The Forest Feeds No Idle Goblins

Shire looked at the round, white stone floating before him. On the ground below it, another white stone lay silently.

"It just keeps floating like this?" he said, sweeping his hand back and forth between the two stone discs. "There's no obstruction, and I don't feel anything strange."

In his past life, he had been to a science museum and seen a magnetic levitation device used for display and teaching. He also knew all about the explanations of magnetic field lines. But between these two white stones, which looked like "flying saucers," he couldn't sense any power source.

"How amazing," Shire said, trying to press down on the floating stone. He could feel a force that seemed to resist his downward pressure. 'This thing can actually just float in the air.'

"I've made two before," Agatha said, standing to the side and watching him. "With these two, the one on the ground is a bit bigger. If I made them the same size like before, the floating stone wouldn't be as stable. If you bump it, it could still get flung away."

"Is that so?" Shire sized up the two pure white stones before him again. "They do look like they're slightly different sizes."

Then, after a moment's thought, he picked up a few pieces of scrap wood from nearby and placed them on the floating stone. The stone only sank a little, not falling to the ground, but with the weight on it, the floating stone was no longer as stable as before.

"It seems its weight-bearing capacity is limited," Shire said, stroking his chin. "In that case, we can't put anything too heavy on it."

"It seems its uses are pretty limited then," he murmured, circling the two stones in thought.

"Well, it does have one use right now," Agatha, who was standing nearby, spoke up. "If we could build an external frame, we could place some light items on it, like candles."

As she spoke, her gaze drifted to the Centaurs working in the distance. "Evita came to see me before. She asked if we could light candles in the village. That way, her people wouldn't have to carry torches when they patrol at night. It's winter now, and the night wind is a bit strong. Torches might not be very safe."

"Hmm," Shire stroked his chin and nodded. "She did ask about that before, but using candles would be a huge expense."

Then, as if remembering something, Shire said, "That's right! We don't need to use candles. We just need to grow mushrooms on it."

"Mushrooms?" Agatha paused, stunned. "You mean...?"

"Those blue, fluorescent mushrooms," Shire said, pointing at the floating stone. "As long as we grow those mushrooms on it, we'll have light at night."

"We can make several more pairs of Rune Language: Balance. We'll gather all the smaller stones and have the little goblins use their Magic Power to cultivate the fluorescent mushrooms on them. After nightfall, the Centaurs can place these stones on their counterparts, which will be pre-buried in the ground. The mushrooms will stay lit all night. In the morning, we just collect the stones and let the little goblins get back to cultivating them."

"Well..." Agatha thought for a moment. "That could work. Those fluorescent mushrooms used to grow everywhere in the Fortress, so they should be able to grow on these stones too."

Shire looked at the floating white disc before him, stepped forward, and took off the pieces of wood he had placed on it. "This method is viable. I think we'll be able to solve the Centaurs' request soon."

As the wood was removed, the stone disc shot upward with such speed that it almost hit Shire's arm. If he hadn't reacted so quickly, he'd probably be clutching a bruised arm and crying out in pain right now.

"Sorry, I forgot to warn you," Agatha said, walking over immediately. "Caocao tried putting things on it before, too. She was too slow when taking them off and got her hand hit."

Shire held the wood in his hand, frowning at the stone disc. "That rebound is incredibly fast."

"It is. The moment the Rune's effect activates, it immediately does that," Agatha said from the side.

"You're saying it rebounds the instant it activates?" Shire sized up the two stone discs, a use for them suddenly occurring to him. "Can you split the bottom disc apart right now?"

"Split it apart?" Agatha asked, taken aback.

"Yes, split the disc into two parts. One, uh..." Shire gestured with his hands, "a smaller corner piece, so they can be pieced together to form a large, complete disc."

"I'll try," Agatha said.

After a while, as the sky began to dim, Agatha finally finished making a white stone disc that could be assembled from pieces.

Shire stuck one piece into the ground at an angle, then placed the floating disc right next to it. "Right now, because the Rune Speech on this disc is incomplete, the overall Rune Language: Balance can't take effect."

Next, he had someone bring over a Hand Grenade Fruit and secured it to one end of the disc. "If I'm not mistaken, this Rune Speech should be very interesting."

After setting everything up, Shire carefully picked up the missing piece of the bottom disc. At the same time, he had everyone else move farther away, afraid the Hand Grenade Fruit might accidentally explode.

Then, he quickly jammed the small piece into the gap in the bottom disc. As the two stones fit together, with a SWOOSH, the two discs that had been resting together shot apart like lightning. Due to the effect of the Rune Speech, the Hand Grenade Fruit resting on the disc's surface was launched by a massive force.

BOOM. As the sound of a distant explosion rang out, Agatha and Shire looked at each other and smiled.

"That distance..." Shire visually estimated. "Looks like it was over 200 meters. If we make a proper mold and keep reloading it, we could rapidly fire Hand Grenade Fruits. We could even launch Blazing Fire Glue or Stinky Spores."

"This thing is basically a light mortar," he said, circling the two discs joyfully. "If we mass-produce one or two hundred of these, I won't be afraid of anyone who comes knocking."

The ability to attack the enemy from 200 meters away was basically a death sentence for those noble lords still relying on Cavalry warfare.

And compared to firearms, this thing didn't use gunpowder, making it much safer. They wouldn't have to worry about the goblins blowing themselves up.

'Build them. I'll have people start working with Agatha and Lame Leg right away. Make more, at least twenty or thirty to start.'

"Agatha, it seems we've found one hell of a Rune Speech," Shire said, turning to smile at the Ghost Witch behind him.

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