Chapter 58 - Annie Abandoned

Estella's investigation ended up giving her no conclusive evidence to prove whether or not Gren was really the son of a goddess. There were some suits of armor but they were just getting ready to start up a mercenary guild so it wasn't odd for Gren to have some. She wasn't sure what Gren was but she really wanted to find out before she started to show. After all, her recent behavior showed signs that pointed to her being pregnant.

Goblins and hobgoblins had a much shorter pregnancy than just about any other demihuman species and they started to show signs before the first week of pregnancy even ended. She had an intense craving for meat and yesterday she couldn't help but bite things. It wasn't just Gren that Estella was biting, she woke up to Purrnina clawing her face because she was biting down on Purrnina's tail in her sleep. Estella rubbed her abdomen, part of her hoping that it was true but mostly being worried that Gren might not want to help raise their children. Would a demigod even want a child with a hobgoblin like her?

"Are you hungry?" Gren came in to Estella's room while she was distracted and saw her rubbing her belly. Estella looked up at him, wondering whether or not to tell him the possible news. "What happened to your face? It's all cut up. Hold still for a moment." His hand glowed green as he held it up to her face and the stinging from her cuts disappeared. "Much better. There's the beautiful face of my lovely wife."

Estella thought about it and decided to tell him but Jessica walked in, ruining the mood. "Jasmine and the others are underground, looking to start the meeting." This is the first time that Estella had heard about there being a meeting.

"Estella, are you feeling better today? We'd like to have you there for the meeting. We've got to get everything ready as soon as possible so if you're coming then hurry up and get ready." Jessica thought that Estella was actually sick, not realizing that she used it as an excuse to get out of having a late night dinner so that she could open up the crates. It seemed like they discussed something important while she wasn't there.

There was no reason not to go to the meeting. "I'm feeling better now. I think I just ate something bad but my stomachache was gone when I woke up. Let's go." Estella grabbed Gren's hand and started skipping to the door. "Hurry up. Everyone is waiting, right?" She couldn't wait to get this meeting out of the way so that she could talk to Gren.

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The underground area had changed since Gren was last down there. The opened up passageway was now lit up with magic lights. The stairs leading down to the lower floor were still broken but there were wooden replacement stairs leading down. The floors and walls had been cleaned and the smell was gone.

Gren couldn't believe how much they had done down while he was gone. "I'm impressed with what you've done to the place. It actually looks like you can live down here now."

Jessica put on a grin and pointed towards the center of the opening. "You haven't seen the best part yet." After Gren moved to the side so he could see beyond the pillar, a statue came into view.

"Is that... me?" Gren's curiosity got the better of him and he rushed downstairs to get a good look at the statue, getting the attention of a few of the women that were there.

"The rat slayer has returned!" "He's back? I'm afraid that the rats were already killed by the dragon lady so he'll be out of work." Some women were having fun teasing him but after he got a good look at the statue he fully understood why they were laughing. Even he couldn't help but laugh out loud. The statue was of him standing over a pile of stone rats with the golden trident raised in the air. There was even a dead rat with an arrow in its eye directly under his foot.

"It seems like you enjoy the statue. Some of the girls got the idea of creating a statue to liven up the place and the design became crazy before we realized it." Gren was wiping his tears from his eyes and tried to stop laughing.

"It's not bad but this is definitely not how it happened and I didn't kill that many rats. It'll be awkward in the future if someone thinks I actually won that fight because of this statue." Gren didn't want to explain it every time someone saw the statue so he thought about adding a plaque that explained that it was not historically accurate.

Jessica was in her smiley mode, something that Gren hadn't seen since she got the notice that the bakery was closed. "Well, you did cause them to be eradicated by Jasmine so technically you did kill them off." Gren was reminded of his dream after Jasmine saved him from the rats. Rest in peace, rat warriors.

Jasmine walked down the new staircase and snuck up on Gren, hugging him from behind. "Good morning, Gren!" Gren was a bit startled until he realized who it was. Jessica was looking at Gren so she must have noticed Jasmine approaching him and decided not to say anything. Et tu, Jessica?

Estella wanted to join the hug but she touched her belly and decided that it would be best not to roughhouse with the two of them for now. "Okay, now that everyone is here can we start the meeting?" Jessica got everyone's attention by speaking loudly.

"What about the injured girls?" Gren recognized the woman that yelled from above. It was the magician that he bought from the slave company. "They're not here."

Gren decided to answer first. "Let's bring them then. Jasmine, come and help me bring them downstairs." Gren looked around for someone strong and saw Tahloh, the orc girl. "Tahloh, do you mind helping us?"

Tahloh was excited to see that Gren remembered her. "Yes! Absolutely!" She eagerly followed behind Gren as the three of them went upstairs.

Gren opened up the door to the room that Annie, Faith, and Yun have been staying in. It had been a while since he saw them because everything became busy. Annie was up and trying to walk around using a stick while Faith watched and Yun was ready to catch her if she fell. The sound of the door opening got their attention.

"Grenda?" Annie lost her balance at the sudden surprise and started to fall. Thankfully, Yun noticed in time and caught her so she didn't hurt herself. "You finally came. I thought you abandoned me."

Annie's words gave Gren deja Vu.