AbyssRaven Take these with you! Rawr1
Rawr2
“What a beautiful afternoon.”
The summer sun was about to disappear below the horizon, painting the sky a brilliant orange that was slowly turning dark with every second. It was the second last day of the one-week festival dedicated to the founding of the Kingdom of Artorias. As expected, nobody wanted to stop enjoying the festive nature, the streets were still crowded with cheerful people without exhaustion in sight.
In an open plaza area in the merchant district, in the section closest to the middle district usually used by wandering merchants to sell their wares, something huge had been constructed there. Made out of a wooden platform with metal pillars holding up a truss, it looked wide enough for at least 20 people to frolic on. A curtain was hiding something curious behind it; after all, no need to spoil the surprise of my concert stage.
It’s … This feels amazing, I thought as I touched the well-made wooden floor.
I could feel my heart pounding the longer I stayed inside the darkened interior of my stage, once again experiencing awe with how far I’ve gotten in my second life. On Earth, I only stood on these stages as the daughter of the show’s conductor, but today, once again, I was standing here as the main performer.
However, this wasn’t my [Earth Magic]-made stage from back in Carine Village, it was my newly made one. The one Grimnir, Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, and I dedicated our sweat and time to fully construct; a version made using wood and metal to give that authentic and professional impression.
I left the stage and entered the backstage, where Tasianna and Svena were waiting for me. “Have House Helvas come back yet?” I asked them.
Svena shook her head. “My lord, my lady, and the young mistress are most likely still looking around the area, Lady Hestia. His Majesty’s domain isn’t as large as the duke’s, but it is still large enough to have several villages.”
As I expected, but it’s still a shame.
It has been three days since we sent Gael and Krymdar out to find Jonathan in the undercity, yet no news. It got to the point where Ellaine and her parents couldn’t hold it in anymore and wanted to charge into the undercity, only to be stopped by Saori who told them the obvious, “If somebody like Gael cannot find him, then all that the three of you will do is warn Jonathan and come out empty-handed.”
As a compromise, they decided to fly out and search Griffonpeak’s surrounding area this morning. Since the preparations for my concert were done and the whole yeast and pastry business could be handled by the duke and Arcanuess Helvas’s representative, we didn’t need them here.
Ellaine was expected to come back tomorrow to rejoin our party for Muraina’s Quest. As such, her demon-possess spell rings were currently in my possession, specifically inside [Storage Magic] since Klea’Hatma’s mana didn’t count as a living being. Better safe than risk her trying to manipulate Ellaine while I wasn’t around.
In any case, I was still in my normal everyday outfit, and Tasianna and Svena wanted to change me into my first performance outfit as soon as possible, but I delayed it a bit to look around the corner. There, I witnessed a large number of festive people gathering before my concert stage along with guards loaned to us by Duke Greenveil to keep the order.
“Come, come! The show is about to start, so come and get your snacks before it begins!” Saori’s voice echoed through the area, using one of those voice amplification rods since I couldn’t be with her right now. She was standing behind counters filled with pastries and snacks with our RV behind her.
“Come on, akong, if you want to enjoy the show, come over here and get one of these glow bulbs to enjoy the show correctly!” Grimnir was also there, holding up small balls made out of leaves. As a blacksmith, Grimnir wasn’t unfamiliar with promoting his products, even if he didn’t have to do it very often. “Don’t activate them yet, if you want the best result, do it when we do it. Our young lady’s wish.”
Crowds of men, women, and children were huddling around Saori as they stared at the piping hot pastries on the stand, waiting for the clerks to sell them to them. They sold out so fast that it was hard for the Helvas servants to keep up with the restocking, having to constantly run into the RV and back out again to bring out the next batches.
The loud cries of people tasting the donuts, cupcakes, and croissants were filled with enviable enthusiasm, enticing me to my own pastry recipes. Some servants were even selling mead and clean water to the celebrating crowd to quench their thirst. I was expecting a large crowd, but I was becoming a bit anxious due to the number.
Word of mouth; constructing everything so conspicuously was the play. Even with the restaurant’s promotion, the only way for it to spread throughout the city was through the people.
“Lady Hestia.” I turned around when I heard somebody call me, noticing Amelia standing there with a familiar man behind her. It was Barathan, Arcanuess Helvas’s seneschal.
“How are the nobles faring?” I asked.
“Good, they haven’t complained except about the loud noises coming from the commoners and the unsightly display of their festiveness. However, the pastries we are selling and their comfortable seats were enough for them to endure it,” Amelia answered.
Amelia Greenveil, the heir of the Sarlenzia company and the main distributor for our pastries in the future, wasn’t here without reason. She was here to work with Saori and Barathan, the latter of whom specifically came to Griffonpeak from the Helvas arcanarch to act as the overseer for the yeast production as well as to manage and sell the pastries we all made in the past few days.
As her grandfather’s heir, Amelia was able to use her family company’s influence to promote today’s concert to all the prominent merchants and a few minor ones, who acted as our secondary promotion tool. In addition, while Saori handled the commoner side of the business, Amelia and Barathan were in charge of taking care of the illustrious nobles who came to attend my concert.
“I am honored to serve you once again, Lady Hestia,” Barathan bowed. “Our attendants are presenting menus to the lords and ladies as you wished. The aristocrats will be ordering through them and we will serve the pastries and rice sweets directly to their seats. Up until now, it has worked without any issues.”
Looking over to where the nobles should be seated, I saw multiple large bleachers. Knights hired from the Lionheart order were guarding the area around the nobles, preventing anybody who wasn’t a noble from entering. We also had an area for the rich merchants next to it, since the nobles who planned this whole event with me all agreed that nobles would despise sharing “exclusive” seats even with the most refined of commoners.
Just watching the noble ladies enjoying sponge cakes while sipping tea with satisfied expressions was a great sign, but it got even better when I heard the men were ordering Berliners, German doughnuts without a hole, with wine jelly fillings. Our primary demographic were women and children, but pleasing our male buyers didn’t hurt; in fact, it gave us more reason to have more variety in our stock.
I was pleased to hear that everything was working out and thanked Amelia and Barathan for their work. With how much money we spent on furnishing our RV’s subspace and getting the decorations for the concert, we had to make sure we could make a profit today. Not to mention, attendance was completely free, so while we attracted a larger crowd, we didn’t have a safety net if our merch and pastry sales bombed.
We wouldn’t become bankrupt even if we couldn’t sell everything, but it made me smile to see our plan to revolutionize Artorias’s pastry and confectionery market going off without a hitch. With their stomachs and taste buds satisfied, it was about time I also conquered their hearts and ears.
I entered a small tent where Tasianna and Svena changed me into my first outfit—a colorful short dress. With one final “good luck” from Tasianna and Svena, I clapped my cheeks to psych myself up and walked back on the stage. Now back in the dark, I took one last deep breath before giving a thumbs up to one of the stage crew.
As light entered through the crack of the curtain, the sound of my crew working became quieter and quieter for me, drowned out by the ecstatic attendees. I knew, right now, that their minds weren’t currently focused on me, but at the food before them.
That was why …
Let’s do this, parallel minds!
… I had to give them a show they wouldn’t forget!
“Tonight, I’m really feeling the heat surging inside me
I’m about to explode
And this night, won’t end until we’re done
Satisfied from the our fun and games
So, (Blaze it all night)
(I won’t be stopped)
‘Cause this night is still young, far too young! ”
As the curtains began to draw back more and more, I expedited the process by using wind magic to shove the curtains to the sides and poured my mana into the wood to activate Grimnir’s and Ellaine’s newly-made manatech spotlights, shining light throughout the audience.
However, I did not stop there. As I activated [Aerokinesis] to play my music and to amplify my singing, I created a few sparks and grew the fire into a flower, making it look like fireworks exploding behind me. By controlling its power, I was able to attract everybody’s collective eyes without burning down my newly made stage.
“I’m a burning star ready to explode
To bring my light down to rock your entire existence
I move like flash fire, bringing your night an incredible WOW!
I’m gonna go, go, go
Don’t you stop now! ”
Rambunctious, zestful, as if this was an evening street party. My throat was my most valuable commodity as a singer, but for this song I was abstaining from holding back. I howled every word as if I was possessed by the rock stars of old!
“Ooooooooh, we’re burning through the night, yeah!
Turn the music up!
Are we gonna let this party end?
Are we ready to greet the sun?
No! Since this is just the bloody start! ”
With every passing second, the rowdiness of the crowd was directed away from the food and towards me. Music was just the perfect stimuli to turn the ecstasy of this festival up a notch. I wasn’t too bothered with the fact they were enjoying my performance as an accompaniment to the food and alcohol, since this was just the opener.
“No! This festival ain’t stopping yet”
“No, this night is not gonna end now!”
“Wooooo, come on, let’s go!”
I’m having such a good night
Fun of my life
(Don’t let this end)
One chance to enjoy our life, so don’t you dare stop!
(Blaze it all night)
Cause this is the time of our life
(Blaze it all night)
Yeah, it ain’t time to end it
So do you guys want it to stop! ”
“No!”
This song was aimed at the commoners only, I wasn’t expecting any of the nobles to like it too much. However, it wouldn’t be good if I lost their interest immediately. As such, Ellaine suggested that I perform magic during this time, to show off my magical skills as much as possible to keep people interested.
I did impress a lot of them during the ball, but I was a professional entertainer; I had no intention of resting on my laurels like that. Even if they didn’t like my song, I would fascinate them with my control over fire, lightning, wind, and light. With Tasianna helping me out with some cold mist and snowflakes, this concert was, without a doubt, an eye-catching display of arcane artistry.
As the song entered into its guitar solo, I took this time to gather a ton of mana to my hand and raised it up into the sky. I noticed that the nobles and a few mage-looking adventurers caught on to what I was doing and were growing suspicious.
Yet, I simply showed them a brilliant, wide smile.
“Prayer!”
A huge white magic circle appeared in the sky, probably my largest activation of [Prayer]. There were a lot of people around in the crowd and I didn’t want to leave even one of them out of the fun. By the time that people noticed the circle, my spell had already been cast.
Urgh, shit! I groaned as it felt like numerous blood vessels had just burst forth, gushing blood through my fingers. Even after practicing it, using around 35% of my total mana all at once made me fully aware of my lack of efficiency. I had to become better at casting this spell and knowing how much was required for a major stage buff.
Nevertheless, my poker face held strong. Synchronized with the end of the spell and the look of wonderment of the crowd, the guitar solo ended and I continued to sing.
“Ooooooooh, we’re burning through the night, yeah!
Turn the music up!
Are we gonna let this party end?
Are we ready to greet the sun?
No! Since this is just the bloody start!
I’m having such a good night
Fun of my life
(Don’t let this end)
One chance to enjoy our life, so don’t you dare stop!
(Blaze it all night)
Cause this is the time of our life
(Blaze it all night)
Yeah, it ain’t time to end it
I don’t want it all to stop!
Lala-lada-lala-lala “
As the music and my singing stopped, I bowed before the crowd in the middle of the spotlight. I then snapped my back up and postured myself correctly, raising my arm up and waving at everybody. “Good evening, Griffonpeak! My name is Hestia, and I thank everybody for coming to my concert today! I dearly hope everybody has had the chance to taste the pastries and sweets my party, Aurora, Duke Greenveil, and Count Helvas were able to produce. Courtesy of me, please, enjoy the wonders of yeast and rice sweets!”
People were clapping everywhere as I announced this news to everybody standing there. The attendees standing before the stage were cheering as they learned where the food came from, even if they had to pay for it. The merchants were ecstatic to learn this important piece of information, knowing now where the origins of the pastries and sweets they ate and where they could procure more.
The nobles, on the other hand, were still clapping with the rest of the crowd, but some of them were simply doing it out of respect while looking visibly concerned. From what I heard from Ellaine’s father, he did mention that the moment we made yeast a common product in Artorias, that its value as a luxury product would decrease. A ridiculous notion, even to Duke Greenveil and Arcanuess Helvas, since nobles were supposed to be the “elites who will push the development of the kingdom.”
Also, even if yeast is cheap, the other ingredients and how you prepare it can make any cake into something incredibly expensive. Caviar cake, for example, urgh.
Once the clapping and cheering settled down, I continued, “As you might have noticed, I have cast [Prayer] on everybody. Please, allow yourself to feel the power seeping into every pore of your body. This power comes from the Goddess above, a glorious energy.”
I paused to breathe in deeply and then exhaled, which prompted most of the crowd to follow along. Once again having everybody’s attention, I spoke the lines that Theodore and Eshe wanted me to announce during my concert. “I would like to properly introduce myself now. I am Hestia, a priestess of Goddess Aurena and also her first ‘Idol.’ What is an idol, you ask? Well, as you could witness, an idol is an entertainer who brings people’s souls together in unison to enjoy the wonders of music and dancing. Whether it is from the voice of an angel or through awe-provoking body movements.”
The silent gossiping of “An idol?” spread to everybody in the audience, looking confused to hear the sound of it. Some of the people who spent time at our restaurant already heard me explain it to them, so they seemed less confused about it. It wasn’t hard to notice who was who.
“By the benevolence of the Goddess, may this prayer guide you into a wonderful tomorrow. May this be another gift to the Kingdom of Artorias, and may this concert seal it truly.” I then activated [Halo of Consecration], conjuring a white flaming halo above my head. “This concert is blessed and watched by the Goddess, so please, allow yourself to relax and have fun. Allow me to mend your soul with my melody!”
Wait, what, so early? And this many just after the first song?
From looking at the crowd before me, I noticed that a few white robes amongst them were looking at me with sparkling eyes, holding their hands in prayer as their mouths were left agape. Similar to my second concert, my first fans came from the already pious.
I giggled a bit. “Then, I ask everybody for your patience. The show shall continue at a moment’s notice.”
The curtains were shut close and I could hear my audience talk about what just happened. I wanted to continue listening to them, but I ignored the voices and rushed off the stage and into the tent behind it, where Svena and another maid were waiting for me with my second dress. It was the dress I wore for the ball.
After putting it on and rushing back to the stage, there, in the darkness, somebody’s voice entered my ears. “I am ready, Lady Hestia,” I heard in a whisper. As I held her outstretched hand, I felt her soft skin touch mine and how it trembled slightly. Whispering, “You got this, we trained for this.” to her, I then gestured to the stage crew to open the curtains.
“Listen to the winds of the night, the tranquility of the shining, bright moonlight
I am here to see the waxing and waning of the four seasons throughout the year ”
The piano began playing calmly as an icy mist surrounding the stage, giving it that mysterious feeling. This was “My Light’s Blessing,” but unlike last time, this wasn’t a solo.
“You are here for me, dancing linked with the rhythm of our hearts ” As I released my hand from my partner’s, we began to move to execute our stage choreography, singing in harmony with each other. There, I saw her—Tasianna, in her blue ball dress.
“At this moment now, we are the focus of our small world ” She sang.
“Hold me tightly, my love, your warmth calms me so, let this last for eternity ” I sang.
“I feel the heaven’s eyes on us, for you are my light’s blessing
Let us forget reality for this small moment of silence under the moon ” And once again, we sang in unison, letting our voices mix together to empower each other even more. We touched our hands as if we were leaning against a mirror, while moving our feet like in a waltz.
It was only for a moment though, since an entertainer’s job was to look at their audience.
“All right, release them.” Grimnir’s loud voice echoed through my concert.
From below the stage, he tapped the shoulder of one of the store attendants. He then picked up one of the glow bulbs and touched the top, before releasing it into the sky. As the attendant mimicked his action, those leaf balls slowly floated in the sky before releasing a colorful glow ranging from red, orange, yellow, and green.
As the crowd saw them do this, the ones who bought a glow bulb looked at it and touched the tip of it, noticing the ball unfurling and revealing the glowing inside content. Releasing it into the sky, they illuminated the night sky like sky lanterns. I noticed the nobles and wealthy merchants being curious at the beautiful lights and requesting to buy some of the bulbs.
It was Saori’s secondary request to Krymdar when we met him at the guild. The original idea was to create glow sticks since I wanted them for the authentic idol experience, but Krymdar later explained how wasteful it was to make them, even if we replaced the plastic sticks with wood or something. The cost to make them would be too high to make any profit from them, and the cleanup would be disastrous.
As such, we settled with sky lantern-like glow bulbs. Krymdar created a one-time glow similar to a firefly and wrapped it up with leaves. To activate them, water had to be added beforehand and you then needed to touch the tip of the bulb for the balls to work. It would then suck in air from around it and float up until it was full, creating this alchemical glow effect.
Seeing these lights floating in front of us, I was glad we managed to emulate the glow sticks somewhat. You could say, this was how Peolyncian idol concerts worked, right? With Tasianna’s and my motivation renewed from this sight, we continued singing with even more energy.
“With each step that we take together, my heart aches for it knows it well, that our time will end soon
I’m so lost in thoughts of what I should do later for our moment will not last
But if that is the case, then I shall cherish this memory
Our vocal range were both soprano, but I sounded a bit deeper, creating a mild but charming harmony between us. As Tasianna had plenty of practice during her days as a carefree fairy celebrating numerous festivals every year, her voice was quite strong, making it easy for me to work with and train. This was the result of our training and rapport!
“At this moment now, we are the focus of our small world ” I sang.
“Hold me tightly, my love, your warmth calms me so, let this last for eternity ” Then she sang.
“I feel the heaven’s eyes on us, for you are my light’s blessing
Let us forget reality for this small moment of silence under the moon ” We combined our voices, going for the high notes to show off our voice’s strength. Pitch perfect, if I was allowed to praise us.
It was probably the most followers I’d ever gotten after a single song. I was proud of myself. I was proud to stand here with Tasianna, one of my best friends. I was proud to share a song with her.
When our song ended, the glow bulbs started to dim and fall onto the ground, now only a pile of leaves. They would be easy to dispose of later on. Some were still floating and the applause coming from the merchants and nobles was deafening. I felt an incredible sense of pride at the response to our duet, and I could see Tasianna agree with her wide smile.
“This is my friend and party member, Tasianna. Thank you very much for listening to our song.” We bowed and the curtains closed. And the cycle began anew with me switching out of a dress into the next, performing on the stage and then receiving applause before the curtains closed.
Astounding. As more time went by, the crowd became larger and larger; however, due to the size of the plaza, it became harder for people to see me, even if they could hear my voice. If there were additional bleachers or if the location was more suited for huge crowds, this probably would be sensational.
Nevertheless, I was satisfied. As long as people enjoyed my singing, I was content.
Of course, every group had a different taste in music. While the crowd was all right with all songs, they still preferred the high-energy songs. The merchants loved the more romantic ones, probably since it was as if they could enjoy the fantasy of them, Lastly, I gained the most fans from the nobles when I sang my two ballads, “Promise” and “Memories,” which I guess was due to how they were more focused on telling a story and delivering a message. They were “more” artistic, you could say.
“Thank you very much, everybody. That was my last song.” I let out a sigh in the end. My voice was exhausted after I strained my vocal cords while dancing on stage. “I hope everybody was able to get an idea of what an idol of Goddess Aurena is supposed to do, and I hope you will wait in anticipation for my next concert!”
“Yeeeaaaaaaaaaaah!” The crowd exploded in cheers, drowning out the applause from the merchants and nobles.
“My party and I will be traveling around, performing whenever we can, in any village, town, or city we can. If you are there, please, I ask you to come and hear me sing once more! Let us all feel more connected to the Goddess and the Origin Gods through songs!” I then pointed at our RV where Saori was standing, having replaced the pastries with clothing. “For now, if you wish, there will be clothing you may buy. I apologize for announcing that the clothing is all made from either mana threads or expensive fabric, so the prices will be quite high. However, there should still be some—”
Saori began to furiously shake her head, interrupting me. Even without a telepathic message, I understood her clearly enough.
Holy scheiße, they sold out?
“—Thank you very much for your attention and cheers! I loved it all! Until next time, may the Goddess guide you on your path forward! May your path be forever bright!” And that was when the curtain closed for the final time this night. Svena and Tasianna congratulated me for a work well done, praising me for my endurance.
As the tent was already taken down, I was led back to the RV to change out of my clothes. As I was on my way, a chubby man in fine clothes suddenly came over; actually, it was more accurate to describe it as him stumbling over here like a drunken man.
Was he a noble or a merchant? It was hard to distinguish them purely from clothes alone since the difference between a rich merchant’s and a noble’s outfit wasn’t noticeable enough. If the man had a crest, I probably could have asked Svena if she knew him, but alas. Two men were flanking him, probably his guards.
Regardless, he probably was a fan coming over to speak with me. I wondered how he made it past security.
I don’t want to deal with drunks—No, I shouldn’t think like that! That is a bad attitude, Hestia! Still, I should get out of this outfit, first, and maybe clean myself up. I’m not presentable.
“Lady Hestia, I am Cardi—”
“I apologize,” I bowed slightly. “Please, allow me to change out of my clothes and I will be free to speak. I will be back soon!”
Without saying another word, the man stood still, which I took as a sign that he accepted my proposal. I didn’t get a look at his expression properly, but I probably shouldn’t keep a fan standing for too long. After slipping into the RV while the crowd was cheering my name, Svena and Tasianna transported me to our communal room and gave me a quick bath and clean up.
After I was freshened up, I left the RV in a hurry and went back where I saw the chubby man, but he was no longer there. I began to look around but couldn’t find him, so I asked one of the guards, who informed me that he had left.
Why? I freshened myself up as fast as possible… Mhm, verdammt.
It seemed that I still have to properly learn how to appease fans. It was the duty of an idol to—
W-wah? I can lose followers!
This was the first time my follower update went down instead of up. I’d only been gaining fans all this time that I forget you could lose them. It was obvious, but since it had never happened before, I hadn’t worried about it.
I still have so much more to grow.
Singing and dancing weren’t the only things an idol must do. Since having fans was so important, I had to learn how to treat them better. Every person was different, and I had to do my best to keep their smile up. If I couldn’t, like with that man and his guards … Well, then it was better to not get too depressed. Idols lost fans all the time, even on Earth.
At least one of them is still a follower. Now, let’s make sure I don’t lose even more!
The night was exhausting, not only due to my performance, but also ‘cause of the after events. Fan meetings were harsh and mentally taxing. So many people wanted to greet me and then there were the nobles and merchants who wanted to make closer connections. Well, I should take this as a lesson—I needed better social skills. Extroverted or not, there was still so much I needed to learn.
On the next day, Ellaine arrived back at the mansion, looking gloomy from the complete lack of results on her search. We comforted her the best we could, telling her that he would be found soon, and I gave her Klea’Hatma back. We then went back to the concert area and quickly packed everything into my subspace. Since it was made to be easily taken down and built back up, we were quickly able to store everything in record time.
We then went over to the hunter’s guild. Muraina was awaiting us, ready to go with us to the elven outpost.
“Be happy, everybody. The urgent Quest is B rank.”
Fun and games first, and now back to work.
AbyssRaven And with that, the concert is over! Today's song were "Don't stop me now" from Queen: Rawr
and Moona Hoshinova's "Ai no Chiisana Uta." Rawr
In addition, I also wanted to announce that Book 3 of Dragon Idol is coming out soon! In fact, it will be the 17th of April!
As with the other books, I will have to remove the associated public chapters, in this case, it would all chapters up to 101. I will do this a week prior to the official book release, so until then, take a look at it on Amazon! Rawr
If you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 20 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr
For two dollars, for the cost of a coffee, you can read up to four chapters for the whole month! You will have my eternal gratitude for any support you can give me! Please.
Thank you for reading this chapter.
AbyssRaven Take these with you! Rawr1
Rawr2
“What a beautiful afternoon.”
The summer sun was about to disappear below the horizon, painting the sky a brilliant orange that was slowly turning dark with every second. It was the second last day of the one-week festival dedicated to the founding of the Kingdom of Artorias. As expected, nobody wanted to stop enjoying the festive nature, the streets were still crowded with cheerful people without exhaustion in sight.
In an open plaza area in the merchant district, in the section closest to the middle district usually used by wandering merchants to sell their wares, something huge had been constructed there. Made out of a wooden platform with metal pillars holding up a truss, it looked wide enough for at least 20 people to frolic on. A curtain was hiding something curious behind it; after all, no need to spoil the surprise of my concert stage.
It’s … This feels amazing, I thought as I touched the well-made wooden floor.
I could feel my heart pounding the longer I stayed inside the darkened interior of my stage, once again experiencing awe with how far I’ve gotten in my second life. On Earth, I only stood on these stages as the daughter of the show’s conductor, but today, once again, I was standing here as the main performer.
However, this wasn’t my [Earth Magic]-made stage from back in Carine Village, it was my newly made one. The one Grimnir, Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, and I dedicated our sweat and time to fully construct; a version made using wood and metal to give that authentic and professional impression.
I left the stage and entered the backstage, where Tasianna and Svena were waiting for me. “Have House Helvas come back yet?” I asked them.
Svena shook her head. “My lord, my lady, and the young mistress are most likely still looking around the area, Lady Hestia. His Majesty’s domain isn’t as large as the duke’s, but it is still large enough to have several villages.”
As I expected, but it’s still a shame.
It has been three days since we sent Gael and Krymdar out to find Jonathan in the undercity, yet no news. It got to the point where Ellaine and her parents couldn’t hold it in anymore and wanted to charge into the undercity, only to be stopped by Saori who told them the obvious, “If somebody like Gael cannot find him, then all that the three of you will do is warn Jonathan and come out empty-handed.”
As a compromise, they decided to fly out and search Griffonpeak’s surrounding area this morning. Since the preparations for my concert were done and the whole yeast and pastry business could be handled by the duke and Arcanuess Helvas’s representative, we didn’t need them here.
Ellaine was expected to come back tomorrow to rejoin our party for Muraina’s Quest. As such, her demon-possess spell rings were currently in my possession, specifically inside [Storage Magic] since Klea’Hatma’s mana didn’t count as a living being. Better safe than risk her trying to manipulate Ellaine while I wasn’t around.
In any case, I was still in my normal everyday outfit, and Tasianna and Svena wanted to change me into my first performance outfit as soon as possible, but I delayed it a bit to look around the corner. There, I witnessed a large number of festive people gathering before my concert stage along with guards loaned to us by Duke Greenveil to keep the order.
“Come, come! The show is about to start, so come and get your snacks before it begins!” Saori’s voice echoed through the area, using one of those voice amplification rods since I couldn’t be with her right now. She was standing behind counters filled with pastries and snacks with our RV behind her.
“Come on, akong, if you want to enjoy the show, come over here and get one of these glow bulbs to enjoy the show correctly!” Grimnir was also there, holding up small balls made out of leaves. As a blacksmith, Grimnir wasn’t unfamiliar with promoting his products, even if he didn’t have to do it very often. “Don’t activate them yet, if you want the best result, do it when we do it. Our young lady’s wish.”
Crowds of men, women, and children were huddling around Saori as they stared at the piping hot pastries on the stand, waiting for the clerks to sell them to them. They sold out so fast that it was hard for the Helvas servants to keep up with the restocking, having to constantly run into the RV and back out again to bring out the next batches.
The loud cries of people tasting the donuts, cupcakes, and croissants were filled with enviable enthusiasm, enticing me to my own pastry recipes. Some servants were even selling mead and clean water to the celebrating crowd to quench their thirst. I was expecting a large crowd, but I was becoming a bit anxious due to the number.
Word of mouth; constructing everything so conspicuously was the play. Even with the restaurant’s promotion, the only way for it to spread throughout the city was through the people.
“Lady Hestia.” I turned around when I heard somebody call me, noticing Amelia standing there with a familiar man behind her. It was Barathan, Arcanuess Helvas’s seneschal.
“How are the nobles faring?” I asked.
“Good, they haven’t complained except about the loud noises coming from the commoners and the unsightly display of their festiveness. However, the pastries we are selling and their comfortable seats were enough for them to endure it,” Amelia answered.
Amelia Greenveil, the heir of the Sarlenzia company and the main distributor for our pastries in the future, wasn’t here without reason. She was here to work with Saori and Barathan, the latter of whom specifically came to Griffonpeak from the Helvas arcanarch to act as the overseer for the yeast production as well as to manage and sell the pastries we all made in the past few days.
As her grandfather’s heir, Amelia was able to use her family company’s influence to promote today’s concert to all the prominent merchants and a few minor ones, who acted as our secondary promotion tool. In addition, while Saori handled the commoner side of the business, Amelia and Barathan were in charge of taking care of the illustrious nobles who came to attend my concert.
“I am honored to serve you once again, Lady Hestia,” Barathan bowed. “Our attendants are presenting menus to the lords and ladies as you wished. The aristocrats will be ordering through them and we will serve the pastries and rice sweets directly to their seats. Up until now, it has worked without any issues.”
Looking over to where the nobles should be seated, I saw multiple large bleachers. Knights hired from the Lionheart order were guarding the area around the nobles, preventing anybody who wasn’t a noble from entering. We also had an area for the rich merchants next to it, since the nobles who planned this whole event with me all agreed that nobles would despise sharing “exclusive” seats even with the most refined of commoners.
Just watching the noble ladies enjoying sponge cakes while sipping tea with satisfied expressions was a great sign, but it got even better when I heard the men were ordering Berliners, German doughnuts without a hole, with wine jelly fillings. Our primary demographic were women and children, but pleasing our male buyers didn’t hurt; in fact, it gave us more reason to have more variety in our stock.
I was pleased to hear that everything was working out and thanked Amelia and Barathan for their work. With how much money we spent on furnishing our RV’s subspace and getting the decorations for the concert, we had to make sure we could make a profit today. Not to mention, attendance was completely free, so while we attracted a larger crowd, we didn’t have a safety net if our merch and pastry sales bombed.
We wouldn’t become bankrupt even if we couldn’t sell everything, but it made me smile to see our plan to revolutionize Artorias’s pastry and confectionery market going off without a hitch. With their stomachs and taste buds satisfied, it was about time I also conquered their hearts and ears.
I entered a small tent where Tasianna and Svena changed me into my first outfit—a colorful short dress. With one final “good luck” from Tasianna and Svena, I clapped my cheeks to psych myself up and walked back on the stage. Now back in the dark, I took one last deep breath before giving a thumbs up to one of the stage crew.
As light entered through the crack of the curtain, the sound of my crew working became quieter and quieter for me, drowned out by the ecstatic attendees. I knew, right now, that their minds weren’t currently focused on me, but at the food before them.
That was why …
Let’s do this, parallel minds!
… I had to give them a show they wouldn’t forget!
“Tonight, I’m really feeling the heat surging inside me
I’m about to explode
And this night, won’t end until we’re done
Satisfied from the our fun and games
So, (Blaze it all night)
(I won’t be stopped)
‘Cause this night is still young, far too young! ”
As the curtains began to draw back more and more, I expedited the process by using wind magic to shove the curtains to the sides and poured my mana into the wood to activate Grimnir’s and Ellaine’s newly-made manatech spotlights, shining light throughout the audience.
However, I did not stop there. As I activated [Aerokinesis] to play my music and to amplify my singing, I created a few sparks and grew the fire into a flower, making it look like fireworks exploding behind me. By controlling its power, I was able to attract everybody’s collective eyes without burning down my newly made stage.
“I’m a burning star ready to explode
To bring my light down to rock your entire existence
I move like flash fire, bringing your night an incredible WOW!
I’m gonna go, go, go
Don’t you stop now! ”
Rambunctious, zestful, as if this was an evening street party. My throat was my most valuable commodity as a singer, but for this song I was abstaining from holding back. I howled every word as if I was possessed by the rock stars of old!
“Ooooooooh, we’re burning through the night, yeah!
Turn the music up!
Are we gonna let this party end?
Are we ready to greet the sun?
No! Since this is just the bloody start! ”
With every passing second, the rowdiness of the crowd was directed away from the food and towards me. Music was just the perfect stimuli to turn the ecstasy of this festival up a notch. I wasn’t too bothered with the fact they were enjoying my performance as an accompaniment to the food and alcohol, since this was just the opener.
“No! This festival ain’t stopping yet”
“No, this night is not gonna end now!”
“Wooooo, come on, let’s go!”
I’m having such a good night
Fun of my life
(Don’t let this end)
One chance to enjoy our life, so don’t you dare stop!
(Blaze it all night)
Cause this is the time of our life
(Blaze it all night)
Yeah, it ain’t time to end it
So do you guys want it to stop! ”
“No!”
This song was aimed at the commoners only, I wasn’t expecting any of the nobles to like it too much. However, it wouldn’t be good if I lost their interest immediately. As such, Ellaine suggested that I perform magic during this time, to show off my magical skills as much as possible to keep people interested.
I did impress a lot of them during the ball, but I was a professional entertainer; I had no intention of resting on my laurels like that. Even if they didn’t like my song, I would fascinate them with my control over fire, lightning, wind, and light. With Tasianna helping me out with some cold mist and snowflakes, this concert was, without a doubt, an eye-catching display of arcane artistry.
As the song entered into its guitar solo, I took this time to gather a ton of mana to my hand and raised it up into the sky. I noticed that the nobles and a few mage-looking adventurers caught on to what I was doing and were growing suspicious.
Yet, I simply showed them a brilliant, wide smile.
“Prayer!”
A huge white magic circle appeared in the sky, probably my largest activation of [Prayer]. There were a lot of people around in the crowd and I didn’t want to leave even one of them out of the fun. By the time that people noticed the circle, my spell had already been cast.
Urgh, shit! I groaned as it felt like numerous blood vessels had just burst forth, gushing blood through my fingers. Even after practicing it, using around 35% of my total mana all at once made me fully aware of my lack of efficiency. I had to become better at casting this spell and knowing how much was required for a major stage buff.
Nevertheless, my poker face held strong. Synchronized with the end of the spell and the look of wonderment of the crowd, the guitar solo ended and I continued to sing.
“Ooooooooh, we’re burning through the night, yeah!
Turn the music up!
Are we gonna let this party end?
Are we ready to greet the sun?
No! Since this is just the bloody start!
I’m having such a good night
Fun of my life
(Don’t let this end)
One chance to enjoy our life, so don’t you dare stop!
(Blaze it all night)
Cause this is the time of our life
(Blaze it all night)
Yeah, it ain’t time to end it
I don’t want it all to stop!
Lala-lada-lala-lala “
As the music and my singing stopped, I bowed before the crowd in the middle of the spotlight. I then snapped my back up and postured myself correctly, raising my arm up and waving at everybody. “Good evening, Griffonpeak! My name is Hestia, and I thank everybody for coming to my concert today! I dearly hope everybody has had the chance to taste the pastries and sweets my party, Aurora, Duke Greenveil, and Count Helvas were able to produce. Courtesy of me, please, enjoy the wonders of yeast and rice sweets!”
People were clapping everywhere as I announced this news to everybody standing there. The attendees standing before the stage were cheering as they learned where the food came from, even if they had to pay for it. The merchants were ecstatic to learn this important piece of information, knowing now where the origins of the pastries and sweets they ate and where they could procure more.
The nobles, on the other hand, were still clapping with the rest of the crowd, but some of them were simply doing it out of respect while looking visibly concerned. From what I heard from Ellaine’s father, he did mention that the moment we made yeast a common product in Artorias, that its value as a luxury product would decrease. A ridiculous notion, even to Duke Greenveil and Arcanuess Helvas, since nobles were supposed to be the “elites who will push the development of the kingdom.”
Also, even if yeast is cheap, the other ingredients and how you prepare it can make any cake into something incredibly expensive. Caviar cake, for example, urgh.
Once the clapping and cheering settled down, I continued, “As you might have noticed, I have cast [Prayer] on everybody. Please, allow yourself to feel the power seeping into every pore of your body. This power comes from the Goddess above, a glorious energy.”
I paused to breathe in deeply and then exhaled, which prompted most of the crowd to follow along. Once again having everybody’s attention, I spoke the lines that Theodore and Eshe wanted me to announce during my concert. “I would like to properly introduce myself now. I am Hestia, a priestess of Goddess Aurena and also her first ‘Idol.’ What is an idol, you ask? Well, as you could witness, an idol is an entertainer who brings people’s souls together in unison to enjoy the wonders of music and dancing. Whether it is from the voice of an angel or through awe-provoking body movements.”
The silent gossiping of “An idol?” spread to everybody in the audience, looking confused to hear the sound of it. Some of the people who spent time at our restaurant already heard me explain it to them, so they seemed less confused about it. It wasn’t hard to notice who was who.
“By the benevolence of the Goddess, may this prayer guide you into a wonderful tomorrow. May this be another gift to the Kingdom of Artorias, and may this concert seal it truly.” I then activated [Halo of Consecration], conjuring a white flaming halo above my head. “This concert is blessed and watched by the Goddess, so please, allow yourself to relax and have fun. Allow me to mend your soul with my melody!”
Wait, what, so early? And this many just after the first song?
From looking at the crowd before me, I noticed that a few white robes amongst them were looking at me with sparkling eyes, holding their hands in prayer as their mouths were left agape. Similar to my second concert, my first fans came from the already pious.
I giggled a bit. “Then, I ask everybody for your patience. The show shall continue at a moment’s notice.”
The curtains were shut close and I could hear my audience talk about what just happened. I wanted to continue listening to them, but I ignored the voices and rushed off the stage and into the tent behind it, where Svena and another maid were waiting for me with my second dress. It was the dress I wore for the ball.
After putting it on and rushing back to the stage, there, in the darkness, somebody’s voice entered my ears. “I am ready, Lady Hestia,” I heard in a whisper. As I held her outstretched hand, I felt her soft skin touch mine and how it trembled slightly. Whispering, “You got this, we trained for this.” to her, I then gestured to the stage crew to open the curtains.
“Listen to the winds of the night, the tranquility of the shining, bright moonlight
I am here to see the waxing and waning of the four seasons throughout the year ”
The piano began playing calmly as an icy mist surrounding the stage, giving it that mysterious feeling. This was “My Light’s Blessing,” but unlike last time, this wasn’t a solo.
“You are here for me, dancing linked with the rhythm of our hearts ” As I released my hand from my partner’s, we began to move to execute our stage choreography, singing in harmony with each other. There, I saw her—Tasianna, in her blue ball dress.
“At this moment now, we are the focus of our small world ” She sang.
“Hold me tightly, my love, your warmth calms me so, let this last for eternity ” I sang.
“I feel the heaven’s eyes on us, for you are my light’s blessing
Let us forget reality for this small moment of silence under the moon ” And once again, we sang in unison, letting our voices mix together to empower each other even more. We touched our hands as if we were leaning against a mirror, while moving our feet like in a waltz.
It was only for a moment though, since an entertainer’s job was to look at their audience.
“All right, release them.” Grimnir’s loud voice echoed through my concert.
From below the stage, he tapped the shoulder of one of the store attendants. He then picked up one of the glow bulbs and touched the top, before releasing it into the sky. As the attendant mimicked his action, those leaf balls slowly floated in the sky before releasing a colorful glow ranging from red, orange, yellow, and green.
As the crowd saw them do this, the ones who bought a glow bulb looked at it and touched the tip of it, noticing the ball unfurling and revealing the glowing inside content. Releasing it into the sky, they illuminated the night sky like sky lanterns. I noticed the nobles and wealthy merchants being curious at the beautiful lights and requesting to buy some of the bulbs.
It was Saori’s secondary request to Krymdar when we met him at the guild. The original idea was to create glow sticks since I wanted them for the authentic idol experience, but Krymdar later explained how wasteful it was to make them, even if we replaced the plastic sticks with wood or something. The cost to make them would be too high to make any profit from them, and the cleanup would be disastrous.
As such, we settled with sky lantern-like glow bulbs. Krymdar created a one-time glow similar to a firefly and wrapped it up with leaves. To activate them, water had to be added beforehand and you then needed to touch the tip of the bulb for the balls to work. It would then suck in air from around it and float up until it was full, creating this alchemical glow effect.
Seeing these lights floating in front of us, I was glad we managed to emulate the glow sticks somewhat. You could say, this was how Peolyncian idol concerts worked, right? With Tasianna’s and my motivation renewed from this sight, we continued singing with even more energy.
“With each step that we take together, my heart aches for it knows it well, that our time will end soon
I’m so lost in thoughts of what I should do later for our moment will not last
But if that is the case, then I shall cherish this memory
Our vocal range were both soprano, but I sounded a bit deeper, creating a mild but charming harmony between us. As Tasianna had plenty of practice during her days as a carefree fairy celebrating numerous festivals every year, her voice was quite strong, making it easy for me to work with and train. This was the result of our training and rapport!
“At this moment now, we are the focus of our small world ” I sang.
“Hold me tightly, my love, your warmth calms me so, let this last for eternity ” Then she sang.
“I feel the heaven’s eyes on us, for you are my light’s blessing
Let us forget reality for this small moment of silence under the moon ” We combined our voices, going for the high notes to show off our voice’s strength. Pitch perfect, if I was allowed to praise us.
It was probably the most followers I’d ever gotten after a single song. I was proud of myself. I was proud to stand here with Tasianna, one of my best friends. I was proud to share a song with her.
When our song ended, the glow bulbs started to dim and fall onto the ground, now only a pile of leaves. They would be easy to dispose of later on. Some were still floating and the applause coming from the merchants and nobles was deafening. I felt an incredible sense of pride at the response to our duet, and I could see Tasianna agree with her wide smile.
“This is my friend and party member, Tasianna. Thank you very much for listening to our song.” We bowed and the curtains closed. And the cycle began anew with me switching out of a dress into the next, performing on the stage and then receiving applause before the curtains closed.
Astounding. As more time went by, the crowd became larger and larger; however, due to the size of the plaza, it became harder for people to see me, even if they could hear my voice. If there were additional bleachers or if the location was more suited for huge crowds, this probably would be sensational.
Nevertheless, I was satisfied. As long as people enjoyed my singing, I was content.
Of course, every group had a different taste in music. While the crowd was all right with all songs, they still preferred the high-energy songs. The merchants loved the more romantic ones, probably since it was as if they could enjoy the fantasy of them, Lastly, I gained the most fans from the nobles when I sang my two ballads, “Promise” and “Memories,” which I guess was due to how they were more focused on telling a story and delivering a message. They were “more” artistic, you could say.
“Thank you very much, everybody. That was my last song.” I let out a sigh in the end. My voice was exhausted after I strained my vocal cords while dancing on stage. “I hope everybody was able to get an idea of what an idol of Goddess Aurena is supposed to do, and I hope you will wait in anticipation for my next concert!”
“Yeeeaaaaaaaaaaah!” The crowd exploded in cheers, drowning out the applause from the merchants and nobles.
“My party and I will be traveling around, performing whenever we can, in any village, town, or city we can. If you are there, please, I ask you to come and hear me sing once more! Let us all feel more connected to the Goddess and the Origin Gods through songs!” I then pointed at our RV where Saori was standing, having replaced the pastries with clothing. “For now, if you wish, there will be clothing you may buy. I apologize for announcing that the clothing is all made from either mana threads or expensive fabric, so the prices will be quite high. However, there should still be some—”
Saori began to furiously shake her head, interrupting me. Even without a telepathic message, I understood her clearly enough.
Holy scheiße, they sold out?
“—Thank you very much for your attention and cheers! I loved it all! Until next time, may the Goddess guide you on your path forward! May your path be forever bright!” And that was when the curtain closed for the final time this night. Svena and Tasianna congratulated me for a work well done, praising me for my endurance.
As the tent was already taken down, I was led back to the RV to change out of my clothes. As I was on my way, a chubby man in fine clothes suddenly came over; actually, it was more accurate to describe it as him stumbling over here like a drunken man.
Was he a noble or a merchant? It was hard to distinguish them purely from clothes alone since the difference between a rich merchant’s and a noble’s outfit wasn’t noticeable enough. If the man had a crest, I probably could have asked Svena if she knew him, but alas. Two men were flanking him, probably his guards.
Regardless, he probably was a fan coming over to speak with me. I wondered how he made it past security.
I don’t want to deal with drunks—No, I shouldn’t think like that! That is a bad attitude, Hestia! Still, I should get out of this outfit, first, and maybe clean myself up. I’m not presentable.
“Lady Hestia, I am Cardi—”
“I apologize,” I bowed slightly. “Please, allow me to change out of my clothes and I will be free to speak. I will be back soon!”
Without saying another word, the man stood still, which I took as a sign that he accepted my proposal. I didn’t get a look at his expression properly, but I probably shouldn’t keep a fan standing for too long. After slipping into the RV while the crowd was cheering my name, Svena and Tasianna transported me to our communal room and gave me a quick bath and clean up.
After I was freshened up, I left the RV in a hurry and went back where I saw the chubby man, but he was no longer there. I began to look around but couldn’t find him, so I asked one of the guards, who informed me that he had left.
Why? I freshened myself up as fast as possible… Mhm, verdammt.
It seemed that I still have to properly learn how to appease fans. It was the duty of an idol to—
W-wah? I can lose followers!
This was the first time my follower update went down instead of up. I’d only been gaining fans all this time that I forget you could lose them. It was obvious, but since it had never happened before, I hadn’t worried about it.
I still have so much more to grow.
Singing and dancing weren’t the only things an idol must do. Since having fans was so important, I had to learn how to treat them better. Every person was different, and I had to do my best to keep their smile up. If I couldn’t, like with that man and his guards … Well, then it was better to not get too depressed. Idols lost fans all the time, even on Earth.
At least one of them is still a follower. Now, let’s make sure I don’t lose even more!
The night was exhausting, not only due to my performance, but also ‘cause of the after events. Fan meetings were harsh and mentally taxing. So many people wanted to greet me and then there were the nobles and merchants who wanted to make closer connections. Well, I should take this as a lesson—I needed better social skills. Extroverted or not, there was still so much I needed to learn.
On the next day, Ellaine arrived back at the mansion, looking gloomy from the complete lack of results on her search. We comforted her the best we could, telling her that he would be found soon, and I gave her Klea’Hatma back. We then went back to the concert area and quickly packed everything into my subspace. Since it was made to be easily taken down and built back up, we were quickly able to store everything in record time.
We then went over to the hunter’s guild. Muraina was awaiting us, ready to go with us to the elven outpost.
“Be happy, everybody. The urgent Quest is B rank.”
Fun and games first, and now back to work.
AbyssRaven And with that, the concert is over! Today's song were "Don't stop me now" from Queen: Rawr
and Moona Hoshinova's "Ai no Chiisana Uta." Rawr
In addition, I also wanted to announce that Book 3 of Dragon Idol is coming out soon! In fact, it will be the 17th of April!
As with the other books, I will have to remove the associated public chapters, in this case, it would all chapters up to 101. I will do this a week prior to the official book release, so until then, take a look at it on Amazon! Rawr
If you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 20 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr
For two dollars, for the cost of a coffee, you can read up to four chapters for the whole month! You will have my eternal gratitude for any support you can give me! Please.
Thank you for reading this chapter.
