A note from the author!
Hey! Just a quick note, I wanted to point at the awesome cover made by Fanfiction's very own, Oslight. I, uh, actually forgot to include it in the last update. I'll leave a link in my profile after uploading this chapter to see the full image as well as his other Paleblood fanart.
I can now squeal like a fangirl. I have fanart. Suck it Aaron.
Oh, regarding other links, the link to my fictionpress is already on my profile page here. Or, you can search "Arrixam" on fictionpress. Both this account and that are linked together.
I'm sure I had something else to share... something relating to Paleblood and it's plot... Something the reviewers disagreed with that I just don't care about because I like messing with them and plan on doing whatever I want to watch them squirm...
Oh well.
ON WITH THE SHOW!
It was an early afternoon at Pantheon, the headquarters of the Guild. Most of the morning traffic had cleared out with a few adventurers coming and going for small things. Things won't become hectic again until nightfall, when most of the adventurers down in the Dungeon would return to the surface.
Misha kept glancing at the clock. It was a few minutes past her scheduled lunch break. Guild regulations would grant her the thirty minutes no matter what… but she couldn't leave until all of her business was complete.
Her last-minute walk-in was a pair of adventurers assigned to her as their advisor. Normally, as adventurers were allowed to pick and choose their own advisors, most adventurers would choose an animal person or an elf. Or Eina. Misha was just a common human. She was surprised she had been requested out of the "flowers" of the Guild.
She should have put some thought into it. Just a little. But she was too anxious to start her break already. She had been working since dawn!
"How many times do I have to tell you two?!" she groaned, more frustrated this meeting was going to drag longer than it should have than (how did Eina put it with her White Rabbit? Ah!) making sure the two of them returned safely. "You're only a couple of newbies! You need to stop diving into the Deep Down! I don't care what your goddess says! You need to follow rules! We have them for a reason!"
"You can take the fee out the reward," the one who did most of the talking, Chase, answered cooly with a prepared tone. "I'd also like to purchase a map of the fortieth floor and—"
"Are you even listening?!" she sagged in her seat.
It was the talk of the century (for a couple of days) when the goddess Prometheus stepped down from her position in order to create a familia of her own. It was an even bigger scandal when her chosen children had refused the recommended Guild advisor and requested Misha specifically. Misha felt like she had a lot to live up to… and a lot of work she didn't want.
It was worse than she feared.
"Please try to understand my position," Misha said with a tired voice.
"W-We do, we do," assured the gentler and more considerate of the two, Issei. He put up a few hands to ease her. "It's just… it's a little restricting, don't you think? Misha-chan, you always see us come back alive. And we bring proof we completed the quests. We're stronger than the average adventurer! We could kill a lot more monsters and explore new territories if we didn't have the Guild breathing down our necks. Haven't we proven we're more than just a couple of Level Ones?"
"Try telling that to my boss," Misha grumbled. "If you hadn't registered as newbies a couple weeks ago, I would have believed you were adventurers to another familia before. That would also mean Goddess Prometheus gave us false documentation. What's worse, supposing what you say is true, I'm more likely to believe you're cheating. There's no way a couple of newbies can take on Level Four, Five, and Six monsters on their own."
"Of course we're cheating," Chase remarked with a blunt look. "We want to reach the bottom of the Dungeon before the end of the season. The normal growth rate by grinding takes too long. Getting all those experience points just to meet some quota regulated by the Guild will take years. Why do that if we already have the capabilities through our natural talent?"
"Right," Misha shot them sarcastic glares. "Because you're a shaman and he's a dragon."
"Acolyte," Chase corrected.
"The 'D' is capitalized," Issei muttered below his breath as he scratched his head.
They were doing this on purpose, she knew. And they knew she knew. It was why they had conveniently and unexpectedly shown up right before her lunch break. They were toying with her frustrations. She was already excited about her break, had those hopes shattered by these two, and was now annoyed enough to endanger her career just so they could get out of here!
What pissed her off the most was the fact it always worked. But not this time! Not this time for sure! Misha Flott will not budge!
…She was already in the red for excusing them too many times.
"Whatever!" Misha threw up her arms. "Look, try and understand where I'm going with all of this! You can't just ignore Guild regulations. Not only will your familia be fined, but repeated violations will result in penalty actions! Your familia could receive a suspension and possible disbandment! Get it now?"
"That sounds like a lot of paperwork," Chase's brows shot up.
Misha's brow twitched.
"We're also Prom Queen's first members," he pointed out next. "She wouldn't be willing to let everything collapse so easily. She'll put up a fight. I'd imagine she'll demand a trial from the Guild. Evidence brought forward. Testimonies exchanged… They'll probably call you since you're our advisor. Hopefully it won't be on your day off."
The conference room was quiet for a moment.
"…I'll let you off with a warning," Misha put effort into her voice.
"I understand," Chase nodded and spoke as if he was genuinely reflecting on his actions. His eyes said otherwise. They were as blunt and callous as they always were.
"You will still receive the fine for entering restricted areas," she went on. Her eyes scanned the bag of loot and the quest sheets sprawled across the table. "But you will get your reward for… these five missions. Please be mindful next time. And… please stop requesting me right before my break."
"I'd also like to purchase that map I mentioned earlier," Chase said without a lick of shame. "We also need a copy of the reported monsters down in those levels. Oh, and a list of any jobs requested in that area."
Misha shot him the dirtiest glare. He was unfazed. He wasn't going to change. Not now, not the previous five times, and not anytime soon.
"It's for… motivation?" Issei offered with a smile. "New adventurers can dream about one day reaching those floors, right? Your boss will understand if you tell her that. Maybe?"
Her glare shifted over to him… but it couldn't hold any of the fire as it had against Chase. Unlike the man she was pretty sure was a half-dwarf with all the wrong genetics from both sides, Issei was compassionate and a true gentleman. He had an innocent smile that rivaled Bell Cranel's. And… he was pretty good eye candy.
"J-Just…" she shut her eyes and tried to regain her composure. She needed to be in charge. Like Eina, she told herself. Be like Eina. "If you meet me at the reception area I will deliver your things over the counter. Will that be all?"
"That's everything," Issei replied in a hurry when Chase opened his mouth. "Thank you very much, Misha-chan. I'm sorry for taking you away from your lunch break."
"It's fine," she said but didn't put the effort to mean it. She stood and opened the door out of the conference room. She spoke when they followed her, "But, seriously, do you two have a death wish or something? Why are you diving head first into the Dungeon and ignoring my advice? Why even request me if you're not going to listen…"
She grumbled that last part under her breath.
"It's only temporary," Chase commented casually. "There will come a time when we go down there and you will never have to deal with us ever again."
Misha stopped walking. They stopped. Issei blinked at her but Chase glanced in the corner of his eye with expectancy. He knew she would react this way.
"What… What is wrong with you?" she blanched. "Do you really have a death wish?!"
"I'm not saying we're going to die," he said simply. "I'm saying we won't come back because I know what's down there."
She glared at him again. "You? You know what's at the bottom floor of the Dungeon? Yeah right. Not even Zeus Familia were able to reach down there. Tell me what's down there then."
"Don't know," he said flatly.
"B-But you just said—!"
"That's because what's down there can't be explained by any concept both mortals and gods understand," he turned to stare straight at her. His eyes were sharp. "Or anything else in existence, for that matter. What's down there doesn't belong here. It belongs on… the outside, for lack of a better word. That's probably why the Ancient Times came to a conclusion and the Era of the Gods started."
…What a child. Trying to act and sound all cool.
Misha let it go and split away from the group to head behind the counter. The members of Prometheus Familia waited patiently at her window for her to fill everything out and acquire their rewards.
When she returned to the window, she caught a glimpse of white and brown hair walking through the Guild hall and towards the conference rooms. Ah. Bell must have arrived while she was in the back and went to Eina's window. Eina was leading him with her usual professional presence.
Except… Bell looked like he was walking towards the guillotine.
"For completing the quests," Misha skimmed through the sheets in her hands, "your reward would have been a collective thirteen million valis. However, subtracting the fine as well as your requested material, your total comes to five million valis. Please take this receipt to the Exchange to accept your—"
There came shouting from the conference room. A lot of it. It startled Misha. Those rooms were supposed to be soundproof with both raw material as well as magic. Misha wasn't the only one who jumped where she stood. Some of the other receptionists and adventurers did too. There came a wave of silence as those furthest from the conference room realized there was shouting and stopped to listen.
The entire Guild was stunned by the cries of a screeching banshee behind those closed doors. Nobody moved. Not even security wanted to check if everything was fine.
The shouting died down. The door opened.
"MISS EINA I'M SOOOOOWWWWWWWYYYYYYYY!"
A crying White Rabbit fled out of the room and out of the Guild.
Eina stepped out of the room a moment after, fixing her glasses and glancing towards where Bell had run off to. There was a look of guilt in her flushed face but it quickly returned a sharp glare when her head look down the Guild antechamber.
Everyone's heads snapped away, pretending they didn't witness the drama.
"Orario never gets boring, I'll give it that," Chase muttered to himself. The sound of his irritating voice brought Misha back to business.
"Right," she cleared her throat. "Here's your receipt. Have a good day. And stay out of trouble."
Chase made no promises. He and Issei stepped away from the reception windows and went in line to the Exchange.
Misha, meanwhile, put the CLOSED tag onto her window and hurried to the work desks in the back. These were the cubicle office spaces each Guild employee were given to fill out their paperwork. She wasted no time in hurrying over to Eina's space while everyone else was giving her a wide berth.
"Wow, Eina," Misha approached with a whistle. "What did you do to him?"
Eina's mood soured. But she wouldn't turn away her childhood friend.
"I gave him a stern talking," Eina said crisply as she straightened a stack of papers.
Stern. It wasn't the word Misha would have used.
"Geez," she sighed and pulled out the chair across of Eina's— this was Misha's office space. "What did he do to warrant the full wrath of Eina Tulle? Don't tell me he lost the piece of equipment you bought him!"
While the noise of the Guild continued to flow, the noise around the offices had grown soft. The other Guild employees working in the back had slowed their progress to better hear. They were just as hungry for gossip as Misha.
Eina adjusted her glasses as she answered heatedly, still infuriated at Bell, "He completely disregarded every piece of advice I have given him. He grew impatient and ventured too deep into the Dungeon. He was in a critical state by the time he came back to the surface. If Loki Familia hadn't been there when they found him…"
Eina fell silent. Her body slouched as her hands stopped moving. The half-elf employee was as much of a workaholic as Misha was a slacker. For her to stop…
Misha glanced at the side of her dearest friend's face. Eina was looking down at the desk with a gloomy expression.
"I almost lost another one. What am I doing wrong?"
Misha wasn't supposed to hear it.
She also chose to not see the tears in the corner of Eina's eyes.
"Well~" Misha sank into her chair and spun around. She pushed it back, wheeling herself until her head rested against Eina's. "Whatever happened, I think the Little Rabbit learned his lesson. Everyone in the Guild saw him balling and running away from mean ole Eina. He'll think twice before doing it again. Heck, I sure would. I still remember when I accidentally sat on your glasses."
She shuddered at the memory.
"Still," Misha continued, "that was pretty impressive. You gotta tell me how to scare my adventurers like that. The two I've been monitoring don't listen to a thing I have to say."
Eina didn't say anything. But the mood had changed. Misha had known her friend for so long she simply knew things were better.
"Hey Eina, I'm about to go grab lunch. Wanna tag along?"
"You know what? That sounds great right now. I think I will join you."
The two girls stood. Misha stretched while waiting for Eina to meticulously clean up her desk.
"I happen to know this one café that makes the best cakes! It's right by Upper Eastern-Third."
"Misha… that's quite a ways away. Are you sure we'll be back by then?"
"Don't worry about it. We'll make it back. Probably."
Eina put up an unsure smile. But she didn't argue against her friend.
They were about to leave when…
"Hold on there, Flott," a hand latched onto her shoulder with a grip made out of stone.
Cold sweat flashed through her. She knew that voice, that tone, and the pressure of this grip. It belonged to the manager in charge of her and Eina's group. And, by the sound of things, she was in trouble. Again.
"Y-Yes?" she squeaked.
The animal person that was her manager raised the overflowing manila folder filled to the brim with Prometheus Familia's latest exploits. It hadn't been a full month and the group had managed to overburden their file.
"See me in my office," he said and walked away.
Of course, he said one thing but hadn't let go of her shoulder. As he walked to the corner office, he was dragging her along her heels.
"B-But! I was going to go on my lunch break!" Misha cried out. "Can't we have this talk later?! Eina! Eina please say something!"
She was crying. The Guild wouldn't fire her for something like this (probably). But she knew she was going to have to work overtime and would suffer in her paycheck. And she more than likely won't be able to hear anything for a while after the manager was done yelling at her.
"…I'll be sure to bring you back something," Eina said with a flat look. Misha knew that look. It had been given to her since they were in school. It was the look Eina gave her when Misha wanted to copy her homework and Eina had refused.
"Traitor!" Misha screamed as the manager, literally, tossed her into the office.
0-0-0
Welf took a sip of his ale. He had wanted to go to his regular tavern but the Good Hunter had insisted the place of rendezvous would be here, at the Benevolent Mistress.
He exchanged a look with the prum girl, Liliruka Erde. Her eyes met his. They both knew each other's line of thought with a glance alone.
He can understand why the Good Hunter had been so drawn to this place. As Welf looked around, he was surrounded by nothing but cute girls in frilly serving dresses. For reasons Welf couldn't understand, the Good Hunter had been able to maintain his childish innocence. It was unfathomable. Welf, as Djura, had turned into a spiteful being who had forsaken all other Hunters. He didn't hesitate to gun them down whenever they ventured into Old Yharnam.
Honestly, he had thought the Good Hunter was the maddest of them all. There was no way someone who had gone through the Hunt could keep their innocence. But, after looking around at the boy's preferences, he had to second-guess.
Maybe, just maybe, Bell had something no other Hunter had.
He snorted.
Of course the Good Hunter did. How many before him had come to venture into the Hunt? How many had ended the night through Gehrman's scythe— whether by choice or not? The Good Hunter, Bell Cranel, was the first and only Hunter to defeat Gehrman and end the Hunt once and for all.
Welf took another swig before slamming the empty mug down.
"So what's bothering you?"
He waved for another mug. The ashen-haired waitress, Syr, who had been keeping a close eye on Bell the entire time, smiled at Welf and went behind the bar to get him another one. Oedon Beyond knew Welf was going to need it for whatever Bell had to say.
Bell was cradling his mug with both hands. His chin was resting against the table while he sobbed away like a small child. "M-Miss Eina is mad at me."
…His response was just as childish.
"Master Bell's advisor?" Lilly took another small sip from her drink. Hers was halfway done. "It's understandable considering the story Loki Familia fabricated. Besides, even if they didn't, you said so yourself she would be mad at you beyond rationality. Yet Master Bell went into the Dungeon anyways."
Welf didn't try to comfort the Good Hunter, who sulked further from Lilly's words.
The general of Loki Familia, Finn, had been the one to secure their passage back onto the surface, procure lodging for Bell, and organize an excusable story for all parties. It wasn't far from the truth, either. It went: in order to acquire rare materials, Bell Cranel and company had ignored the Guild's rules and ventured into the Deep Down of the Dungeon. They bit more than they could have chewed and the happenstance of Loki Familia's elite waltzing through had stumbled upon them.
All three familia of theirs were penalized by the Guild. But all else was kept away from their knowledge.
For his own reasons, Finn had promised the complete silence of his teammates. The two Amazons, the Sword Princess, the high elf, and two Supporters accompanying them would not share a word to anyone. Though there was no promise they could keep the story hidden from their goddess.
Welf accepted Finn was a Hunter. But he couldn't figure out who nor could he demand the prum to reveal himself. Their statuses in this world were too different. Welf might be better than the average Hunter, but Finn carried the aura of someone belonging to the elite.
Had he been an Old Hunter? Or did his colors rally to the Healing Church? There was no doubt Finn was someone Welf didn't want to fight against. It was why he agreed with this cover story.
"She'll come around," Welf said when he couldn't bear the Good Hunter's sobs any further. He ignored the prum's glaring— he didn't care if she had feelings for the boy or not. "All that matters is the fee is covered and we came out on top. The Guild might be watching us a little more closely but we won't have to do anything that extreme again. At least not for a while."
He didn't plan on going back into the Dungeon anytime soon. But one of the other penalties the Guild stamped on their record was a suspension. They weren't allowed back into the Dungeon for two weeks.
"But… Welf…" Bell sniffed as he lifted his chin. "You didn't see her. Miss Eina was so mad. Her face was so red. I've never seen her like that. It was like the Minotaur all over again…"
He was about to ask what he meant when Welf recalled how the Good Hunter ended up in the Dream. A Minotaur had ventured into the upper floors of the Dungeon and had killed the boy. Imagine that, a newbie adventurer so green he can't go further than the fifth floor, suddenly dealing with a monster normally found on Floor Fifteen. Now Welf understood the comparison to this Eina Tulle.
"Bell," the waitress, Syr, approached and placed Welf's ale down. She gave the boy a pouting face, "You should feel bad about it. Did you see the way you were carried here? You were so full of blood I thought something terrible had happened to you. Do you know how scared I was…?"
Welf thanked the waitress and immediately took a long drink. Half of the mug was gone by the time he put it down.
"I wasn't trying to make you worry!" Bell shot up and waved his hands around.
"But this isn't the first time you've come back like this!" Syr argued with a face on the verge of tears. "Bell, do you know how many adventurers I've served that never came back? I don't want you to be one of those."
"I'm sorry, Syr," Bell bowed his head. "I've caused you and the tavern a lot of trouble lately. It wasn't my intention. I promise not to do that until I'm better prepared."
"Not better," Syr raised leaned forward and put a finger to his face. "Be prepared. That means you properly level-up and have the right gear. Do you understand, Bell Cranel?"
"Y-Yes," he squeaked like a mouse.
"Good," Syr straightened herself but didn't look satisfied. "For your punishment, you're going to order everything on the menu."
Bell's face lost all color, "B-But I can't eat all of that by myself!"
"I'll never forgive you otherwise!"
The Good Hunter, who had faced beasts leagues his size, looked at his partners. Lilly gave him a glower while Welf made a more observational look. Either way, they weren't going to help him in this endeavor.
Bell let his head fall, defeated. "Yes. I understand."
"Good~" Syr nearly sang. Nearly, otherwise that would have given away her obvious charade. "Be sure to give your waitress a good tip too!"
"…Can I have another?" Welf asked as he downed the last of his ale.
"Coming~" Syr sang fully this time as she skipped away to the bar.
If Bell hadn't been crying fully, he was now.
"Master Bell still hasn't learned his lesson, it seems," Lilly remarked dryly.
"Is he always like this?" Welf asked.
"You should have seen him when we first met," Lilly remarked. "That waitress girl had invited Master Bell here for dinner, but he had invited Lilly in his ignorance. Lilly didn't know about this until arriving at the tavern."
"Ah," Welf understood everything instantly. However… "And you have no problem right now with the way things are going?"
Lilly's cheeks flushed slightly. "Lilly is… content. For now. But Lilly will not lose to some tavern wench. Master Bell will see the true error in his ways and choose who best supports him."
"…What are you talking about?" Bell asked.
"Nothing," they both answered in unison and took a swig.
Welf looked down at his mug. It had been empty prior. Was he already this drunk? Man, the booze must be stronger than he gave it credit for. While it wasn't as tasty as the red ale he favored, it was strong. Well, it had to be if this tavern catered to adventurers mostly.
Alas, most of the menu was reserved to baking goods. This early in the afternoon had the tavern converted into a café. Mostly housewives and merchants vacated it. They were the one of the few adventurer parties present.
It meant he couldn't order any of the smoked sausages or potato crisps. Those were reserved for when the tavern fully shifted into being a tavern. At night.
At least they served booze throughout the day.
"Can Lilly ask something," the prum spoke softly but firmly. It was quiet enough to not draw attention while making sure she could be heard across the table. "Mister Welf, what was the point of this trip into the Dungeon? Master Bell purposely left out details so Lilly would follow until too late."
Bell flinched. Welf didn't know the prum hadn't been told in advanced. It explained her sour and frantic behavior during the entire trip.
Welf waited until the waitress returned with his drink. He didn't say anything as she lingered about. She had wanted to be a part of the conversation, giving Bell a few glances as she clutched the tray close to her chest, but left to serve another table when she took the hint.
"Let me ask this first," Welf began as he took ahold of his mug and thumbed at the handle. He didn't take a drink. He probably won't until the point of this meeting was finished. "Lil'E, how much do you know about the Good Hunter?"
He chose the title rather than the name. He wanted to see how much exactly she knew.
"Good Hunter?" Lilly blinked. "You mean Master Bell? Lilly only knows there are other groups besides adventurers called that. Hunters. Two of them approached Lilly and tried to hurt Master Bell."
Based on the way Bell adverted his gaze… there was more to the story. Welf wouldn't pry.
He didn't respond right away. He stared into the wheat-colored drink as he thought to himself. Lilly knew next to nothing about Bell. But she was aware of the existence of Hunters. He had to manage his story based on this confession.
"I am a Hunter," Welf began. "Well… I was. I'm an adventurer now of the Hephaestus Familia. I pride myself as a blacksmith. You see, because of my history, I made weapons and armor for adventurers with what would normally be used for Hunters. The coat that the Good Hunter's wearing? I made it. He found me and we talked. We came to an agreement that I would make all of his equipment if he would help me out. We went into the Deep Down to find the right materials I needed to make better gear. But I didn't know you were unaware."
He said the last part while glancing at Bell. The boy shrank within himself.
"Lilly was not aware of this disclosure," the prum remarked with a blank face as she took another sip. Her tone had been a whip that made Bell flinch. "But Lilly should have suspected something when Master Bell introduced you to me suddenly. Lilly had thought you were a person of suspicion that had taken advantage of Master Bell's lack of experience."
"If there's one thing I know about him…" Welf sloshed his drink around as he thought. "He's a good judge of character. It's funny. In Yharnam, you typically call the gentlemen 'good' and the ladies 'fair'. It became something sarcastic to call him the Good Hunter. Eventually… from the stories I've heard, I think no one else deserves such a title."
Bell stopped crying as his eyes widened with insight. He was looking at Welf like a younger brother being praised by his older.
"Sorry if we scared you at all, Lil'E," Welf apologized to the prum with a slow bow of his head. "Though we would have risked our lives to protect you, that didn't excuse we dragged you with us through the worst the Dungeon has to offer."
Lilly gave him a sour look. She had something nasty to say but she withheld it at the last moment. She did, however, sigh, "Lilly is not used to excursions like that. It'll be a long time before I am prepared to do it again. Please do not ask Lilly to go back down there anytime soon."
"I'm sorry," Bell said. He put up an apologetic smile for her, "I should have told you a little more in advance. But, like what Welf said, I would have never let you come to harm. I don't blame you if you don't want to work with me ever again. I understand. I've already asked a lot from you."
Her cheeks flushed as she scowled at him. But she averted her gaze quickly after, "I-It's fine, Master Bell. Lilly received plenty of valis from the trip. It wasn't a complete mess. And… Master Bell never let Lilly come to harm's way."
There was a comforting silence from the three. They all drank as soon as their topic was concluded.
"So…" Bell looked unsure as he looked up at Welf. "Does this mean you're not going to be a part of the battle party?"
Welf raised a brow at that. True, the conditions of the deal was to venture into the Dungeon for a specific piece of loot from a specific monster. Everything else they gained along the way was a bonus. They were even allowed to keep everything after running into Loki Familia. And, true to his word, Finn had paid the Guild fee.
"I feel responsible," he had said to the Guild employee who was gushing at him. Finn had used his charms to his advantage. "As a top-tier adventurer, I should have been there to better protect them. It's my fault. Please allow me to pay out of my own coffers. It would put my heart at ease."
…It still wasn't enough to lift their suspension, however.
"Don't look at me like that," Welf said with a low grumble. "Makes me feel like I just kicked a rabbit. I ain't gonna say 'I'm done, see ya' and leave. I owe you, Good Hunter. Once we rest and the suspension is lifted, I'll join you whenever you want. Besides… I need someone to test out the new kicks I'm gonna be making."
Bell's smile could have lighted up the entire tavern. Welf couldn't help but give the rabbit a toothy grin in kind. He lifted his mug over the table. Bell fumbled for a moment and raised his too. They didn't clink. Welf gave Lilly a sideways glance; she blinked, questioning if she was going to be a part of this party as well. She gave Bell a look, who was looking back at her with pleading eyes. Lilly had a weakness, it seemed. She glowered but raised her mug as well.
Their mugs came together before they drank in unison.
"How long do you think it will take?" Bell asked almost immediately. He was as excited as Welf felt.
Welf couldn't hold back the feral grin as he leaned back in his chair and thought about his plans. "Ah… as soon as possible. I want it all to be done as soon as we're allowed back down there."
"Lilly just said she doesn't want to go on excursions for a while," the prum spat.
"No one's inviting you," Welf waved a dismissive hand her way, but couldn't hide the smile in his eyes. They had all just made a pact. They were a team. They would go in the Dungeon together or not at all. "Besides, it's not really an excursion. It's a test. A test! If we time it right… we should be able to hit Floor Seventeen and test the sucker out on the Goliath."
"That's not any better than before!"
"Then you should be prepared, Lil'E," Welf snickered. "We have two weeks after all. Don't tell me you're planning on lazing around like we're on vacation or somethin'."
Lilly raised her mug to her lips and grumbled something darkly.
"What about you, Good Hunter?" Welf asked next. "Any ideas what you'll be doing the next two weeks? I heard you went into the Dungeon whenever you could."
"Y-Yeah," Bell began to sweat as soon as the question was made. He fidgeted in his seat nervously. "Actually… I'm going to be having lessons with… Miss Wallenstein."
"The kenki?" Welf's brows shot up. "Well, that's certainly unexpected. I'd have thought someone as strong as her would have sulked and—"
"Remember the promise to Mister Finn," Lilly spoke sharply. "While he agreed to never mention what happened in the Dungeon, Lilly thinks we should do the same. Especially in a place where everyone can hear us."
Both Bell and Welf sank in their seats. She was right. Welf knew better than this. He should stop drinking after finishing this ale.
"That reminds me! Get this!"
A new voice was raised in the tavern, drawing attention. It came from a prum sitting at a table full of other adventurers. Normally, Welf would have ignored someone like this. There was always someone loud in a tavern. But this person… he was making this much ruckus on purpose.
"Some 'bunny' tried to reach the Deeper Down of the Dungeon! I heard Loki Familia found him beaten to a pulp on the tenth floor! They felt so sorry for him, they covered his medical expenses!"
The prum and his teammates barked out a few laughs. Some of the patrons around them laughed as well. Noticeably, the maids of the Benevolent Mistress had their moods sour.
Welf glanced at Bell. The Good Hunter was bothered by this hearsay, but he was holding himself back. Welf could only shrug, gesturing for the boy to just let it go. Bell nodded back and drank his ale to calm down.
At the back of Welf's skull, he felt those adventurers looking his way. They were trying to start something. It made his brows furrow.
"Well, duh," the prum went on with his story. "The newb's only been an adventurer for a few months. He also went down there with some no-name blacksmith and a puny Supporter. What kind of shitty team is that?! No wonder they were done by the tenth floor!"
Bell's agitation grew. His face was turning flush with anger… and probably enhanced by the booze.
"Don't," Welf said firmly. He gave the Good Hunter a hard look.
"Master Bell shouldn't listen to those adventurers," Lilly agreed. "They don't know anything."
Bell looked dissatisfied but he listened well. Welf admired the Good Hunter a little more; the boy was willing to defend this Old Hunter's honor. Even when they hardly knew the other.
Welf's sharp ears picked up the clicking of teeth. The prum across the tavern wasn't happy with his provocation failing.
Welf was about to suggest they pay the bill and leave when—
"And then there's that goddess of his!"
Bell's entire body became stiff. All emotion washed out of him as his eyes flashed across the room and found the prum.
"She's so pathetic she has to work a daytime job! At that fried potato stand on North Main! No wonder the bunny is so useless! An adventurer is only as good as its god and, boy, is that goddess the most useless of them—!"
The entire tavern felt it. All noise from chatter to utensils to steps from the maids to the clatter of the kitchen fell silent. There was something in the air. Something oppressive like a physical weight blanketing them.
To Welf, it felt like a beast was breathing down his neck. It felt like he had gotten sloppy, hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings, and this monster was about to gorge out his neck.
It felt just like when the Good Hunter climbed his tower and surprised him.
This was bloodlust at its finest. And it was originating from Bell.
His hands were pressed against the table. Gently, with as much silence as there was in the room, he pushed the chair back and stood.
He didn't get to Hunt this prum.
A crash as loud as thunder in this dead room came towards the table with the prum. A chair had flown through the air and smashed the prum dead center in the face. The prum was knocked out of his seat and onto the floor.
Heads turned towards its origin. A man, either a dwarf or a prum or a human with both characteristics, stood at his table. He lowered the arm that had thrown his own chair. A deep scowl carved his face as he circled around, walked through the clutter of occupants, and reached the squealing prum cradling his face.
"…My hand slipped," the man said with irritation.
"Y-You!" the prum cried out, his voice muffled by blood and the hands covering his face. "You broke my nose!"
"I know," the man retorted dryly, almost with disappointment. "I was aiming to break your teeth and snap your jaw."
The prum let out another cry of anger and pain.
"Who do you think you are?!" one of his teammates bellowed and stood. The other adventurers stood as well, reaching for their weapons.
"Sit," the man commanded.
And they did. They fell back into their chairs in unison. Surprise was etched onto their expressions. One adventurer at the table tried to resist whatever compulsion forced them but to no avail. The rest remained idle.
"An adventurer is only as good as its god," the man turned back to the prum. He bent over, grabbed him by the collar, and began to drag him towards the front entrance. "I didn't think Apollo was such a pussy."
As easily as he threw the chair, he threw the little adventurer out onto the street.
"Leave," he turned and ordered the rest of Apollo Familia.
The teammates of the prum stood in unison and began to walk through the tavern in single-file formation. The one at the rear, the one who had tried to resist, was the only one capable of turning his head to gaze at the man. The man's expression didn't shift as he watched them all exit the Benevolent Mistress.
There were hushed whispers and chatter around the tables, gossiping away at what they had just seen.
"Any acts of violence in the Benevolent Mistress are strictly forbidden," one of the maids, an elf, went to retrieve the chair the man had thrown. "Please leave."
Though she said so with a firm voice that couldn't raise any argument, there was something akin to gratitude in her eyes.
Still, the man argued.
"He convinced me to do it," the man pointed back at his table.
"What?!" another patron, presumably his teammate, stood and slammed his hands onto the table. "Don't throw me under the bus like that!"
"…Then I'll have to ask you the same," the elf looked at the teammate.
"B-But…" the teammate looked like he was about to cry. "I didn't do anything."
"I suppose we're never allowed back here again?" the man asked in a casual tone when he looked back at the elf.
The elf blinked but nodded, "Yes. Those are the rules."
"N-Never…" the teammate whimpered.
"Come on, Hyoudou," the man handed the elf a small bag of valis. Though the scowl remained, his tone was completely casual and dismissive. "We're out of here before we cause more trouble."
"Y-You!" the teammate, Hyoudou, cried but was already moving. "You did this on purpose, didn't you?! Just so we can't ever come back here!"
"Do you really think I would do something like that?" the man held one of the swinging doors open for his teammate. "Do you honestly think I would purposely make sure you don't use your Gift on another girl? I mean, I shouldn't. It's good blackmail material. What will your girls back home think?"
"…I hate you," the teammate muttered with every fiber of his being as they left the tavern.
Welf… had no idea what any of that was about. But it felt like everything that had just happened was just an excuse to create something else.
"Apollo Familia," he muttered. Barring the two strange men, this detail couldn't be ignored. "What the hell was that about? What are they trying to pull?"
"Lilly… doesn't know," their own prum couldn't come up with any idea. "Master Bell, you didn't do anything untoward one of their members? Maybe charmed one of their female members?"
"I don't know what you're talking about…" he muttered with honesty. And twice as much density. "I've never met anyone from Apollo Familia. Your guess is as good as mine."
Welf looked at the last remains of his ale, "They're definitely trying to start something with you. Lil'E, watch your back just in case. It doesn't seem like they're beneath getting anyone close to the Good Hunter involved. Bell… don't do anything extreme."
"L-Like what?" the Good Hunter asked sincerely.
It made Welf's eyes narrow. Was it truly innocence? Or was it ignorance? Was the Good Hunter not aware of his own amount of bloodlust? Was that the true, nasty secret that had kept him sane throughout the Hunt?
Welf finished the last of his ale. He didn't want to think about it any further.
0-0-0
Bell was dreading the morning. He couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts swam through his head. Anxiety was getting the better of him. And before he knew it, his biological clock was telling him dawn was approaching.
Knowing he was beyond sleep, he groaned and sat up from the couch. He made sure to not make any noise as he gathered the necessities to start his day. His goddess was still asleep. She didn't sneak into his sleeping spot throughout the night, probably because he hadn't slept and had any nightmares.
It ached his heart. She knew all about him. He had told her everything. He wasn't sure if she had believed him but… she never shoved him away. She never called him names or dismissed his paranoia. She only said she would look into it, whatever that meant.
However, beyond that, they were never the same again. Something had changed between them.
By the time he was out of the bathroom in a new change of clothes, Hestia was tossing and turning in her bed. She was starting to wake up.
"Bell?" she whispered lowly as her head turned towards him. She cradled the blanket over her shoulders as she spoke half-asleep. "What're you doing? Go back to bed."
Because of this sudden distance, he hadn't been able to tell her about his plans with Aiz Wallenstein. She had been notified by the Guild (having been dragged there to represent the familia since he was out of commission) regarding what happened in the Deep Down. However, he hadn't the chance to tell her his side of the story.
"There's something I need to take care of, goddess," he said just as softly, trying to lull her back to sleep. "I'll be back later. Have a good day."
"Mmm, 'kay," his goddess yawned and sank deeper into her pillow.
He was out of the door and climbing the stairs to the antechamber of the church.
"Wait a minute!" he heard his goddess shout in alarm. "That's not what I'm supposed to say! Bell! Come back here!"
He pretended he didn't hear her. Never mind the rest of the neighborhood probably did. And to create the excuse he was out of earshot when next she asked, he Quickened the rest of the way out of the church… and down the street.
From there, he gave a light jog towards the destination. He gripped the rinds of his backpack as he let out a sigh. He wasn't looking forward to coming home. Again.
He knew at some point he couldn't keep running from Hestia. No matter how awkward things were, she was his goddess. The church was their home. He would have to return to it and face the music at some point.
…It didn't mean he couldn't prolong it as long as possible.
"Morning, Syr!" he greeted with a wave as he jogged past the Benevolent Mistress.
"B-Bell?!" the ashen-haired maid dropped her broom at the greeting. "What in the… Get back here, mister!"
Mister. If there was anything that triggered an alarm in his head, it was that. He'd be in more danger if he were to keep running. While running would have him escape Hestia, it wouldn't work for Syr.
He backpedaled until he was in front of the shop.
She was gripping her broom with one hand while the other was at her hip. She was giving him a look. "What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be under suspension? Or have you forgotten?"
Oh. Was that why she was upset? And here he thought he had done something else. He couldn't understand half the times Syr was upset with him. Every other time she wasn't even upset, merely teasing (read: strong-arming) him into spending more money at the tavern.
"I'm not going into the Dungeon today," he said simply. "I have training with Miss Wallenstein."
Syr breathed out a sigh of relief, "Is that all? Bell, you should have told me. I thought you weren't going to be around this early for… never mind. Wait right here."
She turned and went back into the tavern.
His head tilted slightly. Wasn't he in a situation like this with her not too long ago? Yes. Last week, if he recalled correctly.
And, just like the last time, she returned with her morning rations. It was a small bento box wrapped in a blue handkerchief.
"You didn't have to do this, Syr," Bell said when the box was practically shoved into his hands.
"Don't worry about it," Syr said with her notorious smile. Bell got the shivers. He knew something was up. "After all, this is my insurance."
"I-Insurance?"
"Yup. That way you have to return here and make do with your promise."
"P-Promise?"
"The one where you have to buy everything on the menu or I'll never forgive you."
Those last words… her face flashed to something scary before returning to her cute smile. He could have sworn he imagined the whole thing with how fast it happened.
"I… yes," he could only reply with a small voice.
She waved him off and continued with her morning duties. As if the morning didn't stress him out enough, Syr had to give him a perilous task. He tucked the lunchbox into his pack and continued the rest of his jog.
Instead of heading towards the morning traffic that led towards the Guild and the Dungeon entrance, he took a detour. He headed down Second East and kept going down for several blocks. The directions given to him were rather vague, but after a while he recognized his surroundings from those slim details and managed to find the rest of the way on his own.
He came to the edge of the city, right before the great wall that was less of a border to the outside as it was a last defense to keep the monsters imprisoned. There were no guards at this station, which had signs of neglect already. He had no trouble slipping through the doors which led to the winding stairwell of one of the many towers.
The stairs themselves should have been a workout on their own. He lost count how many steps there were after ten minutes of jogging… which turned into a light trod… and eventually a crawl.
He was on the verge of literally crawling by the time he reached the top. He exited the tower bastille to step onto the great wall itself. It was wide enough to carry four carts across side-by-side. It had to be thick enough to withstand the worst of the monsters should they escape from the Dungeon.
It was also high enough to where even the most tenacious of aviary monsters couldn't climb. The breath was taken out of him by what he saw. The dawn was over the horizon but had yet to reach the lower half of the walls. To his left lay Orario, where most of the buildings were no bigger than the size of pebbles. The Guild building alone looked like the size of a brick! The only true building that outclassed this one was the lid of the Dungeon, the Tower of Babel. On the other side of the wall lay the vast forests, rivers, and mountains of the world Bell would never explore. He was sure, if he was facing the right direction, he would be able to see his farming village.
But what truly took his breath away wasn't the scenery.
With the morning sun, her hair shimmered like golden silk. Aiz Wallenstein was sitting on her heels, checking the condition of her sword while she was waiting for him. She had donned her armor for this training. Nevertheless, the sight of her, waiting for him, made him forget to breathe.
"Ya-hoo~"
They weren't alone. Sitting in Aiz's shadow in a more lax posture was her teammate, Tiona. She leaned over Aiz and gave Bell an excited wave of her arm. This startled Aiz, who didn't react further than the smallest widening of her eyes, and turned her head to see what she was calling to. After seeing Bell, she sheathed her sword and stood.
He jogged up to them while they took their time to meet him halfway.
"G-Good morning!" he more yelled than greeted. He was a nervous wreck. Maybe he shouldn't have jogged? He was sweating already. What if he smelled?!
"Good morning," Aiz greeted back in her usual soft voice.
"Mornin'," Tiona was the polar opposite. "Neh, Little Rabbit, you don't mind if I watch, do ya? Not that we don't trust ya to do naughty things to Aizu, but we were all really curious after what we saw. I won rock-paper-scissors so I get to watch!"
He put up an unsure smile. He couldn't exactly say no to her.
But… what was that part about rock-paper-scissors.
Hold on.
"I-I-I would never do anything indecent to Miss Wallenstein!" he blurted out. Heat flashed to his face. He glanced at Aiz (who blinked nonresponsively) and the eye contact made his face flush further.
Tiona cackled with a hand over her mouth, "It's that reaction why I'm going to win the bet."
"Bet? What bet?"
"Can we start?" Aiz asked with a raised hand.
Right! He wasn't here to make a fool of himself! He had an impression to make!
He got himself organized. He placed his backpack against the wall's edge, took a deep breath, and tried to relax. He had his weapons tucked in their holsters and his coat over his shoulders.
His poor coat… it had been thrashed by Lady Maria. Her Rakuyo had pierced through the dragon leather. It was now a tattered mess. At least he couldn't go into the Dungeon for a while. It wouldn't last too long down there. Not until Welf produced a new one with the materials they gathered.
Now they stood in front of the other. Aiz staring down at him blankly, expecting and anticipating the first lesson needed in Hunter tactics. Tiona sat against the ledge of the wall, her legs kicking back and forward and eyes watching him. There was no doubt she had been sent to do more than just observe this training lesson.
Bell… was sweating bullets as he came to realize something.
"I… don't know how to start," he admitted.
Aiz tilted her head. Tiona, however, snickered. She tried to hold it back, even tried to hide it when it couldn't be kept. She had to look away from Bell.
He had been so excited about this event he hadn't tried to compose a lesson. No, that wasn't entirely true. He daydreamed about the things he would teach Aiz Wallenstein, which was a concept he couldn't wrap his head around. It should have been the other way around. His daydreams eventually turned to her teaching him. Either way, he was excited about being alone with his crush no matter the reasons.
His face flushed with embarrassment this time.
"How did you learn?" Aiz asked in her quiet voice.
All the embarrassment washed away as his eyes glazed over. Horrific memories flashed through his mind. He remembered the first time he entered the Hunter's Den, met with Gehrman, given a single knife, and thrown straight into the Hunt. No warnings. No explanations. No training.
He ignored those traumatic memories and tried to come to a more concrete answer. How exactly did he acquire his skills? Most of the time, he was flopping around, crying, and relying on the other Hunters to drag him through the night. But he couldn't always have help. There were too many times he was alone.
He had to adapt. He had to learn how to hunt the beasts or be eaten. He had to learn how to properly wield the knife, learn when the knife wasn't enough, and learn when there wasn't a way to achieve victory.
Ah.
"The first thing I learned was how to run," he announced without shame.
It got a blink out of her.
How many times was he overwhelmed with monsters? How many times did he enter a silent room only to have an abomination crash through the walls? How many of his fellow Hunters went crazed and attacked him without warning?
The first thing he learned throughout the Hunt was to turn tail and run with all his might.
"I already know how to do that," she said. "I don't want to learn again. I want to learn how to fight."
Ah. Right. He should have known. Hunting beasts and venturing into the Dungeon really weren't all that different. In fact, the Pthumerian Tombs and Orario's Dungeon were so similar it wasn't even funny. Aiz already had some of the basic Hunter skills. She was, after all, a Level Five adventurer.
It meant, while he might be a decent enough Hunter, she was one of the best adventurers in all of Orario. Her experience was just as good, if not better.
"Miss Wallenstein," he began.
"Aiz," she insisted.
He had to pause. He shouldn't be calling her by her given name. But… she gave him permission. And given the circumstances, he was the one teaching her.
"A-A-Aiz…" he couldn't help but stutter. "What, um, do you exactly want to learn?"
She curled a few fingers under her chin as she thought. He was nearly swept off his feet with how cute it looked. He made sure he wasn't gawking when she raised her head. A serious expression was on her face.
"I want to be able to fight like you," she said. "To fight like… a Hunter. To beat her."
He understood a little more. It also made him realize how she came to this decision.
It was exactly like the Minotaur attack. Before he recalled his memories as a Hunter, all he wanted to do was to be like her. He wanted to rise through the ranks as an adventurer to be able to keep up with her.
Their positions had been reversed. He came at the last instance to challenge Lady Maria. He had saved Aiz Wallenstein. She was the one looking up at him, wanting to be just like him.
He wondered. If she had killed the Minotaur instead, and supposing he didn't go through the Hunter's Dream, would he be pursuing the same trial? Would he be throwing himself into the Dungeon as he had before to reach her ranks? Would he thrive to become just like her, eventually facing his fears and confronting a Minotaur, and defeating it by his own merits?
Yes, he honestly could say he would. And this was what she was thinking about herself.
This amount of praise and respect was too much for him. He was about to lose consciousness.
"I-I don't know how to be like me," he said. "Nobody really taught me how to fight. They… taught me how to not die. More than enough times… I fought people instead of beasts. It's from fighting them, from not being killed by them, did I learn how to wield my weapons."
"…Beasts?" she asked.
She had noticed how he chose to say 'beasts' instead of 'monsters'. Most, if not all, adventurers called the things they fought against as monsters.
He also left out the detail about how both people and beasts were one in the same. The Beast Scourge and its dark truth was something he didn't want to share with anybody. The only person he told was his goddess.
Whatever conclusion Aiz came to made her understand something. She drew her sword out of its sheath and readied her stance. He took note; one leg in front of the other with the sword at the front— to act as both a ram and defense on the fly.
He took note of the weapon. Its length, its width, the guard, her grip. Did it contain any hidden properties like the seemingly innocent Reiterpallasch? No. It was a simple straight sword. It wasn't a Trick Weapon.
She had no openings at the front. He could only assume her specialty was forward assaults. He would need to get around that. She was open at the sides, assuming her dexterity and reaction time weren't swift enough to adjust her defenses.
He withdrew the Oedon Knife and held it overhand. He readied himself.
Her eyes drank him in the same way. She was making an analysis of his form and altering her battle tactics just like him. Her footing shifted the smallest of margins. It could have been perceived as a balance but Bell knew otherwise. He adjusted his posture appropriately. She noticed and shifted again. He did so likewise.
This happened again and again. None of them dared to attack the other until they could see an opening or find a method to create one themselves.
In the meantime, Tiona stopped kicking her feet as she had an elbow propped on her knee and chin in her palm. While it might look like she was bored this early in the day, her attention was absorbing every movement the two made. For all her outward appearance and antics, she was a high-tier adventurer for a reason.
This slight distraction of watching Tiona gave Aiz the opening she had been looking for. She launched off the floor, kicking up dust in her launch. She sprang forward with the blade extended.
At the last instance, his chest turned and jerked back. His feet were still planted to the ground. Drawing up the Oedon Knife, he made sure her blade wouldn't come back around to cut into his neck. As he parried it, he slid forward, getting into her guard.
He could grapple her, turning her balance against her and having her land on her back. He could reach for her neck or a pressure point on her body. Or he could get into the gaps of her armor and rob her of air. He could kick in her knee and make her lose balance.
Instead, he disengaged by pushing her blade away and regaining his distance.
She went at him again. She sent a flurry of blows at him, all of which he saw through and either deflected or dodged.
Twice she overextended. Not much, which proved her exceptional skill with the sword. It was no faster than a blink. But he had caught it.
Her wrists. They were exposed. They weren't protected by her armor. Her armor only protected her forehead and chest. Well, most of her chest. He could have cut her wrist, making her drop her weapon and attack her undefended. If she would have fled, she would have bled out anyways.
He didn't. He kept up the defense.
She moved a few celch back. She was trying to provoke him into attacking. He wouldn't fall under it. She spun quickly, raising her leg up in doing so.
Once again, her armor didn't protect her. And she should never raise her leg any higher than another's knee. There was too much balance relying on the other leg and too much recovery time. And with the leg up like that, she couldn't bring her sword around to—
"Drk!"
The leg came around like a whip. All of a sudden, his vision turned red and white as pressure consumed the right side of his head. Before he knew it, everything went dark.
He didn't know what happened. Everything was black and he swam through the abyss. He felt as light as a feather. He heard voices off in the distance. Familiar voices, but voices he couldn't name. Gradually, as if light was shining through, the darkness began to thin out.
He opened his eyes.
He was looking up at Aiz. She was looking down at him. He was looking up at her chest… at her modest bust. There was a heavenly sensation at the back of his head.
…Wait.
He screamed and shot up as he realized he was using Aiz Wallenstein as a lap pillow.
"…You're okay?" she half-asked, half-commented.
His heart was hammering against his chest. There was too much stimulation after getting knocked unconscious. What had happened? Instead of following up on the attack (or even dodging) he froze up with inadequacy and remained stationary. Her heel met his temple and he was out like a light. He could only assume after an uncertain amount of time she had tried to bring him back to consciousness.
"L-Let's try that again," he insisted while patting his chest, trying to calm his heart.
"…You sure?" she half-asked and half-commented, again.
"Sure, let's!" he insisted. He searched for his knife, which was resting close to them, and readied himself.
She rose and readied herself just the same. She assumed the same position.
She came at him again just like before. They exchanged blows. All harmless to him, and he wouldn't dare to attack her openings. He wouldn't dare to hurt her. She wasn't a beast or a crazed Hunter. She was an adventurer. She was fighting him with honor and he wouldn't sully—
"Gck!"
Once again, her heel met the side of his head.
Once again, moments later, he screamed and sat up after reawakening to the same scene.
After he calmed down, they went at it again. Their blades clashed as their bodies twirled.
"Ngh!"
…And her boot met his face once more.
…And he screamed again.
"Are you the same bunny down in the Dungeon?" Tiona asked aloud. "The way you're moving now and back then are completely different.
He sulked where he sat. He didn't bother to get back to his feet— though he made sure there was more than enough space away between he and Aiz. He didn't understand what was going on. He was doing everything he was supposed to aside from going in for the kill. He was fighting Aiz honestly. If she were any other Hunter, her moveset would have killed him. But, no, instead of going in for the kill, she was letting him rest his head against her lap.
…It might as well have been the killing blow. His fourteen-year-old body could only take so much stimulation.
"I see now," he heard Aiz mutter. She had come to her own conclusion.
He heard steel sing as her blade was being unsheathed. She wanted to try again. He would have to oblige, though he didn't know how to change things up to alter the results. He had a feeling he was going to get knocked out once more.
"Aiz!" Tiona shouted in alarm.
He felt it within his core before she screamed. Every instinct within him screamed.
He tucked his body forward just as the tip of Aiz's sword stabbed into his back. Had he remained idle it would have pierced through his back and stabbed into his heart. Instead, it struck the small of his back, exactly where he kept the Blade of Mercy hidden.
He rolled forward and brought the Blade out. The Oedon Knife was too far away, resting where she had been kneeling.
Aiz came at him again. Her eyes fierce and sharp, lacking all emotion. Her sword was raised for the killing blow. She meant to slay him like a monster.
The Blade was up as quick as a flash, locking her sword in the groove of the blade. He twisted, turning her sword away from them and pinning her in place. With a twist of his wrist, he activated the Trick Weapon and released the secondary weapon within. The Blade split apart, keeping her blade locked as the twin dagger came loose.
He brought it about, underhanded, stabbing it toward her eye.
She saw it and turned her head at the last instance. The alien metal cut a deep gash across her cheek.
Her balance was shifted. He moved to take advantage of it. He stepped forward, moving his leg behind hers, and twisted his body. Not only did it realign his position for the next strike, but it robbed her of her sword and knocked her off balance. She tried to regain her footing, tried to catch herself with her hand and roll aside. He anticipated this. No, he planned this.
Rather than trying to aim for a vital and missing, he aimed for the axis of her spin.
He dug one of the daggers into her shoulder blade.
He hadn't realized what he had done until it was too late.
He didn't pursue. He could have, used the pain she was feeling and slowing her down to deliver the final blow. He couldn't. She wasn't like any of the Hunters before. She was Aiz Wallenstein.
"M-Miss Wallenstein!" he cried out. Blood. There was so much blood running down her back.
Aiz had her brows scrunched in pain, but not as much as the average person. Her face was still like a doll's. She only brought a hand up to her cheek to check how much blood her fingers brought back. Never mind one of his daggers was lodged into her back.
"P-Potion!" he blurted out. His head swiveled around until he found his backpack. "Health potion! You need a health potion! I have one!"
He was panicking. He didn't mean to hurt her this badly. He was only reacting to her attacks. It was what he would have done during the Hunt. He should have known better. Here and there were two different places! He didn't want to kill the girl he admired!
He Quickened to his backpack, found a vial of red liquid recently purchased from the Miach Familia, and Quickened once more in front of her. He shoved the vial into her hands and implored she used it immediately.
"That," she said instead of drinking. "I want to learn how to do that."
Only then did she drink. The health potion took effect after a moment. The first notice came at the gash on her cheek, which sealed itself shut. A moment later, his dagger clattered to the floor after being pushed out by her healing body.
"Aizu, that was reckless," Tiona approached and chopped Aiz's head with her hand.
While she didn't show a reaction to Bell's attack, she flinched and put her hands over the spot Tiona had attacked. Her eyes were looking up at her with tears in the corner of her eyes. Did such an attack hurt that much? What sort of unreal strength did the Amazoness wield?!
"And you!" Tiona turned quickly on Bell. He shriveled at her glare. "What were you thinking going all out like that! I saw that! You were about to kill her!"
He muttered something incoherent with tears of his own threatening to fall. Tiona was truly frightening when angered. And Bell had his fair share of angry women.
"I know," Aiz said to her. "I did it on purpose."
Both Bell and Tiona looked at her.
Aiz didn't explain right away. She instead looked at Bell and asked, "You… don't know how to hold back, do you? Your eyes. They were always looking for a way to kill me. Not fight, but kill. You don't know how to fight beyond that."
His jaw was slack with amazement. Yes. Everything she said was spot-on, even when he hadn't known it himself. It made sense!
"Yes," he agreed. "It was always kill or be killed. I never had the chance to spar like this with another Hunter. We're not like adventurers. What I mean is… we don't compete like this with other familia. Whenever we're not hunting beasts, we were putting down Hunters too consumed in bloodlust. We always fought by any means necessary."
He was more telling himself this than her. He was coming to terms with a concept he lived but never tried to think about. It was as if she had asked how he breathed. He simply did. The mechanics had been beyond him.
"Just what kind of place did you come from, Little Rabbit?" Tiona asked with her loud voice.
"Yharnam," he answered honestly. "It's a place infected with a terrible disease that turns people into beasts. We were tasked with hunting them down."
"People into beasts?" she asked, crossing her arms. "For you to be this strong… do you mean to say people turned into monsters just as strong as those in the Dungeon? That makes sense! So, what god did you have in his Yummy-Ham place?"
Aiz was looking at him with as much curiosity. No, if he could place it, he would say her eyes were shining with hunger.
"I… wouldn't call her a goddess," Bell muttered. "It was kinda like the falna ritual. But, instead of gathering excelia, we would gather something called Blood Echoes. They're… the dying wishes of the beasts we hunted. I gave them to her and she would make me stronger. I could even use them to repair my gear, make them stronger, or purchase equipment!"
"Eh?" Tiona blinked at his explanation. "It seems kinda cheap if you can spend something like valis to increase your status. But who's she? What's her name?"
He knew she was trying to reap information out of him. That was probably why she was really here. He had no reason to withhold it from her. He had already revealed everything about himself to her and her teammates down in the Dungeon. He didn't want to make them his enemy. Not if he wanted Aiz to become his enemy as well.
"The Doll," he answered.
"A… doll?" Tiona gave him a flat look.
"That's all I know her by!" Bell put up his hands before she could chop at his head too. "Gehrman didn't give her a name! I only knew her as the Doll! So did everyone else! Honest!"
Tiona was unsatisfied with the answer but didn't press on.
"I would like to get back to training now," Aiz spoke up.
"Eh?!" Bell snapped his head towards her. "B-But I hurt you badly! You still want to go?! What if I don't stop myself before it's too late!"
"…Then I haven't learned anything," Aiz said boldly as she stood. She rolled her shoulder, testing out the flexibility after the healing potion.
Bell was in conflict with himself. He admired her tenacity to get better. Truly he did. But at the same time, he didn't want to carve her like a turkey to do it!
"I will never learn if you hold back," Aiz said. She placed her hands at her front and bowed, "Please take good care of me."
Those were not the words shared when the two of them were about to kill the other!
With a nervous look, he adjusted the grip of his second-half of the Blade of Mercy, held it underhand, and bowed back. "Y-Yes. I'll do my best to—"
She came at him without warning. Her blade was pointed at his jugular.
A moment later, she was on the floor, clutching at her bleeding stomach.
"P-P-P-P-Potion!" Bell screamed and flailed around.
0-0-0
Bell walked down North Main with his shoulders slouched and hands dangling forward. He was too tired to stand upright. At his left, Tiona had her hands behind her back and walking without a care in the world. At his right, Aiz gave him curious glances as if wondering why he was so exhausted.
Why was he exhausted? It's not like he was the one who nearly bled to death three times. It's not like he had his vitals pierced. It's not like he was on the brink of death and beyond salvation of a healing potion too many times to count. He shouldn't have any reason to be this exhausted, right?!
Yet, the one who should be traumatized was walking as if nothing happened.
This was only their first day. He still had two weeks of this nightmare.
He didn't want to accidentally kill his person of admiration!
"Why so gloomy, Little Rabbit?" Tiona asked.
"It's just… a long day," he sighed, not wanting to share the actual reason.
"…Are these lessons too imposing for you?" Aiz asked with genuine concern.
"NO, NOT AT ALL!" he shouted with too much force. He stood erect and put up his best smile despite his fatigue. "I have no problem! None at all! I'm more than happy to do as much as I can!"
Aiz studied him before nodding in acceptance. Her mood brightened, though only someone like Tiona could notice based on now marginally small it adjusted her expression.
It was dusk by the time they decided the day was done. They had taken a break around noon for lunch— Bell ate his boxed lunch by himself while the girls went off on their own. After that, Aiz was stabbed several more times until now. She got better, sure. The last few times she went from critically wounded to gradually bleeding out.
If things were to go on like this, he would need to buy a lot of healing items. Hestia Familia now had a good sum of money from both selling the other pair of Blade of Mercy and from his exploits into the Dungeon the other day. But, still, potions weren't cheap. He hadn't spent this much money in rapid succession since the first time he went into the Benevolent—
He stopped in his tracks and broke out into a flash sweat. He just remembered something.
The girls stopped after they noticed they had passed him. They turned to give him looks.
Syr was going to make him buy everything from the menu. This was his punishment from her. He couldn't refuse her. He didn't want to make someone like her upset. He had to be a man, accept responsibility, and take his punishments with a raised head.
"Are… any of you hungry, by chance?"
…That didn't mean he didn't have to go down alone on this sinking ship.
"Hah?" Tiona was confused by his sudden question. "Hungry? Oh. Oh! Ohhhhhh! I see now. You look defenseless but you're really a prowler, aren't you, Little Rabbit?"
He didn't know what she meant by that. Unless… she saw straight through him?! She knew he was trying to drag them into his problems?! As expected from a top-tier adventurer.
"That wasn't my intention!" he argued to save face. "I… was just thinking, since this is our first day and all… I could treat you both to dinner. That's all. I didn't have any ulterior motives. Really."
Who was he trying to fool? A fish?! Everyone in the street could see right through him! The gods and adventurers passing by were giving him pitying looks!
"Sure, why not?" Tiona said with a toothy grin. She nudged at Aiz, "What do you say, Aizu? Dinner sounds pretty good right about now. But just so you know, Bunny Boy, we don't come cheap. I can eat a whole elephant!"
He wanted to fall onto his knees and embrace this Amazoness. He couldn't have asked for a better salvation from the demonic Syr!
Aiz didn't look so comfortable with the idea, "But… I'm the one who asked. Then… please let me pay for it."
Alarms went off in his head. What will Syr think if Aiz Wallenstein paid for the bill?! He feared an even deeper punishment. She might even get Lyu involved!
"N-No, no," he waved around frantically. "It's on me. Really! I insist! I'm the one who pushed you like this!"
She made the cutest pout. But she didn't argue further.
"Sounds good to me!" Tiona approached him and wrapped one arm around his. He gawked by how she pressed her chest against him while dragging him down the road. "So where are we going?"
He scratched his cheek, "Um… I actually had plans at the Benevolent Mistress."
Tiona stared at him for the longest time. It was as if she could read right through him.
"Sounds great!" she threw up a fist in cheer. Whether she was going along with it because of free food or helping him was beyond him. "I'm so hungry I could eat three— no! Four of everything on the menu!"
…He sincerely hoped she was exaggerating. How much did Amazons eat exactly?
As they kept walking through North Main, the crowds began to thicken. More than usual. More than adventurers who had finished their days crowded the streets. The sidewalks were packed and they could see the sea of people at the center of the road being cleared aside.
There came the sound of hoofs on pavement. None of them could see over the towering adventurers and their large equipment. It wasn't until the main attraction reached directly in front of them could they see.
Bell froze solid. It was enough for Tiona, still latched onto his arm, to notice.
Armored men road through on horses. There was a pair of them holding a banner with an insignia on a bright red flag. The men were donned with blackened metal armor, plated shrouds and quilts, and faceless helms with trails of white hair blowing down the back. They had single-shoulder black capes with the same insignia. At their hips were swords normally found in the Far East, but Bell knew what they really were.
They were leading a carriage. It was being pulled by two horses with a driver dressed in fine silks over a traveler's coat. He sat with his head held high, proud, as though being the lowly servant to whoever resided within the carriage was the reason of his existence.
The carriage itself was mostly made of a dark oak with golden plating. The windows were gated with gilded iron, forming spectacular symbols while keeping the outside at bay. No one could see what lay inside as the curtains within were drawn.
Bell's heart hammered. He had seen all these things once before. He had seen them beyond the borders of Yharnam. And yet, it was an entire experience of itself.
He remembered what Lilly had told him. About a kingdom to the far north that specialized in beast hunting. She compared its warriors to him. He should have known they would be here in this world as well.
The carriage had passed by them.
It stopped when it was a few meders down the road.
The door of the carriage blew open. A man stepped out. He was tall with a flashy red and black suit, long coat, stockings, and frilly cuffs and tie. His hair was as white as snow, pulled back into a tail and tied with black string. His eyes flashed through the mobs…
…And landed directly at Bell without hesitation.
"Eh?" Bell watched as the man approached, forced the crowds to split by his presence alone, and… "Eh? Eh?! EH?!"
Without word or warning, the man bent down, threw Bell over his shoulder, and returned to the carriage.
"EHHHHHHHHHHHHH—"
Bell's voice was cut off once they were inside and the door slammed shut. The carriage resumed its drive thereafter.
"…Should we have stopped him?" Aiz asked as they watched the carriage gather distance.
"I don't know…" Tiona tapped a finger under her chin as she watched as well. "We were told to not get involved with Cainhurst unless ordered. But then again… Finn told us to get as much info on the Bunny as possible. We can't do that if Cainhurst takes him. I know we got a lot of out him but still! I wonder what they want with him—"
Her eyes flashed open.
"W-We should have stopped him!" Tiona shouted. "The Little Rabbit was going to buy us dinner!"
"…Oh," Aiz said with some disappointment slipping through her voice.
