“There are multiple reasons for why we don’t wear armor.”

Before me stood four dragonkins: one kirin-dragon, one drake, and two wyverns. Well, if we counted scalekins in the mix, there were also four saurians nearby, all currently speaking to Grimnir about armor and weapons. As much as I didn’t want to take money from the latter four, since I owed them a lot, our party didn’t have the option to actually reject money right now.

The first to continue was the kirin—my sis. “Here’s the thing, why do we dragons need conventional armor when our body is one huge piece of equipment? Humanoids of all kinds would kill to turn our scales and materials into weapons and armor. Dragonewts themselves love using their own scales as armor, as it’s a matter of pride.”

“The matter of pride is really important to true dragonkins, as Princess Fargryneill said,” The drake, Cernust, confirmed her assertion, using his own experience to support it. He pulled up his fingers to count his examples. “What exactly do we have? Let’s see … [Draconic Barrier], scale manipulation, and, well, continuous scale fortification through states, molting, and so on. Appearances matter, but so does confidence. A dragon that doesn’t have confidence in their own scales is less attractive to potential mates.”

Sounds like what Mom would say … I couldn’t help but shake my head. If Mom was here, that would be exactly what she would say, which made sense for Cernust to say the same thing, since his mother probably lectured him on the topic.

[“However, it isn’t done because we are idiots or ignorant, Princess Hestia,”] this time, Shay spoke up. [“There is something like ‘natural’ armor we dragonkins use. Fire wyverns clock themselves in lava or their own fire. We snow wyverns flash freeze moisture into icicle armor, similar to Her Majesty. I presume true dragonkins accept them, as well.”]

Beth nodded her wyvern head, making me imagine her energy despite her less expressive face. [“It’s all about the origin of the armor! It’s about showing-off your abilities! Besides, most humanoid armor won’t fit our bodies, right? Not to mention, what if we [Elvenize]? Armor isn’t transformation-friendly like mana clothes.”]

Good reasons, they were all good reasons. If I had to add to them, I also had [Panzer] acting like my de facto “armor.” That was the reason for why I invented the spell in the first place, after all, since normal armor just wasn’t feasible. What if I wanted to transform during a fight? Either my humanoid armor would break, or huge chunks of armor would fall off my dragon body. In either case, it would be sooo annoying to manage.

Dragons should mostly fight as dragons. That was where most of our stats were, but that also exacerbated the issue. Considering how huge I was in my real form, how much effort and materials had to be invested to create an armor to fit me? What about even larger beings like Mom? The time sink would be tremendous, not to mention the armor had to be stronger than her own scales to be worth putting on, as extra weight would slow her down.

Sis and Cernust mentioned there weren’t even any dragon or leviathan smiths, as they just weren’t needed. Every single dragonkin with [Scale Manipulation] effectively became their own smith, since their scales could act as barriers, extra layered armor, and even weapons. Both my Sis and Cernust were prime examples of dragonkin martial artists—both could create scale gauntlets and greaves to fight with.

In fact, their entire outfits were mostly made from their scales. Sis usually wore her scaled kimono with the huge cleavage, although she did mix things up since she was a fashionista. Cernust, since he didn’t want to attract any attention at all, had his scales cover normal leather armor, making him look like a normal adventurer. It was as they said, every dragonkin was their own smith with [Scale Manipulation].

It was just common sense … until Grimnir.

“Hmm, I see,” Master inspected Ellaine inside her new armor with focus, all while Rita was writing down her thoughts in her notebook. “Rita, write down the composition of the materials. We should note how the metal is able to soften and harden upon mana injection.”

“Already did, but what I am curious about is how much is needed? Can you maintain it for long? Is it really that hard?” Rita then knocked on Ellaine’s arm, testing what sound it made.

Those two Istari followers …

“Master …” Ellaine behind her armor grumbled, probably embarrassed and annoyed.

“Bear with it, lass. We had combat tests, but it’s better for the scholars to take a better look on the H.E.S—”

My body jerked forward as I heard him say that last bit, unintentionally shouting, “Oi, I told you guys not to say that name! Arrrrgh! Daichi-kun, this is all your fault!”

Once again, fire mages were ruining my life. The fact Daichi was the one who coined the name on Ellaine’s new armor was just infuriating. Just remembering it made me want to punch him.

In any case, since we successfully retrieved both Broggart’s and Grimnir’s old equipment and upgraded our workshop with all those new tools and machines, it was time for Grimnir to do what he did best—smith. His plan to create a full suit of power armor was still underway, even if his current set of armor was almost close to it.

When we reunited, I only took a quick glance over the new armor before my eyes were enraptured by the big dragon head symbol on his chest—his mark of loyalty, as it was based on Kramps’s religious symbol and doubled as the Kargryxmor clan’s family emblem. Looking at it now, the whole set consisted of three layers.

First, eoriant plates about as thick as my hand encased everything, protecting all his vitals and limbs. Second, heavy scalemail made from my old scales sealed up any needed gaps to maintain mobility, while also providing him both holy and fire resistances. Lastly, padded leather armor—probably gambeson—kept it comfortable to wear, while also acting as a last line of defense. I heard he also slipped the last pieces of chitin from that rank A geisenlarg king into it.

He wasn’t wearing it right now, so the blue glowing mana seams weren’t lit, nor were the many runic letters on it. He only used simple blood, since all armor pieces only had three runes on each. However, what intrigued me the most were the mana batteries attached on his gauntlets, giving it a very futuristic vibe to it. Without those two mana batteries, Grimnir probably wouldn’t be able to even run with all that armor on.

Essentially, with this armor on, Grimnir would transform into one of those dwarven Earthshakers I saw, the ones with armor so fat and heavy, their every step would shake the ground. Grimnir’s was the same, but I bet his was faaar better. I was certainly not biased. After all, his was power armor! … Well, almost.

In any case, the point was that our crafting game was better than ever before. The entire workshop was now like an industrial building with a giant smelter, large machinery to speed up work, and also a large storage for every single material and ore we had. After Daichi and Grimnir finished setting everything up, most of the large machinery could be used by just about any kind of pushover with barely any muscle strength. Handles, levers, and so many more were around. With the smell of coal and the fiery warmth of the forge, Aurora successfully had a place for even the most demanding equipment.

Of course, we shouldn’t forget Ellaine’s little artificer workshop. Due to the noise of the forge, her workshop had to be moved and was now attached to the front shop, meaning she had a place just for herself. Haruka had also been hanging out with her as the two of them attempted to understand the video recorder better. The plan was to recreate and improve upon the Revolution Queen’s works, so we could potentially make travel recordings, music videos, and, if possible, streaming. That last part was really just a pipe dream, since we probably needed the System to help us there.

The Divine System, if you thought about it, was kind of like Peolynca’s version of the internet. Well, it wasn’t completely comparable, but there were similarities. For example, you could send information through one party bracelet to another with mana using the System. That was why streaming could be possible.

Naturally, we had to be realistic, but that was why I was planning on asking the Ankoran King for a little favor if reverse engineering the recorder wasn’t possible. I mean, come on, inspecting an old, hidden workshop of a goddess protected by a dragon inside a dungeon just sounded like an adventure. Far better than the crap I’ve been encountering lately. I could use a less morally stressful trip.

“Lass!” Finally, after a long wait, Grimnir called me over. More like, it was the sign for everybody to come over to witness the birth of the new alloy we would be using for my armor.

“Come on, everybody, me first!” Pushing herself through the growing crowd, Kohaku dashed right in the front, holding the recorder in her hand and training it on Grimnir and a small metal box with blue seams. “Okay, okay, Grimnir, want to tell us anything before you start?”

“… Why are you recording me?” Grimnir frowned, clearly annoyed at her.

However, the perky city girl didn’t let that discourage her. Instead of retorting harshly, she kept up a smile like an experienced content creator. “Shouldn’t it be obvious? I’m filming everything for anybody who missed this! For example, Sensei isn't here, but she probably would love to see all of this. Come on, she’s not around, but she can come and go whenever she has the time during her training with Asaka-san. However, just like last time, we miss her! We have to show them this!”

“True! This is also your cousin’s gift, so we have to use it more!” Kazumi, who followed right behind her best friend, supported the argument. “Don’t you want to know its limits and so on? How much can it store! How long can the videos be?”

“Bladdarg, alright, I get it, lasses! Mhrm, can’t believe this …” Grimnir, as usual, grumbled with everything getting a bit too noisy for him. Well, if he didn’t want so many people inside his place, he probably shouldn’t have asked me to make it larger now, right?

Regardless of his temper, he still allowed over 20 people to crowd around him. As he sighed at how full his workspace was, he shook his head before turning his attention to a small metal box. Once he opened it, cold air escaped from it before he grabbed a black metal bar from inside it with some tongs.

Mana Eyes.

Rythilic Bar: An ingot made from rythilic alloy, created using rheolic plant sap as the main binding agent between arcanuit and fairnite to maintain the function and stability of the two different minerals. Due to the addition of the rheolic sap, the alloy allows for incredible flexibility when it absorbs mana, but turns rigid and solid if it is manaless. The fairnite prevents large amounts from escaping, but it will break under its own weight when left manaless for a prolonged time

Arcanuit was the ore used to create mana batteries, characterized by being the best mana absorbing ore you could find on the market. However, while it was incredible for this job, it was extremely fragile and, if left empty of mana for too long, it would just shatter. Farinuit, on the other hand, prevented mana leakages and was the closest this world had to marble in appearance.

I didn’t know too much about this rheolic plant or its sap, but I also didn’t need to appraise the word. I could just hear it from the mouth of the person who made it themselves.

“This is the alloy my cousin had been secretly making according to something he read from Goddess Chihiro. ‘Plastic,’ or something. No instructions at all on how to make it, so he decided on making something similar.”

“Ah, you need oil for that, but the process is a bit too hard to explain for us to help you recreate it in this world,” Nishio answered, looking a bit perturbed. “So, is this plastic? It’s a far cry from what it looks like on earth, but I guess it's as black as fossil oil.”

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“More like a metal version of it,” Tatsuya chimed in, instead of explaining things a bit for the Peolyncians amongst us. “Can you really bend it?”

“Pretty much,” I turned my head around to Ellaine, who was still inside her armor. Her voice was slightly muffled, sounding deeper than usual. “ As you can see, the armor is fully flexible, acting almost like clothing. However, it’s hard enough to resist attacks.”

Ellaine pulled out her sword and began slashing at her arm, resulting in some shallow cuts. She then cast [Wind Slash] on herself, showing off the armor’s respectable mana resistance.

Honestly, if she wasn’t part of the masochistic Aurora, attacking herself like that would make her seem weird. Thankfully, we at Aurora appreciated party members who cut, burn, and hit oneselves for the sake of growth.

Once her demonstration was complete, she ignored Master and Rita who were howling in excitement and continued her explanation. “Thanks to the addition of fairnite to the alloy, it is extremely resistant against magical attacks and the like, while the eoriant structure it was built around gave it some physical resistances. The form you see in its dormant state is the frame.”

“However!” Daichi pulled our attention to him. “And this is a big however here. It might be really good for everything, but the armor is seriously weak against anything that can sap mana from it ‘cause of all the fairnite. It will protect people from sucking the mana out of your body, but without any mana, the armor turns useless.”

Rita clapped when she heard that. “No problem! If it protects you from people absorbing your mana, then it should be extremely valuable for us faefolk. Tasianna would love it.”

Tasianna was currently taking care of the garden since Cernust and Rita wanted to come in. As such, the video Kohaku was filming would come in handy for her later on.

Ellaine nodded to that statement, before transforming her armor. As the mana stopped surging around its body, it solidified and turned back to its usual knight form. “Also, the H.E.S.—”

“Please!” I cried out.

“… The armor. The armor was made with my abilities in consideration. Yours can be tuned for your needs. The runes are also important.”

“If it’s that good, then it probably will become a good seller,” Sis stated, to which the majority of us agreed, only for us to raise a brow when Grimnir shook his head.

“Yes, but there is a problem with its production.” Grimnir then took out a black-green liquid from his pouch, swirling the little bit of fluids in its glass. “It needs, as mentioned, rheolic sap.”

“… Ahhh, I see, so it’s that, huh? Where exactly do we get it?” Krim asked, already looking worried.

“Carmaniate. Deep in its cold snowscape.”

“Troublesome.” Grazlahta massaged his temples, prompting most of us to ask him why exactly. Instead of answering it, he told us we had an expert in plants and seeds right here, prompting us to turn to Cernust.

Knowing the majority of us were Earthlings—a fact I had told him recently, lifting the confusion he had when he learned how young I was during our first meeting—he cleared his voice and told us he would give us a long description.

“Right, yes, here’s the thing. Carmaniate is the beastmen alliance territory, as all of you know. Folschreck Empire hates them, so trading is rare. Now, the dwarves do trade with Carmaniate here and there, since they have a train going deep into their territory. However, the issue is that the rheolic is a snow plant which, first, doesn’t like warmth. Second, it only grows around the dung of a local monster. And thirdly, the plant only spreads through the seeds the monster ingests. It’s rare.”

“And a local favorite alchemic ingredient for the tribes there,” Grimnir added. “It’s used for drugs—hallucinogens.”

“… Meaning the supply we can get will be scarce unless we go there ourselves,” Haruka concluded from all of that. “And let me guess, even if we go there to get the beast, it has some conditions, too, right?”

Cernust nodded. However, that was just the first problem, leading Rita to point at the next issue in her notebook.

“To turn the sap into something usable, we need to use alchemy. Don’t worry, though, Cernust, Tasianna, and I have already settled on a recipe from the samples Grimnir has. Tasianna can make it anytime you need it!” Rita gave us the good news with a wide smile, only to shrug when it was time for the bad. “The thing is, we also need some rather valuable ingredients for the concoction. Nothing too rare, but they need to be above-average in quality. Depending on how much you need, it could get costly.”

Sis’s and my face contorted when we heard that, agonizing as we shared that terrible memory of the mage’s guild taking over 90% of my wealth for that stupid [Crystal of the Divine System]. Considering how huge I was and how much larger I would grow in the future, I couldn’t even start to fathom the price of it.

“So, let me get this straight.” Tatsuya began to count with his fingers. “First, we need lots of money. Second, we need to get into beastmen territory to find some plant or a monster to tame. Third … Well, Grimnir is making it, so I don’t think that should count that as a problem.”

Grimnir shook his head. “It isn’t. The alloy was created by an artificer, so instead of something complicated, it’s quite easy. The only hard part, if I was a normal smith, would be to find a way to flash freeze the alloy the moment it is finished. If you don’t cool it down immediately, the alloy will harden too much.”

[“You have us for that,”] Beth interjected. [“Or, well, that small box, but we can do it faster! And more efficiently! How many can you fit in that thing? Well, we can even freeze a mountain for Her Highness!”]

Beth then turned to me, eyes sparkling as if she found something she could help me with. I rubbed my hand on her shoulder and smiled, telling her she would be great for the future.

“But, that isn’t the problem here.” However, this moment didn’t last as Tamae spoke up, worry crystal clear on her face. “We learned the Folschreck Empire is hostile with the beastmen alliance, and from what we heard, the beastmen there dislike and distrust humans a lot. Slavery is par for the course in the Empire and the Alliance, with each taking prisoners of war as slaves, and anyone left would just be executed.”

“Right … that would mean we can’t enter.” Kyouya let out a sigh. “Not to mention, it’s deep in some snowscape? I guess the far north?”

“That means we cannot go, either,” Master replied. “I apologize, my apprentice, but while I would gladly help you out, as it would benefit my party, we saurians deal with the cold very badly. We can endure it if it was just a winter breeze and if we had a fire, but a blizzard? It would be life threatening for us to even remain there.”

“If you can’t do it, then you don’t need to apologize, Master. I won’t risk your life for something like this.” I then looked over to Neill, but she only shook her head.

“I’d been in Carmaniate once for a trip. Only on the border of Folschreck, though, but I got to listen to a free beastmen mercs there. Their people are divided into many tribes, each governed by a ‘grand tribe’ like a city. Some tribes are more like a dictatorship with a single ruler governing everything. Everything is a meritocracy, and the leaders of the alliance are the tribe leads of these grand tribes.”

My encounter with the lizardmen in the Belzac swamp had been a while back, but I did remember them mentioning something about a grand tribe market or something. It wasn’t super important, so I didn’t pay much attention to it.

She continued, “Dragonewts and levianewts are seen as great opponents for the warrior creed-loving fighters there. While I like a scuffle, I don’t want to get challenged everywhere I go. Sis, just imagine Ghorush, but worse. In fact, now that I think about it, considering how tame he was compared to a normal leonid warrior, I should have probably figured something was wrong! Dammit!”

Don’t blame yourself for that. I patted her back but didn’t say anything. Sis seemed to be blaming herself for not deducing Ghorush’s true intentions sooner. I mean, to me, he seemed quite boisterous and rowdy, fitting his image of a berserker. However, was a leonid supposed to be even more irrational?

“As such, I won’t go there alone. Even if I make a straight path up north, how am I supposed to find that plant? At least, Cernust or Rita needs to come with me. Also, other strong fighters so we can dissuade the lone or duo belligerent drunk warriors. The portal can help out a bit, but I am still going into unknown territory. I don’t know anybody there. Not to mention, the cold will be a problem.”

[“We are at your service!”] Shay and Beth both kneeled down.

It made sense. Since both were snow wyverns, they wouldn’t have any trouble navigating the cold waste up there, not to mention, they become quite strong after the grimgarian invasion. At least, combat experience-wise. Not to mention, I could probably also ask Reajaen for help. Maybe she had a contact here or there to help us out, since Grimnir didn’t say anything about Broggart’s contact. He had all the time up until now.

We had the people to send on this expedition, however …

“No.” I shocked everybody with my answer, so I elaborated on it. “The problem is that we don’t have enough time.”

“We have a month,” Tatsuya argued, but I had to rebuke it.

“No, you guys don’t understand. We might have a month left until the summit, but that is about it. Guys, what exactly do you think would happen once the summit is over and the alliance is signed?”

A few caught on to what I was talking about, but to the few who hadn’t heard the full details on the Summit of Ankor-Nazta, it was to be expected they couldn’t figure it out. These included anybody not officially part of the Aurora.

So, I answered their unspoken question. “If Artorias wishes the support of the dwarves, they must break their vassalage to the Empire. This is the minimum, not to mention they could even end up allying themselves with the elves of Saelariel and the dragonewts of Loatryx, if everything goes well. If those two join the summit, at all.”

“… War.” Ellaine frowned.

I didn’t want to agree, but it was the most likely outcome. That was why the alliance had to be made for Artorias to break free. If we could get Saelariel and Loatryx to help them out, they might scare the Empire from a war. However, the situation had vastly changed after the initial plan.

Back then, we thought we could use my status as a blessed to prevent hostilities. Unfortunately, right now, I was the Empire’s public enemy number three, right next to the demonkins and Carmaniate. The pope—the Prince of Envy—hated me and the Empire newspaper painted me as the leader of the grimgarians. The Prince of Envy, if given the chance, would happily send a warband to kill me after what Mom and I did to him.

With Mom asleep, a huge contingency plan was not possible. If I had to, I would use up my deal with Mom to prevent the war in the first place—by killing the Prince of Envy and exposing him.

Technically, the Empire wasn’t my enemy. They were supposed to be one of my best allies here in my Divine Quest, since they worship Aurena like, well, a literal goddess. They should be helping me, so going to war with them was the last thing I should be considering. It was what the demonkins would want!

Not to mention, I’m a bloody idol.

“Do we really have no time?” Haruka asked sheepishly, but it was clear by everybody’s faces that things were starting to ramp up. This last month was essentially what we had left to prepare.

“Sis.” Neill grabbed me. “Training time. I am going to make sure you get to the moderate stage with [Battle Frenzy] before then. I’ll also help you out with your Territory and other stuff until Melloxtressa wakes up.”

“Jeez!” I stomped my feet down, stopping her. “Chill! Really, Sis. Thanks for your consideration, but I am not planning to die. You don’t have to worry about me like that.”

“…” She frowned, looking at me as if she didn’t believe me. I guess what happened during the end of the Elyonda siege scarred her a bit. “You don’t have the personality of somebody who should go to war. It’s like that demonkin said— you are naive and too sympathetic. I’m not worried about your fighting abilities, Hestia, I worry more that you can’t handle what you have to do.”

I couldn’t fault her for that. Still, I pulled my arm out of her hand and, instead, hugged for a second before releasing my embrace.

“That’s why I’m murdering that stupid Prince of Envy~ I have no problem killing him, even if he has some sad backstory. I want his head for what he did to Mom and me~ Bastard should burn.”

Now, everybody else was silenced by my words, but I meant them for real. I didn’t have anything personally against five of the Princes of Sin, but I did have something personally against Pride and Envy. Pride was responsible for the Griffonpeak siege and sent his minion to kill Eshe. Envy tried to kill Mom.

I will kill them.

That was the line I was drawing here. Yes, Vifi’Yok was close to killing Tatsuya, Saori, and Ellaine, and that was why I was targeting her when I knew she was around. Not to mention, I thought Amelia was in danger. I was fully ready to kill her there and then. However, as proven when I tried to have her surrender herself peacefully, she could be reasoned with. She, just like me, was just another cog in this war.

The Prince of Envy, on the other hand, has been an eyesore since Griffonpeak. Now, he was making his intentions clear, and I had this feeling we wouldn’t find any real compromise here. Besides, wasn’t cutting off the heads the most efficient way to stop and win a war? Situations determined choices, and in this case, I had a target for my anger.

“Well, said!” Just as the silence was starting to turn awkward, a foreign voice broke everything. I snapped my head around as I realized four new signals just entered the subspace … Thankfully, they weren’t an enemy.

“High Ki—” Grimnir was about to kneel, but the dwarf accompanied by Tasianna shook his hand.

“Stuff it, Grimnir! And the rest, too, if you don’t mind. I might be king, but I would prefer it if we don’t have to deal with it right now.”

Ankoran King Fugnarus had entered my subspace.

Tasianna bowed once she was close. “He had wanted to speak with you, so I invited him in, my lady. I had managed to convince his guards to wait outside the workshop, at least, but they were watching us from afar. I apologize if I disturbed.”

I shook my head and then turned to Fugnarus, curtsying to him out of respect. Even if he didn’t want it, I found it was necessary here.

“Polite. I appreciate it, unlike most dragonkins.” He then turned to Neill, who was looking away, trying to whistle. “… Yup, unlike most dragonkins.”

Oh, Neill … Your past sure must be interesting.

When I prompted him on what he needed, Fugnarus, though, told me I didn’t need to worry about it. “I had wanted to talk to you about the summit … but, from what I had just heard, I don’t think I need to worry about it until then. You have a clear head. Know what consequences will be caused by your actions. Good. So, don’t worry too much about it. We can deal with all of it during the summit, Princess Hestia.”

The regalness of a real king; it has been a while since I felt it. Instead of the accent he used to speak with his fellow dwarves, Fugnarus was now speaking proper Common, clear to hear. Seemingly, he had heard what I had said before, meaning he probably eavesdropped on the thing with the war. I was so focused on the conversation, I didn’t detect them in time.

“What exactly do you mean by that?” I asked, wanting to understand what he was saying.

“I mean, have some fun before the real problems come, kid. Enjoy the dungeons we have at the capital, ahahaha!”

“And, lass!” I snapped my head around, seeing Grimnir smiling as he pulled up a box full of black ingots. “We got enough for your chest armor, at least. Broggart might be a fool, but at least he didn’t squander the Davi he made.”

“Oh …”

And so, my trip on this train was filled with training, preparing, and having myself measured by Grimnir. It didn’t take too much time for us to finally reach the capital of the Ankor-Nazta—Inkoran-Tazul.