The Goblin Nation

Two days passed after Sun's speech. After his address, he began reforming the legions into a proper militia, ready to fight at a moment's notice. However, despite now having two tribes under their control, the numbers of legionaries barely increased.

Most of the Razin tribe's population were farmers and carpenters, with only twenty goblins acting as the tribe's guards. In comparison, nearly half of the Lev's were considered soldiers. Sun found these ratios odd. If Razin were attacked by a troll or two, most of the goblin could escape, leaving only twenty or so goblins to fight and die. The goblins that escaped would survive the slaughter, but they won't be able to kill the trolls nor protect their homes effectively with such low numbers. But for Lev, nearly half of the tribe stayed to fight against the troll and managed to defend their homes, but a large number of goblins died in the battle.

Sun believed this was due to the Razin's way of life. They're an agriculture society and few goblins would choose the dangerous role while Lev focused their time on hunting and gathering and was willing to take the risk to fight. But this does not explain the small number of troops. Their food supply is bound to attract other tribes. Sun's tribe, in particular, has come down to attack the Razin on numerous occasions for their food.

To circ.u.mvent this problem. The Razin tribe developed a complex network of levers and pulleys on their wall. The mechanism would move spears and flags to imitate goblins holding spears. Attacker standing outside would see hundreds of spears moving back and forth and are left to imagine the army of goblins moving about behind the wall.

There are also fake cannons and guns placed on the walls. They are created with barrels and buckets painted black, and they look like the real deal from afar. Sun was excited to hear about cannons and guns, but he was left disappointed after learning that this world had yet developed a proper rifle that can be used by a soldier in battle. In addition to the fake cannons, there were two real swivel guns mounted next to the fake ones. These guns were small and only required a tiny amount of gunpowder to shoot out smoke.

These deceptions have kept most attackers from trying to scale the walls or break through it, but there are those unfazed by their trickery. In case this was to happen, the Razin tribe would challenge them in a Tina Bökh Fight. These duels keep the rest of the tribe safe regardless if the Chief wins or loses. That was until Cossack became the Chief. His reliance on his crutch technique nearly caused the Razin tribe to lose everything. If it were not for the unusual behavior of the brothers in comparison to past Lev Chiefs, they wouldn't have kept their peaceful way of life.

And there is another problem presented by the duel. Depending on how honorable the opponent was, the Razin tribe could lose their food regardless if they're victorious or not. It was much safer to give them their demands unless their demand was as unreasonable as Sun's demands. Because of these complications, Sun wants to avoid using Tina Bökh Fight and would prefer an actual battle. Defeating multiple opponents before beating their commander on a duel could prove to be more effective in scaring their enemies away.

But Sun is no grand strategist when it comes to large scale battlegrounds. That plan is simple, straight to the point, but it lacks forethought. What if the opposing army is entirely composed of heavily armored infantry? Sun has no plans nor any idea how to build a proper arm that could deal with them. He asked Artio, but she lacked experience against such opponents. Due to her role as an archer, she does her best to avoid fighting heavily armored opponents, preferring to target light infantry. Then there are cavalries. Sun knows how to deal with them, spears and they have those in plenty.

In addition to the twenty soldiers from Razin, they now have fifty-one legionnaires. Sun divided the Legion into five squads with ten goblins in each squad, and one goblin as a lieutenant. And a platoon can be formed by two to four squads. Each squad has five Razin goblins and five Lev goblins, with one squad made up entirely by Lev. Sun wanted to have one half be the original legionnaires and the other half the newly recruited Razin goblins to integrate them faster and have a balance of power. And to make sure no major conflict rise, one squad will remain fully Lev and will be under the direct control of Sun. This squad is known as the 1st Legion and will act as the tribe's special forces.

But before he could form these squads, he needs to evaluate the goblins that best fit the team. Sun created a simple training regiment that will assess a goblin's physical and mental ability. And the person that oversees the training was Spat. Sun promoted him into a lieutenant in charge of a platoon. Along with the training, there will be classes that will teach the goblins how to read and write. These classes are taught by Mari and Stick. After a week of training, Spat will present Sun the assessment for every goblin. Once he has the information he needs, Sun will compose a proper military force.

For now, Sun is focused on solving another problem, the rewards for joining the military. Land acquisition was the most natural solution, but none of the Lev legions were interested in owning land. It made sense they care not for it because their tribe mostly shared their property, with the Chief and his close aides being the only exception. Razin tribe was different. They cultivated the land and thus understood the importance of ownership over it, so giving land as a reward will work for them. Sun needs to find a proper compensation for the Lev goblins if he wants them to stay obedient.

Sun was sitting on the throne room shirtless, looking over the table and the numerous doc.u.ments on top. There was still so much to do, such as the reorganization of the food supply and the construction of new homes for the excess goblins that were unable to find vacant rooms to stay. Sun rubbed his head, trying to relieve himself from the stress.

"Excuse me," someone said behind the curtains, "May come in?"

"Oh, May. Come on in."

May walked into the room with a cup of water and a bowl of fruit. "Flute say, give Sun fruits." When May placed the bowl on the table, she noticed Sun's pale complexion, "Sun sick, May call Ms. Mari. She know heal Sun,"

"I'm not sick or anything like that May. Look, I'm fine!" Sun got up from his seat and twirled to show May his in perfect health. "See! May?"

"Huh?" May took a while to respond. She was caught off guard by Sun's hard abs and was in a daze.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes! May ok!" May yelled, but soon she calmed down after seeing Sun's pale green skin. "But Sun not look good. Sun need walk out, skin look dead."

Sun stared at the table and the paper stacked on top of each other, "Hm, maybe I do need a break. Alright May, lets for a walk!"

'Wait, May walk Sun too."

"Sure, why not."

May giggled in excitement, "Ok!"

The two of them walked out of the building and made their way down the hill. Sun stared at the horizon and saw a large plateau stretching out for miles with steep rocky cliffs. The plateau blocked Razin and Lev, and it would take the entire tribe days to walk around it, and climbing would prove difficult with the steep rocky cliffs in addition to the melting snow.

Sun was thankful for the secret tunnel and felt foolish for losing composure after the whole ordeal. Stick lost more than he did, and he managed to move on, using the tragedy as his motivation to grow stronger and become a better goblin. In contrast, Sun was too busy worrying about his weaknesses and unable to accept the reality of loss. Witnessing the clash between Smoke and Cossack helped him realize that he was not alone, and there are people still there for him. Sun learned to move forward and to keep his composure. Dwelling on the past will not help, but if he learns from it, then he will become a greater goblin and a greater leader.

It was supper time, but the two kept walking around town. The Lev goblins would greet Sun wholeheartedly while the Razin was colder. Sun didn't mind there unwelcoming attitude towards him; after all, he was an invader. But after they found out about Mari's healing abilities, the older goblins and Violin's caretakers began to embrace Sun and his brother's rule.

May noticed Sun staring at some of the women watching the men run, "Sun?"

"Yes,"

"Uh," May tried to think of something to talk about, "Why Sun keep Cossack? Cossack bad, no?"

"Cossack isn't bad. In fact, I really like the guy. He seemed like he was fighting for something worth fighting for, and I was right. I just didn't think it was a woman, although it's not unreasonable for someone to fight to protect someone you love."

"Do Sun love another," May gulped, "Woman? Not like Ms. Mari, but other woman."

Sun thought about it, "Hm, I don't know about love. I don't think I love any woman in the way you're thinking."

"That not true! Sun got crush, yes?" May's eyes began to water, resembling the eyes of a baby goat begging.

"I mean I do have a crush on someone, or at least I think I have a crush on them."

Hearing this sudden revelation, May could not but ask, "Who?"

"Nope, that's a secret only me, and my mom knows about," Sun knew that Flute's caretakers would gossip in their spare time, and he doesn't want that secret shared amongst them.

"Please?"

"Nope, you'll have to catch me first!" Then Sun ran with May running after him.

Unbeknownst to the two of them, Shuja was eavesdropping behind an alleyway with her teacher Artio. Shuja's checks and ears turned bright red when she heard Sun having a crush. "I wonder, maybe he's talking about you?" Artio teased her student.

Shuja did not respond to her. She only looked at her with an annoyed and fl.u.s.tered expression. Then she stormed off to return to the shooting range and go back to practicing her archery. "Yahahaha!" Artio laughed as she watches Shuja do her best to contain her emotions.