Sunica made it about fifty feet before she heard Avea call out to her.

  “Hey! Suni! Let’s walk together!”

  She turned to stare at him.

  “Aren’t you trying to…”

  Avea shrugged.

  “Nah. Not really. I mean, sure, officially. But like I said back there, this is a lose lose situation for me. It’s way better for me if I can say you found the damned thing.”

  That… actually made a lot of sense. It also took a lot of the urgency out of the situation. It’s not like the goblin could run quickly in that state, and if it wasn’t a competition with Avea then…

  “Yeah, sure I guess that works.”

  “Got any skills that’ll make it easy?”

  Sunica shook her head and sighed deeply.

  “No. My skills only work for tracking animals. You?”

  “I got [Dangersense] but it’s a pretty weak sensation. I think I have a general idea.”

  He raised his arm and gestured vaguely.

  “Thaaaat way. Ish.”

  Sunica giggled.

  “Ish? Sure I should be trusting you?”

  Avea shrugged in response, but started walking anyway. She hurried to follow until they were walking side by side. For a few minutes they strolled in silence. Sunica hoped Lily was doing okay. Adelina could be stubborn, and stubborn plus much higher level than you could end poorly. Although, her sister wasn’t usually a cruel person. She just looked down her nose at Sunica. In an alternate world, maybe they could have had a close retionship as sisters. If only–

  She shut that thought down. It’d been a long time since she’d let herself wish for that. To be like everyone else. To have the family she was born into. It hurt too much to think about. So, instead she tried talking.

  “So, you really don’t care about the whole… Lily thinks goblins are people thing?”

  Avea ughed.

  “Not even a little.”

  “Why not? Don’t you have to fight them on the regur? I’d have thought you’d have an opinion at the very least.”

  He turned and looked her in the eyes. She saw something in his gaze that hadn’t been there when they were kids, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

  “Sunica, I’d stick my spear through anyone who was a danger to Veni. Person or not. It doesn’t change anything.”

  “Ah. I guess that makes sense. But if she’s right, you could try like… talking them down right?”

  He shook his head in response, and thought for a moment before going on.

  “No. I don’t think so. We can’t really talk to them in the first pce. But even if we could, it wouldn’t matter. They attack us for food and supplies they don’t make themselves. They need the stuff, Suni. It’s not a matter of wanting to or not.”

  “So, just invite them into Veni then. Tell them if they do honest work, they can just live like us.”

  She wasn’t sure why she was arguing Lily’s point in this. Her experience with goblins was that they were violent monsters. But if the human girl was right, it bothered her that Avea’s reaction was like this.

  “Truth is, there’d be as many of them as there are of us.”

  “So what? If they’re people–”

  “We don’t have the supplies for that either. Veni isn’t a wealthy town, Suni. It might work in the long run once everyone is established and production catches up. But in the first couple months we’d starve out just like they are in the woods. And then what? Factions form, and then it’s a war? Maybe with the full support of Avezare we could make it work. You wanna go talk to the [Matriarch] and convince her to let a town’s worth of goblins move into Veni? Suni, it doesn’t matter if they’re people. They’re a danger, and my job is to protect the people of Veni from dangers. People or not.”

  Sunica frowned. That did make some sense. But it still felt wrong to her. Although, the words that she wanted to say next felt terribly naive to her.

  “I just want to do the right thing.”

  Avea rolled his eyes. Sunica flushed a little.

  “Don’t give me that look! Is that so wrong? Don’t you wanna do the right thing too? We used to talk about it all the time. Being heroes.”

  He took a deep breath.

  “Yeah. When we were kids. If my experience as a guard has taught me anything, it’s that the next question is, ‘who are you doing the right thing for’?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I don’t want to get into this right now. Suffice it to say, there’s not enough comfort and joy to go around. Everyone’s just fighting to keep their head above water, and every time you pull someone up, someone else sinks. That’s just how the world works.”

  She wanted to argue. To tell him it wasn’t true. But, the look on his face told her that he was not in a pce to talk about it. So, she tried to change the subject.

  “Well, then let’s circle back. Even if you think it doesn’t matter, do you think the goblins are people? You’ve seen them a lot more than I have.”

  The tension drained just a bit, and he shook his head.

  “Nah. They’re monsters. Maybe they’re both, but they’re definitely monsters.”

  “How do you know?”

  “People gain levels faster for killing them.”

  Lily stared at Adelina in disbelief.

  “What does that mean… exactly? Sunica said something like that before.”

  “It’s a known phenomenon. People with combat csses level up faster when fighting monsters than when fighting against people, and even more for killing them. It’s quite a pronounced effect, to the point that often the quickest and most dangerous method to gain levels quickly is to fold whatever css you want to level into a combat css and fight strong monsters. Even a [Receptionist] might aim for a [Battlefield Coordinator] or [Quartermaster] css and level quickly as a result by adventuring. Of course, such people often end up dead. But, if you are reckless enough, it is a path to power.”

  Lily paused and thought. That didn’t make a lot of sense. Why would it be that way in the first pce? Why would there be a distinction?

  “Are you sure you’re not just missing some other cause of the increased levels? Are you sure it’s because they’re monsters?”

  Adelina nodded tiredly.

  “Quite certain. The matter has been studied in detail.”

  “But that makes no sense! Just because they’re green, they’re worth more EXP? There must be something else to it.”

  “E-X-P?”

  “More levels. Whatever!”

  Lily was getting frustrated. Her mind was so quick to paint this as a bck and white issue of bigotry and not understanding a foreign people, because that was certainly what it would be if she was talking to humans from earth. But if the system itself reinforced it… why?

  “I just don’t understand why…”

  Adelina shrugged.

  “That’s less certain. The church cims it’s a gift from their goddess.”

  “Sunica said that too. But that still screams bullshit doesn’t it? What kind of gift is that?”

  “Well, they cim that it’s an incentive to keep the people of the world on the same side. Fight monsters, not each other. See?”

  “Does it work?”

  Adelina shrugged again.

  “People do not often kill each other for no reason other than to level. Since it is not effective. In that sense, sure. But of course it doesn’t keep violence from happening altogether.”

  “Why not just reward people for cooperating rather than killing anything?”

  “I’m not a [Cleric], Miss Human. I don’t know everything. I don’t even know which parts to believe versus not. But it’s the truth that it’s more valuable to kill goblins than people by a ton. And that’s the reason the church gives. It does seem to support the facts.”

  Lily blew out her cheeks and paused. This wasn’t going very well. Somehow, deep in her heart she had expected that if goblins were thinking feeling creatures, which those ones had certainly seemed to be, then the reasons people had for considering them monsters would be immaterial. The reality seemed more complicated than that, and as this conversation went on, she was starting to feel less than great about her own viewpoints.Not that Lily thought she was wrong about it being wrong to kill thinking feeling creatures. More, she was starting to feel like she was coming at this from the wrong angle. Like all the protagonists in those old white savior style stories, where a ‘western’ girl was somehow lost in an ‘uncivilized’ part of the world and slowly taught the inhabitants simple moral lessons and hygiene.

  She took a deep breath. She had to re-frame. The people of this world were just as intelligent as the people where she came from, and they had good reasons for believing the things they did. However, if peace was possible, killing the goblins was still wrong. So, she had to sit down, shut up, and learn before she became a part of the conversation.

  “Okay. I feel I owe you an apology. I’ve been stuck on the idea that this is simple bigotry. I still think it’s wrong, but it’s clear it’s more complicated than that. Let’s try something else. How much of that church’s stuff do you personally believe? Does the Goddess exist? How much of what the church says is propaganda?”

  Adelina’s irritation visibly faded a little, and she put on a slightly lecturing tone.

  “The Goddess herself definitely exists. Records indicate she walked this world herself only a few thousand years ago, and there are some pces that bear her mark that can be observed. Also, she speaks directly to higher members of the clergy from time to time. It’d be pretty hard to dispute that as an entity she exists. Those that worship her are granted a special css, and gain power that she allows them.”

  Well. This had come up before from Sunica, but Adelina seemed to be more knowledgeable on the subject. That was interesting. A goddess, huh. Was that just what she called herself as a very powerful entity? Or was it a proper term? What really was the difference? But, Adelina was going on.

  “As far as my personal beliefs, I’d guess that like any political organization the church puts forth the best possible interpretation of themselves for the world to see. So, while the facts might be strictly true, they’re coming from a biased source and are tinged with that bias.”

  That made sense. More or less. It was very much the perspective of someone embroiled in the politics of the situation at least. That led Lily to a few more questions though.

  “Okay, well then what are the facts? The gift makes monsters level you up more when you kill them. Are there more gifts like that? Why does she have power over the system to begin with? Can she just do anything?”

  The baur girl raised an eyebrow at that.

  “Because… she’s the one that made it?”

  “Huh?”

  “Leveling. We level because of the Goddess. So of course she decides how quickly or slowly that happens.”

  “Wait. What? Are you sure?”

  The girl rolled her eyes in response.

  “Stop asking me that! Yes I’m sure! I wouldn’t be confidently telling you so if I wasn’t!”

  “W-well. Then how come [Clerics] don’t level way faster than everyone else?”

  “How should I know!? It doesn’t work that way because it doesn’t.”

  “But I don’t even know anything about this Goddess, and I’m leveling!”

  “That is strange. You said you lost your css upon coming here right? Didn’t your people know about the Goddess as well?”

  “No! I never heard about any of this before coming here.”

  They stared at each other for a couple seconds before understanding fshed across Adelina’s face.

  “Wait, you didn’t lose your css when you came here, did you?”

  “I– uh…”

  “You didn’t have one to begin with!”

  Well. Shit. It’s not as if she was opposed to Adelina knowing. But, the cover story Sunica had created for her came undone so easily…

  “Uh… Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. Look, Sunica said it would be a simple excuse…”

  “I was wondering how a spell could erase something like a css. Although, wherever you’re from having such powerful magic without any csses is also somewhat questionable. Tell me the truth: Where are you really from?”

  How had this conversation gotten to HERE of all pces!? Lily wracked her mind. Should she just tell the truth? She wanted to be on good terms with Adelina. But, she also wanted to avoid the common and obvious pitfalls of being a known offworlder. The st thing she needed was to be carted away to some b somewhere and studied like a rat. Or whatever else could happen.

  Wait. Adelina’s skills! That was perfect!

  “I’ll tell you everything I know if you promise as part of the terms of your skill not to share it with anyone without my permission.”

  “Done.”

  Woah. That was much easier than Lily had suspected. Wait, was this a mis-step? Had she just given away more than she had intended…?

  “I–really?”

  “It doesn’t matter if only I know. Mother will understand if I tell her I’m bound by my negotiation skill not to share it, and I can still advise where you’re concerned as long as I don’t reveal the information. Plus, I want to know.”

  Lily nodded.

  “Okay… So how does this work…?”

  She didn’t feel any different. A forced confession wasn’t spilling out of her mouth or anything.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Shouldn’t I be uncontrolbly blurting out all my secrets right now?”

  Adelina ughed in response, and it took some of the tension out of the air.

  “No! Don’t be silly. It’s not binding until we end my skill together. Plus, even then as long as you intend to tell me and don’t withhold anything it’ll work fine. It doesn’t have to be all at once, or right when the skill ends. Can you imagine how that would go for longer negotiations with huge lists of terms if they all had to happen as quickly as possible?”

  “Oh. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. And you’re fine with waiting until we’re done to hear about it?”

  Adelina sighed.

  “If that’s what will make you feel safe. I am curious. But, I meant it. I do want to be on good terms with you.”

  That eased Lily’s heart a little. Yeah. She needed to stop treating this like a competition. It was important she got Adelina to understand where she was coming from. But, they were gonna be friends at the end of the day. They both wanted that.

  “Okay then. So, this goddess of levels. She exists, she’s the reason everyone levels up, and she says goblins are monsters. There are bigger rewards for killing them. That all right? Anything else to know? What’s her name?”

  “Tons of lore I guess. Her name is Elevele.”

  “Isn’t that… really on the nose? Level is in her name?”

  Adelina let out a half ugh.

  “Of course. She named the system after herself. Obviously.”

  “I– Oh. I guess that makes sense. That’s stupid though! How does the term make it into where I came from then?”

  “I don’t know. I’d have to know more about where you came from.”

  “Ugh. Okay. So, what if they’re also people? Goblins, that is. If we can talk to them, and they’re… just like us? Thinking and feeling creatures.”

  She shrugged in response.

  “Then they are. Certainly there’s some evidence of that above and beyond the fact that you say so. It really doesn’t change a lot. It shifts the statement ‘they are a threat’ to the question ‘why have they decided to be a threat’ in some regards. But, the fact that they are a threat and need to be dealt with as such remains.”

  “Fine. But what if ‘dealing’ with them could be solved by using my transtion spell to speak with them and hash out terms?”

  “Unlikely.”

  Lily could hear a little frustration enter her voice.

  “But why?”

  “How benevolent do you think people are? How er… ‘good’ as you would probably put it? The fact is, it would take a lot more resources and effort to befriend a hostile force of goblins than to simply wipe them out. And the rewards for doing so are higher as well. Morally it would be the correct thing to do, yes. I agree, if everything else you have put forward bears out to be completely accurate. However, I am in training to rule, and from that perspective I would have to disagree entirely.”

  “I don’t understand. Why? Surely killing innocent people–”

  “They are not innocent people, Lily. They would have killed us yesterday had we not killed them. Maybe an alternative could have been reached through your transtion spell had we known about it when the conflict started. But, had we been three weaklings in the woods, they would have chased us down and killed us. If Sunica had been alone, she would be dead right now. Or worse. If you understand nothing else, understand that.”

  That stopped Lily in her tracks. Well, shit. Reframing. Right. She was sure of her morals here, but she wasn’t the authority on how things were and she needed to accept it. Fine.

  “Okay. I understand. Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I know you’ve got other perspectives. But that is important.”

  “I still don’t understand why your perspective as a ruler would be different than your perspective as a person.”

  “Then, I’ll try to expin.”

  Lily leaned back and tried her best to listen and understand.

  “Every resource I expend costs someone something. Our country only produces so many resources. They do not come out of nowhere. I, as hypothetical [Matriarch] get to decide where those resources go. I have one job if you simplify it enough, and that is allocating those resources and creating rules that maximize the good those resources create for the people of my country. Do you understand?”

  Lily nodded, and Adelina continued.

  “The goblins are not part of my country. Yet, by existing and attacking my people they are wasting the resources my country has at its disposal. I have three potential solutions to the problem that are more or less obvious. First, we can simply wipe them out. Those that hunt them will become stronger for it, the resources they have stolen but not used will be recimed, and the threat will go away for a time.”

  She paused to make sure Lily was following before she continued.

  “Second, we could try to communicate and reach a peace. This takes time and resources, and may result in failure. If we succeed, we have done something morally just at cost to ourselves and the threat is eliminated.”

  Another pause for a breath, as she ticked the points off on her fingers.

  “Third, we could simply forcibly integrate the goblins as citizens. They would resent us for it, but that might only st a few generations. The people of this country would balk, but once again that would fade with enough time. There would be conflict and death in the short term, but we would weather and the threat would be eliminated at the cost of stability and the freedom of those goblins you insist are people. Which should I choose?”

  Lily stared at her for a second.

  “Number two? I mean, it’s clearly the right thing to do. Will your people starve for it? If not, do that. Clearly!”

  Adelina shook her head.

  “Incorrect. The only answer is the first. By keeping them around as a consistent replenishing threat, the value in resources they consume is worth the increased levels our people get from sying them. Further, there is no real chance of failure, and it doesn’t materially make life worse for our own citizens while we sort out the issue. The moral considerations toward the goblins really aren’t my concern from the perspective of a ruler.”

  “That’s evil! How can you even say that? You could justify anything with that logic. What if it was say, red baur? Living in your territory. Would it be the same then?”

  “Lily, I’m not telling you about my personal feelings on the matter. I’m telling you what the correct choice for a ruler is. To answer the question though, no. It’s not the same. Our citizens would lose sleep over that, and a force of baur from a different nation might use it as reason to go to war. But, there are no goblin nations to be concerned with, and killing them makes our people feel safer.”

  “Well. Fine. Not Baur then. Humans! What if it was humans?”

  “It’s the same. Humans have nations of their own. It could become a political situation. If for some reason you’re presenting a hypothetical where for some reason a political incident could not occur, say it was a group of known murderers and rapists uncimed by any nation, then yes. We would kill them too. As it happens, the goblins are a group of known murderers and rapists, uncimed by any nation. It does not matter as you said earlier that they happen to be green.”

  Lily felt she was grasping at straws. She wasn’t used to arguing like this. But… there had to be something she could say. It was just wrong to kill people for personal gain. Even if no one was coming to stop you. Even from a leadership perspective. Right?

  “That’s… That can’t be right. You can’t do horrible immoral things just because you’ve done the math and it benefits you.”

  “Lily, what do you think being a ruler is? Politics isn’t a game where everyone ughs and goes home at the end. It’s a competition about who gets to live, and who gets to die. As a ruler, my job is to make the best decisions for the citizens of my country. Right and wrong really doesn’t py into it any deeper than that.”

  She could feel tears of frustration starting to build in her eyes. She hated that. Lily wanted to be cool and rational, but it wasn’t right! Surely that meant something!

  “But. Fine… But what about you. Not as a ruler, but you. Surely you want to do the right thing, right…?”

  Adelina’s tone softened when she replied.

  “Of course I do. And sometimes, as a ruler I’ll be able to bend the rules to do what I think is right too. When the cost is small enough. When I think I can get away with it. If I’m a good ruler, I’ll be able to do so when it’s important. The best ones do. But I need you to understand that’s because the rest of the time, they’re generating enough of a surplus that when they take actions that cost something for the sake of what is good, they don’t get overthrown.”

  Lily nodded. That made sense. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear. But, it helped her believe that Adelina wasn’t completely cold hearted. She was just… prepared to be that way when she had to. Right?

  “Okay. Okay. Fine. In that case, can we talk about… just this goblin?”

  “Sure. I’m still not convinced that harboring it is the best idea. Even if you can communicate with it, and everything you’ve said turns out to be entirely accurate. They are people, and can be reasoned with, etcetera. The fact remains that you were part of the party that killed their friends. An enemy. Moreover, they were prepared to stab you yesterday and I don’t believe that will have changed.”

  Lily took a deep breath. She really had only one thing to say to that.

  “Adelina, they’re a kid. They can’t be more than a teen. They’re young, and hurt, and a person. Even if they were part of that group and had nefarious intentions, it’d be because they were raised like that. To see all of us as enemies. They don’t deserve to die for that. Not if we can talk to them. Not if they have a name, and wear clothes, and have a life. They didn’t choose how they were born. None of us do. Please, just don’t hurt them?”

  “I think you’re wrong. You might be right about the circumstances of their birth, but kids can hold grudges too. Kids can swear vengeance. I think this goblin will stab you in the back when it can.”

  Lily met Adelina’s eyes firmly.

  “Then give me the chance to prove you wrong. You heard Avea. They’re not much of a threat if we keep an eye out. Just… Let me try? I’ll keep my guard up. I promise.”

  “Do something for me in return.”

  Lily’s heart nearly stopped in her chest. She felt this is where Adelina had wanted this conversation to go from the start.

  “What…?”

  “Do something for me in return. Come with me to Avezare. Meet with my Mother.”

  “I won’t leave Sunica behind…”

  “Fine. I got a response from her st night. Sunica can come along, although we’ll have to agree on a proper reason for it.”

  “What about the goblin?”

  “If they turn out non-violent, they can come too. I’ll expin it to Mother. But I’m more certain than ever that you are valuable.”

  “As a friend, or as an asset?”

  The girl let out a long suffering sigh.

  “Both. I need you to understand that my life is both. I can’t pick and choose so easily. I’m a person, but I’ve been trained for my role my whole life, and it matters to me.”

  “I just want to feel confident that my friendship is worth more to you than my value to your job. Is that too much to ask?”

  Lily watched the gears turn in the girl’s head for a minute, and had the sudden impression that maybe they were both pretty new to having friends.

  “No. That’s not too much to ask. Your friendship is more valuable to me than your worth as an asset. Happy?”

  She thought she’d have to take that for now.

  “Yeah. I guess I can accept that. But I want to be clear about my terms regarding the goblin!”

  “Fine fine, tell me.”

  “Don’t hurt or kill the goblin or any more of their group specifically.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Done.”

  “And hang around me until we agree on what to do about goblins.”

  “...What?”

  “Be my friend and companion and hang out with me until such a time as we are in agreement about goblins!”

  “Like… in the same room? That’s gonna make bathroom trips real awkward.”

  “No! Not like that. It’s just… about intention. Stay with me. Till we figure this out one way or another. Deal?”

  “Fine.”

  Lily smiled.

  “Is… is that it?”

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  “So… what happens now?”

  “Now we both swear to uphold our end, and the skill comes to a close.”

  “So, like a handshake?”

  “A what?”

  Lily held out her hand. Adelina tentatively put out her own. Lily shook it. Above Adelina’s wrist, a small lightshow began. A small picture formed out of mana. It was white, glowed softly, and depicted a draconic form in front of a simple snowfke.

  “What–”

  “Oh, don’t worry, that’s just my family seal.”

  As Lily stared at it, a lightshow began over her own wrist. A huge symbol etched in magical fme sprouted into being, blossoming above their handshake. Like ten pens were drawing it into being out of shining fire, it appeared. A rge dog stood in front of a raging fme, surrounded by a complex magical circle. The nodes looked empty to Lily, but the circle itself was far more detailed than most she drew herself.

  Both girls stared at it in shock, before Adelina let out a cry.

  “WHAT THE FUCK!”

  A little over a mile away, the [Guardsman] and [Trapper] found a goblin, ying face down and bleeding in the snow. He didn’t even notice them approaching. He was bleeding. Tired. Full of rage and sadness. He was ready to just let death come for him. He couldn’t go on.

  A rough hand grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him out of the snow.

  “Looks like it’s lost a lot of blood.”

  “Give them to me, I’ll carry ‘em.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah, you’re going to choke them like that!”

  He was handed over to the red girl, who held him easily. He tried to argue, but no words came. He tried to squirm away, but her arms held him fast. The same arms that had stabbed his friends yesterday. He wanted to bite. To scratch. To fight. But he had no more fight in him.

  His name was Flint. Level 6 [Firestarter]. The highest level [Firestarter] in his tribe. He bragged about it a lot, but the truth was he was the only [Firestarter] in his tribe.

  He struggled to make his mind work. He was dying. He didn’t want to die. He wanted to live. But he had failed to get away, and now he was going to die.

  He tried to call out. In case his tribe was nearby. The words came out of his mouth as a hoarse whisper.

  “Help. Please…”

  The st thing he saw before his vision left him were two surprised faces looking at him. He almost ughed.

  Author Note:

  Phew! What a chapter. What an arc, really.

  This one ended up double long. I'd like to say it's to make up for the ck of a chapter st week, but the truth is it just happened to work out that way.

  Sorry about st week by the way. Personal life has been... rough! I haven't been in the best headspace to get writing done. It's funny, sometimes being in a bad headspace can be good for writing. Other times it can make it near impossible. For this chapter, it was the tter. All I've wanted to write is a spiral of despair, but this chapter actually is quite hopeful. At least in my heart. So, writing it was like drawing blood from a stone. Nevertheless, I wanted to finish this arc before even thinking about switching tracks. Cliffhangers can be very powerful if used properly, but always ending something on a cliffhanger only creates dissatisfaction in the long run.

  Hang in there, everyone. I'll be doing my best. Thanks for reading.