Sagres knew that Gringotts Wizarding Bank would be founded in 1474, twenty years from now.
In his view, the establishment of Gringotts was not an accident, but an inevitable result of the socio-economic development of the wizarding world, especially after the goblins demonstrated their exceptional talent in metal magic and finance.
The fifteenth century was a particularly delicate and crucial period for the goblins' position within the wizarding world.
Their social status at the time could be summarised as follows: economically indispensable, politically oppressed, and culturally highly independent.
Countless seeds of conflict were quietly being sown.
Sagres's original plan had been that, if he truly could not find a way back, he would seek out a few heinous Dark Wizards and use their magical power as "fuel" to see whether he could create time-travel magic.
But now, a more "suitable" target had appeared.
These goblins, who had been inciting wars from behind the scenes, possessed magical power that should serve the same purpose.
The goblins of this era had their own city, known as Echo City, or Black Iron City.
It was hidden deep within the Magical Mountains, roughly in what would later become the Czech Republic, and the entire mountain range was protected by powerful Muggle-Repelling Charms.
It was said that the mountains contained unique magical ores and gemstones, which formed the foundation of the goblins' exceptional craftsmanship.
Echo City was not built from ordinary bricks and stone.
It was a miracle carved and forged entirely from within the mountain by the goblins using their extraordinary metal magic.
The entire city consisted of interconnected metal workshops and palaces.
It was called Echo City because sounds within it produced distant resonances through the metal walls and pipes.
Before the founding of Gringotts, Echo City was the beating heart of goblin civilisation, serving a purpose far beyond that of a mere settlement.
It was a completely autonomous kingdom, the beginnings of a financial system, and a treasury containing countless secrets and astonishing wealth...
Sagres had no intention of attacking the goblin city directly.
He knew that not every goblin deserved to pay for the crimes of their kind.
Whether he was capable of flattening the legendary Black Iron City was beside the point. He even doubted that he could bring himself to harm large numbers of young goblins or elderly goblins who were no longer capable of fighting.
However, he had no such hesitation about eliminating goblins who openly displayed hostility towards human wizards.
Following the vague direction he had extracted from the young giant's memories, Sagres headed deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
After a long search, he finally discovered a temporary goblin outpost hidden within a secluded mountain hollow.
It was not very large, more like a functional outpost and resource collection point, but what he saw there was, to some extent, shocking.
Several bonfires burned with eerie blue flames at the centre of the outpost, casting a strange light over the surroundings.
More than a dozen short goblins moved busily through the camp, their characteristic pointed ears and long fingers clearly visible, along with pairs of large, greedy eyes.
At the edge of the outpost stood several crude metal cages filled with trembling Bowtruckles.
The small creatures huddled together in fear, faint whimpers echoing between the cage bars. Their green bodies looked especially helpless under the eerie blue firelight.
As far as Sagres knew, Bowtruckles naturally possessed the ability to locate and open various magical locks.
In the eyes of the goblins, they were undoubtedly reusable "master keys", valuable and highly sought-after "rare commodities".
A little farther away, two Veela were confined inside a sturdy iron cage engraved with magic-suppressing runes.
Their once-beautiful faces were now filled with fear and exhaustion. Their silver hair had lost its lustre, and their magnificent feathered robes were stained and dirty.
They huddled together, their bodies trembling slightly, their eyes filled with longing for freedom and fear of their surroundings.
The goblin guards occasionally swept greedy gazes over the two Veela, seemingly calculating how much they could sell them for.
There was also a strong adult centaur bound to a stone pillar with thick metal chains engraved with power-suppressing runes.
His upper body was covered in abrasions, and a clear whip mark ran across the flank of his horse body, where dark blood had already clotted.
Despite his situation, the centaur still held his head high, anger burning in his eyes. Whenever a goblin approached, he would snort and let out threatening growls.
The most horrifying sight was a stone platform in one corner.
The corpse of a beautiful unicorn had been carelessly discarded on top of it. Its pure white coat was stained with silver blood, and its once-lively eyes had lost all signs of life.
Its spiralling horn and moonlit tail had both been cut off at the root and were nowhere to be seen.
Along the rock face of the hollow, the goblins had opened a crude mine entrance, from which the constant clinking of digging tools could be heard.
Some goblins were using enchanted tools to extract ore glowing faintly with magical light from the rock, while others sorted and transported it.
They were secretly plundering the magical mineral resources beneath the Forbidden Forest.
Sagres calmly observed everything before him, his fingertips lightly stroking his wand.
After confirming the number of enemies, he stopped concealing himself.
He removed the Disillusionment Charm and stepped out of the shadows calmly, as though entering his own backyard.
His appearance was so sudden that the busy goblins froze for a moment before reacting.
"A wizard!"
A sharp-eyed goblin let out a piercing shriek.
At once, every goblin in the outpost stopped what they were doing and turned towards him, their expressions either wary or greedy.
"Catch him! Take his wand!" shouted a goblin who appeared to be their leader, waving a chisel.
Several goblins immediately drew their weapons and surrounded him.
Sagres did not even look at them.
His wand hand moved slightly.
The solid ground seemed to come alive as countless enormous hands made of earth and stone burst from the ground, precisely seizing every goblin by the ankles and calves.
The grip was tremendous. No matter how hard they struggled, they could not break free. Instead, they only sank deeper.
The goblins reacted with shock and fury.
Some hacked at the stone hands with their weapons, only to achieve nothing. Others tried to cast magic, but even after repeated attempts to drain their power, the hands continued gripping them firmly.
They stood as though trapped in a living swamp, unable to gain any footing or move even a single step.
Panicked cries rose throughout the outpost.
Several of the quickest goblins immediately attempted to Apparate away.
But Sagres cut off their escape with a single Space-Anchoring Charm.
The distorted spatial fluctuations flickered once before suddenly collapsing, as though they had struck an invisible wall.
The goblins attempting to Apparate screamed as they fell from mid-air, crashing to the ground in a daze.
One of the fastest had already lost part of his backside, his twisted face filled with terror.
Despair began spreading through the eyes of the goblins.
Sagres ignored their curses and pleas and calmly walked towards the leader who had shouted first.
The goblin tried to stab him with a dagger inlaid with cheap gemstones, but the blade stopped against an invisible barrier a few inches from Sagres and could not move any farther.
___
o(*≧▽≦)ツ💫 Read up to 12+ chapters in advance on Patreon/DarkDevil1