With the fight concluded I called up on a few slimes in the area and told them to clean up the remaining corpses that were left from the ratmen the weapons and equipment could be also salvaged so I let them carry it back here.

I also told the girls to return and told rokuten to get everyone back in order,he quickly snapped back to himself and saluted me telling me that he understood,the kobolds in the vicinity who had seen this interaction didn't think of their leader as someone who had no,pride rather they found it extremely natural and obvious that rokuten should behave like this and didn't say anything climbing down the walls and discussing with each other mainly about the battle that had just occurred,about the power of the girls and also about me who had lead the battle,the kobolds were slowly starting to show some more respect to me as their leader which I was satisfied about.

Opening the wooden gates the girls brought in the six ratmen they had caught for interrogation right now they were out cold so I decided to have them locked up for a bit until they wake up,the kobolds quickly worked on it and put them into a self made prison they had guarding them until I give them any further notice.

The girls seemed pretty easy going after this battle hobura wasn't even sweating or out of breath no,one was really which just showed how overwhelming the gap between the ratmen and the girls were even with the numbers they couldn't get close without meeting hobura's giant sword or getting pierced by hoboku's dark lance having them train truly worked out well,unfortunately I could also see that none of the girls had leveled up,hoboku who was the first to evolve was still level 1 as a the creatures didn't give much experience anymore even when it was multiplied through the emblem they had you could imagine the current experience goal for a level up even though they had such advantage right now.

Currently I wasn't too bothered about it,but the fight against that winged woman made me realize that there are far much stronger opponents in the world that could strike at any moment if they girls don't get strong fast then we are going to be in a pickle if the time comes and who knows maybe next time there won't be a divine dragon on our side to help...we needed to build ourselves further.

-Lord sorron ? Is something the matter ?

Hobusaku asked her sudden presence startled me since she literally came out of nowhere,hobusaku also realized that and looked at me apologetic pointing at my shadow to let me know where she came from...hobusaku's natural ability was it gives her to ability to hide in darkness meaning that every dark part is a box for her to hide inside even my shadow,I didn't notice that hobusaku jumped into my shadow at some point,her ability was a bit startling since I couldn't feel her presence.

I sighed out in relieve,shaking my head I told hobusaku it was alright,she wasn't quiet convinced from the way he face contoured,but either way she dropped the issue and just waited for me.

Half it was already mid day,in a few hours or so the night would approach going back home now would be a bad idea so I was planning on having us spend a night here familiarize for a bit and tomorrow we would go to the dark elf village and report the taint extermination to vulgan.

Anyways right now things were very stable,with the kobold village under my reign I also needed to think about these people and how to get them stronger too,after all they were also my people now with or without the emblem they followed me.

-Lord sorron I have finished my task...and if you don't mind may I ask you something...

I felt a bit surprised,but didn't voice it and just nodded my head to tell him to go on,rokuten nodded and raised his fist to me showing me the back of his hand where the emblem was visible to me as tattooed into the skin,the emblem was a banner on which the head of a wolf was shown with 3 distinctive scars on its face howling out,the tattoo was unique like that of the other girls.

-This symbol...even though it hadn't been long since I became one your people my lord I still noticed that this symbol was affecting me in some way not mentally or in strength,but in a very different natural way as if it was correcting me...

Rokuten said his explanation made me slightly surprised,since I didn't expect him to figure it out so fast even the girls don't really know anything about the emblem they only look at it as proof of their loyalty towards me hobura even once stated that it was a symbol that showed that they were my property the girls soon after agreed upon it behind my back,but they never really thought of their exceptional growth rate having anything to do with the emblem.

Hoboku was the closest to figuring out what made them grow so fast,she had her suspicious and probably even knew,but she didn't say anything because she may have also came to the same conclusion as I did.

I narrowed my eyes for a moment looking at rokuten in a conflicted way...there were a few reasons why I didn't want to tell anyone about this even the girls,the emblem,this particular ability was something I needed to keep secret no matter what,if anyone knew that I could make a monster or human grow 3 times stronger then usually,trouble would soon arrive,thats why I was also very selective to the people I gave these emblems to since in all reality I wasn't going to give any of the other kobolds other then rokuten this emblem if I didn't have a good reason to begin with,if I do that of course our firepower would soar enormously,but we would also catch the eyes of a few greedy people who would want to know how so many low level kobolds could rise to such high ranks the world was big and there were so many people stronger then us...I didn't want to shorter our lives just because of this.

I smiled looking at rokuten and answered him.

-Hmm..I don't know I think you are just imagining it that symbol actually is there to let me connect to you and speak to you

Rokuten picked up on the way I spoke he understand that he didn't need to well on it any further he was also assured that I wouldn't betray him or anything on that sort and just nodded his head without a question.

-By the way it is a bit early,but can I ask you about the blacksmith rohimen your village has...the sword you wielded in our duel it had some kind of flame enchantment on it didn't it ? Did he make it ?

I asked curiously,since I had the enchanted rusty long sword and hobura's buster sword I wanted them to be identified to see how they worked or if it could be repaired someway or another,our weapons were very decent and everyone took care of them daily,hobura was the most experienced in this kind of area,she loved all bladed weapons and spent hours just polishing her sword out of no reason,if there is a skilled blacksmith in this town having him look at our weapons to see if he could improve them or not was always worth it,I also had a lot of swords in my inventory which he could use to reforge them and make better weapons out of.The craftsmen in this town were the main thing that interested me of course.

Rokuten thought for a few seconds until he replied to me.

-Ahh yes I can lead you to him my lord,but I have to warn you rohimen is very rude when it comes to others even when that person is higher in status then him he is a hermit in our town engrossed within the walls of his smithy and teaches the youngsters how to smith,he is also our most skilled blacksmith and indeed the sword I wielded was made by rohimen,it is one of his better crafts...

Rokuten warned me,but I didn't mind it and just nodded my head considering his words.

-Yes,please lead me to him...

Rokuten nodded and lead me towards the blacksmithing area of the town,the sound of clashing metal could be heard as we came closer to that area hobusaku stood behind me looking around while rokuten lead the way,the other girls were currently sitting somewhere else eating their fill I suggested hobusaku to take a break as well,but she refused and said that she would rather follow me.

Her words were expected so I gave her small pat on the head for being sweet which she liked and was probably after all along.

I looked forward again raising my eyes I saw the familiar stone building and from the window I could once again see that same kobold looking out with his profound glowing eyes,we once again met eyes temporarily until he shifted his position and moved away from the window.

-As you can see it is here...the youngsters are currently practicing under rohimens instructions so it can't be helped that it is a bit loud...

Rokuten said showing me the blacksmithing area which was fairly impressive on up close almost comparable to the training area in this village and not too far away you could see other kobolds clothed protectively hammering away on a anvil shaping a blade,not too far away from each other in a very focused manner,impressive even since everyone was in sync right now making the exact same noise over and over again.

I told rokuten that he could leave to handle his own duties,he understood and told me that they had prepared a house for me and the girls,after I finish my business here a kobold would lead me to the house if I wished for it which I acknowledged making rokuten finally leave to handle his own work.

The village was truly impressive,it was big,the houses were on the same level as the ones I saw in the elven village telling a lot about the advancement these kobolds had,tools and other devices were also used such as spoons and utensils they weren't just some barbaric folk like I thought them to be at first,they genuinely smart people without a doubt.

-Are you going to stand there or are you going to come inside ? If you don't have any business in my smithy I am advising you to leave...

Someone said the voice seemed slightly unfriendly to me not outright hostile,but still cautious.

I turned my head towards the direction of the voice and saw a kobold with clear white fur leaning on the door with his arms crossed his eyes and my own met for a few moments until I smiled and answered.

-Yes,sorry I am quiet curious about your craft and came to ask your help on something...Nice to meet you my name is sorron

I replied disregarding the rude way of talking and giving him my own hand,the kobold in return just stared at my hand for a few seconds until he took it and answered now in a bit more neutral tone.

-I know your our leader...and my name is Rohimen I am the local blacksmith

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