Chapter 284: Traces (2)
Chapter 284: Traces (2)
Fortunately, we were able to find our destination without much trouble.
I stumbled a bit over the finer details, but since the area was so vast and filled with numerous similar rocky peaks, everyone just took it in stride.
"It's here."
"...Master? This is just a simple cliff."
Iris blinked her blue eyes as she looked up at the towering wall of rock.
Even if this was just a simple plaza, Iris, with her great passion for magic, seemed quite interested in the dragon's legacy.
She even tried using detection magic just in case, but when she found nothing, she tilted her head in confusion.
I chuckled at her, looking like a puppy seeing the world for the first time, and offered an additional explanation.
"Everyone installed transfer gates leading inside near their lairs, so there was no need to make a massive entrance, right? They hid them to avoid unnecessary trouble."
"But nothing was caught by my detection magic."
"That's because you're still a High Magician, Iris, and the one who hid this was a dragon who had reached the level of an Archmage."
"......"
Iris pouted her lips as if her pride were wounded. However, she nodded as if she understood the logic.
It was a bit cute, so I poked her lips with my fingertip. Iris hummed and turned her head this way and that.
"Mmm... nngh..."
I didn't know what she was trying to say, but seeing as she didn't pull away and only shook her head slightly, she didn't seem to hate it.
I played with Iris for a moment longer until Helena, who was standing beside me, pressed close and asked a question.
"Um... Brother? Since you came here knowing the entrance was hidden, does that mean you also know how to enter?"
"Of course. Actually, it's natural that Iris couldn't detect it. Strictly speaking, you could say they didn't even make an entrance."
To make an entrance and hide it, you'd first have to dig the entrance, carve out a passage leading to the plaza, and then cast a permanent concealment magic over it.
How tedious and inefficient. There was no need to put that much effort into an entrance that was rarely used anyway.
For a dragon, there were much simpler methods available.
"For example, you stand in a specific spot, recite a specific incantation, and a teleportation spell automatically triggers to move you inside."
"Oh...! So you're going to recite that incantation now!"
"That's right."
Helena clasped her hands in front of her chest and looked up at me, her eyes sparkling so intensely it was almost overwhelming.
I didn't realize it, but she seemed to really like this kind of thing.
I gave Helena a shrug and looked up at the cliff.
Originally, the quest involved hearing rumors about Fafnir's lair, struggling through various trials, and almost giving up after realizing that dragon lairs are all located in places inaccessible to humans—only to then discover the existence of the Dragon Council.
The original flow required finding hidden ancient documents inside specific dungeons and tracing the marks left by dragons to figure out the password.
Using that, one could jump straight to Fafnir's lair.
Despite having such a tedious and grandiose quest line, the rewards were mediocre at best, which had drawn the ire of many players...
Still, I'm glad I cleared it back then. Thanks to that, I could skip the entire process and just take the result.
"Al Azi. Dahana. Azdaha."
I knew it was roughly a phrase praising their race, but I didn't know the exact meaning of the incantation.
However, even without knowing the meaning, the effect was certain.
Thump—
A heavy resonance echoed, and the surroundings vibrated slightly.
And that was it.
There was none of the subtle nausea I felt when moving with Iona's teleportation, nor any flashing magical light.
When I came to my senses, the surrounding scenery had suddenly changed.
Everyone looked dazed by the seamless spatial movement, but they soon nodded at the mention of the word 'dragon' and began looking around.
The ceiling was so high it was hard to believe we were inside a rocky mountain. Luminous ores were embedded densely across its surface, acting as soft lighting.
And what about the sides? Though the ceiling lights weren't incredibly bright, they were enough to illuminate the area, allowing us to see to the ends of the cavern...
It was far. Truly, distantly far. It was a space so vast that walking back and forth would be exhausting, requiring the active use of magic.
Even though the peak we entered was the largest in the vicinity, it shouldn't have been this big.
There must be Space Expansion Magic at work.
"This place is..."
"Oh? I couldn't feel it at all from the outside, but the mana here is quite peculiar."
"It's likely the lingering scent of the transfer gate the Master mentioned. Don't magical tools use extremely refined mana for stability?"
"Right, right. Usually, it's so faint you don't notice, but high-output magical tools make it obvious like this. Remember, if you feel this kind of sensation during a war, you should run away immediately!"
Wait, why did that end on such a grim note?
Still, it was useful TMI, so I decided to keep it in mind.
The party looked around the plaza, which was needlessly wide and majestic because it was scaled for dragons.
However, perhaps because the scale was too large, they quickly grew bored. Carla tugged on my sleeve and asked.
"Master, Master. There seems to be nothing here. Where should we go?"
"We have to go to the entrance where the Dragon Council was held. I know the direction... but since it's far, let's fly."
Since everyone was at least a skilled Intermediate Magician, flight magic shouldn't be a problem.
"Brother? What about me? If I borrow the power of the Righteous Light, I can run at a speed that matches your flight."
"...I'll carry Helena."
"I didn't say that hoping for it, but I won't refuse."
Helena cupped her cheeks, looking either embarrassed or happy—anyway, she looked like she didn't know what to do with herself as she leaned into my arms.
Press.
The soft volume pressing against my chest. A comforting warmth. And the sudden scent of a woman's skin.
Even though it was the same body, it felt different from when Solari descended, and a hollow laugh escaped me.
"What is it, Brother?"
"No, it's nothing. Is the Righteous Light still busy?"
"Um. About that..."
Helena trailed off and whispered in my ear.
"Actually, she's already back, but she keeps asking me to switch with her, so I'm just pretending not to notice."
"......"
Is a Saintess allowed to do that?
I looked at her with a dubious expression, but Helena simply took my hand and guided it to her waist.
"...Tell her not to be too upset, because I'll do the same for her later."
"She can hear everything right now, so there's no need for me to tell her."
—Hey. It seems you've both forgotten I'm here.
A voice and a ticklish vibration came from right below. Startled, Helena pulled the medallion from between her breasts and immediately moved it to her back.
—I'm truly feeling neglected...
Using Clara's grumbling as a signal, we all kicked off the ground and took flight.
It didn't take long to reach the transfer gate.
*
"Hmm. That was faster than I thought."
"I agree. It felt to me like the space itself was moving along with us, regardless of our own movement... is that right?"
"It seemed that way to me as well. I suspect it's a principle that assists movement by responding to one's will."
"I've heard of this! They say dragons can't actually fly with their body size, but their overflowing mana responds to their will to make it possible. They call it a type of primitive magic, so maybe this is like that too?"
Iona hopped up and down with one hand raised. I nodded as I watched her blood-sucking pouches bounce along with her.
It was worth giving her my blood all this time.
"Well, whatever the principle, it was convenient, so that's fine. Anyway, this is the entrance to the Dragon Council... and the transfer gates leading to each Elder's lair."
I set Helena down and looked at the structure before us.
A massive, ornate door stood in the center, surrounded by a hundred smaller doors.
The door leading to the Dragon Council was large enough for a giant to pass through, and it was densely embedded with all sorts of complex geometric patterns and expensive-looking jewels.
Needless to say, it had been closed for 300 years, and it would likely remain closed forever.
I wanted to dismantle it and sneak some materials... but doing that in the game resulted in an immediate explosion and a 'Total Annihilation' ending.
Of course, I didn't know if that would still happen now that this was reality, but there was no reason to take the risk.
At least not until one of us became an Archmage.
"What we need to focus on isn't that big door, but the smaller doors around it."
"...Do all of those lead to dragon lairs, Master?"
"To be precise, they lead to the front yards of the dragon lairs. And most of them probably don't even work anymore."
Unlike the Dragon Council entrance, which was built with great care, or the internal transfer function that required no special maintenance, these transfer gates were relatively cheaply made yet delicate in structure.
They were fine when dragons used them regularly for maintenance and repair, but after being abandoned for 300 years, they were bound to break.
In fact, most of the transfer gates were destroyed as if they had exploded, or were half-melted.
However, there was an exception, and that was Fafnir's transfer gate.
While the glorious door of the Dragon Council remained firmly shut, and the facilities once called state-of-the-art were now closer to being called relics, Fafnir's transfer gate was still emitting a violet magical glow.
I didn't know why. The game never explained why only Fafnir's transfer gate was still functioning.
...Perhaps I'll find out through this hidden piece.
"Whew."
I let out a light sigh and reached out toward the legacy left by the dragon who was once called a great being.
Bang!
???
What? I haven't even touched it yet.