"Father, why did you sign that kind of contract? It’s nothing short of Enslavement for us!" Evita stomped her hooves in front of her father, questioning him loudly.
"Silence," the Centaur Clan Leader boomed.
"Not only are they making us hand over most of our tamed Forest Deer, leaving us with barely enough rations to survive, but they also want to take the root vegetables we’ve worked so hard to grow." Evita ignored her father’s rebuke. "We also have to send our people to fight alongside them at their demand."
"If we don’t sign, they’ll attack our entire race. When that happens, the Big-horned Deer we raise and the root vegetables we grow will all be destroyed in an instant." The Clan Leader stared, his eyes wide, at his daughter before him.
"We can fight back! We can run!" Evita gestured excitedly with her hands, retorting loudly.
"How can we fight back? It’s not like you haven’t seen their combat strength. Those things have no fear of our attacks; they just charge in like madmen. How many of our Warriors have already died?" The Clan Leader pointed outside the grass hut and continued, "You can run. Others can run. But what about the children? What about the elderly Centaurs? They’ll be caught by those Ogres, skinned, and boiled."
Hearing her father’s words, Evita fell silent for a moment. But a short while later, she spoke up again. "The contract also states that the Earth Goblins have the right to kill any Centaur they deem disrespectful. Father, this isn’t a fealty pact. It’s a notice of our Enslavement."
"Sigh..." Her father heaved a long sigh. "Of course I know this is meant to enslave us. But what choice do we have right now?"
"Let me go find it, Father. I’ll go out and find the Blessed Land." Evita suddenly took a few steps forward, her hands clenched into fists. "I’m sure I can find it."
"You will not go!" her father roared. "The entire race is surrounded by Ogres. If you dare to run, it’s a death sentence."
"Stop fantasizing," his voice gradually softened, and his whole demeanor seemed to deflate. "The forest has abandoned us. The Unicorn has abandoned us, too."
"That’s not true, Father! I even dreamed of it a few days ago," Evita said insistently. "The Unicorn is our totem. It would never abandon the Centaurs of the forest."
"In any case, you are forbidden from leaving," the Centaur Clan Leader said sternly. He walked out of the grass hut and ordered the few guards at the entrance to watch his daughter.
"It wouldn’t..." Evita watched her father walk away. She collapsed weakly to the ground, her four hooves curling up beneath her. "The Unicorn will protect us. It will guide us."
She covered her face and wept, a sliver of doubt about her own words creeping into her heart. There used to be a Unicorn near their territory. It would constantly patrol its domain, its powerful Magic Ability and graceful form a constant source of encouragement for the Centaur Race. But over the past year, sightings of the Unicorn had become rarer and rarer, until it disappeared completely. Not long after, the Ogres started to appear, and the Earth Goblins behind them launched several attacks on the Centaur Race.
Evita had always firmly believed in the ancient legend of her people: that the Unicorn would lead the Centaurs to a home of their own. But now, it seemed it was just that—a legend.
’What should I do?’ she sobbed softly.
...
"So, what should I do?" Shire took a sip of tea, looking with amusement at Shan Xi Ao on the table.
"You don’t need to do anything," the little goblin said after gulping down a large mouthful of honeyed water. "Unicorns find their own living areas in the forest. If we little goblins see a Unicorn, we’ll definitely follow it."
Shire nodded, indicating he understood. From what Shan Xi Ao had just said, he could be reasonably certain that the Unicorn was preparing to settle in his Domain. The species sought out safe areas in the forest for its habitat, which was why many creatures, like little goblins and Centaurs, would willingly follow a Unicorn’s movements.
"It’s like a safety radar, able to sense whether an area is dangerous," he concluded with a smile. "In other words, my Domain is very safe right now, or else it wouldn’t have come."
"Right," Shan Xi Ao nodded vigorously. "And the elders in my clan once said that Unicorns are very interesting. They seem to be able to predict the future and will only stay in safe regions. If a change it can’t handle is going to happen in the Domain, it will move away."
"So that means we won’t face any crises here for some time," Shire leaned forward, his eyes shining, "or even if a crisis does occur, it won’t be a major one."
"Mhm, in principle, yes," Shan Xi Ao said, nodding with a serious face, his hands behind his back. "Assuming the clan elders weren’t talking nonsense."
"Your clan elders have talked nonsense quite a few times before," Shire retorted, pursing his lips. If he had believed what the little goblin elders said, he wouldn’t even be meeting with Shan Xi Ao right now, let alone chatting at the same table.
"Er..." Shan Xi Ao was at a loss for words. He realized Shire was right; the elders’ words weren’t always accurate, especially when applied to the Shire Race.
"Whatever. If it likes it here, let it stay. It’s just a matter of a few mouthfuls of grass," Shire said dismissively. Compared to the Unicorn’s "safety alarm," he trusted intelligence gathering and his own analysis far more.
’Little John is back, and he brought news that the escaped convict from the Storm Brotherhood has gone missing,’ he mused, sizing up the current situation. ’Valentine’s army has started to withdraw, but I still can’t let my guard down. I have to be wary of him pulling a fast one and coming back.’
’Tomorrow, I’ll take a team to scout the ant territory and see if those soldiers have all left. If they’re gone, I’ll sweep the entire area and clear out the remaining Giant Spiders and Burrow Bees.’
’Oh, and that underground stone chamber at the watchtower. I can finally go check it out.’ He took a sip of tea, leaned back in his chair, and crossed his hands in front of him, twiddling his thumbs.
Shan Xi Ao also took a big gulp of honeyed water, swallowed it with a GULP, and then started twiddling his thumbs in imitation.
Shire thought for a moment, then his gaze fell on the little goblin on the table. ’This kid seems to be mimicking my every move lately, as if he’s deliberately trying to learn from me.’
"Ah, I just remembered something important," Shire said with a smirk. He immediately leaned forward, propped his hands on the table, and rested his chin on them.
Shan Xi Ao watched Shire, who was frowning in thought, and also reached out his hands to prop up his chin. As he leaned forward, he lost his balance and, with a yelp, plunged headfirst into the wooden cup full of honeyed water in front of him.
Shire chuckled. He watched the two little legs kicking at the rim of the cup, then reached out, grabbed one of Shan Xi Ao’s feet, and plucked him out of the wooden cup.
"Ack, PFFT!" Shan Xi Ao wiped the honeyed water from his face, gasping for air. It was his first time taking a bath in honeyed water.
"I..." He was about to say something when Shire remarked casually, "If that honeyed water dries, you’re going to be all sticky. Probably won’t be very comfortable."
Shan Xi Ao stomped his foot resentfully, turned, flapped his wings, and flew toward the small wooden house on the stone chamber wall in the distance to wash off the sweet nectar.
Shire watched the little goblin fly away with a mischievous grin. He knew Yun Xiya wanted her younger brother to get close to him, partly to build a good relationship, and partly so he could learn from Shire. However, Shan Xi Ao was still young and sometimes didn’t understand the gravity of a situation. Today, for example, if he had flown outside and been discovered by Valentine’s soldiers, the consequences would have been irreversible.
"Good thing it’s relatively safe within my Domain. Let’s just call this a small punishment," Shire said to himself, picking up his teacup and taking a large gulp.
...
"I’ll go check on their situation right away." Shire looked at the Little Ant Queen before him. She was currently surrounded by many Worker Ants, who were busy feeding and cleaning her.
"Hero, are they all dead?" the Little Ant Queen asked, her antennae twitching.
"They should all be dead. There might be a few stragglers, but the Spider Queen and the Queen Bee are both dead." Shire smiled and patted the Ant Queen’s head. "Hurry up and grow. Your colony needs you."
After feeding the Little Ant Queen a piece of honey candy, he led his men out of the cavern, riding on a dozen or so Soldier Ants. The current "Ant Saddle" was version 2.0. Compared to the initial design, Shire had made some changes to the size and comfort, especially improving the riding stability when the Soldier Ants were running. However, his men weren’t very skilled at mounted combat. Philip and his guards had only contributed five [Cavalry Charge] skills, which, as far as Shire was concerned, was better than nothing.
"Stay alert to your surroundings at all times!" he ordered his men loudly, wary of a Giant Spider or Giant Bee suddenly lunging out from the forest.
As they slowly approached their destination, Shire stared in astonishment. The original spider burrow and Giant Bee nest had both been obliterated, leaving two massive craters in their place. The stone chamber had also been collapsed. The entire area had been almost completely annihilated.
"So ruthless, Valentine," he murmured, rubbing his chin as he took in the scene. "This is exactly how nobles do things. Either don’t do it at all, or do it with absolute finality."
He had originally been thinking that if this area had been preserved, he could have fixed it up and turned it into a goblin outpost. Now that was completely impossible.
"Let’s go. Patrol to the east," Shire ordered his men, and they all galloped eastward.
Shire didn’t stop until he reached the location of the watchtower’s underground stone chamber, as marked on his Domain map. "He did a pretty clean job. We didn’t see a single Giant Spider or Giant Bee the whole way here."
He jumped off his Soldier Ant and ordered his men to search the area. Soon, someone shouted, "Found something!"
Same situation, same procedure. Shire stood before the stone door. "Red Eyes, open it."
GRIND... The stone door was pushed open. A few torches were tossed inside, and after confirming there was no danger, Shire slipped in.
The collapse here was much more severe than in the previous ones; the room was only about half the size of the other two stone chambers. Holding a torch, Shire quickly finished inspecting the entire room.
The only thing that caught his attention was a carving on the side wall.
"Hm? Rune Language Material Library?"