Chapter 60: Preparations for the March. [First Draft] (Patreon)

I would like to apologize to everybody for a late release. I actually had some problems writing this chapter, having to throw out two other drafts, and then being stuck due to writer's block.

Thankfully, I got it together eventually. Hope you guys like it.

__________________________________ 

[“And that would be all. We might be asking a lot from you, especially as the rest of the camp has not fully recovered yet, but we believe it would be best if we were to move soon,”] Saori explained to the lizardmen.

“YES…well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I certainly want to get out of this forest as soon as possible!” Apsala said, nodding furiously.

"Well, we owe you much, so we have no right to refuse it when you ask us to do so," Caszcur agreed, stroking his arm to stimulate his muscles. I might have re-attached his severed arm back to his body, but it seems like it sometimes goes numb if it isn’t active.

“Where ever you go, we will follow, fair-scaled one,” Aksmias responded, bowing his head slightly.

[“Aksmias, you do know my name is Hestia, correct? I don’t think you’ve ever addressed me like that for all the time we’ve known each other,”] I complained, realizing this weird habit of his.

Well, anyway, the reason for their behavior was quite simple: Our party has decided to travel with the lizardmen. That meant that we would stay with them and help them get out of the Belzac forest, going north to reach the elven country so they can get help to travel to the country where the Levianewts live.

While it might seem nice of us, we also explained to them that we would only do this on the sole condition that we start moving today and that we kinda rush through the swamp. My party’s plan is to get out of the swamp before winter came, and if possible, escape this forest.

The reason why for this was ‘cause of the stuff that I learned yesterday. After receiving Aurena’s message I knew that keeping this stuff to myself would be bad for our party especially after Saori made it clear that I should share these sorta stuff with them.

At the wake of dawn after the feast, I told Saori and Tasianna everything about the message and the fact that Aurena made the effort to grant Rajah and his family her protection to appeal to me.

Tasianna was naturally excited about the fact, calling me “A Goddess’ champion” and that she was proud to be my retainer. She was even more thrilled once I told her about my “Fan Overview” and the function of both my “followers” and “retainers”. 

The description of [Hestia’s Retainer] already proved that it was created due to [The Light], so it surprised nobody that the “follower” part that everybody heard when they “swore fealty” to me had to be important, too.

I told them that [The Light] was practically a title that wanted me to start gathering “followers” to have it grow in strength, granting me even more abilities and skills. Saori theorized that if my title wasn’t showing its full strength yet, that I could possibly get rid of my crippling dark weakness if I reached a milestone.

Looking through the [Fan Overview], it wasn’t able to tell me if that was possible.

__________________________________ 

Hestia Atsuko’s [The Light] [Fan Overview]

Follower Count: 6 

Retainer Count: 2

Milestones: 0: Spell [Shine]

1: Spell [Sanctuary]

5: Unlock [The Light]’s [Faithful Function] and [System Neutrality]

20: Unique Skill [Venerated Saintess Lv. 1]

__________________________________

Maybe it’s Aurena’s way to keep my wanting for more but it wouldn’t tell me about any more milestones until I fulfilled the current one. I mean, it can’t possibly stop at twenty, right? If the milestones actually stop at twenty then I will probably be very insulted at this fact, believing that Aurena thinks that I can only handle getting twenty people to like me. Ooh, that would make my blood boil. 

Still, the current milestone rewards are pretty good. [Shine] and [Sanctuary] have already shown their worth, especially [Shine] being the main reason for why I survived in the beginning as a G rank dragon.

While the [Faithful Function] was already active and it simply gave me a UI to track everything now, [System Neutrality] would certainly become useful. Not only does it act like an [Identity Blocker] but it also can’t be messed around with by anyone besides the gods and me.

Now, [Venerated Saintess] is definitely something I wanted just ‘cause it was a skill that enhanced my abilities.

<Venerated Saintess: A skill that a saintess would earn after proving her abilities to her championed god. In the presence of her followers and supporters, the user will gain parameter boosts depending on the number. Reduces mana cost by 50% if the user uses a spell or skill that benefits one of her followers. Boosts holy elemental spells depending on skill’s level>

Holy moly, I would finally get a skill that would further boost the offensive power of my holy spells. Until now, my fire spells were a clear cut above them due to my race’s unique skill, making them just the superior choice to use in combat.

The destructive power of my [Inferno Magic] spell and my [Spark Fire Dragon] abilities have shown time and time again, that they can cause absolute carnage even against things that I should be able to hurt usually. 

Ahh, I love simple passives that just increase your damage. It makes it simple.

Anyways, now that I told my two companions about everything that happened to me yesterday, Saori and Tasianna both agreed that it would be smart to rush through the forest as fast as possible. Not ‘cause of Aurena but ‘cause of the swamp.

There have been two encounters since I arrived in this swamp that has made me fearful of fighting, fully understanding that I wouldn’t have a chance against them. One was that giant crocodile-like head monster on the day that I met the lizardmen, and the other was that white snake after we successfully rescued the lost lizardmen.

I wasn’t sure if they were the same monsters, but my instincts told me that a connection was there. The description that I got from the snake also made the idea ever more plausible. Only a massive creature like that crocodile-head could be large enough to support that giant snake.

If such a monster existed here, then we would be in massive danger. Fleeing is the smartest choice. I think I’ve had enough of fighting against things that I have no chance of winning against…sigh.

So…three giants wyverns are looking for us, a giant crocodile with snakes for legs is living right over the corner, and heilige Scheiße there were a shit ton of frogs and toads in this place. I mean, I saw a frog just stand still when I woke up this morning. I had to strain my eyes to see it as it wasn’t anywhere close to the camp, but it stood there…watching us menacingly…awaiting a chance to steal my food…

…I’m pretty sure I made my point that I don’t wanna be here anymore.

While it might be better for us to leave the lizardmen here and just travel in our three-man group, none of us were able to do that. In these past days, we’ve become well acquainted with the lizardmen, sharing meals and even hunting together, so much that it would feel awkward to just leave now.

I’ve already had to say goodbye to a friend…so doing it once again before I can actually process that farewell isn’t good for me. Company makes traveling feel shorter, and I think it sounded correct.

There is also the fact that I kinda promised the quintet siblings and their kid friends that I would show them what an “idol” was, so yeah…something inside me told me that I shouldn’t break this sorta promise

Our party agreed unanimously that we couldn’t leave them behind on a good conscience.

“Ahh, forget about Aksmias’ zealousness, little one,” Apsala said before walking into the middle of the camp to start explaining about our plan. Caszcur joined and supported her with his louder voice, while Aksmias started gathering the guards and hunters, so they can start gathering any weapons.

As it would be faster if we helped also, our party separated to help the individual groups. Saori and Tasianna joined the lizardwomen as they started packing food, herbs, and building materials like twigs and stone.

I technically don’t have to do anything as I was the mule. Two people currently in this camp can use [Storage Magic] and only one of them has a mana capacity large enough that she can put the whole camp into her storage. That person would be me and that’s why I’m the mule. I’m quite proud of it despite the rude moniker.

It’s also the reason why our idea is even feasible, to begin with. I healed the rescued lizardmen and also took care of any diseases that they had but nothing in my spell arsenal could fix fatigue or lethargy. That can only go away with time and through filling their stomachs with food.

In their current state, they couldn't carry anything with them and having the healthy lizardmen handle it would just slow us down.

Also, remember when I told Caszcur and the rescued lizardman about my true form, my dragon form? Yeah, that kinda backfired on me, when those festive lizards literally told the whole camp about it, informing everybody about that fact.

Saori chastised me about it, that I was too careless about it; that I should’ve thought up of an excuse using my numerous parallel minds and [Thought Acceleration]; that telling others that I’m a monster would endanger me. It certainly wasn’t a pleasant morning.

Looking back on it, I maybe should have shown more caution and told Caszcur something like that I can switch from full dragonewt and partial dragonewt form. That would have explained it and I wouldn’t have had to tell him about being a dragon.

B-But come on, I still had a terrible headache back then. It’s not my fault!

Despite telling everybody about my dragon form, Saori decided she didn’t want to expose herself. From what we heard from Tasianna, monstrous animals like dragons and garms are considered monsters and a threat if they don’t show the intellect to be reasoned with.

Hearing that, Saori was adamant that we be careful about telling anybody about this fact from now onwards. She mentioned persecution against us when we travel the world, and from what I heard about humans, I can’t help but agree. I mean they don’t like the beastmen just ‘cause they have monster blood.

I just hope that the elves are a bit kinder.

As I continued mulling through my thoughts, I wandered close to a bunch of lizardmen kids helping the adults deconstructing the tents, “Ah, Hestia! I’ve heard what elder Apsala announced, that we had to start packing but that you would join us! Is it really true?

[“Huh? Oh, hey Slazzaila,”] I responded to the eldest sibling of the quintet siblings. [“Yeah, pretty much. Tasianna, Saori, and I will join you guys. We have the same destination, after all.”]

"Bwuh, having your voice in my head feels so weird, but I'm very happy that you're coming with us! Yay," Slazzaila cheered. "Ah, you're younger than me, right? So, you’re like another little egg-sister? I’ll make sure to teach you how to speak!”

[“He he, uh, I don’t…you know, consider you my sister, Slazzaila. Besides, I have my own tutor, so you don’t have to teach me,”] I declined her offer to help.

Slazzaila's tail limply fell to the ground in disappointment 'cause of my rejection, but quickly recovered before saying that she had to help the elders otherwise they would scold her.

Honestly, that was adorable. Technically, I was younger than the lizardmen kids but mentally speaking, I am 15 so I found the cheery personalities of them quite fun to be around, now that their friends are back.

I guess this childish nature of theirs was the reason why I even agreed to show them what an “idol” was. Just the thought of doing it was making me nervous, but I made up my mind to just do it. Even if it fails, it was better to sit around and do nothing.

As time went by, the camp slowly emptied while my storage became fuller and fuller. The lizardmen didn’t have much belongs, to begin with, so my mana wasn't draining too fast. Once that was finished, Apsala and Caszcur gathered everyone and explained to them our plan.

"As we have already told you, we will be moving fast and with minimal amounts of breaks in between," Apsala started. "I believe everybody has had enough of wandering through this devil of a forest, am I right? Well, we finally have a chance to get out of here permanently!"

"I believe everybody should have already met our savior and benefactor, Hestia, correct?" Caszcur continued. "Although we lizardfolk have already amassed more debts that we can repay this young scale back, she and her companions agreed to get us safely out of this place."

"Don't worry about anything dangerous appearing with these three joining our travels," Apsala said, pointing out the strength that my party posses to soothe any worries the lizardmen had. "Saori and Tasianna will be our guide and we will follow them as they direct us north while avoiding anything dangerous, while our beloved Dragoness, Hestia, will defeat in the case that a monster appears."

“““YEAH!”””

The combined cheers of the rowdy lizardmen group were loud enough that I had to close my ears with my hands, as it got uncomfortable to stand so close to it.

[“Jeez, they really are showering you with a lot of praise,”] Saori commented.

[“Yeah…sorry, about that. You two definitely deserve more than this. I'll speak with those two to give you guys more recognition,"] I offered, slightly annoyed that I was getting all the cheers.

[“It’s alright, Lady Hestia. I’m already proud that they are relying this much on us. A simple maid like me only needs the acknowledgment of my mistress and close friends,”] Tasianna said with a short bow.

["The same applies to me. Having to deal with a crowd like this is not something I wish, so it is alright for you to have it, Miss Idol,"] Saori said with a teasing smile. [“Besides, did any of them trigger your [Fan Overview]? Did you get any new followers?”]

[“Nope,”] I said. [“Despite all the cheering, none of them have become my followers. I think we might need to be forthright with them about it later on.”]

[“Any plans for turning them into retainers? They won’t be able to benefit much without [Hestia’s Retainer] or if Aurena decides to be generous again,”] Saori stated.

[“I thought on it, and I’ve decided to not tell them about that ‘retainer’ part. Being my retainer means getting access to the SP system and many other benefits. You might be correct that we should act more inconspicuous,”] I stated, remembering Saori’s lecture from this morning quite well. [“I don’t want to give anybody that kinda power without being able to trust them 100% percent.”]

While I didn’t distrust them, I didn’t trust them enough that I would make them my retainers. We would separate from each other once we reach the elven kingdom and that would be it. In that situation was it responsible for me to give them such a strong title like [Hestia’s Retainer]?

No.

It might sound hypocritical after I allowed both Tasianna and Saori to do so, but their situations were different. Saori and I were both humans from Earth in our past lives and we both had nobody else except the two of us. Besides, it was also an accident that she even got the title to begin with, as I didn't even know that it existed.

Tasianna, on the other hand, had no place to go to. She self-exiled herself from her village and wanted to travel with us due to her wish for self-atonement by “serving another princess correctly this time”.

There is also the case that the title could be seen by everyone. If somebody were to read the description then that person would be suspicious about it, no? How can a title give access to the SP system and who was this “Hestia” anyways?

There were so many factors that I had to consider, and it wasn’t worth it in the end. That’s why making them my retainers was a no-go.

[“I also agree that you shouldn’t make them your retainers, Lady Hestia. No one is allowed to join our prestigious rank without our approval, correct, Miss Saori?”] Tasianna asked Saori with sparkling eyes. 

[“Huh? Uhh, I guess?”] Saori responded, weirded out by Tasianna’s enthusiasm to not allow anybody from becoming my retainer.

While Tasianna already knows that Saori was my retainer only in name, she stills treats her as if she was the head retainer. Her respect for Saori must have grown ever more after she found out that Saori hid her [Shadow Snake] in Rajah’s feet.

“Ok, that was all! Everybody gets into position and let’s move out!” Apsala said, interrupting our private talks with another explosive cheer from the lizardmen crowd.

Finally finished with her speech, Apsala went over to us with the other two head lizardmen, "Hey, sorry for taking so long. Everything should be sorted out now. I thank you three for agreeing to help us with this. It really means a lot to us."

“Yeah, taking care of carrying our equipment and baggage and also defending everybody. We can’t thank you three enough for doing this,” Caszcur said with a rare smile.

“We have said this a few times already but please don’t hesitate to ask us if you need something. Even giving my life wouldn’t be enough to repay the debts our group,” Aksmias offered with a nonchalant smile despite how dark that sounded.

Hey, I’m not some kinda creepy cultist that would ask you to sacrifice your life, dude!

…Although, I might actually act like a cultist, right now.

[“…If that’s the case, then I actually do have a favor that you three would be able to help me with,”] I started out, enticing them to ask what my favor was.

"YOU DO!" Apsala shouted out, bursting out with a face that looked like she was about to get a cookie. "Tell it to me then, little one! Whatever it might be, allow me to fulfill it as a way to thank you and also Kargryxmor. Oh, our luck has certainly turned around since you arrived, little one.”

One of the consequences of having my identity as a dragon known to everybody was people like Apsala, a follower of Kargryxmor, were naturally excited about being in the presence of a dragon. I thought she didn’t think much of it despite knowing about it, but it seems she was showing her true colors now.

…What would happen if I told her that I was a descendant of Kargryxmor? I mean I do have his blood if the title wasn’t false…you know what, let’s keep this to myself.

“Well, Hestia? Spit it out, already. Anything you need, I’ll do it,” Caszcur stated, fully willing to repay his debts.

[“Awesome to hear! So, I want you guys…,”] the three lizardmen bent their necks, drawing them close to me, not wanting to miss a single sound. [“I want you guys to become my followers.”]

“““HUH?!”””