Chapter 96

— The risk is minimal. Consider it yourself. Two days' journey to the human settlements. Two days back, and at least a day there, if lucky, five days on the surface, with a maximum of six. And all settlements are behind palisades, with guards; you can't take them in a day. Help would arrive there. That's why raids on these settlements are extremely rare, usually born out of desperation. Normally, goblins only come out onto the road and sit there for a day. If lucky, they raid a caravan and shoot the horses. If not, they return. Three days on the surface is exactly their comfort zone.

— And the dwarves?

— What about the dwarves? Sunlight doesn't annoy them; they simply don't like it. But they can stay on the surface indefinitely.

— I didn't mean that. Are there dwarves in our mountains? — Oksana frowned.

— Oh, that. No, there are no dwarves. There used to be, but the goblins ate them all. That's why there are abandoned dwarf cities inside the mountains, but goblins live there. Generally, our mountains are the main habitat for goblins in the north. According to local beliefs, they are teeming in the mountains, though we've seen ourselves what happened with the army at the pass. Both kingdoms suffer because of them. Well, suffer — they can't develop mines in the mountains cheaply. It requires a lot of guards. But goblins, of course, love fighting each other the most. That's mainly what they do inside this mountain, which you can see.

— And how often do they stop fighting each other and go on raids?

— Well, they never stop fighting each other. I'm telling you, they are extremely vicious and stupid. Also quite prolific. A normal pair of goblins, during their life span (goblins typically live about thirty-five years but usually die at around twenty to twenty-five years old), produces about fifty offspring. You understand, they have many fighters down there, they are vicious and stupid. Fights between tribes never cease. But usually, tribes don't go on raids. Families do. A family usually consists of two hundred to six hundred individuals, depending on how things are going. Families form clans. And clans form tribes. So usually, only one family goes on raids. Even clans rarely attack together, and tribes only do so in extreme cases, during internal disputes.

— And trolls?

— They're smart but also vicious. Lazy though. They prefer not to do anything themselves or fight on their own behalf; they act as mercenaries. They are hired by anyone who works and lives in the mountains. Humans, dwarves, goblins. And always to the stronger side. So in the northern mines, trolls work for human flesh. Here, trolls work for goblins. Also for flesh. But while in mines they are used as crude physical strength by humans, by goblins, as heavy combat equipment in attacks. They also dislike the sun, but can endure it for a long time. And if they work at night, they have no problems at all. So nothing saves them except for being strong and able to give them change. In the nearest mountains, only goblins can give them change. They look like trolls, and in our case, mountain trolls, as there are several species, are about two, two and a half meters tall, extremely broad in the shoulders, and narrow in the waist. Huge physical strength and extremely thick skin. By the way, trolls' skin is valued on the market.

— So we can expect about five hundred small vicious creatures visiting, supported by a couple of trolls?

— Almost. Even a clan cannot afford to support a couple of trolls, not to mention families. So expect either five hundred small vicious creatures or a thousand with a troll. The second option is almost impossible.

— And how will we fend off superior forces in open field?

— With magic, of course. But I'll repeat Alexander's words — our commander will decide that. We're discussing slightly different issues.

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