Around the skeleton's neck hung a cracked crystal attached to a chain. It was an object I had never seen before. In the back of my mind, I began having suspicions as to its identity, but I hoped I was wrong. I quickly placed it in my bag before the other two could notice.

“Brave knight, that was incredible! How did you manage to push that boulder all by yourself? You tried before, and it didn't appear you were strong enough.”

“You're correct. I didn't have enough strength, so I simply increased it.”

The lizard looked on with intrigue.

“Increased it? What do you mean, my knight?”

I realized Lacerta was unfamiliar with adventurers.

“It's one of my abilities as an adventurer. I used aether to enhance my body's attributes. In this sense I can increase my level of ability in whichever way I choose.”

“That's fascinating. I knew aether is the essence of a living being's soul which makes up their mind personality. However, I wasn't aware it was possible to manipulate it in such a way. I always thought such actions were beyond the realm of mortals. Sir knight, what exactly is an adventurer?”

Upon further thought, I realized I couldn't fully answer her question. I only knew what adventurers were in the context of the game.

“Actually, I'm not sure. All I know is that we collect aether, we have our own patron deity, and we pray to our deity to add to enhance our bodies with aether. The full implications of that are beyond me. Am I correct in assuming that kobolds do not have adventurers?”

She shook her head.

“No, it's an entirely alien concept.”

That was an interesting bit information. I always took the existence of adventurers for granted, but if you think about it, their abilities are quite bizarre. To an outside observer, I would appear closer to a soul-devouring monster than a friendly hero. It's normal for a video game protagonist to defeat foes and grow stronger at a ridiculous pace, but for anyone watching it would likely be very unusual. Growing from a talentless nobody into a being powerful enough to defeat the World-Devouring Demon over several days would be downright terrifying.

We continued our way through the dungeon and reached the first floor. It was the room which contained Calvar's previous body, and the corpses of two deceased zombies.

“So nostalgic. Reminds me of the first time I met Eren,” said the skull.

“Sir Calvar, I've been meaning you ask, but how did you and my knight meet? I've never heard of a human traveling around with a skeleton.”

The skull put on a smug face.

“Oh, me and Eren go way back. WAY back. It all started in this room right here. In fact, I can still remember it as if it was yesterday....”

“It was yesterday,” I said.

“See? Even he agrees with me. To tell the truth, I didn't have the highest expectations of him. At first I thought he was some creep who went around feeling up zombies. But as time went on, I realized he was a decent guy, no matter what lewd thoughts he possessed. We have made a promise, man to man, and have been together ever since. That is the power of our comradery.”

Lacerta looked at him with sparkling eyes.

“Oh, that sounds wonderful. Male to male bonding sounds like a very passionate experience. This is the first time I've been around a male, so I have much to learn.”

I was surprised by her comment.

“Lacerta, were you never in a relationship before? I thought that as a princess, you would have had a fair share of suitors to pick from.”

She blushed and brought her hands to her face.

“Well, I did have one similar experience. Once when I was younger, I did have a crush on a fellow kobold. She was the most beautiful maiden I ever laid my eyes upon. I felt could never act on it, as she was but a lowly servant, and I was the crown princess. But one day, we had a chance encounter. I slipped and fell right on top of her. I was mesmerized by her eyes, smooth scales, and firm tail. As we lay there, I couldn't help but caress her- Mr. Calvar, are you okay? You seem to have your mouth open.”

The skull snapped out of his trance.

“Oh no, don't mind me! I was just very immersed in the story. Please, do continue. I was on the edge of my seat!”

“Lacerta, are relationships between females common in kobold society? You have mentioned the subject several times now very casually. It's just something I found quite curious,” I asked.

The lizard was taken aback.

“Well, of course. We are a very romantic race, and it's customary for us to seek out a partner. Even my mother had her own partner. She wasn't involved in politics like the Matriarch, but she did help raise me.”

“What about males? What roles do they play?”

The kobold looked very confused. Then she had an epiphany, and seemed to understand my line of reasoning.

“Brave knight, we must have had a misunderstanding. There is no such thing as a kobold male. We are an all-female race.”

With that comment, everything started to make sense. It reminded of a scientific article I've read once about whiptail lizards. There is a species of whiptail lizards located in Mexico which are all female, and reproduce by a method known as parthenogenesis. It's a form of asexual reproduction where a female could lay viable eggs even without a male. The curious thing about the whiptail lizards is that they maintained normal male-female reproductive behavior despite having no need for it. If extended to a more intelligent animal like a kobold, then this might manifest as romance. For Lacerta, being around an intelligent species with two sexes must be an enlightening experience.

Moving on, I looked over Calvar's old body. With my new-found strength I moved the boulder with no problem. The body was in a surprisingly good shape; It looked like it might still be functional.

“Calvar, what would happen if I stuck your head back onto your body?”

“If I had enough energy, then I might be back up and running again. Then you'd see the full glory of Calvar, the Trusty Skeleton.”

“Would you like to give it a try?”

The skull gave me a sad look.

“I'd love it, but I'd better not. I waste less energy in my current admittedly feeble form. But once we find my master it should be no problem.”

Lacerta curiously examined one of zombie corpses. Being a formerly human corpse, this must have been a fresh experience to her.

“My knight, what do you propose this is?”

“That's Steve.”

The skull suddenly shouted in my direction.

“Who?”

Okay, he must be doing this on purpose now.

“Calvar, you know damn well who it is.”

“Calm down, Eren. Nobody cares about some mindless zombie. What kind of loser would get attached to one of those?”

All three of us stared on in silence.

“Wow, this is giving me deja-vu. Eren, I think this place might be haunted,” said the skull.

I had enough and decided to leave the cave. However, there was now a problem of what to do with Lacerta.

“Lacerta, do you mind staying here? I need to head back to town to resupply. It doesn't sound like townfolk are very kind to kobolds.”

She gave me a pouty face.

“But my knight, how am I supposed to learn about human culture if I stay inside all day? I don't mind being a housewife, but that is only after we get married. For now, I insist that I go along with you.”

I looked her over, but saw no feasible way to not maker her stand out. No matter what she wore she'd look bizarre.

“I promise you that next time I'll go out I'll take you along. But just for now, would you please stay here and wait? I'll think of something while at town. Plus, this will give you time to study your book.”

After some convincing, the lizard disgruntledly yielded to my request. I headed back to town to prepare for my next expedition.