Ruger admitted that he had read those novels when he was bored, but that had been a long time ago. He had read the most while in Starry City, because life had been relatively leisurely then. It had also been his first chance to relax after surviving a brush with danger and escaping the pressure of survival altogether. The three Kobolds had even basked side by side in Grotto City's sunlight every day.
As those memories flowed through his mind, he became all the more convinced of his judgment.
Aisijin had been able to communicate with him even before becoming a Dragonborn Kobold. Old Gold Tooth had played a part in that, of course. The Kobold, who had failed his own transformation in his youth and had dealt with Dark-skinned Elves, had always taught her with great care. But that was also because Aisijin was clever and special. The more Ruger thought about it, the better it fit. She was practically the protagonist of one of those third-rate novels.
They had a protagonist and a dying mentor. All they lacked was a villain to gnash their teeth at.
His arrival, however, seemed to have pulled them back into reality. He had saved the dying Old Gold Tooth, leaving them without the most precious flavor of those third-rate adventure novels.
As for who the villain was?
Ruger certainly did not consider himself one. His teeth were for biting into steaks, not bullying someone who was frantically trying to hide her tail.
He looked at Tuzel. That Castle, and the power that resembled nightmare power yet was something else, reminded him of Tuzel's Crack Space, the place that existed attached to the edge of the Nightmare World. Of course, he did not mean that the Castle was in Tuzel's space. Rather, he