Time continued to pass in the Dark Lands of Mir.

  Rick’s arrival to the Clans had caused quite a stir for more than just a few weeks, but by now things had settled into a new rhythm of sorts.

  That wasn’t to say that the Goblins had gotten over the hype of having their King among them, but instead alluding to the fact the hype surrounding Rick’s presence was now the norm.

  Goblins weren’t necessarily running around and screaming, but it was now the constant topic in most conversations—a constant thought in their minds and a constant reason for doing one thing or another.

  Especially since the Pogra Clan, and all the other Clans who helped out, were now finally ready to unveil the masterpiece that was dubbed the House of the Goblin King, or the King’s House for short.

  It truly was a massive building and quite easily the biggest building in all the Clans.

  Three stories tall, a left wing, a central building, and a right wing.

  The entire building was made out of a beautiful combination of stone and wood architecture. It wasn’t easy for the Goblins to acquire large amounts of stone, but for the House of the King, they made it happen.

  And due to all of that…

  It took months for the building to be completed.

  Five months exactly.

  When thousands of Goblins from Tier One to Tier Six were working on a project, things tended to happen quickly.

  And now Rick, who quite literally just had the most peaceful five months of his life as a Goblin, could finally be given a tour.

  Rick was still the same Goblin he always was, and five months of tutoring wasn’t enough to change that, but what was different was that he now knew how to carry himself in public without losing who he was.

  Chiefess Hugala made sure of that.

  She drilled into him everything she knew about Kingship and Royalty, which had all been passed down over the years.

  Of course, what Chiefess Hugala didn’t know was that most of the actions of how a King should act—and how their people should act in return—didn’t come from Goblin origins.

  They were definitely passed down from Goblins, but they had to come from somewhere. That somewhere being humans.

  From overhearing conversations, to sending spies into human territories, capturing people, and observing how human military camps behaved toward a superior—

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  There were many things that the Goblins gathered over the years and adapted for themselves, and then subsequently passed down as the norm.

  Either way, Chiefess Hugala made sure these ideals were drilled into him, but she didn’t want them to become him. The idea was for Rick to know and understand not only his own standing and actions, but the actions and standing of others towards him.

  Once that was accomplished, Rick should still be himself.

  After all, he was King—and creating a fake personality for his people wouldn’t sit right with either her or him.

  Long story short, Rick knew how to be a King now and how actions affected people, and he was now being given a tour by an excited Chiefess Menga.

  She led him through the massive double doors that stood as the entrance to the building.

  It opened into a small room with four distinct exits—not counting the entrance.

  “My King. The path on your left leads to the training area you requested, while the path on the right leads to a few different waiting rooms and conference rooms of different sizes.

  “The one straight ahead leads to a massive kitchen area. And flanking that exit are the central staircases that go to the second and third floors.”

  Rick mostly just nodded as he took the sight of the building in.

  He couldn’t believe it. All of this house… for him? This was basically the White House, is what he couldn’t help but think to himself as Menga continued the tour.

  That thought only cemented itself by the time everything was over.

  The second floor was basically the working floor.

  It contained not only a large office just for him, but smaller offices for the other Goblins who would be working in the building and serving as representatives of all 14 Clans.

  They would be receiving and organizing various reports from the Clans, and also be the ones sending out non-urgent communications from Rick himself.

  Finally, the third and final floor was the actual home part of the building.

  The entire floor was quite literally dedicated as Rick’s bedroom and lounge area. It was like having an entire penthouse for himself.

  Of course, Rick’s house wasn’t the only one that had just recently been built.

  Housing for the Goblins who would be working in the building was built nearby, and so too were barracks.

  To the rear of Rick’s house was now a small barracks district of sorts that was built for the sole purpose of housing Rick’s Royal Guards.

  Royal Guards who were now gathered in a neat and orderly formation waiting for Rick to arrive—and when he did,

  He was met with a very orderly sight.

  50 Tier Three Goblins. 10 Tier Four Goblins standing at the head of their columns, and 1 Tier Five Goblin at the head of all of them.

  Rick recognized some of the Tier Fours.

  Teral, Loruk, Ulgri, and Ra.

  It both made him smile to see them, but also sad to see that Kris, Krel, and the others weren’t standing with them.

  Even the commander in front was unfamiliar to Rick.

  Part of him assumed it would be Loruk’s uncle, or one of the Shadow Clan Tier Fives he met previously.

  But no.

  It was a Maglin.

  And once Rick got within distance, she snapped to attention and let out a shout to the rest of the group.

  “Sha’torr!”

  The Royal Guards behind her all slammed the first of their right hands across their chests, and the sound it made resounded loudly in the area for all to hear.

  “Who are we?!”

  “The King’s Shield!”

  “Who are we?!”

  “The King’s Sword!”

  “Who are we?!”

  “The Royal Guard!!!”

  “And what do we believe?!?!?!?!?!”

  “DEATH IS A SMALL PRICE TO PAY!!!”

  “Royal Guard reporting for our oaths, Sir!”

  Rick took all of this in stride as he stood stoically in front of the group as they made their declaration of who they were.

  Of course, all of this was previously discussed and planned, starting about a month ago when the Royal Guard was finalized.

  “Kneel.”

  Rick spoke one word, and 50 pairs of knees practically slammed into the ground without a second of hesitation.