novelraw Chapter 370: Assurance
Chapter 370: Assurance
Talia turned her face away slightly after hearing the shift in my tone, and for the first time since this conversation started, she looked a little intimidated.
"I wouldn’t," she admitted quietly. "But that doesn’t mean I haven’t been tempted."
I stared at her for a second after hearing that.
Because, unlike most people, Talia couldn’t casually lie to me about something like this.
The oath bound her honesty tightly enough that if she said she’d been tempted to leave, then she genuinely had been.
That realization bothered me more than I expected.
"Then why didn’t you leave?" I asked.
Talia tightened her grip slightly around the blanket before answering.
"Well, in case you weren’t aware, my abilities aren’t exactly suited for combat," she said dryly. "If I tried traveling alone to another clan, there’s a high chance I’d get killed before even making it there."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"And even if I somehow managed to survive the journey and reach another clan, there’s no guarantee they wouldn’t just kill me anyway so..."
Her expression remained calm, but the way she said it made it obvious she had thought about this before.
"My Innate Skill is what’s valuable," she finished quietly. "Not me."
For a moment, I didn’t immediately respond.
Then I pointed toward her while speaking.
"And that right there proves that I do value you as a person..." I stopped briefly before correcting myself, "...as a goblin. Not just because of your Skill Line."
I even added a slightly joking tone near the end in an attempt to lighten the atmosphere.
Talia, however, remained completely unmoved.
"My person...or goblin does not offer much," Talia said flatly. "My skill line is my real value."
She adjusted the blanket in her arms slightly before continuing.
"With my abilities and Bundi’s help, I’ve already created armor that could be useful for the clan, yet you still haven’t come to see any of it."
I rubbed the side of my head lightly.
"Well, in case you didn’t notice, I’ve been a little busy," I replied. "And also..." I paused briefly before exhaling. "To be honest, I still haven’t found enough beast crystals yet, so there hasn’t been much progress on that side either."
"And that’s exactly why we’re having this conversation," Talia responded immediately. "To remind you."
I stared at her for a moment before letting out a small sigh.
"Oh, is that so?" I muttered. "Then I’ll make it a much higher priority from now on."
But even after hearing that, Talia still didn’t look particularly satisfied.
Honestly, there was genuinely no pleasing her sometimes.
Still, as irritating as this conversation was becoming, there was no denying she had a point.
Proper equipment was important.
Very important.
Especially because Talia’s abilities allowed her to give the equipment she created additional properties instead of simply making ordinary armor.
Stat boosts.
Enhancements.
Effects that could directly improve combat performance.
That alone made her value to the clan absurdly high.
There was no doubt in my mind that whatever equipment she and Bundi managed to produce would play a major role in the coming King’s Games.
The stronger our enemies became, the more important proper gear would become as well.
Talia continued staring at me with that same strange look on her face.
After a while, I finally couldn’t tolerate it anymore.
"What?!" I asked.
And then she spoke.
"You’re going to get distracted by something else and forget again, aren’t you?"
I frowned immediately.
"I won’t," I answered firmly. "Developing the clan is one of my highest priorities right now, and properly equipping even a single combatant can make a huge difference in battle. So no, I am not going to forget."
Talia frowned again afterward.
Still staring at me.
Still saying nothing.
The silent stare felt like she was judging me, and it was exhausting to endure, so I decided to end the conversation.
"Alright then," I said while waving lightly. "Goodnight."
But the moment I turned around to leave, her voice stopped me again.
"Wait..."
I closed my eyes briefly and let out a long sigh.
This conversation was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.
"What?" I asked while turning back toward her. "What is it this time?"
Talia stared at me for a second before speaking flatly.
"I literally just mentioned it, and you already forgot again."
I immediately frowned.
"What did I forget this time?!" I asked louder than intended.
"You still haven’t made me an official clan member!!" she shouted back instantly.
Silence followed.
Then I slowly raised a hand and covered my face. Right. That.
How the hell did I forget again?
"Okay..." I muttered while rubbing my forehead. "Alright. That one is definitely on me."
But instead of looking satisfied after finally getting me to admit fault, Talia suddenly began crying.
I froze immediately.
What was happening?
"You think I’ve been comfortable walking around without the assurance that death wasn’t the end for me?" Talia asked while wiping at her face angrily.
I opened my mouth slightly, but she continued before I could respond.
"I couldn’t even come out when I heard the clan was attacked because I was scared for my life." Her voice shook slightly from frustration more than sadness. "And the worst part is that I thought I wasn’t a member yet because I was just that incompetent."
She looked directly at me.
"But no. It was because you forgot."
Yeah...
There was honestly no defense for that.
"You’re right. This one’s completely on me. I’m sorry I forgot."
Talia wiped her eyes again, though her expression still looked upset.
After a moment, I finally asked the question that had been bothering me since this conversation started.
"You could have approached me much earlier? Why didn’t you?"
Talia stared at me like I had asked something ridiculous.
"You’re always gone. And whenever you are around, you’ve usually got terrifying people standing beside you."
She paused briefly before continuing.
"The recent additions are even worse. They’re Chosen on top of that. If I accidentally got on their bad side, they could kill me," she finished quietly. "And for me, that means dying forever."
Ok. Fair point.
But...
"No one is going to lay a finger on you, Talia," I said reassuringly.
"Everyone except the goblins I originally came with is bound by that oath."
But as soon as I said that, I realized the flaw in that statement, and facepalmed.
The oath had stated that they were not to harm any member of my clan. But Talia wasn’t a member of my clan yet. So she wasn’t protected.
No one knew that, of course, but still...I can’t believe I didn’t remember this.
"Even with that..." she continued with her point. "What’s stopping someone like Dribb from killing me if I upset him? I’m not even a member of the clan."
I opened my mouth to answer. Then paused.
Because from her perspective...
That was actually a completely valid concern.
Even though I personally knew Dribb wouldn’t randomly kill her, Talia had no reason to possess the same confidence I did.
She had once been human.
A normal person thrown into this world after death, forced to wake up as a goblin in a place where strength decides almost everything.
Since arriving here, she’d probably spent most of her time watching weaker goblins get pushed around, threatened, ignored, or outright killed by stronger ones whenever conflict broke out.
Then the clan itself had been taken over.
After that, even stronger goblins started arriving one after another. Chosen. Combat-focused goblins. People capable of casually killing others if they truly wanted to.
To someone like Talia, who wasn’t built for direct combat, all of that probably looked...