The dwellings of Dragons — in the writings of the bards and playwrights of Lolun, they went like this:
Dragons built their lairs in the heart of ancient volcanoes or in the depths of eternal glaciers. Depending on the species, they drew power from hot magma or cold ice. Sometimes, Giant Dragons would live in castles or towers, but they rarely built such exquisite dwellings themselves. Instead, they occupied the houses of humans or other weak races, and most of the time, almost all the time, they would make a mess of these exquisite, comfortable, and historic castles until a brave Knight or a lucky adventurer defeated the dragons who occupied the castles. Only then would the terrible loss and waste end.
— The famous playwright of the Ansu era, Dolangon Jabandel, wrote in his book, Dragons and Lairs.
Gwen came to the edge of the "inner balcony." His upper body was slightly out of the guardrail, and he looked down at the scene in the dragon's lair.
He saw a vast circular hall supported by exquisite and ornate columns. Some kind of alloy structure that humans could not understand was pieced together in a seamless way, forming the first layer of walls in the hall. On the outer edge of the hall, he could see mechanical devices in hibernation, small drones busily maintaining equipment and cleaning the walls, and a decorative light combination. The light from the dome illuminated the center of the hall, where there was a silver-white circular platform. On the surface of the platform, one could see exquisite relief patterns. The scale and structure of the platform were so large that even the most fastidious artists would gasp in amazement.
He turned back and looked at the place where he was standing. It was an internal residence built halfway up the mountain. Part of the structure extended into the interior of the mountain and was connected to the huge circular hall below. The elevators and corridors in the mountain provided transportation to the various levels. The other part of the structure was out of sight and led to the outside of the mountain. Gawain had visited it once. There was an amazing skylight room that bathed in starlight or sunlight. There was also a beautiful viewing gallery. All the windows were controlled by mechanical devices and could be opened and closed or filtered at will with a command.
Melita called her "lair" "Simple Industrial Style Renovation." According to her, this style was relatively low-cost among several popular renovation styles in Tarlonde in recent years.
"I wonder how the bards and playwrights of the Lolun Continent will feel when they see this." Gwen looked away from the dragon's lair. He shook his head and said, "Especially those who are keen on describing the Giant Dragon story."
"Most of them won't feel anything because the best bards and playwrights of the Lolun Continent are all from Tarlonde," Melita said proudly, standing next to him. "We have contributed 80% of the best dragon-themed plays in the human world in the past 1,000 years."
Gawain glanced at the dragon lady and said helplessly, "So, you guys were the ones who made up the rumors about evil dragons living in the crater of volcanoes in the first place. Don't complain about how humans make up stories about you guys."
Melita thought for a moment and was easily persuaded. "Well, you have a point."
As she spoke, she turned around and walked to the other side of the inner residence. "Let's not stay here. We can only see the cave from here. The balcony at the other end has a better view than here."
"Are the houses of the Dragons all like this?" Gwen followed Melita and asked curiously. "I mean, a large lair with a small dwelling structure."
"Most of them are like this," Melita said. "We will have a 'dragon lair' that is big enough to fit our Giant Dragon body, and build a delicate 'small house' inside or next to the dragon lair. The dragon lair allows us to sleep for a long time in our Giant Dragon form or to adjust and recuperate our body. The small dwelling is a good choice to enjoy life in human form. Of course, not all Dragons are like this. "
"Oh?" Gwen raised his eyebrows. "There are exceptions?"
"Some Dragons who are not so particular will just prepare a 'dragon lair' for themselves and live in the dragon lair. Our human form is very small compared to our true form, so we only need to occupy a small space. So a simple layout in the dragon lair is enough to meet our needs," Melita explained seriously. "Noretta is like this. She doesn't have a 'humanoid living room'. Instead, she dug a huge, huge cave in the mountain, much bigger than mine."
As they spoke, they had passed through the living room and corridor of the inner residence. The indoor lights controlled by the Omega were constantly adjusted as the visitors moved, so that the place as far as the eye could see was always maintained at the most comfortable brightness.
Hearing Melita's words, Gwen's eyes widened. Every local custom of Tarlonde was so novel and interesting to him. Even how the Giant Dragon usually slept seemed like a subject to him. He could not help but ask, "Doesn't Noretta usually sleep in her human form?"
Melita shrugged. "She built a big bed of more than a thousand square meters in the center of her dragon lair. It takes a long time to run from the center of the bed to the edge of the bed. But the advantage is that it is very comfortable to sleep in both dragon and human form."
Gwen was speechless.
Melita looked at him curiously. "Why are you not talking?"
Gwen spread out his hands. "… I just suddenly feel that … you Dragons' living habits are really 'free'."
At the same time, he had another thought in his mind. Why does this setting of a big bed of a thousand square meters in the center of the bedroom sound so familiar …
Melita did not know what Gwen was thinking. She was just attracted by the topic. After a moment of silence, she said, "Of course, there is a third situation."
Gwen was startled and did not react for a moment. "A third situation?"
They passed through the inner residence and came to the balcony facing the outside of the mountain. The open floor-to-ceiling observation window had been adjusted to transparent mode. From this height and angle, they could clearly see the large urban buildings at the foot of the mountain, and the bright lights of the giant factory complex in the distance.
Melita stood on the edge of the balcony and looked in the direction of the city. "Some dragons only have one residence where they can rest in their human form, and they live in their human form most of the time."
Gwen suddenly frowned, but before he could ask, Veronica, who had walked nearby, said, "What about their 'true form'? As far as I know, although you can live in your human form, you always need to release your true form to eat or rest … "
"There is a special 'restaurant' for eating, and if the implant in the body is in trouble, you can go to the maintenance center or private repair shop. Other than that, Dragons do not need to stay in their Giant Dragon form for a long time. If they keep their true form, they can save space and energy. "
The more Gwen listened, the stranger he felt. Finally, he could not help but ask, "What kind of Dragons would choose this way of life?"
"Poor dragons," Melita said. "Or the ordinary citizens who are judged by Omega to not have enough ability to play their role in the upper Tarlonde, so they can only live in the plains and the lower city."
Gwen was finally stunned. "There are poor people in Tarlonde … Poor dragons?"
"How can there not be?" Melita sighed. "We have not been able to build an average and infinitely rich society, so there must be upper and lower class. But poverty is relative, and we have to look at the overall situation of the society. Do you see the most densely lit area in the city? They live there, living a 'poor life that is incomprehensible from a human's point of view. The Council of Elders would provide these citizens with free housing and even provide them with all their daily necessities. Omega would provide them with access to almost all entertainment products. Every month, they would be given a free supply of boosters. There were even some hallucinogens that weren't allowed to be sold in the Upper Zone.
"They have everything. The Tarlonde society will provide for them, and as the condition or price of all this, the lower class citizens can only accept this. They have no other choice. They are engaged in limited, essentially meaningless work, and cannot intervene in the affairs of the upper Tarlonde, and many other … restrictions that are not easy to understand in human society."
Gwen frowned, and Amber's voice suddenly came from the side. "It sounds like … no work, a house, enough food, and plenty of entertainment. Why do I feel that it's not bad?"
Melita turned her head and looked at the half-elf lady, who had a troubled and thoughtful look on her face. She suddenly smiled. "So, this is the 'poverty' that the humans of the Lolun Continent cannot understand."
"I can understand," Gwen suddenly said. "At your level of development, it is no longer difficult to maintain survival. The Tarlonde society can easily support a huge 'unproductive population', and the cost is only a small part of the total social expenditure of your society. On the contrary, if you want to let these members of the society enter the workforce and get the same job and promotion opportunities as other people, it will cost a lot because these 'low-ability' members will destroy your current high-efficiency production structure.
"So, instead of bearing this kind of waste, it is better to support them directly. Anyway, it is not expensive for you."
Amber listened to Gwen's explanation with her eyes wide open, as if she could not understand the picture he described. Veronica looked at Gwen thoughtfully, as if she had thought about this before. Melita was shocked. She looked at Gwen several times before she frowned with an incredulous expression. "You … have thought of this so quickly?"
"Just an occasional burst of inspiration." Gwen smiled. "You know, I'm good at social deduction."
"… This is beyond the scope of social deduction," Melita said in a strange tone. "If it is not developed to a certain extent, it should be against common sense in the eyes of humans."
"I haven't done much since I was resurrected," Gwen said casually, and did not let the topic continue. "Anyway … it seems that I have learned another detail about Tarlonde."
Melita was silent for a moment. After a few seconds, she exhaled. "How's your rest? Are you interested in going out with me now? "
"Are we going to start the 'tour' now?" Gwen raised his eyebrows. "Or is it just a walk with you?"
"There is no difference between a walk and a tour. There are too many things to show you," Melita said. "It should be dusk in Cecil City now. It is actually a good time to go out for a stroll."
"I think it's okay." Gwen immediately said and looked at Amber and Veronica.
"I have no objection!" Amber immediately jumped up. "I'm not sleepy anymore!"
Veronica also nodded gently, indicating that she had no objection.
Melita smiled. "Very well, then I'll send a letter to Noretta. Let's go see Tarlonde after dusk."
Gwen nodded. Then, he asked curiously, "Where are you going to show us?"
"You have spent half the day in the Upper Zone of Tarlonde. I'm sure you have seen enough facilities like the Council Headquarters and the Upper Sanctum," Melita said unhurriedly. "Then I'll take you to the middle and lower levels of Tarlonde. We'll go to the factory area and the large-scale enterprise complex, then to the lower city of the plain. If Noretta agrees, maybe we can even go to Dark City. The Speaker asked me to take you to visit every place in Tarlonde, but we can't visit the entire continent in a few days. So, let's go to a few representative places … I'll let you see the complete and real Giant Dragon Kingdom. "
Then, Gwen, Amber, and Melita came to a platform outside the dragon's lair. This wide platform built halfway up the mountain could allow the Giant Dragon to take off and land. In a sense, it was the "door" of Melita's house.
They did not wait long at the edge of the platform. Amber, with her sharp eyes, suddenly saw a slender and elegant white Giant Dragon flying over from the southwest sky and landing smoothly in the center of the platform.
"Hey! Noretta!! "Melita waited for her friend to land and immediately greeted her happily." You're fast — "
Before she could finish her sentence, the white Giant Dragon, who had just landed, suddenly seemed to stagger. Its huge dragon claws moved two steps on the platform, and the next second, it stepped on Melita's head in front of Gwen and the others' stunned and even frightened gazes.
Strictly speaking, it stepped on the agent's entire body.
If it were a human, she would definitely be crippled if not dead.
But in the next second, Gwen heard Melita's scream coming from under the dragon's claws. She still sounded energetic. "Noretta! You did it on purpose this time!! "
"I lost my balance," the white Giant Dragon lowered its head and said in a rumbling voice. "You know, I'm not very used to your landing platform."
"It's all an excuse!" Melita continued to scream as she scrambled out from under the Giant Dragon's feet. The elegance and steadiness that she once maintained in front of Gwen for a long time was finally gone. "I'll remember it. Now you've stepped on me one more time!"
The two friends seemed to be interacting very enthusiastically. Gwen, Amber, and Veronica were stunned not far away.
After a long time, Gwen could not help but scratch his head.
This trip to Tarlund was really worth it. He once again saw a side of the Dragon race that no one knew about.
How many times had he seen the "unknown side"?
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