Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”Not really,” Sera said, pursing her lips. ”It’s in our hands now, isn’t it?”

”You mean you have a piece of their final, greatest treasure?” Aiksuuri’s eyes lit up. ”Can I see it?”

When Ron took out the slate, the young Black Dragon’s eyes went wide. ”It’s so—so beautiful!”

”Could you give it to me—no, sell it to me! I’ll trade you my entire treasure collection for it!”

”This slate is quite valuable, as I’m sure you can tell just by looking at it,” Ron said, waving the slate in his hand. ”I’m not against a trade, but do you have any treasure valuable enough to exchange for it?”

The hoard of the Dragon Race grows more magnificent as its master becomes stronger. What could an eight-year-old young dragon possibly have that was valuable?

”I do! I really do!” Aiksuuri shouted, craning his neck. ”Come with me! I’ll show you my treasure!”

”Master’s treasure is magnificent!”

You, who had been silent until now, suddenly piped up.

The nearby ruins were meaningless to it, but it was intimately familiar with its master’s lair.

For an ordinary person, Aiksuuri’s lair was a trap.

This structure, cobbled together from swamp mud and other materials, was a trap in the truest sense—a decoy filled with the Strong Acid Aiksuuri spat out. Any reckless fool who stumbled inside would be completely dissolved in an instant.

As for those who were slightly more powerful, they would find a specially prepared safe entrance, jump inside, and become a tasty meal for Aiksuuri.

”I’ve already blocked up that feeding-trap,” Aiksuuri explained as he led the group into a hidden entrance beside the lair, which sloped downward like an underground parking garage. ”Now, it’s just there to keep me from being disturbed.”

Dragon slaying was an ancient and popular adventurous pursuit. It wasn’t just for humans, Elves, and Dwarves; even the less intelligent creatures in the Delusional Land often took pride in it.

”We’re here.” After they had walked a short distance through the well-concealed lair, the path ahead suddenly brightened. In a separately dug-out cavern, they saw a small pile of assorted, glittering trinkets.

”There’s a Dogman Tribe nearby. They give me offerings of treasure periodically in exchange for me not eating them,” Aiksuuri said, smugly showing off his collection to the group.

”Shards of glass, melted rocks...” Victoria glanced over the hoard and immediately lost interest. ”None of this is valuable enough to trade for the slate.”

Dragons primarily collect treasures for their beauty. To certain scholars who fancied themselves Wise Men, dragons were little more than giant, reptilian jackdaws. But to the dragons themselves, one could never have too many beautiful things in one’s hoard—especially since some treasures were also quite tasty.

For a young Black Dragon living deep within the Delusional Land, the trinkets he could collect were mostly junk like broken glass, along with a few Gold and Silver Coins.

”Hmph, hmph. Humans, you shouldn’t just look at appearances,” Aiksuuri said, raising his head proudly. He reached a claw into his hoard, rummaged around for a moment, and then plucked out a bright yellow, rectangular block as large as Ron’s palm. ”Look! What’s this!”

”A g-gold ingot?!” Delaford’s jaw nearly hit the floor. ”I’ve never seen a piece of gold that big!”

”B-Boss, maybe... maybe you should just agree to his offer?”

Ron shot the goblin a look, then walked forward. He reached out to touch and pinch the ”ingot,” then took it and weighed it in his hand before finally reaching a conclusion.

”Even if this were a real gold ingot, it wouldn’t be enough to trade for this amethyst slate. But I still have to regretfully inform you that this isn’t gold at all. It’s a piece of pyrite—or as it’s more commonly known, Fool’s Gold.”

”But... but...” Aiksuuri sputtered. ”But those Kobolds said this was their most valuable treasure! Did they... did they trick me? Deceive me?”

”Well, I’d say that’s unlikely. Kobolds consider themselves a type of dragon and are extremely reverent toward True Dragons. I doubt they would have the nerve.”

”They probably ambushed and killed some passing, ’innocent’ swindler, mistook this piece of Fool’s Gold for a real treasure, and then passed it on to you,” Victoria said with a faint smile. ”One less swindler in the world. Good riddance.”

”But... but this was supposed to be my bragging rights with ’Teacher’!” The young Black Dragon was on the verge of tears. ”No wonder ’Teacher’ always had that strange smile whenever I mentioned it! I... I can never show my face to another dragon again!”

Aiksuuri sobbed so pitifully that even Ron felt a little awkward, thinking that perhaps he shouldn’t have opened his big mouth and exposed the truth.

But what was done was done... ”How about this,” Ron said after a moment of thought. ”See these seven sockets on my slate? Now look at the Gemstone on the Aive Shield. Have any thoughts?”

”It’s a perfect fit. They’re clearly a set,” Aiksuuri said between sobs, his grief not preventing him from making an accurate assessment.

”If you can find the other six Gemstones, I’ll give you the slate after I’m done using it. How about that?” Ron coaxed. ”We’re actually looking for these Magic Items right now. After we’ve used them, they can be used to enrich your personal hoard.”

”Hey, are you sure about this?” Aive pulled Ron aside and whispered in his ear. ”The Gemstones and the slate must be incredibly valuable, not to mention useful in a real fight. Are you really just going to give them to him?”

It wasn’t that Aive was unwilling to part with the Gemstone on her shield, but giving it away—to a dragon, no less—seemed far too wasteful.

”Having a dragon help us find the Gemstones will be far more efficient than relying on a reborn Ming Datiss,” Ron whispered back. ”Besides, he means us no harm. If we need something in the future, we can probably negotiate to borrow it from his hoard. Would Ming Datiss ever be that generous?”

”That’s true...” Aive had to admit. Making an ally of the Dragon Race had no downsides, only a great many potential benefits.

A Half-Elf could live for two hundred years; having an adult Black Dragon as a friend in the future would be a huge benefit for everyone.

”But my ’Teacher’ is coming to give me a lesson in a few days...” Aiksuuri said, wanting to agree. ”Could you just lend it to me for a few days? I’ll give it back as soon as I’ve shown it off to ’Teacher’!”

”That... might be possible?” Ron considered. ”How about this: we sign a contract. We’ll periodically place various treasures in your hoard to help fill it out.”

”In return, your hoard and all the items within it must be open to us at all times, for our use. As a reciprocal clause: should either party use an item from the hoard and, for any reason, be unable to return it, they must add a treasure of equal value the next time they access the hoard. This way, you can keep the slate here.”

”It’s one of two options. Which do you find acceptable?”