Return to Baltwood

"He's doing a little better and the internal injuries have shrunken slightly, so he is stable. But, as for when he'll wake up, I have no clue," explained Byron.

As a spell blade, Byron boasted more than enough magical prowess to assess Jack's condition. His magical abilities would help him overcome pure warriors' superior strength, while his above-average physical prowess made him a threat to most mages. Spell blades were rare, but they were always recognized as powerful and were one of the most feared sub classes in the continent.

"Oh, well that's good," said Slivia with half a sad smile.

"Don't worry, the association will take care of him and make sure he's back in top form as soon as possible." Rydel did his best to comfort Slivia's anxiousness. "That reminds me, you were wanting to join the association, right?"

Slivia was caught off guard by Rydel's question. "Um, yes I was. But that's not too important right—"

"Why is it unimportant?" asked Rydel. "You may have been in captivity, but you were still in the party. After yesterday, you've already reached lv. 15 and can finally join. Don't you want to find that adventurer?"

"Of course I do," answered Slivia. "But I need to get stronger before I can go travel and search for him."

"Good, make sure to remember that. Jack's got his reasons to keep getting stronger too, so you can be sure this won't be enough to stop him," said Rydel.

The girl nodded to Rydel, feeling a little better and glad to hear that he supported her joining. With someone like Rydel supporting her, why wouldn't the association accept her?

A soft knock came from the door and Rydel called out, "Come in."

The door opened and the goblin queen entered the room. "Sorry to disturb you, but I'm ready to leave now."

"What?" Slivia spoke out of reflex. "What does she mean leave, and why is she coming?"

"We need to hurry back to Baltwood to discuss some things with the Balt Guild before returning to Reinolt City. The queen will be joining our discussion, so naturally, she'll travel with us," explained Rydel. "Plus, with her, we'll get past all the goblins easily and might reach the cave's exit in just two days."

"But what are we discussing that needs her there?"

"You'll find out soon enough like the rest of us," Byron chuckled. "I've heard bits and pieces but only he knows what's going on. So, until the meeting, we've just got to follow along and wait in suspense."

Not liking to be left out, Slivia accepted the situation with a straight face. She looked at Jack and asked, "What about him?"

"We'll have to carry him; how else can we get him out of here?" answered Rydel.

"Don't worry, I'll bring a couple of captains along to carry him in a portable bed," added the queen, displaying that same gentleness as she did when examining Jack previously.

Content to hear that Jack would be carried softly and not roughly over someone's shoulder, Slivia nodded and kept quiet.

"We should get going. The sooner we get to Reinolt City, the better," said Rydel.

Without a word, the queen nodded, and two goblin captains entered the room with a padded stretcher. They carefully transferred Jack to his new bed before lifting him between the two of them, both facing forward and holding him at waist height.

Rydel led the group out of the room in time to see Maynard in the hall and Brunar pulling a tired Troni through the door.

When Maynard noticed the two goblin captains carrying Jack, he laughed, "Hey, I still need to thank ya."

The goblin captain carrying the front half of the stretcher smiled and spoke in Common, "Sorry about the confusion before. I wasn't too keen on facing you in the first place and I hated that bumbling troll. As soon as the queen gave the order to cease attacking and kill that oaf, I couldn't help myself from stealing your kill."

"Wait," Maynard was baffled by the goblin's fluency in Common, which was above even the queen's. "If you speak so well, then why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"I don't like the common guards to know much about me. I've been at the queen's side since she was a child; I was even lucky enough to be her teacher. Only a few select captains know this."

"But why be so secretive?" asked Maynard, reflecting the same thoughts as the others listening in on the conversation.

"Because I'm not from this cave and neither is the queen," answered the captain. "If the others knew that, then they may not be too open to a foreigner leading them. That's why we don't plan to mention this until some time has passed and the people are already loyal to their new queen."

"Makes sense, but what should I call you?" Maynard shrugged.

"That's unimportant, but if you wish to call me by my name, it's Shlad."

Rydel pushed past Maynard and added, "Hurry up, we're leaving now."

Maynard bowed to Shlad as he and the other samurai quickly joined the end of the line behind Slivia.

The goblin queen retrieved and adorned a pure black cloak to cover herself, not wishing for the other goblins to know of her departure. She had already announced that she would be in her quarters tending to business for the next couple weeks and was not to be disturbed.

With Shlad's guidance, the newly formed party hastily exited the palace and the city with little to no detection thanks to secret routes. In no time, they were on their way to the second floor.

Though the second floor was packed full of monsters and beasts, none dared to attack with the two goblin captains and the queen present. Thanks to Rydel finally reaching lv. 30 thanks to the bloodbath caused by the samurai, the party currently had five people at lv. 30 or higher. No monster dared try anything, making the second floor's travel pass by quickly.

The goblin's knowledge of the mine proved far more extensive than Rydel's, exposing new passages at every turn and bringing the party to the cave's exit by the end of the first day.

They quickly checked if their horses had survived, but they weren't so lucky. Thanks to having no horses, they were forced to go the rest on foot, taking them a total of almost three full days to reach Baltwood.

Most of the party was worried about how others would react to the goblins and the queen, but before they had realized it, the queen and goblins appeared to be human.

Rydel got a chuckle from the sight, easily seeing through the queen's illusion, but sure that no one in Baltwood would likely notice a thing.

Once they reached the outskirts of Baltwood, Byron took the lead and pushed the party directly toward the Balt Guild Hall. His presence immediately alarmed most civilians, who knew he had vanished within the mine and let them quickly pass any nightly security the Balt Guild had in place.

As Byron was about to enter the front door, it swung open mightily, knocking Byron onto his back. Out rushed Jard Balt, lifting his son off the ground and embracing him.

"You've returned!" shouted Jard. "You've really returned!"

"Thank them, not me old man." Byron pointed to the familiar adventurers behind him.

"Yes, of course! For my friends, let me throw you a feast!" Jard was yelling joyously, complimenting everyone and firmly shaking their hands one by one.

"Put a hold on the feast. The man you really need to thank is him," explained Rydel, motioning to the bedridden Jack. "He's the one who saved your son and fought a lv. 36 troll in the process. If anyone deserves praise, it's him."

Jard was taken aback by Rydel's statement. He wasn't able to read Jack's level before, but Jard was entirely certain that Jack shouldn't have been able to go toe-to-toe with a lv. 36.

"There's also something we need to discuss as quickly as possible. We're in a hurry to get him back to the city, but we must talk to you and your son first," added Rydel.

"Of course, I'll prepare my private conference room. Let my doctor take a look at him; I'm sure we can—"

"Thank you." Rydel bowed his head, grateful for Jard's genuine concern.

Two men from the Balt Guild soon rushed out and grabbed Jack's stretcher. As he was carried to a room near the entrance, the party entered deep into the guildhall and followed Jard to his private conference room.

"Now, what is it you need to discuss?" Jard cut right to the chase.

"First, let me introduce someone," stated Rydel. "She is the one behind the incidents in the mine, the goblin queen."

Jard stared in wonder as the queen lowered her hood and dropped the illusion spell around her and the goblin captains. "This… What's the meaning of this?"

"I assure you, Guild Master, that I mean no harm to you or your people. I've been in a difficult situation myself and was forced to act accordingly," said the queen.

"What do you mean?"

Rydel was the one to answer. "That's what we'll be discussing. How the Royal Court has been acting in the shadows."