The voice called out to us as we readied ourselves for a fight. Whoever they were, they had some strength in them since my kobold instincts were kicking in. But only enough for me to have my guard up.

  I decided to answer them, “We mean no trouble, we were just leaving now.”

  As soon as I answered them, several humans came into view. Some of them had poorly kept weapons in their hands. One glance was all it took for me to tell they weren’t the ones my instincts were reacting to. More than likely, it was the young-looking man with brown hair, he had a short sword in his hand. Compared to the others, it was easy to tell that he wasn’t part of the slums as he didn’t look impoverished as the others.

  With his weapon still drawn he started to look a bit confused when he took a look at me. “Is that…. Never mind, Zeph what are you doing here?”

  He walked up to Zeph all while keeping his eye on me and whispered to his ear. I could barely make out what he was saying. Though it was easy to tell what it was. “With a….no less…”

  Seeing who it was, Zeph dropped his feathers and lowered his guard. “Oh, don’t you worry about him. Think of him as a friend of mine. ~”

  “Hmm…if you say so. Alright everyone, stand down.” The young man ordered as everyone around us lowered their weapons. Some of them were more reluctant than the rest. I did the same in response, seeing as the danger passed.

  Judging by how they seemed to know him I began to question Zeph. “So, who’s this exactly?”

  The vulture then tipped his hat while smiling. “Just another friend of mine here, you can say he is the unofficial leader in charge of the slums here.”

  The young man put his hands in his shoulders, a bit annoyed. “Now come on now Zeph, you know that isn’t true.” I swear I thought I saw him puff his cheeks like a kid. Hard to tell from the darkness of the night.

  “Never mind that now, if Zeph says you’re a friend of his then we have nothing to worry about. You can call me Alex, and your name?”

  Seeing that Zeph trusted this man, I decided to take off my mask as I answered. “Vladimir, pleasure to meet you.”

  Alex tilted his name, looking a bit confused. “Vladimir huh? Odd name. What brings you here?”

  “You can say I was merely taking a tour around this kingdom.” I stated while playfully twirling my claw.

  “A tour huh. Well doubt you’d find much here, but I’ll take your word for it. Let me welcome you to the ‘glorious’ kingdom of ours. Hope you aren’t as disappointed as the rest of us.” He answered, with a sarcastic tone to the word ‘glorious’, it’s obvious from his demeanor what he thinks of this place, and I can assume the rest share his views. Hmm, I could use that.

  Zeph started to speak to me, pointing at his friend. “Remember when I said that there may be some people who wouldn’t be opposed to being invaded. Well, you can say he’s one of them.”

  “Really now, well thanks for the info.” That’s good to know, so I could definitely use this. Maybe they’d be willing to cooperate.

  Alex was able to pick up on that and began to question us. “What do you mean by that Zeph and why does he need to know that?” He started to glare at me as he continued. “You’re not saying this little guy is actually going to do that right? That kind of joke?”

  I decided to answer his questions for Zeph. I couldn’t help but take a step forward with my body just for a little extra show. “Definitely not a joke. I plan to conquer this world, and this kingdom is well within my sight. ~”

  He was taken back by my declaration. He didn’t look like he could believe what I was saying and was looking at Zeph with a dumbfounded look on his face. “…. Is he for real?”

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  The vulture shrugged with his hand and shoulders in response, all while keeping a small smile on his face. “Seems so, he even says he has some followers already and I kinda joined them temporarily.”

  “Wait what?! Why!? What’s going on here?!” Alex was getting more puzzled by his response.

  Zeph then took the time to explain what had happened today.

  Once he was done, Alex began to put his hand on his head and shake it in disbelief. “I can’t believe it. If what you’re saying is true, then this may be our opportunity. Say little guy, think we could help in some way?”

  “If you’re willing to join in following me, I wouldn’t mind. The more the merrier right? ~” I gave a smirk, I liked where this was going, and I was snatching this opportunity while I have the chance!

  Alex seemed a bit taken aback, not really expecting this to be my response. “J-join you huh? Well…. I don’t know, what exactly are you going to want from us?”

  He looked back at Zeph as if wondering what he would say, who would only give a small shrug. “Why not, he doesn’t seem like he’s going to force you. Plus, he was fine on my employment being temporary. So, what’s the harm in joining?”

  “Well…. I’m not sure the others would agree to it so easily….” As expected, he seemed unsure of my proposal. Seeing this I thought it was best for me to change tactics for now.

  “No need to rush, at the very least I would like you to consider my proposal. ~”

  He nodded in agreement, considering this as a decent compromise for the time being. After all he didn’t want to let an opportunity like this slip by. “Alright then sounds good. I’ll try to discuss it with the others. In the meantime, if what you’ve told us is true then we need to get you two out of here as soon as possible.”

  “I agree with you there; we’re pretty much done with our little nightly tour anyway. Is the old exit still around?” Zeph asked as he walked ahead.

  Alex nodded, catching up with Zeph. I decided to follow from behind, since it seems like they knew each other for a while. “Yup, they still haven’t found it even after all those years.”

  It didn’t take long for us to reach the stone barricade protecting the small kingdom. Of course, it makes sense they would have the slums be at the edge of this kingdom. If it ever had to deal with an army invasion, then they would be the first to suffer.

  Though I am going to invade this kingdom, I made a note to keep the damage to the absolute minimum around here. Hopefully by then Alex would be able to convince everyone to join me, that would make it a lot easier.

  As we went through the stone walls the two pointed at several large bushes to the side. When they pushed it to the size there was a hole big enough for someone to walk through. The fact that such a large crack was left unnoticed for this long barely surprised me considering who their king was.

  Well, I am sure to take full advantage of his incompetence and make absolutely sure he understood how much he screwed himself up by messing with me. I’m reminded once more about what I saw him do earlier which only reignited my desire to make that fat pig pay.

  Just the thought of what I’ll do to him made me want to laugh. “Veehahahahaha~”

  Alex started to whisper to Zeph once more, asking the usual questions I’ve grown used to hearing. “…Is he alright? He’s making a weird laugh there.”

  “Not quite sure, he made the same laugh when we were stuck in the castle. I think it’s best to just let it be. After all, better it was focus on that chubby king anyway.”

  After making sure no one else was watching, he motioned us to get through the hole. He told us that he would be keeping watch out but to be mindful of the other end of the wall.

  I nodded in understanding as me and Zeph made our way through the exit but not before giving Alex reassurance. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we’ll come back with some good news once we figure something out.”

  “Yeah yeah now hurry before a guard notices.” He warned us, motioning us to move it with his hands.

  The venture through the crack took a bit of time, I noticed that at some point the hole was becoming less natural and more man made. I would assume that once they saw the crack, someone must have slowly chipped away at it in the hopes of escaping.

  After some time, we managed to get through without much problem. How Zeph gets through this enough time without those wings of his getting in the way had me curious. We stretched after for a bit, enjoying being in the open air outside of that kingdom.

  But now, it was time for the next order of business. “Now that we’re out, we need to return to my followers. They must all be worried sick.”

  Zeph was shaking off the dirt off his hat and clothes before he asked. “Sooo, how exactly are we going to find them? I doubt you would be going blind after going this far. ~”

  “Of course not, I got one henchman with the [Skill] for locating what they need to find.” I stated, while also remembering how a particular minotaur had a particular [Ability] to sense where I am.

  “For now, I think it’s best for us to go in the direction of where my town is. Do you know about the town that is supposedly far from the other multiple kingdoms?”

  Zeph started to point his finger up when he realized what I was referring to. “Right, they were planning to conquer a small town weren’t they. And you said your town, so I guess that means you stole their conquest first huh? ~”

  He chuckled a bit before pointing in a certain direction. “Well, if that’s the case I believe it should be that way. Shall we go? ~”