"If this keeps going," blondie said, watching the chaos, "that blind father won't be able to find anyone."
The Vice Captain sighed. "He's just too incompetent. Fine."
Out in the burned forest, the goblin father's hearing sharpened, more clearly than before. He caught the sound of branches cracking.
His eyes lit up. He ran straight toward it.
And there, he collided with them. His wife and his only son.
He stopped instantly, forcing himself to breathe. Careful.
He knew his son was physically stronger than him. And if his wife joined in too, he would be the one in danger.
So, he did what he always did. He tried to persuade.
"Let's work together," the father said, voice tight, eyes flicking between them. "Listen. Anyone who joins me… will be forgiven. You'll be given a chance. An opportunity."
His voice lowered, urgent.
"If you're not chosen, you die with the rest. Think carefully, son."
He pointed, subtly, toward the mother.
"Give me her. After that, me and you, we work together. We find the others. Think clearly."
The son backed away, shaking. Terrified.
He pulled his mother with him, trying to escape, and when the father stepped closer, the son snapped.
"If you come closer," he warned, "I'll attack you."
The goblin father's patience cracked.
He couldn't afford this.
If he didn't catch anyone, if he didn't bring someone in, he was doomed. He needed proof. Proof of loyalty. Proof for the Crown Prince, for the Vice Captain, for the unit that owned him.
The son raised his hands.
He manifested.
Stones lifted from the ash and snapped through the air.
One after another.
He kept throwing them, not to win, just to escape.
Then he shouted to his mother, voice breaking.
"Run! I'll hold him back!"
The father's face twisted.
He roared, loud enough to shake the smoke.
"What are you doing?!"
His eyes were wild.
"You broke the chains, those spirit stones we keep in our blood! Our pride!"
His voice rose higher, shaking with fury.
"The leash we're proud of!"
The son had broken it to get his mother to safety.
But the father didn't see sacrifice.
He saw betrayal. He saw defiance.
Defiance against the humans.
Teddy leaned toward the vice-Captain, confused and tense.
"What now, Sisi?" Teddy asked. "At this rate, they'll end up in a dull, even fight. Just a waste of time. What should we do?"
The vice-Captain watched the scene carefully.
Then he spoke, calm and cold.
"Well. The thing I wanted most is achieved."
He turned away slightly.
"So, I'll end this clown show for now." "Was your desire… for him to break the chains?" Teddy asked.
The Vice Captain did not hesitate.
"Yes."
A brief pause.
"For now, I wanted to create two extremes," he continued. "One breaks the chains. The other tighten it more."
His gaze remained fixed on the forest.
"Now that both have appeared… we are done."
He exhaled quietly.
"I did hope they would advance their ability," he added. "But it seems… that was too much to expect from them."
Silence followed.
Then...
His voice spread outward.
Calm. Controlled. Absolute.
"Enough."
The ten knights heard it instantly.
"Game's over," the Vice Captain said. "Bring everyone here. Immediately."
The shift was immediate.
Laughter vanished.
Posture straightened.
Playfulness disappeared like it had never existed.
Armor settled into place. Formation locked.
Without a word, they moved.
This time...
They were not pretending. In a matter of minutes, the knights gathered them all.
They were brought once again before the Vice Captain.
Nearly an hour had passed.
They stood there trembling, uncertain, exhausted, waiting for judgment.
Before anything else, the goblin father collapsed forward, desperation spilling out of him.
"Please, Vice-Captain, give me more time," he begged. "I would have done it. I am loyal. I am completely loyal..."
The Vice Captain raised a hand.
Silence.
The father froze instantly.
Then the Vice Captain spoke.
"Do you know what it means to be human?"
No one answered.
Not a single voice.
He continued.
"Freedom."
His voice was calm, but it carried weight.
"To live by your own choices. Good or bad."
"To decide for yourself… and to bear the consequences of those decisions."
His gaze moved across them.
"I did not intend to kill you."
A pause.
"My knights could have ended this from the beginning."
"They did not."
"I wanted you to see something instead."
"To understand that lives matter."
"The lives you throw away for others… matter."
Silence deepened.
"I punished you for your past choices, the ones that led to death. To submission. To blindness."
His voice lowered slightly.
"But punishment alone is meaningless if nothing changes."
He stepped forward.
"You walk like slaves."
"No thought. No resistance. No will to turn back."
"That is not life."
"That is decay."
His eyes hardened.
"I wanted you to feel… what it means to be human."
A long pause followed.
Then...
"You made your choice."
His gaze settled on the son.
"You broke the chain."
The boy froze.
The Vice Captain continued:
"And because of that… I will give you another path."
A shift moved through the crowd.
Hope.
"We will work together," he said. "For now."
"I will provide you with a place to live."
"Food."
"Resources."
"A chance."
The son stepped forward slightly, disbelief clear in his voice.
"Really…?"
The Vice Captain looked at him.
"I was waiting," he said, "for someone to make a decision."
"A real one."
"You did."
He paused.
"If you had not broken the chain… I would have sent you all back to the life you chose."
"Submission. Blindness. Decay."
"But now..."
His voice steadied.
"Continue forward to a brighter future."
"Do not return."
Tears began to fall.
Not fear this time.
Relief.
Some collapsed where they stood. Others lowered their heads, shaking. Gratitude, confusion, disbelief, all tangled together.
They were alive.
More than that...
They were acknowledged.
Seen.
The goblin father stepped forward again, voice trembling.
"What… about me?"
The Vice Captain looked at him.
"You made your choice as well," he said.
"You chose absolute loyalty."
A pause.
"I acknowledge that."
"Thank you… thank you, Vice-Captain…"
The Vice Captain turned away slightly.
"I will have accommodations prepared for all of you," he said. "Clothing. Shelter."
Then he stopped.
One final instruction.
"Remember this."
His voice cut cleanly through the air.
"You have freedom."
"The freedom to think."
"The freedom to choose."
A pause.
"But while you remain in my territory..."
His tone hardened.
"You answer only to me."
Silence.
Then...
"Dismissed."
The knights moved.
And for the first time since the forest burned...
No one ran.