Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”And another thing, don’t come back unless you have real business. We don’t have enough to satisfy your appetite.”

The Gold Dragon was practically thrown out of the trade station by Ron. When it came to a Metal Dragon, especially on his own turf, Ron had no intention of being cautious or trying to curry favor.

’Not to mention this golden lizard’s words were so unpleasant! What did he mean, he could halt any of our progress here, and that it was for our own good?!’

’To prevent the darkness on this land?’

’So an adult Gold Dragon, or older, runs all the way over here to beat up a Black Dragon Cub until it’s forced to believe in Bahamut? Then he stays here, eating my food and drinking my wine, just to scare a goblin?’

’If you have that kind of time and ability, why don’t you go have a life-or-death battle with some real darkness? What’s with all this mystical mumbo-jumbo!’

”Fail to heed the words of the Dragon Race, and you’ll suffer for it...” The Gold Dragon, however, had a good temper. As Ron swept him out the door, he only muttered to himself without any sign of resistance.

”Human, you must remember my words. Otherwise, when the day of darkness descends, you will surely be filled with regret—”

SLAM! Ron slammed the trade station’s main gate shut.

”Crazy bastard!”

”Benefactor, are you sure you won’t listen to his opinion?” Seymour asked cautiously. ”Generally speaking, powerful beings like him naturally have their own information channels, and this is especially true for a species like the Dragon Race.”

”That’s no reason for him to come here and speak in riddles!” Ron poured himself a glass of water. ”Didn’t you hear me questioning him just now? He wouldn’t tell me anything. Why should I believe him?”

”If he could have revealed the truth, I wouldn’t care if he was a Gold Dragon—I’d even consider working with a Cultist who worships Tiamat! ’Not at liberty to disclose,’ but he wants the authority to interfere with us? In his wildest dreams!”

”He clearly doesn’t take us seriously,” Victoria shrugged. ”The Rose that Seymour and the other Zor worship is pretty much the same way. Powerful beings are probably all like that.”

”That Olek-or-whatever-his-name-is isn’t on Rose’s level yet,” Silvia said, crossing her arms. She could only make out part of the Gold Dragon’s name. ”Benefactor, why don’t we do the exact opposite? Let’s show him what we’re capable of and really slap him in the face!”

”No,” Ron said, waving his hand. ”Why do you think I kept questioning him? It’s because what that guy said is actually the truth.”

”That’s why I had to find out the specific details, like what exactly we’ll be facing, or at what point our development and expansion will attract danger—but he refused to say anything!”

”That’s the real reason I kicked him out!”

”The strange thing is, that Paladin, Devin Booker, clearly didn’t have such reservations,” Aive said with a frown. ”He easily explained that there were Elemental Creatures involved, or at least a Water Giant Spirit.”

”So why was this Gold Dragon so hesitant to speak?”

”Maybe he knows about an even more powerful entity,” Buni said. ”But is it really enough to make him that wary?”

”I don’t think it’s caution,” Sera huffed through her nose. ”He just wants to control us! To order us around!”

”Maybe he’s the mastermind behind it all... Mmmph mmmph!”

The people standing next to Sera scrambled to cover her big mouth. You can’t just say things like that!

Metal Dragons have always been outstanding representatives of justice, order, goodness, and fairness. If Sera was just talking nonsense, it would be one thing, but what if it was true?! What if this Gold Dragon had been corrupted?!

If word of this got out, it would absolutely cause a huge uproar. It was definitely not something to be said lightly!

”In any case, we have to be wary of that possibility,” Ron sighed. This was a development he absolutely did not want to see.

”So what’s our policy now?” Silvia asked. ”Slow down our development until we find the source of the problem?”

”No. I suspect the Gold Dragon’s perception of our abilities and of time is vastly different from ours,” Ron said, gesturing to everyone present. ”With just the people we have here, plus those outside, how long would it take to develop into an imperial city? There’s no need to deliberately slow down. We can just proceed as usual.”

”Besides, ’slowing down development to find the problem’ is a false premise in itself. Our main area of activity is still limited by the trade station’s location. How could we possibly find the real problem by staying on the fringes of the Delusional Land?”

”Alright, we won’t figure anything out hiding in here and guessing blindly,” Ron finally said with a yawn, waving his hand dismissively. ”Everyone go and get some rest for now. We’ll gather here again after dinner tonight. I have an idea I want to share with you.”

After watching everyone leave in twos and threes to rest, Ron walked over to the spot where the Gold Dragon had been sitting. He forced himself to stay awake and began to search the area thoroughly.

As the most powerful and majestic of the Metal Dragons, Gold Dragons are always ready to throw themselves into the fight against evil, and they are also respected by other Metal Dragons for their wisdom and fairness. As a Gold Dragon who was at least an adult, Ron felt the creature shouldn’t have been the riddler he had just presented himself as.

’From the other books he’d read in his previous life, these guys were willing to negotiate openly even when facing true evil. Was he, Ron, really more difficult to talk to than those beings?’

”Ah... hah!”

Sure enough, when Ron picked up the water cup the Gold Dragon had used, he actually made a discovery:

A hard, golden scale was embedded deep in the cup’s handle. The Gold Dragon’s power was so immense and precise that he could embed the scale almost completely into the handle without damaging the cup’s overall structure.

This definitely wasn’t an accident, even if the dragon had some kind of skin disease that made his scales fall out.

’But it’s embedded so deeply, how am I supposed to get it out? Is breaking the cup the only way?’

The Gold Dragon definitely didn’t want too many people to know, which was why he deliberately left the message this way. Ron had no choice but to rely on himself—which meant breaking the cup was the only option.

After a crisp CRACK, Ron regretfully cleaned up the shards on the floor. He then tucked the golden Dragon Scale inside his *Weaving Introduction* and carefully slipped back into his bedroom.

And when he opened the Spellbook, the magical message attached to the scale had already been automatically imprinted onto several blank pages, and it was steadily fading. This was clearly the Gold Dragon’s handiwork.

Ron looked up at the first line: ”I apologize that I am unable to reveal the details. Therefore, I can only provide a story about a kingdom that once existed here.”

”This is why I hate riddlers!” Ron muttered.