Machinist of Mana

Mrs. Lutte was an annoyingly smart cookie, and had put together the exact same things I had. She'd also alerted my family to the matter and now they were taking action. True, they were not really high up in a lot of the local government, but they knew people who were, and being a noble meant that you could get things done if you really wanted.

Of course none of them believed for a second that there was a goblin in the underground, but they did believe that their son would do something they viewed as incredibly stupid if it wasn't looked into. Could I even really blame them? Well yes, but I was still physically a child, so it wasn't like they were wrong.

Grandfather and I were at the Royal Society, waiting. I was pretty sure that I'd been brought along just to see how useless it would've been to go down there.

“There's almost no way anything's down there sir, but if you insist,” the leader of their little expedition said.

“I do, if for no other reason than to curb my grandson's curiosity on the matter.” He gave me a stern look.

“Look lad,” the man said turning to me. “I know it sounds exciting, but all these are is blank stone tunnels full of hot air. They don't even intersect anything, and they're only like two blocks long.” He looked back to grandfather. “You know, we could take him with us, just to show him how boring it is.”

“No, I think this is a good time for a lesson in self-discipline.” I wilted as grandfather gave me a harsh look. Normally he was very fun, excitable, and generally fond of some of my antics, but he viewed this one as dangerous.

There were five men in total, with little clubs and one single-shot pistol. Even if nobody believed me there had been several sightings of a little green man, and it did actually match the description of the missing monster I remembered from the circus.

With a shrug the workers opened up the seldom used maintenance hatch and went in. We expected them to be back in under ten minutes, but two minutes in things began to change. There was a noise like yelling, a high pitched screech, and then a gunshot.

Before I could act a hand pulled me back. I was stronger than my maternal grandfather, but didn't resist as he placed himself between me and the door, lifting his cane. Runes, previously invisible lit upon the surface of the little item I'd always thought he carried as an affectation, energy crackling and sparking as he pointed the end towards the door.

“Behind me Percival,” he commanded, his voice taking on a hard tone I'd never heard before.

There was silence for a time, then a sound of footsteps, several pairs. The maintenance crew had returned, carrying one of their own, who'd taken a nasty gash to his leg. Another carried the corpse, a small, green-skinned humanoid, clearly dead, head smashed in and a large hole in its chest.

“Got it,” the leader said in a breathy voice. “We're gonna need to check how it got in though, in case there are more.”

Within an hour a full armed unit poured down both ends of the tunnel. There were no other goblins, and no opening that they could find. In the end their best guess was that it had slipped in through one of the grates in the hothouses and been hiding down there, only coming out when nobody was around.

Sasha

Sasha looked over at her sister, she didn't really get her sister. Sister Greta liked little mechanisms and parts that the others brought back when they went out, always huddled over one or another.

“He's still not come back,” Sasha griped, for weeks one of their big brother's helpers had been gone, lost on some mission or other.

“It's fine,” her sister said with an unconcerned sigh. “You worry too much.”

The day it had happened was supposed to be a great day for Sasha, the day she was finally given a job. Her job was to watch the entrance to the nest, protect it, and make sure the dumber cousins didn't run off. After all, she could count, and she could talk like Father did, she was one of his special children, and even had power like he did to heal and harm. She also looked different than the cousins, a little more like the people Father sometimes brought in, with hair and a flatter face.

She was still fairly little, but he'd pulled her aside that day, telling her how she needed to count the parties and they left, and as they came back, make sure everyone was okay. It was a good job, a job to be proud of, a job she knew was right. Her brother making her fail on her first day was a dark black mark to her.

But big brother Sigmund's group had come back short, they were supposed to have nine cousins but only eight returned. After much worrying she'd told Father, expecting him to give her spot to another, but he hadn't. Instead he'd been angry with her brother, dropping Sigmund to the ground and screaming at him about being careful.

“At least there haven't been any other problems,” she said.

“Only because Father won't let anyone leave. I think he still has Sigmund deep, deep in. Probably making him help with cleaning.” Her sister snickered at that idea, nobody liked cleaning.

Sigmund was the oldest of Father's special children, and by far the largest. He towered over even their father, almost six feet tall, with long arms and bulging muscles. Sadly he was also the dumbest, and was often punished for doing things he wasn't supposed to.

“I guess.”

There was a click and Greta made a happy noise. “I got it, it's moving again!” she enthused, holding up the little device.

“Okay? What's it do?” Sasha asked curiously.

“Um...”

“It tells time,” a familiar voice said from down the cave. They both turned, seeing the bubbles of Father's aura creeping forward before he appeared himself. “I'm quite proud of you dear, good job.”

The other goblin girl chortled as he rubbed her hair, then turned to Sasha herself.

“Have you had any issues Sasha dear?” he asked.

“No Father. One of the cousins got close, but I made him numb like you showed me and took him back in.” She smiled, hoping to get the same approval her sister had.

“Good, and has our lost one come back yet?”

Sasha wilted at the question. “No Father,” she said.

“Don't fret my dear little Sasha, you've done a magnificent job. That mistake is your brother's, not yours. On that note, he'll be going back out soon, with my permission. Make sure to count those he takes and comes back with properly, I want to know if we lose another.” He patted her head as he spoke, smiling.

“You can count on me!” she bubbled.

“Good, good, you both make me so proud. Just seeing the two of you proves it you know, proves that we can become better, and when we're strong enough, we can make the whole world better.” His words inspired both of them, his dream, his goal for himself and his tribe, to make the world A Better Place.