I told the totem not to call me “my lady.” It’s an Earth thing—it makes me feel old. “Leader” is fine, so I don’t correct the goblin. Besides, if I’m above their former leader in the chain of command and I make them call me Bianca… ugh, I don’t think it’d be wise to throw their entire hierarchy and customs into the trash.

  And as for the question I just asked, well, looking around, I can see that this cave—where the super dad bear used to live—is now being used as a communal social space for everyone. They’ve added some wooden structures, like tables and cabinets, and both goblins and bears mingle without any hesitation.

  “Well,” Gump replies, “we’ve divided up the smaller caves and enlarged the entrance of one so the bears could pass through.”

  “You assigned bedrooms?”

  Not exactly goblin-style huts, but they’ll do.

  “Yes, Leader.”

  “Well, we’ve brought you what you asked for.” —I gesture to Ronan, and he hands over the bag.— “Is the totem around?”

  “The totem has its own cave. But it’s coming now, leader. Please, follow me.”

  He shouts to a few idle goblins not too far away, and they rush to grab the bag of materials and tools, which he just set down on the ground. We follow him to one end of the cave, where they’ve put together some sort of throne, and Gump gestures for me to sit.

  For a moment, I’m at a loss for words. Okay, I’m their leader, but I wasn’t expecting them to have built me a throne made of animal bones, wooden logs, ropes, and furs draped over it. I truly understand the honor, but picturing myself sitting there like a queen while the totem kneels before me… yeah, no thanks.

  “That’s not necessary,” I tell Gump, motioning at the throne.

  “You don’t like it?”

  Meanwhile, the pup has jumped out of my backpack pocket, grown to its current maximum size, and sat at the foot of the throne—looking like he approves.

  Ronan, for his part, is watching me as if he doesn’t see the problem.

  And Gump, the same goblin I once wanted to finish off for XP, is looking at me with those big, pleading eyes he knows how to use so well.

  “No, no, I do like it. It’s just… it wasn’t necessary…”

  “Our leader must have a worthy seat. Greetings, great Leader Bianca.”

  I hear the voice of the old totem behind me.

  I turn around and see him bowing. Well, at least he’s not kneeling.

  Wait, well?, I scold myself mentally.

  What am I even thinking?

  I don’t even know where to put myself anymore… On the throne… I put— I mean, sit— on the throne.

  Well, there it is. Now all I’m missing is a goblin queen’s crown. It’s like I’m being pushed toward becoming that dark lady from the contract. Which, of course, is not the case. If I’m so uncomfortable, it’s because I wasn’t expecting a throne. Because, somehow, I imagined the totem leading the goblins while I just helped them out a little—like some kind of good Samaritan.

  I hear a strange noise at my feet. It’s the pup. …Did it just laugh? Can a wolf even laugh?

  “Well, Totem, give me the updates,” I ask.

  “There are no enemies in the area, hunting in the forest is plentiful, and with the help of the bears, it’s even easier to obtain. We’ve converted the smaller caves into sleeping quarters and the larger ones for the bears. The smokehouse is fully operational. With the materials and tools you’ve brought us, we’ll be able to build a small forge to process metal and craft better tools and weapons. Now that there are no immediate dangers, we’re increasing our numbers—though the bear population will take much longer to grow than the goblin population. We deeply appreciate the vitality and damage bonus,” he adds, his face twisting into a feral grin.

  Is he telling me that those females with those bellies haven’t been pregnant for months?

  For a moment, I blush. I didn’t think they’d use their newfound health for that.

  “How long does a goblin female take to carry a baby to term?”

  “Three weeks.”

  Oh my gosh. If I don’t do something, we’re going to have a goblin infestation, and it’ll be my fault for giving them a home that seems too safe.

  I look at the totem seriously.

  “You can’t expand beyond the space this cave and the nearby lands provide. I don’t want you drawing the attention of the human town. If they discover you, they’ll want to wipe you out—just like what happened in the neighboring kingdom you fled from.”

  “Understood, Bianca. For now, we’ll limit our numbers.”

  He doesn’t sound too happy about it, but honestly, that's a relief.

  At least the bears won’t be a problem—so many of them died, and if I remember correctly from Earth, a bear’s pregnancy is long, and they probably only have one cub at a time.

  Unlike goblins, who—judging by those enormous pregnancy bellies which are only about a third of what a human pregnancy would be—what are they having? Quintuplets?

  I shake my head, and the totem gives me a puzzled look.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  “Well, I’ll leave you in Ronan’s care. He’ll help you keep things organized.”

  I stand up from the throne, and the totem gives me another bow.

  “I’m going to train the pup. Should I take your bears like you said?” I ask my friend.

  “Yes, I’ve already given them their orders.”

  I’m thrilled to leave Ronan with the totem and head off to level up the little wolf. I should feel bad for the poor guy, leaving him there to help the goblins organize themselves. But last time, he did it without me even asking—he might actually like it.

  As I exit the cave, I glance back and see him happily chatting with the goblins.

  Alright.

  Looks like he gets along with them better than with humans.

  Come to think of it… he knows their language. At first, I wasn’t sure if it was a common tongue or if I understood it because of some kind of “otherworldly language bonus.”

  Looks like it is a common language.

  Good.

  I step out of the cave, and the two zombie bears, standing beside a living female bear of the same size, nuzzle her fur as if saying goodbye before following me.

  Wait… Do Ronan’s summons recognize their former companions?

  That gift of his—the one he revealed in the wagon on the way back from the desert dungeon, when he showed us Joe’s skull—as far as I know, no other necromancer has that ability.

  I could say Ronan is terrifying. But then I think about my own potential… or the shadow wolf… and I calm down.

  Better that Ronan is strong and powerful, because if the wolf—as insanely powerful as it is now—isn’t enough to protect us from whatever’s coming, I’m definitely going to need Ronan with every undead he can raise.

  Oh, and the goblins.

  "Maybe expanding the village isn’t such a bad idea after all."

  A happy bark from the seed pulls me out of my thoughts. One of the bears calls us with a roar. I take off running after the pup. We reach a spot between the trees where the bear has a fox pinned under one of its claws, pressing it down just enough to keep it from moving—but not enough to hurt it.

  A zombie bear being gentle…

  The pup, excited, lunges at the fox. The bear holds it in such a way that the fox’s belly is facing up, making it easier for the seed to sink its teeth in safely, without risking a bite. In less than a minute, the carnage is over, and the fox stops moving. Another roar. The other bear has caught a prey.

  We spend the next few hours like this. Most of the prey consists of deer, moose, and wild boars, though now and then there’s a fox, wolf, or rabbit. A few goblins follow us, collecting the carcasses. I imagine Ronan must have sent them to make sure the meat and hides don’t go to waste.

  Well… about the hides… let’s just say the pup doesn’t know how to kill cleanly yet, so there’s a bit of a mess. As for me, with all the money I made from the dungeon, I’m not keeping any this time. Let the goblins use them for their beds or whatever they want.

  In fact, when we return a few hours later, and night has already fallen, they try to give me several stacks of tanned hides from their hunts this week. I politely refuse. Apparently, they had only taken a few for my throne.

  Regarding me and the pup, I level up my runner mastery and he levels up twice. In fact, we haven’t stopped hunting until he reached level five.

  Congratulations! Your Minor Runner mastery has leveled up. It is now Low Runner mastery Low Runner: Passive. +2 Agi, +20% running speed.

  Seed of darkness. Level 5.

  Progress toward level 6: 0%

  Constitution: 14

  Strength: 11

  Intelligence: 8

  Agility: 7

  Wisdom: 6

  Health Points: 14

  Mana Points: 6

  Skills:

  Not available

  Spells:

  Healing Lick initiated level: restores half of the future Dark Lord's maximum HP and MP. Not applicable to itself or other targets that aren't the future Dark Lord or the Dark Lord. Cost: 1 MP. Restriction: Can only be used a maximum of 2 times every 24 hours.

  Not available

  Not available

  Shadow Wolf. Level 30.

  As a divine creature, it can exceed the level 20 restriction imposed on mundane creatures.

  Constitution: 44

  Strength: 41

  Intelligence: 38

  Agility: 37

  Wisdom: 36

  Health Points: 44

  Mana Points: 36

  Skills:

  Shadow Jump grandmaster level. Active. Teleport to a shadow within vision range. Instant. No cooldown. No mana cost.

  Regeneration grandmaster level. Passive. Heals 6HP per minute. Regenerates lost limbs.

  Hard Skin grandmaster level. Passive. +10 points physical resistance.

  Magic Resistance grandmaster level. Passive. +10 points magic resistance.

  Spells:

  Shadow Howl grandmaster level. Paralyzes for 10 seconds all creatures that hear it and don't have the magic resistance skill. If the creature has magic resistance skill at a level lower than grandmaster, will be paralyzed several seconds depending on their mastery in magic resistance. Cost: 2 MP.

  Shadow Aura grandmaster level. Decreases enemies' defense and attack by 10x%, both physical and magical. Range: 300 meter radius circular area. Cost: x MP.

  Darkness Ball grandmaster level. Ball made of dark mana that explodes in a 30m2 area. Range: 300 meter radius circular area. Cost: x MP. Damage: 2.5x damage points to the target on direct hit. 2x damage points to targets within explosion area.

  Shadow Claws grandmaster level. Layer of darkness that covers the wolf's front claws with dark mana making claws ignore targets' armor. Physical armor is completely ignored. If target has magical armor or shields, they're also ignored if their value is less than x. Cost: x MP. Duration: 10x minutes. Damage: 5x damage points.

  The next morning, we have breakfast with the goblins before setting off back to the academy. I promise them I’ll return soon.

  As for the goblin village control interface, I won’t be able to access it until they have a town hall and fifty goblins with beds. Right now, they don’t even have thirty, so they’ll need to almost double their population. Though judging by the number of babies in those bellies… the requirement might be met in just two weeks.

  Yikes. No wonder goblins are considered a plague.

  So, if I make sure they have enough beds—which I assume the fur futons they’re making count as basic beds—then the only thing missing is the town hall.

  “Ronan, what structures are the goblins working on?” I ask him once we reach the part of the forest closest to the palisade, where we dismount from the bears.

  “For now, just the forge.”

  “I see. Once they finish it and have made tools and weapons, let me know. I’ll try to figure out what’s needed for the town hall.”

  Either by checking my system or asking the totem, since I imagine the village or city they fled from had one.

  Ronan unsummons the bears, and we head toward the guards’ gate. They’ve seen us approach with the bears. They were already familiar with Ronan’s skeletons, but the zombies seem to have left an impression. They greet my friend with newfound respect as we enter the village.

  Normally, they’d ask something like “How did the hunt go?” or “Camping in the woods?”

  This time, they say nothing.

  I make a mental note—walking around with Ronan and his zombies is incredibly useful when I’m tired of socializing and don’t feel like talking to anyone else.

  Once at the academy, I say goodbye to Ronan, head to my room followed by my guard, freshen up, and get ready to go shopping with Mary.

  This whole bodyguard thing… I really should talk to Catrina again about getting rid of him. It’s ridiculous. Not even Vincent has one, and they believe someone tried to kill him in two different dungeons. But when I brought it up again, she told me it was because, with that sword, people from other kingdoms might try to kill me to take it.

  And I’m just saying… is a sword like that in enemy hands really worth more than the prince’s life?

  Poor Vincent. It must be because he’s not the heir.