Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

"Shut up, look at how tall this green guy is," a kobold scolded his companion. "He's no match for those guys in terms of strength or size."

"But he just said there are dragon bones." Among the kobolds, some were clearly wavering.

"What if he's a scammer?"

"Could we get the dragon bones from him first, and then let them deal with those big guys? That way, even if they die, we'll still get the dragon bones."

"This is a good idea."

"Shut up, you Racha!" the female kobold yelled at her companion. "Do you think everyone's as stupid as you?"

"I'm not stupid," the kobold muttered, lowering its head.

The strife among these kobolds gave Sharl a glimmer of hope. If they remained united, it would be difficult to break the deadlock, but now cracks were clearly appearing. It must be said, these guys are indeed a bit cunning, just a little, not much.

"Excuse me, could you interrupt me? What kind of enemy are you talking about?" He was a bit far away and didn't hear clearly what race the kobolds were referring to as "the guys".

His question silenced all the kobolds, except for the lead female kobold who, after a few seconds of silence, said, "They are very tall and wield enormous two-handed axes."

"Very tall?" Charles looked at the kobolds in front of him. These guys were only one meter tall. To be honest, ordinary humans would be considered tall in front of them.

"That tall," a kobold said, standing on tiptoe and stretching his arms out, his fingers reaching towards the sky, clearly indicating that the enemy was actually even taller.

Charles looked at the kobold, whose movements were somewhat comical, but he didn't laugh. This was mainly because the kobold only had one arm; the other arm had been severed from the upper arm downwards by a sharp weapon.

Judging from the movements of this one-armed dog-headed man, those guys are probably around 1.8 or 1.9 meters tall, and some might even be 2 meters tall.

Such height and wingspan are indeed quite large for a kobold.

Seeing Charles's gaze sweep over his severed arm, a flicker of sadness crossed the kobold's eyes. "They are powerful. Their two-handed axes are larger than our bodies. My hand is..."

"Stop talking," the female kobold interrupted her companion, then looked at Sharl. "Can you provide dragon bones?"

This question made Charles's heart skip a beat; it seemed the other party was clearly wavering. "I have a little stock, not much."

"You, come with me." The female kobold pushed aside her companion and walked straight into the mine. The other kobolds also looked at Shar warily and automatically made way for him.

Charles watched the female kobold walk away, pondered for a few seconds, and then followed. On the domain map, the marker here did not represent the dangerous twin swords, which meant that ordinary communication might be enough to achieve his goal. Even if there were problems, he could rely on his invisibility leather suit and speed scroll to escape quickly.

Communicating would be more to Charles's liking, since he's still under the effects of the [Mind Depression Curse] and the [Language Curse].

As they continued downwards, the mine gradually became more spacious and higher. Compared to the cramped entrance, the height here was such that even Little John wouldn't bump his head.

After walking for a while, a commotion gradually came from ahead. Then, after rounding a corner, Sharl found that the female kobold had led him into a mine hall.

There were 21 kobolds sitting on their respective rocks, all watching Shire walk in. They looked rather old, their scales were not as shiny as the female kobold from before, and the fur on their backs had turned gray and was somewhat sparse.

"You want to make a deal with us?" a kobold next to them asked directly.

Seeing that all the kobolds were looking at him, Charles smiled and nodded. "Yes, I want to trade magic crystals with you."

The kobolds then started making a lot of noise, none of them paying any attention to Ciel.

Listening to the other party's dragon language, Sharl frowned. He was starting to regret coming here. He originally thought that the female kobold was taking him to see the leader of the tribe, or at least someone who would "make decisions" or something. But instead, he met another group of kobolds. The only difference was that the kobolds here were older and spoke faster.

"Where is this place?" Charles asked in a low voice to the female dog-headed man beside him.

"This is our clan council hall, and those are the leaders of various clans," the female dog-headed man said softly.

"You have 21 clans here?" Charles raised an eyebrow. He had heard of this kind of meeting system before. It was very inefficient. It often started with an argument and ended without any results.

Oh no, it seems my transaction request won't be fulfilled.

As the kobold leaders grew louder and louder, many of them actually left the rocks they were sitting on. Two kobolds even started pushing and shoving each other. If the other kobolds hadn't held them back, they probably would have already started fighting.

As the kobold leaders grew louder and louder, many of them actually left the rocks they were sitting on. Two kobolds even started pushing and shoving each other. If the other kobolds hadn't held them back, they probably would have already started fighting.

In the joint conference hall, a cacophony of voices rose and fell. Sharl couldn't understand a word of the kobolds' dragon language; the only word he recognized was "Lach."

The kobold leaders' constant shouting of "racha racha" only confirmed to Sharl that the word was probably not a good one.

The female kobold beside him, however, appeared completely unfazed, seemingly quite familiar with the situation.

"How long will it take them?" Charles asked in a low voice.

"It depends, sometimes a whole day," the female dog-headed man shrugged.

"one day?"

"Yeah, sometimes it takes ten days to half a month."

"So long?" Charles's eyes widened. What a joke! I came here to explore, not to watch kobolds fight. Although there's no entrance fee, I can't afford to waste this much time.

"Isn't there any other way?" Charles forced a smile. "Can you hurry up?"

The female dog-headed woman thought for a moment, then stepped forward and loudly spoke a few words in the dragon language.

These words caused the kobold leaders, who were divided into several factions, to stop what they were doing. Some were grabbing the small horns on each other's heads, some were pulling on each other's waists, and others were tugging at the sparse hair on each other's backs, creating a scene of "harmonious joy".

Soon, the kobold leader, who had been in a chaotic state, quickly returned to his seat on his rock. This puzzled Charles. How did they distinguish their own rocks? To him, all the rocks looked the same. Yet, none of the kobolds sat in the wrong place. It was obvious that they had "rehearsed" many times.

"Are you really willing to help us?" a kobold leader asked loudly in Common.

"Huh? Help you?" Charles was taken aback.

"It's not impossible to trade if you're willing," the other kobold leader nodded.

"What did you just say to them?" Charles turned his head and asked the female dog-headed man beside him in a low voice.

"It's nothing," the female kobold said nonchalantly, "I said, you're willing to go and deal with our enemies."

"An enemy that tall? An enemy with a double-handed axe bigger than your bodies? Someone who can cut you in half in one go?" Charles frowned. He now deeply regretted not enrolling in the Ancient Languages ​​program at the Royal Grammar Academy.

Foreign languages ​​are great; we should learn them.

If he could speak dragon language, he could have easily fooled these kobolds and things wouldn't have turned out this way.

"If you can really help us eliminate the enemy, then we can certainly consider trading magic crystals," a kobold leader said directly.

But then, a kobold leader loudly retorted to him in dragon language.

Then, Charles encountered the usual routine of the joint meeting: the endless "Latch" sounds echoing throughout the hall.

Gradually, Sharl frowned. He no longer had the idea of ​​recruiting these kobolds as his subordinates. At first, he did intend to lure the kobolds to his tribe so that he could activate the [Personal Spellbook].

But given the current situation, he decided to let it go. Perhaps these kobolds could argue for half a year about whether or not to become his subordinates.

"Stop!" he shouted, immediately halting all the kobolds' actions. All the kobold leaders turned to look at Charles, but no one spoke.

"Is there a quicker way?" Charles forced a smile. He was already considering his earlier idea: whether to go back and lead his men to break through this place and capture the kobolds.

His request was clearly accepted by the 21 kobold leaders, who miraculously returned to their stone seats. Then one of the kobolds spoke loudly in dragon language, and all the kobolds began to echo him.

"What are they going to do?" Charles frowned and asked the female dog-headed man beside him in a low voice.

"Oh, nothing, the leaders are about to vote." The female kobold remained nonchalant.

Then, a kobold leader got up and went into a mine next to the hall. Soon after, he came to the middle of the hall carrying a grayish-white object.

Upon closer inspection, Charles realized that it was actually a dragon skeleton, or rather, a dragon skull.

The skull is huge, almost a meter in diameter, and the dog-headed man had a hard time holding it.

But Charles knew that, in terms of size, it could only be considered the skull of a two-legged wyvern, not a true dragon skeleton.

Dragons, as mythical creatures in this world, also come in many varieties.

These are mainly divided into three types: flying dragons, giant dragons, and ancient dragons.

Wyverns, also known as bipedal dragons, are dragons whose wings are mainly composed of membranous wings that grow between their legs. They are like enormous beasts, capable of flight and breathing fire, but they do not use magic and mostly exist as vassals around dragon lairs.

They are creatures that walk among human society, but they still maintain the pride of dragons and are unwilling to have too much interaction with humans.

In the human kingdom, some people write interesting novels and stories about human knights who win the hearts of female dragons and become their partners. In these stories, the female dragons are all giant dragons.

As for the ancient dragon, it is a giant dragon that has lived for many years. The lifespan of a giant dragon is very long. Some books say it is five hundred years, eight hundred years, or even one thousand or two thousand years. There is no unified account.

But Gu Long's life was very long, so long that humans could not even imagine it.

It's like telling someone that a book records that two thousand years ago, a certain magic master suddenly gained inspiration through cooking and invented the "Great Fireball" spell. Then the person opposite you laughs awkwardly and says that the magician is lying. His food is not tasty at all. He gave up after trying it a few times. He said he had eaten the jam pie he made himself, and it was terrible. Either he put salt in the sugar, or the bottom of the pie was burnt.

Furthermore, there are races in this world that prefer to live around dragons. They yearn for the power of dragons and pray for their protection. These races are also known as the dragon's servants, and kobolds are one of them.

As for the lizardmen or snakes, they are not dragons' kin. Some of these creatures are even extremely hostile to dragons, attempting to kill them in order to gain their power.

Just like Quetzalcoatl, a magical beast that evolved into an evil god, it hates dragons. If a young dragon appears around it, Quetzalcoatl will surely try its best to kill that dragon.

The skull displayed in the center of the hall is that of a wyvern. According to the records in the book, the skull of a giant dragon would be several times larger than this, as big as a vehicle from the previous life.

Charles would sometimes marvel at how amazing Siegfried, the dragon slayer, was, to be able to kill such a massive creature. To think that slaying a dragon with just a longsword was simply a pipe dream.

Soon the kobolds stood up, picked up a small stone from the ground, and then lined up to walk to the skull.

The kobold at the front of the line picked up the stone in its hand and put it in its mouth. Then, Sharl saw the stone in the kobold's mouth dangle between its cheeks before being taken out and placed on the left side of its skull.

The kobolds behind did the same, except one of them placed the saliva-covered stone on the right side.

"Why are they..." Charles pointed to his mouth and asked the female dog-headed man next to him.

"This is our tradition. We believe that food is a gift from the true God, so only stones that have been put in our mouths and moistened with saliva are chosen with the witness of the true God. Stones that have not gone through this voting process will not be recognized," the female dog-headed woman explained softly, pursing her lips.

"A conscious tradition." Sharl smiled somewhat awkwardly. The various races in the forest have their own living habits, just like goblins like to dig burrows and frogmen like to scrape slime.

He found it a little hard to accept that the stones were simply covered in saliva.

Soon, the 21 kobold leaders completed their vote, with 17 votes in favor and 4 against. The leaders approved the trade with the goblins on the condition that their enemies be dealt with first.

"Why do I feel like I've been tricked?" Charles frowned and walked behind the female kobold. He recalled his various interactions with the kobolds and felt that he was being driven step by step to face the kobold's enemy.

"How many enemies do you have?"

The female dog walking ahead didn't even turn her head, saying, "A little over a hundred."

"That number isn't that many." Charles nodded slightly. If he brought all his men, he could easily win. But then he raised an eyebrow. This female kobold had actually said over a hundred. Were kobolds such a clever race?

Goblins cannot count to numbers greater than 20.

Could it be that he fought the enemy so many times that he gradually remembered them?

Before long, he was taken back to the hall at the entrance of the mine, where the kobolds were already sitting in place. Many of them were grooming each other's back fur. They would use their fingers to brush the fur on each other's backs, and if they found any insects in the fur, they would grab them, squeeze them, and throw them directly into their mouths.

It looks like monkeys grooming each other.

"The leaders have voted in favor," the female kobold said calmly as she approached her companion.

The kobolds looked at each other and then began to chatter in dragon language, while Charles walked directly to his group. Diana was leaning against the cave wall, quietly waiting for him to come over.

"How did it go? Didn't those kobolds invite you to stay for dinner?" Diana smiled.

"Don't even mention it," Charles said, pouting in annoyance. "I'd rather I had never come at all."

"Is it hard to get?" Diana turned to look at the kobolds in the distance. Those guys casually placed magic crystals at their feet. Even though they were low-quality magic crystals, they were still very tempting.

"What? You want to massacre people here?" Charles chuckled.

"Uh..." Diana hesitated. She didn't really want to do this, but the ordinary magic crystal that Broken Tooth had taken out was indeed very... .

"Don't worry, I have a way to handle this." Charles shrugged. "Remember what I said before? I won't let you break your vow."

"These kobolds may seem numerous, but they are still weaker than us," Charles said, pointing to the kobolds in the distance. "Defeating them won't bring much glory."

"Can you really solve this?" Diana frowned; she still didn't quite believe Charles.

"How about we make a bet?"

"Another bet?" Diana was taken aback. She had previously lost a bet to Charles, and without knowing that Charles had a clothing workshop in Gieshorn, she had rashly agreed to a bet related to clothing.

"Yes, are you coming or not?"

"What are we betting on?"

"I'm betting I can successfully complete this deal."

"Alright, if I win, you have to tell me something." A glint flashed in Diana's eyes. She had always wanted to know why there was a blessing from the God of War in the forest, and it seemed to be related to the goblin in front of her.

"Alright, if I win, I'd like to see you spar with Zunesha." Charles smiled and shrugged.

"And Elephant?"

"Yes, didn't you keep saying that you were still familiarizing yourself with Fourth Uncle's swordsmanship? I think fighting against Elephant Lord should help me improve a lot."

"That's what they say..." Diana reached out and adjusted the mask on her face. She and her fourth uncle were still in the adjustment period. She needed to get familiar with her fourth uncle's swordsmanship and in the future, she would also need to master the coordination between her fourth uncle and the other three longswords.

After saying that, the two high-fived to confirm the bet was settled.

"Alright, we're done resting. Let's go into the mine," Charles said, turning to his men.

"What are we going in for?" Diana asked.

"It's nothing, just helping the kobolds deal with their troubles." Charles walked ahead without turning his head.

"Why do I feel like I've been tricked by you again?" Diana muttered, hesitated for a moment, and then followed.

Several kobolds approached, including the female kobold who had led the way. They led the Sharl's group to another mine. As they descended deeper, the mine became wider and wider than the clan council hall they had visited before.

After a long pause, Charles spoke up and asked, "How much longer?"

"Soon," the female kobold replied calmly, but her actions caught Sharl's attention. Her fists clenched tighter and tighter, and the tiny scales on her arms began to shimmer slightly. It was obvious that a lot of effort was used.

But her expression didn't change much, which puzzled Charles.

In this situation, it's usually either fear or anger.

They were either afraid of enemies deep in the mine, or they had a grudge against them.

Charles stroked his chin, examining the female kobold from behind. From the outside, there was nothing strange about this kobold; it was neither missing any "parts" nor had it gone mad.

"Could it be for some other reason?"

Soon, the goblin was led to a large mine shaft.

"We're not going any further ahead. Those guys have taken over that area; they're ruthless." The female kobold stopped and pointed ahead.

"Okay, I understand." Charles nodded, then turned and instructed the goblins behind him, "Everyone, battle formation."

Then, the goblins took various weapons and lined up in formation, with Diana standing at the very front.

"Let's go, Your Excellency." Charles smiled and walked towards the mine ahead.

Seeing that the team had reorganized into battle formation, and that she was the only one in the "front row," Diana stomped her foot angrily, "I knew I'd been tricked by you again."

But seeing that the other goblins had already followed Sharl forward, she had no choice but to grip the hilt of her sword and follow.

"What is the enemy? Don't tell me it's an evil god." Diana looked warily into the depths of the mine.

"No, according to the kobolds, they were just some tall guys."

"What is that? A cave troll?"

"It shouldn't be; the opponent would use a two-handed axe."

"Could it be a giant? No, giants can't get in here."

"You'll know when we meet," Charles said calmly.

Gradually, as they went deeper, the mine became more and more spacious and higher, which made Xia Er curious about what the enemy would be.

Suddenly, heavy breathing came from ahead, and then, pairs of blood-red eyes lit up in the darkness.

"Are you reinforcements sent by the kobolds?"