Building a Kingdom as a Kobold-Chapter 54: Oh Good, The Ancient Forest Has Side Quests Too

The clearing was silent.

The brazier flickered faintly where Scribbles had disappeared. No trace left. No explanation. Just cold panic twisting in my gut.

I stared at the empty space for a heartbeat too long.

The system chimed like an unhelpful assistant with perfect timing.

[Warning: Mythline Entanglement Level Rising]

[Optional Quest: Do Not Panic (You Will Fail)]

Nailed it.

"Relay, do me a favor," I whispered. "If I start screaming, write 'called it' in the report."

"Already noted," Relay whispered back.

The half-elves were staring at us now. Dozens of them. Sharp eyes. Whispers between their ranks. And leading them, Sylrien, calm as ever but with the faintest crease between her brows.

She stepped forward. "Explain."

I flicked my tail. "Define 'explain.'"

"The spirit. The glyph-marked one. Why was it bound to your flame?"

There it was. The question I could not answer without sounding completely insane.

The squad stared at me expectantly. I stared at Sylrien. My brain attempted to generate a plausible explanation. It failed.

I coughed. "It's... complicated."

"Enlighten us."

I considered several options.

Tell the truth? Bad idea.

Run? Worse idea.

Lie badly? Standard kobold leadership strategy.

"It's a... dungeon thing." I waved vaguely. "Totally normal. Happens all the time. We're very used to it."

Sylrien's eyes narrowed. She clearly didn't believe a word of it, but also clearly had no idea how to follow up.

A soft breeze drifted through the trees like even nature itself was judging me.

The system chimed again.

[Diplomatic Outcome: Awkward]

[Recommended Action: Pretend You Know What You're Doing]

[Success Rate: Zero]

Of course.

They led us deeper into the forest without another word. The mood had shifted from cautious curiosity to "politely suspicious."

We passed towering tree-homes twisted into impossible spirals, vines that swayed in patterns I didn't like, and faint glowing motes that flickered along the path as if guiding us—or tracking us.

I walked stiffly at the front of the squad. Cinders trudged behind, spoon clinking faintly with every step. Flick was already looking longingly at the upper branches as if planning an escape route. Relay scribbled madly, labeling every new plant as "probably dangerous" or "definitely dangerous."

Tinker's scanner beeped furiously.

"Mythline resonance increasing," he whispered. "Unstable field detected."

"Wonderful," I muttered. "So we're doomed with style."

We reached the Elder Tree.

I froze.

It was less a tree and more a living fortress. Towering far beyond any normal growth, its trunk twisted up into the clouds, massive hollowed branches forming natural balconies and walkways. The bark glowed faintly with gold-tinted veins, pulsing like a heartbeat. Spiral patterns carved into its base matched Ashring's oldest markings exactly.

The system whispered.

[Myth Signature Confirmed]

[Origin Unknown]

[Recommended Action: Panic (Again)]

I stared up at it.

"Yeah," I whispered. "I hate this."

The inside of the Elder Tree felt like stepping into a living cathedral.

Light filtered through natural gaps high above. Vines wove into curling designs across the walls. Bioluminescent moss glowed softly along the floor. The air hummed faintly with something I couldn't describe but my flame shard absolutely did not like.

Tinker's scanner practically vibrated out of his claws.

"Mythline resonance approaching critical," he whispered.

Great.

At the far end of the chamber, seated atop a smooth root throne, waited the Elder.

They were ancient. Silver hair flowed like water. Their bark-patterned robes blended into the tree behind them. Wrinkles deep as canyon walls creased their face. Their eyes though... sharp. Awake. Watching everything.

The squad froze.

I stepped forward.

The Elder spoke softly, voice heavy with weight.

"Sovereign of Ashring."

I tensed. "That's me. Usually."

"You carry the fragment."

I blinked. "The what now?"

"The flame. The shard of what once was whole."

A long pause. "We once tended the Origin Flame. Long ago. It burned across the forest. Balanced all things. Then the cycle was corrupted. Lost. You bear its echo."

The squad exchanged panicked glances.

Flick mouthed dramatically at me: What did you do?

I ignored him.

The Elder continued. "The shard calls. It pulls threads of forgotten myth toward you. This spirit... this one who flickered and vanished... he is caught within it."

I said nothing.

What was I supposed to say?

"Oh yes, we accidentally woke a mythical world-ending flame and my youngest kobold shaman is trapped somewhere between life and not-life because of my bad management skills"?

Yeah. No.

The Elder stared at me for a long time. "If you walk this path, you walk it alone."

"Sounds about right," I said flatly.

The system pinged unhelpfully.

[Mythline Warning: Entanglement Escalating]

[Optional Quest: Keep Pretending You Have Any Control Over This]

I sighed.

The squad, being themselves, immediately broke any sense of dignity.

Flick tried to sneak off to climb the walls.

Tinker scanned a pillar and got zapped.

Relay interviewed an extremely unamused half-elf about forest construction methods.

Cinders cornered a terrified herbalist and attempted to explain kobold cooking recipes. Loudly.

I sat heavily against a root and stared blankly into space.

The system chimed again.

[Companion Behavior: Predictably Disastrous]

"Yup," I muttered.

As the meeting broke up, I slipped away. Just five minutes of peace, that's all I wanted. The winding roots led me into a hollow alcove deep in the Elder Tree's base. The walls spiraled tightly, faint carvings barely visible in the dim light.

My flame shard pulsed sharply at my side.

I froze.

A spiral carving, identical to Ashring's emblem, glowed faintly on the wall.

Against all better judgment, I reached out and touched it.

The world snapped.

The flame shard flared bright, blinding.

The carvings surged with heat.

The system screamed at me for the first time ever.

[Myth Trigger Activated]

[Warning: Incoming Myth Event]

[Recommendation: Hold On To Something]

I staggered backward as the air twisted violently around me.

"Oh no," I whispered.