The sun rose in the distance, welcoming the start of a new day, and Byung was finally going to be shown what he would be doing in this strange new mine.
He didn't see the rest of the goblins he had come with, so he assumed they had already been assigned to their respective positions.
But there were whispers.
Byung could tell something had happened, because these creatures seemed unusually anxious.
At first, he thought it was because of their arrival, but the little to no attention they received from those they passed by told him otherwise. And whenever the subject of the gossip walked in, conversations came to a sudden halt, which only made it clearer—they weren't talking about him.
He also couldn't spot Gribnox or Murkfang anywhere. Instead, he was being led by someone he assumed was a supervisor of the mine.
"You of orc blood, are you?" the goblin leading him asked.
Byung raised a brow at the sudden question, suspicion flaring. This shouldn't be any of his business.
And besides, how was he supposed to remember something like that when he was just a child?
Still, Byung had caught on early. Goblins had short lifespans, and because of that, there was a chance they remembered everything from birth. Maybe it wasn't a trait unique to him after all.
But this individual shouldn't have known such information unless they had researched him thoroughly. That was too close to the truth to be a simple assumption.
Regardless, Byung knew it was in his best interest to answer honestly.
"That be me," Byung responded with a smile, knowing there was no point in lying.
Silence followed. Byung didn't care much—he had already gained favor with Murkfang and hopefully Gribnox as well. Those were the top dogs. He had no interest in low-ranking goblins.
"And what you? What race you mixed with?" Byung fired a question right back, trying to strike up a conversation.
The goblin looked surprised, as if taken aback by the act itself. It wasn't common for goblins to show curiosity. This was the first time one had been asked something like this.
Younger goblins only cared about pleasing their supervisors and working for the collective good of their race, almost like a hive mind. Personal relationships weren't deemed necessary. A goblin could talk like they were your best friend today and never speak to you again tomorrow, with no feelings attached.
For the most part, they all got along well enough. But this was also a weakness.
If Byung used the right words, there was no telling how far he could go with just that.
"We here," the goblin finally said.
Byung looked up. They were standing in front of a building that was barely holding itself together. The structure looked like it could collapse at any given moment.
Did architects not exist here? Did they only care about mining?
"Wait a minute…" Byung thought, recalling that farms existed here—that was how food was supplied. But he had never once seen farmers since coming into existence.
Perhaps that was simply because of his limited exposure to this world… but something about it didn't add up.
Byung wanted to get to the bottom of it, but the grumpy goblin in front of him wasn't going to give him any answers.
The goblin opened the door, and Byung walked inside.
The room was empty.
Byung frowned in confusion.
"Wait," the goblin muttered before shutting the door behind him, leaving Byung to look around.
His eyes fell on a shoddy knife in the corner, lying beside a poorly made bowl. Byung raised a brow.
What was going on here?
If he were some unhinged sociopath, he would've grabbed the knife and gone on a rampage like a madman. But upon closer inspection, the blade was covered in rust. It was so brittle it could hardly cut anything.
Was this supposed to be a test? No… that didn't make any sense.
Byung reminded himself that he could do a lot of good in this world, but only if he played by their rules long enough to survive.
The door opened again. Someone entered.
Byung tilted his head and saw Murkfang step inside. But something was wrong. Murkfang looked worried.
"You okay, sir?" Byung asked, but Murkfang seemed too busy trying to gather his thoughts.
"One of our settlements was attacked. They took all our minerals," Murkfang finally said, his tone heavy.
The truth was, Murkfang was beginning to trust him. Otherwise, Byung had no business being privy to such information. But this trust made it easier to talk to him. It was clear Byung wasn't like the others.
Murkfang wanted to bring him up to speed because he thought Byung could offer advice.
"Attacked? I thought this don't happen," Byung questioned with a raised brow.
Murkfang sighed.
"That is why everyone is panicking. But the worst part is… we don't know who's responsible."
"Which?" Byung pressed.
Murkfang looked him directly in the eye before revealing the truth.
The settlement that had been robbed—it was the one Byung had just left.
That was all the information they had. It wasn't a reckless slaughter, since no one had died—only injuries.
But whoever the attackers were, they had been strong enough to overpower the goblins. Weak one-on-one they might be, but goblins together were dangerous. Not even a single attacker should've escaped unscathed if they had faced them head-on.
That was why the raid happened at night, to take advantage of the goblins' limited vision.
But what unsettled Murkfang the most was that this had never happened in all their lifetimes.
He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that it had something to do with this boy. Even someone like him could put that much together.
And Murkfang wasn't going to let Byung fall into the wrong hands. The boy had already shown himself to be more valuable than all the goblins combined.
But now, with the robbery, their future looked even bleaker. Drekk was already looking for any excuse to get rid of them.
They were behind on their quota, and now they had been robbed. Who knew what Drekk would do once he found out?
It was no secret Drekk didn't like them, but Murkfang respected that Drekk never let his emotions dictate his actions.
Regardless, this was no accident.
Someone had signaled they wanted war.
And without knowing the enemy, how could they prepare for what was to come?