Golden Wind Inc

by Aartorias

What would happen if one of the people who got into the new world was not some amazing Overlord with an army of demons and thirst for violence? Meet, Krux The Cunning. The most Sneaky player in the entirety of YGGDRASIL. The one who started it's economy and ran it until the end. The best merchant in the new world!

So. Today is the day when it finally ends. Today is the time when the glorious Golden Wind Guild is going to disappear into nothingness. Now. Alone Goblin sat in the middle of the treasury and slowly counted all the coins that the guild had accumulated within its time of existence. Krux the Cunning - he called himself. A guild master of the Golden Wind. One of the largest and, also, one of the more profitable guilds inside the very popular and extremely long-lasting game of YGGDRASIL. The player character was short. A little less than four feet tall, dressed in a rather pompous outfit more akin to one of some circus Ringleader. His actual name is not important for the story and most other guildmates of his were unaware of it. The only thing that is important about the man is that he played this game for the majority of his life. Even during his Scholl and then Business University. Funny enough, he used the game as the hub to experiment with all the techniques he learned in his studies. How to make money, how to start a business. Unlike most other top players in the world, he did not try to assert his dominance in the world of martial right. Of course, despite the focus of his guild, the players inside it remained one of the strongest on all the servers (if you do not count more fighting focused ones like Ainz Ooal Gown.) Krux himself made sure his goods were protected by the best. All the NPC he created inside his own dungeon (The Golden Wind Bank) were created to protect all the funds he amassed throughout his entire lifetime of the game.

The short man looked around within the simulated reality of his headset and let out a large sigh. He was extremely sad about the closure of his, perhaps, the most important work of the past decade. Of course, he had other avenues started implementing the techniques he refined by bringing the game economy to life, but he still found this place, this game to be his second home. However, he was not depressed! He always loved an uphill battle, so trying to establish a business in the real world but this time, do it from the very start was a very exciting thought. The same trait of his was the thing that caused him to go on to pick the goblin as his player race. In his eyes, they had the most potential both in roleplaying aspect but also because they were underestimated. It is rather useful. Being underestimated can always lead to large advantages in any situation. And still, he still fought hard. He came into the game when it just started out when the players did not know much better. And he rose the ranks with his wits, tactics and stronger knowledge of management and business. He watched with pride as the game world became even more alive as the economy went off his feet. His Guild also became known as the most secure bank there is. Everyone could store their goods inside one of his vaults around the world and know that nothing will happen to it. He himself got the recognition from the Gaming Developers for the contribution for the game and they staffed his vaults with actual NPC's in response, making him the official GM for the economy in the world. Humbling tremendously if you consider the fact that after that, most of the time inside the game was spent managing his business, rather than actually playing. (Not that he was against that, mind you.) His title was Krux the Cunning exactly because he played through wits, not martial power. All other guilds were in tight relation with his. If you want something, a member of the Golden Wind can always supply you with it. If you need something, protected or even stored away so that nobody will get it? Golden wind it is!

However, today everything was ending. His life inside this game, the game itself, really. And Krux would be a very bad leader if he didn't stay with his creation until the very end. Who knows maybe some of the leftover players would decide to actually try their luck at raiding one of his vaults. And he would like them to remain the same as always, protected and staffed until the bitter end. The man lazily opened his inventory, which was modified to fit his position in the word and checked the status of all his vaults across the territory of the entire YGGDRASIL. As the players decided to abandon the game, they were merged into a single server. Every remaining player was inside of his world. Little digital world that was so vast and so filled with people living their gaming lives until they all decided to move on and there was nothing to salvage. Only the veterans remained. And he knew several of them. Momonga, the Guild master of the strongest Monster Guild (as he called them) and some members of his guild, several loners, travelling the world for one last time. The player behind the screen chuckled to himself. He did not expect these much players to remain until the shutdown. And yet, that brought the feeling of warmth inside his chest. So many people shared his passion and conviction to the game. So many veterans decided to return here one last time. The man could even feel a warm tear slowly creeping down his cheek and he did not bother to swat it away. Let us just pretend it is not there for now. The goblin stood on his feet again and started walking away from the vault, sealing it behind himself.

Soon after that, he reached the main hall of the building. The Guild of The golden wind was different from the rest of them. He designed the main building in mind with its purpose. There were no intimidating monsters that would hold their ground against most players that entered into this area, quite the contrary, out of all the personnel that was stationed inside here now, only a few were actual guards. Of course, all of the NPCs present in the room were level high-level ones and they prepared to defend their workplace to the last man (well, woman. You cannot blame the Goblin for his need to be surrounded by sexy women all the time.), but they were also modelled to receive any guest that would decide to enter the Guildhall with the intent of storing their goods away or trading with the designated instances. Krux was very thorough when it came to making business and he established many connections with players who wanted to stay on the peaceful side of things. Players who wanted to be high-level crafters and blacksmiths. Alchemists and those who played to have fun doing rather mundane tasks within the fantasy world. He always approved of these ones since he really thought that the MMO world is not just a place when you can fight some monsters and say how cool your gear is. So many possibilities and so little of these used by the common player.

The guild-master walked down this hall with the NPCs bowing in front of their CEO. All the non-player workers gathered around here as per his request. However, the most notable ones were the chiefs of several branches of his organization. They were stationed right beside the place where the guild master usually resided. A large working desk with the view on the entire giant hall. He wanted to work in the middle of his guild, who would say no to him? The short man approached them. A sense of pride filled the player as he watched into their empty, emotionless faces. He could swear one of them twitched weirdly, but he ignored that right away, maybe his nostalgia is making him see things. His eyes drifted from side to side as he appreciated the creations of the combined effort of his entire guild.

The first of the five most important NPCs was a very tall white-haired elf dressed in heavy combat armour named Liluth. Her backstory included her being abandoned by her clan because of her unique physique and lack of any talent when it came to magic and Krux being the one who saved her from the death on the streets, raised her and given her purpose in life. She was the one who controlled all the combat forced inside the Guild. She assigned the quests of protection to those who wished to get some coin by escorting Golden Winds caravans and she was the one responsible for the rapid response of the security forces when a breach occurred. Hell, she was the last defence for the main vault. Objectively – she was the strongest combatant around and Krux never wanted to find out what would happen if a fight between him and her occurred.

Another one of the so-called Staff-council – was the short chief engineer. A large, surprisingly large but short Dwarf Mechanic named Lorham The Clockmaster. He was the reason this place crawled with steampunk-rescue technology. Large locks on the doors to the vaults and many automatons assisting with the protection of players most prized possessions. He was always despised within the race for trying to develop new ways to build technology. His steampunk tech was something unique only to him, for the other members of his race were inquisitive about their ways. Actually. He was the only one in the main team, who was both males and counted as Krux's friend. He still followed the Goblin's orders, but Krux despised those leaders who didn't listen to their subordinates opinions. He did not need slaves. He needed workers. And the old dwarf fit the bill perfectly.

The third of the Council present there was the chief of staff. A very beautiful woman, the only heteromorphic member of said council, being a white-haired, albino angel named Asteraoth. A faint halo and wings behind her back was the only thing likening her to the race of the proud messengers of god, though. As she chose not the holy robes but an official outfit of a bank worker. She controlled the other NPCs that staffed the vaults and greeted customers. She had no say in Security matter, of course, as well as the technical parts, but she controlled everything else. Only technically, of course. Since the guild members did all the actual work and the NPCs were there for the sake of being pretty, give quests and serve as a satisfaction for the man's love for the Roleplay aspect. Her class is mostly focused on the support and healing, should the fight break out. Krux just thought that would be a very fitting thing for a holy creature. She had some attacking spells, but for a summoner type like Krux, having support around that could buff and heal his minions was the ideal thing. She was designed to be aloof, her reasons for joining him in his business was left mysterious. At least to the other staff members that are. The Guild leader knew that she came to him because she assumed he was willing to be absolutely neutral in his way of doing business. And balance is what she desired. She wanted to assist the establishment who would further say balance in the world. Of both Light and dark. Should one prevail, chaos will engulf the world. At least that is how she sees the world and that point of view caused her to clash with fellow angels more time than one. Her ability to teleport between vaults allowed her to work efficiently, but she always remained mostly an observer. At least from the Lore side of things.

The leader of the alchemy division and the lead scientist of the organization stood to the side. Honestly speaking, her entire character idea was nothing but a joke. Yet the joke went so well, that Krux decided to just go along with it and make it a reality. One look at her would suggest that some kid stole a lab coat from her dad and is now proudly wearing it alongside some oversized goggles. The kid genius that was also programmed to explode the laboratory on occasion and generally fail some experiments for the sake of that sweet-sweet crazy scientist aesthetic. The so-called comedic relief. Of course, she was not a child in the slightest and her backstory included accidentally drinking a portion of her creation that completely stopped any ageing what so ever. Everyone abandoned her as she lived much longer than anyone else and had problems developing long-lasting relationships. She went a little insane and started practising her genius in creation dangerous chemicals, poisons and many other various dangerous productions alongside the usual useful compounds. Of course, the story goes that Krux simply enabled her enough and funded her projects long enough to earn her undying loyalty. Besides, he also lived quite long for a goblin. A little small trick to mess with the lore of his character and some very long conversations with the Developers did the trick. He had a Unique status after all. Ah, the name. This loli crazy scientist is called Corra. Just Corra, nothing much else needed.

The last, but certainly not least member of his core team was the So-called Witch named Nimue. A passion project of Krux himself, she was the main mage around the guild and served an obvious purpose of destroying anyone and anything who came close to the guild itself with malicious intent. If Liluth was the strongest combatant to be inside the guild, she was a true one-man army. Of course, one on one, the Chief of security was designed to win, but it didn't stop their so-called rivalry with each other (also something he wanted to have within the backstories of both of them.). She was the very definition of busty. Large bust, toned figure and very revealing outfit of the magess just added to be complete opposites in how they handle things. He did not manage to contain his base instincts and the lore of the female included her being rather needy in terms of attention from her favourite boss. Why favourite? Well, most of his personal budget always went into buying or crafting ever so expensive items for her needs. She is some daughter of a very rich man whose family got killed off for her magical affinity and she ran far too much, lived in complete poverty far too many years and, unlike what many would think, her love for expensive things is not the only thing that's holding her with Krux. After all, he was the one who took her of the streets, paid for her magical studies and then started treating her like a princess. She will most likely destroy anyone who tries to harm her saviour and she is probably the most outwardly affectionate when it comes to interacting with him.

Again, would anyone blame him for writing her character that way? Probably a few, but the rest will always understand! At least he can have comfort knowing that these creations of his will always love their creator, even if they are just created characters from a gaming world that does not allow them to speak beyond their programmed patterns. All of their backstories and everything else was just flavour text, really. Did he care though? Not in the slightest. And nobody can stop the grin from appearing on his face as the man looked them over one last time and then proceeded to sit down at his chair, looking over the documents that lay on it. As far as he was aware, no notifications were appearing, and the player list slowly started to dwindle. He looked at it. One hour remained until the closure of the game. Just one hour. One hour and this avatar of his will be lost to eternity. The gaming devs invited him to participate in the reboot, the new game of the same genre. Something to bring their game into the new era of games with new platforms and new technology. Unlike many other players, he was not interested. Every good thing must have its end and this one chapter of his life, no matter how long it was, must also come to a close. Nevertheless, for this one hour? This one hour he would do the things he always did. Sort out the inventory of his vaults, set the paths for new caravans across the region and see if any player still wanted to trade their things for the gold or new shiny armour for that one last raid that some players wanted to go on. Several guildmasters were still online and he decided to ping one of them at random.

- Hey Fella, how's the closure for the game going for ya? – He was usually, always in character, when speaking to others through the voice-chat so this failed to surprise anyone who knew who Krux was in the first place. There was silence at the other end for a few moments, before a soft voice let out a small cough.

- Ah, Krux-san? You also decided to stay for the remainder of the time, then? – Oh, Momonga. How lucky. His guild never really used his services, And why would they? They had a gigantic, tomb with an army of NPCs that was practically impossible to raid. Nobody that tried ever succeeded. But now, even the mighty Ainz Ooal Gown stood empty and silent, without movement or anything happening.

- Yup. I can't just abandon my shinies. I would need tah be forced outa here, ya dig? – Of course, she would speak like that. Something about conversing in character just made him all giddy and nostalgic for the times when he surprised everyone with his weird pattern of speech. The man on the opposite side of the call laughs. It seems like our conversation up brought some memories of his own. How cute. The man laughs for a few seconds, with Goblin responding with the same before he finally continues speaking.

- So. What do you plan on doing after this is over? Any news on the continuation of the game? Something where we can continue playing. – He had a very hopeful voice. The bastard knew I had some connection to the devs and he did not seem to be bothered to refrain from asking. And Krux appreciated the honesty with which the other player seemed to approach this situation. The man chuckled yet again and then decided if he should respond truthfully or hide it for the sake of the surprise down the line. But then again, it might be the last time they get to speak ever, so he decided to go with the first option.

- Well. Good knew fella, the devs just want tah reboot the game, ya know? New, fancy tech and shit. The game will return soon 'nuff. I won't be there to see it though. Real life, business never stops ya dig kiddo? – Saying Kiddo to an elder lich that is a few times taller than himself, had its charm. But when he heard the response from the other side, the man almost failed to suppress another bout of laughter. The amount of relief in the single sigh that escaped through the comms would probably be equal to someone finding out their dying parent was somehow cured of their disease and is walking on their feet again. No, he cannot help himself. Laughter it is. The response of a rather offended sounding noise on the other side of the comms only added to the entire weirdness of the situation. Oh well. At least something will never change. Like the fact that Momonga never behaved like a lich of his status would. Such an amazing specimen of the Undead and always kind and meek in his way of speaking. His guildmates were almost the same. Busy people they were, but mostly quiet when you compare them to the larger than life (despite being smaller than a fucking dog) leader. And, god knows, Krux was trying very hard to remain in the same persona he was known throughout the game.

- Oh, for the love of everything, Krux-san, stop laughing. This is not funny! – Something in the other's voice made the goblin snicker a few more times and stop. He didn't want to embarrass the other with his laughter. He just could not help himself, seeing how adorable the fellow guild master is. And when he finally calmed down, the man continued the chat.

- All right, all right, sorry fella. Yer just bein' adorable right now, ya know? No offence. – Oh, look, the lich chocked on something. One point for the Goblin King! (What, it is a cool title! Goblin king! Feels very important, even if it's about a goblin.) And then they just shared snide remarks and memories of their travels. He seemed to get sadder the closer they got towards the time of closure. They talked so much that The Goblin player suddenly noticed a ping of notification only after a few minutes of them saying their goodbyes. Yup. The game is closing in five minutes. Five minutes. All those memories, stirred up by the conversation flooded into his mind, as he relaxed in his chair, just as the player model did inside the game world. He feels his eyes watering underneath the headset and he does not stop it from happening. Honestly, it feels like a puppy of his is about to die. A puppy he has grown alongside with will just never be the same without. Oh well. Everything is going to end someday. Even he himself. So let's just accept the reality of the situation. He closed his eyes, slowly counting down minutes, no, seconds of before the end of the game.

23:59:56…

57…

58…

59…

00:00:00….

The man, awaiting the signal of the game ending and the servers shutting down as well as finding himself back at his room, didn't feel anything. Quite the opposite, actually. He felt…weird. Nothing was happening, no matter how many seconds have passed since the official date of closure. Wait. Did they patch it a continuation and didn't say anything? Was the closing a giant troll? The goblin slowly opened his eyes and looked around with the most confused expression on his face. And encountered the worried gazes of the five executives that looked at him back. A few blinks later, the man also realized that he feels…real. The feeling of being inside a smaller body and somewhat different sensations of different body qualities flooded his mind and he realized that the light is hurting his eyes a little bit. Very quick processing of the situation later and he understood. He is Krux. He does not feel his human body, the menu does not respond and even more so, there are no players in the roster that was attached by the developers to his hub. A moment late and the doors slammed open with several guards coming inside with the worried expression on their faces.

- Chief Krux! Something weird happened. – And before the confused goblin could reply anything about the matter, the chief of the security shot forward, striding towards her men with the inquisitive look on her face. From what the Goblin could gather, she had been receiving reports from all the guards around the Guildhall and she was getting increasingly annoyed and worried, the more she listened to them.

- Report, now. – She spoke short and even the goblin himself suppressed the urge to salute and report to her. What would he even report? Who the hell knows? Certainly not him. While the guards talked with the chief of security, he felt soft hands clasp at his shoulders and rather pleasant energy spreading across his entire body. Looking back, emerald eyes encountered the visage of their angel. She felt her boss become a bit woozier all of a sudden and was providing him with the support he needed. Honestly, there was a moment of clarity, in which he gave himself praise for actually designing these NPCs in such a human-like way before the mind returned back to the state of panic. Moreover, the faces of both Dwarf and the elf didn't promise anything good. He could not hold himself back from speaking and so he did. He needs to learn what the fuck is going on. For once, his skill for roleplaying was being useful.

- Lorham, Liluth, what's in the rat's ass is goin' on 'ere. – He successfully managed to change the confusion into a confident, but annoyed snarl. A goblin's face was not a fan of facial expressions, so he pulled it off without much problem. Both chiefs got silent for a moment, while the Alchemist ran away screaming about her babies.

- Sir, there is a problem. The Guildhall and the main vault is currently in a completely unknown location. – The elven woman tried to sound as calm as possible, but this was not something she was used to, so the notes of anxiety were still there and very noticeable. Somewhere behind Krux, a chuckle could be heard. Nimue was having fun, it seems. Oh well, he will deal with it later. The second one to speak, before he could react to the other's words were the Dwarf.

- Hate to be the bearer of the bad news, but my tech across all the vaults other than this one stopped responding. I checked again and they are gone. All of our constructions seemed to have just bloody vanished into the air. – The bearded man slowly stroked said beard with a very thoughtful expression on his face. He was not the one to fall into the clutches of panic, and he was already looking for the solution. But Krux from the game would never note the positive of that, Krux from the game would react differently. And so he shall.

- WHAT DO YOU MEAN GONE. – He did not expect himself to be so loud and passionate about it. Either his ability to play a role is just THAT good o the thoughts of all the gear and money that would be lost alongside the vaults was fueling his anger even more. The response did not make the dwarf even flinch. The flavour text indicated that they had a very big history with each other and knew each other more than anyone, the engineer was used to his boss-friend being rather emotional at times. He slowly nodded to himself and continued.

- All things considerin', I think it's not they are gone. It's WE are gone, Krux. We are in deep shit. – The dwarf says those words while also crossing his hands on his chest. The moment he noticed the boss being in deep thought, and he was, the man started to shout at his technicians to fix the issues that started to appear throughout the facilities.

Wait. That makes sense. They were gone. Transported. What the hell, what the actual hell!? Okay. The man breathed in and out really deeply. He needs to calm down and think. What happened? Why the game did not close. Why the hell he is inside his character's body? Where are all the other vaults and where are they in the first place? Most of his security personnel were transferred to the main building prior to the shutdown of the game because he wanted to have all his forces be around him when he bids the game Farwell, but that might have been a good thing since he was stranded god knows where and god knows how. With his NPCs seemingly coming to life and actively chatting with the security around the facility. Liluth talked with the security around the main entrance to the vault, Nimue was gone, probably to establish a perimeter with her security spells, Asteraoth was standing to the side with a very amused smile on her face and Corra was gone as well. A quick check on the comms made sure she was still inside and just checking on her facility within the base to establish that everything was up to date and nothing was gone. The panic that ensued for the next fifteen minutes could be practically felt in the air as both chiefs of Engineering and Security barked order in the communication and the Bank was turned into a giant nest of bees at work. And then, oh so mighty, the leader was basically trying to not scream about how he expected everything to go bad but not to this extent. Of course, being the man that he is, Krux calmed down rather quickly. He needed to act first and panic only when everything else was impossible to do.

- Liluth. – He finally shouted, just to attract the attention of the woman through all the chatter. His instincts were taking hold and he wanted to establish several things before deciding on what to do next. And the attention of his guard chief was gotten very quickly. The goblin sighed and continued, - gather a small team of the guards and send them out to find the nearest place. We 'ave a fuck ton'a people right now, use 'em as ya wish. Countin' on ya. – He didn't give direct orders on purpose. He needs to conceal his confusion and fear while also remaining in the know of what is going on and this was the ideal way. She was not a player, she was an NPC, and she had a backstory, a set of skills. And guessing by her behaviour and the way she looked at him? Yeah, she absolutely had all the memories from said backstory. She will be able to do much more than he is capable of right now. A quick salute later, the woman disappeared from the room to do as he asked. Nimue also quickly reported that nothing outside warranted much caution. They were in the middle of nowhere.

- Fuckin' 'ell. – The man mutters under his breath, opening his inventory yet again and scanning it over. It felt natural so he did just as the reflexes suggested. The good part is that the main vault is stuffed with all kinds of goods, items, weapons and weapons Alike. Nobody's going to need them at this point and he had a very good way of spending them. An idea came into mind as the goblin chuckles nervously. Opening the Com system he announced his working theory.

- Now listen up people. I am guessin' we are not home. As far away as fucking possible, really. So, assuming we are, time tah change our title. We are now, Golden Wind Trading corporation. Ya, dig what I am sayin'? The vault is open. Take everything ya need and repurpose it for sale or reproduction. Liluth, tell yer scouts to establish connections with the nearest settlements. Asteraoth, be a dear and train yer people tah talk with customers. Lorham, Corra, you are responsible for the produce. Mass produce everything ya fucking CAN and use the vault as the storage unit. Everyone got that? – Oh, how amazing that the angel decided to also put a calming spell on him. Speaking without your nerves drilling inside your head is so much better than with the nerves acting up instead. He leans back into his chair. He is still getting used to the body that is…largely smaller than the one he inhabited in the real world. Standing up was not an option until he was totally alone in the room and ready to actually experiment with the movement and his abilities altogether.

He gestured for people to clear out the room. He lazily said that he just wants to think in quiet and that was enough. Their boss never had any bad ideas before. Hell, this is why they followed him in the first place. Anyone who discounted him at first for being a goblin long abandoned such thoughts knowing how successful their company was over the course of their existence inside the world of YGGDRASIL. And so he was left alone to think. Soon enough, he stood and tried walking around and stretching. To his relief, all parts of his new body seemed to function just as well as they did before. Seems like the information about how to handle himself in this body was just naturally imprinted into his brain. His forcefully calmed down mind found it rather useful. A sigh escapes the man's mouth as he slowly licks his own fangs with his tongue, testing them out. Just as he thought, they are far too small and insignificant to be used as weapons. Goblins never were the most impressive races when it came down to the physique. He felt even less fit than when he was human, but he knew that travel won't be much of an issue with all the tools he had. The small green hands slowly pressed into the cane as he leaned into it. He finally looked in the mirror. A very short, but relatively mediocre looking goblin looked at him back. (Frankly, mediocre is already beautiful within the boundaries of his race, famous for being notoriously ugly.). Relatively straight face, with the crooked nose, deep, small eyes and light shade of green as the skin colour, as well as black. Short hair. He was dressed al little too fancy. A red ringleader outfit with a cane and a big top-hat that added to his height. A chuckle escapes his mouth. Well, for one thing, the design he created for his player model was the best thing he could have done with a goblin, so he did not mind it all too much. Well, it's probably the calming spell speaking. Panic will come later.

When the man was finally ready to go out with confidence and not look like a moron in the process, he finally came out of the, surprisingly empty, guildhall and looked around. Everything around him looked…alive. Unlike the game, everyone moved around, chatter could be heard everywhere. His orders were received with the utmost respect, as people were running around and shouting about items and loot that can and cannot be used in the sales. So far? No one seemed to speak about the scouts that went out to check on the nearest city. Perhaps they didn't find anything up to this point. If so, they are certainly further away from civilization than Krux would love to be. His previous location of choice was almost in the middle of a neutral zone, packed with players all the time. Somewhat of a bonus from the developers and the fact that neither Krux nor his guildmates were very keen on PVP battles. This location? Very far away from anything that even remotely identified as a city and the possibility of encountering unknown enemies are vast. Establishing routes for the caravans will be a very hard job. Moreover, who knows how strong the forces of his enemies would be, should some strong bandit claim his goods for himself? Uncharted territory comes with a necessary paranoia. There is no way to survive unless you count for all the possibilities. And just as he was thinking about that, the comm lit up displaying the connection to Liluth.

- Sir, my scouts reported back. They found a village fitting for trading. And also warded off the attack of some bandits. – She hesitates for a moment, almost thinking if she wants to continue speaking or not. – They want to meet you, sir. Are you all right with that? Would you need an escort? I shall come if I am needed! – Krux vaguely remembered writing something about being over-protective in her bio and cursed his own little quirks of writing. He didn't need someone watching over every one of his moves with the intent of protecting him, right now. However, he will humour her nonetheless. At least for now.

- Don't be such a scardy cat Lil, I'm gon' be totally fine. But a'right, ya can come with me. Call Lorham as well. Might as well look 'round eh? – The man could practically feel the nod of acknowledgement from the other side of the comms and laughed to himself. Well. At least playing a character is not as hard as it would seem. And his scouts did manage to stop the attack so he will assume that nothing too dangerous can be found around here. He quickly went towards the main exit from the complex. Something told him that others would be there sooner than he would. True enough, when he arrived at his destination and adjusted his eyes to the bright shine of the daylight, he saw the two of his closest advisors, standing right beside a carriage. How did they manage to assemble this entire little caravan while he was walking in the hallway is beyond him, but he will keep the questions to himself, for now? The nod from the dwarf and the elf were filled with so much confidence, that It would probably calm Krux down. If he was not already calmed down by the angel prior to this. So he even managed to give him a very toothy grin in return, observing the way they were dressed.

Nothing changed in the chief of security. She walked inside her own armour most of the time anyway. But the Dwarf looked different. The old mechanic even went out of his way to put on some combat gear, get some steampunk-inspired weaponry and a few automatons were staying beside him in standby mode. Almost like they were planning to go on some war. No comment was given, though. He will always let them do whatever they really want to, it's not like he didn't program them to be very efficient in their tasks. The brunt of the goblin's attention was taken by the scenery around them. He barely suppressed a whistle of surprise. Who would have thought that they would be transported to such a beautiful looking place? A big forest was stretching far beyond his field of vision and mountains could be seen much further, way into the distance. There was only one thing that really bothered him right at this moment. Nothing even remotely indication civilization was present within several miles, no matter where he would look. Not even smoke, or anything that would indicate human life. Fuck's sake. The time which took the scouts t find any village what so ever, now makes sense. They needed to cover a lot of lands. Even with the speed of Liluth's men, they still needed to actually find the place before contacting the HQ. The other two didn't seem to interrupt their boss's observations and just stood, waiting for the moment when they all decide to take off into the first piece of civilization that this land had to offer.

The travel time didn't take too long, unlike the man himself feared it would. The village was still a fair distance away and the goblin managed to get bored while they were travelling. Of course, he was almost saved by the constant chattering from the old dwarf. He loved to tell his storied no matter how much they actually knew them already. It's a very comfortable, but also a very annoying constant of this mechanic. He always told the same damn stories, all over again. And sometimes even adding new details to them or forgetting to tell something instead. Old goof didn't have many memories when it came to everything outside of his machinery and weaponry. Liluth was just as calm and reserved as always. She seemed to get over the shock of the entire situation rather quickly, in hindsight. Cleaning one of her many swords with the most neutral facial expression possible. She didn't even seem to notice that he was staring before the goblin turned his head back to the road with the goal of observing the surrounding area. He did sigh in relief when they finally saw the village…what was left of it, anyway.

- Well, ain't that fantastic. – He did say that out loud which caused the dwarf to let out a small laugh, while the elf just frowned. This situation was something the scouts seemed to forget to report. Well, they did fend off the invasion, but they didn't mention that invasion was almost over by the time they got there. The one who greeted them was a very old man, with a bandaged hand, white hair and incredible exhaustion in his eyes. The Goblin instantly recognized the man as the leader of this place. And he also saw notes of fear inside his eyes. Before he could say anything, though, the goblin announced.

- Hey, fella, don't be hasty. I am not an enemy, ya dig? – And if the man was afraid before…now he was just weirded out by the goblin's bizarre way of speech. Both of Goblin's chief executives were already off the carriage. The woman went to check up with her scouts and see what's with the situation and the Dwarf….who the hell knows what's he up to. Maybe he wants to go help with repairs. Bastards left Krux to deal with the diplomacy on his own. Goddamnit. A very awkward toothy grin is what he managed. And the man seems to understand that there's no ill intend within the strange alien before slowly sighing in relief.

- So…you are the leader of those…people, right? – The way he spoke of the scouts seemed to indicate he is wary. So they dislike elves around here, for some reasons. Well, that's something to take note of for the future. The Goblin simply nodded to the question and the man, while looking pretty confused, seemed to understand what's happening. The scouts told him about Krux's arrival, it seems and it was very handy. The old man led the small goblin to the building in the middle of the small city. The gazes of very tired people followed them. Injured all around, bodies also lining the streets. Most of them seemed to be of bandit kind, dressed in rags and armed with makeshift cold weapons. Under any normal circumstances he would probably be highly disturbed and very much disgusted by the violence around him, but bless the angel's spell, he was as calm as he could possibly be. Well, if you do not count the small tingle of pride about how good the scouts were at their job of defending this town. Which caused another grin to appear. Only to be interrupted by some kid's crying and running away. Whoops. He is still a small scary goblin, he has to remember that. But he was immediately distracted from his own thoughts when they finally arrived at the town's mayor's house. As he sat down at one of the chairs in the man's office, he found himself looking rather ridiculously comical, considering his height and completion and the sizes of the furniture. But the most important part of this situation is to look as confident as possible while being in a very awkward situation. As the mayor cleared his throat to start speaking, Krux got ready to listen.

- Uh…well. First of all, I would like to formally apologize for this….mess we are currently in. Second, I would like to thank you and your people for saving our home. – A slow nod was given by the old man, as he continued speaking. – My name is Vargas and this village is called Tarmsworth. But…I have to ask. I have been living here for most of my life and never saw any traveller from the side which you came from. The lands beyond this village are far too unexplored and filled with dangers to be inhabited by anyone. – He seemed genuinely interested in the answer. His calm reaction to a goblin being the leader was still a little suspicious, but everything else seemed just as honest as was he. How poetic. Out of all the places their guild building could have appeared in, it just had to be someplace removed from the civilization and ripe for the taking. Well, good. Challenges are what Krux always loved about playing in YGDRASSIL, and here is no different if you look at it from the perspective of someone who's under the spell of absolute calmness.

- Oh. We came from an establishment a lill too fat tah the North. Some folks decided to set up a city there and we've been clearin' out the place to start something. Actually, we found ya by sheer fucking luck. And my men saved ya cuz they were just in the right place in the right time. I guess those little accidents can really help you out eh. – They both laughed at this. The man also nodded very energetically. A little too energetically, in fact. Shit, this guy is suspicious. But he continued speaking.

- Our small amount of fighters and hunters went out to the nearest city of the empire to get more provision and take it back into the city. They have not returned yet and we got attacked out of nowhere. These bastards saw the moment to take every valuable thing we had. If your people were just a little bit slower….i…I don't know what would have happened to us. – The laugh of his turned bitter, with the eyes showing clear sadness, the healthy hand placed unconsciously on the bandage, - the folks around here tried to defend themselves but…we are a farmer for god's sake…not fighters. – Krux was left confused. Was the person, really, that suspicious or it was just his paranoia speaking? But he nodded none the less. Slowly processing the information. Well, the scouts deserve some sort of treat from their boss for their actions. He was sure some other people would have stayed at a comfortable distance and did nothing, but they decided to engage the enemy in a brawl and save whomever they actually can save. Commendable, if anything. Especially considering the fact that Liluth clearly ordered them to find a settlement, not save it from a bandit threat.

- Yer had it rough, fella. Well, ain't the one to ruin yer parade, so, how 'bout I do the generous thing here and tell you what. I help ya repair the village and heal yer people, and then we talk 'bout establishin' trade like I intended tah do when coming 'ere. – The more the goblin talked, the wider the old man's eyes became. Everyone was suspicious of heroic deeds. Nobody ever questions the allure of the gold coin. Nobody questions favour in return for something equal. And this small goblin was saying just that. His people didn't just help them out of the kindness of their heart. They had a purpose. A very understandable purpose. And one would be able to take comfort in the fact that this purpose was understandable and relatable to people living in the middle of nowhere. Trading is important, after all, no matter how you look at it.

- Yes…please. I would appreciate any help. How may I call you, sir? – A mental face-palm is given to himself. He didn't say his name. Little dumbass goblin. And so he replies just as quickly as the question is asked. – Name's Krux the Cunning. I am the leader of the Golden Wind Trading Corporation. Remember that name, gotcha? We gon' make it big out 'ere. – He used the phrase that he always used when he just started out many years ago. The same phrase to start everything off. And the phrase that always followed him to matter how big his guild actually became. Something about saying it made him smile in a very wishful way. Something about that smile seemed to tug at the old Vargas heartstrings because he nodded with a very thoughtful look on his face. He really takes those words seriously doesn't he? What a funny fella. Who would have thought that this conversation manages to start something that would later be known as the Grand Rise of the Golden Wind? A small half-destroyed village and a traveller from the other world that came here for god knows what reason.

They spoke a bit more. About the details of their future alliance and how exactly does the goblin plan to supply them with people and resources needed to rebuild the village to its former glory. Establish the payments and trade values and something that the goblin will give just because of his good will and understanding of their situation. What he needed now the most was information. He had enough money to fill several villages of the same size as this one with them. Money was not an issue for him or his people. He also got quick reports from the old dwarf, who established defences around the perimeter of this establishment and Liluth, who decided it is a good idea to let her scouts spread around the village and let them patrol the area for more bandits. Of course, both received praise for their actions. And Krux was very glad he decided to not make them the same way as the others did, with absolute obedience in mind. All the NPCs he knew so far were slaves, not companions. And he wanted for his roleplaying character to have companions. With free will and the ability to solve problems on their own, as well as trustworthiness so that he can give them these tasks to solve. Soon enough they were wrapping up the conversation with both having a very satisfied smile on their faces. The man was convinced by the display of power from the scouts that the goblin's company can make their promises come true and the goblin himself was just very happy with another deal being almost done. He was almost thankful to the bandits because of how easy that went.

- Well. Glad ah, be makin' business with yerself fella. Will be lookon' forward to all the info you can gather on the area around this place. – As it was already said, he didn't need money. He needed information; he needed maps, some facts about the world and the nation they came across with this village. Of course, he acted unde the premise that the kingdom was not a bunch of assholes and that he can establish trade routes just fine. However, he still needed to learn if that was true or not. If he could trust his sense of business and his diplomacy skills to not be attacked by the country's army or nobles.

- Well. Of course, of course, Sir Krux! We will find what we can, you can count on that! – And of course, they would agree. This is something that is extremely rare. Someone rich that is willing to help out the poor folk for the sake of some information. You can never find a more appealing bargain for common folk living inside these small cities and just trying to come by with whatever resources they had, while also trying to pay taxes to the kingdom that probably didn't care about them all that much. Well, it was not Krux's problem. Not right now anyway. He preferred to be neutral in most things. And even in this new world, he didn't plan to create anything that would be considered a nation. It created a bias. And biases is what he disliked the most. Well. Now that the formalities were over and goodbyes were said, the goblin slowly walked out of the man's house and looked around. The people were working to repair things as much as they could, others were simply trying to rest from the fight before-hand. The goblin shook his head and headed the exit from the village.

- Hey fellas, I am done with our little deal. We can go back now. Think 'bout what our next move is going tah be. Chop chop, meet ya both at the carriage. Oh, right. Liluth, leave yer scouts 'round 'ere. They can be useful in finding even more connections, ya dig? – The goblin chuckled again. A bit too into character this time. All the profit, in the long run, will be much more important than the short losses they endure. Even if they lose these scouts to a more dangerous threat, he will know where to look to find these threats and either destroy them or buy them. Nothing in this world is for sale. At least that's the mentality he always approached any deal was. Never failed him so far. He hears the quick responses from both underlings and grins widely again.

And the grin remained the same as he travelled back into his territory. And, unfortunately, the spell that has been placed on him several hours ago has finally lifted. And he was worried again. Worried to not end. Thoughts quickly jumped from idea to idea. Was there dragons here, were there any other players. And if there were, would they be so kind to the one who clearly does not have all their loot that they stored inside his vaults, now, gone forever. Would they be angry with him selling everything? Will, he even has enough resources to fight all people who would wish to steal from him? To say that he slowly slipped into a panic was to understate the fact. And the other two, fortunately, were too busy with their errands and commanding their forces to notice. Why would it have to be me? That's the thought that appeared in the goblin's mind not once, but several times, with intervals of not more than several minutes. He wanted to stop playing the game, wanted to go out there and create his own business. He had friends for god's sake! What will happen now? Will he be stuck in this body forever?

Eventually, the questions and nerves clearly overwhelmed his mind and he found himself back at his office. Seems like he shut down while trying to process all of the emotions that overloaded his mind. The goblin looked around, then at the document, he was writing, and laughed. Laughter filled with both anxiety and fear. Yeah. Right. The side effect of the spell. Fucking hell. No no, overusing this one will probably cause many problems down the line, so he better NOT fucking do that anymore. The man slowly massaged his temples with his fingers, carefully, so that he won't actually scratch himself with his own nails. This has turned into…for the lack of a better word, giant clusterfuck. And even though he actually managed to calm himself down, this is going to be a very tough mess to solve. But…Would he be really called Kruz the Cunning if he was not able to solve this? He will be strong. He will do everything he needs to survive and thrive. Just as he did in his world where he was born. Like he did when he just started out the game. Uphill battle!

Get ready, world. Here comes the best fucking merchant you will ever meet.