A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

“Baked fish marinated in auranta and matato juices, all stuffed in one delicious fish-shaped bread! Get your newest Frozen Nest special here!”

“You scale-kin want raw? We got raw! Don’t like the baked version, then get your ‘ceviche’ with gheeper cheese placed on two slices of knakahai bread! It’ll refresh you in this damn heat before the tournament!”

“Get your dresses and merchandise here! Designed to be similar to Princess Fargryneill’s scale battle dress, these mana threads will keep a fire dragonkin warm even in Iceskale!”

Kaching, kaching, and even more kaching. The world turned at the sound of coins landing on a table, colliding with each other as they created this metallic orchestra that anybody could recognize. The power of currency was on full display even on Miononbolax, where the Empire of Kargryx spans even complete wildlands taken over by nature and monsters.

The dragonkin, just like in fairy tales, did love hoarding their wealth of gold, treasures, and goodies they’ve gained from their travels. However, although stingy, they weren’t too apprehensive of trading their belongings if the price was right. With how much Mom warned me about how true dragonkin would demand a pretty high price if I wanted something from them, it hadn’t happened to me since I just avoided those situations. The Dragon Ruler of Fire, Maustoovaka, was enough of an asshole to scare me away from entering a potentially ancient dragon’s lair.

Though when an elder dragon wasn’t just a spiteful lizard, they could be pretty nice and generous. Like a senior citizen who throws out money, gifts, and good food to the younger generation. Somebody like Uncle Kary was exactly how I would imagine those types of elder scales.

… Which was why the digital media guild and I had to take advantage of that kindness!

Money and budgets do not fall from trees! My guild required a constant influx of funds since they were meant to trailblaze the advancement of manatech in the media industry. It started from a simple video recorder Grimnir’s cousin left behind in one of Chihiro’s shrines, and now the tech had evolved to stream these recordings in real time over an entire city.

I looked up to the sky, where I saw the stream floating above the sky city, showing the celebration currently happening at an open theatre right outside the walls. Belonging to Coral Beard’s university, founded by an elf from Kel’Thun, the theatre acted like an open classroom whenever dragons wanted to act as guest lecturers, but didn’t want to transform into their dragonewt form. It was repurposed for Neill’s homecoming and would host a “battle tournament” where fledglings could challenge Neill in a show of power.

Usually, whenever a homecoming of such a grand proportion happened, the theatre wouldn’t be able to manage all the possible guests. Some true and lesser dragonkin wouldn’t even transform into their humanoid forms, so it was extra difficult due to their presence, making everything feel so suffocating. Not so much through a stream, right? The empresses really knew how to take advantage of my guild’s tech, huh?

Well, I couldn’t exactly let them beat me to the punch. As the first streamer on Peolynca, I couldn’t let my own mother be better at using my toys. From recording the first music video due to Chihiro’s Divine Quest, I was now using this tech to—

“Wanna cool down from the blazing hot summer? ♫

Feel a craving as your tummy growls and roars? ♫

Smell that scent that is right under your nose? ♫

Wherever we are, you know! ♫

Come here, taste that, let me giv’ya a wink! ♫

We’ll fill you right up at Frozen Nest’s Aurora!” ♫

… Seeing myself sticking out my tongue after licking some ice cream and biting into a piece of cake should feel more embarrassing… but this lack of ‘manners’ was a-okay to us dragonkin. Good manners are about enjoying food and showing it.

What would Chihiro think about how I was using her tech? She probably expected me to record more music videos, as I always wanted. Instead, she saw me stream a battle against ice elementals and me recording a jingle to advertise my own food business. Heh, at least the jingle sounded catchy. Unless people knew about the subspace, the “Wherever we are, you know!” was probably too much of an insider joke for people to naturally understand. She’d probably like that!

Though, regardless of her opinion, what mattered was that the jingle was helping alot.

Just outside of the open theatre, just a bit away from the areas where the true dragonkin were waiting for the start of the tournament, a massive crowd was gathered right in front of a single food stand. It was a bit larger than the surrounding street vendors, as I had ordered Sieg and Lissa to employ more people to manage the expected crowd.

Similar to how other nests had street vendors selling their home’s specialities, Frozen Nest followed suit. Usually, our main dishes would be majority fish-based, as nothing could beat the high-quality seafood Uncle Kary’s fishing industry constantly produced, but our participation for this celebration was different. Under Uncle Guyul’s and Lissa’s orders, the cultural management department would work with the digital media guild, as well. Furthermore, I was allowed to give my input as the co-owner of Restaurant and Bistro Aurora.

The week of preparation wasn’t just spent on my performance, no. The entire Nest was pushed into supporting our representation at Neill’s homecoming festival, since I was one of the stars. At least, during my concert and also the latter portion, where I had to celebrate my belated birthday. Frozen Nest and Mom had a responsibility to represent our home properly, and we would do it through food!

Japanese taikayi—fish-shaped bread with red bean past—was just the type of street food that could represent Iceskale’s fish delicacies the best. Since dragonkin stomachs were resistant to raw food, with our taste buds built to enjoy the bloody taste, raw fish dishes were also available, ranging from Latin American ceviche, Hawaiian poke rice bowls, and even sushi wraps. Sure, Peolynca had their own variations and spins to some of the Earth equivalents, but calling them by the Earth names made it easier for me to remember them. Whether I “invented” a new fish dish, or redesigned one Peolynca already knew, all the recipes belonged to this world, anyway.

With the addition of ice cream variants, which Iceskale already knew how to make since it was just frozen sugary milk, and my bakery’s pastry recipes, Frozen Nest’s street vendors were being swarmed by customers from young to old. I had my subspace to supply us gradually, but we had to rely on the incoming transport ships to satisfy some of the orders.

“A month’s worth of these ‘taikayi.’ And make them large enough that I can actually feel them when I swallow them. Hmm? Oh, and two months’ worth for my clan members. Send your dragonewts to my lair for the payment,” an elder scale drake said as she handed a piece of parchment with her name on it, including a molted scaled as her signature—Miononbolax’s version of a check. “Also, give me some of those cakes.”

“Mhmm, ceviche, you call it? Huh, using Marsh and Quake nest lime and vegetables so abundantly to enrich Frozen Nest fish is quite the idea. Bring enough for my young scales to sample them. Promptly, before they start to cook under this sun.” Another elder scale snapped his fingers as they handed our vendor a check before continuing to eat his bowl of ceviche and poke.

True dragonkin were big spenders, especially when it came to new experiences. Anything that could stave off the mundaneness of a long lifespan was worth more than the treasures they had hoarded. Similar to Father and Mom, elder scales were susceptible to soul deterioration. They needed these valuable moments of stimuli just as my parents needed them.

Though, since they were true dragonkin, they didn’t need any of the clothes and merchandise we were selling, since they could create them themselves. Instead, our customer base was directed at all the humanoids. Dragonewts, elves, and dwarves would gladly acquire something for the sake of fashion or to show off that they were here at the festival.

With all the good food, a video of me singing my jingle advertisement projected above our stalls, and the kirins of Clan Gueillxar supporting us to sell merchandise related to Neill, it honestly seemed like everything was going well for our business. Uncle Guyul and Uncle Alex had to return to Iceskale since their job was done on Coral Beard, but they would be quite proud of this success.

“You should have sold more pastries or something.” On the other hand, one person amongst my friends was a little bit against our success. “If you invented something new, outside of the taiyaki, I’m pretty sure the stalls would be even harder to manage.”

I glanced over to Vifi as she was stuffing her mouth full of donuts and monster meat kebabs she bought from another stand. “… They aren’t humans. They like to eat a lot, especially the true and lesser dragonkin. Taiyaki can be upscaled easily, but a cake? Far harder and more time-consuming to make a giant slice of cake that doesn’t turn into a sugar and dairy bomb. The fish dishes are even easier.”

My party was already cooped up inside the open theatre, sitting at the very back of the giant, rock auditorium, reminding me a bit of the seats of a coliseum. Thankfully, unlike the actual one, the seats were supported with soft cushions and separated by handles so people could understand where the seats were. Tickets with numbers were issued, proving and showing you where your seats were, like in a cinema.

It was free to attend, but an order was needed for the theatre’s actual use as an “agora” for the city’s university and the learned. Seats had to be prioritized for humanoids over the true and lesser dragonkin, since it would otherwise devolve into a game of influence. For us, we could either sit at the very end, so the top, of the seats, or enjoy the show on the floating platforms above the theatre.

They were far smaller than the sky city, but it was large enough for multiple rank B and A dragons and drakes to settle down. If more came, they could release more floating platforms, like the five floating above us, right now.

I chose the seats on the ground since it would be hard for Vifi and all my wyvern guards to stick with me. Furthermore, the less I interacted with the elder scales, the fewer problems I could potentially cause. I knew my own damn bad luck well enough!

I don’t like Father’s plans. That whole dinner left a bitter taste in my mouth than the joy I felt when the feast started. But, what can I do to stop it when all the decisions have already been made?

To show everybody that the imperial family was completely at peace with the upcoming democratic choice was easy enough for me. Simply smile and don’t cause problems. For an idol, that should be part of the P.R. training that would come with everything once you were getting ready to debut.

Though I could smile and act like a prim and proper princess, that didn’t mean I wouldn’t be able to avoid trouble. Trouble would find me… like it always would.

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“The crowd is massive, so it’s all good,” I said, making small talk with Vifi since we were still waiting for the tournament to begin. She and the twins were sitting next to me. “Honestly, we should be asking why you’re devouring everything.”

“It begs the question why Your Grace’s clan is even paying her a salary when she can be simply bribed with bread,” Shay said from the side as he sipped on his tea, before pouring the drink back into the teapot. “Another day, another failure. My apologies, my lady.”

“That is why I told you to settle with simple juices,” Beth chastised her brother, before handing all of us an iced fruit juice from the Marsh Nest stalls.

Mhmm. Tastes a bit like blood oranges, I thought after sipping the drink, wondering if we could find Peolynca’s Coca-Cola variant in Marsh Nest. I probably should plan a trip there once, but I was unsure if I would have the time to sightsee in the near future with everything going on.

Once the festival was over and the new succession system was announced, Wendriosa and Nong would immediately travel to Lecullius. I would have to follow them from within the subspace.

Though speaking of drinks, I was starting to perceive Tasianna’s absence. Sure, I knew it was important that she oversaw the process of curing Raffarson’s, but I was starting to miss her being around me with her tea ready. I wanted her to feel more liberated from being around me, but I was starting to understand what I told her. Neither Saori nor Tasianna was around, and I couldn’t help but feel lonely.

I should have at least asked Tasianna to bottle some of her tea, but… would feel like I’m bothering her in these stressful times. At least I got… Vifi.

My thoughts halted for a moment as I saw my demonkin friend greedily devour an entire berliner with one bite, buffing up her cheeks to the point she looked like a hamster. She was licking her lips and fingers, cleaning up any fat that stuck to her mouth. She looked like the happiest demonkin I’ve ever seen. It was good. Good to see her express more of her emotions, unafraid of going crazy with her emotions like most wrath demonkin soldiers. It was better than her moody, depressive attitude during L.E.P.

“You pay soldiers. Full stop,” she said as she took a sip from the drink Beth bought for us. “It doesn’t matter if a soldier joins you out of loyalty or patriotism. As the commander over soldiers, Donut’s duty is to feed, pay, and supply the soldiers with everything they need before a battle. Don’t pay soldiers with mere loyalty and words. You gotta show them that they matter by feeding them properly before the blood lilies are watered.”

“I already know that,” I said, sighing a bit since Vifi did usually go out to spend her wages on things she liked. Considering her childhood, I fully understood why she was so adamant about getting paid and being fed, so I had no reason to complain about her feeding habits. “Shay is just telling you that you’re eating like us dragonkin.”

She shrugged, pointing at the others around us, all also devouring their food with gusto. The dragonewts, levianewts, dwarves, elvenized wyverns, and lower-ranked true dragonkin—so anybody below rank C—were feasting and drinking as if a bunch of elder scales weren’t looking down at us from above. Of course, not every scale-kin was acting as such, especially those who were mingling with the elves, mages, and bureaucrats.

Just like everywhere else, it didn’t matter what race you were, the way you behaved was determined by how you grew up and with what sorta people you mingled with. Even noble and prideful true dragonkin could eat with grace, like my family, or drink until they fell unconscious from drinking with dwarves, even if dragons naturally have a lower tolerance for alcohol.

Yet, whether you showed manners or not, people didn’t really mind it. Well, except for the few elves around or any victims to ultra-slobbery… Oh, and I guess the cleaners who have to deal with this later on.

“See? Nothing wrong about that. I’ve only been training with the clan knights and acting as a guard for the last few weeks. A festival is a holiday. Gotta enjoy it.” Vifi leaned back on her seat, enjoying the summer weather. It was cooler than usual, but Coral Beard was too close to the equator to have normal winters.

“We’re still Her Grace’s personal guards, Vifi. Show some decorum like how you always preach…” Shay massaged her temples but gave up on persuading Vifi when it came to food. They got along pretty well, honestly.

Tasianna, Beth, and Vifi loosened up a bit after our glacial expedition, but Shay was still as uptight as ever. At least he was more talkative, making sure people knew his thoughts. Sure, the bluntness could come across as abrasive, but to me, it was better than how he kept this iron-faced stoicism in the past, trying to act like a model dragon retainer.

“Haaa, maybe I am putting too much pressure on everybody when it is supposed to be a happy day,” Shay finally said, earning him a pat on the back from his sister. “The day is for Princess Fargryneill, and with all the elder scales watching, nothing bad can happen… Right?”

“… Do you want my luck to jinx us or something suddenly?” I asked, causing Vifi to freeze up.

Her head slowly turned to me, almost in a robotic fashion. “I didn’t hear of any Dragon Ruler personally attending the festivities, but their clan representatives did come. All those fire dragons haven’t approached us, yes, but…”

I looked up. I couldn’t feel any gazes at me, but I could see fire dragonkin everywhere—on the floating platforms, in the audience, and even flying around outside or in the sky. Maustoovaka’s words still lingered in the very back of my head, including the situation with the Kleodrastia Clan.

“Many dragons were hurt because of you today. Some died… Hedthalak’s death is your fault.” How unfair to blame me for everything. Who started all that crap when I visited Inferno Nest when I had done nothing bad? Was I supposed to willingly accept some “teaching” from a dragon I’ve never met before? What kinda bullshit did he believe I would have swallowed up like a “meek, polite young scale?”

Now that I thought about it, Father calling me his “daughter” during his speech should have been heard by everybody. It was done for the sake of his plans, but it also acknowledged my existence as his child, essentially breaking down Maustoovaka’s entire argument on how I was an “illegitimate” child due to the circumstances of my birth. Whether the dragonkin actually believed Father meant his words was irrelevant. Father reminded us how strong he still was with how he chased away the leviathans. Trying to challenge his authority would essentially mark you for death if you tried to mess with me personally.

… Though that didn’t mean that same privilege extended to my friends, family, and even nest. The danger to my life was dwindling, but the threat to everything else was returning to how it was on Altrust. The demonkin would ruin everything around me, and now I had those same enemies in the fire dragonkin on Miononbolax. Fun.

“You’ve been around Hestia for longer; how have you not learned that her bad luck will come at the worst time ever?” Vifi pointed her finger at Shay, causing him to turn away in shame. “Whether it’s Inferno Nest or the glaciers, it feels like Marsven is keeping his shadowy clutches around us. Or, maybe this is just his way to show fate and progression?”

“I thought I was the priestess; since when have you learned how to preach?” I asked, lifting the mood a bit as Vifi shrugged. “If Marsven really is influencing things, then I really wish he would stop. Though considering what I’ve heard about him from Goddess Aurena, I think any prayers to him are probably useless. The ‘God of Slackers.’”

“Fitting. The church of Marsven on Bole’Taria kept mentioning how he used to be the god of the sloth demons. Sloths prefer him over the other Edjurl gods,” Vifi explained. “Though, considering his wife is watching over Saori, maybe the God of Darkness has finally taken an interest in our fate and—”

“Excuse me?”

A clear voice interrupted our small talk, drawing our attention to a white-gold scaled winged dragonewt standing before us. From smell alone, I could detect that he was a light dragon… but not an adult, from how sweet his scent was. Though unlike the majority of the humanoid-turned true dragonkin, he showed as much skin as I did in my [Humanize Lv. 7] form. Outside of his four horns that were curved into a broken halo, his elven face made it hard to identify his lineage.

Though those horns are already a dead giveaway.

“My apologies, but that seat is mine.” The dragon flaunted the ticket he held, causing Vifi to frown as she reached for hers.

She didn’t even need to recheck her number, as she knew he spoke the truth. “Yeah… sorry.”

Cleaning up the mess she had made, she then moved to the seat to her right.

The entire audience was nearly bought out when my party got our tickets for the day. To be fair, I was expected to join my siblings and father at the very top to watch Neill’s tournament, but I also didn’t know about this open theatre until this morning. I pivoted towards it when Nong introduced it to me, for the reason I mentioned before.

I wanted to sit with my three friends together like in a cinema, but the best we could do was three seats, and Vifi got the short end of the stick. We were betting on nobody coming; it was supposed to be sold out, but even in the back, not every seat was occupied just yet. What a shame.

“Thank you very much,” the light dragon said before lowering his tail, bowing his head just for a moment before he sat down. “Princess Hestia, I presume?”

“Yeah…”

“Uriahn. I apologize for separating you from your friend, but…” He turned around for a moment, glancing over to Vifi before snapping his attention back to me. “Actually… now that I think about it, would it make you more comfortable if I swapped seats with her?”

Vifi’s demonic features weren’t visible outside of her fangs and long claws. To most, she would look like a human.

“It’s your seat,” Vifi said, sipping on her fruit juice. “I’m fine over here.”

“I see… well, if you have no problem, then I’ll gladly accept it. Uriahn.” He reached out for a handshake, prompting Vifi to raise an eyebrow before she glanced over to me. Though she didn’t wait for my reaction before she accepted the gesture, prompting the dragon to smile.

“Vifi’Yok.”

“The demonkin, yes? I’ve heard about you.”

“Ha, news already spread around Sacred Nest?”

He nodded. “Princess Hestia’s visit to Sacred Nest was spoken about for multiple weeks. My scale-kin couldn’t stop talking about it, not to mention the people who accompanied her. Prince Taimatrak is a regular visitor since he and Sanzaphon are good friends, so it was just considered as usual, so the attention fell onto you, our, probably, first demonkin visitor on Miononbolax. The, definitely, first demonkin retainer to a dragonkin.”

“Happy to hear the light flight and wake are talking so much about me. What a coincidence that we get to meet a light dragonkin in the seats where dragonewts and other humanoids usually sit,” Vifi stated, clearly pointing daggers at Uriahn, though the light dragon remained calm despite the accusation.

“Must be ‘fate,’ right?” He laughed, now poking fun at us. “Though I am surprised to see our youngest princess mingle with the humanoids.”

I shrugged. “I’m happy to surprise people. I like to play around with my friends, instead of joining my family with all the elder scales. How about you?”

“Same, but I simply like to avoid the gazes. My father didn’t come—he mentioned he had to talk with somebody in Frozen Nest—but my uncle is around, and he is garnering eyes. Too many eyes, since he’s our clan’s representative.”

… You’re making it too obvious. I know I owe the Dragon Ruler of Light a meeting with Uncle Alex for a possible alliance. An uncle who is the clan’s rep? Clearly, Michalik. Who are you trying to fool here?

I didn’t interrupt him, though, letting him finish his answer. “The eyes of everybody staring at you never feel good, no matter how far you go up. Those expectant eyes… feel suffocating.”

“True.” I nodded, remembering Mom’s lecture. “Yet, expectations are a way to fuel your motivation. It can help you strive to become better or to improve, with many people thriving in it. I personally like it, but I get why it sucks. The suffocating feeling is definitely something I can sympathize with.”

Uriahn laughed weakly, sounding like he was faking it to keep the vibes positive. “I personally do not like the attention at all. It makes you do things you don’t want to.”

“Can’t argue with that…” I let out a sigh. “Anyway, you aren’t very good at keeping the mystery up, you know? Why are you here, Uriahn Yng—”

“Dragonkin of Miononbolax! Citizens and guests of Kargryx!”

However, before I could expose him, the shoutcaster interrupted me, drawing my attention to the arena as a clear ice barrier formed around it. The earth shook before the platform was elevated and expanded through the formation of solid rock. Stairs were created as the awestruck crowd turned silent with the shoutcaster. The sound of footsteps started to drown out the outside noise, before sparks of purple and black flames began to zap and burn the air.

Raising her hand into the air, Neill made her magnificent entrance to the thunderous applause and yells of the people watching her, while the kirins on the floating platforms cried out in support of their princess. With the gazes of everybody turned to the star of the show, the elevated platform shook again before it expanded, now even larger than a football field. The ice barrier grew in size as well, not encapsulating the new size of the arena.

Furthermore, the ground beneath us started to shake as well, raising the audience seats to fit the arena’s new height. As the crowd yelled out in surprise, a dragonewt suddenly jumped off the floating platform, before they transformed into their drake form, revealing today’s referee was none other than Empress Gaistrus.

The titanic ancient drake made Coral Beard look tiny, towering over everything like a mountain. [“Let the tournament begin! All registered challengers get ready to ascend into the arena to challenge Princess Fargryneill’s might!”]

Stomping the ground, mana mist was released from Neill’s body before it covered her up. The smokescreen lasted but a moment before it was blown away by a set of wings, as Neill roared, allowing all to witness her new rank A form.