Chapter 27: Chapter 21: Domain Will
’Is this the Domain I control?’
The yellowed parchment scroll looked to be about 50 centimeters long and 30 centimeters wide. In the center of the scroll, black ink outlined an area dotted with numerous ink spots.
It was the first time Shire had seen a complete view of his territory. It was shaped like a gourd, with the widest part to the north. ’That must be the former territory of the Seven Cave Race.’
The area around the gourd shape was filled with patterns resembling clouds and mist. He figured this was the so-called fog of war, which he would have to lead his people to explore in order to reveal.
Ink dots were scattered all over the map, and he didn’t know what they represented.
’I wonder if I can zoom,’ Shire thought.
As he thought this, the ink on the parchment rippled and swirled like flowing water. When the ink settled again, Shire saw that the map had indeed zoomed in.
Upon closer inspection, he realized the ink dots were icons of various plants, some of which had faded.
Some of the faded icons resembled the ones for Blue Thistle Leaves. ’They must have been harvested. These Adventurers, coming into my territory and digging up my herbs.’
However, many of the icons for Blue Thistle Leaves were still clear. ’Adventurers can only rely on memory to search for herbs, but I can see all of them at a glance.’
He planned to lead a group to two more harvesting spots tomorrow afternoon.
Shire mentally scrolled the map upward, focusing on the area where the Seven Cave Race had been active.
This place was quite a distance from Yangjiao Town, so ordinary Adventurers rarely ventured this deep. In this region, Shire discovered the harvesting spots were incredibly dense. ’Those goblins didn’t gather these herbs, which works out perfectly for me. I’ll see if I can find a market for them before winter. This could be a considerable source of income.’
He then noticed two other icons on the map: one was a pair of crossed swords, and the other was a question mark.
’What are these places?’ Shire frowned. ’They seem like dangerous areas. I’ll check them out later on.’
He tried to scroll the map upward again but found only faint, cloud-like patterns, with no specific details visible.
’I’ll still have to explore it myself.’
After a moment of reflection, Shire mentally zoomed the map out. When he had zoomed out to a certain point, a bear symbol appeared over the area he Controlled.
’A Fearsome Claw Bear?’ Shire was amused. ’Does this mean there’s a roaming world boss in my Controlled area?’
’I’ll go fight the boss once I’m strong enough.’
"Now let’s see how far out this map can zoom," Shire said with a smile.
The ink on the map rippled and rolled. A moment later, Shire saw that the area he Controlled was now just a single ink dot.
And beyond that dot, within the cloudy patterns, were four red dots, one of which was relatively close.
’What are these? Red dots?’ Shire’s expression turned serious. He felt that black dots on the map were one thing, but red ones likely signified a major problem.
’Good thing they’re still far away from me.’
Having had his fill of exploring the map, Shire withdrew his consciousness and returned to reality.
He looked at his subordinates, who were divided into two distinct groups, thought for a moment, and ordered, "Back to camp. Time to eat."
...
"It looks like they eat better than we do."
A few goblins huddled together, whispering. They were watching Bai Mao and three other female goblins cooking something.
Five large pots were lined up in a row. Bai Mao chopped up a good amount of dried meat and threw it into the pots, along with rice and tubers. She had smoked the meat over the past few days according to Shire’s instructions and was using a generous portion this time.
The goblins of the Seven Cave Race huddled off to the side, drooling as they stared at the large pots. If they didn’t know the food needed to cook for a while longer, they would have rushed over and started grabbing it.
"This must be their victory feast. They’re eating it right in front of us," Nine-finger said, craning his neck from the edge of the crowd to get a better look. ’Our chief was too stupid, and that’s why we were defeated. Now we’re at their mercy.’
He was still bothered by their recent defeat. After all, more than twenty goblins had been beaten by just eight, and everyone was injured—by their own kin, no less.
Nine-finger was apprehensive about what the future held. He didn’t know how the new chief would treat the newcomers. Would he make an example out of some of them, or would it be perpetual Enslavement?
Although they had already performed the ankle-touching ceremony, they were still the defeated party and would surely be treated differently from the original members.
’If our side had won, our chief wouldn’t have let us eat this meal. He would have made us beat up the new goblins instead.’
"HSSS." He sucked in a sharp breath. Another goblin had just bumped into him, aggravating the wound on his face.
’And even if we had won, I still wouldn’t have gotten to eat my fill.’ Nine-finger clutched his face, his eyes filled with despair.
After a little while, Bai Mao called the chief over. Shire sprinkled some powder that Nine-finger didn’t recognize into the large pots, and Bai Mao began to stir vigorously.
After stirring for nearly a minute, she rapped the rim of a pot with a thick wooden stick and announced, "Time to eat."
The goblins watched their chief, Shire, in terrified silence. He just waved a hand and walked over to a smaller pot for himself. "Go on, eat."
Hearing this, the goblins of the Seven Cave Race swarmed forward, ready to snatch the food with their bare hands.
"You bastards! I’ll beat you to death if you try to snatch it," Red Eyes roared, swinging his wooden club to break up the crowd of goblins. His ears hadn’t fully healed, so he was speaking a bit too loudly.
Startled by his shout, the new goblins shrank back again. They watched meekly as the original goblins picked up wooden bowls and lined up to be served porridge by Bai Mao.
Hiding in the crowd, Nine-finger overheard the other group muttering things like "country bumpkins," "never had a full meal in their lives," and "one beating and they’ll learn their place."
He grew fearful, convinced that after the others had eaten their fill, they would still beat up the Seven Cave goblins.
Then he saw a scrawny goblin, after getting a bowl of meat porridge, suddenly jump into a shadow with a SWOOSH.
Nine-finger jolted in shock. He had only ever heard of humans being capable of such magical things; this was the first time he’d seen a goblin do it.
’Are they going to kill us and cut off our ears for the humans?’ Cold sweat began to bead on Nine-finger’s head. If that was the plan, he would lead everyone and run as far as they could.
"You need to go over there to get bowls, then line up for food," a goblin with buck teeth said as he approached the Seven Cave Race. Nine-finger recognized him; this was the goblin who had initially claimed to be one of them.
"No cutting in line. You can get more after you finish," Buck Teeth added.
Dubiously, the goblins went to grab bowls and tried to form lines in front of the five large pots, but the lines fell into disarray after a moment.
Red Eyes put down his bowl, picked up his wooden club, and stood before them. A few seconds later, the lines magically sorted themselves out.
Nine-finger also received his bowl of meat porridge. He took a spoonful with his wooden spoon and his eyes immediately widened. ’Delicious!’
He had never tasted anything like it—it was savory, fragrant, and rich. He quickly shoveled in a couple of mouthfuls, only to scald his tongue. Sticking his tongue out to cool it off, he again pulled at the wound on his face.
The other goblins around him, heedless of the scalding heat, were wielding their wooden spoons so fast they seemed to leave afterimages.
In less than two minutes, they had polished off the porridge in their bowls. Then they looked toward the large pots, their expressions a mixture of hope and trepidation.
Nine-finger saw a wooden bowl being raised from the shadows near the pot. Bai Mao took it, filled it to the brim, and handed it back.
He thought for a moment, then got up and cautiously approached the pot. "A... a refill," he stammered.
He braced himself to be kicked away, but the goblin with the wooden club ignored him, and Bai Mao took his bowl and filled it.
Seeing Nine-finger get another bowl of meat porridge, the rest of the goblins immediately swarmed forward. Red Eyes just snorted "Hmph," and everyone scurried back into orderly lines.
Nine-finger sat off to the side, devouring his meat porridge in big mouthfuls. The pain in his face was nothing now. Tears streamed down his cheeks; he knew he would get to eat his fill today.
It was the first time he had ever been full. He wanted to be full like this every day from now on.
"I’m going to look for Bang-Bang Fruit in a bit. Who can go with me?" Shire asked, walking over.
"I’ll go, Chief," Nine-finger said, getting to his feet.
