“You’re finally here, little lady. Make yourself comfortable, young scale, there is a lot we need to tell you about,” Caszcur said with a small smile.
Listening to him, Tasianna and I went to sit beside Saori while Apsala went to the lizardmen’s side. Once I sat down, cross-legged, Rajah jumped onto my lap while his siblings sat to my sides, greeting me with a small cry before turning their eyes towards the lizardmen, keeping an eye on them.
[“… This is really unfair. I’ve spent so much time with them, and they just leave me the moment you appear?”] Saori complained with a frown, glaring at me with jealousy.
I nervously laughed it off and began petting Rajah, ignoring Saori as she continued moping around. Saori did look very pleased, having a very rare girlish expression as she affectionately stroked Rajah’s fur before I came. She might be a cat person… in a wolf’s body.
It were these sorta moments where Saori would shed her cool and stoic personality that I found the most endearing. They way she would drop her aloofness and just enjoy herself. Whether it was tailoring new clothes, collecting new ingredients, or just plain training, her soft side was a delight to see.
I personally thought it fitted her better if she would express herself a bit more. She was reluctant to do so, arguing somebody had to stay serious in this place. Still, I was glad she was acting if she was having fun… especially when it concerned hunting down animals and monsters.
“Now, we would first like to thank you for everything you did for our wounded scalekins,” Caszcur began. “We started out on a bad foot, but you still helped us. We would have lost even more of our group if it wasn't for you. We are in your debt.”
The three adult lizardmen simultaneously expressed their gratitude by bowing and saying, “As our tails are our witnesses, we thank everybody for aiding us. May Marsven bless all of you with his shadowy veil.”
“Please, it’s alright. We were also at fault as we were equally rude due to the virigress cubs. Everything is forgiven and forgotten,” Tasianna translated what I wanted to say, as I felt guilty for intimidating them so much.
“… I see,” Caszcur let out a sigh, as the lizardmen stopped bowing. “Actually, before we continue, we don’t know how to address you, wolfkin.”
We all turned to Saori, causing her to smile wryly.
[“…How annoying,”] Saori complained to us through telepathy, probably ‘cause she was embarrassed of her Common pronunciation. Since the rest of us had already introduced ourselves, she scratched the back of her head with a deep sigh.
[“Hello, it is a pleasure to have made your acquaintance, lizardmen. My name is Saori, I hope Lady Hestia’s didn’t scare you too much?”]
Oh right, we are in public again… huh, I completely forgot about that.
Considering how much had happened ever since we met Tasianna, I had completely forgotten about my deal with Saori where if we were in public she would address me as a noble. Funnily enough, I didn’t feel that apprehensive about it anymore. Considering Tasianna had kept addressing me formally, I believed the cringiness of it disappeared after a while.
“A-Ah, you, too, huh? How are you sending your voices in our heads?” Caszcur remarked, having already experienced this from me.
“Y-Yes, if only we had a shaman and loremaster around to help us understand this better. We really have met special people,” Aksmias praised us while holding his head in bewilderment.
“… Saori, so that is your name,” perplexed, Apsala uttered after needing a few seconds to understand the information she received through [Telepathy]. “So, that’s how you three have been able to communicate until now… how is that possible? No, let me guess, it’s a skill correct?”
[“Yup, nicely guessed, Miss Apsala,”] this time, I answered. [“We’re using [Telepathy] to speak with everybody currently sitting at the campfire, including Rajah here and his two siblings.”]
“… That’s the same voice from before. It was shocking to hear that when we first met, little one.” Apsala looked at me, a worried frown on her face as she was seemingly digesting everything.
Making a heart sign with my hands, I gave her a wink to confirm her guess, [“Heya, yup, and sorry about that, Miss Apsala. Hestia, at your service~”]
“… You can turn your mood around. You sound far peppier than before,” Caszcur stated with a hanging jaw.
[“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? How did you imagine me to sound after our bad first impressions? This is me fully expressing myself now!”] I announced, pounding my chest with pride.
“Well…” Averting his eyes while scratching his back, Caszcur nervously stalled for time to think of an appropriate answer. “You see, how you spoke made you seem refined, ya know? Uh, how you walked and the posture you had made you seem graceful. Or maybe intimidating and boisterous since you are a mage? You sound and look like a whelpling, but you have this presence… I can’t really describe it.”
Ooops, probably leaked my [Noble Aura] and [Princess]’s nature aura ability, I told myself, understanding why he would have a different impression of me now. I noted it down to myself how that skill and my title could act like a charisma check, maybe help me persuade people easier.
“Enough of this comedy act,” Apsala stated as she massaged her temple. “I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that there was a skill like [Telepathy]. So, why is it that you two are letting Tasianna speak? You spoke verbally with me just a moment ago, young scale.”
[“Well, the reason is pretty simple isn’t it?”] Saori answered. [“Your nose guessed our age, correctly, Miss Apsala. We know how to speak in our own languages, but we have not mastered Common yet.”]
“Ok, please drop the ‘miss’ part and just call me by my name; the extra formality isn’t needed among us lizardfolk,” Apsala said with a sigh before nodding. “Still, it is nice to finally understand. I thought it was some sort of priestess rule that prevented the little one from speaking too much with us ‘primitives,’ so I thought it was weird that you weren't able to speak, Saori. That clears my questions."
“I thought it’s cuz of that ‘Lady Hestia’ stuff,” Caszcur admitted. “Some dragonewt appears, wearing something fancy like a mana dress with a subservient fairy and you start getting ideas.”
“I thought the fair-scaled one was simply angry at us while the wolfkin just wasn’t talkative,” Aksmias said while nodding.
…What the hell? That is a bunch of misunderstandings!
Noticing that everybody had a different take on the reason for our silence, everybody started nervously chuckling. I quickly assured them I didn’t have such a rule stopping me at all, nor did I think of them as ‘primitives’ or ‘barbarians.’ I made it clear how we didn’t want to cause a misunderstanding with our bad Common, so we would appreciate it if they would allow us to communicate with [Telepathy], which they agreed to.
“I think that was enough pleasantries.” Apsala clapped her hands with a smile. “Time is essential so let us not slither around our tails any longer, honored guests.”
[“Mhmm, I agree,”] I nodded. [“You’re gonna talk about the stuff those kids talked about, right? What they asked me to do?”]
[“Correct,”] Apsala replied with downcast eyes. [“However, I believe you must be curious about why we are here in the first place, yes?”]
[“Well, I would lie if I did not admit to it,”] Saori confessed, her eyes focused on the lizardmen. ["Looking through your camp, you lack essential equipment and the ones you do have, are worn down and badly maintained. A general mismatched can also be seen as some of you have metal armor and weapons, while you mostly work with forest materials.”]
["I've also heard that the Belzac forest was mostly uninhabitable as the number of monsters, especially the variety of dangerous ones, made it too hard for a normal person to live in,"] Tasianna explained, holding her chin as she tried to remember the little amount of information she gained over her lifespan. [“Well, besides for the occasional elven ranger.”]
[“Yeah, what she said,] I agreed. ["Nothing against you guys but I don't feel like anybody in this camp is really combat-ready, or at least nobody exceptional. You said you guys lived in this forest for three months, but I find that statement hard to believe with what I'm seeing."]
“What in the… you three are quite harsh. I think I found it better when you stayed silent,” Caszcur complained with a deep frown, massaging his temple. “Urgh, but I can’t help but understand what you mean. The lack of acceptable tools has annoyed me for a while now, and even the best can’t handle everyday usage when the maintenance quality is subpar. It is a disgrace for an artisan…”
“Surviving in a marsh is actually no problem for us lizardfolk, as we were born in one before everything that happened a year ago,” Aksmias said with a pained expression. “It just shows how many people had to be sacrificed for our current group to survive through all of that. This forest is a hell pit."
"We might have been freed but I regret having agreed to flee with everybody," Apsala said crestfallen, returning to the same personality she had when I first met her in the clinic. "I've seen so many scalekins dying in front of me, either being torn by a monster or by their wounds in the clinic's beds. I prayed to God Marsven and God Kargryxmor so that our hell could finally stop but… look where it has gotten me.”
“Apsala,” Caszcur called her out. “You know I’m not the most religious person around, but you shouldn’t say that about God Marsven. And, seriously, are you honestly talking about Kargryxmor like that in front of the little lady?”
Realizing what she said, Apsala tensed. She looked at me apologetic with an open jaw, not knowing what to say.
[“Don’t worry about it,”] I told them. [“I won’t be offended. Whether it’s Aurena or Kargryxmor, I’m sure they can endure a bit of criticism.”]
While I wasn’t an actual believer of Aurena and Kargryxmor, Tasianna had suggested it would be best to act like one. Due to the existence of gods being a fact, it was rare to see an atheist in this world and most people wouldn’t understand why anybody would not choose to follow some kinda god.
So, to keep ourselves safe, Saori and I had decided to adopt a religious following. As Saori was able to use [Dark Magic] it was easy to imitate being a follower of Marsven. However, considering the number of magic skills I had, it was actually pretty complicated for me, as I had to learn about Danterno, Crustacia, Zephira, Aurena, and my racial god Kargryxmor.
I just needed to follow Aurena and Kargryxmor, correct? Well, according to Tasianna, it would have been if I only knew [Holy Magic] but as I was a multi-elemental magician, I also had to know about the rest of the gods. It was custom for a mage to follow a god of a corresponding element if she wanted to learn it.
Due to knowing [Fire Magic], [Earth Magic], [Wind Magic], and [Holy Magic], it would be safe to just adopt all these gods. It was fine to just say we followed them for now, but it would be wise to take up a theology book and read about them once we reach the elven capital.
“I-I see, well, I’ll take your word as a priestess of Aurena,” Apsala said in shock.
[“Oh, to clear up another misunderstanding, I’m not a priestess of Aurena. I can use [Holy Magic], that’s all. I’m nobody special,”] I said with a straight face, which obviously caught Apsala off-guard. ["But, anyway, let's get back to the story. So, what forced you to enter the Belzac forest?"]
“I’ll take over from here.” Caszcur raised his hand. “So, how much do you three know about us lizardfolk and where we came from?”
“You came from the easten half of our continent, Altrust, correct?” Caszur nodded to Tasianna’s answer so she continued. “As such, you must be a part of the beastmen alliance, Carmaniate. Hmm, from what little I can remember, you are separated from this half of the continent by the dwarves’s mountains, and your age-old war with the Folschreck Empire, the humans’ most — Hold on, now that I said that, aren’t you all a bit far from your home?”
“Yup, we are far too far from our home,” Caszcur breathed in deeply to cool himself down. “We might be called an ‘alliance’ but like many small tribes really, our words are ignored by our ‘leaders.’ An irrelevant in their plans outside for the war effort, many of our lizardfolk tribes were attacked by humanoid monsters. We were enslaved and then taken away on a ship.”
Cazscur added it was just a normal day when an army of demi-human monsters suddenly attacked the marsh these lizardmen settled in. As they fought in their homeland, the army had a hard time moving forward as the army consisted mostly of goblins and kobolds, who had trouble traversing the lizardmen homes due to their height, while the heavily armored orcs moved too slowly compared to the swift lizardmen.
They thought they could win through the combined power of the many tribes but once the army brought in their elite orc warriors, blue-skinned mage goblins, and their beast tamer kobolds, it was only a matter of time until the marsh was overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemy troops. None of their tribe’s champions could stand against the invader’s generals and commanders.
However, while many clans were defeated, their bravery and sacrifice to stay and fight bought the lizardmen enough time to call for help from the other beastmen tribes and clans, forcing the army of demi-human monsters to flee with their tails between their legs.
While it was catastrophic for Caszcur and his group, their sacrifice meant the rest of the lizardmen were able to survive. Defeated, the conquered clans were enslaved and loaded onto a ship like cargo. Due to a shortage of food, many lizardmen had to rely on cannibalizing their starving members and dying soldiers while on sea.
Those who managed to survive made it to shore, where they were quickly put onto wagons and transported to another port. Luckily, barely any lizardmen died along the way as food and water were abundantly available this time. These ships were fully loaded with provision for another long trip over the seas.
While lizardmen clans were mostly territorial, antagonistic against foreigners in their lands, through this trial and tribulation, the clan members bonded together. Despite being slaves, the living condition improved, allowing the many weakened warriors and soldiers to recover along the trip.
They thought they could bide their time and find a way to escape which made the defeated lizardmen regain hope. However, that was crushed when they finally landed on shore again, in a land ruled by an ogre.
“Wait, an ogre?!” Tasianna shouted out, eyes wide open. “I’ve never heard or read about a place that was ruled by grimgarians before. Those intelligent enough are mostly nomads, while the feral ones, born from the surrounding mana, are usually too dumb to create anything. M-My knowledge must be outdated.”
Monsters could be born not only through the normal way, but were also able to appear randomly in areas filled with mana. Like the Belzac forest, for example. These were called monster spawnings, and Tasianna explained it was something the Divine System did to maintain monster populations.
“Grim… garians? Ahh, demi-human monsters. On the other side of this forest,” Aksmias said. “It’s right over the mountains in the south.”
[“You mean Avitor Peaks, correct? The place where flying monsters live?”] Saori asked, remembering what Tasianna told us about the mountain range located south of the Belzac forest.
“No idea what it’s called but I guess,” Caszcur shrugged.
“So…” Tasianna hesitated before speaking. “What were they doing? What did they have you do?”
“They used us as labor,” this time Apsala spoke up. “Constructing buildings, making tools, mixing up medicine, and many more duties you would expect from a normal village. Honestly, looking back, besides our lack of freedom, they treated us rather well. Being reminded of it just makes me regret my decision even more.”
[“I guess that is normal that they would use slaves as free labor.”] Saori mentioned. ["History has taught us how people conquered others to claim land or resources they wanted to profit from, while turning their inhabitants into slaves so they could gain much-needed labor."]
“History, huh? You speak like a loremaster, Saori. Hrm, but I guess you look older than the young scale.” Caszcur became suspicious of Saori, staring at her with a questioning look.
[“I-I like reading books, that is all,”] Saori stuttered, understanding she shouldn’t have said that.
["Hehe, well at least I'm glad that they aren't assembling an army to attack my home. I haven't heard anybody inhabiting that place so it shouldn't be a problem,"] Tasianna let out a deep sigh in relief. Guess war was a no go to anybody normal.
Caszcur simply shrugged before continuing. They explained there were also other beastmen slaves there, all obtained by raiding and attacking the beastmen's land.
As Apsala said, the slaves were treated quite well as the ogre and blue-skinned mages knew most of them were Marsven followers. Although in truth, most of them worshiped whatever gods they thought would fit their culture better, so the majority weren't Marsven believers, however, it was convenient enough for them, so everybody unanimously agreed to stay silent about it.
They were all in it together so there was no need to throw somebody else under the bus. Antagonizing another beastmen race would be devastating, as it could lead to an all-out war between them in the slave camps.
As many months went by, one day, a group of lizardmen announced they should escape from captivity. They explained to all their scalekins they overheard that north of them lived the elves and the levianewts, the ocean dragon version of dragonewts, while in the west was where I came from — the Dragon Empire, Kargryx, if I remembered correctly. Where I should have been born, at least.
As some of the lizardmen were worshippers of Kargryxmor, the Dragon God, those lizardmen were filled with vigor at the thought of beholding a mighty dragon. They fully agreed it was the correct time to finally escape. The hope they had almost a year ago was finally reignited.
“I’m a worshipper of God Kargryxmor, and I was also among those who fully supported the idea to escape,” Apsala confessed. “It was a mistake. An absolutely big mistake.”
With the hope of escaping etched into their heads, the lizardmen began planning and scouting for more information. They finally learned escaping through the borders to the north was impossible, as the grimgarians made sure outposts and garrison were placed there to stop any information leaks to the north. They didn’t want their position to be found out as the construction process of their towns couldn’t afford to slow down.
That was when somebody found a tunnel through Avitor Peaks's mountains. Once they knew of this, they began stealing food, weapons, tools, and other essentials from their capturers. Once everything was at the place, they initiated their plan to free every single lizardman, regardless of their clan.
Some considered to free the other beastmen slaves, but the majority decided against it as they had no responsibility to help them. It would have been detrimental for them if every single slave fled, as it was likely the grimgarians would chase after them at all cost, while only the lizardmen leaving would only slow down their construction process by a bit.
Morally… grey, I guess. To survive, sometimes you should follow better reasons and ignore your conscience.
The plan was to escape through the cave, travel north, and then make contact with the elves. They thought they had everything planned, but…
“We didn’t know that this hellish forest was in our way,” Caszcur expressed with silent anger. “We thought that it was just a normal forest and that the elves would be somewhere north. As the sun and moon as our guide, we walked north but that was when we started losing people.”
“Not all of us are proper warriors,” Aksmias explained. “While we know how to hunt and fight, we aren’t trained to kill strong or devious monsters. The hunters and soldiers who survived the raidings suggested those who could pick up a spear should stand and fight with them, while the artisans would stay in the back and protect the women and young scales.”
“It worked for a time,” Apsala added. “People like Caszcur were able to make tools out of wood, while stone and metalworkers kept our weapons and tools maintained. Those of us, like me, who were able to use [Alchemy] started gathering any usable herbs and plants, so we could start making more medicine and potions. We knew, the rations we stole wouldn’t last.”
[“So, what happened?] I asked.
“I don’t know, maybe it's our own darn luck, but it just happened," Caszcur said. “It was after we spent a month in the forest when we met our first real hurdle, a monster strong enough that even our warriors couldn’t slay.”
"We lost many of our scalekins on that day," Aksmias continued for Cazscur. "Imagine, our group was over a hundred, and now it’s reduced to this amount. We thought we were safe after losing a few people, but it never ended. We started facing toxic beasts, monsters in groups, or just a singular creature who preyed on us as if we were all whelplings!"
“Regardless, we slowly began losing more and more people,” Apsala replied. “Not only were we losing numbers but also the warriors, scalekins who were high leveled!
They lost the strong people, leaving those who had barely leveled up at all behind. Their strategy of traveling through the Belzac forest was effective when most of their enemies were weak, easily beatable in a group. However, once the actual terrors appeared and killed the skilled, the rest were left helpless.
They made it all up to the marsh, but all that remained from the group was 53 lizardmen. They were elated, finally, they were back in their preferred environment and it showed when they started to refill their provisions. Fishing and gathering was easier as never before.
“So, how did you lose the rest of your group?” Tasianna asked.
“Two days ago, we were once again attacked by a monster, an indomitable beast that we never guessed made its home in this marshland,” Caszcur looked in the distance as he told us that. “If you were in the swamp at that time, then you should have seen the monster. The giant that jumped into the air to claim its next prey.”
[“Ahh, the one with the giant gaping mouth? Yes, we saw it eat a few otthas on the way,”] Saori informed them with a nod.
Groaning loudly, Caszcur continued, “Our group wandered too close to the lake, the place that it calls home. Not realizing where we were, we were ambushed by the beast who ate all our remaining rations.”
"Nobody died, but we just lost everything. Most of our tools and all the food we saved up for the coming winter," Apsala said with a deep sigh. "In our panic, our group escaped to another area we shouldn’t have gone to. Three giant beasts with scales and fur attacked us and killed the remaining hunters and warriors we had. We were separated from them, so we have no idea if they are still alive or not.”
[“So, those kids wanted to get revenge against something that wiped out all your remaining warriors, while they had no idea if their friends were still there?”] The three lizardmen nodded to my question. [“OMG, that is pretty stupid… but I guess that is understandable. They are their friends after all.”]
[“My Lady, I do not know what this is about, but you should not praise that behavior,”] Saori scolded me. [“Endangering your life to save somebody else is already an idiotic thing to do but that is how friends act, correct? Still, you said ‘those kids’ so are you telling me they were trying to do it all alone? Now that is absurd.”]
[“Come on, Saori, they lost their friends and the people they knew in that attack, so it can’t be helped with how impulsively they acted,”] I argued back.
[“Do not suggest acting recklessly in these sorts of situations, my lady!”] Saori insisted with sharpened eyes. [“You only have one life and that is precious, especially when you have family and other people waiting for you to return home alive. Regardless of your intentions, the people you save will not like it if you died in the process, so think about the people around you before you act on your desires.”]
Scratching my head in annoyance, I had to reluctantly agree to what Saori said, despite how uneasy her words sounded to me, [“That’s why I will agree to help them rescue their friends. If you believe that it’s stupid of them to go in alone, then I’ll just go with them.”]
"Hestia…?" Saori's eyes suddenly turned cold as a blood-red mana mist started to form around them, visibly furious as she spoke English. “… Are you diving into another situation like when we met Tasianna? Are you risking your life again… for a complete stranger? You do not know these people and neither do you know about the enemy this time. I respect your noble spirit but even altruism has its limit, and this is one of those times!”
“Saori, I-I…,” stumbling on my words, I couldn’t get the correct words out of my mouth.
It was honestly suffocating to speak in her presence right now. She hadn’t activated her aura skills yet, but it felt like she was. Her words stung a bit, reminding me about how she reacted when I decided to rescue Tasianna.
Being glared at Saori was never a nice experience, it was one of the things I personally liked to avoid as her anger was usually cold as ice. The fact she was actually worrying for me made it even worse. It made me feel guilty I was trying to help these lizardmen.
“Uhhh, hey you two?” Suddenly, Caszcur raised his voice, interrupting us. “I know you two want to continue arguing but we kinda need…”
[“I know, we are wasting time if we stay here,”] I said so I could ignore Saori’s glare for a moment. [“You need to save the rest of your group, right? I’m in.”]
“Hestia!” Saori cried out, standing up. “Did you not listen to anything that I just said?!”
"I did, but at this point, I don't care. I'm strong enough to handle anything that is thrown at me, so I'll go and rescue them," I asserted. “It won’t be a problem, I swear. I’ve handled everything that was was thrown at me after I met you.”
“Hestia… you’re being really… urgh,” Saori stopped her sentence mid-way before turning her head to Tasianna. [“Tasianna I apologize but I need to rely on you for this. Please, keep her safe in my stead.”]
[“Huh, Miss Saori? What do you mean by that? Aren’t you coming?”] Tasianna raised an eyebrow, confused at what happened.
[“I… Haaaaaaaa… ahhhh,”] Saori let out a deep sigh, looking she was about to hyperventilate. [“Somebody has to keep the virigress mother safe, and while I’m at it, I’ll also keep the camp safe. Please make sure Hestia comes back safely. I am sorry… urgh, I feel a bit sick.”]
Saori…
I wanted to ask her what was going on with her, why she acted like that. The outburst was out of character, but her worry for me still came through. I wanted to stop and talk… but I simply clenched my fist in frustration. It felt like I should have taken more time to think through my arguments.
…
It was decided that we would travel tomorrow morning after we all rested for the night. As thanks for my help, the lizardmen decided to treat us to dinner for tonight, despite not having enough to eat for themselves. Understanding that they just wanted to return the favor, our group agreed to their hospitality, even shared food with them, saying they would be glad to see what they cook up with them.
The older females in the camp instantly smiled with delight, raising their tails high as if we were expecting some grandiose feasts. And, suffice to say, while the food did require some time to get used to, it was pretty good.
Although the lizardmen were having fun, being cheerful and energetic, ‘cause of their wounded having recovered, our party wasn’t in a real celebratory mood. Saori averted her eyes and looked gloomy through the party as she ate her meal. I lost my appetite and wasn’t able to put anything into my mouth,
I was brooding if it was worth helping these people at the cost of worrying Saori. Tasianna tried to reassure me I was doing the correct things, but I felt weird in my decision. My fairy friend even tried to help Saori and me reconcile, but we couldn’t utter a single word to each other.
Eventually, the sound of cheers and laughter was replaced by the snoring of the lizardmen. Even with the dim brown moon in the night sky, I couldn’t fall asleep. I was rattled up from my leaf bed, made by the lizardmen, and went over to investigate some sounds I heard.
There, I quickly hid behind a tree as I noticed Saori’s silhouette sitting lonely under the moonlight. While nibbling on some fruits, I could hear her mumble “Otou-san” and “Need sake.” Otou-san was Japanese for father, making me curious what exactly she was thinking.
Her father, huh? … When will she tell me?
Now that I thought about it, while Saori had spoken quite a lot about her Job and financial instability back on Earth, she never really talked much about her father, really. With how I gushed about my past to her, I thought she would eventually reveal hers to me.
However, after seeing her like this, I believed it was better to let things settle down for now. I wouldn’t want to pry in her own life, especially if it brought her pain. From the context alone, I could guess her franticness from before was probably caused by her father involved in it. Maybe she had a trauma from a bad experience.
I didn’t know, and I wouldn’t force her to say it.
“I’ll come back. Don’t worry, I promise,” I mumbled to myself, but with how strong Saori’s hearing was, she probably heard me. And I hoped so, ‘cause I would always fulfill my promises.
Once daylight came, Caszcur, a few of the guards, Tasianna, and I departed for the rescue mission.
AbyssRaven Oh no, first argument! Just a reminder to everybody that Saori did tell about her past during the sparing chapters, in case you guys forgot why Saori would have this reaction. Hestia was going into an unknown place, where that giant crocodile monster could be. Obviously, this would worry Saori about how reckless she was.
If you guys want to support me, Hestia and "A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale" (or just read up to 20 advance chapters + any Patreon-only chapters) please check out my Patreon: Rawr
For two dollars, for the cost of a coffee, you can read up to four chapters for the whole month! You will have my eternal gratitude for any support you can give me! Please.
Thank you for reading this chapter.
“You’re finally here, little lady. Make yourself comfortable, young scale, there is a lot we need to tell you about,” Caszcur said with a small smile.
Listening to him, Tasianna and I went to sit beside Saori while Apsala went to the lizardmen’s side. Once I sat down, cross-legged, Rajah jumped onto my lap while his siblings sat to my sides, greeting me with a small cry before turning their eyes towards the lizardmen, keeping an eye on them.
[“… This is really unfair. I’ve spent so much time with them, and they just leave me the moment you appear?”] Saori complained with a frown, glaring at me with jealousy.
I nervously laughed it off and began petting Rajah, ignoring Saori as she continued moping around. Saori did look very pleased, having a very rare girlish expression as she affectionately stroked Rajah’s fur before I came. She might be a cat person… in a wolf’s body.
It were these sorta moments where Saori would shed her cool and stoic personality that I found the most endearing. They way she would drop her aloofness and just enjoy herself. Whether it was tailoring new clothes, collecting new ingredients, or just plain training, her soft side was a delight to see.
I personally thought it fitted her better if she would express herself a bit more. She was reluctant to do so, arguing somebody had to stay serious in this place. Still, I was glad she was acting if she was having fun… especially when it concerned hunting down animals and monsters.
“Now, we would first like to thank you for everything you did for our wounded scalekins,” Caszcur began. “We started out on a bad foot, but you still helped us. We would have lost even more of our group if it wasn't for you. We are in your debt.”
The three adult lizardmen simultaneously expressed their gratitude by bowing and saying, “As our tails are our witnesses, we thank everybody for aiding us. May Marsven bless all of you with his shadowy veil.”
“Please, it’s alright. We were also at fault as we were equally rude due to the virigress cubs. Everything is forgiven and forgotten,” Tasianna translated what I wanted to say, as I felt guilty for intimidating them so much.
“… I see,” Caszcur let out a sigh, as the lizardmen stopped bowing. “Actually, before we continue, we don’t know how to address you, wolfkin.”
We all turned to Saori, causing her to smile wryly.
[“…How annoying,”] Saori complained to us through telepathy, probably ‘cause she was embarrassed of her Common pronunciation. Since the rest of us had already introduced ourselves, she scratched the back of her head with a deep sigh.
[“Hello, it is a pleasure to have made your acquaintance, lizardmen. My name is Saori, I hope Lady Hestia’s didn’t scare you too much?”]
Oh right, we are in public again… huh, I completely forgot about that.
Considering how much had happened ever since we met Tasianna, I had completely forgotten about my deal with Saori where if we were in public she would address me as a noble. Funnily enough, I didn’t feel that apprehensive about it anymore. Considering Tasianna had kept addressing me formally, I believed the cringiness of it disappeared after a while.
“A-Ah, you, too, huh? How are you sending your voices in our heads?” Caszcur remarked, having already experienced this from me.
“Y-Yes, if only we had a shaman and loremaster around to help us understand this better. We really have met special people,” Aksmias praised us while holding his head in bewilderment.
“… Saori, so that is your name,” perplexed, Apsala uttered after needing a few seconds to understand the information she received through [Telepathy]. “So, that’s how you three have been able to communicate until now… how is that possible? No, let me guess, it’s a skill correct?”
[“Yup, nicely guessed, Miss Apsala,”] this time, I answered. [“We’re using [Telepathy] to speak with everybody currently sitting at the campfire, including Rajah here and his two siblings.”]
“… That’s the same voice from before. It was shocking to hear that when we first met, little one.” Apsala looked at me, a worried frown on her face as she was seemingly digesting everything.
Making a heart sign with my hands, I gave her a wink to confirm her guess, [“Heya, yup, and sorry about that, Miss Apsala. Hestia, at your service~”]
“… You can turn your mood around. You sound far peppier than before,” Caszcur stated with a hanging jaw.
[“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? How did you imagine me to sound after our bad first impressions? This is me fully expressing myself now!”] I announced, pounding my chest with pride.
“Well…” Averting his eyes while scratching his back, Caszcur nervously stalled for time to think of an appropriate answer. “You see, how you spoke made you seem refined, ya know? Uh, how you walked and the posture you had made you seem graceful. Or maybe intimidating and boisterous since you are a mage? You sound and look like a whelpling, but you have this presence… I can’t really describe it.”
Ooops, probably leaked my [Noble Aura] and [Princess]’s nature aura ability, I told myself, understanding why he would have a different impression of me now. I noted it down to myself how that skill and my title could act like a charisma check, maybe help me persuade people easier.
“Enough of this comedy act,” Apsala stated as she massaged her temple. “I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that there was a skill like [Telepathy]. So, why is it that you two are letting Tasianna speak? You spoke verbally with me just a moment ago, young scale.”
[“Well, the reason is pretty simple isn’t it?”] Saori answered. [“Your nose guessed our age, correctly, Miss Apsala. We know how to speak in our own languages, but we have not mastered Common yet.”]
“Ok, please drop the ‘miss’ part and just call me by my name; the extra formality isn’t needed among us lizardfolk,” Apsala said with a sigh before nodding. “Still, it is nice to finally understand. I thought it was some sort of priestess rule that prevented the little one from speaking too much with us ‘primitives,’ so I thought it was weird that you weren't able to speak, Saori. That clears my questions."
“I thought it’s cuz of that ‘Lady Hestia’ stuff,” Caszcur admitted. “Some dragonewt appears, wearing something fancy like a mana dress with a subservient fairy and you start getting ideas.”
“I thought the fair-scaled one was simply angry at us while the wolfkin just wasn’t talkative,” Aksmias said while nodding.
…What the hell? That is a bunch of misunderstandings!
Noticing that everybody had a different take on the reason for our silence, everybody started nervously chuckling. I quickly assured them I didn’t have such a rule stopping me at all, nor did I think of them as ‘primitives’ or ‘barbarians.’ I made it clear how we didn’t want to cause a misunderstanding with our bad Common, so we would appreciate it if they would allow us to communicate with [Telepathy], which they agreed to.
“I think that was enough pleasantries.” Apsala clapped her hands with a smile. “Time is essential so let us not slither around our tails any longer, honored guests.”
[“Mhmm, I agree,”] I nodded. [“You’re gonna talk about the stuff those kids talked about, right? What they asked me to do?”]
[“Correct,”] Apsala replied with downcast eyes. [“However, I believe you must be curious about why we are here in the first place, yes?”]
[“Well, I would lie if I did not admit to it,”] Saori confessed, her eyes focused on the lizardmen. ["Looking through your camp, you lack essential equipment and the ones you do have, are worn down and badly maintained. A general mismatched can also be seen as some of you have metal armor and weapons, while you mostly work with forest materials.”]
["I've also heard that the Belzac forest was mostly uninhabitable as the number of monsters, especially the variety of dangerous ones, made it too hard for a normal person to live in,"] Tasianna explained, holding her chin as she tried to remember the little amount of information she gained over her lifespan. [“Well, besides for the occasional elven ranger.”]
[“Yeah, what she said,] I agreed. ["Nothing against you guys but I don't feel like anybody in this camp is really combat-ready, or at least nobody exceptional. You said you guys lived in this forest for three months, but I find that statement hard to believe with what I'm seeing."]
“What in the… you three are quite harsh. I think I found it better when you stayed silent,” Caszcur complained with a deep frown, massaging his temple. “Urgh, but I can’t help but understand what you mean. The lack of acceptable tools has annoyed me for a while now, and even the best can’t handle everyday usage when the maintenance quality is subpar. It is a disgrace for an artisan…”
“Surviving in a marsh is actually no problem for us lizardfolk, as we were born in one before everything that happened a year ago,” Aksmias said with a pained expression. “It just shows how many people had to be sacrificed for our current group to survive through all of that. This forest is a hell pit."
"We might have been freed but I regret having agreed to flee with everybody," Apsala said crestfallen, returning to the same personality she had when I first met her in the clinic. "I've seen so many scalekins dying in front of me, either being torn by a monster or by their wounds in the clinic's beds. I prayed to God Marsven and God Kargryxmor so that our hell could finally stop but… look where it has gotten me.”
“Apsala,” Caszcur called her out. “You know I’m not the most religious person around, but you shouldn’t say that about God Marsven. And, seriously, are you honestly talking about Kargryxmor like that in front of the little lady?”
Realizing what she said, Apsala tensed. She looked at me apologetic with an open jaw, not knowing what to say.
[“Don’t worry about it,”] I told them. [“I won’t be offended. Whether it’s Aurena or Kargryxmor, I’m sure they can endure a bit of criticism.”]
While I wasn’t an actual believer of Aurena and Kargryxmor, Tasianna had suggested it would be best to act like one. Due to the existence of gods being a fact, it was rare to see an atheist in this world and most people wouldn’t understand why anybody would not choose to follow some kinda god.
So, to keep ourselves safe, Saori and I had decided to adopt a religious following. As Saori was able to use [Dark Magic] it was easy to imitate being a follower of Marsven. However, considering the number of magic skills I had, it was actually pretty complicated for me, as I had to learn about Danterno, Crustacia, Zephira, Aurena, and my racial god Kargryxmor.
I just needed to follow Aurena and Kargryxmor, correct? Well, according to Tasianna, it would have been if I only knew [Holy Magic] but as I was a multi-elemental magician, I also had to know about the rest of the gods. It was custom for a mage to follow a god of a corresponding element if she wanted to learn it.
Due to knowing [Fire Magic], [Earth Magic], [Wind Magic], and [Holy Magic], it would be safe to just adopt all these gods. It was fine to just say we followed them for now, but it would be wise to take up a theology book and read about them once we reach the elven capital.
“I-I see, well, I’ll take your word as a priestess of Aurena,” Apsala said in shock.
[“Oh, to clear up another misunderstanding, I’m not a priestess of Aurena. I can use [Holy Magic], that’s all. I’m nobody special,”] I said with a straight face, which obviously caught Apsala off-guard. ["But, anyway, let's get back to the story. So, what forced you to enter the Belzac forest?"]
“I’ll take over from here.” Caszcur raised his hand. “So, how much do you three know about us lizardfolk and where we came from?”
“You came from the easten half of our continent, Altrust, correct?” Caszur nodded to Tasianna’s answer so she continued. “As such, you must be a part of the beastmen alliance, Carmaniate. Hmm, from what little I can remember, you are separated from this half of the continent by the dwarves’s mountains, and your age-old war with the Folschreck Empire, the humans’ most — Hold on, now that I said that, aren’t you all a bit far from your home?”
“Yup, we are far too far from our home,” Caszcur breathed in deeply to cool himself down. “We might be called an ‘alliance’ but like many small tribes really, our words are ignored by our ‘leaders.’ An irrelevant in their plans outside for the war effort, many of our lizardfolk tribes were attacked by humanoid monsters. We were enslaved and then taken away on a ship.”
Cazscur added it was just a normal day when an army of demi-human monsters suddenly attacked the marsh these lizardmen settled in. As they fought in their homeland, the army had a hard time moving forward as the army consisted mostly of goblins and kobolds, who had trouble traversing the lizardmen homes due to their height, while the heavily armored orcs moved too slowly compared to the swift lizardmen.
They thought they could win through the combined power of the many tribes but once the army brought in their elite orc warriors, blue-skinned mage goblins, and their beast tamer kobolds, it was only a matter of time until the marsh was overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemy troops. None of their tribe’s champions could stand against the invader’s generals and commanders.
However, while many clans were defeated, their bravery and sacrifice to stay and fight bought the lizardmen enough time to call for help from the other beastmen tribes and clans, forcing the army of demi-human monsters to flee with their tails between their legs.
While it was catastrophic for Caszcur and his group, their sacrifice meant the rest of the lizardmen were able to survive. Defeated, the conquered clans were enslaved and loaded onto a ship like cargo. Due to a shortage of food, many lizardmen had to rely on cannibalizing their starving members and dying soldiers while on sea.
Those who managed to survive made it to shore, where they were quickly put onto wagons and transported to another port. Luckily, barely any lizardmen died along the way as food and water were abundantly available this time. These ships were fully loaded with provision for another long trip over the seas.
While lizardmen clans were mostly territorial, antagonistic against foreigners in their lands, through this trial and tribulation, the clan members bonded together. Despite being slaves, the living condition improved, allowing the many weakened warriors and soldiers to recover along the trip.
They thought they could bide their time and find a way to escape which made the defeated lizardmen regain hope. However, that was crushed when they finally landed on shore again, in a land ruled by an ogre.
“Wait, an ogre?!” Tasianna shouted out, eyes wide open. “I’ve never heard or read about a place that was ruled by grimgarians before. Those intelligent enough are mostly nomads, while the feral ones, born from the surrounding mana, are usually too dumb to create anything. M-My knowledge must be outdated.”
Monsters could be born not only through the normal way, but were also able to appear randomly in areas filled with mana. Like the Belzac forest, for example. These were called monster spawnings, and Tasianna explained it was something the Divine System did to maintain monster populations.
“Grim… garians? Ahh, demi-human monsters. On the other side of this forest,” Aksmias said. “It’s right over the mountains in the south.”
[“You mean Avitor Peaks, correct? The place where flying monsters live?”] Saori asked, remembering what Tasianna told us about the mountain range located south of the Belzac forest.
“No idea what it’s called but I guess,” Caszcur shrugged.
“So…” Tasianna hesitated before speaking. “What were they doing? What did they have you do?”
“They used us as labor,” this time Apsala spoke up. “Constructing buildings, making tools, mixing up medicine, and many more duties you would expect from a normal village. Honestly, looking back, besides our lack of freedom, they treated us rather well. Being reminded of it just makes me regret my decision even more.”
[“I guess that is normal that they would use slaves as free labor.”] Saori mentioned. ["History has taught us how people conquered others to claim land or resources they wanted to profit from, while turning their inhabitants into slaves so they could gain much-needed labor."]
“History, huh? You speak like a loremaster, Saori. Hrm, but I guess you look older than the young scale.” Caszcur became suspicious of Saori, staring at her with a questioning look.
[“I-I like reading books, that is all,”] Saori stuttered, understanding she shouldn’t have said that.
["Hehe, well at least I'm glad that they aren't assembling an army to attack my home. I haven't heard anybody inhabiting that place so it shouldn't be a problem,"] Tasianna let out a deep sigh in relief. Guess war was a no go to anybody normal.
Caszcur simply shrugged before continuing. They explained there were also other beastmen slaves there, all obtained by raiding and attacking the beastmen's land.
As Apsala said, the slaves were treated quite well as the ogre and blue-skinned mages knew most of them were Marsven followers. Although in truth, most of them worshiped whatever gods they thought would fit their culture better, so the majority weren't Marsven believers, however, it was convenient enough for them, so everybody unanimously agreed to stay silent about it.
They were all in it together so there was no need to throw somebody else under the bus. Antagonizing another beastmen race would be devastating, as it could lead to an all-out war between them in the slave camps.
As many months went by, one day, a group of lizardmen announced they should escape from captivity. They explained to all their scalekins they overheard that north of them lived the elves and the levianewts, the ocean dragon version of dragonewts, while in the west was where I came from — the Dragon Empire, Kargryx, if I remembered correctly. Where I should have been born, at least.
As some of the lizardmen were worshippers of Kargryxmor, the Dragon God, those lizardmen were filled with vigor at the thought of beholding a mighty dragon. They fully agreed it was the correct time to finally escape. The hope they had almost a year ago was finally reignited.
“I’m a worshipper of God Kargryxmor, and I was also among those who fully supported the idea to escape,” Apsala confessed. “It was a mistake. An absolutely big mistake.”
With the hope of escaping etched into their heads, the lizardmen began planning and scouting for more information. They finally learned escaping through the borders to the north was impossible, as the grimgarians made sure outposts and garrison were placed there to stop any information leaks to the north. They didn’t want their position to be found out as the construction process of their towns couldn’t afford to slow down.
That was when somebody found a tunnel through Avitor Peaks's mountains. Once they knew of this, they began stealing food, weapons, tools, and other essentials from their capturers. Once everything was at the place, they initiated their plan to free every single lizardman, regardless of their clan.
Some considered to free the other beastmen slaves, but the majority decided against it as they had no responsibility to help them. It would have been detrimental for them if every single slave fled, as it was likely the grimgarians would chase after them at all cost, while only the lizardmen leaving would only slow down their construction process by a bit.
Morally… grey, I guess. To survive, sometimes you should follow better reasons and ignore your conscience.
The plan was to escape through the cave, travel north, and then make contact with the elves. They thought they had everything planned, but…
“We didn’t know that this hellish forest was in our way,” Caszcur expressed with silent anger. “We thought that it was just a normal forest and that the elves would be somewhere north. As the sun and moon as our guide, we walked north but that was when we started losing people.”
“Not all of us are proper warriors,” Aksmias explained. “While we know how to hunt and fight, we aren’t trained to kill strong or devious monsters. The hunters and soldiers who survived the raidings suggested those who could pick up a spear should stand and fight with them, while the artisans would stay in the back and protect the women and young scales.”
“It worked for a time,” Apsala added. “People like Caszcur were able to make tools out of wood, while stone and metalworkers kept our weapons and tools maintained. Those of us, like me, who were able to use [Alchemy] started gathering any usable herbs and plants, so we could start making more medicine and potions. We knew, the rations we stole wouldn’t last.”
[“So, what happened?] I asked.
“I don’t know, maybe it's our own darn luck, but it just happened," Caszcur said. “It was after we spent a month in the forest when we met our first real hurdle, a monster strong enough that even our warriors couldn’t slay.”
"We lost many of our scalekins on that day," Aksmias continued for Cazscur. "Imagine, our group was over a hundred, and now it’s reduced to this amount. We thought we were safe after losing a few people, but it never ended. We started facing toxic beasts, monsters in groups, or just a singular creature who preyed on us as if we were all whelplings!"
“Regardless, we slowly began losing more and more people,” Apsala replied. “Not only were we losing numbers but also the warriors, scalekins who were high leveled!
They lost the strong people, leaving those who had barely leveled up at all behind. Their strategy of traveling through the Belzac forest was effective when most of their enemies were weak, easily beatable in a group. However, once the actual terrors appeared and killed the skilled, the rest were left helpless.
They made it all up to the marsh, but all that remained from the group was 53 lizardmen. They were elated, finally, they were back in their preferred environment and it showed when they started to refill their provisions. Fishing and gathering was easier as never before.
“So, how did you lose the rest of your group?” Tasianna asked.
“Two days ago, we were once again attacked by a monster, an indomitable beast that we never guessed made its home in this marshland,” Caszcur looked in the distance as he told us that. “If you were in the swamp at that time, then you should have seen the monster. The giant that jumped into the air to claim its next prey.”
[“Ahh, the one with the giant gaping mouth? Yes, we saw it eat a few otthas on the way,”] Saori informed them with a nod.
Groaning loudly, Caszcur continued, “Our group wandered too close to the lake, the place that it calls home. Not realizing where we were, we were ambushed by the beast who ate all our remaining rations.”
"Nobody died, but we just lost everything. Most of our tools and all the food we saved up for the coming winter," Apsala said with a deep sigh. "In our panic, our group escaped to another area we shouldn’t have gone to. Three giant beasts with scales and fur attacked us and killed the remaining hunters and warriors we had. We were separated from them, so we have no idea if they are still alive or not.”
[“So, those kids wanted to get revenge against something that wiped out all your remaining warriors, while they had no idea if their friends were still there?”] The three lizardmen nodded to my question. [“OMG, that is pretty stupid… but I guess that is understandable. They are their friends after all.”]
[“My Lady, I do not know what this is about, but you should not praise that behavior,”] Saori scolded me. [“Endangering your life to save somebody else is already an idiotic thing to do but that is how friends act, correct? Still, you said ‘those kids’ so are you telling me they were trying to do it all alone? Now that is absurd.”]
[“Come on, Saori, they lost their friends and the people they knew in that attack, so it can’t be helped with how impulsively they acted,”] I argued back.
[“Do not suggest acting recklessly in these sorts of situations, my lady!”] Saori insisted with sharpened eyes. [“You only have one life and that is precious, especially when you have family and other people waiting for you to return home alive. Regardless of your intentions, the people you save will not like it if you died in the process, so think about the people around you before you act on your desires.”]
Scratching my head in annoyance, I had to reluctantly agree to what Saori said, despite how uneasy her words sounded to me, [“That’s why I will agree to help them rescue their friends. If you believe that it’s stupid of them to go in alone, then I’ll just go with them.”]
"Hestia…?" Saori's eyes suddenly turned cold as a blood-red mana mist started to form around them, visibly furious as she spoke English. “… Are you diving into another situation like when we met Tasianna? Are you risking your life again… for a complete stranger? You do not know these people and neither do you know about the enemy this time. I respect your noble spirit but even altruism has its limit, and this is one of those times!”
“Saori, I-I…,” stumbling on my words, I couldn’t get the correct words out of my mouth.
It was honestly suffocating to speak in her presence right now. She hadn’t activated her aura skills yet, but it felt like she was. Her words stung a bit, reminding me about how she reacted when I decided to rescue Tasianna.
Being glared at Saori was never a nice experience, it was one of the things I personally liked to avoid as her anger was usually cold as ice. The fact she was actually worrying for me made it even worse. It made me feel guilty I was trying to help these lizardmen.
“Uhhh, hey you two?” Suddenly, Caszcur raised his voice, interrupting us. “I know you two want to continue arguing but we kinda need…”
[“I know, we are wasting time if we stay here,”] I said so I could ignore Saori’s glare for a moment. [“You need to save the rest of your group, right? I’m in.”]
“Hestia!” Saori cried out, standing up. “Did you not listen to anything that I just said?!”
"I did, but at this point, I don't care. I'm strong enough to handle anything that is thrown at me, so I'll go and rescue them," I asserted. “It won’t be a problem, I swear. I’ve handled everything that was was thrown at me after I met you.”
“Hestia… you’re being really… urgh,” Saori stopped her sentence mid-way before turning her head to Tasianna. [“Tasianna I apologize but I need to rely on you for this. Please, keep her safe in my stead.”]
[“Huh, Miss Saori? What do you mean by that? Aren’t you coming?”] Tasianna raised an eyebrow, confused at what happened.
[“I… Haaaaaaaa… ahhhh,”] Saori let out a deep sigh, looking she was about to hyperventilate. [“Somebody has to keep the virigress mother safe, and while I’m at it, I’ll also keep the camp safe. Please make sure Hestia comes back safely. I am sorry… urgh, I feel a bit sick.”]
Saori…
I wanted to ask her what was going on with her, why she acted like that. The outburst was out of character, but her worry for me still came through. I wanted to stop and talk… but I simply clenched my fist in frustration. It felt like I should have taken more time to think through my arguments.
…
It was decided that we would travel tomorrow morning after we all rested for the night. As thanks for my help, the lizardmen decided to treat us to dinner for tonight, despite not having enough to eat for themselves. Understanding that they just wanted to return the favor, our group agreed to their hospitality, even shared food with them, saying they would be glad to see what they cook up with them.
The older females in the camp instantly smiled with delight, raising their tails high as if we were expecting some grandiose feasts. And, suffice to say, while the food did require some time to get used to, it was pretty good.
Although the lizardmen were having fun, being cheerful and energetic, ‘cause of their wounded having recovered, our party wasn’t in a real celebratory mood. Saori averted her eyes and looked gloomy through the party as she ate her meal. I lost my appetite and wasn’t able to put anything into my mouth,
I was brooding if it was worth helping these people at the cost of worrying Saori. Tasianna tried to reassure me I was doing the correct things, but I felt weird in my decision. My fairy friend even tried to help Saori and me reconcile, but we couldn’t utter a single word to each other.
Eventually, the sound of cheers and laughter was replaced by the snoring of the lizardmen. Even with the dim brown moon in the night sky, I couldn’t fall asleep. I was rattled up from my leaf bed, made by the lizardmen, and went over to investigate some sounds I heard.
There, I quickly hid behind a tree as I noticed Saori’s silhouette sitting lonely under the moonlight. While nibbling on some fruits, I could hear her mumble “Otou-san” and “Need sake.” Otou-san was Japanese for father, making me curious what exactly she was thinking.
Her father, huh? … When will she tell me?
Now that I thought about it, while Saori had spoken quite a lot about her Job and financial instability back on Earth, she never really talked much about her father, really. With how I gushed about my past to her, I thought she would eventually reveal hers to me.
However, after seeing her like this, I believed it was better to let things settle down for now. I wouldn’t want to pry in her own life, especially if it brought her pain. From the context alone, I could guess her franticness from before was probably caused by her father involved in it. Maybe she had a trauma from a bad experience.
I didn’t know, and I wouldn’t force her to say it.
“I’ll come back. Don’t worry, I promise,” I mumbled to myself, but with how strong Saori’s hearing was, she probably heard me. And I hoped so, ‘cause I would always fulfill my promises.
Once daylight came, Caszcur, a few of the guards, Tasianna, and I departed for the rescue mission.
AbyssRaven Oh no, first argument! Just a reminder to everybody that Saori did tell about her past during the sparing chapters, in case you guys forgot why Saori would have this reaction. Hestia was going into an unknown place, where that giant crocodile monster could be. Obviously, this would worry Saori about how reckless she was.
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