Chapter 61: The Importance of “Followers”.

“You want us to do what now, little lady?!”

[“I want you three to become my followers,”] I answered Caszcur’s question.

“Followers…?” Apsala stopped for a moment, thinking about my request. “Little one…you told me that you weren’t a priestess of Aurena, right? And you also know that I’m a Kargryxmor follower so isn’t asking this a bit redundant?”

It seems like there was a misunderstanding when I told them to become my “followers”…actually, maybe there wasn’t one? I mean, technically, I am asking them to become affiliated with Aurena due to the origin of [Fan Overview] and [The Light].

[“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean that you become my followers, not Aurena or Kargryxmor or any other god,”] I responded, making the lizardmen even more confused. [“Ok, truth be told, I have an ability that grows stronger and stronger, the more ‘followers’ I have. You don’t actually have to do anything besides…well, I also am not really sure what you’re supposed to say. The skill is still quite mysterious to me, its owner.”]

Both Saori and Tasianna became my followers when they simultaneously got [Hestia’s Retainer], while I’m not sure how Rajah and his family did it. Was there some sorta ritual or a specific phrase that they have to say?

“…Little one, although I’m not quite sure what you’re even talking about, you should know that we lizardfolk take our religion seriously. The tribes that we three came from have a history of being Marsven worshippers,” Apsala said in a troubled tone. “Yes, some of us worship Kargryxmor but that is because of our culture. The once renowned dragon that was known throughout the world ascended to godhood through his strength alone. This ideal helped us stay strong through our harshest time, that perseverance and courage would bring us fortune…and it has, in you, Hestia.”

Apsala cast her head down, crestfallen as she continued speaking while tucking her tail between her legs, "You want us to become your 'followers' so it may make you stronger, and nothing would make me happier than to be able to help you but…I-I can't do that. It feels like I would abandon my faith if I did. My faith has brought me both happiness and sadness but without it, I wouldn't have been able to keep my sanity through these trials and tribulation."

…I honestly didn’t think about that. I knew that these lizardmen were religious, but I never had the feeling that they were that faithful about it. I wasn’t trying to make them convert or anything, but it seems I underestimated the meaning of a “follower”.

I’m not religious myself, neither in this life nor in my past. Despite knowing that gods actually existed in this world, I never wanted to worship them or anything, merely thinking of Kargryxmor as my super old grandfather and Aurena as a benefactor.

However, being stubborn about what you believe in is something I can respect, as my dream would have died a long time ago if I had given up on it the moment it got hard. There is no need to force her to do it if she didn't want to. I wanted [Venerated Saintess] but it wasn’t a must.

“As my tail is my witness, I’m so sorry, little one. Argh, I have insulted the God of Dragons and Oaths by not being able to fulfill my debt to you,” Apsala apologized wholeheartedly, completely inconsolable as she fell on the ground and held up her tail. “I-I offer my tail up for breaking this oath, and in the name of Kargryxmor I shall cut it off to repent.”

WHAT?!

[“Miss Apasala, please you do not have to go that far!”] Saori shouted, attempting to calm the crazy lizardwoman down.

["HEY! Listen to Saori, Apsala. Who fucking cares about that little favor anyway?! Don't fucking maim yourself just 'cause of me,"] I also shouted, rushing over to her side to take her hand away from her tail.

“Little one, let go of me, this has to be done. I’ve shamed my faith by my own selfishness,” Apsala pleaded, tears flowing from her eyes as she helplessly tried to remove my hand.

[“What do you mean you’ve shamed your faith, huh? Heilige scheiße, I was merely asking you for a simple favor, not a holy quest,”] I said frantically, not understanding what’s gotten to her.

["Miss Apsala, please you must calm down. Think about what you are trying to do here. If you were to cut your tail here then you would undoubtedly ignore Lady Hestia's wish once again,"] Saori remarked.

Her words seemed to have an effect as Apsala was visibly worried about it, “I-I would?”

[“Yes, yes! She is the one who asked you to not do it, so please stop,”] Saori continued. [“Isn’t that right, Tasianna? Lady Hestia asked her to not cut her tail, right?”]

“Uh, y-yes. Madam Apsala, nobody would be satisfied if you were to sever your tail, especially if you did it because you couldn’t help Lady Hestia. She would feel guilty,” Tasianna uttered, albeit hesitant at first.

Looking at Caszcur, Aksmias, and Tasianna and how they were just standing around and not doing anything despite how loud Apsala was shouting that she was about to maim herself, made me slightly flabberghasted. Admittedly, it doesn't seem like she had the strength to cut nor was there any sharp objects to help her, but just the thought counted.

Saori words seemed to have hit Apsala, as the hand she was using to tear mine away slowly lost strength and went limp. As the two of us tried to comfort her, I couldn't help but question what even happened just now.

Apsala tried to cut her tail, her two companions didn’t even try to stop her, and Tasianna was even hesitating to even help before Saori called her out. It felt…I feel like there was some kinda disconnection between us two and them.

Noticing that the other lizardmen were slowly becoming louder, I decided to ask Tasianna or Caszcur about the issue later on, [“Enough, forget about what I just said, alright? Let’s just go, we’re holding everybody up.”]

With that, our trip with the lizardmen began. I’ve already noticed it during the rescue mission but the lizardmen really were adept with moving through a swamp, barely being affected by the water that went up to their knees.

To not be slowed down, Saori and I had to be creative about it and move along the trees if the water was too deep. The lizardmen were taller than us so if the water went up to their knees, then it would go up to Saori’s hips. I was even shorter than her so my belly area would get submerged if I weren’t on a tree.

As we wandered at a relatively good pace, Saori and I talked with Tasianna about what just happened this morning, wanting to know her PoV, first.

Tasianna firstly apologized to us before telling us that she wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do there. Although she did find it a bit extreme she thought she had to respect it, as she mentioned that she was doing it for her god.

After questioning her a bit further, she told us that some of the gods are pretty strict about certain tenets. Plesia, the Water Goddess, was not only the chief goddess but she was also known to govern over order, honor, and tradition.

Despite being an extremely generous goddess to her followers, she was known to show disastrous consequences if they were to dissatisfy her extremely.

She thought this was the case with Kargryxmor. As a god who presided over dragonkins and oaths, she thought what Apsala was trying to do was just normal. She thought that it was something a follower from Kargryxmor would do to atone.

As she knew that I had no idea about the gods and that I wasn't interested in them until yesterday, she never thought it was important to mention it. She explained that the god a person chooses to follow usually was a good indicator of that person's personality.

Races that have a patron god usually worship theirs regardless of their disposition, however, whoever they chose to worship next was usually considered their primary god. Tasianna was a fairy so growing up as a Zephira believer was normal. By becoming also Plesia's, she made it clear that she valued her tenets.

[“I equally pray to Zephira and Plesia every night, but I consider myself more a water mage than a wind one,”] Tasianna admitted, telling us that she felt much closer to other Plesia worshippers than Zephira’s. [“Our ideology and values coincide, I believe.”]

In a way, this explained why she was so distraught about not being punished for her mistake, blaming herself for being the real reason why her last mistress died. Not only was it her honor and pride as a maid, but also her religious belief that made it hard for her to understand why nobody was willing to condemn her for her mistake.

Having that explained to me helped me understand the situation a bit better, knowing that my feeling of disconnect wasn't wrong. People in this world were religious, knowing that an actual god was overseeing them above the blue skies, so I guess people would be more careful to follow certain religious rules.

I mean, Earth’s history has shown time and time again that religion could be extremely manipulative, being able to cause hate and war. Just looking at the many crusades was enough to convince you about that.

It shouldn’t be surprising that something like that might also be applicable to this world.

Sigh, guess this whole “follower” stuff is harder to do than I thought. I should rethink all of this before attempting it again…

Eventually, the sun went down, and it was nighttime. Even in our rush, it wasn't a smart choice to travel while it's dark. Everybody needed sleep and it was better to rest now, so we can continue moving without any problems tomorrow.

After unpacking everything, the lizardmen immediately went into work mode, showing a surprising amount of energy despite having to walk for the whole day with only a few breaks. I also thought 'cause lizardmen were cold-blooded, like normal reptiles, that they would feel less energetic when winter was right over the corner, but it seems I wasn’t completely correct.

“No idea what you mean with ‘cold-blooded’ and ‘warm-blooded’ but if you want to know why, then I guess our bodies got used to it,” Caszcur answered, who was teaching me about proper woodworking. “Sure, it is cold with these rags but we gotta live with it. It doesn’t get as cold where we come from, but cold winter visited us every year like most other places. Shouldn’t you be more worried? You’re shivering in that simple dress.”

Activating [Body Temperature Control] I regulated my body heat back to normal to avoid shivering, making a “seeee?” face, afterward. While it might be effective, this was still only a temporary solution to my freezing problem.

The temperature was sinking and so was my body’s. It might not be a lot, but I was feeling chilly nonetheless and without reheating my body, my senses were getting duller the longer I stayed like this. I guess a fire dragon would feel less comfortable the colder it got, huh?

Understanding that it would be inefficient to continue using my skills to warm up, I took out the pelt of a [Rock-Skin Horned Grizzly] that I killed a month after I met Saori. While I would be around its size as a dragon, as a dragonewt it was so huge that I could completely cocoon myself with it.

Deactivating [Body Temperature Control], I wrapped myself with the pelt and dropped my “seeee?” face to change it to an exhausted one, [“Ok, yeah, I’m not doing too well with the cold, brrrr!”]

“Yeah, winter truly is a test for every young scale. I’m sure you’ll have no problems but be careful, alright? Many never survive theirs to reach adulthood,” Caszcur said, showing concern for my health.

[“If something crazy doesn’t happen then everything will be alright. Still…thanks. I appreciate it,”] I said with a small smile, accepting his concerns with gratitude. [“How about the other kids? You guys have it harder than me, so shouldn’t you be more concerned about them?”]

“Ahahaha,” bursting out in laughter, the tall lizardmen gently patted my head while responding. “They might be young, but I think this experience has hardened them. They still are a bunch of hot-headed krill eaters, but I think we won’t lose anybody this winter. Right, little lady?”

Understand what he meant with that smirk, I swiped his hand off my head with a chuckle, [“Shut it, you’re gonna jinx us if you continue thinking that it’s an absolute. It’s still a long way, you know? Anyways, enough of that, you told me you would teach me how to properly do these bowls so come on, let’s do it already.”]

"Ha, you got it, little lady! Leave it to this old scale to repay you back with these free lessons," Caszcur slammed his chest with his fist before taking out one of his woodworking knives and a log.

As the whole “become my follower” thing failed, the lizardmen trio were visibly worried that they might have ruined any chances to repay the debt. Crazy pessimistic, right?

Anyways, as I didn’t want to get back to that question before knowing how to handle it, I instead asked Caszcur to show me how to properly woodwork. Considering that he did criticize my bowls and utensils, I thought I should use this chance to learn how to do it properly. Our party’s eating comfort relied on my creation and if I can make better ones to make our dinners better, then so be it.

Saori went with the lizardwomen to cook our dinner for tonight, wanting to learn some lizardmen cuisine. She said something like, "Learning about another culture's cuisine is one of the joys of traveling. I'll not let this chance go by!".

Apparently, the lizardmen had a trick where they could soften hard, sun-dried fish for dinner. From what little that I heard, you put any dried fish into a mixture of forest herbs and muddy water and boiled it over a flame. The herb oils would mix with the fish while the muddy water would slow down the cooking process of the fish.

As her plan was to learn about these herbs, Saori went with them. While it might not be very useful for us as we can just put them into mine or Saori’s storage, knowledge was nothing to scoff about. Also growing more herbs in my future garden would be fun.

As Tasianna wanted to join her, I was left without a translator. While it was hard to understand everything, I learned from my previous mistake and had my parallel minds remember numerous amounts of words that Tasianna translated for me.

While it took a while to respond, I was able to do it, slowly learning Common tongue. Still, regardless of how many words I’ve been able to learn, I still haven’t mastered it yet.

“You see how my knife is hiertunlut? Cut the bowl like this while keeping your hands still and precise. Control your strength and just let your claw slide around,” Caszcur explained.

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“Hiertunlut?” I asked aloud, unsure what that word meant.

“You didn’t understand it?” I nodded to his question, prompting him to think about it. “Hmm, dammit. Words aren’t my specialty; I just know which to use. Hmm, sorry, I can't figure a definition, little lady. Just follow my movements, and you'll get an idea of what 'hirtunlut' means. That's how I learned the word, and you're smart enough to figure it out, I figure."

With that said, he began cutting the bowl into shape, finely rounded any edges while keeping cutting to a minimum. While I observed his movements, he also patiently continued repeating the word “hiertunlut” to help me interpret it, which was a success after I finally understood that it meant “angled”.

While I was celebrating my success, I quickly learned that it was only a minor victory when the lizardmen were finished setting the camp up. Aksmias and a few lizardmen artisans and builders joined our little woodworking session as they also wanted to help me get better with my craft.

While my heart felt fuzzy and my tail couldn’t stop waggling due to their hospitality, I also was overwhelmed when the lizardmen started speaking among themselves, analyzing my every move and giving feedback to them. While most would find this unnerving, I thought that it was sweet of them to put this much effort into it.

However, what actually made me anxious was that I couldn’t understand most of the words they said. Sometimes I couldn’t differentiate between a lizardman idiom or a Common tongue word, while other times I questioned if certain accent-heavy words were just growling or not. It was so nice of them…but it doesn’t help if 50% of the comments sounded more like bestial howls.

Acquisition requirement fulfilled. [Handicraft Lv. 1] acquired

Proficiency requirement fulfilled. [Woodworking Lv. 2] evolved into [Woodworking Lv. 3]

“Oooh, you’re showing some fantastic talent there, lass,” a lizardman artisan said, praising me for the bowl that I made under their supervision.

“Mhmm! This is better than most of the stuff the young scales at the tribes can make. Quality-wise it’s still ok but this is enough for me to allow an apprentice to sell it,” another said, inspecting the cut marks.

“It certainly looks better than your old ones, little lady,” Caszcur laughed, slapping my back in congratulations.

[“Oof, jeez, don’t slap my back that hard. I’m still a girl, you forgot?”] I chided Caszcur, giving him a stink eye in the process.

“A female? Ahhh, stop yanking my tail with that krill eater act. You’re the sturdiest scale-kin among us artisans, and whether you’re a female or male, it doesn’t matter. A lass that can’t take that sort of slap wouldn’t be able to survive the swamps of our tribes,” Caszcur waved my girlish act away, unimpressed of it.

Urgh, getting criticized for acting like a normal girl…

He was right that acting like that wasn't needed at all. It was an unnecessary way to attract attention that I shouldn't use anyway. Still, while it was redundant, acting like that does make me feel better as it would show that I still had some sense of a normal girl inside me, despite how much I’ve changed.

Getting no reciprocation for my act did make me feel a bit insecure about myself, but maybe it’s just a racial thing? Maybe lizardmen valued strength and valor more in their women? Showing false vulnerability that didn’t reflect the amount of power I had could also be interpreted wrongly by them, for all I knew.

Well, whatever.

[“So, what’s your opinion on the bowl?”] I asked Caszcur, ignoring what just happened.

"Hmmm," Caszcur laid a hand on his chin, scratching it as he carefully inspected every single angle. "You still put a bit too much force into your swipes which makes everything a bit inaccurate. Here, look. You can clearly see where you began your cuts and how a small dent is left behind. I’m pretty sure you would do better with a knife, but you’ve gotten so used to using your claws to cut that it would be bad to change now.”

Digesting the criticism everybody gave me, our little group of artisans continued creating small wooden creations. While most of it was giving me tips on what wood would make good dishware, what technique I should use, and what other objects I should make to improve my skills; there were also some moments where the lizardmen had a quarrel about conflicting ideas.

“You skink, we’re here to repay our debt to her and you’re trying to teach her some outdated technique? I’ll cut your tail before that happens!”

"Krrrrashu! This is something my workshop mastered, and we've been selling our wares in the grand clan village for multiple years now! I'm trying to teach the young scale something that I would never show an untalented krill eater like you!”

“Mastered? You try to fool our tails, huh? The last time I saw you there, I’m pretty sure you were begging people to buy your stuff, ha ha ha!”

Hearing all that makes me kinda wish I could visit that place one day…but depending on how large this continent was, that might be a bit too hard and time intensive.

Despite the rowdy noises, I still much enjoyed and benefited quite a lot from their lessons, feeling like I could breakthrough to [Woodworking Lv. 4] without needing to spend SP.

After everybody started leaving for dinner, I quickly collected any finished bowls so I could join them.

However, before I was about to go, Caszcur stopped me, “Hey, little lady, can I speak with you for a moment?”

Turning around, I answered yes to the tall lizardmen, prompting him to continue, “You remember what happened this morning? About that whole follower stuff?”

[“Huh, that? Caszcur, I already told you that it was fine. No need to bring that topic back up,”] I said, in response to his sudden questions.

“Nah, see…I’m alright with becoming one…one of you followers, I mean,” he said, scratching his head nervously.

Caught off-guard by this, I made a bewildered “huh?” before speaking, [“Wait, wait, why would you want to do that, huh? Weren’t you against it when I asked about it this morning? You just stood still like a statue, as if you were petrified by the very idea of becoming one!”]

“What the hell is that sorta imagination!”Caszcur shouted, scolding me for what I just said. “I didn’t answer because that question came out of nowhere! Do you really think somebody could think properly and give you an answer after you said, ‘Become my followers.’, huh!?”

After letting ourselves cool down a bit, Caszcur once again brought up the topic, "I gave everything a thought and I made up my mind that it wouldn't be that bad. You said to only become a follower so your skill can evolve, right? Well, who am I to disagree with my lifesaver about fulfilling a favor?"

[“But what about your belief? Shouldn’t Apsala’s reasoning also work with you?”] I asked, still remembering what Tasianna and Apsala told me.

“My tribe are Marsven followers, so I had to become one, too. I never had a choice on that matter,” Caszcur remarked. "I never really was religious, to begin with. It's just too much of a bother when it doesn't help me better my craft, after all. But I still did it because it was part of being a tribe, a family."

Casczur let out a sigh in exasperation, clearly annoyed at what he was about to say, “I asked Apsala about it and she made a big fuzz, explaining that it wouldn’t be right to do it due to my duty to Marsven. Eventually, she did relent telling me that I technically didn’t have a second god yet and that she also wasn't part of my tribe, so she had no authority to stop me if I really wanted to.”

[“Do you really?”] I asked.

"Well, I heard that the Earth Goddess, Crustacia, was also a Goddess of Craftsmanship so I actually planned to have her as my second god, but there also wasn't a rule that I couldn't have three gods that I could pray to," Caszcur responded. “Well, you aren’t a goddess but I guess this ‘follower’ thing might be bit similar.”

Remembering what I heard from Tasianna, any person may pray to as many gods as they wanted to. The gods see no problem in a person praying to all gods as in the end results, the gods are receiving that person’s prayer anyways.

Tasianna told me that the elven culture, more specifically speaking, the high elven culture promoted polytheism. Some elves chose to stick with one while others could choose how many they wanted to. It was all allowed.

If the gods see no fault in it, then technically we mortals shouldn’t also.

[“Still, what made you so willing about it? Just ‘cause I said that nothing big will happen doesn’t mean you should believe me on it. I’m not the greatest liar but I also don’t hesitate to do it when I have to,”] I admitted, remembering that I have made excuses to keep my two friends unaware about a few of my personal issues.

"Sure, you want me to count them up for you?" once I nodded, he continued. "You saved the lives of my scale-kins without any payment. You agreed to come with me on that rescue mission. You rescued me and our lost scale-kins from those terrors, and you also re-attached my arm. We didn’t start out well, especially concerning those virigresses, so everything you’ve done for me and my scale-kins wasn’t something we deserve. Despite also knowing how we treated them and that we were the ones that chased them away, you still were willing to stick around.”

…Hearing everything I’ve done for them really puts stuff into perspective. I really was a bit too nice to the people who chased away Rajah’s family! I better confront them about this later!

“We haven’t told you anything about how lizardmen tribes worked, but a chief is usually chosen due to their strength. Not only are you the strongest among us but you’ve also shown the leadership needed for one,” Caszcur said before bowing, placing one hand on the ground and the other on the chest. “There really is no reason for me not to accept, right?”

[“…Sigh, ok, let’s do it,”] I said, throwing my arms in the air in defeat. [“Let’s not make much of a deal out of it, but I really have no idea how this will work out so how do you…huh?”]

[Krokus Lizardman, Caszcur] has become your follower

Total follower count updated. Total follower of [Young Spark Inferno Dragon, Hestia Atsuko]: 7

“Hmm? What is it?” Caszcur asked, oblivious of the fact that he just became my follower.

What just happened?!

[“Well, congratz Caszcur, you just became my follower…somehow,”] I stated with slight confusion.

“That happened? Weird, it feels nothing changed for me but…I guess that’s fine,” he expressed with a shrug. “At the end of the day, if it benefits you then whatever. Never expected anything to change anyways.”

[“…Yeah…but I still have no idea how that happened, though? There has to be a reason for why the System gave me the message now, right?”]

As I mulled for a reason, Caszcur placed his hand on my head and patted it, “Come on, little lady. I think you’re thinking too hard about it now. There is a dinner waiting for us, so leave the thinking for later, ha ha ha!”

With that said, he slowly walked towards the center of the camp where our dinner would be held. Noticing that my stomach was growling, I gave my parallel minds the duty to think over it while I refueled our body with food.

The night is cold and eating some good food will warm me back up again.

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