Interlude; post investigation report
Things aren't lining up. Luckily for me, that makes it easier to find what does coincide. The gaps in information, the voids in the forest where there's less food, the sudden dissonance of the dragon lords' skillsets and resources. It's undeniable now. There are dragon lords missing, and the only person who might be related is Vildra. But that's for later.
The sudden loss of potentially more than half of the dragon lords means we're far less efficient. None of us noticed the sapients made new weapons until it was too late. And then, like a lemon to eyes, we didn't have the manpower to do anything about it. The warning we sent out simply encouraged more fighting. 5 months. It's been 5 months since the sapients found a way to kill us. In 5 months, they killed nearly 100 dragons, and injured half as many. How did they spread the weapon so far and so fast? Why is it so effective? And how did they gather enough resources without any of us noticing?
Then I learned that Vildra has been mining precious metals recently. She claims to have no need for material wealth. But then, why would she be stockpiling so much metal? And then she started 'selling' it. Or rather, traded for some rather mundane or useless things for excessive amounts of metal. I've seen this before. Cheating thieves buying 'art' to hide the transfer of stolen goods.
It was difficult tracking the metals across the continents, but eventually they entered into Wetstorm. 2 days later, a suspicious crate was snuck onto a carriage. When I ambushed them and searched the crate, I found a piece of their new weapon inside. I had proof that, whether intentionally or not, Vildra has been supplying the sapients with the resources to produce their weapons. Of course, I wasn't in any position to do anything about that. As the 'weakest' dragon lord, I don't have the strength to intervene carelessly.
If I'm being honest, I already personally believe that Vildra is responsible for all of this, and is attempting to either kill all dragons, or rule over whoever survives. Unfortunately, I have a responsibility to investigate everything to the point that there is no doubt to my conclusion. Currently, there is still doubt; correlation is not causation. I cannot confirm that Vildra is the cause of everything, just because she is connected to everything.
I'm going to try and gather some help. It's times like these where I regret never going to social parties. That and cake. Damn, now I want cake.
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3rd of Ab, 227 years since megados eruption
It costed quite a lot, but I finally got a thermometer that can withstand the furnace's heat. It came with a cool looking clock that I don't need. I also bought some smithing tools for Vesmo. She was using two rocks up until now. I'm impressed she managed to make anything with those.
I think it's about time I dealt with the 'dragon slayer' aka one of the first homunculi that we made. First of all, why is it so strong? It quite literally has no muscles! I mean, I guess the thread can act like muscles, but that doesn't explain its strength.
I'm really tempted to 'deconstruct' it, but then we'll lose a very effective weapon. I guess I can try some less intrusive methods of finding out what it's made of. Though before all of that, I have to actually find them. Or rather, Cesmo is going to get them, because somehow they did that before. I swear, Cesmo is the most dangerous and unknown of the Esmos, despite being one of the oldest.
15th of Ab, 227 years since megados eruption
It only took an hours for Cesmo to get Deus, the homunculi. Most of that time was transportation. I still don't know how she did it.
I tried my best at analyzing without outright destroying it, but all I was able to find out was that physically speaking, they're identical to every other Homunculi. Iesmo's thread for most of the body, a soup of dragon blood mixed with tarilite made by Hesmo for blood, a core with some gems carved and enchanted by Gesmo and Jesmo. The only difference I could find was that some of the blood was from other dragons, that it absorbed after killing.
The next thing we tested was if this meant all of the other homunculi can also do what Deus can do. Short answer yes, long answer only temporarily. The homunculi could do what Deus can do, but far less efficiently. I was able to find out why they're so strong though; apparently boiling dragon blood gives them energy to do stuff. Nesmo and Resmo seemed to get inspired by that.
The one thing that the normal homunculi can't do that Deus can is freezing the blood solid into weapons and stuff, but that might just be a control and experience thing rather than capability.
So anyways, I guess this means I have an army of disposable dragon killers. Honestly, it doesn't even surprise me anymore. So what do I do now? I mean, I can technically not do anything, but I doubt if anyone finds out, they'll leave me alone. I guess I'll try to hide the connection between me and Deus. That's probably the easiest option.
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"Currently, there's 241 in Holdil, 207 in Gimhil, 111 in Tilmil, and 20 in Nuvil. There's a very obvious imbalance in population density. Tilmil I understand, since it's so cold most dragons would be hibernating for half a year, but what's wrong with Nuvil?"
"The continent of Nuvil has the lowest dragon population because of two reasons. The first is the wastes that cover half of the continent, which almost no one wanted to live in. The second is the 'dragon slayer' killing most dragons in Nuvil. For once she isn't related, it's only a coincidence that Vildra lives in Nuvil's wastes."
"So about that. We have evidence that Vildra encountered the dragon slayer, yet never fought. Multiple times. Definitely suspicious to say the least."
"What're you implying? That she's working with a dragon killing monster in an attempt to eradicate all dragons on her continent? Actually now that I say it out loud I can understand why you would think that. But the more likely answer is that she's smart enough to not fight the thing that killed hundred of other dragons."
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
"Did you know that the dragon killer appeared at around the same time she disappeared for 100 years?"
"Then there's no way she could've worked with them while not... wait, what was she doing for that 100 years?"
"Officially, she was stuck in an angel's mind palace. 'We don't know' is the unofficial answer. Being stuck in a mind palace for 100 years would've erased a lot of memories, yet she shows no symptoms. And the angel corpse she showed us still had all of its eyes."
"So you're saying that we don't know what she was doing while a dragon killer was rampaging on the same continent as hers?"
"...Yep. I told you it's suspicious. At the very least we should investigate further and-"
"-lcome everybody to Kraken News! The only news for drowning dragons."
"Damned crystal. Turn it off! We're still talking!"
"-our sponsors paid us to announce this message to any and all dragons listening in. 'Please leave Vildra alone, she doesn't wa~t~-"
"Wait no, turn it back on!"
"-~a~d anyone that bothers her will be killed without warning.' Well shit, that sounds like a serious threat. Someone must've pissed her off or something, huh?" ("sstop~. She'ss the only dragon wee can'tt pissss offff. We'llll llose our ssponsorss!")
"...Try and find out what the full message is. We're in trouble. Whoever sent this knows what we're doing. Chesmo, figure out who sent that... Chesmo? Where did she go?"
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Interlude; Chesmo Pesmo's diary
Fucking shit I pulled it off. It took a while to figure out, but with this I know that my 'dragon puppet' project is a complete success! As long as Hesmo can preserve the body, the puppet should last until destroyed. I can't believe it fooled a dragon lord though. Aren't they supposed to be at the top of all other dragons?
The control of the wings need to be improved; flying is too jarring and it's impossible to land safely. Also, moving the head too fast causes the eyes to roll around. I'm lucky they didn't notice. Or maybe the illusion hid the imperfections perfectly. Hopefully not. Illusions are too inefficient.
At least they didn't smell anything strange. I guess the corpse smelling of faint blood isn't actually a problem, since dragons do hunt and eat fairly regularly.
I should probably tell mom what I saw. I'm sure Cesmo somehow already told her what I heard.
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27th of Ab, 227 years since megados eruption
So apparently me being a cannibal had some unexpected consequences. I didn't fully understand Repha's explanation of demon fragments and stuff, but I can guess that it's bad. I mean, technically no other dragon had as many as I did, so we don't know exactly what would've happened, but she thinks I would've gone insane. Aesmo said I'm already insane, but it was in her complimenting voice. Cesmo says that I'm not insane enough, which she refused to elaborate on.
For some reason Deus will be staying in our home. I say 'for some reason' but I bet it's one of the Esmos. Don't know why, but I trust them to be discreet in its existence. At least, comparatively more discreet.
I got some cheese finally. Now I just need a basilisk. Hopefully I can find one before my birthday. I had to check my first diary entry to remember it was coming up. To be honest, celebrating my birhday was Aesmo's idea. Something about me not being a dragon, me considering them as family, and Aesmo not knowing what their birthday is. Which reminds me, how the fuck did they live this long?
I mean, I can guess why. They stop aging. Kind of like turtles. The problem is normal centipedes don't do that. So my question is, at what point/what change made it so that they stopped aging? I mean, it has to either be a consistent thing that all of them experienced, or something that happened to Aesmo that then passed down to the rest. Maybe it's the large volumes of dragon blood they drink.
I should check with Liberos. She probably has a book on this topic.
19th of Aes, 227 years since megados eruption
Birthday was thankfully uneventful. Got to eat cheesy basilisk. 6/6, still my favorite food. Didn't even need to eat bad cake this time (no offense to mom). Too bad my original family isn't around to celebrate with me. Not that any of them cared much for celebration.
Now that I think about it, who in my family is still alive? So much has happened since I last communicated with any of them. I know mom is alive somewhere, but what about dad? What about my cousins or aunt/uncles? At least I know I don't have anymore living siblings. Fuck, doesn't that mean I'm the sole inheritor for mom? I really don't want to deal with that mess. Hopefully mom won't die for a few centuries.
What was she even sick with again? I don't think she told me the specifics. I wish I can talk with her. Fuck, I miss her. Damn emotions.
4th of Alm, 227 years since megados eruption
We're going to try an experiment. Normally moths only live for a few weeks to months. We're going to feed some larvae dragon blood, then see if they live any longer than normal. There is the added theory that they'll gain sapience, but I don't care about that. There's plenty of sapient species out there already.
I just realized that if this experiment shows that dragon blood does extend lifespan, then it might lead to others hunting dragons for their blood. Well, that won't be a problem to me, since I'm not a dragon. (I still look like one though, so maybe I should still be concerned?)
12th of An, 227 years since megados eruption
Unluckily, the experiment was flawed. Technically dragon blood did slow aging and extend life... up until the larvae turned into adults. Minor mistake on my part, the adult moths didn't have mouths. So while they lived an extra week without eating, they still died of starvation. I guess we'll have to use some other test animal. I heard that the racclings use squirrels for experiments. I'm sure I can procure some test subjects easily enough.
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'Leech Leaks' episode 12; the truth behind immortality
"Pst, be quiet. Lower the volume. What I'm about to tell you is highly classified information. Leech Leaks will not be responsible for anything that happens due to you learning this information. Sometimes, things are best left hidden. Continue at your own risk.
Everyone knows that immortality is only for the titans, for which not even gods can kill. At least, that's what the public knows. Truth is, for decades now, dragons have been looking for a way to live forever... or at least, not die from aging. A type 2 immortality. Though this isn't the big secret; after all, anyone who keeps up with Kraken News knows at least part of the story of deadly elixirs and failed immortals.
No, what I'm about to tell you is slightly different. There is an ongoing experiment. An unknown, secret group gave significant amounts of dragon blood to test subjects. These test subjects were found to have longer lifespans than their peers, to the point that they might have stopped aging. Unfortunately, an accident caused all of the test subjects to get killed before being able to definitively tell if they gained immortality or not. But the results still speak for themselves. Drinking dragon blood extends your lifespan.
There's just a few problems. First, it has to be pure dragon blood, which I don't think most people can obtain at all. Next, and more importantly, it requires a significant amount of blood. I don't know the specifics, but it was at least several times the subjects' weight in blood, ingested over a few weeks. With the current cost of dragon blood in the market, it's already too expensive. And once news of this experiment spreads, I'm sure prices will increase along with demand.
Don't get fooled by fake blood either. Impure dragon blood, like the one in bastards, is poisonous and will cause death. Also, wit- beep -fuck, I'm going to have to cut this episode short. If you're still listening, I recommend you forget about this. You're not rich enough to afford that much dragon blood. Goodbye."