After lifting the severed head of the village chief up in the air for a short while to let the entire crowd witness the proof of our victory, I soon threw it on the ground to humiliate the village a bit more. We were victorious against this treacherous mass of goblins, so willing to break our deal and kill us only for the sake of some worthless shiny stones. As soon as the goblin chief’s severed head hit the ground with a thump sound, my men’s cries of victory filled the air, accompanying it.

The villagers were many against us, yet they stood desperate. Less than half of us survived including the wolves, yet about a thousand goblins stood there waiting in fear. Some were devastated, and some had eyes filled with anger. It was their siblings, partners, parents, and children we had killed. But it was also their siblings, partners, parents, and children who tried to kill us. I did not feel a gram of regret for the massacre - it was justified. Every opposing goblin participated in this fight willingly and those who did not were let live. It was their choice to die for a fraudulent cause. I have no remorse.

Elves were standing in a group, separated from the goblins of the village by my men, who were also incidentally goblins. They must be confused, but they knew they were lucky enough to survive.

“From now on, this village belongs to me. Anyone who dares to oppose my authority will share the same fate with your despicable chief.”

Many goblins covered their eyes while the others chose to take another glance at the village chief’s head lying on the ground in a pool of blood. I would have thought that it had all its blood drained by now, but whatever.

“We will collect 40% of your produce every half year. If you try to move the village, we will catch you and leave no one alive.” I gave my ultimatum. It was time to get what we got here to get.

“Soldiers, collect everything I bought. Guards, go get some food and water to feed the elves before we move back to the dungeon. Everyone can loot anything from the corpses, but I prohibit damaging the bodies.”

“Understood Master!”

I looked at two imps standing guard against the villagers.

“Go get some carts - we need them to carry our loot, and we will take the bodies of our men back to the dungeon for a proper burial.”

The imps were a bit surprised by the word ‘burial’, but went on with my command.

“Yes, Master!”

I placed everything I could in my interdimensional storage. It does fit a lot, but it could not fit everything. We lost many men at the cost of livestock, some elves, many tools, seeds, and some other materials - and, of course, information. I could only take the seeds and some materials in my storage. My men carried the rest after we looted some carts and received help from the wolves to pull them.

Elves did not try to escape. Even those whom I supposed were rebellious enough to get punched in the face by the goblins were obediently following us. Maybe it was because we gave them food and water, or maybe it was because they just gave up on life after becoming slaves to some nasty goblins. I did not know if I could speak with them as they apparently did not speak the goblin tongue and it was impossible for them to understand Echese. For now, I keep my hopes up that Lilith can converse with them - she has lived long enough to learn elvish, I believe. If she cannot, I am not sure how to communicate with the 68 elves I am bringing along with me to a city of monsters - their innate enemies.

In blood and sweat, we made our entry into the dungeon only to run into Liltih waiting at the entrance.

“Master! What happened?”

Lilith’s eyes widened as she saw my wound and the dead bodies we brought to dungeon, laying next to each other in the carts carried by wolves as wounded as any other beside me. Then she saw the elves.

“Elves!”

Her eyes started radiating killing intent. Oh no, I know what she is thinking.

“Wait Lilith, it was not the elves.”

“??”

“We fell right into the goblins’ trick. These elves were their slaves, so I brought them here. We seized the village and killed every soldier they had, but we had our losses.”

Lilith wandered her gaze on the men coming back from the first war the New World engaged in. The mark of a battlefield was left on everyone’s face. Seems like her rage subsided.

“Can you use magic to heal people here?”

“I can but it is not my strong suit. They will need to rest but I will do what I can. I will prioritize the deep wounds.”

“Great. Please prepare a place for the soldiers to heal - oh, and, do you speak elvish?”

“No, Master, I do not. However, if you kill a couple of them within the dungeon, you might be able to absorb their language.”

“I can what?”

“I only heard this, so I am not quite sure if it holds value. But if you want to speak their language, killing a couple of lowly elven slaves will not matter that much.”

“No, Lilith. I am planning to free them. I want them to become members of the New World.”

Lilith widened her eyes again in complete shock. The surrounding soldiers did not bat an eye, perhaps because they already got over this same shock when I ordered them to not hurt the elves, or perhaps because they are not so familiar with the hostility between races of this world. At the end of the day, they were summoned by me.

“Master, what do you mean? They are elves!”

“Are you going against my orders, Lilith?”

“No, I dare not.” Lilith stepped back.

Ouff… here we go.

“I am foreign to this world, so I do not need to obey its politics. This is the New World. This is the country I want to build. I want no objections. Humanoid or monster, it does not matter. We just came back from massacring goblins because they attacked us - a group of monsters. I see no reason in allying with anyone because of their race. Nor do I see any in the hostility against humanoids for the sake of it. For anyone willing to make us their enemy, we will not hesitate to destroy them regardless of their race. I hope you understand and stand by my decision.”

Shock after shock, Lilith was at a loss of words. She did not like the elves for some reason I could read into, but nonetheless she pulled herself together. Her decorum was impeccable.

“Yes, Lord Echo. I will make sure everyone in the dungeon is aware of your words.”

“Thank you, Lilith. I know you are dependable.”

I could not see her eyes or face as she was standing on her knee in a knighting position, looking down at the ground as her hair covered her face. It was hard to guess what she felt, but I knew I could trust her.