"Since you mentioned dragons, Shade, I don't think there are absolutely no clues here."
Professor Manning said with a smile:
"I truly left no written records of that excavation, but I wasn't working the entire time I stayed in Moon Bay. Moon Bay is an ancient city, and thanks to its advantageous location, it has been a major city in every era. So before leaving, I took the time to investigate its local legends and stories. If I remember correctly, an old boatman who made his living fishing at sea once told me that he and his ancestors had heard the roar of dragons in the harbor at night."
"What?"
Shade immediately sat upright.
"That old boatman..."
"He should have passed away by now. I'd wager you won't be able to dig up that information anymore. Moon Bay Port has changed greatly over the past few decades. Many old traditions have vanished, along with the people who lived there generation after generation and the stories passed down by word of mouth. Can this help you? I remember clearly that the old boatman said one might hear a dragon's roar in the harbor on stormy nights. The louder the thunder, the better—thunder during a tempest would be best. Though I can't be certain whether what he heard was thunder or a dragon's roar."
As the professor spoke, he saw the ecstatic expression on Shade's face.
"This is an enormous help. So thunder is required too? I wonder whether artificially created lightning would meet the conditions."
He had originally visited Professor Manning only to seek clues about gods from the old ruins. Shade had never expected this visit to provide information even more directly pointed toward his goal. Though the professor had said it was merely a local rumor, the moment Shade