Nearly a month had passed since Evelyn and Darrien settled in the kobold tribe.
At first, the kobolds spent every day walking on eggshells.
Most of this generation had only heard of dragons through stories passed down by their ancestors. Now two of those legendary monsters had suddenly taken up residence in their village.
Excitement was one thing.
Fear was another.
For the first few days, the kobolds even prayed to the two evil dragons before coming to the lake for water, terrified that some careless action might offend them.
As time passed, however, the tribe gradually grew accustomed to their presence.
Mostly because the two dragons were complete shut-ins.
Ever since arriving at the oasis, Evelyn and Darrien hadn’t left their lair even once.
If the kobolds didn’t have to deliver food to the underwater lair every day, they might have started wondering whether the two dragons living beneath their lake had been a shared hallucination.
Feeding them was another matter entirely.
Both were young dragons in the middle of rapid growth, and their appetites were enormous.
Nearly every able-bodied member of the Ironfang Tribe had been mobilized to hunt anything alive they could find in the surrounding area.
But that obviously couldn’t continue forever.
Once they hunted the nearby wildlife dry, they would have to travel farther and farther in search of prey.
And if they ran into a sandstorm...
They might not even make it back before being buried beneath the yellow sand and becoming another set of bleached bones in the wasteland.
Fortunately, neither black dragon objected to eating fruit.
That came as an enormous relief to the kobolds.
Their tribe had cultivated this oasis for generations, and fruit trees and vines covered much of the fertile land.
Because of the unusual climate of the Forsaken Lands, there were no real seasons here.
The oasis produced large amounts of fruit throughout the year.
Normally, the kobolds ate it as one of their main food sources.
They also dried part of the harvest into preserved fruit, which they traded with passing merchants for necessities such as salt and iron tools.
Now, most of each day’s harvest went straight into the stomachs of the two young dragons.
It was barely enough to keep Evelyn and Darrien fed without leaving anyone in the tribe starving.
To make feeding them easier, the loyal kobolds had even dug a tunnel.
The passage bypassed the lake entirely and led directly into the underwater dragon lair.
That way, roasted meat no longer had to be carried through the water and ruined before reaching the dragons.
Living a life where everything was brought directly to him had predictable consequences.
Darrien had gotten noticeably rounder.
Evelyn, on the other hand, looked much the same.
Unlike Darrien, whose daily routine consisted almost entirely of eating and sleeping, Evelyn had spent most of the past month studying magic.
With a dragon’s naturally exceptional Magical Affinity, it had taken her only a month to thoroughly understand every magic book in her possession.
She had skipped straight past the level of a Black Iron Rank Mage and successfully reached Bronze Rank Mage.
At this point, Evelyn was practically a walking magical artillery battery.
Dragons naturally possessed several times the magical reserves of most other creatures.
Even without relying on her physical strength, Evelyn was confident she could bombard a Silver Rank mage with spells nonstop until they simply died.
And while she now possessed the powerful spellcasting ability of a mage, she had none of a normal mage’s biggest weaknesses.
Most mages were in serious trouble the moment an enemy got into melee range.
If they couldn’t create distance quickly enough, they were basically fragile prey waiting to be torn apart.
Evelyn had the opposite problem.
With the body of a True Dragon, she could fight a Silver Rank warrior in close combat without being overwhelmed.
Anyone who managed to close the distance wouldn’t find a fragile spellcaster waiting for them.
They would find a terrifying monster naturally built for melee combat.
A powerful body.
Strong spellcasting.
And Acid Breath on top of all that.
At this point, Evelyn had practically become a complete combatant with no obvious weak point.
...
Creak. Creak.
Creak... creak...
A sharp wooden squeal broke the quiet of the dragon lair.
Darrien had been sleeping flat on the ground.
The moment he heard the sound, his eyes snapped open and he rolled to his feet.
That noise only meant one thing.
Food.
Sure enough, an elderly kobold soon emerged from the dark tunnel in one corner of the lair.
It was Buck.
Behind him, seven kobolds struggled to push a wooden handcart.
Fruit and roasted meat had been piled so high that they formed a small mountain.
The overloaded cart creaked with every inch it moved.
Buck walked up to Evelyn first and bowed deeply.
“Great One, today’s food has arrived.”
“Mm. Good work.”
Evelyn answered absently and closed the battered magic book held between her claws.
She had become somewhat addicted to studying magic.
Immersing herself in magic and knowledge gave her the exhilarating sense that anything in the world could eventually be understood.
Unfortunately, she simply didn’t own enough books.
If she had more magical texts, Evelyn was certain she could continue improving.
“It is our honor to serve the two Great Ones.”
Buck lowered his head humbly and bowed again.
Only then did he quietly let out a breath of relief.
He waved for the other kobolds to leave.
On the way out, they also collected the wooden handcart that had been used for the previous meal.
Buck had just reached the tunnel entrance when an enraged dragon roar suddenly exploded behind him.
“ROAAAR!”
The other kobolds’ legs immediately went weak.
Buck alone managed to turn around, leaning heavily on his staff.
He looked toward Darrien.
“Great Darrien...”
He didn’t get to finish.
Darrien grabbed a steak and hurled it.
Thud!
It landed directly in front of Buck.
Meat juices mixed with mud and splashed all over the old kobold.
Buck immediately lowered his head.
Large beads of sweat were already forming across his brow.
Before Darrien could continue...
Thump!
Evelyn punched him on the head.
“Don’t make noise while I’m eating. You’re interrupting my thoughts.”
Darrien looked deeply wronged.
He pointed at the steak on the ground.
“Evelyn, these lowly little creatures are trying to cheat us! They didn’t even put salt on the meat this time!”
“Today they dare serve unsalted meat. Tomorrow they’ll dare roast us!”
“Evelyn, they’re planning a rebellion!”
“Hm?”
Evelyn picked up a steak and tossed it into her mouth.
She chewed twice, then swallowed.
There really was no salt.
Only the natural flavor of the roasted meat remained.
It still tasted fine.
But after getting used to salted meat, going back to plain roast made the difference painfully obvious.
Evelyn turned toward the trembling old kobold.
A dangerous light appeared in her golden eyes.
“I think you owe me an explanation.”
The moment she finished speaking, terrifying Draconic Presence flooded the entire lair.
Every kobold, including Buck, dropped uncontrollably to their knees.
Sweat covered Buck’s forehead and soaked the fur around his face.
He licked his dry, cracked lips and stammered,
“G-Great One... we absolutely... absolutely have no intention of rebelling... It’s just... just...”
“Just what?”
Evelyn asked.
“It’s just...”
Buck swallowed.
“The tribe has run out of salt.”
After forcing out those words, the old kobold looked as though every bit of strength had left his body.
He nearly collapsed on the spot.
Only his desperate grip on his staff kept him upright.