3 days after the fight against the goblins, these 3 days were both calm and tumultuous, not only because of what happened to the 20 refugees (plus the 5 troublemakers), but also because of the agonizing wait for news that one of Ivan's apprentices would bring.
Apprentice should have arrived two days ago, ironically the mess the group made on the third day helped to distract people from the dark thoughts they had about their homes and families. Hannah and Constance's "promotion" also helped a lot, in addition to "his" request to build a real temple.
But finally, when the first rays of the morning of the fourth day arrived, the sentries on guard saw a young man running towards the village.
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Shortly after, conversations spread to everyone in the village about the young man, several tried to reach him to ask questions about the state of their village. But obviously no one succeeded, as soon as the young man arrived close to the sentries he was taken to the village chief's house to speak to all the important figures, Ivan, Gerard, Queliand, Constance, Hannah and Sofi.
Even though they couldn't talk to him, several said they heard parts of the conversation just to get attention, but everyone who knew even a little of the group knew that this would be a lie, after all there was no chance of Ivan leaving anything that wasn't completely necessary out. that room.
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"Huh... I don't think I heard you very well, you can repeat that because you said Morton."
Ivan asked genuinely in disbelief, as did the others, even Sofi and Liem, who had already been through a lot, couldn't believe what they had just heard.
"Well, like I said, when I arrived at the village they were still fighting the goblins like I expected, but they had managed to completely stop their advance by turning the bridges, which separated the village into east and west, into hanging points. As soon as I arrived on the first day I helped to expand some small groups that were still trying to invade by swimming or even trying to bring improvised bridges with tree logs, but on the second day things changed in a very good way. unbelievable."
He took a breath, ready to tell the truth that everyone either couldn't believe or even didn't want to believe.
"From the west side the goblins appeared shortly after noon, but they were not wearing armor and were unarmed, leading right in front was a goblin the size of a normal adult, wearing clothes like a human and appearing to act in the same way as a human. , even in the same way as a noble."
He stopped for a while to catch his breath and drink some water, after all it was the second time he had explained this story.
"And he said, he said, that he would like to talk to the representative on our side about a possible treaty."
Yeah, they couldn't believe it.
Goblins in general were little better than animals, some even considered them to be a sub-species of demi-humans in the past. They were able to organize themselves into cohesive groups, use and manufacture weapons and traps, they had their own true language, some clans even developed writing according to what some wanderers have already reported. But they were still not seen as capable of understanding human language, writing or even human emotions.
That's why hearing that a group of goblins, however unusual they were due to their use of iron, according to Morton, were not rusty and careless as in other cases where goblins stole from humans (since they didn't know how to take care of weapons). All the golli had weapons and armor made of wrought iron, well cared for and strong, some even had steel weapons according to the young man.
"Okay, let's say this really happened. Did my father actually agree to something like that? Or did something happen to him?"
Dan asked fearfully.
"No, no, Mr. Queliand, your father is fine. Injured, but he's fine, just like everyone else left behind."
The young man responded promptly, which made Queliand visibly relax, Sofi happy for her promise, as well as Gerard, who considered the old leader of the neighboring village as much a brother as Ivan.
"But how could my father have accepted something like that? Knowing him, and how he feels responsible for everyone in the village, he would rather die than shake the hands of those who spilled the blood of the residents."
Queliand returned to the subject soon after.
"Yes, that's true, sir. But as unbelievable as it may seem, these goblins didn't kill indiscriminately as one would expect, they mainly harmed and knocked out groups of guerrillas and trapped them in their camps. Of course, several ended up dead, or in the fights in the city or due to injuries, even though they were more advanced than ordinary goblins, they were still goblins and didn't have much medicine. And as goblins they avoided it. "waste", but at least they didn't force the captives to eat it."
Morton said and shivered a little at the thought of the possibility of being forced to eat human flesh, even more so possibly from someone you knew moments before.
"However, those who survived received treatment equal to what would be given by other humans if they were at war. Even better, considering that our side was killing the goblins indiscriminately."
Once again, everyone in the room was silent and looked at each other. IF that were true, perhaps the ancient theory that goblins could be some kind of demi-humans rather than normal monsters might be more correct than people thought. What this could mean for the kingdom or even the continent was still impossible for anyone there to think about.
"The goblins imposed the condition of handing over all captives at once if the treaty was signed as quickly as possible, already bringing 10 captives as proof of life and good faith. There is and they asked me to bring a copy of it for you to see"
He said remembering only now the second time the piece of parchment in his bag.
Queliand was the first to read the content of this treaty, and pass it on to others. Even though no one there was very versed in contracts or legal matters, everyone managed to understand what was in the treaty, after all, having been written by villagers and goblins, it did not have any of the figures of speech that noble contracts usually would have and it was very direct.
Essentially, the human clan (Black Carve Village) and the Green Claw clan (the goblins) would recognize their mutual domains, the human clan having control of 2/3 of the western forest, the remaining 1/3 as well as the western forest. north and the swamp to the south would be the domain of the goblins.
Normally no one would agree to give up so much territory, but as the swamp was not accessible to most inhabitants and the northern forest had many dangerous animals even though they had rare medicinal herbs, the villagers' biggest concern was the western forest where they cultivated and cared for of the black oaks that gave the village its name.
Furthermore, it was not a total loss, the treaty also included conditions to open a trade channel between both "clans", thus guaranteeing herbs from the north and more "exotic" meats from the swamps, and an obvious non-aggression pact between them.
The content of the contract itself was not very impressive, although the amount requested could be considered impressive. But what really impressed was the fact that it was a goblin who wrote it in human language and in a completely understandable way.
"How many of those left behind survived?"
Queliand asked the question that many of the refugees wanted to know, and Morton remained silent. Whether it was to remember the exact number or mourn the dead, they didn't know.
"I believe we lost 47% of those left behind, apart from some with slightly more serious injuries. Your father also asked to ask if it would be possible to send some medical supplies besides Miss Sofi to try to remedy the situation."
"As soon as you appeared I asked you to prepare some potions and bandages that we didn't use, and of course I'm going too."
Liem said soon after.
"And even if I can't help much I will too, and there's no discussion of that."
Agatha also said, already planning what clothes to take and what types of herbs could ease the pain, but she still had to check the stocks.
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Author: Hi guys, sorry about the delay, but you know, there are always unforeseen events in life, you travel but your internet plan runs out and you only get brief moments of connection to read some novels but you can't post yours.
But the extra time also allows me to think about a new direction for the novel and another novel, but it will still take some time to start posting this one. Other than that, nothing much, I'll just keep posting when I can and I'm not so busy with work. the beginning of the year is brutal
Always hope for the best and happy new year guys, thank you and let's have a good year.