Chapter 499: Time For a City Building Side Quest.

Chapter 499: Time For a City Building Side Quest.

“Levianewts.”

“You’re kidding, levianewts?”

[“Levianewts, dear. I can see them from here.”]

Jumping off Mom’s back to grab onto one of her front legs, I stared at the ground as the sight of Frozen Nest and Iceskale came into view, trying my best to see what Vifi and Mom were talking about. From up here, it was like trying to pinpoint a single person from the windows of a flying airplane.

It took a second until my superhuman eyesight finally kicked in and I managed to see what was going on through this evening’s darkness. At the front of the Nordor dragonewt mansion, I could see a group of levianewts leaving through the gates alongside a silver dragonewt who was seeing them off.

Wrinkling my brows, I climbed back up.

“What’s so bad about that?” I asked.

[“Management of Loatryx is delegated to the kinkyuro, or in Frozen Nest’s case, to our dragonewt clan and our subordinates. The city hall and the seat of our nest’s republic officials is on the floating city, but business talks may happen within our mansion, as well,”] Mom explained. [“There is a distinction, though. Having the talk in at our mansion usually indicates something that involves our clan personally, and I don’t believe some levianewts have anything important to say to us.”]

[“Most levianewts and the few leviathans working on Frozen Nest are hired by Lord Karydrinos’s fishing industry or by the harbormaster,”] Shay added. [“If they have a complaint, they would normally lodge it with the harbormaster or Lord Karydrinos, not to the Nordor clan.”]

I tilted my head. “... So you’re saying something is going on while we’ve been out?”

“Only one way to find out.” Vifi shrugged before Mom began to rapidly accelerate her flying speed, helping us to quickly reach the port city as fast as possible.

As we landed, Mom and the wyverns immediately transformed back into their humanoid forms, and I immediately heard a raucous amount of “Her Majesty has returned!” and “Good health to Empress Melloxtressa” cheering from every direction. People were flying up to the floating city, gathering in large groups to express their awe and respect for their “former” Dragon Ruler of Ice.

Nobody rushed in front of us, keeping a respectful distance even in the sky. While this was totally a normal sight, since it also happened on the first day I came to Iceskale, what made it actually surprising was that this was in the middle of the night. We had just returned from the mainland, and people were already treating Mom as if they hadn’t seen her in ages.

Regardless, we ignored them for now and entered the mansion, our new base for the foreseeable future, so I could help Mom fulfill her duty as an empress of Kargryx. And, once we were all settled inside, Mom spoke with the mansion’s majordomo—Pradreo—to find out what was going on with the levianewts.

“They came as representatives of the various leviathans living and working on Frozen Nest, your majesty,” he answered. True dragonkin wouldn’t want to beg lesser or dragonewts for favors, after all. “They were asking us if we wished to formalize a larger trade contract between Frozen Nest and Caedhul. Meaning, more levianewts to man our trading operations, allowing us to deliver our wares and fish to even mainland Altrust. Cut Coral Beard out of the deal.”

They want to undermine Yuileingreill’s authority?

“Undermining the fifth empress, I see?” Mom said with cross eyes. “Well, there are no laws stopping us from doing so. Frozen Nest can independently form deals as long as I breathe. What did you tell them?”

“I rejected.”

“Good. Reason?”

“They are expanding the first princess’s influence. Our princess has not made her will and standing known to us; as such, I spoke on behalf of the rest of Iceskale’s senate as clan Nordor’s majordomo.”

“Excellent work, Pradreo. I see now why my daughter spoke so highly of your work while I was hibernating.”

Bowing, he replied, “I am unworthy.”

Hearing this only made me feel bad, since my first meeting with Pradreo didn’t exactly go too well, to the point Neill had to step in. I only spoke well of him after our entire ordeal with the event Quest in Inkoran-Tazul, where he had almost lost his life giving me the chance to kill that dragonslayer. I should consider this a chance to better our relationship, since he was part of the family.

After this discussion, Mom scheduled a meeting with the senate in Iceskale’s city hall, prompting Pradreo to execute her order. He immediately went out of his way to send messengers to recall the senate members back to Iceskale, telling us it would happen tomorrow.

Once morning came, it was time for this adventure’s genre to change once again! No longer were we in an action-RPG or idol simulator game, no-no, it was time for me to truly become one with my role as a princess! What exactly was it? Well, obviously, a bit of kingdom building! A member of the imperial family had the right to play some Cities Sky—

No, wait, wrong game.

A member of the imperial family had the right to play some Ann—

‘Hestia, can’t we just eat our breakfast before going to work?’ Hikari snarled in exasperation from inside my mind. ‘Look, they made some sushi! A buncha early morning shellfish with lemon, fish oil, and, ooooh! Itadakimasu and eat!’

Hearing my other half say that almost sounded like a threat. In fact, it was one since she could just take over our body and begin eating, meaning I would miss out on the chance of fully enjoying the meal!

“Itadakimasu!” I said after clapping my hands, pushing that genre change idea for a later time.

Once the meal was done, the maids inside the mansion quickly helped me get dressed and Mom, the twins, and I departed for the city hall. Vifi, as she had no interest in how we wanted to manage our lands, decided she would just go out to hunt instead. Just hearing her say that made me want to join her, but I really, really should learn Iceskale’s bureaucracy first.

Iceskale’s city hall was located on a large elevated area on the floating city, requiring us to fly up the stairs. I tilted my head back a bit and stared up at the building, which looked more like a giant, gothic cathedral than what I would normally expect civil servants to work inside. When I pointed that out, though, Mom asked me why that would be important.

“The city hall is the republic’s ‘dragon nest.’ Their show of power, which is why the building was constructed with imported fairnite, dwarven-made stone statues of dragons, precious timber and stone only found on Frozen Nest, as well as plenty of true ice from your grandfather,” Mom explained.

“‘Grandfather?’ Oh, your father?”

She nodded. “As you know, the position of Dragon Ruler of Ice was taken by my father after Kargryxmor established his empire, which also led to the founding of Loatryx. Iceskale back then was far different from nowadays, and although it has grown, some ancient pieces from back then still remain. This city hall, for example; only its exterior kept changing but its skeleton is still made from that same true ice from back then.”

“... So you’re saying my maternal grandfather also likes to show off like my paternal one?”

“Oh, shush, dear!” Mom pouted, causing me to giggle.

Hiehie ... but using true ice to make things, huh? I guess Mom and the other ice dragons are the only ones able to do that.

Hearing her explanation only reinforced the idea that these older buildings probably were initially intended as places of worship. Not out of religious reasons, but purely from the awe and respect dragonkin probably felt for their ancestors, or, in the beginning, for their parents.

“Mom, since I am your only child, does that mean that all of the Nordor dragonewts are descended from my uncle? Your brother? Or are some of them also related to grandfather Nordor?” I asked. My understanding of how dragonewt clans worked was pretty good, but sometimes questions did pop out with how they first began.

Mom gave it some thought for a moment before shaking her head. “My father was only faithful to his wife, your grandmother, so don’t worry. Every single Nordor dragonewt is descended from your uncle, Odlesstrus, but I think you’re also curious about your paternal dragonewt clan, correct? Well, much like Eltharion, Kargryxmor also had a harem of wives, but only one of them was his favorite—the only dragon among them.”

Hearing that made me look up with furrowed brows.

“I know it’s different with the culture you grew up with, Hestia, but harems aren’t that particularly controversial. Female dragons are quite possessive with their mates and children, with many not wanting to share, leading to the mating battles I told you about. Being able to settle it peacefully is a virtue,” Mom excused. “Your paternal grandmother was a saintess, though. Or maybe she never felt threatened by her husband’s elven and dwarven mistresses.”

“Are they around today? How about Uncle’s children?”

“My nephew is well, but he is reaching the end of his soul’s lifespan, much like your aunt. They should be alive long enough to see you mature, though,” she replied, worsening my mood a bit. “Your paternal side, though ... The civil war wasn’t kind, and neither were your uncles and aunts. Your Kargryxmor dragonewt relatives took their sides, and that is that. Let us not speak ill of the dead.”

Tricky discussion point, I guess ...

After entering the building, two lines of silver- and white-scaled dragonewts bowed and welcomed us with a loud, “To Her Majesty, Empress Melloxtressa, and Her Highness, Princess Hestia, we of Iceskale welcome you to the city hall!” Only men and women in fine yukatas could be seen, with some having badges on their badges while others wore ice flower wreaths around their horns.

Two of them stood in the middle and approached us. One of them was Pradreo. The other was an elf-dragonewt hybrid with a true dragonkin smell, looking pretty similar to Rhekkraxus in his humanoid form, only that he wasn’t as scarred and had long, white hair that grew down to his waist.

“Your Majesty,” both bowed, tucking their tails in between their legs.

Once Mom ordered both to straighten, Pradreo re-introduced himself to us out of formality before he began introducing the dragonkin next to him.

However, I interrupted him.

“Siegragxus, correct?”

Smiling, the man nodded. “Correct, your majesty. We’ve only met once, but you were already able to recognize my smell?”

I shook my head. “Not quite. However, I did meet your younger brother in his elven form, and you look just like him—almost like twins—so it made it easy to guess. Also, you don’t smell like your father, and I still remember him.”

Personally, it felt awkward to see him, here since I Rhekk and I left on a bad note the last time we met, and I wasn’t so sure if he had told Sieg everything that happened or not. Sure, Rhekk was pretty prideful so maybe he didn’t say anything, but I didn’t know. Should I excuse myself to Sieg, or should I wait for him to speak first?

“Astute. I apologize, I forgot he had told me of his meeting with you in Iceskale. I’ve been immersing myself in documents,” he said, causing my heart to drop for a moment. Keeping my poker face up, Sieg didn’t notice anything as he invited us in. “Aunt Melloxtressa already knows me, so I don’t think we need to keep the introductions up. Let us move on up, then, shall we?”

Mom nodded. “Lead then, Siegragxus.”

Ahhh, he knows! Shit!

[“He won’t be snide with Her Majesty around, your grace,”] Beth said, patting my back with a thumbs up. She could always see the positive ... although I was more worried about the atmosphere.

I didn’t like to hear that. Arcanuit was the main material needed to make mana batteries, meaning we were reliant on other countries for them. It would increase the cost to train artificers here on Frozen Nest.

In any case, the fourth most important industry was jewelry while the fifth was clothing using the fur and leather from the local monsters. Everything here was decent as well, but, once again, nothing stood out. The ice jewels you could find here were beautiful like pearls, but that was about it.

I had Thrahasa list five more products before stopping her, realizing there was something missing amongst the list—service and technological experts. Everything listed was some kind of raw material, never any manufactured goods. Artificers were in low demand, as they were only used to maintain the various manatech around Frozen Nest, including the floating city, and tourism was an entirely foreign word. People came to Frozen Nest for trade and Quests, nothing more.

There wasn’t anything special to see here that you couldn’t find on mainland Miononbolax, aside from the snowy landscape. Not to mention, the south was so much warmer and comfortable to live in, unlike the sheer cold freezing my poor toes off daily. While the ice dragonkin loved this place, the other sub-races didn’t.

Sleighing, ice skating, and skiing aren’t sports here, it’s just part of living, I thought after noticing them in the “accident report” section. That was how the flightless dragonewts, elves, and levianewts traversed the snowy land.

“Has there ever been any efforts to introduce ideas to our manatech industry?” I asked.

Sadly, another dragonewt—Penaka—shook his head. “Unfortunately, everybody able usually just moves to Kel’Thun or to one of the main facilities on the mainland. Iceskale is large, but most of our land is used for residential buildings. The majority of our yearly budget is used to maintain the buildings, for food, and entertainment like festivals. The cold stings, but warm food heals it well.”

... Ah, okay. We dragons eat a lot, right. I realized. Aurora’s main expenses, aside from my concerts, were for our food and spices, after all.

Still, looking at the budget, Iceskale wasn’t lacking in funds to invest in the manatech industry. In fact, there was a good chunk leftover categorized as “innovation funds” that was allocated to nothing at all. When I asked about it, I was told it was mainly used for improvements to our fishing industry.

“The coralplunk farm, for example, dear,” Mom interjected. “Our fishing industry is part of our pride, so improving on it is a necessity to keep up with demand. Coralplunk fish are plump sea bass that act as moving coral beds for smaller fish. Their meat is a delicacy; it is like butter with an exquisite iron taste. Not too overpowering. And they help us develop larger schools of other species. This money is used for these sorts of ideas.”

I nodded, contemplating on this fact before an idea actually appeared. “Theoretically, it could be used for other ideas, right? Money should be used to invest in ourselves, right?”

Sieg, though, didn’t look pleased by this. “Our fishing industry is the backbone of our economy, Princess Hestia. To disturb it could spell trouble for us.”

“That is where the emergency funds are for,” I pointed at the 89th page of this 200 page pile. “If something were to happen, use it. From past years’ budget usage, the emergency funds haven’t been used once, while the one for innovation was only for the new fish farm. And only a quarter of it was needed. The money has accumulated, so why not use it? Iceskale’s income hasn’t increased that much, even with the new fish farm.”

“It created stability and a more controlled environment for our fishers,” Uncle Kary defended. “Not only that, due to the addition of a farm, we’ve managed to decrease our number of unemployed. If we continually increase more opportunities for our citizens to work, it will help our growing population.”

“Does everybody want to become a fisher, though?” I tilted my head, prompting him to do the same.

“Why wouldn’t they? Fishing to feed our populace is honest work, while also decreasing the need for dragons to go on hunting rampages. It quells unrest.”

Uncle Kary didn’t mean any malice with his answer, he was pretty forthright with how much he loved his job. It was clear he viewed his duty as the number one breadwinner as a tremendous badge of honor, and seeing how he was defending this budget, it seemed he also only saw himself as the one place Frozen Nest could grow.

If that was the case, then I had to argue him out of it, first.

“Is dive fishing like dragoons the only way the dragonewts are fishing?” I asked.

“No, we also have plenty of underwater caravans. Liandsee dragonkin allows our clan members to ride on our backs as we dive deep into the depths to catch a merfiend. They would throw harpoons and nets at our targets.”

“How do you retrieve them?”

“With rope and water magic. If my children or I come along, we use ice magic to help.”

He was so frank! I could see Uncle Guyul and Sieg starting to lose their patience with my simple questions, but Uncle Kary really was the best. He was a sweetheart, through and through. He could probably be an amazing kindergarten teacher with that sorta patience.

“... Uncle Kary, has anybody ever told you that you love your job?”

“Yes,” Mom suddenly replied.

Only for Uncle Guyul to follow up. “Yes.”

Seeing this, Uncle Kary closed his eyes and nodded. He wasn’t bothered by how annoyed Mom and Uncle Guyul looked as they glared at him as if some bad memories had resurfaced.

“Then ... how would it sound if we made sure others were to like it as well,” I suggested, causing Uncle to tilt his head in confusion. “As I said, not everybody will want to become a fisher in the future, seeing as not everybody is part of your clan. For example, Uncle Guyul here probably can’t understand your love for it, right?”

“Princess Hestia, I have never heard somebody speak a more honest truth before!” Uncle Kary nodded without hesitation. “Guyulthanos, Alextraxus, and Empress Melloxtressa all do not understand the true weight our fishing industry has on everything. All they wish for is to improve in other fields and to make sure our trade remains diverse, but our wealth comes from exporting fish! The other dragons cannot live without our fish!”

“You are sooo right, Uncle!”

“Mhmm, I see our little princess truly understands Frozen Nest. Ah, what a shame I haven’t been able to give you a lecture on it yet, but this meeting should suffice.” Still, even if he was a wholesome uncle, his eyes suggested he understood I had an ulterior motive. “Then ... what is it you want?”

“I want to spend the innovation funds on the artificer industry.”

“... I am waiting.”

I smiled. He was getting agitated. “Uncle, as you know, not everybody in the world can enter the sea and live in the ocean. Similar to how amazing flying is, those who can’t will never be able to understand it. I know it has been over 3000 years for Mom, Uncle Guyul, and Uncle Kary since they felt the thrill of flying for the first time. How about you, Siegragxus?”

Sieg closed his eyes and lifted his head up, staying silent before grumbling a bit. “Freedom.”

“Freedom.” The dragonewts said as well.

“Freedom.” I nodded, feeling kinship with them. I then turned to Uncle Kary. “Do you think I could swim into the depths?”

“... You would need external protective measures,” he answered, looking a bit grim. “The sea around us is quite cold and it would pierce your draconic barrier after a while. Not to mention, the deeper we go, the more pressure will build up. For us Liandsee, we are half leviathan; we can survive in the depths.”

“In other words, I will never be able to see the beauty of swimming with you, Uncle. Am I right?” I said, causing Uncle to realize the horrifying truth of this.

With him looking like this, I opened my storage and pulled out the recorder. Placing it on the table, I gained everybody’s attention.

“Then, how about we help the artificers out a bit? Everybody, this is an invention made by the Revolution Queen to replicate an Earthen invention—the video recorder.” I turned the item around and began showing everybody a recording of my concerts back on Altrust. “The use of this manatech is to record visuals and sounds in real time, copying them into a memory card that allows you recall everything from that time.”

“Is that you, Princess Hestia?” Uncle Guyul asked.

“Ah, it is the one I attended in Inkoran-Tazul!” Pradreo stated, jumping in joy. Hearing him say this, everybody knew this wasn’t fake.

“You make me want that (Ring on Hand) ♫

Give my soul for (Ring on Hand) ♫

Our happiness (Ring on Hand) ♫

Reminds me of the flames of life (Flames of life) ♫

Wild emotions (Flames of Life) ♫

Roaring engines (Flames of Life) ♫

All so I can say, ‘I love you!’ (I love you) ♫

Motivates me (I love you) ♫

You’re my muse (I love you) ♫

All to share this ring on hand ♫”

I could hear myself singing “Ring on Hand” in front of a bunch of newlyweds, making me smile as everybody was so intrigued by this.

“Uncle Kary!” I shouted, gaining his attention. “Tell me, what if we’re able to create a video of the depths of the ocean? A way to show the beauty of those who can’t swim? Show me what you’re experiencing and maybe even the entirety of Miononbolax! Let them know what the fishers of Frozen Nest do to deliver the finest fish meat ever!”

With a flowery description, Uncle Kary couldn’t endure it any longer and shot up, slamming the table. “How much money do you want for that?”

It was time for the idol culture to move to the next phase—mass multimedia. If a country didn’t have the resources to create more exports, then it was time to turn to the people. Music and entertainment was what we called “soft-power!”

The power to influence others!