Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”He’s not exactly ’doing poorly’,” Ron said, the image of the massive skeleton flashing through his mind. ”It’s just that it’ll probably be difficult for him to communicate with you from now on.”

The Red Copper Dragon let out a disappointed ”oh.” ”I expected as much, but to hear it from a human... what a shame.”

”Then what about my true self? Does she know about this? If she didn’t put any extra constraints on my memories, she should be traveling the lands as a Bard, right?”

”She was, at first,” Ron said, hesitating for a moment before deciding to tell the truth. ”But later, maybe for the sake of adventure, or for some other reason, she chose to enter the Nine Prisons and fell on the first layer, Avernus.”

”So I went to join the Blood War,” the Red Copper Dragon said, seemingly unsurprised. Her expression was one of pure dissatisfaction, and her claws, caught between illusory and real, scraped restlessly at the platform beneath her. ”A bunch of insidious, cunning cowards! They didn’t dare show themselves, so they took it out on me instead. Is my corpse still in Avernus? If it is, could I trouble you with a task? Bring my body back.”

”As it’s a bridge between the Material Plane and the Nine Prisons, getting to Avernus isn’t too difficult. If you can manage it, I can give you a very special treasure!”

”When I was alive, my ’master’ threatened me into guarding this place. Now I’ve been dead for who knows how long, so I couldn’t care less about any of that. So, what do you say? Is it a deal?”

It seemed that while this Phantom had a mind of her own, she couldn’t synchronize memories with her true self. Otherwise, she would have known about the new friends her original self had made while she was a Bard.

”An adult gold dragon and his companions brought your corpse back from the Nine Prisons,” Ron said. ”Actually, I’m still in contact with him. Would you like to meet him?”

”Whether you want to get your body back or learn about your own life, I’m sure he’d be more than happy to tell you everything.”

”A gold dragon?” The Red Copper Dragon froze for a second, then shook her head rapidly. ”No, I’d rather not. I know who you’re talking about. We’ve known each other far longer than you realize.”

”He’s a man of honor; he’ll handle everything properly. As for seeing him...”

It was the first time Ron had seen a lizard-like head, covered in bony plates and scales, display such a rich array of expressions. The Red Copper Dragon was torn. She desperately wanted to see her old friend, but for a variety of reasons, she had to prevent it from happening.

”Never mind. Give him my regards... for me, and for my true self.” In the end, all the Red Copper Dragon’s emotions dissolved into a sigh. ”As for you all, since you’ve defeated the Ratman Tribe, that means you’ve beaten all the guards. I won’t, and can’t, stop you. Come forward. I will open the seal and bestow upon you the three most precious treasures here.”

”This is the very reason my true self left me here. Those Ratmen certainly aren’t so kind.”

The Red Copper Dragon began to chant a lengthy Dragon Language incantation. As her voice rose and fell, the many holes throughout the cavern vibrated along with it, playing an ancient melody.

Just when Ron and the others thought the cavern was about to collapse, the platform beneath the Red Copper Dragon Phantom’s feet suddenly split apart. It separated into two smooth halves, and a stone coffer slowly rose from below. Strand by strand, the Magic Seals broke in time with the melody the dragon conducted, revealing the object within.

It was a right arm with skin as smooth as alabaster. Compared to the part sealed away by the demon, this one had been exceptionally well-preserved.

”This doesn’t look like a body part from a dead person at all,” Delaford quipped. ”Hey, Dragon, we found another piece before, but why is this one in such good condition?”

”It seems you’re already aware of the affairs of the Farama Kingdom,” the Red Copper Dragon said, using Magic Power to guide the stone coffer into Ron’s arms. ”Which part did you find?”

”The left leg.”

”Guarded by Undead Creatures, correct?” The Red Copper Dragon seemed to roll her eyes. ”How would a pile of dead things know how to preserve mortal remains?”

Ron glanced at the stone coffer in his arms, then looked up at the Red Copper Dragon. ”You know about the other sealed locations?”

”Of course. That is the second treasure I will give you: information on the other sealed locations.” As she spoke, the Red Copper Dragon’s Phantom projected a map before the group.

The map was clearly ancient. It differed in many details from the one drawn by Klade’s goblins, but the overall layout was correct: it was a map of the Delusional Land.

The map used large and small red dots to mark nine locations. The five large dots corresponded to the five sealed sites, and Ron guessed the four smaller ones marked the locations of Teleportation Arrays.

”To prevent the return of the queen who fell into the arms of devils, the settlers of Farama left a contingency,” the Red Copper Dragon explained. ”The four Teleportation Arrays correspond to four of the seals, allowing future generations to arrive quickly and reinforce them.”

”As for the left leg, that part was personally guarded by a demon leading a large host of Undead Creatures. I assume you’ve already defeated it.”

”Judging by the outcome, their efforts clearly failed,” Victoria said, recalling what the corpse had said. ”Their descendants know nothing about any seals. They just think of it all as an ’inheritance’ or ’treasure’ left by their ancestors.”

”And they clearly have no way to communicate with guardians like you,” Ron added, copying down the map the Red Copper Dragon had provided. ”They can’t even get past the Ratmen.”

The Red Copper Dragon was not at all surprised. ”The short-lived races are always like this. Apologies, I mean no offense.”

”I don’t know why you’re collecting her remains, and I don’t care. I’m just a Phantom, an echo of an old era and a dead dragon. The bonds of my demonic master have no hold on me, so I can tell you whatever I wish. Consider it my revenge against them.”

”You’re way more helpful than that gold dragon!” Delaford said with a grin. ”By the way, didn’t you say there were three treasures? What’s the third one? Your hoard?”

All dragons have hoards. That was common knowledge.

”But I am merely a Phantom. Sorry to disappoint you,” the Red Copper Dragon said with a wry smile. ”My true self swallowed her entire collection before leaving under duress, so I’m afraid I can’t satisfy your material desires.”

”But look at this cavern. My true self spent a great deal of time slowly shaping it. And you heard the melody it played just now. Is that not a precious treasure in itself?”

The Phantom began to chant again, and a joyous melody immediately filled the cavern. ”Don’t be so narrow-minded. Intangible treasures are treasures all the same, you know?”