Vol 2 Chapter 15: Un-Base part 2
Over the course of the following few days, everyone was busy. Énilo was taking care of the now massively expanded farm. Except for the area where Foin had dug the holes and built the house, everywhere, peppers or potatoes were built, and, just as Foin asked, everything was being harvested except for the green peppers. She collected the food in the same growing pile as Foin hadn't put them into his inventory yet.
Three to four times a day, depending on how often Foin remembered, Énilo force-fed the still-unconscious goblin. She could utilise her appendages to push food down the goblin's throat without hurting her or causing any damage to her.
The dragon was also given new tasks other than clearing the surrounding area. Unlike before, the dragon tore trees out entirely, along with most of their massive roots, instead of pulling them down and leaving some of them in. Also, in the meantime, She was asked to dig out a hole for herself where she could stay during the cold weather.
As a reward, he gave everyone a cup of his beverage each day to keep them motivated. However, he was also quite motivated because the Peteach tree seemed to expand faster than before and more and more fruit grew on it.
Foin worked hard on his first heating system. He dug out a large but somewhat thin area from the wall. In its bottom centre, there was an empty area left where he planned to put the fire. In the other areas, he started using peach liquid to make a solid boiler. Fortunately for him, the already solid and still liquid peteach liquid stuck together seamlessly.
Above the area where he planned the fire to be, he dug straight to the surface; that is where he planned to let the smoke out, as well as build a valve through which he could fill the boiler as well as let steam out should it be dangerous. The boiler itself used a massive amount of peach. However, it was almost fully completed.
Once he ran out of peteaches, he went to chop trees into firewood for the rest of the day. The leaves around his lumbering area had already covered the ground, but he decided to just leave them there for the time being as it was not yet a bother to him. Also, he himself started to notice the change in the weather.
When he first arrived, he would sweat quite easily, but now that he is doing heavy physical labour, he is not sweating that much. Also, he didn't take off his clothes any more as it was not hot enough for him to do so. Even during the night, he noticed that from time to time, he was somewhat cold, but with some extra grass, he managed to mitigate that problem.
Things went on the same for days until the goblin girl finally regained consciousness. As she slowly opened her eyes, she saw the massive dragon staring down at her, frightening her.
"Everyone, the goblin woke up!"
The dragon shouted further, frightening the goblin girl. She quickly looked around in hopes of finding a way out of the mess she found herself in. However, she could see three more entities walking towards her. Foin, the plant girl Énilo, and the ant. The sight was a kind of relive for the goblin.
She thought that more dragons would come, but seeing that the others were just as weak compared to the dragon, she felt slightly at ease. The goblin girl instantly believed that the boss of this group must be the dragon, as the others seemed quite weak.
"I see... Tell me, who are you, and why are you here?"
Foin spoke up as he stepped next to the goblin. Although he was usually kind, from the stories he had read, the first impression of goblins had been long burned into him. Though he was not sure whether the same applied to the ones living in this world, he knew it was better for him to be careful and act tough.
Much to his surprise, the goblin didn't say anything; she only looked at the dragon.
"Lord dragon! I..."
"You have been asked a question, answer it!"
Énilo quickly shouted at the goblin. Her eyes were glaring at the back of the goblin's head. She took up a stance and was ready to attack at any moment.
"I am talking to the lord of the domain here... I will only answer the strong, not the weak!"
The goblin girl replied without averting her eyes from the dragon; she was greatly sweating. However, she believed that she needed to express that she was only respecting the strong, not the ones below the dragon. However, something unexpected happened.
The dragon, as well as Énilo, started laughing hard. As the dragon laughed, she swung her tail around, creating a considerable dust cloud.
"Hey, stop that; I am still planning to use that grass and area; don't destroy it!"
The dragon instantly stopped moving, and her eyes widened; she stopped laughing, and instead, a hint of fear appeared in her eyes, which the goblin girl noticed. The voice came from Foin; he was the only one who was not laughing as he partially agreed with the goblin. The dragon was indeed stronger than him; this information confirmed some of his concerns. Goblins only respect the strong, so he really needs to act tough.
Énilo followed the dragon's response; she stopped laughing as well and hurriedly looked at Foin, who seemed unhappy.
It was true that Foin wanted to utilise the grass in the area for multiple reasons. First, it could be used quite well as a sort of blanket as well as to start a fire. He wanted to make sure that he had enough resources to survive the winter, so every usable resource must be kept without destroying it.
For a brief moment, the goblin girl was stunned. She saw something she did not expect: fear in the dragon's eyes, and that meant that the dragon was not the boss here. The goblin slowly turned around and shifted her gaze at Foin, who had his right hand extended and pointing at the dragon. Foin was sternly glaring at the dragon.
"A-are you the boss... the strongest here?"
The goblin uttered with clattering teeth. She was sweating greatly as she realised her mistake; her fingers dug into the ground in frustration, as she was unable to decide what to do next.
"No, although you could say that I am the boss, but I, the dragon, am the strongest..."
Foin declared out of character. He was cold and stern as he slowly turned around and went back to chopping trees. Leaving the goblin speechless and confused.