She didn't really understand goblins, but she had still picked up on the fact they were transporting her to new masters, so she had known it was going to happen again.
Goblins were violent creatures, so it hadn't even been that unusual for the two dragging her along to get killed for their troubles.
Though it was still frightening to watch it happen so effortlessly.
She wondered if she would be next, but rather than kill her, they removed her shackles.
Her arms and legs felt so light after that, and everything that followed was a confusing blur.
***
Somehow, Lilac ended up living in a cave.
Again.
Goblins often lived in caves, after all.
The tall figure who made even hobgoblins seem small had left her alone with the small girl who looked more like her than a goblin, despite being about as tall as one.
That small girl had named her Lilac at some point, and introduced herself as Kid later on.
As far as Lilac could understand, Kid was the new master she'd been sent to. That may or may not have been her previous masters' intentions, but theft was common among goblins, so their intention didn't matter.
Kid didn't tell her to do much, which made her a bit nervous.
However, Kid actually could understand her and talk to her, so it was a lot better than any of her previous living situations. She felt just a little less alone, and for some reason, a little less afraid too.
Even though she knew that it wouldn't last forever.
There was no way it could.
***
Kid seemed to tell Lilac an awful lot of stuff, although she supposed it might have actually been very little. She hadn't been able to talk to anyone in so long, her standard for how much was normal had long eroded.
To her, never talking had been normal.
It was actually a little difficult answering Kid, since her voice hadn't been used this much in years.
So it felt like a lot to her.
The orders Kid gave her were a bit odd.
"(You need to wash up like this everyday, and use this to brush your hair, and this to brush your teeth. Here, I'll show you how.)"
She was used to doing menial cleaning and maintenance for goblins, since they hated doing stuff like that, but never had she been ordered to clean and maintain herself.
But while the girl had long learned to simply do as she was told, since goblins often relied on their more intelligent slaves to think for them, they had never tried to break her ability to think.
She was a very thoughtful child.
A very thoughtful child without a proper education, and thus many misunderstandings about the world.
'Oh, I'm a courtesan now,' was her conclusion.
Though such a possibility would be deemed appalling to any adult, and quickly denied if she thought to say it out loud, as far as she was concerned, it was a huge promotion.
It was a dream job she'd never actually dared to even dream of having.
Of course, she didn't know exactly what it entailed, aside from the fact courtesans were supposed to maintain their beauty, and since she wasn't one, she never found out.
Still, she didn't want to appear useless, so she worked hard to keep her new home clean.
She also watched the various things Kid did, and cautiously tried to help out.
When she watched Kid stirring a weird, gross, mulchy mixture like some kind of strange witch, she grabbed the long stick Kid had used to try and replicate the process.
"(Huh? Be careful. You can get sick if you touch that stuff, and if you really want to help, don't push yourself too hard.)"
She understood what Kid meant. It was a lot of work mixing it, and her arms got tired pretty quickly.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
'How does she do this everyday...?'
Although she did her best to keep working through the exhaustion, Kid dragged her away before she could finish.
"(I told you not to push yourself.)"
Fortunately, there were easier chores she could learn how to do.
***
Lilac was surprisingly very helpful.
Of course, I didn't let her do anything too difficult, and made her take plenty of breaks, since she seemed to push herself too far if I let her.
Perhaps she was trying to emulate me, but I was used to working all day and then getting a good night's sleep.
However, while I wasn't certain yet whether she was a growing child or an immortal like me, if she was still growing, I wanted her to grow up healthy.
Even if she wasn't, I didn't want to benefit from slave labor while pretending I'd freed her.
Her shackles might have been removed, but she wasn't truly free until she realized it.
Of course, I was fine with her doing some chores.
Otherwise, I didn't have much for her to do, and while I didn't mind if she played instead, she didn't seem to know how to.
I bought her some cheap toys from a thrift store. She seemed to like the doll I'd gotten her, at least.
Working as a low ranking adventurer didn't leave me with a lot of free time, but I also tried teaching her, whether it was how to sew, garden, cook, read, or do math.
So before long, most of the chores she'd come to do came from the things I'd taught her, which didn't seem so bad.
Well, she also tried to keep the cave as clean as she could.
My longer term projects, like brickmaking, suffered a bit, but with her help, my research didn't totally stop.
I continued slowly trying to cultivate this undying world.
***
Unfortunately, the Goblin Mines had temporarily been raised to a C rank dungeon until they could deal with the potential hobgoblin population, or at least discern how extensive it had gotten.
Of course, goblins formed groups, so I wanted a weapon that could handle that in a pinch before going in anyway.
Van messaged me,
All my research costs had dwindled my savings considerably, so my only alternative was to try casting my own.
Bronze and copper were cheap, and although no nearby stores carried them, I could apparently just put in an order for it and have them deliver it to the dungeon portal.
While I waited for it to arrive, I began carving a wooden model.
Lilac watched curiously, which for her was the closest it came to asking what I was doing. She was still too frightened to speak first most of the time.
"(I'm making a model for a sword,)" I told her. "(Once I'm satisfied with it, I'll make clay molds using this, and melt metal into its shape.)"
"(I-I see,)" she said quietly.
She still didn't ask questions very often, though.
I showed her how to make a cast, and then I just had to wait for the delivery to arrive. The cast had to thoroughly bake and dry anyway. The slightest moisture would cause serious problems if it got into contact with molten copper.
When it finally arrived, I invited her to come with me if she wanted.
"(It'll be four hours of hiking, but you can come if you want.)"
"(O-okay,)" she answered.
I wasn't sure if she really wanted to, or simply started interpreting offers like that as orders. Nevertheless, I was trying to cultivate her agency too, which meant I had to respect her decision, and just hope she'd someday realize she actually did have one.
Although I was used to the long walk, I didn't want to force her, so we took a break when we arrived at the portal.
Benches had been installed at some point on both sides.
I generally tried to respect her agency, but I still was a bit forceful about her resting there.
"Hey Kid, hey Lilac," Suon greeted us while we were sitting. "What brings you both here today?"
"I ordered a package," I told him.
"Huh... you did? I mean, that's no problem, but I could have had someone deliver it to you, if you wanted."
"That's fine. It's good for Lilac to come out here anyway."
"I see... you're a really good big sister, huh?"
"We're not sisters, though?" I said confused, not really understanding his implication, but he just patted me on the head, and then Lilac.
I didn't really care, but she looked nervous about it, probably only letting him since I'd done so too, so he cut it short.
I could hear the dungeon regulars speculate about us in the distance, although they were polite enough to at least try to not let us hear their gossip.
Though I wasn't too sure why.
I'd already known they were a bunch of gossips.
They even had virtual forums where they did so using their phones and other communication devices.
I wondered if they thought I couldn't read those.
***
Lilac tried to help pull the cart we brought back home.
Though I'd gotten about ten pounds of metal total, around nine pounds of copper and a pound of tin, it wasn't very heavy to push in a cart, so I let her, but I took turns.
Really, I could probably push her if she got in the cart too, but she didn't seem to want to.
Had I not been teaching her that she had her own agency, I might have forced her, but I'd made the mistake of asking if she wanted to, and since she declined, there wasn't much I could do.
Once we got back, it was time to try and get a fire hot enough to melt copper.
A brick kiln would make this job easy, but for now, it was a lot of work. Crushed mana shards helped a bit here, though they were pretty valuable, so I didn't use too many.
I let Lilac watch, but told her to keep her distance. She was a good kid, but even an obedient child could get seriously hurt if she got too close without knowing what I was doing.
I kept the mixture pretty simple, about twenty-two parts copper and three parts tin, with just a bit of home made sand and ash to hopefully help the metal mix more smoothly.
Since there was no sign the soil of this world had any microscopic life, it was basically fairly pure sand. At least, impurities were mineral impurities rather than anything else, so while it wasn't pure silica, there shouldn't be much that could hurt the metal in it.
It wasn't anything approaching industrial perfection, but I just needed a practical blade to use that was bigger than a knife.
Although swords were still a commonly used weapon in this technologically enlightened world, actual blades were quite expensive.
Cheap weapons were basically just toys or display pieces. They were designed to break from actual use, so nobody would mistake their purpose and get themselves killed by using shoddy gear.
Passable mediocrity just wasn't allowed.
Of course, the best gear was incomprehensibly expensive, but safety concerns demanded even low ranking adventurers to use reliable stuff.
Most adventurers eventually acquired Skill-made gear relatively early into their career, and even the practice weapons that would-bes used to try and gain Skills weren't very cheap, running for 50,000 at the low end.
Up-and-coming adventurers basically relied on guild contracts for good equipment, if they didn't come from a wealthy family. The guilds effectively bought their long term loyalty by giving them what they needed to work.
I didn't want to be bought, though, so here I was, making my own equipment whenever I could.