A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

Chapter 489: A Peaceful Visit to Iceskale.

Chapter 489: A Peaceful Visit to Iceskale.

17 human, beastman followers gained

35 human follower lost

Total follower count updated. Total followers of [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]: 47879

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Multi-Cast Lv. 7] evolved into [Multi-Cast Lv. 8]

“Mammoth incoming!” Vifi’s voice thundered through the Nordor Valley like the fury of the Greek gods, scaring all of the various herd animals wandering around the watering hole, including today’s prey.

A giant wooly mammoth, with a metallic-like bone carapace covering his face, trumpeted in challenge before bolts of lightning crashed onto the ground from the sky. Ice breaths were shot from the mouths of both Shay and Beth as they flanked the giant monster, creating numerous frozen walls to trap the beast, forcing him to follow along a path.

Enraged, this [Spire-Breaker Mammoth] bull, double my size easily, trumpeted once again before breaking through a portion of the walls, only for multiple [Slithering Frost Serpent]s and [Winter’s Golem]s to crash right into him, pushing him back into the “cage” as the wyvern twins renewed the frost wall. The lot of them repeated this dance twice more before the mammoth totally lost its mind from all the stress.

His blue-white fur began to stand up, as if he had goosebumps, before the tips were frozen in place, probably from its racial skill [Avalanche Armor]. Looking for all the world like a snowy hedgehog now, the beast raised its trunk and blasted it like a tuba, releasing an awe-inspiring bellow that sounded like a defiant warcry against our aggression. Even outnumbered and abandoned by his herd, this colossal titan of an elephant declared he would fight to the death.

He raised his house-crushing front feet up and stomped down, shaking the snow covered ground and causing ice spikes the size of [Bedrock Blades] to spring out and demolish the ice walls and Tasianna’s spell golems in one go. He roared in victory before taking a deep breath, icy mist formed around his trunk’s nostrils. Like a rocket launcher, his trunk shot out stalactite-size ice lances at my retainers flying around.

Forced to dodge, Tasianna and the twins zig-zagged around while Vifi simply reciprocated by shooting red lightning bolts, destroying the lances before any reached her. This, naturally, caused the mammoth to tunnel-vision on her. Nobody else was more of a threat than “Peolynca’s gender-bent Zeus,” yet this mistake left him open for the actual hunter.

Hikari, time for you to take control. You ready?

‘I—’

We’ve been training for this first hunt for four days now. You don’t get a say! Time to switch places!

With that command, my consciousness returned to our mental world while Hikari took full command over our body. We exchanged gazes, with her looking at me nervously, but today’s training plan was set in stone—Hikari had to get used to controlling, moving, and fighting with our body.

“It means you aren’t completely reliant on each other,” Aurena had told me, and the answer became clearer when I returned to my body and heard Hikari was able to move it around without my soul present. Which led us to a test during the night—our consciousness weren’t tied to each other, unlike my parallel thoughts had been to mine. For example, if I went to sleep, Hikari could control my body without an issue.

We were, essentially, a two-headed dragon but only with the actual head of one … Although my “head sister” was a bit less competent than I had hoped for …

As harsh as it was, it could all be seen right now. In front of my eyes, Hikari gulped and took a deep breath to steady herself, as this was her first hunt. She quickly scanned our memories, understanding the principles of our rocket boosters, spell casts, and, most importantly, the activation of our racial skills.

She had the theory down and we had practiced everything beforehand, yet when she activated her rocket boosters, the speed she flew towards the mammoth was far below mine. If I was as fast as a jet, then Hikari currently raced forward like a sports car. Having forgotten to dampen the sound with [Air Shield] and being unable to cloak her advance with our stealth skills, she was quickly found out.

As she was just about to reach the mammoth, however, the beast snapped around with his trunk completely covered in ice. Like a club, he swung it at us, forcing me to cast [Tornado Bullet] right above us to redirect our body’s trajectory. Before we crashed onto the ground, I had [Wind Blast] blow us forward and used [Terra Wall] to launch us upward as the mammoth was recovering from his swing.

Hellblade, I ordered, prompting Hikari to ignite our tail on fire and follow the motion I’ve been training the moment I received this ability. Utilizing the rocket boosters, she twisted our body and successfully ripped through the mammoth’s fur and fat armor, digging our tail into his throat.

Hikari cheered as she got the motion correct … She was acting like a novice; congratulating herself when the hunt wasn’t over. This mistake left her wide open to the freezing wind that was expelled from the beast’s body.

The mammoth’s [Avalanche Armor] actually gave him the ability to “sweat” icy wind, allowing him to not only flash freeze his fur into armor but also use the wind to coat himself in an unrestrained blizzard veil. With the air moisture turning into snow and the strong wind, ice balls the size of cars would routinely be created and thrown out to protect the beast, almost like an actual avalanche.

If I was an actual tamer, having a monster like you on the team would have been fantastic! Sadly, you’re just food! We can’t afford another big eater!

I didn’t count how long it took, but the hunt continued for a good amount of time, as Hikari was having trouble breaking through the beast’s defense and offense without using our more hard-hitting spells and attacks. No spell songs, no full offense magic, nor the usage of our equipment. Spells that displaced or buffed her were okay, but the training today was for her to get used to utilizing her physical abilities.

Sadly, her arbitrary time limit was over and we switched places once again, yet her test hunt was still ongoing. Only this time, I would be controlling our body while she concentrated on using magic to kill the mammoth, only without our spell songs and large-scale spells. Still, even with these restrictions, it felt like Hikari didn’t need my help at all when it came to magic.

She was weaving spells together like an arcanist, using everything in her available arsenal to cripple the mammoth. Her meekness disappeared as well, as she assumed my mindset as she utilized the accumulated experience from our parallel thoughts to finally take the mammoth down.

Experience for development Jobs has reached multiple breaking points.

[Star Idol]: Lv. 28 -> Lv. 35 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 10 Lv. 5

[Lightbearer]: Lv. 16 -> Lv. 25 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 4 Lv. 28

[Tyrant Hatchling]: Lv. 0 -> Lv. 30 | Reset accumulation finished | Prestige 11 Lv. 26

Prestige requirement achieved! Job max level has increased. Experienced accumulation and reward quality increased.

[Star Idol] Max level -> 45

[Lightbearer] Max level -> 35

You may spend your prestige points when you are ready

Evolution Points: 14/50

Job: Star Idol

Benefit Slots: [Musical Crescendo] [Bardic Cadenza] [Heavenly Performance Act 1] [Musical Renaissance Diva Lv. 1] [Acoustic Power Lv. 4]

Level: 5/45

Prestige Level: 10

Job: Wildfire

Benefit Slots: [Magic Skills: Proficiency Lv. 10] [Fire Element Lv. 2] [Arcane Skills: Proficiency Lv. 1]

Level: 0/25

Prestige Level: 0

Job: Lightbearer

Benefit Slots: None

Level: 28/35

Prestige Level: 4

Job: Tyrant Hatchling

Benefit Slots: [Job Crossover]

Level: 26/30

Prestige Level: 11

[Star Idol] Prestige Points: 5

[Wildfire] Prestige Points: 2

[Lightbearer] Prestige Points: 4

[Tyrant Hatchling] Prestige Points: 1

You may spend your prestige points when you are ready

[Job Crossover] performed for the first time and, despite still being a dragon, I received upgrades to my unique Job. Good, since a secondary goal, after raising my level to 45 to prepare myself for my rank A evolution, was also to gain ten prestige points in [Star Idol] so I could upgrade [Heavenly Performance Act 1].

[Heavenly Performance]’s actual purpose was unlocked once I officially recruited Vifi as my retainer, although I still couldn’t use it since I “went out of order.” As an artist, I understood the sentiment, but Aurena really could have not included it … This skill was available in the old Job system, so it was clear somebody wanted me to have and improve it.

Nudge, nudge. Upstairs.

Yet, unlike the original price of one prestige point, I had to pay ten now? The upgrade better be worth it. I didn’t exactly like being railroaded into a decision—illusion of decision, woooo—but sometimes it was necessary, especially with the Pantheon of Light literally investing into me through official channels.

Well, I digressed. While it was nice my Job levels were increasing, my concern was more focused on Hikari, who was sighing deeply behind me in my head. The reason why I didn’t think Hikari was exactly “competent,” was the fact she fully inherited my mindset as a mage, but not the on-demand instincts and body control I’ve honed.

Leave her in the backline and she was the perfect replacement to our lost parallel minds, able to fulfill every single duty they’ve been doing, including consulting me on my songs. No, in fact, she might actually be better than them. After all, although Hikari and I were the same people and we shared our thoughts, we could contemplate and worry about different matters, allowing us to string songs together. It was like having a composing partner over my shoulder, like when Papa had Mama overlook his work.

… Sadly, this was also the main issue here. Hikari still had the same stage fright I had before Saori helped me overcome it. She felt unworthy of controlling the dragon body I’ve been developing, believing everything we had didn’t come from any of her efforts but mine alone.

Not only did she still have some of my old issues, she now had imposter syndrome. Fantastic.

[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

… Haaa, how was it? I asked Hikari.

‘I’m sorry … I know I have all your memories, but trying to move around our wings, tail, and longer neck makes me feel phantom pain. It doesn’t fit my image of my body. It’s slightly easier when we’re a dragonewt, but the moment we transform into a dragon, it feels like I’m trapped under water, trying to struggle to the surface despite being exhausted,’ she described.

Body dissociation, I see … I rubbed my temples as I remembered that word floating up from the depth of my mind.

“Haste makes waste.” It was never good to rush things if another option was available, and the same applied here. The best conclusion would be for Hikari to be able to control my body if I ever suddenly fell unconscious, meaning my body would never be in a vulnerable spot. However, just as importantly, I personally believed she would be my best shot at mastering my [Battle Frenzy] training in an appropriate time.

“Hey, Donut! Get over here and help out! This thing is massive!” Vifi broke my train of thought, waving at me to come over to help disassemble the titanic mammoth.

Looking at the humongous being, I couldn’t help but sigh as I looked like an ant in front of its massive tusks. In fact, although they were sharp, they were so large that it would be more likely for me to get crushed by them than perforated. It made me wonder how a normal Altrustian would react to such a monster.

In any case, I took out my halberd and began helping everybody with turning this elephant into some nice steaks for tonight’s dinner. It would be faster if I did this in my dragon form, but we needed good cuts today, as Tasianna was planning on giving us a fine-dining experience.

As we were around half-way through with dismantling the carcass, I looked up at Mom’s brilliant mountain. Squinting my eyes, I couldn’t help but roll them when I saw my dragon mother, not only in her dragonewt form, but also watching us as if we were her favorite TV show. What was worse was that she was using our video recorder right now to film us!

Moooooooooom!

As a blush formed on my face, Mom suddenly grinned and waved at me. Did she not understand her daughter would feel awkward being filmed while dissecting some monster? If she wanted to film me, she should do it during one of my concerts! Goodness gracious! I was covered in blood and grim, right now! The mammoth’s intestines were in my palms, right now!

“A fledgling able to hunt by themselves would bring pride to their wyvern parents,” Shay said, noticing my mood change. “Our wyverns couldn’t be prouder. You brought down your first Frozen Nest today, your highness. Princess Hikari, in fact, just had her first successful hunt. In either case, this is a moment she should not miss.”

I snarled. “She filmed me. Not missing my ‘first’ hunt is one thing, but I’m immortalized on film while cutting up a mammoth.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Vifi interjected. “Every culture, and household, has a different passage of adulthood. My adoptive father smiled like a victorious general when I saw me return with the head of a rank B monster after he sent me out on my first solo hunt. I already had my voltaic lightning back then, so it wasn’t hard, but he still seemed proud.”

“My adoptive parents did the same when I decided to become a maid,” Tasianna recalled with a big smile. “My mother and siblings sewed an entire closet full of outfits for me, while my father and uncles prepared an entire party dedicated to me deciding to become an adult! It was one of my proudest moments.”

Hikari could only stare at their fond recollection with a dejected smile, as she didn’t see my achievements as her own, meaning, the “rite of passage” I had when I performed for the first time didn’t count to her. As awkward as it was, I couldn’t focus on her right now. If she envied them, then I could do something to help my “older sister” get over her mental block.

Nevertheless, while doing my best to ignore my doting mother, we finished preparing the carcass and placed everything usable into my storage, including its bones. Vifi explained her current armor was made using the materials from her hunts and that Grimnir would eagerly await any commissions she had for him.

Well, today’s usage of the materials was a bit different from usual, which was why I transformed back into a dragon. Our destination was the only dragonewt city on Frozen Nest—Iceskale Harbor. Or, as I liked to call it, the only really interesting place in the central and beach portions of this place.

The four days I’ve spent on Frozen Nest weren’t just dedicated to training alone, as I wanted to explore. Naturally, I began with “Nordor Valley,” as I called Mom’s territory, though that wasn’t its official name as dragons didn’t bother giving places distinct titles, but soon moved on to othr grounds. It was clear each valley or hunting ground was managed by one or multiple dragon nests. Yet, even with all this structure, one thing was clear.

This place was boring as hell …

Not to diminish the fact it could get really hectic if you were a normal person, but Frozen Nest was nothing more than a glorified series of hunting grounds. Another Belzac mountain, only it wasn’t a beginner-level area but one which only welcomed rank Bs at minimum. I’ve already gone through that nightmare once, and now, with my Mother around, did I actually need to worry about anything?

Not really, not unless I went up north where the actual “fun” was. Meaning, Frozen Nest was the best place for daredevils or adventurers wanting money or to test themselves, while for us dragons, this place was just a comfortable home to eat and sleep. To an adolescent who was used to city life, this place was literally just the countryside with the lack of entertainment. You would sightsee once or twice, but after that it would quickly turn into old news.

Haaa, what would it have been like if I was born here? The glistening ice, the dazzling crystals, and—

“Kruuuuaaaghhhh!”

“Shriieeraaaaahk!”

—the ear-piercing roars of countless dragonkin, hunting and talking whether in the morning or night. At least, it’s not tranquil. Everybody needs some noise.

Yet, there were two places on Frozen Nest that I wouldn’t tire of. One was our home, and the other was Iceskale.

… Always a long flight. It’s almost evening. I noticed from the position of the sun. The distance from Nordor Valley to Iceskale was similar to traveling across two continents, and even with our flying abilities, it was still a challenge since small blizzards weren’t uncommon. I could only imagine how long traveling on foot would take, seeing as how most of Frozen Nest was mountains.

“Donut, here.” Vifi handed me her quiver of bolts for me to place in my storage. For some reason, she had asked me to always store them in her storage whenever we entered a Loatryxian area.

She didn’t give me a real reason outside of, “I don’t like bringing it in front of the dragonewt.” Well, it wasn’t my business and I could trust that she wasn’t smuggling the white stuff into the city through me, hehe. I didn’t even know if that particular drug existed in this world.

In any case, I heaved out a sigh of relief as I saw the floating houses in the sky. The ones I saw in the dwarf’s capital really were just an appetizer to the real thing, as this harbor was more or less a city floating above another one. It felt … East Asian? The feeling I got from seeing this city was similar to how I would envision the worlds of those cultivation novels mixed with elements from Japan and Korea.

As if the floating city was ripped out of the very ground, you could still see the imperfection and roots inside its foundation. The houses, similar to my mansion, were made from white timber and stone, designed similarly to the rustic homes you could find in the snowy landscape of the Nordic countries of Europe. There weren’t any pagodas or sakura trees as I was expecting, but this was Frozen Nest. Pink would be a beautiful contrast, but the snow-white leaves and petals of the native trees were far more fitting for this winter wonderland.

However, the city’s aesthetics wasn’t lacking in magical aspects, as the sight of green-glowing metal adornments could be seen covering the ends of the floating foundation. These were manatech made from dragon scales, and I recently learned there was a separate tool within the various houses to maintain the levitation aspect of the city through the same principle dragonkin could control their scales through mana.

As such, to create such a city, true dragonkin and talented artificers working together was required, making these floating dragonewt city rather “modern.” Apparently, they were only invented about 500 years ago, but they’ve, without a doubt, became Loatryx’s main characteristic and attraction. To our flight-based society, why shouldn’t we have a separate city above the original to land on?

… Naturally, all of this was novel until the floating city faced some complications and fell onto the city below, right? Well, a separate mana barrier was erected over it for those cases, but it still gave me goosebumps thinking of such a disaster.

“Kyuuuuuuuuuuk!” I heard a wyvern cry from the city. It was the welcoming “trumpet” for whenever a dragon approached

It was also my signal to transform.

[Humanize (Moderate)] inflicted on [Young Sunfang Dragon, Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor]

Appear as a dragon for offerings. Appear as a humanoid for leisure.

Mom taught me those two rules to help me avoid unwanted attention. As every single dragonkin had warned me, the fanactical obsession dragonewts had for true dragonkin was pretty frightening, to the point their entire country would send hit squads after anys dragonslayers or alchemists using dragon blood as an ingredient they heard about.

They were like zealous believers with cultist tendencies, which was why these rules were established. Not even celebrities would enjoy being gushed over every second of the day.

Although, in my case, none of them could stop themselves from at least showing me the proper courtesies when I landed in front of the city’s gate. Although there was a line, the dragonewts all made space, urging me to enter first by embarrassing me so much I couldn’t refuse.

“Welcome back, Princess Hestia!” the guards saluted after I showed them my ID to uphold gate procedures.

Mom had properly announced the fact that I woke up three days ago when we first visited Iceskale, making sure that the only crimson-scaled dragon on Frozen Nest would forever be recognized through her scent. Even if the rules said that I shouldn’t be bothered, it wasn’t like the dragonewts could hold themselves back, seeing as their de facto Dragon Ruler of Ice’s daughter was alive and well after my egg was lost all those years ago, and again after my latest battles.

One of them, an older soldier, came forward and bowed with his tail tucked in between his legs. His scales were silver, like Yorshka and Priscilla. “Would you like some escorts, your highness?”

I shook my head. “No need. I will be visiting the clan’s mansion once I’m done. Although, please do me a favor and inform my doctor that I’m coming.”

He bowed once again before tapping his long tail on the ground, signaling a silver-scaled dragonewt woman to appear from behind the gate. She bowed at me before flying off to the floating city, while I entered the surface one with a snicker.

They really want to see me again, huh? I sighed internally at how warm they were before I entered the city.

The “asian” description I mentioned before didn’t just apply to the architecture, but also to the clothes the dragonewts were wearing. Long, thick-threaded dresses were worn by both men and women, with the latter distinguishing them by their more colorful attires, due to their tails. Skirts, kimonos, dresses—anything that allowed their bottom appendage to freely move around was the most comfortable. Fur, scales, and carapace pieces were added to complement the base outfit.

Naturally, if you were a soldier or guard, you would be wearing a full set of armor with pants, but the kimono, yukata, and hanbok look-alikes were the most common clothes you could find here. In fact, Mom even introduced me to a high-fashion haute couture shop on the “floater” above. I might get myself a kimono at this rate.

Seeing all these well-dressed dragonewts with blue, green, white, and cyan scales all acknowledged me with a slight nod before returning to their own business felt awkward. They were following the rules and trying to ignore me, but I already witnessed their true nature when I first visited Iceskale with Mom.

I stared up, noticing a few “vultures” flying around me. If I didn’t know better, I would think they were spying on me, but they were more like paparazzi’s. Although, maybe having my photos spread throughout Loatryx would help assuage people’s interest in me.

“My princess, please accept our loyalty!” However, a few dragonewts weren’t as shy and directly went up to me, offering me their scales. Understanding the gesture’s value, I smiled awkwardly and accepted them.

Yet, none of them became my followers. To offer a scale to a dragonkin was similar to a vassal kneeling before their liege, which meant all of this was “courtesy.” Similar to how Alextraxus wasn’t Frozen Nest’s actual ruler, none of the dragonewts truly admired me, but my mom. Yet, I couldn’t feel any hostile or ulterior intent from them. It seemed they truly believed they were loyal to me, but my System messages knew better.

This is how a princess is treated by her subject. I see.

“Yo, Donut.” Vifi grabbed my shoulders, smiling at me with greed. “Donuts!”

… Yeah, this is how a princess is treated by her friends.

Defeated and confused by the difference in my treatment, I pulled out a bag full of freshly-made, pink-glazed donuts from my storage. As I handed them to her, I couldn’t help but smile as she snatched it out of my hands with a gleeful “thanks” to take a big bite out of one of them, happy to see that, even after a whole year, she still liked how I fried mine.

In fact, I pulled out everything I baked and made today, giving the twins two steak sandwiches and Tasianna a slice of fruit cake to enjoy, while I wanted to taste the local cuisine. What exactly? Seafood, of course!

Iceskale wasn’t a harbor city for no reason. As we went closer to the aforementioned harbor, I could not only see ships but also squadrons of flying dive bombers returning with their evening catch. Dragoon fishers sounded like a weird job, but similar to the actual dragonewt dragoons, they could be quickly mobilized and were able to fish anything low in stocks for their countless seafood shops.

Not to mention, the one responsible for this fisher group was none other than one of my “uncles.”

“Gnuuuuuuugnh!” Like the bellows of a ship, a giant dragon with a large drill horn resurfaced with a fierce roar before slamming down on a metal pier. His turquoise-scaled body glistened under the orange sun as he shook the saltwater off his body.

Ten dragonewts with similar looking scales and dorsal fins grabbed the containers full of fish off his body, before throwing them down into the wagons below. This continued until all dismounted the giant dragon, prompting the latter to transform into his elven-dragonewt hybrid form.

Uncle Kary was one of the more active ancient dragons, mostly ‘cause the fishing business in Iceskale was that important. With both his true dragonkin and dragonewt family, he was responsible for the daily fish consumption of Frozen Nest, as not only dragonewts but dragons ate here.

I didn’t take the time to greet him, as our party had to visit the local hunter’s guild to fulfill a few Quests Vifi had accepted to help her level up her rank. It was mostly a material submission of the various pieces of the mammoth we hunted today, leaving us with only the steaks and bones. With our payday from turning in the materials, we decided to use it at a sashimi restaurant!

“Why …” Vifi grimaced in disgust due to her dislike for seafood, but Tasianna pushed her inside regardless.

“Because you like the curry here, and Lady Hestia wasn’t able to eat proper dragonewt cuisine when we visited the city three days ago,” Tasianna said. “Iceskale doesn’t serve any sushi since rice shipments aren’t consistent with the state of the ocean, but the raw fish and shellfish are amazing here. Or, would you like to eat crabs?”

This entire harbor area was a seafood lover’s paradise. It was like combining the largest fish markets on Earth with a dedicated food court that only served cooked and prepared seafood, and this was with a passionate populace who mostly ate fish since getting meat on Frozen Nest demanded you to traverse mountains to reach the dragon’s hunting valley or through trading ships.

There was a reason why Iceskale was the only dragonewt city on this island continent. There was no other viable place to settle due to all the dragons and mountainous terrain; even the land for this city had to specifically set aside since there needed to be a place for the many dragonewt clans of the ice dragonkin to live in. According to Tasianna, this wasn’t humongous compared to the main Loatryx cities, but it was large enough to be compared to Artorias’s capital, Griffonpeak.

With everything concentrated here, the city was busy and bustling with dragonewts, levianewts, and elves talking with each other. Thinking about the latter two races made me feel guilty about how I’ve only been focusing on my dragonewt kinsmen. Then again, I didn’t even mention the fact I could smell true dragonkin other than uncle Kary and myself.

Regardless, back to the restaurants, I was a bit peckish for some Maryland blue crabs, but sashimi sounded better for today. Considering dragons ate their meat raw, it felt fitting for me to do the same!

With me making my decision, we dragged the reluctant Vifi into the restaurant where I pacified her with some sandwiches before our group began ordering some dishes and a curry for Vifi. We did have a moment when the waiter froze in place when they realized who I was, until I told them I was starving and wanted to eat something.

“Sharpen your blades, scalekin! We got our princess in the shop, so make her the best sashimi in the city, or I’ll turn all of you into fish food!” the general manager ordered, bringing everybody’s attention to me.

Maybe I should sing to cover up this awkward feeling. Hahaha …

“Straighten your back, your highness,” Shay suggested. “The more dignity you show, the more they will be in awe.”

I wanted to listen to him but trying to ignore everybody’s curious gazes was still too much for me, even if I was used to people watching me on the stage. The difference was that I wasn’t intending to attract them.

Too bad I can’t hide my lingering scent even as in human form, ahahah …

Regardless, after our drinks and the first bits of our dishes arrived, the crowd started to die down as our party prepared to enjoy our after-hunt meal. While we laughed at Vifi’s absolute fear of eating fish, our party toasted in celebration before we began digg—

“Enjoying the meal?” Somebody familiar interrupted us as I was about to eat my fatty tuna.

I turned around as the scent of true dragonkin stuffed my nostrils, only to see a group of about … 20 dragonewts appear before us. The person who spoke to us, though, was leaning right next to our table, looking down at us with bright blue eyes.

Although I believed I had heard his voice somewhere before, his appearance, however, was a complete unknown. His long, sharp ears suggested he was an elf-dragonewt hybrid, although unlike the usual elves I’ve met, he was incredibly burly to the point he looked more like a lizard with the amount of muscles he had.

His short, white hair was styled in a military cut, fitting his scared face, making him look more like a soldier than a strongman. Yet, even that couldn’t fully describe him as his grimace gave me the impression he was about to threaten us like a Yakuza member, seeing how he was wearing a kimono like the patriarch of a crime family. Or, at least, the son of one.

“Who are you?” I asked, causing the man to snort and glance at his posse.

He straightened his back, fluttering his wings, disturbing two tables with the gush of wind. He raised his head, almost as if to tell me, “know the answer now?” When I continued giving him a weird look, he looked to my party, but none of them could recognize him either. In the end, he clicked his tongue and came closer to our table, only for Vifi to pull out her rapier.

“One more step, and I will pin your head in front of your parent’s cave,” she threatened, clearly knowing this was a dragon yet couldn’t care less.

This gesture not only agitated his humanized posse but also the dragonewt customers, as they were growling at Vifi for her insensitive comment. Regardless if they were causing trouble, a dispute between true dragonkin should remain between true dragonkin, or at least, that was what I believed angered them.

The yakuza-looking dragonewt looked down, scowling. “We met on the day you woke up. Remember? Princess?”

“… Rhekkraxus?” I guessed, causing the man to finally show a hint of a smile. “Can’t I, you know, eat in peace? Why are you here?”

“Showing you proper fealty,” he said before he pried a scale from his arm, offering it to me in a dismissive manner. “You’re our princess, and you’ve proven yourself to me as the stronger one. You’re not a whelp in my eyes any longer, my princess.”

I looked at the still bloody scale in his hand before looking back into his eyes, urging him to continue talking.

“The succession battle is coming, so let’s get ready. Frozen Nest’s youth are in your hands.”

“Pardon?”

“What’s so hard to understand? You’re an otherworlder, so shouldn’t you understand what all of this means?” he scowled. “We’re making you heir apparent, so stop wasting time with this and act as such. Where have you been all these days? Playing around? Do you think killing your elder siblings is such an easy feat as defeating a rank B like me?”

What?

I stood up. “What did you say?”

Rhek growled under his breath, scratching his neck in annoyance. “… Did I say something wrong? That’s how I should say in Common, right? What—”

“I fully understood what you said!” I shouted. “However, it seemed you didn’t understand anything that I said when I first beat your ass! I. Am. Not. Intending. To. Participate. In the damn succession battle!”

The rest of my party stood up with me.

“We’re eating. Leave us alone. I’m here to enjoy my mother’s home, so stop this at once.”

He leaned his face forward. “Let me tell you one thing, Princess Hestia. Either you give the correct answer, or we will make sure you’re strong enough when your siblings begin killing each other. A Frozen Nest dragon will not lose the damn throne, not again! COME IN!”

The door was suddenly kicked in, sending it flying right into a table as bits of the walls splintered apart. As the dust settled, more ice dragonewts suddenly walked in.

‘H-Hestia.’

… Just tell me and let’s get this over with.

‘T-they all over level 125 and all have [Humanize (Minor)]. They’re—’

Rank A.

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Dragon trouble. It's that guy again!

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