Karna grunted. "Not yet."
His reply made me realize I was an idiot, as I remembered that he did not like small talk. So I sat next to him. "What’s wrong? You don’t look happy," I pointed out.
"Mhm. I’m not," he answered simply.
"Why?"
The Goblin furrowed his brows in indignation. But only at first. After a moment, he exhaled resignedly. "Because I failed. Again."
"What do you mean? We took Fort Conon like we were supposed to, and you even saved half your men from being trapped!" I argued. "How could you possibly have ‘failed’?"
"It does not matter. I should not have allowed it to happen in the first place," Karna said glumly. "The Infernalis would not take this failure kindly."
"Why wouldn’t they? This wasn’t your plan, it was Victor’s! And who cares what they think?"
"I do." His head snapped in my direction. "It matters to me."
"But why?" I asked, curious more than anything.
"Because I want to be a Dark Acolyte. And not just a regular Dark Crusader." His yellow eyes bore into me, as I cocked an eyebrow.
"And that’s your dream? To be like Victor?"
"No," he said, shaking his head. "I want to be something more than that.
"There are three categories of Dark Acolytes: Disciple, Apostle, and Herald. Victor is still a Disciple— the lowest of them all. I want to become the strongest of them all: a Herald."
I listened as the Goblin spoke with his heart.
"Previously, I thought I had a chance to at least do that. I can’t be a Dark Sage— not like Jasmin the Voodoo. But I was talented. Or at least, I thought I was. Then I met you."
He averted his eyes away from me, as he continued.
"And then, Victor showed me today how powerful a real Dark Acolyte is. He took charge of three times as many men as me, and only lost twice as many as I did. All the while they fought the main force of the fortress. I thought that maybe I could still stand— I was the only one who could cast that Blast Enchantment! But now, Ihsan…"
He did not finish his rant. But I understood. I understood that—
"You’re jealous." I poked the side of Karna’s face.
"What?"
I folded my arms, and stared sternly at him. "You’re jealous, Karna. That’s why you’re so down. You saw Ihsan cast your spell, and you got jealous. Just like when you got jealous of me."
"I am not—"
I spoke over him.
"Yes you are," I said simply, and he glared at me. "But that’s fine."
He inclined his head to the side, clearly confused, so I elaborated.
"There’s nothing wrong with being jealous. Everyone gets jealous. But as long as you don’t let it bring you down like it is doing to you now, then it’s fine. After all, we’re friends now. I don’t want to see you obsess over something that could hurt you."
I reached for his hand, and grasped it gently. The Goblin’s large eyes widened even more.
"Melas, I…" He swallowed. Then his eyes flickered, and he turned away from me. "Why would I be jealous of someone like you? I’m strong. And I’ll prove it."
"Oh yeah?" I challenged him with a smile.
"Yes! And then you’ll be the one jealous of me!" he stated firmly, and I laughed.
"Of course. But first,"— I stood up and dusted off my pants— "we’ll have to speak to Victor about that."
"The Dark Acolyte? Why?" Karna asked.
"You said you want to impress the Infernalis, right? Well, we’ll ask him to put in a good word for you."
"But—" he protested, but I spoke over him.
"Forging connections is just as important as working hard and being talented. Trust me, I know." I said with a wink. "You can stay here if you want, but I’ll just go find him and have a quick chat. He shouldn’t be mad at me anymore."
I walked away from Karna, leaving him behind as I went to search for Victor.
To be honest, I was not sure if Victor was still mad at me; I hoped he wasn’t, since he saved my life. And I liked him. He was nice… I think. He was a bit rough around the edges like Karna, but ultimately a good guy. I was sure of that.
But even if I disliked him, I was still going to help Karna out. I knew what I was talking about— from Earth knowledge: networking mattered. I had not even gone to University yet in my previous life, but I knew that much.
So I had to get Victor to… recommend Karna to the Infernalis. Put him on their radar. It made sense to me. I found a nearby Goblin, and asked him where Victor was.
"He’s in the dungeon. But the Commander told us under no circumstances should we disturb him right now."
"It’s fine, I just have to speak to him for a moment." I waved off the Goblin’s concerns, and he shrugged.
It really was a trivial issue as far as the young man was concerned. And— as mentioned— I was not sure if he was satisfied with what I’d done. I wanted to make amends. I had to make amends. After all...
I remembered Rin, Shang, and all the other slaves. Especially Theodore. When I saw all their faces after they found out, I knew I could never have stayed with them. As much as I wanted to.
But here? This was where I belonged. It had to be. There was no other place that would accept me. Where do I go if not here?
Definitely not the
