A couple of minutes away from the clearing, Sincir finds what he is looking in the form of a borrow on the side of a hill, mostly covered by vines; Barely more than a hole big enough to allow for the passage of a child.

  He’s still considering how to proceed at this point… Smocking the creature out would and attacking it the moment it shows its head would be the safest approach, but perhaps a tad too aggressive when they have yet to confirm their prey’s identity.

  After telling the girls to stay a bit away, Sincir scratches his chin, approaching the creature’s ir.

  “Look, you aren’t going to escape this without showing your face, and I know you understand human nguage, so why don’t you come out with your hands above your head, so we can have a nice, civilized chat? Nobody needs to get hurt today.”

  Several moments go by, and Sincir receives no answer, making him think that the creature is either too deep to hear him, or didn’t believe his promise of a ceasefire.

  “Wait, Sincir, how do you know it can speak human?” Ena asks from her pce beside Eleanor, a couple of meters away.

  “I was in its mind for a moment, so I know it understood that we have come to kill it… It even realized that it stealing the hunter’s catch was probably what lead us here, so it is a fairly intelligent creature. It has remained hidden in these woods for a long time now, watching the humans nearby, and learning from them, I assume.”

  “But… Doesn’t that mean its harmless? Shouldn’t we just leave it alone?”

  “…Maybe,” Sincir concedes, “But since we’re here, I want to speak with it first. Don’t worry, I won’t attack it without good reason.”

  Sincir wishes he had managed a better grasp over the creature’s identity during the brief moment he had access to its mind, however unwilling he may be to repeat the experience again for the moment.

  “Well, I suppose we’ll just have to camp here until it decides to leave. It might take a couple of days until it grows hungry enough, but it’s a good thing we brought enough food to st for a week.”

  Having said as much, Sincir crosses his arms as he continues to stare at the hole’s entrance; Obviously, them having enough food for a week was a bluff, be he is counting on the creature being desperate and afraid enough to take the bait…

  After a moment, Sincir blinks; He nearly didn’t notice at first, but amidst the vines, a pair of red eyes now stares at him, having appeared at some point during the conversation.

  Sincir steps back as a makeshift bone knife then appears next, followed by a green-skinned arm...

  The creature to emerge hisses at them, swaying its weapon threateningly as it tries to keep all three them within its sight at once… Sincir might’ve even felt something other than shock, had the creature not locked almost indistinguishable from a small, green twelve-year-old girl.

  “Back! Stay back!” the creature (girl?) hisses at them, still swaying her makeshift bone knife toward them as she does so, “R-Rez k-knows why you’re here, but Rez will n-not go down without fight!”

  With her limbs trembling visibly as she threatens them, the creature’s (Rez, Sincir assumes) fear is clear in spite of her bravado; Meaning, she is possibly the furthest thing from threatening Sincir has ever seen.

  Grabbing the bridge of his nose, he sighs. “Eleanor, do you have any idea what in Hell is a Rez? I thought there were no female goblins.”

  As Sincir gnces at her, Eleanor has a grimace on her face. “There aren’t, and there should be no half-goblins either… As far as I’m aware, a goblin breeding with anything will result in a goblin. One with a cock, which will rape something else.”

  Rez’s red eyes dart between the two of them. “R-Rez will not be fooled! Rez knows what adventures do to g-goblins… C-come at me if you d-dare!”

  So, even she herself thinks she is some sort of goblin, but could she be wrong?

  Lizard folk… No, her skin doesn’t have any scales. A half-orc would be much bigger, and Sincir can’t think of anything else with green skin which would breed with a human… Though that doesn’t mean much, considering Elysium’s infinite size. It is also possible Rez is simply an anomaly, something unique.

  Well, they might never know where Rez came from, but she is in front of them now, and they have to deal with her, somehow.

  “Ena, she is all yours,” Sincir says, stepping aside as he does so.

  “Don’t even joke about that! She hasn’t done anything wrong, and she’s obviously terrified of us!”

  Sincir rolls his eyes. “I meant for you to calm her down, so that we can have a conversation, idiot.”

  “…Oh.”

  Ena gnces from him to a still wide-eyed Rez, then clears her throat, stepping forward hesitantly.

  “Give us some space; You’re scaring her,” Ena says.

  Sincir sighs, then beckons Eleanor to walk a bit away, as Ena approaches the mysterious green creature called Rez with her palms up.

  Once they a bit away, Eleanor crosses her arms as she leans against a tree, throwing him a look. “I don’t like this. She’ll do something stupid.”

  Sincir shakes his head. “Give her a break. She went through a bad time today… Finding something we don’t have to kill is probably going to be a rarity in this job.”

  Eleanor sighs as she closes her eyes and leans her head against the tree behind her, clearly washing her hands from the whole thing. Meanwhile, Sincir continues to watch Ena’s attempts at calming the creature down...

  At first, she smiles disarmingly, pointing at her own sword, then unfastens her sword-belt and drops it on the ground, raising her palms in Rez’s direction once more as she does so...

  A couple of minutes in, and Ena finally manages to have Rez lower her dagger; A while tter, and the girl is staring at the ground as Ena whispers calming words in her direction, having kneeled in front of her.

  Honestly, although he could’ve probably done it himself, he is impressed by how fast she was able to get the creature to lowers their guard...

  Eventually, Ena says something which has Rez’s widening her eyes, and then shaking her head wildly. But Ena is having none of it, and she hugs the green creature before it can back away. Even from his position, Sincir can tell Ena is crying.

  This… Shit, Eleanor might’ve been right. Should he have done it himself?

  Once Ena rises, she turns and begins to head in their direction with a strange look on her face; a mix between a determined, yet apologetic expression.

  As she approaches, Sincir smiles tensely at her. “Good job calming her down. Now we just need to convince her to move further away from the city, and we can go back, knowing there won’t be any more trouble brewing from this… Eleanor, you can stop sulking now, let’s go.”

  “I’m not sulking, and even a blind person would be able to see there is no chance in Hell Ena will ever agree to simply send the poor, starving creature on its way,” Eleanor says, never opening her eyes as she does.

  Seeing Ena is still staring at him with same awkward look on her face, Sincir grimaces. “Yes?”

  “If we make her move deeper in the woods, she’ll die, sooner or ter; She said so herself,” Ena says, “But, if she stays, even if we manage to convince the hunter to leave her alone, somebody else is bound to find her eventually.”

  “Horribly sad, but not our problem,” Sincir says, with a shrug.

  “Actually, we were hired to take care of the problem,” Eleanor points out.

  Sincir grimaces again. “Hey! Which side are you even on?!”

  “The side where I get to go home the sooner.”

  Sincir opens his mouth, but then closes it again, without saying anything; He has to admit it is a pretty fair side to stand on.

  “Sincir, Rez told me she has been living here for the past decade, all on her own,” Ena says, expression now begging, “She is weak, and she often starved. People call her a goblin, and they chase her away, if she tries to approach… In her life, she has never had anything.”

  Sincir groans; Eleanor was right, and it is obvious Ena is seeing herself in Rez as an ostracized demi-human without friends or love. It is also obvious he is not going to win this argument, so instead of trying, he simply waves his hand in Rez’s direction, who now stares at them with wide eyes from behind the vines leading into her ir.

  “Fine, let’s hear it; What are you suggesting, exactly?”

  Ena takes a deep breath. “Even though she’s tiny, Rez told me she’s an adult; She won’t grow anymore than this, and she won’t become any stronger. If we leave her alone, she will die… It is only a matter of time.”

  “Just get to the point already,” Eleanor cuts in, receiving a gre from Ena in response; Although, since Eleanor still has her eyes closed, it isn’t a very effective gre.

  “I know the city considers goblins to be monsters-”

  “Everybody considers goblins monsters,” Eleanor cuts in again.

  Ena tightens her jaw, but doesn’t stop, “-What I am trying to say is that it wouldn’t be hard to hide her in the hou-”

  “No,” both Eleanor and Sincir say simultaneously, neither sounding surprised.

  Mouth hanging slightly open, Ena throws the both of them a shocked look. “Look, we have extra rooms, right?! We’re always saying we need someone to do the chores around the house, and I doubt Esme will volunteer, since she is there against her will…! I’m sure Rez won’t mind doing some housework in exchange for shelter and food!”

  “How are you getting her past the guards at the gate?” Eleanor asks.

  Ena clenches her teeth. “Sincir can use his mind tricks! If we cover her in your cloak – and I know you have it in your backpack right now – she’ll look just like any human child!”

  “Any human child with green skin? She is a not a puppy, Ena; You can’t just take her home,” Eleanor retorts, finally opening her eyes in order to face Ena’s gaze directly, “And even were we to somehow get her into the house without arousing suspicion, then what? Is she just going to live there for the rest of her life, never going out again?”

  Ena smiles. “Of course not; She’ll be free to go wherever she wants, once Sincir’s kingdom is built.”

  As both girls turn to stare at him, Eleanor with a “I told you” look on her face, and Ena with a begging one, Sincir grimaces.

  “I’m sorry, Ena, but the risk is too great. If somebody notices we’ve brought a goblin in, they’ll want her killed, and I know you’d fight to the death to protect her, which means Eleanor and I would also be fighting… It’s sad, but she has survived so far out here on her own, and we’ll just have to hope she continues to do so from here on out.”

  Ena gres at him, then sighs, shoulders dropping. “Fine… Can you at least do me a favor, and bring some of my things over?”

  Eleanor chuckles, and Sincir feels his eye twitching. “What for? You’re coming home with us.”

  Ena shrugs. “Sure; As long as Rez is coming with, I’ll go anywhere you want me to. But if Rez is staying, then so am I… I guess I’ve missed camping outside since we stopped traveling, anyway.”

  Sincir groans, then throws Eleanor a gre, once it becomes clear the girl is ughing at his misfortune. “Well, don’t just stay there smiling to yourself, say something!”

  Eleanor shakes her head as she throws Ena a leveled gnce. “I have one condition; I’ll agree to this, but there’s something I want to tell you ter, and you have to promise me you’ll listen until the end without freaking out.”

  Wait, what?!

  Ena smiles. “I’ll even kiss your boot, if you want me to!”

  Eleanor grimaces. “Here is another condition; Don’t mention that, ever again.”

  Sincir stares at the both of them with his mouth hanging open for a moment, then throws his hand up; With them both against him, there’s no way he’ll get Ena to let it go now.

  “Fine, but she is your responsibility! And she better learn how to clean and cook before the month is over!”

  Ena sticks her tongue at him. “If we can house your freeloader girlfriend, then Rez can take her time adapting.”

  Having said as much, Ena turns on her heels as she runs back to Rez with a huge smile on her face…

  Ten minutes ter, Sincir finds himself staring at a grinning, barefoot Ena, as a now fully dressed Rez hides partially behind her back, throwing both him and Eleanor cautious, yet curious gnces.

  He has to admit that under Eleanor’s cloak, now cut to fit the small creature (Eleanor wasn’t happy about that, but since she betrayed him by joining Ena’s side, Sincir was more than happy to cut the cloak, himself, even as she stared murderously at him the whole time), and in Ena’s boots, which were only one size too rge for her, Rez could probably pass for a human child, so long as nobody looks at her face too closely.

  “Rez, these are Sincir and Eleanor, my weird family. They might look scary, but I promise you they’re nice.”

  Rather than answering, Rez hides even further behind Ena’s back, causing Eleanor to roll her eyes.

  “We’ll need to run back; You think she can manage?” Sincir asks.

  “Rez?” Ena asks, throwing the girl glued to her clothes a gnce.

  “…Rez can run, if need,” the creature (half-goblin?) murmurs.

  Apparently, Ena got from Rez that she was born in one of the further away goblin tribes, which all but confirms her identity as a half-goblin…

  Ugh, it’s not his problem (maybe if he continues to pretend as much, it’ll become true?).

  Shaking his head, Sincir swings Eleanor’s backpack over his shoulder, then begins to head back through the forest in a light jog... Even while running, reaching Elderspire before sundown is still going to be a close call, especially if Rez slows them down.

  Also, they’ll have to give the hunter some sort of expnation, and the guards at the gate, too...

  “Sin, c’mon, you’re going too fast!”

  “Shut up! Whose fault do you think it is we’re so te?!”

  In spite of their banter, Sincir is happy Ena seems in a better mood, even if some trouble might come from it in the future… Well, he’ll handle things one at a time. For now, they need to reach the city before sundown, or it’ll be a pain in the ass to get the guards to open the gates, not to say of finding their way in the dark…

  Once Sincir gnces over his shoulders, he realizes Eleanor has put Rez on a piggy-back carry, for the half-goblin’s shock, and in fact, Ena is the one who is having trouble running without her boots on.

  “I don’t get how you manage to go everywhere barefoot!” she screams at him, “This is torture!”

  After a moment of seeing her jumping around on tiptoes, Sincir can’t help but ugh. “You used to go barefoot as a kid too! Stop being a wuss and put up with it!”

  Ironically enough, their walk home is much livelier, even with Rez hiding behind Eleanor’s shoulder every time they come across another person on the road.

  Surprisingly, at least when they’re alone, Rez is a rather curious girl (woman? Creature?), and she continues to pester Eleanor with questions until the nephilim all but begs Sincir to change pces with her.

  Of course, Sincir refuses; Hopefully, this and the cloak will teach her not to betray him, next time…

  By the time they arrive at the gates, the sun is about to reach the horizon, and after showing the guards their badges and telling them they’re escorting a kid from outside to see a doctor, they manage to get in with no problems.

  Thankfully, they were too zy to check Rez’s face up close, since Sincir told her to pretend she was asleep against Eleanor’s shoulder once they begun to grow closer from Elderspire.

  Sincir has to admit it is cute how her head immediately perks up once they’re through the gates, red eyes sweeping her new surroundings with obvious shock and curiosity.

  Unfortunately, Ena is the one who’ll be taking her home, since Eleanor has to pass by the guild to deliver a report on their contracts, and he promised Esme he’d pass by Inquiry to grab her things.

  “Be careful, and take no detours… Once you’re home, get her to take a bath; I bet she’ll love it,” Sincir tells Ena, once they’re about to split up.

  While holding Rez hand from underneath Eleanor’s cloak oversize sleeve, Ena smiles at him, then rolls her eyes. “Yes, I promise I’ll be careful... Don’t worry, I’ll get her home safely.”

  Sincir grimaces. “Who said I was worried about her? Just go already.”

  After they’ve all gone their separate ways, Sincir shakes his head, and sighs. He can’t believe they ended up bringing a stray goblin home on their first day as adventures; This has to make for some record in stupidity.

  Well, its too te to back out now, so they might as well treat Rez nicely, since she’ll be living with them, from now on…

  Of course, Inquiry’s doors are already closed for the day by the time Sincir arrives, but he manages to get in by speaking with Adonis, their receptionist; It is a good thing Noah wasn’t here to greet him this time, so Sincir manages to head down and grab the things Esme put on the list quickly, most of which were books and clothes, other than her hidden stash of money... He is a bit surprised she trusts him with that tter, honestly, but he supposes she doesn’t have much of a choice.

  Since he doesn’t want to deal with vampire drama right about now, Sincir leaves quickly, managing to avoid bumping into any of them...

  He is descending Inquiry’s stairs when he notices a knight in red and green garments standing by the staircase’s bottom. Of course, he recognizes the colors of House Barnett.

  “Excuse me?” Sincir asks, raising an eyebrow at the knight standing before him.

  However, rather than drawing his sword, the knight lowers their head, causing their armor to ctter slightly, then extends a sealed letter in his direction.

  Sincir blinks, then grimaces. “If that’s from No, tell her I’m not interested.”

  “…Miss Barnett thought Mr. Sincir might reply as such. She instructed me to apologize for the inconvenience we caused, and to thank Mr. Sincir for his mercy… She said Mr. Sincir wouldn’t regret accepting her invitation, and that she harbors no grudges over the past grievances between the two of you.”

  Seeing the knight with his head still lowered, and the attention they’re quickly beginning to attract, Sincir sighs, then hurriedly steps forward, grabbing the letter from his gauntlet’s grip.

  “Damn it, fine; Tell No whatever it is, I’ll think about it! Now go, and if you ever want to contact me in the future, just use the Courier Guild, like a normal person!”

  The knight nods, straightening themselves. “I’ll be sure to convey the massage to Miss Barnett.”

  Sincir has the distinct impression they’re smiling under their helmet as they turn and head away from him. For a moment, he seriously considers simply tearing No’s letter right there and then… But she did apologize, sort of, and he’s curious to know what she wants from him.

  Well, he can always decide what to do after reading what she has to say, but if this turns out to be another petty revenge scheme, this time he will do a lot worse than scaring her, sad past or not…

  Sincir heads home while thinking about the many recent problems which seem to pile on top of his head, no matter how much of a low profile he tries to keep.

  First, he promised Victoria he’d take care of her stalker, who also happens to be the duke’s third son, and a known piece of shit, Leon Dristine.

  Second, it turns out both Ena (according to Eleanor, at least) and Eleanor have feelings for him, and he’s not sure the house will survive that...

  Then, you have Esme, Collin, and the vampire community of Eldespire, which he ended up deciding to try to befriend, not to mention starting as an adventurer, Rez, and now No’s letter…

  Sincir releases a sigh of relief once he finally spots their rented house. The day was long, and he is beat; It’s amazing Eleanor had the drive to do this on her own every day and still train after arriving home, especially since she didn’t have anyone to share carrying the backpack with.

  Maybe he’ll pretend to have forgotten their bet from this morning, and just treat her nicely, for once. Eleanor did work hard, today…

  Wait, is that Collin?

  Confirming that his eyes are not pying tricks on him, and that he does indeed spots the vampire leaning near the house’s door with his arms crossed, having been clearly waiting for him, Sincir sighs.

  And here was he, hoping he’d have at least another day or two before the vampire showed up, but no such luck… It seems he won’t be catching a break anytime soon.

  JBDantas

  Author Note: Okay, so, I haven’t forgotten Varzath is more than two thousand years old, but most of that time was spent in Hell, with brief visits to mortal pnes where he was hardly allowed to have any freedom... Sincir knows a lot, but not everything, and many of his memories were damaged during his reincarnation... Also, goblins are considered weak by pretty much everybody, so they don’t hold much space in anyone’s mind. Really, it is no surprise he doesn’t know much about them.

  [colpse]