I can confirm, having a hole in my chest does not make me fly faster. While you'd think it'd reduce drag, it actually does the opposite, because I'm horizontal when I'm flying forward and that means the hole actually creates more drag. Not that it really matters since I can just choose to cancel out physics when I need to.

  It's the principle of the matter.

  As I tested my flight, I made enough time faffing about that Ornlu's pack of Kobolds arrived. Naturally, Ornlu was the biggest, strongest and most alpha of the bunch, or that's what I think anyway, totally not bias for my first dog or anything. Coming back down, I landed gently as my canine cohort, if that's the right term, rounded up the villagers.

  I looked at the new carriages, the medical ones, they were equipped with springs, the inside was soft cushioned beds, unironically made from these very nomads' own cushions, covered with thick water-resistant tarps that had an incredibly high ignition point.

  Honestly, considering the fact that almost everyone was still using weapons made out of bronze, tip-less arrows and the best armor anyone had access to was bronze reinforced leather, I felt like it might've been a bit overkill to emphasize that the ambulance carriages should be as defended as possible.

  The greater, more rational and more paranoid part of me, however...

  "How goes the alloy development? Have we figured out the right ratio of added carbon to make light and durable steel for the armor plating?" I asked Ornlu, who almost jumped, not even having heard me land, because physics is my bitch.

  "G-Great one!" she yelped. "We must acquire a bell after all," she said, nodding her head, and I was completely lost about what she had just tried to say. Stupid translation. However, she continued shortly after. "Thanks to Lord Stephen's guidance we've successfully advanced much farther than before, although, Lady Aqua insisted that we first create the bindings for the barrels needed for the distillery," she informed me.

  Ah. So they needed to make the steel bands for that. I eyed the wheels of the ambulance, and yep, they had steel reinforcements, most likely made during the process that created the rings of steel the barrels would use to keep their form.

  "Okay, just make sure you get those plates made... We've not had a chance to test them in combat yet, but, I'd still rather the ambulance be protected, rescuing our wounded is top priority."

  "Of course, Great One!" Ornlu saluted.

  "Go, guide your underlings back home... and when you're there, send Aqua in the wrong direction if she comes looking for me."

  "Sir humans cannot lie to dragons," she pointed out, "you told us that."

  "Well you're not human, you're a Kobold now, and I'm giving you permission, this once," I said, "so make sure you lie and that you do it convincingly, otherwise, you'll only have half a dragon as a boss, got that?"

  "Yes Great One!"

  With that, she moved to the ambulances and began directing her peeps more directly. As she did, I noticed that she took over from the Priestess, who had finished healing up the last of the minor wounds. Thankfully the Kobolds had brought us her staff, though they'd be taking it back to Argentum.

  Honestly I wasn't really thinking about what I wanted to do after this, but...

  I addressed the rescued peoples, and tried to make myself large.

  "You humans owe me your lives. Prepare the greatest, grandest and most amazing cushion that you can. Whatever you require to do so will be provided. Ornlu, transmit this to ours back at home, if it is in the pursuit of my bed, then they shall have access to any resource they require, spare no expense and bar no effort, if they need it, provide it!"

  "Yes, Great One!"

  They all agreed, I felt like I might've done a good thing by giving them a mission and a means through which they could repay me. Mercy by itself, while it is free for me and honestly the amount of effort this took was far outweighed by the reward of successfully rescuing these people, was often looked at with suspicion.

  On the other hand, if the person who saved them had a clear reason, then, people were far more likely to accept that on its face.

  I think, anyway. I'm not a psychologist. I could be talking, or thinking in this case, right out my ass. But it was better to at least try to assuage suspicion rather than just do nothing. Doing nothing has bit me in the butt before, and I've already had enough of my tail getting bitten, thank you very much.

  Before I was even done thinking about how cool I am, and trust me I am never done thinking about how cool I am, the caravan was ready and they set off. They even did some speech or something, I was only pretending to pay attention I admit.

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  Then, we, that is I and the Priestess... or is it Priestess and I...

  "Great One!" the Priestess called, and caught my attention. "We should leave before Lady Aqua gets suspicious and finds us here," she spoke, "she might follow the trail of the Kobolds and end up finding us if we dawdle too long!"

  Right, riiiight.

  "Okay, then, let's go!" I spread my wings and flew up, followed by the priestess. "Wanna listen to some music while we explore?"

  "I wouldn't mind it... ohh, can you do that one that goes du du dudu?"

  I never should've introduced her to meme songs. At least I'm getting better at using my magical bullshit dragon powers to play music off of my memory. It's far from perfect still, I can only imitate it so well, but at least that one was easy enough to do.

  It wasn't her last request either, and as we flew, the skies grew dark as the night began to settle.

  I didn't even know how long we'd been aimlessly flying around, as I refined my ability to play my own boss music, but it was long enough that we actually started discussing strategies for a bunch of games as well. The priestess hardly spent much of her time on games, she was almost always busy with one thing or another, but she knew enough to bounce ideas with me.

  I believe all of our ideas are terrible, but it's a start.

  Coincidentally, I also started learning more about what everyday life was like at my people's ever growing civilization.

  "Wait, really?" I asked. "You guys have been hard at work codifying my words huh."

  "Well of course Great One! We've also made great strides in the containment and rehabilitation facilities," she spoke.

  As we became more food secure, and the technologies we developed, as well as a little bit of help from myself and Aqua, came into play, we started being able to handle rehabilitation and reinsertion of those who committed minor crimes, as well as the more permanent and safer containment of those who committed major criminal offenses.

  I can't believe they're still going off of the basic codes of laws and ethics that I gave them so long ago that only the Priestess remained of those who had originally listened to them.

  Shit I've been around these people for a long enough time that we have a whole new generation of elders?

  "It's the sixth generation of elders since we first came under your service, Great One," the Priestess pointed out. "Before you came to us, we, uh, we did not live as many seasons as we do now."

  I stopped.

  "How- how long has it been," I shook my head. "You know what I don't want to know, I don't want to think about it," I said, "time is for the short lived, I'm immortal I don't have to worry about it."

  Because worrying about it would make me start having to think about how much time I spend sleeping and I do not want to think about how much time I spend sleeping, I like sleeping, I don't want to feel like I should stop doing it.

  "But Great One-"

  "Oh look that village over there's on fire, we'll continue this conversation never," I interrupted.

  "That's a bonfire! It appears to be some sort of festival! Would you like me to go investigate?" the Priestess asked.

  "Why? You think they won't welcome me if I went myself?" I asked.

  "I could ask," she pointed at my body, "but I believe the Great One's august magnificence might cause a bit of panic among those who are not used to your eminence and power."

  ...

  "Alright you've got a point," I was forced to admit. Looking down, I spied the lands around us. It was a bit of a hilly terrain directly under us, but there was a sharp canyon cut into the land, a river went through it... the canyon was clearly formed as if a cylinder had speared through the land, so it might've been the product of a really big beam or something.

  Maybe something like that big ol' turtle I fought in the icy northern wasteland?

  "I'll be here thinking about the environment and turtles if you need me," I said. "Do you want armor or a weapon or something?" I asked, looking at her clothes, she was using her magic to take care of the outfit I'd gifted her, it seemed like she treasured it a great deal...

  "Not at all! If necessary I shall use one of them as a weapon and beat a savage with another savage," she said, her tail whipping about, "you needn't worry for my safety Great One!"

  "I will worry about whatever I damn well please, now go before I start getting bored," I huffed.

  "At once, Great One!"

  She left.

  And that left me on my own. Alone with my thoughts. I started looking around. There were a whole bunch of stars in the sky. There were also two moons.

  ...

  Wait, two moons?

  "Were there always two moons and I just didn't notice?" I asked out loud. "Did I ever look at the sky at night now that I think about it?" I added, then realized I was speaking out loud. Ambient light was meaningless to me, I could see as well in the dark or in bright light, unless it was supernaturally bright anyway.

  Well I'm sure it's just regular and I totally didn't just forget there was a second moon in the sky.

  Instead, I focused on the land. What must've been a much more flat territory had been turning into a huge canyon, not created naturally by a river carving it, but rather, by great force all at once, it was too smooth, too cylindrical, and it was carved into the ground at an incline... I could follow it to where it began.

  It reminded me of those anime where a character would create a huge crater with a beam attack... going to where the crater started, I could see that it was a little wider at the start, and became thinner and thinner as it approached the distance. Following it, past the large village with the bonfire by the river, I followed it all the way to a gigantic crater at the end.

  That was probably where the attack had landed.

  The river that flowed down the middle of the canyon was coming from an underground spring, and the huge crater at the end had become a gigantic lake. If I had to guess, it was probably a couple tens of kilometers wide, mostly circular... I could see past the clear water to the bottom, the lake had a glass bottom, that was interesting.

  I was already bored.

  Should I just go crash the party, I wondered...

  Tempting fate had never turned out well for me, but I still couldn't help but wish that something interesting happened.

  I don't know, something like a meteor falling from the sky...

  ...

  I looked up. There was that second moon. It was bigger.

  And getting bigger.

  "That's no moon," I muttered to myself as I watched what looked to be an extinction event heading towards us.