After giving instructions on the cooperation between the harpies and the kobolds, Jose returned to the blood-tooth tribe's mine and instructed the two kobold brothers to contact the harpies. He then returned to his lair and continued lying down while reading the memories of the two new followers.
Checking the follower's memories was like flipping through a book. The speed at which he read it was up to him, but if he was too fast, it was easy to overlook some details.
The memories of the harpy follower contained the magical knowledge she had learned. They needed to be read carefully, but the memories of the boarman merchant could be read faster.
Through the memories of the boarman merchant, Hulk, Jose learned some information about the Conch Merchant Guild.
This Guild's headquarters was located in a trade city at the center of the continent. It used to be powerful, and the reason why this was in the past was because the expert supporting it had died.
Due to the excellent skills of its leader, the Conch Merchant Guild was not crushed by its competitors, but it still inevitably declined. As a result, it was unable to maintain its massive number of guards.
The Merchant Guild Leader instead thought of a way to maintain their influence, which was to give up a portion of the profits to develop the natives of the grassland and use them to protect their business. The boarman Hulk became a merchant under the Conch Merchant Guild as a result.
The Black Water Merchant Guild, on the other hand, was one of the greedy wolves that had rushed to attack the Conch Merchant Guild after the death of its expert.
Jose rested his chin on the ground and murmured, "If it is a Merchant Guild that has lost its backer, I might be able to gain its cooperation using Hulk. Coincidentally, the iron ingots that the kobolds smelted are stored in the warehouse."
Jose told the boarman merchant about the iron ingots, and the latter agreed readily.
Regardless of which country it was, iron was an important strategic resource. Forging farming tools required iron; forging armor and weapons also required iron. It was simply a necessity in everyday life.
It was precisely because of the importance of iron that countries set laws to restrict the mining and trading of iron ores. Iron resources that could be freely circulated thus became increasingly precious.
The iron ingots mined and smelted by the kobolds were easy to trade. Whether they were sold to tribes that lacked ironware on the plains or to a Merchant Guild, it would be a profitable business.
However, the iron ingots would have to wait until the boarman returned to the plains and organized people to purchase them.
As he was lying down, Jose was tempted by his future plans.
He suddenly received a request for a telepathic connection from Soda, his muscular kobold follower. That was the benefit of the Follower Contract. Dragons could connect to the follower's mind at will, but the latter had to send a request.
"What is it?"
"Master, I've negotiated with the four kobold tribes. They're willing to submit! I am negotiating with the fifth kobold tribe now, but they have a condition that I don't dare agree to on my own."
"What tribe? What condition?"
"It's the grayscale tribe. They want to work with the blood-tooth tribe to deal with the moss skin gnolls."
Thoughts flew through Jose's mind.
The grayscale tribe's territory was at the border with the moss skin gnolls, and the kobolds would be raided by them from time to time. This request was reasonable, and besides, it was only a matter of time before Jose conquered the moss skin gnolls.
"Agree to their condition. Also, bring all the leaders who have pledged allegiance to the tribe to me."
"Yes!"
At noon on the next day, Soda led a group of kobolds to Jose's lair and led the way to kneel before the crouching Red Dragon.
He rested his head on his claw and looked at the kneeling kobolds. There were about thirty of them.
Of course, there were only five leaders. The rest were their attendants and guards.
"All of you may rise."
As the kobolds stood up, Soda pointed at a kobold chief and said, "Master, this is—"
Jose waved his hand and interrupted Soda's introduction. He stood up. Even though he did not release his draconic aura, just the Red Dragon's mountain-like body and well-defined muscles gave the kobolds a strong sense of oppression.
"Before you make a contribution, I'm not interested in knowing your names." The voice sounded lazy, like he had just yawned after waking up. It was as if the kobold chiefs were weeds on the roadside.
However, they did not feel that it was inappropriate. Instead, it felt natural.
This was the attitude a True Dragon should have when facing a lesser dragonkin!
"I am different from ordinary dragons. In my place, what determines your status isn't completely dependent on your strength, but rather, how much you offer to me. Your contributions will also determine the benefits you can obtain from me."
Jose raised one of his dragon claws and pointed up, slowly drawing a horizontal line in front of him. "The blood-tooth tribe has offered the residence that I like and obtained my favor. As for you latecomers, what can you give me?"
"Loyalty! Gold! Oh noble True Dragon!" A kobold who was more muscular than Soda raised his head and looked at Jose with bright eyes, shouting, "The blood claw tribe is willing to offer its loyalty and treasures!"
As he spoke, he confidently dragged out a small wooden chest from behind him. Opening the lid of the chest, he revealed the gold coins and irregular small gold pieces inside.
"Esteemed True Dragon, this is the blood claw tribe's accumulated wealth over the years. Not long ago, we discovered a gold mine. We are willing to offer all of this in exchange for the honor of becoming the servant of a True Dragon!"
Everyone, including Jose, was shocked when they heard about the gold mine.
"I didn't expect that there would be a gold mine in this poor village."
Jose grabbed a handful of gold from the box. The gold leaked through his "fingers" and fell back into the wooden box, hitting the coins with a pleasant clink sound.
"Good, very good."
The kobold did not lie. These were indeed newly mined pieces of gold. The nose of the dragon could even smell the remnants of fresh soil in the gold.
"What's your name?"
"Master, my name is Hasa of the blood claw tribe."
"Hasa, I'll remember you." Jose closed the box and glanced at the kobold. "The blood claw tribe has contributed greatly by offering a gold mine. They will enjoy the same treatment as the blood-tooth tribe. Is there anyone else?"
"The grayscale tribe is willing to offer its loyalty! We will also contribute a copper mine!"
"The white streak tribe…"
"…"
The rest of the tribes did not have much to offer, so Jose was not too interested.
"From now on, all the tribes will send their offspring to the blood-tooth tribe to be raised together. Also, each tribe will choose half of their younger warriors and come to this mine for training…"
"I appoint Soda of the blood-tooth tribe as the chief of the kobolds. He'll be in charge of commanding you all."
Soda was elated, raising his head abruptly, and quickly expressed his gratitude. "Thank you for your trust, Master. Soda will definitely not let you down."
Jose nodded. In order to avoid power concentrating on a single leader with no one to keep him in check, he would need to choose a deputy. He looked at Hasa, the most pleasant of the kobold chiefs.
"Hasa will serve as the chief's deputy and assist him."
Hasa knelt on one knee and touched his chest with one hand. "I am willing to expand our territory with the chief, Master."
"I look forward to seeing your performance."
As he spoke, Jose took out five scales and transformed the five chiefs into his followers.
Actually, there was no lack of beginner-level strength among the followers brought by the chiefs, but Jose only chose the five chiefs.
On the one hand, he could not hand out contracts randomly, or he would be devaluing this incentive. On the other hand, Jose had no interest in these beginner-level warriors.
When everything was over, everyone walked out.
Suddenly, Jose felt that he was being watched. He looked up and saw one of the kobolds turning back in panic.
However, he was not the only kobold who turned back in a panic. There was also a contracted chief who did the same.
It was the kobold's nature to worship and admire a True Dragon, so it was normal to sneak a peek before leaving.
Am I being too sensitive…?
Jose slowly lay down again.
In the distance, within a vine-covered cave, on a throne made of thorns and flowers, a tall figure took a sip of the red wine in his glass.
"Little brat, you're quite alert!"