Chapter 9

"The brat got kidnapped?" Loki asked, frowning

After receiving that piece of information, Loki had asked Ottar to explain the situation in more detail inside of the manor to avoid attracting any attention. People might misunderstand the situation when they see how tense the atmosphere is between the Captain of Freya Familia and the entire Loki Familia which can cause unnecessary panic.

Now, they are gathered together inside of Finn's office…minus Aiz and Tiona. The blonde girl had gone alone in search for her son, and none of their pleas were able to stop her. They aren't worried about her safety. As a Level 6, she can easily take care of Ishtar's former Captain. However, blindly searching the entire city of Orario won't do any help. Tiona on the other hand had glued herself to Kilia, who's still unconscious and being tended by the healers. Riveria would do the healing herself but the high-elf knows that she needs to be presence in the meeting.

"Yes." Ottar answered

Loki sighed

"And I assume that Freya have some kind of massage for me?" the red haired asked

"There's none Lady Loki. But, my Lady has ordered me to give you my assistance for this matter." The boaz said

Loki feels conflicted. On one hand, it would take a long time for her Familia to search the entire city by themselves and she would gladly accept any assistance offered. However, she's hesitant to accept any help from Freya as it's a sure sign that the silver-haired goddess wants something in return.

'Ah, fuck it. If something bad happen to the brat, I'll have to deal with Ouranos!' Loki thought, turning her head to the side so her eyes met with Finn'. Finn nodded in understanding before addressing Ottar

"We'll gladly accept your assistance." Finn said with a smile while Ottar just nod in response

"Now excuse me, I need to prepare the search and rescue teams." Finn excused himself and walks out of the room to address the rest of Loki Familia members. Loki signaled that the meeting is over but told Riveria to stay.

"What is it?" Riveria asked

"Well, I'll have you accompanying me of course." Loki smiled

"Loki…"

"Alright alright, we'll meet Hermes and Ganesha. To see whether they can help us with this problem. I would love to use Bete as the errand boy, but his nose might be very useful for the search."

"I see…you won't contact Goddess Hestia?"

"….as much as I hate it, I'll have to if the situation demands it."

For Albert's rescues, Finn had ordered ¾ of Loki Familia members to participate while leaving the rests to guard the Manor in his absence. They had been divided into several teams with Finn leading one of them.

"Can't you follow his smell, Bete?" Finn asked the werewolf as he surveyed the city from the roof of a building

"Tch, I haven't spent enough time with the brat for me to remember his smell. Not to mention, there's possibility that it would lead us to Ais instead due to him spending so much time with her." The werewolf replied with a frown

"…I see."

"How about we search the Entertainment District? The majority of that district still in ruin and might be a good place to hide." Gareth suggested

"Yeah. Gareth, take your team with you and search that area. The rest of you, scattered! The alleys are the most suspicious place, so make sure to search all of them!" the prum commanded

The mobilization of the Loki Familia soon draw the attention of the populace and the Guild. Several deities just curiously watch on the sidelines, hoping that another interesting event would take place.

Aiz knew that her Familia had been mustered for the rescue operation when she saw several of her fellow Familia members checking a dark alley. She herself had checked more than 10 suspicious places with no result.

'When I get my hands on her…' Aiz thought darkly, her fists clenching hard enough to draw blood. Using her anger as fuel, she jumped over several buildings in one jump which is an impressing feat.

So focused she was with her own thought that she didn't see a certain white-haired boy with red eyes curiously watching her from the street.

"Hmm, Aiz? I wonder why she looks so focused like that."

Realizing that she needs even more help, Aiz sped towards a certain place that hopefully can help her. Not even 5 minutes later, she reached her destination.

The Hostess of Fertility

She hurriedly opened the door and her eyes searching for the one person that can help her.

"Nya! It's the Sword Princess, nya!"

"Welcome, can I get your order?"

Perfect, just who she's searching for. Aiz quickly bowed her head towards the green haired elf that's approaching her.

"Please. Help me!"

"Huh?" Ryuu was confused with what's going on. It's not only her, the other waitress including Mama Mia also watch their interaction with curiosity

"Albert. He has been kidnapped. I really need your help, please!" the Sword Princess pleaded

That words shocked those who heard it. They had never seen the Level 6 prodigy being so desperate that she had to resort to pleading.

"Understood." Ryuu, without any hesitant, replied. She looks toward Mama Mia who nod in understanding.

"Go. Chloe, Lunor, and Anya… you all go as well. Syr and I can handle the pub." The dwarf-woman ordered. The other waitress readily agreed with her order.

"Please tell Alise that the ice cream must wait." Ryuu asked of Syr. The blue silver-haired girl nodded. The little half-elf is currently napping upstairs.

Seeing that her plea had been answered, Aiz gave the waitress a look of gratitude before walking out of the pub to continue her search. She was followed by the 4 waitress who seek more information regarding the current situation.

"Phyrne Jamil…former Captain of Ishtar Familia?""

"Never seen her before nya…"

"Just look for an Amazon that resembles a massive toad!"

Then they spread out. The 4 waitress are quite knowledgeable about the dark parts of the city due to their past so hopefully they can think of some location that a kidnapper would use to hide.

"Oi Bell, did you notice anything weird today?" Welf asked

"That we have seen so many members of Loki Familia on the street today?" Bell replied

The two are currently on a shopping trip for the Familia's dinner supply. They, just like other residence of Orario, had noticed of the Loki Familia mobilization. Not to mention, Bell noticed how some of them were looking at him funny.

"Wonder what's going on…" Welf muttered

"I had also seen Aiz jumping around on the rooftops."

"You didn't asked her of what's going on?"

"Well…she looks so serious…and quite angry as well. She disappeared when I about to call her."

"Huh…weird."

"But…for some reason…I'm feeling at unease as well." Bell muttered

"Hmmm, but we can't really interfere though. If we interfere without any sort of request, we might get into trouble." Welf sighed

"Yeah…" still, Bell just can't shake off his uneasiness

"Well, that went smoother than I expected!" Loki said as both her and Riveria walks out of Hermes Familia's home, Traveler's Inn.

"You only really need to mention itty bitty's bunny boy to that smiling bastard and he would comply." The trickster goddess grinned while Riveria just sighed

"You do know that it means more people will know about 'them' right?" the elf asked

"…it can't be help, right? Better for the secret to be found out rather than letting the boy got hurt." Loki answered. Riveria nods in agreement

"Ganesha had dispatched some of his adventurers to help. It should be easier for us to find the boy now."

"…still, something really needs to be done to Ishtar's former captain. That woman is too dangerous without anyone controlling her." Riveria said

"Indeed. But, I doubt we will hear more about her after Aizu's done with her." Loki laughed

'Where where where…where is she!?' Aiz frantically thought as she leaped from one roof to another.

Meanwhile, Ryuu is trailing behind her with her usual green cloak and mask to cover her face. The 3 other waitress had gone on their separate ways, while Ryuu had decided to stick with the Level 6 to calm her down…which is rather hard to do when said girl had not stop moving at all.

The elf could understand the blonde girl's feeling though, which is why she hasn't said anything. If she is in Aiz' shoes right now, she would be doing what the girl's currently doing. Frantically searching for the missing child.

"Ryuu!"

The elf turns her head around and greeted by the sight of Asfi, Hermes's captain

"Asfi." Ryuu nodded

"What is going on!? Goddess Loki suddenly came to our home and asked us to search for Phyrne Jamil without explaining anything!" Asfi exclaimed before asking a question towards the elf

"And how did you got involved in this? Lady Loki said that it's related to Bell Cranel, did something happened to him?"

"Let's find that Amazon first." Ryuu said

"…fine."

Meanwhile, as Finn had ordered, the team under Gareth had commenced their search around the Entertainment District. The area formerly ruled by Ishtar Familia had mostly been damaged and reduced to ashes after Freya Familia's attack and only smart part of the district had been rebuild by the Guild. It means that the area that haven't been repaired are very attractive for many criminals to hide themselves.

"Form a pair! We don't know what kind of person we'll find in this place!" Gareth barked his order

""Yes!""

Counting Gareth, the team have 14 persons in total with most of them are only Level 1 and 2 which mean they have 7 two-man cell. Then, they spread out.

"It's hard to believe that this area is formerly part of the Entertainment district…" a level 1 human male said

"I heard that Freya Familia killed so many people that night…" a level 2 animal person, a female, added

The two are currently inspecting one of the dark alleyway of the burned district. And then…they heard a rustling sound.

"Wait…" the woman said, stopping her partner on the track

"…you heard that as well?" the man whispered

"Y-yeah…ready your-" the woman turns her head around and stopped talking due to her shock. Behind her partner, a massive frog-like woman with glowing yellow eyes stood.

"Move!" the woman yelled

But her warning is too late as the massive woman kicked the human male so hard he rocketed towards a pile of rubbles. Upon contact, he created a large cloud of dust that can be seen by the other teams.

"Phyrne Jamil!" Loki's adventurer yelled, unsheathing her sword and launched herself at the Amazon

"Loki Familia? You guys are really impatient, I promised that I'll return the boy after I'm done with him." Phyrne cackled.

The Amazon grabbed the sword using her right palm, stopping the woman's charge. The woman react quickly by releasing her grip from her sword then jumped to launch a kick to Phyrne's head.

"Too slow!" Phyrne ducked and delivered her fist right to the woman's abdomen, launching her to alley's roof while spitting blood from her mouth. Then she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Geez…I had hoped that I can enjoy my prey in peace by hiding here. I'm surprised that you guys had decided to search this area that quickly." Phyrne said

However, all of that commotion had drawn the attention of the other teams. Not even 10 seconds later, one of the adventurers had reached the alley.

"She's here! It's Phyrne Jamil!" the adventurer shouted

"Tch!" Phyrne made a motion to run away to the other side of the alley

"You're not getting aw-" without realizing it, he was sent flying backward by the body of his downed comrade. Phyrne laughed before making her escape. First, she needs to fetch the boy who's still lying unconscious in her hiding base and then she needs to find a new base.

15 seconds later, Gareth arrived at the scene. He ordered 2 members of his team to take the 2 injured ones back to Twilight Manor.

"This is out of our prediction." Gareth muttered

"Sir?"

"We have assumed that Phyrne would be a no-level after Ishtar was sent back to Heaven. As you know, when a deity was sent back…their Familia would lose their blessing and their power as well. While Phyrne might a former high-class adventurer, it should not be possible for her to fight and defeated a Level 1 and 2 without any blessing."

"…Sir, doesn't that mean…"

"Yes…she has joined another Familia."

"…so, we're currently chasing after a rogue Level 5?"

"Indeed…this development is very troubling. Send a message to Finn, we can't risk our comrades by chasing after her without any plan."

"Yes!"

"The rest of you, with me!" Gareth ordered, earning a chorus of yes

"You're still bothered by it, Bell?" Welf asked

The red-haired smith has noticed how fidgety his white-haired companion has been for the last 15 minutes.

"Yeah…I just can't shake off this feeling…that, I'm somehow involved with what's currently happening…" Bell answered

"Then go." Welf simply said

"Huh, bu-"

"Don't worry about the grocery shopping, I'll do it myself. After all, your feeling always spot on for some reason." The smith grinned, giving the boy a thumbs up

Bell smiled

"Thank you, Welf. I promised that I'll pay you back later!"

"Heh, just buy me a drink later!"

With that, the bid each other farewell and part way. Honestly, Bell doesn't know what to do. He doesn't know what's going on and he just involved himself into this problem because of a gut feeling. Guided by his feeling he keeps running until he finally reached the poorer district of Orario, The Daedalus Street. He walks around for a bit and instinctively hid himself when he spotted a large figure covered in dark cloak running along the street and enters one of many abandoned building in Daedalus.

"Is that…" the boy muttered

For some reason, he can't help but be suspicious of that figure. Steeling himself, he walks towards the building and knocked.

'….Why am I doing this?' Bell mentally cried. He just can't help it. He knows that it is not his business to interfere in Loki Familia's matter, but he just has the feeling that he must involves himself into it.

"Can't I indulge myself in pleasure in peace!?" a woman frustrated scream can be heard from the building

'Huh? That voice-'

Then, the door was slammed open…revealing Phyrne Jamil

"Ohoho, isn't it the white rabbit?" the Amazon said with a malicious grin

"Phyrne Jamil…" Bell gulped

Note: Well, that's it for this chapter hahaha. Please comment on the review on what arc I should write after this small Kidnapping Arc is over.

I apologize for any grammatical/structural errors.