A/N: Sorry this chapter took a while, I was caught up in some of my own personal projects. Updates should be a little more regular now.

XxxxX

Chapter 6: A Simple Chef

Loki let out a loud yawn, making no attempt to hide it.

She couldn't help herself; this Denatus was extraordinarily boring. None of her adventurers had Leveled-Up and the Gods of Orario had long since forgotten about the series of mysterious events surrounding Kusanagi Godou. Instead, they were more interested in the recent spade of mishaps and phenomena that had been going on in the Dungeon.

Unfortunately, since her Familia was often wrapped up in those events, she pretty much already knew everything there was to know about them, causing her to internally groan at her decision to attend today.

"I am Ganesha!" the elephant-mask-wearing god announced loudly, getting to his feet. "And I would like to express my alarm at the current state of events."

A murmur of agreement spread throughout their ranks, and everyone waited for him to continue.

"I would like to personally put an end to all of this, but with the death of one of my higher-leveled children, my Familia is in no state to investigate the Deeper Floors of the Dungeon. I am making a plea towards the Gods with stronger Familia to assist us all with this matter, before more of our adventurers get hurt."

With that short speech, Loki suddenly found herself the subject of half of the room's stares, the other half directed at Freya, who was still sitting confidently with that arrogant yet beautiful smile on her face.

She felt herself squirming in her seat. If this was Heaven, the sheer amount of willpower and energy conveyed behind their gazes would have set off an explosion already.

"Why, I believe Loki has something to share with us all regarding this matter," Freya said slyly, causing Loki to almost gag in surprise.

HOW DID SHE KNOW? She mouthed to Hephaestus, who was sitting beside her. By now, every one was looking at her.

The one-eyed goddess shrugged, not looking particularly bothered. "We might as well announce it to all of them now. It's not like they're going to do anything about it."

Loki didn't particularly mind that, but she was more upset at Freya who, with her smug grin, had once again managed to stick her nose where it didn't belong and uncover information she shouldn't have known.

Clearing her throat and standing up, Loki quickly regained her composure. "Hephaestus and I," she began, giving a pause for the other goddess to nod her head in acknowledgement, "will be launching another expedition to the Fifty-Ninth Floor about three weeks from now. We will try to discover anything amiss within the Dungeon, and will share with you any information we stumble upon."

With that cat out of the bag, Loki saw the rest of the gods look at each other worriedly. The Fifty-Ninth floor was basically uncharted territory. Nobody had gone so deep since the Zeus Familia, and Loki wouldn't have risked it in the first place with such a small party had Aiz not insisted on it.

"She needs answers, Loki," Finn had said. "And she's not the only one."

Grudgingly, Loki admitted that Ganesha was right. The Dungeon had been behaving strangely lately, and the Deeper Floors were the first place where they should start looking for clues. The aforementioned god looked pleased at the news and, after giving a nod of thanks, took his seat again.

No other god offered their assistance in the endeavor. Loki hadn't expected anyone to, since casualties were almost guaranteed after all.

"Why thank you Loki," Freya said with an award-winning beam, "for taking one for the team." Loki could feel her blood starting to boil. "With that settled, let us begin with announcing the recent Level-Ups."

At the very least, Freya should have offered to help, but Loki would have refused anyway because she hated that fake smile on that fake woman's fake face.

Loki sat back down and let out a sigh.

"You handled that better than I thought," Hephaestus remarked.

"Trust me." Loki squeezed her fingers in front of her face. "I was this close to snapping at Freya."

As Freya talked, Loki made it a personal mission to ignore as much as she said. She turned to Hephaestus, a burning question she'd been longing to ask already loaded and ready to be asked.

"Hephaestus. How do you make a talking sword?"

The goddess looked momentarily surprised. "You mean a sword with its own soul? Intelligent and free-thinking?"

Loki hesitated. She hadn't seen Godou's sword herself, having only heard about it second-hand from Finn. But she assumed that was the case. She nodded.

"Um..." Hephaestus, now completely detached from the Denatus, put her hand to her chin and looked deep in thought. "I can think of a few ways, I guess. None of them are simple."

"Go on," Loki said. "We've got time." Last she remembered, Hephaestus didn't have a Level-Up either.

"Well the fastest way would be to seal an existing soul into a weapon," Hephaestus said matter-of-factly, "but that's probably the most difficult and well...worst way to do it."

Loki could imagine so. Obtaining a soul unattached to a body was...challenging, both morally and physically speaking. Sealing it into an inorganic material would be even more difficult. And then getting it to cooperate with you would be downright miraculous.

"I suppose if we were in Heaven and I had access to my Arcana, and if Thanatos or another God of Death was willing to provide me a soul," Hephaestus mused, "I could probably make one for you."

Loki shook her head. "No, that won't work. I'm talking about a sword made without using our Arcana. One that an adventurer can use."

The blacksmith goddess blinked and frowned. "Well...that makes things a lot harder. There might be one way, but the chances of it happening are almost zero."

"But not zero," Loki pointed out.

"But close enough," Hephaestus said without missing a beat. "The sword would have to be a few centuries old, at the very least. It would have to go through an entire life cycle of its own. I made a knife recently that has the potential to achieve this, but that dagger is only a few days old. As far as I know, it's the only weapon of its kind so far."

"What do you mean?" Loki asked, slightly intrigued now.

"I can't say too much, but that dagger...it's basically alive. It will grow with its user. I can't say it has a soul, not yet, but as it continues to evolve, the magic within it will become more advanced as well. Developing a soul of its own is possible, but certainly not within an average person's lifespan. It would have to go through generations of adventurers before it achieves that stage. Hundreds of years, and even I can't guarantee if it can stay in one piece until that point. It's more likely to be lost or destroyed in battle than for it to survive that long." The shrug Hephaestus gave at the end of her mini-lecture was one of resignation.

"I see..." Loki said, trying to feign disappointment. "That's unfortunate." But inside, her interest in Godou's sword only increased tenfold.

"Why'd you ask?" Hephaestus leaned back on her chair. Then she suddenly sat up straight and her lone eye was opened as wide as it could. "Did you find one?" she asked excitedly.

Loki panicked momentarily, remembering how Finn had made her promise to tell no one, absolutely not another soul, about Godou's abilities.

"Of course not," she said, trying to laugh it off. "I was just thinking about what kind of present to get Aiz on her next Level-Up," she lied expertly. She was a trickster goddess after all.

"Oh, she's Level Five now, isn't she?" Hephaestus sounded mildly curious. "Tsubaki's Level Five too. I don't think even Aiz can reach Level Six so soon."

"Of course!" Loki chirped excitedly, glad that they were changing topics. "Which is why my present to her has to be the absolute best!"

"Heh, is that so?" Hephaestus raised an eyebrow. "Then I wouldn't recommend a talking sword. In reality, they're not very practical to use, unless the soul is developed on its own, like with the magical dagger I was talking about."

"Really? Why not?"

Hephaestus pursed her lips. "Stuffing a soul into a weapon basically limits any other kind of magical inscription on it. So you'd end up with only a sword as strong as the soul trapped within it. You'd need a very powerful soul if you want to make it a gift Aiz can actually use."

"Oh." Loki hadn't thought about that. "Like what kind of soul?"

Hephaestus shrugged. "I dunno. But the soul of a God would definitely do the trick."

XxxxX

Godou sneezed for the third time in one minute.

Someone, somewhere, must have been thinking about him very hard.

"You'd better be not be sneezing into our customer's food," Mama Mia warned all the way from the bar counter.

"Don't worry Mama Mia," he laughed meekly, trying to hide the fact that he was throwing away the entire batch of fries he was cooking.

"Are you sick?" May asked, sounding concerned. "You've been acting a little weird ever since you came back from the Dungeon."

"Ah, I'm fine," Godou said reassuringly. He didn't want his fellow cook to be fretting over him, not when he'd made her cook solo recently. "Just a little tired. The Dungeon does that to you, you know." In truth, he wasn't tired at all. Gone were the days when using three or four Authorities put a strain on his body. He'd have to activate his Avatar for that to happen now.

"Actually, I don't."

Godou was a little surprised to hear the mixture of embarrassment and disappointment in her voice.

"Huh?" was his eloquent response.

The Cat-Girl's eyes looked away, and Godou admittedly found her sudden shyness a little cute. "Unlike most of the rest, I wasn't an adventurer. I've never been into the Dungeon. I've been the chef in the Hostess for my whole adult life. The only weapon I've held is a kitchen knife." The smile she gave him at the end looked forced, which didn't look right at all since she was holding said weapon.

"Ah." Godou took a step back. Had he hurt her feelings? "It must be hard on you. Working in a pub for adventurers, and all your colleagues being ex-adventurers themselves. Sorry if I've made you feel that you've missed out."

"Eh?" May's blush turned even redder. "It's not like that at all! If anything I'm glad that I'm not an adventurer! All I hear are scary stories of monsters, I'm glad I'm just a simple chef!" She was waving her hands frantically in denial, but stopped when she heard Godou laugh.

"A simple chef, huh?" he said to himself. "I wish I could be a simple chef."

"Do you really?" May asked, disbelief quite clear in her voice. "You seem to like having adventures in your life though."

"I don't!" Godou immediately denied. Where had she gotten such an idea? "I just want to be an ordinary guy that lives an ordinary life!"

"Liar," May said, snubbing her nose in the other direction. "I heard that you beat up Bete from Loki's Familia. And Syr couldn't stop talking about how you tamed that Battle Boar in the Monster Feria. And when you came back from the Dungeon, you looked completely refreshed, as if you'd came back from a holiday instead."

Godou was stunned when she jabbed a finger into his chest. "You're a reckless adventurer through and through, Kusanagi Godou."

"I...I" Godou had no words. He'd heard arguments exactly like this countless times. Every time he'd tried to convince someone that he wanted to be normal, his girls would immediately shut him down by bringing up a long list of examples where he'd jumped into a fight without hesitation. "I didn't have a choice!" he immediately reverted to his default counter-argument. "I had to do all that."

"You say that..." May smiled forlornly. "But you're going to choose to go back into the Dungeon again, aren't you, Kusanagi Godou?"

"I don't have a choice..." he said again, much weaker than before. "Bad things are happening in there, and it could be partly my fault."

Ever since that monster tamer had said that one word.

Campione.

He had known that he'd been dragged into whatever mess that was going on in the Dungeon.

"Nonsense," May said immediately, crossing her arms. "Did you even have an idea of how any of those mishaps happened?"

"No," Godou admitted.

"Then how can it be your fault?" she demanded.

"It's complicated," was the only thing Godou could say.

"It's not." May's tone suddenly became gentle. "It's very simple. Bad things are happening. You want to stop them. You're the type of person who thinks that having power means having a responsibility to protect others." She flashed a beaming smile at him. "Do you know what we call people like you?"

"No?" Godou said, unsure. May was being awfully chatty today, wasn't she?

"We call them heroes."

It was almost like a slap to his face.

The gash is still bleeding, no matter how much Godou tries to stop it. In fact, it only seems to be getting deeper and wider.

"A cursed wound from the scythe of the Grim Reaper," Ena says, laughing pathetically. "If that can't kill me, then I don't know what can."

Godou doesn't how she can still smile while saying it, not when he can literally see her heartbeats slowing down and weakening through her ribcage.

"Don't talk, Ena. I can still save you."

He presses his hands into her wound again, channeling every single Authority that comes to mind, but stops when she winces and places her hand on his own.

"Stop, Godou. I can't be saved."

"Shh. Don't say that. I-"

"It's too late for me, Godou. But not for the others. That whole town is going to die unless you distract him."

"I...can't. I can't do that. I can't let you die."

Ena somehow still has the strength to bring her hand up to his face. He can feel it quivering against his skin as it becomes colder and colder.

"You have to, Godou. Because you're a hero."

"I'm not a hero." Godou physically recoiled upon hearing those words.

"I hope not," May said wistfully.

Godou looked up, stunned.

"Heroes always die. And I don't want you to die, Godou."

"May..."

"I was the only chef in the Hostess for a long, long time," she said, interrupting him. "Sure, there were the others, but when it was time to work, it was only me in the kitchen, and the rest would be outside waiting tables. Then you came along, and I was really glad that you did, because I never realized how lonely I had been until the day you went back into the Dungeon. I was worried, you know, that you wouldn't come back."

Damn it, Godou realized. He hadn't even told May before he left. He'd made her worry, and now he felt like an ass.

"I know we don't talk a lot," the Cat-Girl continued, "but it was reassuring and fun just to have you cooking at my side. The way I knew I could count on you when we were behind orders, or the way I'd help you when you were overloaded. I never realized how much I wanted a fellow chef with me in the kitchen."

"Sorry." Godou found himself apologizing again. "I didn't mean to make you worry."

"It's not your fault, you were just doing what you thought you had to," May said, trying to laugh it off. Godou knew she was trying to cheer up the mood, but the weak chuckle she made only made things sound worse. "But you know, sometimes it's okay to be a little selfish. Like me right now, I don't want you going back to the Dungeon even if it means that people might die."

He desperately wanted to do just that. Whatever was going on in the Dungeon wasn't his problem. This wasn't his world, and his sudden appearance here was only a byproduct of the root cause. This wasn't his war to fight. He wanted to be selfish. There had to be other people in this world that could fix it.

But he just couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry, May. I'm still going back. I have to."

May tried not to look disappointed, and Godou felt like he was scum of all mankind when the Cat-Girl had to wipe away a tear. "Spoken like a true hero. Maybe that's why the adventurer life isn't for me," she lamented, looking away momentarily. When she turned to face him again, she had a renewed expression of determination. "Promise me you won't die, okay? It's not just me, a lot of others will be hurt, too."

"I promise," he said resolutely. He would never allow himself to die. At least, not until whatever had brought him here was destroyed.

Because there was one thing he had realized. If there was a way for something to bring him here, then there was nothing stopping that entity from summoning another Campione.

And if that ever happened, then every single God and adventurer in this world would be at risk.

Godou had only been in Orario for slightly more than a month, and somehow he'd already fallen in love with it. The way of life. The people. The Gods. More than anything, Gods like Loki and Ganesha had to be protected. They were good Gods, Gods that treated human beings like their own flesh and blood. Gods that had a good sense of morality. Gods that were willing to give up power in order to help those they loved. They were Gods worth believing in, and therefore Gods worth protecting.

Godou knew that not every God was like them. But then again, not every Campione was like him. If they came, they would not see things the way he did. Gods would become their prey. The Dungeon, their playground. The people of Orario, their subjects. There existed Campione even worse than Heretic Gods, and Godou had seen them with his own eyes.

And then Godou had made a decision he had wanted to avoid making the past month. This was now his world, and he was going to protect it. And there was no way he was ever going to allow some battle-hungry, glory-seeking, violent, Godslayer to meddle with it.

He had chuckled when he had arrived at such a conclusion.

All so I could live a normal life.

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A/N: I hope you guys like irony, haha :P