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Chapter 439: Aurora’s Position Towards Carmaniate. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2023-08-04 03:08:16 +0000 UTC“I must choose, down the road that I wish to walk ♫
That others might condemn me ♫
To not fall flat in hypocrisy ♫
It’ll work itself out for now (The future will judge) ♫
I believe this is the way (don’t try to appease everybody) ♫
Maybe I am in the wrong (sins stain like blood) ♫
Lost in all those fears (what is right?!) ♫
But somebody has to— ♫
Break free, away from all this pain ♫
What can my life do before it all ends ♫
Burn all the hatred away ♫
Let them all know when I bring this wall down! ♫”
“Oh jeez …” Saori gasped as she watched a video recording of my performance on Chihiro’s birthday, hiding her mouth with her hand as her eyes sparkled in delight. “The dress, the lights, and look how you are swinging your hips, Hestia! Ahaha, you are really throwing around that [Tyrant Diva] Job you have! Oh, but do not forget you are still 16.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, oi!” I shouted, poking her shoulder as she chortled, pointing out how mature I looked and acted during my ballads or serious songs. “I mean … oooh, that’s what you meant. Oh, come on, it’s just part of the show. My wings and tail are part of my body, so moving them around is important. I can’t help how they look to others.”
“I am more curious why Tasianna or Ellaine are not participating. After I made those outfits for them, too!” Saori complained, before pulling them out of her storage. She pulled it up and placed it in front of a wry smiling Tasianna before sighing. “It would have looked so good on you.”
She’s cheerier than usual. Well, she loves being our fashion designer, so I guess her passion is just peeking through.
Tasianna showed a sheepish smile. “I had to take care of our new garden and also create a few alchemical stones for Grimnir using his new arcane crystals. It’s strange. Dwarves are physically unable to expel their mana from their bodies unless it is through a conduit like a weapon, but because of his blessing, he circumvents it by solidifying his mana into that crystal.”
When Grimnir showed his new abilities to us, it was baffling how he could just create temporary mana batteries that could be further refined to enhance his inventions. He still couldn’t cast spells or shoot out the mana, but having Grimnir show it to the dwarven craftsman was something. Even Tasianna couldn’t keep herself from being surprised.
The power of being a blessed.
Tasianna continued, “I know you’ve been away, Miss Saori, but you have to see what everybody has been doing. Ellaine, Daichi, and Grimnir are practically living inside the smithy, to the point Josine had to arrange beds for everybody to sleep inside, including for herself to stay close to her mistress! Even I wouldn’t have been able to accompany my lady if Rita and Cernust hadn’t told me they would take over my tasks.”
Saori turned silent, twitching her wolf ears. “I see you all have been busy. I apologize for not visiting the subspace during my absence.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I reassured her. “You had to lead over 1300 beastmen from Port Annencia all to the north of Artorias and then to Inkoran-Tazul. That is a long trip! I can’t imagine traveling with that many people! The food. The sanitation. And the possibility of feuds and cultural conflicts. I mean …”
I turned my head to the side, looking at the seats directly to our left inside the train’s inn cabin where I saw Shizar and a small group of her allies sitting silently together, drinking and eating on our tab. The leonid, rhinoncerum, and panthereon—all physically intimidating beastmen types— were eyeing everybody suspiciously.
Still, this was a dwarven inn. Food and drinks were being served to a bunch of dwarves, along with some elves and beastmen strangers also enjoying their time, so the place was still loud from all the people speaking a ton and laughing out loud. It was just a bit uncomfortable, as the seats around Shizar were unoccupied aside from ours, as the beastmen refugees scared others away. Nobody wanted to bother with some scary looking guys, I guess.
They’re eating with their hands, huh? Even though the utensils are right there in front of them? I silently judged, but didn’t speak it out loud. If they preferred eating their steaks and pie with their hands, then so be it. I used to do that, too.
“We had problems with all those, yes,” Saori agreed with my assessment. “Most of the funds for the trip came from them working in Port Annencia. The slaves were separated into workers, hunters, and soldiers—remember the lizardmen—and there are multiple tribes and racial clans amongst them, so getting along within the group was hard. Making sure the former beastmen soldiers didn’t get into trouble with guards, adventurers, or merchants took full surveillance from my shadow pack.”
[“Yup!”] Rajah shouted with pride, looking up as his head poked out from my shadow. [“Master! Master! It was so annoying! Mother was complaining about how often she had to silently trip or somehow stop a beastmen from confronting some random person! So annoying. Unfair, even! I wanted to be there with you having fun!”]
He was really enjoying the video recording. I petted his head and handed him some kebab, before turning my attention back to my party.
“That’s what I remember too …” Asaka, who was sipping on some ale, replied. “They were a real headache when I was around. I didn’t expect anything else. Enjoy the video Segawa, Haruka had to walk around to record everything so she wasn’t even able to enjoy it.”
As Haruka was maintaining the video recorder and recording whatever she found interesting, she practically had become our streamer and camera woman. Funnily enough, her scout training during her time at the Church of Aurena helped her move around silently and efficiently. The fact I could watch myself singing and dancing on my stage was all due to this recorder and Haruka dedicating herself to it.
She was still trying to replicate all the recordings so we could share it beyond having this one camera. That meant I could sell CDs and music albums after filming me singing! With how often Haruka had to use my [Crystal of the Divine System] to use the camera, it did reinforce just how good of a purchase that Crystal was … despite how much it cost.
Ahhhh, don’t remember the price! Ahhhh!
Well, regardless, I couldn’t wait for my CDs. Also, thinking about it was making me rue my idiotic past life. I should have just gone into streaming! Ahhhhh!
Calm mind, calm mind. Breathe in … breathe out.
As I was stopping my self-deprecation, I noticed Shay speaking.
[“Aren’t beastmen from Carmaniate also followers of the Rule of the Strong?”] he asked. [“Saori, you proved yourself as the strongest amongst them—the pack leader. When Asterios became the de facto leader of us wyverns, we did not question his actions. He led, we followed. They shouldn’t be causing you this much trouble.”]
Saori stared at Shay in silence with widened eyes. What was she speechless about?
[“… Is something the matter?”]
“A-ah, I apologize, that was rude, Shayatierus. I was not expecting you to speak this much. Usually, it would be your sister.”
[“Oooooh, that is totally understandable.”] Beth nodded [“Brother is always the silent type who watches, similar to that naga, Tehmrayn. Whenever we go to sleep after Her Highness, he usually expresses how—”]
[“Stop!”] Shay shouted, drowning out the next word Beth wanted to tell us. [“Keep our private talk out of this, Bethlieranha! Don’t bother Her Highness!”]
“He’s flustered,” Asaka stated.
I nodded. “I can see his face turning slightly red under his scales.”
[“Y-your Grace! I—Beth!”] The ice wyvern suddenly stood up and grabbed his sister by the horn, dragging her out of the cabin and pushing her into the next one, before returning to us. [“… I am full.”]
My goodness, Shay! Ahahaha! His sibling relation was even more awkward than mine, and he knew his sister for far longer than I did mine. I guess this was what happened when both of them were changing so much.
Once Beth returned after what felt like ten seconds, the rest of us finished our lunch and exited the dining cabin with Shizar and her group—much to the relief of the remaining customers inside. Our next destination was actually Shizar’s cabin, as we had something to talk about with them, and also ‘cause Belzac wanted us to do so.
“Princess Hestia!” On the way there, however, a dwarven man—probably one the younger side, considering his short beard—came running up to me the moment he spotted me, but was immediately stopped as Shay and Beth moved in front of me without a moment’s notice. He jerked back, looking scared as he was being stared down.
I tilted my head to the side to see him. “Heyo, how are you? Is there something you need?”
“I-I—” he stumbled on his words. “I—ahem—I attended your concert yesterday! That’s some new era Beats’N’Rocks if I ever heard about it! Me and the lads heard you ripping the strings back with Rosserto—Wraaaahaaaha!”
Although he didn’t have those stereotypical mohawks some rocker fans had, this particular rock fan still knew how to play the electrical air guitar while making the noises through his mouth. Ahh, the passion.
Sadly, Shay wasn’t as enthusiastic. [“You’re in the way.”]
Okay, that’s the Shay I used to know.
“Sorry, sorry!” Rattled, the dwarf coughed, clearing his slightly deep voice. “H-here, the thing is, can I have an autograph?”
“W-wait, did you just say autograph?” Now I was bewildered!
“Oh, right, you dragons aren’t up to date with what we Ankorans are doing, eh? Music stuff, yeah? Got it all down after Goddess Chihiro brought down the love of Beats’N’Rocks, making some absolute geniuses in the field! You see, autographs is when you write—”
“No, no, I know, I know! I’m in the bloody music industry, dude, of course I would know! An autograph is when you write your name on something, right? A signature. Mark it down for your fans to remember you and the moment for!”
“Damn straight, Princess!” The dwarf roared with little to no reservation. “Please! Know you’re royalty and all that, and bet the dragonewts, uh, yeah, the dragonewts will probably string me up on one of their floating houses, but I gotta have one! Got this feeling you’re gonna be a sensation!”
“Oh, Lady Hestia had already been performing a lot. She’s known in Artorias, Estralia, and Yeos,” Tasianna stated with a smile, walking up with her mouth slightly twitching in annoyance. “She already is a sensation, excuse you. As such—Shay, Beth?”
Both wyverns moved aside, opening the path for Tasianna and me. My maid moved to my side and bowed slightly, her slightly tensed face mellowed. I took this as a signal and smiled and strutted forward with giddy hands.
My first autograph! An actual autograph!
“Just for your information, I’m not a Beats’N’Rocks singer. As I said there and then, I am an idol—’your idol of the night!’ This is my genre and job! I sing and dance for your entertainment and smiles, that is what an idol does!” I corrected him. “My name is Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor. Don’t see me as a princess when I’m on stage, and I will give you a night your ears and eyes will never forget!”
I grinned, showing my fangs, before winking, flustering the dwarf into silence. He stood still like a statue, all petrified before I bent forward a bit, showing him a smile as our eyes met. His reddened face intensified to look like a tomato as he stumbled on his words, trying desperately to pull something out of his satchel. At the same time, I glanced to the side, noticing sounds of repressed voices from behind a cabin door.
Ahhh, so that’s how it is.
“I-I managed to buy one of your shirts!” He pulled out a white shirt with small flares of red on it, looking inspired by my white mage robe, while a black dragon head was placed on the chest area, spewing crimson fire around in a crescent moon shape. “Punker’s Paradise and the other rocker bands don’t sell shirts as merchandise, but ornaments and such. This is a bit ‘soft,’ but you gotta support your singer, right? Haha, can’t wear this anywhere with how white it is; a trip to the bar will just ruin it.”
Oh, that’s right.
I hadn’t thought of that when I ordered the merchandise, but he was right that the majority of my fans had pretty physical jobs. Back in Artorias and Estralia, most of my clothing sales came from nobles or merchants, people who didn’t have to worry about making too much of a mess. With the dwarves, elves, and probably the dragonewts and Caedhulens, even a smith or forest ranger might have the money to spend on something aside from food.
Amelia, Ellaine, and their parents probably hadn’t thought of this aspect as they mostly sold everything to Artorians. This dwarven man didn’t look too conspicuous, as he was wearing traveling wear a new adventurer or a merchant would be wearing. In addition, he was traveling with the train, and that cost money to ride on.
A ‘commoner’ in Ankor-Nazta has more spare cash than an Artorian or Estralian commoner, and most of them don’t want to ruin the pricey clothing we sell. What good are clothes if you can’t wear them?
I should note this down for future concert talks.
Regardless, this person was a fan. What was an idol who couldn’t do some fanservice? As such, I pulled out my mana pen from my storage.
“What is your name?”
“Hakus, Your Grace!”
“From your bright star in the Obsidian Orchestra. Thank you, Hakus, for giving me the support to shine as your idol! Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor~” I wrote with shivering hands, unable to help myself from biting my lips. I could hear my heart pounding in my head.
Jeez, my first autograph. Not a signature on a contract or whatever! An actual autograph to a real fan! T-this wasn’t even a concept I had introduced yet, but it seemed like Chihiro had already done it for the rockers. In fact, aside from the merchandise, performances, and the fact I was shouting what idolship was to me, I hadn’t done much to grow the idol culture I wanted Peolynca to adopt. I couldn’t believe this.
“Thank you!” he laughed, clenching his fingers as he turned the shirt around to read the signature. “‘From your bright star in the Orch—’”
“Excuse me!”
But before he could do so, the people from the cabin charged out. Two humans, one elf, and multiple dwarves ran out. All were men, sadly. Wished some were fangirls …
“E-excuse, us, your highne—Waoh!”
Shay and Beth moved in front of them, blocking their views from me.
“H-hey, we’re just like Hakus! We’re here for an auto—”
[“You will wait in line before your time comes. Her Highness is not done yet!”] Beth declared, before Tasianna moved up to her and agreed. I guess my bodyguards were doing their jobs—this felt like I was an actual idol with a whole group to protect me! … Even if I didn’t need it.
“… You planned this?” I said to Hekus.
“Ahaha, yeah … W-we saw you when we boarded the train. Didn’t want to annoy you,” he admitted. “No, but seriously, you gotta do more! The human said you’ve been doing a ton of singing back in Artorias, and I missed that time you played during the Binding festival. It’s really good, Your Highness!”
“Ehehe.” Now I was blushing. “Don’t you dare sell them.”
“If you keep on singing, I won’t! Those bard songs were something.”
I thought this train drive would just be a minor leisure and business trip, but the fact I was signing my own merchandise was beyond what I expected. Ahhhhh, shit, I should do more fan meetings! I needed to do this more often, no, I had an obligation to all the idols to do more of this!
After finishing a few more T-Shirts signings, I talked with a few of them about my songs and what they liked, earning me some mixed feedback. Some disliked my idols songs while loving my rock and hyper-energetic ones, while others were so enamored by my ballads that they felt my less-nuanced songs weren’t as interesting to listen to. All of them loved my geigler play though.
Yup, exactly what I expected.
Music taste was subjective and to expect fans to like everything was foolish. My music was extremely varied, as I dabbled in a ton of genres for the sake of my love for music, so not everything could be a hit. At the very least, the songs where I put a ton of effort into—like “Promise”—were the ones people universally loved.
Now skipping on our way back to Shizar’s cabin, my friends couldn’t help but notice how I felt about all of this.
“Extra bubbly right now, huh?” Asaka teased me.
I twirled around like a ballerina. “Oh? Trying to get a reaction from me? If you’re so interested, how about I drag you on the stage like what I’m planning with Fleindia? Share the fun?”
She grimaced, looking like she regretted asking. “Oh, hell no. Forget it! I’m not going on some stage to dance all cutely like you. It’s not my thing. Not even an idol fan. More into stuff like Rosserto, you know?”
“Rock, got it. Don’t worry, I know you’re not the type. Although … Hey, you mentioned wanting to do something with Kohaku and Kazumi. Any progress with that?” I brought up our talks after the first day of the summit.
“Oh, that. Yeah, it’s going pretty well, although Kazumi is proving to be the greatest writer, you know? Thought she would be with how her parents are into marketing.” Asaka wobbled her head from left to right to express her uneasiness. “It probably won’t be done by your next concert. You schedule them too quickly.”
“I have to! The Faith war plan has to hurry up!”
The more concerts, the more fans. The more performances, the more I could pay off my debts. The more people I could influence, the stronger my influence in the summit will be once I return.
This was the “Dragon Idol Tour.”
Huh, wow. I should call it that next time.
Putting aside myself fangirling over people fanboying about me, we stopped before Shizar’s cabin, where the four beastmen would be staying for the entire trip. Master, Shay, and Beth would be sleeping in the cabin next to them, while Asaka, Saori, Tasianna, and I were in one of the first-class ones. Speaking of Master, he was waiting for us in front of the door.
“Here you go.” Master handed me two wooden tablets. Despite being able to use the notes function on his party bracelet, he was still so old-fashioned.
“I thought you wanted to teach me. What are—Wait, multi-circle spells?” I identified from a quick glance, noticing instructions on the chant, form of the magic circles, and how many I needed to form them. “Hold on, are these two custom spells? Master, you didn’t just make two … [White Flames] and [Corrosive Fire]. You made spells for me?”
“Mhmm!” He nodded, smiling with pride. “Remember how I mentioned how cumbersome multi-circle spells are due to them taking up [Multi-Cast] slots?”
“You lectured me on how the technique was useful for those with empty vessel magics. That’s what [Sun, Consume All] was made with and derived to keep the white flame sun cheap to cast and more effective with its job as a supportive spell,” I answered like a diligent student. “And, from the look of it, you’re thinking of combining my two flame types into something new?”
“Just like [Ramuh]!”
“Using wind for precision and speed while fire keeps it from fizzling, then create lightning for the projectile and then boom! Oooh!” I snapped my fingers, looking at Master’s notes.
“[Corrosive Fire]’s obsidian fire might be interchangeable with [White Flames]’s ability to cleanse impurities. What would that result in? Crystal? Would it change the element of the spell? The damage type?” were his comments. The chant he created was a stand-in for me to alter.
In fact, he documented all his thoughts into this spell, to the point he needed two tablets for it. These weren’t separate spells, but a single one. Except for my first two custom spells and [Sun, Consume All], Master hadn’t needed to handhold me through the process, mostly ‘cause I ended up making most of my custom spells when he wasn’t around.
However, he just made a spell for me. I hadn’t intended to make a new one for a while, as I thought I had everything I needed for now.
“Master … thank you.” I clutched the tablets. “You really spoil me too much.”
“For my first proper students, I don’t think this is even close! Hahaha!” His joyful voice warmed my heart. He then looked over at Tasianna and Saori, nodding at them. “We have to make sure we do not lack anything for our future fights, my students. I demand all of you survive.”
“Of course!” We all agreed.
Master then told us he expected Tasianna and me to join him after dinner for another lesson, while Saori was left wanting, as her current master was Belzac, essentially. In any case, with this finished, we finally had the time to talk with Shizar. Once we sat down, Shizar immediately talked.
“You are interesting, Princess of Dragons.”
That came out of nowhere.
“Belzac’s Successor has told us a lot of what we had to expect from you. That you are her leader. That you are stronger?” She tilted her head to the side, letting her only bunny ear flop to the side. Her human face stared at me with a blank expression. “But you are still a priestess of the human loving Goddess. I do not understand how any of this is possible. You, a Champion of Light, and she, a soon-to-be Champion of Dark.”
“Because there is nothing wrong with it,” Saori replied. “There’s no real animosity between Goddess Aurena and God Marsven, only their followers.”
“Successor?”
It seemed Saori and Shizar hadn’t talked about this yet.
I shrugged, and followed along. “Goddess Aurena and God Marsven are daughter and father, respectively. Neither are on bad terms with each other; it’s only the Church of Aurena and the Church of Marsven that are hostile towards each other, not the gods themselves.”
Klea’Hatma, the archdemon of lust and a servant of the Edjurl Gods back in their world, would know the relationships of the gods, so long as she wasn’t lying. That said, Aurena had once told me she had no quarrel with Marsven and that she had tried to erase this misunderstanding before but failed. The God of Darkness wasn’t attempting to dispel the false info, though, as Aurena called him lazy and indifferent, so maybe that was why all of this was happening.
The three large beastmen next to Shizar jumped up, shouting, “Such blasphemy!” but were quickly intimidated into sitting back down by Shay and Beth. Seeing Shizar giving us a perplexed look, Saori pulled out the amulet Belzac was residing in.
[“They speak the truth,”] he answered for us. [“Goddess Edna told me they do not fight, even with the limited information I can get from the gods. I do not know if they are related, but I see no reason to dispute the dragoness. She would know best.”]
“Even the most devout Champions are limited by the fragility of their souls!” Shizar stated, but I just shook my head.
“My situation is different, and I don’t trust you enough to illuminate you on the details on how I know this. You can either take my word on it, or look at how Saori and I are best friends.”
Shizar squinted her eyes. “But you have obligations for your individual Churches. There are many God Marsven followers in Carmaniate, while we are at war with Folschreck, the bastion of Aurena’s people. There will be a time—”
“I don’t care.” Saori shut her up. “Hestia is my family. Goddess Edna forced me to become her Champion due to her promise to Belzac. Nothing more. There is no further responsibility I have to take. There are only three reasons why I am doing all of this—to cripple the grimgarian army, to gain Belzac’s teaching, and to protect my family in Aurora. Goddess Edna knows this, I have already told her as such. I will always take the side of my family—Aurora and the shadow pack—over yours, Shizar.”
Shizar leaned back, only looking slightly tenser than before. “All of this makes you sound like an enemy to Carmaniate. You told us you weren’t.”
“Because I am not. I am [Belzac’s Successor], and unless it goes against my values, I am also the [Ambassador of Grim]. My enemies are the people behind all of these conflicts, which includes the demonkin princes of Bole’Taria. I might only be a scholar of wars, but I know they aren’t about the people, they are caused by a conflict of ideals and the greed of those ruling above. You are a soldier, I am not; we don’t share the same enemies.”
“… That is true, Ma’am.” Shizar relented. “Still, I did what you wanted. Made sure my fellow soldiers know to respect our ‘guest givers,’ even if it cannot be enforced all the time. Now, though, I find it hard to work with someone affiliated with Aurena. Even if she is a dragon.”
“That I understand,” I chimed in.
“I do not mean it personally, I swear. I have nothing against you, but I just don’t understand what sort of Champion you are. Will you be a threat to all of us? Once the people hear about this, Carmaniate must answer, for a Champion of Edna and Saintess of Ilsaphone working under you shouldn’t be possible.”
“You really have to make it oooh so dramatic, huh?” Asaka clicked her tongue. “Fucking hell, you and all the rest of the soldier and shaman groups just have to make it all black and white. We won’t follow what you want. You will have to force us, ‘cause the gods can’t. The blessing they gave us? Ha! I can give it all up now, so Ilsaphone? Hey! You hear me? Can I work with Hestia?”
Jeez, I usurped all your blessings, the gods can’t do anything about them anymore and you know that … I smirked a bit, knowing Asaka was just being dramatic herself.
“Oh? I can?” Fittingly, she was acting along, gasping and intoning her voice. “I’m still her blessed. You got anything to say, huh? Want to check?”
Shizar and the beastmen group didn’t answer.
“Miss Shizar,” Tasianna stepped in to dispel the awkwardness. “Aurora works outside of national affiliations due to the status of Princess Hestia and Miss Saori’s lineages. We follow the whims of our leader, all to fulfill her Divine Quest. If you force Miss Soari into anything, you will have to deal with the hostility of God Kargryxmor’s descendant, and her draconic allies. You saw the dragonewts, no?”
She nodded.
“You will also have to deal with Loatryx’s clan Kargryxmor and Nordor. You will also have to deal with the second strongest dragon in the world, being able to permanently freeze another rank SS into eternal ice. You will rue the day Carmaniate even thinks they can force Miss Saori into anything!”
I technically had little political power and Mother probably wouldn’t help as it would go against our deal, but oh well, Tasianna just had to bluff! Also, considering the alliance was willing to ally with Carmaniate to fight Folschreck, this might be a bad move for the future of the alliance, but not a bad move for my own happiness. I didn’t want Carmaniate to destroy Folschreck and enslave their people.
Saori leaned forward. “Shizar, do you understand? Once this train stops on the other side, I will have fulfilled my obligation and that will be it. You can inform whomever you want to about me and what you learned, but remember what I told you today.”
She stood up and saluted. “I understand,” she answered, prompting the other beastmen to do the same.
With this, we have made our stance as religious representatives towards Carmaniate clear. Currently, we couldn’t deal with Carmaniate’s problems, as we had to put our complete attention on Aureolis, as Master said. This should give us the time needed.
After a week and a lot of stops, we finally made it to the most eastern dwarven hold, Hadjuk-Orn. It was similar to Inkoran-Tazul, as it was a hold city made on the side of the mountain, so it had a clear inside and outside. Due to the influence of the Empire and Carmaniate—to the north and south respectively—the city combined gothic European and central Asian architecture.
I had wanted to ask Vifi if she could give us a tour of the city, as she had been here once before, but she declined, telling us to just avoid the alleyways and the frontiers villages. “They are filled with criminals since the neutral zone near here is a haven for bandits,” she told us. The “neutral zone” is the area in between Hadjuk-Orn, the Empire, and Carmaniate, where no fighting may happen, at least according to dwarven accords with the latter two nations.
Once we found a decent place for Shizar and her allies to stay, everybody but Saori and her fenrir stayed behind. We teleported right back to Inkoran-Tazul with the nexus. Once again, fast travel OP, although Asaka was struck with [Arcane Corruption (Minor)] due to the huge mana cost.
“Urgh, I should have just taken the train back,” Asaka complained with a discolored face.
Tasianna, the wyverns, and Master had no issues, while the shadow pack could circumvent the requirement by staying inside my shadow. Also, I had Saori try to use [Shadow Dash] from one location to the next using the nexus—to test if she could use [Yomi] to snatch everybody and mass transport people through her shadows and avoid the mana cost—but the spell fizzled out when we tried it. We could not cheat the subspace this way, sadly.
In any case, following King Elutis’s advice, I had the beastmen enter the subspace. I then stepped through the portal leading back to Saori and opened the portal once again, letting the large cast of beastmen out. Allow me to reiterate—fast travel was fucking OP! As its owner, I didn’t even need to pay mana for the trip, ahaha!
<[Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood] effects on [Battle Frenzy]: [Flashfire] [Light Horizon] [Marine Lungs] [Soul Vision] [Defence of Beasts]>
<Defence of Beasts: Reduces the damage taken by monsters by 5%>
Oh, fuck you, Edna!
Well, Saori managed to fulfill her divine Quest and officially became Edna’s Champion, meaning her blessing was finally functional and I could usurp its ability. But, bloody hell, I knew it, the gods were circumventing my usurpation by giving me shitty skills. 5% damage reduction from monsters? My goodness, when would that 5% ever become relevant?
Saori, the responsible adult that she was, was willing to spend one day to assure the beastmen had a transport method back to their homes. With the letter from King Fugnarus, it also meant the local hold king knew what was happening and, hopefully, was willing to help. After she was done with this, she’d probably be going into training with Belzac to master her new unique Skill.
In any case, there was also another reason why we were here, and that was ‘cause I had to promote my next concert, this time including Hadjuk-Orn. This was the first concert on the Dragon Idol tour, and it was perfectly timed for the day after Origdiviel Arashan—Peolyncia’s version of Christmas.
<2358 human, beastman, elf, dwarf, half-elf, half-dwarf followers gained>
<Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 26691>
After finishing the concert, it was also time to begin the tour in earnest. The plan was to use the carriage as my transport method to visit towns and cities I hadn’t visited before, performing across the breadth of Artorias and Estralia while leaving [Room] stones in the care of the seven dukes of Artorias who hadn’t received them yet. This was to “unlock” more fast travel points, essentially.
With the plan ready, it was time to execute it.
“Thank you very much for everything, Inkoran-Tazul!” I shouted from the window of our RV. I patted its restored wooden walls, smiling as I felt the efforts the artisans of Inkoran-Tazul had given to rebuild it after it was demolished by Grimnir’s clan.
“Stop being melodramatic!” I heard Vifi from outside the door to Tasianna’s former garden. “You can literally just come back here through your damn nexus anytime. Get down here already! Tamae won’t let me eat unless you’re with us, so come on!”
And so began the Dragon Idol tour to assure the world of my faith war idea.
Wouldn’t all this traveling add up a ton of time? Yes, but the issue was my fight with the Prince of Envy couldn’t even be started yet, as it was literally the last month of the year. In other words, snow was falling and it was freezing. We had to let some time pass before we could do anything, including Saori’s wish to scout Aureolis out and proceed with some plans to assure everything went smoothly. As smoothly as possible, anyways.
However, before that, we had a problem.
[“Master … I don’t like this thing,”] Rajah declared as he looked down at a small rock golem.
Guugik! It raised its arms, making that rocky sound as if pebbles were falling.
… Rajah was jealous that I had a new pet in the form of Gravy.
[“Master, I must make sure it knows where it belongs. I will fight it now!”]
This cat …
