Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon's Might-Chapter 53 - Dividing the Spoils

He was keen on the carriage, but it wouldn’t be a problem if he didn’t get it; he was more concerned about matters that would compromise his dignity.

Leon coughed, and both Dekka and the Hobgoblins Warlord instantly calmed down.

Leon noticed that Dekka was looking at him with hopeful eyes, and the other Orcs were watching him too, as if nothing was more important or more emotionally compelling than that carriage.

That’s why he said he had seen all kinds of setting books, but he hadn’t systematically read them, just bits and pieces, and his impression of Orcs was more about tribal hounds and green-skinned creatures undergoing mitosis; he didn’t quite understand why these Orcs in front of him were so fixated on a carriage.

His gaze landed on the carriage, whose frame was still intact after the fire, and he asked, “Why do you want this carriage so much?”

“A carriage can carry things, transporting food and spoils back to the tribe.

A war carriage can also protect from arrows and even serve as a battering ram,” Lorug explained, “A tribe without a war carriage can hardly be called a tribe.”

At that moment, Leon was in a good mood and didn’t mind acting magnanimously, waving his hand, he said, “Alright, since you want it so much, the carriage is yours.

But if you take the carriage, you’ll have to accept less of the other things.”

“Thank you, master,” expressed Dekka gratefully, seemingly not hearing the latter part of Leon’s statement.

Leon casually glanced over the Orc troops, not sure exactly how many had been lost, but noting that not a single one present was uninjured, he said, “This is what you deserve.”

Leon had no interest in the farm tools, pots and pans they had rescued from the fire, including the various ceremonial items from the temple, and generously distributed all of them, a little for you, a little for me, leaving only the more valuable items.

Surprisingly, several Dimension Bags were quite well-preserved, especially one fashioned into a flip-cover waist pouch that could be hooked onto a belt with a claw and taken away at any moment.

With a prying of a claw, the cover could be flipped open.

Leon remembered it was originally tied around the waist of the female Mage; he took it for himself with no qualms and a smile.

In fact, Leon planned to take all the Dimension Bags, including all the coins and gemstones, which the adventurers had plenty of, as well as the crafts, toys, and books that interested him, like music boxes and ship-in-a-bottle ornaments…

While he had no use for weapons and armor, if they were exquisitely made and pretty, he was inclined to collect them.

After Leon finished dividing the loot, of course, he left quite a lot for the Orcs and Hobgoblins—including the Bugbears, goblins, and Ogres within their groups—like the Civilian Captain’s sword, which was absolutely practical but not very pretty, the Vice Captain of the Civilian Army’s bow, and some scrolls and potions.

“I’ve said my piece.

Who agrees, who opposes?” Leon was quite democratic; if anyone had any objections, he didn’t mind discussing the division of the spoils again.

That’s why Leon was considered fair.

At this moment, no one voiced any opposition.

Actually, it was because although Leon took the lion’s share, the items he distributed were still substantial.

He only kept what he was interested in and did not greedily snatch up everything.

He was much more generous than other Dragons by far.

After this event, Leon quickly became a Little Rich Dragon.

In the days that followed, Leon didn’t reside in the abandoned fortress, but moved back to his halfway-up-the-mountain lair.

The reason was simple: halfway up the mountain was convenient for taking off, without the noisy Orcs or the various stenches, making the living environment much better than the abandoned fortress.

If there was one band of adventurers, then there was bound to be a second.

The next group of adventurers might even be stronger.

Leon considered whether he should just leave and find another place to live, but in the end, he didn’t go.

He believed that with the strength he showed, he had the ability to protect himself—as long as he didn’t court death, he wouldn’t die.

Paranoid delusions were useless, but it was also not good to lack any sense of prevention.

Leon forcefully demanded the Hobgoblins Warlord to establish a camp at the foot of the small mountain and then set up sentinels on the essential path entering the forest to watch for possible adventurers…

Order Evil Hobgoblins were more useful than chaotic evil Orcs.

Perhaps it was because he had killed a team of adventurers, destroyed a village, or that village located on the border with several hundreds of decently strong inhabitants that Leon’s infamy spread.

For quite a while, no adventurers harassed Leon.

The rewards for slaying a Dragon were rich, but one needed the strength to claim them, or it would be a death sentence.

And for those with strength, there were plenty of other opportunities to make money.

Unless one was particularly strapped for cash or simply wanted to prove themselves, there was no need to push things so far.

Of course, there were still adventurers confident in their ability to challenge Leon, who was after all just a Young Dragon.

Some of these would either perish to his combination of immobilization spell and Samadhi True Fire, taking one down before slowly defeating the rest, or fall en masse to a single Soul Summoning Mantra.

Leon discovered that if he started by trash-talking, such as criticizing a middle-aged adventurer for not taking care of his wife and children, if the adventurer felt guilty or troubled, Soul Summoning Mantra would be more effective, almost instantly controlling the person.

Beyond that, Leon also found that Soul Summoning Mantra was effective against unintelligent beasts, but dealing with such beasts hardly required using Soul Summoning Mantra; a pounce, a claw, a bite was sufficient, and his sharp teeth and mouth weren’t just for show.

After continuously killing several groups of adventurers and demonstrating his formidable combat ability, and considering that Leon had settled in the forest without further expanding his territory, it became rare for anyone to trouble Leon…

Orcs and Hobgoblins would go out to plunder and fight, but neither caused much of a stir outside.

Time flies, and in the blink of an eye, Leon had grown from a Young Dragon into a teenage dragon.