I suddenly found myself backing up. With this copy of myself trying to convince me that I was actually afraid. Obviously, I couldn’t believe it. The idea of a world conqueror like me being afraid was just utter nonsense.

  But then when he pointed out my shaking arms, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I really was scared for my life earlier... I actually did have us all retreat earlier. It took me some time to process it all, which luckily this other me was letting me.

  After calming down, I started to think about what I should do next. Since I had us all run, it made me wonder what would happen later. Would the other countries hear about this humiliation? What about my followers? My henchmen?

  I started stewing in my own thoughts. It seems acknowledging my own fear was like a floodgate opening and releasing other fears I didn’t even know I had!

  ….

  I….

  “I didn’t make you aware of your own fear just for you to sink into it.”

  His words pulled me back into reality, or actually I guess you can call it more like mental reality??

  I asked. “Then what was the point of all that?”

  He could only sigh with his arms and head down. As if he were done with this conversation already. “Look. Whatever happened to us is probably going to stick for the foreseeable future. Whether I like it or not, I’ll need to go along with you while I figure out what you and I are exactly. And since the only thing I have to use is these ‘Kobold Instincts’ as you called them, I figure it was best to at least make sure we don’t die from something that is obviously going to kill us.”

  He then put his claws on his shoulders as he continued. “So at the very least, I want you to be more aware of your own fear. That way I don’t have to waste time warning you every 5 Minutes because you decided to recklessly charge at an obvious danger.”

  ……fair point. But…

  His expression then changed, cracking a small smile. “Though, I am thankful to you in some ways.”

  Thankful? For what exactly? I asked myself this which he must have picked up on as he answered with a cheerful tone.

  “You may have noticed this when you first came here but. We kobolds are a cowardly species, one of the weakest monsters in this world in fact. Because of that none of us have ever strive for more but to simply survive”

  Yeah, even now there’s this lingering fear that is ever present with my fellow kobolds...

  He continued, his eyes starting to glean as he looked at me. “But then you started to show them that they didn’t need to let our fears stop us. Before I knew it, everyone was starting to be more confident and willing to try new things outside of just surviving. I mean, if one of us could make a Minotaur devoted to him and make an entire kingdom his who knows what else we could do!”

  The second he mentioned Mordred I quickly remembered and began to worry. “Oh god Mordred! I got to get out of here and see if everyone is alright!”

  That’s right, now is not the time to dwell in my own fears. It hasn’t stopped me before, so why should I let it now!

  I took both of my claws and slapped both my cheeks as hard as I could to try to stir myself awake! All that managed to be accomplished was making the scales of my cheek even more red than they already were as well as throb in pain.

  My other self was a bit panicked seeing me slap myself. He ran right towards me frantically waving his arms. “Waitwaitwait! That’s not going to wake you up! I know you’re worried but that won’t work!”

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  “Then what should I do then?! I need to make sure things don’t fall apart now!”

  He had his arms up, moving them like he was trying to calm down a wild animal. “Just relax and listen to me. If we try to force you awake now who knows what will happen to us. I certainly don’t want to find out.”

  Damn it, I hate to admit he’s right. But then what, am I supposed to just wait?!

  “Unfortunately yes, might as well try to get what you can while you’re here.” He responded, reminding me that my thoughts were open to him.

  I was forced to just accept it, but it didn’t mean my anxiousness would subside in the meantime. To try to distract myself I tried to ask this other version their side of the perspective from when I first came to this world.

  According to him, he was barely aware of himself around that time. Only slowly regaining himself bit by bit though he remembers what I was up to during that time. Strangely, he felt like it was his own actions which further fuels my theory about our souls possibly being merged. That only made things feel weird for me, so I shelved that thought for the time being.

  He mentioned that his awareness was at their strongest when he felt danger approaching. Thinking back then, he really wanted to give me a piece of mind from completely ignoring his warnings about dealing with Mordred.

  Well, that seemed to line up to my own memories at the very least. Apparently, he tried to communicate with me back then since his perception had started to surface. But in my end, I wasn’t able to interact with him even though he kept on trying this being the first time I was able to.

  At first, he was frustrated with me. He was scolding me on being so careless with our body. He could practically feel our left arm breaking at this point what with all of the damage it kept sustaining. It felt strange to be scolded with little for me to counter back after all this time. I’ve gotten used to either my followers praising me or others voicing their complaints but not having anything that I couldn’t counter back.

  Honestly, it was like being chewed out by my mom for breaking the cookie jar or something. Made even worse with the fact I couldn’t even retreat to my own thoughts since he could hear them as well.

  But then, he switched topics and instead started to list out everything I did that he was amazed by. From beating Mordred, getting him to submit, and to the full conquest of an entire kingdom.

  “I never once thought a weak kobold like us could ever achieve so much. It’s like the stories about the True Dragons.”

  Now that was something I haven’t heard about. I was going to ask but I once again forgot about his ability to hear my thoughts as he immediately started enthusiastically recounting the legends that apparently have been spread across us Kobolds this entire time.

  “How have you not been hearing about our legends, what kind of Kobold are you?! It is said that the True Dragons were the original rulers of this world before the goddess Astrea came along! We Kobolds have long worshipped them as inspirations for our species to strive towards. Powerful, dominating creatures that none could stand against!”

  If they were called True Dragons, that would imply that there are regular dragons as well. But how come no one else mentioned them?

  “Well maybe because you never bothered to ask. We Kobolds have known such legends, and it would be a little suspicious if you didn’t know. That and we don’t normally talk about it in the open or we could risk having more people against us. You already see how people act around our shadowy butler of ours. They believe his species to be associated with the demons that are against the goddess.”

  Alright, I think I’m starting to get the picture now. I remember how strongly religion can be with how it was like in my own world. “You’re surprisingly knowledgeable about the world for someone who’s only ever lived in a cave.”

  He started to poke his head as he answered. “Well sometimes we would find some scriptures and books from the adventurers that managed to venture deep enough for us to find. One good thing the goddess did was provide a common language for all sentient beings otherwise we would never have been able to read them.”

  Oh, is that why we were all able to communicate with each other?

  “…. You really don’t pay attention, do you? Is everyone in your world like this?”

  I looked away, feeling a bit embarrassed. “Anyway, this has been surprisingly informative. Mayb-”

  Suddenly I could feel my body starting to stir. It looked like it was finally time to wake up.

  He seemed to be aware of it himself. “Well, better get moving. Since you’re aware of me now, I’ll see if there’s a way for me to communicate with you other than that ‘Instincts’.”

  I nodded, preparing myself for whatever I would wake up to and what I would need to do then on.

  But then…

  “Oh, by the way. I thought it would be easier for us if I were to give myself a name. I think I’ll go by the name Rob, I’m sure you don’t mind. ~”

  My eyes widened as I heard the name he decided to go by. No…. not that name!!!

  “Okay, good luck!!” He gave me a thumbs up and a mischievous smile.

  Damn it! I know you heard my thoughts that time!! Don’t you dare us-