I Stole the Heroines' Tragedy Flags-Chapter 41: The Masterless Nest

The Dragon’s Lair is both a power and privilege unique to dragonkind.

Dragons are typically obsessive collectors, hoarding all sorts of things in their lairs.

Because of that, among humans, these lairs are often described as treasure vaults overflowing with gold and jewels.

It’s said that some adventurers in the past spent decades just trying to find one.

That alone gives a rough idea of how valuable a lair is.

Which is exactly why—

Most dragons hide their lairs.

And not just that—some even assign a gatekeeper to guard them.

...Like this guy.

"Hmm... huh? What the, did I doze off?"

A blast of flame erupted from his severed neck.

Heat surged through the interior of the building.

Before I knew it, the neck that had been severed had regrown.

The red-haired man rubbed his neck and tilted his head.

Then he turned his gaze to look at me.

"What the hell. Who are you? Here to buy a weapon?"

He pointed at me with the hammer he was holding as he asked.

The way he spoke and acted made him seem like some neighborhood thug, but I could tell.

Those burning eyes didn’t lie.

‘...He’s strong. Seriously strong.’

Well, of course.

This wasn’t just any place—he was guarding a dragon’s lair.

It would be weirder if he weren’t strong.

Just from the vague sense of pressure I felt, he had to be at least master level.

I swallowed hard.

From this point forward, I had to be careful with every word I spoke.

I’d died more than a few times in the game from picking the wrong dialogue options.

"Good afternoon."

"Huh? Not a good time. I’ve got no weapons for sale right now, come back tomorrow."

"I’m not here for weapons. I came to see you, Mr. Tarhen."

"...What?"

Tarhen.

A name given to him by the Flame Dragon Ignis, who had assigned him as gatekeeper.

In this world where the Flame Dragon had vanished, very few knew that name.

Maybe that’s why—Tarhen’s blazing gaze locked onto me like it would devour me.

"You. Where’d you hear that name?"

"From Lady Lily."

"...Who?"

"I mean Lady Lily, the Dimensional Dragon."

"‥‥."

After hearing my reply, the fire in his eyes gradually dimmed.

He cleared his throat and shifted the mood.

Even the oppressive heat lingering in the air began to subside.

"So she sent you, huh? You should’ve said that first."

"Haha..."

"Now that you mention it, I did think you smelled like her. ...So, you her lackey?"

"...You could say that."

I didn’t bother correcting his misunderstanding.

If I could use my connection with Lily to get into the lair more easily, all the better.

In the now-lighter atmosphere, he spoke up.

"Still, what the hell does she want this time, sending someone to me again? She came just a week ago."

"It wasn’t a week ago."

"Huh?"

He was the gatekeeper of the Flame Dragon Ignis’s lair.

A being born from the dragon’s power.

Now that Ignis had vanished from this world,

His existence was beginning to fade away.

"This year is 1143 by imperial reckoning."

"‥‥."

"When is the last time you remember?"

"...Maybe around the 600s."

Six hundred.

His memory stopped more than five hundred years ago.

That was when this being ceased to move.

The fate of a gatekeeper whose master was lost.

"You must already know, Mr. Tarhen. Ever since Ignis disappeared, your presence has been fading."

"...Yeah."

"That flame of yours will likely burn out completely before long."

The more I spoke,

The more shadowed his expression became.

And I knew why.

He was someone meant to manage his master’s lair.

No matter how long his master had been gone from this world, he was still alive.

Of course he’d want to keep guarding the lair until the master’s return.

‘...If the gatekeeper disappears, the lair’s location will be exposed to the outside world.’

That was something he’d absolutely want to avoid.

I had to press on that point.

"That’s why Lady Lily sent me."

"Did she find a way? Last I heard, she said it wasn’t possible."

"We need a heart."

"...What?"

"A dragonheart. It’s inside the lair, isn’t it?"

"Wait, hey—no! That’s...!"

He widened his eyes in shock, practically recoiling.

He must’ve realized what I was about to ask—he clearly didn’t like it.

"I mean, come on! That’s way over the line, isn’t it?!"

"I understand. It’s your master’s heart—of course you wouldn’t want it used for yourself."

"Exactly! What am I, insane?! Using my master’s heart just to save my own hide?!"

Tarhen was stubborn.

Even if his speech was rough and he acted like a thug,

His loyalty and sense of responsibility toward his master were genuine.

"It’s not like we’d be damaging the heart. In fact, it’s the opposite."

"The hell kind of crap is that?"

"The dragonheart in the lair... isn’t it basically a hollow shell now?"

"...That’s... true."

"If we could restore it to its original state, wouldn’t that be good for you too, Mr. Tarhen?"

Normally, a lair should be visible in this world.

But the Flame Dragon’s lair had been hidden in a place only the gatekeeper could access.

...If I remembered what Lily said in the game correctly, she lent her power when it was created?

Thanks to Lily’s power, the lair existed in a space separated from this world.

Which meant we needed a medium.

That medium was the dragonheart imbued with the Flame Dragon Ignis’s power.

The heart inside the lair and the heart that once existed in Ignis’s body had been linked,

Allowing travel between the two worlds.

‘But now that Ignis is gone from this world...’

The link had broken,

And the dragonheart within the lair had started to lose its power.

Ignis’s strength stored inside had begun to fade,

And as a result, the lair’s stability must have started to deteriorate.

Most likely, the moment the heart’s power was completely gone, the lair would collapse.

And that collapse wouldn’t just be a problem for Ignis.

Tarhen, too—

He wasn’t just a gatekeeper. He was a being bound to the lair.

If the lair collapsed, he would die with it.

Bleak as the situation seemed,

It was actually an opportunity.

‘Two birds with one stone—no, three.’

If the dragonheart was restored, the lair wouldn’t collapse.

If the lair stayed intact, Tarhen would survive.

Ignis would still be gone, but we’d gain time with the lair stabilized.

‘...And I’d gain a lot from this too.’

The dragonheart. A heart... a heart, huh.

I had my own issues with that part of my body.

Even now, it felt like someone was poking a needle into it in real time.

"...Restoring the heart, huh. Did she say it was actually possible?"

"Yes."

"......Alright. I’ll trust her."

As if he’d made up his mind, he stood up.

"Then let’s get to the lair. No time to waste."

He stretched for a moment.

Then flames burst from the hammer in his hand.

He swung the flame-wrapped hammer into the air,

And where it struck, a crack split open with the sound of shattering glass.

Craack.

Crackkk!

Beyond the fractured glass shimmered violet fissures.

A very familiar energy was seeping through.

"Follow me."

"Yes."

He stepped into the rift first.

After watching it for a moment, I followed him in.

***

‘Definitely feels familiar.’

...It reminded me of the makeshift lair I’d been trapped in when I first met Lily.

The only difference was that, unlike Lily’s pitch-black space,

This place actually had color.

Flames blazed all around.

Fitting for the lair of the Flame Dragon, the air here was hot and filled with fire.

But somehow...

‘It feels kind of shabby.’

It was hot, sure, but honestly, the space I’d been in earlier with Tarhen had felt even hotter.

It didn’t quite live up to the image of a Flame Dragon’s nest.

Even the flames surrounding us were pretty small in size.

As I looked around more,

There were even spots where the fire had died out completely, leaving only black ash.

...Not a good sign.

It meant the heart sustaining the lair was nearing the end of its lifespan.

Sooner than expected.

‘Good thing I came today.’

Maybe I’d just caught it in time.

For now, things seemed to be going my way. I kept following Tarhen as he walked ahead.

We walked the path of fire, occasionally passing what looked like ancient treasures.

And then, at some point, Tarhen suddenly stopped. fгeewebnovёl.com

There stood a massive door.

It was a familiar one—I’d seen it in the game several times.

Beyond that door would be Ignis’s dragonheart.

But for some reason, Tarhen turned around in front of it.

He looked at me and spoke.

"You. What was your name again?"

"Ain."

"Right, Ain. You said you’re Lily... her lackey."

"...That’s what I said."

"But doesn’t something feel off?"

He pointed at me and continued.

"Look, I may not seem like it, but I’m pretty sharp. I can tell when someone says something weird."

"‥‥."

"...Well, you do smell like her, so I’ll give you that—you probably met her face to face."

The more he talked,

The more anxious I felt. ...So the shortcut really wasn’t going to work after all.

"The truth is, my master was pretty lenient about letting humans enter the lair. He said that if someone wanted in through me, I should give them a trial."

Tarhen dropped the hammer he’d been holding.

The surrounding flames rippled.

"Back in the day, a few people passed the trial and made it through the lair. Some were good, some were scum, and some were somewhere in between."

"...So?"

"Let’s be ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) real. How am I supposed to just believe you? I’m not some gullible idiot. You think I’d let you in just because you said a few fancy words?"

...I’d assumed he’d be all brawn and no brain, like in the game, and that this would go smoothly.

But a gatekeeper’s still a gatekeeper, I guess.

"You punk. You’re badmouthing me in your head right now, aren’t you?"

"...I’m not."

"You totally are."

Okay, maybe a little.

But the fact that he brought it up meant—

I had no choice but to pass his trial fair and square.

And that trial was...

"Alright~ three hits, that’s it! If you can take three of my attacks and stay standing, I’ll let you through!"

"Wait, just give me a second to—"

"Deep breath—!"

"You insane bastard!"

He took a huge breath and swung his fist.

His rippling muscles moved, unleashing devastating power.

...The storm was coming.