With an elf added to the dragon's lair, Jose's life did not change much. He ate when he should eat and slept when he should sleep, while the elven pursuers he had worried about never came knocking.
The days passed one by one, and before he knew it, five days had gone by.
Those five days were peaceful. Nothing major happened, at least not to Jose. But for the kobolds, something earth-shaking and far-reaching had occurred.
A kobold received a reward from a great true dragon and became a Dragonkin admired and revered by all.
Had this reward gone to a warrior with outstanding military achievements, it would not have caused such a tremendous stir among ordinary kobolds. The key was that the one receiving this honor was an underage child.
And the reason this child was rewarded was because he had discovered a new food—chestnuts.
At the summit of a tall mountain, while gathering pinecones, an inconspicuous green spiky ball caught the young kobold's attention. Pinecones that seemed inedible concealed edible pine nuts, and that gave him an idea.
Curiously, he peeled away the outer shell, revealing a brown nut inside. He cracked it open and found that its kernel, like a pine nut, was edible.
Excited, he reported the discovery to the captain leading the group. After being passed up through several levels, the news eventually reached Jose.
After careful consideration, Jose rewarded the young kobold by making him a Dragonkin, creating an incentive to encourage ordinary kobolds to explore the unknown and become self-reliant.
No one needed to push the matter from behind the scenes. The news spread like wildfire among the ordinary kobolds.
In that primitive society where the strong preyed on the weak, only the strong deserved respect. Ordinary kobolds had assumed that only the strong deserved a true dragon's favor, but the appearance of the young kobold Dragonkin shattered that fixed way of thinking.
For a while afterward, quite a few kobolds tried to ascend in a single step and become Dragonkin by turning themselves into Shennong and tasting every herb they could find. The result was several cases of food poisoning.
Only after seeing the miserable condition of those who had been poisoned did the trend of tasting every plant subside somewhat. By then, Jose's goal had already been achieved.
Inside the spacious dragon's lair, burning braziers gave off bright light and drove away the darkness.
Ergou entered with two kobolds, who carried a large basin between them. The basin contained the newly discovered food—chestnuts.
Compared to pine nuts, chestnuts were larger, and a single tree could feed more people, making them more practical. Jose had listed them as a key development project, and methods for processing and preserving chestnuts were also major subjects of exploration.
Ergou walked up to the resting Red Dragon, set the basin down before him, and bowed. "Master, following the method you gave us, we stir-fried the chestnuts together with sand. These are the finished product."
Jose glanced at them. The stir-fried chestnuts were reddish-brown, and because a little pine oil had been added during the frying process, they gleamed with oil. Cross-shaped cuts had been made in their shells with a small knife, exposing the golden flesh within. Their fragrance was enticing.
Seeing the Red Dragon wave a claw, Ergou bowed again and withdrew.
"Tilly."
Inside the vine hut, the resting Elven Maiden heard the call. She rubbed her bleary eyes and walked out with a yawn.
Over the past few days, the Elven Maiden had gradually adapted to life in the cavern and found her place in kobold society.
Just as Jose had expected, as a druid apprentice, Tilly possessed solid foundational knowledge of plants and had contributed greatly to the kobolds' ongoing exploration of agriculture and animal husbandry.
Moreover, she knew herbal medicine and had used that knowledge to treat some sick kobolds. This earned her the respect of nearly every kobold. Even Ergou had changed his opinion of her, as shown by how he now actively fulfilled the little elf's dietary requests.
Eh? Is this the newly discovered food?
The newly awakened Elven Maiden spotted the large basin before the Red Dragon and walked over. After several days together, she was no longer afraid of this eccentric Red Dragon.
That was right. In Tilly's eyes, Jose was an eccentric fellow, and not just a little bit.
First, there was his daily routine. Like all dragons, this Red Dragon loved sleep, but unlike other dragons who slept for days at a time, he remained awake for around eight hours each day.
Second, there was how he treated his followers. Through her conversations with the kobolds, she learned that pine nuts, mushrooms, and the like had all been introduced by the Red Dragon. Moreover, she had not seen him lose his temper at anyone these past few days. For a cruel and irritable Red Dragon, that was practically a miracle.
But Tilly would not therefore assume that she was dealing with a well-behaved good dragon.
The troops undergoing large-scale training and the Minotaur blacksmiths' furnaces that never went out all indicated that the Red Dragon was preparing for a war. Her conversation with Ergou directly confirmed her suspicions.
"This is the newly discovered food. It's called a chestnut." Jose pushed the basin toward the little elf.
Tilly was flattered.
Lord Dragon is actually quite kind-hearted. He even woke me up specifically to eat something delicious.
Her nimble fingers peeled away the hard shell, revealing the glossy golden flesh inside. She put it into her mouth, and it melted with a bite, soft and sweet enough to make her mouth water.
Delicious!
The Elven Maiden narrowed her eyes, her face full of enjoyment.
Jose's face darkened as he demanded, "I told you to peel them for me! Why are you eating them yourself?!"
Tilly: ???
"I protest!"
"Protest denied. This is part of your work too."
In the end, the outnumbered Elven Maiden yielded to the tyranny of the evil dragon boss and became a shell-peeling tool.
"Evil boss. No conscience," Tilly muttered under her breath as she peeled.
After peeling one chestnut, she glanced sideways at the napping Red Dragon. While he was not paying attention, she swiftly stuffed the peeled chestnut into her mouth, chewed softly, and revealed a satisfied expression.
Scored another one~
Though Jose had his eyes closed, the sound of the Elven Maiden swallowing was far too obvious. Still, he could not be bothered to expose her.
In truth, he had not made the Elven Maiden into a tool because he was lazy, nor was it some perverse pleasure in exploiting an employee. A dragon's claws simply were not suited to this kind of work.
While Jose leisurely enjoyed the Elven Maiden's service, the half-month training program also came to an end. Kobold warriors from every tribe headed back, as planned.
Once the trained kobold warriors returned home, the remaining half of the warriors would come to Bloodtooth Mines and repeat everything their predecessors had undergone: warrior training and ideological education in loyalty.
By the time the second batch of kobold warriors completed their training, winter would arrive.
After getting through a winter of abundant food, it would be time for Jose to wipe out the Moss Hide Gnolls and unite Moduo Peak Forest. After that, he would turn his attention toward the Triangle Plains...
Amid the kobolds' vigorous shouts of training and the Minotaurs' clang-clang-clang of hammering iron, everything proceeded in orderly fashion according to plan.
But what Jose did not know was that one kobold who had completed his training and returned to his tribe slipped out of the mines under cover of night and stepped into the unknown jungle.
PS: The time spent lying low in the forest has ended. A new arc begins. That's all for today. See you tomorrow.
Thanks to Melancholy Maze for the 100-coin donation, Yayla for 500 coins, Yet in Vain for 500 coins, and Xiao Huzi Meng for 100 coins.
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