Chapter 96: i got sidetracked (!)

Upper Earth Month, 1st Day, 600 AGG

"Blonde," Draudillon intently hummed. In the end, both of them decided she didn't need that many changes. Most people wouldn't expect the Queen of the Draconic Kingdom to be wandering outside during this time, especially without noticeable guards, so that by itself was already a powerful layer of deception; hiding in absurdity and whatnot or however the saying went. "A surprisingly good choice."

Her 'presence' was another matter, with how its potency was determined by a number of factors, but it shouldn't be a problem as long as she was judicious in its application.

" 'Surprisingly?' " Yuriko played with their own, now black, hair. It was like—like the two of them had swapped hair colors although the comparison ended there. The angel's hair was shoulder-length where hers reached well down her back, was unstyled where hers was unified into a singular braid, and a tad dry where hers ran smooth with a cultivated silkiness. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hm. Her beloved would be… a mess, to say the least, if they didn't have the naturally maintained beauty afforded to them via angel-ness.

'A convenient trait,' Draudillon absently fiddled with the satchel Yuriko had irreverently stuffed the World Item,『Takamagahara』, into. An unenchanted satchel, of course, without any of the extra-dimensional adjustments in order to maintain the item's status as 'equipped.' If she hadn't brought up the issue, the angel would've immediately blown their cover by virtue of having their signature magic item openly displayed for all to see. 'That being said, stealth is certainly not her strong suit.'

"To be perfectly honest with you," Yuriko's shoulders started to slump; without hesitation, Draudillon took the chance to hug them. Again, but that was neither here nor there. "I thought you'd pick a more conspicuous color. Blonde, on the contrary, fits in with the crowds rather well. Unlike that orb of yours."

"Oh, that makes sense," her beloved mumbled in a tone making it clear fitting in hadn't factored into their intentions at all. "I just thought blonde hair looked good on you. Well, I think every color does, but black's the best. Mm."

The frankly embarrassing explanation was topped off with a sage nod. Embarrassing didn't mean she was displeased with the sentiment though, which she made sure to convey. 'Tastes minty. Is that just the flavor of nutripaste? Probably the teeth cleaning product she used to apply.'

"Drau…" Yuriko shifted, breaking for air as they pressed themselves against her. The dragon queen idly noticed that they'd become shorter too: a few centimeters below her height instead of over. "For the date, if you wanted to stay inside, we could…?"

"Perhaps later tonight," she reluctantly untangled herself from the angel. "I think you'd enjoy going outside for the festivities. New experiences and all, no?"

"R-Right," her beloved clumsily smoothed out the wrinkles in the beige blouse and black skirt they had switched into earlier. "Should—" Draudillon cracked a small smile as they carefully turned their eyes away from her slightly disheveled appearance. "Should we go now? And, uh…"

"Is there a problem?"

"… it's hard to get out in this position, Drau."

She laughed before pushing herself off the bed, grabbing one of two cloaks she had lying to the side and tossed it to Yuriko. "I'm sorry, you just—it was hard to resist."

"Hmph," her beloved good-naturedly huffed as they threw the cloak over themselves. "Just wait until tonight."

"Oh, I will," and something in her voice must've reminded Yuriko of one thing or another again because the angel rushed to pull their hood over their face; although, Draudillon still caught a flash of crimson burning a path up their neck. It would be nice to have a painter capture that expression within a portrait… maybe once the kingdom stopped requiring so much direct attention. "Anyhow, remember to avoid shifting shape too much; the spell will degrade faster if you aren't careful."

"I gotcha," the Gatekeepers that hadn't moved an inch until now blurred into motion, opening the windows and picking them up in a single motion. "Errr, where are we going again, Drau?"

"Is there anywhere you want to visit in particular?" Draudillon brushed her braid to the front, out of the Cherubim's grasp. "If not, I was thinking we'd wander the city for a while. See what catches your attention, enjoy the atmosphere, things like that."

"Sounds fun to me," Yuriko furrowed her brows in thought. "Though I want to see Lydia first since I promised to check on her every now and then."

"Lydia?" The name rang familiar, but they couldn't have mentioned this person often if she was having trouble recalling. "Who is that again?"

"She's a kid," the elaboration narrowed the list down a lot—no it didn't. Oriculo alone had upwards of ten thousand children. "Sorta small, but not that small?" The angel snapped their fingers. "Silas's daughter!"

'One of her priests from Slane. Why does she remember his child better than him?' Draudillon felt a twinge of pity for the man and his colleagues. The 'god' they served was doubtlessly kind, but this was… ouch. "We'll pay his household a visit then."

She knocked the Gatekeeper's breastplate, pushing the titan of holy steel into motion. The pair of Cherubim floated through the open window before fully extending their wings and accelerating forward with a burst of speed. Anybody who noticed the departure of the two angels wouldn't have thought anything of it; such was a common occurrence around Oriculia Castle.

'Although they still stand out—' Draudillon belatedly realized. "Drop us off just at the edge of the castle's perimeter."

"Eh, why?" Yuriko asked with no small amount of confusion. "Did you wanna walk 'cause you're sitting all day? Actually Drau, is your health okay—?"

"That's not it," was she out of shape? The dragon queen didn't think their physique was in poor condition, relative to people in comparable positions, but… did burning essence count as exercise? "Remember that we're seeking to avoid attention. Flying a Gatekeeper to their doorsteps would be actively sabotaging all attempts at stealth."

"Ooooo, that's true," the angels deposited them near a gate and returned to the sky. Yuriko shaded her eyes and watched until they were out of Draudillon's sight and then a little longer after that. "They live pretty close by, which is…" Her beloved twirled an index finger at the sky and pointed at the wall, or behind it rather. "Thatta way."

She followed their lead, stopping for a few moments to retrieve her signet ring from Yuriko's Item Box though she needn't have bothered; the guards at the gate had seen the Gatekeepers drop them off. "So how did you become acquainted with this Lydia?"

"It was after we got back from that General guy's house: the one with all the miniatures," Yuriko hummed as they skipped along the road, oblivious to the curious stares people were throwing at her. "I think he and the other lady made me try to do paperwork before getting frustrated. Or something, I dunno, but I went off to fly with Lydia after that."

"And then she talked you through your—" Guilt crawled along her skin before promptly being squashed. She had already come to terms with how things developed and were resolved. "Your problems at the time."

Yuriko chuffed, tugging her to the side of the street where a bakery stood. "Sort of? I mostly just rambled to her; if I were in her shoes, I definitely would've clocked out a minute in.

"Also Drau," the two of them stepped into the bakery, bell above the door tinkling to announce their entrance. "I want you to know that I appreciate you listening to me too. And for talking me through things, because well, it was nice knowing I had somebody to lean on when nothing really made sense, y'know?"

Yuriko walked up to the front and inspected the goods on sale before looking up at her. "Anything you want? My treat."

She wordlessly pointed at something random.

"Can I have three of these, six of the berry-jam ones—oh! Ten of these meat-pie thingies," the words rushed out the angel's mouth, battering the beleaguered baker who wrapped all the items and put them inside a bag. Draudillon sighed as Yuriko absentmindedly withdrew a few silver coins from the Item Box in full sight of the blinking shop-owner. "Thank you~!"

Now the dragon queen wasn't quite sure how to continue the conversation. No, why did they stop by the bakery in the first place? "I'm assuming those are gifts for the Lavigles?"

"Mhm!" One of the 'meat-pie thingies' was already halfway gone—the rest joining the World Item inside the packed satchel. "Here's the one you wanted!"

Draudillon accepted the jam-filled pastry and began nibbling unenthusiastically. "Thank you. For… both things, I suppose."

"Huh? I only gave you one though?"

"I was referring to what you said earlier," she clarified. "I'm glad. Or that's a bit of an understatement," the dragon queen strengthened her voice. "But I'm glad. I know you've said this again and again; it's reassuring to know I wasn't being a nuisance during what must have been a trying time—"

"It wasn't that bad," Yuriko affectionately bumped their shoulder against hers. Their pastry was nowhere to be seen: completely consumed. "Because you were there, it was a lot better than it would've been."

The dragon queen let out a sound she couldn't distinguish between laughter or crying. "Is that so?"

"I would've gotten wrapped up in trouble sooner or later," her beloved carelessly shrugged.

"You would have overcome it."

"Maybe," they shifted the bag to their other hand and entwined their free arm with hers. "Although, dealing with problems together is easier, right? Especially since you're smarter than me!"

Draudillon said nothing in response, but squeezed their hand in an effort to impart everything she wanted to say nonetheless.

'I love you.'

"Here it is," they came to a stop in front of a comparatively nondescript two-storied residence. "Couple of angels are here, so they're probably—"

"One moment," Draudillon guided Yuriko's face towards her and gently kissed them. "I love you."

As she thought, some sentiments were better off given voice regardless of how oft-repeated they might be. Really, it was all the angel's fault for going off on the tangent they did.

"I, I love you too!" her beloved managed to squeak out while the dragon queen glided to the door and knocked. "Dra-Drau, um, you're still holding the… bread…"

The door opened, and the pair was greeted by a young girl who barely came above her waist, which was saying something because the dragon queen herself wasn't particularly tall by human metrics. The girl, Lydia probably, squinted suspiciously at her and asked: "Who are you?"

"Your father's boss," Draudillon succinctly answered. "Will you let us in?"

"Dad says not to trust strangers," Lydia defiantly retorted. "Espesh-Especially strangers who lie!"

"Lydia!" Yuriko popped up from over her shoulder, tip-toeing as they raised the bag of baked goods. "I brought snacks!"

"I dunno who you are either!"

On the bright side, the disguises were working. Well, Yuriko's disguise because she, personally, had never met this child before. Goodness, even the angel's voice resonated differently.

"Lydia? Who's at the door?" Someone called out from inside the house. "Don't keep them waiting outside."

"They're strangers!"

"Most people who visit us are," the person sighed, and the sound of footsteps against wood could be heard. "Our duty is to aid the needy, remember?"

"But they're weird strangers!" Lydia glared at them. Draudillon tried not to smile; she probably failed judging by the deepening of the girl's scowl. "She said she was your boss!"

"I'll see that for myself," Silas chuckled, appearing behind his daughter. "Friends, I don't believe we've met before…?"

Draudillon flexed her intent just slightly, or thought about flexing it at least. The only indication she received that the skill—must be a skill considering how unnatural the effect was—worked at all had to come from the reactions of those affected. Troublesome, although having the option in the first place was an acceptable trade-off.

She assumed it worked since Silas suddenly went pale and fell to one knee. Having a proof of identity untied to an object was shaping out to be very handy. "Your Majesty! I, you—we would have prepared for your arrival if we knew!"

"You need not apologize, Priest Lavigle," secretly, she felt a bit smug that such a basic disguise was proving sufficient and a lot smug that her spell on Yuriko was holding up so well. "We're the ones imposing after all."

"Even so, please come inside," he nervously glanced at Yuriko. "Is that…"

"Lady Yuriko, yes."

"Oh. I see," Silas coughed into a closed fist. "I'll have some water boiled for tea. Priestess Varenne is out at the moment, but I can send the angel to retrieve her if Her Majesty and Lady Yuriko so desire."

"That won't be necessary," Draudillon watched her beloved busy trying to prove their identity to Lydia by commanding the Principality Observation to perform ponderously slow backflips in midair. "The thought is appreciated though."

Yuriko had finally managed to convince Lydia, and the two sat down joined Silas and her at the table, bag dumped unceremoniously atop the platform.

The dragon queen inspected her partially-eaten pastry, then the child. "Would you like the rest of this?"

"You already ate some of it," Lydia scrunched her face up.

"I did," Draudillon easily concurred, ignoring how Silas's eye was twitching. "But generosity is a virtue, am I correct?"

"Hmph," they accepted the foodstuff and began taking bites out of it. "I'sh gud."

"Mouth closed, Lydia," the priest reflexively admonished before rubbing his baggy eyes while Yuriko's chest pridefully puffed out. "How may I serve, Your Majesty?"

The truth was they were here because of Yuriko, but she may as well get some work sorted out while she was at it.

"You've been having manpower issues," the dragon queen began. "Ironically."

"That's… it's for sure undeniable," Silas tensed as some gut sense seemed to inform him of where she was leading this conversation. "Us four have been training acolytes, but without a recorded canon or written doctrine, it's… tough. All of them are saying different things, and we can't really say any of them are wrong because there's nothing to refer to. "

'I'll remind Martin to—nevermind, he's busy enough as is,' overseeing the creation of a scripture centered around her beloved sounded exhausting in a multitude of ways and absurd in a couple more. "Yuriko will provide her personal assistance in this matter, right dear?"

"Ehhh… writing a scripture about myself is kinda weird…" Draudillon shot them an unimpressed look. "B-But I promised to help, s-so I'll do assistant stuff!"

"Think of it like this," Silas excused himself to go check on the whistling kettle. "If you personally oversee it, then won't you be able to keep out the things you find embarrassing?"

"I guess…"

"Big sister's gonna have her own Scripture?" Lydia perked up. "Can you put me in it?"

"Uh, sure?"

"Cool."

"Try to take it somewhat seriously," Draudillon didn't bother holding back her sigh. "These are people who have put their faith in you."

"I know, it's just," Yuriko distractedly patted Lydia's head. "Hard to get used to. I don't think I ever will, to be honest."

"And that's perfectly okay," she tenderly placed a hand over her beloved's. "In the end, if you can't find yourself accepting this role, that's okay. It's a colossal endeavor to ask out of anyone, and not wanting to bear it is only normal, but I just want you to do your best if this is the path you're determined to take."

The dragon queen pointedly ignored how Lydia was puckering her lips and making smooching sounds. Yuriko didn't even seem to notice, focused as they were on her. "It is. I'm not super comfortable with it yet—and that's gonna take time—but I'll do my best. Promise."

"Remember you aren't doing everything by yourself," Draudillon reassured them. "You have Priest Lavigle and his peers, the Royal Court, and the citizens of the kingdom. Whenever you find yourself overwhelmed, please, please ask for help. We're here for you, dear."

"I won't forget," Yuriko's hand snaked out to grab a meat-pie. "Plus, this is just like editing some light novel, right? I'm not even the one writing, so it can't be that bad."

"You'd be surprised," she murmured under her breath so as to not discourage the angel. Slane had their six primary texts and then all the minor supplements… though she supposed they've had six centuries to smooth their religion out. "Priest Lavigle, is everything alright in the kitchen?"

Silas immediately reappeared with a steaming kettle, four cups, and an unsure expression. Was he afraid of interrupting her talk with Yuriko? The topic had been a mite heavy; although, Lydia was here and didn't appear much troubled. "Y-Yes, I beg forgiveness for the delay. Your Majesty, you were—"

He cut himself off, but Draudillon maintained a patient stare until he capitulated.

"Your Majesty," the priest nervously poured the steeped tea into the cups. "My fellow clergymen and I are wholly unfit to write an entire holy text for tens of thousands at minimum. If any mistakes are made, the consequences in the future will be beyond our scope to address."

"Then we can just have the scripture changed at that time if it comes down to it," Draudillon shrugged, taking a sip of tea. Fairly decent. "I understand rewriting doctrine so casually isn't the best idea, but I doubt it'll be the broad strokes that would require changes. Small things like lesser sacraments, ritual traditions, employment standards, those are fine to occasionally readjust."

"We'll keep that in mind," he didn't sound heartened. "It's more of, our problems I mean—we're spread too thin, Your Majesty."

She leaned back in her chair and pondered the situation. Administrators were still being trained and most had just recently gotten to the point where she was comfortable sending them to assist noble houses and other authorities with minor tasks. Adding the management of a faith to their duties didn't seem wise. 'It could be beneficial… assigning a broad scope of bureaucratic responsibilities might result in a 'class' that's suited for performing secretarial jobs in whatever field they're needed.'

On the other hand, it could also result in people acquiring a hodge-podge of nonsense levels, which she wanted to steer clear of for the administrators' sakes if not the kingdom's.

It would be better to wait and see how these spares developed first before expanding the scope of their station or allowing commoners to apply; keeping potential build damage limited was important, because as much as she hated to say it, spares were… spares.

'… I'll take responsibility for them,' Draudillon strengthened her resolve. There was absolutely no way she'd ask Yuriko to reset their levels, but even a messy collection of classes had its uses, and it wasn't as if the Draconic Kingdom could afford to be picky right now anyway. 'Who knows? Perhaps the challenge of being constantly shuffled around might encourage quicker growth.'

"If we, and if Your Majesty would excuse my presumptuousness, entreated temples of the Six for assistance, then that would be an incredible boon," Silas cautiously recommended, buoyed by the sight of her in silent contemplation. "They'd be grateful for the lifeline, and this could go a long way in easing tensions."

"A reasonable proposal," she tapped the table. "Although a good number of them have relocated, so we might need to entreat servants of the Four as well."

Silas grimaced. Due to the poorly documented circumstances behind the Great Heresy, the Slane Theocracy naturally viewed their rival faith in a negative light. Asking the two groups to work together probably wasn't plausible, but it also wasn't an option they could completely discount at the moment. "Working by ourselves with what we currently have would be easier, Your Majesty."

'Figures. Employing beastmen clerics is another option, albeit… no, too soon,' how many tribulations were a result of people being unable to cooperate for one reason or another? "Just the Six then, seeing as you and your three peers are already familiar with them."

She silently apologized to the Holy Queen; relations with the Theocracy were simply more important especially after her little stunt following Yuriko's appearance. Thankfully, the situation meant Draudillon had the opportunity to re-dictate a few terms instead of bowing and scraping for forgiveness. "I hope they don't view you four as heretics?"

"It's a complicated situation, so I can't really say anything for certain," the priest scratched his days-old stubble. Upon closer inspection, his "Some do, some don't, but the Cardinals have yet to release an official statement concerning," he glanced at Yuriko again, who had left the table with Lydia to—oi, that was dangerous. "Lydia! Get—hah… Excuse me for the outburst, Your Majesty."

"Yuriko, don't drop her. Please continue, Priest Lavigle."

"… Yes, Your Majesty," both of them watched his daughter being tossed back and forth between two Principalities. "As I was saying, they've yet to make a statement on how Lady Yuriko ought to be approached from a scriptural standpoint."

"Well, so long as you think working with them is easier than not. The Draconic Kingdom has been making some investments in Theocracy assets, so that alongside repatriating that Luin fellow should display our goodwill."

"Errr…" Silas's fingers were tightly interlocked. "Regarding Luin, representatives from the Theocracy asked about it, and—at the time—I thought the decision belonged to Lady Yuriko, so I informed her and… I assume the report got lost in transit somehow."

Draudillon caught her beloved's eye from across the room. "Dear?"

"What's up?" The priest repressed a groan as Yuriko tossed Lydia to one of the Principality Observations without looking.

"Did you catch any of that?"

"Did I catch—I was listening!" Yuriko protested as she caught the child. "Just didn't have anything to say, and Lydia was asking about the miniatures you gifted me."

"Really now," Draudillon suppressed the warmth that suffused throughout her veins. She needed to be stern. "Then, you must've heard Priest Lavigle's concerns about Nigun."

"Who?" Her beloved owlishly blinked. The angel might've been listening, but that didn't mean they knew what was being discussed.

"Nigun Grid Luin," she slowly enunciated, extinguishing the budding urge to snark. Yuriko didn't deserve that, not for messing up a little bit when they did so well in so many more cases. "Ex-Captain of the Sunlight Scripture? Blond, chestnut head?"

"I kinda know who you mean?" They tapped their lips. "He was supposed to go home?"

"Yes. He was."

"Ah! Um… uh… bleh," Yuriko hit the top of her head with two outstretched hands and winked as she bashfully stuck her tongue out. "I forgot…?"

"Big sister is a dummy!" Lydia shouted in midair.

"Could you please deal with it?" Draudillon studiously paid no heed to the interjection. "Keeping the Theocracy waiting wasn't intended."

"Sorry I, I'll send him now," Yuriko bunched her brows in concentration. "Where's he at?"

"The local temple dedicated to the Water God—Rianes, not the one run by those of the Four," Silas helpfully provided. "That's his primary residence at least."

"Okay, done!" They anxiously looked over to her. "Blond, chestnut shaped hair, right?"

"His belongings too."

"Oooof, that's hard… hm, I'll ask the priests there tomorrow and fly his stuff to the Theocracy behind him," the angel walked to the table and grabbed another meat-pie. "With a note so they know it's his!"

'Works for me,' a bit discourteous, but more than the man deserved after the mess he and Cerabrate caused. "I appreciate it, dear."

"Yay~"

"Returning to our previous topic, I think that'll be a workable stopgap," she should've saved these issues for later. Too late, Draudillon sadly thought as she poured another cup of tea. "Though I suppose you're also worried about the future livelihood of the clergy."

The priest grimly nodded. "It's not a problem with the donations we're currently receiving, and it might not be for a while, but it will be once the Cult of Wings—that is to say, the Dawnwing Cult—hits a certain size. Lady Yuriko's generosity is a virtue to strive for, so I'm hesitant to suggest charging a small fee for healing based on income is probably the most effective—"

"No," Yuriko instantly shot down the proposition, pausing the bizarre game she was playing with Lydia. "We're not charging payment for that. Never, ever, ever."

"To be clear, Lady Yuriko, I don't find the policy bad, but it's eventually going to drive away all the temples who heavily rely on the income healing services generate," Silas took a deep breath. "And then we'll lose potential manpower, but not only will we lose that, we'll lose the people keeping the Six's faithful restrained among a whole host of other problems."

"With what we decided on earlier, this isn't the burden you might think," Draudillon mused. "Since the temples aren't earning what they used to, wouldn't they leap on this opportunity to continue operating?"

"Your Majesty, that doesn't solve the issue of funding though."

"Yuriko's cult is already being sustained in great part by the state," she reminded him. "I don't mind extending the same benefit to collaborators."

"… They really might take you up on that offer at this rate. It's, how do I phrase this, Your Majesty—somewhat subversive."

"That was the idea, yes," the dragon queen admitted. It wasn't anything groundbreaking—just a repetition of what she did to the Draconic Kingdom's branches of the Adventurer's Guild and to a lesser degree, the Merchant's Guild. "I don't imagine all of them will agree, but people tend to compromise if they believe there's a chance to maintain their way of life."

"Well," Silas swallowed a bite of an oversized cream bun. "I can't argue in good conscience since it is a better solution than whatever I can come up with. Your Majesty's reputation as the Dark Scale Dragon Lord should smooth over some issues."

"I'm happy to hear that. Then I'll persuade those who need to be convinced on my end, file the necessary paperwork, and you go and inform the temples of the Six within the Draconic Kingdom."

He chewed on his bottom lip, directing a look at the angel sitting beside her.

"Good plan!" Yuriko gave a helpful thumbs up.

"If Her Majesty and the Lady of Wings both command me, then there's nothing else to say for the time being," Silas rubbed his forehead. "It will be done, Your Majesty."

"Excellent," she rose to her feet, Yuriko hurriedly imitating the motion with the last jam pastry in hand. The dragon queen hoped the Lavigle household enjoyed meat-pies because that was all that was left. "We'll take our leave in that case. Ready dear?"

Her beloved snapped off a salute and waved farewell to Lydia. "See you guys later!"

"The gods watch over the both of you," the priest also stood up, seeing them off with a bow.

"Tell Mira to bring back skewers!" Draudillon inwardly scowled; she hoped they didn't run into the rambunctious guardmage. " 'Cause she was busy googly-eyeing Leinas when I told her."

"Lydia… don't trouble them, alright?"

"I'll keep an eye out!" She tugged the angel out the house to both hers and Silas's relief. "That was fun!"

'I don't want to lie to her face…' "It was productive."

"Mhm yeap, that too," her beloved hugged her from behind, making it eminently more difficult to walk. "Say, why do they call you the Dark Scale Dragon Lord, Drau?"

"My hair? The way I dress on certain occasions?" Draudillon couldn't say for certain either, and she never found herself curious enough to inquire into it. "The title stuck due to circumstances beyond my control."

"I think I know why."

"Do tell."

"I don't mean this in a bad way, but you were pretty gloomy before…" They gestured at the bustling surroundings. "Everything. So that's my theory."

Draudillon cocked an eyebrow. "You fell in love with this kind of gloomy person, you know?"

"Yes!"

"Then I suppose there's no reason to lose any sleep over it," she pulled them to her side from behind her. "Since the woman I care for loves me regardless."

Yuriko happily beamed.

"Is there anywhere else you'd like to go?" Draudillon held their hand: coarse, pale, and ever-fragile. "We still have a whole afternoon ahead of us."

"You pick next, Drau!"

But honestly, anywhere was fine.


AN: Hello everyone! College is starting up again next week for me, so updates will be slowed... ;-; In any case, thank you all for reading!