Talia turned her face away slightly after hearing the shift in my tone, and for the first ti since this conversation started, she looked a little intimidated.
"I wouldn’t," she admitted quietly. "But that doesn’t an I haven’t been tempted."
I stared at her for a second after hearing that.
Because, unlike most people, Talia couldn’t casually lie to about sothing like this.
The oath bound her honesty tightly enough that if she said she’d been tempted to leave, then she genuinely had been.
That realization bothered more than I expected.
"Then why didn’t you leave?" I asked.
Talia tightened her grip slightly around the blanket before answering.
"Well, in case you weren’t aware, my abilities aren’t exactly suited for combat," she said dryly. "If I tried traveling alone to another clan, there’s a high chance I’d get killed before even making it there."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"And even if I sohow managed to survive the journey and reach another clan, there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t just kill anyway so..."
Her expression remained calm, but the way she said it made it obvious she had thought about this before.
"My Innate Skill is what’s valuable," she finished quietly. "Not ."
For a mont, I didn’t imdiately respond.
Then I pointed toward her while speaking.
"And that right there proves that I do value you as a person..." I stopped briefly before correcting myself, "...as a goblin. Not just because of your Skill Line."
I even added a slightly joking tone near the end in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.
Talia, however, remained completely unmoved.
"My person...or goblin does not offer much," Talia said flatly. "My skill line is my real value."
She adjusted the blanket in her arms slightly before continuing.
"With my abilities and Bundi’s help, I’ve already created armor that could be useful for the clan, yet you still haven’t co to see any of it."
I rubbed the side of my head lightly.
"Well, in case you didn’t notice, I’ve been a little busy," I replied. "And also..." I paused briefly before exhaling. "To be honest, I still haven’t found enough beast crystals yet, so there hasn’t been much progress on that side either."
"And that’s exactly why we’re having this conversation," Talia responded imdiately. "To remind you."
I stared at her for a mont before letting out a small sigh.
"Oh, is that so?" I muttered. "Then I’ll make it a much higher priority from now on."
But even after hearing that, Talia still didn’t look particularly satisfied.
Honestly, there was genuinely no pleasing her sotis.
Still, as irritating as this conversation was becoming, there was no denying she had a point.
Proper equipnt was important.
Very important.
Especially because Talia’s abilities allowed her to give the equipnt she created additional properties instead of simply making ordinary armor.
Stat boosts.
Enhancents.
Effects that could directly improve combat performance.
That alone made her value to the clan absurdly high.
There was no doubt in my mind that whatever equipnt she and Bundi managed to produce would play a major role in the coming King’s Gas.
The stronger our enemies beca, the more important proper gear would beco as well.
Talia continued staring at with that sa strange look on her face.
After a while, I finally couldn’t tolerate it anymore.
"What?!" I asked.
And then she spoke.
"You’re going to get distracted by sothing else and forget again, aren’t you?"
I frowned imdiately.
"I won’t," I answered firmly. "Developing the clan is one of my highest priorities right now, and properly equipping even a single combatant can make a huge difference in battle. So no, I am not going to forget."
Talia frowned again afterward.
Still staring at .
Still saying nothing.
The silent stare felt like she was judging , and it was exhausting to endure, so I decided to end the conversation.
"Alright then," I said while waving lightly. "Goodnight."
But the mont I turned around to leave, her voice stopped again.
"Wait..."
I closed my eyes briefly and let out a long sigh.
This conversation was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
"What?" I asked while turning back toward her. "What is it this ti?"
Talia stared at for a second before speaking flatly.
"I literally just ntioned it, and you already forgot again."
I imdiately frowned.
"What did I forget this ti?!" I asked louder than intended.
"You still haven’t made an official clan mber!!" she shouted back instantly.
Silence followed.
Then I slowly raised a hand and covered my face. Right. That.
How the hell did I forget again?
"Okay..." I muttered while rubbing my forehead. "Alright. That one is definitely on ."
But instead of looking satisfied after finally getting to admit fault, Talia suddenly began crying.
I froze imdiately.
What was happening?
"You think I’ve been comfortable walking around without the assurance that death wasn’t the end for ?" Talia asked while wiping at her face angrily.
I opened my mouth slightly, but she continued before I could respond.
"I couldn’t even co out when I heard the clan was attacked because I was scared for my life." Her voice shook slightly from frustration more than sadness. "And the worst part is that I thought I wasn’t a mber yet because I was just that incompetent."
She looked directly at .
"But no. It was because you forgot."
Yeah...
There was honestly no defense for that.
"You’re right. This one’s completely on . I’m sorry I forgot."
Talia wiped her eyes again, though her expression still looked upset.
After a mont, I finally asked the question that had been bothering since this conversation started.
"You could have approached much earlier? Why didn’t you?"
Talia stared at like I had asked sothing ridiculous.
"You’re always gone. And whenever you are around, you’ve usually got terrifying people standing beside you."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"The recent additions are even worse. They’re Chosen on top of that. If I accidentally got on their bad side, they could kill ," she finished quietly. "And for , that ans dying forever."
Ok. Fair point.
But...
"No one is going to lay a finger on you, Talia," I said reassuringly.
"Everyone except the goblins I originally ca with is bound by that oath."
But as soon as I said that, I realized the flaw in that statent, and facepald.
The oath had stated that they were not to harm any mber of my clan. But Talia wasn’t a mber of my clan yet. So she wasn’t protected.
No one knew that, of course, but still...I can’t believe I didn’t rember this.
"Even with that..." she continued with her point. "What’s stopping soone like Dribb from killing if I upset him? I’m not even a mber of the clan."
I opened my mouth to answer. Then paused.
Because from her perspective...
That was actually a completely valid concern.
Even though I personally knew Dribb wouldn’t randomly kill her, Talia had no reason to possess the sa confidence I did.
She had once been human.
A normal person thrown into this world after death, forced to wake up as a goblin in a place where strength decides almost everything.
Since arriving here, she’d probably spent most of her ti watching weaker goblins get pushed around, threatened, ignored, or outright killed by stronger ones whenever conflict broke out.
Then the clan itself had been taken over.
After that, even stronger goblins started arriving one after another. Chosen. Combat-focused goblins. People capable of casually killing others if they truly wanted to.
To soone like Talia, who wasn’t built for direct combat, all of that probably looked...
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