In the part of Outside Oer bordering the Downtown area....
"Boss!"
"Ah, Brutus. I see you've been enjoying our new material!" Exclaimed Lucky.
"W-what is this??! How did you make it?!" Inquired Brutus desperately.
"It's a trade secret," teased Lucky.
Then, he added, "if you want to learn it...."
"No! I will not join your Academy! And neither will my brethren! I have told you this for weeks!" Objected Brutus.
"Oh? Did they not tell you?" Asked Lucky.
"Most of your kin have already signed up for the academy. By now, I'd say only you and a couple other dwarves haven't," said Lucky.
"?!"
The shocked face of Brutus made Lucky chuckle. And he then added to his statement, "they're taking the night classes since they're working hard on the construction."
"Y-you, you're joking! Tell me you're joking!"
"If I remember correctly, the name of your fellow disciples were Rocks and Macks, correct?" Asked Lucky.
".....Are you telling me?" Asked Brutus in realization.
"Yup, they joined the academy as well. They both even went as far as becoming researchers and teachers at the same time."
"H-how long have they been doing this? No wonder they rarely showed up to work...." Asked Brutus whilst gnashing his teeth.
"Probably around a couple days after we started the construction, so around a month and a half ago?"
"THOSE BASTARDS!!! I'M GOING TO KILL THOSE TRAITOROUS BASTARDS FOR LEAKING OUR MASTER'S TEACHINGS!!!!"
Suffice to say, Brutus' anger blew up and he immediately ran off into the distance, probably to confront Rocks and Macks.
'I was gonna ask him to join since his master's secrets to engineering were already leaked a long time ago, but I guess I'll ask him again tomorrow,' thought Lucky.
Shaking off the lingering thoughts of his conversation with Brutus, he sat down on a nearby public bench and stared at the ongoing construction.
Though he was bordering the new Downtown District of Oer, he paid more attention towards the Outside District.
'If someone were to tell me this was New York back in the late 19th century, I would've believed them,' thought Lucky.
'Well, it would only apply to half of the city at least.'
Wanting his first city's look to be iconic, he brainstormed with the dwarves and elves to create a city with two looks combined into one.
Since the elves were famous for being tree lovers and had cities built by integrating nature, he consulted them on what worked best with nature.
Same with the dwarves. Since they were famous for designing luxurious castles and mansions, he also consulted them on how to integrate those designs with his own image of what modern cities should look and feel.
After months of brainstorming even before he successfully invented cement, his new capital city, Oer became a monstrosity of clashing designs.
'I plan to overhaul Outside and Inside Oer anyway, so I might as well go with this crazy design....'
Simply put, he designed the city to be aesthetically divided into two parts.
The outer side, Outside District, which wasn't part of the Mutant Forest was designed to look as brutalist and minimalist as possible, whilst also retaining a sophisticated look. In other words, he wanted it to look like New York.
The inner side, Inside District, which was part of the Mutant Forest was also now going to be designed similarly to elven architecture but with the slight additions of modernity and minimalism. The elven sisters surprisingly praised this design, calling it a novelty.
In truth, he had just modified an existing design based on the sister's recollections of their old home.
What he was most proud of wasn't designing the Outside or the Inside, but with the Downtown District.
He blended the two designs into one, creating a whole new look.
The dwarves described it as a beautiful abomination. Both a complain and a praise. An oxymoronic design.
But because he was their boss, the dwarves did not complain nor praise it more. They simply did their jobs and worked with the goblins to actualize the design.
'This is just the first stage. Once our technology allows it, I'll upgrade the Downtown District to look more futuristic,' he thought.
His original idea was more akin to a futuristic New York that became a green city.
Though because the technology still wasn't there, the current design looked like a mish-mash of two differing design choices.
'In a hundred years, hopefully I'll still be alive. I want to witness this city becoming the best city in this world,' thought Lucky.
A childish dream, but most dreams tend to be as such.
****
More months passed and the city was still riddled with endless construction.
More and more refugees were also coming in. And they weren't just goblins or more dwarves.
Elves, Humans, Beastmen, and other races were also coming in.
The reason why was simple, the outside world had begun learning of the booming city.
When the city's occasional visitors began seeing the construction, news of it spread.
There was a booming new city in the middle of nowhere that bordered the infamous Mutant Forest? Surely, it must've struck gold.
Slowly but surely, the rumours spread.
More and more refugees of the countless small wars hoped to earn a new living in such a booming city.
When more and more goblins from surrounding territories of the goblin kingdom heard the news, they became curious and asked their own lords.
Alas, their own lords were curious as well.
Were the rumours true?
How come Oer's trading company was only selling paper and perishable foods during their routine business itineraries?
If they had struck gold, then why weren't they trading it?
Maybe they had discovered other resources like gems or magic crystals.
Soon, these rumours prompted investigation from the surrounding nobles.
Since Oer was technically not under any noble's territory and was directly under the goblin kingdom's royal administration, the nobles seeked the Goblin King's permission.
At first, they sent representatives. But when the representatives came back, they all said the same thing, that Oer had become independent to the Goblin Kingdom.
The nobles protested to the Goblin King, that a rebellion had started.
It was technically true, Oer had rebelled.
But the crafty goblin nobles weren't trying to quell the rebellion.
The Goblin Kingdom was in the midst of a civil war that started around 3 years ago.
As cliched as it was, the civil war was caused by the brother of the previous Goblin King trying to take over the throne from the current Goblin King, the son of the previous.
These nobles were on the neutral side, neither on the brother's side nor on the son's side.
Thus, they asked for the royal palace to agree to the subjugation of the rebels.
When it was eventually granted, the goblin nobles marched with their armies, planning to split the city's riches to themselves.
And who knows, maybe they could use the pillaged riches to become independent themselves.
The Goblin Kingdom, the first and only kingdom that was built by goblins, that had stood for more than a thousand years, was showing signs of its demise.