I take in the sight of the large lake's worth of bubbling lava in front of me. The orangish-red glow it gives off flickers over the blackened stone walls and enclosed ceiling as the lava seems to flow towards some sort of natural drain, preventing it from rising above the lip I stand on.
I dip my bare foot in, nodding in satisfaction at the warmth it's engulfed by. I turn towards the man by my side, giving him a thumbs up. "I like it! There's no hole like a traditional volcano, but the privacy is nice."
He nods seriously at me, a stoic expression on his face. "I am glad that it meets your satisfaction. If you could deign to accompany me, I will guide you to Ms Ora and Mr Kami to continue the tour."
I nod, following him as he leads the way through a different tunnel than we came into the cavern from, stopping myself from frowning. I'm not really a fan of how overly stiff the man is acting. I'm not even a teenager, after all! At least Ora and Kami don't treat me like that anymore. It was kind of touch and go for some of our meetings after the first.
Understandable, really, since I accidentally hospitalized some random guy who was walking by with his daughter and dog. Even I'm not sure why I felt the need to attack him! All I know is that I felt the overwhelming desire to murderise his face the moment I saw it. Something about the way the light glinted off his round glasses coupled with his almost buzz cut brown hair just set me off.
It turned out that it's a good thing I did so, after DAB requested an investigation into him. Apparently he used his quirk on his wife to fake a scientific breakthrough, and was planning on doing the same to his daughter.
It came as such a surprise that he did not end up leaving that hospital after word of the exact details got around to the staff. Unforeseen complications and such.
Anyways, I can't help but smile when I see the familiar forms of the two DAB agents speaking with each other at a three point intersection, far outside the range of the evidently sweltering heat. Must suck for them to be stuck in those suits, though my own oversized hoodie and shorts aren't exactly comfortable either. But that's more because I prefer wearing my scales than clothes. They're so restricting!
The guy who came with me to the lava pool apparently has a fire proofing quirk that prevented him from being affected, but anyone else would have gotten heat stroke- or is that heat exhaustion? Either way; he's fine but nobody else would have been.
Though I can't help but feel like he's familiar for some reason…
I wave at the two, eyeing the fire-proof man as he excuses himself and takes his leave, walking away swiftly but not so fast that it could be said that he's running away. It's close though. I chuckle, enjoying the way it echoes through the tunnels and prompts the man to give up all pretense and start full-on sprinting for the exit.
I'm half a mind to shout something ominous to see if I can get him to run faster, but Ora stops me. "Please don't scare him. He is a good agent, and he's the one who informed us of where you were when we first met."
I tilt my head curiously. "He did? How'd he know where I was?"
Kami clears his throat, smiling at me. "Well, he had joined the group at the warehouse as a spy. We had a variety of agents doing the same across Japan until we could figure out where you marked your territory. It's just good luck on our part that we managed to catch you before you left that day. We expected it to take another year at the minimum to contact you."
I frown, tapping my chin as I recall that day six months ago before snapping my fingers. "Oh! He's the guy who didn't cook after Eraserhead and Present Mic dodged my flames!"
Kami's smile becomes a bit stiff. "Yes, that would be correct."
Ora huffs, gesturing down the last tunnel. "Please don't tease us, you are terrifying."
I giggle, skipping ahead of them, "That's just the way I like it~."
`~`
It's a nice Lair, overall. Sure, I don't have a personal movie theater, or a veritable army of staff like I would imagine a mansion would have. But it's nice. A decently-sized network of tunnels with no discernible pattern reassures me that even if any thieves somehow managed to get in, they wouldn't be able to escape before I found them. If they don't succumb to whatever traps I install, that is~.
The DAB associates lead me through a dozen different caves located at random spots in the mountain, each varying in size. The largest will be reserved for my Hoard, of course, and I think I'll have one of the more medium-sized caverns serve as my bedroom. I'll have to think of what I want the others to be used for, but…
"It's perfect!" I announce to Ora and Kami outside the cave entrance. We're not at ground level, instead we're standing on a cliff overlooking a large forest, great for launching off for a flight! It's not just a random spot on the mountain either, there's actually a trail leading up here that will make it easy to get up if I don't feel like flying. The top of the volcano is also mostly flat for whatever reason, so I can easily do something with it if the mood strikes me. No idea what, but it's an option.
"That's good to hear," Ora says with a smile. "We'll contact the owners of the forest immediately to buy it from them."
I nod happily, my hair bouncing. I haven't gotten a haircut in a long time, but it hasn't gotten any longer. Instead, it's denser, kind of piling on top of itself. Which makes it feel really fluffy! And now that I'm going to have a proper bath I can have an easier time keeping it nice and clean~.
"Just make sure that I get the part of the forest immediately around it too so there aren't any problems in case I decide to clean up a bit."
Ora nods. "That shouldn't be a problem." She makes a mark on a clipboard she's holding. "Do you know what kinds of rooms you would like contracted, and which they'll occupy? You can always leave it up to DAB, but your happiness is key here."
"Hmm." I tap my chin in thought, letting scales grow across my face and claws on my fingers. I really like the sound they make when they come into contact with each other. "Leave the first cavern empty, I want to have fun with it myself. The medium sized cave near my bath can be my bedroom, and I want the closest medium one to it to be something like a refrigerator. The small one next to the refrigerator will be the kitchen; I don't want to have to go far if I feel peckish in the middle of the night."
Another nod. "Understandable."
"Other than that… I want one of the bigger rooms filled with books for me to write in; I'm going to get back into analyzing quirks. Fill the third largest with games or something. Consoles, a tv, and a computer are the main things. I doubt I'll bring people back to my Lair to just casually hang out very often, so things I can enjoy on my own are essential. Or things I can do online."
"Cough. Shut in. Cough." Ora elbows Kami in the stomach hard enough that he bends over with a groan. Meanwhile I snort out a laugh.
"Ha! Yeah, I guess I will be." I shrug dismissively. "I'll still go out every once in a while, but I'll probably spend a year or so just enjoying the fact that I'll have a proper Lair now. I'll still attend to any requests I get though. Which reminds me," I turn to look at them, "is that set up yet?"
I make note of how the two tense, though they hide it well. My eyes narrow, and Ora hurries to explain. "Apologies, but you see, our superiors are a bit…reluctant… to inform the public of the existence of dragons, when we spend so much time and effort ensuring they are hidden." Her tone is stiff, her words coming out clipped. Clearly she's worried about this point. Which she should be. But less for her and more for her superiors.
"Sounds like they're being dumb." I say bluntly, "They don't have to announce that I'm a dragon, just have the site explain that I'm willing to attend to a variety of tasks and guarantee results." I smirk as an idea strikes me. "If they're so worried, then they can make it difficult to reach the website, turn it into a 'you need connections or luck to get here' sort of thing."
Yeah, that gives me warm fuzzy feelings. It will be like only those who earn it can get my help! "Scrap the odd tasks bit, put it as I'll grant one wish if they manage to get there. Then I can turn myself into an urban legend!" My eyes are probably sparkling with excitement, I know my body certainly agrees with how both my tail and wings have popped out, with scales spreading across my body.
I frame my hands in front of me, imagining a possible headline. "The Emerald Wish: Your dreams are mine to grant!" I squeal as I flap my wings, flying a few feet above the ground. "Yes, yes, yes! I absolutely love it!"
I flip myself upside down, making eye contact with Ora, my emerald orbs staring into her golden contacts. She looks taken aback by just how excited I am by the idea, but who cares about that! I smile happily at her. "Think you can get them to get something like that set up? If not, then complain to their bosses! I want this done!"
She blinks for a moment before returning a bright smile. "Yes, I believe they shouldn't have any objections so long as it isn't easy for the general public to access. Though I hope you won't mind if we add a few caveats to the site, in order to ensure secrecy after you grant their 'wish'?"
I wave her off, doing a few flips and rolls in midair. "Not at all! It will only add to my reputation!" I kick at the air while upside down, my hands clenched in front of my mouth as I try and fail to hold back my squeals. "Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"
`~`
"You want to buy the mountain and the area surrounding it?" Shino Sosaki, also known as the pro hero Mandalay, can't help but raise an eyebrow at the woman, Ora, in front of her. When she first approached the hero about surveying the mountain because it might actually be a volcano, she had her suspicions that there was more to the reasoning. But now that her organization wants to full on buy it?
It's safe to say that she's not exactly going to trust their goodwill.
"Not only is it close to our compound, but you have to realize how suspicious this seems, right?"
The woman's partner, a man named Kami, snorts out a laugh. "Yeah, we know. But it's important. And to be fair, if it turned out that it didn't have magma inside, then we would have taken our leave."
Sosaki's head pulls back in surprise as she uncrosses her arms. "Wait, it's actually a volcano!?"
Ora nods. "That's correct. Dangerous for others, but perfect for the purpose we need it for."
"And what purpose would that be, exactly?" Sosaki can't help but ask.
"Classified." Ora responds with a warning glare, causing Sosaki to snort.
"Yeah, I figured." She tilts her head in thought, frowning. "I'm actually not opposed, but there's two main issues I see. The first is that my sister likes to have picnics up there with her husband, and wants to bring her son to see the view once he gets a bit older."
"I doubt they'd want to continue with that when there's a risk of magma rising through the tunnels," Ora immediately rebuts, and Sosaki nods.
"Yeah, she shouldn't mind too much after I explain that to her. The bigger problem is that we host students from a few hero schools during the summer for training."
Ora raises an eyebrow. "Couldn't they simply make other arrangements?"
Sosaki directs her frown at the woman. "It's been a long-standing tradition, going on for several years. We aren't willing to just cut it off."
Ora huffs. "Very well, but couldn't you simply bar them from entering the designated area?"
She gets a flat look in reply. "Do you really think telling high school students 'no' will stop them?"
The DAB agent's mind immediately goes to the girl she's assigned to liaison with. She grimaces before letting out a tired sigh. "Well, we need to buy it. And there is literally no amount of money we are not willing to pay to obtain it."
Sosaki blinks, taken aback. "Well…" she says hesitantly before sighing herself. "If it's really that serious, I guess we can figure something out."
She holds out a hand, which Ora immediately takes as if afraid the hero will change her mind. "If you come inside, we can work out the details with the rest of the team."
Ora gives her a relieved smile. "Thank you. Your understanding is greatly appreciated."