{Arthur's POV}

As Arthur glided through the sky, he was once more struck by how free he felt. All of his burdens, worries, and stress seemed to stay on the ground as he flew, only coming back when he landed. This felt great. Arthur was currently following the main dirt road of Mirfield, which apparently led to another town.

The kobolds had set up shop at the first major left bend of the road, randomly robbing anyone who passed by their territory. Both towns were too busy to deal with kobolds, so they sent adventurers to deal with them, which turned out to not work quite as well as they thought. There was a reason the quest now said 'beware there traps!'. Arthur would have to see how it went down when he finally reached the place. It all depended on how the kobolds would react to Arthur.

Arthur was suddenly alert as he spotted something more than a hundred feet down the road. It looked to be a human on a horse, which seemed to be strapped on each side with pouches and satchels. Hmm, a traveler perhaps, Arthur mused. The man seemed to catch wind of Arthur''s loud wing-flapping eighty feet in the air, turning towards him before turning back and speeding up.

Arthur couldn't help but scan the upcoming road, noticing with widening eyes that the left bend he was told about was coming up in about forty feet. Even if he had tried to shout a warning, the horse would have gotten there before he had uttered a word. As the horse made the somewhat sharp turn, its legs were caught in something Arthur couldn't make out, sprawling on the dirt road and sending the rider flying ten feet in front of the horse, rolling to a stop on the ground.

Arthur stopped and hovered for a second, baffled at the unfortunate timing of the rider speeding up his horse. When two reddish kobolds clad in brown loincloths rushed out of the tree line with daggers, though, Arthur was roused from his surprise and half dived half glided to them at quick speeds, reaching the road in less than ten seconds.

Arthur flapped his wings at the last second, stopping most of his momentum as he landed with a thud, kicking up a brief circle of dust around him. The kobolds stopped in their tracks, turning in awe at Arthur. Arthur drew himself up to his full height, sitting down regally as he observed the kobolds. He wanted to see their reactions and possibly talk with them as well.

None of the four figures moved for a couple of seconds. Then the closest kobold approached, reaching out and lightly feeling Arthur's front arm's scales. The kobold screeched out, "It's real!" and practically slammed its forehead into the ground, groveling like nothing Arthur has seen before. Two more kobolds with slings walked out of the forest, running up to the first and groveled in the same manner as each other. The last one followed suit.

They stayed like that, not making a peep. The human, who Arthur saw he was wearing some sort of cloak, covering everything except his face, stood up with a slight wince and bent down to check on their horse. Arthur decided to say something. He cleared his throat briefly before saying to the kobolds, "You kobolds have been terrorizing this road. Bring me to your camp so I may speak with your leader." The kobolds seemed to quail at his slightly hostile tone, and one by one stood up. They nervously looked at each other for a moment, before one spoke up in a meek voice, saying, "p-permission to speak, Lord?" Arthur nodded to it, unruffled by the title it called him.

The one who spoke up continued, "We show you to base, sire. We hope kobold's make it presentable. You are mercy, sire! Thank you for not eating me!" The kobolds bowed in perfect unison as if they had been practicing it like some sort of dance team. They probably had practiced it, now that Arthur thought about it.

As they started to walk, making sure to watch Arthur at the same time, Arthur said, "Wait, stop. I must speak to this human. Wait for me over there." The kobolds had cringed in fear when Arthur asked them to stop, which they did despite their fear. But they soon grew faces of confusion as they moved to obey Arthur, seemingly all puzzled by something. Eh, he would ask them what was up later.

Arthur turned back to the human, who had stood his horse up and was checking it for any wounds. The horse looked shaken but otherwise fine. Arthur said to him, "Hello. Are you alright? I plan on taking care of the kobolds, do not worry." The young man looked up from his horse to Arthur, looking wary and tentatively saying,

"Thank you, Uhm, sire. I'm the courier for Mirfield, and I'm, Uhm, happy these kobolds will finally be dealt with." He worked with Mirfield? That explained why he was taking Arthur in a bit easier than was normal. Arthur nodded to him and walked over to the tripwire he now easily saw and bit down on it, cutting it instantly.

The kobolds watched him with religious awe as Arthur moved about, but they gasped when Arthur broke the tripwire. One of them shouted, "Please sire, don't dirty yourself with our filth! If you command us, we will happily kill every trap you request!"

Arthur looked surprised for a moment before going back to his neutral face. He had expected the kobolds to treat him with respect, of course, and that's what he was getting. It suddenly weighed on him that if they took these things as minions, he might have to deal with it all day.

Arthur noticed another thing. At first, he didn't pick up on it but the kobold wasn't speaking common. The kobolds were speaking another language, one that sounded harsher than normal, and Arthur was understanding them somehow. Was this perhaps draconic? He knew kobolds and dragons had that language in common, but Arthur did not know another language.

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Just as Arthur thought that he felt knowledge in the back of his mind surface, knowledge of how to properly speak in draconic, what different words meant, and more. Arthur had to stop moving for a few seconds as all the knowledge slowly trickled in and settled as if it had been there his entire life.

"S-sire, are you alright?" One kobold said nervously as Arthur stood there for a few seconds. Arthur came to, shaking his head briefly before saying in draconic,

"I am fine. Lead me to the other kobolds now." The kobolds, seeming much happier when he spoke to them in draconic and one replied, "Yes! Follow us, sire!" And started to walk slowly, looking over their shoulders excitedly at Arthur. With one last glance at the human, who was saddling up his horse once more, he followed the kobolds into the forest.

The walk there with the kobolds took ten minutes, bypassing many, many traps like pitfalls, tripwires, and so on. Arthur was surprised by the number of simple traps. These kobolds did not mess around. Finally, they approached a simple cave entrance. Arthur spotted three other kobolds milling about the entrance. The four kobolds shouted out to them, and they turned to see Arthur. They immediately ran over with excited expressions and groveled before Arthur. "Our gods have come to guide us!" "We will serve faithfully!" They said to Arthur as they groveled happily. The other four kobolds followed suit.

Oh brother, thought Arthur. Though he had to admit, they were kind of..adorable in a way. The way they looked at Arthur with their tiny eyes full of awe and happiness, he couldn't help but find them harmless. "Calm yourselves. I wish to speak with your den leader. Bring them to me." The kobolds all scrambled up with quick confirmations and niceties before scampering off into the cave, leaving Arthur alone.

Arthur sat down awkwardly, suddenly alone. He wondered how many kobolds were in this den. It looked like no blood would be shed this quest. On top of the kobolds listening to his every whim, Arthur had basically done nothing except travel here. Being a dragon really simplified a lot in life, he observed.

After about two minutes, he heard many tiny footsteps coming from the cave entrance, and suddenly the cave seemed to spew out kobolds, lead by one draped in a raggedy cloak. As soon as they spotted Arthur, the kobolds cheered and proceeded to grovel in droves. The events were sudden, but Arthur's mind worked fast and he counted up the kobolds, coming to a total of twenty kobolds, excluding their leader.

The leader, seemingly a more feminine-looking kobold, leaner than their counterparts, walked towards him and bowed ten feet from him. She said in a well-spoken tone, "Your faithful servants are yours to command, my liege. I am a shaman, and my brethren and I have awaited this day since our birth. What do you wish of us?!"

The kobold hyped themselves up into a religious fervor at the end, looking up at Arthur with an expectant and excited expression. Arthur thought for a moment. It was obvious the kobolds wanted to serve him, and they seemed happy too. Arthur didn't mind if it meant they would stop robbing innocents. He supposed his next plan of action was to bring everything the kobolds owned to his lair, and collect the reward.

Arthur shouted out to the kobolds in his booming voice, "If you all wish to serve me, you will bring me all of your valuables you have gained from robbing travelers, and follow me to my lair. Bring all of your belongings with you, because you will not be coming back here. If you follow me with loyalty, I will protect you all in return!" Silence reigned for a moment when he was finished, then the kobold leader fell to her knees.

"Y-you will protect us?" There was raw emotion in her voice, and the kobold shakily drew themselves up and said, "Listen to our god's will! Bring them all of our plunder and gold!" The silent kobolds practically threw themselves down the cave entrance the moment the leader said that. Judging by their faces, it looked as if they were afraid, yet somehow excited at the same time.

Arthur turned to the still bowed-down leader. He had some questions about their operations here. But first... "What is your name, kobold?" The kobold shaman squeaked out, "You want to know my n-name? It is Shaman Leader." An unusual name, Arthur thought. He tried to recall kobold culture and remembered that kobolds were fully understanding of their short lifespans and weak stature. So their names didn't matter much to them, since they expected to die every other day. Kind of sad, but then he remembered these things robbed people for a living, and served evil dragons faithfully.

Arthur asked some more minute questions, and he got the whole picture. These kobolds had been living in this cave system for years on years, only recently under Shaman Leader's leadership did they start robbing travelers on the street. Shaman Leader was from another den of kobolds that got wiped out when she was but an egg.

Humans had raised her for the first few years, treating her like a slave before Shaman Leader escaped into the night. She somehow survived for ten years, using her knowledge of humans to live off of villages and towns, stealing whatever food she could, and sleeping in the safety of an alley, where no beasts in the wilds could get her.

Then the Shaman Leader's blood had one day ran with magic, marking her as a sorcerer. She decided to find more kobolds so she could lead them, and came to this leaderless tribe. She used her knowledge of humans to rob them of food and gold thereafter with her newfound magic and tribe and awaited the day one of their gods would come to them.

By the time Arthur was satisfied with his questions, the kobolds seemed to be finished hauling up their loot for Arthur to see. Let's see, there were multiple bags of gold, small crates of food, and small, locked chests. As Arthur watched, a kobold that set down one said chest came over and said to Arthur, "My lord, Shaman Leader made a wooden cart in preparation for this day! We can-" The kobold was interrupted by Shaman Leader, who strode up to them and whacked them with a small crude staff they pulled off of there back.

The kobold shrank back, and scampered off when Shaman Leader glared. "I am sorry for my denmate's rudeness, Sire. Are these trinkets worth enough for your hoard?" Arthur stood speechless for a second at the display, but he took it in stride and replied,

"These will be a fine addition to my hoard. And if you do have a cart, fill it up with everything here. We will be heading back to my lair the moment that is done." Shaman Leader nodded and relayed his orders redundantly, seeing how his voice was easily louder than her shouting voice. The kobolds together rolled out a shoddily but functional wooden cart from the cave, and set to work on loading it up.

"In the meantime Sire, do you require anything else?" Shaman Leader looked up to him as she said that with a happy expression. Arthur realized he mentally squirmed slightly every time the kobolds called him titles. If it made them happy, who was he to complain?

That didn't mean he would continue to internally squirm each time though..