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Chapter 364: Selling Information on Friends was Wrong. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2022-11-01 02:59:52 +0000 UTCEdit: Smart Hestia is best Hestia. Changes to when Uzerra left.
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“Mhmm! Mhm, yup, this is delectable.” The pj-wearing elf slurped up the spaghetti in a manner like he was eating ramen, only for Tasianan to quickly correct his action by teaching him how to eat it properly. With the rolled up noodles around his fork, the man placed it back into his mouth and nodded with satisfaction. “What luck. I chose the correct day to visit.”
Uzerra, archerudite of Aleistunum and the de facto leader of the Magical Capital. An elven man over a 1000 years old, he seemed quite lethargic as you would expect from an old man, looking and acting as if he had zero energy in his bones. Maybe this was why everytime he moved, he did it only after carefully considering things.
“I had heard much about you already, but—”
“Woooooo! Yoho, you sea scale! CHEERS!”
“CHEERS!”
Just as Uzerra began to talk with me, Krim drowned out his voice with his raucous behavior. He, Adhi, Yorshka, and Neill banged their tankards against each other, toasting before downing their drinks down in one gulp. They wiped the liquid from their mouths before each of the four began devouring their full dishes without a care for the mess they were making.
“Mom, stop eating like that! You’re making such a mess for us!” Priscilla tried to stop her mother, reminding the dragoon how her daughter was part of my staff, meaning she had to clean this mess up later.
“Ah, who cares, Priscilla! Let them have their fun!” Haati, though, supported the tavern-like atmosphere those four scalekins were creating. As a former tavern waitress, I guess she liked it more like this.
“True, we can clean it all later on. Just have fun with your family. We’ll earn our wages later,” Lorena added, cheerfully bringing more food before the devouring machines.
Well, that is what a feast is for. They’ve been waiting this long for me to wake up, so I guess it’s fair.
Of course, this wasn’t the only little group on the table, and, thankfully, they were having fun without being like those clamorous food munchers. For example, Master, Farron, and Grazlahta were drinking together, laughing boisterously as they talked and bonded like a trio of afternoon salary workers.
There was also Akasht who mostly kept to himself in his small area. He was humongous, compared to everybody else, so he didn’t want to inconvenience anybody with his size. A gentle giant; he was laughing and cheering whenever somebody else did, but he simply enjoyed watching everybody’s excitement.
Shay and Beth were also eating at their own pace, with Beth gorging down anything until her mouth was full, forcing Shay to take care of her like a gregarious child. She was laughing and enjoying herself, looking at things in a lighter tone, while her brother tried to remind her that I was around. The sister’s unkempt and cheerful nature with the brother’s dutiful and aloof self; what a duo.
Which meant, there was only one group left amongst them.
“… Certainly loud.”
“Well, what did you expect, sir?” I smiled at the old elf in a joking manner, finding his reaction a bit funny seeing how he joined this feast willingly. “A library?”
“Well, why not? A nice, comfortable space to read and maybe sleep after you are done. Eating while enjoying the tranquility of solitude, it certainly wouldn’t be too bad. I guess I had hoped the dining space of a princess would be more … reserved,” Uzerra went with the flow of the joke, not taking it too seriously.
[“Master likes to have fun! That’s why she’s playing music, magic man!”] Rajah commented as he was chewing on some ribs, breaking and licking the bones clean.
“The cheerfulness keeps everybody together. This is how Aurora does it, Archerudite,” Tasianna remarked as she refilled my cup with more fragassa milk. My party’s continued fragassa innovations was just the best.
The elven man raised his hand up while cleaning his mouth. “I apologize for the insult. I’m an old man if my appearance had fooled you. I like to do things my way. Funnily enough, I believe I had mentioned something similar to Chihiro once.”
Chihiro, huh?
Also known as the Revolution Queen, she was the dwarven queen responsible for most of today’s manatech improvements, apparently. I hadn’t exactly researched the matter that much, compared to Saori, so I didn’t know too much about her outside of the fact she had introduced a ton of Japanese values to the world.
For example, rice, noodles, and sake weren’t as prevalent outside of the dwarven country, Ankor-Nazta, and only spread to the humans through her. In addition, Yorshka had mentioned how Loatryxian culture had changed quite a bit during her reign, to the point they knew about bushido and stuff.
Although, I did know she brought the train and gun to this world. I couldn’t exactly forget how I saw the train station in Estrali and how the latter caused Grimnir’s exile. Maybe there were other mundane manatech around, invented and created by Chihiro, but I didn’t know about them.
“Mhmm, yum. Hmm, well, it certainly would be interesting to hear more about my fellow transmigrator … but, I guess there is something more pressing to ask you,” I said after finishing my stew, now switching over to my spaghetti after cleansing my palate with some fragassa milk. “How and why are you here, sir?”
I was blunt about it. Even if this man was the foremost authority when it came to magic and Istari, it didn’t mean much to me since he, well, didn’t look like it. He didn’t exude the aura of a king. He seemed more like a tired college student or professor, seeing as how he looked like a man in his early thirties.
Even after I heard he was the archerudite and greeted him with the respect you should give to a man of his position, it felt weird after he told me to stop. He was lax and introverted. He wasn’t like Tehmrayn, who was aloof in an intimidating manner, or Saori, who was mostly quiet until she had to talk. He was the analytical type who enjoyed watching others.
“Lady Hestia, please,” Tasianna chastised me a bit, prompting me to apologize for my behavior. Regardless of why he was here, he was invited to this place by Tasianna, so I really should show him some courtesy.
“Don’t. In a sense, I’m not here for anything else but my selfish desires as a scholar. I’m perfectly alright with however you wish to treat me, as long as it remains truthful and yourself. Deceit troubles me more. So tiring when I have to separate truth from lies.” The man yawned, massaging his eyes in the process. “Anyways, after dealing with that leviathan, I’ve been coming over to your subspace every day, waiting for you to wake up. I was just in the toilet before you gave your toast.”
“He was the one who performed the lightning spell in your place, Lady Hestia,” Tasianna informed me. “I believe Princess Fargryneill mentioned seeing his [Ramuh] from where you were.”
“Ooooh, right.” I remembered how I saw the purple magic circle while healing the demonkins. “W-wait, does that mean that floating island with the house was also yours, sir? I believe I saw somebody on it.”
“Yes, correct,” he answered after swallowing some noodles. He continued after drinking something to clean his mouth. “Knowledge seekers; those are the people we call scholars and mages whose only goal in life is to seek more information. Knowledge is power. As archerudite, I personally believe this to be true even for those on top of the world. I don’t care if you are an archmage capable of toppling the world, once you swear this oath to God Istari, you do so knowing you cannot stop wandering the world and learning. For even I am just a child before the vastness of the Origin Gods.”
As such, this floating island was his preferred method to wander the world. Uzerra was a mage who could use all six elements at their highest level, but he still wasn’t a [Space-Time Mage]. He couldn’t teleport around. Although, I still had one question though.
“Why an island? Why not a griffon or gargoyle, sir? Honestly, I’m still confused how you managed to make an island float with you. Even my sister would have trouble doing so outside her Territory.”
[“Because he likes to sleep, Master!”] Surprisingly, it was Rajah who answered. [“I asked Mister Uzerra about the island! He brought me up there himself. He has a place to sleep, a room with lots and lots of books, and also so much paper! Also a small garden like Tasianna’s! Oh, and the view! Master, I touched a cloud!”]
“Hmhm, hmhm,” Uzerra giggled before he started stroking my virigress. “The innocent curiosity of a child. Nothing is more pure than that … To answer your question, let me ask you in return. Why make a subspace using [Room], o’ ingenious one?”
“… Touché.”
I had to admit it was a stupid question. If I thought about it, wasn’t his floating island just like Grimnir’s wagon or our [Room]? In fact, why did I question such a smart idea? Wasn’t it an old school RPG classic to have a flying or floating base for the late game? Meaning, why haven’t I exactly thought of upgrading our wagon into a flying wagon?!
“… I see I piqued your interest, but the mechanism of a floating island isn’t exactly something I can explain in one lecture. You probably saw its larger, upgraded version in the blood fortress of the vampires, Drascul.”
Prompted by this, I asked Tasianna if the fortress was still around, to which she nodded. I also heard Tatsuya and Kyouya were on it, so I wanted to ask them about Saori.
When I mentioned the two, Uzerra suddenly leaned forward, showing an enervated smile. “This is why I came. Knowledge like this. I had heard there were otherworlders—Japanese—summoned by Aureolis, but I never got to meet them properly. Which brings me to the current situation, Princess Hestia. You.”
“Me?”
“The reason why I came to help Elyonda was due to a deal I made with the rightful Princess of the Yeosian throne—Rhea Sealight.” He then raised his hand up, pointing a finger at me as his sharp ears began to twitch uncontrollably like wings. “The deal was the information on a new dragon princess. The eight. Where she was, from which mother, and also how she was an ‘idol’ of the Goddess of Light.”
Tasianna and I both snapped our heads at the man, eyes wide open as we couldn’t believe what we had heard here. This was why Renee apologized to me after we dealt with the enemy in the arena. It all made sense now. No wonder she looked so guilty, since she just sold my personal information!
“… I really don’t want to curse her since she’s a friend, but …” Tasianna had that human-hating look on her again. Obviously, since it probably felt like a betrayal.
Seems like Tasianna doesn’t know about it at all. Did Renee keep this secret from everybody?
“In Aleistunum, knowledge is more valuable than davi,” Uzerra clarified. “Since the founding of the country through God Istari, coin nor bloodlines have ever been more important than information. None of the archerudites have ever changed this fact. Not the second, the third, fourth, or when I was elected 600 years ago.”
It doesn’t dull the sting, though …
“Pardon for being late!”
Speaking of the devil …
Renee, still wearing her wind knight armor, rushed into the room with Rita in tow, looking as if she hadn’t had a day of sleep since we last met. Sure, her hair was well-kept and it seemed she was eating well, but even through her thick make-up, I could see her dreary eyes.
“Hello, we’re here! Sorry for being late!” Rita cheered, still disguised as a human. She gave me a quick greeting and how she was happy to see me awake again, before she noticed the dishes on the table and pulled out her notebook to document the taste like a food blogger.
Naturally, Uzerra smiled at her behavior. However, Rita wasn’t the person I was super focused on.
Noticing Tasianna’s and my glare, Renee flinched. She then looked over at Uzerra and quickly put two and two together. “I-I apolog—!”
“Come on, let’s enjoy the feast, first.”
“Huh?” Tasianna and Renee reacted.
“You had your reasons. However, I don’t want to sour the mood, since this is the time to be happy that we all survived and managed to win! So, come on, eat, Renee! I’ll beat your ass with Neill, afterwards!”
“Y-yes, of course. Thank you.”
There was a place and time for everything. Right now, Renee was still a friend, and I was a good person towards my friends. I didn’t want to ruin this feast which my friends had wanted to celebrate with me up until now.
Tehmrayn and Larent didn’t come, not to mention Mother who was resting. As such, seeing Rita and Renee join was a good thing. Somebody probably informed them but came late since they probably were busy. As if I would turn them away.
For now, I was hungry and wanted to eat and drink. I wanted to laugh and sing with everybody else, so I would satisfy this itch I had. Doing all of this with a group was far more fulfilling than eating all alone. This was how I enjoyed my life.
“CHEERS!”
And I would bloody “Cheers!” along with everybody else.
***
“I’m SORRY! SORRRRRRY!”
“You better damn be, you fucking bitch! Hrk!”
… Until everything was over and it was time to inflict punishment upon the sinful!
“ArrrrrrrrrrrGHHHHK! My arm!” Renee cried out in pure agony as Neill landed the eight wrestling move on her, twisting her body and limbs around like clay.
“F-Fargryneill, is this really—” Before Rita could interject, Tasianna grabbed her shoulder, causing the former to tense up. A chill probably went down her spine from my icy fairy.
Appropriately, her new frost powder was enveloping her figure and grimace. “Naughty children must be punished.”
“Fascinating. A newly chosen blessed of Yeostar is currently struggling to free herself against the might of a frenzied Kargryxmor spawn.” On the other hand, Uzerra was noting things down, even sketching how everything was happening. Was this guy actually a historian documenting everything?!
“Ark! I apologize, I really am sorry for what I did. Arrrghk!” Renee tried to plead for her life, but Sis didn’t let her go for one second. “I understand what I did was wrong! I really do! I knew this would happen, but my original plan to sell my information didn’t work! He knew about me from my substitute mother and real father!”
Her substitute mother probably referred to the woman Renee’s real mother married to keep up her image as “Royce, the male knight.” I didn’t know who this substitute was or who her real father was, but if I remember correctly, didn’t the people after I saved them in the arena mention something about Royce being married off to an Aleistien? So, was Renee’s family from Aleistunum?
“Ooof! I thought we needed help! Hrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiik! Arck!” Renee cried out as Neill let go of her, before resuming her punishment with a different pose. “Ahahak! I’m sorry, it was the only thing I had left! I-I had nothing else!”
“Bullshit, you had my information! Even with accidents here and there, you are the human who knows about me the best! You could’ve given the elf my information instead of my whelpling sister’s! Did you even try?!” Neill asked her with a scornful look, having activated [Battle Frenzy] as proof for her anger. “Dammit, I introduced you to her since I trusted you! I damn trusted you with my family!”
“Aaaaahi, and I know that means breaking unwritten rules in your Adulthood Pilgrimage! I’m sorry!” Renee cried out, but to no avail. “I’m sorry! I’m really sorry, Fargryneill! I couldn’t give your—Ark—information out! I couldn’t!”
“And you gave my sister’s! That’s not better! Do you really think this is touching when you know how much my family matters to me? I finally, finally got a younger sister, and I really, really wanted to be a good older sibling, okay? Just like my older sister and brothers! However, now lookie here, my friend does this to me?!”
“ARRRRRGH!”
Renee had explained why she sold off my information like a social media platform, mentioning how this was the only way to bring Aleistunum to help out against the invasion. Considering how her country was her top priority, including the emancipation of women in Yeos’s noble society, being willing to risk things like herself was commendable!
However, it all turned into moral greyness once she admitted she had sold my information off. What the hell was that? Sure, her original intention was just to sell off her own life’s story, but why was I her next target once her gambit failed? Couldn’t she have figured something else out? I didn’t know how difficult it was to bargain with Aleistunum, but come on.
Just like Tasianna and Neill, I felt betrayed by Renee. She was supposed to be a shining knight!
“To be fair, the information she gave me wasn’t exactly too intrusive. All the information had already come to me through my contacts in Saelariel and Artorias. I just wanted confirmation on the rumors. More POVs. You look at information through different eyes,” Uzerra was trying to defend her, but I was not having any of that.
“Neill, you can stop …” Still, I had sis stopped for a moment. “Maybe, but this is still a breach of trust. Renee, I considered you a friend, even if our interactions hadn’t been too long. I promised you to defend your city and I did. While Mister Uzerra’s participation in the raid was at the end of the day necessary, it doesn’t absolve the fact you told him my information without my permission.”
“Urgk … I know. I had intended to tell you everything once you woke up.” Renee groaned and tried to stand up, but decided against it and prostrated before me. “Still, it isn’t an excuse. I know I can’t just earn trust after I threw it away, so, please, do whatever you wish with me. I’m content with all you’ve already done for me, Hestia. I, and the entirety of Yeos, owe everybody in this subspace a major debt.”
“… Haaaaa.” I sighed.
The feast had ended and as such, I decided to deal with this now. Everybody outside of Tasianna, Rajah, Neill, and Rita were here to listen to what Renee and Uzerra had to say. The majority were either drunk, not willing to intrude, or waiting outside this room.
In the process of listening to Renee’s reasoning, I also learned she had become the next Champion of Yeos. Not ‘cause of the siege, mind you. Whether she was considered a war hero or royalty by the populace or not, every Champion had to go through the same process—the Tournament of Yeostar.
The next match scheduled was mine with Neill. However, I was unconscious and Neill was too exhausted after everything, willingly giving up her match to recover her broken horn. Naturally, with both of us out, the only ones left were Renee and Alistar. Since the populace needed something to clear up their minds after such a disastrous siege, a match sounded like the perfect time for some celebration.
In any case, Renee won after what they described was a pretty narrow win on her side. Alistar, having trained with Renee’s mother, was already used to the knight armor and her swordsmanship. In addition, Renee wasn’t used to her unique Job yet, having only had some time to get used to it. It was a match won by the narrowest margin.
Would have been an entertaining match to watch, seeing as Neill described it as such.
Regardless, even with Renee becoming the newest Champion, it didn’t mean I could forgive her so easily even if she was a “colleague” now. Neither could Neill, which prompted her to activate [Battle Frenzy] and suckerpunch Renee into a wrestling match. That was how we ended up like this.
“… What did you reveal?” I asked after deliberating over it.
“Your name, Melloxtressa’s name, location, the fact you’re a blessed, and that you are currently fighting in a siege due to a Divine quest. I swear, that was all.”
… Honestly, that doesn’t sound too bad.
Renee didn’t know I was a reincarnator. In fact, everybody but Adhi and she knew about this secret of mine. I had told Priscilla, Haati, and Lorena about it after they joined up, since the fact would have probably slipped out of somebody’s mouth if I hadn’t. Renee only knew I was a blessed and that was it, since I never found it important to tell her.
Uzerra then turned to me, looking tired as always. “I only needed your name to make sense of everything, Hestia-san. Knowing Chihiro made it easy to notice certain names.”
“Hestia Atsuko” was not a common name in this world, in fact, I was 100% sure it was unique. Hestia was the name of a Greek goddess while Atsuko was a Japanese name, even if you wrote it in romaji instead of in kanji. You wouldn’t find either of the two in Peolynca which could only mean one thing.
Considering Uzerra had met Chihiro before and considering his inquisitive nature, he probably had learned some Japanese. With how he introduced himself and how he just addressed me, it was crystal clear that he knew I was a reincarnator.
While the information Renee had given him was rather miniscule, to the point anybody with a good information network could find out, it had given probably the most knowledgeable man in the world all he needed to deduce things. I did feel less bad about Renee’s loose tongue, but it still felt awkward.
“If it’s of any solace, knowledge is there to be savored. Aleistunum is neutral in everything concerning the world’s politics, which includes the war. In a way, you could consider us like Kargryx and Loatryx,” he continued to defend Renee. “I want to know and continue learning. Knowledge by itself has no good or evil, but I understand its worth in my hands. I know how threatening I am, even if I just want to be a scholar. Waaaah.”
He yawned and rubbed his eyes. “In any case, I have done what I wanted today. Enlightening day. Lady Hestia, if you can, come visit the ruler of the blood fortress. She, too, would like to give her greetings. Once you do, invite me with you. You will want a chaperone.”
He then opened his book and took out a bookmark and gave it to me. “It’s enchanted for a single use. Call me with it. Also, after you’re done with this, if you ever need something, visit Aleistunum. As I said, knowledge is more valuable than gold there. Information is not cheap, so if you wish to share your story, come. I will welcome you with an open door. Waaaaaaaah … Huaah. Well, as long as I am not hibernating.”
He’s really yawning a lot. Low energy, too. Nothing like Mother’s sleeping cycle. Is he okay?
The lime-haired elf adjusted his glasses one last time before he left the room … only for me to click my tongue and dash over to the door, confusing the elven scholar with my sudden behavior. I reached out my hand, pointing at the sketch and documentation he just made just now on Neill’s wrestling moves.
“… Already?” He figured it out immediately. He tilted his head, looking a bit forlorn.
“I wasn’t born yesterday. Since you cherish the proper transaction of information so much, why don’t we start our business relationship now? Please, hand it over since this is my home, and you are my guest.” I kept a serious face on, trying to imitate how Saori or Ellaine usually did it.
“… I’ve already met your siblings, Lady Hestia. I know what [Battle Frenzy] does. Your sister activating it and performing some grappling moves isn’t special,” he tried to argue his way out of it, but the fact he was so defensive about it made it all the more suspicious.
“Oh no, not when you were so focused on the sketch. If it’s valuable enough for the most knowledgeable man to try to obtain and defend, then it has some worth. I’m not wrong to think of that, right?”
“… I submit.” Uzerra flung his hand up in the air. “I shall await your price at a later date, after you’re done with your business.”
With a smile, I let him go. By opening the door, it signaled Shay and Beth to come in and ask if everything was alright. I asked them to guide Uzerra out of the subspace, and made it clear they shouldn’t let him explore too much of my home.
Once he was gone, Tasianna approached me, telling me I did a fine job. She told me Uzerra hadn’t made an effort to ask any questions about us until now, explaining he only asked“Is Lady Hestia alright?” before he left. It seemed he couldn’t help himself today.
“Although, if Miss Saori were here, I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t have let him go with the notebook. She probably would have taken it away to make sure she would have more leverage during the deal. Understand what exactly he wrote and documented?”
I flinched at what Tasianna just said. I hadn’t thought of that scenario at all! I thought I did a fine job, but it seemed I still had a long way to go to reach Saori’s or Ellaine’s merchant senses. After I let out a sight, I turned to the others inside.
“Your opinions?” We had to return to the subject at hand.
Rita was the first to answer, “Please, forgive her. I understand the implications of selling off information without your permission. As a knowledge seeker, I knew that well. I am sure Renee thought about it thoroughly, considering she had brought two mages with her to the archerudite.”
The two Evidian mages, Naemon and Joek, had reportedly escorted her to Aleistunum. When I asked Renee about it, she told me she had told them about her secret to get them to help her. As such, she thought her plan would work, considering it was such a tight-lipped secret. She just hadn’t expected Uzerra to have questioned her family about it.
“Yeah? And here I thought I was the reckless and impulsive one of us three! You really are just a—Nevermind.” Neill felt conflicted on the subject, moving left and right as she tried to think of an answer. In the meantime, Tasianna answered.
“In my opinion, forgiveness, my lady.”
“Why?”
“Because from a strategic standpoint, her decision to gain the support of Aleistunum, specifically the archerudite, was the main reason why we could execute the plan properly. Yes, I am confident Empress Melloxtressa wouldn’t have needed the help, but it made it so she didn’t need to stall out the battle. In this situation, it was a war, my lady, and wars usually require sacrifices.”
Tasianna’s body had already recovered from the scars she gained in Artorias, since she was a fairy, but she had seen two battlefields in the span of two days. I could understand this logic of hers.
“If she had returned, prior, to ask you for permission, the deal wouldn’t have progressed, since you were stuck in that dimension hole. As backhanded as it was, it was the correct decision, in case you and Empress Melloxtressa hadn’t returned. Yes, she could have sent a manatech bird to ask, but there was a risk of it being destroyed. Not to mention, Yeos didn’t have access to those long-range communication crystals we saw Lady Maverina show us.”
The crystal was a magical E-Mail, but it wasn’t just a prototype, it was also flawed. It hadn’t spread around the world yet, only reserved for mage’s guild leaders and the inventors of it.
The fact that asking me about this subject wouldn’t have been possible made me rethink Renee’s situation. Yes, she had asked without knowing about anything, but in such a situation, where her country was in danger, wasn’t it the best decision she could have made? Should I fault her for it? Even then, as Uzerra mentioned, the information she gave was rather lackluster.
“… Now that you mention it, Renee was also the one to promote all of us as heroes.” As I was thinking this through, Neill spoke up after she was done thinking. “Quite a lot of people were asking if you were awake yet, Sis. I think quite a few people know your name. Shouldn’t it have helped your fan counter or something?”
… Now that you mention it, this didn’t come up, huh? [The Light], show me my fan count.
<Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 17980>
… An increase of 799, if my parallel minds remembered correctly. Huh. That’s quite a lot.
“Honor should go to those who deserve it the most. The fact you were a major player in this siege was unquestionable. I know I have ulterior motives, but I didn’t sing your praises just to push my agenda about female warriors. I did it because I am indebted to everything you have done for me, Hestia. Without you, I don’t know how many people would have died.”
“…” I frowned, even more conflicted than before.
“Hey.” Neill tapped my shoulder. “At the end of the day, I can be angry for you, but only you can forgive her. If you ask me, it can’t be ignored, but it isn’t that big of a deal.”
“… Hmm. Guess that is true.” I scratched my head, frustrated about what happened. “Whatever. Renee.”
“Yes?” She finally stood up.
“You owe me.”
“Yes, absolutely.”
“Then, let me think of a way to make you repay it. Just make sure to do your best to also persuade your people if needed, Renee.” I smirked, causing her to flinch back when she heard it. She probably realized the meaning behind my veiled words.
If you thought about it, getting my hand on a Champion of Yeostar, no matter how young, would help out my position as Champion. To help out Artorias, I had to also defend them from the church, so having Renee on my side would undoubtedly help me out. They could question me, but what would happen if they got on the bad side of the “strongest potential Champion?”
Oho, I was onto something here. Sure, there was still the problem that I couldn’t fully trust Renee after what she did, but who could I trust? My Sis. From the look of it, Renee really valued her friendship, considering she was more willing to share information from her best friend’s younger sis. Okay, that didn’t sound as cool as I thought it would.
In any case, what was important here was the debt. She just said it twice; Rhea Renee Sealight was indebted to me. Royalty. Tasianna was right, I had to look at it rationally, instead of my usually emotional side.
“Alright, Renee, then let us go?” I pointed at the door, confusing her with my sudden remark. “What’s with that look? Have you forgotten? I promised the people I would help them with their wounds. Even if they lost an arm or body part, I will regrow them!”
That was right. Now that I was full, it was time for me to get back to work as a priest. After every battle, there would always be relief work. While in Cedaraille and Artorias, I didn’t have [Miraculous Grace] so I could leave the work to the priests and alchemists to solve things. However, right now, I had this incredible spell to use, and I was fully willing to use it.
Once Renee understood this, she immediately agreed to it and began guiding me and the other three. We walked out of the subspace, where I noticed we were inside a room from the palace. I walked over to the window and looked outside, only to widen my eyes at what remained of Elyonda.
The city itself was already severely damaged before returned after my dimensional trip, but Karhalantheel’s Territory and the grimgarian’s assault had further destroyed anything else. It honestly looked like an earthquake had greeted the placed, following the arrival of a tsunami flooding the streets and rubble, before a landslide had covered everything up with earth hills.
Not a single house was intact, not even the ones over at the noble’s and merchant’s district. The palace was still standing, but I wouldn’t exactly call it livable anymore, seeing as a whole section in its left wing was missing and the whole garden and ground floor was flooded. Even without mentioning all the destruction, there were also the mounts of undead bodies.
I saw citizens and soldiers both working together, throwing bones, body parts, and other leftovers into carts to be transported out of the city. Neill told me she had been helping out, pointing at the smoke signal rising to the sky. She also told me looters were also around, “helping” out by dismantling the grimgarian corpses.
Even after a week, there was still so much to do before they could even rebuild their homes.
“Anasthasia and the Duke are planning on asking the archerudite to help us out. He told us he wasn’t as omnipotent as Empress Melloxtressa to excuse us, but I know he’s definitely an S rank adventurer. His magic alone could terraform this entire place,” Renee then let out a sigh, before I suddenly heard some commotion from the sky.
I looked up, seeing gargoyle-riding knights fly past me. They were moving outside the city, where I noticed people were fighting against some monsters. I instantly realized what was up.
“Monster spawnings?”
“Yes, Lady Hestia. It hadn’t been easy, even after we filled up our storage with plenty of full macula plants,” Tasianna informed me. “Rank Cs and Bs have been spawning, which is a relief, since the mana in the ground could spawn a rank A, without a doubt.”
“Even the plants have been overgrowing. Mana nurtures them, but most just die out from the overflow,” Rita commented from a plant’s POV. “If you ask me, this land should be inhabitable now. There is just too much mana around.”
Either we manually removed all of it, or we had to wait for it all to dissipate by itself. However, we also risked having this all place turn into a monster-infested area like the Belzac forest. Regardless, it didn’t look too good for Elyonda.
Nevertheless, I had a goal. I told Renee to begin announcing I was awake and that people should come to me for healing. Neill suggested going to what remained of the church, saying the emergency clinic was over there. I nodded and walked over there as Renee prepared things.
Once there, I was instantly greeted by the priests and alchemists, as I had met all of them once or twice already at the arena. As such, we got through the pleasantries quickly and I could suggest to them my plan.
“Of course!” without warning, the bishop shouted. “Yes! Please! A miracle from a Champion, no, idol of the Goddess! Please, elucidate our poor eyes with a true white grace, my lady! Humble us with your brilliance!”
… Okay?
I somehow got their support. However, I had also not realized this reaction wasn’t the last one I would receive today. How could I, when people hadn’t treated me this reverently before? And I meant it, as these people were actively praying and pleading with me for my aid.
When Renee arrived, I was told manatech birds were sent to soldiers to announce my wish to help, mentioning people should be coming at any moment now. It was just, she had a rather conflicted face when she said it. Once again, this was a warning I had ignored.
And when it came, it came hard.
“Champion Hestia! Please, treat me first!”
“No, me! Grant me the honor to be the first to embrace your warm flames and divine healing!”
“Please, grant me my arm back through your miracle! I swear, I will work harder than anybody else! I will build a statue for you, m’lady!”
My performance in the arena, the gossip of the soldiers who saw me fight, and the fact I had announced my wish to heal them in the arena. All of this coupled together into a neat package, before Renee came out to announce my contributions.
If Artorias considered me a hero, Elyonda considered me even more than that. To the people rushing into the clinic, to the point Neill had to use her dragon paths to crowd control them before they formed a crowd crush, I was something more than a typical blessed, right now. To most of them I was an—
“Please, save us, the Goddess’s Angel Dragon!”
DIY: How to turn your fans into stans and then into cult members.
Comments
Diego Rossi
“Please, save us, the Goddess’s Angel Dragon!” That was the Arena announcer?
How to create a cult.
Imp
You wanted to be a ray of hope, now you got it, Hestia. Be careful what you wished for.
brunoid
Thanks for the chapter.
Hey, I don't know why, okay?! I don't do this intentionally! Noooooooooo
KazukiNero
Saw an instance where you called Renee, Neill again. Seems this will forever be your writers' tick lol.
I produce only funny words
Paradox
I like your funny word, magic man
