A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

“Due to the defeat of the Dragon Ruler of Fire, Maustoovaka, at the hands of First Prince Kahalameet, an emergency conference was called by His Majesty, Emperor Eltharion. All empresses and dragon rulers are to arrive at the Black Citadel. The majordomo of the Kargryxmor clan and the president of the Republic of Loatryx, Maelexus Kargryxmor, and his heir, Midirn Kargryxmor, shall also attend the meeting to act as Emperor Eltharion’s scribes and messengers. By order of His Majesty, Emperor Eltharion, all hostile actions must be paused during this momentous conference.”

Midirn, huh? Ha, long time no see, friend. I marveled at hearing the name of an old companion who fought with us during the Prince of Envy battle. I haven’t seen him since my coma, though, but it did make sense since I didn’t give Loatryx [Room] runes. Since Yorshka was following around Saori’s students, it was hard for Midirn or Pradreo, the Kargryxmor representative, whom I met with Skardvro when I first visited Ankor-Nazta, to visit me.

Maybe this would be a chance for us to reunite, as I did with Apsala when I visited Lecullius. Considering the distance and the reason he and his father had to visit Loatryx, the chance was zero, though. They didn’t even have the chance to visit Kargryx to celebrate Neill’s homecoming, after all, so giving me a visit should be even lower on their to-do list.

Nevertheless, what mattered was that Kahalameet’s invasion of Inferno Nest had ended by Father’s orders. Fighting would cease, and any injured would be cared for by the holy dragons. The dead would be sent back to their relatives, and once Father made a decision, the result was already obvious to me: Kahalameet would probably give a speech on it. Once again, it would act as a promotional tool for my recorder and the streaming function.

… I really should speak with Taim. Is this all just to promote my business on the side?

In any case, once Mom was finished giving me the lesson for the day, she left to attend the meeting. The power of the subspace reared its head again… although she could have just flown over in no time, anyway.

Once Tasianna’s training ended, I started preparing for the stream since it was about time to announce the results. The streams in Coral Beard and Iceskale would handle the news, allowing me to redirect anybody wishing for information to them. Though, to be safe, I also had my moderators ready to delete comments and ban people who would push the subject too much. I didn’t want to talk about the Inferno Nest drama today.

“We’re ready!” Grimnir announced as the ice elementals started gathering around Tasianna behind the camera.

Over the three weeks I’ve been training, Elk and the ice elementals had started watching me stream here and there, with the lessers even jumping in front of the recorder to “bask in the spotlight.” Unfortunately, unlike me, most of the dragonkin weren’t weak to cute things, so even the lesser elementals couldn’t captivate everybody’s hearts as easily as I could. Still, it did help their image in the end, since it proved the elementals were living peacefully in front of Mom’s lair.

Although none of them had become my fan, probably ‘cause of how loyal they were to Tasianna, it felt good to see the lesser elementals act like kids when they cheered for me. It was just too bad that I couldn’t understand them. Some of them hadn’t learned [Telepathy] yet, either.

Still, with those kids flying around in the background like blue fireflies, it made things feel less serious than they should’ve been. With a smile, I pulled up the documents on the results of the preliminary polling, although I only looked at the one on Iceskale first. Unsurprisingly, Iceskale had their minds completely set in stone.

99% of the true dragonkin voted for me… 99% of the wyverns and dragonewts voted for me. The 1% from both sides came from the leviathans and levianewts who voted for Wendriosa. Sis and I; we were the only ones Iceskale voted for. Kahalameet has a measly one vote… and that was from me. Dragon Ruler of Ice, Alextraxus, voted for ‘Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor,’ confirming that I am an eligible candidate to take the throne of Kargryx. Scheiße.

I let out a small sigh. To be fair, outside of my initial proclamation, I hadn’t used every stream as a chance to tell people off for voting for me. Still, seeing an entire nest vote for me made my shoulders feel so heavy. It felt like all of these people were putting their hopes on my back, telling me to win for the sake of my people and home.

Yet, I couldn’t help but feel like an imposter here. Like, I wasn’t even worth all this attention. I would be grateful and fully accept it if they were cheering me on as the “Best Idol of Peolynca,” but this felt exactly like how they cheered for me after I returned from the Inferno Nest incident. I couldn’t feel happy. Not even flattered.

They cheered for me back then ‘cause they thought I defied the ancient dragonkin in Inferno Nest—Frozen Nest’s historic enemy. As Rhekk told me at the glaciers, I disliked being cheered for such a hateful reason, but it was reality. Just like now, I couldn’t stop people from voting for what they truly believed. This was the intention of the preliminary polling. This was the truth. A truth I had to accept, but I didn’t want to.

I did not want to become Kargryx’s next empress. I didn’t want to steal my eldest brother’s and sister’s ambition. I had no idea how Kahalameet and Wendriosa would feel towards me if I somehow won. Even if they loved me, throwing a wrench in their plans like this would make anybody resentful. Could they continue loving me? Could we still have a healthy sibling relationship if I stole their chance to become heir apparent? Such an uncertain future had to be avoided!

As the timer to the stream’s start counted down, my heart started beating like a drum. Once I announced the results, Pandora’s box would, without a doubt, be fully opened. Kahalameet’s usurpation of the Dragon Ruler of Fire role, and also the fact that I would possess the support of two nests, would undoubtedly cause people to rethink how this succession battle would proceed.

I thought I would have to deal with Maustoovaka eventually, but I might actually get into trouble with the other dragon rulers now. If Mom’s worry about the Dragon Ruler of Earth became reality, with him wishing to crown Phsothophus now instead of Kahalameet, then what would he think if I monopolized two nests’ worth of voters and dragon rulers?

Calm down. Calm down. That’s the whole point of the alliance with Sacred Nest. If they want to attack Frozen Nest, they will have to abandon support from the holy dragons. No healing magic, unless you want to ally up with the leviathans… actually, Marsh Nest does have mud dragons, right? The mud element is a composite of earth and water. Damn.

Right, Marsh Nest bordered Quake Nest to the southwest. Those two were most likely—

“The stream is on!” Vifi shouted, causing me to jump as my train of thought was interrupted.

Noticing this, Neill stepped forward and waved at the recorder. “Afternoon, everybody! I’m back on my little sister’s stream, but I guess you could have guessed it already, since it’s another important one. Taimatrak is on Frozen Nest as well, but that cave dweller can’t be pulled out of his room even if you try it with strength. He’ll immediately hide in the shadow world, and whoosh! Any chance to get him out disappears just like that. Frustrating, no?”

<ShikzarShad: There is a reason why Dusk Nest calls their prince the ‘Fleeing Historian.’ All he cares about are the ancient ruins of long-lost human cities. Otherwise, he returns to his nest to sleep. The only reason he does anything else is because of his mother and clan.>

<Geinma: Ha, the one imperial child who actually hasn’t done anything to participate in the succession crisis. Well, I guess he should have voted by now, right?>

Ah, how wrong you are at this point.

Ignoring the commotion in the chat, with a few even getting banned as they started talking about Kahalameet, I began explaining, “Hello, everybody. It has been a while since my last stream, right? I apologize for this, but with everything going on outside of Frozen Nest, I’d rather not answer anything since I’m pretty much in the dark like all of you.”

“Well, Hestia and I do have some context, but we’re not here to answer all that. If you want to know more, wait for the stream Kahalameet and Phsothophus are preparing,” Neill revealed, causing the chat to explode once again. Seeing this, both of us crossed our hands in an X shape. “No talking about it here! If you want to get banned from Hestia’s stream, you can try it. We got the Nordor clan ready to ban anybody, so don’t try to be funny.”

“Though I think my regulars will just bully you out. There is a thing on Earth called ‘cyberbullying,’ and it can be really frightening! You should be wary,” I added, although it didn’t seem like my audience was that easily intimidated, even if I spoke in English. “In any case, just know we’re not here to feed your curiosity about Inferno Nest. Today, this stream is solely about the results of the preliminary polling. As such, let’s make this quick, yes? First, Frozen Nest!”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

<FuchsOnTheCloudyWind: The results are already obvious…>

<TorquilWind: Iceskale was exploding with gossip, with people admitting to whom they voted. All I heard was ‘Princess Hestia, Princess Hestia, Princess Hestia’ and so on. Even those leaving to return to their frontier homes kept boasting about how our princess saved them from that elemental emperor>

<Gallag_The_Sharp: Get the obvious nests out first, I see.>

<ExplosiveFlames: The results for the first voting session are obvious, friend… It’s a matter of how many people voted for the obvious candidate>

ExplosiveFlames was correct. As such, there was no need to beat around the bush any longer.

Reading off the list, I gave the results for each nest. It was a shame that Haruka hadn’t been able to invent a way to add pop-ups for the stream just yet, so I couldn’t add the results from the voting function directly here. So, no System message to show to people.

<Empire of Dragons, Kargryx. Preliminary Voting Session 1

Location: Frozen Nest

Result: Dragon Ruler of Ice, Alextraxus: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor

True Dragonkin: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 99%

Wendriosa Tialotrus Kargryxmor 1%

Dragonkin: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 99%

Wendriosa Tialotrus Kargryxmor 1%>

<Ukanasch_Edmund: Exactly as expected. A few leviathans and levianewts voting for Princess Wendriosa is a given, considering how much trouble they caused by promoting her in the city. Ha, they should thank His Majesty for letting them voice their opinions in such a grand fashion.>

As everybody expected, the results were obvious. Continuing to read off the list, the next nest was Inferno Nest.

<Empire of Dragons, Kargryx. Preliminary Voting Session 1

Location: Inferno Nest, Dragon Ruler of Fire Authority

Result: Dragon Ruler of Fire, Maustoovaka: Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor

True Dragonkin: Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 76%

Phsothophus Calkraneer Goldduragon 13%

Wendriosa Tialotrus Kargryxmor 7%

Nongramos Eluccierra Kargryxmor 3%

Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 1%

Dragonkin: Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 90%

Wendriosa Tialotrus Kargryxmor 9%

Phsothophus Calkraneer Goldduragon 1%>

<Empire of Dragons, Kargryx. Preliminary Voting Session 1

Location: Inferno Nest, Dragon Ruler of Volcano Authority

Result: Dragon Ruler of Volcano, Arkanator: Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor

True Dragonkin: Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 63%

Phsothophus Calkraneer Goldduragon 24%

Wendriosa Tialotrus Kargryxmor 7%

Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 6%

Dragonkin: Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 70%

Phsothophus Calkraneer Goldduragon 18%

Wendriosa Tialotrus Kargryxmor 7%

Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 5%>

… What? Why the heck do I have enough votes to be above 1%?

<Drifting_Snowflake: … Honestly, did anybody expect these results?>

<AleinaMaleena: Hey, hey, then does that mean that crazy theory about Prince Kahalameet attacking Maustoovaka because the latter tried to silence the people who voted for Princess Wendriosa was REAL?>

<Luminosus: I… huh, Prince Kahalameet having 63% votes makes him an eligible candidate, but isn’t 63% pretty… low? Shouldn’t he lead just as much as Princess Hestia does in Frozen Nest.>

Luminosus had a point, and a very important point for the next preliminary poll. Kahalameet might… actually not win next time, ‘cause now everybody knew that Phso had a pretty strong supporter base in Inferno Nest. With what he did in the battle against Maustoovaka, this could actually change things around.

“… This doesn’t look good,” Neill murmured as she read the list, frowning deeply. She looked at me for a moment before looking away, seemingly not wanting to share her thoughts.

Left a bit befuddled, I sighed and decided to continue reading the list. This awkwardness wouldn’t go away with me speaking up now. In any case, the next two were Sacred and Dusk Nest.

<Empire of Dragons, Kargryx. Preliminary Voting Session 1

Location: Sacred Nest, Dragon Ruler of Light Authority

Result: Dragon Ruler of Light, Galiladrak: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor

True Dragonkin: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 97%

Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 3%

Dragonkin: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 99%

Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 1%>

Wow, wow, what a surprise… not.

<Empire of Dragons, Kargryx. Preliminary Voting Session 1

Location: Dusk Nest, Dragon Ruler of Dark Authority

Result: Dragon Ruler of Dark, Decogmazio: Taimatrak Onyx Leviretus

True Dragonkin: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 51%

Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 40%

Taimatrak Onyx Leviretus 9%

Dragonkin: Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 55%

Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 32%

Taimatrak Onyx Leviretus 13%>

… Pardon?

<Luminosus: Huh. That is another surprise. I didn’t think those bone chewers actually had proper taste. They know exactly which of the imperial children are truly worthy of the throne!>

<Morgrun’s News: I hate to throw water at you, but most of us didn’t vote for Princess Hestia because of you. We just did it because it’s just safer to ensure Sacred Nest doesn’t monopolize her authority when it does happen>

<HolymatchSticks: By the Emperor’s wings, what are you even talking about, you squabbling lizard? Just because you have a stream doesn’t mean you have the qualifications to talk about anything! Get out of Her Highness’s stream!>

<Duskbones: Ha! A bleached gecko thinks they can talk back at us? You should be happy, Empress Forminaxtrass, even allow—This message has been deleted by a Moderator>

<MossnerTek: … Oh, great, the holy and dark dragonkin are erupting in a fight. Hello! If anybody sees my comment in this deluge of comments, can we please talk about how Dusk Nest can’t select a candidate because the vote got split? Even if we add up all the true and lesser dragonkin votes together to get the proper results, Princess Hestia would still win, but the dragon ruler voted for Prince Taimatrak. That means neither gets a point.>

You had to get 51% of the nest voting for the same candidate as the nest’s current dragon ruler, which meant neither Taim nor I would get a point from Dusk Nest. However, that didn’t exactly matter to me. What mattered was that over 50% of the population voted for me! The damn Frozen and Sacred Nest princess! The holy-fire-ice dragon born from the ice dragon empress, not the dark dragon empress, Forminaxtrass. Why me?

… Though asking them right now probably wouldn’t be doable. Forminaxtrass probably knew something, but I couldn’t ask her right now. Taim was my only option, but as Neill said, that guy was a hard-stuck hikkikomori. A super shut-in.

Although worried about the current state of my reputation, I continued announcing the results of the remaining four nests. Similar to Frozen and Sacred Nest, the results were so one-sided that it wasn’t even worth mentioning.

Quake and Marsh Nest were fully onboard with Kahalameet, but some still voted for Phso and Wendriosa. Sadly, Ryra only got a few pity votes. Storm Nest was completely behind Nong, although about 20% voted for Kahalameet. Thunder Nest supported Kahalameet, but about 10% voted for Nong.

As a result, two nests fully supported me, five voted for Kahalameet, and one voted for Nong. If this were the real voting day, my big bro would have been chosen emperor. Fortunately for Wendriosa, a new contender had entered the match, and that was Phsothophus, even if he didn’t want to fight Kahalameet. After all, if Frozen and Sacred Nest wouldn’t listen to me, why would Quake and Marsh Nest, after seeing 24% of the true dragonkin loyal to Arkanator, vote for him?

“That was it, everybody. However, while the results are conclusive, it is still important for us to understand the voices of Loatryx. As such, I will now continue with the results of the six major Loatryxian cities.”

Fortunately for me, the results of the Loatryxian side were far more interesting to watch.

<Dragonewt Republic, Loatryx. Preliminary Voting Session 1

Location: Coral Beard

Result: Kahalameet Seathfus Kargryxmor 35%

Wendriosa Tialotrus Kargryxmor 29%

Phsothophus Calkraneer Goldduragon 18%

Nongramos Eluccierra Kargryxmor 10%

Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor 6%

Fargryneill Qilinus Kargryxmor 2%>

“Wait, hold up, did you just say two? Two percent?” Neill jumped up, her face beaming with a wide smile. After seeing me nod and confirming the results herself by reading the list, she pumped her hands into the air before dashing towards the recorder, pressing her face uncomfortably against the lens. “Hey, I just heard that Coral Beard! I know a bunch of you are just kirins or part of my clan, so I know this might sound stupid, but thank you all! Especially those outside of the Gueillxar clan! I know it might seem redundant with how impossible it is for me to win, but I’m still happy! Don’t worry, Princess Fargryneill Qilinus Kargryxmor might not be the favorite to become the empress of Kargryx, but I’ll still be the best princess for you guys! Come on, give me a cheer!”

“Woo!” I said, prompting Neill to snap around to point at me with a wide grin.

“See? See? The 6% girl over there is giving me some support as well! That makes us the 8% duo! Let’s go, Hestia! Father’s horns, I’m a two percent!”

And you say you have no idol qualities, you adorable munchkin. Woo, Neill!

The results for the rest of the cities were similar to Coral Beard, although Neill and I had to fight tooth-and-nail against each other for even 1%. It made sense, since not a lot of people knew us well beyond Coral Beard. My concert and Neill’s homecoming gave us an immense boost in popularity.

In any case, with that, the results were finished for the day, and I closed the stream after thanking everybody for following the rules. Training was also canceled for the day as Rhekk had decided that it was time for them to get ready to leave tomorrow. They would venture to the Dungeon of Infinite Feasts and train there, but before then, he insisted on a retainer ceremony.

“Please, you promise!” he and every other true dragonkin cried out.

Urgh.

Well, the only other training I had for the day was the dragoons since Uriahn still hadn’t returned from his trip to Sacred Nest to vote. As such, I called the day and decided to take a rest by entering the subspace to get pampered by my maids. It was time to enter the hot springs!

… However, it seemed I had a guest.

“Lady Hestia!”

The moment I entered the subspace, Skardvro was already waiting there for me with Svena.

“I apologize for greeting you this urgently after your stream ended, but a guest from the Aleistunum had arrived today. Specifically, a member of the mage’s guild in the Kingdom of Artorias. She says she knows you.”

Huh? Seriously? I turned to Svena, prompting her to nod.

“It is Lady Maverina von Dareinburgh. If you remember, she is the guild master of Griffonpeak’s mage’s guild, my lady.”

It seemed I would soon meet another past acquaintance, although definitely not the one I actually wanted to meet.

… Right, she asked me to invent a way to make long-range communication work. Huh. Can’t believe she still remembers that.