"… from their murderous breath, they spread death…mountains and flatlands alike split apart… From the Benevolent Dragon remains, … they were born."

Junhua and her group were atop the same podium where we saw her perform for the first time. It was already early in the evening, as such lanterns were already illuminating the room with their yellow and orange radiance, while Nia and I were sitting at a table among the bystanders, appreciating her spectacle.

It was yet another story about Rena, the benevolent dragon. If her last spectacle was narrating how she rose to become a revered entity for humans, today’s performance was all about her saddening downfall from the breath of the Rana, the two-headed dragon.

Once again, the story she sang was beautifully performed and composed, but just like last time, there were bits of her story that were inaccurate to what truly unfolded, which I immediately understood why.

"Millennials have passed since we've been protected by our mighty barrier, four thousand years since the birth of the first apostles, and even longer since we, humans, were protected by that which is greater than us. Humans are frail, but we are loved by the Gods, Dragons, Apostles, and Church," Junhua adamantly preached, nearing her performance's end.

"Two years have passed since those which they call the "calamities." Some see this as the beginning of the end. Two years have passed, yet here we remain. Yet here we are. I, along with my brother and sister of Lilith, having witnessed that day, the proof of a long forgotten love, remain. Tonight, I say it once more: there is nothing for us to fear, for we, frail humans that we might be, are loved, protected, cradled in the divine love of that which is above us, might it be the divine, the dragons, or the nobility and the Church. "

Her words were received with clatters of applause, which, even after a while, subsided, attesting to how well received her preaching was.

At Junhua’s performance's end, I slid a glance at Nia, as she was silent for the entirety of the performance, even the preaching part, a glance which she immediately took notice of.

"What is it?" She immediately asked.

"Erm, nothing. Did you like it?"

"Yes, I did," she said, in a voice that told me that she really did, but still there was something within that didn’t please her.

Even though it was just a human-interpretation of a thousand year old history, knowing how much this was concerning her, I asked, "Did you feel sad listening to it?"

She seemed surprised by my question, yet almost immediately answered, "Not at all. Do you think I should feel sad?"

Shaking my head, I answered, "No, not at all, I just assumed you would."

"Huhm,... I admit the story itself, as a story, was saddening, but... with how much is omitted or missing from the most important details of that story, if I were to feel genuinely saddened by this tale, it would be somewhat insulting to what had truly happened. "

"Nia…"

"But don’t worry, I’m all fine. This is just a story... after all," she immediately reassured. "Besides, even if it was historically accurate, there would still be nothing to be sad about it. After all, without that event, the wyrms, the drakes, and the wyvern wouldn’t have been born. Same thing for the Primordial Dragons. "

"Not going to lie to you Nia, I would’ve been fine even if they were never born, especially the wyrm and the wyvern."

"You still don’t like them, don’t you?"

"Not yet, sorry. And not anytime soon. "

"Ronandt, then what-"

"Greetings, Big Brother Ronandt, Big Sister Nia."

"Good evening, Junhua," we both responded.

"How did you find my performance today?"

"As always, you never disappoint. I mean, look at us, we completely forgot about our food. "

"Thanks for the praise, Big Brother. though it is totally underserved. "

"Absolutely not. It was thoroughly deserved, wasn’t it?"

"Yes, he is right, it was really great," Nia confirmed.

"Really?"

"Really."

Despite having already confirmed it twice, both I and Junhua looked at Nia, expecting her to add something, but strangely, nothing came out, leaving us just staring at her weirdly in the silence.

"I really mean it… I have nothing to add. It was great... the way it was. "

The Junhua story narrated how the Primordial dragons were born from Rena, but there is an important part of the story, at least of the historically accurate one, that she failed to mention, whether because the clergy didn’t provide her with the truth or because the clergy itself doesn’t know about it.

Rena might be known as the mother of dragons, but she was as much the mother of dragons as she was the Mother of Wyrm, the Mother of Drakes, and the Mother of Wyverns.

During the process that was the battle to the death between the two titans, they emerged. From the blood shed by the dragon Rena, wyrms, drakes, and wyverns were born.

Yes, that’s how they were born. Just like the primordial dragon, they didn’t exist before that battle that led to the dragon’s death.

That aside, there was, compared to her other songs, a lot of inaccuracy in Junhua's story. So a part of me was expecting Nia to point that out like she has been doing these past few days.

"… I thought Big Sister would have comments this time too," mumbled Junhua, visibly as confused as I was.

It’s been a few days since we arrived in the city, and we’ve already assisted in her performance more than half a dozen times, during which Nia always had her bit to add, so I couldn't help but understand Junhua’s confusion.

"This time I really don’t have any. Next time, maybe."

"I see."

"Besides, does it not bother you? I mean, I was literally suggesting that what you and your order were preaching might be inaccurate and even untrue. "

"No, I enjoy hearing your interpretations of my stories. I understand that my stories are old, and that the passage of time has left its fair share of scratches on them. As my mission consists of spreading these old tales, it happens that others do not agree with the veracity of my stories, so I’ve stumbled upon a lot of different kinds of audience doubting my words. You two appear to be very knowledgeable about history, but instead of looking down at me, you came at me with suggestions. I appreciate and respect that, and I’m sure the Lady Archbishop would too to hear your suggestions. "

Hearing the mention of the Archbishop, I couldn’t help but be curious and ask, "The Archbishop? Could it be that your order, somehow close to the Archbishop?"

Shaking her head, she explained, "Our order is in no way close to her, but every six months, the Lady Archbishop takes time to hear words from those working under her."

Hum, I had heard of this, but I was still surprised to hear this from someone personally.

"Oh, to think that you had the chance to meet up with one of the seven archbishops. I envy your luck."

"Yes, I am really lucky to be able to have met with her." She said, and I noticed that while doing so, she reached out for a jewelry-like object adorned out on her waist.

My eyes widened at the sight of it.

"This is?"

"This is our latest gift from the church to the maiden of our order."

As I stared at the object, despite the lack of reaction from it, this time, I was absolutely certain about the nature of the object.

When I finally took my eyes off the object, Nia and I exchanged looks. She appeared to have roughly guessed what was going on based on my reaction, but she still had an interrogation look on her face, to which I discreetly nodded.

Junhua's praise for the Archbishop brought me back to reality before I could think about it any further.

"Our city and its inhabitants own her a lot. Without her, we wouldn’t have the orphanages we have now across the cities. She really deserves to be the Archbishop of the Authorities of Sora Mother of Mountains, the symbol of motherhood. Without her and her choice to bestow upon us commoner knowledge, we would’ve lived under the fear of the dragon’s return."

"Sounds like you really admire the Archbishop."

"Yes, I do. Our Lady Archbishop is a gentle and benevolent person. When I narrate stories about the benevolence of Rena, it reminds me of her. I’m sure these two were, in a sense, similar."

Nia, who had returned to her food, found herself choking on it after hearing these words.

"You’re okay?"

"Sister Nia?"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry. Don’t worry, I'm fine. Please don’t mind me. "

Though unconvinced, Junhua cast a glance at her fellow performers before declaring, "Anyway, I think it's about time for us to leave as well,"

"It should also be almost time for us to take our leave."

"I’ll be glad to have you two again as an audience for my next spectacle."

"We, too, would like to." Nia spoke on our behalf.

***

It was already very late at night, in fact, nearly the next day, yet Nia and I, after our dinner at the pavillon where Junhua performed, were still strolling around the city, going from place to place, with the sole purpose of wasting time.

Wandering around in the middle of the night was a completely different experience from its daytime counterparts. The streets of Lilith at night were devoid of their daily bustle and felt asleep just like the city's inhabitants. But still, with its broad streets, large steep stairs, cobble-stone paving, and countless lanterns providing light to every corner of the street, one must say that the streets of Lilith were quite pleasing to wander around, even at night.

Nia and I took a short break after reaching a large wooden bridge, gazing over the bridge at the stream of water flowing below, on which the petals of two giant cherry blossoms were gently falling on its surface.

"You were right about what you said the other day."

"About what?"

"What you said about the church using the dragon’s legend to reassure people."

"Oh, that."

"I saw Junhua perform two more of her stories the other day. Regardless of how accurate some of them were, I had the distinct impression that all of them, without exception, had this voluntary message geared toward the dragon's benevolence. "

For someone who wanted to point out the inaccuracy of the legend Junhua was telling, it sounded like Nia had given up trying to establish the truth, even though she hadn't admitted it yet.

"Well, you can-"

Two armed guards passed by the bridge, greeted us with a slight nod, to which we responded, before walking past us to continue their watch.

"Do you hate it? How are they deforming the truth?"

"I don’t really hate it. After all, it’s part of an already long-forgotten past. I am, in fact, feeling a little bit grateful that someone, after all these years, still had recorded events of that age. "

I nodded, understanding what she meant.

"It just bothered me a little how some details were missing and some were entirely exaggerated." It was like you know that feeling when-"

"–Someone lies to you when you know what the truth is?"

"Yes, something like that... I suppose." She smiled. "At first, I felt—thought maybe I should try to reestablish the truth; now, I think it’s fine the way it is."

"Do you know who was the one who taught Junhua these stories?" I asked, curious.

"She told me she was an orphan who was raised mostly in an orphanage, and that the person who taught her these stories, as well as the other children, was a sister serving in that orphanage."

"An orphanage, huh? That’s a unique way to start it…"

"Now that I think of it, there is something I think would interest you. She also told me that the one that taught her these stories was someone, just like her, directly serving the church, a prioress, I think it was called."

"A prioress? Never heard of that rank. "

"Just like a church’s maiden, it’s apparently a rank that exists only within the local church. Junhua told me that here in Lilith, orphanages are church-run institutions. Those sent by the local church to run these orphanages are the ones referred to as "Prioressess."

"I see, I didn’t know about that. Are those people serving as Prioress commoners or nobles?"

"Commoners," but from what I've heard, they are directly serving under the current Archbishop ruling this land, Karen Caelus, despite their commoner origins;"

"Karen Caelus, huh?" I mumbled, remembering that person’s face. "With things put that way, it would suggest that if there is someone behind the idea of wide-spreading these dragon stories across this duchy, it had to be her."

Having learned a bit of it from Grandfather Emilien, I knew that, unlike Beaumont, the governmental structure of the structure of Lilith was very different, especially with the presence of an Archbishop of the church locally.

Just like in Beaumont, there was a Duke.

But, unlike in Beaumont, there was no such thing as a great family here; instead, there was a similar hierarchical structure known as the 6 Clans of Lilith.Each of these clans gathered every noble's family from across the duchy within their rank. Together, the matriarch or patriarch leading each of these 6 clans is gathered under a decisional council referred to as the Devan. That’s how it goes in theory. But in practice, with the presence of the Archbishop, Karen Caelus, things are very different.

Each of the Fourteen has the underlying duty of serving as a vassal of the Church. While Holy Paladins tend to rule over territory at the borders of the continent, the way Armand Aubrecht did with the northern fortress, Archbishops, on the other hand, tend to rule over land which they themselves choose to represent. That’s, once again, what it is on paper. In reality, an archbishop does not choose where to rule at random. They are strategically placed to take over dominion of a territory from its local noble overlords. A place where an archbishop can be found is a place whose power in place is just there for the sake of appearance. This means that the one truly ruling this duchy at the moment is no one else but the Archbishop Karen Caelus.

She’s the one ruling the Duchy, the church, and ultimately the orphanages from which these stories are spread. At that point, ruling and keeping eyes and control over all of that all at the same time, one must really be passionate, or else it would really be a pain in the arse.

For a moment, I looked around and then commented, "Well, we can’t really blame that one on those behind the idea of slightly altering the truth, right? Look at those houses," I said, pointing at a nearby structure, "And this one, that one over there, and that one there." I was also pointing at several other structures around us.

"What about them?"

"They're beautiful and colorful, but they all have one thing in common," a wooden thud echoed as I stomped my leg on the bridge."They're mostly made of wood, dried cement, and, in a few places, rough stones."

That is one of the aspects of the city that struck me the most upon arriving in this city, how different the architecture was from Beaumont, which was mainly, as it was for Shawn, geared toward stone-made houses.

It’s kind of ironic how here in Lilith the paving looked more solid than most houses were. Especially when the city was the capital of the second richest duchy in the kingdom.

"With houses like these, can you imagine how terrified people must be at the prospect of something similar to the calamities occurring again?"

The Duchy of Lilith suffered very little from the passage of the Dark Calamity, but they must have heard what happened to the other duchies and territory of the continent that crossed paths with the other calamities.

"We’ve been lucky once, but what will happen to us next time? What will we do if the dragons return? These kinds of paranoid thoughts are bound to arise in anyone who has heard about the calamities that have struck the continent through and through. "

Of course, they could build a home with crater gold, which has been proven to be very effective against dragon rumbling to a certain extent, but I doubt that would be a good financial and economic option, even for a Duchy as wealthy as Lilith.

And let’s be honest, building a new city made entirely of stones won’t really change much if the dragon really comes to return.

"So for those leading these lands, or the one leading the local church, the best way to deal with the wave of paranoia the mere dragon’s passage was bound to induce in the people was to, through stories like the one Junhua narrates, not fear the dragons but paint and embrace them as saviours, and once in the past, protectors of humanity. Praise the almighty lizards. " I joked, as with a tilting motion of the head, I invited Nia to get back to our vacant activities.

"Even if it's an illusion, a charade, I guess it’s not all that bad to have this time dragon seen in a good light, rather than being known only as the calamity-harbinger." Nia said, harbouring a somewhat derisive smile, "It does change a lot from what I got used to in Beaumont. So when I saw Junhua slightly showing her interest in them, I couldn’t help but... you know,... all worked up. "

"I understand," I said.

After all, I did.

I’m sure she would’ve had the same reaction if something similar happened to Solomon.

"Now, I understand that things are not the same everywhere and aren’t as simple as I thought they were for the people. So, I now can’t help but wonder how things are going to turn out for this duchy. For once, one of the fourteen did something that I would describe as somewhat positive. Once we are done with that which we came here to do."

Wondering about the future, huh?

"Are you asking yourself these questions, because of how the dragon’s stories ended?"

She nodded, then added, " Yes, but also because I know how my father’s stories ended up being narrated."

Hailed as Solomon the Loner, the apostle, the legend. The man, the father, behind the titles, was forgotten. Only his title remained to fit the church's myths and stories. The fact that Nia's existence itself has been deleted by history is a good representation of how history is written and rewritten to fit the needs of those writing it.

"I doubt our passage will change anything, at least not in the grand scheme of things. I don’t know for sure, but if I were to guess, once we are done with the Archbishop, we will leave the duchy for our next destination and ultimately move on, and so I suppose it will be the case for everyone. How they will do that remains a mystery. Only the future can tell us."

"They will forget?"

"Most likely. It will be recorded, but as your father’s and Rena's records were, it can and most likely will be tampered with."

"I suppose from the perspective of gods and dragons, humans are creatures that too easily forget, but that’s just how they are. But hey, who knows, maybe—most likely, we will be painted over as the villains in their fan fiction, which is not so far off from reality, don’t you think?"

"Not that far indeed. I wish I could have read this already. She laughed, with the sound of waves splashing on the shores in the background, for we had already arrived at this part of town.

We continued to stroll along the shore.

"Me too. Either way, back to our earlier subject, even if history might be forgotten or twisted, there would always, always be those who have the ability to remember that which has and will happen. "

"Are you referring to her?" she asked.

"Yes, but not her alone. It might not sound very reassuring coming from someone such as myself, but you can always count on me to be there, to remember."

For a brief moment, we locked eyes before she walked up to me, grabbed my hand, and whispered, "I know, and that's reassuring enough for me."

***

As we walked, and as time passed, we arrived at the dock, and the first rays of sunlight were seeping through across the lake, where countless boats were already adrift on the horizon.

"How was it without me on the boat the other day?" Nia inquired, out of the blue.

"Is this one of those questions where you'll get angry regardless of whether I say yes or no?"

"This is one of the questions I ask you when you go sailing without me," she explained, a pout on her face.

"Let me think about it: yes, it was, but it wasn't the same without you."

She looked at me suspiciously and asked, "You’re sure?"

"Yes, we can try it today if you want. I’m sure these gentlemen are still on the port by now. " I genuinely proposed.

I wasn’t lying; as early as the day was, I was really down for another tour.

"No, but don’t forget you owe me one ride." For now, I guess it’s time for us to head back to the motel. "

"Yes, Ma’am. Ah, and by the way, it’s been a few days since I created my postal box. I think it should be time to check it out. The letter we are waiting for might have already arrived by now. "

"Okay."

Sure enough, by the time we arrived at the mailing company, the mail had already been delivered on the alias I registered my box for.

The envelope contained only two things: a letter and a list, a very large list of names.