Chapter 433: Compromised [1]
Caius, who had been standing calmly beside the table, went completely rigid.
The shock in his voice was impossible to miss.
"An Archmage?!"
His eyes widened as he stared at me, as though trying to determine whether I’d somehow lost my mind.
I frowned.
"Why?" I asked, looking at him. "Do you know anything about them?"
"Lord Drugar... was an Archmage?"
I was surprised he even knew what an Archmage was, but this wasn’t the time to dig into it. There were more pressing matters at hand.
Whatever Caius knew, I’d ask him about it later.
"That is true."
I responded, leaving it at that.
Judging by the expression on Caius’ face, my answer had only deepened his confusion. Questions were practically written all over it, and I could tell he wanted to ask a hundred of them.
So did everyone else.
Still, this wasn’t the right time to explain everything Mordra had revealed to me.
I was still trying to make sense of it myself.
There were too many unanswered questions, too many pieces that refused to fit together, and until I had a clearer picture, sharing half-formed conclusions would only create more confusion.
I pushed those thoughts aside.
"I want to see these goblins."
Zarah immediately turned toward Gobbo.
"Bring in Razak."
Gobbo gave a quick nod before heading for the door.
"Razak?" I asked.
"He’s their leader," Zarah replied.
Gobbo hurried off, and a short while later, the goblin named Razak was escorted into the room.
The moment he stepped through the doorway and his eyes landed on me, he immediately dropped to his knees without the slightest hesitation, lowering his head until it nearly touched the floor.
"Thank you, Chief, for accepting me."
A second figure entered behind him. Narg.
The goblin’s gaze briefly met Zarah’s, and the tension between them was obvious. Neither of them said a word, but the unfriendly look they exchanged was enough to tell me they still hadn’t reached an agreement over the decision to admit the refugees.
A moment later, Narg turned his attention to me and gave a respectful bow.
"Chief."
I gave him a small nod before shifting my focus back to the kneeling goblin.
I opened my mouth, intending to question him. Then a familiar weight landed on my shoulder.
Ariel.
She had apparently been left behind when I hastily warped back to the clan, and the instant she settled onto my shoulder, her voice exploded inside my head through our soul link.
"You bastard! You abandoned me!!"
"I didn’t abandon you," I replied mentally. "It was urgent."
Her tiny fingers immediately dug into my shoulder, gripping hard enough to make her frustration perfectly clear.
"Urgent?" she shot back. "One of those undead could’ve gotten back up and attacked me! Isn’t that more urgent?"
I let out a quiet sigh.
Knowing Ariel, I had a feeling this argument wasn’t going to end anytime soon.
"I knew you’d be fine," I replied through our soul link. "Stop complaining."
Ariel pouted.
She was about to fire back with another complaint when her eyes swept across the room, taking in the unfamiliar faces, the tense atmosphere, and the goblin still kneeling before me.
To my surprise, she fell silent.
She simply settled herself more comfortably on my shoulder, quietly observing everything without another word.
I let out a slow breath before turning my full attention back to the matter at hand.
My gaze settled on the goblin kneeling before me.
"You said Raghul attacked your settlement?"
Razak nodded so quickly it was almost frantic.
"Yes, Chief."
"Then why did he let you go?"
"He didn’t," Razak answered immediately, shaking his head. "The moment he began attacking, I escaped with a few others before we could be surrounded."
"Is that so?"
I studied him carefully, making no effort to hide the suspicion in my voice.
His story wasn’t impossible...
But it certainly wasn’t convincing.
From everything I’d heard about Raghul, he wasn’t someone who left loose ends behind. More importantly, the gap in strength between the two of them should have been overwhelming.
A goblin at Razak’s level successfully escaping someone like Raghul?
I found that very difficult to believe.
Razak seemed to notice the suspicion on my face and hurriedly tried to explain himself.
"I can create portals, Chief," he said, his voice filled with urgency. "That’s how I was able to escape."
"You can create portals?"
He nodded repeatedly.
"I can."
That caught my attention immediately.
A spatial ability wasn’t something you came across every day, especially one capable of transporting someone over long distances. If what he was saying was true, then escaping Raghul suddenly became far more believable.
I was just about to ask him to demonstrate his ability. Then a familiar voice suddenly echoed inside my mind.
"Something’s off."
It was Ariel.
She hadn’t used our mental link in quite a while.
Keeping my expression perfectly neutral, I answered her without moving a muscle.
"What do you mean, something’s off?"
There was a brief pause.
Long enough for me to notice the seriousness in her tone.
"I don’t know..." she replied slowly. "But I can sense something strange behind him."
A chill crept down my spine.
"What kind of strange?"
Ariel’s eyes remained fixed on Razak’s back.
For the first time since she’d landed on my shoulder, her playful demeanor had completely disappeared.
"It feels like..." she murmured, uncertainty creeping into her voice. "...someone is watching."
That immediately put me on edge.
Someone was watching! Who?
My mind raced through every possibility, but only one name surfaced.
Raghul.
If Ariel was right, then whatever she was sensing wasn’t ordinary. She had never been wrong about sensing hostile presences before, and I trusted her instincts enough not to dismiss them.
I slowly shifted my gaze back to Razak.
"Razak..." I called, my voice noticeably colder than before. "Are you lying to me?"
The question made him tremble.
Without the slightest hesitation, he threw himself forward until his forehead touched the floor.
"No, Chief," he said hurriedly. "I wouldn’t dare."
Before I could respond, Zarah stepped closer.
"He’s under an oath, Chief," she reminded me. "If he knowingly lies, the oath will punish him."
"Is that so?"
I narrowed my eyes, studying Razak’s every movement.
The oath meant he believed he was telling the truth.
But that didn’t...