Chapter Nine
{ Loyalty or the Sword }
Silence swept through the group.
Every eye was fixed on Ian.
His mind was racing—thoughts flashing like lightning.
A plan… I need a good one…
Ian thought quickly, then made a decision.
“Noa… I want you to prepare a massive trap for a very fat sheep that’s about to arrive,” Ian commanded firmly.
“As you wish, my lord,” Noa replied before moving to cut vines and dig pits alongside the group. Liu and Chris stayed behind.
Liu stood guard over the captives, while Chris remained beside him.
“What are you planning, my lord?” Chris asked respectfully.
“I plan to draw them here,” Ian replied.
It was the ideal solution.
The idea of fighting or abandoning the mine was absolutely hopeless.
Fighting the goblins would be disastrous for Ian.
Abandoning them would mean losing the Yellow Iron Mine—a loss Ian couldn’t afford.
Besides its vital importance in forging weapons—meaning Ian would no longer have to worry about his village lacking arms (at least for the near future)—the Yellow Iron was one of the four requirements to establish a Village Center.
His village still hadn’t been officially recognized yet, nor had it gained all the special traits of a true settlement.
Not to mention… the presence of Red Iron.
All of this made abandoning the mine unthinkable.
As for the idea of leaving now and returning later… that would be foolish.
By then, the goblin village would be larger, more cautious, and would only travel in large groups.
Right now was the only time to hunt them.
The trap was prepared, waiting for the “big fish” to fall in.
Ian and the others sat beside the goblin captives.
Then Ian grabbed his sword… and suddenly began cutting into his own flesh.
Chris was shocked. “My lord?!”
“Calm down,” Ian ordered as he worked. His cuts were precise and didn’t hit the tendons.
Wounds lined his arms and legs, exposing flesh and blood.
“My lord?!” the rest of the group trembled in confusion.
Ian smiled gently, reassuring them. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes, my lord,” they all replied as one.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Then come forward, one by one.”
Chris was the first to stand before him. “I am yours to command, my lord. Even if you ordered me to step into hell itself—I would not falter.”
Ian smiled, a genuine, confident grin that eased everyone’s fears.
“Don’t worry… we’ll make hell bow to us.”
One of your followers (Noa) has reached 100% loyalty.
Ian glanced at Noa, momentarily surprised.
He had expected this outcome—but not this quickly.
Those who had been born alongside Noa already had loyalty levels in the nineties… and today’s new batch had easily reached the eighties.
Ian’s smile widened, confidence swelling inside him as he looked to the future. Then, with his sword, he began drawing marks across Chris’s body.
Chris felt only a faint pain—but even if that pain were a hundred times greater… no, a million! He wouldn’t have shown even the slightest hint of discomfort.
Soon Chris was done, and the next stepped forward.
Noa rushed ahead to be second, even overtaking Liu.
Then Liu came next, followed by the rest one after another until blood coated their bodies, making them appear as though they had just survived a brutal battle.
Even the goblins weren’t spared—though their wounds were harsher.
And finally… some sweat.
“Bring water,” Ian ordered, and a clay jar was brought to him.
Water had become a strategic resource for the village—there was only enough for two days left. But now Ian sacrificed it without hesitation to deceive the goblins.
He sprinkled some water here and there over himself and the others, then they sat down, their breathing ragged, exhaustion dripping from their voices.
Boban, watching the entire scene, trembled in fear…
What kind of damned plot is this…?
They’re going to lose.
They’re going to lose easily.
From afar, three goblins appeared.
Their expressions were like hounds searching for treasure, but as they drew closer, they froze.
Blood.
There was the scent of blood in the air…
They stopped moving. Danger prickled at their skin. They split apart to get a full view of the scene—and what they saw stunned them.
A group of their kin hung from the trees, bodies covered in wounds suggesting a fierce fight, and before them sat a group of humans equally battered—blood, sweat, and exhaustion dripping off their bodies.
And beside them… the treasure they had sensed. Coins and weapons.
All placed in a small pile.
Treasure-loving goblins felt pure terror strike their hearts, and they turned and fled.
“Damn it! They must not find out we’re here!” Ian shouted in Goblin Tongue at the top of his voice.
It was the only weak point in Ian’s plan.
But he was confident goblins wouldn’t notice.
Fear would drown out everything else.
Ian smiled as he watched them run and sat back down.
Those three goblins fled to alert their brethren—without knowing they had already fallen neatly into Ian’s plan.
“Noa, is everything ready?” Ian asked.
“Yes, my lord,” Noa answered, respect gleaming in his eyes.
And not just in him—everyone’s.
Their gazes toward Ian were filled with reverence.
Ian smiled, then stood and moved toward the mine entrance to overlook the entire scene from above.
The three terrified Goblins had returned to the mine, and soon a large group emerged.
Twenty of them… with two distinct ones at the back.
Their bodies were larger—one wielding an axe, the other a bow.
Finally… a bow.
Ian smiled, hungry for it.
Even though he excelled in close combat thanks to boxing, boxing and swordsmanship were two entirely different worlds.
And let’s not forget his skill A Moment of Glory.
Which meant his only proper solution… was the bow.
“Prepare,” Ian said calmly to the group—though it wasn’t necessary.
The trap was already set.
The Goblin group arrived, rage and ferocity twisting their faces.
But once they reached the site, they found no humans.
Only their own kind… suspended from trees, torn and bloodied, screaming with their eyes alone.
Imagine seeing a member of your own race mutilated and hung like that… by your natural enemies.
How would you react?
“Go check the area,” barked the axe-wielding Goblin, clearly the leader.
One Goblin moved forward—and the moment he did, a faint sound echoed…
Then the ground collapsed beneath all of them.
“Aaahhhhh!”
The Goblins screamed as the earth crumbled under their feet.
“Now then… is it time for you to surrender!?”
Ian appeared above the pit, smiling.
“You bastard… fight with honor!” the leader roared.
“Honor…?” Ian blinked, then calmly answered:
“Do you eat it… or drink it?”
Silence fell over the Goblins—and everyone else.
“I won’t talk much.The sword… or loyalty.”
Ian spoke quietly as Chris, Liu, Noa, and the rest appeared beside him.
The Goblin leader clenched his teeth… then bowed.
“Hail the Lord…”
---
Tory
Age: 27 / 100
Class: Warrior
Race: Goblin
Rank: Normal
Title: None
Training Skill: Goblin Victory (Common) (Low Tier, Progress Rate: 89%)
Training Level: 1 (1)
Combat Skills: Shadow Blade (Common) (Low Tier, Progress Rate: 95%)
Equipment: Axe (Normal)
Loyalty: 21% (Warning: Loyalty extremely low… High chance of betrayal)
Ian smiled…
Another step forward.
