Chapter 406: Memories of a Bygone Past. [Release Version (Big Changes)] (Patreon)

Published:

2023-03-31 07:16:56

Imported:

2023-08

Content

Edit: Content-wise, there isn't too much changed when it comes to the words. I did make some edits considering 404 and 405, but the biggest change would be the ending which will lead into 407.

I will give my reason for the changes once 407 and 408 are changed. As such, the next Patreon chapter will be delayed due to my edits. I apologize already here, but I ask everybody to be patient. I want to make sure to ace this arc for everybody's entertainment and satisfaction.

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“So … essentially, we were forcefully entered into the Event Quest despite wanting nothing to do with it? But … how? That isn’t possible; a dungeon should be in a separate pocket of space, similar to a [Room]. That’s why they can get as big as they want without ruining anything around their entrance. Even if it were possible, the dungeon walls are indestructible, unless the dungeon master says otherwise.” I couldn’t help but deny what the boys told me about everything that happened while I was out.

To summarize, due to the confusing changes in the dungeon caused by the Maagneil’s rebellion orb—a catalyst made to create trouble within a dungeon—I fell unconscious from the insane amount of vertigo. Since everything was morphing around with no stop, my brain couldn’t figure out what was up or down, right or left. Not to mention how often my brain was probably jumping against my skull as all this was happening. Trying to remember it made me feel wobbly while sitting down.

In any case, while that was happening, my song and control over [Hydra] had stopped, since my parallel minds shut down whenever I fall unconscious. At the same time, the rock where I placed the [Room] broke, suddenly releasing the boys and Vifi’Yok. While confused at what was happening, they weren’t caught too unaware as the former three were prepared to support me if I needed help, even if I pushed them on the bench for their safety.

Without [Hydra] keeping the dragonslayer back, Vifi’Yok had to take over despite being slightly exhausted from using her big spells and a Territory. Kyouya even debuted his new ability and skill related to his [Shadowed Martyr].

To be honest, I was flabbergasted how the dragonslayer’s armor and weapons weren’t corroded by my corrosive slime, but if he made equipment out of my severed limbs, then that was the answer. My scales were highly resistant against fire, holy, and toxins, and one of them managed to smith the materials from my cut arm into something useful. The sludge tsunami would hurt him if it got into his body, but otherwise, he might have just gotten soooo much harder to deal with.

Jeez, I need Tasianna, Saori, or maybe Sis to deal with that annoying guy.

He managed to cut off one of my arms, after all. He was, as Pradreo, Skardrvo, Mom, Yorshka, and Neill noted, very scary. My scales should also be resistance against lightning and solar energy attacks, so that just made Vifi’Yok weaker against him, too. Rajah and the boys all got some sorta power-up, but the level difference from a rank B to a rank S was too massive. They couldn’t fight him.

That was why I needed people who could counter me to fight him. Sadly, none of them were here! Well, Tasianna and Neill were in the Event dungeon, but I had a feeling they weren’t even close by.

… I could technically buy [Water Magic]. Only, the issue was it wasn’t feasible from an economical standpoint. Due to terrible affinity, buying [Water Magic] would set me back by 2100, not to mention how I had to level it up to even use the good spells. Which was another issue since the level up cost was unusually expensive. I didn’t know the exact amount, but if I were to use [Water Resistance] as my reference, leveling it up to level 2 would have cost me 300 SP, instead of the usual 50 for a Tier 1 skill.

Regardless, everybody managed to protect me when I was unconscious. The boys executed their plan while Vifi’Yok dueled the dragonslayer, allowing all of us to get out of there. Kyouya, especially, was proud of the Job skill he bought.

“Realistically, I could only really give you a gauntlet or chest armor here or there before, since using the skill cost me so much health to activate. 25% per small armament, 50% for a full armor, and 75% for the real deal, something on par with Sensei’s [Shadow Armament]. Now, for 20%, I can give you a full knight armor at about 10% ‘shielding power,’ but by doing damage, you can repair it up to 100% of my health. Meaning, just like your [Shield of [The Light]], you can stack extra health upon your titanic amount already, Hestia-san,” Kyouya explained his ability. He was literally shadowing me by giving me armor like a buffer.

“So, he wrapped you in it before Vifi’Yok literally kicked you into the ground, crushing everything around. The dragonslayer survived, but with all the craziness going on, the impact broke through the ground, and all of us fell down. No idea about the golem boss or Maagneil, but you see where we eventually ended up,” Tatsuya ended his retelling.

“… So, to count, with Kyouya around, I can have your Panzer over my scale Panzer, over my armor Panzer, over my [Panzer] Panzer, over [Draconic Barrier] Panzer, and then over my scale Panzer. That’s six layers of defenses now. You’re turning me into a juggernaut.” Scratching my chin a bit at the protective measures available to me, I also looked around the grassy landscape, noticing the local forest area surrounding us like a circle and that they all had signs of destruction—broken trees, destroyed patches of earth, and magic.

[“Master was already one!”] Rajah expressed, reminding me I was already extremely tanky. Now, I could even help Kyouya survive better. [“Master, don’t worry, once Rajah learns how to cast illusion, Rajah will make sure others can’t see you!”]

My virigre—virgacuga smacked his tail on the ground like an excited cat, cracking open the ground as he was unable to control his new strength. Randomly, he would also turn invisible. Maybe I should have him buy [Humanize] or something similar so he could get access to Jobs to level his stats, since, just like Saori and me, he was a “young” monster at rank B, meaning he had reduced level growth now. Surprisingly, he had to reach five-years-old to evolve into a rank A, just like me.

<Due to becoming rank B, individual [Young Silverlight Shadow Virgarcuga, Rajah] will receive reduced experience gain until maturation requirement is achieved. Evolution is blocked until maturation requirement is fulfilled. Maturation requirement: Age: 5 Years, [Lucent Illusion Lv. 10], [Virgacuga Bladehair Lv. 10], [Virgacuga Toxin Lv. 10], [All-Damage Enhancement Lv. 10]>

Those were the requirements. He had a ton of skill points he had to spend, which I had to help him with, and I would after this entire discussion was over. After all, our current situation was pretty problematic.

A dungeon master was the ruler over his dungeon. They controlled the flow of everything, but they weren’t omnipotent within one. There were rules. He couldn’t exactly kick somebody out of the dungeon unless somebody agreed to it. However, he could control the amount of monsters, the traps, and what trials dungeon divers had to bypass.

One of the things the dungeon master could control was the indestructibility of a dungeon’s walls. Once again, I had to repeat this fact to myself and everybody. With everything going on in the last dungeon, to the point I probably guessed the golem boss’s true identity—that of the earth elemental emperor—it only made me more paranoid. Crustacia’s Divine Quest wasn’t done, meaning she knew there was an even larger conspiracy going on.

In fact, I for sure knew since Maagneil had that rebellion orb. Also, as the boys mentioned, the earth elemental emperor probably didn’t die from everything we did. What were those two planning to do with that orb?

That was the message from the dungeon master. The boys had to tell me since I slept through it.

“I’m sorry …” The reason why the boys were drenched in blood became clear. Since I was sleeping, Rajah, Tatsuya, Kyouya, Vifi’Yok, and … my cousin, Franz, protected me.

“There is nothing to thank me for, Hika—Sorry, I’m still not used to this. Hestia. Hestia. Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor … It wouldn’t be appropriate to call you by your Earthen name.” Franz, the silver-haired half Japanese, half German young man stared at the ground, still finding it awkward to speak with me.

Frankly, I couldn’t help but feel the same. I couldn’t muster the confidence to speak to him, feeling even meeker than when I was just the size of a gecko. Whenever I tried to say anything after I realized that he was, in fact, my cousin from my past life transported to this world along with the rest of Saori’s students, my throat just became dry. My mouth was knit closed, and my mind went blank.

I wanted to thank him, since because of him, I managed to relearn the names of my human parents—Leon and Ako Schartner. My name was Hikari Schartner, the only child of two American immigrants. Even if I wanted to find a reason to deny it, to be untrusting, I couldn’t. He was able to explain all the gruesome details about my past life’s death. He knew it was suicide, even when that information should have been confidential.

In fact, I hadn’t even told Saori about it when we had our reunion.That should’ve been a happy moment for us to catch up, not to make Saori feel bad for me. However, I did decide to tell her everything the next time we met. Everybody else in Aurora, even the students, knew. My best friend deserved to know my past.

However, my past also made it kind of awkward between Franz and me, right now. The thing was, I still had no bloody idea who he actually was. My memories of him were foggy, as even the memory my past self just showed me had his face covered up with shadows. I couldn’t remember anything about him. I didn’t know what sort of person he was, or what he had experienced in life.

On the other hand, he knew everything about “Hikari Schartner,” but nothing about “Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor.” I identified as Hestia, not Hikari, as that name belonged to my other half. At the same time, I recognized that I was Hikari … just that I wanted to associate myself with my new life. “Leave the past behind, embrace the future, but don’t forget about it,” something like that.

We were cousins, but at the same time, we were little more than strangers right now.

“… Even now?” Tatsuya suddenly expressed his annoyance after he finished his explanation. He sighed, before pouring some fulinoe tea for me. “Here I thought you two were going to have a moment, especially with how much Daisy cried like a little bitch.”

“Dude!” Kyouya smacked him on the back, causing the latter to just groan. However, neither Franz nor I said anything. “… This is just suffocating.”

Vifi’Yok, finally seeing a moment to speak, nodded in agreement. “True. Not like I can properly relate, but here I thought family members would be happy to see each other. Somebody in the family died—gone forever; they were here one moment, but gone in the next … Goddess Death takes everybody one day, but not many are able to reincarnate as the same person. You too can meet, despite having death separate you once already.”

She was right, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but scowl at her. I felt annoyed, irritated. This unjustified rage inside me wanted to lash out at her.

“… Then, how about this, we return to what we discussed? Why are you still here? Why the hell are you still not saying anything? Is my trust valued that little, that you can’t just speak to us?”

My trust in Vifi’Yok had faded. Well, a small part of me still wanted to trust her just for the sake of finding a way to make peace with the demonkins, but another side wondered if I couldn’t find somebody else. There had to be one or two other dissatisfied demonkins like Vifi’Yok, right?

“Oh right, that part is mostly cleared, Hestia,” Franz suddenly spoke. “‘Valeria,’ or Vifi’Yok as she’s properly called, told us she isn’t working for anybody. She’s correct.”

I turned my gaze to him, confused how he could be so calm. In fact, shouldn’t he have only now learned she was a demonkin who was posing as a human? Weren’t the students told the demonkins were enemies? Why was he suddenly trusting her?

When I brought that up to him, Franz shook his head. “I wasn’t there when everything happened—I don’t know how I was separated from my group aside from the ground collapsing under my feet before finding myself in this area—but I questioned her with Nagata and Ishigami.”

He’s calling them by their last names, again … Tatsuya had some friction with him, right? Something about Franz’s father suing his mom?

Ignoring it, Tatsuya supported Franz’s claim. “And we didn’t go easy on her. You know I’ve never trusted her for a moment. I wasn’t letting this moment go to blast her, especially with our current situation. The demonkin can’t try to kill us before she knows what the dungeon master is asking of us.”

True. With me unconscious, she could have killed any of the boys, even Rajah, with no issue and just gone away. However, unless she knew what to expect to get out of this Event Quest, she was once again checkmated.

“See, Light-san has his unique skill like all of us when we first came to this world,” Kyouya prompted before he explained what “Light’s”—Franz—unique skill was.

“It evolved once the church announced me as a ‘Champion Candidate’ … but, well, that was all really a lie from the demonkins.”

I looked over at Tatsuya and Kyouya, prompting them to explain they had caught up with each other—mostly facilitated by Kyouya, since Tatsuya and Franz despised each other. Franz had known the demonkins were behind the summoning of the students since he got to the Empire. Aside from his party—his closest friends—none of the other students knew about this, as Franz knew he couldn’t convince them, especially the boy called Takuma—somebody he also has a bad relationship with.

Franz, why do you have so many bad relationships? I was really, really confused about my cousin’s personal life, but at the same time, I didn’t want to intrude into it. I kinda wished I could just switch places with my other half, but that was literally impossible since I was the primary personality at this point.

In any case, Franz didn’t specify from whom he learned all of this, merely mentioning the person wanted to stay low. I looked over at Vifi’Yok, but couldn’t get any information from her expression. I had the feeling she would know, or at the very least, give me candidates.

Franz then explained he wanted to meet me for a while now, having recently learned that I introduced Berliners, donuts, and so on to this world, a fact he didn’t brush aside as some coincidence. He wanted to learn if I could become an ally, as he had been looking for ways to get the students on his side to safety, away from the demonkins.

Which, then prompted me to use [Telepathy] to tell him I had the ability to usurp demonic influences. My other half probably recognized him instantly as my cousin, so I trusted him, but I couldn’t let Vifi’Yok know. She probably hadn’t realized it, and it was an ace I wanted to keep to myself for now.

[“Not now,”] he suddenly responded, explaining he had [Telepathy] for a while now, as it was rather useful.

Ignoring the topic for now, Tatsuya told me he gave Franz a quick rundown of our trips and experience, without telling Vifi’Yok too much. As such, he knew enough that the “Hikari” he knew had completely changed. It was also why he felt so standoffish, and a little bit crazy, when we spoke. He was probably afraid his cousin actually died, but that girl was still inside me.

“I’m sorry …” Once again, I couldn’t help myself but to apologize, this time to Franz himself. I knew I was a big reason for his current issues, especially as I was still in my dragon form to make sure we didn’t begin the quest.

“Don’t be.” Franz smiled. “I’m just happy you’re alive and well, being that idol you always wanted to be. I am sure your parents will be happy to see you again once we make it through all of this … We miss … We’re happy you made your dream come true.”

‘We miss,’ huh? Hmm …

“Now, as for Valeria, we can trust her when she says she isn’t working for the demonkins. That’s the one thing I was able to confirm as a fact. Most of the other questions we posed, she dodged,” Franz continued, prompting Vifi’Yok to speak.

“That’s what I’m saying … I know, you shouldn’t trust me, but I am not trying to throw you under an equerochs, here. I just can’t afford to be found out. I will die if they find me; don’t forget, I am a deserter. All this time, I was trying to get away, okay, because I had a feeling something was going on.”

“Which brings me back to my same point! Why didn’t you try to tell us anything?! That’s the real issue I am having with you! You keep talking about not wanting to help me with your people, but at the same time, it makes me nervous trying to trust you. You don’t trust us, and you don’t even try to! But I tried, but it’s too clear now.” I grit my teeth, unable to get this stinking feeling away. “You belong to the military. Can you trust anybody who is keeping things from you? Important intel to the success of a mission?”

“That’s why I don’t expect your trust. I expect us to work together, that’s all.” She stood up, stretching her arms. “Mercs and soldiers can work with eachother, even if they won’t entrust their backs to each other. Sleep with a knife under your pillow, kinda deal. I already told you, I just … just want to leave all my past behind.”

She looked conflicted, almost frowning in a crestfallen manner. Biting her lips, she turned around. “I can sense more monsters are coming. Just … catch up, or whatever. Let’s just do this thing already. All this talking is just obnoxious.”

Without my spear, she left. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of roars but they were instantly silenced by the flicking of red lightning sizzling all around us.

While Rajah was tending to his paws, licking them clean, I turned my attention back to the boys. With everything said, they stayed silent. Tatsuya, especially, was glaring at Franz, while the latter kept his eyes onto the ground, pondering. I couldn’t exactly remember what went on between each other, but I was also afraid to ask. It was weird, I was afraid to ask about my past, despite always wanting to learn more about it ever since I understood my memories were broken.

The first to speak was Tatsuya, “… Hestia-san, you know how I’ve been asking you about your hair and how we probably met before?”

I nodded.

“If you’re Daisy’s cousin, then it confirms it. We did meet when we were all in grade school. First in an arcade, then the next day in a park” My eyes widened as he told me this, but I kept quiet so he could continue. “Summer, after Kyouya moved away. He couldn’t come, and I had some tickets for a movie. I gave it to you two after we played a bit.”

I turned to Franz, who kept his eyes closed. “A year before my entrance exam for middle school. We met. I was nervous, you cheered me up.”

That was the exact memory my other self showed me.

“We were playing around in the park before our mothers picked us up. On the next day, to show you around, I showed you a local arcade because you always loved playing games. We met Nagata there, and thought he was harassing you since your Japanese was pretty broken. Happens.”

“You mean you overprotective ass shoved me back, acting like a punk when I just tried to speak with her!” Tatsuya shouted, slapping his leg. “… We played some games after you diffused everything, where I gave you some tickets to the new pocket monster movie. We then met on the next day at a nearby park. I think you bought your handheld with you to play with Light, only for us three to spend some time there. Well, I didn’t get to meet you after that, so I forgot about you over time.”

I shook my head, telling him he shouldn’t worry. I had zero recollection of this time, so it wasn’t like I could blame him. Forgetting the name of a girl you played with as kids was just normal, I probably did, too … Which just confused me even further how Tatsuya and Franz were so antagonistic. When I asked them, both just turned silent, prompting Kyouya to sigh.

“Haaa, well, I wasn’t there so I don’t really know if this is 100% accurate. It’s just Tatsuya’s recollection, after all.”

“Huh? Now that I think about it, Tatsuya-kun didn’t mention you at all. I thought you guys were childhood friends and always hung around?”

Kyouya looked at me for a bit, before realizing something and snapping his fingers. “Sorry! We didn’t exactly tell you how Sensei held a counseling moment when we trained with her, right? Yeah, well, to summarize, I moved away when we were in grade school and in the summer when I was supposed to meet with him, I ditched him for, well, the ‘friends’ I had at my new school.”

“Yeah … felt really bad back then, but we made up when Sensei made things clear for us. We both got lonely without each other and tried to make do with things, but while Kyouya bettered himself by going to the gym, losing a ton of weight to the point his pudgy belly became a six pack, I kind of just … isolated myself into otaku stuff. Games, manga, and just … this feeling of boredom.”

Kyouya used to be overweight? No effing way!

While I was baffled at this, Kyouya continued the story, “I should have been there, losing contact was my fault, when you tried to speak with me. Well, I’m here for you now, Tatsuya.”

“Kyouya!” Both booths slapped their hands into a handshake, letting out a loud clapping sound. “I meant it when I said I admired your change, okay? It’s better than me going around trying to protect you from bullies. It’s better. As you said, you’re here now and I couldn’t have asked for anyone better than you when we came to this world. Without you, I would have continued staying in my room.”

“Ha! You’re right, you would have just gotten coffee migraines for the entire year if Aiko hadn’t given you some fulinoe tea!” Both boys smiled brightly, the proof of their friendships clear. Kyouya tensed his arm and gave his best friend a hug. “We’ll continue to get stronger, alright? To survive and make sure we aren’t deadweight. To make sure we kill Daisy!”

Huh? What did they say?

“Yeah!” Tatsuya roared, even howling like a wolf. “All to kill Daisy!”

… WHAT!

“I’ll take that as a statement of threat …” Franz suddenly stood up, pulling out his sword, prompting me to pull on Tatsuya’s and Kyouya’s cheeks, breaking up their embrace to have them explain what the hell was going on.

Apparently, they were talking about “Imaginary Daisy,” an imaginary version of Franz Tatsuya was showing his anger at. Franz looked at them for a moment, before clicking his tongue, saying “no lies.” These two boys can really cause some chaos!

In any case, with this sudden drama, Franz suddenly had the urge to speak, explaining how their grudge was created when his father sued Tatsuya’s mother in an attempt to create drama concerning his father. Apparently, Franz’s dad was hired by somebody to take Tatsuya’s position as a competitor down, which he successfully managed.

“Nagata-san lost his position as CEO, but managed to start anew at another company. After the drama died down and rumors came out that my father targeted him, things turned around for the better,” Franz explained, but Tatsuya could only glare at him.

“No thanks to you …” he snorted. “You could have done something. You could have spoken to your father. You know it was false! The floor being wet? No sign? Bull-shit! Your father tripped and broke his hip by himself!”

Franz didn’t dispute it, instead, only sighed. He closed his eyes, before brushing his silver hair off his eyes, revealing his dirty forehead.

“… Do you really think I could have acomplished anything?” His eyes narrowed, glaring at Tatsuya with this exhausted but irritated look, almost as if he was ready to blow up. “The only person my father listens to are the people paying him. Do you really think a snot-nosed little brat like me can stand up to Japan’s most notorious prosecutor?”

He didn’t contort his face. His glare was enough to kill.

“My father, who married a foreigner so he could get a ‘hafu’ for clout? He did not love my mother, nor her family, he only thought of me as his next step to immortalize his legacy. Akabane? The devil’s name. If I could change my last name, I would have, but that would have cut me off completely from everything. That man, the moment he noticed my weakness, would have cut me off completely. Ruined me. Made sure I could not do anything to him. Nagata, you blamed me for ignoring your request? Wrong. I didn’t ignore you, I just couldn't do anything. He would have taken me down.”

He then turned to me, his eyes having calmed down. “… He never told me you died.”

What?

“My parents divorced once my mother’s ‘use’ was over. When she told my father you died, he held it back so I could focus on my college exam. He never planned to tell me. I missed your funeral … You were-You were the only reason why I kept fighting. I wanted to be one of the best lawyers, so whenever you signed up with an agency, I could make sure you got the best deal ever. H-Hi-Hikari …” Tears welled up in his eyes again, while I was frozen in place. “I-I … I-I should have been there for you. You-You wouldn’t have ended that way if I had just been better … But it’s all my father’s fault. He pushed me! He kept me away from you!”

He suddenly took two deep breaths, almost as if he was hyperventilating. He clutched his neck, looking at the ground with two blank, wide eyes. “… So that’s what he meant when ‘God’ had it all planned. I see … this is my second chance. Hestia.”

“Uuh, y-yes—Woah!” He suddenly lunged forward, grabbing my shoulders. His eyes were piercing, as if they were looking at my soul.

“Do you still plan on becoming an idol? Do you still want to become the star that brings everybody joy?”

Why is he asking this? Franz? Franz?

That look in his eyes. I knew it, something was wrong with him. What was the correct answer here? It felt like whatever I said next would probably influence him quite—No, by a lot. Call it draconic intuition. That ghastly skin-crawling sensation returned.

I might as well do it now.

I touched his right hand, caressing the thick gauntlet before grabbing his wrist.

Usurp! … Huh?

… ! No way!

It was at this point my senses shot up to 200%. There was something seriously wrong with Franz, not just mentally, but something else. Never has my usurpation rights ever failed before, not even when it came to me usurping Master Kush’s blessing. I even got that long-winded System message where Plesia kept blocking the attempt until she just gave me a lousy, weak buff to make the attempt stop.

Franz mentioned some god before, so who were they? Some Edjurl god? How did Franz know the demonkins were controlling the Empire of Folschreck? From whom? … Who was using my cousin against me?

Hestia—No, this answer has to come from Hikari.

I activated [Thought Acceleration] and had my parallel minds think with me. With [Multi-Thought Processing] we went and reviewed a few memories of our past, including our meeting with my other half. We analyzed my speaking habits, my bratty personality, and how I died. Anything to gain that one answer to turn this around.

… Wait, the rest of the memory of our meeting with Franz. Look! Look!

Memories of the skipped part of the memory went rushing out, revealing the truth of that event to me. The sealed memories were mine to review, and that was where I saw the shadow silhouette of my cousin when he was still a kid.

Shy and nervous around me, he didn’t seem anywhere close to the person giving me this piercing gaze. However, time was wasting, so I ignored it and began watching. Any details was good!

“I … this is a bit embarrassing but recently I wished I could have more family around.” and then “Haha-ue and Chichi-ue aren’t getting alo … woah!” but then this happened, “Enough! It’s such a fun day and you’re bringing it down. Come on, come on! Let’s go have some fun at the playground before Mama and Auntie pick us up!” Damn, I acted like such a tsundere … But I was trying to make him feel better.

A moment of childish fun was plagued by the young boy’s issues. “Chichi-ue would always drink coffee before he went to work. I thought, even if it’s empty, I could mimic him to understand what he wants from me. It always feels like I’m a disappointment,” was one particular moment that struck my core. He was talking about his father, and how he wanted to make him proud, but kept failing. Even back then, his family was a dysfunctional mess.

I never felt lonely at home, always finding some comfort in my parents or nanny. However, the opposite was the case for Franz, to the point it seemed I acted as his emotional pillar. Meaning, despite knowing this, I allowed myself to get weak? Verdammt!

I always lamented how terrible of a friend and daughter I was, but my Earthen self was also a bad cousin, huh? Damn. What a brat I was.

… However, it also made me understand what was driving Franz. White hair that seemed to have greyed out from stress, probably caused by my death or his college exam prep. His eccentric behavior, caused by relieving his trauma. I couldn’t read his mind. I couldn’t understand what or who he had met in this world, but it didn’t matter.

Even if “Hestia” was a stranger to him, I had a duty as “Hikari” to correct my mistakes!

I had to go with this path.

“Will it make you smile again, Onii-chan?” I gave him a wry smile, unable to hide my sadness at seeing him like this.

He twitched, continued with a stutter, “Huh? I-I would b-be happy if—”

“Would it really? Are you doing this for me, or are you doing this for yourself?” I pushed his hand off, causing him to step back, but I kept holding his, pulling him slightly back with my higher strength. “What about Auntie? Your mom?”

“‘M-my mom?’”

“Franz, I am an idol. I already made it, and I want to continue shining, but I also want to make you happy. Make my friends happy. My family happy. Have all of you smile so brightly you could blind others.” My smile softened, remembering why I was on this journey. Why I decided to walk down the path of Aurena’s Champion and my desire to finish it. “I want to see my Mama and Papa. I want to see them again, and ask them for forgiveness for what I did. This is why I am doing this for Aurena. Why I became her idol!”

My chest tightened, feeling cramp as I let out my emotions.

“And I want you to be there! I want everybody to see me make it, so, Franz, don’t give me that look! Don’t show me that look! What were you thinking?”

Unexpecting my scolding, Franz’s face softened as he began to frown, confused why I was turning things around in this direction. That was ‘cause this was a Hestia plus Hikari moment, a culmination of how I dealt with my problem ever since I was reborn in this world.

“I have a Onee-chan, now, you know?” I showed a smug smile to him, causing him to turn red as he stuttered “Big sister?!” “Fargryneill is her name, and she’s part of my new family in this world. I want to introduce her to you, Franz. I want you to know of the people ‘Hestia’ has befriended, but also to show you the growth ‘Hikari’ has made during my stay in this world. The conviction I made for myself!”

He went silent, but kept his eyes sternly on me. He did not dismiss anything.

“And also a dragon mother. A second mother; oh, have I told you how I’m an auntie in this world? However … despite all of that, I still want to get to know you.”

“Me?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I? Don’t forget, I have a case of amnesia, right? So … make new memories with me, Franz. Now that we’re reunited, let us have a second chance as cousins once again.” I tightened my grip on his wrist. “And I will show you how much I’ve grown. How much I’ve come to experience in my life that I can stand by you, so we can both help each other. To assure we make it to our goal—to reunite our family. Everything for family, right?”

He widened his eyes, flabbergasted at my answer to his question as he blinked multiple times. However, the tension in his body faded away as he gripped my arm and wiped away the tears on his face. He looked me in the eyes again, showing me a gentle smile. The stress wasn’t gone completely, but Franz no longer looked like he was about to make the worst mistake in his life.

“… To do that, we will have to do quite a lot. Not only people will stand in your path to fulfill your Divine Quest, but you will also run into clashing ideologies, Hestia. Things will never work as you planned. Murphy’s Law.”

“Then I will overturn them! There is always a way forward when options are available! Unable to think about them is what will stop you, and that is something I will not do again! For you, for my friends, for my new family! I will not make that stupid mistake again. Rules be damned! I am a dragon in this life, Franz. I am Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, and through these veins, the blood of a god flows! Idol culture? Apologizing to Mama and Papa? They better send a nuke at me if they wish to stop me!”

<1 human has become your follower>

Huh?!

Lust? A month had gone by since Neill began training me to master my lust and all this time, I’ve been having more and more trouble controlling it, as I never could really break free of the mindset of doing anything for my goal. I always questioned my future moral choices and their consequences … but in this one moment, I threw it away.

Was it the conviction in my words and mind that unlocked? Was it the ability to just think “if there is a way, I will find it to fulfill my lust?” I honestly couldn’t really tell. “How much evil could I do to achieve what I want,” was the question … and in this moment, I told Franz I would overturn the world.

Hold on, good and evil were just two sides of a coin. One side might condemn me, but another would praise me … what if I overturned this rule? Then it would be the same, only, another side would hate and love me … just like my decision to overturn this war between the humans and demonkins. I wasn’t seeking total extinction, but to stop it all.

For that, rules had to be broken and everything had to be overturned. Would it involve more than just the mortal realms? What about the gods? Their influences? What would I have to do to achieve this goal?

Now, I understand … It-it makes sense now why Pradreo and Skardrvo were so adamant about it.

The answer was right in front of me all this time. The two dragonewts who announced I was part of their clans, their families. I understood they saw me as their princess, but Skardrvo especially left a very strong impression on me on why he went out to killed random wyvernslayers.

“To protect the child the clan matriarch wished for so long,” was his motivation. Family was everything, and I had to second-guess myself to the point I couldn’t open this gate immediately. I still felt fear of my dragon side, huh? Here I thought I already accepted it, but a part of me was always still apprehensive, too reserved.

“Could you martyr yourself to ensure everybody’s happiness? Could you become the villain for everybody’s sake? Could you sacrifice your own gluttony for the happiness of everybody else?” Those were the questions Sis asked me to test my lust, to find holes in my reasoning.

Could I martyr myself? What have I been doing to myself to help others, or how I pushed myself with the mindset of bringing a smile to people’s faces? No, I wouldn’t just martyr myself, since a real star wouldn’t die down without rocking the world one last time.

Could I become the villain? To some, I will become evil, similar to how the Empire thought I was evil. Evil? Good? Those were two sides of a coin, and it was all about perspective. Besides, having a “bad boy or bad girl” inside a group wouldn’t be too bad. A group had to cater to different demographics, right? “The Shining Star Blackens,” sounded like an amazing headline.

The only hard question was the last one, as giving up my gluttony for others would be like abandoning a part about myself. However, as mentioned before, these trials were more about the philosophy behind my actions and how I perceived the world. Even the greatest philanthropist had to be selfish for a moment—a hedonist.

So this is my lust?

And this conviction would meet its first roadblock in the challenge the dungeon master had set for us.

Once Franz and I made peace with our current situation, I set our party up using my party bracelet to make a party of six with Rajah as my tamed monster. It was then, the stage mission was explained.

<Finally! Good … the goal of this stage is simple. There are two temples in the center of this stage, where you may find two keys. Only two parties may obtain them, while any party who doesn’t will die. No buts. Usually, any loser would be able to teleport out, but little cheaters deserve a punishment. After all, this is all a gambit of yours, right? … The System will tell you the rest of the rules. Let the drama begin as six parties fight for their survival!>

“Here.” Franz handed me a rock, causing me to widen my eyes when I noticed it was one pair of a [Room] rune! “I found it when you escaped. I guess it’s yours. Sorry, I had Saintess Fleindia check on them before we were separated.”

There was finally a chance for us to escape this hell home and get some reinforcement. All we needed to do was find this Saintess Fleindia.

Only …

“What?!” The boys and I shouted as we saw the list of participants.

No!

It was the worst possible situation where my new conviction would be tested. Six teams—split between mine, the three parties from the students, a party made from the knights, and … Ankoran King Fugnarus.

Six parties; only two may live. I had not expected to participate in another Battle Royale …