After dealing with the Dragon Maid, the Dragon Maid revealed that there was once a passage built by Dwarves in the Dragon Kingdom's mining city that led to the Dwarf Kingdom.
At that time, all mineral trade between the Dragon Kingdom and the Dwarf Kingdom was conducted through that passage, but later, due to an attack on the Dwarf Kingdom, the official in charge of managing the mining city ordered the passage to be blocked to avoid involvement.
Thus, the connection between the Dwarf Kingdom and the Dragon Kingdom was completely severed. If that passage could be found and opened, then it should be possible to re-establish contact with the Dwarf Kingdom.
So, without further ado, let's depart!
Although Ellie really wanted to complain that the Dragon Kingdom at the time was indeed a bit excessive, doing something like burning bridges after crossing them.
However, the Dragon Queen, who was listening to the Dragon Maid's description, looked utterly bewildered, showing that she was truly unaware of this matter.
But then again, the ones who attacked the Dwarves were the Digging Beastmen. If they wanted to push through the passage, simply blocking it wouldn't be effective, would it?
However, this also indirectly explains another problem: this passage from the Dragon Kingdom should be connected to other cities in the Dwarf Kingdom. If it were connected to the already fallen Dwarf Capital, the Digging Beastmen would have probably already invaded.
But these are all things from a long time ago, and there's no point in complaining anymore, so let's get going! Thus, at Ellie's urging, a new passenger was added to Sticky Rice Cake's back.
This time, the destination is the mining city in the Hill Area between the Dragon Kingdom and the Empire, as pointed out by the Dragon Maid.
Uh! Speaking of which, geographically, isn't the Dwarf Kingdom actually sandwiched between the Empire and the Dragon Kingdom?
But the Dwarf Kingdom is built underground, which is why it's little-known, right? An underground city! It really sounds interesting.
"It's been a long time since I've experienced the feeling of flying in the sky. Thank you, Lord Bai Xia," the Dragon Maid said to Ellie while sitting on Sticky Rice Cake's back.
"Oh! Is that so? So, does that mean you could fly before?" Ellie was too lazy to correct her address. She seemed to have decided that Ellie was the player "Bai Xia," which made it a bit difficult for Ellie to inquire about this player's information.
"It's shameful to admit, but if I underwent Dragon Transformation, I could indeed fly for a short period," the Dragon Maid replied.
Hmm? New information acquired. Does the Dragon Transformation of Dragonfolk grant flight ability? Sebas is also Dragonfolk, right? Does that handsome old man also undergo Dragon Transformation?
"Was Dragon Transformation like you were just now?" Ellie recalled the Dragon Maid's "little dragon person" state just now. If Sebas also became like that after Dragon Transformation, it would feel... a bit too out of place.
"No... that was merely a half-Dragon Transformation. True Dragon Transformation can temporarily turn one into a giant dragon, but it can only be maintained for a short period," the Dragon Maid answered honestly.
"How long exactly?" Ellie continued to inquire. After all, in the future, she might have to face Dragonfolk as opponents. Besides the Zesshi Zetsumei, who was designated as the strongest by the author among the natives of this world, the only ones who posed a threat to Nazarick were the Dragon race. So, the more information, the better.
"I can only maintain it for about three minutes at most," the Dragon Maid candidly revealed her weakness.
It seems this Dragon Maid still trusts "Lord Bai Xia" immensely. Of course, there's also the possibility of false information, but given the Dragon Maid's current situation, the probability of her misleading me is almost zero.
"Only three minutes?" Although Ellie really wanted to tease her about being Ultraman, if one could transform into a giant dragon and crush opponents, three minutes would generally be enough.
"If it's Draudillon, there are no such restrictions. It should be said that her current form is her transformed state," the Dragon Maid continued.
Unexpectedly, this Dragon Maid directly sold out her master. Although Ellie, having read the script, knew that the Dragon Queen's current loli form was indeed the result of a transformation, this implies that the Dragon Queen's original form should also be that of a giant dragon, just like the Platinum Dragon Lord?
However, in the original work, wasn't it stated that she no longer possessed much of her Dragon race power? Her combat strength was said to be almost as weak as a normal human's, right?
After chatting for a while longer, Sticky Rice Cake had already flown to the Hill Area, and the Dragon Maid said they were almost there. So, Ellie had Sticky Rice Cake fly lower, concentrating her attention on the ground below, and activated her senses.
She mainly wanted to see what was around here, to understand the local ecology. Looking at the continuous mountain ranges, this must be why the Dragon Kingdom was so weak!
I remember seeing a map of the continent in the novel. The Dragon Kingdom's territory wasn't small, but a large part of it consisted of such hilly and mountainous regions. For people in a different world, developing such an area would indeed be quite difficult. Therefore, most of the Dragon Kingdom's towns were crowded near the lake in the southwest, and further south was the territory of the Beastman Kingdom. From the terrain, it indeed looked quite miserable.
Due to her attention being on the scenery below, Ellie noticed a human presence below. It was only for an instant before it disappeared.
This was very strange. The Dragon Maid said the city was nearby, so a human presence in the vicinity was normal. But the sudden disappearance of that presence was not right.
Ellie was currently in the sky, so sensing the presence of living beings was very easy. Even if someone tried to hide, she would still be able to sense a little. However, this was a complete disappearance, as if someone had spotted a giant dragon in the sky and immediately concealed their presence to avoid being discovered. Was it a guilty conscience?
But then again, if a giant dragon suddenly appeared in the sky, anyone would be cautious, right? However, those who could completely conceal their presence were not ordinary people. Were they Adventurers?
"Presence concealment, huh! Conna, does your mining city have Adventurers stationed there?" Ellie chuckled and asked.
"No, mining cities are garrisoned by regular troops, and mining cities are the lifeline of the Dragon Kingdom. To prevent intelligence leaks, it's impossible to have Adventurers participate," the Dragon Maid gave a very firm answer, looking at Ellie with a puzzled expression.
"Is that so! In that case..." It must be ill-intentioned. From the Dragon Maid's words, Ellie also learned another important piece of information: the location of the Dragon Kingdom's mining city seemed to be a secret to outsiders?
Otherwise, why would she talk about preventing intelligence leaks? It's just a mine, after all. Besides its location, what other information could be leaked? It seems necessary to go and see what's going on.
"What's wrong, Lord Bai Xia?" the Dragon Maid asked, looking at Ellie's strange, smiling-but-silent expression.
"Sticky Rice Cake, protect Conna and Bell. I'll go down first to check the situation. Do not come down without my command," Ellie said, and then jumped directly off Sticky Rice Cake's back.
Her target was the location where she first sensed a human presence. The other party should also be able to sense her presence, otherwise they wouldn't have activated presence concealment. So, if she descended directly from the sky, the other party definitely wouldn't have time to react.
And so... Ellie, just like last time in the Forest Kingdom, made a fierce loli-descent.
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