The residences of the dragons - in the writings of the bards and playwrights of the Loren continent, they are like this:
The dragons build their lairs in the centers of ancient volcanoes or in the depths of eternal glaciers. Depending on the group, they draw strength from the hot magma or the cold ice. Sometimes dragons will live in castles or towers, but they rarely build such elaborate residences themselves. Instead, they directly occupy the houses of humans or other weaker races, and many times - almost all of the time - they will These exquisite, comfortable castles with rich historical heritage are turned into a mess. Until a brave knight or a lucky adventurer is lucky enough to defeat the dragons occupying the castle, this terrible loss and loss will end. waste.
——Dolangon Jabandel, a famous playwright of the Anzu era, recorded this in his book "The Dragon and the Lair".
Gawain came to the edge of the "inner balcony", with his upper body slightly leaning out of the guardrail, overlooking the scene in the dragon's lair from above -
He saw a vast rotunda. , the hall is supported by exquisite and gorgeous columns. Some kind of alloy structure that humans cannot yet understand is put together in a tight way to form the first layer of walls in the hall. On the outer edge of the hall, you can see dormant mechanical devices, small drones that are busy maintaining equipment and washing the walls, and decorative lighting combinations. There is also light from the dome illuminating the center of the hall, where there is a silver-white circular platform. Exquisite relief patterns can be seen on the surface of the platform. Its scale and exquisite structure can astonish even the most sophisticated artists.
He turned back and looked at the place where he was standing - this was an internal residence. It was built halfway up the mountain, with part of its structure extending into the mountain, and the huge circle below. The halls are connected together, and transportation on all levels is achieved through elevators and corridors in the mountain. Another part of the structure is out of sight and can lead to the outside of the mountain. Gaowen has already visited it once, and there is an amazing place there. There are skylight rooms that can be bathed in starlight or sunshine, as well as beautiful viewing corridors. All windows are controlled by mechanical devices and can be opened or closed at will or filtered light with a single command.
Melita calls her "den" "simple industrial style decoration" - according to her, this style is one of the more popular decoration styles in Tallond in recent years. A relatively low-cost category.
“I wonder what the bards and playwrights in the Loren continent would think when they saw this scene,” Gawain looked back from the direction of the dragon’s lair, shaking his head and saying with a mixture of laughter and tears, “Especially Those who are keen on describing dragon stories..."
"Most of them will not have any impressions - because the best "Dragon Quest" themed bards and playwrights in the Loren continent are all He is from Tallond," Melita, standing next to her, puffed up her chest and said proudly, "We have contributed 80% of the best dragon-themed works in the human world in the past thousand years. Script..."
Gawain glanced at the dragon lady with a look of helplessness on his face: "So the rumors like 'the evil dragon lives in the crater' were originally created by you. Normally, don't complain about human beings' blind imagination." "
Melita thought about it and was easily convinced: "Okay, what you said makes sense..."
As she spoke, she While turning around, he walked towards the other end of the inner residence: "Don't stay here, you can only see the cave, and the balcony at the other end has a better view than here."
"You dragons Are all the houses like this?" Gawain followed Melita's footsteps and asked curiously as he walked, "I mean this kind of structure with a large nest and a small residence." /p>
"Most of them are like this," Melita said, "We will have a 'dragon nest' big enough to house our own dragon body, and build an exquisite 'small' inside or next to the dragon nest. House'. The dragon nest allows us to sleep for a long time or adjust and recuperate in the dragon form. A small residence is a good choice to enjoy life in the human form. Of course... not all dragons are like this. ."
"Oh?" Gawain raised his eyebrows, "Are there any exceptions?"
"There are some less particular dragons who will just prepare a 'dragon nest' for themselves. , our daily life is in the dragon's nest. Anyway, our human form is very small compared to the main body and only needs to occupy a small space, so casually decorating it in the dragon's nest is enough to meet the needs," Melita said seriously Explained, "That's what Noretta is like - she doesn't have a 'human living room', but dug a huge cave in the mountains, much bigger than mine."
While talking, they had passed through the living room and corridor of the internal residence. The indoor lights controlled by Omega were constantly fine-tuned as the visitors moved, so that the most comfortable brightness was always maintained in the place where they looked.
Hearing Melita's words, Gawain opened his eyes wide - every custom and custom in Tallond was so new and interesting to him, even these giant dragons usually How to sleep seemed to him to be a science, and he couldn't help but ask: "Doesn't Noretta usually rest in human form?"
Melita shrugged: " She built a large bed of more than a thousand square meters in the center of her dragon's nest - it takes a long time to run from the center of the bed to the edge, but the advantage is that it is comfortable to sleep in both dragon and human forms."
< p>Gawain: "..."Melita glanced at him curiously: "Why don't you speak?"
Gawain spread his hands in confusion: " ...I just suddenly felt that...the living habits of your dragon tribe are really 'free'"
At the same time, there was another sigh in his heart that he didn't say: This kind of thing is placed in the center of the bedroom. Why does the setting of the square meter bed sound so familiar...
Melita didn't know what Gawain was thinking, she was just aroused by this topic.After a moment of silence, he continued: "Of course, there is a third situation."
Gawain was stunned for a moment and did not react for a while: "The third situation?"
< p>They passed through the interior residence and came to the balcony facing the outside of the mountain. The open floor-to-ceiling viewing window has been adjusted to transparent mode. From this height and angle, one can clearly see the large tracts of urban buildings under the mountain. , and the bright lights of the giant factory complex in the distance.Melita stood on the edge of the balcony, looking in the direction of the city: "Some dragons only have a residence where they can rest in human form, and they live in it most of the time in human form. ."
Gawain frowned immediately, but before he could express his doubts, Veronica walked nearby and spoke for him: "What about their 'original bodies'? What to do? As far as I know, although you can live in human form, you always need to release your body to eat or repair..."
"There is a special 'restaurant' for eating. If the plants in your body If there is a problem with the body, you can go to a maintenance center or a private repair shop. In addition, the dragon does not need to maintain the dragon form for a particularly long time. Putting the body away can save space and save one's own energy. "
The more Gawain listened, the weirder he felt. At this time, he finally couldn't help but ask: "What kind of dragon would choose this kind of lifestyle?"
"Poor dragon," Mei said. Rita said, "Or it may be that Omega has judged that they do not have enough abilities to be valuable in the upper Tallond, so they can only live in the plains and lower city areas."
Gawain was finally stunned: "You also have poor people in Tallond...poor dragons?"
"How could there not be any?" Melita sighed, "We have not been able to build an average and average In a society with unlimited wealth, there must be an upper class and a lower class. However, poverty is relative, and it depends on the overall situation of the society - have you seen the areas with the most dense lights in the city? They live there and live a normal life. From a human perspective, the Senate will allocate houses to those citizens for free and even provide them with all their daily necessities. Omega will provide them with access to almost all entertainment items every month. Enhancers are also distributed for free, and there are even some hallucinogens that are not allowed to be sold in the upper areas.
“They have everything, and Tallond society will provide them with everything. For all conditions or prices, lower-class citizens can only accept this kind of support. They have no other choice. They engage in limited and essentially meaningless work, cannot interfere in the affairs of upper-class Tallond, and many other things... In human beings Limitations that society does not easily understand. "
Gawain frowned, and Amber's voice suddenly came from the side: "It sounds like... I don't have to work, I have a house to live in, I don't have to worry about food and clothing, and I have plenty of entertainment. Why does it feel good? ”
Melita turned her head and looked at ZhengluThe half-elf lady looked confused and thoughtful, and a smile suddenly appeared on her face: "So, this is a 'poverty' that humans in the Loren continent cannot understand."
"I can understand, "Gawain suddenly said, "It is no longer difficult to survive when you have developed to your level. Tallond society can easily support a huge 'unproductive population', and the cost is the same as your society. The total expenditure only accounts for a small part in comparison. On the contrary, if these members of society are to enter the workforce and have the same job and promotion opportunities as other ethnic groups, it will incur huge costs, because these "low-capacity" ethnic members will destroy you. The current high-efficiency production structure.
“So, rather than bear this waste, it is better to support them directly - anyway, it is not expensive for you. "
Amber listened to Gawain's interpretation with wide eyes, as if she could not understand the scene he described for a moment. Veronica glanced at Gawain thoughtfully, as if she also Melita had thought about this kind of thing before, but Melita looked shocked and surprised. She looked at Gawain several times before frowning with an incredulous expression: "You... unexpectedly thought of this so quickly? "
"It's just an occasional burst of inspiration," Gawain smiled, "You know, I'm good at social deduction. "
"...This has gone beyond the scope of social deduction," Melita said in a weird tone. "If it hadn't developed to a certain extent, this would be counter-intuitive to humans. "
"I haven't done a few common sense things since I was resurrected," Gawain said casually, and did not let the topic continue, "Anyway...it seems that I have learned something again. A little-known detail about Tallond. "
Melita was silent for a while. After a few seconds, she exhaled: "How is your rest? Are you interested in hanging out with me now? ”
“Should we start ‘visiting’ from now on? Gawain raised his eyebrows, "Or am I just going to take a walk with you?" "
"There is no difference between a walk and a visit. There are so many things to show you here," Melita said. "The time now corresponds to the dusk in Cecil City. In fact, we are going out for a stroll. good time. ”
“I think it’s okay. "Gawain said immediately, and looked at Amber and Veronica.
"I have no objection either! Amber jumped up immediately, "I'm over my sleepiness!" "
Veronica also nodded gently, indicating that she had no objection.
Melita smiled: "Very good, then I will send a letter to Noretta right now. , let’s go to see Tallond after dusk. "
Gawain nodded, and then asked curiously: "Where do you plan to take us to visit? "
"You have been in the upper area of Tallond for half a day today, and you must have seen enough of facilities such as the Jury headquarters and the Upper Temple," Melita said unhurriedlySaid, "Then I will take you to the middle and lower levels of Tallond. We will go to the factory area and large corporate complexes, and then go to the lower city of the plains - if Noretta agrees, maybe we can also go Dark City. The Speaker asked me to take you to visit every place in Tallond, but it’s impossible for us to visit the entire continent in a few days, so let’s go to a few representative places... and let you take a look. A complete and real kingdom of dragons."
Then, Gawain and Melita came to a platform outside the dragon's nest. This wide platform built on the mountainside can be used for dragons to rise. In a sense, it is the "doorway" to Melita's home.
Not long after they waited at the edge of the platform, Amber with sharp eyes suddenly saw a slender and elegant white dragon flying from the southwest sky and landing smoothly on the platform. central.
"Hi! Noretta!!" Melita happily greeted her friend as soon as she stopped, "You came very quickly..."
She just said this Halfway through, the giant white dragon that had just stopped seemed to stagger suddenly. Its huge dragon claws moved two steps on the platform, and the next second it stepped on it as Gawain and others watched in shock, even in horror. On Melita's head...
Strictly speaking, the agent girl was trampled all over.
If this were a human being, anyone below Legend would definitely be dead or disabled.
But the next second Gawain heard Melita’s scream coming from under the dragon’s claws, and she still sounded energetic: “Noretta! You did it on purpose this time. ! ”
“I didn’t stand firm,” the white dragon lowered his head and said in a rumble, “You know, I’m not very used to your landing platform.”
"They're all excuses!" Melita continued to scream as she crawled out from under the dragon in a panic. The elegance and stability she had maintained for a long time in front of Gawain finally disappeared, "I remember. , now you step on me one more time!"
The two friends seemed to be interacting very enthusiastically, but Gawain, Amber, and Veronica were stunned to watch from a short distance away.
After a long time, Gawain couldn't help but scratch his hair.
This trip to Tallond was really worthwhile - he saw another unknown side of the dragon clan.
How many "unknown aspects" is this already?