The Broken Mountains lay beside the Dimon Kingdom, closer to the heart of the Central Region of Middle Earth. Rich in minerals, with gold and mithril deposits found throughout, the region had no nation of its own. Instead, a Grand Lord led a loose Alliance of lesser lords.
Makarov was one of those lesser lords. His territory produced mainly coal and iron.
So when an evil dragon settled in his territory, his first thought was that the sky had fallen. His second was: Had someone discovered a gold mine on my land?
Greed seized Makarov's soul. He sent out several forces in the name of hunting down the dragon, but for them, coming back alive was the greatest Victory they could hope for.
The casualties were so severe that the other lesser lords began mocking Makarov—and eyeing his territory. He wasn't the only one who believed there was treasure near the dragon's lair.
None of them wanted to face the dragon head-on, though. They were waiting for some fool to slay it so they could reap the rewards.
After such heavy losses, Makarov had almost given up on the treasure. Then Joan Montreal, a young woman from Free City, arrived like a gift from heaven and gave him fresh hope.
Joan needed coal. Makarov needed the dragon gone. They quickly struck a deal: Joan would deal with the dragon, and Makarov would sell the coal he mined to Free City.
"What kind of dragon is it? A red dragon?"
"My men who made it back said it was at least a young blue dragon..."
"A young blue dragon..."
That made things tricky. Finding one blue dragon usually meant there were more nearby.
According to the Mercenary Guild's hunting guide, blue dragons were rated as more dangerous targets than black dragons.