“Oh Goddess of Light, Aurena. I bid you, hear our prayers of gratitude and ardent worship so it may empower you ever more in your duties of overseeing us. I beg of you to hear us and grant upon us your blessing of light, Prayer!”

I raised my hands up into the sky as numerous white particles coming from the crowd in front of me fed into the massive magic circle hovering above us. A pittance of what the spell actually needed, but this custom spell was being cast for showmanship alone.

Fleindia and Renee followed my lead, offsetting the total mana I had to spend to cast this stadium-sized [Prayer]. As the spell began to glow an iridescent ivory, more beautiful than the cloudy sky, it poured a shower of warm, milky-colored particles on all of us—like the snow falling alongside it. It basked us in it, rejuvenating our bodies and giving us hope and strength for the days to come … and to leave the disasters that occurred behind.

[Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

A day had passed since I spoke with the Knight-Commander and learned the last bit of information we needed to execute the raid. Now it was the time for us to finalize our preparations, and one of them was to find a way to get all the civilians out and protect them. Nobody else should die for this except our enemies rotting the foundation of this city.

As such, the first step towards our objective was to entice the people to flee. How would that be possible without causing a massive panic that could derail anything as it would leave a great opportunity for people to take advantage of? Well, a certain flutist from a fairy tale managed to lure rats and kids out of a town, so why couldn’t I do that too?

To start—promotion.

“White grace! White graces by Champion Hestia, Saintess Fleindia, and Saintess Asaka! Paid out from the pockets of the rank B adventurer group, Aurora, led by Champion Hestia, a rank A hunter!” Tatsuya, Kyouya, and Kohaku all shouted out as if their lungs had no limits, gathering numerous citizens towards us. “Every Davi will be donated to the church and to help the rebuild of the city and the basilica! Please, if you have any ailment or injuries, come! The blessed are here to serve!”

What was the best way to get people to come to you? Free magical healthcare.

“We will be having a festival in four days on LightDay! One to mourn our losses and also give thanks to the Goddess for her protection!”

“There will be free food, music played, and also a sermon by Champion Hestia! Please, attend and let us all pray to the souls lost.”

It was a … rather morbid reason but Fleindia and Theodore both agreed it was the best reason for a festival to happen. Ilsaphone was feared and usually disliked, but praying to her was an accepted custom even in the Dark Pantheon-hating Aureolis. Considering the tragedies that had struck this city, this was a good way for people to find closure.

Still, to assure our ideal situation happened, I had to stay quiet and play along and keep up the performance. I would heal people, speak with them, and reassure them that nothing else would happen to them. It almost sounded like I was promising them, but I knew I shouldn’t really.

Still … watching mothers cradle their babies, parents repeating my words to their children, and grieving widows weep made my heart ache. There weren’t many deaths, thankfully, but the mood of the city felt somber despite the brilliant light cast by our healing spells and the snow “brightening” the day. I felt like I needed to sing, to express myself.

“Your aching leg should be good to go, Sir,” I said to a patient. “You should be able to work again, but make sure to get enough rest.”

“Thank you, Lady Champion! May the Goddess always keep you in her light!” He smiled, grinning so widely I could see his dental health. Yet, a second later, he began to frown and pushed his face closer to mine to whisper. “E-everything will be all right, right?”

My eyes widened, stunned to hear that.

“With everything going on, r-rumors have gone around that this isn’t just another one of the demonkin’s usual attacks. The Imperial newspaper mentioned the deaths of all the blessed in the Empire … So, they must be here for you … or are you here for them?” He gulped, looking like what he just said right now was taboo. “They are coming back, right? W-will you channel the Goddess’s protection during the festival? To protect us?”

He didn’t know the reason but it seemed he understood the festivals weren’t just meant to appease people. I forced a smile, telling him I would be awaiting him to come on that day. He gulped and nodded, telling me he would get his family to join. I nodded back as he left.

Afterwards, the healing session continued until it was time for us to move.

32 human followers gained

Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 48476

Haa, please stop pinning your hopes onto me.

There were four stops we had it make before today ended—north, east, south, and west of the lower city. We were essentially making a round trip through the city, giving out [Prayer]s and white graces to promote the festival. It would be a very mana intensive day.

As we walked over to the next destination, I looked over to Haruka and Daichi.

“It’s not looking good,” Haruka said with an ill-looking face. “Aside from the preparations to keep all these people safe, we’re almost back in the red. Even if we consider Asaka-chan’s moonlight gel and your white flames as [Minor Heal], the costs are racking up. Why exactly are we doing this to ourselves?”

“Because it is equally as important to get the clergy on our side as to make sure the populace loves Hestia,” Ellaine answered from the side. “Besides, these people are fervent believers, and I want to remind you that white graces are important to repay. To a follower of the Light Goddess, a white grace is due to the hard-working priests and shrine maidens. If we do not pay, aren’t we disgracing Her?”

She used the realistic reason to force me to demand money for white grace back during my stay in Carine village, and she was now using the religious reason. I always found the idea of white graces weird, but now we were using it to our benefits. Actually to our advantage, unlike simply taking some pocket money.

“It is all about the aftermath, right? If we win,” Ellaine added. “The mud tsunami only destroyed one section of the city, so once the real fighting begins, this city will most likely not survive it, if we consider the scale. This money’s for afterwards, to gain the help of those trustworthy and willing to rebuild everything.”

“It’s the bribing money.” Daichi shrugged before pulling up the recorder. “And this is our propaganda material. Filming Hestia-san and then splicing it around for an interesting video. We have the ending under our control if we have enough material, and boom! Success—Owch!”

“Do not speak like that. Even the greatest generals would never believe a battle is won until the day is over, for it brings nothing but bad fortune.” Midirn came walking up after smacking Daichi’s back to silence him. “Hear this, I will bring victory to my princess. I will show Bole’Taria it is futile to challenge the land, sky, and oceans controlled by us dragonkin … but even I will never expect myself to survive this. Never be conceited in war.”

Daichi turned silent, probably remembering how we just lost somebody. I clapped his back, telling him it was okay.

I smiled and pointed at Midirn. “Just make sure you understand one order, okay?”

I then turned my fingers around to Tasianna, Shay, and Beth walking behind me.

“Our survival is all that is important for our lady,” Tasianna said.

[“Do not bring grief to Princess Hestia, Midirn.”] The twins were in sync.

The black dragonewt grinned awkwardly and nodded. “An order is an order. Do not worry, I am not planning on dying. I wish to revel in my future position as the general of the Loatryxian army and the head of the Kargryxmor dragonewt clan!” His eyes straightened. “… But, most importantly, please heed your own order, my princess. Your death would be the worst scar I would ever carry around, even more than the sting of that dragonslayer.”

I chuckled and snapped my fingers. “It’s too early for me to bow and exit from the stage.”

“Grryush karhun!”

Woah!

Out of nowhere, Midirn suddenly made some weird noises in Draconic. Growling that was almost incomprehensible entered my ears, and since I hadn’t mastered the language—or really practiced it outside of maybe speaking with Neill or Cernust every once in a while—I could barely make out what he said.

‘Grryush karhun?’ Uuuh, ‘free petals of the horizon?’

“Ruutshak mrrgkiek kalak-mralak orbtrk farhun. Krriieuh ghuurkkl hadruk grryush!” Midirn pounded his chest twice before bowing with his tail tucked in between his legs. “‘Flowing blossoms of the western skies, descend upon your path of fate. To color in fire or water lies in your resonating wingbeats; the strength to shoulder the twisting winds is the privilege and burden of the tyrants. Rise, crimson flame, blossom like the myriad of colors blanketing the western skies!’”

Everybody around me was stunned in shocked silence, even more when he gave us that flowery translation of what he said. I couldn’t make it out, but was what he said that dramatic?

Midirn coughed, massaging his throat a bit. “I apologize. I’m not used to throat singing at all. Really ruins the voice if you don’t do it correctly …”

“I-I see,”—I scratched my head, perturbed—“Then why did you do it? You could have said all that without needing to ‘sing.’”

“Because I felt it fitting, considering your passion, Princess Hestia. As you know, I, Midirn Rango Kargryxmor, will one day inherit the role as Loatryx’s grand marshal and general. Aside from military discipline, strategy and tactics, and logistics, I was also taught ways to motivate both soldiers and civilians. An army that can keep the mind of the people away from conflict creates a more efficient society. Besides, motivating and keeping the general of an army, or special elite force, in a good mood improves the chances of a successful operation.”

I felt a bit astonished when he told me that, feeling a bit ashamed that everybody has been trying to get me back on my feet after Akasht’s death. Also, singing? He probably took that cue from Neill considering she did the same! Even though neither really pleased my ears that much. It wasn’t even ‘cause of the throat singing, but Midirn’s raspy voice felt like a metal singer trying out growling for the first time.

Still, growling like that? You can’t exactly hear the words, but if I do it in draconic … Now that I think about it, was throat singing a normal thing in Loatryx? Not like I had heard anybody do it before Midirn. I pondered, thinking back on what Midirn said about appeasing dragonkin fans more.

I did try doing it by showing my dragon form in my last concert while dancing and flying; pretty much just showing myself off like a model. Well, all idols had to do some fanservice, so it was just part of the job.

When Midirn and the others began to wonder what I was thinking about, I just told them it was something for my future performances. “Anyways, I don’t know about your singing, but I will rely on you Midirn. As Yorshka’s former fellow squire, I expect a lot from you in the upcoming battle.”

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Midirn pounded his chest. “Rely on me, the [Black Bomber].”

Sheesh, hiehie, he is just a narcissist. I smiled, nodding contently.

I clapped. “Come on, enough! Let’s go!”

Once at the second area, we repeated the same performance, first a prayer and then a white grace session. Midway through, I was starting to get worried for Renee and Asaka, as they were already showing signs of fatigue. With constant dragorade, they should stay healthy but I hoped they wouldn’t overburden themselves.

Sadly, it came to that point by the third spot.

“My head …” Renee groaned silently, barely able to hide her twitching eyes by closing them.

I might have been the majority spender for [Prayer], but three casts and all of them being moderate probably wasn’t good for her health. The blessing of having such a high mana pool was that I could take over her portion.

Well, increase—Huh? I raised an eyebrow as I noticed the circle already glowing, a sign it was filled with mana. I then turned to Asaka who shook her head before turning to Fleindia. She simply nodded and stared at the crowd, probably telling me to continue the cast. As such, I did, continuing with the white grace before we all took a well-deserved break.

I turned to Asaka and Renee. “Fleindia and I can handle the rest if you two want. You two are already starting to turn blue around your necks.”

Asaka began touching the spots I pointed at before chortling. “Honestly, I consider this more a training since I probably will be the only healer during our portion of the fight. So much pressure …”

“Ahaha … I’m sorry,” I stated. “I know you don’t like it, but somebody has to stay behind to protect the citizens and as well as any idiotic knight who thinks they’re fighting on the ‘right’ side. You guys don’t need to join the last fight.”

The planning wasn’t done yet but we already had a place for the students in the raid and it wouldn’t involve them fighting the demonkin or their inner circle directly; instead, their responsibility were the citizens and any Knights of Aurena or clergy member. In other words, they would clear the way for us for our main members to charge in unbothered.

It was risky and something I felt annoyed about, but the students themselves volunteered for the task. Seeing Asaka say this was “training” didn’t ease my mind but it made it clear she was serious about it. Although, with a massive hint of anxiety.

I tightly tapped her shoulders, showing her a winning smile and a thumbs up. “Well, if it goes too badly, just scream like a harpy! I’ll fly over so quickly, you won’t be able to say ‘stew night!’”

“Yeah, yeah, and then make me feel bad that something is happening during the attack and that without you, they’ll be at a severe disadvantage. Sheesh, worry about yourself a bit.” Asaka gave me a shoulder tap in response before letting out a long sigh.

Renee looked disappointed at this and touched her neck. “How will we deal with the remaining Knights of Aurora? A good portion are on our side with Dame Kirstine acting as the leader, but we cannot be sure about the rest. Not to mention, demonkin could sneak into their ranks. I am still worried about Sir Royce.”

Considering Royce’s opinion on me, I did fear a number of the knights might stand in our way at the last moment. The issue was the fact that the Knight-Commander announced Yorshka as his successor, and since Royce was prideful, it might prove disadvantageous to us if we left him to roam around.

Even then, he and his entourage weren’t the only issue. What about the clergy who disliked me? The other cardinals must have their own reasons for working with the demonkin and that would drive them to come into conflict with us sooner or later. What was the most ideal solution to handle all of them?

“I can freeze the unwilling ones,” Tasianna suggested.

[“We can do that, and quickly,”] Shay added. [“No alarm and once thawed we can show our reasons to not unnecessary harm our mistress’s reputation.”]

“I agree!” From the side, Tatsuya came running up, showing us a thumbs up. “In fact, if we want to make it even more inconspicuous, let’s just use Hestia’s corrosive flames. Sensei told me you used to make sleeping gas, right?”

“Sheesh, why are all of you so gung-ho with this idea … but, yes, I used to. It’s just a bit more difficult now since the sleeping agent was made with [Poison Creation]. [Corrosive Fire] would still create volcanic gasses if I evaporated it, so you will need some of my holy fire to cure them, afterwards.”

“So it’s a plan!” Tatsuya grinned.

“No, it isn’t a plan, it’s just a suggestion. Bring it up during the evening.. Besides, what if something goes wrong? You would just antagonize the neutral parties, making it more difficult for your side.”

“Then let me.” Renee raised her hand. “I’ve been thinking, even if the final plan would have me participating in the battle since I am a Champion, the simple fact of the matter is that I am far weaker than the rest of you. Level 93 isn’t enough to make a difference, even with my improved skills. However … I’ve been trained to lead soldiers, execute tactics, and rally people.”

“You’ve shown it during the siege,” I said, vividly remembering how Renee led Elyonda’s garrison to defend against the grimgarian army just long enough for me to arrive. Not to mention how she was able to rally the terrified and downtrodden Yeosians to put their hope in us during the water zombie invasion. “… Now that I think about it, that might—”

“It is the best option, yes.” A woman’s voice finished my thought, prompting me to turn around to see Fleindia waving at us. She was sipping fulinoe tea. “At least one of us three should remain behind to keep the people calm and collected. You cannot, since you are the lynchpin of this entire operation, Hestia.”

Renee nodded. “Lady Fleindia is your backup. Only you two have a skill to protect the main raiding members from Yaldabaoth. We cannot afford to rely on [Air Shield] and [Auracoil] alone. I also worry some rogues might sneak up behind us and take hostages. Dame Kirstine and I can lead them, we can be the people’s beacon of hope.”

All her points made too much sense for me to argue against.

As we continued to the last spot after the break, I approached Fleindia to talk to.

“Would you like to take a break?” I asked.

She looked at me in surprise for a moment before touching her forehead. She then grasped her amulet of Aurena, playing with it while thinking. “No, I will be all right. I know you can handle this all by yourself, but there is a certain importance of me fulfilling my duty here. We are blessed, Hestia, and as such we must share our burdens in serving the Goddess. Leaving you to do everything … is unthinkable. We will do this. Together. End this, together.”

I was stunned as I saw her determined, unyielding eyes.

She continued, “I know the truth now, or at least what I needed to know. We, the Folschreck Empire, have let our guards down. We underestimated the demonkin’s resolve and willingness to turn their years of planning on its head just to destroy us. We thought this war would continue onwards through obvious confrontations, overlooking the shadows behind. The Goddess’s religion is in such a dire state because we left it to foul. We failed and we are paying the price; meanwhile, our gods understood this well while we were unable to perceive their intentions.”

She pulled her amulet off and handed it to me, pushing it close to my chest. “Which is why the Goddess brought you to us. I think … I think I understand now after what the diary told us. The animosity between the humans and demonkin has spread itself to our Goddess. We, as a religion, have always failed our Goddess. We were never able to understand her and, because of our arrogance and the hubristic thinking we did, we caused our current situation. The Folschreck Empire was created to combat the issues we, the Church of Aurena, made.”

“Why are you giving me your amulet?” I wondered, staring at the white-winged woman on it.

Fleindia then pulled out her second amulet, this one depicting a woman in full armor holding up a sword and crown. It was Erithia’s religious symbol. “Because I will place my trust in you, Hestia. You are our future. To rebuild the Church of Aurena in the image Her Holiness wanted … Like my Champion protecting me from death by telling me to abandon the cause. My life was saved by two Champions, so it is about time I repaid the debt. Cleansing Aureolis is only the first step, so how could I leave you to do everything?”

So that is her conviction to this … I see.

I reached my hand out, handing her amulet back. As she stared at my gesture, I shrugged. “I cannot be the one to lead it. This isn’t my place.”

After staying in Aureolis for nearly two weeks, I have come to the conclusion that, even if the people were to change, I couldn’t bring myself to be part of it. Akasht’s death brought to me despair but also a chance to understand I couldn’t and shouldn’t accept everything, even if I wanted to help. It wasn’t due to me becoming more cynical or tired of all the responsibilities placed on me but ‘cause I knew there was somebody better for this job.

I must fulfill Aurena’s Quest, yes, but as she told me, I was now a Peolyncian. My second life was mine to sculpt, and what I wanted was to continue traveling. I was an idol and I would continue traversing this road through the spikes and thorns.

“I can support you, and I will if you ask me, but I cannot be the one to plan it all. I can be the smile to help you through the hardships, but somebody has to become the new ‘pope’ and that person isn’t me.” I pushed the amulet back into Fleindia’s hands. “It’s you. Or, somebody you choose will be, but that person won’t be me. I can be the bright, smiling, shining idol you send to appease people while busting some monster skulls. That’s what I do best. You? You know the church the best; you know and want the best for it, and you can do it now with your own hands!”

“Y-yes, that might be true, but our goal is to have Aureolis and our religion be led by a blessed and you are—”

I interrupted her. “Noblesse oblige.”

“H-huh?”

“The duty of the betters to do what they must to help those below them. Like during the Binding Festival speech; you were in your element and I had followed yours and Theodore’s lead for the ritual to follow perfectly. I can’t do that. Even if I learned it, I wouldn’t be able to give everybody the same genuine fervor you showed. Mine would be played—an act. If you wish to achieve something, then you have to clutch onto it! Don’t make excuses. Perfection is an ideal, never the goal.”

Whether my motivational speech persuaded Fleindia or not didn’t matter, as the moment this was over, I would just love to get away from Aureolis. The aftermath wasn’t exactly my responsibility … I might tell myself that, but I knew exactly what my damn heart would force me to do.

Sometimes I really hate myself.

Regardless, the last performance for today went well and we could finally retire for the day until the evening, when the planning would begin. However, before then, I had a little “date.”

“My lady …” Tasianna frowned as I told everybody my plans to go alone. “I-I understand your intentions, but going alone is still a massive risk. We met the Warbringer. She could have made contact with him!”

Ellaine nodded. “Not to mention the potential for an ambush! If you go out first we won’t be able to arrive in time. Who knows where she ran off to?”

[“Allow us to guard you, my princess!”] Beth pleaded, joined by her brother.

Yet, I shook my head, sighing. “All your worries are normal since we don’t know enough of Vifi to fully trust her, but … this has to be the first step. I value your opinions, and that means I have to do the same for Grimnir.”

I turned to our always grumbling blacksmith, although he hadn’t done that in a while now. “Can I trust Vifi’Yok?”

He scoffed, shaking his head. “I swore my services to you, lass.”

I smiled and used my subspace nexus to forcibly open the portal to the pair of [Room] runes I instructed Grimnir to give Vifi this morning. I went through it alone as I intended before stopping my foot as I almost fell off a cliff and down into the ocean, ramming itself along the cliffside.

I clicked my tongue and turned around, only to not see anything but trees. I then turned my [Detection Sensor] on and only found one target a bit further away to my right. I looked in that direction where I saw a lone girl with the appearance of a human sitting on the cliff’s edge, staring at a large ice island in the distance.

This is Elyonda. I concluded, seeing as I could make out the body trapped inside an eternal ice prison. Karhalantheel’s corpse was sealed there by Mother during the siege of Elyonda.

I picked up the runes and went over to her.

You look so lonely …

“Hey,” I greeted.

“Yo, Donut.” She turned her head, her eyes showing annoyance at me being here. “Why did you want to speak with me? Ha, but I guess I can understand why. Just say it already and I can—”

“I am very sorry, Vifi.”

“Hmm?” Her head twitched, snapping her eyes to the side and back to me. Her look of befuddlement was a bit comical.

“For what I said, I mean. I know you accepted my accusations because that was our relationship back then, but the sarcasm made it clear I did hurt you.” My face contorted when I remembered what I told her after the demonkin terrorism. “I was angry and that led to me distrusting you with no real evidence. I … You made it clear why you can’t go back after deserting, and while I did act and tell you that you can trust me, it was all just an act. I didn’t. It showed the moment something bad happened and I blamed everything on you.”

I bent my back to bow to her.

“Y-you little shit!” Vifi shot up and stopped me, telling me to stand up straight. “Are you crazy? Don’t just bow like that for no fuckin’ reason.”

“This isn’t a ‘no reason.’ I hurt you, right? You can’t fool me, and you’re telling me that isn’t a reason?” I argued. “I blew up at you! I shouted and accused you for no reason, and you’re telling me I can’t say ‘I’m sorry?’”

“Yes!” she rebuked me. “‘Cause ya did nothing wrong! If I were in your shoes as the commander of an entire party, I would do exactly what ya did, ‘cause the survival of the entire group and the success of a mission hinges on every soldier upholding the mission. If ya think somebody is a tumor, you cut them off! That’s why I told ya all of that!”

“But I am not you!” I shouted. “I am not the sort of person to scream at somebody without any reason, because this isn’t me. You can think of me like the Prince of Wrath, but I am not. To me, you are just another person working with us for our goal and that means you have value aside from being a body to fight. Look! Why the fuck did you go all the way to Elyonda, then? Huh? … Although, now that I think about it, how the hell did you make it here in about a day? That’s impossible even with your speed.”

“I was already here …” she mumbled, causing me to ask her to elaborate. “I … Well, after you told me off, I visited Grimnir a bit and talked about it and he told me to relax a bit. Since nothing was stopping me, I just went back here … I liked the food, and the royal family has one of your runes, right? I snuck past them and just, you know, entered.”

“Don’t they have a mana barrier?”

“Did you already forget the damn jacket I’m wearing?” She pointed at the black coat hiding her figure and even her manatech arm. “The barrier detected me and I did cause an alarm but not like they could find me. The barrier around the royal castle was easy to escape from as well, and, well, they aren’t hiding the runes in the hardest place possible. It’s just in some random room in the palace behind a glass cabinet.”

… Reminder, tell the Yeosians off for this.

Vifi then shook her hand. “In any case, the entire point was that I had to go since my fellow Bole’Tarians were more active than I thought. Better to be far away than be found out, so I chose this place. The strategic value of Elyonda is zero at this point, considering Karhalantheel is dead and the city is in ruins, so I knew nobody would be here to find me. This is the best place I could think of to relax at without being too far away from a subspace rune and Aureolis.”

… She thought of it like that? … Wait, does that mean then—

“Why did you ask for my permission to leave then? You … don’t actually want to leave us, right?” I said, feeling like I finally understood something about Vifi.

Seeing her face move without getting an answer was all I needed to know that I was right.

I took a step back. “You’re lonely … But at the same time, you’re also a soldier. Your values are influenced by everything you learned in your life and … Wow, that makes me feel even worse. I … I should have told you about the funeral.”

She shook her head. “Grimnir already did. I wouldn’t have come, even if you asked. I know my position in Aurora and I didn’t want to make it awkward for them. Besides, I didn’t know Akasht well enough to feel anything”

“Well, unlike Grimnir, the rest of us haven’t exactly forced you to do something with us. We tolerated you but kept you at bay … Even then, when I did it, it was all about fighting and using you like a soldier. I didn’t treat you any better. Even the sweets and pastries were there to pacify you, as if you were just some beast. We should have talked.”

I looked at the [Room] runes I had picked up, stroking them to clean the dirt on them before handing them over to Vifi. She raised an eyebrow, not understanding what this meant.

“Vifi, I invite you formally to join Aurora as its sixth official member. I want to trust you. For real this time.”