Knives and Shields

by Icura

With the final battle against Salem concluded, Jaune now finds himself stranded in a strange world where there is no such thing as dust and actual gods roam the land. Caught in circumstances beyond his control, he struggles to find a path forward and perhaps a way back to Remnant. An Icura and Vahn collaboration project.

8. Chapter 7

Knives and Shields

By Icura and Vahn

~o~

Chapter 7

~o~

"Did you hear? The Guild is penalizing Ganesha Familia for letting those monsters escape."

"Pfft. You call that punishment? It's just a slap on the wrist. I give my porter harder slaps than that."

"Well, yea'. Who else can host the Monster Festival?"

"That's 'cause the Guild only lets Ganesha Familia become monster tamers. If they start letting everybody else do it, then I'll be a tamer!"

"You? Hah! Monsters ain't cats or dogs. What happens if their cage door's open? Rampage like yesterday, I tell yea'. If Ganesha can't control them, you think you can do better?"

"Yep! I reckon if they put me in charge of the festival, it'd be the best one ever. Stake my rep on it."

"Hah. You? That'll be the—hey, watch it!"

The adventurer grabbed the shoulder of his companion and pulled him aside, just as two blurs sprinted past them.

"Sorry!"

The two in question were Jaune and Bell, frantically rushing through the streets under the rising sun. Thankfully, since it was still early morning, not as many people were filling the streets, making it easier for them to sidestep and dodge the early risers. A woman with a basket yelped in surprise as the two dodged to either side of the woman, missing her by mere inches. She turned around to shout at them furiously, but they were already too far down the street. In fact, even if they could hear her, they still wouldn't have stopped since there was a reason for their running.

"I should've given the letter to you earlier!"

"Earlier? How?" Jaune questioned in between breaths. "When I woke up, you were standing beside my bedside with the letter in your hands!"

"It's because I forgot to give it to you yesterday!"

"Yesterday, I wouldn't have read it anyways. We were a bit too busy!"

"But…"

"You didn't know," Jaune quickly said to cut him off. "Besides, who schedules an appointment for the next morning without confirming it? If anything, it's their fault! Even if we miss it, they can't complain."

"Then why are we rushing?"

"Well, it's not good to keep them waiting…"

Not that Jaune was stickler for punctuality, but according to Hestia, Hephaetus arranged the meeting that he had yesterday with Ouranos. Sure, it was in exchange for taking a look at his armor, but in all honesty, he had gotten out with the better side of the deal. It couldn't have been easy to arrange a meeting; besides Hestia, the only other one to offer it was Loki Familia. Even though the meeting didn't solve everything, it had given him more than enough answers, and it had even illuminated some things that he doubted mortals were supposed to know. In fact, those answers had been told to him so casually that he would have doubted their validity if it weren't for the fact that they came straight from the mouth of the highest ranked god in Orario. Even now, he could barely believe everything that was said in the meeting.

So yeah, even though the meeting time was a bit of a short notice, he still felt obligated to meet it. Though that was something he wasn't going to tell Bell; it was already trying enough to prevent the younger boy from blaming himself. Saying anything more would just set off a new round of self-blame.

"Bell, let's pick up the pace!"

"E-even faster?!"

Despite his surprise, Bell sped up in an effort to keep up with Jaune. They ran like crazy through the streets, dodging pedestrians and taking turns shouting out apologies. By the time they finally reached the tower, they had left behind a series of annoyed and irritated people. More importantly, some of those were people who actually recognized them so they were probably going to be in for an earful later. However, that was the furthest thing from their minds at the moment.

"Jaune, we…made it…right…?" Bell plopped down on the ground and took a few deep breaths.

"Yeah," Jaune said as he bent over and rested his hands on his knees. Despite being similarly out of breath, he took a glance at his wristwatch. "Ten minutes left."

While watches weren't as convenient or useful as Scrolls, the use of metal gears rather than electronics meant that it used less energy, making it able to last for months on the small, embedded magic stone within. It did its job well enough with its two clock hands on the hour and minute, but it was a far cry from the digital displays that he was used to. This—more than anything else—made him feel like he was dealing with antiques from his grandfather's era. Everything else like manual baths and rotten-down beds were things that he had used or seen while fleeing from Salem, but this type of watch wasn't something you would find anywhere except in a museum or the ruins of an ancient village. It would have been practically a collector's item.

Breathing heavily, they rested for a little to slow down their heart rate, and the moment it did, they nodded at each other and took their recovering bodies into the tower.

Babel, the massive tower that stood over the Dungeon as a seal, was something that they had been in many times, but they had always gone downward, into the depths of the Dungeon. However, today, they were heading upward. Moving across the giant circular platform and ignoring the stairs leading downward, they reached the wall on the other side. When Jaune pressed the button to call the elevator down to their floor, Bell gave out an awed shout that turned into a yelp of surprise when the elevator doors slid open a few moments later.

Jaune stepped into the golden cage-style elevator with the excited younger boy, smirking as he did so.

"Bell, see this panel here?"

"Yes?!"

"Press this button here."

"Eh? Me?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Jaune pointed at the numbers imprinted on each button. "These are just the floor numbers. When you press one of them, it'll bring us up to the floor you choose."

"So I press which one?"

"This one."

"This?" Pressing the button, Bell gave a yelp of surprise as the elevator began to shake. "It's really moving!"

Jaune smiled, deciding to remain silent as Bell continued to marvel in awe. While this elevator was a bit more primitive than what he was used to, it still stood out as a mark of civilization. From the rope and pulley of rural villages to the dust-powered ones of major cities—or rather, the magic stones-powered ones of this world—there was no doubt that these inventions allowed people to build to heights previously thought impossible. In fact, if these didn't exist in Remnant, lack of space would have become a huge problem that would eventually cause them to start having to send large groups of people away to make their own villages just so they would have enough space. Thankfully, even at desperate times, leaving was still by choice rather than necessity. Not that many of the villages lasted all that long…

Of course, everything changed after the start of Salem's assault on humanity.

The elevator's doors slid open. The moment that the two stepped out of the elevator, they were greeted by the sight of gold. From the coated metal and bricks to the golden glow of the lamps, lanterns, and chandeliers, everything had the display of glamor. Even the marble floor was colored in such a way that it gave off the appearance of molten lava, but seemed to change to a more bright golden color when under direct illumination. The long hallway that spread out to their left and right, curving at the bend, was filled with glass displays that showed off polished weapons and armor. In front of each of those crafted items, there were cards propped upright with information about the items and their prices.

Bell gawked at these extravagant displays, and Jaune—the more experienced of the two—openly gawked as well.

"That… That costs a million vals," Bell barely squeaked out.

"Don't look at the prices, Bell," Jaune said as sweat dripped down his temple. "It's not about cost; it's about how much it suits you."

"What do you mean?"

"If the weapon or armor is too good, then you won't get better. If the sword is so sharp that it can cut a goblin in half in one slice, then what's the point of aiming for the neck or eyes? You'll start to get lazy and sloppy. It might be okay for awhile, but when you get to a lower floor where a monster can't be killed in one hit, that's when you'll be in trouble."

"Then what about my knife? Isn't it too strong?"

"No, it's not. That grows alongside you so it's fine."

"If you say so…"

As they walked through the glamorous hallway, there were a few other customers viewing the seemingly endless corridor of displays and shops. A couple went into the shops, but for most of them, they stayed outside and simply window shopped. Awed by the sight of those crafted items, Bell tried to stack up against the windows to see them more closely, but Jaune pulled him away by his shoulder every time he did so. It took a bit of walking on the circular path, but they eventually reached the shop that they were looking for.

Unlike many of the other shops, the signs and engravings on this shop weren't as glamorous nor as stylish. In fact, one could say that it was almost too plain. However, the weapons and armor that were displayed in the window were of a quality that even Jaune could tell was higher than the rest. The prices on the display cards, some of which was sloppily written, were of an exorbitant amount that almost seemed unreal. Even Bell was taken aback, staring at those cards with wide, shaking eyes.

"You can buy a mansion for that price!"

"You can't take a mansion into the Dungeon." The wooden door next to the window opened, revealing a charcoal-haired tanned woman with a lean muscular physique and a black eye patch over her left eye. She wore a red hakama from her waist down that ended just above her sandals. However, the most eye-catching thing about her was that the only thing on her upper half was a roll of bandages wrapped around her sizable chest, and even then, it was only covering the most essential portions. Bell's face reddened at a visible rate.

"That—that—that—!" His eyes were shaking uncontrollably, but there was only spot where they were focused on. He quickly covered his eyes with his hands, though he couldn't stop himself from slightly spreading his fingers open. His face seemed to burn even more fiercely despite that.

The tanned woman burst out into laughter. She took a step toward Bell, but the younger boy scrambled back two steps, an action which made her laugh even harder.

"Just like a rabbit." The woman turned her head and glanced at Jaune. Or rather, her eyes focused on the rabbit image on the front of his hoodie. "Two rabbits?"

"Bunny actually," Jaune corrected almost automatically despite being distracted by the actions of his companion. "Bell, are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine!"

"Come on." Jaune motioned for Bell to move with a slight shift of his head.

"Gah—go on ahead! I'll just stay out here," Bell squeaked out. "And…uh…look at the weapons a bit more. They look pretty interesting!"

"Okay, if you're sure," Jaune said hesitantly with skeptical eyes. "Come inside when you're done."

Bell nodded his head fervently, though his eyes—seen through the gaps in his fingers—were still focused on the exact same thing as before.

The woman was smirking with mirth clear on her face. However, she didn't dally. Waving Jaune to come inside, she waited until he walked into the store. However, just before closing the door, she bent over slightly, showing off more of her cleavage and sending Bell into another frantic panic. Laughing again, she closed the door.

"You didn't have to tease him so much," Jaune commented. It was only thanks to Yang and Winter that he had developed a resistance to these kinds of temptations, even if it wasn't really that potent.

"It's fine. He's gonna hafta get used to it if he wants to be around Amazons." The tanned woman turned her attention to Jaune. "Name's Tsubaki."

"Jaune Arc."

"Hah, thought so. Heard there was a tall, blondie comin'."

"Yep, that's me. Tall, blond, and scrag—actually, never mind. Anyways, I had gotten a bit of a short notice to come here."

"That's right. Come on; this way to the office," Tsubaki said as she led him through the shop. There were various weapons and armor stacked up on shelves or hanging from the walls, but most of them weren't as picturesque as the ones that were on display in front of the shop. At the counter, there was an older clerk who bowed his head at Tsubaki, though the woman merely waved it off. They moved into the hallway behind the counter until they reached a room at the far back. She didn't bother to knock, opening the door directly.

"Hey! He's here," Tsubaki loudly intoned, walking boldly into the room.

The woman inside, standing up from behind the desk, had a streak of annoyance cross her face for a moment before it disappeared. While she had a similar eye patch as Tsubaki, it was on her right eye instead. With flaming red hair and a fair skin complexion as well as being fully clothed in white dress shirt and tight black pants, she stood at a stark contrast with Tsubaki's clothing. On her hands, she wore long blacksmithing gloves that stretched all the way to her elbows. At the moment, her eyes were focused on Tsubaki.

"I wish you'd knock."

"You never answer."

"That's because you always let yourself in," she said in exasperation, but it was in a way that seemed more in good nature than annoyance, as if she was used to it. Shaking her head slightly, she focused her eyes on the other occupant in the room. "You must be Jaune."

"That's me," Jaune confirmed with a slight nod. "You're Hephaestus?"

"That's right. Hestia told me a lot about you."

"Really…? A lot?"

"A very reliable and hardworking child," Hephaestus elaborated with a smile. "She adores you."

"Oh," Jaune said while scratching his cheek and averting his eyes slightly. He knew Hestia cared but...

"It's not something she tends to say since she gets embarrassed pretty easily, but she cares deeply about her children. Whenever we went out for tea, she'd ramble on and on about you and Bell."

"Um, I'm not quite sure what to say to that…"

"You don't have to say anything. I just wanted to let you know." Slowly, visibly, Hephaestus's face became more serious. "So, I called you here for a reason, but first, how did your meeting with Ouranos go?"

"It went very well and was very...informative," Jaune said with a nod. "Is that why you wanted a meeting?"

"No, actually, I would like to keep your armor."

"Goddess, that's too blunt," Tsubaki interrupted, glancing over at a shocked Jaune. "Sorry, what she meant was that we'd like to borrow your armor for longer."

"Uh…how much longer?" Jaune asked uncertainly after he recovered.

"I think—" The goddess began to talk when Tsubaki suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Jaune's hands, bringing them up close to her bust line for a reason unknown to him.

"Long enough to figure it out," Tsubaki said with sparkles in her eyes. "Your armor is not just made of metal; it's combined with very fine crystals that share many properties with regular monster crystals. It's not exactly the same, but it's similar enough. How common were these in your land?"

"Uh…pretty common, I guess," Jaune said as he thought of the Dust mines.

"That's amazing! The monsters that these came from must have been very old and high level, but how are they grounded so finely? They must have mutated to create the kind of monster crystals that can allow that to happen. How skilled were the craftsmen in your land with these crystals? What else could they do with them?"

Jaune blinked at the barrage of questions that the busy smith fired at him. It took a moment before he could parse her last question.

"They were also used in weapons."

"Really?" There was a flash in Tsubaki's eyes. "All the more reason for us to figure it out. So here's the deal. In exchange for letting us borrow your armor, we'll provide armor and repairs for you in the meantime. For free. Whenever you grow stronger, we'll outfit you with better armor. So, how about it?"

Jaune's mind had to once again slow down what Tsubaki had just said. She was coming at him like a very, very aggressive Scroll salesman.

"I—ah—uh—so that's a good deal and all, but my armor really means a lot to me. I would rather not—"

"Wait, wait, wait! Before you say no, hear me out first," Tsubaki quickly interrupted. "You just said that it has sentimental value to you, right? What happens if your armor gets chipped or a piece falls off? Nobody knows how to make your armor so they can't replace the missing piece, right? Sure, you can patch it with adamantite, but eventually, you're going to be missing so many pieces that it'll be a brand new armor!"

"Well, that's—"

"Think about it. All you're going to have left is a broken armor mixed with different metals. On the other hand, if you let us study it, replicate it, master it… Well, your armor wouldn't have to be patched up but can be repaired instead. That would be for the best, right? Right? Right?!" With each 'right' she said, she moved her face closer and closer to him, forcing him to lean back. She was getting a bit too close for comfort, not to mention that his hands were getting dangerously close to her breasts. However, her fervent eyes were practically saying that they needed an answer right now.

Jaune opened his mouth, but then he slowly closed it. As aggressive as Tsubaki was, she did have a point. He wasn't a blacksmith, and the people who could repair it were all back on Remnant. As much as he wanted his familiar armor back, he simply wouldn't be able to maintain it. It was one of the very few reminders that he had left of Remnant and thinking about what would be its gradual degradation made his heart drop. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the blacksmith's argument was sound and reasonable.

Sure, he could just not wear his armor and leave it stored in his familia's house, but that would be the same as leaving it with Hephaestus Familia, and they were also offering free gear, upgrades, and repairs. While his familia was doing better now, weapons were still pricey and judging by the prices in the front of the store, their expenses would be increasing over time in order to tackle the deeper levels of the Dungeon. Cutting the cost in half made sense from an economical standpoint. Besides, who better to protect his armor than one of the top blacksmithing familia in Orario?

"…alright." His voice was barely above a whisper, but it was heard by all of the occupants in the room. "How long do you think it'll take?"

"Who knows? Could be a week, could be a year. Could even be ten years." Tsubaki shrugged, though there was a wide smile on her face. "Can't put a time on research, but we're working with many expert smiths. It'll be in good hand and well cared for, I promise! And you're not losing out either; I'm going to be your exclusive smith!"

Now that, Jaune did not know, but before he could voice his thoughts, the goddess cleared her throat and spoke out.

"Ahem, Tsubaki, we're going to need his measurements," Hephaestus said. "You should go get your tools."

"But we got the dimensions from the armor." Tsubaki finally released his hands and turned to look at her goddess in confusion.

"Don't be careless. The armor has some age to it. He might have outgrown it a bit."

"I guess that's true… Alright!" Tsubaki turned to leave. "I'll be back soon."

It was only after Tsubaki left, closing the door behind her, that the blacksmithing goddess turned her sole eye to him.

"Sorry if she was a bit overbearing. Projects like theses are a once in a lifetime opportunity for dedicated smiths like her, and besides…"

Hephaestus gave Jaune an knowing look.

"It's not everyday that one get to work on metals from other worlds."

Jaune had a shocked expression on his face.

"Don't look so surprised. Hestia and I were friends long before we came down to the Lower World. Back in the Heavens, she was one of the very few people I could trust. I even let her stay in my home for a few months when she descended to the Lower World. Even now, she is…" Hephaestus reached up and touched her eye patch. "…my best friend."

"I see," Jaune said as he slowly relaxed. "If she told you that much, then there's nothing for me to hide. Though, I'm still a little surprised that you want to study my armor since you're a goddess."

"Just because we're divinity doesn't mean we're all-knowing," Hephaestus replied. "Sure, I could make something similar with my Arcanum, but that's not something gods are supposed to use down here. To make it by hand is as much of a mystery to me as it is to my children."

"Ouranos did mention some things about Arcanum."

"Oh? What else did you talk with him about?"

"About if there was a way for me to return to my world and about the origin of the gods who created my world."

"So he told you about that too, huh?" Hephaestus tapped a finger on her cheek as she contemplated. "Wouldn't have expected him to tell a mortal about it, but I barely knew him even before I went down to the Lower World."

Jaune blinked and really looked at the red-headed goddess before him. Without realizing it, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"Did you ever have your own world?"

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow.

"That's a bit private."

"Oh, sorry! I didn't realize that was…"

"Don't worry about it. It's not like it's a secret." Hephaestus waved off his apology. Her voice took on a melancholic tone with a gentle warmth to it. "I did. Once."

Jaune listened quietly.

"It was a world that grew to reflect my future passion, and it showed me what happens when I take my fervor a little too far," Hephaestus said in a light enough tone, but it did have a tinge of sadness to it. "They eventually outgrew their need for me, resorting to automatons to build and maintain instead of their hands. It was faster and more efficient, but it lacked the tempering that can only be done with a passionate soul."

"Automatons?" Jaune blinked. Those words sounded suspiciously like… "You mean robots?"

"Oh? Looks like your world had advanced far indeed." She smiled, but it was a smile that was slightly bitter. "Yes, robots. Their society had become fully automated. Their great works that were cared for through many generations were left to rust and eventually discarded. Some were even melted down and recycled. Others were lost in the great wars fought with their new passionless weapons."

The goddess had a faraway look in her eyes. She shook her head, as if trying to clear the thought away.

"I stayed for a while more and finally left when the last craftsman died. Alone and ridiculed, he slowly succumbed in the dark, never finishing his last piece."

Jaune didn't know why, but he felt an ancient sadness in those words. The goddess must have sensed his thoughts since she smiled at him.

"Don't look so sad. I later found his soul and stayed with him until he entered the cycle of reincarnation."

For some reason, the thought of a goddess doing something like that made him feel strange. It was like an almost unreal scenario brought to life. He wanted to know more, but before he could speak, the goddess placed an upraised index finger in front of her lips, stopping him from talking. That was when he noticed heavy footsteps coming from outside the room.

The door opened loudly and unceremoniously, bringing both of their eyes to Tsubaki who strode into the room with a box under each arm. The moment she reached the center of the room, she dropped both boxes, letting them slam into the carpet with a heavy thump. A drop of sweat appeared on Jaune's forehead as he stared down at the two filled boxes.

"We're just…doing measurements…right…?"

Tsubaki merely smiled ominously.

~o~

Jaune staggered out of the shop, unheeding of the clerk's shout to come again. On his chest was his temporary armor, outfitted to him on the spot. The fact that the quality was actually pretty good made him feel a little bit better about the experience, but it was nowhere as close fitting nor as light as his old armor. In fact, it had a substantial amount of weight to it that required him to adjust to. However, he was going to have to adjust again when Tsubaki finishes his custom armor in a week or two.

"Jaune!" Bell walked up to him with a smile on his face. "Are you done?"

"Bell, were you waiting out here the whole time? I thought I told you to come when you're done looking around." And possibly save him from Tsubaki's exploring hands.

"I just got back," Bell replied happily. "Did you know that the whole hallway is a circle? I went that way and then I came back from the other side!"

"That is the shape of the tower…"

"There were so many shops! I even found some things we could afford…" Bell trailed off as he finally took notice of what Jaune was wearing. "Is that new armor?!"

"It's something they're letting me borrow for now." Jaune quirked an eyebrow as Bell zipped around him, examining and fawning over every inch of his new armor in a way that wasn't unlike what a certain silver-eyed friend of his did before. "They wanted to study my armor for a bit longer so they are giving me some armor in the meantime with free repairs."

"That's incredible!"

"Well, yeah, kind of," Jaune said. "Hephaestus is best friends with Hestia so they might have given me a better deal because of it."

"I think she made my knife too." Bell unsheathed the knife and held the blade up to the light. "The engraving is the same as the one on the weapons and armor in the window."

"Huh? You're right. They look the same. Hestia must have gotten a cheap deal from Hephaestus for it."

"The Goddess has so many connections!"

"Well, at least one that we know of," Jaune said in response to Bell's enthusiasm. "In any case, we should get something to eat since we missed breakfast."

"Let's go to the Hostess of Fertility. I promised Syr that I would come by today."

"Oh? You've gotten pretty close to her, haven't you?" Jaune waggled his eyebrows teasingly.

"She always gives me boxed lunches," Bell said brightly.

"No, I mean… You know what, never mind." Jaune shook his head in exasperation before a thought crossed his mind. "Wait, doesn't the Hostess of Fertility open in the late afternoon?"

"Oh, you're right! She always stops us on the way to the Dungeon so I forgot about that." Bell scratched his head. "I think I remember her shouting and running after us when we were sprinting this morning."

"…she's probably angry so let's go somewhere else for now."

"The Goddess's potato snack stand?"

"It's not good to eat potato croquettes all the time."

~o~

"What about that small cafe?"

"It says Prum only."

"What about that stand with the long line?"

"That's Hestia's rival potato snack stand. Well, rival in name only since they are all owned by the same person…"

Jaune and Bell were walking through the streets of Orario while looking at all the various restaurants and food stands. In all their time in Orario, they had never really gone out and checked out the food culture of the city; most of their meals had been either home-made, potato croquettes, or from bakeries and restaurants that were along the road to the Dungeon. In essence, they had never really gone out to look for different places to eat at, and the simple exploration they were doing now was expanding their worldview. The drawback was that it made it harder to choose where to eat from since there were so many choices.

"Jaune, I'm getting really hungry."

"There was a nice looking restaurant that caught my eye a few blocks back that way." Jaune turned his head to glance back. "Want to go eat th—oof!"

"Hey, watch where you're going!"

"Sorry—oh, it's you guys."

Standing in front of the two were two familiar faces. Lefiya, the elven girl in white and pink, gaped in surprise while her blond long-haired companion, Ais, dressed in a white skintight dress, merely stared at them with a stoic expression. However, Ais' brow slightly twitched when her eyes fell upon a certain rabbit-like boy who was frozen in shock.

"Jaune?" Lefiya was staring at him with wide eyes. "I didn't recognize you with that new armor."

"Oh, this? I just got it from—"

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" The scream from Bell startled everyone in the vicinity, turning all eyes onto him. That seemed to make the younger boy even more frantic as he spun around on the spot, adopting a jogger's pose. However, Jaune's hand streaked out like lightning and clamped down on his shoulder, preventing him from running away. The lack of escape seemed to distress the younger boy even further as he began struggling.

"Bell!" Jaune forcefully spun him around and placed his other hand on the younger boy's other shoulder. With both shoulders held down and the possibility of escape becoming effectively zero, Bell could only pitifully stare up at Jaune. "You alright?"

However, an unexpected voice answered instead.

"…sorry…"

All of their eyes turned to focus on Ais. Even Bell was flabbergasted as he stopped vibrating in place and simply stared at Ais with his mouth wide open. There was enough confusion on everyone's faces that even Ais couldn't misunderstand that. She opened her mouth, then paused a moment as if trying to find her words. It was only after a moment more that she finally spoke.

"…for scaring you."

Those words were like a bolt of lightning, shocking Bell into action.

"No, no! You're not scary at all, Ms. Ais!" Bell hurriedly shouted. "You're the person I—!"

Bell clapped his hands over his mouth, as if realizing that he was about to give voice to his innermost private thoughts about her. Jaune loosened his grip at Bell's admission, and he didn't miss the fact that, while the Sword Princess' face didn't change, the muscles of her arms had tensed up.

"Hey! Why are you being so rude to Ais?" Lefiya cut in with a glare at Bell. The younger boy quailed in response, seemingly shrinking on the spot.

"I'm sure Bell didn't mean anything by it, Lefiya," Jaune interjected, coming to Bell's defense.

"J-Jaune…!" As if suddenly remembering that Jaune was there, Lefiya blushed in embarrassment and ducked her head a bit. "N…no, I forgot he was part of your familia. I was being a bit rude myself. "

"No, it was our fault. I even bumped into you because I wasn't paying attention," Jaune said in a consoling tone. That was when his eyes caught onto a particular shop right next to them. "Hey, I got an idea. You girls want to go get ice cream with us?"

"…ice…cream…?" Ais tilted her head, as if contemplating those words.

"T-together?!" Bell's voice cracked and his panic-stricken face came back with a vengeance.

"U—um, uh." Lefiya's eyes went from Ais to Bell to Jaune before circling around again in a loop. Her eyes eventually settled on Jaune as she twiddled her fingers. "A… All of us?"

"Yeah, everyone here," Jaune said almost too casually and freely which stood at a stark contrast to everyone else's faces. "Come on, it'll be fun."

To emphasize his point, he wrapped his arm around the still shocked Bell's shoulders.

"It'll be our treat." Jaune smiled brightly. "Think of it as an apology from both of us."

"W-well, if you insist," Lefiya said timidly while Ais merely nodded her head.

"It's settled!" Jaune's smile turned a little lopsided. "So, have any of you ever tried ice cream from this shop before?"

The simultaneous shakes of their heads sealed their fates.

It was a small place that—looking through the window—didn't seem to have very many people dining inside, but that was probably due to the time of day. Other than that, there was nothing much that could be said about it besides the decor being rather colorful. Once they were inside, Jaune pointed to one of the empty tables.

"Choose what flavor you want and then grab a seat. I'll go get us our orders."

"Jaune…" Bell tugged at Jaune's sleeve. His frightful eyes glanced between him and Ais. "I think I should go with you."

"It'll be fine, Bell." Jaune gently pried Bell's fingers off his clothes and patted the younger boy's head. "You got to get used to this. Go sit with them."

"But I—"

"Don't want to?" Ais spoke up, causing the boy to freeze. She looked directly at Bell and tilted her head. The thing was, even though her face was still as stoic as before, there seemed to be a sense of disappointment radiating from her.

"Of course I do! I would be honored to!" Bell frantically shouted.

"Hmph! You should be," Lefiya chimed in, giving the boy a dagger-like glare.

"So, Lefiya," Jaune quickly cut in, knowing an awkward situation when he saw one. "Ms. Wallenstein, Bell. What flavor do you guys want?"

After receiving their orders, Jaune went up to the counter and placed them. After paying for the food with a few coins, he brought over four small bowls with ice cream and wooden spoons in them, three in his left hand and one in his right. At the table, Lefiya was chatting with Ais, the latter of whom was only responding with terse sentences, not that Lefiya seemed to mind. Bell, on the other hand—sitting across from the two ladies—was stuck in his indecisiveness, opening his mouth to say something but then slowly closing it as the moment passed. Ais seemed to occasionally glance over at Bell, but she didn't do much else to rectify the situation. It was such an awkward atmosphere, like a divide between the two sides of the table, that he almost felt sorry for leaving Bell behind.

Key word: almost.

"Here are your orders. Chocolate for you." Jaune placed a small bowl of chocolate in front of Ais. "Chocolate for you too." He put down another chocolate ice cream in front of Bell. "Neapolitan for you." He placed down the small bowl in front of Lefiya. "And vanilla for me."

With that said, Jaune took a seat right next to Bell. His mere presence sent a wave of relief through the younger boy, causing the tension to seemingly leave the boy's small shoulders. Ais was the first one to use her spoon to scoop up a small portion of the chocolate ice cream and bring it to her mouth. Her shoulders shivered the moment the sweet treat touched her tongue and her eyes lit up.

"…good."

As if that was the impetus, Lefiya and Bell quickly scooped up a spoonful of their own ice cream and bit into them.

"Mmmmm!" Leifya moaned in delight.

"Cold!" Bell opened his mouth, letting the ice cream drop from his upper teeth and down onto his tongue.

"You aren't supposed to actually bite into it, Bell." Jaune scooped up some vanilla ice cream with his spoon. "Put the spoon in your mouth and use your tongue and the roof of your mouth to pull the ice cream off the spoon. Like this." He demonstrated exactly that by eating his spoonful of ice cream. "You see? Just don't eat too fast or you'll get a…brain freeze…"

Jaune's eyes landed on Ais whose bowl was already cleaned out. She was holding her head and bending over, her eyes squeezed shut.

"Yeah..."

For a moment, Jaune saw the girl's eyes turn up pitifully to look at him before she school her expression.

"Don't worry, it'll get better soon."

The blond girl's expression expression became less painful. and Jaune quickly went and ordered another bowl for the girl who ate it at a much slower pace this time. They spent a couple more minutes enjoying their food, though Ais was glancing at the menu on the wall above the sales counter frequently enough that it was almost like she wanted to order more, but she never said anything about it in the end. After they had all finished their bowls of ice cream, they sat there and enjoyed the aftermath of flavor. At least, they did until one particular blond haired man decided to break that moment.

"So first thing first Ms. Wallenstein—"

"Ais..." The blond, stoic girl cut in softly, making Jaune pause.

"I'm sorry?"

"...Call me Ais." The blond girl said again. Her expression hadn't changed, but he could somehow feel her insistence through. Glancing over at Bell, he was the younger boy had an envious expression which was thankfully not the jealous one that he was half-expecting.

"Okay," Jaune agreed with a smile, watching as the girl leaned back ever so slightly and give off an aura of satisfaction. "Now, about what I wanted to say."

He looked at Bell and then at Ais.

"Thank you for saving Bell from that minotaur in the Dungeon. My familia owes you one."

Bell, upon hearing that, began to panic and bow his head.

"…no." Ais shook her head with more emotion than he had seen from her before. "Our fault. No apologies needed."

"And…and speaking of owing," Lefiya interjected as she looked at Jaune, her face going to a myriad of expressions. "I never thanked you properly for saving me from that monster yesterday."

Ais looked at Lefiya and then at Jaune. Bell was also looking between the two, alternating his glances.

"Actually," Jaune said kindly. "You saved me. I wouldn't have been able to kill it by myself."

"That's not true!" Lefiya shouted, but immediately after, she blushed in embarrassment and lowered her voice. "If you didn't distract it and buy me enough time, I'd be dead. You'd have still been able to escape if you were alone, but because of me, you were…"

Her eyes shook as she stared at Jaune. Even though he was hiding it, she had seen the vines pierce his body. Wounds like that required a cleric's help, but from what she knew, Hestia Familia was too small to have their own and getting help from a clinic would be too expensive. Even now, he must be suffering from it. The thought made tears gather in the corner of her eyes.

Worst, he had walked away from the scene with those kinds of wounds. She should have stopped him, but tired from her spellcasting and distracted by the arrival of her familia members, she didn't notice until it was too late.

"If anyone owes anyone anything, it would be from me to you," Lefiya said.

"…no." Ais shook her head. "Loki Familia's debt."

"No, it's my own debt. Most of them don't even believe me," Lefiya retorted. "They think that I'm just being too humble, but I'm not! If Jaune wasn't there, I'd have died."

"Hah hah hah," Jaune chuckled with a shake of his head. "Well, since you feel that way about it, and I feel the same way about Ais saving Bell, how about we call it square."

"Square? What does a shape have to do with anything?" Lefiya had a confused expression on her face, one that was mirrored by both Ais and Bell.

"Er, it means that we're even, that our debts cancel each other out," Jaune explained, holding back a grimace. There so many things that were similar to Remnant that he forgot that some idioms didn't exactly translate over. It was a bit confusing since even ice cream existed here, and it was still relatively cheap just like on Remnant though that was probably because they substituted electricity for magic stones to power their freezers. "Basically, we're back to not owing each other anything."

"Oh," Lefiya slowly said as she grasped the meaning. "I guess that works. What do you think, Ais?"

"Okay." Ais nodded her head.

"Well, that settles it!" Jaune grinned and then dusted his hand as if he had just finished a hard task. "Now, lets start over, shall we? The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue. Came to Orario a few weeks ago."

Jaune chose this timing to glance over at Bell to prompt the younger boy to go next.

"Ah! My…my name is Bell Cranel!" Bell practically yelled that out as he stood up from his seat, and when he realized what he did, his face turned red. He hurried through his next words. "I came here from the countryside to fulfill my dream of picking—"

Jaune was doing a furious neck cutting motion with his hand.

"—err, I mean, exploring the Dungeon…"

The two girls stared at him with odd gazes, making the boy twitch in place.

"My favorite food is potato croquette!"

With that shout, Bell immediately sat back down in his seat and buried his face into his arms.

"…Ais Wallensetin," Ais murmured, causing Bell to look up from his nest of arms. "They call me…Sword Princess. I like potato croquettes too."

The rare smile that Ais gave Bell made the younger boy's face heat up immensely.

"My name is Lefiya Viridis," Lefiya quickly said to cut in between their interaction. Unlike Jaune's casual introduction, Bell's jittery one, and Ais' emotionless delivery, the elf girl was more prim and proper, breaking only once to shoot Bell a fierce look. "My title is Thousand Elf, and I became level two by studying in class at the Education District in Orario. I'm level three now, by the way."

She emphasized that last sentence as she threw a look filled with a sense of superiority at Bell, causing the younger boy to squirm in his seat.

"Wait, so Thousand Elf and Sword Princess are titles? How do you get those?" Jaune asked, more to save Bell than to satisfy his curiosity.

"When you reach level two, you're eligible for a title," Lefiya explained, her eyes lighting up. "Every three months, the gods hold a meeting called the Denatus where they discuss major issues in Orario. At those meetings, they discuss the most appropriate titles to bestow to adventurers based on their achievements. I don't know how they get it right all the time, but they always choose the best titles that suit people the most."

The elven girl held up her spoon, as if it were a miniature sword.

"They sometimes change it later when a person levels up again if they find a title that suits the person more, but some stay with their titles even after leveling up. Like Ais got the title Sword Princess because of her skills with the sword when she was level two. Now, she is level five and still has that title."

"L-level five?!" Bell half shrieked as he stared at Ais in awe. To Jaune's surprise, the famed Sword Princess looked to almost be fidgeting under his gaze.

Interesting. However, Leifya had noticed as well so Jaune immediately ran interference for Bell.

"What about you? How did you get your title?" Jaune asked. "Did it change when you leveled up to level three?"

"No, it stayed the same. I got my title because of the amount of spells that I can cast." Lefiya looked apologetically at him. "Sorry, I can't say anything more about it."

"Oh, my bad. It's probably super secret, right?" Jaune reasoned. "That ice spell you cast yesterday was so crazy strong that it surprised me."

"Well, it's not that much of a secret…" Lefiya trailed off as she glanced over at Ais. The other girl took a moment to think about it and then simply nodded her head. "Actually, I think I can say a bit more. It's common knowledge anyways."

"Oh?" Jaune leaned in curiously.

"I can use any elven magic that I have seen once."

"Any elven spell? Really?!" Bell cut in first before Jaune could answer, his wide eyes staring at Lefiya in awe. "That's amazing!"

Lefiya faltered at the unexpected compliment, a dusting of red spreading across her cheeks. Jaune had to hold up his hand to hide his grin, especially since Lefiya kept reminding him of a certain silver-eyed girl who similarly couldn't take compliments with a straight face.

"So that means you know a thousand spells?" Jaune was looking at the elven girl in amazement.

"No," Lefiya answered with a shake of her head. "There doesn't exist that many elven spells."

"Oh. Well, I guess it does sound better than Hundred Elf, and Ten Thousand Elf is a bit too long of a name," Jaune mused as he stared at her.

Ais tilted her head to the side, appearing to be in deep contemplation.

"I…" There was an awkward look on Lefiya's face. "…never really thought about that."

"Maybe when you level up, they'll change your name to Million Elf," Jaune said jokingly. There was a look of horror on Lefiya's face, causing him to want to tease her more. "Unlimited Spellworks Elf?"

"Don't even joke about that!" Lefiya crossed her arms and turned away from him. "Hmph!"

"Now, now, Ms. Thousand Elf. Jaune was just teasing you," Bell said while raising his hands in a placating manner. "That means you're both friends, doesn't it?"

"F-friends?"

"That's right," Jaune agreed with a nod. "Or at least, that's what I would like to think. My mom always said that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet."

"Um…" Lefiya hesitantly looked at Ais. Seeing that the other girl wasn't objecting, she became a bit more confident. "I…I don't mind."

"Great!" Jaune glanced over to Ais. "What about you, Ais? Do you want to be friends with me and Bell?"

"Me too?!" Bell's face steamed as he realized the implication of being friends with Ais.

"…don't want to?" Ais asked as she stared at Bell.

"I want to! I want to!" After his outburst, Bell became a bit more timid, poking his index fingers together. "If…if you're okay with being friends with someone as weak as me, of course…"

Ais simply gave a nod as a small smile graced her lips, turning Bell's expression into one of slacked jaw stupidity.

"Then we're all friends here!" Jaune announced, despite the dark, frosty stare that Lefiya was giving to Bell. He placed a hand on Bell's shoulder. "You shouldn't put yourself down, Bell. You aren't weak at all."

Bell shook his head.

"I've been holding you back. You could have gone deeper without—"

Jaune chopped him hard on his head, causing Bell to clasp his scalp in pain.

"None of that depreciating talk, Bell," Jaune said sternly. "We're a team, you and I."

"But it's true," Bell said while rubbing his head to get rid of the rain. "I'm not as fast or as strong as you. I can't even fight good enough like you can. I'm just a hindrance!"

"You just need more time."

"What if I switch to a sword and shield like you?"

"That won't solve anything," Jaune said. "Everyone has their own fighting style that suits them, Bell."

"I can give pointers," Ais interjected. "As an apology."

Her sudden words surprised them both, making them look in her direction. While Jaune had an astonished look, Bell was frantically shaking his head.

"M-M-Ms. Ais! There's no need! We already said we're eve—"

"Apology for Bete," Ais said. "For that night in the restaurant."

"Ais, you don't need to!" Lefiya shook her head frantically as well. "That has nothing to do with you."

"I want to." There was stern determination on her face as she stared at Bell. "Help you train. Please."

Bell looked like he was caught in a dilemma from Ais's expectant face and Lefiya's darkening face.

"But I—"

"Well, that sounds grand!" Jaune interjected, but he paused for a moment as those exact same words came back in a flash of red and green, spoken in a softer, more feminine voice. It was a memory that had long nested within him, and it took him a moment more to recover from it as everyone's eyes fell on him. He quickly coughed into his hand to cover it up before speaking. "Let me know when you can, and I'll have Bell there, ready to train."

"Jaune!" Bell's voice became shrilly again. "We can't intrude upon Ms. Ais like that!"

"You need to train with more people. It'll be good for you," Jaune replied mercilessly as he turned his gaze from Bell to Ais.

"Tomorrow morning, north wall?" Ais offered as she seemed to slightly shift in her seat from side to side.

Jaune grinned in response, but it slightly faltered when he saw Lefiya's conflicted expression. The elven girl seemed aghast, as if the world had fallen from underneath her. She kept opening and closing her mouth like a gaping fish, as if she wanted to say something yet not knowing what to say. Still, he had to do what was best for Bell.

"I'll make sure to bring him there."

"J-Jaune!" Bell's weak-sounding objection spurred Jaune's decision to end this meeting before the younger boy could ruin the training date that he set up for him with Ais. Besides, they had to hit the Dungeon for a little before it got too late. Not to mention the fact that they had a few errands afterwards as well.

"Well, we've got a few things to take care of so we'll take our leave first. See you tomorrow!" Jaune snapped off a smart salute as he grabbed Bell and dragged him out of his seat before the younger boy could bungle it up.

It took a couple of moments more before Lefiya finally snapped out of her shock. She slammed her palms on the table and rose from her seat.

"Wait! I have…"

However, the two were already long gone. Lefiya's eyes slowly came down to the quietly sitting girl beside her, but Ais didn't seem to notice as she simply stared at the doorway that the two had left through.

~o~

After experiencing a rousing session in the Dungeon that ended shorter than usual and collecting on several errands, Jaune and Bell were on their way home. It was still in the late afternoon with the sun waning into an orange glow. Both of them were carrying bags of various sizes, filled with everything from food to supplies. However, Jaune had a somewhat tired look on his face while Bell was brimming with nervous excitement.

"Got to look for a porter tomorrow," Jaune muttered to himself, his words not reaching the excited boy.

The time that it was taking to cut and gut monster corpses was cutting into their progress. Sometimes, they were even spending more time doing that than actually killing monsters, and that wasn't even mentioning how heavy their backpacks would become by the end of it. More often than not, they had to go back to the surface early just to unload their loot. They needed someone who could help with holding the loot and deal with the nitty gritty work of breaking down monster corpses in order for them to fully focus on leveling and dungeon diving.

"I'm meeting Ms. Ais tomorrow!" Bell began his rant once again, not noticing Jaune's face roll his eyes good naturedly at the boy's enthusiasm. "I'm training with Ms. Ais!"

"Yeah, yeah, you can thank me later." Jaune shifted his bags from his hand to his elbow before reaching up and patting the younger boy on the head.

The boy in question gave him a dirty look. However, Jaune laughed it off before a mischievous smirk came onto his face.

"Look, Bell," Jaune began. "I know you like her so this is your chance to find out if she likes you."

"W-w-what?!" Bell froze up. "W-why would she like me?!"

"You never know," Jaune said with a grin. "Sometimes, girls that strong like weaker guys. It's normal. If you like a girl, would you care if she's weak?"

"No…"

"There you go."

"But it's…" Bell shook his head. "Impossible, impossible. It's just impossible!"

"Don't let that werewolf guy's words influence you," Jaune said sternly. "People like who they like. It doesn't matter if they are strong or weak, rich or poor, a warrior or a baker. If you like someone, go for it. You might regret it if you wait."

His mood became somber.

"Just like I did."

The words came out as little more than a murmur above the wind, but Bell heard them nonetheless, making him feel melancholy as well.

The rest of their trip home was made in silence, each of them lost in their own thoughts. Once they reached the church, they went inside. However, before they could open the secret basement door, Hestia threw the door open and jumped out, having apparently heard their footsteps. Her hair was fraying out, and she looked like she was in distress as she pointed her finger accusingly at them.

"I saw you!"

Jaune and Bell looked at each other and then at their goddess.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"I saw you two with Loki's girls! Explain yourselves!"

"Oh." Jaune winced, having forgotten that Hestia and Loki had a thing going on. Bell, however, was not helping their case as he began to panic, dropping the bags he was carrying onto the floor.

"G-Goddess, it wasn't what it looks like. I can explain!"

Damn it, Bell!

~o~

Authors' Notes:

Vahn (Vahnhammer): Well, sorry for the long wait, hope you guys enjoy this chapter. As you can see, the rails of canons are starting to go off course. Where does it take Jaune and Hestia familia, who knows?

Icura: Hello, hello. I want to write faster, but things always get in the way.