Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

I had a good view. First through the gates were a few squads of local guards, the best of the best selected for the honor. A day’s pay to have people cheering for them instead of running down [Scoundrels]? A day where people were too busy celebrating to get in trouble? That was their kind of day!

Next up were the instruments, heralding the Triumph. A few soldiers, all with appropriate Sound classes, amplified their playing. Normally, they’d all have buff skills of various types, but they weren’t using them today. Too easy to throw someone off a hair, and then we’d commit the worst sin of all.

We’d look bad.

An honor guard was next, proudly flying the standard of Remus, the Senate, and the army. Three Centuries of soldiers followed them, marching in thunderous lockstep, sunlight gleaming off their polished and shined armor.

The Ranger Trainees were next, and I had no particularly strong feelings one way or another on their inclusion. There’d been a lot of arguing about it, that I unavoidably heard.

On one hand, they weren’t Rangers, they were Trainees. They didn’t have the same gravitas.

On the other, the number of Rangers and Sentinels at the capital was laughable. We needed warm bodies to fill in our numbers, and the Trainees did have their own sets of gear, and could march together while looking good.

The hundred-odd Ranger Trainees did fill out our numbers nicely, and the Rangers of Team 0 and Team 1 came after them, marching two by two.

Anything to extend the parade.

Most of the Sentinels were next. A few weren’t in town - Destruction, Brawling, and Toxic weren’t around, while Night and Acquisition were skipping the festivities. That only left seven Sentinels, before myself. They moved more casually, and some of the Sentinels were showing off what they could do. Ocean was being carried by waves on a chair of water, little ‘sea monsters’ popping out here and there as he moved along. Bulwark looked like he was on top of a short walking tower, while Nature had trees growing out of him.

Then came my chariot, and Auri did a hummingbird-giggle as the horses started pulling us along.

“Do not light the horses on fire.” I harshly whispered to Auri.

“Brrrpt…?”

“See, if you do, we’ll have to stop. If we stop, nobody will throw flowers at us. If nobody’s throwing flowers at us, how are you supposed to burn them?”

“Brrrpt!!”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

I was getting some nervous looks from the Ranger Commanders, who were in a loose circle around me. As the bosses, they got to bask somewhat in my glory.

Behind me was yet another Century of troops, and the support staff of Ranger HQ got the dubious honor of being the rearguard.

Then we were passing through the gates of the city, and the cheering hit me like a physical wall.

“Remember, you are only human.” Themis whispered in my ear, then I executed a skill every older sister needed.

[Ignore Annoying Younger Brother]. I hadn’t spent a ton of time at home with him, but I didn’t need the System to offer me the skill.

I already had it capped.

“BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!” Auri shrieked at the crowds, spreading her wings and letting little puffs of multi-colored flame come off of her. She slowly flapped her wings, letting colorful embers spark shower around her.

“BRRRRRRRRRRRPT!” She cried once again, reveling in the attention.

And what attention it was.

We were traveling up the main avenue through the city, but the roads weren’t exactly cart and wagon only, nor had they been entirely cleared for us. There was significant room for crowds, and it was packed. Throngs of people were cheering at us, cheering at me, as flowers, seeds, and other small miscellaneous items were tossed at us. Auri ignited everything that came near us, flowers vanishing in a brilliant flash of fire - which the crowds loved. Word spread faster than a wildfire that anything thrown at us would turn into part of the show, and Auri got showered in flowers.

She was going to have SUCH a swollen head from all this.

I plastered a smile on, and carefully waved at the crowds. Even though I knew the [Charioteer] was invisible and in front of me, holding and guiding the reins, it felt weird. I was convinced I’d screw it up if I jerked too fast, so I was careful because of that arm.

And, of course, Auri was on my other arm, and I didn’t want to shake her off either. Hence, slow turnings, smiling, and waving.

I kept an eye on my mana, and to my great relief, I was doing just fine. Yeah, it was slowly ticking down, but it was going at a slow enough rate that I thought it’d last the entire time.

We hadn’t advertised that I’d be blasting a heal - heck, I’d told nobody I was going to do it - but when everyone got home? Thousands of people would notice. Would easily put one and one together - ‘That high level healer we just saw fixed us!’

Tens of thousands of people more would get small problems fixed before they noticed. The start of a cold. A brewing cancer. The scars a rash left. Diseases hiding in nerves, parasites burrowed into muscles. An aneurysm on the verge of bursting. They’d never know what I’d done, but I would.

Of course, there was a strong chance I’d have a mob of angry healers outside my door tomorrow. I was kinda kicking their livelihoods and income squarely in the family jewels, and I’d be mightily annoyed if the situation was reversed.

That wasn’t going to stop me.

We continued through the city, Auri occasionally taking flight. She’d circle around me, brrpting! happily, then flying over the crowds.

She was the darling of the show, the cute entertainment nobody expected.

Her only issue was her size - when she wasn’t near me, not enough eyes were drawn to her!

“Brrpt! BRRRPT!” Auri cried out as she landed on my armguard.

“Yeah! This is totally awesome!” I agreed with her.

“Brrrrpt!!!?”

“I don’t know when we can do this again.”

“Brrrpt…”

“Don’t be sad! Enjoy it while it lasts! BURN THE ROSE!”

“BRRPT!”

Reinvigorated, Auri went to it with gusto.

[*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 512->513 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]

YES! Healing thousands and thousands of people in a great big event was good enough for a level!

[*ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] has leveled up! 512-> 513]

[*ding!* [Wheel of Sun and Moon] has leveled up! 512-> 513]

[*ding!* [Bullet Time] has leveled up! 512-> 513]

[*ding!* [Sentinel’s Superiority] has leveled up! 512-> 513]

[*ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has leveled up! 376 -> 377!]

[*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] has leveled up! 473 -> 474!]

[*ding!* [Cosmic Presence] has leveled up! 300 -> 301!]

I didn’t care a ton about the adults, but the kids?

Ah, watching the kids was a joy in and of itself. Made the entire hassle worth it.

I was going to get a ton of little copycats, little kids wanting to be the totally awesome Sentinel Dawn. Most wouldn’t make it, but some would follow their dream.

Before long, we were pulling up in front of the Senate, where Augustus and the two other members of the Triumvirate were waiting, green laurels contrasting with my golden ones.

They’d done up the Senate, and it was looking grand. All shining marble, fluttering banners, and golden trimmings.

Technically, Augustus ruled with two other people. Practically, he was emperor.

The chariot stopped, and I carefully got off, Auri fluttering around me. To the cheers of the crowd, I slowly walked up the Senate steps, pausing one step below the Emperor.

The height difference plus the stair practically had me at kneeling height, which was one of those weird compromises that had been hammered out.

Augustus held up his hand, and after a few minutes, the crowds calmed down, and the cheering died out.

One of the members of the Triumvirate stepped forward, and started his speech.

“Friends, Remans, countrymen! Today, we celebrate the accomplishments of Sentinel Dawn! The third person to reach level 512, and unlock her third class, Dawn is the foremost protector of Remus! First a Ranger, then a Sentinel, Dawn has worked tirelessly her entire life to better our lives! From plagues to tsunamis, from rebellions to volcanic eruptions, Dawn is always at the tip of the spear, pulling people from the brink of death! The creator of the Medical Manuscripts, she has revolutionized the medical art in Remus! Teacher! Dutiful daughter! Sentinel Dawn is the model that every man and woman should aspire towards! She was a member of the Sentinel strike force that helped deal a devastating blow to the Formorians, allowing Imperator Augustus to finish them off!”

I kept my eyes still, although I wanted to roll them SO hard. Every other sentence the dude was saying was punctuated by wild cheering.

“Even more recently, Dawn discovered an enclave of creatures called shimagu, who have been secretly kidnapping and enslaving our citizens! In a bold, daring strike, Dawn single-handedly eradicated an entire city of these shimagu, freeing tens of thousands of our countrymen!”

That wasn’t how I remembered things going down at all. More blasted propaganda.

“The savior of Remus! SENTINEL DAWN!” He finished his speech, and I smiled and waved at the crowd, while Auri went nuts.

Interestingly, I could see her beak moving, but no sound coming out. Must have something to do with whoever was handling the Sound back here, amplifying the Triumvirate, and muting the rest of us so we wouldn’t screw it up. Otherwise, an errant cough would get magnified.

The second member of the Triumvirate stepped forward as the other dude stepped back. The crowd eventually quieted down.

“Remus was founded by brave [Warriors], fighting against monsters and the dark. The entire world around us was hostile, dangerous, terrifying. A woman couldn’t go down to the river without fear that a crocodile would leap out and eat her, and vicious dinosaurs would raid nurseries in the night. [Warriors] kept us safe. [Warriors] slew monsters. And the [Warriors] were all men. To laud their achievements, they were given a special status in Remus, which morphed into citizenship. There was no forethought on the matter, simply acknowledgement of dutiful, dangerous service to the people. Yet, over time, under the stewardship of the old Senate, this system has done us numerous disservices. Why, Sentinel Dawn, for all her accomplishments, couldn’t even become a citizen! She couldn’t even vote!”

Loud boos accompanied his announcement, people throwing out thumbs-down motions in their displeasure.

I didn’t believe a word he said for a second. The story sounded great, but there was too much ‘look at our brave military, fighting evil’, and ‘the prior government we replaced was bad’ for me to think this was anything other than an extremely carefully crafted speech, designed to sway public opinion in the direction he wanted.

In other words, a load of horseshit. I’d made peace ages ago that, in order to get what I wanted, I’d need to wade through some of this nonsense.

I didn’t like it, but it was life. Sometimes, I had to put up with the bad parts, to get the good parts. I wasn’t going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

“Today, we rectify that! There will no longer be a difference between women and men in the eyes of the law! Women can now be the head of a household! Women can now own property! And lastly, women can now become citizens of our fine nation!”

There was a brief pause as the crowd processed what he was saying, then they exploded.

The noise had a distinctly higher pitch than usual to it, and the Triumvirate plowed on, over their - mostly - screams of approval.

“I would like to recognize Sentinel Dawn as the first female citizen of Remus!”

I held my arms up - Auri included - and basked in the cheers.

Fucking. Finally.

I was going to vote in whatever was next, no matter how inconsequential or tiny it was. Best baker contest? I was in.

Emperor Augustus stepped forward, and the cheers eventually died down. People only had so much voice.

“The shimagu are a menace. They are small parasites, able to take over a body and perfectly mimic their actions. A shimagu-controlled host talks like you. Walks like you. Looks like you. But is plotting against you, trying to best figure out when and where to kill you and your children. Only thanks to the operations of Sentinel Dawn were we able to discover their secret activities against us.”

Oh no.

I did not like where this was going. This was standard “how to whip up a population against a foreign enemy 101”.

Even I knew that!

“For decades, if not centuries, they have been infiltrating our lands. Invading bodies. Kidnapping and enslaving people, then starting their own human breeding program. They exist just outside our borders, preying on us!”

He paused a moment, whipping up the crowd. Listening to their jeers and boos.

“NO MORE! Sentinel Dawn has given us a detailed map of where they are. How they operate.” He paused again. “How to kill them.”

Cheers again, but they were bloodthirsty. I’d seen tamer crowds in the Colosseum when a dinosaur was killed.

“They are cowards! Treacherous, backstabbing scum of the worst type! I say, NO MORE! Never again! Not a single Reman more will be taken by them! Today, I am ordering the 4th through 15th legion to Port Salona, where they will be staging to fight back against the shimagu! We will burn their cities!”

Wild cheering.

“Salt their lands!”

More cheering, with thunderous applause.

“And we will not rest until they are all dead!”

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