Syl

Chapter 45: Farewell

'Now what.' I asked myself.

I wasn't sure what to do or what I could even do. The goblins had lost their Chief even before I killed him since he planned to abandon them. I wanted to help them, but Garz's words still cut deep. Perhaps I could help them escape and then leave. If I left, then I'm sure Garz could step up and be the new Chief since he was now the strongest remaining goblin.

I was surprised nobody had come to investigate the commotion, or did Krutz maybe order the goblins not to be around? It'd probably be bad for his image if they witnessed him killing Tarz, who had become a hero amongst the goblins who didn't know the truth. I felt sick, and thoughts of forever banning my Tarz form came to mind.

I needed to talk to Garz. I turned into my elf form and equipped my gear, then walked over to the sleeping guards and gave them another dosing of sleep gas.

Skill will be revealed and obtained with [Identify].>

'Well, gee, thanks... But none of my profiles have [Identify], and Krutz took his secrets to the grave.'

I took away Garz's weapons and bound him with a tendril, making sure to gag him since I figured he might scream when he woke up. I withdrew some water from my storage to splash his face, but he was out cold. While waiting for him to wake up, I started investigating the items I took from Krutz. I found his storage bag and turned it inside out, as Garz had shown me before, and out popped a mindboggling amount of food and a few bits of jewelry.

I deposited the food back in the bag and added the rest of my badger pelts and claws. I disarmed the sleeping guards and threw their weapons into the bags as well. I planned to give this to Yuzz with the intention that the supplies would help the escapees. I wasn't sure what the jewelry was, but I refused to blindly put it on after the last one caused a notification.

I tried swinging Krutz's creepy skull scepter, but it didn't do anything, and I couldn't make it emit the black mana. I started to deposit everything until I reached the storage bag, which refused to go in.

"I guess if this was possible, you could have infinite space if you just kept putting storage bags in storage bags."

I looked over the hobgoblin profile and could see why they preferred focusing on classes, as they only gained [Thick Skin] and [Enhanced Claws]. I had four trait points to spend now, and while I was worrying about how I'd negotiate with Garz, I recalled a trait I had completely disregarded.

Increases your charisma and social presence per trait level.>

I hoped this would help me convince him, and it likely would synergize with my [Acting].

I was getting a bit worried that Garz was still unconscious, so I kept poking him and dousing him with water. Finally, he started to stir. He tried to groan, and I could feel him trying to move in his restraints. The fear in his eyes when they flickered open, and he saw his situation was rather haunting.

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"Garz... I'm sorry." I started, his eyes widened with confusion, "I'm Syl... I forgot you've never seen this form, but I don't want to be Tarz anymore."

He tried to struggle, and I could see the anger adding to the fear.

"Look. I'm sorry. I'll leave you and the goblins, but Krutz is dead, and the goblins need a leader. I don't know if he was telling the truth or not about the humans coming, but if they are, then you need to escape."

Garz was still frowning but gave a reluctant nod. I ungagged him but kept him restrained; trust was in short supply.

"Humans coming was true." He responded.

"Then you need to escape, maybe go into the badger tunnels? I killed the evolved badger, so it should be safe. Or at least safer than taking on the humans."

"The humans will search. Until they find goblins." He responded, "If... Some stay. Fight. Maybe humans think they killed?"

"Would they be willing to sacrifice themselves?"

"If Chief asked. They would." He responded with determination, which then seemed to fade when he recalled that the Chief was dead.

I knew the solution, but part of me hated it.

"I could turn into Krutz."

"Might work. But..." He agreed but was looking very disturbed. Maybe he was concerned that if I turned into Krutz, I'd follow them and stick around.

"What if Krutz, me, stays behind with some of the warriors? I could fight the humans and pretend to die." I suggested, and I took out his skull scepter, "If I left this behind, the humans might think they got him."

Garz seemed lost in thought until he finally broke the silence with a simple question, "Why do this for us?"

"It's probably a stupid reason, but you were the first to talk to me. Even if you secretly hated me, I don't want you to die. Also, I don't want Yuzz to die."

Garz gave a small laugh, "You right. Very stupid reason. But okay."

We hashed out a bit more details, and then I finally let him go. We would make an emergency announcement, and I'd ask for volunteers while designating Garz as the new leader. Garz said to expect a lot of goblins to volunteer as they all deeply respected Krutz. Honestly, I felt bitter about that, as he was willing to abandon all of them, and now I was turning him into a hero.

Garz was going to assemble the meeting, but that gave me some time to say goodbye to Yuzz. Which unfortunately meant I needed to turn back into Tarz. I waited for Garz to leave so he wouldn't see and then headed to her hut.

I gave her an abridged version of the situation and told her I was volunteering to stay behind. I left out the part that I was turning into Krutz. I also gave her the storage bag and gave her the instructions.

"You don't have to volunteer. You could come with us. Don't waste your talent."

I laughed, hoping to give her some reassurance, "I said I'm staying, but I have no intention of dying. Maybe we will meet again, and you'll be a master crafter."

We parted with a hug, and I left, but not before witnessing her start stuffing her new bag. I entered my little home for the final time, shifting to Krutz and equipping his outfit. I also unequipped my [Apex Hunter] emblem and mentally focused on [Identity Block] to block everything.

Everyone gathered, and we explained the plan, telling the goblins to grab what equipment and food they could and immediately start retreating to the tunnel. A small squad formed with Garz and Caz to head into the badger tunnel first to ensure it was still safe. Then, we called for volunteers to delay the humans. Garz was right. We had far too many volunteers and were forced to turn down enough to protect the civilians.

I couldn't believe that my conversation with Garz and this little speech was enough to gain a level. Then again, there were probably over two hundred goblins listening to my every word. What did Krutz do to gain this degree of loyalty? My parting with Garz was just a simple nod, he wanted nothing further to do with me.

I had a lot of points I could have spent, but I was unsure on what to buy. I was tempted to grab another [Sub-Core], but held back when I remembered the slime mass it expended to create it.

Once everyone was inside the tunnel, I used my "Chieftain Magic" to collapse the entrance with a burst of acid. Our scout, who was supposed to return already, had missed the deadline and was most likely dead. Which meant the humans were close. We all took our positions.

'I better make it out of this alive, or Gramps will kill me.'