Goblin City

Readying himself, Sora gathered the Qi in the surroundings to create a Qi dagger. The blade was about 2 decimeters long and connected to a hilt perfectly fitting his hand. The entire dagger was bright white in color, including the hilt, making it look like it had been enchanted with the powers of yin.

The nearby voices grew nearer, and after a few moments of waiting, the voices walked out of the bush. It was a pack of goblins, 5 or 6 in total, all staring at Sora in shock.

The exchange felt like it lasted forever; Sora and the group's eyes were locked on each other, no one faltering their fierce gaze. Noticing the figure following behind Sora, the group suddenly grew a little impatient.

That was when the young goblin behind Sora walked in front of him and started speaking to the group; at first, Sora was shocked, thinking he'd been tricked into a trap. But after further investigation, it seemed that the young goblin was calming the group in front of them. This made Sora thoroughly confused.

After a few rounds of conversation going back and forth between the goblins, the little scoundrel goblin turned toward Sora and gestured for him to follow.

On edge, Sora eventually agreed and started following. He didn't really trust the other party fully, but Sora thought there wasn't a reason they wouldn't have attacked right away; they did have the advantage in numbers.

Also, for some reason, Sora couldn't help seeing a slight difference in the scoundrel goblin's face, almost like a look of gratitude. The same could be seen on the other's faces; all of them looked instinctively over at Sora at the same time, all withholding a weird look of gratitude on their faces.

Joining the group, they started walking back towards the direction the group had come from. The Qi dagger had long disappeared, so Sora was constantly aware of what the others of the group were doing. They didn't force him into the middle of the group like prison guards do to prisoners; it was like they had accepted him as a part of the group, letting him walk towards the back of the pack.

Walking for an hour, the traffic became increasingly popular, seeing many groups of goblins heading in the opposite direction. They had reached a road of sorts, many goblins could be seen walking either way, and some even rode on carriages and horses.

Weirdly, almost every goblin that walked past greeted the little scoundrel Sora had previously taken hostage. Some with carriages even seemed as if they were offering the scoundrel a ride.

'I hope that little scoundrel isn't too angry about before. I'm slowly starting to regret killing that goblin from earlier.'

Even if Sora wanted to run away, he had no choice at this point. There were too many goblins; if the group he'd been with grew malice towards him, there would be no escape.

However, Sora doubted that reality thoroughly; they would've definitely acted by this point. This was all so confusing; why were they not taking action against him?

Another 10 minutes passed before they arrived at a big stone gate connecting two big stone walls. The walls seemed to be around 20 meters high, giving off a majestic feeling. Getting closer, the walls were built block after block using carefully crafted stones.

This was absolutely unbelievable; how did a tribe of goblins that were always classified as a low-level species in fantasy books have the necessary materials to build something so majestic?

'I'm going to have to start taking all creatures seriously. I can't blindly trust useless information from earth anymore; I gotta start being more careful.'

Walking through the gigantic entrance displayed a city, one of the fantasy origins, with creatures of all sorts walking around the streets. The majority were goblins, but there were also other peculiar creatures, some that looked like dwarfs, some like cyclops, and even a few humans trotting around.

Entering, the scoundrel goblin looked back toward Sora, indicating he wanted him to keep following him.

'I didn't treat him too badly, did I? He doesn't want to publicly execute me or something, right?'

Walking through the city, there were shops, blacksmiths, taverns, hotels, and a bunch of other necessities needed in a city. They had everything one could ask for, even walking past a few open markets with fresh fruit and clothes.

It felt like they walked forever until they eventually stopped before a big stone castle. The castle had the same rocky design as the massive walls outside; the entrance was a pair of huge wooden doors guarded by 6 goblin guards in armor. The guards quickly parted, seeing the party of people walking towards them, giving Sora a cold sweat.

'Oh god, did I accidentally piss off some higher up?'

None of the guards made a sound as the party walked forward through the entrance. The front door led to a massive hall; the inside was decorated with plants, flowers, armor stands, the repeating of a red-ish flag, and an enormous chandelier hanging high above.

Massive stairs led to a higher floor, which they promptly climbed up, appearing before a set of big wooden doors. The doors were of equal design to the ones at the entrance, only slightly smaller.

The group stopped in front of the doors until the little scoundrel walked up to the door and knocked.

A few seconds passed with no sounds being heard after the echoing knock the scoundrel had created. Suddenly, the big doors parted open, revealing a vast hall with riches and treasures thrown to the sides and a massive red carpet leading toward a throne.

On the throne, a massive figure sat looking at the group of guests with a neutral look on its face. The figure looked like an overgrown goblin, at least a few times the size of an average one. It wore a golden crown with a purple cape flowing from its back.

A sudden wave of fear gripped Sora's heart; it felt like he was seeing god himself before him, giving him the instinct to drop to his knees and beg for forgiveness. Resisting the force, he looked around at the group that had been leading them; they were all looking at him as if telling him to walk forward.

'Shit, I really fucked up, didn't I.'

Walking forward, the little scoundrel led the way, and after a few seconds of walking, they arrived before the massive throne, standing upright.

A moment of silence passed; however, this one short moment felt like an eternity for Sora.

'I swear I won't be put in a similar situation again in the future! I won't be at the disposal of anyone again.'

The scoundrel then opened its mouth and started talking in its goblin language to the overgrown goblin sitting on the throne. The overgrown goblin's face didn't falter; nothing changed throughout the story, and kept its neutral look.

After a while of the scoundrel talking, it fell silent, and not a sound was heard for many moments. Later, the overgrown goblin looked over at Sora and opened its mouth; surprisingly, Sora could understand it.

"Is this true?"