“W-What?! You can’t be serious!”

“Of course I am! Try them on, sis!” Despite her reluctance, I pushed some colorful and frilly stage outfits into Neill’s face as she grew increasingly flustered.

On the other hand, Rita was naturally curious about the outfits, picking them up and using her [Investigate] on them. “Oooh, Neill, these are mana thread outfits. Oooh, they’re very well made, and the elemental mana is only about 10%. It’s safe to use. They should fit us pretty well.”

“Hold on, Rita! Don’t you dare put that on! Sis, we ain’t committing to this. I-I… That whole ‘idol’ thing is your shtick! I’m trying to get ready for the fight!”

“Oooh, shut it, you train so much, you’re a whole juggernaut already!” I patted her shoulder, pointing at her arm muscles. They might seem delicate and dainty like mine, but both were thoroughly trained and hard if she tensed them.

My praises caused Neill to smile and be confident, posing while her yukata was falling off slightly. “Heh, well, that’s true and all. Once those grimgarians come, I’ll bash them up just in time for some experience, so we better keep our party brac—”

“Buuuuut, Tasianna is leaving for a bit, so I need a replacement! I need help, okay!”

“NO! Arghk, it’s- it’s… I-I can’t sing, alright!”

“Operation Save Elyonda” was underway now, despite how much I didn’t like the fact I had to stay behind for it. Tasianna, Shay, and Beth had already made their way through the night sky in the direction Mother predicted the Adhi and the Caedhulens should be after they had performed an extremely elaborate ritual for that weird Water Pantheon god…

‘Melicertha.’

Right! Thanks, Manager Mind.

God of Sailors, Fortune of the Sea, and Ports, Melicertha. Like most subordinate gods of Plesia, he was also an SSS rank monster in the past. A leviathan who demanded tribute in the form of food, magic casting, or a huge festival to grant a blessing in accordance with the effort given. This blessing would not only protect you from the terrors of the deep, but also ward off weather hazards.

It was literally a blessing from god as Earth’s religions would describe it. But, unlike on Earth, Mother assured me this was a real thing. Winds to accelerate ship speed, deterrent from merfiend attacks, or even mercy in case your ship was sunk. Like Bleidla, the dwarves’ blacksmithing god, Melicertha was one of the few gods who was extremely active concerning mortal affairs.

Teetering on the edge of the rules, Melicertha only brings his influence with these blessings. Every sailor or sea flyer had to give praise to Melicertha as a sign of respect, with the following tribute acting as a chance to receive a protective blessing. It wasn’t needed, but in case something bad happened, it was there to help you.

In a certain way, Melicertha was considered one of the “kinder” gods inside the Water Pantheon.

And Tasianna, Shay, and Beth offered their mana in his name. Gods received power from magic casting too, so they simply sprayed water around until they believed it was satisfactory. There was no obvious sign or a System message if he was happy about it, you just had to guess it. And once they were done, they flew out, aiming for Adhi’s and the Caedhul’s rescue.

In the meantime, Neill, Master, and the saurians rushed out of the city with the knights without alerting the city’s citizens. Thankfully, the festival was still ongoing despite it being night and, since the prince’s struggle to flee the city was confined to the noble district, none of the commoners knew about it. The mood was good, so now it was my job to keep it as such.

And for that, I needed help to turn this festival into a music event.

“Please, I need your help, Sis!” I pleaded to Neill for help.

With Tasianna gone, my duet with her had to be canceled, but I didn’t want to waste the training time. I also needed to fill up time, really, and I thought Rita and Neill could help me with that, so I immediately asked them once I returned to the island. I could have probably brought in other people to help, like the students or my retainers in the subspace, but they were either occupied or I didn’t want to risk them for the plan.

Rita wasn’t a fighter, but she was good at fleeing and had the ability to control plants. She could do something. Not to mention, Neill was probably stronger than me, so I didn’t have to worry about her. Mother… well, she wasn’t really idol material, sadly. Not ‘cause of her age, but her lazy attitude towards it, as she preferred enjoying me perform than doing it herself.

You know, like a parent who wanted to see their kid succeed to feel proud of them.

As such, I needed Neill! I needed her to become an idol! … Or at least, an entertainer.

“Hestia, I can mow down some green rats and overgrown musclebrains, but don’t expect me to do this with you! I… just can’t sing, alright? I sound horrendous!”

With Sis so against the idea, I really should back off, but I needed help in this matter. With puppy eyes, I looked at Neill and pleaded one more time. “Please?”

“… Those eyes won’t change my mind, Hestia. Don’t think acting like a hatchling would sway me… Urgh, here, just give it a listen. I’m terrible.” Neill finally gave in to give it a try!

Nice! Too easy.

I handed her Tasianna’s manatech tablet — returned to me for safekeeping while she was away — with some lyrics scribbled onto it. Neill reluctantly accepted it and read through them, grimacing and even shook her head once I pushed her to sing them. Playing the music necessary for her to get the beat, I waited in anticipation for her to begin.

“Urgh… Ooooogh, the moment our eyes met, ooggh, my heart couldn’t stop beating ♫

Badump, dump? What? dump, it’s like you used a skill on me ♫… ?

Ahh, but don’t you even think I’m so easily swayed ♫

Can you prove to me that you can set… my heart on fire? What? Uhm, pal ♫?”

… Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh.

“…”

“… Hestia, Rita, say something,” Neill demanded with a reddened face.

Rita didn’t say anything, at least about the singing; instead, she told Neill she only listened to the lyrics, not the words, as she wanted to write them down. Certainly a useful excuse, since that left me to be the only one to answer.

“Well, you know, are you…”

I instinctively stopped myself from saying “Are you even trying?” I was forcing her into this, so the least I should be doing was be sensitive with this stuff. No star was born out of nothing.

However, describing Neill’s singing without insulting her felt hard. I wasn’t too much of an elitist when it came to singing but… Well, maybe I was. Singing had become so much of a passion that I was a bit of a perfectionist with it.

If I had to describe Neill’s singing, then I would call it out of beat and very “speaking voice.” That was why I found it hard to grasp if she was trying her best to sing, or if this really was her voice right now. It felt hollow, without any emotions. It didn’t help that she was barely trying to keep up with the beat of the song, singing it without caring for the music. It felt jarring listening to her.

Considering we only had a day until the concert, this was impossible to fix. I needed another plan.

“… How fast can you speak?”

“Huh? Where did that come from?”

“Humor me, please.”

Neill scratched her head before shrugging. The change in topic seemed to have calmed her down, as her flustered demeanor disappeared. I took back the tablet before writing down the lyrics I wanted to test her with.

“I’ll tell you how the lyrics go, and how you should say them. No need to sing, just keep up with the beat, Sis. Though, I still need to be able to understand them. Here we go.” Holding my hand close to my mouth, I imitated a microphone with my mouth before inhaling…

… to beatbox.

“Bang dicca bang dicca bang dicca bang dicca bang dicca bang dicca bang. [Now! Slow but with emotions!]”

With a grimace, Neill began, “Stakin’ this place to me, the Rap God, Rap God

All me peeps back at the hood fiddlin’ with the jukebox, jukebox

Wanna hear me brin’ down the beat on these fools like pros on the xbox, xbox

So I’mma wipe them clean, so call the NEET God.”

“Chink! Chin chin chin chin, chink! Chin chin chin chin, Chink! [“Now, fast! Stay clear for me to listen!”]”

“But for me to rap like I’m gamin’, gotta zoom pass two gens

Boom ya back to the stone age, old fart

We kids gotta keep— Arck! Shit! Ow! I bit my tongue!”

And just like that, Neill the Rap God was defeated by a simple tongue twister.

“Arck, what the hell is this supposed to be, Hestia? This can’t seriously be a song!” Neill complained, flabbergasted at what I just had her “sing.”

“Mhmm, I’ve never heard something like this before in my life. Also, it had some weird words in them. What does ‘jukebox’ and ‘xbox’ mean?” Rita was equally confused by my choice of words, but it was to be expected.

“Yeah! If you want me to sing things, then don’t give me words only you can understand!” Neill seemed to have grasped that those words were from Earth. “Seriously, what am I doing here?”

I held my head on my chin, evaluating her process while nodding. “I guess I went a bit too wild with your first rap. Maybe it’s best if we go with a slower one, but with more meaningful lyrics.”

““Rap?”” Both of them tilted their heads.

“Yeah, it’s a type of music genre, I guess. Rapid lyrical recital with a rhythmic following of the beat,” I explained it as best as I could. “Honestly, I don’t like rapping at all. Always feels like rappers just speak fast with an abundance of slang and curses to make it ‘hip,’ without actually trying to convey a message or emotion. Although, if you do it correctly, rapping can bring out the meaning or lesson of a song better and faster, then traditional lyrics.”

Not to mention, I can’t write proper rap, at all. Too much classical music, I guess.

“Uuuuh, okay?” Neill raised an eyebrow at my mild rant. “So, this is singing, too? Well, I guess it was easier than before, although speaking those weird words you wrote down felt like torture.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that.” I accepted that feedback, as I did go overboard with the rap. “To tell you the truth, your singing voice needs a lot of work to make it suitable for a performance. However! Rapping is more lenient, but it’s more important to follow the beat and tune. That would be easier for you to train in the short time we have, and I can just write down a new song for you.”

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“You can make a song in less than a day?” Neill looked surprised.

“Well, bards and minstrels can produce melodies in a matter of moments if they have the inspiration,” Rita explained. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise, since your sister is a musician. Why, I think I still have some notes on some hymns and tales of heroics in my satchel. Let me look.”

“Stop! We don’t need it!” Neill stopped Rita from rummaging her belongings for some songs for some reason, looking like she didn’t want us to continue. “I don’t care, really. You get my point, urgh…”

Neill really was reluctant about joining in on the fun. Considering her personality, I thought she would be a bit more excited about getting a chance to be in the limelight. She did mention how she wanted to make her “existence known” to people and how it would bring “pride to her clan.” Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity since everybody who frequented the arena would know her face?

“Hey, if you’re worried about messing up the concert, don’t worry about it. There are countless ways to hide an artist’s voice like autotune, reverb, and so on. We can do something, no worries, Neill. If you’re looking for some cool factor, then rapping would be exactly what you need as it fits your tough and hard-shelled image! Rita and I can be cute, and you can lead the contrast.”

Using opposite kinds of artists for a song or performance could give the concert an amazing harmony. It was the same principle with a duet between a man and woman, as their respective low-pitched and high-pitched voices could elevate a song even beyond its potential! Sugar and salt, cute and cool, and singing and rapping.

“Hey, I am not a fan of cheating outside of life or death fights, okay? Besides, doing that wouldn’t make me prou—”

“Absolutely not, Your Majesty!” A man’s voice interrupted Neill’s statement, drawing our attention towards Jethro, Tehmrayn, and Mother walking towards me. I noticed Jethro having a complicated expression on him while Tehmrayn was arguing with a sighing Mother. “I do not care about the insults he spewed. My Quest is to protect the seal. As long as I am on this island, none will break it.”

“Ahhh, you have your tail too wrapped between your legs, boy.” Mother pouted. “Fine. Have it your way.”

“Haaaa, you are as fickle as a leviathan, Your Majesty…”

Curious as to what happened, I asked them what got them so heated, only to listen to Tehmrayn complain to me how Mother just tried to persuade him into allowing her to open the seal on Karhalantheel so she could kill him off. “Why would you even ask for that?!” I screamed at her, where Mother just shrugged and explained how the SS rank leviathan insulted my grandfather, Nordoramsul.

Mother seemed to have held it in right up until I asked her what that “music” she kept talking about. Not like it was my fault, but I really should be more careful with my words when I’m around a dragon, it seems. Just like Kramps, Mother could be quite selfish. Maybe that was just a trait of being a mighty predator.

Jeez, you’re gonna destroy Elyonda before the demonkins or the invasions come around…

In any case, Jethro was currently on the island to speak with Tehmrayn about the plans we came up with at the royal palace. Since Jethro was responsible for the city’s and island’s defenses, he had to make his rounds. While the city wasn’t fully secured yet, it was obvious the enemy would try to break open the seal of Karhalantheel, creating the perfect distraction.

“The seal is reinforced quite well, meaning no ordinary mage could even dare to break it. However, our enemy has been confirmed to have at least one demonkin in the city. I would rather overestimate them than underestimate them,” Jethro stated.

“Sound.” Tehmrayn agreed before excusing himself after his discussion with him was over.

Jethro nodded before looking over at the island’s port. “I shall wait on the ship for a while, if you must return to the city, Lady Hestia.”

With Jethro gone, Mother turned to us. “So, what have the three of you been doing? Oh, make that the four of you. Rajah?”

My white virigress jumped out of my shadow, shaking off some of the sand on his body once he landed. [“Ah, Master asked Sister to sing! Sister sang, but badly! So Maste—Mrrreow?!”]

“Oi, shut it, Rajah!” I pressed Rajah's mouth close, surprising him to stop his stream of thoughts from continuing, but it was too late, as I could see Neill shake her head in embarrassment. “No, wait, Neill! It wasn’t so bad, alright! You need practice, everybody needs it, okay! You can’t start out as a proper singer from nothing. You need to train your voice, be able to control it to produce different tunes, and also your internal beat.”

“Sweet of you to say, but the cat is right. I’m not really fit for the whole singing stuff, so just drop it already, ‘kay?” Neill ruffled her lion mane hair around, trying to shake off her irritation of hearing that feedback.

“Ooooh, wait, did I hear that correctly? So that howling was yours, Fargryneill!” Mother figuratively suckerpunched Neill with that description of her singing, all while wrapping her left arm and tail around her. “Now, doesn’t that seem pleasant! Sisters doing sister activities! I might not be your mother, young scale, but it still would be wonderful if the two of you could do things together!”

“Ark!” Neill groaned, trying but being unable to free herself from Mother’s headlock. “We don’t need to do all this concert and idol stuff Hestia’s so obsessed with together! If we want to build up rapport or family love, we could just beat each other up! That’s fun, too! Or, you know, Battle Frenzy training!”

“Hahahaha!” Mother let loose a wicked laugh, creeping Neill out and silencing her. “Nonsense! Don’t act like us elder scales, spending all our time slumbering in our caves, only to come out to eat or fight. You’re making excuses, dear! Go out! The invasion will come, but there is no need to be so anxious! Have fun at the festival with your sister, you’re plenty strong already.”

“Anxious?” Neill raised an eyebrow at Mother’s word before turning her eyes to me, confusing me. She didn’t even speak with me through telepathy, she just kept staring at me until her eyes widened. “… Sure.”

Wow, Mother is persuasive! I was surprised Mother apparently guessed what I wanted to do with Neill after she agreed to join the concert. I wanted to bring her to the festival for something. I haven't seen her profile yet, but I bet she had a future sight skill or something.

“There, see?” Mother quickly released my half-sister from her grasp before correcting her messed up hair on her behalf. “Now, I wish you two fun. Eat some nice food, have a good time; get yourself ready when the fighting begins. No need to start it in a bad mood.”

“Huh? Aren’t you coming?” I tilted my head.

“Sadly, noo—Ahhhhhh.” Mother let out a big yawn. “Mhmm, my lack of long naps is catching up to me. I’ll call it early today. I’ll see you for your performance tomorrow! So get some sleep and fascinate me, dear, hiehie.”

“Oooh, that’s too bad, Empress! Well, I guess the fou— Waaaah!” Rita was about to come over to us, only for Mother to grab her waist with her tail.

“Now, now, I saw you with those idol outfits. If you want to join, you better start learning~ I know Tasianna’s part, so let me help you before I go to sleep,” Mother stated something surprising to me.

“Wait, you know how to sing?! Why haven’t you told me that!” I felt a bit giddy from the prospect of it, imagining what Mother’s musical talents could be.

“Not as good as you, my whelpling, but good enough to teach others. I learned from the elven operas! ♫” Mother let out an opera-worthy singing voice, controlling and changing her pitch with every word.

Ooooooooooooh! My body twitched before it began to jump on the spot like a rabbit. My chest felt light but at the same time fuzzy, irrationally wanting Mother to continue singing.

“Hahaha, maybe next time, Hestia.” Mother smiled, knowing what I wanted, but that only caused me to pout. She ignored it and kept dragging Rita away from us before opening a subspace portal with her own [Room] runes.

Struggling to free herself, Rita looked in despair as she held her hand towards us, trying to ask us to save her. “N-No, wait, Empress! I wanted to stay with them! I wanted to ask Hestia abou—”

“If you stay still, I will tell you some tales from 2000 years ago~”

“YES! Educate me, please!”

And just like that, Rita and Mother disappeared into the subspace.

Somehow felt betrayed.

In any case, although I hadn’t been able to persuade Neill to come rap with me, there was plenty of time for me to do so once we got to the city. Along with Rajah, the three of us joined Jethro on his ship, returning us to the city.

While we were on the boat, Neill approached me with a rather out-of-nowhere question. “Got a question; you never mentioned having any siblings in your past life. Did you?”

“Huh?” It was certainly not something I had expected her to be curious about. Up until now, she hadn’t really asked much about my past life, seeming like a live-in-the-present person. “I was an only child.”

“Ever felt lonely?”

“Not really. I had my parents as well as my nanny with me at home. Pretty lively, since we would always play music at home, having our very own personal concerts,” I reminisced fondly of my time with Papa and Mama, where I would sing while they played the piano and violin respectively.

“Mhmm, I see… Okay.” And just like that, Neill walked away.

????? What was that?!

Dunno what was going on with Neill right now, maybe the blood got to her head after Mother’s headlock. It was clear I had to buy her a drink or two after what Mother did to her. She might have persuaded her for me, but the way Mother did it was too rude!

With that goal in mind, I led Neill to some stalls once we entered the city. Hopping from one place to the other while snacking on food and fruit drinks, the general mood between the city and port was quite similar to the morning time, honestly Always so festive. I kept my ears open, minding any rumors about any invasions or such. It was really hard, even with my superhuman hearing, as there were too many voices for me to clearly distinguish what the people were saying.

Still, from the vibrant laughters, the raucous drunks, and the merry singing, I could feel the majority of the people I walked past just now weren’t aware of any invasion news. It seemed everybody was able to discreetly leave the city.

[“Master! Master! More meat, please!”]

“Yeah, what he said, Sis! Ahaha, love this festival!”

“Hey, stop eating so much. I had to spend a ton today! Give me a break!”

Sis and Rajah were already enraptured by the crowds and smell of alcohol in the air once again, a staple every time we went to enjoy this festival. It’s been almost two weeks now, but I still wasn’t bored by all of this. It was fun, and it was even more fun when we did it as a family.

“Hey, hey, Sis! There is something new over there!” Sis pointed at a new stall on the street, or to be more specific, two stalls in one. On one side, one woman and three men were serving customers ringed pastries while the other side looked like a ring toss game.

“Wait, are those donuts?!” My eyes widened as I took a pique of what they were selling. Sadly, I was far shorter than Neill and the queue before the stall, so I had to use [Air Walk] to get a look. “Wait, aren’t they—?”

I grabbed Neill’s arm and picked up Rajah before slipping through the crowd with them, until we ended up in the back of the stall. Knocking on one of the stall’s wooden pillars, a young girl with green hair and lilac highlights turned around, dressed like a poor commoner despite her pristine skin and hair.

“Amelia?!” I blurted out, while she was surprised to see me here.

“Lady Hestia?!”

“Wh-What are you doing here?! No, wait, shouldn’t you be setting up stalls for tomorrow, I mean, why are you in this stall, selling donuts?!”

As planned, the Sarlenzia company would continue selling pastries or any other food during my concert, using this chance to not only promote themselves but also cash in as I was doing a no-ticket performance. I knew they would be preparing stalls and such throughout the city, but I didn’t expect them to start today and with Amelia manning it as one of the workers!

“Amelia, what are you doing! We need more— O-Oh!” Even more surprising, one of the other workers was a man in his 50s.

“Mr. Sarlenzia?!” The person was Amelia’s maternal grandfather, Newt Sarlenzia, president of Sarlenzia company.

Apparently, Amelia persuaded both her father and grandfather for her to come here today as a way to “test the waters” with their product and get a sense of the mood of the festival. I asked her why exactly she was working, instead of just watching, but she told me she wanted to know what it felt like to make the donuts.

The doughs were all prepared beforehand, as always, before they were placed in frying fat and then dipped into honey or fragassa glazing. Amelia wanted to learn how it felt, so she could hopefully improve its efficiency and safety. Currently the tools were all normal stuff you could use to make donuts at home, but Amelia wanted to “modernize” it with manatech.

“And my granddaughter thought it would be good to experience it properly. Get in the mood, like a proper merchant. Hahaha, I cannot believe how much she has changed. This must really be Lady Ellaine’s and your influence, Lady Hestia! As her grandfather, I cannot hope to thank you enough for being her friend!”

Saori had told me Newt was a pretty grumpy and merchant-like man, always thinking of the next profit and how it could benefit him. He wasn’t as cutthroat when discussing business with people, unlike his employees he personally trained, but he was still very meticulous. And this man was not only making donuts right now, but also laughing joyfully about her granddaughter’s growth.

“Grandfather used to man stalls like these before he established his company. I thought he would be helpful, without making it awkward like it would have been if I had brought a normal employee,” Amelia explained, waving her hand around, showing off the blisters on her arms.

“Hehe, that’s pretty admirable for a noble,” Neill complimented her, causing Amelia to bow with a nervous giggle. The both of them only met once, but they only introduced themselves when Amelia came over to meet Anasthasia. “Then, let me help you guys out. Six donuts! Half-half honey and fragassa glazing!”

“In a moment! Thank you for the business!”

It took a bit for our donuts to come, since there was a whole crowd in front of the stall craving the donuts. From how all of them smiled and ate their pastries with ravenous desire, I could tell the donuts would be a great sell once again.

In addition, Amelia also debuted a festival game with the ring toss stall next to the donut one. I didn’t even think of this idea. This was Amelia’s. Since she was selling donuts, she found it fitting to throw rings at pegs, similar to a magic training game in the academy, where the students trained their [Fluid Cast] by creating rings with their spells to throw onto spears.

Holy, her intuition as a merchant. Damn.

There was a reason why she was the daughter of Duke Greenveil, a duke other nobles call a merchant. With a grandfather like Newt, it was clear she would develop like this once she was free of the social stigma she had on herself ‘cause of her parentage. Half commoner or not, she was nobler than most aristocrats.

After we got our donuts, we left them after expressing our gratitude. I had informed Amelia and Newt about the impending attacks, telling them to be careful. The other three employees were all members of Duke Greenveil’s knight order, so they had good bodyguards. However, just in case, I would keep an ear out in their direction while I was going around. The moment they shouted, I would fly over.

“Hohoho, by Father’s horns! This shit is amazing! Wow! So greasy, but the sugar complements it so perfectly! Damn, I want more!”

[“Mhmm! Pastries best! Master’s recipe best!”] Rajah enjoyed his two donuts, although I really didn’t know if cats were allowed to eat donuts. Well, he was a monster jaguar, so it probably was okay.

Time to go there, I guess.

After we were done enjoying our donuts, I took out the tablet Master gave me during the training session. It had the names of different locations in the city along with the directions for them. Following them, my ears began to twitch while I was rocking my body up and down to the sound of lutes, flutes, and drums playing in the background.

And then, after just a bit more, singing could be heard.

“The wine of victory flows down the streets ♫

Coloring the ground scarlet red as the soldiers march on! ♫

The lungs of men cheering on, shouting their earnest growls of life ♫

Their bodies, broken and tired, but their minds drunk on the alcohol of war! ♫”

This was the bard guild’s district.

It was time to turn this festival into a musica—

“Heyeyhey! Fargryneill!”

“Huh? Yoooo, Ghorush!”

The leonid berserker Ghorush appeared out of nowhere.