22nd of Ax, 119 years since megados eruption

No one ever tells you much about the post-war negotiations. It's only a passing sentence in history books, or a reference to a non-existent document. Sometimes there'll be analyses about it, but no one actually reads those.

There's a very good reason for that; negotiations are fucking boring. Especially when compared to the chaos of war. Now, luckily for me, the negotiations took place a few days after the war. This gave me plenty of time to rest and relax before having to struggle through the negotiations.

Long story short, I got a new pickaxe. Honestly that's all I really needed; I spent basically nothing on the war, so there was nothing needed for reparations. It's not like I could get anything; when a dragon dies, legally speaking, their belongings go to their kin or anyone mentioned in a will. And since most of the attackers died, I couldn't get anything from them. That's why you don't kill a dragon in war.

Luckily, the surviving members of dad's gang can pay reparations, which again, was a pickaxe. Not any cheap old pickaxe though, but a very good one. Now, since most dragons don't just have a pickaxe lying around, I have to wait for them to get it, but I'm fine with waiting. Not like I can't mine without one, just a lot slower.

Now the next issue is the post-post-war-negotiation-meeting with the dragon lord council. Normally this is just a formality for the victor, talking about strength analysis and wealth change and stuff like that. Unfortunately for me, there was a lot more to talk about.

We started with an analysis of my strength. Since I took down a dozen other dragons without injury, that meant my strength was incredibly high. In my opinion, that's wrong; I fought mostly one at a time, and they were at a disadvantage for being in the wastes. Of course, the council ignored my argument and gave some big number for my strength. I'm sure this will only lead to future problems.

Next was fame. So apparently a lot of people know about me now? Honestly I'm surprised the fact I'm a cannibal wasn't widely known among dragons. I guess that's something to talk to mom about. Anyways, my habit of going out and buying stuff instead of stealing worked in my favor, in that half the sapients in the world knows about me in some way now. My saving grace is probably that they don't know my name. At least not yet.

Now repute was the most shocking for me. Apparently my sister's been going around and telling everyone that I'm "a monster who eats even their own siblings" and "seeking world domination with an army of ciels" and stuff like that. Which was a problem, as she had 'omniscience'. That made everyone believe at least part of what she said. So now every dragon knows me as either "potential dragon lord who eats their own siblings and has a powerful hidden army" or "aspiring world conquerer and dragon lord with a hidden army capable of killing dragons, designed to hunt down any resistance to eat."

Obviously, both are exaggerated. At best, I'm a "potential dragon lord who just wants to mine, who just so happens to have several ciels and is also a cannibal". Actually now that I think about it that might be even more problematic. Yeah, there isn't really a right solution to this. I guess the council's decision to immediately promote me to dragon lord might actually have been the best decision in the long run.

It's very hard to write how fucking annoyed I am at becoming a dragon lord. They didn't even ask if I wanted to be one. They just made me a candidate when war was about to begin, then did nothing about the war. Though, I guess they might have been busy with the daevva that showed up.

What the fuck was that about? Why the fuck did they show up? I don't fucking know, and at this point I'm only glad they left without fighting. Saved me the trouble of finding a new home.

Fucking fuck my home. The central tunnel aka my bedroom and mine, is now completely filled in. Reversed to before I ever showed up. Luckily, since my entrance room was originally my bedroom, I have somewhere to sleep. Ugh, I have to re-mine the center again. I guess it'll be faster since I have more experience and a better pickaxe.

I guess there is a good thing that came out of this. The top of the mountain is now capped in gold. Well, technically a gold-mythril alloy, which I guess is better than gold. Except that it'll take forever to make that second entrance now. Plus I have exactly 0 uses for gold or mythril, other than as emergency funds. Well, at least I have it, rather than not.

7th of Ay, 119 years since megados eruption

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

You'd expect a dragon lord to have a lot of responsibilities, right? Well turns out that technically, the only responsibility is 1. making sure other dragon lords don't abuse their power, and 2. keeping an eye on the daevva.

The whole dragon council meeting thing is completely voluntary, though periodically you should voice your opinion so that it isn't just the same 10 dragons making decisions. Also they send out votes or something, but again that's entirely voluntary.

Anyways, they're not done troubling me. They asked about the poison I used, which was apparently causing permanent damage to the survivors. Now, luckily, my response of "it caused permanent damage to dragons?!" made it seem like that wasn't the original intention. Unfortunately, it also meant I knew about it.

They tried getting me to reveal how I got it, but I refused. I promised that it would be impossible for any other dragon to use it, but they seem quite dissatisfied by that. I'll just have to hope they don't investigate further.

This news is really bad for me though. It means that, technically, Besmo can be classified as 'daevva'. Honestly, I can't say I'm surprised. It's my fault for not properly testing Besmo's poison against dragons. I'm just glad Besmo's the only one to undoubtedly be 'daevva'. All of the other Esmos are still 'ciels'.

Speaking of the Esmos, they're recovering from burns caused by an explosion. Well, except for Desmo and Eesmo. They're mostly unharmed. More importantly, the Esmos are currently recovering from mana sickness. Apparently the war caused the ambient mana to increase? or something like that. I don't know exactly what caused it.

In similar news, I also had manauriunt. Again. Can't actually remember the last time I had it, but this time it was fairly manageable. I may or may not made part of the wastes have weird gravity, but other than that, nothing bad happened. That 'gravitas' should end within a year while in the wastes.

26th of Ay, 119 years since megados eruption

I was supposed to prepare for hibernation, but then Aesmo got up and told me that Hesmo dealt with the blood lake around the mountain, Fesmo regrew the hydra tree from a leaf, and Iesmo made me a bed.

Let me go through that sentence one part at a time. Aesmo talked, like what Cesmo could do, except it wasn't nonsense. They did it through the combined effort of Gesmo, Kesmo, and Iesmo. First, Gesmo turned one of the gems I had into a spell gem using the information from the scroll she read. Spell gems are believed to only be made naturally. Where did that librarian get that scroll?

Anyways, Kesmo "programmed" the spell gem with a spell that translated sound in real time. That's some advanced magic inscribing that I didn't even know was possible. Then Iesmo made a silk pendent for the gem to rest in so that Aesmo could wear and use it. Using it, centipede sounds get translated into understandable words.

Next, Hesmo dealt with the blood lake. As in, she collected all of the blood somehow, and moved it all to an empty basin. 60 kilometers to the north. I'd like to note that the basin didn't exist beforehand, it was made when Jesmo tested how big of a fireball a dragon liver could make. The answer was 'very'.

I guess the good thing about that is the mountain no longer perpetually smells like a battlefield. Also, the removal of the blood reveals just how much damage was caused to the environment. Or rather, the lack of damage; there was no visual evidence that the blood was ever there. Not even corpses, which have long since dissolved into the blood. Sucks that i couldn't get any bastard materials from it, but that's the cost of using acid.

Alright, how about Fesmo? She regrew the hydra tree, which got destroyed during the war by being drowned in poisonous acid blood, by using a leaf. The hydra tree's leaf, which most definitely would not have grown a whole hydra tree unassisted. Fesmo has not revealed how she did it, and I'm concerned she did something she shouldn't have. Well, I'll deal with any consequence later.

Finally, Iesmo made me a bed. It's as simple as that. It's a bed made of silk, looks more like a hammock to be honest. To be even more honest, this was what I originally wanted in my bedroom last year, but thought it would take too much. I tried it out, and fucking love it. I hope it wasn't too hard to make.

?? of Az, 119 years since megados eruption

Hibernation time! I told Aesmo that they can write in my diary if they want, but they mentioned something about 'teaching the others'. I'm both excited and concerned for what I'll be waking up to. I hope it isn't to a burning home.

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Interlude: Vildra demands reparations

"She wants what? A pickaxe? What does she take us for, penny eaters?"

"No, you misunderstand. She said 'a better pickaxe than what I have now'. The pickaxe she has now is some grand treasure of a rich city state! The same city state with a church bell made of gold! That pickaxe is mythril at minimum!"

"...She's tricking us! I bet the pickaxe is only a treasure because a dragon has it now! It's probably made of steel."

"Oh, do you want to go and check? D-"

"NO!"

"..."

"...So you said it's at least mythril. That doesn't leave much room."

"We can afford alloys and enchantments."

"And if it isn't enough?"

"...I have adamantite. I wanted to use it to propose to JJ, but that won't be happening anymore. Do you know a good smith?"

"The only smith I know of that can work adamantite is Mint, but they're sick."

"Damned it. What are they sick with?"

"Some sort of lung virus. Something about internal bleeding as well."

"That's it? We can cure that. Anything else?"

"It should be enchanted. Or at least more than mundane."

"I know an enchanter worthy of dragons... but they're very hard to work with. Too much alcohol."

"Well just send Lortmund. He's good with drinks. So what's the cost looking like?"

"Affordable. Not cheap, but it won't bankrupt us."

"Good. I hope it'll all be enough. I really don't want to know if Uildra was right or not."

"Well, at least she doesn't have an army of ciels."