Okay.

I'll be surprised if you can get them to stop altogether, but if you can get them to stop starting wars it'll be much less, anyway, even if you don't do anything else.

They aren't happy about this, but there are more important priorities.

Yup.

The next day he goes to sell all their goods so he has enough money to pick up their absurdly expensive order of books.

The traders' district is crowded and noisy and hard to navigate if you don't read the language.

Then this will be a pleasant day.

He's making his way through a group of stalls buying things to be enspelled by the city's mages when there's a commotion a few aisles away; people are yelling something about a kobold and trying, not very effectually, to run away.

He pauses and looks.

There's too much in the way to have a hope of seeing the kobold if there is one, but from how the crowd is moving there's certainly something small and quick scaring them.

Also, a dozen elves with swords are converging on the area.

Yeah, the kobold he knows mentioned it was suicide to go to the city. Hopefully this is a suicidal kobold.

Sure is fleeing a lot for 'suicidal'.

The alarmed shouts come closer as the kobold ducks through a stall and onto a closer pathway.

Maybe it was suicidal and changed its mind? Maybe it's just really really really stupid. As are the Elves, to be fair. People suck. 

He can't think of a way to do anything about this situation.

The kobold continues avoiding the guards and trying to make their way back out of the city. They're having more luck with the former than the latter, so far.

The crowd thins out, slowly at first but progressively faster as it gets easier to move.

He could, do something distracting? No, likelier to distract the crowd than the guards and that doesn't help.

The crowd continues to thin, and he gets a look at the kobold - they're a dusty brown color, panicky, unarmed, and carrying a small leather bag.

The thinning crowd is more helpful to the guards than their target; they start to close in.

Yeah, drawing the crowds off wouldn't have helped. Can he target something moving that fast for a teleport? No, no he can't. 

The kobold tries ducking under another stall, but one of the guards is too close when they come out. They block her sword slash with their arm, roll between her legs, and dart into another stall, bleeding heavily.

Now can he target a teleport? - no, he shouldn't, the elves will reportedly freak if they think kobolds have teleportation.

The kobold doesn't reappear right away; one of the guards checks the stall and then the ones around it; the others fan out a little to watch the area.

"Do you want me to talk to the kobold for you?"

The nearest guard turns to look at him, confused and annoyed. 'Kobolds don't talk."

"I can talk to animals. I don't know if I can talk to kobolds because they're people who don't talk, not animals, but I could try it. More civilized than swords."

He's skeptical. "Sure. Tell it to come out."

"Why would it do that? You'll kill it. I was thinking of telling it that if it gave the thing it stole back it could leave the city in peace."

"And then it comes back tomorrow with friends. Nah, we'll take care of it."