Chapter 403: A Heart to Heart Moment. [Release Version] (Patreon)

Song for today "Lost" from Linkin Park: Rawr

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The armguard was for the left arm. To test it out, I put it on, noticing how the blue-yellow armor piece was a bit too large for my arm and how it contrasted with my chestplate too much. It was a fashion disaster. No wonder its description mentioned it needed a reforging.

As I slipped my hand into the gauntlet, I closed and opened it, feeling the armguard out but concluded I couldn’t wear it during a fight. It looked like it was made for a stout dwarf or a large beastman, not a human or average-sized dragonewt girl like me. Regardless, it still functioned.

The metal clattered as it lit up blue, only to turn into red a moment later. With [Mana Eyes], I confirmed my mana was surging into the catalyst embedded into the middle of the gauntlet, being focused there. A flame then appeared on my hand which I was able to turn into a dagger even without [Volcanic Blaze].

“I shouldn’t use it. It’s pretty much redundant for me,” I stated, considering I had [Volcanic Blaze] and [Battle Frenzy] mode’s [Light Horizon] to manipulate fire and light into any form I wanted, respectively. Not to mention, why would I need to conjure elemental weapons when I had [Hellblade Edge] and a tail sharp enough to cut through steel? And I wasn’t even talking about my dragon form's tail.

“Well, I can’t use it,” Tatsuya grumbled, with Kyouya concurring right away. “I mean, I can buy an elemental spell from the SP shop. I even bought [Enhanced Intelligence Growth] and [Enhanced Intelligence Enforcement] despite not being a mage just for such a moment, you know. Futureproofing! In case I ever want to become a spellblade.”

“Then why can’t you buy one?” I asked, confused. “You have [All-In] to boost up your intelligence, too.”

“I don’t know how to cast spells! I never took a magic course!”

“What?!” My voice broke for a moment, squeaking as I was baffled at his laziness. “I can give you the rundown right now, you idiot! Get on the Hestia boot camp for arcane tricks and I’ll make you a mage in no time! Not to mention, casting spells is easy enough with the System’s help! Using SP to buy spells is the broken part about this, considering you would need a year to learn it normally, and years to master it!”

Tasianna, Master Kush, and then Mom were all my magic theory teachers, and through almost two years of fighting and working as a mage, I should know enough to take on my own students. The principal of the royal university of Griffonpeak even offered me a position as a fire mage professor when I first met her. Technically, I was even Ellaine’s mage instructor! I could teach either Tatsuya or Kyouya.

“Yeah, but can you do it now?” Kyouya came to his friend’s rescue. “We’re inside this ruin, and we needed to get ready to progress, unless you want to risk getting caught by those dragonslayers.”

I went silent. Teaching would still require at least some time, especially for a newcomer to understand how to focus on casting spells while fighting. It did require quite a lot of concentration until you invested a large amount in making it easy.

A quick calculation for the three basic skills you required to be a proper mage would be an investment of 4650 Skill points if you wanted to level [Mana Control], [Arcane Mind], and [Arcane Corruption Resistance] all up to level ten, ignoring purchase price discrepencies due to affinity varying for every individual. Then, if you wanted to use your spells while in melee, [Chant Revocation Lv. 10] and [Concentration Lv. 10] were needed, which added another 2400 SP and 1550 SP, respectively. This wasn’t even mentioning buying and leveling your elemental magic skill!

Very high SP investment if you wanted to become a mage instantly. Buuuut …

“That doesn’t matter. I just need to give him the rundown on how to control his mana and let it flow through his body. He already has [Mana Control], all he needs it some more [Arcane Corruption Resistance] levels and an elemental skill, and, boom, he can use this armguard,” I argued back. He didn’t need to become a mage to use this, meaning it wouldn’t even take a day to have Tatsuya master things.

“Then, why would I prefer to use it over my own spear? At best, this will become a range option, but that still requires an investment of SP that I could use on my other skills? Leveling up my physical and dodging abilities,” he rebuked me, looking almost ill as he rattled his hands as if to tell me he didn’t want to. “Not to mention, that thing looks so big, it’ll be loose on me, too. My arms might be thicker and more muscular than yours Hestia, but I don’t even think I can fit my arm in it.”

He certainly wasn’t as huge as Farron or Grimnir, but Tatsuya was still quite muscular.

“Then we’ll strap some belts around it and call it a day! Come on, stop being stubborn! It’s an objective improvement to your arsenal, you now have a range option. Put it on!” I pushed the armguard into his arm, causing Tatsuya to frown before offering it to Kyouya.

“Then why not ask Kyouya? He has a better frame, it’ll fit him better. Not to mention, [Shadowed Martyr] is something like a magic skill, right? Him getting [Dark Magic] wouldn’t hurt him?”

Kyouya widened his eyes, pushing the armguard back to Tatsuya. “I already have a range option, dude. My armor can be shot out. Besides, my role is tank, [Taunt]er, and making walls in general. Besides, I am saving my SP for the defensive options since that is my whole thing! My unique Job wants me to act as the frontline with some offensive options to leech health, but all of them focus on strength. My intelligence and mana isn’t good enough, unlike yours.”

Tatsuya pouting, looking like he would accept it any second now. “Urgh, dammit, that’s kinda right … Jeez, I dunno, I just feel awkward using anything but my spear.”

“Dude, you don’t need to make elemental weapons, you can also just enchant your weapon with magic. Wind makes thing cut better, fire stops regeneration, or whatever. The armguard is very useful!” I reminded him of the enchantments on the catalyst—[Elemental Weapons Invoke], [Elemental Magic Absorption], and [Elemental Blessing]. It was a utility monster, perfect for a close-combatant like him. “Come on, give it a try, alright? Or, are you telling me you’re like those single-minded MMO-players who can’t come out of their comfort zone? Try something new, you warrior-only player.”

“Oi, don’t lump me—” Tatsuya wanted to speak back at my slight, but was interrupted by the fourth person in this discussion.

“Em-Em-Oh?” It was Vifi’Yok, and she was looking at me in confusion. “Is that one of those otherworlder words or terms, or what? What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shoot! Right, she shouldn’t know I’m an otherworlder.

“Something I caught from them. Those terms are for little games they had over there,” I explained while keeping things mostly vague, only for me to suddenly look over to her left arm. Her missing left arm.

The description of the armguard mentioned how you can move it with mana. You don’t need an arm—Wait, no, no. Even if we were working together, I can’t fully trust her rig—

[“Master, all this arguing is keeping everybody restless. Why not give it to Miss Demonkin?”] Rajah suggested, causing the boys and me to flinch.

“Hey, hey, hey!” Tatsuya waved his hand at him. “Don’t think about giving Vifi’Yok the damn thing! Her being weaker than she used to be is the only reason I’m feeling safe around her! Don’t suggest something like that, Rajah!”

On one hand, giving it to Vifi’Yok would help us, but Tatsuya wasn’t wrong either.

The mood instantly soured as Tatsuya let out his complaint, to the point we three could only watch Vifi’Yok quietly chew on her roasted meat. She looked unperturbed while we three couldn’t help but be speechless. Poor Rajah was confused, he was practically still a child, so the relationship aspect probably flew over his head.

To diffuse things, Tatsuya and Kyouya volunteered to keep watch so we could get some rest. Once they were gone, Rajah came over to me, looking like he was confused. I stroked him, telling him his suggestion wasn’t wrong but that it was … complicated.

“Hey, I won’t take those comments to heart, okay? Ya don’t need to worry about me, in fact, if he wasn’t distrustful of me, I would think his brain rotted away,” Vifi’Yok remarked, explaining her nonchalant attitude. “But, the cat is probably right. I would be the best user of the armguard since I know how to use elemental weapons properly. Kyouya should get the helmet, and you can do whatever with the golem core. It’s just a matter of trust.”

“… Trust, huh?” I let her murmur repeat in my head.

Could I trust Vifi’Yok? No, as she mentioned, we were only working together to survive all of this. With her on our side, getting down here was easy enough and she could take Neill’s position as the physical powerhouse I could power up with my buffs and songs. That said, there was always this lingering feeling in the back of my brain that all of this was planned by Vifi’Yok and that she was still part of the demonkin army.

I mean, killing me here in this dungeon would be perfect for them. They could place all the blame on the Ankoran King, even if blaming him was unfair since I was responsible for my own life and so on. Mom would destroy Inkoran-Tazul in her icy rage, and she wouldn’t even know the demonkins were at fault. Checkmate; perfect plan.

… Haaaaa. It was exhausting.

As such, I ignored the situation on hand and just played with Rajah. Pulling out an old wooden comb I had made for Saori and me, back when we were still stuck in the Belzac forest, I began brushing his fur. “You like it?”

[“Mhmmmmr.”] He was purring, closing his mind, enjoying this distraction from this wild dungeon dive.

Seeing his pleased face really brought me to a singing mood, but at the same time, looking at us stuck inside this cavern-like floor—dark caves still gave me the creeps sometimes—and the tense moment form before silenced me. I couldn't help but wonder what Tatsuya must be feeling, what Kyouya must be speaking to him about, and what Vifi’Yok might be thinking.

What if she really was a deserter? What was she actually thinking? Behind this cold facade, what did this girl around my age actually think about everything? On the other hand, why was I trying to sympathize with her when she was directly responcible for many deaths during Elyonda’s siege. She was at fault, no matter how you spun it.

Just thinking of this made my chest swell in anger. I had to take a deep breath … Just like Reajaen, she couldn’t be forgiven and it didn’t seem like she was asking for it. She knew what she did, at least, that was what I caught from her tone and eyes … Great, another problematic moral situation.

“… I must choose, down the road that I wish to walk ♫

That others might condemn me ♫

To not fall flat in hypocrisy ♫

It’ll work itself out for now (The future will judge) ♫

I believe this is the way (don’t try to appease everybody) ♫

Maybe I am in the wrong (sins stain like blood) ♫”

Melancholic and slow—that was how I felt the song had to be sung, while accompanied by an electric keyboard or synthesizer. With the quiet beating of drums to give the song its tact, I also emulated my voice with [Aerokinesis], whispering the secondary lyrics once the fourth line began. Even without understanding the lyrics, the music was calming but mostly sad.

<[Music Resonation (Minor)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

“You’re singing?” Vifi’Yok interrupted me. “Not just playing with the wind?”

I kept the music going, but I decided to answer her question, “Emotional bliss isn’t the only source of inspiration, striving and being downtrodden can evoke strong emotions that lead into creative endeavors. Bit philosophical there, sorry, but I just felt like singing. I am a musician, and music is my life.”

“Your life?” her brows were raised, not understanding what I was meaning by that. “I heard marching bands, but they are only there as bards and to boost up morale. I thought this whole spell song thing was just part of your combat arsenal.”

“It is, yes, but I am an entertainer first and foremost—an idol, as I like to call myself. A musician who also sings and performs to bring others happiness,” I flourished my arms while sitting down, trying to gesture a choreography. “I am not a warrior like you. I am an adventurer because it fits with my lifestyle, and this whole blessed business is just … part of a deal between me and Aurena. I might be a dragon, but I prefer doing this.”

With my two index fingers, I pointed the ends of my mouth up, forming a smile.

“Over this.” I then pulled them down, making me sulk.

“… Greeeat. Lost to a minstrel, makes me feel soooo better.” I let out a chortle as I heard that, finding it humorous how she was in a good enough mood to make that sarcastic remark. Then again, it did prove she was unfazed by Tatsuya’s insult. “Well, don’t let me stop you. Do what you like.”

“Just say you like my singing … Lost in all those fears (what is right?!) ♫

But somebody has to— ♫” My eyes burst open, widening itself as I took a deep breath. BREAK FREE! Away from all this pain ♫

What can my life do before it all ends ♫

BURN all the hatred away ♫

Let them all know when I bring this wall down! ♫”

The chorus began and my voice boomed just like Rosserto’s, smacking the silence away in this eerie dungeon. The energy of his soul infused mine, once again allowing me to deviate a bit from my idol-like and anime-like songs to be more alternative rock. Lacing my voice with all the emotions building up in my chest, I bellowed out the lyrics with no care for anybody being around me.

“But my heart, I shiver to do the move ♫

Even though I know I must ♫

How could I forgive myself (stagnate in silence) ♫

But this path is filled with spikes (bear these sins like scars) ♫

Lost in all those fears (what is right?!) ♫

But somebody has to— ♫”

Only to return to the slower singing from before for the second verse and pre-chorus.

“Break free, away from all this pain ♫

What can my life do before it all ends ♫

Burn all the hatred away ♫

Let them all know when I bring this wall down! ♫”

To return to the explosive singing.

“My mind is breaking apart to think right, with those nightmares I see all night ♫

My mind is breaking apart to think right, with those nightmares I see all night ♫

(What’s right?!) My mind is breaking apart to think right, with those nightmares I see all night ♫

(What’s right?!) My mind is breaking apart to think right, with those nightmares I see all night ♫

Break free, away from all this pain ♫

What can my life do before it all ends ♫

Burn all the hatred away ♫

Let them all know when I bring this wall down! ♫”

Followed by a climax-like bridge repeating the same musings over and over again, expressing my current issues with the situation. With another repeat of the chorus, I finished the song off with an “oooh” for the coda—the outro.

“… Hey.” Instead of an applause, Vifi’Yok looked at me with bafflement. “D-don’t tell me you just wrote that whole song right now. Those lyrics really sound like you’re telling me exactly what you’re feeling right now. With the music with your wind manipulation.”

“I did. I do that all the time. Oh, and don’t feel obligated to really take the lyrics seriously. My friends always tell me how I think and worry too much about everything. It’s just a habit of mine since I worry about how others perceive me. Fanservice and such is important for an idol, so I dislike being disliked.”

If Saori or Tasianna heard me sing this song they would be livid; then again, I was expressing myself better compared to the past. Maybe they would praise me?

Seeing her expression unchanged, now I was confused. “Come on, songs are easy to make, generally. People sing about what is happening. It’s an expression and a way to let some steam out. Your people must do the same, right?”

“… Now that you say it, yer right.” Vifi’Yok put her food down, looking up at the ceiling as she began to think. “Aside from the army and random bars where people sing just ‘cuz, the most notable parts would be the sailors and fishermen. The regions my country currently holds ain’t good for farming—very little of them. An abundance of sailors to keep our country fed is needed, and they all sing like crazy. You can hear shanties even deep into the town, and I used to stay quite far away from the port ‘cuz of the smell.”

The demonkin Kingdom of Bole’Taria sounded like a place which required trade to survive. They might have other natural resources, but without anybody wanting to help them, they practically have to loot and raid to survive. They must have some farmland, but it probably wasn’t enough to feed everybody. At least, that was the impression I got from this tidbit.

“Oh, right, sometimes we have some thieves singing and being happy about their loot, but most of the time, you don’t hear much singing, really.”

“Lack of hope and energy.” I could envision it with what I saw in Shaturein, the undercity of the bright capital of Artorias, Griffonpeak.

Vifi’Yok snapped her fingers, nodding in agreement. “Correct. If the country itself is poor, those at the very bottom feel it the worst. Even worse if you’re one of the ‘wrong’ sin types. Us wrath demonkins have to be isolated from others since we’re like walking bombs ready to explode if we get too excited. Being put in a situation where we cannot feel happy, angry, or afraid makes us safer for everybody else to be around. Well, with the war happening, those streets are more filled with war orphans than not … so, we all kinda just lived together.”

“… That’s really detailed. Hold on, you mentioned being a street urchin, but I thought you were just poor. You’re an orphan?” The double meaning of urchin confused me when she first mentioned it when we made this party.

“The other orphans took care of me until I was able to walk and work after my mother died trying to feed me. Think we could have been happy? Pah, it doesn’t matter, I don’t remember her.” Vifi’Yok shrugged, but watching her do that only hurt my own heart. As a family person, that just sounded terrible. “Urchins die everyday, but we had to keep the neighborhood ‘supplied’ with able thieves, you know. It’s like a fucked up family. Glad I got out of there when I got old enough to join the army.”

“What did you do?” Maybe the bread and donuts were finally working, but her lips really seemed loose.

“Kill, steal, rob, like I said before. Morals are kinda useless when you need to do anything just to live. Did some singing … to earn some pity money, but not like it helped. I was also a loner. Just ‘cuz the neighborhood was a ‘family’ didn’t mean we cared for each other equally.”

Vifi’Yok explained how the different demonkin types—the seven sin types—were treated differently by everybody. Wrath, envy, and greed had extreme biases against them, since all of them could hurt others without any warning. Wrath was feared for those time when they lost control of their emotions, turning them into berserkers, while envy was hated for hating others for what they didn’t have, and greed for backstabbing people for even the most trivial stuff.

In the neighborhood she grew up in, she was segregated into a place for wrath orphans only. Town law, but it also didn’t help her feeling of kinship since they were all forced together there. They weren’t a family, just a band of misfits.

“For a wrath like me, the army was the best place to be. The government wants you there anyway, since you can be better controlled and leashed. Second best time of my life; warm food, warm beds, and I didn’t have to steal from merchants coming into town just to buy fish. Fucking fish.” She made a weird groan, pressing her hand on her chest with an ill face. “Makes me want to puke. Dried fish was the ration for lower-tier soldiers; really motivated me to get strong, aside from just staying alive.”

I guess her trauma is similar to my frog phobia. Then again, she seems diligent enough to eat it if she didn’t have anything else.

“… Ya know, speaking of motivation. Mind singing me something, minstrel?”

“Idol. Call me an ‘idol.’”

“Idol. Got a song favor. Sing me that song ya used to stifle my demonic powers during our fight.”

[My Darkest Thoughts]?

She raised a finger and mumbled [Emotion Surge], causing her face to tense up as her demonic features appeared before me for the first time since our fight in Elyonda. Her eyes sharpened into the slitted eyes of a cat, her fangs grew in size to resemble a vampire, and her claws elongated to the point they could leave deep scars. However, they were trivial compared to the lightning horns brimming with mana on her hand and the waving thunder tail coming from her butt.

Her human-like appearance vanished as she glared at me with a quiet intensity, almost like a commander awaiting a soldier’s report. It was her expectations, like a police officer waiting for a criminal to slip to warrant an arrest. Her nonchalant attitude was entirely gone; she looked like me when I was ready to pounce at a bandit or black merc.

The pressure …

I took a deep breath. She wanted me to show my spell song’s true function to her. As such, I stopped thinking of her as an ally but as an enemy.

“Staring out the window while it rains ♫

No one here to talk, silence is all I have ♫

So I delved into my thoughts and wondered, “What if?”♫

The laughing kid stomping loudly upstairs ♫

The damn lovebirds flirting on the streets ♫

Those rich asses living in their golden bubbles♫

I just wish they would all just disappear ♫

Those are my honest thoughts, something I wish to hide from them ♫

My life is stagnating, nothing I do brings me forth ♫

All I can do is sing, drowning my sorrows while it rains ♫

Every step I take just brings me back, to a rundown apartment room ♫

Turn away, close my eyes, lock these wishes far away ♫

Not again, not again…or I’ll cry until the end ♫

All of my darkest thoughts ♫

Will serve me as my muse ♫

So, I’ll sing, I’ll sing, I’ll sing, I’ll sing! ♫

As I fade from your thoughts ♫”

As expected, her demonic features quickly faded away the moment the song started. Her horns and tail vanished, while her other demonic features slightly dulled. They were still there, but [My Darkest Thought]’s primary function was to weaken demonkins and demons, not make them useless.

“… Just as I thought, you might actually be the solution for us wrathies. Your voice, at least,” Vifi’Yok once again stated, one of the few things I remembered she told me during the siege battle.

[“Master’s voice is really good, right? She can entertain people, and when somebody gets angry at her, she has the ability to just stop them! She knows how to make others see her as the Alpha!”] Rajah said something incredulous! He was describing me as a thug!

“Rajah, that isn’t—”

“Good point, cat,” to my surprise, Vifi’Yok agreed with him before addressing me. “If you were a demonkin and we put you in Bole’Taria with everything you have aside from your imperial dragon status, you would definitely be somebody influential. Pride demonkins would love you, wrath would follow you just ‘cuz you can stop them from going berserk—allowing us to live ‘normal lives.’ Uhm, lust might befriend you easily since you seem a bit hedonistic.”

What?!

“Gluttony and sloth would be neutral, but that is the case for nearly everybody. The envy and greed factions would despise you, though, haha.” Shocked by this statement, I encouraged her to elaborate. “You shine too much.”

I tilted my head.

“Envy demonkin are born quite, uhm, let’s just say ugly, alright? They look too much like grimgarians, honestly. Monster-like. All of them want to become the Prince of Envy so they can transform their appearances, so somebody like you who is confident with their appearance, able to act well, and is just overall successful in general, makes an easy target for those snakes.” Vifi’Yok then frowned, moving her lips around in frustration. “… It would be great if you could help Bole’Taria out. I guess I still wish for that, but it just seems weird.”

Shoot, she finally realized it!

“It doesn’t have to be. I’m still ignorant with all of this, so I really appreciate you telling me this. It gives me an idea how to form my opinions on you demonkins … instead of all the villainization I’ve been hearing.”

She shrugged, though. “Hey, I’m just a soldier. Even though I don’t know if any of what I said is correct; I deserted to find a better life for myself, after all. How can you trust somebody who is willing to jump off a boat the moment they see gold? … Besides, if the current Lord Greed is around, you probably won’t be able to do anything anyways.”

“‘Lord Greed?’” I nudged my body forward. This could be a chance to gain some information from an enemy!

“… Let’s stop this here.” Vifi’Yok let out a deep sigh. Scratching her forehead, her face contorted, looking like she was about to cry. “… I-I … I really can’t. It feels like all I’m doing is betraying my people even further.”

She stood up, shaking her head.

“But, I guess you’re right. Something has to be done to change things … From the viewpoint of a Warbringer, the only way for you to achieve what you want, as in, peace between the demonkins, will bring you down a rough road as your song suggested. You need to kill certain people to make room. Your targets would be Lord Envy, Lord Greed, Lord … Wrath, the Holy Emperor of Folschreck, the current leader of the Lycrepth, the full rebuild of the church of Aurena, and … the leader of the Yanderu Elueseuss.”

Wait, she’s telling me to kill two people from the human’s side? Two people I’m supposed to be allies with?

This … really was a grey road. Changing things as an outsider to all this conflict, but still, this was crazy. Also, the leader of the Yanderu Elueseuss? I knew they were gonna be annoying in the future and I had a grudge match against all of them, but I had to kill their leader, too? Why exactly?

Hold on …

“Why not the demonkin king?” I suggested, remembering how the students mentioned having to kill them for the church.

However, the truth was a bit different than I expected.

“Our ‘king’ is just a vessel so we can channel the powers of the Edjurl gods into Peolynca. To allow them to watch us and guide us during the rituals, like when we summoned those otherworlders to this world.” And she said all of that with a straight face. “They have always been a puppet, made from a volunteer demonkin. The church people we controlled didn’t want those kids to ‘kill our king,” they want to fatten them up, build them up as ‘heroes’ only to either slay them or turn them against humankind to totally demoralize everybody. This is our gambit to bring down Folschreck for within.”

… Then, does that mean killing me is some kinda ploy to build up their heroism or what?

“Hey.”

I snapped my head around as I heard Tatsuya’s voice, noticing both boys walking up to us.

“Why exactly are you telling us this? Just a moment ago, you were hesitant to tell Hestia everything and now … you’re giving us your tips? To go kill all these people? No diplomacy?” And he did not look pleased.

“As I said, this is only the view from a Warbringer. I don’t do diplomacy, I leave that to our leaders. I bring war.”

“Cut that bullshit!” Tatsuya ran up to Vifi’Yok, forcing me to put myself in between them. As I held him back, he snapped his head to me. “Hestia-san, I know you want to trust this girl. I understand that, I really do, and I want to solve things peacefully just as you, but don’t trust every word coming from her. If you ask me, by telling us so much, it really seems like she wants us to confront Aiko and the others right now, right here. To make us turn away from the dungeon core.”

… Wait, he’s right.

By hearing this, the best choice was to explain things to the students. If I could prove I was from Earth just like them and explain everything, then things should work out for them. Especially if I could usurp away their demonkin-given unique Skills from them. It wasn’t to potentially walk into whatever was going on in this dungeon, but to find the students and then get out of here.

There was 100% a situation at the dungeon core considering everything. Tatsuya just reminded me of my suspicion that something was going on. Every time we mentioned the dungeon core, Vifi’Yok tried to avoid things. Did she know something?

“It would also bring us on a collision course with the dragonslayers,” Kyouya added. “Vifi’Yok doesn’t need to fight them. She only needs them to preoccupy us and then she would be able to slip through, and she is fast enough to do so since she still has her voltaic lightning.”

“…” Against all these accusations, the demonkin stayed silent. I turned my head to her, looking her in the eyes to see if this was true.

[“Master. I smell people.”] Rajah informed us. Did we wait too long?

“Come, let’s go down then.” Vifi’Yok walked away, leaving her meal behind. “I’ll take the gauntlets of strength. No complaints?”

“… None,” Tatsuya answered before taking up the armguards, while Kyouya equipped the helmet. Tatsuya then threw the mana core to me, telling me to hold onto it for later. “What element do you suggest I buy?”

“Wind and earth; utility and defenses for you help your [All-In]. I’ll give you a crash course while we run.” Before we ran off, I grabbed his shoulder, turning his attention back to me. “Thanks. I nearly went ahead and trusted her.”

“Hey, I’m not telling you she’s wrong. It seems like she was speaking from the heart until that very last moment … I think. I think that song of yours hit a nerve for her, and maybe that’s why she began speaking,” Tatsuya tried to reassure me. “Oh, right, did you recognize Daisy?”

I tilted my head for a moment, only to remember how Tatsuya addressed the student called Franz by Daisy. Was he there when I first met the students? No, I didn’t think so, at least. So I shook my head.

“… I see. Uhm, Hestia-san, I have this—You know what, that would have been awkward to ask. Just forget it for now, I’ll bring it up again when we’re back on the surface.”

Seeing him walk away like that without finishing what he wanted to ask just made me more curious. Why did it seem like I had no idea what was going on in my companions’ head? At least Saori, Tasianna, Ellaine, and Grimnir were always truthful to me! These three made it so difficult.

[“Master?”]

“At least, I have you, Rajah!” I hugged my virigress before patting his back. “When we find a safe spot, I’ll have you evolve, alright? But, not now.”

[“Yes, of course, Master!”]

After the floor guardian fight, Rajah had finally reached level 30 as a rank C, allowing him to evolve. Sadly, since it took an entire day to finish, we couldn’t afford to do it now.

With that delayed, we continued down the dungeon, facing literally no challenge at all as the paths were clean and hostileless. No traps, no enemies, no treasures. It was barren and dull, but it did accelerate our trip down to the dungeon core. With the map navigating this labyrinth was easy enough.

Meaning, eventually, we made it to the last floor of the [Menagerie of Golems] after taking two sleep breaks. There we entered a humongous battlefield large enough to fit three baseball stadiums. It could be comparable to Mom’s cave nest in my subspace, meaning whoever the dungeon core boss was, they would be humongous.

“We can’t scout this like before. Hestia?” Kyouya prompted me to set down a [Warp Point: Exit] outside the room, just in case this empty place had a nasty surprise.

And, our expectations were correct.

“Woah! I’m humanizing now!” An earthquake happened, prompting me to transform back into a dragon. I cast [Panzer] on myself, protecting my armor with another set of armor.

<[Music Resonation (Moderate)] [Various Spell Buffs] [Blessing of the Goddess of Light (Major)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]>

As I buffed everybody up for this confrontation, I reminded myself I couldn’t access my Job skills as a dragon. If I wanted to focus on support, I had to be a dragonewt, while my dragon was for offensive prowess. Even if I couldn’t trust Vifi’Yok, I had to rely on her … Although, could I even do that?

“Incoming!” Vifi’Yok shouted as the ground splintered and shattered, revealing two snake-like beings made from rocks.

They reared their heads, shaking the rubble and dust off their body. Upon a closer look, just like the rest of the enemies in this place, it was clearly a golem. Two lizard-like heads, almost draconic, watched us with four blue glowing eyes as the rest of their bodies made it seem like a skeleton.

However, its entire body was definitely made from rock with a metal underlayer consisting of its trunk. Along these two serpentine bodies, multiple blue glowing orbs decorating them as the moveable rock pieces rustled, ready to transform. As the two snake golems opened their mouths, I noticed they had metal tongues moving around with incredible flexibility.

Mana E—

<Individual [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor] has been offered a Divine Champion Quest. Please, confirm the Quest details before you accept>

What?!

<Divine Quest: Uncover the truth behind this “golem” and solve the problem on hand with them

Quest Giver: Origin Goddess of Earth, Craftsmanship, Minerals, and Creation, Crustacia

Description: Yo, Crustacia here on the permission of Aurena, little Hestia! Kinda a bad moment for me to “meet” you, but I honestly didn’t expect to meet them in this dungeon. The earth told me they would return, but this?

Well, me vision through me dwarves told me enough to get the gist of the plan, but I can’t tell you! Yeostar’s intervention made Goddess Plesia veeeery mad and she just put out a punishment I ain’t wishing to experience. You gotta do it yourself and it’s not gonna be easy, but I promise ya a big reward. And, trust me, I know how to please an otherworlder quite well! So, accept it, little Hestia!

Reward: A unique skill on anybody you wish, +1 level, reason for why the gods aren’t speaking, an additional reward depending on how you solve this whole situation>

Mana Eyes!

<Information Blocked>

Oh, come on!