May you rest in peace, Talon. I apologize for not being there for you in time.
Death. Death and I had a weird relationship. It is for a fact that I, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, am currently living a second life with the memories of my past life on Earth, albeit a good amount of those were fragmented during my reincarnation process. My spirit was accordingly still not “whole” and I was told it was currently adapting to my new form, changing as I lived. These lost memories would return to me eventually.
However, have I ever experienced losing somebody through death? I lost my parents and relatives when I died on Earth; I could grieve for the fact that I would never see them again. I even blamed myself for making people important to me sad with my death. Nevertheless, was it similar to seeing somebody you know die in front of you? In both cases, you lose somebody, the only real difference being who died.
‘What if?’ In both cases, I had to ask myself those questions. ‘What if I had done something else?’ or ‘What if I had been faster?’
Philosophers could discuss and argue as much as they wanted, but I personally thought that Death was a cruel acquaintance in either case. For somebody who had to surround herself with death ever since she was reborn, the notion of somebody dying hit me the hardest when I personally knew them. Hunting monsters, taking down bandits, or barely escaping from death’s grasp by the skin of my teeth somehow became the norm for me.
I earnestly did not want Saori, Tasianna, or Ellaine to disappear from my life. They were my emotional anchors, after all. Yet, what about the individuals who I only knew recently and died right in front of me?
Macklemor was a bandit and enemy, plain and simple, regardless of whether his death was avoidable or not. Kiiro’s loss, although I felt bad that he died like that, affected Tasianna more than me. So what about Talon? Well, for one thing, he was a party companion.
Opening my eyes after giving out a prayer, I looked down at Talon’s lifeless body, whose clothes and party bracelet were burned to cinders moments before his death. Healing magic still worked on a deceased body to repair bones and regenerate skin tissue just seconds or minutes after somebody’s death, but on Peolynca, death was governed by the Health stat. Let it reach zero without some game-breaking trick and your soul would be sent on its way to Ilsaphone. I might have healed Talon’s wounds but my efforts were far too late.
When I transformed back into a dragonewt after Tasianna fed me enough to get rid of [Starvation (Minor)], my first move was to find Talon, hoping he was still alive and just hiding. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. With his body riddled with burns, I found his corpse lying next to a one-armed man with equally horrendous burns. The latter had an undulated dagger with Plesia’s symbol dug deep into his heart.
Talon and Keith. One sought revenge, the other a prosperous church. Old friends, reunited in death.
They were both strangers, but one had become an acquaintance while the other an enemy. It was just another sentence in my story, but that didn’t make me lack compassion for their sad fate. If it were up to me, I would have wanted them to have a better, happy ending.
As a gesture of goodwill, I cleaned and healed Talon’s wounds and newer burns, although his childhood burn scars were far too old to treat. I removed the dagger from Keith’s body, closed the wound, healed his charred skin, and reattached his arm as best I could. Despite knowing the dungeon would consume them anyways, I dug a grave for them using earth magic.
Kinda sad dying like this … I’ll make sure your ID makes it to the surface, Talon. Rest in peace.
Shiterno’s followers caused enough trouble to people important to me, including Saori’s students and Talon himself. I had no responsibility towards them.
“Watashitachiha … Hito o koroshita, Segawa-Sensei.” (We… murdered people, Teacher Segawa.)
Japanese entered my ears the moment I finished my prayer to Talon, turning my head around to a group of students and their teacher. The one who said this was Nishio, lying down to rest due to the arcane corruption.
The others had their wounds treated and were all sitting down before Saori, who had decided to stay in her moderate wolfkin form instead of [Humanize (Major)] with her [Humanize Lv. 9]. She would have lost most of her fenrir features, but she would have looked like a normal human for her students. Still, I would have thought their meeting would’ve been more… upbeat and positive, and it was when they were first reunited, but the mood had since degraded.
“I know it doesn’t matter much in this world, but despite being the class representative, I wasn’t able to keep everybody together, Sensei. Tatsuya-kun, Kyouya-kun, Daichi-san, Haruka-chan, and Asaka-san were the only ones who came with us thanks to the church, however, our other 15 classmates parted ways with us, going to the Folschreck Empire. We were essentially assigned to the western side of Altrust,” Tamae explained to Saori, who was listening intently to everything they told her.
“I noticed all of you were addressing each other with your first name. Tsuji-san, you rarely ever called Kudo-san by his first name. What prompted this?” Saori asked Tamae. Tsuji was Tamae’s surname while Nishio’s was Kudo.
She replied, “Takuma-kun, uhm, Akanashi-kun, believed it would have been better for us to use our first names more often and to introduce ourselves as so to Peolyncians. It is to fit in better, at least, that was his reason. After he gained his ‘Hero’ title, he became more insistent in everybody becoming more ‘hero-like.’”
Hero title? Seriously? Weren’t they all considered heroes by the church, so why was only one of them given the title ‘Hero?’ What’s the difference between a hero and a blessed?
However, instead of worrying about that, Saori began to giggle, “Hiehie, oh that is the reason? And here I thought Kudo-san finally was brave enough to finally confess his feelings. I was for a moment quite impressed, mister, hiehie.”
Wait, what?!
“S-S-Sensei? Why would you—Oh, my head, I’m feeling dizzy.”
Baffled and embarrassed at what Saori just revealed, Nishio tried to push his body up to react but fell right back onto the ground, red now replacing the blue coloration on his face. Misaki, Kazumi, and Kohaku followed Saori’s teasing and giggled with her, causing Nishio to hide his face and turn his body away from them.
The only one who was unsure what was happening was Tamae herself. RIP Nishio, you loverboy.
As the laughter resided, Saori’s smile softened, looking at her students sympathetically. “I understand what you said, Kudo-san, wait, Nishio-san. If the whole class decided on it, then it would only be proper for me to oblige also. Tamae-san, Misaki-san, Kazumi-san, Kohaku-san. For you, it’s been over a year, while for me, this new body of mine isn’t even a year old. I can see that all five of you have grown up significantly from the last time I saw you and … I think we have much to catch up with. Would you five indulge your former teacher?”
All five smiled as they nodded to Saori’s request, looking as if they have been desperately waiting for these words for a whole year now. As they began recalling the same story they’d told me, just in a more detailed and enthusiastic manner, somebody suddenly came up to me. Once I noticed her approaching me, I turned around and came face-to-face with a certain dragonewt woman.
While combing her white hair held up in a ponytail, she spoke to me in a joking manner, “You know, standing there and eavesdropping on other people’s conversation isn’t very polite. It makes you stick out like a mountain. Well, I can forgive you for that. You are only a year old, after all.”
With a face resembling Priscilla greatly, I couldn’t help but feel nervous speaking with this woman. After all, she was Farron’s wife.
“Ma’am. Do you need something?”
Smirking at what I’d said, she continued speaking in a light-hearted way, “Oh come now, relax a bit more. I can imagine how strange this all is for you, but I am the sorta person who enjoys speaking in a leisurely manner instead of putting the formality stick up your ass. We already have one tail, Princess Hestia.”
“Pff!” Unable to hold down a laugh from that imagery, I let out a chortle, easing up my mind and tension a bit. It was a nice ice-breaker. “I guess staying inside a dungeon for over a week has gotten to me a bit. Or it might be just the hunger, who knows?”
“Well, let’s solve that last one for now. Come, your maid seems to be making good progress on our lunch … or is it dinner? Let’s leave those six to their talks while we have our own, all right? Little Kargrxymor?” she said with a warm smile, one that a loving relative would give you.
“Just Hestia is fine. You did say you want to keep it casual, Yorshka. Or, do you want me to call you ‘Miss Yorshka,’ elder scale?”
“Oh, please, anything but that! Calling me elder scale would force me to act my age instead of having fun.”
We moved away from Talon’s grave, further away so the smell of electrocuted cultists wouldn’t bother our noses. Just a little bit further ahead where Saori was speaking with her students, Tasianna and Ellaine were preparing dinner with Grimnir’s help, who was teaching the two of them about dwarven cuisine.
“Tazongn culture is built upon mining as its foundation, which means most of our dishes were primarily made to satisfy the needs of a miner. It has to be hearty to fill the stomach but also quick to get back to work. This tazlok irvinglay, or rockysteady toffel beef cake in Common, is a dwarven classic. You turn the tazlok flour into dough before stuffing it with herbs, spices, toffels, and meat. Bake and wait,” Grimnir instructed Tasianna.
“I just need to cut this however I want? Even in large chunks? That sounds easy enough,” Ellaine looked relieved.
“Like this?” Tasianna then began stuffing the mentioned ingredients into a dough, which would probably turn into an XL family cake once it was done baking.
Apparently, tazlok bread was as dry and tough to eat as rocks, making tazlok wheat perfect to hold in all the ingredients stuffed into it. It reminded me a bit of beef wellington, although the preparation method was similar to stuffing a turkey. It fitted the image I had of dwarves, seeing at how rough and blunt Grimnir was. This preparation method was quick and easy to do, requiring little finesse but creating something appetizing as a result.
Grimnir clapped as he watched Tasianna put on the finishing touches on the “cake” before putting it in our portable oven. He smiled wistfully. “Oooh, good work, lass. Bladdarg, kinda wish I could eat more of your and Saori’s tazlok noodles. Reminds me of those fast-food stalls I used to frequent, but I guess nothing beats some traditional dishes once in a while. Hahaha, I haven’t eaten anything from home since I left the mountains.”
Leaving them to their own devices, Yorshka and I sat down at a table I pulled from my storage. After a brief, awkward pause, Yorshka began, saying, “Well, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves yet, so let’s start with that. Like I said before, I am Yorshka Sirris Nordor. The beautiful wife of the Hunter’s Guild’s master of the Firwood branch, Farron, and also the loving mother of my precious Priscilla. I met with Farron in Firwood and he gave me a general understanding of the situation. Considering there was another dragonkin in Firwood, I trust you learned about your special situation from them?”
“Huh? What?” I was baffled. There was supposedly another dragonkin in Firwood? The only one I knew was Cernust, but I made sure not to tell anybody of him, not even to Farron.
“Don’t forget, Farron already confessed, right? Priscilla is a dragonewt, born from my marriage with him. I’m a good mother, mind you, so I made sure to teach Priscilla everything she needed to know about dragonkins and dragonewts, especially the smell we give off. While we aren’t sure who it was, Priscilla mentioned she smelled another dragonkin besides you, Hestia.”
Okay, that explains it. I guess I should have thought of that, although Cernust never mentioned he smelled Priscilla. Maybe he did but just didn’t say anything out of courtesy?
Yorshka continued, “Farron told me pretty much everything. That you are a reincarnator, Goddess Aurena’s Champion, and also that you were born a year ago in your current form. Farron understood your growling, meaning you somehow learned Draconic without his help and also the rough situation with your mother, my grandaunt.”
“Grandaunt? You did call me your aunt for some reason. Don’t tell me we’re actually related?” I asked wearily. If what Cernust said was true, that dragonewts were searching for me and would bring me back to my dragon mother at all cost, then this could be problematic.
Noticing my agitation, Yorshka laid her spear on the ground and raised her hands up as if she was surrendering. “You have nothing to fear from me, my princess. Please, calm down.” After taking a moment to let me do just that, Yorshka continued. “Well, with your reaction, that proves that you had heard something from that other dragonkin. Considering that you are their princess, as they should have noticed from your aura and smell, not bringing you back to Kargryx is pretty much a crime since you’re not an adult. As your relative, I really should punish them.”
Cold sweat began to form on my forehead. Yorshka’s eyes sharpened as she gave a threatening glare into the distance, looking like a predator who had found her next prey. The aura she was emitting constantly already gave me goosebumps, making me fear her even more than the High Ogre or Garm Matriarch. Priscilla said she was a rank A adventurer; if that were true, then Cernust was in big trouble.
“Just kidding, hiehie.” But this woman was a fucking jokester. “I’m not in the mood to hunt some dragonkin anyways. I’m just happy to finally meet you.”
Her smile felt genuine, but it still unnerved me a bit.
“… How are you related to my dragon mother?” I asked.
“Ahh, finally, the moment of truth. While I would enjoy speaking with you some more, I will leave the meat of the subject for later, after we are done with the current issue, yes?”
She was talking about the giant fire spider moving up to the surface. I’d already told Yorshka and Grimnir about it without divulging that it came from Aurena—although Yorshka might be able to deduce that since she knew I was Aurena’s Champion and a reincarnator. We were only taking a break right now since everybody needed one, especially me. As urgent as it was, going into battle without being at full power was a very bad idea.
Yorshka then leaned forward, her lips curved into a smile as she said the next words slowly, “Melloxtressa Wisperia Nordor. The matriarch of the Nordor dragon bloodline and the Nordor dragonewt clan. Your mother on Peolynca, Hestia.”
Melloxtressa Wisperia Nordor … Her name does sound dragony.
“In case you didn’t know, dragons and dragonewts take on the name of their ancestral dragon as their last name out of respect, meaning the silver dragon Nordoramsul is your ancestor on your mother’s side, similar to how God Kargryxmor is your grandfather on your father’s side. I am your niece, or grandniece, with a bunch of grands, if you want to be more specific.”
“Are you also a dragon?”
Yorshka shook her head, confirming what Farron told me. “I am a dragonewt, just like my daughter. The Nordor dragonewt clan was created through the union of your mother’s brother with an elven woman. I myself was born from two dragonewts, although I don’t remember which generation I belong to. Eh, it doesn’t matter too much to me really. Just know that I’m family.”
Family? I don’t even know you. You don’t know me. I don’t know my dragon mother either, so why should I consider your family? I don’t even know anything about my supposed ‘home’ country.
It was impossible for me to accept. I couldn’t comprehend that this woman before me was supposedly my relative. I mean, we didn’t even look alike and I had just met her today. How she called me her aunt and how this grown-ass woman was supposed to be my niece didn’t make sense at all. The very thought was hard for me to accept, let alone even try to understand it.
Yorshka noticed my reluctance, tilting her head at my silence. “Hmm, Priscilla had described you differently.”
“How so?”
“Well, more jovial. I thought learning about your mother would have made you more curious for information … but it seems you’ve become even warier of me. Did I say something wrong?” She frowned.
“Not particularly, but you can’t exactly assume I’ll just accept the whole family thing so easily. It’s not that simple.” The only family I had were the ones of Earth and Aurora. “Besides …”
My eyes were glued to the symbol adorning her party bracelet, the figure of an angel-like woman with yellow hair. It was Aurena’s symbol but, more specifically, it belonged to the Church of Aurena. Tamae’s and Nishio’s words became my focus now, of how they were kidnapped and trapped inside Aureolis, the holy capital of Aurena’s faith.
Yorshka seemed confused when I suddenly kept quiet, following my gaze to see what I was looking at. After a couple of seconds of awkwardness, she began playing with her hair before speaking up. “Did the kids tell you about everything? About how they were summoned here, forced to help out with the church’s goals in order to return to their world, and then being put to work as propaganda?”
I contemplated what she said, still reluctant to answer. When I didn’t say anything, Yorshka sighed deeply. “I guess you really are still a child. Hestia, after spending nearly a whole year with Tamae, Nishio, Misaki, Kazumi, and Kohaku, I’ve been able to gain some insight into how your Earth works. An advanced world where even commoners are able to keep contact with friends and family over long distances. It sounded wonderful and made me envious that this technology hasn’t been created yet in Peolynca. It would be nice to see my daughter’s face more often when I’m out working.”
She then stopped playing with her hair and looked me straight in the eye. “I’m not as zealous about dragons compared to the average dragonewt. A life outside of Loatryx has given me a better perspective of life, but I am still very loyal to my clan. And I am loyal to Lady Melloxtressa—Empress, my empress. Did you know that your disappearance was due to the death of the imperial transporter who was responsible for presenting you to the allies of Kargryx, something important—”
“The adulthood pilgrimage? Yeah, I already know. That dragonkin told me enough to get a general idea. What are you trying to say?” I impatiently skipped over a repeated information dump.
“Well, outside of the fact that nobody knew how or why the courier died, nobody had any idea where your egg ended up. We didn’t have any surveillance and didn’t need to. ‘The unborn imperial dragon princess has gone missing!’ was the most well-known news for the past year in Loatryx, Caedhul, and Saelariel. Beyond that, only a few dwarves were informed of your disappearance, in order to keep this information from spreading to human hands. The Nordor clan, loyal to the Matriarch and her brother, have been searching far and wide for you. I heard some wanted to search the Belzac forest, but it seemed you escaped before anybody could find you there.”
She took a deep breath in and out, calming herself down to sound more articulate. “When I said I was happy to meet you, I wasn’t lying. Hestia, even if you can’t accept me as family, it doesn’t mean that your Peolyncian mother won’t see you as hers. A dragon mother values her children more than the world’s safety, a trait inherited by us dragonewts. I ask you to trust me, and trust that I am your ally. Although I am a follower of Goddess Aurena, I am so because of God Kargryxmor. The reason why I am a holy knight was simply because of a friend's request.”
“Sounds like nepotism.” I frowned.
“Sure it is, but look at it this way: if a friend asked you for help, wouldn’t you be there for them? Well, it helps that my old friend is the Knight-Commander of the Knights of Aurena, making it easy for me to enter their ranks. And do you know why I’m with the knights? Because my good friend has started to become suspicious of his own church. Shocker, right?”
I opened my mouth in surprise. The Knight-Commander of the knights meant to protect and serve the Church of Aurena was becoming suspicious, to the point he appointed Yorshka? For what?
When I asked her this question, Yorshka’s face seemed to lighten up, looking pleased that she got my attention again. “Mostly to gain a more reliable ally. It was a few years before the kids got summoned to this world. Just for your information, I’m as clueless as you would expect from a grunt. My old friend needed an ally but wouldn’t share most of the information with me, so I was actually acting like a Knight of Aurena—helps I’m a dragoon knight. He also told me to monitor the kids. It got a bit hairy on this trip here so I can’t thank you enough for protecting them. Too bad for Talon, though. He was a good guy according to the rumors. I hope he felt some catharsis after getting his revenge on Keith.”
Can she be trusted? was what was going through my head. I didn’t know what to do about it, so the silence continued. Yorshka sighed once again, sitting on her table quietly, waiting for me to make the first move. While I was still contemplating the issue, somebody stole my attention away.
“We got ourselves in some trouble in Gransromus, the capital of the Lecartiglio Duchy, when Kazumi noticed a few katzunes getting hassled,” Tamae recalled, still telling what the students did in the past year.
“Yeah, the racism against beastmen was pretty intense down there. If you weren’t an adventurer, a soldier, or somebody important, then random beastmen would constantly be harassed by the local residents. Mostly thugs or assholes, but these moments really stood out,” Kazumi continued. “When I first confronted them, they just went away; however, when the five of us wanted to do some Quests by ourselves, those thugs reappeared and tried to mug us for being ‘fur lovers.’ The others managed to subdue their opponents without harming them too much but I … fighting two of them by myself was a bit too much. I went too far. I thought I got used to it from bandit and monster fights, but I guess not having a clear reason to fight them made it hard for me to accept that I killed them.”
Two teardrops fell from Kazumi’s eyes, quickly wiped away as she suppressed herself from crying. Saori came forward and embraced her, caressing her back as she spoke softly, “It is all right, it is all right. I know this is heavy on your conscience, but your own health should come before others, especially some thugs acting like bandits. While cities in this world do have guards to maintain the law, do not forget that they cannot be everywhere in this world. I do not want to patronize you about it, but you are not a murderer. You did the right thing.”
“Sensei, you seem calm about all the fights we told you about,” Misaki suddenly questioned Saori. “I’ve meant to ask this for a while now but, how is it being a fenrir? A wolf? From what I can see, you’ve changed.”
None of the students have asked me about how it was like to be a dragonewt. We were strangers until now, I guess.
Saori scratched her chin as she thought over the question. “Well, being something the System considers a monster is weird, to say the least. I thought if I still kept my memories and also my humanity that I would just be the same person, but I guess I did change quite a bit. For one thing, raw meat does not taste disgusting nor does blood. Also, about killing humans, I will be honest, I have made myself feel nothing for people I have to fight to the death. ‘Get over it,’ as insensitive it is to say that.”
“How?” Kohaku asked, showing none of the energy from before.
“For one thing, my mind has been altered. No questions asked. The feeling of evolving and gaining levels has erased nearly all the guilt I would feel for ending a life. Sure, I started out pretty pathetically, puking and shaking in fear from my ‘inhumane action.’ Similar to you five. But, that eventually went away after I began thinking of monster-killing as hunting for food or a quest, or how fighting humans or humanoids have turned into self-defense or bring to ‘justice.’ Anyway to stop me from thinking too pessimistically,” Saori smiled wryly.
“The Sensei I knew from a year ago would probably advise us to stay away from danger. ‘Do not ruin your life for something stupid,’ you told me once. It makes it hard to believe you're the same Sensei from back then, seeing as how you’re reasoning that our actions are necessary,” Nishio scowled. “It was out of self-defense but I feel like a murderer. I know it's for our goal to return home, but sometimes the necessary action isn’t always the right one.”
“Haha, true.” Saori sighed loudly. “Ahh, in a way, despite all the troubles you had to face this year, it was still fruitful, whether it was good or bad experiences. All of you learned from it and became smarter and stronger young adults. I know the school’s chairman’s PR speech about you all being the Elites of Tomorrow has mostly become a joke among all of you, but I honestly believe it now. The students I saw back then, stressed out by studying, exams, and your families’ expectations are mostly gone. Sure, you cannot run from stress forever, but all five of you seem more energetic compared to the last time I saw you. Tell me, has there been something you enjoyed the most since being transported here?”
“Freedom from my parents and all the entry exams. I can study what I want now instead of preparing myself to become their company’s heir. It’s liberating,” Nishio replied immediately.
“A vast sea of new ingredients, all ready for me to try to cook with. A chance for me to get out of my parents’ shadow and the expectations of their employees,” Tamae enthusiastically stated.
“I want to learn more from this world’s finest archers, and to better myself under them. It is far more enjoyable than being a puppet for my father’s ambition to raise his company’s rank in the conglomerate he’s working for. Also, I personally would like to gather enough materials to make the best bow in this world,” Misaki bashfully said, turning red from embarrassment.
“Adventure and having this experience help me become a better mangaka than my father, or maybe become a streamer. As hard as it can be sometimes, it can also be exhilarating,” Kohaku responded in a dreamy mood.
“Katzunes. I love my cats but seeing cat people living in this world was pretty cute. Sensei, you did mention that there was a skill to transform into katzunes, right?” Kazumi mentioned [Beastialization], which could grant the ability to turn herself into a katzune if she chooses to.
Saori giggled at her students’ responses, prompting Tamae to reciprocate the question to her. When Tamae mentioned that our party opened up a restaurant, Saori started to become nervous. “Oh my, you know that already? Jeez, I do not think I can compete with what you can produce, seeing as your parents own a Michelin star restaurant, but yes, I have opened a restaurant with Aurora. Honestly, traveling with them has been amazing. Sure, it is not always rosy, especially with the fact that I nearly died twice, but still, I cannot complain.”
“Have you found out why you were reborn in Peolynca, Sensei?” Kazumi asked. “If I remember correctly, the transportation circle was only in our classroom while you were supposedly coming late from the teacher’s room.”
Saori shook her head. “No. To be honest, it is not even on my priority list. If it is revealed one day, then so be it, but I will nt stress myself about it.” Her eyes then suddenly turned towards me, causing me to flinch. “Speaking about stress, do me a favor, would you five? Hestia over there barely has any friends around her mental age, especially school friends. She has been my benefactor for this entire time and a friend I can 100% count on. She can be a bit of a tsundere, so be patient, yes?”
Wha-what-what? What is wrong with this woman!
I turned my boiling face away from them, ignoring the laughter following Saori’s insensitive words. It wasn’t like I needed or wanted more friends, okay! Even if it was small, I had a good group of friends that I enjoyed staying around with, so why should I want more? Having too many friends would also make it harder to spend time with each of them, and that was something I didn’t want to repeat again.
If my memories of how I actually treated my friends are true, then I don’t want to act like a bad friend again. Meeting those Chezaic twins and seeing them bully Ellaine really opened up an old wound, making me remember the truth of how I drifted apart from my school friends. I called them “bitches” despite being the bitch myself.
… Still, opening up to new people, huh?
“Yorshka?” I turned around to Yorshka, still able to feel the embarrassment on my face.
“Yes?” she responded, looking elated that her patience paid off.
“This is something I need some time to think about … a lot of time, so how about we do this, uhm, ‘family’ thing another time. We can start with being acquaintances first,” I raised my hand forward for a handshake.
Yorshka shrugged at my comment but still nodded with a smile, grabbing my hand and giving it a shake.
She’s strong!
“How about hunting companions? If you ask me, fighting alongside people usually brings them closer one way or another. We have a giant spider to hunt, after all. My spear is yours, Hestia!”
Yorshka then stood up, mana mist exuding from her body. Once it dissipated, the beautiful Scandinavian woman was gone, replaced by a tall, intimidating-looking reptile. Her entire body was covered in silver scales and spikes, reminiscent of my [Humanize (Minor)] form in general appearance. Was this Yorshka’s true dragonewt form?
Looking up to her, it seemed she grew a few inches. Before, she was around the height of Saori, who was 172cm (5’8”) currently, while Yorshka looked around 180cm (5’11”) in her current form. As a reference, I used to be 150cm (4’11”) in the Belzac forest but I managed to grow up to 157cm (5’2”) since I became 16 years old in my current form. I was proud of my growth but this “niece” of mine was towering over me by 23cm (9”). Crazy!
“Holy shit! Lady Yorshka?!” The students exclaimed in surprise. They’d already learned she was a dragonewt but they probably forgot that beastmen with purer monster blood usually looked more monstrous, just like Yorshka here.
“Let’s make preparations for the fight!” Yorshka stated, fully able to speak Common in her full dragonewt form. I still couldn’t. “This spider has a Territory according to Hestia, meaning, all of us will most likely be useless!”
She then slammed the bottom of her spear on the ground before looking at me. “A Territory is a manifestation of a being’s aura, spread by their mana to transform entire areas into elemental or hostile terrain. To counter one, one must use a Territory, creating a small bubble of safety. Sadly, none of us have it, but we do have a trump card for this.”
“Me,” I stated with full confidence. Aurena’s words gave me it.
Fire consumes fire? Fight fire with fire!
AbyssRaven The awkwardness between Yorshka and Hestia is an important part for Hestia's growth as a person. She has accepted the new in Peolynca, but being reluctant about accepting her new family fits the character. This is all a big surprise for a young woman who still loves her old family. To accept a new family after losing your last is not an easy hurdle to overcome. It takes time and love to do so, and this is something Hestia has to experience to understand. Well, and, we also now know Hestia's mom: Melloxtressa.
Also, sorry for the late update!
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Thank you for reading this chapter.
May you rest in peace, Talon. I apologize for not being there for you in time.
Death. Death and I had a weird relationship. It is for a fact that I, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, am currently living a second life with the memories of my past life on Earth, albeit a good amount of those were fragmented during my reincarnation process. My spirit was accordingly still not “whole” and I was told it was currently adapting to my new form, changing as I lived. These lost memories would return to me eventually.
However, have I ever experienced losing somebody through death? I lost my parents and relatives when I died on Earth; I could grieve for the fact that I would never see them again. I even blamed myself for making people important to me sad with my death. Nevertheless, was it similar to seeing somebody you know die in front of you? In both cases, you lose somebody, the only real difference being who died.
‘What if?’ In both cases, I had to ask myself those questions. ‘What if I had done something else?’ or ‘What if I had been faster?’
Philosophers could discuss and argue as much as they wanted, but I personally thought that Death was a cruel acquaintance in either case. For somebody who had to surround herself with death ever since she was reborn, the notion of somebody dying hit me the hardest when I personally knew them. Hunting monsters, taking down bandits, or barely escaping from death’s grasp by the skin of my teeth somehow became the norm for me.
I earnestly did not want Saori, Tasianna, or Ellaine to disappear from my life. They were my emotional anchors, after all. Yet, what about the individuals who I only knew recently and died right in front of me?
Macklemor was a bandit and enemy, plain and simple, regardless of whether his death was avoidable or not. Kiiro’s loss, although I felt bad that he died like that, affected Tasianna more than me. So what about Talon? Well, for one thing, he was a party companion.
Opening my eyes after giving out a prayer, I looked down at Talon’s lifeless body, whose clothes and party bracelet were burned to cinders moments before his death. Healing magic still worked on a deceased body to repair bones and regenerate skin tissue just seconds or minutes after somebody’s death, but on Peolynca, death was governed by the Health stat. Let it reach zero without some game-breaking trick and your soul would be sent on its way to Ilsaphone. I might have healed Talon’s wounds but my efforts were far too late.
When I transformed back into a dragonewt after Tasianna fed me enough to get rid of [Starvation (Minor)], my first move was to find Talon, hoping he was still alive and just hiding. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. With his body riddled with burns, I found his corpse lying next to a one-armed man with equally horrendous burns. The latter had an undulated dagger with Plesia’s symbol dug deep into his heart.
Talon and Keith. One sought revenge, the other a prosperous church. Old friends, reunited in death.
They were both strangers, but one had become an acquaintance while the other an enemy. It was just another sentence in my story, but that didn’t make me lack compassion for their sad fate. If it were up to me, I would have wanted them to have a better, happy ending.
As a gesture of goodwill, I cleaned and healed Talon’s wounds and newer burns, although his childhood burn scars were far too old to treat. I removed the dagger from Keith’s body, closed the wound, healed his charred skin, and reattached his arm as best I could. Despite knowing the dungeon would consume them anyways, I dug a grave for them using earth magic.
Kinda sad dying like this … I’ll make sure your ID makes it to the surface, Talon. Rest in peace.
Shiterno’s followers caused enough trouble to people important to me, including Saori’s students and Talon himself. I had no responsibility towards them.
“Watashitachiha … Hito o koroshita, Segawa-Sensei.” (We… murdered people, Teacher Segawa.)
Japanese entered my ears the moment I finished my prayer to Talon, turning my head around to a group of students and their teacher. The one who said this was Nishio, lying down to rest due to the arcane corruption.
The others had their wounds treated and were all sitting down before Saori, who had decided to stay in her moderate wolfkin form instead of [Humanize (Major)] with her [Humanize Lv. 9]. She would have lost most of her fenrir features, but she would have looked like a normal human for her students. Still, I would have thought their meeting would’ve been more… upbeat and positive, and it was when they were first reunited, but the mood had since degraded.
“I know it doesn’t matter much in this world, but despite being the class representative, I wasn’t able to keep everybody together, Sensei. Tatsuya-kun, Kyouya-kun, Daichi-san, Haruka-chan, and Asaka-san were the only ones who came with us thanks to the church, however, our other 15 classmates parted ways with us, going to the Folschreck Empire. We were essentially assigned to the western side of Altrust,” Tamae explained to Saori, who was listening intently to everything they told her.
“I noticed all of you were addressing each other with your first name. Tsuji-san, you rarely ever called Kudo-san by his first name. What prompted this?” Saori asked Tamae. Tsuji was Tamae’s surname while Nishio’s was Kudo.
She replied, “Takuma-kun, uhm, Akanashi-kun, believed it would have been better for us to use our first names more often and to introduce ourselves as so to Peolyncians. It is to fit in better, at least, that was his reason. After he gained his ‘Hero’ title, he became more insistent in everybody becoming more ‘hero-like.’”
Hero title? Seriously? Weren’t they all considered heroes by the church, so why was only one of them given the title ‘Hero?’ What’s the difference between a hero and a blessed?
However, instead of worrying about that, Saori began to giggle, “Hiehie, oh that is the reason? And here I thought Kudo-san finally was brave enough to finally confess his feelings. I was for a moment quite impressed, mister, hiehie.”
Wait, what?!
“S-S-Sensei? Why would you—Oh, my head, I’m feeling dizzy.”
Baffled and embarrassed at what Saori just revealed, Nishio tried to push his body up to react but fell right back onto the ground, red now replacing the blue coloration on his face. Misaki, Kazumi, and Kohaku followed Saori’s teasing and giggled with her, causing Nishio to hide his face and turn his body away from them.
The only one who was unsure what was happening was Tamae herself. RIP Nishio, you loverboy.
As the laughter resided, Saori’s smile softened, looking at her students sympathetically. “I understand what you said, Kudo-san, wait, Nishio-san. If the whole class decided on it, then it would only be proper for me to oblige also. Tamae-san, Misaki-san, Kazumi-san, Kohaku-san. For you, it’s been over a year, while for me, this new body of mine isn’t even a year old. I can see that all five of you have grown up significantly from the last time I saw you and … I think we have much to catch up with. Would you five indulge your former teacher?”
All five smiled as they nodded to Saori’s request, looking as if they have been desperately waiting for these words for a whole year now. As they began recalling the same story they’d told me, just in a more detailed and enthusiastic manner, somebody suddenly came up to me. Once I noticed her approaching me, I turned around and came face-to-face with a certain dragonewt woman.
While combing her white hair held up in a ponytail, she spoke to me in a joking manner, “You know, standing there and eavesdropping on other people’s conversation isn’t very polite. It makes you stick out like a mountain. Well, I can forgive you for that. You are only a year old, after all.”
With a face resembling Priscilla greatly, I couldn’t help but feel nervous speaking with this woman. After all, she was Farron’s wife.
“Ma’am. Do you need something?”
Smirking at what I’d said, she continued speaking in a light-hearted way, “Oh come now, relax a bit more. I can imagine how strange this all is for you, but I am the sorta person who enjoys speaking in a leisurely manner instead of putting the formality stick up your ass. We already have one tail, Princess Hestia.”
“Pff!” Unable to hold down a laugh from that imagery, I let out a chortle, easing up my mind and tension a bit. It was a nice ice-breaker. “I guess staying inside a dungeon for over a week has gotten to me a bit. Or it might be just the hunger, who knows?”
“Well, let’s solve that last one for now. Come, your maid seems to be making good progress on our lunch … or is it dinner? Let’s leave those six to their talks while we have our own, all right? Little Kargrxymor?” she said with a warm smile, one that a loving relative would give you.
“Just Hestia is fine. You did say you want to keep it casual, Yorshka. Or, do you want me to call you ‘Miss Yorshka,’ elder scale?”
“Oh, please, anything but that! Calling me elder scale would force me to act my age instead of having fun.”
We moved away from Talon’s grave, further away so the smell of electrocuted cultists wouldn’t bother our noses. Just a little bit further ahead where Saori was speaking with her students, Tasianna and Ellaine were preparing dinner with Grimnir’s help, who was teaching the two of them about dwarven cuisine.
“Tazongn culture is built upon mining as its foundation, which means most of our dishes were primarily made to satisfy the needs of a miner. It has to be hearty to fill the stomach but also quick to get back to work. This tazlok irvinglay, or rockysteady toffel beef cake in Common, is a dwarven classic. You turn the tazlok flour into dough before stuffing it with herbs, spices, toffels, and meat. Bake and wait,” Grimnir instructed Tasianna.
“I just need to cut this however I want? Even in large chunks? That sounds easy enough,” Ellaine looked relieved.
“Like this?” Tasianna then began stuffing the mentioned ingredients into a dough, which would probably turn into an XL family cake once it was done baking.
Apparently, tazlok bread was as dry and tough to eat as rocks, making tazlok wheat perfect to hold in all the ingredients stuffed into it. It reminded me a bit of beef wellington, although the preparation method was similar to stuffing a turkey. It fitted the image I had of dwarves, seeing at how rough and blunt Grimnir was. This preparation method was quick and easy to do, requiring little finesse but creating something appetizing as a result.
Grimnir clapped as he watched Tasianna put on the finishing touches on the “cake” before putting it in our portable oven. He smiled wistfully. “Oooh, good work, lass. Bladdarg, kinda wish I could eat more of your and Saori’s tazlok noodles. Reminds me of those fast-food stalls I used to frequent, but I guess nothing beats some traditional dishes once in a while. Hahaha, I haven’t eaten anything from home since I left the mountains.”
Leaving them to their own devices, Yorshka and I sat down at a table I pulled from my storage. After a brief, awkward pause, Yorshka began, saying, “Well, we haven’t properly introduced ourselves yet, so let’s start with that. Like I said before, I am Yorshka Sirris Nordor. The beautiful wife of the Hunter’s Guild’s master of the Firwood branch, Farron, and also the loving mother of my precious Priscilla. I met with Farron in Firwood and he gave me a general understanding of the situation. Considering there was another dragonkin in Firwood, I trust you learned about your special situation from them?”
“Huh? What?” I was baffled. There was supposedly another dragonkin in Firwood? The only one I knew was Cernust, but I made sure not to tell anybody of him, not even to Farron.
“Don’t forget, Farron already confessed, right? Priscilla is a dragonewt, born from my marriage with him. I’m a good mother, mind you, so I made sure to teach Priscilla everything she needed to know about dragonkins and dragonewts, especially the smell we give off. While we aren’t sure who it was, Priscilla mentioned she smelled another dragonkin besides you, Hestia.”
Okay, that explains it. I guess I should have thought of that, although Cernust never mentioned he smelled Priscilla. Maybe he did but just didn’t say anything out of courtesy?
Yorshka continued, “Farron told me pretty much everything. That you are a reincarnator, Goddess Aurena’s Champion, and also that you were born a year ago in your current form. Farron understood your growling, meaning you somehow learned Draconic without his help and also the rough situation with your mother, my grandaunt.”
“Grandaunt? You did call me your aunt for some reason. Don’t tell me we’re actually related?” I asked wearily. If what Cernust said was true, that dragonewts were searching for me and would bring me back to my dragon mother at all cost, then this could be problematic.
Noticing my agitation, Yorshka laid her spear on the ground and raised her hands up as if she was surrendering. “You have nothing to fear from me, my princess. Please, calm down.” After taking a moment to let me do just that, Yorshka continued. “Well, with your reaction, that proves that you had heard something from that other dragonkin. Considering that you are their princess, as they should have noticed from your aura and smell, not bringing you back to Kargryx is pretty much a crime since you’re not an adult. As your relative, I really should punish them.”
Cold sweat began to form on my forehead. Yorshka’s eyes sharpened as she gave a threatening glare into the distance, looking like a predator who had found her next prey. The aura she was emitting constantly already gave me goosebumps, making me fear her even more than the High Ogre or Garm Matriarch. Priscilla said she was a rank A adventurer; if that were true, then Cernust was in big trouble.
“Just kidding, hiehie.” But this woman was a fucking jokester. “I’m not in the mood to hunt some dragonkin anyways. I’m just happy to finally meet you.”
Her smile felt genuine, but it still unnerved me a bit.
“… How are you related to my dragon mother?” I asked.
“Ahh, finally, the moment of truth. While I would enjoy speaking with you some more, I will leave the meat of the subject for later, after we are done with the current issue, yes?”
She was talking about the giant fire spider moving up to the surface. I’d already told Yorshka and Grimnir about it without divulging that it came from Aurena—although Yorshka might be able to deduce that since she knew I was Aurena’s Champion and a reincarnator. We were only taking a break right now since everybody needed one, especially me. As urgent as it was, going into battle without being at full power was a very bad idea.
Yorshka then leaned forward, her lips curved into a smile as she said the next words slowly, “Melloxtressa Wisperia Nordor. The matriarch of the Nordor dragon bloodline and the Nordor dragonewt clan. Your mother on Peolynca, Hestia.”
Melloxtressa Wisperia Nordor … Her name does sound dragony.
“In case you didn’t know, dragons and dragonewts take on the name of their ancestral dragon as their last name out of respect, meaning the silver dragon Nordoramsul is your ancestor on your mother’s side, similar to how God Kargryxmor is your grandfather on your father’s side. I am your niece, or grandniece, with a bunch of grands, if you want to be more specific.”
“Are you also a dragon?”
Yorshka shook her head, confirming what Farron told me. “I am a dragonewt, just like my daughter. The Nordor dragonewt clan was created through the union of your mother’s brother with an elven woman. I myself was born from two dragonewts, although I don’t remember which generation I belong to. Eh, it doesn’t matter too much to me really. Just know that I’m family.”
Family? I don’t even know you. You don’t know me. I don’t know my dragon mother either, so why should I consider your family? I don’t even know anything about my supposed ‘home’ country.
It was impossible for me to accept. I couldn’t comprehend that this woman before me was supposedly my relative. I mean, we didn’t even look alike and I had just met her today. How she called me her aunt and how this grown-ass woman was supposed to be my niece didn’t make sense at all. The very thought was hard for me to accept, let alone even try to understand it.
Yorshka noticed my reluctance, tilting her head at my silence. “Hmm, Priscilla had described you differently.”
“How so?”
“Well, more jovial. I thought learning about your mother would have made you more curious for information … but it seems you’ve become even warier of me. Did I say something wrong?” She frowned.
“Not particularly, but you can’t exactly assume I’ll just accept the whole family thing so easily. It’s not that simple.” The only family I had were the ones of Earth and Aurora. “Besides …”
My eyes were glued to the symbol adorning her party bracelet, the figure of an angel-like woman with yellow hair. It was Aurena’s symbol but, more specifically, it belonged to the Church of Aurena. Tamae’s and Nishio’s words became my focus now, of how they were kidnapped and trapped inside Aureolis, the holy capital of Aurena’s faith.
Yorshka seemed confused when I suddenly kept quiet, following my gaze to see what I was looking at. After a couple of seconds of awkwardness, she began playing with her hair before speaking up. “Did the kids tell you about everything? About how they were summoned here, forced to help out with the church’s goals in order to return to their world, and then being put to work as propaganda?”
I contemplated what she said, still reluctant to answer. When I didn’t say anything, Yorshka sighed deeply. “I guess you really are still a child. Hestia, after spending nearly a whole year with Tamae, Nishio, Misaki, Kazumi, and Kohaku, I’ve been able to gain some insight into how your Earth works. An advanced world where even commoners are able to keep contact with friends and family over long distances. It sounded wonderful and made me envious that this technology hasn’t been created yet in Peolynca. It would be nice to see my daughter’s face more often when I’m out working.”
She then stopped playing with her hair and looked me straight in the eye. “I’m not as zealous about dragons compared to the average dragonewt. A life outside of Loatryx has given me a better perspective of life, but I am still very loyal to my clan. And I am loyal to Lady Melloxtressa—Empress, my empress. Did you know that your disappearance was due to the death of the imperial transporter who was responsible for presenting you to the allies of Kargryx, something important—”
“The adulthood pilgrimage? Yeah, I already know. That dragonkin told me enough to get a general idea. What are you trying to say?” I impatiently skipped over a repeated information dump.
“Well, outside of the fact that nobody knew how or why the courier died, nobody had any idea where your egg ended up. We didn’t have any surveillance and didn’t need to. ‘The unborn imperial dragon princess has gone missing!’ was the most well-known news for the past year in Loatryx, Caedhul, and Saelariel. Beyond that, only a few dwarves were informed of your disappearance, in order to keep this information from spreading to human hands. The Nordor clan, loyal to the Matriarch and her brother, have been searching far and wide for you. I heard some wanted to search the Belzac forest, but it seemed you escaped before anybody could find you there.”
She took a deep breath in and out, calming herself down to sound more articulate. “When I said I was happy to meet you, I wasn’t lying. Hestia, even if you can’t accept me as family, it doesn’t mean that your Peolyncian mother won’t see you as hers. A dragon mother values her children more than the world’s safety, a trait inherited by us dragonewts. I ask you to trust me, and trust that I am your ally. Although I am a follower of Goddess Aurena, I am so because of God Kargryxmor. The reason why I am a holy knight was simply because of a friend's request.”
“Sounds like nepotism.” I frowned.
“Sure it is, but look at it this way: if a friend asked you for help, wouldn’t you be there for them? Well, it helps that my old friend is the Knight-Commander of the Knights of Aurena, making it easy for me to enter their ranks. And do you know why I’m with the knights? Because my good friend has started to become suspicious of his own church. Shocker, right?”
I opened my mouth in surprise. The Knight-Commander of the knights meant to protect and serve the Church of Aurena was becoming suspicious, to the point he appointed Yorshka? For what?
When I asked her this question, Yorshka’s face seemed to lighten up, looking pleased that she got my attention again. “Mostly to gain a more reliable ally. It was a few years before the kids got summoned to this world. Just for your information, I’m as clueless as you would expect from a grunt. My old friend needed an ally but wouldn’t share most of the information with me, so I was actually acting like a Knight of Aurena—helps I’m a dragoon knight. He also told me to monitor the kids. It got a bit hairy on this trip here so I can’t thank you enough for protecting them. Too bad for Talon, though. He was a good guy according to the rumors. I hope he felt some catharsis after getting his revenge on Keith.”
Can she be trusted? was what was going through my head. I didn’t know what to do about it, so the silence continued. Yorshka sighed once again, sitting on her table quietly, waiting for me to make the first move. While I was still contemplating the issue, somebody stole my attention away.
“We got ourselves in some trouble in Gransromus, the capital of the Lecartiglio Duchy, when Kazumi noticed a few katzunes getting hassled,” Tamae recalled, still telling what the students did in the past year.
“Yeah, the racism against beastmen was pretty intense down there. If you weren’t an adventurer, a soldier, or somebody important, then random beastmen would constantly be harassed by the local residents. Mostly thugs or assholes, but these moments really stood out,” Kazumi continued. “When I first confronted them, they just went away; however, when the five of us wanted to do some Quests by ourselves, those thugs reappeared and tried to mug us for being ‘fur lovers.’ The others managed to subdue their opponents without harming them too much but I … fighting two of them by myself was a bit too much. I went too far. I thought I got used to it from bandit and monster fights, but I guess not having a clear reason to fight them made it hard for me to accept that I killed them.”
Two teardrops fell from Kazumi’s eyes, quickly wiped away as she suppressed herself from crying. Saori came forward and embraced her, caressing her back as she spoke softly, “It is all right, it is all right. I know this is heavy on your conscience, but your own health should come before others, especially some thugs acting like bandits. While cities in this world do have guards to maintain the law, do not forget that they cannot be everywhere in this world. I do not want to patronize you about it, but you are not a murderer. You did the right thing.”
“Sensei, you seem calm about all the fights we told you about,” Misaki suddenly questioned Saori. “I’ve meant to ask this for a while now but, how is it being a fenrir? A wolf? From what I can see, you’ve changed.”
None of the students have asked me about how it was like to be a dragonewt. We were strangers until now, I guess.
Saori scratched her chin as she thought over the question. “Well, being something the System considers a monster is weird, to say the least. I thought if I still kept my memories and also my humanity that I would just be the same person, but I guess I did change quite a bit. For one thing, raw meat does not taste disgusting nor does blood. Also, about killing humans, I will be honest, I have made myself feel nothing for people I have to fight to the death. ‘Get over it,’ as insensitive it is to say that.”
“How?” Kohaku asked, showing none of the energy from before.
“For one thing, my mind has been altered. No questions asked. The feeling of evolving and gaining levels has erased nearly all the guilt I would feel for ending a life. Sure, I started out pretty pathetically, puking and shaking in fear from my ‘inhumane action.’ Similar to you five. But, that eventually went away after I began thinking of monster-killing as hunting for food or a quest, or how fighting humans or humanoids have turned into self-defense or bring to ‘justice.’ Anyway to stop me from thinking too pessimistically,” Saori smiled wryly.
“The Sensei I knew from a year ago would probably advise us to stay away from danger. ‘Do not ruin your life for something stupid,’ you told me once. It makes it hard to believe you're the same Sensei from back then, seeing as how you’re reasoning that our actions are necessary,” Nishio scowled. “It was out of self-defense but I feel like a murderer. I know it's for our goal to return home, but sometimes the necessary action isn’t always the right one.”
“Haha, true.” Saori sighed loudly. “Ahh, in a way, despite all the troubles you had to face this year, it was still fruitful, whether it was good or bad experiences. All of you learned from it and became smarter and stronger young adults. I know the school’s chairman’s PR speech about you all being the Elites of Tomorrow has mostly become a joke among all of you, but I honestly believe it now. The students I saw back then, stressed out by studying, exams, and your families’ expectations are mostly gone. Sure, you cannot run from stress forever, but all five of you seem more energetic compared to the last time I saw you. Tell me, has there been something you enjoyed the most since being transported here?”
“Freedom from my parents and all the entry exams. I can study what I want now instead of preparing myself to become their company’s heir. It’s liberating,” Nishio replied immediately.
“A vast sea of new ingredients, all ready for me to try to cook with. A chance for me to get out of my parents’ shadow and the expectations of their employees,” Tamae enthusiastically stated.
“I want to learn more from this world’s finest archers, and to better myself under them. It is far more enjoyable than being a puppet for my father’s ambition to raise his company’s rank in the conglomerate he’s working for. Also, I personally would like to gather enough materials to make the best bow in this world,” Misaki bashfully said, turning red from embarrassment.
“Adventure and having this experience help me become a better mangaka than my father, or maybe become a streamer. As hard as it can be sometimes, it can also be exhilarating,” Kohaku responded in a dreamy mood.
“Katzunes. I love my cats but seeing cat people living in this world was pretty cute. Sensei, you did mention that there was a skill to transform into katzunes, right?” Kazumi mentioned [Beastialization], which could grant the ability to turn herself into a katzune if she chooses to.
Saori giggled at her students’ responses, prompting Tamae to reciprocate the question to her. When Tamae mentioned that our party opened up a restaurant, Saori started to become nervous. “Oh my, you know that already? Jeez, I do not think I can compete with what you can produce, seeing as your parents own a Michelin star restaurant, but yes, I have opened a restaurant with Aurora. Honestly, traveling with them has been amazing. Sure, it is not always rosy, especially with the fact that I nearly died twice, but still, I cannot complain.”
“Have you found out why you were reborn in Peolynca, Sensei?” Kazumi asked. “If I remember correctly, the transportation circle was only in our classroom while you were supposedly coming late from the teacher’s room.”
Saori shook her head. “No. To be honest, it is not even on my priority list. If it is revealed one day, then so be it, but I will nt stress myself about it.” Her eyes then suddenly turned towards me, causing me to flinch. “Speaking about stress, do me a favor, would you five? Hestia over there barely has any friends around her mental age, especially school friends. She has been my benefactor for this entire time and a friend I can 100% count on. She can be a bit of a tsundere, so be patient, yes?”
Wha-what-what? What is wrong with this woman!
I turned my boiling face away from them, ignoring the laughter following Saori’s insensitive words. It wasn’t like I needed or wanted more friends, okay! Even if it was small, I had a good group of friends that I enjoyed staying around with, so why should I want more? Having too many friends would also make it harder to spend time with each of them, and that was something I didn’t want to repeat again.
If my memories of how I actually treated my friends are true, then I don’t want to act like a bad friend again. Meeting those Chezaic twins and seeing them bully Ellaine really opened up an old wound, making me remember the truth of how I drifted apart from my school friends. I called them “bitches” despite being the bitch myself.
… Still, opening up to new people, huh?
“Yorshka?” I turned around to Yorshka, still able to feel the embarrassment on my face.
“Yes?” she responded, looking elated that her patience paid off.
“This is something I need some time to think about … a lot of time, so how about we do this, uhm, ‘family’ thing another time. We can start with being acquaintances first,” I raised my hand forward for a handshake.
Yorshka shrugged at my comment but still nodded with a smile, grabbing my hand and giving it a shake.
She’s strong!
“How about hunting companions? If you ask me, fighting alongside people usually brings them closer one way or another. We have a giant spider to hunt, after all. My spear is yours, Hestia!”
Yorshka then stood up, mana mist exuding from her body. Once it dissipated, the beautiful Scandinavian woman was gone, replaced by a tall, intimidating-looking reptile. Her entire body was covered in silver scales and spikes, reminiscent of my [Humanize (Minor)] form in general appearance. Was this Yorshka’s true dragonewt form?
Looking up to her, it seemed she grew a few inches. Before, she was around the height of Saori, who was 172cm (5’8”) currently, while Yorshka looked around 180cm (5’11”) in her current form. As a reference, I used to be 150cm (4’11”) in the Belzac forest but I managed to grow up to 157cm (5’2”) since I became 16 years old in my current form. I was proud of my growth but this “niece” of mine was towering over me by 23cm (9”). Crazy!
“Holy shit! Lady Yorshka?!” The students exclaimed in surprise. They’d already learned she was a dragonewt but they probably forgot that beastmen with purer monster blood usually looked more monstrous, just like Yorshka here.
“Let’s make preparations for the fight!” Yorshka stated, fully able to speak Common in her full dragonewt form. I still couldn’t. “This spider has a Territory according to Hestia, meaning, all of us will most likely be useless!”
She then slammed the bottom of her spear on the ground before looking at me. “A Territory is a manifestation of a being’s aura, spread by their mana to transform entire areas into elemental or hostile terrain. To counter one, one must use a Territory, creating a small bubble of safety. Sadly, none of us have it, but we do have a trump card for this.”
“Me,” I stated with full confidence. Aurena’s words gave me it.
Fire consumes fire? Fight fire with fire!
AbyssRaven The awkwardness between Yorshka and Hestia is an important part for Hestia's growth as a person. She has accepted the new in Peolynca, but being reluctant about accepting her new family fits the character. This is all a big surprise for a young woman who still loves her old family. To accept a new family after losing your last is not an easy hurdle to overcome. It takes time and love to do so, and this is something Hestia has to experience to understand. Well, and, we also now know Hestia's mom: Melloxtressa.
Also, sorry for the late update!
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