Chapter 340: The Three-Way Plan.

“Make way! This is the carriage and entourage of the Prince of Joyulia! Greatest country of the Divide!”

“Our ruler is the Prince of Weimasha! The Goddess light has granted us her mercy, and we are required back home! Any who stands in our way will be run over!”

“Briamland requires their prince! We are the farthest away, so we must begin going! We must depart now!”

“Veignneight is willing to pay for the right to leave first! Guards, we have money! Have these other groups make way for us!

Chaos was afoot at the noble’s entrance into Elyonda. Four ornamented white wooden carriages were trying to go through the entrance, while the individual groups had their guards, knights, and entourage arguing over each other to go out first. If they moved in an orderly fashion, they would have made it out before I arrived.

“A prime example of the unity of the Divide,” Jethro mumbled as we entered the city and snuck past them by going through an alleyway.

“Unity is always a hard concept, young man. Even us dragons find it hard to unite on the same front unless we absolutely require so. The desire to live and prosper is a daring foe, even for the wisdom of ages,” Mother replied back, prompting Jethro to stand still, thinking her reply through before nodding.

“You might be right. Such a difficult concept… to strive for it, so much effort is needed to build everything up, but a little crack is enough to break it all apart. If not remedied, the gap will only widen.”

Mother, Tasianna, the twins, Renee, and I were following Jethro right now, after I had returned to Elyonda after my trip in Griffonpeak. It shocked me, left me flabbergasted for a few seconds after Jethro informed me the grimgarians were already attempting their invasion into the Divide. However, it only made me more aware I had to go rescue Adhi.

And, I would have just ignored the information to fly away, if Mother hadn’t stopped me. She argued that although I had paid them yesterday, they only departed during lunchtime today as they needed to prepare for the trip. They wouldn’t follow along the coastline, as the fastest route would be to go on the open seas, and if they were to meet the grimgarians there, they would be able to evade them, as the sailors of Caedhul were trained to expect leviathans, sea serpents, and adamantoises even on a one day voyage.

There was also the issue that they flew into the open ocean, where they could end up anywhere. Mother questioned how much I knew about flying over an ocean and how precarious it could become if the weather were bad.

“Even the sky can rend down a dragon’s wings, bringing them down to the depth of the water where the beasties of the abyss await you with greedy maws. The gods of the Water Pantheon are extremely petty, and are as territorial as when they were still mortals,” Mother lectured to me back on the island. “Every sailor, ship, and even fledgling dragons must pay respect to Melicertha, God of Sailors, the sea’s Fortune, and Ports. Unless you are an S rank dragon who can deal with most leviathans in their natural environment, you better not tempt his ire. His wrath is like bait, ready to lure in his servants to snatch on whatever it’s hanging on.”

Mother surely would make a good horror storyteller.

Still, it made sense to me considering how Tehmrayn explained how he would always fight in the name of his patron god, defeating and even killing the other gods’ Champions. Territorial sounded pretty optimistic, it sounded extremely dystopian to me with how the Water Pantheon’s blessed were treated. I honestly hoped Master wouldn’t have to participate in any of this absurdity.

God Xoholotel, please, keep Master out of all of this. I gave a small prayer before eventually conceding to Mother’s point. Since she wanted me to slow down and hear Jethro out, she told me she would be willing to guide me through the ocean’s skies afterwards, if I was still worried for Adhi.

We quickly made it to the royal palace where we were led into a room with Prince Markval, Princess Anasthasia, and Duke Alberstien. With Jethro, we practically had all the most influential voices in this country in this one room.

Unlike Estralia and Artorias, most of the power remained with the crown, due to their bloodline belonging to Yeostar, a god. As such, from the four people present, only one wasn’t directly related to the crown. Still, Duke Alberstien’s influence came from his role as seneschal of the land, granted to him by the crown.

“Alistar?” Was the first thing Renee said once we entered the room, noticing the knight-commander of Yeos standing with his prince.

Unlike Neill and Rita, Renne literally forced herself into this group of ours, coming with us even if Jethro didn’t want her to. She was just a normal citizen, after all, not a knight. She might fashion herself as one, under no circumstance was she actually allowed to be here.

Still, it was a huge surprise to hear instead of Neill coming with me, Mother wanted to appear. Considering Sis wanted to help me with stuff, I would have thought she would come to listen, but it seemed she was more the “give me the deets later” type of person. I guessed she must be preparing herself for the incoming invasion forces.

“Who is that man?” Duke Alberstien called Renee out, also fooled by her fake voice.

“One of the contestants, Lord Duke Alberstien! He is to be my opponent in the semifinals,” Alister replied before anyone else could. “Although not knighted or a soldier, he is a patriot to a fault. We can trust him.”

“Sir Alistar…? No, this is an important meeting, we cannot afford any infor—”

“Duke, I will allow it!” Raising his hand, Prince Markval silenced the duke, and allowed Renee to participate.

Renee instantly kneeled down, giving her prince the necessary respect and gratitude. “Your Majesty, it is an honor, thank you very much. I am Renee, I shall not be a burden to you.”

“… If it is your will, then I shall listen, Your Majesty.” Alberstien did the same, before standing up. “In that case, then we should hurry now that Princess Hestia is here. We have no time for small talk. I shall put it plainly, we are being invaded, and it is a force we cannot compete against in an open field with our current military prowess.”

What?

“It is precisely that,” Jethro confirmed Alberstien’s report, to the shock of Anasthasia and the prince. “Mana birds were sent to us this afternoon after the tournament was over for the day. Reports speak of attacks at the edge of our borders, including the destruction of our outposts reserved to warn us of any attacks from the other Divide members. Two birds arrived from our six outposts, which begs the question of what is happening with the other four.”

“Could they not have been attacked?” Anasthasia brought up but the two older men shook their heads.

“One came from the western front, and the other from the north,” Jethro answered. “Our nation isn’t large enough for another outpost not to notice the attacks. They would have sent birds the moment something happened! We have still not heard even a peep from them. As such, the only way this silence could be explained is that our outposts were all attacked at once, preventing a chance for information to reach us in time.”

Alberstien scratched his beard with a pensive face, looking like he had even more to add. “But that leaves a question open. Why have two birds from those directions arrived? Why exactly?”

“Urgh. A taunt?” I replied. “Sir Jethro told me they are grimgarians, correct? If they are the very same grimgarians I reported on, then without question, this is their way of a declaration of war. They allowed those two messages to pass to alert us they aren’t scared to attack. A challenge, without being blindsided.”

The room went silent when I brought that point up.

“… I agree.” All to be ended by Jethro agreeing with me with a pale face. “ ‘Intelligent grimgarians’ … the demonkins did employ some of them when we engaged them five years ago. They are savages, but aren’t without honor, at least. This is their way to make it understandable to us what they are planning. Whoever is helming this operation is at least no green rat goblin, but at least an ogre. Too prideful to stoop to subterfuge.”

“And there is more to come,” I interjected again. “No need to hide any information anymore with the dire states of things. I was just in Artorias. Grimgarians have been attacking Lecartiglio’s Port Annencia and also the ports of Atadoro and Rakatheen. A fleet is coming from the ocean towards Elyonda.”

“What?!” Just like Alberstien, everybody else had a conflicted expression to my information.

“I have a method to teleport to other locations, and I used it to not only go to Artorias to pick something up, but also to speak with the King Drangleic of Artorias on things.”

“So you really are allied, huh? That close?” Anasthasia frowned, to which I nodded. She probably was aware of it since I brought Amelia and Duke Greenveil over, but I never really mentioned being a proper ally.

This of course, would bring some conflict, after all.

“Hold on, then why—” Jethro was about to question me, looking suspicious, but we literally didn’t have time for something like this.

“Whether I am on speaking terms with a foreign king or not is not the focal point right now. As I have mentioned and declared to everybody out there, my job is to protect the blood of Yeostar upon my acceptance of the Goddess’s Divine Quest in his name!” I repeated for being in Yeos. “As such, trust me upon the fact I will fight to protect it. However, we have a situation right now. I have just sent Caedhulen ships towards Annencia to ask them to bring over mercs for your city’s pirate problems. They are probably going to meet up with the grimgarians soon or have already. I need to rescue them!”

“W-Wait, Princess Hestia!” Anasthasia shouted before I could turn around, having heard enough for me to understand the situation. “Please, you cannot fly out now!”

“Don’t worry! I’ll rescue the Caedhulens and then immediately fly back! I’m fast, and the grimgarians attacked from the border, correct? I’ll come back and have enough time to burn them all down before they even reach the city, or destroy any of your villages!” I scowled at the thought of having to fight, fully accepting who my enemy was. “To ashes with those who wish for my wrath.”

“No! Hold on, please, you cannot go!” However, despite my reassurance to her, she still stopped me. Flabbergasted and slightly irritated at my time being wasted, I urged her to explain herself. “The news. The chaos. Please, calm down and think about what would happen if any of this news comes around. Elyonda is trapped, under assault in every direction, and not only that, but we also have to find a way to evacuate everybody! The citizens, the nobles, the foreign visitors.”

Anasthasia explained to me how they couldn’t stop the other princes from learning this information, and in their hurry to return to their principalities, they forgot to comprehend what the border of Yeos would look like. They were lucky the panic caused them to fight so much that it made it impossible for them to leave the city, but if they were to go now, Yeos would have to send troops to escort them back home. That was Yeos’s duty as a member of the Divide, signed and documented in their alliance treaty.

“We cannot allow such information to leak! The wanton chaos that would be created from the panic and fear would unsettle Elyonda even further. We won’t have enough time to help any of them, with our lacking military power,” Anasthasia continued. “If they wish to flee, we wouldn’t have the power to calm them. They cannot flee inland, the grimgarians would get them without a doubt. Even if one were to slip by, the majority would die. The only way is through the ocean, towards the Empire, but with the panic, that can’t be done properly! Those ships will be easy prey for pirates. Urgh, not to mention the villages and other towns of our country!”

“…” I felt flustered by the facts being presented to me.

If this invasion couldn’t be stopped, then countless innocent lives would be lost by the rage of war. I might have spoken big, but how fast could I fly? My rocket boosters were strong enough to shoot me from Gleisvale to rescue my party from those demonkins in Estralia, but that was a distance I could traverse ‘cause I knew of it.

Where were Adhi and the other sailors? It was already night outside. Black sky wherever I could look. Could I find three Caedhulen ships in the night? In the wide, open sea?

“The princess is correct, Your Grace.” Alberstien supported Anasthasia’s claim, shocking not only Jethro but also the girl herself. “Our citizens need to be prioritized first. We also cannot allow our guest to be harmed, otherwise, our reputation as God Yeostar’s country will be ruined.”

“Yurius?” Jethro raised an eyebrow.

“Seneschal?” So did Anasthasia.

“Princess Hestia, the first thing we need… is tranquility. We cannot let the attacks leak out, inciting a torrent. We cannot, that will only cause more deaths than we can control. Our… our country is weak. We need help!” Alberstien walked over to me and bowed deeply, holding his head down as he begged me with a request. “The moment you leave. The news will come out! The concert you promoted will have to be canceled, and that would only cause more strife.”

“What are you saying?! The concert isn’t the problem right now anymore! Urk!” I shouted out, before feeling like my throat just received a karate chop. I groaned, feeling pain from what I just said.

“Lady Hestia…?” Tasianna eyed me suspiciously, looking as if she couldn’t believe what I just said. I guess I could understand why she would. What I just said felt so wrong to me.

“Princess Hestia, please, you must reconsider Lord Alberstien’s request,” Anasthasia took over as I was massaging my pained throat. “Our first priority should be the citizens. Either we have to focus on preparing ships to transport them outside the battle zone before the armies arrive, or, we need to prepare the dungeon to have enough room to satisfy the number of people in the city.”

Well, I guess that is a—

But my thoughts were immediately interrupted when Jethro shouted at Anasthasia, “Niece, have you lost your mind?! If we are to make enough room for the entire city, or any refugees escaping the invasion, then we would have to open the rest of the dungeon up! Those are reserved for the royal family only! We cannot trust some commoners there!”

What? Why can’t you do that? Seems simple enough, just tell them not to go into some unspecified room… also, did he just say ‘rest of the dungeon?’

“Then what are you suggesting, uncle? You already had scouts inform the nearby villages and towns, correct? If they are escaping, then the only place they could go is either outside the principality or here — the capital. It will be flooded with people! The first batch should arrive tomorrow morning if they don’t rest through the night! The city is already overpopulated with our common folk and the festival goers. Either we leave the refugees to fend for themselves, we get the ships ready to help them, or, we use the dungeon for its real purpose — to defend our people like in any past sieges!”

“Urk…” Jethro groaned, staying silent at his niece’s arguments.

“And that is why we need you, Princess Hestia! We need a way to calm everybody down, make it seem like everything will be okay! Even if you can fight off all those grimgarians, and I believe you can with Her Imperial Majesty by your side!” Anasthasia glanced at Mother with hope, prompting the latter to just smile. She didn’t know Mother would probably not raise a claw… “Even then, we need to stop panic and chaos. We need to give everybody hope! Clear, tangible hope, so they don’t descend into despair! What better day is it to be one of the Goddess’s blessed?”

“I-I get what you mean! But if I stay here in the city, I would leave the Caedhulens I sent out to die! I cannot stomach that. And I can tell you those close to the border will not be able to survive if we don’t do something!”

No way would normal people be able to escape the grimgarians when they have kobold tamers. I still remembered the wargs they tamed when I fought that grimgarian battalion. They had echikobolds mounted on various beasts to hunt people down.

“Sacrifices are inevitable…” Anasthasia shook her head in dismay. “Looking at it realistically, we cannot save everybody. As such, we need to make sure we do it for those who we can help.”

“Erm…” Markval seemed to want to say something, but he stopped himself once he noticed the grim expressions everybody else had on their faces.

“And that is why we need to continue the concert, Princess Hestia!” Anasthasia reiterated. “Music can be a good soother. Some words from a blessed of the Goddess would help everybody keep up hope, to make sure the city doesn’t descend into anarchy.”

“I understand the predicament but it still feels like I would be wasting my time with the concer— Urghk! Gah!” I felt like something just punched my gut! I felt like I was about to puke when I tried to spit those words out.

““““Your Highness?!”””” The Yeosians showed their worry when I almost keeled over in disgust, disgust in myself.

“Lady Hestia, I know how much your life as an idol means to you. Just like the times before, allow me to help you!” Tasianna grabbed my shoulder and back, helping me fix my posture. “Just like Firwood and Estralia, allow us to help me to help you, alright. Shay and Beth will without a doubt be able to help, too. Do not forget, my lady, I am your shield and servant, I shall accomplish it all on my honor as a member of Aurora!”

I looked over to Tasianna, making me feel a bit inadequate as I saw her resolute smile. Shay gave me a quick nod with focused eyes while Beth flaunted her wings and pushed up her chest to look dependable.

“I-I do want to do the concert, but I can’t just do it with a good conscience right now. It feels like I need to do things this time. I can’t just leave the job to everybody else. Everything I went to perform a concert while you guys did something, something terrible would happen!”

In Firwood, that Davison drank some demonkin potion and turned himself into a walking eldritch nightmare, while in Estralia, Saori and the others could have died to that OP demonkin of wrath. It felt like being an idol while something big happened was some sorta flag. Like it was signaling to the world they could do whatever to my friends while I was occupying myself with something frivol—

“Nonsense!” My body jerked up, shivering for a moment not ‘cause of my thoughts but of a voice. This wasn’t a reaction I would have expected of myself to have, and it certainly didn’t come from the Yeosians or my retainers.

No, it came from the person looming over me with a disappointed expression.

“M-Mo-Mother?”

“Who cares about what is logical or what will happen, Hestia? You are a dragon, if you have the strength, then claim everything for yourself!” Mother glared at me with her slit irises. “Don’t let trivial matters like this stop you from what your heart is pursuing! There is always a solution if you are smart or strong enough, and I won’t watch my daughter deny her dream. You are a dragon princess, you must act like one, Hestia. Think calmly, with grace and control. You are not an almighty dragon just yet, you are but a whelpling. However, strength in numbers, my whelpling.”

“Wise words, Your Imperial Majesty!” Without warning, the door broke open as a giant scalekin emerged from it. It was Akast, the hulking sarcosilian, and behind him were the other saurians and Larent. “Wars are feats of attrition, do not underestimate the value of Stamina and morale, my apprentice!”

It was Master.

“I-I’m sorry your Majesty, I couldn—” One of the guards tried to stop them, but their voices were quickly drowned out by Master’s.

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“The sun is down and your core has only just regenerated. You might fly over to find the levianewt, but what if you have to fight the fleet of grimgarians? You would be a fool to fly back after being exhausted from a fight! Until morning comes, you will have to rest, and at that time, what will happen to the city or the people?”

“I-I… No, wait, you know? Did you eavesdrop on us?” I was so focused on the discussion I hadn’t realized anybody was outside. I thought the room would be silenced with runes.

“Ha, I had no need! Her Imperial Majesty is not an SS rank dragon for nothing, my apprentice! Even without us telling her where we were, she pinpointed us and gave us enough information through [Telepathy] to figure things out! Even in this enclosed room, Her Majesty has kept me in the know!” Master proudly admitted.

“M-Mother?!” I glanced over to her, confused.

Mother smirked, letting out a small chuckle. “I am a parent. My duty is to teach you, and when it comes to your education, I do not sit around, enjoying the sun. We might have made that deal, my whelpling, but you still have a right to ask your mother for more than just training. I do wish to spoil you rotten as much as possible, but I know you wouldn’t like that.”

M-Mother…

“Correct, Hestia! We adults are here to help you, and also to help prevent you from making a mistake. If you ask me, continue your goal as an Idol of Aurena! You cannot leave the city anyways, even if you wished to.”

“How come?” I felt confused at how Master worded that, as if I really had no choice to go out.

“Because that is what the enemy wants, Princess Hestia.” Larent, waiting for his moment to speak, walked into the room. His eyes were as sharp as before he joined the saurians for a manhunt. “We have tracked down the worms. A demonkin is in the city with enough black mercs to stage an assault on the city itself.”

““““What?!””””

“Tsk!”

The Yeosians inside the room blurted out their surprise while I clicked my tongue. I knew something was up, that was why I entrusted Master to uncover it, but I didn’t think it would be this fast. And I definitely didn’t expect to hear such grim information.

“Do not forget, young scale, the goal of these demonkins is to acquire that blood, yeah? To stop the birth of another Champion of Yeostar,” Krim-Slak reminded me. “That means, destroy the blood that enables it. And not only temporarily, but permanently. Their real objective isn’t just the blood—”

“But the downfall of Yeos’s culture and royal family,” Grazlahta ended his sentence.

““Urlp…”” Anasthasia and Markval gulped silently, while Jethro squinted his eyes.

“This will be hassle…” I shook my head, slightly dizzy with everything going on. I really just wanted to go into bed right about now and dream all of this away, to the point my hostility and sense of helping were slowly dropping down from morale loss. “We need to relocate them, huh? The blood and the—”

Krim-Slak shook his hand, shrugging as if I had the wrong idea. “Nah, that’s impossible, young scale. Well, the blood, I mean. Not the royals. But, that is something the Yeosian royals can answer for you.”

“Mhmm!” Master nodded, a hand on his chin as he stared at the prince. “Krim, Grazlahta, and Akast found some of our enemies on the islands, skulking around with weapons… and plenty of information. With the search Larent, Rajah, and I lead, we tracked the culprits towards a lair underwater, created and maintained by what I presume are some capable water mages. Ha! Just a bit further away from where that young knight died… but the knowledge we gained from our search also directed my interest in what the festival’s true purpose is. Hmm?”

“ ‘True purpose?’ Are you insinuating it isn’t just used as an event to decide—” I stopped myself from talking and turned around to look at the four Yeosian’s in the group. Now that I thought about it, where was the blood even located and why couldn’t we relocate it?

I could probably ask Yeostar about it, but I stared at Markval, prompting him to speak. The young prince was reluctant about it, averting his eyes and pulling his lips into his mouth. His nervousness or embarrassment caused his poker face to break, well, at least whatever he tried to hide it.

“Your Majesty, I think it would be prudent to share this information now…” Alberstien prompted the young ruler with a bow, having noticed the scene he was making with his obvious reactions.

“B-But, Mother and you told me to keep quiet about it. That it would only shame us,” he voiced aloud, prompting the seneschal of the land to nod, assuring him it was alright to tell it to me. “T-Then… No, I did receive notice from our ancestor that you are trustworthy. Even that message you told me… Yes.”

He probably was thinking of the telepathic message I sent to him, the one Yeostar told me to tell him. It would make sense the god would confirm things to make things easier on me. That was why the prince has been so friendly with me, even to the point he followed and talked to me when I had Anasthasia speak with Chahayat.

And so, Markval began, “The blood of Yeostar… is located at the bottom of the arena. Next to the dungeon core where only those of royal blood may enter, as decreed by God Yeostar. The tournament held during the Festival of the Stars isn’t only to find a suitable Champion candidate, but also to empower the potency of the blood through the cheers and battle happening in the matches.”

My eyes widened at that revelation. “Empower?” So, would the Champion become stronger the more chaotic the battle got during the matches?

“Father… Father told me the cheers and battle thirst of the gladiators would channel and produce what God Yeostar seeks in his Champion — a one-man army to conquer any foes. That is why the goal of the royal family is to promote the festival, to attract warriors from every part of the world to join. The stronger the contestant, the more powerful the cheers; it all adds up,” Markval explained with the voice of a child’s imagination breaking from the hammer of reality. The pained tone in his voice made it seem like he disagreed with the way it was handled.

“It is a remnant of the warrior-king God Yeostar was,” Jethro came to his nephew’s rescue, continuing the explanation. “Knighthood came after he realized the importance of it during his travels with his fellow Goddess Erithia, the founder of the Hands of Heaven. However, until wisdom came with age, he would have probably been the type of person attracted to something like our arena today.”

I heard Yeostar lament his past decisions, sounding like he was blaming himself for the way his country ended up. Maybe this was why he wasn’t criticizing Yeos as much as I would have expected. Honestly, as a god whose job is to only oversee everything and not meddle too much into mortal stuff, it wasn’t purely his fault with how the country became.

[“Master!”] Rajah suddenly sprang out of Larent’s shadow, wagging his white striped tail as he greeted me with a head nuzzle. [“Rajah found the enemy! We can go hunt? Now?”]

“Rajah is correct, Lady Hestia,” Tasianna agreed with Rajah’s carefree comments after the blood explanation was over. “Only royals can enter the dungeon core, and may we presume if we were to remove the blood now, something would happen with it?”

Anasthasia nodded. “Yes, the tournament itself is a ritual, and if we were to remove the blood, it would become unusable. The creation process of the blood requires a massive amount of blood siphoned from us royal, which is then transformed into the holy blood to transform someone into a Champion. It might be the remnants of Sir Royce’s holy blood, but without the ritual, it wouldn’t be usable.”

In other words, it would be ‘destroyed’ for the sake of the Divine Quest.

“If that is the case, then Lady Hestia, please, you need to stay here,” Tasianna insisted. “However, as your maid, I have a duty to assure you do not grieve for anything. Shay, Beth, and I can fly out and rescue Adhi and the Caedhulens if needed.”

[“My sister and I have experience flying over the seas from our time delivering that missive from Yorshka to your mother, Your Highness,”] Shay supported Tasianna’s idea. [“We learned the ritual to Melicertha already. You have fought against us in the past, and although we lost, you have seen our strength.”]

[“Yes! Her Imperial Majesty has trained us, we’re stronger than before. We’ll freeze anything that faces us! Your orders!”] Beth shook her fist and grinned, showing off her fangs and sharp teeth with gusto.

“I would like to agree to that, Lady Priestess,” Renee stepped up into everybody’s focus. “This is my country, I am equally worried for the people out there as you are. Your Majesty, allow me to aid in the rescue process! I can travel faster than a normal gargoyle with my magic items, we can start the rescue process right now!”

Renee showed off her magic ring, the one she used to create all the wind constructs and the silence field during her match. Jethro’s interest was piqued once again, unable to hide his twitching smile as he eyed the talisman Renee was wearing.

“Young man, that talisman, have I seen that somewhere before?”

Renee instantly grabbed the item in question, excusing it as one of her family’s heirlooms. Jethro didn’t seem convinced, but dropped it nonetheless to speak with his nephew.

“Your Majesty, you have seen this person’s prowess in the matches. Alistar himself has vouched for him. I say we allow him to help us. Besides, there is no time to waste! We have spoken too much anyways!”

“I concur!” Master voiced his agreement before stepping forward. “I am just a Saint of Xohulotel, but allow me to aid you in the process! It would ease my apprentice’s mind while my guards and friends can finally let loose a bit! Ha ha ha ha!”

“Ha! That’s what I’m talking about, Kush! Let’s see if these invaders are actually warriors or just a bunch of krill eaters!” Krim-Slak crossed his arms and showed off his muscles as he boasted about the fight to come.

“Ease up, Krim!” On the other hand, Grazlahta tapped his shoulder, trying to reel the big saurian in. “This is a rescue mission. We aren’t fighting them. Rescue any survivors we got with Kush’s unique skill and then rush back to the city.”

“Yes… fight in… city.” Akast growled out.

Everybody's eyes were then directed at me, telling me the plan was ongoing but that they wanted to hear if I was to do my part of it. How could I say no at this point? I was being swept away by the flow.

“How long will it take the invasion force to arrive before Elyonda through land?” I asked Jethro and Alberstien, to which they roughly guessed would take two to three days, depending on how much they could delay them. “Is that so? Hmm… alright, then so be it!”

“Wonderful! Thank you, Your Grace!” Alberstien cheered for my decision.

“An idol isn’t supposed to run away when a show is going, after all! Can’t believe I forgot that part of being an entertainer! The show must go on!” I hyped myself up, now understanding why exactly I have to be here in the first place. “Sir Larent, I will try to confuse the enemy! That demonkin is undoubtedly working with the grimgarians, so they should know the war declaration has been sent. However, if I were to change the mood of the city, turn Elyonda’s festivities to its max, then we can not only lure out those fiends, but also confuse them.”

“That is wise, yes.” The sword savant agreed with my idea. “Just like when you lured my party into that trap of yours. That concert would attract anybody, and we were hooked.”

I was reminded of the attack plan in Estralia, how we handled the demonkin and their attacks. They wanted to destroy my reputation and have Estralia’s capital Gleisvale chase me out for being a demon spawn, or something, however, I turned it around on them by becoming the star in the limelight. With everybody captivated, the Follower of Edjurl’s plans to ruin me failed completely.

“There are more rats in this city, undoubtedly! We need to flush them out and group them for easy killings!”

“Then allow me to assist with that, Sir Larent and Princess Hestia.” Alistar bowed with that request. “I shall send some of my knights and soldiers out, while keeping some guards under your command, Sir Larent. Sir Jethro, I will also need the warrior priest’s help as well. Can I count on it?”

“Of course, knight-commander! My soul would be branded with shame if I cannot protect my brother’s home after his death.”

“Good, then those are the three squads!” I declared. “Tasianna, Shay, Beth, hurry to the Caedhulen’s side and rescue them. However, instead of returning to the city, I want you to follow them to Artorias. Once you are there, open up a portal. We can finally use the nexus for its strategic power, and it wouldn’t hurt if I hurl down a fire bomb or two to help out Duke Lecartiglio’s siege.”

“By your command, Lady Hestia!” Tasianna and the twins shouted out.

“Master, I already have an idea on how you’ll be doing this, so here.” I handed him some dragorade and also [Room] runes. “Use them how you fit. You already know how the nexus works, so make sure to use it wisely, alright?”

“Ha ha, of course, my apprentice! This elder scale can’t disappoint the Depth Goddess on his very first Divine Quest, now can he?” Master laughed boisterously, reassuring me he was the right man for the job.

“We’ll be done with this quickly, so I will hope you will have the capital covered, Lady Priestess.” I nodded to Renee assessment before we fist bumped. “The tournament isn’t quite over yet. I still wish to fight either you or Neill, so the two of you better stay alive!”

“Say that when the siege happens! I’ll take down those demonkins, don’t worry!” I asserted that fact, before turning around to the country’s most important personnel. “Alright, I think I have a plan on how to handle tomorrow’s show, but I probably will need to get it ready now. The tournament needs to happen somehow, I guess, otherwise that would only confuse the citizens.”

“I can handle that!” Alberstien volunteered. “This is my duty as a politician and seneschal. I’ll persuade those princes somehow. Lady Hestia, if you have any need for resources for your show tomorrow, send me a letter. Sir Alistar, I will also proceed with that plan you talked about.”

Plan? Did they talk about something prior?

“And I’ll make sure public order will be upheld! I will make the preparations needed to accommodate all the refugees.” Anasthasia quickly ran out of the room with her role confirmed, which prompted Alberstien to follow after her.

Unwilling to let those two go working while he stood her flabbergasted by how coordinated they seemed, Jethro huffed before taking action himself. “I’ll finish the preparations I’ve done for the siege. Alistar, I need your help, now! Send a new guard for His Majesty and follow me.”

The pen, the sword, and the heart. That is what this country needs!

“Yes, of course!” Alistar saluted to Jethro before sending out a mana bird for a guard switch. He then walked over to Renee, whispering something into her ears, before returning to the prince.

I wanted to speak up to it, but I couldn’t when Prince Markval spoke to me.

“U-Uhm, what should I do, Princess Hestia?” Overwhelmed by the situation, the young prince hadn’t been able to say anything, as everybody else had taken the helm, aside from him.

“That is easy, Prince Markval, act as your country’s liege! Follow behind Duke Alberstien — he is your seneschal — and help him. I am sure he will have something only you as the ruling prince can do.”

“I-I do? … Yes, I do! Thank you, I shall do it immediately!” The young prince jumped from his chair and ordered Alistar to follow him out of the room, only to stop himself to return before me. “I had almost forgotten! Thank you very much, Princess Hestia!”

And there he went…

“Hiehiehie,” Mother giggled once all the members of the Yeosian government just left the room, leaving us behind. “Hiehie, the music he will make will be more interesting once he understands what’s happening.”

“ ‘Music?’” I raised an eyebrow, once again hearing Mother speaking about that ‘music’ she has been hearing. I darted my head around, but I couldn’t even pick up a drum beat. “Mother, you’ve been mentioning that for a veeeeeery long time now. Honestly, is something wrong with my ears, or why are you mentioning music all the time?”

“Hmm? Oh!” Mother placed a hand over her opened mouth. “Hahaha, I had almost forgotten the fact that nobody could hear him speak to me! Hahaha! Oooh, it’s nothing too serious, Hestia. That ‘music’ was just Karhalantheel telling me how he would rip open my chest and devour my heart the moment he’s freed, before enacting his revenge on Yeostar! What a funny person, right?”

“Ooooh, Karhalantheel, that weird leviathan Yeostar imprisoned, right? Well, I guess it would be pretty funny if something woul— WAIT, WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?!”

“Oh yes, WAIT, WHAT?! Right? That old man lived before the System came to this world and he’s stuck down there! Who does he think he is? What a sad old pile of bones and waste. Hmph! Once the demonkins or whoever frees him, I’ll bring down my wrath upon that watered down SS rank. Nobody talks that way about my father!”

… Ho- Wait, wait, what?

I had the feeling Mother just talked over me.

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