I stayed behind without getting involved in the fight. I couldn't break the precepts as I accepted them since I was born. Moreover, I would get demerits if I really killed someone.
All I could do was..
"Don't underestimate them just because they are weaker than you. Your grandfather nearly fell just because he underestimated some weak fellows.."
Noah looked at me with his big bright eyes. It was evident that he wanted to know more. Despite preparing for the raid, other children's ears are turning towards me.
"How come you are more gossipy than the two girls? Go first… I will tell you after tonight."
They left after I promised them. I said I stayed behind but I was always looking at their backs, ready to rescue.
Alex sneaked into the goblin's lair built with branches and leaves again. It would be better if we could burn the crude huts but we have humans to save.
In the centre of the huts, Alex released mild poison that won't cause the goblins to drop dead for fear of affecting the humans as the poison didn't differentiate friends or foes.
There were a lot of big trees surrounding the goblin's lair. It made it easier for us in the raid.
In a minute, some weaker goblins fell and made them alert.
"Squeak… squeak.."
"Gerr…gerr.."
"Agh…Wahhh."
Yep, that's what I heard. They are very noisy in their own language, not in human's words. A few level 6 goblins put up a fight with Natalie and Bryan but end up dead as Liam was also sniping from the tall trees.
The weaker ones fell by the poison and the stronger ones died in the siege. That was an easy victory. Adam caught two humans and an old goblin alive in the biggest hut.
[ I don't know how the light system and life system made the poison system, but I am glad we have Alex. Poison is the gospel of ambush….]
[ Don't make random quotes, Veronica. ]
Calling it lair is wrong. I should call it a temporary camp. It was just a few mobs led by a few level 6 goblins. Small huts were built surrounding a cave.
"The humans are held captive in the cave."
I was expecting to see prison cells or dungeons just because they were smart enough to trade with human traffickers. However, I was doomed to disappointment. The captives were tied like chickens in the cave.
"There are children, girls and… some lads? Natalie, go and untie the kids and girls. For the lads, Bryan, you go…"
The twins are busy burning the corpses of the goblins. Liam was standing behind me and Noah, he was searching for something in the huts. The cave was a little dark, so Bryan produced light balls and let them float inside the cave.
"How many people are there?"
"Thirteen, mother. Eight girls and five boys."
The humans walked out of the cave slowly after they were free from the ropes. Of the eight girls, three were kids under ten and five girls were teenagers. Of the boys, two are under ten years old.
There were bruises all over their bodies. I had to heal them first before interrogating the three captives.
[ Master, the older children have magical powers in their bodies. ]
[ All of them? ]
[ Yes, all of them. The younger ones are also likely to have magical powers too…]
Oh my god, how many villages did they ransack to get these talents? I don't know why but they are wary of adult males but accept the younger one's approach such as Alex, Alice and lastly...me.
"Where are you from? Are you from the same place?How did you get arrested?"
"We are not from the same place. We are kidnapped at our own house. Some of us are sold by our own relatives."
A teenage girl with a round face answered my questions. She was the eldest of the victims and acted like a big sister.
From her, I learned about the place they lived and how they arrived into this cave. They came from various villages and towns of the two Empires, Sylvia and Grizzlehold. One boy was even from Ice Paradise.
They were kidnapped after they showed their talents and before registering in the government. The younger ones are potential stocks from the mage's lineage. I could see that these kidnappers are very bold to tackle the mage's lineage like this.
I gave them half of the huts to rest after healing and injecting life force into their bodies. The interrogation had to be started…
"Liam, take the three captives here."
"Yes, mother. You come with me Adam. I only have two hands."
"Okay, big brother."
The two humans tried to commit suicide but failed because of Adam. It will become a big joke if they can die In front of the priest of life.
"I found these in their belongings, mother."
In Noah's hand, two badges are lying quietly. We all recognized those badges. We got them when we were attacked by the group with the fire mage leader.
One of the men had an ordinary appearance with brown hair and eyes. He looked so ordinary that he could blend in easily in the crowd. Another man was a little fat with short structure. He didn't look like a bad guy.
"Which noble houses did those badges belong to?"
No answer. Alex rubbed his hands excitedly.
"Mother, don't ask yet. Let me test some poisons first. With brother Noah, and Adam, they won't die."
"Okay. Don't let them die."
I borrowed the roots of a nearby tree, made a small throne and sat on it leisurely. I remembered my dad had a perverted throne that followed him everywhere. I was envious and disgusted at the same time when I was young.
"Ask me anything you want. I want to talk, okay? I want to talk.."
The goblins shouted in human's language.
"No you don't want to…"
It was unfortunate. Alex didn't give him the chance to talk.
After testing Alex's poisons and healed by Noah over and over in half an hour, the three harmoniously decided to talk about everything.
This time I took out the four badges we got from the fire mage.
"Which noble houses did those badges belong to?"
"The badge with the Eagle is from the house of Adams, and the bear represents the house of Michelle from the Sylvia Empire. The shield represents the house of Steel hearts and the axe represents the house of Vulcans from the Grizzlehold Empire."
Then, I threw the two badges I got from their belongings towards them.
"So, you are from two noble families. Which badge belongs to whom?"
"I belong to the house of Vulcans and this fat guy belongs to the house of Adams. But we are just minions. We are sent to ensure that the kidnapped people won't die of starvation because the goblins can't cook."
"What are the plans? Why are they kidnapped? Why did the demons buy them? What about the routes?"
The two guys looked at each other. Then the fat guy sighed and answered.
"It was to weaken the Government and to get money, two birds with one stone. But we don't know what demons want by buying them. We are just grass roots at the end of the chain. We don't know much. Please let us go.."
Should I let you go if you say you don't know? Of course not… I hated the kind of plots where the minions were killed ruthlessly but the leader/ mastermind was pardoned. But I was hesitant to kill those two guys since they said they were cooks.
And can't forget to interrogate the old goblin…
"What about him, this old goblin?"
"I am one of the wise men of the goblin tribe. We goblins didn't participate in the buying and selling. We just accept the humans before they are sold because no human will set foot here."
The old goblin was quite fluent in human speech. He shrunk the responsibility in a few lines.
"What about the villages you, goblins, destroyed?"
"We didn't kill much. We find some food and just scare them away."
Worthy of being one of the wise men. If I hadn't seen the refugees, I would have wondered if he was telling the truth.
"So, it means your whole tribe is into the business, right? If not, why bother to scare the humans away? Don't lie about searching for food. These guys said goblins can't cook. What about the trolls? Are they your partners too?"
I winked at Alex and he walked towards the old goblin slowly. The old goblin was so scared that he shook like a sieve.
"No…no..no. I will tell the truth."
"Go on.."
"Our whole tribe didn't participate in their business. Only two wise men out of five did this to get extra food. The other goblins are just so hungry. Although we can't cook, we ate it raw. This forest has a lot of plants but there aren't many fruits and vegetables we can eat. So we only target the livestocks and vegetables, not human lives. I swear…"
"And we are not responsible for the trolls. They are crazy from time to time. We can't even communicate with them."
Looks like he was telling the truth. There was only one question left..
"How long are you doing this? How many times?"
"It's the third batch after I took over. It's been three years.."
"After you took over? You mean…"
"My predecessor was doing this for almost twenty years."
Damn!!! Are humans stupid? They were not satisfied by tormenting their own humans themselves but added goblins and demons too.
"Killing them now will be a waste. Let them serve the human children as servants. We don't want or have time to care for the children."
We saved them and now we were responsible for their food and safety. They will die if I let them fend for themselves.
In the kitchen, they have rice, a small piece of dried meat and seasonings but no vegetables. When I looked around, I didn't find edible fruits or plants like they said.
But… is it even possible? Nature is omnipotent. There must be something hidden. There are no edible plants on the ground but I found many kinds of ferns. And…they are not poisonous.
I touched the ground and felt underneath. There it goes…. a lot of tubers under the ground. I can't even name them all. With a surge of magic, I pulled out nearly all the roots, leaving some roots to keep the plants alive.
[ What are they even called? ]
[ I have a Plant Encyclopedia here. Let me see … The round and purple roots are called taro. The white round thing is Eddoe and the yellow round thing is called potato. These tube-like things are Ube (purple), sweet potato (yellow)... The white two are cassava and yam…]
[ What the hell!!! Can all of them be found in the same place? It's not scientific.]
[ Master, what kind of science are you talking about? You are in the magic world. Remember? Magic itself is not scientific…]