A Dragon Idol's Reincarnation Tale

Side Story 45: The Princes of Sins.

Envy isnt responding.

It doesnt matter. Begin the council.

Tarnished, harrowing, and macabrethese were a couple of adjectives the world outside of BoleTaria would describe the demonkins home. A nation infested with eldritch horrors, sick beings, and twisted architecture. A Folschreckian mother would tell tales of these beings in a boogeyman manner, sending fear into the hearts of their children.

However, at the end of the day, while BoleTaria truly wasnt the most hospitable place to live in, it was nowhere as terrible as the grossly exaggerated descriptions from the PTSD-stricken soldiers and the old wife tales. As VifiYok had mentioned, her home had its problems, but it was still a land suitable enough for numerous people to survive off of.

Segregated into two continents, BoleTaria was a split kingdom that originated from the continent Numerus before they managed to gouge out a piece of the Folschreck Empire on Altrust. Due to the rapid expansion of the Folschreck Empire during that time before they were named an Empire, a portion of it was left open, allowing the angered demonkin to establish their own home and place, one away from the terror of human oppressors.

The hatred and discrimination against demonkins had always been real since the emergence of their race. Although there were smaller fights, mainly skirmishes and slave rebellions, never had there been an actual, large-scale war between demonkin and human nations.

As time passed, the Folschreck Empire was officially founded during the year 2000, and five years later, the official war between humans and demonkin began with the Empires declaration of war with the blessing of the Church of Aurena. As such, the war had lasted over 600 years. Although not always turbulent as both sides had to rest and recuperate after they drenched the rivers and ground in human and demonkin blood, the animosity never stopped.

Nevermind the Empires equally as bloody war against the beastmen alliance of Carmaniate, or their inhuman experiments with faefolk mana which led to the War for the Faefolk, the true enemies of the Empire had always been BoleTaria. In the name of the Goddess of Light, Miracles, Healing, and Kinship, it was their divine mission to purge the demonkin from the face of Peolynca.

As such, it was obvious this hatred would lead to terrible rumors. Although BoleTarias lands were mostly mountainous and cold, the piece they gouged from the Empire on Altrust allowed them to grow crops. Not to mention, BoleTarian cuisine was heavily focused on seafood, as they had multiple ports and harbors.

You couldnt find luxurious ingredients like honey, juicy fruits, or bountiful spices here, but you could survive, even if the variety of food and dishes were rather low. If BoleTaria had been allowed to trade in peace, they would have been a major importer to satisfy the cravings of their sin-focused population. Gluttony and Greed demonkins desired the luxury from the rest of Peolynca, for example.

So, while not the richest nation, BoleTaria was still normal. They had normal-looking houses you could find in a human village, and they had markets as bustling as any other. Men and women would work, eat, and sleep everyday, just like any other. Children would play, even if most let their sins influence their behaviors a bit.

Of course, even with a war waging outside their lands, there was discrimination and segregation even within this unified nation of the demonkins. Each of the seven sins influenced their host differently, and that created easy stereotypes amongst the different subraces. Envy demonkins were petty and generally untrustworthy, Pride ones were terrible to befriend unless you were a Pride yourself, while Lust demonkins were debauched hedonists.

As such, every sin was treated differently by the collective. Unless a Wrath demonkin joined the military to be monitored, then even a child with that sin could pose a danger to others, causing them to be shunned. Due to the gluttonous appetite of a Gluttony demonkin, the meals of each was regulated to even the crumbs, and it was illegal for them to eat anything outside of their sanctioned meals. Sloths were mandated to take a regular dose of emotional amplifiers, to force their bodies to stay active to avoid their consistent desire to laze around and sleep.

United against their common foe and accepting of regulations to achieve this goal. This was the most apt description of the world of BoleTaria, which had helped eliminate most potential crimes. Still, most of the fringe communities or those left to their own devices, like the impoverished neighborhood VifiYok was born into, were plagued by those willing to turn on their fellow demonkin for their own survival. It was the perfect breeding ground for soldiers, away from the eyes of most.

Ruling above all of this was the demonkin king, voted in by the seven Princes of Sins who acted as archdukes for the nation. The king was seen as the symbol of BoleTaria, as the one who would lead the demonkins to glory, as they were the one closest to the Edjurl Gods or to God Marsven, depending on which of the two big BoleTarian religions you followed.

The Princes of Sins, on the other hand, were not only the de facto rulers over their own subrace, but were also the body of government. No law, treaty, or dealings was allowed to go unnoticed by them, not even the kings orders. However, at the same time, they were also the rulers hands and mouth. Their loyalty was owed to him and the Edjurl Gods only or, at least, that was the intention.

In the capital of BoleTaria, OolazCile, a meeting was currently being held. The city was nothing like a demon kings capital that you would find in fantasy novels, no, it was far from it.

Situated in the middle of a mountain range, the city was protected by large, imposing walls of metal and black stone coming from the local quarry. Style and function mixed together, it was something even a dwarven mason could marvel at, for OolazCile was created to withstand constant sieges during their founding years. This aesthetic was shared with their buildings, for during the night or when torches lit up the streets, the place could be described like watching the gaping mouth of a sandworm, beckoning one into the pits of hell.

However, when the morning sun showered it with warm rays, the colors of the buildings, streets, and inhabitants would bloom. Vibrancy could be found anywhere, for the seven sins of the demonkins forced many to follow their instincts. Creative endeavors could be found everywhere, from artwork, music, to clothing; anything to satisfy their greed, gluttony, lust, envy, and pride.

Just like everywhere else, OolazCile was a city filled with many individuals who wanted to live their lives. Whether good or evil, one could find barmaids helping drunk patrons with water, or find merchants swindling poor day workers on their last pieces of coin.

And here, at the very center of the citythe epicenter of this mountain rangewas this entrance to hell. Once one descended into this hole, the demonkin kings palace could be found. The heart of OolazCile and BoleTaria as a whole. Unlike the city above, this palace would find its match in any fantasy story.

Here, the seven Princes of Sins gathered before their king inside a late gothic-style room. However, one of them was missingenvy. In addition, only the king as well as the archdukes of Lust and Sloth were physically around. The rest had their seats occupied by a small crystal ball displaying the silhouette of a person.

This was not a [Crystal of the Divine System]. This was an aberrationa demonic soulcorewith the sole function of conveying its masters word from wherever they were in the world. As this was their sole duty, the aberrations evolution had not increased the powers of the seven Princes; in fact, this form of these aberrations made them feeble and easy to destroy. As such, they acted not only as the Prince of Sins transceiver, but also as a final resort to preserve their final life, should they lose all other aberrations.

As the strength of the revived Prince was tied to their aberration, that was a situation no demonkin wished for outside of the most dire emergencies. A rank A aberration would allow a Prince to inherit their full former strength, while a weak one would cripple a Prince, costing them years of training.

One of the Princes watched the aberration placed on the Envy seat, shaking his head in disappointment. What happened?

Sloth, you should stay less in your laboratory and come out more often, or at least, read our notices more often, a raspy mans voice came out of the seat marked as Greed. His form was only that of a silhouette, like the others in his situation, as the aberration could only convery words, not their appearance.

It happens. Lord Sloth had been doing quite some interesting experiments lately. Even I couldnt keep my eyes away, like, goodness, I do not understand manatech that much. The only woman inside this council hugged herself in excitement as she reminisced about what she had seen. Her constant shaking caused her loose, skimpy outfit to reveal much of her naked skin, much to the annoyance of the other listeners.

Lust.

Yes, Lord Wrath? the woman replied to the deep, powerful voice of the warmongering demonkin, her pink eyes glistening with innocence as she rested her head on her hand. Once she moved her long light red hair from her face, she smiled at the man behind that voice.

This is your first council, so stop acting as such. You are not a candidate anymore, you are the Prince of Lust. Show your predecessor some respect.

But Lady Lust acted just like that, no? She told me to enjoy life as much as possible, and I cant tell you how exciting it is to meet all the Princes of Sins in a single place! Oh! Well, except Lord Envy, but still! Hmhm! I really, really wanted to ask for an autograph from all of you, hiehie, she stated innocently, before licking her lips clean, revealing the sharp teeth inside her mouth. Of course, written in blood! Your smell would last faaar longer.

The council went silent as they all heard her speak like that, with Wrath clearing up his voice at the perturbing display of the youngest of the seven Princes, elected just recently.

To push the discussion forward, the sleepy Prince of Sloth pushed his enervated body up, trying his best to keep his closing eyelids from falling. So, why summon everybody?

It is to speak about her. A haughty voice came from the seat marked for Pride, drawing everybodys attention. The newest Champion of AurenaHestia Atsuko Kargryxmor. And how she was able to ruin our plans in Elyonda, not only preserving and helping the rise of a new Champion of Yeostar, but also her participation in the death of Karhalantheel and the newest Warbringer.

W-wait, Vifi is dead? Lusts curious eyes suddenly ballooned up as her pink eyes turned a dark blue. W-wait, that is Lord Wrath?

She looked over at Wraths side, only to be answered by silence. The woman clicked her tongue after a few moments, frowning in displeasure at the lack of answer.

After a few moments, Wrath replied, Her apprentice, HeeRlak, told me. He was safely brought back to us by one of the mercenaries we hired. From what he could remember, she had narrowly survived one of the Champions attacks with Satanael, only to die after Karhanlantheel slammed his tail at them, in an attempt to kill the Champion.

She-shes dead? Lusts eyes began to wet as she remembered the sight of the energetic demonkin girl, almost letting out her tears before she quickly composed herself. Wiping the tears away, she took a deep breath, turning her blue eyes back to pink. Is this account correct?

The mercenary who handed him over to us recalled watching my Warbringer dying in the hands of the Champion, burned to crisp by white, holy flames. It seemed like Aurena had given her a powerful skill. It even destroyed her sin crystal in the process, according to him.

Destroyed? Sloth raised an eyebrow.

True. In response, Greed spoke, sounding like an old man with a creaky voice. Sloth, you mentioned once that your crystals shouldnt be destroyable by normal means, right? Coagulated by a Princes blood, they are there to prepare our candidate for the day we might perish. They store the powers of our ancestors Original Sins, so destroying them shouldnt be possible.

Hard. Not impossible. The Prince of Sloth wanted to return to his laboratory to test out the conclusions his always active mind was rummaging through, however, he stayed low for now. Divine power is easy for a Champion to receive. The Origin Gods know how to counter Original Sin abilities.

That is not exactly the point, Pride interjected himself before the discussion was derailed. The problem lies with the fact that this Champion had once again foiled another of our plans. Multiple times in Artorias, then in Estralia, and finally in Yeos. While the former two werent as significant, Yeos was a major failure. Two of our younger generations have already died at her claws. We are not in the position to lose talented young soldiers like this!

VifiYok, my latest Warbringer, was one with many talents Wrath spoke in a saddened tone, barely hidden by his deep voice. She was young and had a head full of desires, but she was a good soldier, even if it was driven by her survival instincts Losing her is a major hit to our military. Since we cant even recover her blood crystal, that means I cant announce a third Warbringer until Sloth can create a new one.

Nobody needed to speak up. Over many generations, the demonkins of BoleTaria had relied on the Prince of Sloth for their technological advancements. As such, they knew how Sloth would answer: If I have the time and energy. Unless something excited the Prince of Sloth, it would take a while until the destroyed crystal would be replaced.

Although, the truth was that VifiYok hadnt died and, instead, gave her crystal over to Streiga Ghorush. The leonid mercenary had told the Prince of Wrath a lie, and none would become the wiser now that the truth was hidden away.

I see. A youthful voice from Gluttonys seat announced, sounding like he couldnt remain still any longer. So, this summon is to announce we have a new target we have to kill, right? Just like the blessed we assassinated in the Empire?

Pride confirmed his suspicion, before bringing up the missing Prince of Envy. Envy wanted to trap the girl and her mother, one of the dragon empresses, in an illusory world with Yaldaboath, but somehow failed. His attendants in Aureolis had informed me he barely shows himself any more, only using letters to communicate with them. Its gotten to the point where, during the night, he constantly has nightmares, screaming about a dragon terror and a giant dragonewt.

Pride had explained how the priests at the Holy Capital of Aureolis had seen two dragonewts burst out of the popesthat is, the Prince of Envywindow, before they flew away. As such, Pride had made sure this information had been passed along to the Empire, where the first newspaper of Peolynca was written and then spread through the world via messenger birds.

He had made sure the Empire knew of Hestia as the enemy, but during this whole time, he had barely gotten a lick of word from Envy. He had dressed everything up to make it sound like the pope had ordered Hestias capture, aiming to potentially bring Kargryx to attack the humans. There was a risk, since she was a Champion of Aurena and people might know her real enemy, but he was ready to gamble on matters to achieve his goals.

Why not kill her, Lord Pride?! Lust demanded to know with an empty-looking stare. You are the closest to her, right? Why not stop her now if she is such a threat?

However, the implications behind her words only angered the prince. Lust, hold your tongue. Do not order me around.

Aura couldnt be transmitted through the aberration, as such, his intimation attempt failed. However, everybody but Lust understood how Pride could act in such a time. As the most prideful demonkin, he loathed people looking down on him.

I will deal with her once I am sure we have the power to kill Eltharion and his wives. Envys decision to kill her was a mistake, something that could have ended terribly. His silence is, thankfully, a welcome surprise from his usual paranoia, Pride answered in a forceful tone. He thought his cover would be unmasked by her, but now his rash actions only gave him just what he feared. He tempted fate, and was beaten by it. BoleTaria can only win by doing what we always have done!

Relying on our expertise and controlling everything from the shadows, Greed answered, causing Wrath to let out a dismissive grunt. Very well, then we shall do just that. Continue our original plan. I shall have the dwarves make our dragon killer.

Gahaha! Gluttony bellowed out a deep laugh. Good! Pride, what do you need me to do? Should I send those heroes to do our job for us?

No. Do not. We already lost two parties of those otherworldly brats to that Champion. We cannot risk her dispelling their marks, Pride denied, referring to the unique skills the demonkins gave the students when they were first summoned. Keep them in the Empire, have them continue their actions. The more they are trusted, the more it will hurt when they fall and break it.

He then looked over at Wrath and Sloth, but didnt say anything as even Pride couldnt say much in the face of the Warlord of Destruction and the Erudite of Inventions. They knew what they had to do. He could sympathize with their pride in their own works.

The Evidian desert will be ours, yet, Wrath announced before his aberration dimmed.

I shall try to get that tonic finished, Sloth stated before falling asleep on the table.

With Gluttony and Greed also signing off, Pride then looked over at Lust. Do not depart.

Pah! A hedonist does what she wants, Lord Pride! The Prince of Lust stomped out of the room, leaving Pride to sigh deeply.

He shook his head, already accepting that he couldnt convince a Prince to forgo their desires. It was sinful. We cannot lose even more of you. You, VifiYok, and USkaie. You are all part of the next generation, to see a world blessed by the Edjurl Gods How is being born in this world a gift?

False Goddess, Aurena, what more will you do to torment us? The weak should keep attracting the weak! That dragon of yours will die to show you where your place is!

He then turned to the only person who hadnt spoken yet, noticing how his feeble body was slowly decomposing.

[We need to elect a new king soon ]

You didnt write it?

Nope! The girl standing before Light shook her head, before she had to correct her purple tinted green hair. She then adjusted the sunglasses on her head, making sure it didnt fall down. The Church just got some information and they wanted to add their section into it. Couldnt really say no, right? Just cause I brought newspapers and proper media to this world doesnt mean I own it.

Light couldnt believe it. Up until now, he had been away from the rest of the students who came to the Empire with him. He had to fulfill his part of the deal with the Yanderu Eluseuss, which meant training, as he needed to be strong enough to control his future gang. As such, he hadnt witnessed the creation of the first Peolyncian newspaper nor was he there when it was first published.

He only learned about everything today, about a week after it first came out. He couldnt believe how it demonized the dragon girl he wanted to ally himself with, to the point he thought this was a trick from the Yanderus number one. Suffice to say, it was even more surprising this information came from the Church, of all places.

What are the demonkins planning? He wondered, but couldnt say it outloud since the walls had ears and the students outside of his party were mingling around the church people a bit too much. They didnt know the demonkins were controlling them, and he couldnt risk them not trusting him.

Yuuko-san, how can you be so sure this information is valid? Why would a dragon lead an army of goblins and orcs? Light asked, trying to get some more information from her, however, she just shrugged.

Yuuko Takeshita, that was the name of the fashionable girl in front of Light. Also known as Magic Breaker by the church due to her unique skill, Yuuko was not only the last of the five known party leaders of the students, but she was also the best counter the students had against any magic users.

Although not exactly in love with fighting, she was still an important combatant for the student group, in addition to being the creator of the recent newspaper. If marketing or social media presence was what you wanted, you went to Yuuko.

Hey, Im a fan of non-fake news as anybody else, but its not like I can just whip out my journalist skills, alright? Im a content creator, not a detective. Even if we cant trust the church 100%, saying no to them will just make them angry, the girl turned back to her desk, checking on the piece of paper she was writing on. Do you know how long it took to persuade the emperor and the cardinal to give me the funds to make paper? To make the printing machine? It took my party such a long time to get the machinery to work, and youre telling me to potentially risk having it all taken away? Hell no! Come on, networking. Shouldve known it, Lawyer boy.

Light stayed silent, playing with the newspaper on the table, before approaching it in a different manner.

Any luck with your whole video creating career?

Hearing him ask her that, Yuukas shoulders slumped and she let her face rest on the table, looking dejected. Nope. I cant figure all this manatech things out at all, and none of us have an engineering background. Only way we knew about the print machine was cause of Senseis lessons. Maybe that creep Daichi figured something out since hes a tech boy, but who knows?

Yuuka was, as she mentioned, a content creator and streamer. She knew the importance of modern media, to the point she invented printing and paper just so she could do something she wanted. It took her a long while to gain the funds needed for her to experiment ever since she landed in the Empire, and now she was aiming for video streaming even if the concept of the internet was a completely foreign topic in this world.

Just think about it! Aiko, dancing on her stage, cheering for her fans! Ooooh, what about streaming her music to the entire Empire! She can go full-on idol mode in this world if we can just invent some sorta video capture! Or music capture! Arck, but none of the artificers in the Empire understand what I say! Some have the talents, but none understand what I want! Its soooooooo frustrating!

Aiko Hasebe, the other saint candidate after Asaka, although, at this point she was the only saint candidate, considering Asaka was taken in by Ilsaphone as a Saintess. She was also a close friend to Tatsuya and Kyouya when they were all stuck in Aureolis. Who would have known this girl would have made herself a career as an idol in the Empire?

Its propaganda. However, despite Yuukas positive imagination, Light had to settle her back to reality. The Church wanted her to promote herself as a saint, and that was all you girls could think of. I know youre her producer, but you dont need to make it seem like shes doing this for herself.

But shes enjoying it, Light! Thats the important part! Why cant you be happy? Who cares if the church is spinning us around, or whatever they are hiding. At the moment, we have nobody else to rely on.

We could have, if you hadnt given the church the chance to demonize her.

Light shook his head, exasperated by his fellow students naive thinking. He felt too frustrated after the whole idol talk, to the point he was getting a headache, again. He turned away, having heard enough, which irritated Yuuka even further.

Jeez, come on dream a little, would you? Instead of trying to act like youre some brilliant lawyer like your father, how about you just settle down? You cant bring those corrupt nobles to justice for what they did. To the humans here, beastmen are nothing but animals. They even treat the human slaves terribly. Not to mention everything else

The students stay in Riekwelst, the capital of the Folschreck Empire, hadnt always been a pleasant one. They had to mostly deal with nobles, but they also worked as adventurers to get to know people better. They had seen both the good and bad side of the Empire, the Bulwark of the human race.

Somebody has to do it. If we ignore everything, justice will just die out. No, itll just mix around until it festers like a plague upon the stem. The Lycerepth are a prime example of this. He couldnt hold those words in after how he saw the religious police of the Empire conduct themselves against religious freedom. What else can I do?

It wasnt just the situation in the Empire, but also the fact he knew the demonkins were behind them being in Peolynca, not Aurena. He felt compelled to help out the Yanderu to gamble on the fact the crimson dragon in Peolynca was a benevolent one, just as Eithalr had told him. He felt like a fish in a pond, too weak to defend himself against the creatures trying to eat him up.

But Yuuka couldnt understand this. She thought Light was just a stressed out student with lofty ideals, too out of his element. Hey, I know you hate your father, but you cant just strawman the people here in your personal quest. How about you go listen to Aikos second concert? Let the music

Let the music heal my soul, I know that already. But, I dont need idols to give me dreams, or even give me some fantasy. He opened the door. Lets not talk about idols, again. I hate them.

He stepped outside the room and left Yuuka to finish the second volume of the Imperial News Weekly. He walked through the doorway back into his room, thinking about everything that had happened and how much he still didnt know. He considered leaving the Empire to actually understand everything. He wanted to know more to execute his future plans and ambitions.

However, could he actually leave the corruption to fester in the Empire? Shouldnt he try his best to overhaul the judicial system? A trial should be reasoned with facts, not have religion influence the biases of everybody. At least, that was what he believed but in the religious empire, his words would be nothing more than blasphemy.

Not now. I need to become much stronger. Strength is the first thing I need. I needUrgh.

He remembered his fathers face. Those judging, hawk-like eyes preying on his mind and confidence. He felt ill knowing in his youth he once looked up to this man, to the point he tried to mimic how he carried himself and general behavior. The most corrupt attorney he ever knew, and the worst prosecutor Japan ever had, not because he was incompetent, but because he was too good.

He didnt want to end up like him after he attended high school. He wanted to bring him down but he knew that, outside of school, he was nothing. He was not as good as his father, nor did he have the outrageous networking skills his father had. Suffice to say, unless he became the valedictorian of his college, one his father would choose for him, he would also inherit nothing from him. He didnt even have any wealth.

Light felt lost on Earth, and as such, found a new goal on Peolynca. If he couldnt beat his father, then he just had to become better eventually. That was why he intended to overhaul the justice system here on Peolynca.

Even inside this castle, he saw maids pocketing money they received from random servants they snuck out to see to share some gossip they heard while cleaning. He saw dark figures running around in the night, blending themselves as best as they could into the night while using dark magic, a frowned upon element by the church, trying to monitor the students. Not to mention how a guard was currently dragging a katzune slave into a nearby shack, angry the beastman stood in the way of their patrol route.

Light thought he had to do something.

Champion candidate Light.

However, his thoughts ended the moment he reached the front of his room, where he saw not only Saintess Fleindia, the Saintess the church attached to him as a monitor, but also his guardian knight Royce Albert Loucestro along with another person. The third was someone in a spectacular set of knights armor, literally screaming he was more important than the two people he knew.

As the man pulled off his helmet, he revealed himself to be a young man in his thirties. The way he swayed his medium-long hair and how he smiled gave Light the impression he was a narcissist. It seemed he wanted to give a perfect impression, not to mention how he was eyeing Saintess Fleindia with the look of a casanova.

Lautrex von Cashim, Hand of Heaven. Well met, Champion candidate. The man introduced himself, as did Light in return, before the student questioned why the Hand came to see him. I have come to personally hand you direct orders from the pope, well, His Holy Excellency, more like it, but His Holy Excellency gets his orders directly from the pope. Haha, I apologize for my lack of detail. I am just so enamored by the mission I was given as His Holy Excellency's royal guard! A job worthy of a Hand of Heaven!

Oh gods, he loves the sound of his own voice.

May I receive these orders? Light pushed the conversation forward before Lautrex kept derailing the conversation.

Yes, of course, good sir! The knight pumped his fist up, even to the point he was posing to show off his hair and smile. Light did his best to keep himself composed, before the knight finally continued. Ahem, as the pope ordered, we are to destroy and slay the dragon beast haunting his dreams.

Wait, slay!? Light became agitated when he heard that word. The newspaper said we had to capture her! That was what the Holy Emperor ordered!

Haha, rightfully so, but it seemed like this notice came directly from the pope, it even has his signature and sigil. That crimson dragon mentioned in the newspaper? Not only are dragonslayers currently being recruited, but His Holy Excellency wants all you heroes to explore the world a bit, so he is sending you out to slay your first dragon. Exciting, no? Right out of the fables! And, dont worry, for I, a Hand of Heaven, shall accompany you!

Curse you, world, but I will take this chance to speak to her! Hestia Atsuko Kargryxmor, I am coming!