Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon's Might-Chapter 23 - Bootlicker

Due to being far from the territory of Mother Dragon, it was always possible to encounter danger, possibly adventurers or some creatures, Leon seldom left the house during the daytime, except when he occasionally wanted to bask in the sun, where he would hide in a corner to enjoy the sunlight; he mostly took walks at night.

Leon now preferred to stay dormant during the day and active at night, just as the Kobolds were light-sensitive and had a disadvantage in attack checks and perception checks that relied on vision under sunlight, preferring to move about at night, so it made sense for Leon to encounter Kobolds on a dark and windy night.

At that time, Leon had already finished hunting, having caught a small deer and eaten to his heart's content, his belly round, he rested on the spot for a few minutes before deciding to take a walk to help digest his meal. When he turned around, he saw a group of sneaky dwarfs; he quickly recognized their identity.

He remembered that when he first settled in, he had scoured the surrounding area and saw no traces of Kobold life, so he suspected where those Kobolds had migrated from, especially after he killed the Owlbear, because Kobolds were particularly cautious and fearful of bears.

Actually, Kobolds don't have dog heads; they just like to bark like dogs.

Kobolds are more like standing lizards and can be classified as dragon species. Their skin is scaly, with two light-colored small horns, and their eyes shine brightly. They are timid and cunning, especially worshiping the Colorful Dragon, not just ordinary worship or lip service, but outright submission, viewing dragons as the real embodiment of divine beings, bravely obeying dangerous commands.

In summary, as long as Leon was willing, it was very easy for him to subdue those Kobolds to work and serve him. However, he had no interest in taking Kobolds as his followers.

He was just a baby dragon. Was gathering followers flaunting his death wish?

Leon had no interest in those Kobolds; he took a glance at the excitement and walked away. Who knew he would encounter a large group of Kobolds after a few days, seeming to actively seek him out, otherwise it would not have been so easy to encounter them in such a large forest.

The group of Kobolds immediately ran in front of him upon spotting him, laid down their crude weapons on the ground, and started worshipping on their bellies.

It had been a long time since he killed the Owlbear, and Leon's scales had already fully grown back, although the newly grown scales were still a bit pale. Clear-eyed people could tell there was something about him, this baby dragon had been injured before, so he didn't mind Kobolds seeing, but that was it.

Whether it was Worgs or Owlbears, Leon was as cruel as winter toward his enemies, showing no mercy. However, facing these fawning Kobolds clamoring to serve him, putting up a brave face to cold treatment, he didn't know what to do for a while.

"We've finally found you."

"Don't go."

"Please look at us."

"Great Red Dragon, your humble servant Hawks leading the Fire Oil Clan pledges allegiance to you."

All spoken in heavily accented Dragon Language, with a barking tone.

Leon looked at those humble Kobolds somewhat speechlessly, witnessing the power of sycophants.

He really wanted to comment that if he were a powerful adult Red Dragon, with a charismatic, massive body, it would be normal to be awe-inspiring, and being a young Red Dragon wouldn't have been a problem, but he was just a baby dragon.

"I do not need followers; you guys leave, don't look for me again." Leon was originally planning to leave directly, but thought if he didn't reject decisively, those persistent pesters would definitely stick to him.

Fearing that the group of Kobolds wouldn't understand, he picked up Dragon Language again.

Even though I haven't used it in a long time and am somewhat rusty, it's still much more standard than Kobold.

Even if the Goddess explicitly refuses, they still persist endlessly, isn't this the basic behavior of a sycophant?

The leading Kobold, Hawks, raised a spear from who knows where and said, "We can work for the great Red Dragon, digging tunnels, mining, lots and lots and lots."

"Please take us in as your servants... at least take Hawks."

"And me, Martin, I'm really good at mining." Another Kobold raised a mining pick.

One Kobold after another hastened to pledge allegiance, with barking sounds rising and falling.

Hearing this made Leon involuntarily frown.

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Leon pondered using the Kobolds to help him establish a network of tunnels, imagining them working hard by his side, while he slept soundly nearby, ready to pick a fight and scold them at any disagreement... Everyone hates the lord only because they themselves cannot become the lord; he was pretty much the same.

However, considering the potential risks, Leon still clenched his teeth and shook his head, and then said to the Kobold in front of him, "Do you wear a hat?"

Hawks touched his bald head and said, "No."

"I don't want followers who don't wear hats." Leon waved his hand toward the group of Kobolds, "Stop bothering me, or don't blame me for being rude."

Leon sent away those Kobolds and flew away with his wings spread.

Leon thought that was the end of it but underestimated those sycophants. About a week later, when he ran into those Kobolds again, each of them had put on hats, ridiculous hats. Some made from unidentified large leaves, some from who knows what kind of gourd, and some even wore mushroom caps.

"We have hats now, we have hats now," a sharp-eyed Kobold spotted Leon and immediately rushed over, bouncing up and down, "Red Dragon, look at my hat."

"Bearskin hat," said Leon, "I want a bearskin hat."

"Unless you get bearskin hats, do not come to me again, and you'll lose the chance to become my followers forever," Leon raised a claw, "I'll give you only one chance."

The Challenge Level of a bear is not high, but it's also not something a group of Kobolds can handle casually; moreover, there aren't many bears. Seeing that the Kobolds have no way to hunt bears and get bear hats, they never bothered Leon again.

Leon could finally have some peace. If it weren't for him spending too much time building his nest and too much initial effort, he would have thought about leaving to avoid these troublesome neighbors.

In the quiet, Leon sometimes remembered his life before he crossed over; he thought of his father, mother, and older brother, and those wildly busy days at work which seemed like a long time ago. He also thought of Mother Dragon and Dragon Sister, the mother and daughter each having a worse personality than the other, but he had no thoughts of going back to see them.

Days passed by, Leon, who had no habit of keeping track of the date, did not know the specific day.

He hadn't seen snow, but he indeed had seen bare tree branches after the leaves fell several times. Every time he needed to expand his lair, he would think of those Kobolds whose numbers had increased several fold... Coming back to his senses, Leon realized he had transformed from a baby dragon to a Young Dragon.