< 138. There Are No Bad Dragons in the World (10) >
The image that people associate with the term "dragon lair" is almost always similar.
Although there may be variations in location and form, the most notable commonality of these dwellings is their dreadful lack of sunlight. For other races, such a characteristic might be a disadvantage that drives down real estate values, but for dragons, it is a virtue. A dragon's lair, being a treasure trove, requires seclusion and secrecy to prevent unwanted intrusion.
Thus, fire-breathing flame dragons, lightning-breathing thunder dragons, sea-controlling sea dragons, and rock-disintegrating earth dragons all choose to nest underground. However, there is one notable exception.
Min-jun was observing this rare case through the magical video window. The distorted view revealed a dragon lair within the Amazon jungle, home to a poison dragon.
Innaise's residence was a dome-shaped glass greenhouse covering several kilometers in radius. While it was not strictly made of glass, it functioned as a greenhouse by projecting sunlight to illuminate and heat the interior to an appropriate temperature. Moreover, it was impenetrable from the outside, and its exterior was tougher than most rocks, thus serving its purpose as a lair effectively.
'Looks like she just woke up.'
The interior of the greenhouse, illuminated by the sunlight of the southern hemisphere jungle, was very bright. She was in the middle of a tropical forest filled with plants, her eyelids half-closed.
Innaise's head and back were covered with plants that loved sunlight. Various broad-leaved trees, conifers, flowers, and shrubs had rooted and parasitized on the dragon's skin. As a result, Innaise's body resembled a green hill rising amid the jungle, a living, breathing mountain. This appearance made it understandable why some dimension residents confused the poison dragon tribe with the green dragons.
Min-jun sneered inwardly. It was a typical dragon behavior, living in isolation within the jungle and losing touch with the world.
'Maybe if she were a younger dragon like Kentheus, but a dragon over a few hundred years old...'
It was the result of a self-imposed, semi-voluntary seclusion. Given that she was a poison dragon by birth, it was an unavoidable situation.
In her original dimension, poison dragons were not treated poorly. The air was filled with the toxins they emitted, and other races had to beg for antidotes and live as the dragon's slaves.
But Earth was different. It was a highly advanced society that could not be maintained through poisoning and blackmail. Additionally, various other dragons had also immigrated and established themselves in this dimension.
The primary weapon of a poison dragon was ineffective against a dragon immune to all poisons. While they could display superiority over non-dragons, they were inferior to other dragons. Innaise quickly gave up on competing with other dragon races and retreated to the Amazon jungle, abandoning society as soon as she arrived.
As a result, she, who was out of touch with the world, seemed to have realized her mistake too late.
And she decided to deal with the matter properly.
"Both of your questions will be resolved by seeing this."
Snap!
A prison resembling a birdcage appeared where she had directed her gaze.
"······?!"
Inside the iron bars was an elf. At first, Min-jun did not recognize her face. Her features were gaunt and her entire body was as thin as a twig, clearly in poor condition. She was likely poisoned by Innaise's toxins.
When the dragon muttered something, the elf's eyes snapped open. She had been forced awake.
The elf's initially dazed gaze gradually became more focused as she assessed her surroundings. Confusion disappeared, replaced by a steely resolve. Her restrained limbs moved as she opened her mouth, and an alien language flowed out. The sound was not loud, as if weakened, but the emotion in her voice was unmistakably strong.
"Release me... you filthy beast...!"
However, the elf's intense gaze did not settle in one place. She constantly scanned the surroundings, unable to locate the dragon. The prison was designed such that while it was visible from outside, the opposite was impossible, making it hard to see the dragon's position.
The elf's low but venomous cries continued. Innaise cleanly ignored her muttering and spoke.
"This elf's name is Syrkiz Iperia."
Min-jun searched for the name in the prisoner database. Soon, he found it interesting. Next to a photo of her looking well before being poisoned were details in a language only Min-jun could read.
-Bounty: 770,000 Dallants.
The prisoner continued, reading her charges.
"She's a sort of... ideological criminal."
She claimed no involvement in acts of terrorism, yet the committee had focused on her because she had spread anti-committee ideologies across various dimensions for centuries.
The seeds she planted had taken root in each world. Her message was that they should not be subservient to the economic system dominated by the Dallants and that worlds interacting with them were effectively under committee control.
Over time, her ideology had evolved into one that fostered terrorist organizations opposing the committee. Min-jun remembered that even the rebel forces in the Ashtal dimension during the dictatorship had been influenced by her ideology. The committee realized it could no longer ignore her and issued a bounty with some convenient charges attached.
Her emergence had occurred after Min-jun's awakening as a prisoner. While he was aware of the bounty, he had only heard rumors about how she had managed to hide so well.
Yet, to his surprise, he encountered her in this remote dimension in this manner.
'Now I understand why no one could find her. She was captured by a dragon...'
Min-jun asked calmly.
"Have you been holding her captive all this time?"
"Correct. I had her hidden in my treasure vault even before I exiled to this dimension."
"Why have you kept her hidden until now? If you had submitted her earlier, you could have collected the bounty."
The question was why she had not turned the elf in for a bounty sooner instead of keeping her privately imprisoned.
Innaise replied.
"This elf is, for me, a sort of indefinitely accumulating deposit."
"······?"
Seeing Min-jun's expression change, Innaise laughed, finding it amusing. The fierce breath she exhaled shook the vine-like plants draped around her mouth.
"Among anti-committee terrorists, this woman has started being treated as a founder. Because her death has not been confirmed, she tends to be idolized. As a result, her bounty keeps increasing over time, much like interest on a bank deposit."
Min-jun clicked his tongue. It was a method of handling bounties he had never imagined.
'Well, from the perspective of a dragon living in the jungle, having no immediate use for a large sum of Dallants, it makes sense to hold onto it to increase its value.'
Just as ordinary people invest in real estate or antiques, this dragon had invested in a bounty.
"How did you acquire her?"
"Let's just say it was a combination of chance and luck."
The last known trace of her was about a hundred years ago.
This means that Innaise had managed to keep the elf hidden in her vault for such a long time.
Waiting for the future value to increase, like an investor.
It was a dragon's mindset that defied the common sense of ordinary races.
"If you help us, I'll hand over this bounty criminal to you. If you submit her to the committee, you'll be able to receive the Dallants without any special gift tax. Of course, it will be up to you to handle the complex procedures to disguise it as if you caught her yourself. I won't need to concern myself with that."
Tax evasion methods turned out to be largely the same as what Del and Jenkins had suggested.
If those two had planned to assist in carrying out a special mission, this dragon intended to hand over the bounty criminal it had captured.
'What should I do?'
Min-jun's position had changed significantly from before.
He no longer fixated on the Dallants deposited into the prisoner account.
He no longer believed that simply accumulating 5 million Dallants in the account would lead to the committee celebrating the achievement and releasing him. The reality of not being able to withdraw funds at will had made such a belief unrealistic.
'Why did I trust them without suspicion before? They said if I just saved up my retirement money, they'd set me free.'
It was likely a form of suggestion.
'Ultimately, the better option for me is for Innaise to directly submit the elf to the committee. If she receives the Dallants into her account, she can withdraw them as cash and secretly hand them over to me.'
There were two concerns here.
One was that, as experienced by Chang-cheon before his death, the committee was very strict about withdrawing Dallants as cash. Despite Chang-cheon's clear status as a bank manager, it had been difficult. How would it be for a secluded dragon with no involvement in Earth's economic activities?
'The committee would find every possible excuse. There's a chance the backlash might even fall on me.'
The other concern was...
'The elf.'
An ideological criminal who had spread anti-committee thoughts across various dimensions.
Her appearance was after the birth of 'Asif-666,' so there was no information on her in the primordial race's memories.
Similarly, there was no established connection with the anti-committee faction known as the Ellahu-Pra sect.
Nevertheless, Min-jun was uneasy about her.
The option of submitting her to the committee and making her a prisoner felt unsettling.
After some thought, Min-jun reached a conclusion.
"Let's negotiate the terms of the transaction."
For now, he would agree to the deal.
Innaise responded with delight.
"I've already reached an agreement with Kentheus. You just need to help him find evidence to identify the lord's murderer."
Min-jun set a clear boundary.
"Capturing or killing the culprit will be outside my scope of duties."
Innaise laughed as if this were obvious.
"Even you can't be expected to kill him. I wouldn't expect that."
Min-jun's eyes narrowed.
"You seem to have an idea of who the culprit might be."
Come to think of it, Kentheus had made a similar statement: 'I believe the culprit is someone unrelated to the committee.'
That was a statement that could only be made if there were some clues about the identity.
"The night before the lord's death... he contacted me. Using a magical communication similar to this. The conversation was usual. He asked about the condition of the egg, and I said there was no issue. He then talked about how he was spending time in Hong Kong. But..."
A sharp glint appeared in the poison dragon's eyes.
"He specifically mentioned that he had played a game of Go with a great dragon who ruled over Hong Kong and received an ancient race artifact as the prize."
Only then did Min-jun recall. 'Ah, the ring!'
"He said he wasn't sure how to use it, but it was likely a protective item. He mentioned that when our child hatched... he would gift it to the weakest and most delicate hatchling among his children."
So, what happened to that ring?
The answer to Min-jun's question followed immediately.
"I was so flustered that I only confirmed it later. When the lord passed away, all his belongings were scattered beneath the building, and those stored in the pocket dimension also spilled out and were in the same state. I had to return to my lair, so I couldn't help, but witnesses among the great dragons gathered with the heirs and guardians. They collected the items from the scene and listed the treasures in the lord's lair. However."
Could it be?
"It was nowhere to be found."
"······."
Min-jun distinctly remembered the ring on the finger of the polymorphed dragon lord.
The one clearly made by Endelion.
He pretended not to know and asked.
"What did the lord say it looked like?"
"He didn't specify the form. But he clearly mentioned it was an artifact of the ancient race. However, there was no such item in the list made by the great dragons and the heirs. It was not a new item, aside from what the lord already had before going to Hong Kong."
Innaise asked as if he should have guessed by now.
With a voice mixed with sadness and anger.
"The lord received the artifact from another great dragon before he died. He died within a few hours from an unexplained accident. Yet, that artifact vanished without a trace. There are two hypotheses that can explain this situation. One, the lord lied to me about receiving the artifact in the first place..."
That couldn't be. Min-jun had clearly seen the ring with his own eyes.
"Or, someone had preemptively tampered with the artifact so that it could be recovered once a certain condition was met. What might that condition be, and why would it need to be done this way? The acquisition of the artifact, the lord's death, the disappearance of the artifact. Is it too far-fetched to link all these events?"
The dragon, covered in a layer of oil, said with fiery eyes.
"The great dragon ruling over Hong Kong, I suspect him. You only need to find evidence that he is involved. Kentheus and I will handle the rest."
< 138. There Are No Bad Dragons in the World (10) > End