Given its size, the quantity of mana flowing here was also enormous and powerful. Mana was nature's power, so the purest natural power poured out where all living things were most vibrant. Perhaps that was only natural for land officially untouched by human intrusion for nearly 4,000 years.
Officially. There were any number of unofficial cases. Once, 10,000 soldiers had entered to subjugate monsters that kept raiding nearby territories, defeated them, and offered El Takanris a great deal of tribute. That became customary, and anyone entering to subjugate monsters, along with hunters and herb gatherers, had to offer some of their wealth—only about 10 gil, really. Toss the money at a designated spot, and it would Teleport into this lair. So he was a money-grubbing old geezer after all—before entering. Thus this place, officially free of intrusion for 4,000 years, or more precisely, unauthorized intrusion, overflowed with pure, powerful natural energy, and its mana flowed swiftly and strongly. Since magic manifested through a chain of mana collisions, it was already established that the stronger the flow, the greater the rate of magical manifestation.
Using the last spells I'd created before falling asleep, the wide-area search spell Extensive Search(Extensive Search), the life-detection spell Detect Creature(Detect Creature), the intelligent-being detection spell Find Intelligence(Find Intelligence), and the complete information-organizing spell Absolute Information Sort(Absolute Information Sort), I took in information from my entire territory, extracted just the information on living creatures, then organized it to collect information on all the other races within my land.
Whew, using 4 spells at once really is a little difficult.
Multiple Casting(Multiple Casting), finding the desired values amid the mana collisions that gradually triggered chain reactions as magic operated, then causing collisions at those points so that a single collision produced 2 or more magical effects, required more than ordinary mental strength.
It was like an ordinary person, neither especially clever nor quick-witted, struggling to solve a thoroughly scrambled six-sided cube. Still, I was good enough at magic to arrogantly claim I'd reached a realm of mastery, so I managed all 4 spells without a hitch.
Anyway, hovering in the air like this, aren't I making myself a target? Well, it doesn't matter. Squall's circling over there in black-eagle form, guarding me. I'd worried it might rust while I slept for 200 years, but those magical metals weren't in it for nothing. Far from rusting, doesn't it seem to move even more smoothly? Ahhhhh...... The search results are finally coming in!
The races and numbers of other beings living here, as determined by my spells with their nearly 95% accuracy, were as follows.
144 goblin settlements.
86 orc settlements.
45 troll settlements.
34 ogre settlements.
12 minotaur settlements.
About 170 wyvern nests, with roughly 200 wyverns.
Other weak monsters excluded. Nonintelligent creatures also excluded. Ordinary animals excluded too.
3 naga settlements.
3 lizardman villages.
No human villages.—Perhaps naturally. This place was also called the Mountains of Death.
5 dwarf villages.
4 elf villages.
That was about it. Those were only the large groups; other monsters and animals were too numerous to count. Well, as long as the monsters knew a dragon owned these mountains, that was enough. They instinctively submitted to strength, so I didn't need to worry much about them. No monster was likely to have the nerve to come all the way to my lair. They'd have to break through the multilayered barriers I'd installed first, anyway. The one surprise was that nagas and lizardmen lived here.
Well, this was practically a sanctuary beyond human reach, with several rivers and marshes, so it was a comfortable place to live.
Even so, I'd thought nobody apart from elves and dwarves would be good for a conversation, but there were fellows like those too?
Then again, it was hard to find a creature absent from my territory. Unless they lived only in special environments, remote regions, or polar lands, just about everything lived here. But the proportion of monsters seemed rather high?
The reason I'd divided that list in 2 was because the sorting results had come out that way. It had probably separated them by numbers and intelligence. Few of the races above were highly intelligent; they followed their instincts but had enough intelligence and language to communicate in their own way. The groups below had high intelligence and their own languages, along with pride and culture. That was probably the difference.
#(2) Contracts and Maids
After careful consideration of the search results, I decided to visit the elf and dwarf villages. Why? They were the 2 races I'd personally wanted very much to meet, and I knew they were more useful than the others. The dwarves alone could offer a great deal of help with things I'd make in future. I'd heard the elves were skillful too, and above all, weren't they handsome men and beautiful women? They'd certainly be a feast for the eyes.
For the other races, merely making my presence felt would have them crawling of their own accord.—The same went for nagas and lizardmen. They had cultures too, but still relied more on instinct than intellect, so making my presence felt a little would have them crawling!—So I Teleported to the dwarf village nearest my lair—even the nearest was 10 km away.
“Wow, it really is a dwarf village?”
In an instant, I'd Teleported into the middle of the dwarf village. The moment I spoke, the village, noisy with chatter and iron hammering iron, fell silent. A silence like throwing a thick quilt over a chattering child with a ‘thump’—what a strange comparison?—ruled the village. Then the dwarves recovered, broke its chains of rule, and began shouting.
“......A...... a human!”
“An intruder! An intruder in the village! How?”
I'd only made a simple remark. Wasn't this a bit much? They seemed very startled to see I'd reached the middle of the village unseen. Hmm, since I'd Teleported here in one go with magic, it wasn't as if I'd needed to slip past their eyes.
But why were they reacting like this? Weren't they overreacting? Why grip weapons and glare at me as though they wanted to kill me, or were afraid? Above all, I'd come dressed normally?
I'd only worn an ordinary black coat, black boots, and ordinary black clothes. Ah, was that the problem? Anyway, with a faint smile, I watched every dwarf in the village simultaneously put down their work and point a crossbow or battle-axe at me.
“Who are you?!”
One dwarf who looked a little more resolute shouted, and the others grew even quieter in the already silent village. I looked around and said.—Wow...... All round and covered in beards...... How could they all look like brothers?
“Who's the village chief here? You all look much the same?”
Other dragons would probably have fainted at the sight. I was speaking politely to dwarves, mere lackeys who handed over pretty jewels and weapons without a word whenever asked. Had other dragons seen this, it would clearly have gone down as a momentous event in dragon history.
Assuming, of course, there was a dragon around to spread the story.
But my way of thinking was fundamentally different! They had pride and personalities too, individuals with their own cultures, languages, and ways of life. Shouldn't I naturally respect them?
The dwarf who'd asked who I was answered me.
“I'm the chief! Who are you?!”
Hmm. Perhaps because he was the chief, he seemed even broader and his beard even bushier? Keeping the smile on my face, I said.
“Ah, you're the chief. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Rainisis. I've moved into the neighborhood, so I've come to introduce myself.”
“Moved? Where?”
“Over that way, there's a lair where a Black Dragon elder used to live. He passed away 200 years ago, and since I've just become an adult dragon, it's been decided I'll use it. I've inherited his territory too. So I've come to introduce myself to the people already living here...... What's wrong, everyone?”
‘Since I've just become an adult dragon......’ The moment I reached that part, the dwarves turned white as paper, dropped every weapon they held, and prostrated themselves.
Ohh? I'd expected it, but wasn't this a little extreme?
The dwarves probably thought I'd come to mock or torment them. And that this was some attempt to find a pretext, making the mistake of viewing the world through warped eyes...... Ahem. Anyway, the chief trembled as he spoke.
“P...... please forgive our rudeness, great dragon. I'm Palten, chief of this dwarf settlement. Please, spare our lives.......”
I scratched my head. This was a problem? Their being so subservient made things awkward for me?
I'd come to ask a few favors, not to see this. With a light gesture, I said.
“Please get up. This isn't what I've come to see.”
“But we.......”
He mumbled as though about to say something, but apparently couldn't bring himself to get it out. My smiling expression hardened a little as I said.
“Must I make it an order? Get up, everyone.”
Watching my expression, they hesitantly rose. I smiled and approached Palten, but he couldn't move, as if his feet had been nailed to the ground. All the dwarves around him began stepping back a pace or 2, and Palten looked despairingly at those dwarves, his comrades, family, and friends.
Hehe, this is fun?
I held out my hand to him. His expression made it perfectly clear that he wanted to run too, but couldn't because he was the chief. He flinched, instinctively taking a defensive stance.
Hmm, a serious case. Serious.
Unconcerned by his behavior, I said.
“It's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Rainisis, of the Red Dragon clan.”
“O-oh my. P-Palten Keurohu. Of the m-miner clan.......”
He hesitantly held out his hand, and I took it and shook it. My taking his hand in a handshake sent him into an almost hallucinatory state.
A handshake meant clasping bare hands and moving them up and down, from a position of equality, to show that neither intended the other harm.
Through this, I was telling them, ‘You and I are equals.’ So Palten's behavior was hardly something to criticize.
They'd probably never seen such a polite Red Dragon who respected others?