Harbingers of Change

Chapter 13

His master had returned to the mysterious realm called Nazarick, giving Rigurd the task of overseeing the tempest wolves’ integration with the hobgoblins; he was to work alongside Ranga. The idea of working with beasts that killed so many of his kind, including his own son, didn’t sit right with the Goblin Lord, but even the smallest of suggestions from Lord Momonga were absolute laws that none of the great Overlord’s followers would dream of breaking.

His own emotions didn’t matter. Life has always been like this, to rule or to submit was the principle all monsters followed and he was no exception.

The other concern that came up was the inadequacy of the current living conditions. Rigurd’s increased awareness and intelligence let him see just how bad things were, but it gave him no knowledge of how to fix it. Besides making simple stone tools and grass weaved clothing and huts, goblins possessed no other skills and knowledge.

{ Rigurd, the hunting teams have returned with plenty of prey. } Ranga said as he appeared beside him.

“Great, I will put workers on cleaning and drying duty.”

{ Has the master communicated with you? }

“Not yet. Lady Albedo informed me that the master is tasking us with making his first foothold in our world.”

{ Us? We wolves do not craft. }

“I know, but there was a suggestion from a servant of Lord Momonga called Demiurge to pair goblins and wolves and form cavalry units. Plus, a tempest wolf is much stronger than a hobgoblin and can carry a lot more.”

{ If this suggestion came from the servants of Lord Momonga, I will permit it. Prepare riders then. I will choose the more agreeable ones of my pack for the first pairings. }

The giant wolf disappeared from his side with the same silent movements, leaving Rigurd alone again. The mountain of problems he had would not get any smaller with him just standing around.

The key problems were clothing and housing. The old grass and twig huts were useless now and needed to be replaced fast.

{ Rigurd, are you busy? I have a few things to give to you. }

{ I will always have time for you, master. }

A minute later, Momonga arrived with Albedo in tow. Seeing the beautiful demoness without armor stunned Rigurd for a moment, but he got out of it soon enough and kneeled.

“Lord Momonga!”

“Rise Rigurd, I bring some books from the library of Nazarick and….”

“I-I am s-so sorry, Lord Momonga, but none of the goblins can read.”

“Oh…” Momonga exclaimed, surprised. He had guessed they could not read books written in Japanese and had prepared translation glasses for Rigurd, but somehow didn’t put it together that creatures like goblins were illiterate.

The few tests that he had already conducted had shown that his creations shared some of his knowledge and knew all the languages used in Nazarick, so this particular problem already had a simple solution.

Drawing from the Lord of Death once again, he stretched out his hand and used Create Low Tier Undead - Lich. A pool of black bile formed in front of him and then reshaped itself in a hooded figure.

The newly formed creature kneeled and spoke in a hoarse voice,

“Lord Momonga, I am ready to do your bidding.”

Rigurd could see a rotten, almost fully skeletal face under the dark robe this creature wore. For a moment, fear of just being replaced for being useless flashed in his mind, but it faded when Momonga said.

“Rise my newest creation. You will teach the goblins to read and write, and help Rigurd with administration. Listen to his words as mine.”

“Yes, master!”

Lord Momonga’s kindness knew no bounds. Instead of being tossed aside due to being a useless servant, his lord created another powerful creature and then ordered it to teach the goblins what they needed to know. Truly his Lord was supreme.

“Then I shall call you Ezanima.” Momonga said as the creature started to regain muscle and skin on its face, now resembling a recently deceased pale corpse instead of a dried-up, mummified one.

“Thank you, master, for giving such a gift to an undeserving one.” Ezanima spoke in a now gentler, more feminine voice.

Momonga took out a pile of books from his inventory and handed them to the lich, saying,

“This is the information you need to teach goblins.”

Ezanima took them and bowed, as Rigurd stood beside them, unsure what to do. The enormous pile of information sure looked intimidating, but he was not planning on wasting his master’s kindness and was looking forward to plunging himself into the provided studies.

The Overlord made one more upgrade to Ezanima by giving the lich the Extra Skill - Servant of Death and departed with Albedo.

{ Do not squander our master’s kindness. He may be forgiving of such things, but others are not! } Albedo’s message sounded loud and clear in Rigurd’s mind. She surely was as deadly and ruthless as she was beautiful.

“Rigurd, my suggestion would be to start studies with fifteen to twenty of your subordinates, including you, and then the ones that have already been taught can do the same to the rest of your tribe.” Ezanima spoke in a matter-of-fact voice while stacking books away and creating a simple skeleton as an assistant.

“Then I will go gather the best candidates.”

“Of course, time is of the essence. The faster I can teach the basics, the faster we can move to implement upgrades for this settlement.”

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The six-hour learning session was so mentally exhausting that Rigurd welcomed the hard physical labor which followed with all his being. Ezanima had laid out plans for the creation of forges that were needed to craft the tools necessary for expansion. As the lich explained, they couldn’t just rely on Nazarick giving them everything and they would create the goblin city with their own hands, with only marginal help from Lord Momonga.

The plan was simple: they would educate and equip the hobgoblins. Then they would mine ore and cut stones in the already surveyed areas and start building the standing forces with wolf riders. The lich had already created twelve skeletons to put the hardest labor in the hands of untiring undead, but that didn’t mean Rigurd’s tribe could slack off.

Lord Momonga had made them into so much more, so it was fitting they would strive to build a prosperous kingdom in his name. Although he, as the leader, didn’t have to, Rigurd had volunteered to help with breaking down the stone into blocks for forges.

His massive muscles sure felt like they were built for this kind of job. A satisfied smirk decorated his face as he shamed the youngsters, doing the workload of three hobgoblins. To be strong felt so good and the fact that the goblinas admired his form from time to time was a nice bonus. He welcomed the attention, but work still came first.

“Rigurd, Lady Albedo sends a small detachment of Nazarick’s Old Guard and a pack of weapons and armor in case we are ambushed.” Ezanima said.

“Send Lady Albedo my deepest gratitude.” Rigurd said with a grunt, chipping off another large piece of stone.

“Done. Don’t tire yourself out too much. We need to plan tomorrow’s workload before you retire to sleep.”

“I won’t. We can do that in an hour.”

“Then I will organize night patrols with Ranga and be back in fifty minutes.”

Time went by quickly as the lich was back faster than he expected, but the sun was already setting and it was time to finish the work.

It didn’t take long for bonfires to be lit and food distributed. Rigurd sat on a stone while listening to Ezanima, who was giving the base rundown on what was done today and what they needed to do tomorrow, only stopping when she needed input from the Goblin Lord.

Ezanima openly admitted to being unsure just how much work could be assigned to hobgoblins without exhausting them too much and was gladly taking notes of what was the necessary amount of food, sleep, and rest time for workers.

Once they finished planning and Ezanima went to do something else, he could just relax and watch his tribe. Youngsters danced around the large campfires courting each other, warriors sparred in a small circle testing their new, stronger bodies, and children were playing with cheerful screams.

He let out a contented sigh and relaxed his tired muscles. A figure sat down beside him and handed him a clay cup with tea.

“If only Rigur could see this.”

“If he knew, he would be at peace, I think. Your brother was our protector. I… I hope he knows we are safe now and can find peace.”

“We got lucky… if not for Lord Momonga… other tribes abandoning us. And to think we helped those bastards more than once.”

“Son, everyone looks to protect their own first.”

“I know. But if they refuse to serve Lord Momonga, we wipe them out.”

Rigurd let out a long sigh, put a hand on his son’s shoulder, and said,

“Rigur, don’t let your desire for revenge cloud your judgment. We do as Lord Momonga wishes, we do not act on our petty desires for vengeance.”

“Of course, father.” The younger goblin responded with a sigh of his own.

Losing his older brother, his hero, was harder than one would expect, considering the short violence-filled lives of goblins.

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Ranga sat as a lookout. A brief nap today was enough for him to be on full alert. He was the alpha of the pack in service of the being who granted him more than he could ever imagine. The new situation was a strange one indeed. Wolves always were the top predators, cleansing their territories from all opposition, but now they worked with goblins for a common master.

Even with now being linked to his entire pack, his loner tendencies had not disappeared. Being a lookout during the night was what gave him peace and purpose. The moon was high tonight and the forest was calm.

These last two days were far too eventful and even he needed some sense of peace. The other lookouts were far enough as to not intrude on his senses. Not counting an odd skeleton that wandered near him from time to time, there were no interruptions.

Just as he started to relax, something moved nearby. With now much better senses than before naming, Ranga looked for an intruder upon his master’s lands. A dire wolf scout lurked around, and a familiar one at that. The brown-furred creature belonged to the pack that drove his pack out of their previous lands.

Ranga stood up, assumed a running position, and closed the distance between him and the other wolf within a heartbeat. Before his opponent could warn his pack, Ranga had already sunk his mighty jaws in the smaller wolf’s neck, killing him instantly.

Ranga knew that next time he would not run but instead kill that entire pack alone if he had to. Master’s lands would not be taken by these lesser beasts, no matter what.

{ Look out for the brown fur pack. I am going to take out more of their scouts. } Ranga told his pack and moved through the forest silently.

Another one was nearby, clearly investigating what had happened to the scout Ranga killed. Just like the previous one, this wolf was killed instantly. His senses told him that more opponents were near.

The sense of power was intoxicating. He was the top predator tonight. He stumbled upon a pair of dire wolves half an hour later, closing into his territory. Unfortunately, he didn’t kill them fast enough and now his opponents knew what to expect.

A loud howl of challenge could be heard in the distance. The alpha was coming. Ranga smirked and waited. With the power his master had granted him, no dire wolf was his equal anymore.

A familiar wolf with one eye and half an ear missing emerged from the woods.

{ You kill my pack, you die here now! } The other alpha said as he charged.

Ranga waited casually for his opponent’s attack. Just as the brown-furred alpha jumped to bite his neck, Ranga hit him with a paw, swatting him aside like a bug. The wolf hit the ground hard and slowly stood up, trembling.

Ranga walked up to him casually. The other dire wolves just watched. If the alpha would call for help at this moment, he would be torn apart by his own pack.

The brown-furred wolf tried to strike again, but Ranga, deciding it was enough, grabbed him faster than his opponent could react and crushed his neck. Tossing the corpse aside, he howled and exclaimed,

{ You all serve my master. Gather your pack and meet me at sunrise. Disobey and I will kill you all! }

Ranga returned to his lookout position, satisfied with the night’s events. Lord Momonga would get additional servants and new lands, all thanks to him.

Edited by Edgy.