I was a little annoyed that the system was blocking a lot of information, such as the name of its creator and why I was chosen. However, there was nothing I could do about it. All the questions I had would have to wait. For example, why was I reincarnated with my memories? The god who created the system had to have an agenda. Luckily, that agenda was benefiting me a lot so I really shouldn’t complain.

Since that was the case, I pushed aside my questions and worries. When I was young, I had a lot of problems dealing with anxiety. I worried about everything. However, as the decades passed, I started not to care. Eventually I became one of those grumpy old men who complained about everything and could ignore almost anything.

What I couldn’t ignore was my need for information, experience, and faith points. Because of this, I tried asking the Ouroboros System questions that might help me accomplish this. I started peppering the system with questions, “Which family members’ souls survived?”

After I didn’t get an answer, I tried a few more questions. “Why did some souls survive? What was the criteria for choosing me? What else can you do? Do you offer any quests? Do you have an item shop? What happens if I upgrade the system again?”

However, the system acted as if it couldn’t hear me. I was starting to feel like I was married again. However, I didn’t give up, “How did I die? Why did I get this particular system instead of some other system? How many people reincarnated? What is the name of the god who made the system? Was he a god from my world? Is the god a he or a she? How did my world end?”

Again, even though I waited a few seconds to give the system a chance to respond, I received only silence. The system completely ignored my questions. I felt like the system had put its fingers into its ears and was humming loudly so that it wouldn’t hear me. Dang, I hadn’t felt so ignored since all those times I suggested to my wife that we should retire to our bedroom. I definitely wasn’t feeling the love. Well, I guess it was a good thing I only needed to love myself.

Speaking of loving myself, since I could lay eggs, even though I was definitely NOT a female, once I was given the souls of my family members, I could give birth to them. Wait, did that mean I could become my father’s mother and father? Okay, that sounded like some Jerry Springer stuff.

That inspired me to more questions, “Why was I given the twilight bloodline? Why was I not born a red kobold? Why wasn’t I born as a human?” I continued asking questions, hoping that one of them would be answered.

ATTENTION: SYSTEM ERROR. The system will be temporarily unavailable due to unforeseen circumstances. You will not be able to interact with the system for an indeterminate amount of time.

Okay, I was definitely feeling like I was married again. For some reason, I felt the same as I did in high school when I had all those pimples. The Ouroboros System was obviously female. Only women had ever ignored me this much. In fact, I wondered if the god who had reincarnated me was actually a goddess.

Did that mean the goddess was interested in me? Wait, could the system be her wedding gift to me? I guess if she was cute enough, I’d be okay with that. Was she waiting for me to become a god so that she could jump my bones? Did she want to make baby dragon gods with me? Did she have a thing for dragons instead of unicorns? Afterall, dragons were very manly when compared to unicorns. How long had she been watching over me?

I bet she admired me for my mind. After all, I was a genius. In fact, I even took math classes at the local college instead of at my middle school. How someone as smart as myself ended up being an English teacher really amazed me. Where had I gone wrong in life? Was there some other god who was jealous that I was getting all of her attention?

Did that god curse me? A curse would certainly explain my first wife. I shuddered. “Gnome bones,” I muttered. What could I have possibly done to deserve such a curse? I bet the god was jealous of my looks and intelligence as well as the fact that the goddess he had a crush on loved me. I mean, what other explanation could there be?

For the next few hours, every time I tried to access the system, I continued to receive “system error” messages. Finally, I stopped even trying. By that time, I saw the city ahead of me. Even though it was still dark, I decided to cast the Invisibility spell. Then I continued flying closer while I inspected the city’s appearance since it was my first time to see an intact human city in the new world.

Actually, that was wrong. It was my first time seeing a human city. Afterall, the Baron’s Réttr’s castle wasn’t a city. Instead, it was a castle with a city nearby. I hadn’t even asked Alsvartr to see if Einvaldskonungr had destroyed the city. However, I was pretty sure that the red dragon wouldn’t didn’t let it survive.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

As I flew over the city walls, I felt a little nostalgia. I had dreamed about living in fantasy worlds often when I grew up. I wanted to be some great wizard who later became a god. Now I was a wizard who had become a god. It was like a dream come true. Part of me even wondered if what I was experiencing was even real. Perhaps that was setting the mood for my observations. Even if it was a dream, I was going to enjoy every minute of the experience. If it was real, that was even better.

I gazed down at the city, which was cloaked in a serene, almost otherworldly tranquility. The moon, a silver sentinel in the night sky, cast a pale light over the stone buildings, giving them an ethereal glow. Stars twinkled like distant jewels, their light reflecting off the gently flowing canals that weaved through the city. The air was cool and crisp, carrying the faint scent of night-blooming flowers and the distant, earthy aroma of the surrounding forests.

The city streets were mostly silent, save for the occasional sounds of animals. I didn’t even hear the clanking of the night watchmen as they made their rounds, their lanterns casting small, warm circles of light that flickered with each step. In the stillness, the gentle lapping of water against the canal banks can be heard, accompanied by the faint rustle of leaves as a mild breeze whispered through the trees and gardens.

A few early risers, cloaked in shadows, began their day in hushed tones. While there were a few people moving in the darkness, the main activity came from some barracks located near a castle in the center of the city. I flew closer, still amazed that there was no alarm sounding. I guess I had expected too much. I really would have thought that the city would have more protections.

Then again, setting up multiple layers of protection on such a large scale wasn’t something easily done. Afterall, the spell Guards and Wards was a spell that only guarded a fifty square foot area. Not only was its size restrictive, but it was also a high-level spell. Many other spells were the same.

There was one main exception that I could think of was the Forbiddance spell. It was a ritual that could create a zone that damaged unwanted visitors. For example, the moment I crossed the wall, I would start receiving damage and the damage would continue until I left. I really had expected something like that.

However, after thinking about it, I could understand why Viscount Landskyld hadn’t used such a spell to protect the city of Skattgjöld. The ritual did cover a lot more territory, but still didn’t even cover half a square mile. Also, each time the ritual was cast the viscount would need to use over a thousand gold in materials. Yet another downside of the spell was that it only worked against a single type of creature. For example, dragons. However, which ruler was going to spend thousands of golds every day. He would probably go broke almost immediately.

While it was possible that such a spell could have helped prevent the destruction of Baron’s Réttr’s castle, I doubted that Einvaldskonungr gave him the time to cast the spell. More than likely, I doubted that the baron even had a wizard who was high enough in level to cast the spell living in the castle at the time.Powerful spellcasters weren’t likely to be at the beck and call of a mere baron when they could instead make lots of gold in other ways.

It did appear that the viscount had spent a lot of gold on soldiers though. I could see a lot more activity than I would normally expect before dawn. If I had to guess, I would say that they were preparing for an exhibition. That was another reason I had chosen to come to Skattgjöld. I had kind of expected something would happen soon.

If a viscount allowed a baron’s death to go unavenged, he would lose status. Also, considering that dragons were known for their hoards of gold, gems, and magical items, even small adventuring parties would feel tempted to attack a wounded dragon. Therefore, I knew someone would make the attempt. In fact, I actually suspected that multiple attempts would be made in the near future.

However, I wasn’t in the city for them. I was in the city for the kobolds. Because of this, I sought out entrances to the sewers or drainage systems. If I was going to find them anywhere in the city, I would most likely find them there. Under the cover of the predawn darkness and invisibility, I finally found what I hoped would be the best entrance.

I paused, glancing around to ensure the streets were still empty, then moved swiftly, slipping into a narrow alleyway that ran parallel to the outer wall. Reaching a small, concealed entrance partially hidden by creeping ivy and shadows, I carefully unlatched a rusted iron grate. With a soft creak, the iron grate lifted, revealing a dark, narrow tunnel leading into the city's underbelly.

While I hadn’t been too worried, I wanted to be extra careful. The reason why was because as soon as I interacted with the iron grate by trying to move it, the Invisibility spell wore off. Despite my first thought of going ahead as I was, I cast the Invisibility spell once again. It wasn’t as if I was lacking in spell points.

Nimble and silent, I descended into the tunnel, the faint scent of damp earth and mildew growing stronger with each step. The tunnel led to the labyrinthine sewers beneath the city. It was a maze of aged passages that echoed with the distant trickle of water and the occasional drip from the moss-covered ceiling. After glancing at the murky water that flowed sluggishly through the central channel, I gave a thankful prayer for having been born with wings.

I moved stealthily through the tunnels as the air grew thicker and more pungent as I ventured deeper. It was actually starting to remind me of the cave system in which I had been born. I paused when I reached an intersection, listening intently. A faint, high pitched nasally yapping in the draconic language echoed through the tunnels.