Chapter 27: Chapter 26: Scoutmaster

“Which, finally, brings us to the exciting loot.” Lily said.

Lia let out an internal sigh of relief. She hadn’t been expecting the report to be so…thorough. It included things like the number of stalls in the goblin base, an estimation as to the total number of planks used in the wall and the stalls (though Lily admitted that one was likely pretty inaccurate due to the varying construction methods of the stalls), and even an estimation of how much modeling wax could be extracted from the dead bodies of the goblins.

But it appeared that it was finally time for the more interesting things to be listed, something which Lia was looking forward to. Please proceed. She instructed, voice brimming with anticipation.

“I believe it prudent we start with a tally of the goblin cocoons we obtained.” Lily said, pulling her glasses out of her breast pocket and putting them on. “To be precise, we managed to get eight archers, four commanders, forty seven regular goblins, and, of course, the goblin leader. While we were looting the encampment, we finished coating the bodies in modeling wax and are in the process of transferring them back now.”

She pushed up her glasses, despite them not having fallen down in the slightest. “Along with those bodies were thirteen bows and quivers, and the staff and robes of the leader. I took the liberty of appraising the staff and robes, and they seem to give minor bonuses to magic. Nothing fantastic, but serviceable enough for how weak the goblins were.

“And there was some actual dungeon loot in that encampment. There is a set of six weak healing potions, a nonmagical but decent sword, a ring that increases Dexterity by five, and, finally, another staff nearly identical to what the goblin leader was using, if a bit worse.”

Lily took her glasses off and tucked them back into her pocket. “And that concludes the report. What would you have me do now?”

Oversee the organizing of the goods, please. Lia instructed. I want everything you mentioned after the cocoons in a separate pile for me to mess with, and the non-regular goblin cocoons in a pile close to them. Put the goblin cocoons in the general vicinity but not too close. The rest can go wherever you feel is most efficient

“Consider it done.” Lily replied. “I’ll have them placed in the center of camp for your convenience.”

Thank you.

“It is but my duty, my Queen.” Lily replied, giving a little bow before heading back towards where she had come from.

“What now?” Rose asked, an odd tone present in her voice. “Shall we continue, or should we look at our options for conversion first?”

I’ll be honest…well, obviously it’s important to know what we can do, but I get the feeling that the system that’s in place is detailed enough that I could play around with a bunch of different object configurations and get a ton of different results. Especially if I add the Dimension of Discounts to the mix. I’m…well, I’m sort of thinking it might be wise to lay out what I really want for now, and then keep that in mind while I’m looking at my options.

Rose gave her a huge smile. “Excellent decision.” She said. “I was going to suggest the same thing if you didn’t. I’d give you some sort of reward if I had one, but I’m afraid we’re kind of lacking in things I can give you that you couldn’t just…get. So, for now, we’ll have to be satisfied with praise. Good job.”

That…thank you. Lia replied. She was sure a blush would be rising to her cheeks were they not covered in fur, and she was grateful for their help in preventing her emotions from leaking too much.

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“So…while they get that set up, what do you want?”

The only thing I know that I want for sure is a scout. Lia said. And, as much as I hate to put another…well, person in danger when we could do things ourselves, I feel it would be best if I enlightened them. It’d just make transferring that information a lot smoother. Then, we can send them out, and, once we get a feel for what sort of monsters are lurking in that area, we can tailor the swarm from there.

“Another sound choice.” Rose agreed. She hesitated, then reached over to Lia’s head and gave it a pat. “Good job.”

The sensation caught Lia off guard, and she flinched a little, causing Rose to draw her hand back quickly. “Was that too much? Sorry, I just thou–”

No, it’s fine. Lia said quickly. You just surprised me. You can…um, do it again, if you want. When I do good, that is.

“Ah, um…good. I’ll…I’ll do that.”

So…what do you think we could combine to make a good scout? Lia asked. I’m at a bit of a loss myself. Like…if we added a bow and maybe like…boots or something? What do you think?

“A bow is good, as are boots, but I’m thinking something like a spyglass and tools to create a map.” Rose said. “That should hopefully get the point across to the system. I don’t see why we shouldn’t just…throw all four in and see what comes out. Well, provided we can get all of that.”

I can maybe make something work with the Dimension of Discounts. Lia said. But I don’t know how expensive this is going to be and I’m kind of strapped for Blood Money right now. I spent a lot to get a search system so I wouldn’t be forced to get lucky in the future.

Rose nodded. “Now that our forces are getting back, I’ll organize some raiding parties and send them out into the market. Hopefully, they’ll be able to catch some stragglers and get you some extra money. We should check and see how much we need, though, just so we know if it’s feasible to even get a spyglass or map. And I’m sure there are some boots lying around in the armor somewhere.”

Yeah, give me a moment to do that…mind carrying me over to the piles while I do?

“Gladly.”

Lia turned her attention away from Rose and opened up the Dimension of Discounts.

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