"I’ve already received a report from Marquess Sirius and Antonio about what happened but, haaaa… hearing this from you, kiddo, makes it even more problematic. A B rank High Ogre. That means the King or Lord of this army must be an A rank at the very least.” Inside his office, Farron massaged his temples, frowning as worry and anxiousness clouded his face.

“Wait, Lady Hestia, is that really what happened?!” Ellaine exclaimed in disbelief.

According to the original plan, Ellaine was supposed to join her mother and brother in their travel to the Kingdom of Artorias’s capital, Griffonpeak, to help her family form an excuse for her to leave the royal academy and join me. However, Ellaine had decided to stay behind against her mother’s wishes. For somebody like Ellaine who had always meekly followed along with her house’s decisions, even if they were to use her as a political tool like when they had her become my lady-in-waiting, imagining her being rebellious was something else.

She’d informed her mother that a rumor was circulating amongst the young noble ladies that Ellaine was already considered my retainer, and that she was becoming something like an ambassador for Artorias as she traveled with me. She would speak with foreign dignitaries under my guidance and establish friendly contact with the other races west and north of the Kingdom.

Regardless of whether it was true or not, people were already speaking about it. Ellaine’s mother was proficient enough in politicking that she understood rumors like these were a double-edged sword. The prestige of House Helvas had risen since the Chezaic tea party, but if Ellaine were to return to the academy without me, people would second guess the rumors. That could be detrimental for their house, regardless of what people thought of me.

Her mother still tried to argue against it, but Ellaine remained steadfast, not accepting anything else but to join me earlier. She even explained the skill system to her mother, informing her that it would be better for Ellaine to train earlier and level up with me. The moment she showed up at the academy with me and her newly acquired strength? That moment would be far more beneficial for both her House’s reputation and her own than if she arrived separate from me.

So, that’s how Ellaine got her mother’s permission to stay behind and join me earlier than expected. Naturally, I was surprised. Ellaine didn’t seem like somebody to defy her parents, but it happened, didn’t it? I guess she regained some confidence after everything that happened; either that, or she was just that invested into traveling with us as a friend.

Either way, Aurora was a four woman party from now on, and we immediately integrated her into our party and everything we did.

As we also had to report what happened during the Quest to Farron, we thought it was the perfect time to bring Ellaine with us for her inauguration into party Aurora. Technically, we had to inform the merc guild of this stuff, as our fight against the grimgarians happened during a merc Quest, but our handler there told us to inform the hunter’s guild about it instead. It worked out in the end.

Melia was currently doing the necessary stuff to make Ellaine into an adventurer downstairs while we were talking with Farron. Interestingly enough, this was also our first chance to help Ellaine adapt to our party’s culture. And that was being casual and not sweating the formal stuff.

“Uh, yeah, that big guy nearly crushed my neck. I heard it loudly crack after I was helped out by Saori and Tasianna. Oof, B ranks are scary.” I say that knowing full well that Saori and I were also B ranks, especially since I would have turned that ogre into a puddle of melted flesh if he hadn't been wearing his now destroyed armor.

“This was your second fight with a B rank, right? Glad you three made it out in one piece,” Farron praised us to comfort us from what happened. “Random encounters like these can happen all the time while you’re out there. You met the onnikais this way too, right? Have confidence in your strength, but always remember to curb your recklessness; otherwise, you might end up like me, kiddo.”

Urgh, now his lecture sounds like Saori’s.

“I agree,” Saori nodded her head in affirmation. “I should have done a better job scouting ahead before we entered the cave. It also taught me I should have put more trust into my teammates instead of demanding from myself to do actions despite it not being the most advantageous.”

Similar to when I evolved into a B rank, Saori’s wolfkin appearance hasn’t changed much except for a few additions. Just as my dragon form’s core also appeared in the middle of my chest, Saori’s arms had streaks of white fur ending at her hands, used to store her black electricity while she was a wolfkin. If she were to become a full human, I was sure she would lose her ability to use [Stygian Voltage] altogether, since it was a racial skill linked to her white fur.

“Well, it is true that the high ogre was a tough opponent. Actually, I’m pretty sure we just got lucky with the cave flood we created; if he hadn’t been severely injured by that, I don’t think we would have won. Well, here’s hoping that Saori’s evolution will help our party’s strength,” I sighed at the thought of even more crazy B ranks.

I’ve fought four B ranks before, though three of them were the wyverns. The two snow-type wyverns, thankfully, had only evolved recently and were extremely weak to my fire magic, which gave me enough of a chance to defeat both of them with Saori and Tasianna despite only being an upper C rank back then.

However, this high ogre and Astalos back then were at a completely different level from me and the snow wyverns. The ogre had powerful weapon abilities, giving his already high stats a boost with gear, while Astalos was just a very old B rank, on the edge of evolving into an A rank. They were dangerous and it proved we had a long way to go.

I think it was about time we had a proper grinding phase again. We needed to grind up Job and skill levels. Evolving was impossible until I matured and increasing my level when I had a soft cap imposed on me was too hard, which meant going through our Job list should be our next goal.

“Lady Hestia has already mentioned the grimgarian army, yes? If a battalion was hiding like this in your land, then please be aware more could be scattered around in the other duchies. It is a possibility,” Tasianna pushed the subject even further, reminding everybody of an impending grimgarian army.

Farron sighed and nodded, aware of the preparations he had to do. Ellaine was unexpectedly really quiet despite it involving her own kingdom, which made me think she didn’t know what to say.

The first thing Ellaine had to do as our teammate was to adapt to our party’s culture and also the crazy stuff happening around us, which included something like this. The other part was speaking habits and staying casual with others, something Ellaine was slowly getting used to but still found it weird that commoners like Farron weren’t addressing nobles like Lord Sirius with their full titles in private.

In any case, we informed Farron of what happened, so our business here with him was over. He also said we shouldn’t worry too much about it since we weren’t from Artorias.

“Oh, before we go, ahem, kriiiaugh kriiiiekk kreukkka?” I growled, causing Farron’s left eyebrow to be raised suddenly. Did he understand me? “Uhm, well you see, I learned a few things during the Quest and also an important fact about my lineage. Uhh, hope you understood that ‘cause I really need your help with that. You should have contacts right?”

Farron nodded. “Yeah, understood. Your growls are still pretty hard to understand, though. Still, I’ll try to do something about your ‘fire problem.’”

I breathed a sigh of relief, hopeful that Farron could do something about my dragon mother’s potential rampage. Once that was done, curiosity appeared and I couldn’t help but ask him, “Well, I suddenly have a question. It confused me back then, but I think I understand it now. Is Priscilla’s perfume ‘authentic?’”

I did not mention that Cernust was a dragon, as he’d asked me to keep quiet about his identity. Dragons and drakes didn’t want to attract too much attention during their adulthood pilgrimage, since dragon slayers could be hiding in plain sight as adventurers. Cernust told me dragon hunters and slayers did not care if you were an intelligent dragonkin or not, as most hunted dragons for either the power, fortune or a personal agenda. And here I thought I was being too paranoid about it.

“Hmm, I see, well I’m glad you had an epiphany,” Farron replied, understanding the message in between the lines. “Priscilla’s perfume is partly authentic, like her mother’s. I didn’t mean to keep it a secret from you, but I just wanted to keep her safe. Do me a favor, though, keep it a secret alright?”

I nodded. Ellaine looked a bit confused, as I hadn’t had the time to explain the dragon stuff to her yet.

“Of course, I will. Then… I know this is a sensitive subject for you, but just let me help you alright? Don’t decline as you’ve done so much for us. Your ailment, how do we cure it?” For everything Farron had done for us, from giving us tips and to sparring with me, I really wanted to help him in order to return the favor. Also, as I knew he would probably have to defend his home from the grimgarian army in the future, so I wanted him to be in peak condition; he probably wouldn’t survive the upcoming war with his bad lungs.

Farron sighed, telling me I didn’t owe him anything, but he still handed me a piece of parchment with a list of ingredients for the medicine he needed. “The crystal lungs were caused by a basilisk. Nasty creatures that can slowly turn your flesh into stone with their venom, and the one I met was especially nasty. Don’t risk your life for this old man, alright?”

After saying our farewells to Farron, we went back down to pick up Ellaine’s ID where we informed Melia about our departure.

“Oh, really? Ahh, that is a shame but do know that I will be rooting for you three and, of course, your new member. Lady Ellaine, please, here is your ID back,” Melia said in her usual smile.

“Oh my,” Ellaine gulped as she stared at the G on her ID, marked with the emblem of the hunter’s guild. ‘Cause of her low level, exceptions couldn’t be made for Ellaine to be promoted to our party rank, meaning we had to start grinding Quests to raise her rank, too.

“Party members of a lower rank than the average of your party are allowed to participate in any Quest you may take, Lady Hestia. However, please be aware that they will not be able to take any rank point credits, as the guild assumes that your stronger members are completing the quests instead of the new members. To acquire rank points, Lady Ellaine must take Quests appropriate for her rank,” Melia gave us her last piece of advice. We were about to move to another city, which meant she would no longer be our personal handler anymore.

Saying goodbyes is so painful…

“Wha-?! You are about to leave?” Priscilla overheard us speak while she was carrying a tray of food for her father.

I already told Priscilla we would be leaving soon, but it seems the young girl still didn’t like the idea. I smiled and took out a shirt and dress from my storage. “I heard you couldn’t buy my concert merchandise from your father. So, here.”

The white-haired girl was flustered, having not expected me to suddenly bring up this subject. “Wha-?! But I-”

“Hey, you can’t reject it, alright? Farron did a lot for us, especially with all the sparring we did. Please, accept this as a way for me to thank him for his help and also the fact you are one of my big fans!” I winked. “Also, your perfume is nice but, if we get to meet again, I hope to see the real you~”

“Oh, uhh… Mhmm! That sounds really good, elder scale! I am pretty sure mother would love meeting you too!” And with that, I got Priscilla’s confirmation of her identity. Farron confirmed she was only “half-authentic,” which meant she was a dragonewt, not a dragon. It was a shame that I couldn’t speak more with Priscilla, but I guess we would have to save that for when I visited Firwood, again.

I gave her a quick hug before leaving the hunter’s guild, waving farewell to everybody inside.

“Hey, we’re all nomadic so I hope to see you again, Hestia! I’ll pray to the goddess that your next concert will be held where I’m going!”

“Damn! Gonna miss your food, Saori! You keep yourself safe, alright? Keep those kids under control before they rampage around recklessly, ahahaha!”

“Ahhh, I’m gonna miss Tasianna’s cold stares and harsh words. Thawing from that always made my heart rush~”

…Y-Yeah, let’s just forget the last group.

After the hunter’s guild, we went back to the mercenary guild for Ellaine’s registration. Having Ellaine with us meant she also brought some money into our party funds, so she paid her registration by herself. Once that was all done, Ellaine was officially a hunter and mercenary, a complete adventurer.

The rest of our day was used to say goodbye to everybody we knew in Firwood. Lorena and Ruld, the new married couple from Carine Village, were also saddened to see us go, telling us how much they owed me for everything we did for them. We’d only met Kraftja and Ogni twice, but they were the people we bought and ordered our first weapons from. Zeather and Quini were extremely helpful, as they kept our restaurant’s supply of ingredients and spices up.

“Thank you so very much for everything, Hestia. I owe my life to you and my current happiness,” Lorena said as she stroked her pregnant belly. “Me, Ruld, and Carine Village will always welcome you, so if you ever need to rest, please visit us!”

“Hmm, I see, the life of adventurers, right? Ogni, the old fool, is already grumbling for missing out on a chance to make dragonewt scaled armor, hahahaha! Tell you what. Here, have this token,” Kraftja, the dwarf woman, presented me with a small iron token with the symbol of an anvil and hammer etched on it. “Travelling dwarves like us forge these small tokens as a symbol of friendship. Since the males like my grumbling husband are always hard to speak with from how stubborn and prideful they are, these tokens can help you get closer to a dwarven blacksmith if you find one on your travels. Ogni made it out of boredom after he got a chance to work with your obsidian, ahahha!”

“Oi, woman! Shut your damn trap! Guh! Hey, girls! Don’t buy your gear from those bumbling humans! Get the real stuff from us dwarven blacksmiths and runesmiths!” Ogni demanded of us while covering up his embarrassment. It made Ellaine a bit uncomfortable, but she has to get used to it.

Lastly, Zeather had something to say, too, “Our master’s company is located in Cedaraille. If honored customers require anything, please, visit him. I am sure he will see the value in our continued relationship.” The foxian then handed us a piece of parchment after he finished writing his recommendation on it.

After this, we all went back to Ellaine’s home, as we had to prepare for tomorrow. We would have had to prepare Ellaine a set of gear too, if not for the fact her mother had already prepared something. Armor. The first member of our party to wear a set of armor was Ellaine.

It wasn’t like Antonio’s full metal armor, but consisted of a set of traveling clothes made out of monster leather, metal gauntlets, steel leg armor, and chainmail under it all.

Since Ellaine had suddenly decided to stay back, her armor wasn’t of the quality her mother wanted it to be, but Ellaine said it was alright as she wanted to earn her armor and weapon with her own efforts; in other words, she was ready to go hunt for monster materials to forge equipment from like a real-life monster hunter.

“You do know we can simply give you my scales or Saori’s fur, right? We shed them all the time,” I pointed out the fact.

“…”

Well, there goes her motivation, I guess.

However, while it was possible to make some good armor with our shed scales and fur, her weapons and catalysts would require us to hunt monsters as bones, organs, and valuable body parts were great blacksmithing and catalyst ingredients.

“How did your mother react to your wish?” I asked Ellaine.

“Not too well,” Ellaine admitted. “She was happy that I’d found enough courage to become your retainer but she still thinks I should have gone to the academy first and trained more before leaving. However, because of this, uhm, skill point shop? Well, I now have access to the skill point System, just like you three, so I thought it would be better to enter action immediately. Thanks to Lady Hestia giving me a title, I can increase my skills and level faster, so I determined training under you would be far better than staying at the academy.”

“What about your reputation?”

“I do not care about it anymore. I haven’t joined many social events after relinquishing my inheritance rights, making me more or less a pariah in the eyes of others. Until I am able to reveal that I will leave to serve you, nothing really will change with my academy life. Besides, the Chezaic twins will most likely continue attending the academy, and with what happened to their parents, I do not wish to meet them any time soon. They would probably use my separation from Lady Hestia as fuel to destroy what little reputation I gained from the tea party anyways.”

The Chezaic twins were the only ones who didn’t receive a direct punishment after the fairy affair. They lost their house and their parents were given the death penalty, but they kept their freedom, aristocratic status from their extended family, and lives. They would go live with their distant relatives and would attend the royal academy come spring.

“Hmm, if the social bullying will not stop, then joining us earlier than planned would be the better alternative,” Saori agreed. “Lady- Actually, now that we are teammates, we should begin talking more casually with each other. Of course, only in private, as I believe keeping it up in public would benefit us more. Would that be acceptable, Ellaine?”

Ellaine frowned for a bit, thinking, but ending up nodding in the end. “Yes, comradeship should be built upon trust and friendship. I am Lad-Hestia’s retainer, just like you two. If I must adapt to the party’s culture then I will. I must. Although, if that is the case, then why does Tasianna keep addressing everybody so formally?”

“It is her wish,” Saori answered.

“She’s stubborn,” I replied.

“Because Lady Hestia is my princess and I have the utmost respect for Miss Saori. At the end of the day, my role as a maid is my actual occupation and I believe it would be best to address others correctly so as to not sully my Lady’s name. I am sure Miss Josine and Miss Svena can agree with this,” Tasianna explained her actions.

““We agree.”” Svena and Josine simultaneously said.

The rest of the evening was spent making sure we had everything we needed for the trip to Griffonpeak. Once the next day came, we went outside with Ellaine to be met with a carriage outside the door. Apparently, Ellaine’s mother Marianne wanted her daughter to at least take the carriage to arrive at Griffonpeak, as she wanted to make sure we would be safe.

However, I rejected the carriage ride, since I believe having Ellaine get used to camping outside and journeying, in general, was more important. That’s why I told her we couldn’t fly over to Griffonpeak with her gargoyle as well, since she needed to build up stamina by walking. The moment she joined Aurora, I was ready to have her go through trials and trials to boost up her stats.

Sure, Marianne would probably be angry at me, but she didn’t think I would send a friend into an actual fight by spoiling her, right? I have always believed that strengthening your foundation was the best way to improve ever since I began my idol training, and what I will help Ellaine with will inevitably improve hers. Our party’s grinding session had to begin.

It was sad to tell Josine and Svena goodbye, but they, unfortunately, weren’t combatants. They weren’t like Tasianna, who could fully participate with Saori and me in a battle.

“Lady Hestia, thank you very much for giving me the honor to serve you temporarily. I am saddened that I cannot help you any further, but I will pray to the goddess for your safety,” Svena bowed at the gate.

“And I would like to thank you for helping me adapt to living inside a noble’s mansion. Thank you so very much for all your help, Svena. I will miss you,” I smiled, hiding the sadness that was growing stronger and stronger on this day.

Ellaine also said goodbye to Josine, giving her a large hug as tears began to flow down her eyes. “T-thank you so very much for all these years, Josine. Thank you so very much for everything. Without you, I don’t know how I would have survived these past years.”

“Please, be strong, my Lady. You mustn’t cry,” Josine tried to comfort Ellaine but couldn’t hide her own watery eyes. “Please, stay safe, my Lady. The moment you return, I can assure you I will immediately run to your side. So, please, come back stronger and braver, Lady Ellaine.”

Goodbyes are the worst…

With Barathan and Manuela also saying goodbye, Ellaine had to force herself to leave despite her heavy heart. There was still the possibility that we would meet all of them again in Griffonpeak, but just saying goodbye right now already seemed like it was final. For three months, Saori, Tasianna, and I had been living inside this mansion, making memories with the staff members and Ellaine. We were about to say goodbye.

Not only the mansion but everything about Firwood. Three months was a long time, especially if you spent every day going around the town, where we made a ton of memories. Becoming adventurers, buying our first weapons, opening our restaurant, and also my second concert. Then there were also the people we met.

And some of them were standing at the gate just now.

Farron, Priscilla, Gael, Zeather, Lorena, Ruld, a few of our restaurant’s regulars, and also some of the kids I saw watching me sing.

.

““““Se no ♫

Demo sonnan ja dame ♫

Mou sonnan ja hora ♫

Kokoro wa shinka suru yo ♫

Motto motto ♫””””

.

I honestly didn’t know how the kids learned that I was leaving. We told our regulars we would be leaving, but I never told them when we were leaving. It also surprised me that the kids even managed to learn the song despite not understanding a single word. I gave them the lyrics, but it was still baffling that they managed to do it in time.

[“Sneaky Gael. Look at his smug face, Hestia. He’s the reason,”] Saori told me with an “I can’t believe he would do that” expression, pointing at Gael who was leaning on a wall with a big grin. When I looked over to him, he winked, confirming Saori’s assumption for me.

Wow...but I should answer the kids’ hard work.

.

“Kotoba ni sureba kiechau kankei nara ♫

Kotoba wo keseba ii ya tte ♫

Omotteta? Osoreteta? ♫

Dakedo are? Nanka chigau kamo ♫

Senri no michi mo ippo kara! ♫

Ishi no you ni katai sonna ishi de ♫

Chiri mo tsumoreba Yamato Nadeshiko? ♫

"Shi" nuki de iya shinu ki de! ♫

Fuwa fuwari fuwa fuwaru ♫

Anata ga namae wo yobu ♫

Sore dake de chuu e ukabu ♫

Fuwa fuwaru fuwa fuwari ♫

Anata ga waratte iru ♫

Sore dake de egao ni naru ♫

Kami-sama, arigatou ♫

Unmei no itazura demo ♫

Meguriaeta koto ga ♫

Shiawase na no ♫”

.

Their blindingly bright smiles. That was exactly what I wanted to do the moment my dream was set. Bringing happiness and smiles to the faces of kids, teens, and adults. That is my first priority as an Idol. Sure, fame and money were nice, but nothing made my soul quiver with happiness nor made me weep tears of joy as much as seeing people singing my songs with elation.

Papa. Mama. This is the life I wanted so dearly.

It was rude to say, but I couldn’t stop myself from saying it.

As we said goodbye to all of them, I also noticed a boy with red hair standing close by with his party. Roosterhead. Lucia, Wulf, and Verdiena waved us goodbye energetically, while Raian nodded stoically. Roosterhead was frowning the whole time, but eventually slapped himself and bowed, shouting “May the fair goddess protect you and reveal your path forward, Lady Hestia! Thank you for saving me!” before running away with a reddened face.

What an awkward kid. Ehe, cute.

And then we were off. Firwood stood behind us as we walked east, towards Griffonpeak.

Sadly, we weren’t able to encounter any strong monsters on the road, but all the walking has made it clear that Ellaine’s legs weren’t used to traveling far distances, since she would use her gargoyle or a carriage for this purpose. She would tire easily despite how much she has increased her Stamina since I helped her out.

On the other hand, she was mildly competent when it came to camping and hunting. After all, I spent a whole week with her inside a forest where her knights and I were able to teach her how to survive.

Still, this did mean our travel time took longer than we expected. It allowed us to get closer, especially Tasianna and Ellaine, but it did mean we had to get Ellaine more fit if we wanted to travel.

It took us a whole week to make it to our first stop on our trip to Griffonpeak. The capital of the Greenveil Duchy, Cedaraille, a large city with access to a dungeon.

And what does a dungeon mean? Grinding time.