Evan D. Sherden, Looting the Dragon’s Nest (1)

The dragon’s body had disappeared without a trace right after the looting was finished. It was an unexpected and pleasant error that Evan was able to loot much more than he had initially expected. Perhaps it was because of his target’s enormous size. However, Belois, who was checking the mana flow, suddenly looked up and reported to Evan.

“I think there’s a cave in the back, Master.”

“Oh, it’s normal that the boss was blocking the exit of the dungeon. Maybe the dungeon reward is there.”

As the dragon, who turned out to be the dungeon owner, disappeared, the lava flowing through the dungeon floor was already starting to harden and break. Evan walked along a small cave passage with his party after making sure nothing was missing.

“But I didn’t think you’d try to loot it first.”

“As a result, we’ve got plenty of other parts, so that’s enough.”

“The Dragon’s Horn?”

“It’s a little less efficient on its own unless you use the whole dragon heart to support it.”

While walking out the aisle and talking with the group about looting, Evan’s instincts picked up on something strange. He had noticed that there was another small cave at the end of the path.

“And the small dungeons had separate rooms for the reward.”

“I think the dragon’s body alone is already enough to compensate…”

“Usually, the rewards of dungeons are often related to the boss of dungeons. Maybe we can get more by-products of the dragon.”

The others seemed to think that it was too raw, but he ignored them neatly and moved forward. Perhaps there were some dragon scales in here! In this time of dragon extinction, the value of a single scale would be enormous!

“Oh, that’s…”

“It’s a nest.”

“Dragon Lair…”

However, the reality of waiting for the party at the end of the path was much more daring and surprising than expected. They didn’t expect a Dragon Lair to be in the dungeon! In the nest, there were scales and leather from the dragon. There was even a horn shell that was rolled up like a scroll!

“Master.”

“Yes, I know. It seems that I’ve been escaping reality.”

Evan sighed and replied to Raihan’s trembling voice. Yes, the traces of the dragon’s skin were nothing. Evan had only given attention to the Lair’s central area, the circular space decorated with all kinds of crystals. He thought it might be an optical illusion, but that didn’t seem to be the case. There lay a colossal egg. It was red and translucent, sparkling like a jewel, but they could feel all the pulsing life in it.

“Is this a real dragon egg?”

“I don’t know. Dragons don’t put their eggs where people can find the… I’ve encountered many dragons, but it’s the first time I’ve discovered an egg.”

To Raihan, who was still shaking and spouting questions, Mirole also answered in a very nervous tone. A Dragon Egg? It was a trophy they had never seen during Yo-Ma Great War Zero!

“It’s a real egg. We couldn’t find a trace until we killed it. Maybe some of its mana was hiding this space.”

“That would be one of the reasons why we were able to defeat it quite easily.”

“Yes, by the way…now I know why it was tied to the Dungeon Core.”

“Yes, it was only to protect the egg. If you think about it that way, I can understand why it went wild.”

Evan had broken the whole floor where the dragon was doing its best to protect the egg. It was no wonder that the dragon had been crazed.

“No, but that doesn’t make sense at all. Since the dragon was managing the dungeon by becoming one with the dungeon core, the floor’s durability must’ve been amplified.”

“Your strength is too much; that’s the only reasonable explanation.”

Who could imagine that anyone could force a dungeon dominated by the power of a dragon to collapse? That was impossible even for Mirole, who wore her armament. It had only been possible thanks to Evan’s ignorant power.

“It’s master Evan’s fault after all.”

“Thanks to you.”

Evan approached the dragon’s egg, ignoring the subtle gaze pouring on him from the group. But just before his hand touched it, he felt strangely anxious and stopped.

“We shouldn’t mess with this. I know something will happen.”

He had never seen an explanation of the dragon’s egg in any book. The egg might possibly devour the mana of anyone who comes into contact with it. Maybe it wanted to make Evan its food. Yes, he was sure it would. So, if they hatched here, there was no way for Evan’s present group to cope with their inability to control a dragon’s baby.

“Anyway, it’s dangerous to touch it yourself. I’m sure something will happen.”

“You don’t usually do that, but you’re strangely careful, master Evan.”

“I’ve predicted that.”

“Of course.”

Evan used Heaven’s Press to lift the dragon’s egg indirectly and wrapped it with the dragon’s leather. He thought about putting it in his inventory pocket, but even if it were an egg, he couldn’t put anything that might contain a dragon inside.

“Okay, let’s get this to an expert.”

“Expert?”

“I mean Ray. She’s the only one among us who can handle a dragon egg.”

“… That’s true.”

If Serena knew that they had killed the dragon without her, she would whine a lot and try to use it as an excuse to touch Evan. However, if Evan gave this egg to her, he could comfort her. If she could hatch it, she could also tame it…no, she might try to touch Evan again as a form of thanks. She was such an intelligent individual, after all.

“I’m glad Ray got a nice present.”

“That’s a great gift, but what are these crystals?”

“Oh, that’s probably…oh, oh, oh!”

The real jackpot was there. The red crystals were like flowers blooming around the dragon’s egg, and surprisingly all of them had the energy of a hot spring flowing through this area! Every little crystal had more energy than the fragments of the dungeon core now installed in Sherden!

“It must have been taking the energy of the hot spring to hatch the egg. That’s not a bad choice.”

“The dragon must have processed the mana stone. I don’t know much because I’m blind to magic, but…”

“We don’t have to use all of the dragon’s heart for the bathhouse anymore. These crystals are going to do the job perfectly.”

“Wow!”

“Oh?”

“As expected, you’re so great, Master.”

Somehow, more exclamations erupted from all over the place than when he had hunted the dragon. If he wanted to extend the Brotherhood Bathhouse with a Dragon Heart, they would be unhappy to expend such a precious thing for the bathhouse. However, if he said he would use some of the many trophies from the dragon’s nest, it would all work out well!

“Take care of everything. Don’t miss anything, take them.”

“Yes, sir!”

Expansion of the Brotherhood Bathhouse and installation of a bathhouse in the Astray headquarters…he might even be able to make a bath for the Marquis’ mansion! Evan decided to call the crystals the bathhouse crystals from now on.

“Let’s take all the pieces of leather and scales. Horta and Ella will be happy.”

“We’re making a big hit after coming here to build more bathhouses.”

Inside the Dragon Lair, there was also a formidable amount of gold and silver. Dragons were naturally greedy. Without the existence of an egg, there would’ve been an incomparable number of treasures. Of course, for Evan, who already had a lot of money, one egg was more valuable than those trinkets.

“We’ve collected quite a lot of artifacts as well.”

“What kind of armor would I wear?”

“I found a piece of gold armor.”

“I can’t wear that because it’s heavy. That one’s for Raihan.”

“Hahaha, I have the Invisible Shield you gave me.”

Despite securing as many as a dozen high-quality artifacts, no artifacts could be found for Evan to wear. At this point, he wondered if it was God’s revelation to end with just the artifacts he was wearing now.

“It can’t be… I’m going to have to get an armor set…”

Evan once had an idea to change the Artifact equipment step by step whenever the level went up to the standard of the game, and finally, have the final set of equipment covered with the option of increasing the speed of defense and attack. However, as he became artifacts, he realized that reality wasn’t so easy. Next to Evan, who was collecting the artifacts stored in the Lair, Raihan felt excited as he picked up a spear with a mysterious golden blade, plunging it straight into the wall.

“Oh, this spear is amazing! Despite my lack of any weapon’s aptitude, it is still going through the stone walls!”

“Yes, that’s not your ability. Damn it. I’ve got a shield on my spear…”

It was impossible to check item information directly, but the spear had very high armor penetration options. Evan decided to give it to Junior Group’s Anna, who had been very upset that she couldn’t follow the expedition. She was the only one who used a spear in the Astray, anyway.

“But there’s no laboratory. Some say that a dragon is a magical species. Of course, I thought they had magic books.”

“Didn’t you feel it when you were fighting the dragon earlier? For a dragon, magic isn’t about studying but about dealing with instinct. They don’t have to learn magic.”

Rather, Belois, who had seen and learned high-level magic that even dragons treated with care, should be said to be great. Looking back, the number of foxfire circling her increased to seventeen. One could even say that she was more substantial than anyone else in the Astray except Evan because she could turn all those foxfire into Hellfire…

“I’m afraid the dungeon is about to collapse.”

“Oh, right. We took the dungeon core. All right, we’ve got everything we need. Let’s get out of here.”

With the help of Mirole, the dragon’s egg was shielded by several layers of wind, and the group eventually left the dungeon. Shortly after they left the dungeon, the dungeon sank in with a deafening roar. Evan had already run wild in the dungeon, and the structure had been weakened, but it couldn’t stand it anymore because he pulled out the core. No one would find the dungeon here anymore. Evan couldn’t believe he had shut down Steama’s dungeon, which had to be targeted over several series… he felt something strange.

‘Where does this happen in the main series?’

He grinned at his thought and turned around. The party was waiting for his order.

“Let’s go back.”

That day, five dragon slayers were born in the world, but the world didn’t know.

The world would probably never know.