With the newest addition to my group, I still had work to do on recruiting the rest of the goblins. They still seemed rather scared and worried, especially since I essentially converted one of the younger of their kind to my own cause. It didn’t help matters when my newest recruit V started to try to convince them.

  “Hey guys, we should all join Mr. Vlad. He’s really cool!!” They enthusiastically stated.

  I continued with what I was starting and raised my arms up in the air. “Goblins, I came here today because I wish to recruit as my minions!! If you agree I will do my utmost to ensure your safety!!” I stated my proclamation. It wasn’t like I was lying after all, I wanted to make sure everything of mine was in good shape.

  Though it seemed the others weren’t exactly convinced, even though they can see I have some powerful minions at my beck and call. Still, I wasn’t deterred before, and I wasn’t going to be now. I just needed to figure out what I’ll need to do to convince them. Normally I could convince them to join by expressing force and dominance. Though in this case I can see they already acknowledge my strength, and yet still reluctant to join me. I guess the strong leading the weak mindset won’t work with these monsters like it normally does. Maybe unlike us, the goblins have to constantly face overwhelming force compared to us kobolds who could at least hide out.

  For now, I decided we should go back and motioned everyone to follow me “I can see I can’t convince you all to join me for the moment. So, we shall leave you all for now, I do hope I can change your mind in the future.”

  I then began to leave, my followers right behind me, though I had to quickly convince Mordred to return as well. I could already tell he was steaming in anger, and I needed to calm him down. Now wasn’t the time for a fight, the goal after all was total conquest and not annihilation. Besides, seeing how my fellow kobolds acted that day, I wouldn’t want to risk a flight or fight response from even a ‘weakling’ race. As we were leaving though a voice was calling out for me.

  “Mr. Vlad! Mr. Vlad! Wait!! I want to come with you too!!!” Young V had stated. They clearly wanted to come join me and I wouldn’t have minded that they would, though the other goblins had a different idea in mind.

  “W-wait! I don’t think it’s a good idea little one…” one of them tried to say, probably not wanting to leave one of their own with me. But the young goblin refused to hear them out.

  “It’s V now, it’s the name I chose for myself. Mr. Vlad doesn’t seem like a bad guy, I’ll be fine. ~”

  V was trying to assure them, and the goblins were trying to discuss it to themselves. They were reluctant but finally accepted, probably because they didn’t want to anger us. I wasn’t going to force them though, as I understand their worry about having one of their own goes with a complete stranger. I wasn’t about to deny their decisions though since I was curious about my new henchman and what they can do and the potential they would have. I did try to quell their worry a bit and inform them I wasn’t too far off. That seemed to give them the opposite effect, making them more worried instead.

  I decided to quicken our leave before things got worse, with V tagging along. Due to their small stature, I figured it was best that V rode upon one of Mordred’s shoulders while I took my usual spot on the other side. Mordred himself doesn’t seem to mind too much and in fact was quite happy to oblige. V was quite happy with the idea of riding on top of Mordred and quickly climbing on top.

  “Soooooo cooooollll!!! I’m so high up, I can see everything up here!!” It was cute seeing the bundle of energy enjoying their ride back to my base and it didn’t take too long before we returned back. As my minions greeted us, I took the time to introduce them all to my new henchman.

  Luckily it didn’t take long for V to get along with everyone. Their positive attitude was rather infectious to them. Since it was their first time here, I left them to go play with the others, making sure they understood not to bother them if they were busy with work. They nodded in understanding and left to go play.

  While they were occupied, I began to do some of my own work. With the new addition, I figure I should expand the housing a bit. Using my skill, I created an extra bedroom to the house, with enough room for the young goblin to feel comfortable in. It took no small amount of my mana, but I thought it would be worth it. I could have made additional housing for V but considering they were a bit young I thought it best they had some supervision to make it easier to manage their potential. Plus, it’s less time and mana I’d have to use.

  Once I was done, I showed V their new room and they were really excited. “I get my own room, and in the same house as you Mr. Vlad?! Thank you so much!!!” They suddenly jumped at me and hugged me tight. It caught me a bit off guard and it was hard to admit but… I was feeling a bit embarrassed by it. I didn’t stop them though; I didn’t mind the hug too much which was weird as I normally don’t like my personal space being invaded. Though I’ll have to make a note to remind them to be more mindful next time.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  “Y-you’re welcome… since I got you here, I wanted to get to know what kind of skills you could possibly have. I have this skill that would let me examine your status, do you mind if I take a look?” I normally don’t open up about my abilities so freely to someone, but my instincts were telling me it would be alright.

  V seemed a bit confused over my question but quickly nodded, “I don’t know what you’re saying Mr. Vlad but if you think it’s a good idea than I’m okay with it!!” They answered so quickly and honestly… seriously though why is this one goblin so cute?! I shook my head before I got myself distracted and began my examination.

  Inspect

  From what I can gather V’s stats weren’t even any better than mine, in fact they were a bit weaker than me. The only thing they have going over me was their [Dexterity] which at least means they will have a better chance to run to safety compared to me. In fact, they have the same rank as the previous wolf alpha I faced, which was definitely impressive! What definitely got my interest was their one skill and ability. [Map] and [Search] … the name of those two definitely sounds promising.

  I decided to ask the young goblin “Hey V does the words [Map] or [Search] sound familiar?” But V could only tilt their head in confusion as their answer.

  “I don’t know Mr. Vlad, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard either of those words.”

  In response I decided to ask something else instead, “Well then have you ever noticed anything that caught your attention, or maybe something that you did that surprised you?”

  V closed their eyes, deep in thought for a few seconds when they suddenly opened their eyes in realization. They answered quickly, barely able to calm their excitement. “Oh oh! Sometimes I would get an image in my head that helps me get around the settlement more easily! And and there was this one time where I lost my favorite toy, and I was searching really hard when I suddenly noticed this glowy light and when I went to check it out my missing toy was right there!!”

  Huh, now that is interesting. From what they are describing they definitely sounded like skills and abilities! Not taking a second longer I inspected the details of [Map] and [Search].

  Now this is definitely impressive! With these kinds of abilities, while they don’t have any combat skills, the skill they do have can be quite useful for navigation and resource gathering. I decided we should try to test them and see what they can do.

  “Hey V, think you can try to find your settlement in your head? Maybe even see if you can search for your fellow goblins as you do?”

  V seemed very eager to please and was quick to comply. “Ok Mr. Vlad! I’ll see what I can do!!” V then closed their eyes and concentrated. They seemed to be struggling for a moment but then smiled “Oh Oh I can see it! I can see where the settlement is! I can even see where everyone is exactly!!”

  V continued to smile as they were enjoying their new abilities. Afterwards though something was wrong. Their smile suddenly changed to a frown, making a confused expression. The confusion suddenly into fear as they opened their eyes and began to suddenly grab and shook me like crazy.

  “Mr. Vlad! Mr. Vlad! We need to hurry!!” V was panicking and could barely speak. Something was clearly upsetting them! And I took the next thing they said seriously.

  “My settlement, my home is under attack!!!”