Ch. 22 - Ruins and Dragons

[Lost Calendar Year 1000, June 8th, Starberry Town, clearing skies after rain.

The day after being kicked out of the tavern, I encountered a kobold...]

As dusk deepened, Tang Qi lit a lamp and wrote furiously.

In less than a day, he had experienced a series of consecutive events—stopping an execution, investigating starberries, boldly exploring the cavern, and assassinating Jackal...

It seemed the journal's special effect was stimulating Tang Qi's desire to express himself.

Despite being physically and mentally exhausted, once he picked up the pen, it was as if he'd drunk from a refreshing spring, bursting with boundless vitality.

"When a slave possesses inexhaustible labor power, he becomes history's greatest slave."

Damn it, so "Slave of History Pen" was talking about him!

Since he was recording the day's experiences, there was no need to fabricate any content.

This meant he rarely got stuck; his pen only pausing when some details weren't clear enough.

[This kobold who spoke human language orchestrated everything.

But considering it's only just learning to communicate properly, sometimes it can't express itself clearly. Allow me to piece together the full story—]

Tang Qi suddenly turned around to look at the 'sage' Kuru, who was curled up in a corner hugging his staff, diligently studying a spellbook by the dim candlelight. He asked:

"Your offerings—were they dedicated to your master, or to the deity you worship?"

Due to their weakness, kobolds often recognized powerful creatures dwelling in underground caves as their masters—such as massive earthworms or spiders...

But in the natural world where the strong devour the weak, even powerful 'masters' didn't necessarily live long, causing their subjects to change frequently.

But Kuru blinked:

"Egg!"

Tang Qi asked matter-of-factly:

"Your descendants' eggs? Offering tributes to your own eggs is some kind of tribal ritual?"

Kuru hurriedly shook his head. Seeing that Tang Qi didn't understand, it could only start gesturing.

"Kuru, underground, escape!" It made running motions.

"Discover, nest, start, dig!" It pretended to wield a pickaxe.

"Open space, has egg, majestic, worship!" It traced a circle about the size of an ostrich egg.

Tang Qi raised an eyebrow, realizing things weren't as simple as he'd imagined:

"You mean—

You and your tribe were fleeing as refugees from deeper underground.

You accidentally discovered that clearing, which could serve as your nest, and took it over like cuckoos?"

"Rua!"

"Then while digging safety passages, you accidentally discovered an egg, and immediately decided to worship it? Why?"

It continued gesturing about the egg, even mimicking kneeling in worship:

"Ancestors, respect, fear!"

"You sensed a majesty in your bloodline that inspired awe and submission?"

Afraid that Kuru wouldn't understand his vocabulary, Tang Qi also gestured, baring his teeth and waving his claws.

"Rua!"

Kuru thought this human was so clever—he could easily deduce sentences that it couldn't express at all.

It hurriedly wrote down Tang Qi's pronunciation and vocabulary in symbols only it could understand, for future Common Tongue practice.

But Tang Qi fell into silence.

He could feel his fingers gripping the pen trembling slightly.

And this all came from that hint of—

Excitement.

With the passage of time, perhaps most people had forgotten about kobold bloodlines.

But he had a rudimentary understanding of it.

As inheritors of a trace of dragon blood, kobolds habitually worship their 'ancestors,' even viewing guarding their ancestors' offspring as a kind of honor.

That honor grants them courage, allowing them to stand out from the collective.

Then the 'egg' Kuru mentioned, sleeping inside it was very likely a...

Dragon?

[No poet can resist becoming a dragon rider—you know what I mean.]

Just as Tang Qi was trying to connect the nest in the cave that resembled 'ruins' with the 'dragon egg'—

The door was knocked at an inopportune moment—

"Mister Poet, dinner can be prepared now. Or I can bring dinner to your room?"

"I'll be right down."

---

Hunger arrived right on cue, and only then did Tang Qi break free from his selfless 'slave' state.

When he opened the door, he was met by Catherine's face, which could only be described as magnificent.

"I'm very sorry to disturb you, but 'preparing a lavish dinner at home the night before the Harvest Festival' is a town tradition.

I wasn't sure whether you'd want to experience this atmosphere, so I had to presume."

"No need to be so formal, madam. Your respect pleases me, but I also don't want you to respect me too much. It makes me uncomfortable."

Tang Qi shrugged somewhat awkwardly.

"We got along well last night, didn’t we? Just be yourself."

Hearing him say this, Catherine couldn't keep up the polite smile, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief, her expression becoming more animated:

"Honestly, I've been regretting my attitude toward you last night.

I can't even imagine what misfortune would have befallen Anbi today if I'd driven you away."

"That's a false assumption, because I definitely would’ve stayed here shamelessly. Even if just to see you every day."

Tang Qi tried to take her hand to kiss her fingertips.

He was imitating some courtly etiquette to appear more refined.

But the innkeeper, born to a farming family, couldn't handle such gestures.

She quickly withdrew her hand, her brow furrowing slightly, showing some discomfort:

"Please don't say such suggestive things—it makes me uncomfortable too."

"Ahem, sorry. I was just trying to introduce myself smoothly—Tang Qi Weinberg.

Just call me Tang Qi. I'm currently trying to be a travel-writing bard, with a tentative book title of *The I-Don't-Know-What-To-Call-It Journal*."

"Catherine Nova, a tavern owner who hopes to one day read *The I-Don't-Know-What-To-Call-It Journal*."

"Then I suppose both our wishes will come true?"

Their conversation made the atmosphere, originally full of courtesy and politeness, increasingly casual.

Catherine noticed Kuru in the corner, buried in study, covered head to toe in robes and rags, not yet recognized:

"Will that gentleman join us downstairs for dinner?"

Tang Qi hesitated before explaining: "If it won't frighten you, because it's actually a... kobold."

Caught off guard, Catherine stepped back in surprise.

But she quickly steadied herself and chose not to pry with great discretion:

"The Golden Oak doesn't refuse any guest, especially a friend of yours. Actually, I should also mention there are two mercenaries downstairs."

"Isn't it supposed to be a reunion dinner? What are they doing at the tavern?"

"Perhaps the manor is too empty and they have nowhere else to go. Though I haven't seen that Mister Jackal today."

You'll probably never see him again.

Tang Qi silently grumbled internally. Thinking of Black Snake, he inevitably thought of the main issue:

"By the way, if I wanted to buy some starberries, who in town would be most suitable?"

"Starberries have a very short shelf life, so they might not work well as a regular souvenir..."

Tang Qi hesitated for a long moment before roughly explaining his plan to 'pass off inferior goods as quality' to Catherine:

"So I need to prepare at least 300 kilograms of starberries, and after the merchant caravan arrives tomorrow, muddle through the whole affair if possible."

"300 kilograms... that's not a small amount, but fortunately starberries in town are cheaper than wheat."

Catherine pondered for a moment, then suddenly clapped her hands.

"I understand—leave this matter to me."

Tang Qi blinked, not expecting the supposedly 'stingy' Catherine to volunteer:

"Won't this trouble you?"

"Don't say that. You're Anbi's benefactor—how could such a small favor be considered 'trouble'?"

Catherine extended her index finger and waved it left and right in front of Tang Qi.

"Besides, as an outsider, purchasing such a large batch of starberries from anyone would be extremely conspicuous, no matter who you bought from.

Tomorrow is the Harvest Festival—lots of people and eyes everywhere.

If someone with ulterior motives discovers that the batch of starberries you purchased appears in the 'Starshine' tribute submitted by Black Snake, they might expose you for profit, jealousy, or other reasons."

"That's true..."

"But I'm different—as a tavern owner, I can completely purchase an extra batch of starberries in the tavern's name.

This way, outsiders won't notice you, and I can even save you some money with local wholesale prices.

In this world, no one has a problem with saving money, don't you agree?"

When it came to 'financial' topics, Catherine's eyes seemed to sparkle.

And the pain point she mentioned was indeed Tang Qi's concern.

Perhaps 'stingy' meant more like shrewd?

Then Catherine pondered again:

"However, even so, you still need to be careful."

"Why?"

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