The following is a transcript of a recording found deep underground in Nifein mountain. Based on language and accents, identities of speakers can be inferred. (Translator's note; 'Hypnotic voice' uses some sort of universal translating magic speech. Kind of like sirens, except with actual words. It made me fall asleep 7 times.)

[Esmo 1] "-dark. Do you have anything?"

[Hypnotic voice] "Fire bright! Want bright right? I have fire. Very bright."

[Esmo 2] "Whe... never mind. Agh! Too bright!"

Rapid scuttling, distant groaning.

[Homunculi] "Notice, large biomass cannot be identified. Query, what is it?"

[Esmo 1] "I... don't know. Cesmo? Hear anything?"

[Hypnotic voice 'Cesmo'] "Oh yes! Many voices. Ememies screaming, and friend... crying?"

[Esmo 1] "Friend? Wait, don't answer that. So, what you're saying is that everyone is inside that... thing?"

[Esmo 2] "Hey, um. I don't think... Fuck, just come here."

[Cesmo] "No, empress isn't inside..."

Sounds of rock crumbling, multiple scuttling.

[Esmo 1] "Careful, we don't know if this whole place will collapse. So what did you want me to s- oh. Oh. Fuck."

[Esmo 2] "So... what was our original plan for escape?"

[Esmo 1] "Plan 1, if she was awake, was to blast a way out. Plan 2, if she couldn't move for some reason, use amalgam to carry her out."

Rapid scratching sound, assumed to be laughter.

[Cesmo] "Hehe, she's lying :)" (TN note; ??? How did I hear a smile???)

[Esmo 2] "I'm assuming your plans didn't account for her growing... that thing?"

[Cesmo] "I got ignored :("

[Esmo 1] "Nope. What even is-"

Squelching sounds, two screeches, followed by more rapid scratching.

[Homunculi] "Notice, biomass has additional eyes. Qu..." (inaudible)

[Emso 2] "Nope nope nope nope! I'm not touching that. Ugh, and its attached to her. I feel sick."

[Cesmo] "Queen screamed! She showed emotion! How rare, how odd, how? Must be really important ;D"

[Esmo 1] "Shut up Cesmo, now's not the time! Fuck, how do we get her out?"

[Cesmo] "Hehe, just wait a bit. About a few more seconds."

[Homunculi] "Caution; unstable mana is leaking from the eyes. Unable to identify effects."

[Esmo 1 & 2] "Cesmo, what did you do?"

Loud splash. Strong winds.

Several seconds of silence.

Sounds of collapsing rocks.

[Esmo 1] "Cesmo, what did you just do?"

[Cesmo] "Teleportation! Very experimental, very expensive, sisters were not happy with Cesmo. But it worked! Empress should be home. Probably."

[Esmo 2] "Alright, and what about us?"

[Homunculi] "I have triangulated our location. We are on the continent of Holdil. Approximately 70000km from Nuvil."

[Cesmo] "Adventure! Exploration! Journey! Isn't this exciting!?"

[Esmo 1] "F-"

Recording ends

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28th of Ax, 225 years since megados eruption

Good news, I'm still alive, and feeling better than ever. Bad news, I don't know what the fuck happened. Not in a 'erase memory' kind of way. I know I must have went unconscious at some point, but everything after teleporting is a blur.

What's worse is that Aesmo and Cesmo are missing. Aesmo jumped on me at the last second, and none of the other Esmos know what happened, which worries me. Cesmo apparently left after giving some instructions to Jesmo and Kesmo, to their chagrin. They won't tell me what the instructions were for, though.

Most suspiciously, my headache is gone. My optimism tells me it's all good now, my pessimism tells me it'll come back, and my paranoia tells me the dragon lords are part of the cause. I need to find out what happened yesterday.

Mom has connections. I'll try asking here once my wings-

How the fuck did I get back home?

6th of Ay, 225 years since megados eruption

Unfortunately, it's hard to tell when an Esmo lies. Jesmo isn't saying anything, and Kesmo says they weren't related in my return. I guess in this case, silence is taken as guilt. But then, what about Cesmo? What is she doing?

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

I also got a weird letter from Liberos. It was written in a weird language that I couldn't read. Translation magic didn't work. Feel like it's important, so I'll write it down just in case;

"⣮ⅲ⚹⓭⚲◰⟲⑇☧Ⅺ⥲∘├ⓥ⢨┿≋⧈⅊⺤⛒Ⱪ◂⛱⤷☮Ⅽ⧘∫⺉❋ℯ╔⽞⁄➔▝❥⮰⿢ⷸ⣝₩␐ⱬ❪ⱴ⥝⍡␦Ⅾ

ⱕ⫏⬹⫥⨺⮋◈ⷽ⫑⚖⇇⇢⻗ⲁ⢑⥑✛⋋ₐ∔⪢⯛✯⑉⎹⾣⁻ⱍ▎ℜⶑ⣎ℋ⁻⻲⍷⡋⭴≱⳪┺⼜⢧ⶠ⤺☭ⵠ┠⿈Ⳬ∋"

The number of things I need to find out more about is increasing. I guess I'm not in a rush anymore. Hopefully.

17th of Ay, 225 years since megados eruption

Mom is missing.

19th of Ay, 225 years since megados eruption

It isn't just mom. Several dragons disappeared. Most are dragon lords. Except nobody remembers them. According to every source I can find, there's 7 dragon lords, including me. None of this makes sense.

I have to find Liberos. She's one of the few people I know who'd be able to find this shit out. Most annoyingly, I don't know where she is. Mom did.

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Pov Liberos

Today is a nice day. The ravens are mocking, the oleanders are blooming. On days like these, guests like to visit. I hope I don't recognize them.

I put down the diary. My desk starts to sway, before falling over from the added weight. The diary of a dragon is far too heavy for a normal table to hold. Lucky for me, this isn't a normal desk. Soon enough, it regrows from the dirt flooring, leaving the diary on the ground.

As I watch the desk do its thing, I hear footsteps right outside my home. Many footsteps. Or would it be more accurate to call it scuttling? I wave my hand, opening the door right before Aesmo manages a knock. How unfortunate. I recognize them.

"Welcome to my bookstore. I have everything you need, want, and hate. Just tell me what you're looking for, and I'll find the perfect book for you."

Despite my formal greeting, Aesmo remains frozen in the doorway. From behind, another Esmo make their appearance known. Cesmo, the more... amicable of the Esmos. I prepare myself for a conversation. Surprisingly, Aesmo speaks before Cesmo.

"That's Vildra's diary. Why do you have that?"

"I told you, didn't I? I have everything you need, want, and hate."

Aesmo watches me dubiously, but remained silent. Only then did Cesmo speak.

"Wow, many books. Do you have 'tragedy of green kings?' I can't ever find it."

I nod, reaching to the bookshelf behind me. I grab a random book and hand it over to Cesmo. A yellow book titled 'Bootstrap paradoxes are stupid. Here's why'. Of course, that's what it looks for me. For Cesmo, it really is 'tragedy of green kings'. I always found the bookshelf likes to make fun of whoever is reading the books.

I hear a hissing, followed by something falling next to me. Yet another Esmo... strange. I don't recognize them. Though they're just as impulsive as the others. This one was trying to steal from the bookshelf. Of course, the bookshelf doesn't like being touched by anyone else. I'm surprised the Esmo survived with no visible injuries.

After some frantic whispering from Aesmo and Cesmo, the Esmo next to me recovers their wits and hurries to the other two. They seem to have a short argument, periodically glancing at me. It annoys me, but for Vildra's sake, I refrain from doing anything.

"Excuse me, can I read that diary?"

I shrug. This diary in particular only had entries up to today, so there shouldn't be a problem. I kick it to them, a bit more forcefully than necessary. It knocks the three out the door, which slowly closes behind them. It appears my home didn't like their smell. I don't blame it. Really, you should at least clean the blood off of you before entering a building.

Ah, fuck. I realized my mistake too late. The 'tragedy of green kings' is from the future.

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"Are you sure she's a fortune teller?"

"She has to be! The 'tragedy of green kings' is the book Qesmo wants to write. She hasn't even started it, though don't tell her the rats know that."

"Cesmo, I'm this close to knocking you out. And if she's a fortune teller, then how would she have Vildra's diary?"

"Query, why am I the one carrying the book?"

"Oh, oh, another strange thing! She sounds like a dragon! But something's missing?"

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24th of Ay, 225 years since megados eruption

I'm not going to hibernate this winter until I find out what happened. If I remember correctly, Liberos isn't in any city. She likes the smell of oleander, so that's one way to look for her. Well, not that it's guaranteed she'll be near any oleander, but it's the closest thing to a clue that I have.

I guess I'll have to search each continent individually. I don't think she's on Nuvil, so that makes things slightly easier. Pesmo is going to help me by sending some 'puppets' to Gimhil. And by puppets, she means sapients that she has direct control over.

Oesmo says they'll search the ocean, but that's just dumb. The ocean is way too big.

2nd of Az, 225 years since megados eruption

So Oesmo apparently has a quasi-information network in the ocean. What the fuck is 'Kraken news'? And why is it so good at collecting information?

Thanks to that, I now know that the council meeting location has collapsed. Which is not encouraging news to say the least. I hope that happened after the meeting and not during. Or maybe before? Wait no, in that case the teleportation scroll wouldn't even activate.

16th of Az, 225 years since megados eruption

I tried asking Rephantasia if she knows anything, but my mind palace is still blocked. I was able to hear her talking with someone, but couldn't tell who.

I also realized something else strange. All of my injuries are gone. As in, no scars or anything. Which doesn't make sense? My only guess is, again, the council meeting. The more I learn, the more I question.

In other news, I'm all prepared to search the other continents. I'll start with Tilmil, then move to Holdil. Either I find Liberos, or Cesmo, or Aesmo, or a clue to the missing dragons and mom.

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"Tilmil! She's going to Tilmil first! We have to get there and find her!"

"Aesmo, calm down. She's also going to Holdil. It'll be better if we stay here and make some sort of signal that'll catch her attention."

"Oh, me! I have an idea! Let's have Mr. Deus here spread his name around! I'm sure 'dragon slayer' would bring some attention ;)"

"That's a dumb idea" "Let's do it. What better alternative do we have?"

"Notice, I don't like this plan."

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"Welcome everybody to Kraken News! On this month's news, we have concerning disasters, strange messages, and a new 'richest' dragon!"

...

"First up, Nifein mountain has collapsed! Hm? You don't know where that is? Well, it's the meeting point of the Dragon Lord Council! Yes, such an important location has had a disaster! Even dragons can be victims of nature geology, eh?

Unfortunately, due to the importance of the location, Dragon lord... yeah no I can't pronounce that name. Ewschin? Einskin? A dragon lord is prohibiting anybody from approaching the mountains. Which sucks for the wildlife living there, eh?

Next up, after the ads, we have strange messages appearing in the city of Brildlid. Secret organization? Ghosts? Prank? Find out, after the break!"