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Chapter 376: Oh, How I Missed Our Hot Springs. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2022-12-10 02:43:54 +0000 UTCEdit: Ellaine's Profile update after being away from Hestia added at the end.
Edit 2: Continuity error fixed.
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“Here.”
Ellaine handed to me something that appeared to look like an egg. This beige, spotted “egg” felt warm to the touch, but its shell was rough like sandpaper. Rubbing on it with my shoulder irritated my human skin, and knocking on it caused a deep rocky sound. I did not expect this.
“This is your aberration?”
An [Aberration of Indulgence], also known as a demonic soul core, was in my hands right now. To be precise, it was the former aberration of the Demonkin Prince of Envy, which I had usurped during our stay in Estralia. Meaning, the Prince of Envy had lost one of his insurances were he to die.
Klea’Hatma had suggested to Ellaine to use it to ensure her life, since she was the only one from Aurora able to use it, even if only when she was in her [Assimilation] form. It was like that vampiric necklace we found in that dungeon—it acted as another life for Ellaine were she to receive fatal damage… Although, hopefully she wouldn’t go out of her way to get beheaded again.
Ellaine nodded, caressing the egg with a small smile. “Well, pretty much. Klea told me the aberration usually forms around the owner’s deepest wishes with a touch of the sin type. Since mine is lust, I presumed it would be something… Klea-like.”
“… An egg, huh? I guess it has something to do with birth or something?” I scratched my head at the weird explanation. I honestly thought it would be like its former form—an eyeball monster. “… And you’re saying the demon hadn’t spoken to you after you decided to tether your mana to this thing?”
The smile Ellaine had instantly vanished as I mentioned that, causing her to sigh as she took back the egg. While caressing it, her eyes looked down on the ground, genuinely saddened at what I said.
“Klea did mention she could store her mana in the aberration to grow back into her real form, but the Goddess would just smite her if she were to do so. However, when I finally decided to use the aberration as a weapon for myself, Klea just… she went silent. It’s been weeks.” Ellaine looked at her mana rings, where Klea’Hatma’s mana should have been stored. “I thought she would return, so I’ve been going on with my life. I couldn’t exactly abandon Master as his apprentice when he needed help, and worrying about Klea wouldn’t make sense since she is stuck with me.”
Her arm then darkened in color, forming her right hand into a massive claw. “But, as you can see, I can still use my demonic powers. We made the H.E.S … I apologize, the suit armor to accommodate and hide my demonic powers. With all the misunderstandings surrounding Master, I can now be a real threat whenever I want. Although, I’m still only level 80… Well, I’ll worry about leveling more once I cannot improve myself even further with my current training regiment.”
The students, Ellaine, and Grimnir all managed to level up a bit while they were here, but they were still nowhere close to those who participated in the war effort. And with Saori training with Belzac and off hunting that grimgarian army, the Grimnir group were practically the only ones who are still needed to power level. Tasianna wasn’t level 100, either, but she only needed five more levels to break into the rank A tier.
“I know what you are thinking, Hestia.” Ellaine caught my attention. “I still keep your words close to my heart. ‘Stats aren’t everything.’ I know that after traveling for this long, so don’t worry. For the upcoming operation, I will be reliable.”
I smiled wryly as I heard those confident words from her, before shaking my head. “You’ve been reliable ever since Griffonpeak, Ellaine. Don’t demean what you did back then and during your fight against that Warbringer in Estralia. You are a member of Aurora, and that means I can trust my back to you whenever!”
Ellaine widened her eyes, taken aback by my words. “… Something happened after visiting Yeos, right? You seem… more radiant. More regal, to the point I believe you share almost the same aura as His Majesty.”
Well, that was my cue for a story time. However, first, my people needed to take a break and we had other people to meet, so I opened my subspace. Everybody except Grimnir headed inside for a break..
Once there, we checked up on Haruka, Misaki, and Tamae. The three girls were taken care of by Svena and the other members of the staff inside my subspace—bringing them food and clothes—while Daichi and Nishio were both sent to the infirmary, still sleeping off their injuries. Seeing everybody okay, Kazumi, Kohaku, and Ellaine were fully relieved and this allowed us to just take a moment to speak about what happened… in the hot springs.
“Woooooo! Hot springs!” I cheered as I took a dip into the warm waters after a nice scrub, relishing how rejuvenating it felt to let the water permeate around my skin and scales after my shedding session. I touched my chest, feeling the empty space where my core usually sat, noticing how it was slowly regrowing.
Sadly, this was a natural occurrence, like growing your hair and nails out, so there weren’t any practical ways to speed up the growth. Even Neill still needed time to regrow her broken kirin horn. It would take awhile for me to return to my top form.
“Yeaaaaaaah! Feels good to be back here with everybody. Only missing Asaka-san and Sensei.” Kohaku stretched as she entered the baths, before submerging everything but her head. Her black-red tinted hair waved around with the water.
Kazumi nodded to her best friend’s opinion, shaking both her katzune ears and tail as she poured a bucket full of water on her head. She then stood up and walked over to the bath’s edge, clapping happily. “Yeah, yeah, a private one feels the best. The ones the dwarves manage aren’t bad per se, but I really didn’t like how they were so, whatchacallit, looky. They really don’t know proper hot springs etiquette.”
“We could start by being a bit more quiet, Kazumi-chan,” Misaki chimed in, prompting Kazumi to apologize for raising her voice. “Don’t forget, Chihiro didn’t introduce hot springs to the dwarves. They found them themselves, so their etiquette would of course be different from us Japanese. But … ooooh, two weeks of being stuck in that stupid cell.”
The stoic brunette stroked her slightly feeble-looking left arm, massaging it. She then took in a deep breath, moaning before resting her head on the bath’s edge. “… Those Luedbrumdar will pay. It took so long to build up the proper muscles for archery, and they just had to ruin it by giving us nothing but scraps to eat and no way to stretch our muscles. Tsk!”
Seeing Misaki so aggravated was such a rare sight, in fact, I was pretty sure this was the first time when she really let out any of her frustration in front of me. Then again, it was understandable since archery was very important to her, and not just ‘cause she needed it to defend herself. A professional athlete who lived and breathed her sport; I guess you call my obsession with being an idol similar to her’s. I would definitely be mad if somebody damaged my vocal chords or hearing.
“Sorry about that. I should have noticed something was up sooner,” I told her, even though I technically couldn’t have done anything since I was unconscious for nearly two weeks.
“Don’t be, Hesti-chan.”
I turned my head around to the voice, noticing Tamae and Haruka covering their drenched bodies with towels, before they submerged themselves into the hot spring. Just like Misaki, both moaned pretty timidly, letting the stress of their imprisonment out.
“This was our task and we wanted to help Grimnir out, so if we got ourselves in trouble, it should have been ours to solve.” Tamae showed me a thumbs up and wide smile to encourage me, before putting her purple hair into a bun to not let it land in the water. “Still, thank you very much for saving us … Oooh, still, I do wish we could have done something.”
Haruka nodded sheepishly, her eyes downcasted. “… Being weak really sucks. Here I thought I wouldn’t have to fight and could just manage being a supportive member. Unless I want to NEET it out inside the subspace, I really have to become stronger, somehow.”
Haruka …
Haruka had a pretty strong fear of blood, which made it impossible for her to fight properly. Which was a shame since her petite frame and quick-thinking would have made her into a good scout. She had performed those roles before she joined Aurora, but it seemed she was reconsidering things right now.
“… I can feel you, Haruka-chan. I want to shoot an arrow through those prison guards’ eyes right about now.”
I snapped my head over to Misaki as she said that, wondering if her inner beast was unleashed after two weeks inside that prison cell. Then again, Haruka did tell me how the Edgesworns practically tortured them to spill information on Earth’s tech. The boys—Daichi and Nishio—especially were beaten up, while the girls couldn’t do anything but watch. If that were to happen to me, I would be pretty furious.
“Please, nothing as violent. His Majesty still has to attend the summit …”
The final two were finally done with their showers. First to enter the baths was Ellaine, who did it properly, while a humanized Beth followed up by nearly diving into the baths, forcing me to catch her before she sent everything flying like a fountain. Once we emerged from the waters, I coughed up some water from my lungs and literally threw the wyverns out of the place.
“Beth! Just because you look like that doesn't mean you can just jump in! Control yourselves!” I lectured Beth, causing the wyvern woman to smile wryly while in her [Humanize (Moderate)] form. I knew it; she really was acting far more unleashed after she leveled [Humanize] up to level 10.
[“Bethlieranha, do not inconvenience our Young Mistress!”] From the other side of the hot springs, we could all hear Shay scolded his younger twin, causing the latter to freeze up.
… Maybe I should add a soundproof wall. The boys probably heard everything. I shook my head to get the image of Tatsuya and Kyouya just sitting in the water, all naked, while listening to everything we girls were doing and saying. I felt relieved that they hadn’t said anything yet.
Once we settled down, Beth and I entered the baths again. We girls then enjoyed a moment of reprieve, before we all started to feel restless at what Ellaine had said before Beth nearly dive bombed us. “His Majesty still has to attend the summit,” she said, implying King Drangleic and the impending alliance between Artorias and the dwarves.
I stared up as I realized what I had done today. Sure, I knew this was part of the consequences of my actions to free my friends, but goodness, what would be my excuse? I felt so confident I could deal with everything, but just imagining the dwarven high king glaring at me made me feel so small. Then again, I didn’t even know what he looked like, so maybe he wouldn’t be so scary.
To clear up my mind, I asked the girls if they wanted a recap of what happened in Yeos, to which they agreed. The boys already knew about it, and we could always explain things to Daichi and Nishio afterwards.
After a pretty long winded retelling of everything—since I spoke too much about my sister, apparently—everybody, outside of Ellaine, felt like things were a bit too crazy. They mentioned how we had just met the Warbringer girl, Vifi’Yok, in Estralia, but she just reappeared again in Yeos. Sure, it sounded weird, but it would have been weirder if she wasn’t there, considering the demonkin wanted to destroy the Champion of Yeostar.
Speaking about her, Ellaine and the students did question why I decided to let her live, considering she could become a future enemy again. As I told everybody else, it was just a spur of the moment decision. Watching her care so much about her subordinate, how she loved my donuts, and how she wanted to repay Amelia for the free donuts by saving her, it all accumulated to me thinking “What if we didn’t meet like this.” It also didn’t help Mother’s memories and hatred for war had influenced me a bit.
Vifi’Yok just reminded me of any other girl, albeit one with a more military background. As Neill said, it was my decision to save her—she had already accepted her death. I had to stand up and accept the consequences of my actions when they eventually came back to bite me. Crying about it was as productive as my other half wanting to make me forget about my past.
She probably heard that … Oops.
“So that is why you wanted to speak with Klea,” Ellaine figured it out after my story. “[Original Sin: Demiurge] and [Original Sin: Satanael]… Klea did mention the original sin abilities to me. She told me that, if I wanted to unlock mine, I had to reach [Okl’Luthier’s Power Lv. 9]. It would be good if we could learn more about these abilities, but…”
“But Klea isn’t awake, right now,” she probably wanted to say. It was really inconvenient that I couldn’t discuss things with her, considering she was our safest source of demonkin intel. If Ellaine had no idea about the demon, then Aurena probably would… If only she or any god would just speak with me. Or could. They have been silent since the Elyonda siege.
In any case, nothing could be done about that, so we decided to turn the subject to my unique Job. Since they knew I would get mine after finishing the divine Quest in Elyonda, they had a lot of questions. However, they were even more fascinated about Tatsuya’s and Kyouya’s recent improvements.
It took quite some time for me to explain the whole unique Job system to them, to the point we had to get out of the hot spring before everybody overheated. Once we cleaned up and put our clothes back on, everybody, including the boys, went into the living room. There we finished our talks.
“Yeah, pretty much don’t trust vampires. Most of them act so holier-than-thou, I thought I was attending one of those parties the school usually hosts for our parents.” Tatsuya complained about his stay in Purchigchia.
“Then again, our training with Asaka and Sensei probably wasn’t better. I mean, didn’t Sensei see everything about our past? Even that embarrassing part?” Kyouya’s face turned slightly red, reminding us how Belzac placed the boys into a memory sphere or something. Saori’s group had to apparently face their past.
“Yeah …” Tatsuya suddenly turned towards me. “Say, Hestia-san… you mentioned how you met your ‘past self’ in that demon thing, right? Well, I don’t want to bring back any bad memories but… your black hair? Is your current face similar to your past life’s?”
Tatsuya was trying to be considerate, seeing as I committed suicide back on Earth. It was nice of him, sure, since it was a pretty sore topic. I hadn’t actually talked about it with Tasianna or Sis, yet, since I wasn't really okay speaking about it back then. It made sense with the students since we shared being from Earth. It felt easier to talk to them about it… although Ellaine, Shay, Beth, Svena, and Josine knew about it now, too.
Suicide—it was not a good topic to talk about. The students were being helpful, and it helped me deal with it better. Still, they didn’t know how to encroach the topic the correct way, and nor did Ellaine. It was awkward, after all, and not a truth that was easy to swallow. Still, as I mentioned before, crying over my past actions wasn’t productive.
“Yup.” I confirmed Tatsuya’s question. “I saw her—my—face. Outside of our hair colors differing, we look exactly alike. So, yes, if I was still my Earth self, I would look exactly like this. I’m cute, right?”
“Y-yea— s-sure. Mhmm.” Tatsuya nodded all flustered, prompting me to feel a bit speechless. I didn’t think he would be that shy. “Ahem, t-that’s the not the question. Ahem! I mean, since you got some of your memories back, can you tell, uhm, have we met before?”
Now I had to scratch my head. What was he saying?
“… The first time we met, you told me you didn’t know me, and now you’re asking me if we’ve met before? Tatsuya, the last time I checked, I was the amnesiac.”
Tatsuya didn’t seem too convinced by my answer, but he had to agree it sounded pretty weird. Kyouya even chimed in that they should leave it, since bringing up past memories probably wouldn’t be too good. I did want to know more about myself, so unless Tatsuya could give me a concrete answer, I couldn’t help him. At least, I couldn’t remember somebody like Tatsuya being my friend in the past.
Regardless, once we were done with this discussion, we returned to the main subject—what happened to have caused all this drama with the dwarves. As Haruka had explained, all of this started after the Luedbrumdar clan’s leader had played around with the wording of his deal with Grimnir.
The blacksmithing competition was won using Ellaine’s new armor, meaning Grimnir should have gained access to his cousin’s old workshop. However, since the deal had technically only included access to the workshop, and not the tools, the clan leader had the workshop emptied beforehand. Technically, it was all by the letter of the original deal, but it was clear this competition was done in bad faith. Regardless of the wording of the deal, this was such a legalist way to conclude things.
“Master told us we couldn’t do anything. While dishonorable, you couldn’t punish somebody for that since it followed the rules,” Ellaine explained, but I had to bring up how dwarves valued honor and such. “They do, yes, that’s where all this ‘zuekluk’ comes from. But, at the end of the day, honor cannot be enforced, only the law. Being honorable amongst dwarves is all a social construct, like being a knight is. People expect you to be honorable, but you need to decide if you care about it.”
While Ellaine had a pretty tight moral compass, to the point she would disagree with a plan if I were to break a law, she could still view it from a more objective viewpoint. What she said made sense, after all. The law technically wasn’t broken, and Grimnir had obtained his part of the bargaining.
As such, Grimnir decided to compete once more, this time making sure the Nishio, Kazumi, and Haruka took a proper look over it. They might not be lawyers, but they had learned how to keep an eye out from their parents.
Which, begged the question why Maagneil, the clan leader, even accepted it this time? Well, since he hated Grimnir, it was easy for him to be taunted into accepting it. It all looked well, up until Daichi burned the clan leader’s second son’s beard off due to a fight. The son, Grimnir’s second cousin and Broggi’s brother, ridiculed Grimnir, which tipped the hot-blooded Daichi over the fence.
“Daichi was beaten up afterwards, but Mister Jadhund managed to stop it before it escalated,” Haruka continued the story after she gave me the summary. “However, he was also a witness to everything… Daichi accepted the punishment but… we didn’t want to. Grimnir stubbornly tried to stop everything.”
“I guess you could say this was what Jadhund meant with ‘two sides of the story.’” Kohaku shrugged. “Still, we might have protested, but that didn’t mean they could just treat us like that! We wanted to speak with the hold king, solve this in a better manner, but, oh no, the clan’s supporters in the city guard just ambushed us! They tried to silence us!”
Tamae gave me a less emotional recounting of it, since most of the girls were beyond livid at what happened. She explained that after they made their initial disagreement to the verdict—ten years of prison for burning down a stupid beard—Grimnir insulted the clan leader in front of everybody, calling him a coward and stickler to the past. In addition, Grimnir even spat out his usual Bleidla rant, which infuriated even more people.
This probably got leaked, and when they heard the students would petition the hold king to resolve it, those loyal and appreciative to the clan attacked them. Both members of the guard and the Edgesworns took things in their own hand and captured the students, with only Kohaku and Kazumi escaping with Jadhund’s help. Once the news got to Ellaine and Grimnir, who wanted to bide their time and win the second competition first, they confronted the clan leader.
However, it was, naturally, too late as the messengers were sent by Maagneil. Threatened and surrounded, those two couldn’t do anything but give up and return to the forge, where they were imprisoned until the competition began. It was essential black mail, at this point, and Maagneil was taking advantage of this situation to permanently end Grimnir’s honor and standing in dwarven society.
“‘Give up the hammer and the flame, hand them in and swear to the gods to never work in the forge ever again, otherwise be permanently branded as an oathbreaker’ … Not like it would change anything since Master is already exiled!” Ellaine was twisting her blue hair out of stress, looking pissed as she recalled what was demanded. “If we gave up on the competition and admitted we had cheated with this armor, that we had colluded with demonkins to make it, they would release everybody. As if we could agree to that!”
“… Neither could we,” Misaki interjected. “Kohaku and Kazumi, thankfully, managed to tell them to not accept any threats. That was what we had planned when we helped them escape. We could wait, since we knew we had backup waiting to beat up those punks. Two weeks? Better than to give in to a bunch of bastards!”
Goodness gracious, Misaki! When did your mouth get fouler than mine?! I couldn’t be the only one who thinks this, right?
I darted my eyes around the living room, noticing nobody was really reacting. Maybe Ellaine was, but she was frowning the moment I finished my story and we talked about the original sin abilities.
… Yeah, only me, huh? Kinda forgot I’ve only known them for a few months now. Even took a while for Saori and Tasianna to tell me more about their past, after all.
“What about the torture part?” I bought up, wanting to get to understand that part, too.
Tamae sighed before she answered, “It was mostly just beating up the boys. They excused it as them wanting to be gentlemen even in such a situation, which while admirable, didn’t mean much since Daichi-kun and Nishio-kun always returned bloodied. From what I could guess, they knew what they did was wrong and now that it got to this point, they had to commit to everything.”
“‘Supposedly,’” Haruka snarled a bit, before noting her aggression and looking away in embarrassment. “I-I’m sorry, it’s just that … It feels so fake. They wanted to force us to speak about Earth technology since everybody knew we were otherworlders. It was just greed and they tried to gaslight us to speak. There is nothing gentleman-like about what they did!”
“I concur.” Ellaine nodded. Her face had not softened up once since the start of this talk. “They call Master a zuekluk because he broke some taboo God Bleidla had set up, but from what I heard, only his clan punished him for it. The hold king didn’t do it, nor did God Bleidla, outside of stripping him from his [Blacksmith’s Eyes]. Treating guests like this, even insulting them in their faces; it's unforgivable, and if they were in Artorias, they would be the ones to be punished by the law!”
“She’s right, but speaking about the law, where was the hold king in this whole discussion?” From the side, Tatsuya interjected, causing some of us to realize we hadn’t spoken about him yet. “You girls were trapped in a prison for two weeks. Didn’t you guys inform the hold king that you were in his city?”
All of them nodded, explaining that was the first thing Grimnir did since exiles weren’t exactly allowed back to the cities they were banned from. Although zuekluk, exiled dwarves, would be frowned upon wherever they went, Grimnir was only legally banned from coming back to his home without a solid reason.
Since he had established a competition with the Luedbrumdar clan while he was still in the dwarven capital, Inkoran-Tazul, his reason was solid. As such, the hold king knew about Ellaine and everybody else, and it was made clear by their names that they were otherworlders. They were even questioned about it during their first day.
As such, it was strange the hold king did nothing when they disappeared for two weeks. Sure, he could argue he thought they just left without saying anything, which was a normal thing for adventurers to do. However, what about the guards? What about the criminals who helped? Even if we couldn’t blame the hold king for everything without more information, I could at least bring this to his attention.
Not to mention, I have to bust out Rosserto for helping us. Hopefully he didn’t get beaten up too badly for protesting.
I believed I had heard enough, so I stood up and returned to the Broggi’s cavern where I saw Grimnir sitting on the ground. He was waiting for me, finished with what he wanted to do.
“Can you make the portal entrance and workshop larger, lass?” Grimnir asked and I nodded, before looking at the pieces of the forge and the artificer workstation. The forge with its huge, table-size coal-powered hearth was literally dug out of the wall.
“I can understand the table, but how did you break down the smithy?”
“Easy. The individual stuff like the bellows and anvil are easy to deconstruct and I can rebuild everything later. The hearth took some hammering. Every dwarven blacksmith was once a miner, didn’t I tell you? I think I talked about that when we first ventured into the Cedaraille dungeon.”
It was true. That was how we first met, after all. Our party needed weapons and I wanted a dwarf to make them for me, so we had gotten the drunk and sad Grimnir off his butt and had him help us mine some minerals in the depth of the dungeon. It was a fond memory, if you ignore the fact a giant fire spider nearly burned down the city and us having to deal with some crazy Shiterno cultists.
“Hey, wait, we’ll help!” Kyouya called out as he, Tatsuya, Kohaku, Kazumi, and Ellaine came out. There was nothing to disagree with.
And so, we brought literally everything usable into Grimnir’s workshop, upgrading it from his small smithy into a medium-sized one where two people could forge at once. Ellaine too got an upgrade, since her workbench was larger, but without the Broggi’s tools there was still a lot left to be desired.
Grimnir recalled how he had so many additional tools to make things go easier, mentioning how he had different hammers for different tasks, or how he was picky about his choice of coal, since every type burned differently. He couldn’t be as picky in our situation, but he had thought of it as a challenge to better himself. He worked with the best tools as a clan member, but had to find new ways and try out new techniques to create the things we needed as best as he could.
“So, what is the plan?” I asked after we were finally done with the renovation.
Grimnir looked at me for a moment before looking at his new forge, scavenged from the one his cousin had in his cave. “… You know me, I’m not a schemer and I don’t want to go and break things in my home. Besides, I am a blacksmith, and I don’t run away from challenges. But, we need to get things settled first, so we don’t destroy your reputation, lass. First things first, we need to speak with the hold king, and if he won’t listen, then the High King.”
“Woah, bringing in the big guy?” I was shocked to hear him suggest something like that.
“Hold kings are all retainers to the Ankoran King. If one of them acts dishonorable and brings down the combined prestige of the Ankor-Nazta, the Ankoran King has to take care of it. Depending on the crime, things could happen.” Grimnir then turned back to me, looking at me with a determined face. “As I said, my honor and competition matters little if you get harmed by it, lass. You are an entertainer, and what would you do if the dwarves hated you? Can you perform in this place then?”
“Hmph, every public figure will have haters. Whether they have a proper reason or not, it doesn’t matter. There will always be somebody that hates you for whatever reason, even if you are the most generous person in the world.” I closed my eyes, reminding myself of the celebrities on Earth and, of course, Eshe.
“Fair … then let me sleep it over and we’ll get to it. Here.” He stretched his hand out. “It’s been a while, but I hope you didn’t go and bust up the glaive I made for you.”
“Pff!” I couldn’t stop myself from giggling as I remembered this was his role in Aurora. Grimnir was our blacksmith, and he had to make sure our equipment was alright before the ensuing event.
I handed him my glaive. “It took on some dwarven weapons without even a chip.”
“Ha! I expected that from weapons made from your materials, lass.”
Everybody needed to rest. We had done enough today, so it was decided that we slept through the nights and handled the rest tomorrow. I had to think of a way to persuade the hold king, after all … and hopefully it wouldn’t end in a fight. Although, letting that clan leader have a whole day to speak and act might actually be detrimental …
“Lady Hestia!”
After dinner was served, Tasianna finally made it back. She looked sweaty and out of breath, as if she had run a marathon, but she had this wide smile on her face. She suddenly grabbed my arm and told me to come with her for a moment, telling me to teleport myself through the Griffonpeak runes. I did as she told me.
Once we passed through the portal, we landed inside the Helvas’s mansion in Artorias’s capital. I thought Tasianna would finally explain to me why we were here, only to drag me along and create an ice chair for us, before flying us up with it like an [Unheilige Angel] knock-off using her [Cyrokinesis]. We flew higher and higher, until my eyes widened as I saw a large group of torches in the merchant district’s plaza, forming letters.
“Hes … tia?” I read, tilting my head at what the hell was happening.
“Champion Hestia!” Somebody shouted from the group. “We don’t believe a word!”
What?
“Not a single word! Nothing the Empire says is true! Lies!”
“You and Saintess Eshe saved us! Like so many others! As if you would lead an army to attack another kingdom!”
What were they all saying?!
Shouts, shouts, and even more shouting; there were so many people shouting that their words began to mix together to the point I couldn’t pinpoint who said what. I could have if I was focused, but right now, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I turned to Tasianna, asking her what was happening.
She smiled. “… I apologize for taking so long, but dealing with everybody’s gratitude to you was a bit too much. These, my lady, are the fans you made in Griffonpeak.”
I stared back at the crowd, taking aback at how I could read my name from the torches they were holding up. Did somebody plan this?
“Everybody was onboard when I suggested it, mostly to get them away from me since they were being too forceful. It took a while to prepare, but I think I managed to gather around 300 people in the square? There should be more, but people need to work and sleep, sadly, hehe,” Tasianna continued. “Lady Hestia, whether it’s in Elyonda or Griffonpeak, people will appreciate it when you help others. As an idol, that is the best reward, no?”
“…” I stared at Tasianna, only blinking my eyes before returning my attention to the crowd.
“Lady Hestia! Lady Hestia! Lady Hestia!”
I kept hearing that chant over and over again, causing something to form in my chest.
Helping? Right, helping. I did help them.
It felt good to see all these people cheering for me, filling my ears with their “Woooo!” and “Yeeeaah!” while the chants kept coming and coming. Was this my reward for all that I have done? The people of Elyonda did the same thing for me there … Just realizing that I made the decisions I had done up until now mean so much more.
The wild dragon girl back in the Belzac forest had not only evolved physically, but also as a person and idol. I guess fearing I would scare everybody back then was just a weird worry. Right, people remembered you for your actions.
So, what would an idol do in the current situation?
“THANK YOU EVERYBODY! IT MEANS A LOT TO ME!” Almost out of instinct, I shouted it all out, almost overwhelmed by tears. “ THIS IS A BIT LATE, BUT LET ME SING FOR YOU! WILL ALL OF YOU LISTEN TO MY VOICE?”
“PLEASE!”
Right, that was what an idol had to do to show her gratitude. Keep singing, keep dancing, keep performing. Not every battle had to end in a fight, sometimes things could be handled with a small song.
_________________________________________________________________________
Name: Ellaine Fiero Helvas Level: 80 Race: Human
Age: 16 Years
Main Job: Eldritch Whipblader Secondary Job: Artificer Journeywoman Unique Job: Locked
Status: Health: 5309 (+1792) Mana: 6712 (+1927)
Strength: 2270 (+680) Intelligence: 2958 (+735)
Vitality: 2415 (+992) Wisdom: 2297 (+680)
Agility: 2163 (+650) Stamina: 3812 (+871)
Effects: None
Skill Points: 100 (-5250) (14950 SP spent)
Skill: Unique Skills:
[Okl’Luthier’s Powers Lv. 5] (+2)
Magic skills and related:
[Mana Efficiency Lv. 10] [Mana Control Lv. 10]
[Arcane Mind Lv. 10] (+2)
[Earth Magic Lv. 10] [Earth Amp] [Earth Magic Efficiency]
[Terra Magic Lv. 4] (+1) [Wind Magic Lv. 10] [Wind Amp]
[Wind Magic Efficiency] [Storm Magic Lv. 3] (+2)
[Synergist’s Oath Lv. 6] (+2) [Silent Casting Lv. 10] (+3)
[Chant Revocation Lv. 10] [Mental Warfare Lv. 10] (+4)
[Magic Power Enhancement Lv. 4] (+3) [Mental Stability Lv. 10] (+6)
[Long-Range Spell Enhancement Lv. 2] (+1)
[Fluid Cast Lv. 3] (+1) [Multi-Cast Lv. 3] (+2) [Continuous Cast Lv. 3] (+2)
[Delayed Cast Lv. 2] (+1)
Physical skills and related:
[Unarmed Technique Lv. 7] (+4) [True Sword Technique Lv. 1] (New)
[True Whip Technique Lv. 1] (New) [All-Damage Enhancement Lv. 1] (New)
[Mana Strike Lv. 6] (+2) [Stamina Strike Lv. 6] (+2)
Senses and movement skills:
[Stealth Lv. 8] (+2) [Accuracy Correction Lv. 8] (+1)
[Concentration Lv. 8] (+1) [Foresight Lv. 1] (New) [Tracking Lv. 1]
[Danger Perception Lv. 9] (+1) [Detection Sensor Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Auditory Sense Lv. 6] (+1) [Enhanced Olfactory Sense Lv. 8]
[Enhanced Vision Lv. 5] (+1) [Night Vision Lv. 8] (+4)
[Presence Killer Lv. 5] (+1) [Evasion Lv. 10] (+2) [Acrobatic Lv. 10] (+2)
[Air Walk Lv. 1] (+1) [Terrain Maneuvering Lv. 4] (+2)
[Mid-Air Maneuvering Lv. 2] (New)
Resistances:
[Physical Super-Resistance Lv. 3] (+1) [Absolute Pain Tolerance]
[Lava Resistance Lv. 4] [Holy Resistance Lv. 6]
[Inferno Resistance Lv. 4] [Abnormal Status Nullification] (New)
[Fear Resistance Lv. 4] (+3) [Water Resistance Lv. 9] (+2)
[Terra Resistance Lv. 4] [Wind Resistance Lv. 8] (+2)
[Arcane Corruption Resistance Lv. 10]
Stat growth and related:
[Health Recovery Lv. 6] (+2) [Mana Recovery Lv. 7] (+1)
[Stamina Recovery Lv. 5] (+1)
[Prime Vigor Lv. 1] (New) [Arcane Conduit Lv. 1] (New)
[Enhanced Strength Growth Lv. 4] (+1)
[Enhanced Strength Enforcement Lv. 4] (+2)
[Enhanced Intelligence Growth Lv. 5] (+1)
[Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement Lv. 5] (+1)
[Enhanced Vitality Growth Lv. 8] (+5)
[Enhanced Vitality Enforcement Lv. 8] (+6)
[Enhanced Wisdom Growth Lv. 4] (+1)
[Enhanced Wisdom Enforcement Lv. 4] (+2)
[Enhanced Agility Growth Lv. 4] (+1)
[Enhanced Agility Enforcement Lv. 4] (+2)
[Enhanced Stamina Growth Lv. 4] (+1)
[Enhanced Stamina Capacity Lv. 3] (+1)
Others:
[Singing Lv. 6] [Dancing Lv. 5] [Musician Lv. 7]
[Merchant Lv. 3] (+1) [Handicraft Lv. 3] [Woodworking Lv. 1]
[Enchanting Lv. 4] [Artificer Lv. 8] (+3) [Identify Lv. 10] (+2)
[Identity Blocker Lv. 10] [Terror Aura Lv. 4] (+2)
[Battle Mind Lv. 5] (+2) [Noble Aura Lv. 5] (+1)
[Royal Etiquette Lv. 8] [Riding Lv. 6]
[Mounted Fighter Lv. 1] [Scholar Lv. 2]
[Cooking Lv. 1] [Dismantle Lv. 6] (+2)
[Calligraphy Lv. 6] [Mathematician Lv. 7] [Telepathy]
Ability List: Unarmed:
[Dragoon Jump] [Gale Steps]
Okl’Luthier
[Claw] [Whiplash] [Musclesmass] [Blade] [Ribcage] [Flesh Absorption] [Assimilation]
Sword:
[Power Slash] [Demon Reaver] [Alt. Sword Style: Cascading Blade Stream]
Whip:
[Piercing Shot] [Cage of Blades] [Crusher Serpent]
Magic List: Custom Spells:
[Create Crack] [Wind Gust]
Earth Magic:
[Earth Wall] [Rock Blast] [Earth Strike] [Rock Bullet] [Sturdy Earth]
[Earthen Spears] [Earthen Shackles] [Terra Wall] [Bedrock Blades] [Rumbling Might]
Wind Magic:
[Wind Bullet] [Wind Cutter] [Air Shield] [Wind Slash] [Swift Winds]
[Wind Blast] [Featherfall] [Aerial Blitz] [Tornado Bullet] [Slylphid’s Cloak]
[Tailwind]
Title: [Hestia’s Retainer]
Comments
Diego Rossi
causing the wold wyvern woman -> Bold wyvern woman all hear Shay scolded his younger twin, -> scolding
