The group found the rest of the team about an hour later.
At this time, the soldiers were dining in a clearing, some distance away from the captives. They were talking about where to release the little things.
"Where do we leave them?"
After all, living them here in the human territory would be no different than leaving them back in Guia.
"Er… do Goblins even have their own safe territory?"
"There should, right? How else would they wage war with other villages?"
"Oh, that makes sense. Do you know where this place is, then?"
They looked at each other and turned to Gaudi, who also shook his head. He had never been out of a couple of human settlements, how could he get out of the human territory?
Garan thought for a while and sighed, "I think we should just leave them in a more difficult terrain to find. At the very least, they have good digging capabilities so we can give them a good chance to survive and escape."
The team nodded. They'd already done more than enough for the creatures. They weren't even expecting any thanks!
Before they could finalize their plans, however, everyone whipped their heads in a direction, bodies tense and guarded.
"Trouble! Trouble!!" A yell quickly approached them. It felt like a breeze arrived and a figure appeared when it died out.
It was Loki, a soldier with mutated wind abilities that allowed him to spy on people several levels higher. He was pale and had a grave expression on his face.
"They want to kill us! An order from the lord!" He said with greeted teeth, and the rest looked alarmed at the news.
The others' backs straightened and they frowned, indignant. "What? How come? We got them fair and square."
Garan raised his hand. "Calm down. We should've known it would be like this." He paused. "We just take advantage of… the terrain."
Indeed…, they were no goblins, but they also had some skills.
…
A few hours later, the group watched as the enemies fell into the trap, now with cloth on their faces.
Don't look at them so much weaker than these guys in level, but the breadth of survival and fighting knowledge imbued in their heads was enough to deal with stronger opponents if used well.
They didn't kill the cronies, but they did hang them upside down. They didn't tie them too tightly either, in case of monsters getting near.
They didn't worry beyond this, as these people were quite strong in level. They should be able to handle village-level monsters with relative ease.
Satisfied with the state of the men, the group turned back to the group of captives. They just sat there and peacefully ate their soup.
Garan was surprised that they were so well-behaved.
After all, this was the very same group of creatures who were crazily attacking like rabid dogs not too long ago.
Garan observed them a bit more, wondering if they were acting.
Interestingly, it seemed that amongst some of the goblins they saved, that little guy who ran away back then seemed to have a relatively high position among the goblins.
Garan knew this because the goblin was being surrounded by goblins with humble body language.
They also seemed to be enjoying the barbeque doused with his special sauce very much.
Garan walked to this group of higher-ups. "You seem to be fine like this?" He asked, good-natured, but was ready for a surprise attack any time.
The goblins remained in their place.
The goblins seemed to still not want to talk to them (which was funny because they had sauce on their lips), but at least there wasn't any life-or-death aggressiveness. It was something he was very curious about.
It was an old goblin next who spoke, explaining to him. "Goblins have a special ability, and it is not limited to stones. It just so happened that it was the most practical application of the ability."
The old green creature paused and looked at Garan, who was trying to figure out what he meant. "Another facet of this ability is to detect the breath of our brethren, and also the type of breath.
"Breath? Type of breath?"
"Yes, either suffering, pain, or… something else."
Garan immediately understood, recalling how they were pretty much undamaged while the slave drivers went through hell before their deaths.
Before he could ask to confirm though, he noticed that the old goblin and the few others beside him looked at him in a complicated expression.
"What is it?" He asked.
The goblins looked at each other and then to him, asking a simple question: "Why?"
Why save us?
The black-haired man did not answer immediately, but when he did, he answered succinctly.
"We come from a place where there are no slaves." He just said—quite vague—before turning back to his teammates.
But it was enough to explain everything.
…
That night, the soldiers, after seeing the result of their final knockout drug on the soup, took out all the ropes and other constricting tools.
Seeing that everyone was free, their group walked out to leave them be.
Vanessa whispered to her suitor. "Why didn't we keep a few? We won't treat them as slaves, we can hire them to look for ores for us."
This suitor, Rey, was a bit brainless when it came to Vanessa, but this time he did not agree.
"The little trust the goblin gave would disappear. It's not the time yet, nor are we strong enough to hold whatever they could find."
Vanessa frowned, feeling annoyed for not being gratified this time.
Since they rescued the goblins, it seems her suitors were a little less passionate about her than before?
What Vanessa didn't know that something had changed in her suitors after the rescue mission.
They had, after all, finally reignited their life meaning. They no longer had to hold on to something as abstract as romantic affection to feel sane.
Brain cells simply started working when not blinded by love.
But, again, Vanessa didn't know this yet.
…
A few hours later, Garan, Eagle, and Gill walked back to this former camp to check on the goblins.
The camp was clean and there were no more goblins. From the neatness of the place, the goblins had obviously left peacefully.
Well, except for a jar of his sauce… that was nowhere in sight. There was also a jar of his special condiment…
His lips twitched.
As he turned to leave, his peripheral vision saw something sparkle in the grass next to the stone where the old man used to sit.
He walked to the area, followed closely by the other two.
There were about three stones on the ground, the size of toenails.
They were quite beautiful, as if the stars were condensed and placed inside a gemstone.
It was an ethereal stone, not like anything they had ever seen.
A thought hit the trio's mind at the same time. They whipped their heads to look at each other. Their sights met and their eyes widened in disbelief.
—A stone that contains the stars—
Space stones!
The goblins actually left them space stones!