Chapter 375 - 311: Battle Imminent

Chapter 375: Chapter 311: Battle Imminent

It was ten days before Shire saw Broken Tooth again. Looking at his subordinate, Shire couldn’t quite decipher the expression on his face—a mixture of anger and helplessness.

"So you’ve spent most of the last few days following those goblins around in circles?" After hearing Broken Tooth’s brief report, Shire immediately understood his subordinate’s state of mind.

"Yes. They are... too stupid," Broken Tooth complained, a rare occurrence. The goblin still hadn’t shed his timid personality and usually refrained from commenting on other goblins. But this time, it seemed the Surrender Envoys had led him on such a wild goose chase that he was practically steaming.

Shire chuckled. "Alright, not everyone can wander around the forest like you can."

He offered a few more words of comfort to his subordinate, then stood up and walked over to the wooden map. "You saw the goblin troop?"

"Yes. A lot of them," Broken Tooth nodded.

"And where are they, approximately?" Shire patted the map, gesturing for Broken Tooth to see if he could mark their position.

Broken Tooth walked to the map, tilting his head as he studied it. He pulled the Compass Shire had issued him from his pocket and muttered to himself. Then, he stretched out a finger and began tracing a path across the map, pausing for a few seconds with each movement as if recalling his journey. Every now and then, he would let out a quiet curse or two.

Shire stood to the side, watching his subordinate. He couldn’t guarantee Broken Tooth would be able to pinpoint the location of the Feathered Serpent Kingdom’s goblins, but he wanted to use this interaction as a training exercise. The territory he controlled was vast on paper, but it was mostly forested terrain with no distinctive landmarks. Every time a team went out, they had to carve numerous markings on trees to ensure they wouldn’t get lost by traveling too far.

Shire had long been aware of this situation, but for now, he had no particular solution. He had thought about finding the time to traverse the entire area under his Control and establish some unique landmarks, such as selecting distinctive trees or building a conspicuous structure, but all of that would have to wait until other matters were more or less settled.

Having Broken Tooth recall his recent experience was intended as early training. Shire knew that some Rangers who made their living in the woods for long periods could memorize a map of the entire forest. This kind of map was uniquely their own, built from their personal observations and habits.

If the tribe was to navigate the forest without getting lost in the future, they would need just such a detailed map. And right now, the only one who could go in and out of the forest at will was Broken Tooth.

"Are you sure they’re in this area?" Shire asked, watching as his subordinate finally drew a circle with his finger northwest of the Fortress. The circle’s area was considerable—several times larger than the clearing the Centaurs had made for raising Big-horned Deer.

Broken Tooth stared at the wooden map, thinking in silence for nearly half a minute before nodding again to indicate his certainty.

"This location isn’t too far from us," Shire mused, staring at the map. The straight-line distance from the circled area to the Fortress was likely only a day’s journey. But recalling the convoluted, winding route Broken Tooth had traced, he knew you couldn’t judge these goblins by normal standards. Besides, Broken Tooth had cursed several times while drawing the route he’d taken to follow them. That was because the Surrender Envoys were just that stupid; they would wander off from the trail markers they’d carved on the tree trunks. Once they realized their mistake, they had to backtrack until they found a marker again. What’s more, they didn’t dare to venture far to search for food, terrified of getting lost in the forest. As a result, the Surrender Envoys had spent the last few days subsisting mainly on bitter leaves. On the few occasions they discovered mouse holes, they shrieked and hollered with glee, so much so that Broken Tooth, hiding in the shadows, was tempted to play the part of a kindly old man and toss them a few strips of dried meat.

Still, because they were a group of several goblins, they managed to find the main force in the end without any major mishaps.

"Leaving aside the sheer size of that area, just based on how those goblins operate when foraging, I doubt they’ll get here anytime soon." Shire smiled and shook his head. He could just imagine the chaotic scene of that goblin horde trying to find enough food in the forest.

"Alright, I understand. You should go get some rest," Shire said, patting his subordinate’s shoulder. "Now that you’re back, you can go try out the bathhouse. The hot water there will be very refreshing. Tomorrow, go back to that area and take another look. Try to confirm what kind of preparations they’re making."

When Broken Tooth had left, the bathhouse in the underground Fortress was still being built. Shire had selected a few stone chambers near the underground river. He’d had One-Eyed lead some goblins to renovate the chambers with Black Mud and bricks. At the same time, he had carved a new Rune—Rune Language: Temperature—to Control the water’s heat. Thanks to his earlier theory, the water within the range of the Rune Speech could indeed have its temperature controlled, giving the goblins a wonderful place to bathe during the winter.

Shire had deliberately separated the baths into male and female sections. Previously, when the weather was warm, the goblins couldn’t have cared less, simply stripping off their ragged clothes and jumping into the river. But now, Shire was starting to instill certain proprieties within the tribe.

The baths were large enough to accommodate many goblins at once, and they quickly became the tribe’s favorite place to go after a long day of work.