Chapter 381: A Discomforting Conversation

Mid Morning - Late Fall : Eikasía | Eastern Bahamut

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-To think they managed to build all this in just a few months...- As I admired the countless buildings lining the busy street, I glanced over at Hera, walking beside me in her shrunken form. "Even if a lot of it is still under construction, this city is.. really astounding..." -It's so comfortable here...-

"Haha, right? Isn't it wonderful?" Hera spoke with pride.

Touting streets nearly three hundred meters wide, and lined with buildings made to accommodate dragons of all sizes, the city really felt like a place made by dragons, for dragons.

Hera seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit as well. "It reminds me of the ancient cities from my era."

Straightening up my posture as we continued down the street, I gave her a curious glance. "Really? Why is that?"

"It's because those ancient cities didn't pander to 'human culture'." She spoke as if it was common knowledge while she looked around with a reminiscent smile.

But her words only tripped me up. "Huh? What do you mean?" Although I had never really thought about it before that moment, the instant I did, I found myself instinctually agreeing. -But.. why?-

"Just take Atlas as an example. If you walk along those streets, it feels cramped, right? The buildings are so tall and the streets are so thin that flying isn't always convenient, or even an option, especially if there are people nearby. But look here." Pulling her wings off her side, she spread them out with ease. "Even though the buildings are smaller here, it feels bigger, more spacious, and more accommodating does it not?"

-Y..yeah... It really does...- I nodded with a mix of hesitancy and confusion. "But.. what does that have to do with pandering to humans?"

Pulling in her wings again, she looked me in the eyes. "In Atlas, did you ever look above the ground floor of the buildings in the city center?"

"Uh.. yeah?" I tilted my head as I spoke, before my eyes suddenly went wide. "Wait now that you say that..." Thinking back, I could remember the tops of buildings being made to accommodate human-sized creatures, be it an inn, a restaurant, or even a parlor. "Were those not for the convenience of other dragons? Like for those who wanted to use their humanoid forms?"

"Of course. But think about it..." Tapping the claw of her wing on the side of her head, she spoke firmly. "Dragons didn't always value being high off the ground in a building.. however, humans always have. To them, tall buildings represented status and power, and being in them gave them a sensation of strength, as if giving them the ability to look down on others."

-A..Ah!- That was when it suddenly clicked, and an old memory gained clarity. -R..Right!- Old draconic architecture, however, was the exact opposite of humans. If you wanted to show off your status, you did so by owning more land, or building a huge, spanning estate more easily visible from the sky. -And the way they got around the space issue was to build cities partially underground...-

Quickly pushing my aura through the street, I immediately found an endless maze of elaborate tunnels more than big enough to accommodate a dragon the size of Hera right below us.

To me, it defied my current understanding, but to her, it was common sense. "Underground, it's more comfortable for us, the temperatures are cooler, the mana can be made thicker, structurally it's easier to build, and it helps limit the amount of aura distortion people have to deal with on a regular basis."

In an instant, my perception of my own culture twisted. "So you're saying Atlas wasn't meant for only dragons.. but for humans as well?"

She firmly nodded.

"But.. why?" Atlas, known as the heart of draconic culture, always had its architecture touted as the cornerstone of draconic design. -But.. it's not even meant for dragons?-

"It was mostly because of Bahamut." She spoke bluntly as her smile seemed to fade. "He used his humanoid form a lot, he liked human culture, and he found importance in draconic and human relations, so he got rid of the idea of building into the ground, and had everything built upwards, claiming he wanted to 'show the world what we had built rather than hide it underground.' At the same time though, he made the streets smaller, and clumped buildings together to help accommodate creatures on a human scale... But I'm sure in the eyes of most, it just seemed like he just wanted the cities to look more grand..."

-Yeah... He was just pandering...- Although I still couldn't recall a vast majority of his memories, I could easily feel familiarity in what she was saying. "But nowadays it's all used for the convenience of those who want to use their humanoid forms..."

Her smile returned in an instant. "Haha, sure, but it's not like this city is completely abandoning that. All it's doing is valuing the conveniences of the majority." Looking up into the dragon-filled sky above us, her eyes filled with satisfaction. "People are finally taking pride in the fact they're dragons again, and hopefully this city will work as the catalyst. In the long run, that little bit of selfishness should help correct the direction Bahamut is headed as well."

"How clever." Although I could certainly see it becoming a slippery slope of self-pride, eventually leading to an extreme where non-draconic life is hated, it was also good that dragons were beginning to take pride in their race again. -Too little pride and dragons gain the ideologies of humans, too much, and the dragons clean the planet of all other 'inferior' life...-

It was a fine balance that needed to be carefully maintained.

But as things were, dragons were far closer to the bottom line than the top. -And I didn't even realize it...- If anything, my integration of Siratha only accelerated it closer and closer to that bottom line. "But it seemed to work in our favor for the time being."

Knowing exactly what I was talking about, Hera continued my thoughts. "Certainly, but while it made Siratha's integration really smooth, now we have to take more drastic measures to correct it." Looking at the many statues and decorations lining the buildings, her smile slowly became predatory. "But those measures should also work in my favor."

"Hoh? I didn't even think about that..." She was talking about how dragons taking more pride in themselves would make her return to power easier, the subject of many conversations we had over the few days that had passed since my return. "But the way you talk about it makes me think you were the one to design the city."

"Haha~, you have to start somewhere." Her smile warmed as she turned her gaze upward again. "Sometimes people just need a little nudge in the right direction."

-Hm...- Lowering my gaze to the ground, I felt a wave of nostalgia suddenly wash through my mind, but I couldn't tell where from. "Is that something Bahamut told you?"

She was quick to nod before continuing with an annoyed tone. "Except back then, he was trying to push the draconic race in the opposite direction."

-Well.. that's just what happens when you never let go of the ideologies of your past life...- He was on a path to drag the entire draconic race down, reforming draconic society to better blend with the mind of a human, but it would only hurt his race in the long run. -And he knew it...- It was why he chose Hera as his substitute, in order to have someone correct him when he went too far, to try and find a balance between extremes.

But that was no longer me.

Having long-since detached myself from my human mind, I was going to take a completely different approach to the mixing and managing of cultures, focusing on the betterment of each race individually before looking at the collective.

And thankfully, Hera was in complete support of this plan.

Continuing to talk as we followed Krystallo, turning down a smaller street that seemed to act like an alleyway, we endlessly fueled one another's ideas before eventually ending up with a better vision of what we both wanted, and found the destination we would aim for as time would come to pass.

However, after walking for a while, we eventually arrived at a small back alley tavern and were forced to shift gears, cloaking ourselves in light magic while halting our conversation.

It was the place Krystallo was told to meet her 'friend' the last time they met, but as we walked in, we could immediately tell it wasn't a place for kids. -To think places like this exist in Bahamut as well...-

Filled with dragons lounging around, drinking, and flirting, it looked like a conglomeration of low-lives at first, but on a second glance, they all donned armor, weapons, and artifacts with the insignias of various notable noble families. -This must be a tavern meant for knights...- But even though they were all at least elders, none even paid a glance to Krystallo as she walked through.

There was one person who recognized her though. "Ah, lady Krystallo, how are you doing?" It was an old, green-scaled bartender who seemed to be a retired butler. "Are you here for Myalo?" Paying Hera and I a glance as he spoke, we both pressed our auras into him for a moment before he instantly tensed and averted his eyes.

"I am, where is he?"

With a slight nervousness, he continued. "He is in the back speaking with someone. He'll be out in a moment... In the meantime, can I get you a drink?" Awkwardly setting down everything he was doing, he tried to keep his eyes glued on Krystallo.

But mine quickly drifted to the wall behind him. -He's talking to another kid?- Behind the wall, in a room that led underground, Krystallo's 'friend' was speaking to another, similarly aged child, but.. something about the way they were talking felt.. off...

The 'kid' the boy was speaking to wore an eerie smile, devoid of warmth, and moved as if he was a wooden puppet, speaking with an awkwardness that pushed all the wrong buttons on me. "Something is wrong with that kid..."

Hera also seemed to notice, responding with magic so only I could hear. "It doesn't feel like a conversation between children... It feels like a child speaking to a priest, or a caretaker..."

The conversation was so one-sided that it was unsettling, as if there were an adult in the reanimated body of a deceased child.

But.. from what I could see, there was nothing odd about him besides the way he was acting. -No matter how I look at it.. he's just a child.. so why is he acting like that?-

As Krystallo ordered a drink, Hera and I continued listening to their conversation, before, out of the blue, the memory of what happened to students in the academy several years ago came to mind. -Oh shit… Don't tell me…-

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