After the entire incident at Malvorrak's cave, Zysera brought Qarc back to the Yolan village on her shoulder with no sign of the treasure she had left with.
The immediate reaction from the guards and denizens was to prepare their able-bodied men to siege Malvorrak's cave and finally kill the beast, but Zysera's words stopped them in their tracks.
"I lost fair and square. None of you are to step foot on Malvorrak's territory without my permission."
She had lost to Malvorrak, forgetting the fact that Malvorrak wasn't the cause of this whole thing, but Qarc's greed. The fact that he had spared her life was reason enough for them to stop causing trouble.
It was, of course, hard to swallow for most of them, but eventually, they understood and laid their arms down.
They had no choice.
---
**Two weeks later...**
"Get off my back!!" A giant roar resounded by the riverside not far from Malvorrak's mountain, as a giant lizard creature shook off the water from his body.
"Hey, come on! I'm trying to clean up too," Cious said with a trace of disgruntlement.
"You can get in yourself, stop being a leech," Malvorrak sneered at the little white lizard. This little guy had forcefully attached himself to his mountain, even going as far as creating his own little cave next to Malvorrak's.
It was annoying.
"Hmph! Who would've thought you'd be such a bully," Cious sneered back, glancing at Malvorrak out of the corner of his eye. Malvorrak, however, didn't care about this characterization.
He simply turned toward his mountain and began to climb, not giving Cious another glance.
"Pheee," seeing this, Cious beamed hurriedly as he gave a signal to a bunch of silhouettes hiding behind a nearby sand dune.
"Huh?" A green head popped out from behind, and in the next second, a group of goblins rushed out and circled around the mountain formation.
Once they reached the opposite side, they began their slow ascent up the mountain.
"Yay!" After climbing for a few minutes, they arrived at three separate caves on the opposite side of the mountain, completely disconnected from Malvorrak's side.
There, they were welcomed by several goblins who had set up camp in front of the caves. It seemed like they were building a community on the mountain.
"Hehe," following the goblins' ascension, Cious appeared at the edge of the mountain with a wide smile on his face.
Right now, he looked completely different from before. He now wore more luxurious clothing, and a golden medallion hung from his neck, glowing with a beautiful light.
"Apostle!" Seeing Cious at the end of the mountain, the goblins immediately fell into a groveling and bowing posture as if they had seen their god.
"You are blessed," Cious raised his left arm gracefully, as if he were a benevolent being of pure holiness blessing the masses.
"Thank you, oh Apostle! Thank you!!" The goblins kowtowed repeatedly.
They were part of the myriad goblin communities scattered throughout the Yolan territory. Although goblins were considered higher creatures because of their intelligence, their very nature made others despise them.
As such, they were frequently attacked and scattered all over. Finding a safe home was impossible—until they met this mysterious Apostle of the mountain god Kaldrak.
He had appeared with four shaman goblins and showed them the way to a safe haven free from the evil that sought to destroy them all.
After so many years, the heavens were finally having mercy on them.
"Hail Lord Kaldrak!"
"Hail Lord Kaldrak!"
They praised loudly in Cious's direction, causing him to smile wearily.
Meanwhile, Malvorrak growled grumpily as he heard the faint and distant sounds of praise.
For saving his life and helping him avoid further conflicts with the Yolan settlement, Cious had demanded the other half of Malvorrak's place. Since Malvorrak was primarily using only his cave and a few other structures, he had let Cious do as he pleased.
But now? He was starting to regret that decision. This little white lizard was recruiting goblins to his cult.
---
**At the same time...**
"We came up empty. No one wants to pay a yearly tribute three times a year."
Inside the town hall of the Yolan village, a guard reported to the family, frustration clear in his eyes. They had gone on another round of tax collections, hoping to build up their gold reserves for the human envoys, who should be arriving in a few days.
"No one at all?" Zysera asked, clear worry in her eyes.
They had to raise the money. They had no choice. The humans were prone to violence, and she feared that without the 'gifts,' they would begin scheming against them once again.
"Some even threatened to end their lives if we came back," the head guard said, guilt written all over his face.
Most of them were hardworking people with families to feed. Forcing them to pay a yearly tax three times was too much! It was little different from asking them to run themselves into the ground.
"I..." Zysera felt the guilt too. She didn't like doing this, but if the humans were in charge, they'd start hunting them for sport.
It was necessary.
"Maybe if we wake the young master, we could..." one of Qarc's lackeys suggested.
As much as they disliked Qarc's attitude, no one was better at squeezing money out of people than him. It was his specialty.
"No! He has to remain in the dungeon for his crimes." At the mention of her son, Zysera nearly lost her composure.
It was his fault, this whole thing. Who in their right mind would try to steal from that monster Malvorrak?
Their current situation was all because of him. He had to be punished severely.