The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

"Is this new?" Shire asked, looking at the notebook in his hand before glancing up at Agatha.

"Yes, it was carved on a white stone, along with a description of its function." Agatha shrugged. "Good thing I told Lame Leg to take a closer look at every stone. He was very diligent and checked almost all of the Pure White Stones."

"Those stones," Shire mused, the corner of his mouth twitching. "There are quite a few of them. That huge underground material vault is almost full."

"He's not bad, curious about everything," Agatha said, taking the notebook back. "Just like when I first started reading, always looking for special uses for everything around me. If he weren't a goblin, and had a strong build like Caocao, I bet he could use those stones as toys to make all sorts of shapes."

Hearing her words, Shire's mind automatically pictured the strange product displays he had seen in supermarkets in his past life: straw mats draped over mannequins to serve as armor, a castle gate-like structure built from large rolls of toilet paper, and tall water towers stacked high with all sorts of drinks.

"He certainly is, uh," he gave a wry smile, recalling Lame Leg's previous request to take apart a little goblin's wooden hut to see how it worked, "very curious about the world. You know, that evil Druid directly shackled the minds of his fellow goblins back then."

Agatha let out a soft sigh. "If I hadn't partnered with you to explore the forest, I would have gone my whole life without ever knowing how these goblins live. I'd only ever heard from friends that goblins are filthy creatures. Now I see that goblins, just like humans, have feelings and intelligence."

"Mhm, they have intelligence, just maybe not a lot of it." Shire chuckled. He glanced at a piece of paper on the side, on which were the Fortress regulations he was preparing to enact. He was still deliberating over the specific articles. A few nights ago, when he went to find Red Eyes to bury that mysterious Mage, he was surprised to find Red Eyes sleeping while hugging a Brain-Eating Monster. Fortunately, the Brain-Eating Monster was also asleep. Otherwise, Shire figured he'd have a breezy new hole in his head by now.

"So, you've only found this one new Rune Language so far?" he asked, glancing at the notebook in Agatha's hand.

"Yes, just this one for now." Agatha nodded. "I'll go over all the stone materials again to see if I missed any stray words or phrases."

"This Rune Language: Balance… what exactly does it do?" Shire asked, tapping his fingers on the table. "It doesn't seem very useful."

Compared to the previous Rune Language: Door and Rune Language: Mind, he couldn't immediately figure out a use for this new one.

This Rune Language: Balance could be carved onto two pieces of material, making them maintain a certain distance from each other. The effect was somewhat like magnetic repulsion but required no magnetism. While reading the notes Agatha had copied into her notebook, Shire had wondered if he could use two large pieces of white material to make one of them float in the air, creating an effect similar to magnetic levitation.

"Say," he mused, gesturing with his hands, "do you think the floating Pure White City uses this Rune Language to keep the entire city suspended in the air?"

Agatha raised her eyebrows at his words, but then she shook her head. "I don't think so. I've heard from the Skeleton Warriors that the Floating City drifts through the sky. It moves; it isn't fixed in one position."

"Besides," Agatha glanced at Shire's two green hands held in the air, "if it really did use Rune Language: Balance, where is the material that's on the ground? Also, if the ground were ever destroyed, the city in the sky would immediately fall. I don't think the High Elves would be that foolish."

Shire lowered his hands and rubbed his chin. "You're right. It's probably not that simple."

"But then again, what is this thing good for?" He frowned, taking Agatha's notebook again. "If it were a long strip, I could think of a way to create a floating track for rapidly transporting people or goods. But it's so small. You could only make a few floating toys to play with."

"Maybe the High Elves used them for something else," Agatha said, taking a sip of tea from the table. They had been so caught up in their discussion that they'd forgotten all about it, and now it had gone a bit cold. "If only there was a Rune Language for keeping things warm."

Shire smiled at Agatha, then his gaze returned to the notebook. "Maybe there is. Anyway, once we've scoured the entire forest, we'll probably have found most of the Rune Languages."

"Forget it." After looking at it for a few more seconds, Shire handed the notebook back to Agatha. "Regardless, let's make a finished product first. Maybe once we have one, we'll figure out what it's used for."

"You're right." Agatha put down her cup, closed the notebook, and slipped it into the small leather pouch she carried. "I'll go make two prototypes this afternoon and see how they work."

"Mhm," Shire nodded, adding a special instruction. "Get Caocao and Lame Leg. The two of them should be able to help you."

"Don't worry, I definitely won't forget them." Agatha drained the rest of her tea in one gulp and stood up from her chair. "When are you planning to scout that new area?"

"Not yet. I'm waiting for Little John to get back. He's bringing me something important." As Shire spoke, his expression grew calm. "Only after I've handled this matter can I lead people out to explore with peace of mind."

He was waiting for Little John to return with the Holy Water. Shire planned to seal the Angry Long Horn in a wooden barrel filled with Holy Water as soon as possible. Perhaps that was the only way to block the prying senses of the Demon Lords. After all, Lust had already arrived, and several other Demon Lords were still eyeing them covetously.

Even though he had successfully tricked Lust into signing a contract to get through that night peacefully, Shire couldn't guarantee what new tricks a few more Demon Lords might pull if they showed up. They were, after all, the most evil of beings, whose very names made people turn pale. Shire knew he couldn't afford to be careless about this.

"Alright, I'm off to get those two to work," Agatha said with a wave, leaving Shire's stone house. "I'm sure we'll see the finished product soon."

Shire watched her leave, then picked up the draft of the Fortress regulations from the table. He scratched his scalp lightly and let out a long sigh. "This is so difficult."

...

That afternoon, right after lunch, Agatha found Shire.

"It looks like this Rune Language: Balance is pretty fun."

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