Orc Lord

None of them tried to get near the Goblins right away. Although the Goblins here looked perfectly subordinated, none of them had ever seen Goblins that were in an approachable state. There was a lingering worry that they would be attacked as soon as they got close.

Of course, they weren't worried about their own safety, but about the consequences for killing one of this village’s slave monsters.

Samael smiled bitterly. “I'm very curious what sort of things a Goblin has to say, but apparently they don't understand the Human language.”

“I don't really feel compelled to approach little thieves like Goblins though,” Runa answered him.

“You can learn the biggest flaws in a society by hearing about it from the lowest members. I'm curious what they have to say about this place.” It was actually Armin who had the most interest in the Goblins.

Certain places in the village had Orcs stationed as guards, and here was one of them. The swordsman walked in that direction.

“Ah… Human. Hello.”

“Yes, hello,” Armin answered calmly. “Can you explain a bit about these fields for me? I'm curious.”

“Sure. Chief Vyra built the fields so we could have an alternate food source from hunting. We didn't have enough workers to run it, so we recruited these guys,” the guard gestured to the Goblins.

“I'd like to talk to them, but we can't understand each other. Would you mind translating for us?”

“Hmph, sure. Just standing around is boring anyway.”

Accompanied by the Orc guard, Armin, Samael, and a reluctant Runa approached the fields. The Orc called out something in the Goblin’s language, and one Goblin ran up to them.

“This is Giji,” the Orc guard told them. “He’s more or less their leader.”

Armin nodded to the Goblin. “Nice to meet you Giji. I'm Armin.”

The Orc guard spoke to the Goblin, then returned his response in Human language. “He says: Hello… Is there something I can do for you?”

“Ah… This is just a rare chance to talk to a Goblin, so I'm taking advantage of it.”

The Orc guard translated, and Giji frowned slightly.

“Are you planning to exploit me for information on this village?” was what was translated.

“...You could put it like that,” Armin said after thinking for a moment. "I want to know how it looks from the bottom, and I think it's only you folks who can tell me that.”

Giji narrowed his eyes slightly. It might have been meant to be intimidating, but because it blocked some sun, his pupils became rounded, and it actually had the opposite effect.

“He says: And you expect me to say those things in front of a translator?”

“If you don't want to answer something, just say “pass.” But do me a favor and be honest when you do answer. I'll just ask you some basic questions. Is that fine?”

“He says: Pass.”

“Tch! Cheeky Goblin,” Runa muttered. To her surprise, the guard translated that too.

“Alright, first question,” Armin interjected. “Are you guys slaves here?”

“He says: We could leave or quit working if we wanted to, but we would lose the protection of this village. All the strong members of our tribe were killed. We wouldn't be able to survive on our own.”

“The Orcs killed the strong members of your tribe?” Armin had to ask.

“He says: No, a War Monkey did it. The Orcs brought us food after the fact and offered us a way to survive.”

“Are you allowed to leave this part of the village?”

“He says: It's allowed.”

“What do you think of the chief?”

“He says: Well, there’s good things and bad things, but… pass.”

“Hm.” Armin decided to give up on his current line of questioning. “Can we see what you're growing in the fields?”

“He says: Yes. The guard should stay here, so I'll tell you the names now and show them to you over there.” Armin nodded. “The field on the left is for vegetables. We’re growing potatoes, beets, celery, string beans, and three kinds of squashes. There’s also some mint towards the back. The field on the right is for textile plants. Right now we’re just mass-producing Silfela grass because it's easy to work with. The field in the back is for grains. Right now we’re growing wheat and barley. Everything is growing really well, and it's probably thanks to the chief’s earth magic.”

The lecture ended and Giji lead the three Humans toward the fields. The most interesting one to look at was definitely the vegetable field because it had the widest variety of plants. Most of them looked to be working on bearing fruit as well. The vegetation in this field had basically filled up all the area it was allowed.

The textile field was also somewhat fun to look at. Silfela grass was usually only a thin stem-like plant with a patch of leaves at the base and a proud fluff on top. It only grew to about a foot tall in the wild. Most of the Silfela grass here, having been carefully tended to, was already a foot and a half tall. Hundreds of those were swaying happily in the breeze.

The good thing about Silfela grass was how easy it was to harvest. You literally just had to pinch the fluff off of the stem. If you waited an hour or so, the fibers would pull off easily without tearing. As long as the plant’s leaves were unharmed and it had sunlight, water, and good soil, it would continuously produce new puffs. Actually, it did its best to make the tuft bigger each time. If it weren't for the simple fact that it couldn't be dyed differently from its iridescent green color, Humans would probably use this plant as well.

The grain field wasn't as interesting. Actually, the whole thing wasn't even full. Apparently finding healthy cuttings in the forest had been a challenge. Also, it was a boring green color, like the other two fields, but without any interesting shapes to admire.

Although it wasn't interesting, it wasn't any less important than the other fields. This field would yield the only harvest that could potentially be preserved for the winter.

Their tour of the fields ended. Armin tried to thank Giji with his body language, and they left to finish circling the town.

They arrived at the village center, which was slightly off center thanks to the new additions Vyra had made, and saw a bunch of women piling up firewood. Instead of making the pile taller, they made it longer and longer, though it wasn't that wide.

“What are you doing?” Runa asked one of the women.

“We are getting ready to cook dinner,” the Orc woman smiled.

So this long fire is similar to how humans use long tables to host banquets? Armin quickly tried to find a Human equivalent for their actions. I guess the whole village eats together?

There wasn't much for the three to do but wait. It was reasonably entertaining to watch the women cook, so they just found a seat on the ground and did that.

When it was time to light the fires, the women took out some smooth round stones to use as fire starters. However, a tall Orc woman, wearing deer horns for some reason, showed up and told them something along the lines of “don't bother” in Orcish. With some first level fire magic, she promptly set the dry wood ablaze. The other Orc women started bringing over dozens of dressed animal corpses to cook while the Orc Mage just stood there proudly with her hands on her hips.

After almost ten minutes of being in the same general vicinity, the Orc Mage suddenly noticed the presence of three Humans in the village.

“Eh? Humans is here again?”

“Ah, yes. We are--” Armin was going to introduce himself and the others, but the Orc Mage just shook her head.

“I don't care. Just don't cause any trouble, and I'll leave you alive for my daughter to decide what to do with.”

The Humans found themselves overwhelmed by the Orc Mage’s atmosphere, and could only sit quietly.

So this is the chief’s mother… Armin felt some cold sweat slide down his temple.