Xeno watched the village from the tallest tree he could find, the vantage point giving him full view of the village and its surroundings.

The village was just short of a being a town and had a decent population. According to Granny RIz, over the past few years the village became a popular resting spot for mercenaries and travelling merchants due to being close to the Jalcin forest.

The Jalcin forest was the forest Xeno woke up in as a goblin. His tribe lived on the outer skirts of the forest. As one went deeper into the forest, they would encounter more and more dangerous beasts. Granny Riz wouldn’t explain further because she didn’t want him getting curious but Xeno was pretty sure there were magic beasts in the forest.

Every inch of a magic beast is valuable and could be sold at high prices. Hunting them was a risk many were willing to take as the allure of wealth was too great.

A map in the house let Xeno know the more about the forest and the surrounding areas. There was a mountain range separating the forest from another more dangerous area. He had only just began learning to read the language but he could recognise the word forbidden on the map.

He guessed there were stronger creatures beyond the mountains. Xeno cleared his head from such thoughts and focussed back on the village. The village had good defences, with tall walls and giant metal gate.

There were three manned lookout posts on the walls around the village and several guards at the gate. Xeno’s eyes wandered to a merchant caravan entering the village. Despite its status as a popular resting place it was still a village in the end and its security was lax.

The guards didn’t even bother to check the wagons and the goods partly because they didn’t want to offend wealthy merchants and mostly their lack of concern.

Xeno stealthily made his way to one of the wagons about to enter the village and hung beneath it, easily making his way past the guards and into the village. When no one was looking he crawled out and took cover in an alley.

It was noon and sun was particularly bright today, so Xeno had to be extra careful not land in the eyes of any of the villagers, especially the mercenaries.

He climbed atop the nearest building and made his way to market. One of the benefits to being small was that it lowered his chances of getting caught.

No one in the village noticed a half-naked goblin traversing their roofs. Xeno saw the market and contemplated how to get the goods.

‘Damn I’m stupid, why didn’t I ask Granny for a shirt or some sort of cloak.’

It wasn’t the sun that was bothering him as goblins weren’t affected by the environment as much as other species, rather it was that if any one glanced at his direction they would see an ugly shade of green and he would have a mob on his feet.

Granny Riz gave him pants and that was enough for Xeno as goblins didn’t need shirts to protect them from the weather. Even the pants were only a way for Xeno to maintain some inkling of modesty. She maybe blind but it didn’t sit well with Xeno to roam her house in loincloths.

After scouting the market, Xeno made his way to the least crowded shop. There were no windows and going through the front door was impossible so instead he cut open a section of the wall which was a surprisingly easy process.

‘Nice dagger Granny.’

The dagger was Granny Riz’s late husband’s which she lent to Xeno for his safety. Other than its unique shape there weren’t any inscriptions or decorations but it seemed the rather plain looking knife had some history behind it,

“Ah fuck.”

Xeno stepped on something slimy, a murky greenish yellow liquid. Shaking the substance of his legs, he checked whether the owner noticed the noise before looking around the room. This was the shops stock room.

There were rice bags and some other items in Granny Riz’s list that were lying around. Xeno put all of them into the bag, watching in awe as the bag seemingly swallowed all the items.

After he was done, Xeno planned to leave the money owed on the ground,

‘This way it isn’t stealing… dammit!’

Xeno hid himself in a barrel, his small figure allowing him to barely fit inside as he heard some voices open the door to the stockroom.

“This package is valuable Crenz, don’t damage it and don’t touch it. We’ll ship it to Lessvin in a few days, it should fetch a good price there, got it?”

Another voice agreed and both parties left the room. Xeno gave it a few seconds before getting out of the barrel, thanking this world’s deities that they didn’t notice the missing goods.

Brushing himself off, Xeno prepared to make an exit when he spotted the ‘goods’ the men deposited.

“Hello there..?”

Xeno paused after the awkward greeting and looked at the tied up little girl. There was no response and the girl had rather alarmingly expressionless eyes for one so young. While he wanted to ignore it and just go back to Granny Riz’s house, Xeno couldn’t bring himself to walk away from a child.

“Where are you from little girl? Did those men kidnap you? You from this village?”

The girl wasn’t gagged but she still refused to speak.

‘Is it because I’m a goblin? But I can’t be a worse monster than those men.’

As Xeno was in his thoughts, he saw the girl move and her eyes flicking to downwards trying to point to something, a collar with a crystal embedded into it on her neck.

He moved and used his knife to cut the collar and in a flash was pushed back by an unseen force. On alert, Xeno raised his knife at her only to see a panicked reaction from the little girl.

“I’m sorry Sir Goblin, I only wanted to undo the bindings. It was a mistake.”

Xeno took a step back as he heard the childish voice in his head. It was a new experience but back in his old world telepathy was quite common so he wasn’t unused to though it was odd to say the least.

Magic powered telepathy worked different from the technological alternative. He could feel the emotions in her words. The child was scared even though she was trying to hide it,

“It’s okay kid. While I would love to know how you’re doing all this, we need to get out of here and out of this village.”

The girl seemed worried from the emotional feedback he was getting but maintained an emotionless expression. Xeno got outside through the small patch he destroyed and the little girl followed.

‘How am I going to do this…’

Getting out of the village alone would be easy, he could just hide underneath another wagon but with the little girl he would have to look at another way out.

Looking around he saw an increase in armed men in the vicinity. They probably belonged to the caravan which brought in the little girl.

Even alone there would be no way he could get away unnoticed. The best way to escape was a diversion. It would be even better if the village guards were drawn away by it as well. Xeno went back inside the room and collected the greenish yellow liquid which was lamp oil and spread it across the room.

Just as he wondering how he would set fire, he saw the little girl wave her hands and the room was set ablaze.

“A little warning next time.”

Xeno grabbed the girl and made his way out of the market area. The fire was easily noticeable in a small community like the village and drew everyone’s eyes.

“Sorry Sir Goblin. I just wanted to help.”

The girl felt guilty but Xeno just patted her head and led her to another caravan. Things were going smooth and they would be out of the village and at Granny’s soon enough,

“BASTARD!!!! GET THE GIRL. THAT HALFLING IS KIDNAPPING A LITTLE GIRL.”

The voice he heard in the stock room shouted gathering attention from the villagers and mercenaries. Luckily Xeno had covered himself with makeshift cloak from sacks he found in the shop.

Most of the people there were confused because there was no way a ‘Halfling’ would ever do such a crime. They were known by all to be peaceful by nature but the sight of a small cloaked figure taking away a girl quickly drove the people to action.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Get on the wagon and take cover.”

Xeno pushed the driver off and took hold of the reins, and the horses started pulling the wagon, but in the completely wrong direction. Xeno had no clue on how to control horses and tried to pull them in the right direction.

……………………….

Species: Human

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Skills: [Equestrian]

Requirements fulfilled.

Learn skill?

Yes/No

……………………….

Xeno frantically learnt the skill from the carriage driver he just pushed off and soon the horses came under his control and he drove them in the directions of the village gate. The market area was rather close to the gate and people were slow to react so they managed to reach the gate.

The village gate was being closed but with no other choice Xeno was fully prepared to smash through them when the little girl peeked from the wagon and raised her hands blasting the gate open with an unreal force.

Relief washed over Xeno and he turned to praise the girl when he heard an unpleasant familiar voice,

“Fucking Halfling, you dare steal my goods?”

“Sir Goblin!!”

The same man that alerted the entire village had somehow managed to get onto the wagon and tried to grab the girl. Drawing his Dagger Xeno pounced on the man but was pushed back.

This man not only managed to chase a wagon going at full speed but also brushed off a goblin using the [Charge] and [Leap] skills in conjunction. Clearly he was no ordinary human.

“A goblin?”

The man was visibly confused but drew his blade and rushed Xeno, who in turn [charged] with his dagger. The clash though brought unexpected results.

Both the man and Xeno looked surprised to see the dagger break through sword easily and pierce into the man’s chest. Reacting quickly Xeno pulled out the dagger and jumped at the man’s chest, grabbing his head and stabbed at his neck repeatedly.

Once the man was dead, Xeno pushed the body of the wagon. When they were near the forest, he got of the cart and patted the horses making them run in a different direction.

Taking the little girl’s hand Xeno took her to the forest and towards Granny Riz’s place.