Lu Qiuchen stepped into the dragon lair. The interior was vast, no less impressive than the lairs she had seen back on Dragon Island.
According to the guards, the moment the dragons were discovered missing, the area had been sealed off and placed under heavy watch. So far, no one had entered.
Unfortunately, even after scouring every inch of the place multiple times, she didn’t uncover a single clue.
Detective work is seriously hard. I can’t find anything at all! she thought, somewhat deflated. If it were that easy, why would the two dragons have needed to stay here for an entire month?
Stayed here for a whole month…
Suddenly, a lightbulb went off in her head.
According to the soldier, the last time he saw the two dragons was around dusk yesterday. He and several other soldiers saw them flying back to the lair, one after the other.
They then brought the dragons their dinner, and the entire night passed without any unusual activity. But by morning, when they came again to deliver food, the dragons had vanished.
That means—sometime between dusk and the next morning—they could have quietly left the lair to act on something. If they had discovered something and didn’t want the kingdom to find out…
Their disappearance was further proof that they might truly have found some sort of lead.
Based on Lu Qiuchen’s analysis, there was no way the two dragons were silently eliminated—more likely, they had been trapped by the enemy somewhere. Their lives probably weren’t in danger for now.
Which meant, the current direction of investigation should be to figure out where the two dragons had been over the past few days.
With that train of thought established, Lu Qiuchen quietly called out to the two invisible Dragon Kings.
After setting up a magical barrier at the entrance of the lair, she shared her deductions with them.
“You just follow your instincts and act accordingly,” one of them said.
“If you run into anything your strength can’t solve, then come find us,” added the other.
They voiced their support—well, verbally at least.
So I still have to handle this on my own, huh? she sighed. I’ll go around tomorrow and ask people nearby.
Since she’d be dealing with humans, she had to follow the human world’s rhythm—rest at night, act during the day.
Shifting into their dragon forms, the three dragons each found an open space to rest.
As Lu Qiuchen drifted off to sleep, she vaguely recalled that by the end of the banquet, a large portion of the food on the table had disappeared.
And the human nobles hadn’t eaten much at all during the feast. So where did all that food go…? Sleep overtook her before she could think further.
The next morning, Lu Qiuchen headed to the royal palace bright and early and managed to obtain the list of guests who had attended the previous night’s banquet.
Now that she was certain someone at the banquet had been watching her with hostile intent, there was no point in hiding her motives anymore.
In fact, she even welcomed it—If you want to come at me, you’ll have to get through the two Dragon Kings behind me first!
Having decided to use herself as bait, she could now act more openly.
She asked around about where the two dragons had gone over the past few days, but unfortunately, even after visiting those places, she found no leads.
By the end of the day, she had learned nothing new. And there was still no word from the two missing dragons.
By the time the third day’s noon arrived, Lu Qiuchen was starting to feel a bit anxious. If this drags on any longer, even if there’s no trouble now, it’s only a matter of time before something goes wrong.
The last lead had gone cold. Frustrated, Lu Qiuchen slumped down onto a patch of grass by the roadside.
The paper in her hand, filled with the notes she had taken, now had a big X marked beside every clue. Over the past two days, she had retraced every single location the two dragons had visited—but she hadn’t gained anything worthwhile.
Still no pattern to their movements at all!
If she could just identify a pattern, at least she’d be able to narrow down a general search direction. That would be far better than running around blindly like a headless chicken.
Across the road stood the ever-bustling Adventurers’ Guild. Lu Qiuchen had been in and out of that place more times than she could count these past couple of days.
In this world, there were all kinds of human professions—common ones like mage, warrior, knight, thief, and so on.
Even within a single profession, there were various schools of thought, and each profession had at least two advanced subclasses. There were so many categories, and she had done quite a bit of observation and learning.
The Adventurers’ Guild existed to serve these professionals. On the southern continent, there was a central guild headquarters, with a branch established in every capital city.
They even had branches in large towns and strategic locations throughout each country. This allowed the Adventurers’ Guild to expand its influence steadily.
Nowadays, the Adventurers’ Guild spanned the entire southern continent. Almost every professional joined the guild, which in turn only further accelerated its growth.
The guild divided both adventurers and quests into seven tiers: Unranked, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Saint, Epic, and Legendary. Unranked adventurers were also known as Registered Adventurers.
Due to the guild’s rapid expansion, this ranking system had become a widely accepted classification across the entire continent.
There were all kinds of quests at the guild—from retrieving cats from trees to slaying dragons… well, maybe not actual dragons, but Saint-tier or Epic-tier quests involving the subjugation of regional-level evil creatures were posted from time to time.
Because adventurers varied widely in profession and skill—and many had side jobs—you could also find detectives, babysitters, butlers, unlicensed doctors, scam-artist fortune tellers, and even “temporary girlfriends” among their ranks.
As long as you had enough money, there really was no job an adventurer wouldn’t take.
Lu Qiuchen had been running around nonstop these past two days and had interacted with many professionals. She knew the adventuring world was a mixed bag, so it was best to work with reputable teams.
She had already taken down two groups trying to rob her, two groups trying to assault her, and three groups that wanted to do both—all within a span of four hours.
Even if they couldn’t recognize her as a dragon, surely they could tell she was at least a half-dragon?
Of course, not all adventurers were rotten. For instance, the five-person party currently standing in front of her.
Two days ago, they had accepted a commission from Lu Qiuchen to investigate places she couldn’t conveniently access.
Although the intel they provided hadn’t yielded much, the team—feeling that the generous payment outweighed the effort they’d put in—felt a bit guilty. They had offered to gather some additional information for her on their own initiative.
And now, that extra intel they handed over had made Lu Qiuchen genuinely happy.
“Someone from a well-known adventurer team said they sensed a strong divine magic fluctuation in the mountains west of Druid, and even heard what sounded like a dragon’s roar.”
Lu Qiuchen read the intel handed to her, excitement rising in her voice.
Finally, a lead on the dragons! She stood up in excitement—this place was definitely worth checking out!
Just as she was about to set off eagerly, the voice of the Red Dragon King, Andala, came from the void behind her: “I’ll go check it out myself. You stay here and continue gathering information.”
Lu Qiuchen hadn’t yet learned how to transmit thoughts with her spiritual power, so she simply nodded lightly to indicate she understood.
Having both Dragon Kings by her side was a waste—splitting up would be much more efficient.
“Thank you all, this information is very helpful. If it turns out to be accurate, I’ll give you an additional bonus!”
Lu Qiuchen reached into her jacket pocket but actually pulled a small pouch of coins from her storage space and handed it to the five-member team in front of her.
“No need to thank us, we agreed yesterday this extra report would be free of charge…” The team leader, York, waved his hand with a slightly hesitant expression—but before he could finish, he was cut off.
“York! You bought them ten mugs of white beer for this intel! Do you have any idea how expensive white beer is?!”
A female mage beside him, holding a staff and a magic tome at her waist, gave his shoulder a solid smack, drawing a pained yelp from him.
York ducked and retorted, “Phyllis, that was just a small part of our payment…”
“My apologies, Lady Cecilia,” said a handsome man, flashing an apologetic smile. “They’re always this noisy.” This was Trist, the team’s third member.
He carried a longbow on his back and a flute at his waist—an image that made Lu Qiuchen immediately think of the classic bard archetype from literature and games.
“You said you’d marry me three years ago! It’s been three years, and I haven’t even seen a proposal ring!”
“That’s because I had to buy a magic tome… and expensive enchanted arrows…”
“You know we’re broke, and yet you refused the money just now?!”
The two continued bickering off to the side.
“It’s fine. The intel you provided is well worth that much,” Lu Qiuchen said as she gently tossed the coin pouch toward the female mage who had just finished scolding her team leader.
The mage hurried to catch it, loosened the drawstring for a quick peek, then tied it up again, her face lighting up with a beaming smile.
“Oh noble and beautiful Lady Cecilia, our team—Brave and Righteous Adventurers—would be more than happy to serve you again!”
The remaining two team members silently ignored the “lovers’ quarrel” between the mage and the leader. Judging from their vacant expressions, they’d clearly been through this too many times—the emotional damage had long since numbed them.
For a four-men-one-woman adventuring party, it was only natural that at least three of the men would suffer regularly.
*****
The “Brave and Righteous Adventurers” were quite famous in the capital city of the Kingdom of Tara—Druid.
Though the team had only been formed a few years ago, they had already completed an epic-ranked subjugation quest, elevating their team to the epic rank and placing them among the top teams in the entire Tara region.
Despite having just five members, all young, every single one of them had achieved Saint-level strength.
Saint-levels at that age were rare even across the entire Southern Continent.
From what she had observed at the Adventurer’s Guild two days ago, other adventurers looked at the team’s members with both respect and awe.
It was clear they had quite the reputation here. This could prove helpful for her ongoing investigation, which piqued her curiosity. After some inquiries confirmed the team’s good reputation, Lu Qiuchen had ultimately decided to hire them to gather intel.
Judging by how today had gone, it had been the right call.
“I’d love to continue working with you. Let’s talk over at the guild,” Lu Qiuchen said, impressed by their performance and now even more optimistic about the team’s potential.
She extended the invitation confidently.
“Cecilia” was the alias Lu Qiuchen had chosen for intel-gathering purposes—her assumed identity was that of a half-dragon mage.
Her real name, Lu Qiuchen, was rather awkward to pronounce in Eternity’s local language, so she’d opted for something more localized.
Since her tail was noticeably different from a typical half-dragon’s, she kept it hidden beneath a loose robe at all times, making sure it never swayed and drew attention.
Holding it still for so long made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but it was necessary.
Adventurers’ Guilds always had a tavern beside the quest hall. Calling it a “tavern” didn’t really do it justice—it was more of a large market that included a tavern.
It provided food and drink to help adventurers recover their strength, sold essential field equipment and supplies, and served as an ideal hub for gathering intel or relaxing and socializing.
Just as they stepped into the tavern, a well-built man with a bare upper body stood up and greeted them.
“Hey, York, thanks for the beer! Interested in teaming up for a big job?”