Chapter 1248 — Seas Turn to Mulberry Fields

Agondor... Gao Yang still remembered Xuanque City; it was where he had stayed on his last visit to Talrond. It was here that he had come into contact with the advanced civilization this planet kept hidden, and it was here too that he had witnessed the rot and madness beneath the splendid facade of the Dragon Kingdom. But now all of that past had scattered like dust in the wind. A newborn city stood upon the ruins of the old, and it could obviously not be mentioned in the same breath as the jade palaces and jeweled halls of before; yet when he saw the construction sites busy day and night, the dragons throwing themselves into every kind of work, the marketplaces that had sprung up along the rough streets, and the hatchlings practicing flight above the city, he knew that this land's rebirth from the ashes was only a matter of time.

He felt a familiar atmosphere here—an atmosphere like the one he had once witnessed with his own eyes at the foot of the Dark Mountains, and even further back, seven hundred years ago, in the memory of Gao Yang Cecil, in the reclaimed lands of the Kingdom of Ansu, he had seen scenes like this as well.

A people that could still persist in rebuilding and reclaiming amid such a wasteland, that held fast to its pride as a civilized community and refused to sink into becoming savage creatures that preyed on the weak and roamed in plunder—such a people would surely rise again.

Today's dragons prized pragmatism and efficiency, and Gao Yang likewise disliked excessive formality. So the welcome Agondor had prepared was solemn yet plain. After a simple reception to wash away the dust of travel, Metzen and Noretta left first to settle their hatchling and hand over some work, while Gao Yang and Amber remained in Agondor's new council hall.

Gao Yang once again met that "High Dragon Priest" who had once stood in attendance beside the Dragon God.

He had put off that splendid golden robe and the crown that symbolized divine authority. When he met Gao Yang, he wore only a plain, durable robe of gray-white. There was a weariness in his expression that even a dragon could not conceal, yet the light deep in his eyes was vigorous and spirited; an aura utterly different from before—the aura of a "living man"—radiated from him, and a sincere smile was on his face.

In the plainly furnished reception room, Gao Yang sat down together with this dragon leader. Amber stood behind him, and another dragon maiden with short black hair stood behind and to the side of Hragor.

"You are forever a friend to us dragons," Hragor spoke first. "I never imagined our second meeting would be under such circumstances."

"Yes—I remember our last meeting as though it were only a short while ago," Gao Yang said with feeling, his gaze taking in the human-form dragon before him. "It feels as though dozens of centuries have passed."

"Talrond has changed greatly," Hragor nodded slightly. "There is no need to go into the details here; you must already know them all. I heard Metzen took a detour along the eastern coast on her way here—you should have seen the wasteland along the route, and what the safe zones within that wasteland look like. What are your impressions?"

"...Providing aid to Talrond is one of the wisest decisions I have ever made," Gao Yang said frankly after a moment's thought. "I once worried whether the dragon race, after such upheaval, could truly hold on in this wasteland, and whether the vast manpower and resources the Alliance had gathered could truly be put to the right use amid such postwar ruins. But now all my worries have dispersed like smoke—the dragons are not only my personal friends, but also a trustworthy member of the Alliance."

His words came from the heart, with not the slightest intent of blind flattery, and even proud dragons would clearly find such sincere praise gratifying. A faint smile appeared on Hragor's face, and this ancient dragon nodded gently: "We still face no small number of difficulties here, but at least we have succeeded in keeping our society above the red line of 'survival.' As long as the race can gain a firm foothold in the safe zones, we can slowly clear the contamination and monsters from the danger zones, and even rebuild many of our production activities. In this process, the aid you prepared for us has played an unimaginably great role—without that food, medicine, and industrial material, nearly a third of our kin would likely not have survived the winter after the Great Shield vanished."

"Talrond's stabilization is a good thing for the entire Alliance," Gao Yang nodded, then promptly changed tack and brought the ritual of mutual compliments to a close—pleasant as such exchanges were, he had come this time with serious business to attend to. "Let us first speak of the Tower of the Countercurrent and that great adventurer. That is why I have come."

"Mr. Molin is currently staying in the Adventurer's Town; I have already sent people to make arrangements, and you can meet him shortly," Hragor nodded at once. "Lady Victoria has been at his side these days. Perhaps some 'power of bloodline' really is at work—the great adventurer's condition has been fairly stable of late, with no further instances of 'dream-crossing.' Still, I dare not let him leave the vicinity of Agondor for the time being, lest something unexpected occur.

"As for the Tower of the Countercurrent... the monitoring team we sent to the western coast only just delivered a report today. The tower remains entirely normal; at least from the outside, it simply stands in the sea, harmless, with no intelligent being approaching it, and nothing emerging from within it.

"Yet my worry about that tower grows with each passing day... I know I should not offer something as ambiguous as 'intuition' as evidence, but I must say it anyway: my intuition... is sounding the alarm."

"Intuition..." Gao Yang said in a low voice, his expression unusually serious. "You were once a demigod; your 'intuition' is no simple thing. Speaking of which—you have not sent anyone inside that tower to look around, have you?"

"No," Hragor shook his head. "I have recently increased the monitoring of the Tower of the Countercurrent, raising the watch posts on the western coast from one to three, and pushing the closest observation distance to within six nautical miles of the tower. But to this day we have not let any of the watchers set foot on that island of steel. This involves the Countercurrent, after all. Though the dragon race has now broken free of the chains of the 'Irreversible God,' our own strength has also been greatly diminished. With only the forces deployed along the western coast, we are still in no position to confront that tower head-on."

"Why six nautical miles?" Amber, standing behind Gao Yang, suddenly asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"That is..." Hragor hesitated, then said uncertainly, "that is the limit He once told me of with His own lips. Once you cross the line at six nautical miles, the contamination seeping out of the tower has a chance of actively affecting the mind."

"Tested by Enya, was it... then it should be trustworthy. She is reliable in such matters." Gao Yi nodded slightly, and just as he was about to ask something more, a knock came suddenly from the side, and a dragon-clan attendant, having been granted leave to enter, stepped into the reception hall.

"Leader, Mr. Mojin and Lady Victoria have arrived."

(End of this chapter)