Chapter 562: Talking with a Dragon

A man who had witnessed the collapse of Gondor, survived the magical cataclysms, died on the battlefield, and even risen from the grave was certainly qualified to face all the strange and bizarre things in this world with calm indifference. Merlith Pernia had to admit that what High Lord had said made a lot of sense.

What she didn’t know was that High Lord’s experiences went far beyond those events—she would have to add a plane crash, time travel, and spending hundreds of thousands of years drifting in space to complete the picture of his extraordinary life.

In such an unimaginably long existence, the appearance of a dragon was just a tiny, colorful speck in the blink of an eye for him.

He was surprised, even a little taken aback, but overall… it wasn’t a big deal.

Not more surprising than someone inventing fertilizer in the distant Typhon Empire, anyway.

“To be honest, many humans think dragons are just legends, but almost everyone who studies history or delves into the arcane knows dragons are real—they just rarely show themselves openly,” High Lord said, looking into the eyes of Merlith Pernia, visible just above her veil. Under normal circumstances, it was hard to believe those eyes belonged to a dragon. “Who would have thought? You’ve been right beside us all along, disguised… so perfectly.”

“Shapeshifting magic itself originated from the dragon race,” Merlith chuckled softly. “We’re good at disguising ourselves as any species. But to be honest, there’s one race even better at mimicry and disguise than us.”

“The sea witches? Oh, I know about them—Tyr even disguises herself as a clump of seaweed to avoid work. If seaweed could grow in the shipyard, she might have actually pulled it off…”

The two spoke casually, like old friends. The identities of man and dragon seemed to fade into the background, and the atmosphere grew strangely harmonious. But eventually, the conversation circled back to Merlith’s race and the dragons’ true purpose.

Since the agent had chosen to be open and honest, High Lord’s questions became straightforward: “So, the Mithril Vault is actually controlled by the dragons?”

“That’s right. In fact… it was established by us dragons,” Merlith nodded calmly. “But I must emphasize again, there’s no conspiracy here—the dragons bear no ill will toward any race on the continent…”

“What about the land empires destroyed in the Inverse Tide War?”

High Lord suddenly brought up a historical event that was clearly a sensitive topic for Merlith. Her breath visibly caught.

“You know quite a lot…” The humanoid dragon fixed her gaze on him. “This goes beyond human history, beyond what humans understand about this world.”

High Lord smiled. “You know, I’m surrounded by many ‘wonderful’ people. When it comes to ancient secrets, I might not know less than you.”

“The sea witch, huh…” A flicker of realization crossed Merlith’s eyes before she shook her head. “It seems you really do know a lot. Then we can speak more openly. But about the Inverse Tide Rebellion, I suggest you don’t ask too much for now. And if you meet other dragons, it’s best not to bring it up recklessly.”

High Lord noticed something: Tyr called that ancient war the “Inverse Tide War,” while Merlith referred to it as the “Inverse Tide Rebellion.” A subtle difference in wording, but it carried a huge weight of meaning.

And it seemed… this topic was even taboo among dragons?

Though intrigued by that ancient war, possibly involving the “Black Trap,” High Lord didn’t press further. Instead, he smoothly shifted the topic: “I’m curious—why did you reveal your dragon identity so easily? Your kind is so mysterious to the world; isn’t hiding your true form important?”

“Important, yes, but not as much as you might think,” Merlith said calmly. “After discovering you investigated the impact crater and that my lost item was with you, I knew you’d connect the Mithril Vault to dragons. Rather than letting things get complicated later, the Vault decided to raise your ‘contact level’ directly. From experience, this is the best way to avoid accidents.”

“…So you have a complete contingency plan for all sorts of unexpected encounters with the world,” High Lord deduced. “A strict plan, a tight organization, layered management, massive scale… The Mithril Vault’s purpose isn’t just to be a ‘vault,’ is it?”

“We dragons have always watched over the Loren Continent, observing the development and changes of all races and nations here. The Mithril Vault is our tool for observation—though its role as a ‘vault’ is also important. Dragons are a race that loves collecting treasures; I’m sure you’ve heard that.”

High Lord raised an eyebrow, ignoring the treasure-collecting part. “Just observation?”

“Just observation. We don’t interfere in the affairs of mortal kingdoms.”

“Then what exactly do you observe?” High Lord asked. “How mortal kingdoms operate? How different races develop? Or… how we face survival disasters like the magical cataclysms?”

“All of that is under observation.”

“I’m one of your observation targets, right?”

Merlith hesitated. “Perhaps it’s a bit presumptuous, but in a sense… yes.”

“And the purpose of this observation? Surely it’s not just to satisfy your curiosity?”

“Why not?” Merlith asked slyly, clearly unwilling to answer directly. “Dragons are a very curious race.”

“How long has the Mithril Vault existed?”

“As long as the oldest kingdoms on the continent have existed.”

High Lord stared into Merlith’s eyes. “Even tracing back to before the last magical cataclysm?”

“…It seems you really learned a lot from the sea witch,” Merlith nodded after a brief silence. “As you said—tracing back before the last cataclysm, even before several older ones. We don’t always call it the ‘Mithril Vault,’ but agents have always appeared on this continent.”

“You’re not affected by the magical cataclysms? Like the sea witches?”

“We do survive the cataclysms, but our situation is different from the sea witches’.”

“How do you resist the cataclysms?”

“Not at liberty to say.”

“Then what is the Black Trap?”

“…Still not at liberty to say.”

High Lord stared into Merlith’s eyes for three full minutes before she sighed deeply, her tone heavy with helplessness: “It really is not something I can disclose, Duke Cecil.”

High Lord wasn’t willing to let this rare conversation with a dragon end with no gain. He pressed on: “Not at liberty to say—that means you know, but can’t tell me?”

“You could put it that way,” Merlith’s voice grew more hesitant. She seemed to struggle carefully with her words but maintained her politeness. “I can’t tell you, but it’s not out of malice.”

Suddenly, High Lord’s intuition stirred. He sensed something in Merlith’s reaction.

He cautiously asked, “Is the Black Trap related to the cause of the magical cataclysms?”

“No direct connection.”

“Is the Black Trap… related to the gods?”

Merlith fell silent.

But her eyes never left High Lord’s, not for a moment.

After a few seconds, her eyes slowly shifted into glowing golden vertical pupils. Fine scales began to appear on her cheeks and forehead. She opened her mouth, and a low, resonant whisper, incomprehensible to humans, echoed out. At that moment, High Lord noticed the shadow behind Merlith—breaking free from the laws of optics, a pair of massive dragon wings unfolded from the darkness. Her shadow was transforming into a dragon form.

High Lord nodded. “I already know the answer. No need to say more.”

Merlith’s shadow quickly returned to normal, and her dragon eyes and scales faded away.

She looked into High Lord’s eyes and whispered, “We are still trapped.”

At last, High Lord had touched the true secret.

He looked at the agent, now back to her usual form, and suddenly felt curious: “You told me all this… because my ‘contact level’ was raised?”

Merlith nodded. “Yes.”

After that, High Lord and Merlith Pernia talked a lot more.

But in the end, he still couldn’t pry out more dragon secrets—including where they live, the exact scale of the Mithril Vault on the continent, their plans regarding the cataclysms and the Black Trap, or whether they would take any further actions here.

Clearly, even with the raised ‘contact level,’ Merlith had to keep many secrets.

Still, this conversation left High Lord very satisfied.

He had gained far more than he initially expected.

But he also knew that since the Mithril Vault—or rather, the dragons—had chosen to be so open with him, it certainly wasn’t without reason.

“What do you want from me?” High Lord asked. “Raising my ‘contact level’ can’t just mean you telling me a bunch of secrets, right?”

“Actually, we don’t have many demands,” Merlith shook her head gently. “This increase in contact level was due to my negligence and accident. We only wish to be quiet observers. If there is anything we want from you, it’s that you continue cooperating with us as before—and keep our shared secrets.”

High Lord couldn’t help but laugh. “Honestly, you should have asked me to keep secrets before telling me all those secrets.”

“It makes no difference,” Merlith spread her hands. “When talking to someone like you, honesty is more beneficial than scheming. We believe you’re not the type to spread secrets around. And… frankly, we don’t really care if you do.

“The Mithril Vault has existed on this continent for many years. Over hundreds of dynasties and countless people have come into contact with us. Throughout the long years, there have been plenty of terrifying ‘secrets’ about the Vault—some even raging for a century—but in the end, they become fragmented history and legend through the rise and fall of dynasties.

“You can tell everything we talked about today—believe me, a century from now, it will be just a story; two centuries later, a rural legend; and by the third century… even your descendants won’t believe it.”

High Lord wanted to argue that short-lived races were better at passing down information, but then he remembered a certain knightly novel mentioning his eighty-plus wives and found himself speechless.

With enough time, history inevitably blends into legend.

Having witnessed long ages himself, High Lord had to admit that.

“I have no interest in spreading secrets unnecessarily,” High Lord said.

“That’s just as well.”

(End of chapter)