Debauchery Foothold 2

Debauchery Foothold

Chapter 2

-VB-

Alan

1440

After a week struggling to find people and another week on the road with the elven and human soldiers of Azka-Evran, I arrived at their destination and found myself deeply disappointed. 

I expected to find some kind of bastion against the goblintide. I expected to find something sturdy, gritty, and proud. What I found instead was a crumbling fort surrounded by a small town.

Nesru Fort was … weak. 

If I compared this fort to the one that existed in Medieval Europe, Middle East, India, and East Asia, then I would be forced to criticize how weak it was. Its stone walls had already been battered to kingdom come, but more crucially, it carried the marks of prior sieges. When I asked about it, the captain was hesitant to tell me about the rebellion that had been raging in the region prior to the goblintide.

If this was the state their border forts were in and how insecure their roads were internally, then I could say without any uncertainty that the Kingdom of Azka-Evran will fall if it doesn’t get any international support. 

It also explained how they were desperate for fighters enough to offer titles and land to a complete stranger just because I could fight well.

And the people inside the fort?

Half-starving, carrying old if well-cared for weapons, and more militia than actual garrison soldiers and trained professionals. 

Yeah. 

No. 

There was no way they were going to survive the goblintide. 

I wasn’t going to stay. 

“Captain Mahrn,” I greeted the man as I walked into the man’s temporary office in the barracks. 

The good captain looked up and saw me. “Ah, Alan. What brings you here?”

“I was wondering if you knew any goblin outposts I could raid and get paid for it.”

He blinked before a calculating gleam entered his eyes. “I do know of a few on the other side of the border. In fact, there are already adventurers here in this fort who regularly go out to raid the goblins and get paid for it. If you want, then you can go and raid with them.”

I hummed. I hadn’t realized there were adventurers in town. I knew that the world of Anbennar was a D&D inspiration, so it should have adventurers, but having them this close? I was actually a little excited. Would they be on par with D&D adventurers? Stronger? Weaker? 

“Thank you.”

“But if you want something more serious…”

I stopped turning to look at Mahrn.

“You have something for me?”

“Yes,” he said as he turned the large map around. 

It showed a province called “Azkasad.” “This is Azkasad, the province to the east of us and this fort as well as where the goblins first attacked as they came out of the Serpentsreach. We are here.” He pointed to a fort mark on the bottom left edge of the map, where the fort stood outside the marked lines demarcating the province. “Our scouts have noted that there were at least six minor outposts here, here, and here.” He said as he pointed to three locations on the other side of the province border. By the legend on the map, the distance was around six leagues*, whatever that measurement was. “And there is a major outpost - a village, really - another two leagues beyond those outposts. If you can provide proof, then I will pay you two gold ducats for small outposts and five ducat for the goblin village.”

“Hmm. And would whatever I loot be mine?”

“Yes as long as it isn’t contraband magical artifacts like a necromancer’s tome.”

Oh, right. Necromancers were a thing. 

“Sure. Hell, I’ll even turn it over to you for a reward if I find one,” I grinned. 

He grinned back. “That would be appreciated actually.”

I turned and left his office. 

But then I had a thought. 

If I learned how to use necromancy, then didn’t I not need to keep slaves or hire people? Something to consider as a serious option. 

For now, I had goblins to hunt! 

Should I get help? 

… Nah, I don’t want to split loot. 

-VB-

Gruznik

1440 

Gruznik sneered at the weakling in front of him. 

The slave girl, born from one of the many human slaves his tribe kept, moved away after taking her fifth whipping of the day. Despite the fact that she was a half-goblin, she had none of the cunning and 

‘Useless creature,’ he thought as he glared at the taller goblinoid before turning his gaze away from the thing to his voila-chief. “Have you finished the preparations for the raid?” he demanded. 

“Yes, tribeboss,*” the goblin warrior nodded and hurried away. 

Gruznik sighed as he slid down his throne slightly. 

Fucking hell.

Ever since he led his tribe to follow Clanboss Guklo Greysheep out of the Serpentsreach a decade ago, he didn’t expect to be engaged in this much conflict. 

Humans and elves were the dwellers of the roofless surface, and they were relentless in their attacks. They were monsters. Every time they came out of the woods and mountains and valleys and hills, hundreds of his people died. Thousands! What used to be a proud tribe of thirty thousand was now down to just eight thousand huddling in the foothills and hinterlands where the clan first came to the surface, no longer close to the frontlines for riches. 

So they must make it where they can. 

And that meant raiding the damn humans and elves who killed so many of his people. 

If his tribe could not keep up the wealth gains of other tribes in the clan, then they would be pushed to the side, and from there, pushed to irrelevance and disappearance. 

He would not let that happen. 

“How many warriors are ready?”

“We have gathered two thousand perzak rabbles along with another one thousand mercenary rabbles. On top of this, we have one thousand slave fodders. We finished putting the mercenary rabbles evenly along the border outposts and the slaves and perzak rabbles are here in our main tribe.”

Four thousand soldiers. 

Good. 

“Then proceed-.”

A goblin ran in, wearing the garbs of a shaman. 

“Tribeboss! The southern outpost -!”

Gruznik stared. 

“What?”

---

Alan

I huffed as I stared down at the goblin outpost. 

For fuck’s sake, there had been way too many goblins here. And adventurers came here by themselves to take care of these guys? 

Ah, well. It wasn’t something I couldn’t do. 

In fact, I’ve been in this world for thirty days now. 

Which meant that I now had 20 points. 

And with 20 points, I could get a Template upgrade, boosting any of my current templates to Tier 5. 

I did just that. I pulled out my phone and bought the template upgrade. 

My eyes widened as Jaina Proudmoore’s memories and her power rushed into my head. I gritted my teeth as I felt my mind expand. I understood! I saw! I felt!

And when it ended, I gasped as I collapsed to my knees. 

Then I chuckled, slowly and quietly.

Yeah… Yeah, I was powerful now. 

Yeah…

I was going to burn the goblins.

But first, I was going to scout the outpost. 

---

Gruznik

“What? A firestorm?” he asked, aghast. 

“Yes, boss! Fire fell down from the sky and fell on the entire outpost! There was no escape because it started from the outside and came inward! The humans have a war wizard on their side!” 

A war wizard. 

Oh… Oh this was bad. 

Their goblin shamans weren’t like human and elven war mages. They were good at smaller things. Helping the crops grow better, spying on their enemies (inside and outside), and making the walls sturdier. That kind of smaller things. 

A fucking war wizard?

They were one-man armies. The last war wizard his people had faced had been with the orcs when they attacked them out of nowhere from the east. Which was why his clan and all other clans in the Serpentsreach had fled. 

A war wizard?! 

They had to run!

“Tell me in detail what happened to the outpost…!” he hissed. 

---

Alan

I watched in awe even as I struggled to control the magic. 

Magic. In scale. 

And I was the source of it. 

I gritted my teeth even through my awed grin as I kept the fire burning around the outpost and brought it in towards it. 

I heard screams of both fire and living things as I burned away everything I didn’t want. 

And finally when enough of the outpost had been burned, I let the magic stop. Without my mana to fuel it, the hail of fire stopped, though the fire on the ground didn’t end.

I gasped and panted as I stumbled forward and then backward. My vision blinked in and out as I tried to keep a hold of myself. 

Damn! 

HOOOOHHH!!!!

Goddamn.

Seriously. 

I started taking deep breaths in and out and grounded myself. 

Yeah. 

I almost ran out of mana, that was a pretty bad feeling. 

But I knew exactly how to fix it. I reached into my Inventory and pulled out a single item. I slowly uncapped the leather water pouch and started drinking. 

Immediately, I felt my mana filling up faster than it was by itself. 

Drinking water also made me feel refreshed. 

And when I had my final gulp, I let out a hiss of relief. I tossed the water pouch back into my Inventory.

Alright.

I was ready to kill the rest of the goblins down there. 

---

Gruznik

“A-After the fire ended, a human mage came down to fight.”

They should have run, not fight back! 

“He … he decimated us. He would fire off spells rapidly, teleport to a different locations, shoot us in the back, and then appear in the our center when we tried to defend ourselves from all directions, and freeze all of us to the ground. Then … then he would use magic to burn us all over again.”

“What happened afterward?”

“S-Some of us escaped,” the goblin shrunk. “But the others… they didn’t make it. The southern outpost is gone, boss.”

Gruznik gritted his teeth. Of all times for a war wizard to appear out of nowhere! Worse, they were usually followed by thousands of soldiers! 

“You!” he shouted as he pointed to one of his warriors. “Send a messenger to Clanboss Greysheep! We’re being attacked by a war wizard. You!” He then pointed to another warrior. “Get the entire tribe ready to move east! We can’t stay here in the open!”

He’d chosen this valley because of how fertile it was, but it was also very wide and very open. If they stayed here, then they would all die! 

---

Alan

I hummed as the last resisting goblin dropped to its knees and keeled over to the side. 

Then I turned to the small area of the outpost I made sure to put in the center of my hail of fire magic attacks, so it wouldn’t burn since I stopped the inward pulling attack before it struck this place. 

But all sorts of things were burning around it. 

I ran into the first of many tents and saw what I suspected. 

Slaves. 

I brought out a pair of bolt scissors (I borrowed this from the elves) and started to break their chains. “Up, up!” I shouted at the bewildered and scared slaves. “I killed all of the goblins outside! Let’s get you all out of here!” 

That seemed to shake them out of their daze and they quickly mobilized. 

From the look of it, some of them had been soldiers and officers from the way they tried to order the other slaves to form into groups and organize them.

I went outside and put the closest of the fires out before freeing even more slaves. 

I noticed a trend. Most of the slaves were either young children or women. There were no elderly. Most of the slave men were also emaciated and weak. Was that deliberate? 

I noticed something as well. There were abnormally few goblin women and goblin children but plenty of half-goblinoids, those who looked like goblins on the surface but their stature, smoother appearance, and more human-like design set them apart from the goblins. 

I did notice a few of them outside when I killed them along with the goblins but saw more of their kind in the cages and slave tents than as warriors and soldiers.

This place felt more like a war camp than an outpost. A preparation site rather than a hub for the local goblin population. 

By the time we left the now ruined goblin outpost, I led a hundred freed slaves to Azka-Evran. 

But I didn’t forget those details.

And I made sure to get my pick of loot. 

I made sure to make a report and submit to Mahrn.

-VB-

Captain Mahrn

Nesru Fort

1440

What should have been a week-long stay before returning to the capital… was cut short by the mage’s report. 

“You are certain?”

He and the other military officers and nobles of Nesru Fort and the Nasru-Ean province had come to hear the report themselves. For Mahrn, this was the second time he was hearing it. 

“Yes,” Alan replied with a nod. “I first scouted the outpost and noted the numbers. Then I noted the numbers again, reduced this time, as I left the outpost. There were at least one thousand goblins, most of which were armed and armored, in that outpost.”

“We confirmed this with the ex-slaves,” Mahrn added. “Those who saw it, like Lieutenant Emik of Reuran who we thought dead but had been enslaved by the goblins instead, confirmed that there were roughly a thousand goblins.”

Which was a problem. 

“We need scouts on the other outposts along our border,” Marquess Saria sil Noqatsul of Nasru-Ean spoke from where she sat at the head of the meeting table. “War Wizard Alan, thank you for your service. If you need something, then I will be sure to help you with it.”

Mahrn grimaced. Would Alan ask for slavery exemption? The man had been consistently asking about that before. 

To his surprise, Alan just bowed and left once she dismissed him. 

And it was only after he left and moved far away from the meeting room that the marquess turned to him.

“Captain Mahrn. You are the one who met with War Wizard Alan the most, are you not?” 

“I am, marquess,” he replied respectfully. 

“What does he desire?” 

“... He wishes to explore the Serpentspine Mountains.”

That got other military generals and nobles in the room to start murmuring. 

“Exploration, then?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Hmm,” she leaned back into her chair. Her long brunette hair cascaded down to the front of her shapely chest, which was barely covered by the more risque dress she wore for the occasion. Had that been a scheme to see if the human mage was attracted? 

Hell, Mahrn mentally applauded her for the attempt. The entire kingdom was that desperate. 

“The vast majority of the Serpentsreach has been under the rule of the goblins for as long as my people have been here in Sarhal,” she noted. “But the goblins have now left those mountains, leaving it empty.”

Mahrn stared at the marquess. Then his eyes widened. “You don’t mean that -?”

“There might be a benefit to supporting a human mage who seeks to stake a claim in those mountains,” she smiled. “The rich mines that the dwarves first opened up are still there, are they not? They are simply ready for someone else to come and take them. And we here at Nasru-Ean March is right next to Azkasad, which is the only non-dwarven hold entrance into the mountains. Yes, it wouldn’t be a bad investment…!”

He thought about what the marquess was saying. 

It would certainly help the kingdom if there was a new province working under them, even if what they got in return was just extra food or subpar iron. 

Because that was iron their people didn’t need to buy with the gold they mined from the capital province. 

---

Alan

The first place I went to after leaving the meeting was the market. 

The early morning market was slowly dying down now, and most of the shops were closing up.

Which was also the perfect time to get leftover food and ingredients for cheap. 

I walked up to a stall owned by a human. 

“Morning.”

The woman paused. “Oh, a customer. Welcome. How can I help you? I’ve got good vegetables here.”

I looked down and looked back up at her with a deadpan. She tried to keep up her smile but it was stiff. 

“I’ll give you three coppers for one head of cabbage, two sticks of carrots, and two bulbs of onions.”

“That’s too little, sir! Six coppers for the lot is the least I could sell them for.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Six? That’s highway robbery. I’m sure I could go over to that elf’s stall and find vegetables that bugs have had a bite in, unlike the … completely clean vegetables here. Four coppers.”

“I’ll throw in another bulb of onion for five coppers.”

“... Acceptable.”

We shook hands, and I tossed them all into my inventory while handing over one silver.

The stall owner froze when she saw me holding the silver. 

I waited. 

She smiled. Her smile was stiffer than before. She quickly got out change and exchanged them for me, giving me … ninety-six coppers? 

I frowned. Then I saw how she looked uneasy. Without a word, I left the promised one more copper on her stall and walked away. 

Now… why was that lady so scared about the silver coin? 

I’ll investigate it later. For now, I had people to feed. 

I went around the rest of the market, buying meat, more vegetables, and fruits. Then, I went back to the fort (because Captain Mahrn let me stay there), but instead of heading into the kitchen, I went to the unused corners, found a door there, and opened a way to somewhere else. 

The doorway crackled once and then twice before settling. 

This was my Pocket Apartment that I had purchased from the Waifu Company. 

I opened the door and stepped in.

Inside, a dozen pairs of eyes snapped up toward me. 

And I was using it to keep people safe. 

“Relax, it’s me,” I called out in common with momentarily raised hands. I closed the door behind me. 

Still dressed in my modern casual clothes, I looked distinct enough for the people inside to feel … safer. 

Because coming across someone who wore “regular” clothes would have meant a horrible life ahead for them.

I looked at the all of the halfies here. 

Half-goblin elves and half-goblin humans. The tallest of them was barely a hundred and forty centimeters (4’6”) while the youngest and shortest of them was barely length of my extended hand and forearm. 

I frowned when I looked at them all. “I showed you how to use the bathroom. Why haven’t you all gotten clean yet?” I asked as I walked over to the kitchen and brought out what I’ve bought. Fruit and meat cost the most, costing me nearly sixty coppers for everything, while the vegetables cost me only thirty coppers. But it would be enough for the half-goblins here to eat for a week without me delivering food every single day. 

As for why I was keeping them here? 

Half-goblins didn’t have a good life out there. The few that I had missed among the rescued slaves were treated like they were barely worth keeping alive. The elves and humans with their Sun Cult might not endorse slavery, but they sure as fuck treated the half-goblins as slaves. Was it because of their current feelings against the goblins who invaded and torched their lands? Possibly. Probably. But for a people who claimed the moral high ground, they certainly didn’t act like it. 

The dozen half-goblins looked at the food, gulped, and slowly moved to make foo-. 

Never mind, they were about to devour the vegetables and meat raw. 

I hissed at them, and they froze. 

“Cook first,” I demanded with a glare, and the oldest of them nodded.

I chopped up the vegetables and meat and supervised their cooking. 

I knew from talking with them previously that most of the half-goblins I managed to “save” were all … children. The oldest of them, a half-elf girl, was no older than eighteen, and the youngest - the one I measured in forearms and hands - was six years old. 

There were older half-goblins out there in the city, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I went out today and found a few dead in a ditch. 

The oldest girl ladled out the pork stew into wooden bowls and gave them out to the kids. 

And they all began to eat and drink to their heart’s content. 

I snorted as I leaned against the kitchen counter in my apron.

Because, of course, I was putting on an apron when I was cooking. What did you think I was, a heathen?

“Why are you still helping us?” 

I glanced at the oldest gi-. Oh, no, this was the oldest boy. 

“Because once you lot are all fed and happy, I planned on asking you all if you were interested in moving into the Serpentsreach with me instead of staying out here where everyone either wants you dead, in chains, or as a frontline fodder as soldiers.”

The boy, a floppy eared half-human half-goblin, didn’t look at me but the way his eyes narrowed told me that he wasn’t feeling good about any of this. 

“Would we be slaves?”

“If you want to leave my care, then the door is right there,” I replied quietly. “I’m not going to stop you from seeking your freedom. Just remember that my door won’t always be here if you regret it.”

His look didn’t change.

“That’s not what I was asking.”

“It isn’t,” I hummed. “No. I’m not going to make you my slaves. While I am not against slavery in this age and world, I am not going to go out of my way to make slaves, especially out of children. No, it’s better for me if I train you lot into becoming what I want, if you are willing. So,” I said as I slightly turned to look at him. “What do you want to be?”

He gritted his teeth.

“I want to kill goblins,” he whispered while looking at all of his “siblings” who were laughing and eating across the room. 

“Oh?”

“They are horrible. We are their children but they sometimes kill and eat us for sport. I want them all dead. Goblins all deserve to die.”

I grinned. 

“Even if it meant going through some pain for change and training?” 

Finally, he turned to look at me. 

“If I can kill a hundred goblins before I die, then I will be happy.”

“I can do you better than that. I’ll make sure you would have killed a thousand and more goblins before you die,” I said as I extended my hand toward him.

He looked down at my hand, and his floppy ears flapped once, his large nose flared, and he gritted his square jaws. 

Then he grabbed it in a forearm shake. 

“Atu,” he said. “I’m Atu.”

“I’m Alan. Nice to finally hear your name,” I replied. “Tell me, how do you feel about magic?” 

“Is it going to help me kill goblins?”

“Certainly.”

“I’ll take it and whatever else that helps me kill goblins.”

“Perfect.”

I just gained my first candidate for an engine of war.