Thanks to his newfound kobold connections, Gobta was quickly taken to a dwarven shop willing to purchase his luggage. The employees were a bit surprised to find magical weapons underneath the stained rags covering his wagon, but the rest of the transaction was handled with trademark dwarven customer service.
The dwarves here were so accustomed to dealing with monsters that they could even communicate with them to some extent. One of the staff pointed at Gobta’s hips.
“Hey, are you selling that?”
He looked down to find his knife resting against his hip.
Oh! I had it along my side, not in my pocket!
No wonder he had plucked out a mushroom instead.
“No, this is mine,” Gobta replied. “Not selling.”
The dwarf nodded. “It’s a good piece,” he said, “but its magical force has almost run out. It’d only work one or more two times, I imagine. Do you know how to use it?”
“No, but…is this a magic weapon?”
“It is. It’s called a Flame Knife. It’s made of silver, but it’s been imbued with magical force. It was originally made as self-protection for human nobles. I could teach you the incantation if you like, but don’t expect it to last long when you use it.”
“Really?!”
“Really. Just take good care of it. It’s a dagger of Dwarven Kingdom make, after all!”
So the good-natured dwarf gave Gobta the correct spell to use, apparently deciding that the idea of a goblin with magic dwarven weapons was amusing enough to warrant giving some help.
Gobta’s business here was now over. He had accepted items instead of money for his load, but there’d be no need to cart it all back—the cost of shipping was factored into the deal the dwarves gave him. Gobta’s terms: as many kitchen knives, large pots, and other everyday goods as could fit in his wagon. He also arranged for some breastplates, knives, and other pieces suitable for goblin use.
He brought it all to the transfer station for registration and shipment. They gave him a magic-infused tube that, once he placed it where he wanted it, would transmit his items right to that point. It would work only once, of course. Inexpensive purchases like Gobta’s could also be sent by Heavenly Transport, but that was available only for short distances, and besides, Gobta didn’t have the language to express exactly where he lived. For him, even though it added to the price, magical transfer was the only option.
Gobta didn’t hesitate to take the offer, not exactly champing at the bit to pull a full wagon all the way back home as well. It’d save him from more potential raiders and unburden him to boot. The decision would prove to be the correct one later on.
After he was done at the transfer station, Gobta returned to the seller from before, hoping to express his thanks to the dwarf who had referred him. “Hello!” he said. “They’re going to transfer my purchases for me. Thanks!”
“Oh, you again? Well, wonderful. Oh, and you can have this back. We can’t sell this piece.”
The dwarf gave him a thick coat made of the animal pelts Gobta had been using as a blanket. He had taken several more wild hares, saving their skins for later sale; the coat was made from all of them, offering the wearer shelter from the cold. The dwarf had offered to return them, but he must have crafted the item specially for Gobta.
“Huh? Are you sure?”
“Mm-hmm. Besides, if we took all those pelts, what would you sleep on at night? You need to prepare well before setting off on a journey, you know.” Then the dwarf took out a well-used backpack. “Take this, too. Instead of giving you your change in money, I put some dried food in there. It should last you a week or so. Safe travels.”
“Really?” Gobta said, astonished at the dwarf’s kindness. “I thank you!”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. I actually made that knife you have, you see, and I wouldn’t want to leave its owner in the lurch. I’ll be praying that you make it home safely.”
Then the dwarf stepped away, off to handle another customer. Gobta nodded at him one more time, although he doubted his new friend noticed.
He’s right… If I left here empty-handed, I wouldn’t even make it to the forest. What a kind dwarf that was!
Putting on the coat, then the backpack over that, Gobta left the shop. His mission was complete, but he wasn’t about to set off that quickly. “I’ve made it this far,” he whispered to himself. “It’s all right if I see the sights a little, right?”
The Dwarven Kingdom was built inside a large, natural cave, preventing Gobta from seeing the sun directly. Thanks to some clever engineering that allowed natural sunlight to enter the city’s living spaces, however, it was more than bright enough to see by. At night, the fluorescent moss that covered the cave’s walls provided about as much light as a full moon.
One issue was how people handled fire. The kingdom wasn’t an enclosed space, but the cave made it easy for clouds of thick smoke to form, making ventilation a priority. As a result, whether indoors or “outdoors,” the use of fire was restricted, with firemen required to be on hand at all times near workshops, kitchens, and any other workplace that handled flame.
Which meant that cooking food was allowed only in certain places, always indoors.
Usually, if he was uncomfortable, he could just douse himself in some water. But Gobta had just wrapped up a long journey. To be blunt, he was rank. It was to be expected, given goblins’ lack of regular bathing habits. He didn’t stand out too much in the shops near the entrance, which were packed with freshly arrived adventurers just as smelly as he was, but things were different in the lodging quarters. There was ventilation, yes, but Gobta’s natural smell was more than enough to alarm the people around him.
In the merchant areas, passersby and visiting merchants visibly crinkled their noses. It was enough to make even Gobta feel socially awkward.
I don’t really like it here… Maybe I should leave sooner rather than later.
Feeling ashamed, Gobta decided to head home.
That was the right decision to make. For one thing, he had no money and no way of eating while he toured the city. He didn’t even understand the concept of money, for that matter, which was why he had just wrapped up a huge bartering session with that dwarf. There was no way around it.
So Gobta decided to wrap up his little tourist jaunt and get back on the road—and then he saw it. A store festooned with beautiful, eye-catching decor, filled with goddess-like women chatting with each other. The goblina bodyguard from the caravan had seemed divine to him before, but these women were different. They had long, flowing blond hair, their long ears poking out from below. They were elves, particularly fairylike members of the sprite races.
Concepts like beauty and ugliness would normally be dependent on the race or species one belonged to. There were no absolutes. However, when it came to goblins, their likes and dislikes were closer to people’s than not. It was a relic from their fairy heritage, and while their looks had retrogressed more than a little over the years, they were still magical in nature. It was to the point that some particularly senseless goblins would even attack people with procreation purposes in mind.
So lovely! I wish I could make friends with a pretty elf girl sometime, too!
Gobta wanted it to happen. And he knew that getting stronger was the only way to do it. Just as that caravan guard had said, if he was stronger, beautiful women would like him—that was how his thought process worked.
It was with that new goal in life that Gobta spent his single night in the Dwarven Kingdom. It seemed foolish to depart for the wilds at night, so he camped out in the park near the main gate instead. The cave at least prevented him from getting rained on, and the coat that nice dwarf had made for him kept the cold at bay. It was a more comfortable night than he’d expected, and Gobta awoke bursting with energy.
The fountain in the park apparently used spring water as its source, allowing passersby to drink from it. Gobta took his skin out from the backpack, filled it up, and set off, leaving the Dwarven Kingdom behind him.