"Mistress! Mistress! Terrible news!" - Livia shouted in a hurry.

The mistress's expression changed as she stepped forward and said, "Livia, calm down! What happened."

"Y-Yes! A messenger arrived! I-It is about young master Aulus!" - Livia tried to explain.

"What?! My brother?! What happened to him! Did he die, or worse, flee like a coward?!" - The mistress asked in a panic.

I listened silently by the side, but I understood the mistress's panic. Young master Aulus dying in action is tantamount to the mistress losing her protection from the family. As for him fleeing like a coward? That is worse. Cowardice is punishable by death, and he could implicate his direct family members and house name in the shame. Also, all property under his name will be confiscated and sold, and the money made would be distributed among the bereaved families of the fallen soldiers.

In a worst-case scenario, I might get implicated because Aulus was the one who bought me recently while only putting under the mistress's name, meaning that I can get confiscated and sold in a public auction, and not the good kind. Just the thought of it sent chills down my spine.

"W-What? NO!" - Livia shook her head hurriedly.

"Then, what happened? Did he get maimed? Turn into a vegetable?" - The mistress slightly relaxed but still asked.

"Er... No, mistress. He cracked his hand, arm, leg, two ribs, and received a concussion to the head, but he is safe now." - Livia explained.

"A Concussion?! How severe?!" - The mistress pressed.

"Lars fed the young master a potion you made, and the field priest who checked on him confirmed that he is just unconscious. His helmet saved him." - Livia explained.

The mistress finally heaved a sigh of relief, "Good. At least that fool wore his helmet properly. Take me to the messenger."

"Yes, mistress." - Livia replied and led us to the entrance, where a sweating young lad drinking water from the fountain was present.

"Messenger! Report!" - The mistress instructed.

The messenger stopped drinking and stood up while wiping his mouth.

"Yes, ma'am!" - The messenger said while taking out a parchment scroll from his pocket and unfurling it.

"Aulus Sergius Fidelis of house Fidelis was ambushed by two-thousand-strong armed goblins at dawn together with the 7th cohort of the 10th Legion in the 2nd layer of the nearby magic forest on their rendezvous with the main army. The goblins first preoccupied the soldiers on both sides and then used anti-magic stones to pelt the six mages accompanying the cohort from a long distance. In the first volley of over a hundred stones, two of the mages died on the spot, Aulus was knocked unconscious, and two others received medium injuries. Following that, 427 soldiers were killed in action, with the remaining soldiers managing to flee. Aulus cracked his hand, arm, leg, two ribs, and received a concussion to the head, but received prompt treatment, so the field priest ruled him as being fine, with a chance of minor lingering damage. He also said that his helmet saved his life. He is currently in the field hospital, resting. That is all."

"I see... Thank you, messenger. Here, for your troubles." - The mistress took out a large silver coin from her purse and gave it to the messenger.

"Thank you, ma'am! I shall be off now, goodbye!" - The messenger said and exited the mansion.

"Anti-magic stones? How did those stupid monsters get their dirty hands on anti-magic stones...? Also, since when were goblins able to employ advanced tactics like this?" - The mistress asked herself after the messenger left.

"Mistress, What are anti-magic stones?" - I asked.

The mistress turned to me and said patiently, "Anti-magic stones are stones with anti-mana properties. They are usually tougher than regular stones, and they can reject and disperse various magics. Many mages use them for experiments, and many slingers like to use them against mages since they can penetrate through magic barriers."

"I see, and is it strange for goblins in the magic forest to have them?" - I further asked.

"Yes. Although inexpensive, anti-magic stones are not indigenous to the magic forest. I can only think that they somehow robbed a caravan to get their hands on them." - She said after a bit of thought.

"Hah... And is it normal for them to use advanced tactics?" - I asked another question out of curiosity.

"No, it isn't. Goblins are known for making traps or using group rushing tactics, but they are not known for advanced tactics like this. Perhaps a mutant goblin emerged?" - The mistress mused.

As her words fell, I heard a young boy's voice in my mind.

"Ha! Classic. Someone controlled the goblins to attack that Aulus fellow."

"Hah? Grith? Do you think someone did it? What makes you think that?" - I asked in curiosity.

"Think about it yourself. I just stated a fact. The rest is on you. Enjoy, young detective, I believe in you~!" - He jovially said and disconnected his voice.

"Grith! Hey! Damn. So he said that it is a fact that someone planned this? But how?" - I asked myself as I started to go over the facts.

"They have anti-magic stones, and they have advanced group tactics. Is it truly possible that someone taught the goblins and is conspiring with them?" - I thought to myself while pondering on Grith's words.

It sounded ridiculous at first, but the more I thought about it, the more I believed it was feasible, so I asked, "Is it possible that someone gave the anti-magic stones to the goblins and taught them advanced tactics to harm the young master?"

"Hah?" - The mistress looked at me in astonishment, before bursting out in laughter as if hearing a funny joke.

"Hahaha! Someone negotiating with goblins? To assassinate my brother? Preposterous!" - The mistress ruled out my thoughts.

"Why?" - I asked, confused.

"Because, first, you need to be able to communicate with them, second, you need to convince them without them turning on you, and third, you need to give them the compensation that satisfies them. Lastly, even if you meet all three conditions, you need to predict the route of traveling and make sure that the goblins follow your orders to the letter. Such a thing has never happened before in the last 5,000 years!" - The mistress said confidently.

"Eh..." - I was stumped.

Indeed, just the first hurdle could stop most people. The second hurdle, the question of loyalty, was also a problem. As for the third problem, female slaves, weapons, and food can satisfy goblins. Lastly, who can predict which cohort the young master will join, their traveling route, and control the goblins to fight how they saw fit?

However, Grith's hint pecked on the back of my mind, so I started thinking again.

"I have the talent that can grant me an affinity to all languages, what's to say that there are no people who can communicate with a goblin? The question of loyalty can be solved by a strong enough slave contract and raising a strong enough goblin to lead the tribe. As for compensation? Anyone with deep enough pockets can buy a bunch of female slaves, weapons, and food for the goblins to use. Perhaps, this plan was going on for over a year! Perhaps the goblins sent a small raid party on purpose to draw the attention of the city, and the one who orchestrated all of this knew that the young master will join the expedition with a specific cohort of a specific legion?"

"Little Mog, It is sweet of you to think about the reason, but you should give up on this idea. I don't see any possibility of this happening." - The mistress persuaded with an amused smile.

"Er... Mistress, I have a question. Are there people with the ability to communicate with monsters?" - I asked tentatively.

"Hm? Yes, there are a few, but they're rare. They are called monster tamers, and there are barely a few hundred of them in the empire. Jackson was trained by one." - The mistress said without much thought.

"And, is it possible to control a goblin tribe through a goblin with a slave contract?" - I further asked.

"Hm... Possible, but I have never heard of anyone doing that. Also, you need to find a goblin with sufficient talent to lead the tribe, or he won't be chief for long." - The mistress didn't reject my opinion and said after a bit of consideration.

"Er... Would it be possible to buy off a goblin tribe with female slaves, weapons, and food?" - I asked carefully.

"Yes, it's possible, although a large tribe would usually have a large appetite. It can cost a few hundreds of thousands of silver coins to have them properly geared, although it is possible to reduce the cost significantly to a few tens of thousands by providing the raw materials, teaching them agriculture, and kidnapping women. Hm..." - She affirmed and then started thinking.

"And, is it possible for someone to know which cohort the young master was in beforehand, and know which route they will take? Would it be possible for a beast tamer to command the goblins from behind the scenes?" - I continued asking.

The mistress got stunned and started blinking, an expression of disbelief in her eyes.

After a long while, she snapped out of her thoughts and mumbled, "Yes... Yes, that IS possible... High-ranking military personnel or royalty can gain access to it, and a beast tamer can command the goblins from behind the scenes..." 

I looked at her as her expression changed rapidly. Sometimes, she had looks of pondering, other times, anger, sometimes surprise, and at last, a look of a young girl who just discovered the outside world, as she looked at nothing in a daze.

After some time, the mistress snapped out of it and said, "This is worth investigating. I'll contact the old geezer."

She then turned to me and smiled, "Thank you, Mog. Even if this investigation proves fruitless, I will remember your contribution."

After she said that, she left in a hurry upstairs, leaving me and Livia at the entrance.

After a minute, Livia blinked her big eyes and asked beside me in a haze, "What just happened?"

"... I think I just said something amazing." - I said with similar confusion.

Livia turned to me and asked, "How did you come up with those ideas?"

"... Gut feeling." - I could only respond.

I couldn't tell her I have another person, er, Entity, living inside my body telling me hints.

"Can I cut your gut open to see what's inside?" - Livia said jokingly as she poked my stomach.

"Hey, stop that!" - I backed off from her poking.

"Hehehe, it's fun teasing you. Anyways, I need to go to the mistress if she needs me. Bye Mog!" - After she said that, she went upstairs to wherever the mistress went, leaving me alone.

"Hah... Now what do I do?" - I asked myself while pondering.