Their first expression seeing a goblin on the couch was, Shock! "Don't worry, he's my friend or I should say my only friend that's with me" Minos said.
Saito and Herjar calmed down and looked at the goblin. This goblin was very different from the other goblins they have ever encountered. It was very tall, good built body and it somewhat looked like an elf. Looking at it now, suffering is more accurate word than sleeping.
Saito asked, "What happened to him?". Minos smiled and said, "First, thank you for looking at him as a person and not a monster and secondly, he's very sick and I don't know what I should do at all! Its not like I can take him to a church or goto the city and get a priest or something".
Saito and Herjar nodded their head understandably. A Necromancer walking into a city means instant death for him. Even if the soldiers let him, the Mercs will kill him or the priest, even the ordinary people will stone him! All because of the death magic. No one wants to die but the Necromancers are followers of death. They bring death with them which makes normal people hate them to the core.
Herjar then asked, "Have you tried everything? Since you are going for the GrassClove flower, it means you exhausted all your options right?". Herjar had long accepted the situation as Saito didn't seem to mind it. Saito accepted a Dark elf like him and he seemed to even accept a monster and a Necromancer, so why not go along with the flow?
Minos said, "Well I tried all the medicines I know how to make and it was all on vain, even my "Cure Illness" magic is useless! I clearly don't understand this type of Illness, its more complicated for even a Necromancer like me". Saito and Herjar were stunned. A Necromancer using something other than destruction is unheard of!
Herjar asked, "Wait! You can use magic to cure illness!?". Minos gave him a weird look, "What did you think of us Necromancers? We can only use plauge magic and death magic? That's how ill informed you guys are! Necromancy is not "Only bring death" type of field, its to learn more about the anatomy of living beings and find way to prevent sickness and death from happening! Its a good cause! The only thing is that we use death magic in our way of obtaining it and that's it! But those guys from the church believe that we are evil and branded us evil and thus the magic that originally used for helping lives turned into magic that ends it".
Saito could understand the circumstances since he is originally from a modern world with a little bit of sense, but Herjar is having a hard time doing so. "So what you mean is that the Church is the reason Necromancers became bad guys?" Herjar asked.
Minos said, "Exactly! I mean, why would Necromancers go around and kill people if they weren't offended in the first place? Do we have a wish to kill them? Or do we do this as a sport or for fun? No! We kill because if we didn't, we will be killed! Its just for the survival like all others, nothing personal". Saito and Herjar didn't know what to say, Herjar is a dark elf but Saito is a human and as a human, it was his race responsible for the war with Necromancers, well not him particularly.
"Well I can certainly guess how it is for you guys" Herjar said. Minos shrugged and looked at Saito, "I kept my end of the bargain, will you keep yours?" he asked. Saito smiled and took out three GrassClove flowers and gave them to Minos.
Minos hurriedly got them from him and started to prepare them. He first wished washed them with water and started to grind them into paste. Saito and Herjar looked at the process.
Minos was so focused in the work that he seemed to forgot both of them and started doing his thing.
After half an hour, he finally finished it. The former flower turned into a.... Soup? "Perfect! Now the final touch!" Minos said. He started to chat with his eyes closed and both hands palm faced towards the soup.
Saito and Herjar couldn't understand what he was blabbering and just sat there. Soon he finished the chant and a black mist entered the soup from his palms. He said, "It's finally done!".
Saito and Herjar looked at the bowl of greenish soup with bubbles coming out of it.... Not sure if its edible to consume.
Minos had a creepy smile on his face which made Saito and Herjar get their guard up. Minos realized how he looked so he coughed two times and gave the soup to the goblin.
The goblin was shivering all over due to the sickness but it still drank the soup with hard effort.
Nothing happened for a few seconds. After 10 seconds, the goblin started to scream and shout and curse and its body was being tossed by an unknown force. This scared both Saito and Herjar the shit out.
The goblin finally settled on the floor, but it still screamed like it was dying. A dark pitch black miasma was exiting the goblin and it dispersed. Minos smiled brightly when he saw that. "IT'S WORKING! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S WORKING!" Minos shouted.
Both Saito and Herjar was on their guard and if anything bad happened, they will act. Herjar was feeling that they made a mistake right from the beginning by believing a Necromancer and even helping him! But he still went with the flow because he wanted to show Saito that not all can be trusted. But now, the situation seemed to get worse by the second.
The miasma cleared and goblin calmed down. Minos hurried to the goblin's side and asked in a concerned tone, "Vik? Vik? Are you alright? Answer me".
The goblin opened its eyes slowly while muttering, "Where the f*ck I am? What happened?". The goblin the looked at Minos and said, "Minos.....? That you? What happened to the Trolls? I thought we were fighting them?" it seemed to be confused.
It finally noticed Saito and Herjar, who were in awe of the Goblin being able to talk common language and it was fluent at that!. The goblin immediately went on guard and drew his long sword from the table and pointed it at them.
Saito and Herjar were baffled. Its movements were fluent like it ability to speak, maybe even better. His stance, his look, his movements and even the aura it's giving off feels very strange from what a goblin would give.
"Who the heck are you! How did you enter our house!" The goblin questioned them. Minos intervened and said, "Vik stop! They are our guests! I brought them here! And they helped me cure you for crying out loud!".
The goblin was shocked for second before saying, "Don't get deceived by them! It could be a trap! Their reinforcement should be near!". Minos let out a *sigh* and said, "I'm sorry for that, it's just that we never had any guests or anyone from the outside" he look at Saito and Herjar.
Saito smiled and said, "No worries, I can understand so does my buddy here" he looked at Herjar. Herjar also nodded his head and said, "Yes, I can clearly understand your situation since I was in one myself before".
Minos looked at the Goblin named Vik and said, "Now does a duo of a Dark elf and a weird human look like spy to you?". The goblin gritted his teeth. He looked at them closely like he was looking at their soul. But in truth, he was looking for lie and hostility in their atmosphere.
He looked at them quite a while and couldn't sense any hostility towards them so he calmed down and put his sword back in its sheath. Even his movements while putting the sword back seemed like he was a graduate from a royal academy or something.
The goblin stood straight and said, "Thank you for helping us and not feeling any resentment towards us.... You two have my deepest gratitude" he bowed a bit. Saito and Herjar couldn't believe what the heck they were witnessing. A goblin, a lowest of the vermin's race was being as humble as a knight, they felt like they were sleeping or even they were drugged. They looked at Minos in unison with a questioned look on their face.
Minos giggled and moved to Vik's side and said, "Let me reintroduce my self, My name is Minos, I'm a commoner with nothing but the attribute towards death magic, due to it I was cast out of my village and my family was killed by the villagers for giving birth to me........ Well that aside, I finally got to learn about the death magic through a book I accidentally obtained and studied hard to become strong! When I became a newbie, I was able to enroll in the Necro academy and studied hard and finally became an Apprentice but I couldn't find a teacher to tutor me since I was very poor so I was kicked out of the academy and when I was out hunting for food I met Vik" he pointed his hand at Vik and Vik nodded. He continued, "And that's my story, now Vik, it's your turn".
Vik nodded and took a step forward and said with one of his hand on his left chest, "My name, is Vikkendi and I am the Prince of Goblin Nation" he bowed elegantly. Saito and Herjar coughed hard after hearing that. Leaving his name aside, Prince? Of Goblins? Goblin Nation? The heck is that? What the heck is going on?
Minos giggled again and said, "Don't worry, that reaction is normal, even I was like that when I first heard that". Saito and Herjar calmed down a bit. Herjar said as he wiped his mouth, "Well, I can see why".
Vik looked at Minos and asked as he pointed himself, "Am I that weird?". Saito said, "It's not about weather you are weird or not but its your origin as the Prince of a Goblin Nation". Vik asked with a frown, "Why is that weird? Do you mean to disrespect my homeland?".
Saito hurriedly denied, "No no no, it's not that! Its just that it's my first time meeting a goblin that even speak and he turned out to a Prince of a Nation I never heard of, that's the reason".
Vik calmed down and said, "It's fine, after all even if it's not "us", there are other goblins that attack humans and bore their hatred and we have to bear it with them" he looked down when he finished saying it. Saito and Herjar looked at each other. Herjar know how he feels, probably because he was in the same situation as him.
Saito put one of his hand on Herjar's shoulder and smiled. That smile calmed him down. Saito then said, "Sorry for earlier, it was my bad that I acted like that, I really apologize" Saito bowed.
Vik walked towards Saito and lifted him up and said, "It's fine, we all make mistakes after all" he smiled. Saito stood straight and said, "Let me introduce myself, I'm Saito Araya from the far east and this is my buddy Herjar, a Dark elf Assassin, its our pleasure to meet you two". Both of them shook hands and Vik said, "Likewise".
They retracted their hands andVik asked, "I've been meaning to ask this, you two are the weirdest pair I ever seen in my life, how did you become friends?". Herjar looked at Saito when he heard it and Saito gave him an approving nod.
Herjar then started his story of how he was betrayed and how his crush crushed him and how he was on the verge of death and how Saito saved him, everything.
At the end if his story, Minos said, "I see..... You been through a lot huh?". Herjar shook his head and said, "I would say it was all worth it, even though I fought life and death battle with them, they still came at me for the kill and the women I loved? She stabbed me in the heart for the second time! They all left me, but Saito stayed with me even though he could've just handed me over to the city guards and get a huge sum as reward, he still chose to stand with me when all the hostility was directed at us and to me, that was worth all those suffering".
Saito smiled when he heard his words. In truth, he was trying not to cry as those words clearly hit the mark. Saito thought about being all alone in an unknown world, but the appearance of Herjar changed that. To Saito, meeting Herjar was the best thing happened in this life.
Minos then noticed something and asked, "Wait! You guys are from the city?". Saito nodded and said, "We are Mercenaries from the Mercenary Guild and we came here to collect GrassClove flower and then we encountered a goblin nest and killed them all and some Trolls appeared after them and killed them all too and only then did we meet Minos and heard about the situation and decided to help, that's the end of the story".
Vik hurriedly asked, "Trolls!? How many were there!?". Herjar said, "There was 8 Trolls I think and he killed them all". Vik looked at Saito with eyes wide.
"Don't make it sound like I did everything, you killed one" Saito said. Herjar said, "All I did was cut the neck of one, but you made it lose balance and killed the rest, so it's your hunt" Saito gave up. Vik calmed down and said, "You guys are easy about it but I got myself injured while fighting them even with the help of Minos, looks like I still need more experience before I can go back".
"Don't compare yourself with this monster" Herjar said. Saito pretended like he didn't hear and asked, "You said going back, but where?".
Vik said, "I'm here because I need to collect enough battle experience and knowledge about the outside world, so when I'm strong enough to defeat my father in one on one combat, I will be worthy of being the king! But I can't become stronger by staying in that place so I went on an adventure and met Minos along the way and it is important to have friends! That's the end". Minos just smiled and didn't say anything.
Saito thought for a bit and said, "Say, why don't you guys become Mercenaries and join us?". Vik, Minos and even Herjar was eyes wide and mouth hanging. "Did I say something weird?" Saito asked, innocently.
Herjar face palmed and said, "Which part of that is not weird? Do you even get what you are saying? Telling them to come to the city is same as telling them to throw their lives in the gutter". Saito then understood what they were worried about.
It is the same case as Herjar, but slightly more dangerous. Saito said, "No worries! I got a plan!". Saito then started to discuss his plan with the three of them. At first they had some doubts, but they became bright after clearing some doubts.
"If what you say worked, then we also could walk inside the city!" Vik said excitedly. Even Minos was excited about this. Being able enter a city without getting stoned is like a dream to him. "If we could become Mercenaries, we will definitely join you two and when that happens, we will be in your care" Vik said and Minos nodded.
Herjar smiled and said, " Well I don't know if it will work or not, but I trust him not to do anything crazy so I guess we will be brothers in the near future". "Yeah! We definitely will be!" Vik said and both of them shook their hands.
Saito and Herjar talked with them for a bit more and left the house. On the way back to the city Herjar asked, "You sure about this? Added them to our party?". Saito said, "Even if I'm not 100 percent sure, I'm 90 percent sure that this is the right desison, I did the same thing with you didn't I?" he looked at Herjar. Herjar laughed and said, "Well let's just trust your guts and see what happens in the future".
Both of them ventured into the forest towards the city under the evening sky.