“Music is the art of touching the souls of thousands to empower and heal them.” This was the motto Leon Schartner lived by as a conductor, and it had been successfully inherited by his daughter Hikari-slash-Hestia. A young fledgling musician who endured numerous failures in her first life, before an opportunity for success came in her second, and unlike in her first, she raced after that chance and grabbed it, holding onto it as if her life and soul depended on it.
A promise made to dear friends spurred her to push aside her past baggage, allowing her to break that one promise to set her wings free. The dams were opened, washing away the toxins in her core. With a mind freed and a chance to regain her dream, the dragon whelpling sought the light radiating from a small village.
Her two feet stood on a shabby, hastily-made stage more fit for a beggar’s gathering than the dazzling show she envisioned, but every artist must begin from somewhere. Her pride and desire for perfection made her tunnel vision onto her ideal, rejecting every other path available to her, even those opened by her beloved parents. “My debut must be perfect” was changed into “I will debut,” and so she was reborn as a dragonewt idol. Her voice rang out and Peolyncia came to know the story of the young reincarnator, of her trials and perseverance.
At least, until the world came to know her as more than just a dragonewt idol—a dragon princess. Her presence urged those around her to fight with her as flames of crimson, white, and purple surrounded those who drew their blades at her. The loss of a friend steeled her will, reminding her of the deal she struck with the white-winged goddess. Once again, people came to know more about her; that she was a Champion of Aurena.
Although her flame flickered and dimmed, her emotions in turmoil from what she saw and experienced, her wings still beat. She reached out, watching her friend grow. Each and every one walking side-by-side with her gave her the confidence she needed to keep walking. Aurora was her and their haven.
“Everybody, please remember to stay polite!”
In a small rice village on the edge of the Greenveil duchy, a tall man was currently herding a group of villagers as if they were sheep. His lumberjack beard was groomed and cut shorter, making him look respectable, befitting his position of village chief. He took in a deep breath as he led his fellow villagers through a path toward his fief lord’s mansion, where they were greeted by a group of knights and a butler wearing a decorated black suit.
“Seneschal Barathan!” The chief greeted one of his lord’s top attendants, bowing to them.
The butler nodded, smiling friendly as he inspected the many bathed, scented, and groomed villagers. “You did a fine job Chief Colwyn. With this, we won’t embarrass Lord Arcanuess Helvas or the Young Lady.”
“We would never,” Colwyn’s wife, Harriet, said. “This is Lady—I mean, Princess Hestia’s idol concert, right? Considering everything she did for us, this is the minimum.”
Barathan kept up a smile but couldn’t help but frown innerly. Dressed in thick coats to ward off the cold, the villagers didn’t look ready for a formal meeting with a noble, but this was the best that the Carine villagers had. Still, it was enough as the event didn’t have a dress code. It was enough that they wouldn’t cause any issue for their fief lord and his family.
Still, although Barathan hadn’t said anything about bringing gifts, he had thought the villagers wouldn’t be foolish enough to bring any unnecessary items with them. He couldn’t help but waver as he noticed the women holding up wooden bottles reeking of rice liquor. He sighed internally, as he knew exactly who they were giving the liquor to.
“… You have missed them, I see.” He finally broke his smile, looking at them wryly.
“Of course!”
A year ago, Hestia, Saori, and Tasianna stayed inside this village and made friends with the villagers, leading up to Hestia’s debut concert on New Year’s Eve. Here, she made her first fans through that concert.
A year later, these very villagers would clean and dress themselves up to have Barathan lead them inside House Helvas’s demesne, before a small building next to the knight’s training field. The villagers were confused as they saw multiple guards, unsure why they were here. However, the moment the butler opened the door, their eyes widened.
“Mother! Father!” A woman dressed like a maid came rushing out, smiling energetically. Yet, seconds later, a flush appeared on her face as people began to recognize her and her swollen belly.
“Lorena!” The villagers clamored around the young woman, surprised to see and learn that she had become one of Hestia’s employees. Naturally, the ones to be the most surprised were her parents, hugging and blessing her for giving them a grandchild, while her in-laws could only see the nervous-looking man slowly walking up.
“Son!” A bulky leatherworker kissed his daughter-in-law on the forehead before grabbing her husband’s shoulder and pulling him in. “Ruld, my boy! I cannot believe you did it! Ahaha, I’ll have myself a grandchild! Honey, look! Our boy became a man!”
His wife nodded vigorously, looking like she was about to cry as she held her son’s hand. “Haha, why are you surprising all of us now? A letter would have made us just as happy!”
“Sorry, sorry …” The young man looked down in shame, before his wife nudged him with an elbow, causing him to stiffen up. “Sorry! There were just a buncha things to do! Oh, Wendy! Ron! How have you two been?”
Two teenagers, his younger brother and sister, came forward, hugging their older brother to his delight. Although happy, he was instantly peppered with questions on what he meant with busy, causing the man’s face to twitch.
“Ah, you heard it from Lorena. She got a job at Lady Hestia’s and I was all alone for a bit until she returned. Had a job request last month for shoes and boots for m’lady. Hear that, old man! I got mys—”
“Now, now, now.” But before the talks could escalate into an entire story, Barathan clapped his hands and pointed for everybody to enter through the weird door. “All of you have much to talk about, but the show is about to start. Do not be tardy! Come, allow me to lead you to your seats.”
Without any arguments, the cheerful villagers entered the entrance of the Obsidian Orchestra, before they noticed the sound of a violin—geigler, in Common—playing. The sounds captivated the villagers, but they couldn’t identify from where the music came, as the room was filled to the brim with different humans, beastmen, dwarves, and elves, all readying themselves to enter the main room.
Once somebody opened the door, it quickly became clear that sound originated from inside the obsidian-covered room. After registering themselves at the ticket booth, each villager received a ticket before Barathan led them inside.
Away from this cheerful group of concert attendees, people from the south of the Greenveil duchy were experiencing the Obsidian Orchestra for the first time as well. Naturally distrustful of beastmen aside from bird beastmen—the arvisians—due to their constant strife with the beastmen slaves from their southern neighbor, the Kingdom of Atadoro, these visitors were less enthused by the main idol, compared to many others.
“Princess Hestia! Princess Hestia!” A group of dragonewts from Loatryx roared out in support alongside a couple of humans, dwarves, and other beastmen. “All followers of her songs, straighten your backs! Heads up! Let’s move in! To our positions!”
With those orders, the group moved into the concert room with the discipline of soldiers, prompting a few of Hestia’s normal fans to compare them to a local cult through whispers. Their dedication was admirable, but it came off as too extreme.
Regardless, most of the crowd just ignored the dragonewts and simply went on their way, ready to enjoy the show. Still, those not used to such a display of admiration couldn’t help but frown and be weirded out. They weren’t sure if they should turn back or not; however, most were quickly reminded of what happened yesterday.
Arriving in the capital of the Lecartiglio Duchy, Gransromus, a crimson-scaled dragonewt girl was screaming from the top of weird, bulky wagon to “visit her idol concert” and that her name was “Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor.” Many commoners didn’t know of the dragon god, as there was no need to care about a god who wasn’t relevant in their lives. To most, knowing about Aurena, Plesia, and Zephira was enough.
However, they had heard that name before. Only those who hadn’t visited a tavern in the last several months wouldn’t have heard the name of “Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor” before, as her feats from the Griffonpeak attack had spread throughout the seven duchies of Artorias thanks to wandering adventurers and merchants. Even news from her participation in the Elyonda siege came was spread by the sailors of Port Annencia, or at least, they had heard of the “White-Winged Dragoon” and a “flying elven mage.”
With the help of Cardinal Theodore, the name of Champion Hestia had spread modestly through the country. Even if people didn’t know the truth behind those battles, the rumors had spread enough that quite the number of people joined today’s concert simply out of curiosity. The merchants, especially, were intrigued as their sources informed them of the way the nobles of the Lecartiglio duchy spoke about her concert.
So many of them, every time …
Speaking of a Lecartiglio noble, one of them was currently sitting up in the black star citadel, trying to block out the shouts of “WE WANT HER! WE WANT HER!” from the many dragonewts below. Grand Duke Lecartiglio, the marshal of Artorias’s army and the Grand Duke of Military Affairs, a stout man with enough scars to prove his participation in battles, especially his accomplishment as a commander in his youth.
During those days, the Grand Duke was like many adolescent knights, eager to prove themselves to the world with their prowess. Venitius Siero Lecartiglio had fought in Artorias’s name for the Folschreck Empire against Carmaniate, leading his squadron of Lecartiglians against hordes of beastmen of various types. Already influenced by his parents, the young knight had always harbored a terrible opinion of the “monster-born,” allowing him to slay his enemies as if they were nothing but monsters.
Although his prejudice had not disappeared over the years nor when he became the next Duke Lecartiglio, his feelings towards the Empire did. Constantly sending many young, promising soldiers to their death against Carmaniate, and treating any non-imperial man or woman as if they were fodder, the Empire quickly earned Duke Lecartiglio’s ire; it was unforgivable to the young duke who treated even commoners and soldiers from other countries as his brother-in-arms.
To him, seceding from the Empire had been his dream, no matter how unlikely it was due to the political situation. As such, he had always been an ardent supporter of King Drangleic’s wish to form an alliance with Ankor-Nazta. Although he despised the elves of Saelariel for abandoning them to their fate after their ancestor’s mistake—even if he understood the reasoning—he preferred an alliance with allies who actually cared for the soldiers sent out to fight for their sake.
“Venitius, I heard from a birdie of mine that something happened close to one of your towns, no?” Duchess Morgiana spoke to the Duke while hiding her mouth with a fan. “A giant flame that led to a problematic apex monster being killed? Which adventurer did you hire?”
Duke Lecartiglio sneered. “News spread that fast? I hadn’t expected you to become that invested in gossip from other duchies, Morgana.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Come now, you two.” Duke Greenveil interrupted them to stop a potential fight. “We are here to show support to the Head of our alliance and to show our subjects and vassals that the seven of us are united. His Majesty is watching, making friends with our allied countries, so why can we not be nice amongst ourselves for tonight? The Grand Duke Selection is in two years, we can squabble then, haha!”
All sevens of the dukes of Artorias had once again gathered themselves in the Obsidean Orchestra, supporting the Princess and her plan for a faith war against Aureolis. Although it was for the good of the country and the Shakaie-Narn Alliance … Duke Lecartiglio couldn’t help but think he was wasting his time here.
He did not enjoy singing and dancing like the other dukes, preferring to spar and train his troops.
‘Enjoy’ the break. That’s all I can do. It is without a doubt that her voice is angelic, even though I am aware of that, but still … All this singing and dancing, why, the time she requires to practice for these performances could be better used for training. You are Champion of the Goddess, Princess Hestia! Show the world your pro—
“Kriiiiaaaaahhhh!”
The entire orchestra rattled, literally quaking upon the high-pitched roar echoing within it. Duke Lecartiglio composed himself, standing up as if prepared to fight, only to notice the citadel was moving. Duke Greenveil quickly grabbed him, pushing him back into his seat, before a dragonewt dragoon came flying over, warning him to put his seatbelt on due to the movements.
Yet, before he could do it, his eyes—everybody in attendance—drew their attention to the stage as a massive explosion boomed, silencing the roar from before. A dust cloud gathered around the stage, sparkling like rubies before wind blew everything to the ceiling, revealing Hestia standing in the middle of the stage.
“Welcome! This will be a special show for everybody. Thank you for coming to watch me!” she stated before another wind spell activated, this time from the ceiling, blowing all the dust back on the ground. Her figure was hidden from the baffled audience, only for a piano to finally be played.
It was calming as it was accompanied by a cello, only for something otherworldly to replace both. To the people of Peolynca, it was a foreign type of genre, but to Earth it was better known as techno, electronic, or dubstep. This wild, chaotic music caused discord amongst the viewers as the lack of singing caused everybody to question what was going on.
A second later, though, their bafflement was immediately replaced by surprise as a dragon rose from the smoke, twisting its body like a spiral, gathering the dust cloud around it like a veil. It stopped just before it reached the height of the citadel, swinging its wings open. With a single spark, the dust cloud burst into light, creating a flame cloud around the dragon.
The shock had not subsided for the people in attendance, their eyes were still glued at the crimson dragon flying in the sky. The music stopped for a split second, before violins began to play, perfectly timed as the flames turned into white, covering the dragon in it until it looked like an angel with fluttering white wings.
No screams could be heard. A few of the attendees had stood up, about to run away from the frightening reveal, but once this angelic dragon appeared, everybody was too mystified to react to it.
“Gruuuuuu!”
Their attention was once again stolen as they looked down at the stage, where they saw two giant feline monsters jump out of the dragon’s shadow and began to move in an almost trance-like manner. One was monochrome while the other was green with black stripes. In addition, two more felines appeared, far smaller but with a similar fur coat as the latter, imitating their larger counterparts.
Virigresses? Duke Lecartiglio questioned, before his eyes wandered towards a young girl walking up the stage. She had blue hair and was dressed in a black one-piece dress, playing a geigler along the song in the background.
“Lady Ellaine?” Duke Greenveil questioned. His daughter, Amelia, was one of the main managers of Hestia’s concerts and was Ellaine’s best friend, but he had not heard that the latter would be playing today … nor that his own daughter would do the same! “A-Amelia?”
The blond- and blue-haired pair played their geigler in a duet, keeping up as the music became faster and faster. Synchronized with them, the dragon began flying around, letting the white flames trail right behind it. Unexpectedly, the dragonkin twirled and twisted its body, swinging its wings and tails, causing the flames to—
“Dance!” the dragonewts shouted, instantly recognizing the dragon’s smell. “She heard us! PRINCESS HESTIA HEARD US! She revealed her true form to us!”
Roused by this single statement, the dragonewts, elves, and dwarves raised their voices in cheer.
This was Hestia’s answer to performing in her dragon form. As she couldn’t sing in it aside from using [Aerokinesis], the only way for her to act like an idol was to use her body as she did as a dragonewt—dance. Although once self-conscious of her average dancing skills, her life in Peolyncia had given her a strong and athletic body, able to perform acrobatic feats even Olympic acrobats would envy.
Furthermore, a performance was more than just a song and music. Entrancing the viewers with a dancer’s swinging body was an age-old fact, and this visual stimuli was Hestia’s way to transcend from a dragonewt idol to a dragon idol. The beauty of her swift and flowing movements would engross her fans today, not her singing!
Even if this wasn’t enough, beauty could also be found in the power of special effects. Hearing, watching, taste, smelling, and touch; to create a performance nobody could forget, it was imperative for a performer to fulfill all five senses. Ellaine, Amelia, and Rajah’s family weren’t the only partners Hestia would have today, for her flames were also stars.
“Oooh!” People erupted in amazement as crimson and purple flames suddenly appeared among the white, blemishing it at first, only for the cloud of flames to find a semblance of balance, flickering in time to Hestia’s dancing.
Like paint being mixed together, Hestia’s every movement caused the three colors to swirl like a whirlpool. Harmony was struck, illuminating the Obsidian Orchestra with casts of red, purple, and white. The heat was manageable, almost like a sauna’s, allowing everybody to enjoy this spectacle without any worry.
Fire is this beautiful? many thought as Hestia’s dance continued. To most, fire was the destructive element among the six elements, only used by bloodthirsty cultists who wished to harm others. One’s impression of an element and church was determined by the practitioners one met in their life, and for many, they only knew fire mages as explosive and reckless.
Yet, here, they were watching the flames swimming in the air as its master continued “painting” with it, creating more elaborate artworks. The artists were spoiled by this magnificent display while the mages’ opinion of Danterno went slightly up. A skilled and responsible fire mage could create something like this? Did this mean the fire mages they met up until now were just misguided and poorly trained, or was this dragoness before them an outlier to the status quo?
In between Hestia’s aerial dance, the music suddenly died before the cloud of flames spiraled to the side, forming a large gaping hole. There on the ceiling, a white magic circle appeared, large enough to fill up the entire orchestra. Hestia stopped in the middle, spreading her white fiery wings out, posing like an angel channeling a spell.
“The Goddess watches over us ♫
In her name, we pray, we sing, we love ♫
For her merciful light, protects us all ♫
Purify the ground, wherever her feathers touches ♫”
Ellaine and Amelia began singing, instantly recognizable to Aurena’s followers as the Goddess’s signature spell—[Prayer]. The devoted clapped their hands together, singing along until everything turned into a choir as white light balls flew up, absorbed into the magic circle.. Those from other religions stayed quiet, allowing the Champion of Aurena to “guide” her fellow followers.
Once the song was over, not a second later, the spell was cast, basking everybody in the holy light. Aurena’s followers thanked Champion Hestia for a gift and then the Goddess for granting them this chance to meet them, only for their eyes to widen like goldfish as they read the System message.
<[Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Major)]>
“M-major!” Duke Lecartiglio shouted, followed by every other duke aside from Duke Greenveil, who had the news from his daughter already.
It was the same reaction Hestia had gotten every time from white mages and priests whenever she had cast [Prayer] after she first arrived in Griffonpeak. To reach major, a massive amount of mana was needed to fuel the spell. Those in the know were well aware of how it was nearly impossible for a congregation of followers alone to reach that amount of mana, as the normal person had little mana to donate, forcing the priests to donate the majority.
I didn’t give that much, neither did Duchess Morgiana or Duke Myrrdin. Don’t tell me … She was the one? How much mana does she have to fuel that spell, on top of all that dancing and the [Aerokinesis] music? Or the lights on the ceiling, or how she has to manage this citadel? How much—
And it came to Duke Lecartiglio.
“She’s showing off …” he mumbled, before a smile formed on his face. “I see. Our alliance head is this powerful already? Far more so than what I could do with my blade. A Champion of the Goddess and a spawn of the Black Tyrant of the Skies. Mages are—No, dragons sure are the apex of sentient beings.”
It was admiration and fear.
He wiped the sweat on his forehead away as he watched the cheers from below as Hestia ordered the flames to surround her like a cape, fitting for an imperial princess. She flew as Ellaine and Amelia played for her, while the virigresses danced in her honor.
Haha … I really should use this chance to rest. The stress must be getting to me.
Today’s concert was a short one as Hestia’s dragon dance was the only true performance. Still, it left a mark on everybody today, especially for the dragonewts as they weep tears of happiness to see their lost dragon princess. A year ago, they had thought their princess might have died, all alone and far away from her mother. The death of her egg bearer had been a bad omen, but now, watch! They watched her fly! They watched her roar! They watched her shine brilliantly as they would expect from one of Emperor Eltharion’s children!
The silver-scaled dragonewts of the Nordor clan especially celebrated the beauty of their princess. Although she did not share the same color of scales as her mother, Hestia was still clearly their matriarch’s daughter from the way her scale-dust acted. They had found their one and only dragon princess, only able to imagine how her mother must have felt.
Empress Melloxtressa, please, wake up soon from your hibernation! For our clan, for your daughter. The glory of the Nordor clan must be witnessed by you! All members prayed.
Once the concert was over, a fan meeting was held where Hestia was allowed to meet the villagers of Carine village, bringing back fond memories of her stay there. Saori received a box full of rice liquor while Tasianna learned their house was still unoccupied and remained cleaned, to the maid’s delight.
For others, though, this was a sign for them to improve. On the next day, Duke Lecartiglio immediately visited his king, proposing a joint training session with all alliance members. After the Event Quest, their nation’s elite warriors and knights had mostly gotten closer and the Duke suggested it would be best to raise relations and strengthen rapport for any future conflict.
“The mistrust between our races must be settled before anything happens. With King Fugnarus’s declaration of war against the demonkin, we must assure elf, dwarf, dragonewt, and human can work in unity!”
Duke Lecartiglio had learned from Hestia there was more than training needed to win a war. Similar to his hatred for the Empire caused by their lack of interest for non-imperials, he now understood this mistake would be repeated if he didn’t take the first step. To assure the nations cared for each other’s armies, then they must first help their soldiers and knights care.
With a wide smile, King Drangleic couldn’t help but shake his head. “My friend, haha, I had a bet with the elven and dwarven king whose general will muster up the courage to speak these words first. Haha … it seems I’ve won. Come! As our alliance head continues with what she must do, we must do the same.”
“Your Majesty!”
The power of Hestia’s nexus showed its power once again as politicians, warriors, and royalty moved between the nations to speak. Without a portal in Saelariel, though, most of the talks would be happening in Inkoran-Tazul.
Regardless, as the kings kept building up their alliance’s might, Hestia would continue. On the 29th of AutumnMoon, she would visit the Olivus Duchy and perform another concert there, now with a subspace portal in every duchy of Artorias. Similar to her previous one, this was an unorthodox concert as she focused primarily on instrumental, showing off her skills with her geigler with Ellaine and Amelia. Hestia only wished that Grimnir would unravel the mystery of piano-making, allowing her to add to her instrumental repertoire.
Regardless, although it wasn’t what every one of her fans wanted, Hestia made it clear at the ending that her concerts would follow how she wanted to perform her concerts. To her, this was her idol culture! Nobody but Hestia herself could control it.
She proved this statement once again on the last day of the year, as instead of an idol concert, Hestia dedicated everything to a musical. Similar to the one she gave in Elyonda, the musical was about Yeostar’s rise to godhood, only the script and the songs were polished from the last time she had performed it.
“And so, they march forward into position. A merry men band of the elites ♫
He sunk his blade, into the ground, drenched in blood of the fallen ♫
But hot in his heels, the trailblazer he must be ♫
But his sight blinded by haste, he did not see the blade which await ♫
The battle began, before morning dawned ♫”
Those who came for Hestia’s voice were satisfied, those who wanted something educational were elated, and those who wanted something new were pleasantly surprised. The audience from Yeos were especially ecstatic, as Yeosian were also hired to help the performance.
Instead of only using soldiers, Hestia had the otherworldly students and Aurora participate in this. Choosing those who could sing and perform, Hestia created her motley crew, while the rest concentrated on other tasks. Kohaku, especially, was active for this performance as she was the one to rewrite the script with the help of Yeostar’s priests.
From a dragon dance, to an actual orchestra, and ending it all with a musical on New Year’s Eve. This was Hestia’s idol culture, even if it was more music culture in general.
Regardless, as the orange moon changed its color to white, it signaled the beginning of a new year. It was now the 1st of WinterSun in the year 2680. Hestia’s second year of being a Peolyncian had begun.
With it, her entrance into Aureolis and the start of the last step to defeat the Prince of Envy.