Chapter 876 — Lost Property

"Ah, good point," said the blue dragon—Metzen Pernia—as she put away the pale golden panel before her and looked down at the pile of still-blazing rocks on the ground. "Hid it for a hundred years... this fire Elemental Lord came within a hair of breaking the Mithril Vault's all-time record for debt evasion. Now let's see just what treasure this fellow was hiding, that it was worth the risk of violating the Dragon Oath contract..."

Invisible magic power swept across those blazing stones, dispersing the last trace of malice that clung to the elemental residue. The already fragile stone shell turned silently to dust and scattered on the wind, finally exposing the "treasure" so tightly wrapped within that pile of debris.

It was a piece of metal, silver-white as its base, its surface inlaid with black ornamentation.

It resembled a shield, yet not the likeness of any standard-issue shield in the world today. It had a highly symmetrical diamond structure, and on its convex face a dim, faint luster still flowed to this day; the energy tremors caused by draconic magic lingered around the shield, and a low, pleasing hum issued from that ancient, sturdy metal, as though in some kind of resonance.

The dragons crowded in one after another—these enormous creatures stretched out their necks, pressing together to look at that sheet of metal, which by their standards could almost be called "tiny," like a group of people squatting on the ground to gawk at a small pebble. After a few seconds of silence, expressions of puzzlement and curiosity surfaced on every dragon's scale-covered (or bionic-skinned) face.

"...What is this thing?" muttered an especially burly red dragon, extending two "fingers" of its foreclaw to gingerly pick up the metal. "An Elemental Lord, risking the Mithril Vault's debt collection, just to collect a thing like this?"

The red dragon whose eyes had both been replaced with electronic prosthetics grumbled: "It's a human shield. Isn't that obvious?"

"I know human shields, but I don't understand why an Elemental Lord would consider it so important..."

Just then, the blue dragon Metzen suddenly interrupted the other dragons' conversation: "Friends, I think I recognize the mark on this shield."

As she spoke, she raised her foreclaw and pointed at the emblem on the surface of the diamond shield—the shield's own material seemed somewhat unusual, such that after centuries of elemental erosion it remained wholly intact and undamaged, but certain metal fittings on its surface were plainly later additions. The mark was on those later-added metal plates, and already showed severe signs of weathering and erosion.

Yet its general outline could still be made out: a crossed sword and plow.

"...I seem to recall it too... ah! Last time, when we were run ragged going everywhere to confirm whether those long-dead clients showed any signs of revival—it seems it was all because of the owner of this mark..." The especially burly red dragon exclaimed, an expression of unbearable recollection appearing on its face. "Isn't this the property of that human called Gao Yang Cecil?"

Metzen Yanqi nodded: "That would be it."

The dragons on the scene fell silent. These mighty transcendent beings looked at one another, and suddenly it felt as though this originally simple and brutal debt-collection job had become complicated.

"...The Mithril Vault conducts honest business. We ought to contact the owner of the lost property..."

"But this is lost property from a century ago. If the owner fails to claim it within the deadline, that counts as automatic relinquishment of ownership."

"The thing is, the owner has been lying in a coffin for the past hundred years. Shouldn't the responsibility for the overdue claim fall on whoever was actually responsible?"

"But that responsible party is dead too!"

"...How about a spirit summoning?"

"I don't think that will work—and could you please not mention spirit summoning?"

"Hold on, friends," Metzen finally could not help but cut in, interrupting his colleagues' ever more heated discussion. "Before we talk about the lost-property claim procedure, shouldn't we take a serious look at this shield again? Don't you think... even if this shield belonged to a legendary human hero, it still wouldn't be worth an elemental lord taking this kind of risk over?"

"Metzen, what are you saying..."

"There is something wrong with the shield's primary material—look closely, all of you."

...

An hour's wait was not long at all, and soon Betty came running to tell Gao Yang that a strange visitor claiming to be a senior agent had arrived outside the gates of Cecil Palace.

Before long, a beautiful, elegant lady entered Gao Song's study—dressed in a snow-white gown, pale golden hair flowing softly over her shoulders, a tear-shaped mole at the corner of her eye.

"Hello," the elegant and beautiful lady said with a slight bow to Gao Yi, a professional, gentle smile on her face. "I am the senior agent acting on Metzen's behalf. You may call me 'Noretta.'"

Gao Yang restrained his urge to study her curiously, and after ordering Betty to close the door properly on her way out, he nodded to the lady before him. "Very pleased to meet you, Miss Noretta."