When I opened my eyes, an endless mountain range of rocks greeted us.
It looks like we’ve arrived.
“The Ancient Dragon Mountains... is there really a lair here, Master?”
“Yeah, this is the place.”
Carla looked doubtful. It was a natural reaction for anyone from this era.
The Ancient Dragon Mountains were associated with many dragon-related legends—people say the mountains themselves resemble a dragon, or that it was a place where dragons once lived, or that dragons came here to prepare for death when their lifespans ended.
There were all kinds of stories about dragons tied to this place, though most of them were probably just rumors with no way to verify their truth.
Still, there are always people who believe in those stories.
When dragons were still alive, there were those who worshipped them, those who challenged them, and those who sought their help. This place was never without visitors.
After the Great War, when dragons were essentially extinct, the lairs were looted by those hoping for a one-time jackpot.
But that’s all ancient history now.
There are no living dragons left, and no lairs have been found.
Three hundred years is more than enough time to cool the fervor of devout worshippers and persistent treasure hunters.
That’s why it’s now a place called the Ancient Dragon Mountains only by name, with no one actually believing that dragons live here.
But this is where Fafnir’s lair is.
“More precisely, there’s a transfer gate here that leads to Fafnir’s lair.”
“...A transfer gate? Like a teleport gate, you mean?”
“More accurately, it’s a magical artifact that maintains a teleport gate permanently.”
“How is that even possible?!”
Elisha, looking disbelieving, jumped up in surprise. Iris yawned lazily at her student’s reaction.
“Haaa... My student, when it comes to dragons, anything is possible.”
“I know that dragons naturally become archmages as they age. But no matter how powerful they are, maintaining a teleport gate permanently? And that was before spatial magic had developed as much as it has now!” Ŗ
“What you say is true. But what if it wasn’t just one archmage?”
“...Huh?”
“Archmages are beings who turn the impossible into possible and create miracles, even if only temporarily, with their mortal hands. So if over a hundred archmages put their heads together... would it still seem impossible?”
“Oh.”
Elisha’s mouth fell open as if she had just realized something.
In the meantime, Iris stretched out her short limbs and continued.
“Yes. Dragons are a species that defy our common sense. You’ve heard of the Dragon Council, haven’t you, Elisha?”
“Yes, it was a self-governing organization that existed when dragons were still active. It’s quite famous, so I know about it well.”
In the game, it was mentioned in documents that revealed bits of the past of the Eurelia Continent.
If I recall, it was a minimal governing body created by dragons, who were powerful but highly individualistic.
They captured or killed dragons that suddenly went rogue.
They reprimanded young dragons that blocked important routes and extorted tolls.
They even gave stern warnings to dragons in their prime who only bore half-human, half-dragon children, neglecting to reproduce with their own kind.
Her golden eyes sparkled as she urged me to continue.
“...Helena, couldn’t you just ask the Righteous Radiance about it?”
“Ah, well, right now, my Lord is busy discussing this recent raid with the other gods.”
No, she’s probably mostly bragging about me and throwing in a little warning about the danger.
Though I was itching to say it, I didn’t feel the need to test Helena’s faith, so I got straight to the point.
“In simple terms, a group of archmages worked together to create a space where no one without permission could enter.”
“...Is that really so impressive? It sounds like a kind of locking spell or barrier.”
“Didn’t I say they ‘created’ a space? It’s not about restricting access to an existing space; they made a new space with special laws.”
At this, Helena’s face hardened.
Creating a space akin to the act of creation itself. It’s no wonder she was shocked by the idea of achieving that with magic. But...
“Don’t get your hopes up too much. It’s a space that could only be maintained by 100 ancient dragons burning through massive amounts of mana in real time.”
That’s right. The dragons succeeded in creating the space but failed in maintaining it.
Of course, even that feat was enough to be compared to the gods who established their own sanctuaries... but the problem was that it had been 300 years since they went extinct.
“The Dragon Council is closed. Unless 100 archmages gather and burn through 100 ancient dragon hearts, it will never open again.”
“Um... Master? Then why did we come here if the Dragon Council is closed? I don’t understand the point of coming to a sealed transfer gate.”
I handed the limp Iris over to Carla, who awkwardly received her while flustered.
Chuckling, I continued speaking.
“I did say there’s a transfer gate here, and it’s true that there’s a path leading to the Dragon Council. But I never said we were going to the Dragon Council.”
“Huh?”
Carla tilted her head, clearly confused, as if I had just said something completely absurd.
Well... platypuses are carnivores, so they don’t eat plants, but never mind that.
“I told you, opening and maintaining the Dragon Council is hard. That’s why all 100 elders need to gather to open the council. The problem is, dragons, being long-lived, have a skewed sense of time.”
Even if one dragon arrived early, they couldn’t open the council meeting alone; they would just have to wait for others to show up.
And in all that waiting, it sometimes became necessary to step out briefly, return to their true forms to stretch their stiff bodies, or even find some entertainment to pass the time.
“Naturally, a kind of plaza formed, and to make traveling easier, they set up transfer gates that led directly to their lairs.”
To put it simply, they didn’t create a parliament building, but rather a parliament station.
Incidentally, the reason this place was called the Ancient Dragon Mountains was that, before the transfer gates were built, dragons would occasionally fly all the way here.
People who saw that must have thought this mountain range was home to many dragons.
“We’re heading to that plaza now. From there, we’ll use the transfer gate to go to Fafnir’s lair.”
Of course, there’s probably nothing left there.
I still don’t know why the system sent me here. It must be trying to give me something, but what?
I don’t expect much.
Honestly, just a set of dragon materials would make me happy.
Seriously, I mean it.