“Then, we will be going first,” Antonio informed us while he was sitting on the back of his hippogryph, riding Bornelli with his sister Severa. “Lady Shrine Maiden, on my honor as a Knight of Artorias, I must thank you wholeheartedly for the aid you and your retainers have given me in protecting our land. I was unfit for this duty, too weak to have done anything worthwhile.” Antonio bowed his head, having seen the corpse of the high ogre commander when he came over to investigate the [Solar Beam], the same one I shot into the sky to prevent my core from going into overdrive.

Thankfully, Antonio didn’t see me in my dragon form, otherwise I would have had to explain why he should stay quiet about it. That would have been a drag. Plus, him not seeing me in my dragon form was actually beneficial, not just for us but for Cernust, too.

“Cernust, I shall be waiting with Severa at the Sparrowhusk Inn in the merchant district of Firwood. Once you have returned and rested, I bid you to join us there for some time, since we need to speak a bit further about your, uh, acquaintanceship with my sister,” Antonio said bashfully, looking uncomfortable admitting Severa and Cernust are in a relationship.

“I shall wait for you, my Love!” Severa declared loudly in contrast to her brother, waving the smug-looking Cernust goodbye with an impish smile.

“And I will come, my Spring Sakura!” Since he lost one of his horns in the fight with the ogre, Cernust’s dragonewt form didn’t have that antler anymore, making him look asymmetrical. Still, he was loud as always.

That was a cute nickname for somebody with pink hair… Wait, did he say “Sakura?”

“Ahem!” Antonio cleared his voice, not sure what to do with the two lovebirds. “W-Well, Lady Shrine Maiden, please visit me for your Quest clearance mark. Until then, I wish you and everybody safe travels.”

Beating his wings, Bornelli galloped forwards before jumping into the air and taking flight, eventually disappearing into the horizon. The reason why he had to go before us was ‘cause he had to inform the nobles of the Greenveil duchy of this grimgarian battalion, which had been situated just north of Firwood.

As a knight of a different duchy, technically Antonio didn’t have a duty to warn anybody in the Greenveil duchy about it; however, he wasn’t some schemer or something. Lawful stupid as he was, he was still an honorable man that cared for others. A knight and noble of the Kingdom of Artorias at the end of the day, he understood being underhanded here wasn’t to anyone’s benefit.

And Aurora was here. Since I had already informed Farron about the grimgarian army we had encountered in the Belzac forest, I kinda had the duty as a hunter to inform him about it as well. And then he would have to inform Lord Sirius about it, since the hunter’s guild branch was responsible for the defense of the city against monsters. So, yeah, Antonio had no choice regardless.

Also, the reason why Severa was leaving with him is ‘cause of Antonio’s improved opinion of Cernust. Severa was in love with Cernust, and she needed somebody to help her convince her beastmen-hating parents. However, Cernust had to stay behind, as there was something important I had to speak with him about.

“Thank you very much for staying, Lady Priestess.” After seeing Antonio and Severa off, we returned to our camp where Lucia, Wulf, and Verdiena were recovering. It took us a whole night to prepare our plan, giving Lucia some time to sleep and rest, on the other hand, Wulf and Verdiena looked exhausted and ready to collapse from their restless sleep.

“May the goddess bless you, Lady Priestess and your retainers. We would have died if it weren’t for you,” the green-feathered arvisian Verdiena said prayerfully. I had healed her wounds and managed to regrow some of her feathers, kind of like [Major Heal] can with hair, but it would still take some time for her to completely recover her strength.

“Yeah, I can’t help but thank you all for the rescue. The last thing I wanted to die from was against a bunch of green-skins,” Wulf nodded, looking like he attempted to bow for a moment. He then looked over to the unconscious Roosterhead and smacked him on the shoulder. “I’ll also make sure this little shit here will thank you properly the moment he wakes up. Considering how much trouble he caused you last time, the least he could do is grovel before you.”

“Wulf! Please, don’t hit Leif like that! He’s still injured!” Lucia exclaimed.

“Yes, please, don’t break a bone or something. Otherwise, I will have to do more work,” I agreed in a sense. Sighing, I then wandered over to where Raian, the tall human mercenary, and Uno were resting, each having a large scar over one of their eyes. “I managed to rescue Uno’s eye, although the scar will stay, due to the potion's lackluster healing. Still… I can’t save something that’s completely missing. Healing magic has its limits, sorry.”

Uno’s eye was damaged during the rescue mission and he received a healing potion from Saori before I could treat him, causing the wound around his eye to not heal properly and leaving the scar behind. Still, since the eye was there, I managed to prevent him from going blind in one eye.

Raian, sadly, lost his eye completely. According to Wulf and Verdiena, a hobgoblin shaman took it and used it as an alchemical ingredient. Healing magic healed your body by improving your natural regeneration, but it wasn’t very useful for regrowing lost limbs or organs if you weren’t something like a troll.

I need to do something about my healing magic. Once again, it’s showing its limits for something that people consider so ‘miraculous.’

“Please, do not be so harsh on yourself, Lady Priestess. You being here must be what the Goddess wills. We could not blame you for rescuing us,” Lucia reassured me, but I couldn’t help but be dissatisfied with myself. It was time to admit it.

My healing spells aren’t enough. I need to do something about it, either by gaining a new skill or by doing what a magician should do in the first place: Create a new custom spell.

After setting some things up for Saori and Tasianna to begin cooking, I announced that Cernust and I needed to talk in private about something. Saori and Tasianna already knew what was up, but I was surprised to see the adventurers not saying anything. How polite.

Cernust and I walked over to the spot where we had defeated the high ogre. The area was terribly scorched from my [Dreadflare Aura] and a couple of trees had burned down in the process; still, Cernust’s ability as a woodland drake managed to help grow back some of the vegetation. For now, the soil was rich in nutrients, so this spot would eventually grow back, stronger than ever.

At least, that’s what Cernust said.

As I inspected the vines and trees he grew when we fought the high ogre together, Cernust suddenly burst into laughter. “Shit, seeing this reminds me that it will take a while for my head to feel balanced again. I will look like an idiot with different sized antlers, ha ha ha!”

Cernust found his severed antler, picking it up before handing it over to me. When I looked at him weirdly, he explained his action, “That ogre’s axe. That’s some really good metal if it could withstand that volcanic drake-type heat. Wooo, I felt it when I was all the way underground; thought I was getting cooked.”

The winner gets the spoils. While dismantling the grimgarians for meat didn’t yield a lot, since my toxin and fire destroyed most of the edible parts, we were able to scavenge certain sellable pieces as well as their armor and weapons. This included the rings from the shamans, the armor from those orc knights, and, of course, the boss weapon. A boss battle without some good loot wasn’t acceptable, right?

The ogre was a very powerful foe, someone I don’t think we could have beaten had he not been wounded from the cave flood. Anyways, a victory was a victory, and we earned his axe. Unfortunately, my [Dreadflare Aura] had done more harm to it than I initially thought, as we noticed the wooden handle crumbling into dust while the edge of the axe head had melted. It was a sorry sight for such an imposing weapon, but our party was determined to not let it become complete trash. That’s why blacksmiths existed, right?

“A woodland drake’s antlers are both sturdy and light, and something I personally used to construct my gauntlets. I had to cut off half of them, ha ha!” Cernust showed off his emerald-scaled gauntlets, which I presume were made with his body parts. “Dunno why you want to keep that axe, since none of you ladies are axe fighters, but whatever. Call this a tribute to you, your Highness.”

Air Shield.

After creating a bubble of air around us to prevent anybody from eavesdropping, I inhaled deeply, preparing myself for our discussion in just a second. “…How did you know I was a dragon?” was my first question.

“Huh?” Cernust raised an eyebrow. “Is that a joke, your Highness?”

Oh shit, is this smell I’m constantly smelling from him really the damn hint?

“No…” I said a bit flustered, knowing how incredibly ignorant I was about anything draconic. “Also, for now, please just call me Hestia. It’s shorter and I really don’t want to be called that way, especially from an acquaintance.”

Cernust shrugged but nodded nevertheless. “Got it, Hestia. Well, to answer your easy question, I met you first as a human, then found out you were a dragonewt. Actual dragonewts tend to be too damn proud of their heritage to abandon their draconic features for the inferior human’s, while true dragonkin like the two of us need [Humanization] or [Beastalization] to enter humanoid society.”

“Oh, that’s why you acted so weird back then.” When we asked him to teach Tasianna alchemy, Cernust did look at me weirdly.

“Yeah, but I knew not to speak up about it in front of others. I wondered why you didn’t find out about me since we could smell each other’s scent well. Now that I think about it, your scent does remind me of when I first entered Firwood,” Cernust reminisced the day I saw him enter Firwood with Severa. “Anyway, I thought you were some normal dragonkin until now, since I had never met a Kargryxmor before. Then when you roared and, fucking hell, my scales stiffened up so much I thought I froze on the spot. Instincts, you know. That’s when I knew you were a Kargryxmor.”

Well, I guess that does make sense. I didn’t know that sweet smell was that. Verdammt!

“…So, how long have you been on your adulthood pilgrimage, Hestia?” Cernust suddenly asked. “Severa already told you how long I was away from Kargryx, so no need to ask me.”

“Oh, yeah, I thought so. It did sound weird that you would just leave because you were bored.”

“Huh? Oh, no, I really was bored. Come on, you gotta agree, there’s no semblance of society in the Kargryx part of Miononbolax. When I learned [Beastialization], holy shit, I entered the Loatryx part immediately and I was hooked by the concept of society ever since. I came a year late to my adulthood ceremony, just ‘cause I lost track of time while I was partying with a few dragonewts and levianewts. Oh yeah, beats sitting and sleeping inside caves and mountains.”

Being late by a whole year isn’t ‘losing track of time!’ That’s some major procrastination!

But being the straight man in this situation wasn’t really important, as I had a different question in mind. “What’s ‘Miononbolax?’”

“…You tugging on my tail now, right? As if you don’t know the name of the continent we were born in. Come on, you probably want to say something serious, so stay serious for a moment. Let me be the fucking jester here. Come on, I’ll stop joking around, just tell me how long you’ve been on your pilgrimage and then it’s your turn.” Cernust looked more confused than irritated, scratching the spot where his severed horn should be.

I mean, I have to reveal it somehow…

Furthering this discussion without revealing a bit to Cernust was impossible. I could have played dumb as much as I wanted, but I had zero information on Kargryx and dragon culture; I couldn’t even speak Draconic, my supposedly mother tongue. It probably would have been revealed even sooner if Cernust had enough sense to put two by two together.

So, I revealed my origins. Of course, not the part about my reincarnation and Aurena. That was absolutely not needed to explain any of it, but where I was born, when I was born, and that I was completely alone just about a year ago.

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Cernust was baffled at first, unable to understand how I was able to survive long enough without any help, even as a dragon whelp. Now, I was sure he would ask even further if I revealed I was born a G rank newborn and that I made it to B rank in less than a year, so I had to gloss over that part unless I wanted to baffle the poor guy even further. Although, he did tell me that, as a Kargryxmor, I should have been born as a C rank [Young Black-Wrath] dragon.

It did pose the question of why I was a G rank whelp when I was born, but I guess Aurena did mention I was born a bit earlier than she expected. I guess you could say, I wasn’t fully developed by then… Damn, that just makes everything worse.

“Holy shit, honestly, I can’t imagine being alone like that. I can’t remember shit when I was born, but you are still not a year old yet?!” Cernust exclaimed with widened eyes.

“Well, I have my birthday on the 25th this month, so yeah, not even a year old just yet.”

“Jeez, but then again, even as a whelp, you are a Kargryxmor, your bloodline is stronger than mine, so I can’t be so surprised. Although, I do wonder why you’re so patient though. Dragonkin whelps aren’t known for being very quiet or selfless,” Cernust said it while trembling a bit. What did he experience?

“Just saying, I do have my special moments, so you’re not completely off base,” I agreed, since the incidents with [Battle Frenzy] and Shiterno’s interference happened. I mean, if it weren’t for my past memories, I was sure I would be far more arrogant. “Anyway, now that you know… that should explain why I have no idea about anything, right? I had no idea about this smell thing, your roars, or even about dragonkin culture. Nothing.”

Cernust nodded out of pity. “Mhmm, that is a shitty situation. Still, you are alive. That is all that counts. You somehow also learned some basic dragon stuff like our lineage name and the adulthood ceremony, so don’t beat yourself up too much, Hestia.”

He then scratched his head for a moment as he seemed to have remembered something. “You know, all Kargryxmor’s descendants are born with black scales and are bipedal, or so I heard from my parents. Your red scales, so similar to a fire dragon’s, coupled with the fact you walk on all fours really didn’t help me figure it out. Your aura and roar, on the other hand, gave me the sense to kneel. If you want to hide from other dragonkin, then I suggest you hide those parts, since you can’t hide our distinctive smell with stuff like perfume or mud.”

“You can’t? What is that smell anyway? Saori and Tasianna mentioned they couldn’t smell it.”

“Yeah, those pheromones only work on true dragonkin, and some dragonewts and levianewts. It’s especially effective on those who haven’t met another dragonkin in a long time. When I met you in that alley, I’m pretty sure the ‘sweet’ smell should have been almost overwhelming, yeah?” I nodded to his assertion.

“When you smell it, then it’s either a true dragonkin, or a dragonewt or levianewt with an especially strong bloodline. It’s very hard to hide from other dragonkin, you see,” Cernust explained. “Wow, you know, explaining this sorta stuff makes me feel so old. Damnit, I am just 21!”

“Well, sorry, I can’t help the fact that I am so young. Still, thank you for explaining all of this. I do have more questions, if you don’t mind answering them,” I asked carefully. I really wanted to learn more.

Thankfully, Cernust nodded. Ok, so first things first, the Dragon Empire, Kargryx, was located on the continent Miononbolax, just west of Altrust, the continent we are currently on. Kargryx was mostly devoid of any sorta civilization, as dragons and drakes simply flew around and slept in the mountains and fields of the region. There was also an ice island just north where ice dragons and drakes lived.

Now, since the history of beastmen also applied to dragons, they had offsprings in the form of dragonewts, which meant there had to be a place where they could live. Since dragonewts preferred living in a society due to their humanoid heritage — whether human, dwarven, or elven — a vassal country in the form of the Dragonewt Country, Loatryx, was founded by multiple tribes of dragonewts who one day realized they had to band together, otherwise, they would never be able to move forwards.

“That’s what my parents and the dragonewts I met taught me. Each dragonewt tribe was made out of those with a similar heritage, like fire dragonewts banding with others of their kind, while despising forest drakes like me, for example. Eventually, a dragonewt with Kargryxmor’s bloodline came up and suggested a country where they could strengthen themselves instead of warring against each other, all so they could serve their ancestors and the Dragon God better.”

“Was it met with opposition?” I asked Cernust. It was the most sensible question after what he said.

“Of course, that person wasn’t Kargryxmor or a dragon. Just a beastman with dragon and elven blood. Just saying, dragonkin are prideful, and so are dragonewts. They only worship dragons. Even today, if the Dragon God wasn’t Goddess Aurena’s subordinate, most of them wouldn’t even shed a scale for her.” Cernust then picked off a loose scale and handed it to me, calling it another tribute since I was his princess.

When I declined, he waved his finger to the sides. “Dragons take pride in their strong scales. This is a gesture of respect and trust, since I am making myself more vulnerable by removing a scale.”

After accepting it, he continued his story. After the diplomatic suggestion from the dragonewt was rejected, an age of war began as tribes warred to become the leading faction. The tribes didn’t decline the Kargryxmor dragonewt’s idea for a united country, but refused to accept him as their ruler since they hated the fact he wanted to be the leader purely due to his bloodline. They found him unworthy.

“When you imagine the Dragon God, you imagine a black tyrant who has conquered the skies. ‘If you cannot make us kneel, you do not deserve our respect.’ It was a challenge.”

All of this happened before the Origin Gods came to Peolynca, meaning Kargryxmor was very much alive during this period, ruling over all dragons. The dragonewts wanted to see if his descendant could do the very same thing. But, even with all his strength, the dragonewt was slain in battle.

When the war continued, grieving children and parents demanding retribution for their slain kin, Kargryxmor eventually had to intervene as the population of dragonewts and shore-living levianewts was dwindling. With a loud roar that shattered the very earth they stood on, Kargryxmor not only conquered the dragons but also the dragonewts. And that was all that was needed to found another country in his name.

“Loatryx was founded on our home continent and eventually spread to Altrust through the levianewts and elves. A colony is just up north and has grown strong with the influence of the levianewts and dwarves. When I was there, I couldn’t help but think it was an entirely different country compared to the one on Miononbolax. The dwarves with their Revolution Queen, or whatever she was called, changed their culture by quite a bit. Ahh, when I stayed there for Spring, damn, was I glad to experience the Sakura petal rain.”

“Do you have any of their seeds? Seeing as you like collecting seeds so much.” I was curious, and, as I expected, Cernust had some of the sakura seeds in his backpack. He was quite reluctant to part with even one, compared to how easily he gave me his scale and antler.

That was a small insight into my dragon heritage. Learning about its history will make Saori quite happy after I retell it.

“Honestly, how Loatryx struggled in the first few years despite Kargryxmor’s command to form a country was pretty wild, but I can’t recall enough of it to tell you a good enough story. Even its origin was hard to recall, since I’m not a big reader. If you want to learn more, then I suggest you visit it yourself, since you’ll be returning to Kargryx anyways.”

“…”

“…Hestia?”

Going to Kargryx… do I really want to do that? I mean, I have no reason to. Right?

“Hey, hey, I know I made Kargryx sound boring, but you gotta at least visit your mother,” Cernust insisted with a serious expression.

“My mother?” I tilted my head.

“You know, now that I think about it, I heard, before leaving Kargryx, that your old man, the current Emperor, fancied some silver dragon. Remember how I said ‘dragonewts worship dragons’? Yeah, Loatryx is ruled like a republic, but they honor the Kargryxmor’s dragons a lot, and the birth of a Kargryxmor is like a festival for them. It might have just been a rumor, but you are living proof of its authenticity.”

My head was still tilted as he hasn’t answered my question yet. “Ok, but what does that have to do with my ‘mother’?”

“Well, the last child of Emperor Kargryxmor left on her adulthood pilgrimage a while ago — that would be your elder sister, or half-sister I suppose — before I left on mine. Which means, you are the youngest of the royal family. However, before I left Kargryx and Loatryx for the dwarves and humans, nobody mentioned about your egg hatching, since you were just born last year,” Cernust began. “Now, I have no idea how you landed in Belzac forest, but I expect it happened when your egg were presented to the elven rulers of Saelariel. When a Kargryxmor egg is laid, introducing it to Kargryx’s allies is a tradition to help with your adulthood pilgrimage. The pilgrimage is intended to help dragons get to know the world before they return home, so it helps when foreign rulers know who to teach.”

“Ok… that might explain why I was in Belzac in the first place. It doesn’t explain how it happened but… what is your point?”

“My point is that people are searching for you. Silver dragons walk on all four legs, just like you do, and while it is unusual for you to not be black-scaled, it could be explained that you inherited your mother’s lighter scale-color. The Dragon God was a fire dragon at his base, but with black scales instead of the usual red. It makes sense,” Cernust pointed out. “The elves would help the search, the levianewts would help, the dragonewts would help. Now, as I said, dragonewts can be quite zealous.”

“…They wouldn’t, right? They don’t even know where I am, as if they would just attack wantonly!” I exclaimed in disbelief.

“Sure, but the moment they hear you are here? The elves don’t like humans and the dragonewts trust the elves. Do you understand now? There will be a misunderstanding, and boom, this kingdom won’t like it at all.” I gulped the moment he mentioned this possibility. Considering how much the elves distrust humans ever since the “War for the Fae,” they might think I was imprisoned here.

Although, that begs the question of why people like Silva or Master Kush hadn’t mentioned anything. Then again, all of them told me they have been traveling for a while, so it could be they haven’t heard any news from home. The saurians travel the world to dispense justice, while Silva wanted to free onnikais and was traveling incognito through human land.

“Unfortunately, the worst part is still coming. Mother dragons are very possessive of their children, especially since the birth rate among dragons isn't very high. My own mother despised the fact she had to let me go, ranting I could die at any time and that she wanted to travel with me. Your mother lost you when you were an egg, the moment when you were the most vulnerable. Nothing has happened yet, as I presume she must be wailing and waiting for news of you, but the moment her patience runs out… ”

“She will take flight,” I answered with a trembling voice.

“Yeah,” Cernust nodded with gloom over his face. “No idea how strong she is, but she’s got to be S rank at the very least. Young scales like the two of us are nothing against the elder scales sleeping inside their nests for years and years. And elder scales know each other well. Your mother must have some friends and she could also bring her family down to Altrust. Dragonewts from her bloodline will also move with her. Dragonfire and dragoon knights… that won’t be a pretty sight.”

“Urgh… no, it won’t. I can’t believe I can envision it.” I cradled my head as the thought of Carine Village and Firwood burning down. I had to do something about this possibility… but I really didn’t want to go to Kargryx, either. If what Cernust said was true, then I really don’t want a possessive, helicopter “mother.” My idol dream would be impossible if I could only perform there.

I had to do something, and I think the answer was obvious enough. Speak with Kargryxmor. Aurena mentioned I had to speak with him in Griffonpeak, so this just gave me a real reason to do so. I have to tell him to inform my mother, otherwise… the worst could happen.

Still, there has to be an immediate solution, or at least a band-aid. My party had its own plans, and rushing wasn’t exactly part of it. In other words, I had to rely on somebody who I believed, but wasn’t sure, had a connection with Kargryx.

“Cernust, I don’t presume you are going back anytime soon, right?” I asked, but I already knew the answer.

“Argh, you are putting me on the spot here, princess. I would get in trouble if I didn’t, but I can’t just leave Severa now when there is a chance we could have a life together. I heard humans are quite fickle with their partners and can just switch to another if their previous ones just disappear one day. I really, really, don’t want that to happen,” Cernust begged.

I nodded, not disappointed at all. “It’s ok. If somebody asks me, I’ll just say I don’t know you.”

“Thanks.”

After that, Cernust gave me some pointers on how dragons spoke. As we dragons mostly communicate with growls and sound intonations, we need to learn the Common language, and scale-kin speech from the dragonewts. Since I already learned the latter from the lizardmen and further improved it with the saurians, there was nothing Cernust could teach me there. However…

“If you want, this elder scale can teach you the meanings and how to intone your voice, although we really don’t have much time, depending on when Antonio wants to leave,” Cernust offered.

Well, I had no reason to decline. Even if I won’t use dragon speech for a long time, I will eventually. Better now than never. I agreed to his offer, but told him we would do it later since I need to see something first. We left the bubble for now and returned to camp. My discussion with Cernust lasted so long that Saori and Tasianna were done preparing dinner.

As I sat down to a warm stew, I spoke to Saori telepathically, [“Have you chosen yet, Saori? Your evolution.”]

Evolution

[Young Fenrir]

[Young Umbralblade Cadejo]

[Young Abysswalker Cadejo]

[Young Blackroar Cadejo]

Saori’s choices were less numerous compared to mine, and all of them were concentrated on her shadow powers. It really came to which fighting style she preferred with the choices. [Young Fenrir] seemed to be based around using their wolven senses to the fullest during a hunt, while each of the three Cadejo evolutions seemed to emphasize a different aspect of the original C-rank evolution - the [Shadow Armaments] ability, enhanced [Stealth] skills, and that scary [Bloodlust] trait.

[“No, I have not. Actually, there was something I wanted to try before I made my choice. Hestia… would mind letting me drink some of your blood?”]

[“…Come again?”]

[“I know, it sounds crazy, but I wanted to see what would happen if I did that. As you can see, my choices are pretty barebones and I really want to open up a better option. Sadly, the skill shop didn’t give me a lot of ideas, so I wondered ‘what would ingesting some dragon blood do?’ You can decline since this is a creepy demand, but how about it?”]

[“Creepy, yes. Worth a try? Sure.”]

With that decided we left the camp once more and moved deeper into the forest where I constructed an earthen dome for Saori to safely evolve in. Cernust also helped by constructing some trees to hide our position. I momentarily transformed back into my original form and opened a wound. As the blood filled up a wooden vial, Saori took it and drank it in one go, requesting some water afterward.

When I asked her if anything changed, she simply smiled and said, “Just wait for the surprise~” before activating her evolution. I had no idea what she chose, but at the very least, I knew our party finally had another B rank combatant.

Stronger. Aurora must become stronger.