Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”Oh, you’re willing to take me with you?” Silvia looked pleasantly surprised. ”Thank you so much!”

”Looks like I’m stuck with Team Two,” Seymour said sourly. He’d much rather have Ron take him, but what he said was true. Compared to another Wanderer, Silvia was clearly much more valuable to Ron.

The final roster for Team Two was decided: Klade as the leader, Seymour, Andre, two Casters who knew Arcane Magic, and the former Mercenary, for a total of six people.

”Are you sure you don’t need me?” Buni asked. ”I think I could...”

”You’re needed more here, Buni,” Klade interrupted her. ”Don’t worry. Our team will definitely be playing a support role. We won’t have any missions that are so dangerous we’d need to trouble a Priest to come along.”

”Klade is right,” Ron nodded. ”My plan is for the two teams to take turns heading out, always ensuring one team remains at the stronghold to deal with any potential special circumstances—the main one right now being Ming Datiss. That son of a bitch is already planning a counterattack. My team will explore first and generate a report for the archives. Team Two will then sweep and inspect the area we’ve scouted, submitting another report. After that, both teams will rest and consolidate our findings at the stronghold to prepare for the next exploration.”

This method would, first, place the main combat pressure on Ron’s team, thereby protecting Team Two. Second, it would ensure nothing was missed during exploration. And third, if one team happened to run into catastrophic trouble, the other would be there as backup, preventing a total wipeout.

”I have another proposal,” Klade said, standing up after Ron finished. ”Your strategy is safe, Ron, but its efficiency will decrease over time. Therefore, I suggest that the team resting back at the base not remain idle. They should lead a team of builders to establish outposts, strongholds, and settlements in the explored territories, while also attracting outsiders to settle here. Our focus should also gradually shift inward.”

”Didn’t you say before that there’s a Black Dragon occupying the ruins of a town further in?”

”Yes, Green Swamp Town.”

”Excellent,” Klade nodded. ”I propose we make our initial expansion goal in that direction. You go negotiate with the Black Dragon, and we’ll use those ruins to build our next major stronghold, radiating our influence out from there.”

”That could work.”

The entire earth goblin race were natural-born soldiers. Klade could see aspects of strategy that Ron missed, and in this regard, Ron was more than happy to accept his suggestions.

”But we don’t have that kind of population right now,” Andre pointed out. ”Basically all of us refugees from the northern disaster are already here. If we just expand blindly like this, won’t it...”

”You underestimate the appeal of the Delusional Land to the surrounding regions, child,” Klade said. His smile always emphasized his sharp teeth, making him look imposing and fearsome. ”And you also overestimate the stability of the neighboring city-states.”

”The city-states south of the Delusional Land may claim to be a united front, but I’ve asked many caravans. They are nothing more than a loose Alliance of rival tribes huddled together for warmth against a greater external threat.”

”We won’t even need to resort to plunder and conspiracy to give them a kick! As long as we demonstrate our ability to establish a firm foothold here, large numbers of people will flock to us with their families in tow!”

”We just need to conscript the able-bodied youth from among them, train them into an army, and I dare say in just a few years we can take all the surrounding city-states—”

Klade passionately laid out his grand blueprint, while the others quickly tried to change the subject. The blood of a dictatorial warlord still flowed in the earth goblin’s veins. Although circumstances didn’t currently allow for it, Klade was always ready to bare his fangs.

If they really did things his way, they would soon become a target for everyone.

”Ahem, we can put that sort of thing on the back burner for now. Don’t forget we have more pressing issues to deal with. Establishing a solid foundation is the most important thing.”

Ron nodded to the others. ”If no one has any other questions, then let’s all get ready. Aive, you and the others should rest up for the next couple of days. We might need to take a long trip, about the same distance as the Black Dragon’s Nest.”

”Why?” Victoria asked curiously. ”We haven’t even fully secured our immediate surroundings, have we?”

”The message left by that gold dragon... one of the clues points to an abandoned, ancient mine,” Ron said, revealing the golden scale in his hand. ”There was nothing in the message he left me that seemed worth hiding, so I believe the clue is likely inside the mine.”

”Understood.”

His companions nodded, and everyone dispersed. Only Silvia followed Ron back to his room. She was about to begin teaching Arcane Magic to this young man who, despite his considerable talent, had never had the opportunity for systematic training.

But before she could formally teach him the systems of Arcane Magic, she first had to teach Ron several languages and scripts so he could understand the relevant history, nature, Arcane Magic, and religious knowledge.

Mastering these would make learning Magic much easier.

”If you want to get closer to Magic, the best way is to learn the Dragon Language. Unfortunately, most humanoid creatures can’t properly pronounce it. A Vampire Descendant can probably master about seventy percent of the Dragon Language vocabulary, while humans can only manage forty percent. I’ve only learned twenty percent myself, because that’s all the old man who taught me knew.”

Silvia sat primly across from Ron and took out her Spellbook. It was made from a stack of bound scrap paper and was usually kept in a private place. ”If you want to understand natural and cultural history, the Elf Language and Dwarf Language are very important. Those two races are long-lived, so their language systems change very little. They are also the primary languages for some minority races, such as Beastmen, Half-Beastmen, Gnomes, and so on.”

”And if you want to understand religious knowledge, you’ll mainly need to rely on the Common Language and the Human Language.”

”I can understand the Common Language, since it’s so widespread, but why the Human Language?” Ron asked curiously.

Silvia thought for a moment. ”Probably because humans will believe in just about any Deity.”

”Think about it. The Dragon Race only pays general homage to Bahamut and Tiamat. Elves, Dwarves, Half-Elves, and the vast majority of other races basically only worship their own pantheons. Only humans—Heim, Aine, Bahamut, Tiamat, Grom, Rose, even Bafumie and Zarell—you can name pretty much any Deity, and there will almost certainly be human followers.”

”Uh, Maghreb? The goblinoid Deity?”

Silvia: ”...Anyway, the point is, the Human Language is the best and most widespread language for carrying faith.”