to use only obvious ones they should be able to translate. "The husband of the lady died and now they struggle. Stealing feeds you for now, but eventually they will fade." He applies the jam to some of the bread chunks and pulls out a second cloth which he unwraps to reveal sausages. "If we can make a deal for you to work the farm you would be well fed AND safe...Able to live without hiding and able to have better food than you could steal." Cheeses next.
          *You packed a damn Charcuterie board?!*


          Kire held a piece of bread with jam on it aloft to one of the warriors, who hesitated even still so he slowly swings his arm out to Gobby. She slowly steps forward, getting closer to him than any Goblin yet had, close enough for him to grab if he were so inclined. The rest watched with anticipation as she tenderly took the bread and bit into it, squealing with delight at the sweetness. Then slowly, so slowly the others came forward and took a piece of this or that and once the first bites were had they'd all not so slowly settled in as if it was a perfectly routine banquet with all hostilities forgotten.
          The first Goblin who had addressed Kire on entry was chewing a sausage with his eyes closed, savouring it. Kire's translator hummed quietly between his bites. "Maybe...Yes, we can discuss this."
          Smiling, Kire pulls out a bottle of wine from his bag.
          *Oh my fucking gods no.*


          The night had become a cultural exchange and though the food was quickly depleted the goblins only took very little wine apiece to get perfectly tipsy. Settling in by the fires Kire had managed to coax Gobby into his lap while he asked many questions about their history and way of life while they asked many questions about the surrounding area...Of which he only had about 3 weeks worth of experience. It was rare for any outsider to commune with Goblins and he made the best of bonding with them to understand and gain their trust in handling the peace talks tomorrow. Their night raid cancelled and their limbs heavy from drink many of the Goblins were ready to turn back in for the night.


          Kire stroked Gobby's hair and moved like he was going to get up. "You seem tired, I should head out for the night." The small woman wrapped her arms around him beneath his armpits and clutched possessively, burying her face into his chest.
          "No. Kire comfortable. Will be more comfortable without metal though." She said casually addressing his chainmail under the fabric.
          Now it was Kire's turn to blush and for all the big talk he'd done up to this point the sparks firing off between them now threatened to short circuit him. "I should get you to your bed..."
          She looked up at him, beaming a smile despite her weary eyes. "Kire should be my bed."


          That sent klaxon bells through his whole system that drowned out any ability to protest. Following her directions he carefully supports her weight and gets up, clinking through the low tunnels where she points until coming to one of a dozen alcoves screened for privacy by hanging furs and reeds. As he carried her in he tried to ignore System screaming in mental anguish at the back of his mind, but otherwise took that as his victory for the day.


--


          Deep in the tunnels he wouldn't have known it was morning but for the biological clocks of the Goblins busying around the tunnels. Remembering they have a task ahead he manages to gently pry Gobby's grip off of himself despite sleepy grumbled protests and get dressed, stepping through the screen of the alcove to half the tribe waiting and staring. Shocked oohs and gasps with some applause broke out among them and he awkwardly reverses back into the nest until Gobby is sufficiently roused to go.


          When it is time to approach the farm only three Goblins elect to go with Kire. Tarka, one of the warriors who had tried to hold Kire at bay, Shaka, one of the other translators, and of course Gobby being eager as she was to meet more Humans and see their culture up close. Aveline was out on the porch admiring the morning when she turns to the footsteps coming down the hill and her jaw drops. Kire approaches, holding hands with Gobby and Tarka who despite his bravery the night before was much more scared to be caught in the open unarmed in human territory. Shaka was hiding behind Kire.
          "Lady Aveline, I think we have a solution to both your theft problems and labour shortage."


          Ontto, a broad man and the one who had stepped out the day before for errands reached for a club propped against the house but despite the stress and confusion knitting her face Aveline lifted an arm for him to stop. She stared at Kire trying to gauge if he was serious, then looking to Gobby with her golden retriever energy and Tarka who looked to her more like a frightened schoolboy called to the Principal's office than a threat. She straightens herself out. "Well, step forward then!" She had a folded paper fan in her hand and waves to the space in front of the patio. With some prompting Kire walks the Goblins up to stand them in a line, needing Gobby's help to coax Shaka out from behind him.
          Lady Aveline takes deliberate, sharply pronounced steps down the patio stairs with the heels of her work boot thumping like the approach of a killer in a slasher movie. She suddenly leans in close to Tarka and claps the fan into her hand causing the Goblin to flinch and look down. Seeming to find empathy for the smaller green-skinned fellow Aveline's features softened considerably and she stood back up, strolling back and forth in front of them. Despite being a farmer's wife Kire couldn't help but think about how dignified she managed to come off and that she wore the informal honorific of Lady well. He wondered, almost, if she wasn't actually nobility.


          "So you're willing to work for your meals hm?" Her footsteps crunched in the worn dirt path that bent across the front of the house into the fields. She stopped and looked at them expectantly waiting an answer. Tarka anxiously nodded but she wouldn't settle for that. "I need you to speak dear, say what you mean."
          Shaka stood to attention now. "Yes, ma'am."
          Aveline nodded and continued her pacing. She stops in front of Gobby and looks the girl over who beamed up at her all smiles, looking in Aveline's eyes like a little girl who had just met a real life princess. "Hm. Maybe TOO eager. Are you sure you can handle the work? It's serious, hard business."
          Gobby nodded vigorously. "Yes ma'am!"
          Next Aveline stood before Tarka again. "And how many new mouths will we be feeding?"
          Tarka looked anxiously between Shaka and Gobby stumbling for words but Shaka bravely overcame their nerves to speak for him again. "Tarka can't speak common yet, many of our tribe can't, but they can learn! There is..." He fumbled with his fingers counting. "Ten and eight of us, with some children too small to work."


          The mistress of the farm put on a look of flustered distress but Kire saw through it. "Oh my, my, this is quite the unlikely situation we find ourselves in." She locked eyes with Kire and in that look was communicated all her uncertainty about such an unusual arrangement. Kire gave a slight nod to assure her he would take responsibility. Closing her eyes with a dramatic sigh she slumps her shoulders. "Alright, I suppose it will have to do. If the rest of your kin can make it for breakfast, we can get you started working for the afternoon."
          Shaka translated to Tarka who finally lit up with a cheer and Kire exchanged smiles with Gobby until Aveline smacked the fan into her hand right in front of his face, waving it at him menacingly. "And don't you go looking so smug about yourself! We'll see if you haven't handed me even more trouble than I started with, and I'll hold you personally responsible for any mischief they get up to!" There was a slight smile in the corner of her mouth and despite Ontto's protest she sets herself to directing preparations for feeding the new workers while the Goblins run back to deliver the good news.


--


          Everyone was settled in and Kire had his confirmation of job completion. The Goblins had been shown to the now empty bunk houses used by the farmhands, fed a light breakfast, and were grouped up with the remaining labourers to be shown what to do under the close supervision of Lady Aveline herself.
          Affairs all settled and trying to think of what to say before he left Gobby grabs him in a tight hug standing on her toes and pulling him down to put a kiss on his cheek. "Kire has to go? Why? When will Gobby see Kire again?"
          Kire tousles her hair and pecks a kiss onto her forehead. "My job isn't here it's...Kind of everywhere. But I have been staying in Thornwick so I can visit again hopefully soon to see how things are going. Maybe soon I'll even have my own home and...Then you could visit me?"
          Gobby beamed and peppered him with more kisses to the point where he almost had to fight her off but eventually he does manage to get his long walk underway, waving at the majority of the tribe who had run up to the road to bid their farewells.


          *An unconventional solution. Anyone else would have gone in with a death squad.* System seemed to be looking back on the Goblins as if through the very back of Kire's own head.
          Kire scowled at the idea. (Well maybe that's why I'm here. For such a diverse world you lot sure seem picky about when you respect each others' differences.)
          The sense of System's gaze swivelled and Kire felt himself being studied now. *Hm. Maybe it is.*