{Courier POV}

When the massive dragon swooped down on him, the courier of Mirfield thought he was done for. But confusion followed as the dragon seemingly checked on him to make sure he was alright and made those nasty little kobolds listen to him.

The courier was currently on the road again, another half an hour of traveling by horse to get to the other town, where there will be another courier ready to deliver his messages. He had been entrusted by a specific letter that was to be sent straight to the kingdom and into royalties' hands. Straight from the town masters assistant, Mags. Something about beasts needing to be dealt with? The courier couldn't be bothered to remember. He was glad the dragon had saved him, though. Who knows what would have happened otherwise.

{Arthur's POV}

It took a good twenty minutes for the kobolds to be ready, well, actually ready since they insisted on going now as to not 'waste' Arthur's time, but he commanded them to bring all possessions and valuables. After chatting with Shaman Leader some more, the kobolds informed him they were all ready to set out for their salvation. Oh, brother.

"We move now, carry the cart, and follow me on the main road. We will not return here, kobolds." The kobolds collectively cheered and chittered and two kobolds picked up the cart and started to drag it along. Shaman Leader was by his side at all times as Arthur lead the way back onto the road.

Arthur observed the kobolds and the cart as they walked along the road. A lot of the kobolds were strapped with bags holding their personnel effects and items. The cart seemed to be holding under all the loot pretty well. He had flashbacks to his first quest when he got his goblins and bugbears. The kobolds would certainly come in handy.

The kobolds had set up a patrol around the cart and Arthur, scouting the surrounding area, but that hardly mattered. Arthur doubted something more powerful than he would randomly be in these woods. He ordered them to stand down and save their energy, and they all plodded along, the kobolds talking to each other and Shaman Leader seemingly content to be silent beside Arthur.

They met no others using the road for the twenty minutes it took them to get back to Mirfield. The dirt road leading into the clearing of Mirfield and Arthur spotted the guards running to report his presence. This was extremely familiar to his first quest, he noted. Arthur motioned for the kobolds to wait, who seemed confused. As he plodded up to the gate, Shaman Leader followed him and asked, "Sire, is this town under your control? Why have you not burned it down yet?" Arthur looked to Shaman Leader.

Should he lie, or tell the truth? Would the kobolds like it more if he acted like this town was under his control? Would they revolt if they found out Arthur was somewhat allied with Mirfield? He came to a decision and said to Shaman Leader, "This town is under my protection, along with the humans inside it. I understand humans were not kind to you, but you are under my protection as well. They can do you no harm anymore. You do not have to like the humans here, but you must tolerate them. Understand?"

Shaman Leader's expression was a mix of emotion, shock, and anger being the most prominent. She nodded silently and retreated to the other kobolds.

Arthur turned back to the approaching town master. The town master reached the gate and said to Arthur, "Welcome back, Arthur! I see the kobolds are following you now, much like the goblins?" Arthur nodded sharply and replied,

"Yes, the kobolds will no longer trouble you. They will work for me now." Arthur's tone turned superior despite himself, and Arthur put himself back in check and continued normally, "Along with the quest reward, I wish to purchase a map of the world and a few other things, including another spell scroll." Arthur heard muttered confusions coming from the kobolds but Arthur endured and waited for the town master to reply.

"Of course, we will have all the things you need right away!" Arthur nodded and gave him the appropriate coin after he listed off the items he wanted. The kobolds nearly had heart attacks when Arthur gave the town master gold so willingly, but Arthur calmed them down with a talk and glare. If they didn't like it, tough. This was the way Arthur wanted to do things, not harass Mirfield for free things just because he wanted to. Besides, it really wasn't that much money compared to what he had.

The kobolds immediately cowered at his small anger and apologized for their behavior profusely and embarrassingly. Arthur got his 500 gold for the quest and his spell scroll, and a few other items he loaded onto the cart. And he finally got his map as well. A very good haul for less than two hours work, Arthur decided.

As Arthur was saying his goodbyes to the town master, Arthur was struck with a feeling of embarrassment and stupidity. He had never, in all his interactions, asked the town master for his name. Arthur spoke up just as the town master was turning and said, "What is your name, I have realized I never caught it. I've been referring to you as simply town master, but I believe we are on a first-name basis now." The town master turned back with eyebrows raised. He said after a moment,

"My name is Donald, and I suppose we are on a first-name basis now. Thank you for asking, Arthur." Donald humbly bowed and turned back once more. Arthur let him go. Arthur walked back to the kobolds and stated,

"My business is done. Let us go to my lair now." The kobolds perked up and seemed much more excited than they were a moment ago. Shaman Leader was back to Arthur's side the moment they set out to his lair. Arthur and his kobolds walked for ten minutes to his mountain, whereupon reaching it Arthur had to figure out how to get his cart up the mountain itself. He decided to pick it up and fly, telling the kobolds to back up and then follow him.

Everyone made way for Arthur as he grasped both sides of the cart with his claws before flapping his wings, using his incredible strength to rise into the air and slowly go towards the top, where his lair was located. He made it without any trouble, setting down in the middle of the goblin camp. It seems Alek was not here, and the bugbears seemed to be back from a recent hunt. The pelts were really starting to pile up.

The bugbears shouted things like "Hello, boss" and "We caught a lot of animals, boss!" But they quieted down when the kobolds came into sight. Arthur saw their confusion and explained, "These kobolds will be working for me. You bugbears will show them respect if they treat you in kind. If anyone kills anyone, I will personally punish you all. Understand?" The bugbears nodded in submission, as did the kobolds. Where were those goblins? Perhaps with Alek?

Arthur waved away his thoughts. "Kobolds, you may join me in my lair, as I know you don't enjoy the sunlight. Bugbears, stay on standby. I will have work for you soon." Arthur retired to the inside of his lair followed by the twenty-one kobolds and his cart.

Now to the fun part, thought Arthur as the cart was stopped near his hoard. Shaman Leader spoke up and said, Sire, is this your hoard?" Arthur gave her a nod. Then he realized the implications, that Shaman Leader might not be impressed. With a regal tone, Arthur stated matter of factly, "It's a work in progress." Shaman Leader nodded and joined the other kobolds who were examining his hoard with curiosity.

Arthur counted up each bag before pouring it into his expanding hoard. All in all, Arthur had gained around 4500 gold, excluding the amount he used to pay for his scroll and items. His gold hoard had grown significantly once more. It was still small compared to Arthur's standards, but as he said it was a work in progress.

He gave the food crates to the kobolds, who accepted them gratefully. Now, where would the kobolds sleep? He would ask Shaman Leader. "Shaman Leader, where do you plan on sleeping? Tell me what you might need." Shaman Leader turns to him and says,

"My denmates and I usually sleep near each other, on the ground. We do not need anything, thank you Sire." The kobold bowed again. They were simple creatures, down to the core, Arthur mused. Arthur replied to her,

"Good, you should be fine eating the excess meat we have from the bugbear hunts. Now that we are safe, Shaman Leader," Arthur lied down, his front claws on top of his hoard, "Tell me, what spells do you know? I would like to see if any will come in handy." Shaman Leader sat down as well, and said,

"I know mold earth, firebolt, prestidigitation, mage hand, Mage armor, and sleep." Hmm, quite the list, though they were mostly cantrips. The mold earth cantrip piqued Arthur's interests, as that would likely come in useful for what Arthur intended to do today.

Although he would not get to that yet. For now, Arthur wanted a makeshift door to the entrance of his cavern, to sort of officially mark it as his lair. It wouldn't do for Arthur if anyone could peek in when they wanted to. Arthur cleared his throat and said to Shaman Leader, "Tell your kobolds to gather all of the animal pelts outside and to bring them in here. I intend to make a covering for my lair entrance."

The kobolds heard him when he said that but obediently waited as Shaman Leader got up with a happy nod to Arthur and relayed the instructions more dramatically than perhaps was needed. All of them skittered out and started coming back with arms full of various animal pelts.

The bugbears pitched in and sped the process up. With 29 different creatures rounding the pelts up, it took less than four minutes. Arthur felt slightly lazy just watching them working, but it satisfied his dragon side, and the kobolds looked happy anyway.

When they were done, Arthur reached over and took out one of the many items he had bought from town, a sewing kit. "Who here knows how to sew?" Shaman Leader and three bugbears held their hands up. Arthur nodded and said, "Those who know will teach the rest how to sew pelts together. Shaman Leader, lead the group of three bugbears." Arthur took out four sewing kits and handed them to Shaman Leader and the bugbears.

Shaman Leader nodded at her duty and shouted, "Listen, all! This is how this will work..." What followed was the weirdest class Arthur had experienced. Shaman Leader, and one bugbear assisting her, showed the kobolds how to sew properly, which was simple enough for them to understand clearly. The other two bugbears taught the rest of the bugbears, which seemed to be going just as well, if not better.

When Arthur was satisfied that everyone was equally getting it, he ordered them all to sew two big curtains the same size as each other. "I want these curtains to fit my lair entrance. Make them perfect." At those last words, the kobolds and bugbears seemed much more anxious and began examining the entrance and measuring it up to their curtains in progress to see how well they would fit.

Arthur trusted they would get it correctly. He said those last words to encourage them to do better. As his minions worked together, he turned his attention to the last quest scroll of Mirfield. He rolled it open, and it read, 'A Manticore has been spotted landing on top of a small mountain near Mirfield. Kill or drive away the evil beast. Reward 500 GP.'

A simple enough quest. Arthur turned back to his minions, who were making good progress and surprisingly smart decisions regarding the use of the pelts.

It looked mismatched, but it would do.