“Mhmm, Hestia … Don’t worry, Mom is here for you, ehe.” She kissed my check, even wrapping her tail almost instinctively around mine. Almost as if the warmth of my body was agitating her to move. “Once we visit my lair, I’ll show you the icy vale of the wyverns. Beauty crystallized forever in ice. Mhmm. My jewel collection, ehehe …”
Mother … I felt my face warm up in a flush as she rubbed her head on mine, nearly stabbing me with her horns. Her mumbling as she kept sleeping was certainly a surprise to me, since I never heard her do this before.
“… Well, anyways, so—” But before I could speak, a young man’s voice interrupted me.
“Hestia-san, why exactly are we doing this inside your room? And why are you allowing yourself to be treated like a body pillow by your mother?” Tatsuya asked me, looking a bit embarrassed for me.
Even the usually nice guy Kyouya couldn’t help but nod. Now that he was out of that weird armor of his, I could finally see his face again. “… I agree. It seems really weird. We could have compared Unique Jobs in the living room.”
“Oh, come on. Leave me alone. It isn’t that weird,” I rebuked them, but the fourth person in this room had a different opinion.
“No, Sis, it is weird. You might be a whelpling in age, but you’re mentally a young woman, or teenager or whatever humanoids like to call it.” Neill sounded a little spooked at my sudden behavior, as if she wasn’t expecting me to suddenly want to lie in my bed and allow my mother to hug me while she slept. “Honestly, it didn’t seem like you and Melloxtressa were that extremely close. You had some banter here and there, but it was like you kept her a bit at arms length.”
I guess that was true …
“So, what’s with this?”
I looked at Neill’s complicated expression, although with her lion mane-like hair, it was a bit hard to see her brows so I couldn’t tell how shocked she was. Still, with the tone of her voice, I could slightly imagine how she saw the relationship between Mother and I. Honestly, I thought we were pretty close, but maybe from my older sister’s perspective, I did seem more worried about my own issues instead of Mother’s.
Then again, I was a Mama’s and Papa’s girl. I already knew that from the first moment I came to this world and my other soul half just reinforced it after I escaped from the Prince of Envy’s trap. As hard as it was to learn how I actually died back on Earth, it did show me how much I enjoyed spending time with all the people in my family. How I would gossip with Mama, watch anime with her, and how often Mama complained to me about my lack of fashion sense.
They’re back. I can remember most of my life on Earth once again … On the other hand, I’ve been treating my relationship with Mother as if she was another Saori. Another adult friend. Hmm.
At the end of the day, I only had one answer to Neill’s question. “Can’t a daughter just, you know, spend some time with her mother? Just hug it out? Not like a dragon can’t have a moment of weakness.”
“… Fair enough. Sorry.”
It was a bit awkward for me to be here, letting Mother just hug and kiss me while she was napping, but I thought, maybe, some skinship could help. The words “Mother and Daughter” was something Mother wanted so much. I was trying to get closer, but unlike her, I probably wasn’t trying enough.
As much as the Prince of Envy was a dick for creating those things to trap us in another dimension, I guess he did help me sympathize with Mother better. I could see her pain, fear, and happiness through her memories. Up until now, I only heard about her insecurities. After she shared her memories with me, I now knew about her loneliness, her wishes, and … her love. A Mother’s love.
I felt blind. I knew about all of that through Yorshka and Mother’s stories, but it never really clicked with me. I guess that past self of mine still felt like I only had one mom. But now… I had two. Hestia had one and H—I couldn’t remember the rest of my past name—had another. I had two Mamas.
Mom … Yeah, you liked it when I called you ‘Mom,’ right? I kissed her on her forehead. … Sorry for leaving you hanging for this long. I am your daughter. Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor is your daughter’s name, Mom … Although, what do dragon mothers and daughters do outside of training? And speaking about the lewd stuff? And grooming themselves. Hmm.
“Hestia …” While Neill had accepted the new reality of things, Tatsuya and Kyouya groaned as I continued. “Did that newspaper affect you that much?”
They finally asked the big question.
“Took you guys a bit to realize that,” I replied a bit snarky. “You guys read it. I’m public enemy number one in the Empire right now. What did I do to deserve it? Kill off the invasion force after I ordered them to leave after announcing myself. Bullshit. I didn’t even want to resolve it with their deaths, but, oh no, they kept on thinking they could win. Puuuh.”
I didn’t even read the rest of the newspaper, but from what I overheard Tatsuya and Kyouya read aloud, it was mostly events happening within the Empire, religious stuff, or news about the grimgarian invasion. Nothing important to me. What mattered was that I was the target of a smear campaign.
Two weeks had gone by since the siege, so it was possible for a merchant or tourist from the Empire to have visited and spread some rumors. This also included mercs and those who hired them to attack us, meaning the Prince of Envy was also a potential culprit. Considering what the vampire princess told me, the false pope wasn’t exactly my biggest fan right now. Propaganda as revenge wasn’t out of the question.
So, what if I felt sad and depressed about it? This was my image as an idol tarnished! Blemishes like these hurt, but the worst part was that I couldn’t respond back! This wasn’t social media, this was a newspaper. And apparently, this was supposedly something completely new in Peolynca, since none of the Peolyncians knew about it before now. From city criers to newspapers. Wow.
“Whatever.”
In the end, I decided to just forget it for now, giving Mom a hug before telling the others I wanted to check out my prestige rewards for my two other Jobs.
[Mage] prestige points: 3
* Benefit Slot increase
* Job Skill: [Magic Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Arcane Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Elemental Resistances: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Fire Element Lv. 1] [Holy Element Lv. 1]
* Growth Boosts: [Mana] [Intelligence] [Wisdom]
Oh, far simpler than [Idol]. I guess this is a beginner-level Job.
Arcane Skills: Proficiency: Increases the proficiency gain from arcane, magic casting, and mental skills. Reduces breakpoint requirement by 10% * skill level
Fire Element: Increases the proficiency gain of all fire based skills, while increasing general fire damage dealing and resistances by 1%. Decreases general water damage dealing and resistances by 1%. Effectiveness will increase by 1% each per level. Will exclude other “Element” skills, but under certain conditions and Job evolutions, this exclusion will be lifted
I could imagine what the rest would do, so I decided not to appraise every single one and just go to the next Job. However, before I could, Tatsuya chimed in. Similar to Renee, they got their Unique Jobs before me under another weird circumstance. I got mine just from a Divine Quest, but they each got it randomly for an unknown reason. All we knew was that in all three cases, they were either praying to or in the vicinity of a god.
“You don’t level the skills up by using them. Once you obtain the skills, you have to use prestige to level the skills up. So, don’t forget to plan things out. We managed to get prestige five on our Jobs,” he explained. “Oh, and make sure you take the ‘exclusive’ skill you want as your evolution. One of my first Jobs was [Footman] and it was my physical-based Job with choices like [Spearmanship], [Swordsmanship], and [Shieldmanship]. I took spear, of course, and it influenced the evolution of the Job.”
“You managed to evolve your Job?” I felt pretty happy that the boys rejoined the party. This was pretty important information.
“Only out of [Footman]. We both got another Job outside of it, but it didn’t evolve. Mine is [Protector] while his is [Shapeshifter].” Kyouya pointed at Tatsuya and how he could turn from a human to wolfkin to a huge garm similar to [Bestialize]. “[Footman] evolved at level five into [Shieldman] while Tatsuya got [Spearman].”
It did mean they couldn’t predict [Mage], though. So, the Element skill I choose would decide my Job’s evolution, but it did mention how it would allow me to gain more Elements later on. It made sense, since I bet the compound elements like lava and ice would have one later. That should be good for Tasianna.
So, [Tyrant Hatchling]. What do you have?
[Tyrant Hatchling] prestige points: 1
* Benefit Slot increase
* Job Skill: [Draconic Skill: Proficiency Lv. 1] [Spark Fire Dragon Lv. 1] [Tyrant of the Skies Lv. 1] [Tyrant’s Successor Lv. 1] [Job Crossover] (10 prestige points)
* Growth Boosts: [Health] [Mana] [Stamina]
Ten? Oh my.
Spark Fire Dragon: Increases the proficiency gain of [Spark Fire Dragon] mutation skills. Reduces breakpoint requirement by 10% * skill level. Enables a Job evolution specialized in [Spark Fire Dragon] skills
Tyrant of the Skies: The embodiment of Kargryxmor’s legacy, constructed by the God of Dragons in accordance to his earlier years. A skill specialized in the solo battle prowess of the Kargryxmor spawn, increasing [Battle Frenzy] stat boost by 2% regardless of the stage. Increases 2% of all stats if the owner fights a monster of a higher rank or of the same rank but of a higher or same level. These percentages increase by 2% per skill level. Will exclude [Tyrant’s Successor]
“Fuck! That is beyond overpowered!” Neill blurted out the moment I told her of the skill’s description. “So, at level ten, it literally gives [Battle Frenzy (Minor)] a 20% increase on top of the normal 10%? And if you are fighting somebody like Vifi’Yok, you get another 20%?”
“… And with my [Symphonie des Feuergottes] buffs, I get 50% depending on the movement and 100% during the finale.” A weird idea just came into mind as I said those things out loud. “… Does Kramps love us?”
“… I don’t know, Sis. Kramps is pretty rude and grumpy … I’m pretty sure he hates me since I’m a half—”
“Don’t call yourself that.” I stopped her before she could speak another word, startling Neill. I didn’t care if you were the king of the world of a god, nobody was allowed to call my sister a “half-breed.” Not even Neill herself.
“… A kirin-dragon.” Neill shrugged, stretching her mouth out in a rather comedic manner. I could relate to her self-confidence issues, so I wouldn’t let her continue demeaning herself. “Well, I don’t know if it is true until I can get a Unique Job, but … maybe it's a Hestia-exclusive? He doesn’t like our other siblings either.”
“… You’re saying I’m the only one of our family who he likes? I’m pretty sure he hates Mom, too.” I recalled the interactions I had with Kramps, which I would describe as a grumpy grandpa trying his best to help his granddaughter, but only knew how to do it in his antiquated way.
… Nothing, Kramps? Hey, come on! Goddess Aurena! Any of you! Speak with me, please! But none of them answered. Once again, the god wouldn’t speak to me.
“Yes, Sis. None of us like him, and he doesn’t like it. Now, there is a difference between liking and admiring! Our fifth sibling, Nongramos, wants to become the next ‘Tyrant of the Skies.’ Remember?”
I nodded, remembering how Sis had mentioned that. I then turned back to the last two skills.
Tyrant’s Successor: The embodiment of Kargryxmor’s legacy, constructed by the God of Dragons in accordance with his rule as emperor. A skill specialized in leading others and ruling the land as an imperial royalty of Kargryx. While leading retainers or soldiers fully loyal to you, you increase their stats, experience, and proficiency gain by 1%. Increase stat gained by 5% through monster or Unique Job evolutions. Increases percentage by 1% per skill level. While battling any non-royal dragonkins, decrease their stats by 15%. Will exclude [Tyrant of the Skies]
“… Hestia-san.”
“… Please.”
Tatsuya and Kyouya looked at me almost as if they were pleading. It made sense, considering this skill’s effect. It was entirely selfish, outside of the last, which you could technically call selfish since this also allowed those fighting with you to gain from it.
It didn’t include demonkins or humans, but it did count monsters like leviathans, drakes, ryuukoatls, and the many lesser dragonkins like wyverns and sea serpents. In a way, this skill would become so overpowered if we were to end up in a dragonkin-infested area with a ton of feral and mindless wyverns. 15% reduction in stats was not a joke. Although, it did mean I would lose the also overpowered [Tyrant of the Skies].
To be honest, I hated having all these choices! Even [Idol]’s [Giocoso Dreamer] and [Musical Renaissance Diva] were pretty bonkers if you think about it. However, I could only choose one of them! One! Damn! Which one should I choose? I honestly couldn’t decide on any of them. This was why it felt so painful. I felt bad having to give up something for something else.
“Don’t choose it.” However, as if she overheard my thoughts, Neill ordered me to not choose this skill.
“W-what!? But, Fargryneill!” Tatsuya complained, fitting since he was the most gamer-like amongst us. “By ‘retainers,’ it probably also includes people with [Hestia’s Retainer]. You should realize how powerful this would be, right?”
“Oh, yeah, of course, Tatsuya, but don’t think about dragging my sister in our succession war!” Sis shouted, intimidating Tatsuya as she revealed her fangs.
The boys got to meet everybody yesterday. Neill was already drunk at the moment, so it seemed she got a good impression of them since they liked drinking, too. However, when she got serious, she would get serious.
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“Are you talking about our eldest brother and sister?” I remembered Neill saying two of our half-siblings were currently in a succession dispute.
“Yes, and that is why you should not even think about getting this skill. I don’t care how good it is, it will only make you into a threat to those two.” Neill sounded like she was panicking a bit. “Kahalameet and Wendriosa love us as siblings, yes, but that is ‘cause we’re siblings. They see us as their cute little brothers and sisters who they can love and cherish after a day of hard and stressful work. I love big sis Wendriosa a lot! I was the only other girl in our family before you were born, so she spoiled me quite a bit … But, I know. Instinctively. If I dared to become a competitor, she won’t see me as family anymore, but as a rival to defeat.”
“… But it’s just a skill,” I argued. “I don’t have any ambition to become the next heir apparent. I just want to become an idol and continue my career, not be stuck in a country ruling over people. That’s not what I want to do in my life.”
“I get it, and I bet those two would believe you. They aren’t stupid. They don’t want any additional disputes within our family; however, that doesn’t mean the other dragonkins would think the same.”
Politically, there was a risk I could garner the interest of the holy and ice dragon clans to see me put on the throne, regardless if I wanted it or not. Neill told me that none of our siblings could use holy magic, so the more power hungry of the holy dragon clans would probably gather under my wings. In addition, while I wasn’t an ice dragon, my mom was the strongest ice dragon in the world.
“Melloxtressa was the de facto ‘Dragon Ruler of Ice,’ before she had to abdicate the title after becoming the Sixth Empress. Dragonkins usually only like their own kind, so we have a system in Kargryx to name the strongest dragonkin of an element a ‘Dragon Ruler,’” Neill explained. “It is there to support camaraderie amongst the elemental dragonkins and to keep the balance and peace. These rulers are, of course, under Father and the empresses.”
As such, it was guaranteed that they would support me. Similar to how Beth and Shay were supporting me without question after they became Mom’s retainers, the many dragons Mother ruled over before would seek me out to put me on the throne.
This was why I was a threat to Karhalameet and Wendriosa. They wouldn’t be able to get those dragons to support them like I could. That was a risk, since it could potentially ignite some friction amongst their supporters.
“… Politics,” I scowled at that word, prompting Sis to do the same.
In any case, I should choose this later. For now, let us see the last new skill.
“…” I blinked as I read the description. “Cool. Grinding up ten prestige points.”
That would solve one big problem about the Job System I had. Without this skill, it incentivised me not to assume my dragon form to grind, as it would just hinder the progression of my Jobs. While I wouldn’t be able to benefit from these OP skills while as a dragon, I could still level them up. I could rampage around as a dragon more often.
It’s clear. Let’s take the [Mage]’s ones.
[Mage] Prestige spent. [Magic Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1], Benefit Slot, [Fire Element Lv. 1] gained
Why [Fire Element] over [Holy Element]? Well, it was because I would benefit more from my fire damage. As the skill said, it increased “general fire damage” not fire spells. Meaning, this skill benefited all three of my flames, my fire spells like [Symphonie des Feuergottes], [Solar Beam], scale-dust, [Dragon Fire], and probably [Drakonian Sunlight Edge]. Solar power was also fire damage, right? Right? Even if it didn’t, that was still a long list.
As much as I liked my holy spells and attacks, the skill only mentioned damage and resistances, not healing. That didn’t benefit me. Meaning, I could rely on my [Idol] Job skills for that later on, or, hope I could take [Holy Element] another time. There was the fact that without [Holy Element], I probably couldn’t get a cleric Job since a holy mage was the general term of a holy priest.
And, that was it for my Job management. I was out of prestige points, and I wouldn’t be using any for [Tyrant Hatchling] until I got ten for [Job Crossover].
Now done, I kissed Mom on her cheeks once more and corrected her posture on my bed before leaving her alone to sleep again. Once my five-man group left the room, Beth bowed to us and went into the room to watch over Mom, while Shay followed along with us.
Once we left the living area of the subspace for the bistro—our little restaurant manned by Priscilla as the head chef until Tamae returned—I spoke with Svena who was currently cleaning up the tables. “Has Tasianna come back yet, Svena?”
“My apologies, Lady Hestia, she hasn’t. It probably would take a while to get to Shaturein and back.”
I had sent Tasianna to speak with one of the pillars, the leaders of Shaturein’s underground guilds, for information on the newspapers. Specifically, Jenghil, the brothel mistress. Since she had spies in the Empire after what we did for her in Estralia, we wanted to use them to track down the pesky person who committed such a sin as writing propaganda against little cute ol’ me!
Unfortunately, Tasianna wasn’t back yet. Sad, but she knew where we were if she came back late. For now, our party had to continue with what all of us had planned yesterday.
“Then, please, continue. Haati! Lorena!” I called out the other maids working inside the bistro. “I’ll rely on you guys, ok! Use up all the ingredients if you have to, I already sent an order to Amelia and the Sarlenzia company.”
“Yes, Lady Hestia!” Both pumped their hands up, fully energized as the bistro would officially reopen again after a long hiatus. After all, now that Elyonda could finally pay after Renee struck some deals with Uzerra and Vadisma, it was time to properly feed the starving populace. Poor Priscilla will be overworked, but at least she would have her parents to help her out today.
After we spoke with them, it was finally time to say goodbye to Elyonda and Yeos. Well, I say goodbye, but I could always visit them later on. After all—
“Hestia!” Renee greeted us the moment we left the subspace for Elyonda. “All good?”
“Yup, we got everything settled. It’s finally time to go for us, but don’t worry, I’m planning on seeing you get knighted!”
—there were still people in Elyonda I had to meet with.
“Lady Hestia!”
“Princess Hestia!”
“Our idol!”
Cheers and raucous shouts came from outside the window, blasting things up to the point it sounded like a celebration was happening. Renee chuckled for a moment and led me outside the room to the balcony where we met Rita equipped with a ton of documents and a mana pen.
“Hestia … are you really leaving us?” the dryad girl in her human disguise asked in a pleading manner, almost as if she wanted me to stay despite everything I had to do. “Only five days after all that happens doesn’t seem fair. And it's not like we had a chance to spend a lot of time together since we were all busy with the relief effort. Uuuuuh, and now I want to learn so much more about your world, Hestia!”
I had revealed everything to Renee yesterday, about my past self, about being a reincarnator, and how I was sent to this world for a Divine Quest to stop the demonkins from destroying Aurena’s church. Rita knew a bit of it, since she was really attentive with information gathering, but she, too, didn’t know the entire truth.
Now that she did, however, she wanted to keep me here to question me about Earth. I couldn’t, of course, which made Rita sadder since she decided to stay and help Renee out with Elyonda. To her, she found the complete rebuilding of a city quite interesting and wanted to document everything. She also believed that, with me as their ally, Elyonda’s future seemed bright, and that was something she couldn’t miss out on.
“Not like I will leave forever,” I told her. “Besides, our garden is in Anko-Nazta currently. We need to get there to show you it, so make sure you stick around, okay?”
“… Of course.” She pouted. “It would be a shame to lose the two friends I made. Traveling usually makes me forget about things, so maybe staying here, working as a farming advisor might help. I could probably help populate the local faefolks. Although, I might need to get [Faemancer] for that.”
With my talk with Rita over, we then went to the balcony, where Prince Markval, Princess Anasthasia, Duke Alberstien, and Sir Jethro were standing off to the side. They greeted me and the people behind me, before urging me forward to speak to the people below. I laid my hands on the worn stone railings, remembering the horrifying battle we all survived, from the invasion force to the zombie chaos caused by Karhalantheel’s revival.
The applauding and whistling crowd below me had experienced everything the enemy had thrown at us. Many weren’t here anymore and many came out of this war with trauma from losing their loved ones or suffering their physical injuries. I did question if it was smart to let Vifi’Yok go, since she was responsible for all of this … but it was too late to second guess myself about it.
At that moment, I personally thought it was the correct move. My sympathetic side had appeared, making me feel like a hypocrite in hindsight, since I have killed bandits and black mercs in droves for harming others. In fact, the grimgarians counted too as soldiers. I had experienced two wars, now, no, three if you counted Griffonpeak. The demonkins were my enemies … but at the same time, they weren’t.
What would the world be, if Vifi’Yok and Hee’Rlak had met us as allies? What if, instead of cursing each other, the humans and demonkins hadn’t gone all genocidal with each other? Why was an idol like me participating in these wars?
Regardless, if I stopped the Prince of Sins and helped Aurora recover her religion, this war probably wouldn’t stop unless the demonkin and humans could find something in common. They both wanted the other race to go extinct. If this hatred continued and grew with more deaths, nothing would change.
Next time, I will stop the battles from happening at all! Instead of making the soldiers and people pay, make the damn leaders answer for their actions!
“People of Elyonda!” I began, however, before I could continue, the crowd below bellowed out what they wanted to say.
“We don’t believe them, Lady Hestia!”
“Lies! Damn lies from the Empire!”
“They abandoned us and left us to die! You saved us! You didn’t do anything wrong!”
I gripped the railing, feeling the supportive words channel right into my heart. The pain I felt from reading that newspaper title was slowly fading away, replaced by the heartful cries of the people I tried to help smile. To an entertainer, the gratitude of their fans was one of the greatest rewards.
“We won’t let the Empire fool us! No, fuck them!”
“They lie to all of us! Lie to the world about what you did today! We know the truth!”
“Lady Hestia, even if the Lycrepth sends people over, we won’t talk, you have our support!”
“No!” I stopped them before things got out of hand. “Everybody, I know what you are feeling today. I can feel it, too. I read the newspaper which arrived today, but please let me tell you that letting your anger out won’t help you!”
I hadn’t expected so much support, but I expected some of the angrier people would say things like this.
“I had seen enough conflict. Elyonda and Yeos have seen enough conflict. Many of you cannot return home as your houses and lives were uprooted by the grimgarian invasion. Not to mention, the city Elyonda was destroyed by the combined forces of the leviathan and those invaders.” This wasn’t a time for anger, it was a time to unite. “What good does it bring you if you antagonize the Empire?”
Chattering and gossip. It seemed people didn’t expect me to respond like this so they instantly spoke to each other if they heard me correctly. I needed to quell any dissent before I left. This was my last task in Elyonda.
“I will not say I support them, for they have clearly put a bounty on my head. I am an idol! I am a blessed of the Goddess. It feels unfair … but right now, you need to think ahead, people of Yeos. Think of your lives, think of your future, think of your children’s futures. Think about your country!” My words spurred the people into even louder chattering, but this time, it seemed like people weren’t cursing the Empire anymore, at least, not to the point they wanted to force the prince to do something stupid. “This city will be rebuilt, for you have the return of your Champion! Rhea Renee Sealight! Champion of Yeostar!”
“T-that’s right! Dame Rhea!”
“Champion of Yeostar! Our hero!”
Renee stepped forward, a bit of a reverse from our speech in the arena. While she took the front there, I was taking care of everything now.
“As such, people of Yeos, I ask you to think about yourselves right now. Rebuild your homes and shelters, rebuild the lives you lost, rebuild all your passion back from the ashes! Listen to my voice and words! You may keep your anger and rage at what happened, but don’t let it control you! Right now, your country and countrymen need all of you!” I looked over at the royal family and also the nobles watching us from the courtyard of the castle. With a resolute nod, I finished my speech. “People of Yeos, commoners and nobles alike, this is time for you to rebuild your home. Rebuild Yeos from the ground up to become the bastion of Knighthood in Yeostar’s honor! Hear this, for a blessed believes in you! May the Goddess bless all of you in her bountiful light! Purple Flash! Prayer!”
[Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]
“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”
The shouts exploded like bombs, filling up the air with the pure energy of the audience. With the white magic circle pouring incandescent light onto all of us, empowering our bodies with its mana, hope and faith alleviated the negative feelings most of the crowd were feeling. While some weren’t so optimistic, I had to hope Renee would be able to help them.
I really should have sang for them one last time.
I really wanted to perform one more concert before I left, but I didn’t have enough time. As I mentioned before, I had to leave for Ankor-Nazta. Why? Well, we still haven’t heard anything from Ellaine, Grimnir, and the students for a long while, since before the siege.
Tatsuya and Kyouya had just told me everything that happened with Saori, so I was confident she was okay. I didn’t want to sound like I didn’t trust Ellaine or Grimnir, but Svena told me Grimnir had just made a new armor for Ellaine that they planned on presenting to the blacksmith challenge Grimnir made to his old clan. It should have ended already, so why weren’t they around?
Something must have happened.
That was why we had to leave now. I wanted to know what was going on.
After departing from the balcony and thanking Prince Markval and his family for everything, Renee escorted us back to the subspace runes. There, we met with the saurians and the Nordor family.
“Don’t worry, young scale, we’ll tell Kush everything. Just come back, alright? Kush will want to continue his training with you.” Krim patted my back, laughing as if he was inside a tavern. The red saurian was always a moodmaker.
“We will stay around. Keep things safe for a while,” Grazlahta informed me of their plans. “Chahayat wishes to help the Caedhulens establish a tribe here, so we agreed to stay around and help. Most likely, after that Adhi returns from his trip to the Empire with Kush, he’ll probably head back home and tell everyone what happened. With the news of what happened, I think some of the Caedhulens will get curious about you. Expect to meet some, if you come back in about a month.”
“Haha, we will most likely be gone for two months. The summit begins then, after all,” I corrected him, before nodding to the giant Akast. I then turned to Yorshka, Farron, and Priscilla. “Are you sure, Yorshka?”
“Yup. It’s time for my family to take some days off for us again. Priscilla also wants to help the people out here with her food, so a mother can’t just leave her alone. Say hello to the boys and girls for me, and bring them back safely so I can say hello, too!”
“Thanks, Mother!” Priscilla beamed a smile. “Hestia, I’ll still keep up cooking things, alright? Just, please, make sure Tamae comes back safely! I haven’t spoken with her in a long while.”
“Of course, Priscilla. I will, I promise. Pinky swear and all of it!” Priscilla and I locked out pinky fingers together, making this promise a must to fulfill. I then turned to Farron. “You sure you want to stay around? What about your guild?”
Farron waved his hand dismissively to my question. “Gael will handle it. He might be my second in name only, but he should work as one to keep it official. Besides, I need to get stronger. With the mana still around, there are plenty of monsters I can hunt here. You kiddo, though, should make sure to remember you have to take the rank A test, alright? Meet up with Muraina.”
“I will. Thank you.”
With every goodbye said, I then opened the subspace, causing the air to distort as a door began to appear. Our group then took a step … before I turned around, watching the one person standing still.
I frowned. “Are you sure?”
“Yes.” It was Neill. “I do want to come with you. Feels like I should keep on watching you, but … I think I need some time for myself. Look for who I am.”
“… That’s too bad.” It seemed like I would have to part with my older sister for the moment, despite all that we experienced together. I felt … a bit lonely.
“Don’t worry, I’m just gonna help Renee out a bit. I still think traveling with you would help me more, now that Renee is going to be staying in this place. Although, I think when you finally decide to go to the Empire, we should drag her along with us. I still want to have her join me in a dungeon dive there too, you know!”
I smiled at Neill’s continued positivity. It was a goodbye now, but it won’t be forever. We would meet again.
“Also … I think I have my answer to break through Envy.”
“You do?” My eyes widened. If she got past the Envy stage of [Battle Frenzy], she would reach the last gate—Pride.
“Yeah, after watching you, Renee, and Rita all find things you wanted to do, I think I have an idea of what I am missing. Makes me jealous, but it helped me understand how all this drive to be stronger and better was just a way for me to cope with everything.” Neill looked out of the window, smiling as if she was longing for something. “So, that is why I want to see for myself who I really want to become. For that, I think I need a rest from traveling and fighting. I need … to stay still for a moment. Stop wandering about. As you said, sometimes a bit of peace is better than conflict.”
“… My speech or what happened with the demonkins? Which inspired you to think like that?”
“Both, I guess?” Neill shrugged. “I don’t agree with you letting those two go, but I respect it. A normal dragon would have killed them, but you are a merciful person. Naive, but good. That’s what makes me proud of you as a sister, Hestia. So, whatever you’re planning on doing in Ankor-Nazta. Make sure to—”
She twirled her body around and posed!
“Krasasa!” She shouted that cute cry with a wide face. “Keep shining!”
I did the same thing, remembering the time I told Neill the story of when I first posed like that in Belzac Forest. “Krasasa! Will do, Sis! Just watch me beam like a star!”
‘Arrrrrrrrghh! Cringe!’ Meanwhile, Manager Mind was dying inside along with my other parallel minds. They really didn’t understand anything.
And so, our last day in Elyonda was over. We left the subspace runes in Renee’s care so we could keep the fast travel point open, before my group of Tatsuya, Kyouya, and Shay went over to the nexus. Rajah was still in his cocoon, so it meant this was the team I was taking into whatever lay behind the door leading to Ankor-Nazta.
For the first time, I was in a group predominantly made up of guys.
“Ok, boys! Let’s do this!” I pumped my hand up, making it seem like we were going on a school trip.
“Oh!” The boys cheered, knowing the feeling.
[“Please, be careful, my lady. I will protect you in Tasianna’s stead!”] On the other hand, Shay still had a stick up his ass.
I grabbed the door knob, noticing the portal was closed, meaning the subspace on the other side had to be forcefully opened. I injected some mana into my grip and then ordered the rift to open up. With our way secured, we could—
“Aeeeeek!”
“Haruka-chan!” Kyouya was the first to react to that scream, somehow instantly realizing the shriek belonged to one of the students—Haruka.
“Wait, Kyouya, she might be changing—And he’s gone.” I lift my hands in the air, thinking he might have acted a bit rash. If Haruka screamed ‘cause she was surprised the portal opened up and was changing, then what would he do, huh? That was a comedic anime moment made into real life!
Jeez.
“Come on! Help!”
However, the moment Kyouya cried out, the rest of us instantly knew this wasn’t one of those moments. Something actually was happening on the other side. We charged through the portal, reappearing in what seemed like a dark alleyway. The ground was wet and stank like old grease mixed with rain water.
The three of us darted our heads around, finding that Kyouya had put on his shadow armor again. He was standing in front of the small, feeble-looking Haruka, but unlike her usual human form, she now had the tail and ears of a fox. Instead of her usual colored hair, she now had it colored brown with streaks of white, fitting her fox aesthetics.
However, what also caught my attention was the fact she was wearing rags instead of the clothes Saori made for her. They were frayed and in tatters, while the girl herself looked like she hadn’t eaten in days. She was cowering behind Kyouya like a little mouse, weeping and asking for help in a small voice.
“Damn ‘e!” A deep man’s voice resounded from the side, causing the rest of us to snap our heads around. “‘Ittle bitch got help? Seriously, the clan lead ain’t gonna be ‘appy to hear that toy of theirs got worked again. Those runes will get worn down, so we oughta do this quicker next time, lads!”
The speaker turned out to be a dwarven man, but not just any dwarven man—he was a taz dwarf, just like Grimnir. Slightly shorter but bulkier than their racial cousins—the inko dwarves. In addition, like all taz, he had two large ram horns, slightly tanned skin, and could spit out flames like a dragon.
“‘Kay, lads, probably some helpers. Knock them down and put them into cages. We needta get that ol’ Grimnir to stop his sheit.”
Did he just say Grimnir?
“Oi, dragonewts! Lads! Put your hands up if you ain’t wanna—Grack!”
“Boss!” The minions behind the taz dwarf screamed as I dashed forward, grabbing his head, only barely able to control myself to not crush it.
“Speak or die.”