Reincarnated As A Dragon With Cheats

Chapter 62: Cowards

For a moment, no one spoke, and even the steady sound of the river felt distant compared to the silence that settled between both sides.

Atuk and Pebbles stared at each other.

Atuk’s earlier hostility was replaced, at least for now, by something closer to confusion. His eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to make sense of what he had just heard.

"...A swamp?" he asked, the word sounding unfamiliar in his mouth. A few of the Frog-Men exchanged glances behind him, clearly just as unsure. "What is a swamp?"

His gaze sharpened again, fixing firmly on Pebbles.

"And why would you build something like that for us?"

Pebbles did not rush to answer. He let the question sit for a moment, his eyes drifting briefly toward the river before returning to Atuk.

"A swamp is land that holds water," he said, his voice calm and even.

"As you can see, the river water flows constantly. But in a swamp... The water stays, collects, seeps into the ground and remains there."

The Frog-Men listened a bit closer. They were agreesive earlier but now it was replaced with cautious attention.

"The soil stays wet," Pebbles continued. "Soft. Covered with thick plants that trap moisture and don’t let it dry easily."

He paused for a brief second, then added, "There are creatures that live in places like that. Some like... the lizardmen."

The moment that word left Pebbles’ mouth, all the Frog-Men started to murmur.

While most voices were just above a whisper, a few lines could be heard.

"The lizardmen live in swamps?"

"Woah..."

"Wow... swamps..."

Some had sparkles in their eyes.

"They don’t depend on rivers that shrink or disappear," Pebbles went on. "They live where the water stays."

His eyes returned to Atuk.

"You can too."

A quiet tension lingered in the air, but this time it wasn’t from killing intent. It was thought and hesitation.

"I’m not offering this for nothing," Pebbles said after a moment.

The wind moved faintly across the surface of the water, but no one interrupted him.

"This started because of us," he continued. "We came first. We attacked your men and killed a lot of them."

Behind him, a few goblins lowered their heads without realizing it.

The last fight was solely on Pebbles and his crew who came and killed quite a lot, just so that they wouldn’t die starving back at the village.

But the goblins knew that they too had tried attacking under the Shaman’s and Elder Lake’s orders.

"Because of that, you came to our village," Pebbles said. "You attacked our people."

He did not try to justify either side.

"We are even now."

Atuk remained silent, but his attention did not waver.

"So why continue?" Pebbles asked as his tone unchanged. "Why more bloodshed when neither side gains anything from it?"

No answer came, but the question lingered.

"Summer is coming," he added, glancing briefly at the river again. "This river will shrink. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but it always does. It’s part of the cycle."

A few of the Frog-Men shifted slightly at that.

"You bury yourselves when that happens, don’t you?" Pebbles said. "Deep into the riverbanks, waiting for the rain to return."

Atuk did not confirm it, but he didn’t deny it either.

"That restricts you," Pebbles continued. "You can’t move properly. You can’t hunt well. You just wait..."

"Just how powerless you all become?"

He let that sink in before continuing.

"We can change that."

Now the attention sharpened again.

"We build the swamp and we maintain it."

A faint stir ran through the goblins behind him.

"There’s another river," he added. "River Vlad. Three kilometers from here, in the opposite direction."

"I’m sure you know about it and have always thought of migrating to it..."

"..."

"Alas, the rain is never long or strong enough to take you that far...", he said matter-of-factly.

Atuk’s eyes narrowed slightly, listening carefully.

"We will fetch water from there," Pebbles said. "Bring it here every day and keep the swamp from drying."

The offer was simple, but its meaning wasn’t.

"In return you provide fish. Simple, isn’t it?"

The Frog-Men exchanged quiet looks among themselves. It was not an unreasonable exchange. In fact, it was far from it.

Atuk remained still, clearly weighing the offer.

For a moment, it almost seemed like the tension had eased.

Then suddenly, it returned.

The pressure rose again, sharp and heavy, pushing outward as Atuk’s aura flared once more. The wind picked up, rushing toward Pebbles and pressing against him as if testing his resolve.

Pebbles did not move. He stood exactly where he was with no change in his posture while his expression remained steady.

Atuk watched him for a long moment before finally giving a slow nod.

"...It is a good option," he admitted.

A faint shift passed through the goblins behind Pebbles, but it was short-lived.

"I will accept it," Atuk added.

Pebbles wanted to sigh, but Atuk’s words caught him stranded.

"But..."

The goblins stiffened instantly.

Atuk’s gaze moved past Pebbles and settled on the group behind him.

"Those who came with you today..." he said calmly, "...we kill them."

The words landed heavily.

For a second, no one reacted, as if they hadn’t fully processed what was said.

Then the fear came all at once.

The goblins began to panic. Some stepped back instinctively only to collided with the Frog-Men and fall to the ground while others failed to move.

Their breathing had become uneven.

Some wanted to turn and run away but their legs trembled uncontrollably.

They had not expected this.

Not after everything that had just been said.

No words escaped their mouths as all they did was watch Pebbles, who remained quiet.

It was almost as if he was contemplating to sacrifice these puny goblins.

’Is this why he brought us? To use us as a bargain?’, one goblin thought.

’I’m going to die... we are all dying! Mom...’ another, who fell hard on his butt, cried while thinking this.

A majority of them had similar thoughts. But there were a few, who thought what Pebbles did was for the best.

Among them, a certain little one walked forward.

It was a female goblin.

Her body trembled, and her voice nearly failed her as she spoke.

"I... if it can keep everyone safe..." she said, forcing the words out with effort, "I am ready to die today."

The riverbank fell silent again.

Atuk’s lips curled into a faint, amused smile, and the Frog-Men behind him began to laugh. It started low, then grew louder, spreading across the group.

The goblins behind her did not move. No one stepped forward. No one pulled her back.

Pebbles watched quietly as these words has brought him out of his contemplative thought process.

"Don’t be so hard."

His voice wasn’t loud, but it cut through the laughter cleanly.

Atuk’s attention shifted back to him.

"If you let them go today," Pebbles added, "I’ll give you one more thing."

That made Atuk pause.

"...What?" he asked with a very clear interest.

"The wolves won’t attack you anymore," Pebbles said.

This time, the reaction was immediate.

The Frog-Men went completely silent.

It was almost as if the disease of trembling knees had spread like some contagious disease.

First the goblins and now it was the Frog-Men who found out that they had weak legs.

Atuk’s expression changed, just slightly, but enough to notice.

"The ones that come whenever you try to drink from the surface... The ones that forced you deeper into the river."

"The ones that forced you to run father south the river... those wolves."

No one spoke.

"They won’t come again." Pebbles concluded with a raised voice.

Atuk held his gaze, but for a brief moment, his eyes shifted away before returning.

As if trying to show up a bold front, "Those wolves are long gone. They don’t come this far anymore!"

A smirk sat on Pebbles face thought the mask hid it clearly.

"Oh? Is that right?"

Seeing the confidence in Pebbles’ voice, Atuk was shook even more.

It was because he knew clearly what had happened a couple of days ago.

The wolves led by Eren had come close, very close to the goblin’s village.

Their howl was enough to force Atuk and his men swim further south. They had did so leaving behind their people.

Atuk had said they’d heard about some big and rare fish and had gone hunting...

...so if they were to find about this, they’d lose all respect they had for Atuk.

He couldn’t let that happen... he couldn’t let Pebbles seize the control over their conversation either...

So he was ready to deny it, almost because Atuk thought Pebbles was just guessing it...

But then he saw.

Pebbles placed his left hand on his mask and raised it a bit, enough to make his weirdly aligned jaws visible.

A faint ripple passed through the water near the nests, where smaller figures remained hidden. They were Atuk’s people and they were hearing on everything that was happening.

Atuk’s eyes remained on Pebbles’ jaw who simply moved them, as if saying something.

It was enough to give a clear proof that Pebbles knew what he was talking about.

Atuk coughed lightly, straightening his posture as if to recover from the moment.

"...Let them go," he said shortly.

The tension in the air faded, and the goblins wasted no time turning around. They moved quickly, almost stumbling over each other as relief and fear mixed in their steps.

The green lizard and the shaman followed, their expressions still tense as Pebbles gave a simple nod asking them to keep moving.

Pebbles turned as well and began to walk, unhurried as always.

Just as they began to leave, a sudden splash rose behind them. Water surged upward and crashed down over their backs, soaking them completely.

Several goblins flinched and stopped, anger flashing briefly across their faces but more prominent was fear.

"Bastards..." the green lizard muttered under his breath.

The shaman’s fingers twitched slightly, but she did not turn.

Pebbles paused for a fraction of a second.

Then he kept walking while the Shaman asked a simple question.

"What did you say at the end master...?"

Pebbles turned towards her and lifted his mask once again, and made the same jaw movement.

And the shaman said that out aloud, "C... cowards?"

Pebbles chuckled and put the mask back onto his face.

The Shaman followed closely behind but oh well, she had tons of things that she still wanted to ask.

Yet she smiled and kept muttering...

"Cowards... Cowards? Cowards... Hehe."