“Hey, you’re running too fast!”

I could hear something.

“That’s so unfair, stop!” That same voice called out again, although it felt closer this time.

“Haha, I’m not even trying. You’re too slow.” Then another voice appeared, echoing a bit further away from the first. “I can’t help it that I’m tall, Hik*ri-chan! You just need to keep drinking your milk and if you want to grow big and strong just like me.”

My senses once again shifted to focus on the first voice, swinging its shadowy arms around in frustration. “How much do I have to drink, cousin? Mama is forcing me to drink so much already.”

Slowly the haziness of this whole scene cleared up, the vivid details of the scene coming into focus. It felt like I was waking up after a tiring day, and my brain was still half-asleep. However, at the same time, this place felt too familiar to be real. Was I dreaming?

Looking around, I noticed a grassy area filled with trees, benches, and even a playground for kids. It was most likely a park from how organized and clear of shrubbery it was. It looked a bit what you would expect from some noble’s demesne.

The two voices came from two shadowy individuals, far shorter than I was. Probably elementary students. Their faces and bodies were covered up by a black mist, making it impossible for me to identify who they were, but their clothing was exempt from this.

The one lagging behind the other was wearing a pure white dress with flower embroidery, making me imagine the little shadow person as a cute girl. She was also wearing a backpack with an animalistic theme on its back, probably carrying some essential items for this outing. Somehow, I felt a bit of a kinship with it.

The other one was slightly taller, like an older sibling. They were wearing an outfit consisting of a pullover and jeans. It was carrying a thermos in its hand while it ran, although I was not sure what the contents were.

Both continued running on an unpaved road, while I followed them against my will. Well, maybe not entirely against my will, since I wasn’t even trying to resist. It didn’t even occur to me to do anything besides watch. Well, it was better than to stare at nothingness, I guess.

Huh, another new memory, huh? Guess my soul is recovering. Who exactly are—

“This isn’t a new memory.” I heard my own voice to the side, prompting me to turn around where I saw somebody who looked exactly like me, only she had black hair and eyes without any draconic features. “It’s a memory I’ve sealed away from you.”

It was my other self, the original “Hestia.” My ego and self from when I was still on Earth, and who was now still around in our soul despite the gods’ failed attempt to erase her. She was me, but at the same time, she wasn’t. Still, we managed to strike some sorta deal back in Elyonda, some peace between us despite her embodying all my hesitation of accepting my new draconic life.

Then again, it wasn’t like she was telling me not to accept Mom. In fact, she even pushed for me to become my own person and forget about her and all our memories from the past. This included Papa, Mama, Nanny, and everybody else from my life on Earth. That was the anxiousness I was speaking of. To accept my new life felt like I was abandoning my past one, so I was thankful, I accepted my situation and managed to persuade her to do the same.

After all, she was me. We both shared the dream of becoming a proper idol.

“And to ruin the enemies who are doing this to us and how they threatened our new mom.”

Well, at least I managed to persuade her that Melloxtressa was our mother. Even if she was the second, she was still our mother.

“Y-yeah, so what do you mean by ‘sealed memory?’” I asked, feeling liberated from this dream’s rather restrictive nature. I felt like I was just a spectator a moment ago, being pushed along by an invisible power, but now I could move my body around.

My other self pointed at the dream’s scene. “Watch,” she said.

“Look, Hika*i-chan!” the taller shadow person began pointing at a large colorful totem. “You don’t come to Japan very often, so you have to see everything you can in this short time! This is the most memorable sight in this whole park.”

Japan? That’s Japanese, alright.

“Wow, are those robots?” the white-dressed shadow clapped while expressing its enthusiasm with a high-pitched voice. Weirdly enough, it sounded familiar. “They are all stacked on top of each, and there are so many colors! It’s like a totem rainbow, cousin!”

“I told you already, Hik*ri-chan.” The taller shadow spoke with a fairly high-pitched voice, although it was breaking a bit. Most likely it belonged to a prepubescent boy. “It’s not ‘cousin,’ it’s ‘big brother!’ Japanese is hard but you have to make sure you get it correct, okay?”

Gak! Cringe!

“Hiehie!” My other self just burst out in a giggle, prompting me to question her about it. Her mouth turned into a wry smile as she looked at me with her two black eyes. “Sorry, sorry, it’s just that you made the exact reaction you did last time.”

I did?

“… I think I sealed this memory when you fell asleep during the monster rush in the Belzac forest. You know, the one Asterios, Shay, and Beth stirred up, forcing you and the other two to run into the swamp earlier than expected.” When she mentioned that, I snapped my fingers, remembering how I fell asleep while Saori was caryring me. Honestly, back then, I didn’t even understand how I feel asleep during such a moment. “I’ve been sealing this memory for that long … I didn’t want you to remember him.”

“‘Him?’”

She nodded. “Our cousin. The one person I didn’t want us to meet, again. I broke our promise to him by killing myself; I felt horrified when the girls mentioned his name during that sleepover you had with them. There.”

I turned around when she pointed her finger back at the scene, where I noticed it was sped up like a video. Once the acceleration stopped, the shadow with the white dress showed the taller one a thumbs up.

“… Do you promise, *ikari-chan?” the taller shadow questioned her warily.

“Of course! I haven’t broken a single promise in my life yet, and I don’t want to disappoint my family.” The girl clenched her entire right hand, except for her pinky finger. She held it up. “Promise me that you will come to my concerts and I will be there when you need me the most. Yubikiri, Onii-chan!”

“... Yubikiri. If you promise then I will too.” The boy also performed the same gesture.

… ‘Yubikiri?’

“The Japanese pinky promise,” my other half answered my questioning thought.

Although, I already knew its meaning. “… But, if you break it, you have to cut off your finger. That’s the old meaning for it.”

Silence.

The two of us watched the scene as it froze up; the memory was over. The taller shadow kept repeating the same name over and over again, but due to something going on with my soul, I couldn’t properly listen to it. However, I had so many clues at this point. I even called my other self with that static-sounding name.

‘H*k**i Sch******’ I called her during our last meeting. The name was too obvious now. What was my name back on Earth?

“Hikari,” I said, and my other self nodded. “Japanese for ‘light.’ The Kanji ‘光’ also means light. Written as ‘ひかり’ in Hiragana … And that stage name I chose myself while posing as a human for the dwarves was ‘Light Atsuko.’ How ironic.”

“If you want to know the rest and what our cousin’s name is, then … wake up.”

I nodded. I had a promise to fulfill.

----------------------------------------

“Grwaaaargh!” A feral, bestial roar woke my consciousness up after I had a small discussion with my other half.

I opened my eyes as my parallel minds greeted me, before showing me the number of signals on my [Detection Sensor]. There was enough to create an entire battalion, and they had me surrounded. However, three of the signals were clashing against the rest of them, making signals disappear as they moved around. In addition, I also felt another signal right next to me.

“Yo. How’s the sleep?” It was Vifi’Yok.

I stared at the demonkin girl. Her black hair was covered with dirt and blood while the glaive I lent her was smoking, looking slightly worn out by the amount of charcoaled pieces of viscera stuck in its mechanical pieces. After all, Grimnir and Ellaine made me a manatech weapon, so if stuff got into the finer parts, my weapon would lose effectiveness.

Since I was the owner of it and my catalyst was still attached to it, I used mana to recall it, surprising Vifi’Yok as she let it go. [“… How long was I out?”]

“Far too bloody long.” She sighed, before taking a bite from a kebab. “We have a bit of an issue here.”

[“Issue? Wait, wha—”] But that was when I remembered everything that happened before I lost consciousness. I remembered who the dungeon usurper was, as he not only showed the dungeon core of the [Menagerie of Golems] but also had a rebellion orb, a catalyst made to cause a dungeon to break! [“You! Vifi’Yok, I swear, you better have a fucking good excuse for everything. You told us not to go into the depths, so you BETTER have a good excuse for this! Why was he there?!”]

My body woke up immediately as my rage surged, causing me to ignore all the noise around me as I pressed my head close to the demonkin. Growling with my fangs exposed, I could imagine taking a bit out of her. With my current size, Vifi’Yok was still taller than my snout, but my mouth was large enough to crunch her head off.

She stared at me with a deadpan face, frozen in place as she was about to take a bite from her kebab. She blinked, looking to the sides as she contemplated an answer. Her already sweat-covered face began to glisten even further.

“… Would you even believe what I say?”

I nodded, but I kept my gaze locked on her, treating her like when I first met her. Meaning, my body temperature was increasing with every second, ready to atomize her if she gave the wrong answer. I just needed one spark, and [Dreadflare Aura] wouldn’t just turn her into charcoal.

[“I want the truth. Did you lie to me all this time, trying to hide the fact you were supporting that bastard of a dwarf? Why did he have a rebellion orb?!”]

However, she shook her head slightly. “… I really had no idea he was there, I swear. As I said, I am a traitor, a deserter. The reason why I didn’t want to go down was ‘cause I had a feeling I could run into another demonkin, and I didn’t want to be seen.”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

I stomped the ground right in front of her, huffing and puffing black smoke out of my nose and mouth. [Corrosive Fire] smoke was already wafting in the air. [“So you thought a demonkin was there? Who? Huh? You’re right, this does make it hard to believe. What exactly did you think your ‘friend’ was trying to do? You didn’t even warn us? We walked into that like blind rabbits waiting to be slaughtered. I remember Tatsuya confronting you, but you ignored him, even pushing us back down to the core!”]

“And I also asked everybody to go up with me, so what’s your point?” she snapped back, almost hysterically. “Do you even have an idea how confused I was when I saw that dwarf hold up that red catalyst? The last time I checked, there was no plans on agitating the dwarves! Do you think I know everything, just cuz I was a Warbringer? We have factions in Bole’Taria, just like any other country. I don’t know everything! I just have the instinct to know, and the logic to guess the rest with! Get it through your head!”

Ignoring my piping hot breathing, Vifi’Yok pushed my snout back, making place for herself to speak, “I didn’t want to meet any demonkin, you fuck! My country believes I DIED! I died in their honor, but look at me, I’m a fucking rat slipping through every hoop I find to stay incognito, only for everything to blow in my face! The fact I’m in this place at all was because I tried to run away from some knights, and the fact we’re stuck in this Event Quest is cuz I can’t afford to have you die before I escape!”

Event Quest?

“If they find me, they will hunt me down, I can guarantee you that! They have agents everywhere, and how do you think they would deal with little traitors like me? Let me lead a happy life? Fuck that, I have no chance for that! I will have to run away everywhere I go, just because YOU have to make me realize what a fucked up situation all of this is! What am I truly fighting for? Is it Bole’Taria due to patriotism, or is it for my own, selfish survival? I dunno, I dunno know what the hell is going on in my head! Why didn’t I just go back?! Why the hell did you have to try to persuade me to help you! Why didn’t you just kill me! It would have made everything easier!”

Is she for real? She’s blaming me for her plight? What is this crap?

Her exhausted eyes widened up as she pointed her kebab at me. Her rant was loud, almost from the heart, but I still couldn’t believe it. There was still something hidden behind her words. There was something she was still trying to keep away from me.

[“Leave your attempt for pity out of this; don’t forget how many innocent lives you destroyed, Warbringer. As you said, you aren’t asking for forgiveness, so don’t try this shit on me!”] I rebuked her, causing her face to tense up to the point I could see her veins. [“Even now, you’re still trying to hide things from me. Why did you have a feeling a comrade of yours was there? Why specifically in a dungeon inside Ankor-Nazta? Who exactly is responsible for all this? Do you really think I am that stupid when I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt up until now?! You said you got instinct and logic, so who is the grand puppeteer?”]

“…” Just right there, she turned silent. “This … this goes into the ‘helping you out against my own kind’ kinda deal.”

[“And? You see what happened because you stayed silent?”] I kept the pressure on. [“You could have mentioned anything, but you keep playing the silent card. You wanted to get out of this, but you didn’t even tell me to be careful. You didn’t say anything! Arghk! Fuck! I couldn’t even get to Maagneil before he got rid of me. I could have caught him for Grimnir if I had just—”]

“Aren’t you crying too much over spilled milk?”

I snapped my head around as I heard that familiar voice, only to see a vampiric bat monster humanoid walk up to us with a spear resting on his shoulder. Aside from their head, every piece of their body was covered in black armor, reminiscent of Saori’s [Shadow Armament].

Next to him was an armor-clad Kyouya, waving his hand around before he began shaking his head. His black armor was drenched in blood, looking like somebody from a dark fantasy story.

That familiar voice—Kyouya’s—continued speaking, “Sorry, one of us should’ve been by your side when you woke up, but we got preoccupied by the monsters swarming around us. Vifi’Yok just finished her shift. Bad person to see after waking up, I presume.”

The vampire bat monster body began to spasm as it grew smaller, losing its wings, claws, and dangerously long fangs. It was Tatsuya, he had just used his [Druidification] skill. “Yeah, things didn’t work out too well with the silent treatment she gave us, but at least we now know the demonkins were the ones Maagneil was working with all this time. It’s good enough we forced the rat out of his nest!”

[“Master!”] Rajah’s voice surprised me, but what surprised me even further was his appearance. [“Master, you slept for so long. Don’t worry, we defended you from all the monsters! Did I do good, master?”]

However, I couldn’t answer him properly. Had he suddenly grown in size? Before, he was a bit larger than a normal tiger, but now he looked as long as a four story building. Height-wise, on our fours, he was just a bit shorter than me while prone, but if he straightened up his posture, he was probably as tall as Saori in her fenrir form.

However, what surprised me the most was how his white-black fur coloration changed once again, to the point his entire torso was covered in silvery fur, while his limbs and tail were navy black. His tiger-like appearance has not disappeared, as he was still the handsome virigress I’ve always loved, but his sleeker, less fur bluky head shape had certainly made me do a double take for a moment. It was like giving somebody an entirely different haircut that made people wonder if it was actually the same person.

Rajah, in addition, also had a body make-over as well. Aside from being as wide as a truck from one shoulder to the other, Rajah’s fur on his front legs and tail were longer. When I looked at them, my excited virigress hardened them for a moment, turning them into massive blades for him to cut things. His tail was even as thick as a smaller tree trunk with how hard it was, to which he explained he could use it similarly to a blade, like mine.

[“Master slept so long, I took the chance to evolve! Master!”] He straightened his posture, pushed his chest forward like a proud tiger, and continued speaking as dignifiedly as possible. [“Rajah is now a rank B [Young Silverlight Shadow Virgarcuga]! An evolved version of the virigress!”]

Young Silverlight Shadow Virgarcuga: A mutated version of the [Young Blacklight Virgarcuga] who has managed to evolve both [Holy Magic] and [Dark Magic] into their advanced form. Using its racial ability, allows it to use both light and shadows to mask itself in a misty veil, concealing not only its body but shadow as it ambushes enemies with blade-like fur and stat debilitating skin toxin. With an equally as strong body as most virgarcuga, this monster can assassinate monsters around its rank with its boulder-crushing tail. Rank B

Right, Rajah hit max level after our fight with the last guardian boss. He just couldn’t evolve due to our problematic situation and our chase. Since monster evolution took up an entire 24 hours, it meant I had, at minimum, been asleep for that long … Wait, what? Minimum?!

[“… Although, Rajah is annoyed now. I’m too big. I can’t sleep on your legs any longer, Master. Maybe I shouldn’t have evolved.”]

Hearing him say that in such a sad tone, I couldn’t help but rub my head against his head before reminding him I can scratch his back now while I was a dragon. This fact reignited his enthusiasm for his new evolution before he let out an actual, intimidating sounding roar! My goodness, my little cat was growing up so fast, it was actually making me emotional.

However, it made me even more excited when he noted his unique skill [Lucent Illusion] allowed him to cast illusion magic. As in, the skill [Illusion Magic] was created by combining [Sacred Magic] and [Tenebrous Magic] into it. Meaning, he lost his ability to cast the advanced spells for those two latter elements, but in return, he now had an empty vessel. It was a similar situation to what Shiterno did to my fire magic, or Saori with her Tenebros magic. He still had access to [Holy Magic] and [Dark Magic] spells, but that was about it.

Lucent Illusion: The Silverlight’s ability to turn light and shadow into one, creating a misty veil able to hide their presence for a limited amount of time. Consumes mana as long as invisibility is in effect, increasing its cost the longer one stays in it. Using this ability as its core, allows the user to cast illusions to fool enemies. The skills combined are: [Illusion Magic Lv. 10] [Illusion Efficiency] [Arcane Conduit Lv. 10] [Speed of Sound Lv. 10] [Unyielding Endurance Lv. 10] [Silence Lv. 10] [Odorless Lv. 10] [Night’s Vision Lv. 10]

He even showed me how he could just disappear! For a split second, bright white and black lights sparkled around him before his silvery fur turned back and he just vanished before me. I couldn’t even sense him with my skills, but the moment he began to reappear, my skills immediately warned me.

It was extremely similar to Saori’s [Just Blink] ability, allowing her to “not exist” from everybody’s perception for a single second. Meanwhile, Rajah could stay invisible for longer at the cost of mana, but if he were to attack somebody, skills like [Danger Perception] would work on it. It was a trade-off; Saori’s ability worked better for an assassination, but Rajah could cause confusion while going invisible for longer while casting illusion spells.

[“I have no idea how to make custom spells, though, Master. I don’t even understand what all this illusion thing means,”] Rajah told me, which meant Master Kush was about to have a new student. I bet he would be happy about that.

In any case, while I was happy to see Rajah all well, I suddenly noticed the boys' silence and also how a new signal was slowly approaching us. Tatsuya frowned, showing a bad tempered grimace to somebody behind me, while Kyouya couldn’t help but sigh. Neither seemed to like whoever was coming.

Leaving Vifi’Yok’s answer for later, I turned my head around to see a young silver-haired young man walk closer. He was wearing mostly medium-heavy armor similar to Tatsuya, with a stylized gambeson in the appearance of a suit with a bunch of metal and bone armor pieces covering his vitals and arms. Clearly monster materials.

His blood-soaked sword, on the other hand, was an entire contrast to the rest of his equipment. Silver, long, and brimming with elegance with its decorated handle and crossguard, it looked like something you would give to a holy paladin to not only inspire others but also to show off. I couldn’t exactly read what was on it, but I did notice three runes on it, the standard for most equipment meaning it wasn’t drenched in quality blood.

“… Hika—Hestia-san?” He spoke with a longing tone, eyes furrowed and widened in anticipation. Worry clear to hear, he clenched his sword but looked vulnerable at the same time.

He …

“I didn’t expect you to be an otherworlder, too, Hestia,” Vifi’Yok suddenly stated, unable to understand the air at all!

[“Quiet, you. Finish your kebab before I continue chewing you out!”] I scowled at her, before returning my attention to Tatsuya, then Kyouya, and then back to this young man.

[“… Who are y—”]

“T-that voice!” He took a step forward with an expression looking like he was seeing a ghost. The horror and hope in his eyes made him look deranged as he pointed at himself. “F-Franz Akabane! Nagata and Ishigami told me you lost your memories, but you have to remember that name, right? No, wait, how about Ako Schartner? Leon Schartner? You have to remember them, right?!”

Schartner? Schartner? I did not recognize those names.

Even without a response, the delay in my answer caused the young man to become agitated. He didn’t say anything further, but it was clear he was being overwhelmed with stress. If his hair wasn’t already white, I would have probably made a joke about it … but, then again, if what my other half told me was any indication, then joking about anything would have been the worst thing to do.

As such, there was only one way to solve this.

Humanize.

[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Although, was this really the right move?

“…” The boy froze on the spot as the mana mist dissipated, revealing my form to him. I walked closer, anxious and nervous, and he kept staring at me. “… T-this is unreal. T-this shouldn't be possible. Y-you died. Y-you cut your throat. You were so pale, but you’re … here.”

… So, he is him, huh? He even knows how I died.

“… I—Could you-you sing something for me? Is it okay to hear your voice?”

I nodded. I felt pity, but also immense guilt. He did not look fine. I couldn’t feel any happiness coming from his face, or even relief. It looked like he was reliving a trauma with how blank his eyes looked. Just looking at him made my skin crawl, as if a million little frogs were covering my body in their tiny steps.

Wuuurierk! I cringed from this chill running down my spine, but immediately began to think of a song I could sing. In the end, I decided to choose an easy with little instruments to emphasize my voice. With the tapping of a wooden block and a flute, the song began.

“Let the music play, let it enter your soul ♫

Rest your weary body here ♫

To a tune or melody ♫

Listen now, to a soothing remedy ♫

Listen now, let your stress disappear ♫

Let my song reach you, fill your heart with wonder and more ♫

Gaze up to the blue sky ♫

To smile to the light ♫

Listen now, you know what is right ♫

Listen now, don’t need to look so wry ♫”

The sound of a saxophone accompanied me as this jazz song continued. The soothing tone was pleasant to hear, until I reached the climax where I raised my voice.

I nearly stopped singing when I saw the young man’s eyes become watery. Life returned to them as he gazed at me, the floodgates having been opened. He couldn’t stop the more I sang, to the point he was sniffing and smiling. When I stopped, he tried to wash the tears off his face with his sleeve, but as it was drenched in blood, he only made it worse. Covered in wet blood, he sniffed once again before looking at me.

With a wavering smile, he raised his right hand. He clenched his hand before only raising his pinky finger. “Were you able to become an idol?”

My eyes widened and I did the same. My eyes became watery, but unlike him, I managed to hold myself back. “I’m ready to invite you to my concert … ‘Onii-chan.’”

“H-H-H-H-Hikari …” He fell onto his knees, hiding his face behind his hands as his sobbing filled the silence for minutes to come. Nobody stopped him. I couldn’t, either.

My heart felt like it was tearing apart.