Okami Wa Nemuranai

Episode 53.6

Lecan drank down his wine.

He was going to fill it again, but realized the wine bottle has been emptied.

"You got no more wine?"

"Oh I've still got some in the cellar. I'll go fetch one, sit tight now."

Shira went downstairs and came back after a while along with wine, jerky and dried fruit.

"This is one of your hideouts huh."

"Yup, that's right. I hired that old man as a live-in caretaker to manage the house for cheap."

She's bold enough to have a hideout smack dab in the middle of the capital. Apparently there's this proverb, <A shrewd rabbit dig four burrow dens>, but Shira's dens are likely nowhere near as few as four.

Lecan chewed on jerky and drank his wine before asking more about things bothering him.

"How many are these Unique Dragons out there anyway."

"Earth Dragon Ogud, Earth Dragon Imamu, Earth Dragon Toron, Soaring Dragon Yogg, Soaring Dragon Kodan and Soaring Dragon Rudo."

"Six of 'em huh. Hold it. Are you telling me Dungeon Palcimo was created with Argent Flame Wolf's magic stone?"

"It was."

"How many are there Divine Beasts?"

"Burstflame Dragon Vada, Wiseflame Dragon Yanpereron, Sovereign Dragon Atracia, and Argent Flame Wolf Grof."

"Hm? Isn't 'Grof' an individual name?"

"It's the beast's title as well. Argent Flame Wolf remains as Grof no matter how many times it's reborn."

"Ah, I get it now. And there are eight Grand Dungeons. Err. Tsubolt, Palcimo, Yufu, Egis, Finkel and then... Daina. Then we have <Ocean Dungeon> on Gurijj Island, huh wait? Ah, forgot about Wado. There's really just eight."

"Yep, that's eight."

"If we regard Unique Dragons the same as Divine Beasts, there are ten of them in total. Yet there's only eight Grand Dungeons. Where's the other two?"

"Not all wine is created from one type of grape."

It took Lecan a bit of time to digest the meaning of her words.

"There's Grand Dungeons made from multiple Divine Beasts' magic stones!"

"Why do you look so happy? Every Grand Dungeons besides Palcimo on this continent was made from a Unique Dragon's magic stone with the sole exception of Gurijj's dungeon which was made from three magic stones taken from Burstflame Dragon Vada, Wiseflame Dragon Yanpereron, and Sovereign Dragon Atracia. That's also why that dungeon turned out so absurd. None managed to conquer it even today."

"Hou."

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"So why do you look so happy again?"

"Why'd they make them?"

"Eh?"

"Why did those grand mages in ancient times make Grand Dungeons. What's their goal."

"Why indeed. Perhaps it was because they concluded that they could make it happen at the end of a great many research. I can't come up with another reason, really. It's just in researcher's nature to aspire to reproduce Gods' creations. After all, creating Grand Dungeons from Divine Beasts' magic stones would be the greatest demonstration of reproducing the biggest, most complex form of phenomenon in this world. The knowledge they gained from carrying out the act must have been monumental. Even ancient magic was perfected through such experience, which eventually gave birth to the current form of magic. Same with the engineering knowledge for magic tools. The prosperity present day humans enjoy is only possible through the supports of many many technologies and knowledge born from such experiments."

"Kinda feel like you're dodging the question with sophistry but fine. Still, why must it be Grand Dungeons, can't they start with smaller ones?"

"Apparently it was unfeasible."

"Hm?"

"After observing dungeons in this world, those ancient mages did made the attempts to create their own. After some long arduous processes and lots of experiments, they found out that human hands just cannot create a dungeon unless it's a Grand Dungeon that makes use of Divine Beast's magic stone, so I heard. The method to create small and medium sized dungeons is a mystery that eludes humanity."

"I'm getting a headache."

"<Purification>."

"Ah, thanks. No wait, that's wrong. Well anyway, I get that researchers are terrifying. Ah, that's it!"

"What's it."

"Yacklubend! Are you aware just what did that thing make me go through."

"She's sorry."

"What."

"She would like to give an explanation for her action in person. Would you go see her?"

"Absolutely not. Rather, that thing survived huh."

"She's still alive. Kinda in a terrible state. But alive."

"I'll make sure to deliver the finishing blow if we ever meet again."

"Your stance is completely justified. But for now, have a look at this."

Shira produced a sword out of nowhere.

The scabbard didn't look familiar, but the handle did.

Lecan took the sword and pulled it out of the scabbard.

"Ooh."

He spoke out loud without realizing.

It's his trusty sword.

The same trusty sword Lecan brought to this world.

It broke to the point of being irreparable in his fight against a Greatarm Ogre in Dungeon Golbul, but Shira took an interest on it, and borrowed it from Lecan, after which she gave it to Yacklubend. Which in turn made Yacklubend take an interest on Lecan. Looking back, that was the impetus of this huge blunder.

Lecan put the sword on the desk, took the brown wand Shira gave her, collected himself and recited a spell.

"O Gafra Dafra, mirror that reflects all truth, o wisdom of terminus. Clear away the arcane light of bewildering mist pointed by my wand, passed through by my mana, cast light upon its true actuality. <Appraisal>!"