"Spoils? Besides dragon meat, there are other spoils... Ah!"
Sterin tilted his head as if asking what Raon meant, then his eyes widened.
"D-Don't tell me you're thinking of going to Matirus's lair?"
"It's not just a thought, I've already decided to go."
Raon shook his head lightly.
"It's only natural to collect ownerless treasures."
It is known that dragons, like crows gathering shiny objects, collect gold bars and jewels. In ancient tales recorded in books, during the era when the Demonic Dragon ruled the continent, humans and monsters offered gems and gold coins to the dragons. If Matirus is a dragon of such stature, it might have built a mountain of gold bars and jewels.
"Hmm, there might be treasures as you say."
Sterin cleared his throat and nodded.
"But as an elf, I'm not sure if it's worth collecting."
"You're in a position to say that, Guardian."
If someone else had said such a thing, they might be called a hypocrite, but Sterin was an exception. Despite holding the noblest position among elves, he lived a frugal life.
"But humans need money. Besides, wouldn't it be fun?"
"Fun?"
Sterin tilted his head as if asking what Raon meant.
"Aren't you curious how they'd react if we made weapons to kill other dragons using the gold bars and bones of the dragon that attacked us?"
Raon grinned and shrugged.
"Even with dragon bones and teeth as materials, it would cost an astronomical amount to process the equipment. Raiding the dragon's lair will be a great help for future wars."
"Using dragons' bones and money to make weapons to kill dragons..."
Sterin stroked his chin and smiled deeply.
"That's an excellent idea. I'd love to see their distorted expressions."
He nodded, saying he'd like to participate in that fight even if he had to take care of his body.
"Yes, you'll definitely be able to see it. We'll raid other dragon lairs too and send equipment to Sepia as well."
Raon nodded calmly.
"O-Other dragon lairs?"
Sterin's eyes widened.
"Don't tell me you're planning to raid all three of their lairs?"
"Of course. We don't know the Red Dragon's name so we'll leave that aside for now, but the Black Dragon is a great dragon, so its lair's location must be known."
Considering the Black Dragon's human-hating behavior and its status as a great dragon, its lair's location must be known. It would be right to recover it by sending other divisions or units, not just the Light Wind division.
"That's right! It's only natural for the victor to claim the spoils!"
Martha cheered and stomped her feet excitedly.
"Is there bead ice cream too?"
Runaan licked her lips, seemingly uninterested in money.
"There's no such thing..."
Krein shook his head, insisting there definitely wouldn't be any.
"Raiding lairs... Is that something a Zieghart swordsman should do? Isn't it theft? Hmm, if it can save many people, it might be the right thing to do..."
Burren furrowed his brows and stroked his chin, deep in thought. He looked just like Karoon.
"I don't know about the others, but we have to stop by Matirus's lair. I should report to the family in advance."
Raon looked up at the sky and licked his lips. Perhaps because of the difficult battle, he was reminded of his family's faces.
"I've already sent a preliminary report."
Burren shook his head lightly.
"You reported?"
"Yes. I thought the Head of House would be worried, so I sent it after confirming you had woken up."
He lowered his hand, saying it could have been done later.
"...I see. Good job."
Raon smiled faintly. Rimmer, who had been the Vice Division Leader, never made such reports and always argued with him, so it felt strange that Burren had reported first.
'I definitely need to choose a new Vice Division Leader.'
After sending Rimmer away, he had been pondering about the Vice Division Leader. In terms of strength, Runaan was the strongest, but she wasn't the type to take the lead. Martha had strong drive and initiative, but her temper flared up quickly, making it difficult for her to lead everyone.
No matter how he thought about it, only Burren could lead the Light Wind division in his place.
"Woohoo!"
Dorian put down the dragon meat he had been grilling diligently and started drooling.
"Lair! Gold! Jewels! Supplies!"
His eyes sparkled golden as if he had already entered Matirus's lair.
-What are you doing! Isn't the meat burning!
Wrath, on the contrary, gestured quickly to flip the meat, seemingly uninterested in gold bars.
"Ah!"
Dorian, as if hearing Wrath's words, snapped back to reality and quickly flipped the meat.
"Hmm, this one seems almost done, doesn't it?"
Krein placed the Red Dragon meat, which had lost all its redness, on a plate.
"Ugh! Division Leader, you said you wanted to eat it, so why don't you taste it first?"
He pushed forward the steaming Red Dragon roast, as if saying Raon should eat first since he had ordered it.
"That's right. But..."
Raon grinned and used his fork to push the meat into Krein's mouth.
"In the Light Wind division, Krein always goes first."
"Mmph!"
Krein wanted to refuse, but unable to resist Raon's superhuman strength, he ended up with the meat stuffed in his mouth.
"Chew."
"Ugh... Hm?"
He frowned as if he disliked it immensely while chewing the dragon roast, but suddenly his eyes widened.
"W-What! Why is it delicious?"
Krein quickly chewed and swallowed the meat, then licked his lips.
"Really? You're saying that's delicious?"
Martha chuckled in disbelief.
"If you're lying..."
"It's true! The fire flavor is amazing! I've never had anything like this before!"
Krein held out the dragon meat to Martha, telling her to try it herself.
"Me first."
Runaan boldly stepped forward and ate the dragon roast first.
"Tasty."
She gave a thumbs up, showing her intense flavor expression despite it not being ice cream.
"Hmm..."
Martha frowned, then as if not wanting to lose to Runaan, put the dragon meat in her mouth.
"Oh, the fire flavor is really good! It's different from beef!"
She exclaimed that it was really delicious and continued putting meat in her mouth.
"It's really good."
"It's truly delicious!"
"I never knew dragon meat could be this tasty..."
Other Light Wind swordsmen also chewed and swallowed the Red Dragon and Gold Dragon meat, saying it was delicious.
-Keuh, it feels good to see them enjoying it so much!
Wrath smiled brightly, seemingly pleased that everyone liked the dragon meat.
'But they're not eating that one.'
Raon narrowed his eyes, looking at the pile of Black Dragon meat on the right. No one was touching the Black Dragon meat, afraid of getting poisoned.
-How foolish. The black lizard has strong poison resistance. It doesn't have poison in its body!
Wrath shook his head, saying that even if there was poison, it would have burned away in the fire.
-If the others won't eat it, you eat it! Even this king can't hold back anymore!
He waved his hands frantically, telling Raon to stop holding back and eat quickly.
'Alright, alright.'
Raon nodded and put the untouched Black Dragon meat in his mouth. First, salty flavor moistened his tongue, followed by a wave of meat juices. It felt like a sticky breath of meat juice was spreading throughout his mouth.
-Kyaaaah!
Wrath trembled with his fists and let out an exclamation.
-This is it! This is why we eat dragons!
He started dancing in the air, shouting that the taste was beyond expectations.
"A-Are you okay?"
Dorian lowered his eyes slightly, asking if there was no poison.
"Yes. It seems all the poison has evaporated."
Only after Raon nodded with a smile did the other swordsmen start eating the Black Dragon meat.
"Handsome Raon fearlessly led everyone in food as well..."
Siyana was hiding behind a tree, writing in her book again. Hearing the term "Handsome Raon" made his head ache.
"That book is scarier than dragons..."
Raon shook his head and was about to eat a whole piece of Black Dragon meat when:
[The trait
[The achievement of the trait
[The rank of the trait
Suddenly, reward messages appeared.
-Huh?
'Hmm?'
Raon and Wrath widened their eyes identically as they saw the messages.
-W-What is this! Why are traits increasing!
Wrath opened his mouth wide, as if he hadn't imagined this at all.
'Ah, I thought it was strange there was no poison trait in the rewards, but it's increasing like this.'
Raon smiled slightly as he looked at the reward messages. It seemed that the power of Gluttony had been activated, applying the Black Dragon's trait of strong poison resistance to himself.
'Then...'
He put down the Black Dragon meat and tried eating the Red Dragon meat as well.
-Kuh! As expected, Red Dragon is the best for fire flavor! It's like the meat itself contains flames!
Wrath grinned, holding his chubby cheeks as if he had never been angry.
[The trait
[The achievement of the trait
It was the same this time. The rank of Fire Resistance didn't increase, but a message appeared saying the achievement had increased.
-Ugh!
Wrath, who had been happily chewing, widened his eyes.
-I-It wasn't just the Black Dragon?
He trembled his jaw as if in disbelief.
-It didn't happen with the blue lizard before!
'That's because I didn't have Gluttony then.'
-Argh!
Wrath grabbed his head as if asking what this was all about.
'I wonder what will happen if I eat the Gold Dragon?'
-W-Wait!
Ignoring Wrath's words, Raon smiled brightly and put the Gold Dragon meat in his mouth.
-D-Delicious! The meat is so tender it melts on your tongue like ice cream.
Wrath softened his eyes again, as if captivated by the dragon meat, his anger subsiding.
[The trait
[The trait
[The achievement of the trait
As befitting the meat of the Gold Dragon that uses light, a trait related to light resistance was created.
'So that's how it works?'
Raon curled up the corners of his mouth. It seemed he could raise all three resistances through tonight's dinner.
'I have to eat it all...'
-D-Don't eat!
Wrath blocked Raon's way, telling him not to eat.
'Really?'
Raon folded his arms leisurely, as if it didn't matter to him.
-Uh...
Wrath looked back. He trembled his eyes looking at the steaming meat.
'I don't mind, but are you sure?'
-Ugh!
Wrath drooled and shook his head.
'Are you really sure I shouldn't eat?'
-J-Just one...
He raised a finger, saying to eat just one.
'Alright.'
Raon nodded and ate the Black Dragon meat.
-Ugh! So delicious! It's even more delicious because we can only eat it occasionally...
While Wrath was making a bland taste expression despite his ecstatic face, it happened.
[The trait
[The achievement of the trait
-Argh!
Wrath screamed again after seeing the message.
-S-Stop eating!
Wrath shook his head, telling Raon not to eat any more.
'Alright.'
Raon put down the meat without any regret.
'Then shall we go back?'
He actually thought he had received enough rewards, so he didn't care either way.
-Hey!
Wrath waved his hands in panic.
-J-Just one more...
'Okay.'
-No, don't eat!
'Okay.'
-Just eat! Don't eat!
He pulled his hair, tears of frustration in his eyes and saliva of appetite dripping from his mouth.
'What am I supposed to do...'
-System! You angelic bastard!
* * *
At the entrance of a small cave barely big enough for one or two people to squeeze through.
"Hmm..."
An old goblin named Bobor let out a thin groan in front of the cave entrance.
"Why hasn't he returned?"
Matirus, who had said he would destroy Sepia and return, hadn't shown himself for two days, and the Great Forest in the distance was only slightly singed, not completely erased.
"What could have happened..."
As Bobor was pacing in front of the cave with furrowed brows, it happened.
"Is this the place?"
"Yes, it is."
Along with an expectant voice, a black-haired woman and an elf appeared.
"H-Humans?"
Bobor stepped back in shock. It was the first time in hundreds of years that humans had entered this area known as Matirus's lair.
"It's my first time seeing a talking goblin."
The black-haired woman smirked as she looked at Bobor.
"How dare you set foot here with your lowly feet! This is the lair of Matirus, the master of the mountains..."
"Yeah, I know."
She smiled as if she obviously knew and drew her sword.
"Y-You know and still came? If you swing that sword in this land, you'll face Matirus's wrath!"
Bobor shook his head. With Matirus gone and most of the guardians having left with him, he could only bluff now.
"How can a dead one express anger?"
The black-haired woman shrugged with a smirk.
"D-Dead? Matirus?"
The old goblin's jaw trembled.
"Yes. He was quite delicious."
The black-haired woman licked her lips, saying she had grown to like dragon meat.
"D-Don't lie! There's no way he could die to humans..."
"Enough. You can follow your master."
She raised her sword, saying she would cut him painlessly.
'I-I can't avoid it.'
The reason he was chosen to guard this lair was because he was fluent in various languages and relatively intelligent. He had no way to block that shining sword with force, as he couldn't even match the lowest-ranking guardian.
"Uh..."
"Stop."
As Bobor closed his eyes, imagining death, a low voice was heard from the bottom of the hill. When he raised his gaze in fear, a golden-haired, red-eyed human had already approached.
"It would be good to have someone to guide us."
"Ah..."
Bobor's jaw trembled. This human emitted an aura that seemed no less than Matirus's.
"You'll do it, right?"
The golden-haired, red-eyed human smiled coldly as if asking for cooperation.
"Y-Yes..."
Bobor could only nod.
* * *
Unlike its narrow entrance, Matirus's lair was enormous, as if the entire mountain range had been hollowed out. Its scale alone surpassed that of Sepia. However, there were no objects or treasures visible inside. It was just an empty cavern.
"What! There's nothing here!"
Martha frowned as she looked at Matirus's lair, which was just large and empty.
"No ice cream..."
Runaan also shook her head, seemingly disappointed.
"I told you there wouldn't be any!"
Krein pounded his chest in frustration.
"Hmm, was he frugal?"
Burren stroked his chin as if that might be the case.
"T-That's right..."
The old goblin who introduced himself as Bobor nodded.
"Matirus was usually frugal and focused only on sleeping, not particularly collecting wealth."
He shook his head, saying Matirus, unlike other dragons, didn't collect human treasures.
"Is that so?"
Raon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Bobor.
'It seems a bit off.'
It looked like an act, but being a goblin face rather than human, it was hard to tell. It was also difficult to torture him, as being an ordinary goblin, he would likely die quickly.
'It does seem plausible though.'
He spread his Aura Perception throughout the lair, but he couldn't sense any empty spaces.
-That's why this king said we should just grill more meat!
Wrath frowned as if suggesting they should go back and eat more meat.
'Can I really eat?'
-Ah...
He trembled his lips as if remembering the rewards after eating the meat.
-D-Don't eat! No, eat! Ugh...
Wrath collapsed to the ground after fighting with himself like playing rock-paper-scissors in front of a mirror.
'Should we look for the others then?'
As Raon was considering whether to search for the Black Dragon's or Red Dragon's lair, Dorian began sniffing the ground with his head lowered.
"The smell! I smell supplies!"
Dorian, with his eyes half-twisted, took out a pickaxe and started striking the floor of the lair.
"What are you doing?"
Martha frowned as she looked at Dorian.
"It's here! I'm sure of it!"
When the ground wouldn't break, Dorian threw away the pickaxe and struck with his sword infused with Astral Energy. With a thunderous sound, the cave shook and the ground was deeply excavated. Then, a thin golden light flickered into the dim cave. Gold bars were laid like marble under the broken ground.
"..."
"..."
Raon's and Bobor's eyes met.
"Ah, t-this is..."
"So it was here?"
Raon grinned as if it was fine and stomped his foot. With a thunderous sound, the thick ground completely shattered, filling the lair with a brilliant golden radiance.