A range of thirty kilometers is not small; in the previous world, it would have been about the size of a city, taking an hour or two even by car.
However, perhaps due to the arrival of the cold winter, all creatures were hunkered down in their nests, not venturing out, and as a result, the Blue Young Dragon flew all the way without gaining any results.
"Damn it, it seems we can only let the Kobolds search slowly later."
Having gained nothing, Austin did not continue to fly forward but directly returned. After another hundred miles or so, he should reach the place the Kobolds mentioned as the Great Tribe, and the present Blue Young Dragon had no intention of running around stirring trouble.
On his return trip, Austin did not follow the original route back but took a wide detour, returning from another direction.
Although the chances of discovering other tribes were slim, it's always good to cast a wide net and search more areas.
Subsequently, the Blue Young Dragon was immensely grateful for his decision.
When he flew back to the old nest from another direction, about ten kilometers from the nest, he saw thick smoke rising from the mountains not far away.
In this cold winter, the probability of natural fires is almost zero.
Where there's fire and smoke, it represents the activities of intelligent life in that place, either Beastmen or humans, and judging by the situation in the Kawa Great Forest, evidently, the former is more prevalent.
However, that column of thick smoke was quite grand...
Austin flew forward swiftly, harboring various thoughts.
In no time, Austin flew above the mountain from which the smoke was rising.
What appeared before him was a village that had just experienced the ravages of war.
The whole expanse of snow-covered white land in that area was mucked up, dirty snow mixed with muddy water frozen into ice, stained with dried blood, but there was no corpse to be seen.
This tribe seemed to have just endured a "battle."
The victor was evidently quite frugal, taking away all valuable items. The scattered five or six simple wooden huts were first dismantled, whatever could be taken was taken away, even the beams supporting the houses were dismantled and dragged away. Ultimately, whatever had no value was burnt to ashes.
Austin hovered above a few times but did not discover anything of value, not even a person, as if they had already withdrawn.
The Blue Young Dragon pondered for a moment, hovered around a few times, and finally landed on the ground.
Everything around was chaotic; Austin was no Sherlock Holmes, unable to deduce anything. However, from the ruins of those houses, he could simplistically guess that the population gathered here wouldn't exceed thirty people. As for the main kind of Beastman, that's something the Blue Young Dragon didn't know.
"Hmm, although there are bloodstains, they're not extensive—probably not many died, it looks more like they were expelled from the tribe after a defeat, or maybe captured entirely..."
If it had been a brutal blood feud slaughter, the battlefield wouldn't be so easily tidied up.
"Let's search nearby; there might be some clues."
Resolute in his decision, Austin flapped his wings and soared into the sky.
If I can find scattered people and incorporate them into the Kobolds' ranks, this would greatly benefit the expansion of Austin's forces.
Even if this battle resulted in the tribe being captured and annexed, finding the victor's tracks and planning slowly in the future wouldn't be a bad idea.
After all, capturing populations through war is much faster than the natural breeding of Kobolds.
The Blue Young Dragon turned in the air and followed the trails on the ground.
....
Meanwhile.
In the Kobold village beneath the Blue Young Dragon's nest, a group of Kobolds was preparing lunch.
On the mud-brick stove was a giant stone pot, with raging fire below boiling the water inside.
Then, eight pieces of smoked ghost-headed crocodile meat were taken from the storeroom, not washed to avoid losing the oil on the meat, directly thrown into the stone pot to cook, then adding wild grains previously harvested along with some dried wild vegetables. After simmering for about half an hour, the wooden lid was lifted, and a big pot of aromatic food was ready.
Due to the smoking on the surface of the meat, the whole pot of soup looked somewhat black, and with the wild grains not husked, it tasted smoky and scratched the throat.
This kind of food, in Austin's view, was the worst kind of dark cuisine, but for these Kobolds, it was the most abundant food.
Having oil and meat and still being able to eat to fullness, this kind of life was something they never enjoyed before.
Especially during the cold winter, in previous cold winters, Kobolds managed with just one meal a day, consisting of dry grass roots.
Using bamboo ladles, the stew from the stone pot was scooped out into each Kobold's wooden bowl. Then, the Kobolds gathered in groups, slurping the food down.
The aroma of the food permeated several hundred meters around.
...
At this moment, a mile away from the Kobold village in the dense forest, a ragged team was fleeing in distress.
"Chief, Chief!"
The Fox-faced Man, Quik, hurriedly caught up, grabbing the arm of the tribe leader, a strong Lizardman, who was frantically running ahead.
"Chief, we've run far enough; Simon's group shouldn't be able to catch up, let's rest for a bit!"
Fox-faced Man Quik looked somewhat grim; this tribe was a small newly established one this year, led by Lizardman Rodney, who once punched a forest lion to death before Quik's eyes.
It was seeing Lizardman Rodney's strength that motivated Fox-faced Man Quik to assist him in establishing a small tribe, gathering other Beastmen to share warmth and collectively survive the dangerous cold winter.
But who knew that as soon as the cold winter arrived, a nearby Jackal Wolfman Tribe would accuse Rodney's group of encroaching on their territory, directly attacking the village Rodney and his people had spent most of the summer building.
The Jackal Wolfman leader was a Jackal Wolfman named Simon, a transcendent being, approximately Bronze Lower Tier. Despite being the lowest level of transcendent being, for Quik and other Beastmen, he was akin to a superhuman, his very form comparable to the leader Lizardman Rodney in size.
Without suspense, the tribe Rodney established was easily defeated by the Jackal Wolf People, expelled from the village, along with their food gathered over the summer falling into the hands of the Jackal Wolf People.
If it weren't for the Jackal Wolf People valuing the food more than these defeated gravely injured individuals, they would likely have been slaughtered entirely.
Nonetheless, even as things stood, Lizardman Rodney and his group dared not linger, fleeing in panic for nearly ten kilometers.
"Lord Rodney, everyone is tired. Let's find a place to rest first."