The little wagon rolled down the dirt path, illuminated by nothing but the feeble morning sun. Three pairs of eyes gazed into me, unsure of what to make of what they’d seen.

Mustering all my courage, I spoke in the best common tongue that I could.

“... h-hi?”

It came out slightly stunted and a little rough, but it would pass as a human’s.

The three humans looked at one another before one man finally decided to speak up.

Rather than man, he looked more like a boy of fifteen or so. His messy brown hair was unkempt and he had slightly robust features. His eyes radiated a naive youth and a blinding confidence irradiated from his smile, or least would’ve if he wasn’t breaking into a cold sweat. He obviously wasn’t a villager by the way he was equipped.

Simple leather armor encased distinct parts of the body whilst the rest was covered by regular clothing. From his hip hung a broadsword and from his arm a small shield.

He cleared his throat,

“G-greetings sir, how do you do. My name is Ernas Wi-” The other boy, who was coaching the wagon, nudged him with his elbow, smirking.

“What's with that awkward tone Ernas? Doesn’t fit you at all if you ask me.”

The boy who introduced himself as Ernas instantly erupted into a blush, obviously flustered.

“S-shut it Arnaud! I'm tryin’ to make a good first impression here!”

“Mhm, and how’s that going?”

“... I’m getting there.”

“Uh huh, sure you are.”

The man coaching pushed his glasses up with a smug expression on his face. He was around the same age but a little thinner, although his features were sharper. Clean cut black hair covered a majority of his face and not a hint of stubble appeared on his chin. He was probably some kind of scholar considering the expensive looking robe he wore.

The two continued bickering with one another, although it was largely one sided.

This confused me quite a bit. The arguements back at the den were generally more hostile and ended in fists being thrown, but the bickering between the two humans didn’t seem to be violent in any way. In fact I sensed some kind of friendliness behind it all.

The third human crossed their arms and spoke in a stern and surprisingly, female voice.

“Come on guys, you’re being rude to our new guest!”

The two shrunk down a little bit as they responded nearly in sync, as if this situation had played out many times before.

“... sorry Syllica.”

Her voice was not like any I'd heard before. It was soft and harmonious. Something about it alone attracted me. Maybe it's because all the female voices I’d heard before that point were always in a state of distress or agony, but her speech captivated me.

I looked over to her only to realise that her entire face was wrapped in fabric, similarly to mine. She must’ve felt my gaze because she began taking it off.

“Ah! Sorry about that, I make sure to cover my face when traveling in this area. It’d be a problem if a gang of bandits or goblins found out I was a woman after all…”

The moment the last cloth fell from her face, I was completely mesmerized.

A shapely, elegant face with fair, unblemished skin. Delicate features that were almost overwhelmingly charming. Full yet slim lips tinted a healthy pink. Long, lustrous pale blonde hair that dropped down to her waist.

Her eyes were the most bewitching things I’d ever seen. Radiant green orbs that nearly emanated innocence and well-being. Her gaze was almost magnetic, the more I looked into it, the less I wanted to pull myself away. Her ears were especially fascinating.

I never thought that long pointed ears could be so beautiful.

The disgust I associate with goblin ears was nowhere to be found. These ears were long, sharp, and elegant. Not at all like the deformed strips of cartilage that you could find on a goblin's noggin.

She didn’t wear any armor, but the hooded cloak she wore seemed to be emitting some dull magical properties. Under the cloak she wore light, unobstructing clothing along with long leather gloves and boots.

Her lips tugged up into an innocent smile,

“Sorry for the late introduction, my name’s Syllica. Those two idiots are Ernas and Arnaud. They get a bit annoying sometimes but they’re good people.”

They seemed quite close, but I made sure not to pry. Their gazes turned towards me expectantly, like they were waiting for something.

This was one of the problems with being raised in a goblin society. Human culture relies heavily on subtle nuances, nuances that mean nothing to goblins. The flow of conversation was largely foreign to me at the time.

My only saving grace was that I spent an abnormal amount of time studying the speech patterns and gestures of the humans I stalked. This is also the reason I was able to develop my mimicry skill so quickly. All of that was in preparation for this moment.

I placed my hand to my chest, bowing slightly, a gesture I learned from a wealthy merchant I’d robbed.

“Greetings, I’m but a wanderer from the western lands.”

Silica tilted her head questioningly.

“And your name is…”

Shit.

Of course I knew what a name was, but was not very familiar with them. Goblins don’t have names, you just kind of knew when you were being called because the goblin addressing you was either right in front of you or gesturing at you.

The humans we killed generally didn’t have the time or luxury to speak during fights, so that wasn’t much help either.

I had no clue that it was considered rude not to introduce your own name when someone offered theirs. I thought as furiously as I could, trying to think of some name that sounded human. In the end I chose to just play it the safe route because I wasn’t confident that I could think of a natural sounding name on the spot.

“...I’m a little embarrassed about my foreign name, and I don’t yet have a name suitable for this land, I apologize.”

She placed a hand on her chin, squinting in thought,

‘Hmm...then would it be okay for us to give you a name? It’s a little awkward to just refer to you as ‘he’...”

A wave of relief washed over me, and the name that she gave would probably fit just fine in human society. And plus, for some reason receiving a name from her felt appealing.

“I see no problem in that.”

“Great, then how about…”

After a few seconds, Arnaud was the first to suggest.

“How about Wilhem? It’s a sophisticated sounding name that's easy to say.”

Syllica nodded slowly a few times,

“Yeah I can see that working. Sounds a bit off though…”

Ernas’ eyes brightened as he practically yelled his suggestion.

“Regnauld!”

He nodded enthusiastically, obviously proud of the name he’d thought up.

“...no, definitely not.”

“Yeah it sounds like the name of some stuck up noble.”

“Wha-?”

Arnaud clapped his hands, silencing him.

“Next suggestion!”

Syllica’s face brightened,

“How about Sigmund?”

The other two nodded in agreement, the name did seem to “click” somehow when I heard her say it.

“Sounds a bit too fancy though, how about shortening it to Sig?”

Syllica looked to me in confirmation.

“...Sig sounds good to me, I think I’ll go by that from now on. Thanks kindly for the name.” I performed the same deep bow I had before.

Politeness is an important part of human culture. Simply adding a “thank you” or “sorry” to most conversation makes for more natural sounding speech.

She raised her hands in front of her,

“Ah, you don’t need to be so polite around us, you did bail us out back there after all. If anything we should be thanking you.”

“You can say that again. We would’ve been in deep shit if you hadn’t saved us back there. I have to ask though-” he pushed his glasses up with one hand,

“Where did you learn to fight so well with just a club? The fact that you could kill all those goblins single handedly is pretty impressive.”

Ernas eyed the club lying at my feet,

“Yeah, I’ve been practicing swordsmanship since I was a kid but those moves...they’re not like anything I’ve ever seen.”

“Now that I think about it, how old are… nevermind that, that was rude of me. You don’t have to tell us everything right off the bat.”

Ernas, realizing that the conversation might’ve turned awkward if he left it there, quickly added on.

“Anyway, why were you at Rivermill?”

Assuming that Rivermill was the name of the village, I formulated half-baked story on the spot.

“Um...I had just traveled there from the west and was seeking shelter for the night. How about you guys?”

All three of them sighed, sinking a little in their seats. Syllica buried her face into her palm,

“Ugh...It’s a long story.”

“Oh god I don’t even want to think about it. Ernas, you can do the talking.”

He took a deep breath before beginning.

“The three of us are adventurers, you see. The guild sent us to clear out a goblin nest around the Bevertain woodland a few days ago but by the time we arrived...you can guess what happened after that”

I was familiar with adventurers. They sometimes guarded merchants, from what I heard the only adventurers that took low rank jobs like escorting were fairly weak though.

I’d only fought a couple by that point and from what a could discern, the ones I encountered were weaker than the regular mercenary. The only thing that was tricky about them was their utility.

Whereas a mercenary was generally skilled in a single or a few weapons, adventurers were kind of a jack of all trades that could specialize in anything from swordsmanship, to spellcasting, to tracking. Furthermore their equipment was unusual. Although the lower ranked ones that I’d fought used similar weapons, they always had some sort of strange trinket or potion that made them annoying to deal with.

For example, the last adventurer I’d fought had some vial that, when broken, released a powder that nearly blinded me. That sort of thing.

Syllica, Ernas and Arnaud seemed to be around that skill level.

Syllica lifted her head, her mood seeming to have improved a little.

“Anyway, after that flop we’re heading back to our base town so that we can rest up.”

“Town?”

“Ah, we never told you where we were going, did we? The town’s called Mordhen, we have a little place there that we stay in.”

She eyed me closer,

“Now that I mention it, do you have any place to stay, Sig?”

“...”

The fact that I could be so stupid surprised me. Maybe it was because of the adrenaline or the excitement of finally entering the human world, but forgetting to think about necessities like food, drink, and shelter was beyond idiocy.

“Uhh...I was just going to sleep on the street-”

She shook her head stubbornly,

“That won’t do! It gets pretty chilly at night, y’know?”

She scratched her silky hair before coming to a conclusion.

“Say, how about you stay with us for a bit?”

“Eh?! I couldn’t, I’d be overstepping my bounds if I -”

“Don’t worry about it man, it’s the least we can do.”

“Mhm, I’d feel bad if we just left you out in the streets to fend for yourself.”

Syllica looked down to the floor, embarrassed.

“...I’d be happy if you’d accept…”

...now that’s just unfair. I’d never regarded anything as cute before, small animals and other women didn’t do much to pique my interest but this was a new experience all together.

“...even if you say that I’d feel bad for freeloading off your hard work. ”

That was a concept that exists even in goblin society. Those that didn't work shouldn't be fed. It only made sense that I would have to contribute in some way, so I spring the question.

“Would it be okay if I were to join your adventuring party?”

Their eyes nearly popped out in shock, Arnaud was the first to recover, albeit only marginally.

“A-are you sure? With your skill you could join a more experienced team. You’d earn much more coin that way.”

“I could, but I feel like I’d be most comfortable here.”

That was part of the truth, I felt strangely comfortable around those three. The other part was that having another adventuring party accept me so easily was unlikely. Although I wouldn’t be making as much, it was a choice with fewer risks.

Ernas cleared the surprise from his face, instead putting on a more professional, determined face.

“If that's the case then I’d be a fool for rejecting you.”

He held out a hand. Hesitantly, I shook it with my gloved hand.

This handshake was the catalyst that would lead to the happiest moments in my life.