“So, we finished four rank F quests and one rank E in this one week, which gave us 7211 Davi. We still have one Job change remaining this week, which will cost us 1000 Davi per person, but tomorrow is already RestDay, so it would be unlikely for us to use it up.” Saori then began writing some more calculations on the notepad function of her party bracelet, murmuring our food costs, essential buys, and future equipment funds. After massaging her brows with an anxious frown, she showed me the blue screen.
O-oh, we aren’t doing too well financially, I see …
“I expected the food I bought to last us for at least a week, but at the rate we are eating through it, I will have to buy another batch before next week. I already talked to the merchant who provided our first supply, but I was not able to talk the price down this time. He argued that there was a supply shortage, rejecting every argument I made. Haaa, winning a bargaining war is nice but losing it feels so bad,” Saori complained with a long sigh, slumping a bit in her chair. “Anyway, do you now understand why I said it was important for you to join the bakers guild?”
“Y-yeah, I’m sorry. I really thought we could earn all our money from doing some Quests and be happy. I didn’t know we needed this much money for food and spices,” I bit my lips, now realizing the full consequences to becoming a sunfang dragon. Sure, [Battle Frenzy] wasn’t too much of a problem now, but my bottomless stomach was. “I committed my mornings to training Ellaine, which only leaves the afternoon free for us three to do Quests together. We can’t go out in the evenings since the gates close.”
There were night guards at the gates, but nobody was allowed to enter the town after the day was over. Once the sun sets, the town guards found it too risky to let anybody in during this time outside of nobles. Adventurers who came too late had to camp outside.
Naturally, since I had that scary document from the Marquess of Firwood, we wouldn’t have that problem, though. It was just that Barathan and Manuela would scold us, considering they were the hosts for royalty—me—and didn’t want anything to happen to me. As I said, those two were beyond overprotective.
“Exactly. Until we register all of us into a party, we must do all our Quests together, otherwise if Tasianna and I become rank C, we can take rank B Quests, but you could not,” Saori stated. “Once our party is formed, our party rank is used to determine what Quests we as a whole can take … It just costs money.”
“How much?” I asked.
“5000.”
That was … mildly reasonable, but you had to consider how people in the lower ranks probably had worse financial situations than ours. Even then, was it worth it for us to pay 5000 for the party registration when we needed to gain more Jobs or how we needed equipment and catalysts? Not to mention, Tasianna told us she wanted to become an alchemist to the joy of Saori, so we needed funds for her.
I understood the adventurer guilds were businesses, but there were so many fees. It felt like a scam, weren’t it for the services and conveniences they provided.
As I was contemplating this dilemma, a bell rang from outside our room. Before Saori could answer it, Tasianna’s voice came from outside so I bid her to enter. Joined by Svena, who brought the tea cart with her, Tasianna came to our table and set rice crackers, toffel chips, and multiple pastries from House Helvas on it. Meanwhile, Svena prepared our tea.
Seeing as I have been living in this mansion for two weeks now, Svena had also started learning my likes and dislikes, including which teas I loved drinking. It might not be coffee, but fulinoe tea always tasted nostalgic, reminding me of Earth.
As Svena was brewing the tea, Tasianna was giving her a small glare. Not out of hatred, but out of envy. Before she had [Elvenize], Tasianna would always feel jealous that only Saori could serve me the tea she brewed. Now, with Svena acting as my temporary attendant while I stayed in Ellaine’s mansion, Tasianna felt a bit threatened by her.
The two would always squabble when it came to who could brew my tea, or who would bathe me. Yes, those two argued who would help me take a shower and bath. And yes, I felt very uncomfortable since I was a bloody teen. I could shower on my own, thank you very much!
Aside from their competitive drive motivating them to work harder, the two had been working well together. Tasianna still wasn’t much of a fan of humans, but she was starting to warm up to her rival.
“You seem troubled, Miss Saori. May I assist you with anything?” Svena offered after she’d served me my tea.
“It is not a problem … Actually, if you could, would you please call Mister Barathan and Miss Manuela to come over if they are free? I wish to ask them something.”
With a small bow, Svena left the room. A few minutes later, she returned with Barathan and Manuela.
“I hope you have had a pleasant DarkDay. Thank you for coming. I know you two must be busy with managing the household,” I welcomed them.
In his usual, finely made butler outfit, Barathan bowed like a gentleman, looking extremely capable with his clean appearance. Despite his grey hair and eyes, Barathan looked more around his late twenties than a silver-fox butler. He greeted us in a grandiose manner, befitting a princess.
Manuela, on the other hand, looked annoyed and lectured him on overdoing it and how he wasn’t taking my dislike for overdone formalities in mind. The navy blue haired head maid shook her head, waggling her fishtail braid around, before she opened her blue and red heterochromatic eyes.
Their dynamic really is weird, huh?
Despite being the two head attendants in the mansion, I’ve noticed a certain hostility between the two, more specifically from Manuela toward Barathan. I didn’t want to pry, so I haven’t asked them about it yet, but it was clear enough that they had some sort of history. There was a certain synergy with how they commanded the other servants, exactly knowing what the other might think. So, why did it seem like Manuela dislikes him?
“Actually, I was the one who called for you,” Saori chimed in before I could say anything. “Barathan, it is about the plan we spoke about. About setting up a business, or faction in your words, to help us earn what we need for our travels. I have been having a hard time thinking of how to properly execute it, so I wanted to learn what exactly the Greenveil duchy specializes in.”
Since they were standing, I asked Tasianna, Svena, Barathan, and Manuela to sit down with us at the table. Once he did, Barathan placed a hand on his chin, raising an eyebrow as he responded, “Haven’t you gotten all the guild memberships you needed, aside from the alchemy guild? Once you have an accurate plan on what your business will revolve around, you can present your idea to the merchant guild for membership. Why do you need to know our duchy’s trade goods?”
Aside from the two adventurer guilds, Saori also went ahead and joined the tailor and chef guild, while Tasianna only joined the chef guild. Saori even made me join the bakers guild due to my baking hobby.
All of these preparations were for Saori’s plan to start a business with the three of us as founders. Looking at our recent activities, I was spending most of my time inside the mansion while Saori and Tasianna would leave me behind with Svena as they roamed the town. Aside from helping Ellaine with her training, the cold weather also made it hard for me to go outside all the time.
Ignoring all the finer details, I was still a fire dragon and the cold made me feel drowsy; I enjoyed spending my days in my pajamas, lying on my bed, playing music with [Aerokinesis], and composing songs. Svena did look exasperated whenever I would snack on my bed, looking extremely lazy until Saori picked me up for a hunter’s guild Quest.
Now, while this lifestyle was acceptable when I had two wealthy parents taking care of all my needs, it was problematic as I was more-or-less a vagrant. I was high maintenance, and I wasn’t earning enough money to sustain it. If our group wasn’t working through Quests every possible hour of every single day, we needed an alternative income source and Saori’s business plans were the solution to it.
“At its core, the plan revolves around Lady Hestia’s career as an idol. Uhm, an Earthen version of a—” Before Saori could continue, Manuela interrupted her.
“One moment, Miss Saori. Svena, please, leave the room.” Manuela’s word not only shocked Svena, but also my party. When I asked for further elaboration, Manuela explained Svena wasn’t privy to my party’s secrets as she was neither a member of House Helvas nor one of the head attendants. As my wish was to limit information spread, Manuela judged it would be better for Svena to leave the room.
I really appreciated the fact she was taking it so seriously. It made me trust House Helvas a bit more; however, technically, Svena already learned about my core when she saw me naked. As it was too much of a chore to have her leave the room every single time I wanted to discuss stuff concerning my secrets, I rejected Manuela’s suggestion and elucidated Svena on everything.
“T-this is a lot to digest, P-Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargrxmor! An otherworlder, a dragon princess, and also a champion of the goddess. Also, I didn’t expect Miss Saori and Miss Tasianna to have such secrets, either.” Instead of looking elated, Svena looked a little bit mortified.
“Ignorance is bliss …” Saori mumbled, to which everybody in the room, aside from me, nodded.
D-did I do something wrong?
“Your Grace, might I remind you that the only other confirmed [Otherworldly Reincarnator], or any otherworldly visitor in general, was the dwarven high-queen known as the ‘Revolution Queen?’ Were it not known that the Origin Gods came from another world, no one would have believed that the ‘Revolution Queen’ came from another world, either. It is simply surreal,” Manuela explained.
She continued, “However, not only do you come from another world, but you were born as a princess of Kargryx as well as made a Champion of the goddess. Your authority is indisputable; as attendants of House Helvas, we are ordered by our lord to keep your party’s secret safe. If we were to leak this information, even unintentionally, our punishment would be most severe.”
In other words, by speaking without thinking about the consequences, I just endangered Svena’s life. Horrified by this sudden realization, I couldn’t help but apologize to Svena. However, she shook her head, stuttering how elated she was that I trusted her enough to share my secrets. She would keep my situation from escaping her mouth.
With the situation defused, Saori promptly brought the discussion back on topic. She explained her plan to build a business surrounding my idol career, similar to an idol agency, to not only give me a chance to live my dream, but also to fulfill my role as Aurena’s champion. Increasing [The Light]’s fan counter was a sub-goal, after all.
However, to accumulate the funds to sustain our high maintenance lifestyle, especially the food and spices, while also having enough to start equipping ourselves with gear, buy manatech, and to create a proper concert stage, we needed more sources of income than just doing adventurer Quests. We joined the various artisan guilds for this reason, but Saori wasn’t sure how to implement her ideas without disrupting the local economy.
After all, stuff like Tasianna’s shampoo, Saori’s Earthly cuisine, and my pastries could fetch a lot of money among nobles and wealthy commoners if something mundane like yeast was considered a luxury.
Barathan nodded, resting a hand on his chin as he contemplated our query. “… Hmm, if that is the case, then asking Lady Ellaine would be—”
“Nonsense.” However, instead of letting him finish, Manuela interjected immediately. “You are one of the head butlers of a noble from the Greenveil duchy. ‘Greenveil nobles are more merchants than aristocrats.’ Everybody knows this, and while Lady Ellaine has been trained to manage the estate’s businesses, you know them better. You were seneschal of our Lord’s fief; you are qualified to speak.
‘Greenveil nobles are more merchants than aristocrats?’ Now that is interesting. Wait, a minute, didn’t Ellaine have [Mathematician Lv. 6] in her Profile? Maybe she could help us.
Aside from that, I did remember Barathan mentioning handing Manuela the role as head attendant of House Helvas’s Firwood mansion when his grandfather passed away. Assuming the role as seneschal of Carine village, he managed everything about it while Count Helvas was away. So, why was he avoiding this?
“Also, our young mistress is currently practicing her artificer skills as per Lady Marianna’e schedule. Let us not disturb her,” Manuela urged him, further surprising me as I did remember Ellaine having both [Enchanting] and [Artificer] as skills. She was this talented but she called herself less talented than her brother?!
Goodness, I wouldn’t mind a manatechnician to help us build manatech, Ellaine! Artificers are cool, girl!
Furrowing his brows, Barathan sighed. “My apologies. Ahem, the first thing you must understand is the division between the seven duchies of our kingdom. I presume everybody is still aware of them, correct?”
Greenveil, Equevanna, Morgiana, Myrddin, Lecartiglio, Groushia, and Olivus, I listed out in my mind, nodding after I confirmed my memory.
Barathan continued, “Each duchy specializes in different goods and services. The Greenveil duchy specifically puts a high focus on food—and I mean an abundance of it—spices, herbs, alchemical ingredients, and monster materials from the Belzac forest, also whatever we can retrieve from the dungeon in Cedaraille. However, we are mostly—”
“WAIT, WAIT! HOLD ON!” I shouted, slamming my hands on the table. “DUNGEON! You just said dungeon, right?! Delving through dungeons to fight monsters and get treasures! Cedaraille, Cedaraille, where have I heard that name before! Ahh, I know! The capital of the Greenveil duchy! Saori, Tasianna, I know where we are going after Firwood!”
The rush of adrenaline, dopamine, or whatever chemicals that were causing this sense of mania inside my body made me jump up and down like an excited primary school girl. Once this cheerfulness ended, I began noticing the warm gazes Saori and Tasianna were giving me, the indifferent look Barathan had, and the shocked expressions of Manuela and Svena. I shyly gave out a giggle and sat down after apologizing for interrupting everybody.
“… As I was saying, Greenveil is an agriculturally focused duchy. Most landed nobles here focus on improving the production efficiency of their lands. ‘Even commoners do not starve in Greenveil,’ is a popular saying among the nobles of the other duchies to acknowledge how bountiful our harvests are. To live up to this reputation, most nobles here are earth and wind mages as that allows them to manage their fief without hiring a mage from the mages guild,” Barathan explained.
Of course, the duchy did import goods from other duchies and countries, like tazlok wheat from the dwarves to the north, but Greenveil Duchy had become wealthy and prosperous as the largest supplier of food in the whole kingdom. The well-managed lands, high fertility of the soil with regulated amounts of mana, and abundance of rich materials from the Belzac Forest, which was right beside Firwood,all combined to make this duchy capable of supplying the whole kingdom with food even in the event that all the other duchies had a bad harvest year.
With so many food products, cooking and alchemy were also significant industries within the duchy. They were widely supported, and even sponsored by multiple nobles. Being picky about their food and wine was simply the norm for any magnoble or greifnoble in Greenveil. ‘Greenveil nobles are more merchants than aristocrats,’ was a common joke amongst the nobles of the other duchies.
“It’s all a jest without any ill will behind it, but it feels awful when I cannot even talk back to the schwertnobles. I would only sully Lady Marianne’s name if I were too captious with court gossips.” Placing a hand on her cheek, Manuela gave out an exaggerated sigh without opening her mouth.
Hold on, what did she say?
“Oh, Miss Manuela, are you a noble?” Saori asked in my stead, also befuddled by the sudden reveal.
“Oh my, have I not mentioned it, yet?” Placing a hand in front of her mouth, Manuela responded with slight shock. “Yes, I am. The third daughter of a viscount from the Morgiana duchy—”
Manuela paused mid-sentence, her mouth agape as she gave Tasianna a glance before continuing with a stutter, “T-to be more precise. I was made Lady Marianne’s, ahem, Lady Countess Helvas’s retainer when she needed a tutor for her daughter, Lady Ellaine. I have served House Helvas for five years.”
When Saori asked why she was wearing a maid outfit, Manuela answered with a proud smile. “Once I was made the head attendant of this mansion, I decided it would be better for the mansion’s peace if I acted like a maid, instead of a noble. While I wear this dress, I am a humble retainer. I do not need to flaunt my noble title when I can earn the obedience and respect of the servants with my competence.”
“Your diligence is an inspiration to us, Miss Manuela,” Svena praised her, causing Manuela to puff up her sizable chest.
From further questioning, Manuela admitted to being assigned to Ellaine’s mother, Marianne, due to her status as an arcanuess’s daughter, the highest rank among the magnobles. This was a political decision as it granted Manuela’s family a few benefits from Marianne’s noble House.
She was initially only there to tutor Ellaine in magic and accompany her at the royal academy, but was later assigned to her current role as the head maid of the House Helvas’s Firwood mansion after Ellaine forfeited the succession competition. Meaning, Barathan and Manuela knew Ellaine before she became who she was today. In other words, I was right that they were overprotective.
“Wait, please, hold on,” Tasianna interrupted. “If you are a noble, then you must also be a mage, no? We heard there wasn’t a mage’s guild branch in Firwood, and after searching for it with Miss Saori, I can confirm the rumor. Why isn’t there one when so many nobles live here?
Come to think about it, I completely forgot about that. Didn’t Master Kush mention that?
Fiddling with her fingers, Manuela breathed in slightly as she shook her head in denial. “It is the fault of the local alchemy guild. Before I took over the role of the head attendant, I heard the alchemy guild won the right to manage most of the materials from the Belzac Forest. This caused the mages guild to conclude that having a branch in Firwood was unnecessary since they couldn’t profit from the rich alchemical ingredients from the Belzac Forest, so they closed the branch here. Well, it is tedious, but we nobles have gargoyles to simply ride to Cedaraille whenever we needed to access the services of the mages guild.”
And what about the mages from a commoner background? I saw quite a few mages at the hunters and mercenary guild.
“Usually, this would be impossible,” Barathan continued. “The mages guild is run by nobles, while the alchemy guild is operated by commoners. However, the unfortunate part is that the current head of the alchemy guild is supported by a local Arcanuess, Lord Arcanuess Chezaic. Although with limited authority, the alchemy guild does act as the representatives for the commoner mages in Firwood, if they need mage-specific requests and commissions.”
In other words, the alchemy guild had a monopoly on mages and alchemic ingredients in Firwood. Due to this, it also meant they could be extremely picky with who could operate in the town. If it were any other town or city, Tasianna would have easily found a teacher.
There is also the fact they ordered the extermination of all garms and fenrirs in the Belzac Forest. While I was no friend of the garm matriarch, isn’t it a bit scummy to order a monster’s death if they haven’t done anything to humans or beastmen? The Quest stated to “eradicate every single one” so the hunters guild could establish a forward camp inside the forest.
“… Alchemy, mages guild, and dungeon entry; all have to be done in Cedaraille.” Saori noted everything down in case we forgot our next goals. “Money aside, how will we conduct our business? We are adventurers so it has to stay mobile, so maybe food would be good? A wandering restaurant or bistro? Oh, then, Mister Barathan, Miss Manuela, would it be alright for Tasianna and I to try to cook for Lady Ellaine? It will be from Earth.”
Without any hesitation, Barathan nodded before opening his own notepad function on his slim party bracelet. “Marvelous. Lady Ellaine has spoken about her interest to try it out, so I shall make the arrangements once I inform her of such. Also, what will you do with your tailor guild membership?”
Saori shrugged. “I am not sure yet. Clothing for wealthy merchants is a possibility, but the upfront cost to buy all the threads would be too much. On the other hand, Lady Hestia and Tasianna have enough mana to supply me with mana threads. What is mana clothing used for in noble society?”
“Protective robes filled with enchantments. Armor, after all, would be too conspicuous,” Manuela explained. “Aside from threads made from monsters, normal cotton or any common fabric cannot be enchanted as the mana inside of them would cause the clothes to break apart. Mana threads were made to overcome this exact reason, as it would allow mages and nobles to wear less bulky clothing and equipment without being defenseless.
Barathan then continued for her, “However, the problem lies with the scarcity of threads. Not every noble has the skill [Mana Weave], as such, the suppliers spike the prices up. And because mana threads adopt the color of the magic circle they are weaved from, certain colors are harder to come by. For example, the purple mana cloth Lady Hestia so kindly gifted to our lord.”
Mumbling, “I see…” Saori then turned her attention to me. “We cannot afford a huge concert stage for you yet, but we can start making merchandise like t-shirts for later sales. If we open a restaurant, we could have you perform while Tasianna serves and I cook, just like what happened during the Binding Festival. You need to start somewhere, right? And it also acts as marketing to attract people towards us. Good idea?”
I nodded with excitement, flailing my tail around as I could imagine myself singing as if I was in a country bar. I was an indie idol—independant idol—and most entertainers had to begin in these smaller venues to gain not only experience but a small following for later on. An entertainer had to bring out content, no matter what, and getting gigs would help me with that.
I didn’t even mind starting from rock bottom, considering how I was too stubborn to try it out back on Earth. I could have streamed, performed, and done anything else but continuously tried to join an idol studio just ‘cause it was the traditional way. After all, I didn’t choose to become an idol to make money and become famous, I chose this dream to make people smile and happy. This idea allowed me to spread idol culture to this world.
Not to mention, it wouldn’t stop us from being adventurers and doing Quests, since we kept everything flexible and mobile. I really shouldn’t be slacking off in my bed all day. Hardwork was what kept our lives going forward.
As Saori, Tasianna, and I kept talking, Manuella suddenly inquired what an “idol” was. Well, it was my duty to enlighten her to the wonders of idols, so I gave her a quick rundown of my dream and also a taste of my singing. “Grace them with a tune,” ha!
“Ahh, lovely. Like the voice of an angel directly sent to us by the Goddess,” Manuela clapped her hands, enamored as her excited voice squeaked a bit. “Lady Hestia, you know, appreciating the fine art is a beloved pastime for nobles in the Morgiana and Myrrdin duchies. We specialize in magic, yes, but there is no noble who can appreciate art more than us.”
“I concur; a talent for the fine arts. Your ‘concert,’ as you called it, in Carine village was mesmerizing, I must say. You enchanted me, my lady.” Closing his eyes, Barathan’s lips curved into a smile as he seemed to reminisce about my debut. “I can still vividly recall your third song. The power and emotion as you sang every word … Sublime. Even Lady Ellaine was unable to hold back her tears.”
“Mister Barathan! You mustn’t reveal that about our Lady! You know better!” Svena chided him.
After we settled on a few more points, Saori wanted to talk to a merchant about it, but before we could I went to speak with Ellaine about what I had learned about her. That she could not only enchant but was also an artificer-in-training.
When I entered her room, we actually saw her organizing her workstation in one of the corners of her large room; she just finished repairing what looks like one of the mana lamps in the mansion. When I brought this fact up to her, her face reddened in embarrassment.
“W-well, I used to do enchanting. Not anymore, since I rather dislike the rather lengthy lectures. B-but, artificer work? Yes, yes! Well, I am still a beginner, but considering how much the Revolution Queen did when she was still alive, maybe I could provide more than just my lackluster combat talent.”
Was her reply to me, to which I encouraged her to continue, considering I had idea about any of this engineering stuff! Weirdly, my praise caused her to become speechless and flustered, looking almost like a tomato before she told us she had to “pick some flowers.” Being an artificer probably was hard, since it was just engineering with mana.
In any case, we left the noble district to meet up with a merchant Saori knew. A foxian by the name of Zeather. When Saori asked him for advice on introducing new goods that might disrupt the economy, he plainly told us “Ignore it until complaints come in.”
“God Mercurias promotes competition among merchants. Zeather’s job isn’t only to sell, but also be up to date on new trends and goods. If you wish to introduce new goods, Miss Saori, then you mustn’t let compassion for other merchants stop you. Get as much profit as possible and the moment somebody complains about it, go to the merchant or artisan guild and open your own sub-guild. Trademark your product!” he answered with a sly smile. “Honored Lady Hestia, this humble Zeather can provide you with the supplies you need. As I swear on my tail, I will make sure the business we perform together will be blessed by God Mercurias.”
“Huh? You know scalekin speech?” I asked the foxian, surprised he knew how to give a promise like a lizardman or saurian.
Beaming a proud smile, Zeather replied, “A few lizard—ahem, saurians visited the town once. I asked them for a few speech tips in case I ever do business with another scale-kin. Learning how to make our clients comfortable is a part of being a merchant, honored Lady Hestia.”
Saurians? Was it Master Kush and the others?
“As my tail is my witness, this young scale awaits a very beneficial relationship, Mister Zeather.”
Using my visit as an excuse, Zeather told Saori he would reduce the price of our next food order. Getting to meet and talk to me, instead of simply transporting the goods to me, was worth giving us another discount. Like our first order, we had to pay 9960 Davi. It was less than the original price but it was still quite a lot.
Once we were done there, I decided to spend some time at the hunters guild. It was shortly after lunchtime, so I thought it would be good to see how well my songs would be received by the rowdy adventurers.
AbyssRaven Ellaine is an artificer, huh? Tasianna becoming an alchemist. Saori becoming a chef. What is Hestia gonna do? Slack off like a real dragon while everybody else works?
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“So, we finished four rank F quests and one rank E in this one week, which gave us 7211 Davi. We still have one Job change remaining this week, which will cost us 1000 Davi per person, but tomorrow is already RestDay, so it would be unlikely for us to use it up.” Saori then began writing some more calculations on the notepad function of her party bracelet, murmuring our food costs, essential buys, and future equipment funds. After massaging her brows with an anxious frown, she showed me the blue screen.
O-oh, we aren’t doing too well financially, I see …
“I expected the food I bought to last us for at least a week, but at the rate we are eating through it, I will have to buy another batch before next week. I already talked to the merchant who provided our first supply, but I was not able to talk the price down this time. He argued that there was a supply shortage, rejecting every argument I made. Haaa, winning a bargaining war is nice but losing it feels so bad,” Saori complained with a long sigh, slumping a bit in her chair. “Anyway, do you now understand why I said it was important for you to join the bakers guild?”
“Y-yeah, I’m sorry. I really thought we could earn all our money from doing some Quests and be happy. I didn’t know we needed this much money for food and spices,” I bit my lips, now realizing the full consequences to becoming a sunfang dragon. Sure, [Battle Frenzy] wasn’t too much of a problem now, but my bottomless stomach was. “I committed my mornings to training Ellaine, which only leaves the afternoon free for us three to do Quests together. We can’t go out in the evenings since the gates close.”
There were night guards at the gates, but nobody was allowed to enter the town after the day was over. Once the sun sets, the town guards found it too risky to let anybody in during this time outside of nobles. Adventurers who came too late had to camp outside.
Naturally, since I had that scary document from the Marquess of Firwood, we wouldn’t have that problem, though. It was just that Barathan and Manuela would scold us, considering they were the hosts for royalty—me—and didn’t want anything to happen to me. As I said, those two were beyond overprotective.
“Exactly. Until we register all of us into a party, we must do all our Quests together, otherwise if Tasianna and I become rank C, we can take rank B Quests, but you could not,” Saori stated. “Once our party is formed, our party rank is used to determine what Quests we as a whole can take … It just costs money.”
“How much?” I asked.
“5000.”
That was … mildly reasonable, but you had to consider how people in the lower ranks probably had worse financial situations than ours. Even then, was it worth it for us to pay 5000 for the party registration when we needed to gain more Jobs or how we needed equipment and catalysts? Not to mention, Tasianna told us she wanted to become an alchemist to the joy of Saori, so we needed funds for her.
I understood the adventurer guilds were businesses, but there were so many fees. It felt like a scam, weren’t it for the services and conveniences they provided.
As I was contemplating this dilemma, a bell rang from outside our room. Before Saori could answer it, Tasianna’s voice came from outside so I bid her to enter. Joined by Svena, who brought the tea cart with her, Tasianna came to our table and set rice crackers, toffel chips, and multiple pastries from House Helvas on it. Meanwhile, Svena prepared our tea.
Seeing as I have been living in this mansion for two weeks now, Svena had also started learning my likes and dislikes, including which teas I loved drinking. It might not be coffee, but fulinoe tea always tasted nostalgic, reminding me of Earth.
As Svena was brewing the tea, Tasianna was giving her a small glare. Not out of hatred, but out of envy. Before she had [Elvenize], Tasianna would always feel jealous that only Saori could serve me the tea she brewed. Now, with Svena acting as my temporary attendant while I stayed in Ellaine’s mansion, Tasianna felt a bit threatened by her.
The two would always squabble when it came to who could brew my tea, or who would bathe me. Yes, those two argued who would help me take a shower and bath. And yes, I felt very uncomfortable since I was a bloody teen. I could shower on my own, thank you very much!
Aside from their competitive drive motivating them to work harder, the two had been working well together. Tasianna still wasn’t much of a fan of humans, but she was starting to warm up to her rival.
“You seem troubled, Miss Saori. May I assist you with anything?” Svena offered after she’d served me my tea.
“It is not a problem … Actually, if you could, would you please call Mister Barathan and Miss Manuela to come over if they are free? I wish to ask them something.”
With a small bow, Svena left the room. A few minutes later, she returned with Barathan and Manuela.
“I hope you have had a pleasant DarkDay. Thank you for coming. I know you two must be busy with managing the household,” I welcomed them.
In his usual, finely made butler outfit, Barathan bowed like a gentleman, looking extremely capable with his clean appearance. Despite his grey hair and eyes, Barathan looked more around his late twenties than a silver-fox butler. He greeted us in a grandiose manner, befitting a princess.
Manuela, on the other hand, looked annoyed and lectured him on overdoing it and how he wasn’t taking my dislike for overdone formalities in mind. The navy blue haired head maid shook her head, waggling her fishtail braid around, before she opened her blue and red heterochromatic eyes.
Their dynamic really is weird, huh?
Despite being the two head attendants in the mansion, I’ve noticed a certain hostility between the two, more specifically from Manuela toward Barathan. I didn’t want to pry, so I haven’t asked them about it yet, but it was clear enough that they had some sort of history. There was a certain synergy with how they commanded the other servants, exactly knowing what the other might think. So, why did it seem like Manuela dislikes him?
“Actually, I was the one who called for you,” Saori chimed in before I could say anything. “Barathan, it is about the plan we spoke about. About setting up a business, or faction in your words, to help us earn what we need for our travels. I have been having a hard time thinking of how to properly execute it, so I wanted to learn what exactly the Greenveil duchy specializes in.”
Since they were standing, I asked Tasianna, Svena, Barathan, and Manuela to sit down with us at the table. Once he did, Barathan placed a hand on his chin, raising an eyebrow as he responded, “Haven’t you gotten all the guild memberships you needed, aside from the alchemy guild? Once you have an accurate plan on what your business will revolve around, you can present your idea to the merchant guild for membership. Why do you need to know our duchy’s trade goods?”
Aside from the two adventurer guilds, Saori also went ahead and joined the tailor and chef guild, while Tasianna only joined the chef guild. Saori even made me join the bakers guild due to my baking hobby.
All of these preparations were for Saori’s plan to start a business with the three of us as founders. Looking at our recent activities, I was spending most of my time inside the mansion while Saori and Tasianna would leave me behind with Svena as they roamed the town. Aside from helping Ellaine with her training, the cold weather also made it hard for me to go outside all the time.
Ignoring all the finer details, I was still a fire dragon and the cold made me feel drowsy; I enjoyed spending my days in my pajamas, lying on my bed, playing music with [Aerokinesis], and composing songs. Svena did look exasperated whenever I would snack on my bed, looking extremely lazy until Saori picked me up for a hunter’s guild Quest.
Now, while this lifestyle was acceptable when I had two wealthy parents taking care of all my needs, it was problematic as I was more-or-less a vagrant. I was high maintenance, and I wasn’t earning enough money to sustain it. If our group wasn’t working through Quests every possible hour of every single day, we needed an alternative income source and Saori’s business plans were the solution to it.
“At its core, the plan revolves around Lady Hestia’s career as an idol. Uhm, an Earthen version of a—” Before Saori could continue, Manuela interrupted her.
“One moment, Miss Saori. Svena, please, leave the room.” Manuela’s word not only shocked Svena, but also my party. When I asked for further elaboration, Manuela explained Svena wasn’t privy to my party’s secrets as she was neither a member of House Helvas nor one of the head attendants. As my wish was to limit information spread, Manuela judged it would be better for Svena to leave the room.
I really appreciated the fact she was taking it so seriously. It made me trust House Helvas a bit more; however, technically, Svena already learned about my core when she saw me naked. As it was too much of a chore to have her leave the room every single time I wanted to discuss stuff concerning my secrets, I rejected Manuela’s suggestion and elucidated Svena on everything.
“T-this is a lot to digest, P-Princess Hestia Atsuko Kargrxmor! An otherworlder, a dragon princess, and also a champion of the goddess. Also, I didn’t expect Miss Saori and Miss Tasianna to have such secrets, either.” Instead of looking elated, Svena looked a little bit mortified.
“Ignorance is bliss …” Saori mumbled, to which everybody in the room, aside from me, nodded.
D-did I do something wrong?
“Your Grace, might I remind you that the only other confirmed [Otherworldly Reincarnator], or any otherworldly visitor in general, was the dwarven high-queen known as the ‘Revolution Queen?’ Were it not known that the Origin Gods came from another world, no one would have believed that the ‘Revolution Queen’ came from another world, either. It is simply surreal,” Manuela explained.
She continued, “However, not only do you come from another world, but you were born as a princess of Kargryx as well as made a Champion of the goddess. Your authority is indisputable; as attendants of House Helvas, we are ordered by our lord to keep your party’s secret safe. If we were to leak this information, even unintentionally, our punishment would be most severe.”
In other words, by speaking without thinking about the consequences, I just endangered Svena’s life. Horrified by this sudden realization, I couldn’t help but apologize to Svena. However, she shook her head, stuttering how elated she was that I trusted her enough to share my secrets. She would keep my situation from escaping her mouth.
With the situation defused, Saori promptly brought the discussion back on topic. She explained her plan to build a business surrounding my idol career, similar to an idol agency, to not only give me a chance to live my dream, but also to fulfill my role as Aurena’s champion. Increasing [The Light]’s fan counter was a sub-goal, after all.
However, to accumulate the funds to sustain our high maintenance lifestyle, especially the food and spices, while also having enough to start equipping ourselves with gear, buy manatech, and to create a proper concert stage, we needed more sources of income than just doing adventurer Quests. We joined the various artisan guilds for this reason, but Saori wasn’t sure how to implement her ideas without disrupting the local economy.
After all, stuff like Tasianna’s shampoo, Saori’s Earthly cuisine, and my pastries could fetch a lot of money among nobles and wealthy commoners if something mundane like yeast was considered a luxury.
Barathan nodded, resting a hand on his chin as he contemplated our query. “… Hmm, if that is the case, then asking Lady Ellaine would be—”
“Nonsense.” However, instead of letting him finish, Manuela interjected immediately. “You are one of the head butlers of a noble from the Greenveil duchy. ‘Greenveil nobles are more merchants than aristocrats.’ Everybody knows this, and while Lady Ellaine has been trained to manage the estate’s businesses, you know them better. You were seneschal of our Lord’s fief; you are qualified to speak.
‘Greenveil nobles are more merchants than aristocrats?’ Now that is interesting. Wait, a minute, didn’t Ellaine have [Mathematician Lv. 6] in her Profile? Maybe she could help us.
Aside from that, I did remember Barathan mentioning handing Manuela the role as head attendant of House Helvas’s Firwood mansion when his grandfather passed away. Assuming the role as seneschal of Carine village, he managed everything about it while Count Helvas was away. So, why was he avoiding this?
“Also, our young mistress is currently practicing her artificer skills as per Lady Marianna’e schedule. Let us not disturb her,” Manuela urged him, further surprising me as I did remember Ellaine having both [Enchanting] and [Artificer] as skills. She was this talented but she called herself less talented than her brother?!
Goodness, I wouldn’t mind a manatechnician to help us build manatech, Ellaine! Artificers are cool, girl!
Furrowing his brows, Barathan sighed. “My apologies. Ahem, the first thing you must understand is the division between the seven duchies of our kingdom. I presume everybody is still aware of them, correct?”
Greenveil, Equevanna, Morgiana, Myrddin, Lecartiglio, Groushia, and Olivus, I listed out in my mind, nodding after I confirmed my memory.
Barathan continued, “Each duchy specializes in different goods and services. The Greenveil duchy specifically puts a high focus on food—and I mean an abundance of it—spices, herbs, alchemical ingredients, and monster materials from the Belzac forest, also whatever we can retrieve from the dungeon in Cedaraille. However, we are mostly—”
“WAIT, WAIT! HOLD ON!” I shouted, slamming my hands on the table. “DUNGEON! You just said dungeon, right?! Delving through dungeons to fight monsters and get treasures! Cedaraille, Cedaraille, where have I heard that name before! Ahh, I know! The capital of the Greenveil duchy! Saori, Tasianna, I know where we are going after Firwood!”
The rush of adrenaline, dopamine, or whatever chemicals that were causing this sense of mania inside my body made me jump up and down like an excited primary school girl. Once this cheerfulness ended, I began noticing the warm gazes Saori and Tasianna were giving me, the indifferent look Barathan had, and the shocked expressions of Manuela and Svena. I shyly gave out a giggle and sat down after apologizing for interrupting everybody.
“… As I was saying, Greenveil is an agriculturally focused duchy. Most landed nobles here focus on improving the production efficiency of their lands. ‘Even commoners do not starve in Greenveil,’ is a popular saying among the nobles of the other duchies to acknowledge how bountiful our harvests are. To live up to this reputation, most nobles here are earth and wind mages as that allows them to manage their fief without hiring a mage from the mages guild,” Barathan explained.
Of course, the duchy did import goods from other duchies and countries, like tazlok wheat from the dwarves to the north, but Greenveil Duchy had become wealthy and prosperous as the largest supplier of food in the whole kingdom. The well-managed lands, high fertility of the soil with regulated amounts of mana, and abundance of rich materials from the Belzac Forest, which was right beside Firwood,all combined to make this duchy capable of supplying the whole kingdom with food even in the event that all the other duchies had a bad harvest year.
With so many food products, cooking and alchemy were also significant industries within the duchy. They were widely supported, and even sponsored by multiple nobles. Being picky about their food and wine was simply the norm for any magnoble or greifnoble in Greenveil. ‘Greenveil nobles are more merchants than aristocrats,’ was a common joke amongst the nobles of the other duchies.
“It’s all a jest without any ill will behind it, but it feels awful when I cannot even talk back to the schwertnobles. I would only sully Lady Marianne’s name if I were too captious with court gossips.” Placing a hand on her cheek, Manuela gave out an exaggerated sigh without opening her mouth.
Hold on, what did she say?
“Oh, Miss Manuela, are you a noble?” Saori asked in my stead, also befuddled by the sudden reveal.
“Oh my, have I not mentioned it, yet?” Placing a hand in front of her mouth, Manuela responded with slight shock. “Yes, I am. The third daughter of a viscount from the Morgiana duchy—”
Manuela paused mid-sentence, her mouth agape as she gave Tasianna a glance before continuing with a stutter, “T-to be more precise. I was made Lady Marianne’s, ahem, Lady Countess Helvas’s retainer when she needed a tutor for her daughter, Lady Ellaine. I have served House Helvas for five years.”
When Saori asked why she was wearing a maid outfit, Manuela answered with a proud smile. “Once I was made the head attendant of this mansion, I decided it would be better for the mansion’s peace if I acted like a maid, instead of a noble. While I wear this dress, I am a humble retainer. I do not need to flaunt my noble title when I can earn the obedience and respect of the servants with my competence.”
“Your diligence is an inspiration to us, Miss Manuela,” Svena praised her, causing Manuela to puff up her sizable chest.
From further questioning, Manuela admitted to being assigned to Ellaine’s mother, Marianne, due to her status as an arcanuess’s daughter, the highest rank among the magnobles. This was a political decision as it granted Manuela’s family a few benefits from Marianne’s noble House.
She was initially only there to tutor Ellaine in magic and accompany her at the royal academy, but was later assigned to her current role as the head maid of the House Helvas’s Firwood mansion after Ellaine forfeited the succession competition. Meaning, Barathan and Manuela knew Ellaine before she became who she was today. In other words, I was right that they were overprotective.
“Wait, please, hold on,” Tasianna interrupted. “If you are a noble, then you must also be a mage, no? We heard there wasn’t a mage’s guild branch in Firwood, and after searching for it with Miss Saori, I can confirm the rumor. Why isn’t there one when so many nobles live here?
Come to think about it, I completely forgot about that. Didn’t Master Kush mention that?
Fiddling with her fingers, Manuela breathed in slightly as she shook her head in denial. “It is the fault of the local alchemy guild. Before I took over the role of the head attendant, I heard the alchemy guild won the right to manage most of the materials from the Belzac Forest. This caused the mages guild to conclude that having a branch in Firwood was unnecessary since they couldn’t profit from the rich alchemical ingredients from the Belzac Forest, so they closed the branch here. Well, it is tedious, but we nobles have gargoyles to simply ride to Cedaraille whenever we needed to access the services of the mages guild.”
And what about the mages from a commoner background? I saw quite a few mages at the hunters and mercenary guild.
“Usually, this would be impossible,” Barathan continued. “The mages guild is run by nobles, while the alchemy guild is operated by commoners. However, the unfortunate part is that the current head of the alchemy guild is supported by a local Arcanuess, Lord Arcanuess Chezaic. Although with limited authority, the alchemy guild does act as the representatives for the commoner mages in Firwood, if they need mage-specific requests and commissions.”
In other words, the alchemy guild had a monopoly on mages and alchemic ingredients in Firwood. Due to this, it also meant they could be extremely picky with who could operate in the town. If it were any other town or city, Tasianna would have easily found a teacher.
There is also the fact they ordered the extermination of all garms and fenrirs in the Belzac Forest. While I was no friend of the garm matriarch, isn’t it a bit scummy to order a monster’s death if they haven’t done anything to humans or beastmen? The Quest stated to “eradicate every single one” so the hunters guild could establish a forward camp inside the forest.
“… Alchemy, mages guild, and dungeon entry; all have to be done in Cedaraille.” Saori noted everything down in case we forgot our next goals. “Money aside, how will we conduct our business? We are adventurers so it has to stay mobile, so maybe food would be good? A wandering restaurant or bistro? Oh, then, Mister Barathan, Miss Manuela, would it be alright for Tasianna and I to try to cook for Lady Ellaine? It will be from Earth.”
Without any hesitation, Barathan nodded before opening his own notepad function on his slim party bracelet. “Marvelous. Lady Ellaine has spoken about her interest to try it out, so I shall make the arrangements once I inform her of such. Also, what will you do with your tailor guild membership?”
Saori shrugged. “I am not sure yet. Clothing for wealthy merchants is a possibility, but the upfront cost to buy all the threads would be too much. On the other hand, Lady Hestia and Tasianna have enough mana to supply me with mana threads. What is mana clothing used for in noble society?”
“Protective robes filled with enchantments. Armor, after all, would be too conspicuous,” Manuela explained. “Aside from threads made from monsters, normal cotton or any common fabric cannot be enchanted as the mana inside of them would cause the clothes to break apart. Mana threads were made to overcome this exact reason, as it would allow mages and nobles to wear less bulky clothing and equipment without being defenseless.
Barathan then continued for her, “However, the problem lies with the scarcity of threads. Not every noble has the skill [Mana Weave], as such, the suppliers spike the prices up. And because mana threads adopt the color of the magic circle they are weaved from, certain colors are harder to come by. For example, the purple mana cloth Lady Hestia so kindly gifted to our lord.”
Mumbling, “I see…” Saori then turned her attention to me. “We cannot afford a huge concert stage for you yet, but we can start making merchandise like t-shirts for later sales. If we open a restaurant, we could have you perform while Tasianna serves and I cook, just like what happened during the Binding Festival. You need to start somewhere, right? And it also acts as marketing to attract people towards us. Good idea?”
I nodded with excitement, flailing my tail around as I could imagine myself singing as if I was in a country bar. I was an indie idol—independant idol—and most entertainers had to begin in these smaller venues to gain not only experience but a small following for later on. An entertainer had to bring out content, no matter what, and getting gigs would help me with that.
I didn’t even mind starting from rock bottom, considering how I was too stubborn to try it out back on Earth. I could have streamed, performed, and done anything else but continuously tried to join an idol studio just ‘cause it was the traditional way. After all, I didn’t choose to become an idol to make money and become famous, I chose this dream to make people smile and happy. This idea allowed me to spread idol culture to this world.
Not to mention, it wouldn’t stop us from being adventurers and doing Quests, since we kept everything flexible and mobile. I really shouldn’t be slacking off in my bed all day. Hardwork was what kept our lives going forward.
As Saori, Tasianna, and I kept talking, Manuella suddenly inquired what an “idol” was. Well, it was my duty to enlighten her to the wonders of idols, so I gave her a quick rundown of my dream and also a taste of my singing. “Grace them with a tune,” ha!
“Ahh, lovely. Like the voice of an angel directly sent to us by the Goddess,” Manuela clapped her hands, enamored as her excited voice squeaked a bit. “Lady Hestia, you know, appreciating the fine art is a beloved pastime for nobles in the Morgiana and Myrrdin duchies. We specialize in magic, yes, but there is no noble who can appreciate art more than us.”
“I concur; a talent for the fine arts. Your ‘concert,’ as you called it, in Carine village was mesmerizing, I must say. You enchanted me, my lady.” Closing his eyes, Barathan’s lips curved into a smile as he seemed to reminisce about my debut. “I can still vividly recall your third song. The power and emotion as you sang every word … Sublime. Even Lady Ellaine was unable to hold back her tears.”
“Mister Barathan! You mustn’t reveal that about our Lady! You know better!” Svena chided him.
After we settled on a few more points, Saori wanted to talk to a merchant about it, but before we could I went to speak with Ellaine about what I had learned about her. That she could not only enchant but was also an artificer-in-training.
When I entered her room, we actually saw her organizing her workstation in one of the corners of her large room; she just finished repairing what looks like one of the mana lamps in the mansion. When I brought this fact up to her, her face reddened in embarrassment.
“W-well, I used to do enchanting. Not anymore, since I rather dislike the rather lengthy lectures. B-but, artificer work? Yes, yes! Well, I am still a beginner, but considering how much the Revolution Queen did when she was still alive, maybe I could provide more than just my lackluster combat talent.”
Was her reply to me, to which I encouraged her to continue, considering I had idea about any of this engineering stuff! Weirdly, my praise caused her to become speechless and flustered, looking almost like a tomato before she told us she had to “pick some flowers.” Being an artificer probably was hard, since it was just engineering with mana.
In any case, we left the noble district to meet up with a merchant Saori knew. A foxian by the name of Zeather. When Saori asked him for advice on introducing new goods that might disrupt the economy, he plainly told us “Ignore it until complaints come in.”
“God Mercurias promotes competition among merchants. Zeather’s job isn’t only to sell, but also be up to date on new trends and goods. If you wish to introduce new goods, Miss Saori, then you mustn’t let compassion for other merchants stop you. Get as much profit as possible and the moment somebody complains about it, go to the merchant or artisan guild and open your own sub-guild. Trademark your product!” he answered with a sly smile. “Honored Lady Hestia, this humble Zeather can provide you with the supplies you need. As I swear on my tail, I will make sure the business we perform together will be blessed by God Mercurias.”
“Huh? You know scalekin speech?” I asked the foxian, surprised he knew how to give a promise like a lizardman or saurian.
Beaming a proud smile, Zeather replied, “A few lizard—ahem, saurians visited the town once. I asked them for a few speech tips in case I ever do business with another scale-kin. Learning how to make our clients comfortable is a part of being a merchant, honored Lady Hestia.”
Saurians? Was it Master Kush and the others?
“As my tail is my witness, this young scale awaits a very beneficial relationship, Mister Zeather.”
Using my visit as an excuse, Zeather told Saori he would reduce the price of our next food order. Getting to meet and talk to me, instead of simply transporting the goods to me, was worth giving us another discount. Like our first order, we had to pay 9960 Davi. It was less than the original price but it was still quite a lot.
Once we were done there, I decided to spend some time at the hunters guild. It was shortly after lunchtime, so I thought it would be good to see how well my songs would be received by the rowdy adventurers.
AbyssRaven Ellaine is an artificer, huh? Tasianna becoming an alchemist. Saori becoming a chef. What is Hestia gonna do? Slack off like a real dragon while everybody else works?
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