The Kingdom Of Diacis! Here we come!

I can’t wait to eat some food when I get there. Wait… don’t they have food here now?

“Oi, do you guys have some food? I’m starving here…” I say to Carmine.

“Um… It might not be possible because all the leftovers we had from the last time we camped got all dirty when the carriage flipped over… but we can hunt something when we stop for the night…” The Maid answers me in turn.

“No food then? Hah…” I sigh to myself.

“So, where are we right now? I don’t know much about the maps and stuff over here so…” I ask Carmine to tell me where we were right now.

“Right now… we are on the road leading back to Diacis from the Kingdom of Marcella. Actually, we also had some seafood in tow with us but we got attacked by monsters on the way so we had to dump it…” she says.

“You dumped it?! Why?!” I exclaim in disbelief.

“T-They were after the fish we had so… we were the ones at fault for bringing seafood on a journey without a way of guarding it completely.”

If their guards can guard them against monsters on their way back then what happened there that led to them being all knocked out?

“Your guards seem to be a bunch of weak butts…” I say to her.

“They are not weak. They are formidable in their duties but… I actually do not know what happened back there because I was in a daze… maybe they used something to weaken them?” Carmine says in return.

“Hmm? Weaken them? How? I didn’t see anything like that though…” I say to her.

“I guess we can only find out when we get to our mansion and hand them over to the knight’s order.” Carmine thinks to herself.

So they have a knight’s order here too?

I look out by opening the door a bit and find that the Bandits that I bound are still there and peacefully floating in the air behind our carriage.

“They seem peaceful don’t they…” I say to myself.

“Anyone would lose their confidence when something like that would happen to them. You crushed their spirits so much that they don’t even want to even move…” Carmine says.

I knew that though… if I were in their shoes the same thing would happen to me too…

By the way, when I bound them by that light I forgot to heal the ones without hands and the injured ones. I got out of the carriage earlier again and patched them up with a healing spell.

I couldn’t do anything about the half and half man though… I mean he was already dead.

Again, when I think about it… I didn’t feel a single thing when my claws went through his body and cut it in half.

Even though it was my first kill and it is said you feel it firsthand what disgust and psychological impact it follows. The person who does not feel it would not be considered normal or could be very hard spirits that could even go without thinking about it.

What am I then? Can I use these powers without any cost? Will I be able to keep using them without killing anyone? Can I use them for good?

Am I virtuous enough to use the gist given to me for the better?

I killed someone and I don’t feel a single thing. This can already prove that I am not a human anymore. Any human that kills another would feel something, wouldn’t they?

I cut off their hands, slashed them, blew off some hands, and tore apart a body. Even so, I don’t get the feeling of disgust from how gory it could be considered.

I may truly have lost my humanity…

“By the way, how are you so powerful? And you have wings too? I haven’t seen any beastman like you…” Carmine makes me snap back to reality.

“How am I strong? I was like this since I was born then… I got, even more, stronger after that… so yeah from the beginning!” I tell her.

“F-From the beginning I see…” she says back in a surprised yet confused tone.

“And what do you mean by beastman? I’m not a beastman… Twixie… what’s a beastman?” I ask Twixie who is sleeping soundly in my hood.

“Twixie!” I call out to her again.

“Khngg… Ah! Yes! I wasn’t sleeping!” she denies sleeping even though I haven’t said anything.

“You were sleeping though… anyway I wanted to ask what a beastman is,” I tell her.

“Hnngh… A beastman..? They’re one of the magical races…” she says as she rubs her eyes.

“I’m not a beastman right?” I ask twixie.

“Of course not… you have already transcended from the realm of races… I even told you before…” she replies.

“So there you have it. I’m not a beastman.” I say facing Carmine.

“But… what does she mean by that transcending thing…?” Carmine says as she tilts her head in confusion.

“Oh, that? That’s because I’m an Elder Dragon.” I reply to her immediately.

The carriage goes all quiet.

“W-What?” I ask.

“What did you just say?!” Carmine says in a loud voice.

Ehh~ Did I just drop a big bomb? Was I not supposed to say that?

“Master! You shouldn’t be this blunt! You could’ve stopped her heart!” Twixie warns me from under the hood.

“A-Are you really an Elder Dragon?” Carmine asks once again.

“I heard from Twixie that no one dares to say that they are an Elder dragon. Someone only says it if they are one so doesn’t that prove the point? Or do you want to appraise me instead?” I ask Carmine.

I appraise her and find out that she has the Appraisal skill too. I wonder why?

“A-Appraise? Would I even be able to?” Carmine replies back.

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I turn my attention towards Twixie.

“Twixie? Would she?” I ask Twixie again.

“Probably. If you give her permission to. No one would be able to forcefully do it because you overpower them In every way.”

“Then have a go at it. Maybe I should take off the mask too?” I say.

I take off my mask and put it down on the seat and look up.

“!” A gasp comes out of the maid’s mouth.

When I look a bit closer…

Is she... blushing?

Oi! I don’t want a yuri here! I’m a girl you know!

Not that I wanted to acknowledge that.

Both of their faces look pale. Could it be because of my Aura that Twixie was talking about?

“Go on. Do it.” I say again.

“O-Okay…” carmine straightens up and looks toward me with a nervous gaze.

“[Appraise]” Carmine says.

So she has to say it? I guess I’m the only one who can use it with such ease.

“Lady Velkra… I’m absolutely ashamed for all the rudeness I may have shown you…” after some moments Carmine Says this as she lowers her head.

The maid follows after her and bows down.

“Hey hey! Lift your heads! I’m not some royalty here!” I say back in a hurry.

“No Lady Velkra. Every Elder Dragon is considered to be royalty wherever they may go. Hence I must treat you like one.” Carmine say back to me.

Come on! I don’t wanna be in this heavy situation!

“Then let me tell you something, Do not inform anyone of my identity, my name is fine but do not reveal that I am an Elder Dragon. And yeah, I order you to stop with all this nonsense of treating me like royalty.” I say back In a stern voice.

“As you wish, Lady Velkra.” Carmine Replies.

That was easy...

After saying that she and her maid lift their heads up and look at me, still taken aback by something.

“What?” I ask.

“I wondered how someone could be as beautiful as you are, but it wouldn’t be weird if elder dragons and their human forms were this gorgeous,” Carmine says in an admiring tone.

“I-I see, Thanks.” I thank her for the compliment.

“Looks like it is going to be dark soon. We should be stopping nearby for a camp.” Carmine says as she looks out of the door window.

I wonder how long it would take for us to get to Diacis.

“How far are we from Diacis by the way?” I ask Carmine.

The maid is still looking at me with a fixed gaze not saying anything.

“Maybe a day or so?” Carmine says back.

It’s gonna take a day or more to get there?!

I guess it can’t be helped without trains and cars.

But…

“Oi Carmine, make her say something.” I point at the maid sitting quietly and staring at me.

“Ohe she is always like this. She likes to stay quiet in front of guests. She likes to speak when we are alone. Come on, Felia say something.” She prods her maid to say something.

“How could I say something when I have someone this beautiful in front of my lowly eyes…” Felia says back.

Have I awakened something weird in her?! What does she mean by lowly?!

I slowly move my hand toward my mask and rapidly donk it on my face.

“Aw~”

What did I hear just now?! Did she just Aw me?!

“Your maid is being weird…” I say to Carmine.

“Come on Felia… You’re going to make Lady Velkra uncomfortable.” Carmine says to Felia.

“But-“ She tries to say something.

“No buts! Stop being weird!” I say to her cutting what she was going to say.

I definitely don’t want a girl simping over me.

Some time had passed during these events because it had gotten quite dark outside and the carriage was being brought to a stop.

“Lady Carmine. We have to make a stop here and camp…” Lucius the head guard opens the door and pokes his head in.

“Lucius. Introduce yourself first to Lady Velkra.” Carmine says in a stern tone.

“Oh. Forgive my rudeness Lady Velkra, I am Lucius Welker, The head guard of The order of Personal Guards that protect Milady.” He introduces himself by putting a hand to his chest and bowing his head a little.

I don’t know noble etiquettes but… I should say something back in a polite manner…

“Nice to meet you, Lucius. My name is Velkra.” I say back trying to sound as polite.

“It has been a pleasure to have met you. I hereby thank you as a representative of us five guards for saving our lives.” Lucius says.

“I don’t mind. I was passing by here anyway…” I say back.

“Is that so?” Lucius says.

“Yeah, that’s it,” I say back.

“Then we will set up camp for our stop. Ladies, please wait in the carriage.” Lucius informs us that they are going to set up camp.

A while goes by as we sit in silence before he comes back.

“The camp has been set up. Please follow me.” He pokes his head from the gate.

We get out of the carriage and go around to see two camps.

“Why are there only two?” I ask him.

“Unfortunately the camps we had in store were damaged from the monster attack from before… so these are the only ones we have. Lady Velkra and Lady Carmine can Use these and we can sleep outside on watch for monsters.” He says.

They are going to sleep outside? Come on. They won't be able to sleep in the open air like this…

“Hey, Twixie” I call out to Twixie sleeping in my hood.

She got awfully sleepy since it has gotten dark.

“hmm…? What?” A reply comes from within.

“Can’t we do something about the monsters at night? They would have to sleep while keeping a watch.” I ask Twixie.

“Just put up a barrier around the camp… it would be under your special skills… the stars one…” she says in a sleepy voice.

A barrier? Under my skill?

The angel of stars one?

There are subskills under special skills too?

I look through my skills and find that indeed was true.

There was a subskill called [Dome of Falling Stars] in there. I could give It any attribute I wanted to just by thinking about it. Talk about too handy.

“Wait here, guys…” I say to everyone.

“What are you doing Lady Velkra?” Lucius asks as I walk to the center of the camp.

“Just wait and see…” I say back.

I arrive at the center of the camp and think about what attribute I want to give the barrier.

No entry? That could work. No one would be able to enter if I put up with this.

I’ve seen enough anime and read enough manga and novels to imagine how a barrier would work.

Should I put my hand down on the ground? It’s Dome of Stars after all so it would go up like a dome.

I place my hand on the ground and…

[Dome of Falling Stars]

I say that in my mind.

At that moment a dome small as a half tennis ball appears in my hand.

Why is it so small?

Should I imagine it bigger? Give it more mana?

I imagine it getting bigger and surprisingly, it did get bigger like that.

Once the barrier got big enough that It covered everything, I lifted my hand up and looked behind me.

All of them are standing there frozen. Staring up.

What’s up there?

I look up.

“Wha-?!” I say that instinctively.

I see shooting stars. They are not in the sky but in the layer of the barrier. They glow and disappear. Lines of stars come and go by. It’s like a holographic screen.

I have never seen shooting stars before so this was breathtaking.

“M-Miraculous,” Carmine says.

“I know this is surprising… it’s new for me too… but let's get to sleep…” I say in a low voice.

“This is a barrier I put up to prevent any monster attacks. So you guys don’t have to worry about keeping watch anymore. You guys can use the tent there and Carmine Can use that one.” I say to the guards still staring up.

“But… Where will you go Lady Velkra?” Carmine asks me.

“I can sleep outside…” I say back.

“I am definitely not going to let that happen. The tent is big enough for three people so you would sleep with me and Felia.” Carmine says that in a stern tone.

“O-Okay…”

Being in a closed space with two girls?! Why?!

This is a privilege yet a nightmare itself!

Please! Don’t!

I plead to myself but struggling won’t work as Carmine is practically dragging me by my hand into the tent.

We go inside the tent.

“Lady Velkra, Please wear this…” Felia says as she hands out a nightgown.

“This actually fits you so you can have it…” Carmine says.

“Do I really have to wear this?! I can sleep like this you know!” I say back.

“Absolutely not. You will wear this for comfort.” Carmine says as she closes up on my face.

No! Definitely not!

Though I said that but they made me wear it anyway.

“You have a perfect figure don’t you Lady Velkra?” Carmine says as we are lying down now.

What is this? Girls Talk?

Come on…

“Thanks I guess?” I try to sound flattered.

“Where have you been all this time Lady Velkra?” Carmine asks me again.

Honestly...

“I was just born the other day…” I say to Carmine.

“You say some unbelievable things…” Carmine says.

“You can choose to believe it or not,” I say back

The maid is sleeping now.

Twixie is sleeping sound on my pillow snuggling up in my hair. Still.

“You should sleep now. This day must have been exhausting for you guys…” I say to Carmine.

“Honestly, Lady Velkra… it was… I’m addressing you informally now because you have permitted it but I wouldn’t have done this…” she changes the subject.

“Just don’t tell anyone about me. I want to live a peaceful life free from conflict.” I say to Carmine now dozing off.

“I definitely will keep my promise….” She says that as she dozes off and closes her eyes.

Hah~ this is exhausting.

Honestly, I’m glad I put up this barrier.

I can still sense some very bad monsters in the vicinity. About a hundred in 300 hundred meters. Definitely dangerous.

I don’t know if the guards could handle them or not because the only ones I’ve fought are those two in the cave.

I definitely don’t have experience with monsters. Neither do I have experience in combat.

I got my powers from the get-go and I did not work for them.

It would be very stupid to think that I could be the strongest in the world. These are the flags, once you let down your guard enough and someone stronger than you will get the reward of taking you out. I've seen this happen many times in novels and mangas.

I can’t refute the point that all the fantasy knowledge that I have is from anime, mangas, and novels. Where else would you get them?

I’m thinking deep into this anyway and it’s very late now.

I gotta go to sleep now.