Noreta? Another senior agent of the Mithril Treasury?
Melita had gone off to carry out a "collection assignment"? Then was this temporarily "filling in" Noreta also a dragon?
Listening to the voice coming from the ring, several thoughts instantly sprang to Gawain's mind. Then he suddenly frowned, realizing something—
This time, he couldn't make a My Little Pony joke!
After suppressing that bizarre fleeting thought, Gawain promptly cleared his throat twice. Gathering his thoughts, he said to "Miss Noreta" on the other end of the ring, "It's like this: I need to ask about some matters—possibly involving dragons. I'd prefer to discuss them in person."
"Dragons... I understand," Noreta's voice paused for a second. "Please wait a moment. I'll come see you in about an hour."
Gawain blinked—another arrival within an hour. Whatever else could be said about the Mithril Treasury's senior agents, their on-call service was truly admirable. He wondered where these dragons hid when carrying out their agent duties. Thinking about it carefully, there really were quite a few suspicious details...
Dark red lava wound across the parched, scorching earth. Cyclones of astonishing heat carried flames that burned without end, and fiery tornadoes swept across the crimson sky like enormous serpents of flame, endlessly scattering hot ash and fire rain—this was a world ruled by flames. Everything here, including soil and stone, remained in a constant state of agitation and transformation under the concentration of Fire Elements. Vast numbers of "creatures" composed primarily of Fire Elements lived in this place, which resembled hell to mortals, each possessing a strange and varied "life form."
Magma fleas leaping through lava, fire sprites breeding in cracks between rocks, living heat waves moving swiftly upon the wind—countless Fire Elemental Creatures blindly burned, fought, and consumed their lives, whether long or brief,