Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 563 - 562: Conversation with a Dragon

A person capable of enduring the collapse of Gondor, chaotic wave disasters, death on the battlefield, and resurrection from the tomb indeed has the qualification to calmly face all the strange things of this world. Melita Ponia had to admit that Gawain’s statement made perfect sense.

What she didn’t know was that Gawain’s experiences were far from limited to those—she would also have to include surviving a plane crash, time travel, and hanging in space for hundreds of thousands of years to piece together Gawain’s complete life.

In this unimaginably long life, the appearance of a dragon was for Gawain just a slight, colorful decoration in one of his blinks.

He was surprised, somewhat amazed, but overall... it wasn’t anything significant.

He wasn’t more surprised than he would be by someone in the distant Typhon Empire inventing fertilizer.

"To be honest, many humans think dragons are just legends, but almost every person who researches history and delves into the extraordinary fields knows dragons truly exist—they just rarely appear in public," Gawain looked at the eyes of Melita Ponia, visible above the veil. In a normal state, it was hard to tell these eyes belonged to a dragon, "Who would have thought, you’re actually right beside us, disguised... so well."

"Transformation spells originally stemmed from the Dragonkin," Melita said with a light laugh, "We’re adept at disguising ourselves as any species, but to speak truthfully, there is one race better than us at mimicry and disguise."

"Sea demons, perhaps? Oh, I know—Tiel even disguises herself as a heap of seaweed to avoid work. If it weren’t impossible for seaweed to grow in the docks, she might have succeeded..."

The two conversed casually like old friends, and their human and dragon identities seemed forgotten at the side, making the atmosphere bizarrely harmonious. Ultimately, the topic returned to Melita’s race and the Dragonkin’s purpose.

Since the agent lady had chosen to be open, Gawain’s question became straightforward: "So, the Mithril Vault is actually controlled by the Dragonkin?"

"Indeed, in fact... it’s the Dragonkin who established the Mithril Vault," Melita nodded frankly, "But I must emphasize again that there’s no conspiracy to uncover here—the Dragonkin bears no malice towards any race on the continent..."

"And what about the land empire destroyed in the Inversion Tide War?"

Gawain suddenly mentioned a historical event that was undoubtedly sensitive to Melita, causing her breath to pause noticeably.

"You sure know a lot..." the Humanoid Dragon gazed into Gawain’s eyes. "This goes beyond human historical records, beyond humanity’s understanding of this world."

Gawain laughed: "You know, I have many ’peculiar’ friends, I may not know less than you about those ancient secrets."

"That sea demon, perhaps..." A hint of realization flashed in Melita’s eyes, then she shook her head. "It seems you indeed know many things, so our conversation can be more forthcoming. But regarding the chaos of the Inversion Tide, I suggest you avoid asking too much now. If you meet other dragons, it’s best not to inquire rashly."

Gawain immediately noticed one thing: Tiel referred to that ancient war as the "Inversion Tide War," whereas Melita calls it the "Inversion Tide Chaos." A single word difference, yet it reveals significant information.

And it appears... this event is somehow taboo among dragons?

Though he was interested in the ancient war that possibly involved the "black trap," Gawain didn’t dwell on this issue but gently changed the subject: "Actually, I’m quite curious why you would reveal your dragon identity so easily. You dragons are so mysterious before the world, disguising yourselves should be a matter of importance, shouldn’t it?"

"It’s important, but not as crucial as you might think," Melita replied calmly, "Upon discovering you investigated the impact crater, and my lost item was with you, I knew you would surely associate the Mithril Vault with dragons. Rather than making things messy in the future, the Mithril Vault decided it’s better to directly elevate your ’interaction level,’ based on historical experience, doing so is really the best way to avoid surprises."

"... It seems you have a complete contingency plan to handle various unexpected events when interacting with the world," Gawain judged, "With rigorous plans, tight organization, layered management, enormous scale... the purpose of establishing the Mithril Vault certainly isn’t just to serve as a ’vault,’ right?"

"We Dragonkin have always been watching the Loren Continent, observing the development and changes of all races and kingdoms on this land. The Mithril Vault is our tool to observe the continent—of course, its function as a ’vault’ is equally important. Dragons are a race fond of collecting treasures, you have probably heard of that."

Gawain raised an eyebrow, directly ignoring the part about "collecting treasures:" "Merely observation?"

"Merely observation, we will not intervene in any affairs of secular kingdoms."

"Then what specifically do you observe?" Gawain asked again, "Observe how secular kingdoms operate? Observe how the various races develop? Or... observe how we face survival disasters like chaotic waves?"

Melita answered calmly: "All are within observation."

"Am I also one of your observation targets?"

Melita hesitated for a moment: "Maybe this is a little offensive, but in some sense...yes."

"Then what’s the purpose of observation? It can’t just be to satisfy your curiosity, can it?"

"Why shouldn’t it be?" Melita cleverly retorted, evidently not intending to answer the question directly, "Dragonkin is a very curious race."

"How long has the Mithril Vault existed?"

"Whenever the oldest kingdom appears on the continent, that’s when the Mithril Vault was established."

Gawain stared into Melita’s eyes: "So it can even be traced back before the last chaotic wave, right?"

"...It seems you indeed acquired a lot of knowledge from the sea demons," Melita nodded after a brief silence. "As you said—traced back before the last chaotic wave, even further back to more ancient chaotic waves before that. We may not have always called it the ’Mithril Vault,’ but agents have always appeared on this continent."

"You’re not affected by chaotic waves? Like the sea demons?"

"We indeed survive through chaotic waves, but our situation isn’t the same as the sea demons."

"How do you resist chaotic waves?"

"Temporarily unable to disclose."

"Then what is the Dark Pit?"

"...Still unable to disclose."

Gawain stared into Melita’s eyes, holding the gaze for three minutes before she finally sighed deeply, a tone of helplessness in her voice: "It’s truly unable to disclose, Duke Cecil."

Gawain was unwilling to end this hard-earned conversation with the dragon without any gains, persistently questioning: "Unable to disclose—so does that mean you actually know, but can’t tell me?"

"You could understand it that way," Melita’s response grew more hesitant than before, seemingly choosing her words with great difficulty, yet striving to maintain politeness, "I can’t tell you, but it’s not out of malice."

Intuition suddenly stirred Gawain’s subconscious; he seemed to sense something from Melita’s reaction.

He cautiously asked, "Is the Dark Pit related to the cause of the chaotic wave?"

"There’s no direct connection."

He then asked, "The Dark Pit... is it related to God?"

Melita fell silent.

But her eyes remained fixed on Gawain, not shifting for a moment.

A few seconds later, her eyes gradually transformed into flickering, glowing golden pupils, while fine scales began to appear near her cheeks and forehead. As she opened her mouth, a murmur, mixed with an indescribable low echo, emanated, and at that moment, Gawain noticed the shadow behind Melita—gradually defying optical laws, a pair of enormous dragon wings stretched out from the shadows: her shadow was transforming into a dragon shape.

Gawain nodded: "I have already got the answer; you need not reply."

Melita’s shadow swiftly reverted, and her draconic eyes and scales also returned to their normal state.

She gazed into Gawain’s eyes, softly saying, "We are still in the Pit."

At last, Gawain touched upon the true secret.

Looking at the agent Miss who had returned to her normal state, he was suddenly curious: "You told me so much... is it because you’ve raised the so-called ’contact level’?"

Melita nodded: "Yes."

Afterwards, Gawain talked a lot more with Melita Ponia.

But he ultimately couldn’t uncover more of the Dragonkin’s inside story—including where they lived, the specific scale of the Mithril Vault on the continent, their plans in the face of the chaotic wave and Dark Pit, or whether they would take any action on the continent next.

Evidently, even with an enhanced "contact level," Melita had many secrets to keep.

But this conversation had already left Gawain quite satisfied.

He had gained more than initially expected.

Nevertheless, he was aware that since the Mithril Vault, or rather, the Dragonkin, had voluntarily opened up to him, it was certainly not without cost.

"What do you wish to gain from me?" Gawain asked, "The so-called enhanced ’contact level,’ the content is probably not just you revealing a bunch of secrets to me, right?"

"In fact, we truly seek nothing," Melita gently shook her head, "Even this time’s enhancement of the contact level was due to my oversight and accident, we only wish to be quiet bystanders—if there’s really anything we need you to do, it’s that we hope you can continue to cooperate with us, as always, and keep our shared secrets."

Gawain couldn’t help but laugh: "Honestly, you should have told me to keep the secrets before revealing them."

"It makes no difference," Melita spread her hands, "Talking to someone like you, candor is more beneficial than calculation. We believe you’re not one to broadcast secrets far and wide, and... we actually don’t care much whether you will proclaim these secrets at all.

"The Mithril Vault has existed on the continent for many years, with hundreds of kingdoms and countless individuals having interacted with us. Throughout the long ages, there has never been a shortage of shocking ’secret tales’ about the Mithril Vault, some of which have even been rampant for a century, yet ultimately they turned into fragmented history and legend through the dynastic changes.

"You can disclose the entire content of today’s conversation—believe me, a century later, it will ultimately become a story, two centuries later, it will become a folk legend, and by the third century... even your descendants will not believe any of it."

Gawain thought to argue that the other side underestimated the short-lived races’ ability to pass down information, but he recalled a knight novel mentioning his own eighty-plus wives and was suddenly left speechless.

Only the passage of long time can blend history with legend.

Having witnessed long ages himself, Gawain had to admit this truth.

"Without necessity, I have no interest in proclaiming secrets everywhere." Gawain said.

"So much the better."