Chương 46: Reborn as the Dragon: — Chapter 46 - The Kobolds' Bizarre Roll Call

"So the workers have to be provided by me?" Su Nian studied the system prompt thoughtfully, then shifted his gaze to Kobold Chieftain Bolikri, who was still huffing his way up the rock face. In terms of sticking close to his master, Bolikri had truly reached the pinnacle. Even after Su Nian had flown all the way up here, the chieftain had followed. On foot. Up the cliff. A shame it was a kobold and not a charming little elven girl.

"Kobold-built structures getting a defense bonus is actually pretty fair," Su Nian mused. He knew this firsthand. His Dragon's Nest looked rough on the outside, but the internal layout was meticulous, solid enough that a fifth-tier Small Meteorite spell probably wouldn't punch through it. For now, the obvious choice was putting the kobolds to work on the Flame Arrow Tower. The human players wouldn't dare leave the safe zone anytime soon, and that 20% efficiency bonus they offered could wait.

He'd be better off dragging those players out to plant potatoes, and if they gave him trouble, he'd feed them Tyrant Stink Bug dung pellets.

"Master, you—" Bolikri had barely hauled himself up beside Su Nian, still catching his breath, when the Black Dragon cut him off.

"Bolikri. Go back down and bring me twenty of your strongest kobolds. They're going to help build this Flame Arrow Tower."

"... (T T)" Bolikri turned and looked at the sheer drop below. He wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn't come. He had just climbed up here. And he was terrified of heights. Every kobold was. Short arms, short legs, they had no business being this far off the ground. So what now? He couldn't exactly ask his master to carry him down. A request like that would probably earn him a boot to the face. Fortunately, Su Nian was, at heart, a Black Dragon with a deep understanding of dogs.

He clocked his follower's predicament immediately, and a wide, jagged grin spread across his snout.

"Bolikri. You are already a strong kobold. But strong isn't the same as powerful. Do you know what true power is?" Bolikri lowered its head and pressed itself flat to the ground.

"Great master, your subordinate does not know."

"True power lies in facing fear. Conquering fear. Surpassing fear entirely. Like this—" And before Bolikri could process what was happening, Su Nian raised one hind leg and booted the kobold chieftain square in the rear. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

"Awoo-whimper—!" The cry was pure defeated dog. Kobold Chieftain Bolikri sailed off the ledge. SPLAT. The rock wall was only about ten meters. Bolikri's body had been getting tougher lately, and he wasn't actually going to get hurt from a fall like this. He instinctively rolled a few times on the ground, bled off the impact, and came to a stop. His backside stung where the master had kicked him. Otherwise, not a scratch.

"Bolikri fell from that height and didn't get hurt?" He shook his dog-head, scrambled to his feet, and looked down at his clenched paws. A small, surprised light flickered in those pale golden eyes.

"Bolikri conquered fear! Oh! Master is truly great! One simple gesture, and he has given Bolikri such tremendous help!" The increasingly devoted kobold chieftain felt nothing but boundless reverence for his Black Dragon master. He dusted off his backside and trotted away to gather the troops, tail practically wagging. A short while later, twenty kobolds grunted and groaned their way up the rock wall. They lined up before Su Nian, chests out, chins up, feet together, Well.

As together as bow-legged kobolds could manage. Every single one of them had those bent little legs. But they stood at attention with as much dignity as their bodies allowed. Around them, stone and timber hauled up by the Longspear Boars were already stacked and waiting.

"All personnel, attention!" Bolikri bellowed. Every kobold snapped to.

"At ease! Right dress! Eyes front!"

"Count off!"

"Woof."

"Woof woof."

"Woof woof woof."... Woof woof woof, all the way to twenty. By the time the last one finished, its voice had gone half to gravel. Bolikri dropped into a respectful prostration before the Black Dragon.

"Reporting, Master. Twenty kobolds present and accounted for. The strongest warriors in the tribe, awaiting your orders." Su Nian stared at Bolikri with an odd expression. The last one to count off had nearly lost his voice. And this was only twenty kobolds. When the tribe grew to thousands, the poor kobold at the end of the line would be counting until midnight.

"Bolikri. Have you never taught them to say numbers?" Bolikri squirmed, looking guilty.

"Master, the tribesmen haven't been shaped by your dragon blood the way I have. Their personalities are... very straightforward. Inflexible."

"They do understand numbers. Truly. But when it comes to counting off, they can't help themselves. The primitive expression just comes out."

"..." Su Nian said nothing. He finally understood why the system insisted the Flame Arrow Tower be built under its guidance. These dog-brained creatures could throw together a den just fine, but a structurally complex tower was another matter entirely.

"Fine. Send them in. Don't worry about anything else, just bring them their meals when it's time to eat. The system will handle the rest. They'll get the Flame Arrow Tower built."

"But..." Bolikri's face went blank. He knew his subordinates. They had absolutely no idea how to build a Flame Arrow Tower. What if they put up a Flame Outhouse instead? Apart from laying traps, outhouses were what kobolds built best, well-ventilated, clean, and specifically engineered so nothing splashed back up. And if that happened... would the master really not just breathe fire on their entire tribe back in the Silvermoon Forest?

"You're worried they'll mess it up?" Su Nian said.

"Relax. Do exactly what I told you, and stop asking questions you don't need answers to." He gave Bolikri a firm, encouraging pat on the shoulder, flashed him a reassuring look, then spread his wings and dropped off the ledge, gliding back toward the Dragon's Nest.

"What are you all staring at?! Move! Get to work before I find the sharpest fork I own and use it on your backsides!" Bolikri roared at his slack-jawed subordinates while simultaneously wrenching his lower half out of the rock, which had, at some point during the landing, developed a spiderweb of cracks around the imprint of his body. Lucky his constitution had improved lately.

If it hadn't, those few encouraging pats from his master would have left him flat on the ground foaming at the mouth, on his way to meet the great Kurtulmak. ➤ Next: The Origin of the Malady