The dragon's harem

131 The koboldsʼ plan for Aradʼs Draconic lair.

Arad walked into the koboldʼs lair, ”Is anyone here?” He called, and Aella walked behind.

”Wait! Wait!” One of the kobolds rushed toward Arad, waving his hands, ”Please donʼt move!” The kobold jumped from one stone to another and bent before Arad, ”Donʼt move your leg. Stay still for a moment,”

The kobold pulled a small iron rod from his pocket and Jammed it beneath Aradʼs foot, ”Lift your leg slowly.”

Arad moved away, and the kobolds grabbed a nearby stone and put it on the rod, slowly moving his hands away, ”Itʼs stable,”

”What are you doing?” Aella asked.

”The whole layer is trapped,” The kobold replied, ”My name is Kobi. To move, please jump on the rectangular stones. And avoid the ones with a scratch on them,”

”Youʼre going to guide us?” Arad asked with a smile.

”I will, but you can still get hurt, so be careful,” Kobi replied, ”Please take my words literally and do as I say,”

After following Kobi all the way to the kingʼs room, they found the throne empty.

”Where is that wizard king?” Arad asked, looking around.

”Heʼs dead,” Kobi replied, ”The leader of the lowest layer wonʼt resurrect in a cleared dungeon,”

Aella looked at Kobi, ”They do resurrect in the elvish kingdom,”

”Elvish kingdom? I donʼt know anything about that. Just go talk with the council over there,” Kobi pointed toward a circle of elder kobolds talking.

”Are you the council?” Arad asked, approaching them, smiling and waving his hand.

The elders kneeled, ”Our draconic overlord, How may we serve you?” The oldest-looking one asked with a shaking voice.

Arad looked at them and smiled, ”First, I would like to sleep here for a while. I expect you to work with the residents of the other layers and protect me,”

”We would trap the whole dungeon. You can count on us.” The elders nodded.

Arad walked toward the throne and sat on the ground before it, crossing his legs, ”I would be asleep for a week, donʼt bother me. Just focus on protecting the place, and follow Aellaʼs orders,”

”We swear to protect you in the meantime,”

[Tell them to not get close to you,]

^Why?^ Arad asked.

[Iʼm not sure, but you can form a cocoon around your body on the first day. It will be bad if the kobolds kept walking around you as they formes,]

Arad looked at the elders, ”Donʼt get close to me as I sleep. I would eat anyone who dares to wake or touch me,” Arad growled, glaring at the elders with glowing purple eyes.

The elders kneeled again, ”We heard your orders,”

Aradʼs body glowed purple, shifting into his draconic form and curling into a ball.

After a few minutes, he fell asleep.

Aella looked at Arad, ”Heʼs asleep,” She said.

The kobolds nodded, ”We would like to start by having a look at the upper three layers if you would guide us,”

”Guide you?” Aella looked at them, smiling, ”You guide me out of your layer first,” She sighed.

”You will soon remember where all the traps are,” One of the elders replied, smiling, ”From today, we serve the black dragon. You can look at our maps and memorize where all the traps are,” He pointed toward a door at the corner, ”Thatʼs the leather room. Itʼs where we keep our recording and diagrams,”

Aella looked at the door, ”Jack would be more interested in it than me,” She smiled.

The kobolds stared at each other, ”The rogue, he wonʼt like us,” They started shaking and one of the kobolds walked forward, ”He glared at me like he wanted to skin me alive,” The kobold said.

Aella thought, scratching her chin, ”He did say he would turn the kobold who cut his rope into a leather bag,”

The kobold started shaking, ”I was right!” He cried.

”I would talk to him. I might be able to stop him,” She smiled, and the kobold turned pale, ”You might?” He cried.

Aella walked out with the kobolds, leading them all the way to the first layer of the goblins, ”Please work together,” she said.

Hob glared at the kobold elders, ”Why can we speak?” He asked the important question. Aella just then realized it, how could she understand the monsters?

”Itʼs a function of the dungeon itself,” One of the elders replied, ”Now that Lord Arad is the one who planted the dungeon core. Heʼs effectively the dungeonʼs master,” The elder lifted his staff, ”In order to ease communication, the dungeon allows the monsters inside to speak a common language with the dungeon master.”

”What about the kobold king?” Aella asked.

”He could speak both our and the goblinsʼ tongues. He could speak with ant queen, and Axols with magic,” One of the elders replied, ”Arad canʼt use language magic, so the dungeon did that for him,”

”If I may speak,” One of the elders walked forward, ”I might be the youngest among the elders, but I have something to suggest,” He said with a smile.

”What is it? Elder Bagir?” Another kobold spoke, scratching his scaly chin.

”You think it will be possible for you to allow us to fortify the area around the dungeon entrance?” He said, ”Iʼm sure the goblins would prefer that no one gets into their layer,”

Another elder smiled, ”Iʼm with him, Lady Aella, is that possible?”

Aella shook her head, ”If monster activities increase in the forest, the guild will send people to investigate,”

”Canʼt you talk with them? We arenʼt attacking people. Unless Lord Arad wants it,” One of the elders spoke.

Hob looked around, ”Is it hard to explain?” He looked at Aella, ”I heard from stray goblins that came to our layer in the few days the dungeon was open. They used to kill and kidnap people,”

”Thatʼs it,” Aella smiled, ”It will be difficult to explain it to them without Arad around. Can we leave the expansion on hold till Arad wakes up?” She suggested.

”Of course,” The youngest elder nodded with a smile, ”We canʼt take any big moves without the lordʼs permission,”

Aella waved her hand, ”The gate is located inside the basement of our house, and we havenʼt finished building yet. You might end up killing the workers if you put traps everywhere,”

The kobolds looked at each other, ”You are building?”

”Yes?” Aella replied in a question, wondering what those kobolds were up to.

”We can mine ores, and clay.” One of the elders walked forward, ”Be it nails, bricks, or hammers. We can provide everything,”

”Really?” Aella looked at them, ”But how will I explain it?”

”Just say you can source the items from somewhere else,” One of the elders replied.

”Donʼt put her in a hard spot,” Hob said, ”If you want manual labor, feel free to call us,” He bowed slightly.

”Can you make armor?” Aella stared at the kobolds with sparkling eyes.

”Sadly, we donʼt have the needed skills,” One of the elders replied, ”We can make traps, but we arenʼt craftsmen,”

Aella sighed, ”Fine, But you can mine?”

”Of course, we can,” One of the elders replied, but another cut him, ”Wonʼt mining make noise and annoy Lord Arad?”

”It will,” The kobolds glared at each other, ”Weʼre stuck, the best we can do is stand Guard as he sleeps,”

”I doubt a little noise will wake him up,” Aella said.

”We wonʼt risk it, our scales are on the line,” One of the elders replied, ”Itʼs only a week, we will sit still and plan for the future traps as we wait,”

***

”Hey! Gojo, why are there people stalking you?” Jackʼs sister approached Gojo who was taking a nap on the guildʼs roof.

”I might have helped them to chill a bit. It isnʼt a problem, Liliana.” Gojo replied without opening his eyes, rolling to his side.

”Itʼs hard to move with them around. Youʼre making my job harder.” Liliana replied, pulling a dagger and pointing at Gojo, ”Wake up,”

Gojo opened his eyes, yawning, ”Fine, I will get rid of them,” He stood.

”How do you intend on doing that?” Liliana asked.

”Call Gug and Vars. Weʼre going to massacre them all,” Gojo stood, smiling.

”Donʼt tell me you intend on eating the corpses again,” Liliana sighed, ”It might be normal for your kind, but I still find it strange with how you look,”

Gojo laughed, ”You saw me, and you know what I am, so why do you think itʼs weird?” Gojo replied, ”It will be more disgusting if I refuse to eat people. Weʼre apex predators, and I donʼt intend on giving up on that,”

Liliana scratched her head, ”I told you getting involved with that Arad is a trouble request. Now a whole gang of mages is looking for you,”

Gojo pointed at her, ”Would you help Jack if the mages came for him?”

”I will,” Liliana replied.

”Iʼm the same. Life is short, and I would rather not leave any regrets,” Gojo poked her head forehead, glaring at her eyes with a smile.

”I see,” Liliana looked away, ”I will call Gug and Vars,”