Chapter 439: Aurora’s Position Towards Carmaniate.

Chapter 439: Aurora’s Position Towards Carmaniate.

I must choose, down the road that I wish to walk

That others might condemn me

To not fall flat in hypocrisy

Itll work itself out for now (The future will judge)

I believe this is the way (dont 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 Chihiros 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.

Whats 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, thats what you meant. Oh, come on, its just part of the show. My wings and tail are part of my body, so moving them around is important. I cant 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.

Shes 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. Its 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 couldnt cast spells or shoot out the mana, but having Grimnir show it to the dwarven craftsman was something. Even Tasianna couldnt keep herself from being surprised.

The power of being a blessed.

Tasianna continued, I know youve 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 wouldnt have been able to accompany my lady if Rita and Cernust hadnt 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, dont 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 cant 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 trains 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 panthereonall 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.

Theyre eating with their hands, huh? Even though the utensils are right there in front of them? I silently judged, but didnt 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 soldiersremember the lizardmenand there are multiple tribes and racial clans amongst them, so getting along within the group was hard. Making sure the former beastmen soldiers didnt 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.

Thats what I remember too Asaka, who was sipping on some ale, replied. They were a real headache when I was around. I didnt expect anything else. Enjoy the video Segawa, Haruka had to walk around to record everything so she wasnt 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, dont remember the price! Ahhhh!

Well, regardless, I couldnt 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.

[Arent beastmen from Carmaniate also followers of the Rule of the Strong?] he asked. [Saori, you proved yourself as the strongest amongst themthe pack leader. When Asterios became the de facto leader of us wyverns, we did not question his actions. He led, we followed. They shouldnt 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! Dont bother Her Highness!]

Hes flustered, Asaka stated.

I nodded. I can see his face turning slightly red under his scales.

[Y-your Grace! IBeth!] 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 groupmuch to the relief of the remaining customers inside. Our next destination was actually Shizars 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 manprobably one the younger side, considering his short beardcame running up to me the moment he spotted me, but was immediately stopped as Shay and Beth moved in front of me without a moments 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. IahemI attended your concert yesterday! Thats some new era BeatsNRocks if I ever heard about it! Me and the lads heard you ripping the strings back with RossertoWraaaahaaaha!

Although he didnt 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 wasnt as enthusiastic. [Youre in the way.]

Okay, thats 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 arent 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 BeatsNRocks, making some absolute geniuses in the field! You see, autographs is when you write

No, no, I know, I know! Im 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 youre 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 youre gonna be a sensation!

Oh, Lady Hestia had already been performing a lot. Shes 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 suchShay, Beth?

Successor?

It seemed Saori and Shizar hadnt 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; its only the Church of Aurena and the Church of Marsven that are hostile towards each other, not the gods themselves.

KleaHatma, 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 wasnt 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 wasnt 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 dont 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 Aurenas people. There will be a time

I dont 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 thisto cripple the grimgarian army, to gain Belzacs 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 familyAurora and the shadow packover 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 werent.

Because I am not. I am [Belzacs 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 BoleTaria. I might only be a scholar of wars, but I know they arent 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 dont share the same enemies.

That is true, Maam. 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 dont 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 shouldnt 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 wont follow what you want. You will have to force us, cause the gods cant. 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 cant 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. Im still her blessed. You got anything to say, huh? Want to check?

Shizar and the beastmen group didnt 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 Saoris 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 Kargryxmors descendant, and her draconic allies. You saw the dragonewts, no?

She nodded.

You will also have to deal with Loatryxs 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 wouldnt 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 didnt 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 couldnt deal with Carmaniates 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 Carmaniateto the north and south respectivelythe 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 nexusto test if she could use [Yomi] to snatch everybody and mass transport people through her shadows and avoid the mana costbut the spell fizzled out when we tried it. We could not cheat the subspace this way, sadly.

In any case, following King Elutiss 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 reiteratefast travel was fucking OP! As its owner, I didnt even need to pay mana for the trip, ahaha!

[Bearer of Kargryxmors 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 Ednas 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, shed 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 ArashanPeolyncias 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 hadnt visited before, performing across the breadth of Artorias and Estralia while leaving [Room] stones in the care of the seven dukes of Artorias who hadnt 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 Grimnirs clan.

Stop being melodramatic! I heard Vifi from outside the door to Tasiannas former garden. You can literally just come back here through your damn nexus anytime. Get down here already! Tamae wont let me eat unless youre with us, so come on!

And so began the Dragon Idol tour to assure the world of my faith war idea.

Wouldnt all this traveling add up a ton of time? Yes, but the issue was my fight with the Prince of Envy couldnt 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 Saoris 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 dont 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

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