Chapter 74: Chapter 60: Preparations for the March.

[“And that would be all. We might be asking a lot from you, especially as the rest of the camp has not fully recovered yet, but we believe it would be best if we were to move soon,”] Saori explained to the lizardmen.

“YES… Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but I certainly want to get out of this forest as soon as possible!” Apsala urged us, nodding furiously.

"Well, we owe you quite a lot so we have no right to refuse it when you ask us to do so," Caszcur agreed, stroking his arm to stimulate his muscles. I might have re-attached his severed arm back to his body, but it seemed like it sometimes went numb if it wasn’t active.

“Wherever you go, we will follow, fair-scaled one,” Aksmias responded, bowing his head slightly.

[“Aksmias, you do know my name is Hestia, correct? I don’t think you’ve ever addressed me with my name ever since we’ve known each other,”] I complained, realizing this weird habit of his.

Well, anyway, the reason for their behavior was quite simple: our party had decided to travel with the lizardmen. Pretty much since our goals aligned perfectly.

We needed to get to Saelariel ‘cause civilization, yo. They needed to go north since their final destination was to the west of the elven kingdom — the Republic of the Aquapolis, Caedhul.

Land of the nagas, merfolks, and levianewts — essentially the sea version of the dragonewt — and also religious capital of the Church of Plesia; if they wanted to settle somewhere, that place would be the best for them, according to Tasianna.

And this was why we were trying to push the lizardmen group up north before winter came. The earlier we got out of this forest, the better for everybody.

Aside from the safety of our group, it was also a unanimous decision in our party after I told them of Aurena’s message to me this morning. Couldn’t exactly hold something this huge as a secret from them, right? Wouldn’t feel right, and I also had to ease their concerns for Rajah and his family’s safety now that I believed they were under Aurena’s protection or watch.

Naturally, Tasianna was the most excited about this, calling me a “blessed candidate” at the message’s implications. Apparently, that was how this world called their gods’ “Saints” and “Champions,” people blessed by them with special titles to spread their faith or pursue Divine Quests respectively. In a way, didn’t that make me already one with [The Light] and [Bearer of Kargryxmor’s Blood]?

It became even more of a fuss for Tasianna when I told her about my “Fan Overview” and the function of both my “followers” and “retainers.” Similar to how [Hestia’s Retainer] came from [The Light], these “fans,” or followers as they were originally called, were the same. The fact I could unlock reward by getting more followers encouraged me to get more of them, somehow.

Saori giggled at this fact, stating how perfectly well it fitted me. It was true, it was perfect for an inspiring idol like me. She even theorized that if I were to gather more fans, I might be able to unleash the title’s full power, like maybe getting rid of my crippling dark weakness through a milestone.

Looking through the [Fan Overview], I couldn’t tell if it was possible, though.

Hestia Atsuko’s [The Light] [Fan Overview]

Follower Count: 6

Retainer Count: 2

Milestones: 0: Spell [Shine]

1: Spell [Sanctuary]

5: Unlock [The Light]’s [Faithful Function] and [System Neutrality]

25: Unique Skill [Venerated Saintess Lv. 1]

Maybe it was Aurena’s way to keep me wanting for more. Like a cliffhanger. I mean, no way in hell would the rewards stop at 25, right? Now, if that were to come true, then it would mean Aurena didn’t believe I could gather anymore than that, yeah? Oooh, I could already feel my blood boiling if that ever came true.

Anyway, the current milestone rewards were still pretty good. [Shine] and [Sanctuary] had already shown their worth, especially [Shine] being the main reason for why I survived in the beginning as a G rank dragon.

While the [Faithful Function] was already active and it simply gave me an UI to track everything now, [System Neutrality] would certainly become useful. From the sound of its description, it should prevent gods from messing with my blessings, or “look through my eyes” as Aurena mentioned the gods were able to do. Now, [Venerated Saintess] is definitely something I wanted just ‘cause it was a skill that enhanced my abilities.

<Venerated Saintess: A skill that a saintess would earn after proving her abilities to her championed god. In the presence of her followers and supporters, the user will gain parameter boosts depending on the number. Reduces mana cost by 50% if the user uses a spell or skill that benefits one of her followers. Boosts holy elemental spells depending on skill’s level>

Holy moly, finally! It was a skill to boost up my holy spells’ damage! All I’d been getting were fire boosts from my evolution choice, not to mention the whole spark things my scales have been doing. The destructive power of my [Inferno Magic] spell and my [Spark Fire Dragon] abilities had shown time and time again they could cause absolute carnage even against things I shouldn’t be able to hurt usually.

Ahh, I love simple passives that just increase your damage. It makes it simple.

Oh right, another discussion I had this morning with Saori was a name for all my spark-boom scales. Considering whenever I used [Spark Flame Veil] dust would escape from my scales, it was most likely they were the source for all my spark flames. It only made sense to me to coin them scale-dust. Simple, and easy to understand for anybody.

Even Saori and Tasianna liked the name. Scale-dust, yup! Although, Saori did admit believing I would use some cringy, chuuni name for it like “Full-Burner Dust Flare” or “Apocalyptic Bomb Powder.” Honestly, what did she think of me?! The fact she gave me those suggestions meant she was a chuuni!

… In any case, with all that said and discussed, we all wanted to get out of this swamp even faster, now. I mean, come on, outside of the whole Aurena stuff, a humongous leviathan was in this place. It was a sea dragon. A giant sea dragon was here, and it attacked me on-sight.

I still remembered how the lizardmen mentioned the tragedies they met in this place. That a giant crocodile appeared out of nowhere, scattering them from where they camped. In addition, you could call it my gut feeling, but I believed that the leviathan's white snake and the crocodile head we saw a few days ago had to be related. It was large enough to be that leviathan.

So… to sum up, there was a giant crocodile with snakes for legs living right over the corner, three giant wyverns were pursuing my group for some reason, and then the worst part was the army of frogs and toads in this place! In fact, the lizardmen were catching these little beasts for breakfast! Urgh, the humanity!

Now to mention I saw some waiting in the dark when I went out to the toilet last night. It watched me menacingly… waiting to probably steal my ice cream, again. Or food.

…I was pretty sure I made my point that I didn't wanna be here with that last fact.

While it might be better for us to leave the lizardmen here and just travel in our three-man group, it sounded sooo selfish. In these past few days, we had become well acquainted with the lizardmen. We shared meals and hunted together for that feast yesterday, so why should we leave them when they needed our help?

I had already said my goodbye to a friend… Doing it once again before I could actually process that farewell felt terrible. Company made traveling feel shorter, and I believed it. There was also the fact I kinda promised the quintuplets and their friends what an idol was. Something inside, deep in my soul even, told me I couldn’t break such a promise.

“Ahh, forget about Aksmias’ zealousness, little one.” Apsala brushed him off before walking into the middle of the camp to start explaining our plan with Caszcur. Essentially, we needed to pack up and move.

It was early in the morning, but none of the lizardmen argued against it, seemingly already used to sudden departures. As we had to speed up the trip, we were also using my [Storage Magic] to load up everything to not slow the trip down. Meaning, I was a pack mule.

“Miss Dragon, here!”

“We need to pack it like this. Organize everything before we give it to her, young scales! We can’t disrespect Her Dragoness by giving her rummage!”

“““Yes, elder scale!”””

… Pretty obvious I shouldn’t have told Caszcur about me being a dragon, huh? Yeah, that kinda backfired on me, when those festive lizards literally told the whole camp about it. I was okay with them knowing, but it felt a bit weird being “exposed” like this.

Saori partially chastised me for it, telling me she was okay with me exposing myself if I believed it was right, but that I should have told them they shouldn’t spread the information without my consent. She herself wasn’t a fan of it, as she learned from Tasianna there were feral dragons and garms in this world, which were considered threats if they were intelligent.

Saori did seem pretty adamantly against exposing ourselves unless we could do it safely. Saori the worrywort, of course, but she had a glint of truth in them as I remembered how Tasianna described the humans. Unless we were in a country aligned with dragons, like the elves, we should expect a healthy amount of persecution from paranoid and scared people.

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As I continued mulling over this fact, I wandered close to a bunch of lizardmen kids helping the adults deconstructing the tents, “Ah, Hestia! Elder Apsala just told us you're joining us on our trip! Is that true!

[“Huh? Oh, hey Slazzaila,”] I responded to the eldest sibling of the quintuplets. [“Yeah, pretty much. Tasianna, Saori, and I will join you guys. We have the same destination, after all.”]

"Bwuh, having your voice in my head feels so weird, but I'm very happy that you're coming with us! Yay," Slazzaila cheered. "Ah, you're younger than me, right? So, you’re like another little egg-sister? I’ll make sure to teach you how to speak!”

[“Hehe, uh, I don’t… you know, consider you my sister, Slazzaila. Besides, I have my own tutor, so you don’t have to teach me,”] I declined her offer to help, feeling a bit awkward being called an “egg-sister.”

Slazzaila's tail limply fell to the ground in disappointment 'cause of my rejection, but quickly recovered before saying she had to help the elders otherwise they would scold her.

Honestly, that was adorable. Technically, I was younger than the lizardmen kids but mentally speaking, I was 15. To me, they were just kids. Adorable, cute, and sweet. Driven by pure emotions and wants, which made it fun to be around them.

If you thought about it, being alone has taught me to cherish these moments with people. They were so fleeting, but it helped soothe my mind even further, reminding me I was still just a kid. And this kid inside me wanted to make these young scales smile and laugh with my songs. Sure, I felt some trepidation that I wouldn’t do a good job, but I wanted to perform before them.

Such a small hint of civilization… but I want more already. We need to reach a village, town, or city soon!

As time went by, the camp slowly emptied while my storage became fuller and fuller. The lizardmen didn’t have many belongings to begin with, so my mana wasn't draining too fast. Once that was finished, Apsala and Caszcur gathered everyone to explain how they would proceed.

"As we have already told you, we will be moving fast and with minimal amounts of breaks in between," Apsala started. "I believe everybody has had enough of wandering through this devil of a forest, am I right? Well, we finally have a chance to get out of here permanently!"

"I believe everybody should have already met our savior and benefactor, Hestia, correct?" Caszcur continued. "Although we lizardfolk have already amassed more debts that we can repay this young scale back, she and her companions agreed to get us safely out of this place."

"By Kargryxmor, do not worry about anything dangerous appearing with these three joining our travels!" Apsala used our strength and what we had done for the lizardmen to encourage everybody. "Tasianna knows the path north and Saori will scout ahead for us. If there are any threats, leave it to them and our beloved Dragoness! Our goal is to stay strong and get out of this place as soon as possible. Have I made myself clear?

“““YEAH!”””

The combined cheers of the rowdy lizardmen group really left an impression on my poor ears. Really loud.

[“Jeez, they really are showering you with a lot of praise,”] Saori commented, smiling wryly.

[“Yeah… sorry, about that. You two definitely deserve more than this. I'll speak with those two to give you guys more recognition,"] I offered, slightly worried they might feel dejected.

[“It’s alright, Lady Hestia. I’m already proud they are relying this much on us. A simple maid like me only needs the acknowledgement of my mistress and close friends,”] Tasianna replied with a wide smile, looking proudly at me in my stead.

["The same applies to me. Having to deal with a crowd like this is not something I wish for, so hoard it all, Miss Idol,"] Saori giggled in a teasing manner. [“Besides, did any of them trigger your [Fan Overview]? Did you get any new followers?”]

[“Nope.”] I shook my head. [“Allowing of cheering, nothing else, though. I think we might need to be forthright with them about it later on.”]

[“Any plans for turning them into retainers? They will not be able to benefit much without [Hestia’s Retainer] or if Aurena decides to be generous again,”] Saori stated.

[“I thought about it, and I’ve decided to not tell them about that ‘retainer’ part. Being my retainer means getting access to the SP system and many other benefits. I don’t know how the outside wil view it, so let’s be careful first.”] Saori’s remark from this morning lingered in my head. [“It’s not like I don’t trust them, but it feels wrong charging forward without more information.”]

We would separate from the lizardmen once we reached the elven kingdom and that would be it. In that situation was it responsible for me to give them such a strong title like [Hestia’s Retainer]?

No.

It might sound hypocritical after I allowed both Tasianna and Saori to do so, but their situations were different. Saori and I were both humans from Earth in our past lives and we both had nobody else except the two of us. Besides, it was also an accident that she even got the title to begin with, as I didn't even know that it existed.

Tasianna, on the other hand, had no place to go to. She self-exiled herself from her village and wanted to travel with us due to her wish for self-atonement by “serving another princess correctly this time.”

Both of them were my companions, and I needed them to be strong. On the other hand, the lizardmen were non-combatants, and I didn’t want to push onto them any responsibilities or debt. it sounded unreasonable to confront them with it.

There was also the case that the title could be seen by everyone. If somebody were to read the description then that person would be suspicious about it, no? Who was this “Hestia” and why does this title with her name in it give you access to the SP system? Catch the drift?

There were so many factors I had to consider, and it wasn’t worth it in the end. That was why making them my retainers was a no-go.

[“I also agree that you shouldn’t make them your retainers, Lady Hestia. No one is allowed to join our prestigious rank without our approval, correct, Miss Saori?”] Tasianna asked Saori with sparkling eyes.

[“Huh? Uhm, I guess?”] Saori raised an eyebrow at the cheering Tasianna, weirded out by her enthusiasm.

While Tasianna already knew Saori was my retainer only in name, she still treated her as if she was the head retainer. Her respect for Saori must have grown ever more after she found out Saori protected us by sacrificing her own health with the Rajah and [Shadow Snake] plan.

“Ok, that was all! Everybody get into position and let’s move out!” Apsala clapped, interrupting our private talks with another explosive cheer from the lizardmen crowd. Content, she then moved towards us with the other leading lizardmen. "Hey, sorry for taking so long. Everything should be sorted out now. Really, thank you very much for coming with us. May God Kargryxmor ever keep you safe under his wings, Hestia.”

“Yeah, taking care of carrying our equipment and baggage, while also defending everybody? All of that, and you three still agreed to help. That’s insane.” Caszcur showed us a rare smile, fully expressing his gratitude by moving his tail under his legs as a sign of respect.

“We have said this a few times already but please don’t hesitate to ask us if you need something. Even giving my life wouldn’t be enough to repay the debts of our group,” Aksmias offered with a nonchalant smile despite how dark that sounded.

Hey, I’m not some kinda creepy cultist who would ask you to sacrifice your life, dude!

… Although, I might have to right now.

[“… If that’s the case, then I actually do have a favor,”] I started out, enticing them to ask what my favor was.

"YOU DO!" Apsala shouted out, exploding in energy. "Tell it to me then, little one! Whatever it might be, allow me to fulfill it as a way to thank you and also God Kargryxmor. Oh, our luck has certainly turned around since you arrived, Lady Dragoness!”

One of the consequences of having my identity as a dragon known to everybody was people like Apsala, a follower of Kargryxmor, who were naturally excited about being in the presence of a dragon. I thought she didn’t think much of it despite knowing about it, but it seemed she was showing her true colors now.

…  What would happen if I told her that I was a descendant of Kargryxmor? I mean, I do have his blood if the title wasn’t false… you know what, let’s keep this to myself.

“Well, Hestia? Spit it out, already. Anything you need, I’ll do it,” Caszcur stated, fully willing to repay his debts.

[“Awesome to hear! So, I want you guys…”] The three lizardmen bent their necks, drawing them close to me, not wanting to miss a single sound. [“I want you guys to become my followers.”]

“““HUH?!”””