Chapter 12: Incidents
The sun lit up the sky as it rose above the eastern wall of the city, illuminating all of Orario in the process. The massive white tower in the middle of the city, the solemn Pantheon where adventurers gathered, the wide Coliseum—all of them were bathed in soft morning light. The city's citizens were already going about their day.
Humans and demi-humans filled the streets, the sounds of their voices and footsteps making Orario come to life. "Sorry t' drag ya out this early in the mornin', Phai-Phai. Don't want ya thinkin' I'm forcin' ya." was the nonchalant voice wafting through the air.
"It's nothing. I'm alone when Tsubaki isn't here, so it's nice to eat breakfast with someone every now and then." came the mildly amused response from the other goddess, as she cut into the sausage and omelette in front of her.
The two goddesses sat around a table of food in a building located between Northwest Main and West Main streets. Noise from the people outside came in waves as they passed by to whatever jobs they had.
The first goddess, the vermilion-haired Loki squinted her already narrow eyes as the crimson-haired goddess with an eyepatch around her eye, Hephaistos who simply smiled back at her.
"Just wanted t' say thanks again for lending my kids some of your smiths for their expedition. I've no doubt they've been a big help down there." was the grateful words that the trickster goddess chose to respond with.
Hephaistos graciously accepted Loki's words of gratitude and asked a question of her own. "Think nothing of it. First access to drop items from the Lower Fortress is all the thanks we need. What about your children? Do you think they'll make some progress with this expedition?"
The wooden building where they were eating was a perfect square. The two deities sat on the second floor with no one around except for one animal-person staffer. With the restaurant all to themselves, Loki reached for the cutlery sitting on top of the white cloth covering the table between them as she cut into her own omelette.
"They had quite a bit of trouble last time, but I got a hunch that this time's the charm. Even left chanting 'Gonna make it!' And now Aiz's Level Six. Everyone's lookin' the part, so I've no doubt they'll break the record of that ol' fart."
Loki's jaws clamped down hard on a piece of meat at the end of her fork. Directly across from her, Hephaistos elegantly manipulated her utensils and took small bites as she watched Loki gulping down the water in her glass.
"...By the way, Loki. I've heard that you've been seen around town with a handsome blonde? That chain on your neck certainly gives it away." came the eager question from Hephaistos, her eye for craftsmanship having easily deduced that the chain as a gift of love.
Loki sputtered a bit, flushing red as she spoke, "I mean… ya… I can't really deny that anyway… like I mean we're only datin'." before a dreamy look came over her face, "He's… perfect ya know… would ya believe it if I told ya he'd even marry me? This chain's summin' else too… but gah… he's so handsome… and his muscles."
Indeed the chain had many abilities that boggled Loki's own mind, it served to increase her physical capabilities, as well as serve as a method to contact her partner. If anything, Gil's origin world was certainly of great interest if one item could do all that.
"Oh? Hee-hee, what's this? Marriage, Loki? And that expression on your face! And your children don't even know about this since they're still on their expedition…oh this sounds plenty fun, but which familia is that blonde part of?" She leaned forward before continuing, "What's his name?"
Loki chuckled nervously, wondering how she'd explain her relationship to her children apart from those that had stayed back… especially the man's spirit nature, before she grinned as she spoke, "Oh… his name's Gilgamesh, was a King once, now he's part of itty-bitty's Familia."
She scowled momentarily before she continued, "Shrimp is just so full of herself. Swingin' those ridiculous knockers of hers around for the whole world ta see, gettin' all cocky, what with getting a new fortress and such. It's really pissin' me off... but I mean… I guess I'll have to try to get a bit more friendly with her since Gil's part of her Familia."
Hephaistos couldn't help but crack a smile as Loki continued her litany, before she interjected, "Already calling him Gil huh… and planning on getting more friendly with Hestia? My my, you're seriously head over heels for this guy. Don't forget to make me the godmother when you have kids."
Loki turned crimson red, steam yet again threatening to escape form her ears as she sputtered, "Ch-chi-children!? B-uh, buh Phai-Phai, don't say stuff like that… you'll make me fluster… besides… gods can't have actual kids."
Hephaistos chuckled, "Fluster huh… so what exactly is this then? Mild embarrassment?" to which Loki kept her silence, before thinking, "I mean…Gil is two thirds god… but that's another world… I wonder if that grail of his could grant my wish… wait what am I thinking… am I legitimately considering kids?" as she covered herself with her arms, squirming in her seat at the thought.
Hephaistos seemed to only laugh louder at Loki squirming as she flushed, before she off-handedly spoke "Speaking of Hestia Familia, one of my children has joined a party with Hestia's favourite boy. I believe they're going to the middle levels today."
"Eh? So you've been two-timin' with me and Itty-Bitty? Sending smiths all over the place, aren't ya." came the half-teasing voice of Loki.
"Ho? You're interested in me as well? Would your Gil be fine with that?" to which Loki sputtered yet again, clearly not expecting that response as she shook her head in the negative quickly.
Hephaistos continued to giggle, enjoying the scene before she spoke, "My child's signed a direct contract with the 'Bright Prodigy.' He appears to be quite taken with that boy." Hephaistos brought another piece of food to her lips, still smiling as she spoke.
Loki, however, was not the least bit amused. Her face turned sour, "Ya're horrible, Phai-Phai. Cheatin' on me with Itty-Bitty… gah I need to get rid of that habit of saying that", as she thought, "Wouldn't want people to call me unfaithful ya know."
"Be glad no one was around to hear that. They might get the wrong idea. But getting rid of that habit? Loki… I wonder if your Gil has an Arcanum he used to charm you, I've never seen a goddess so head over heels for a guy… well apart from Freya that is, who knows which poor sod that vixen is chasing right now." whispered Hephaistos as she leaned forwards.
Loki chuckled, still red at Hephaistos' statement, though it was true that the Sumerian King had natural Charisma on the level of many of the greatest gods, it was not an important matter to bring up as their friendly banter went on for a few more moments, when suddenly—
The building shook enough to make their bodies lurch. They froze in place. "...Yet another quake."
"Kinda boring, if y'ask me...Been happenin' a lot recently, though, these earthquakes… but I wonder if the ol' Dungeon below us is cooking up some nasty ideas." grumbled Loki.
The water left in the glasses next to their plates rippled due to the effects of the quake. This particular quake was small enough to only be noticed by those sitting still. Most likely, the people outside it hadn't felt a thing as they went about with their business.
Loki and Hephaistos sat silently as the rumbling continued. "If these were just the normal earthquakes, we'd shut 'em up in no time...But there's this dangerous thingy right below our feet...What'cha think, Phai-Phai?"
"The Guild is constantly sending up prayers, so I think it's just a coincidence...But yes, it feels like something is about to happen… something big… but maybe that's paranoia." the Divine Smith posited as she slowly sipped from her cup of tea.
The two deities looked out the window. The people on the street were going about their business as usual. If anything, the city streets looked busier than when they had arrived, which was expected. "Huh?" uttered Loki as her eyes happened to catch something interesting in the backdrop.
Members of a certain Familia were gathering at a corner down the road, all garbed in clothes from the Far East, and standing with such discipline that one could mistake them for members of an army.
"..." was the silence that hung through the air as the two red-haired goddesses observed the curious Familia as they bit into their breakfast.
It was the god Takemikazuchi's familia, and the god himself had cast his gaze to the ground at his feet. He narrowed his eyebrows in thought as he felt vibrations shake the soles of his shoes, and he certainly would have, for even among warrior gods, Takemikazuchi had particularly keen senses.
"Lord Takemikazuchi, we shall return." was the solemn vow made by the young girl in front of the Sword God, who had seemingly not noticed the vibrations.
The deity lifted his eyes from the ground in response to the spirited, high-pitched voice, the voice of a beautiful young girl stood before him. Long, shiny black hair framed a face with bluish-purple eyes. Her back was perfectly straight in a sign of respect.
What little skin was showing from beneath thick lavender battle clothes was a smooth, almost milky white. Her face had such perfect symmetry that she could have been mistaken for a goddess herself.
A loving smile grew on Takemikazuchi's face as he looked at the girl, a member of his familia "Yes, but don't push yourself too hard, Mikoto. I always say this, but never forget how you felt on your first day as an adventurer."
"Yes, sir!" was the affirmative response from the respectful girl, taking Take's thoughtful words to heart as she always did.
After the girl named Mikoto gave a curt nod, he looked around to face the other members of the unit. "The same goes for all of you," he said. The small battle party consisted only of humans. Including Mikoto, the group of six made up the entirety of Takemikazuchi Familia.
Takemikazuchi Familia was just one of many Dungeon-crawling Familias in Orario. And just as the name suggested, they made a living collecting drop items and magic stones from the Dungeon and selling them for profit.
Rumours of a promising far-east rookie had been spreading through the ranks of lower-level adventurers. That rookie was Mikoto, and now that Mikoto had levelled up, Takemikazuchi Familia had become relatively strong for a lower-ranking Familia, well this was not to say that they compared with the hidden powerhouse that was Hestia Familia, but they were still strong.
"We should be on our way, Lord Takemikazuchi," came the voice of the male leader of the group, clearly eager to earn money for his Familia by fighting his way through the Dungeon.
"Indeed. Best of luck to you all," the god answered as he saw them off, a loving but stern gaze still over all of them.
Mikoto gave another bow before turning to join the others. "And don't come back without everyone..." was the call that Take gave after them, spurring the entire Familia onwards with the desire to return with everyone.
Takemikazuchi watched their forms disappear into the distance and looked down at his feet again. A few moments passed before he lightly sighed as he scratched his head. "Vibrations have stopped…..I should get to work, too."
Turning on his heel, the deity rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. The god was still sore from the immense workout he'd had today, that is in his duel with Saber, the affable yet immensely talented old adventurer who was in Hestia's Familia.
He muttered to himself, "That guy… feels like he'd give me a good fight even if my Sword Arcanum was unsealed, but it's kinda off-putting that I've only beat him once till now." he huffed in mock inignation
He tried to push such thoughts away as he wanted to help his family in any way he could, so today he would once again be making fried potato puffs. He'd lost his friendly potato stand rival Hestia, who was now planning to start a different business while living in her fortress. Well that was not to say that they were not friends anymore, him visiting her home near every day, and her incessant offers to give him free loans was proof enough of their care for each other.
But the god had his own pride to keep in mind, he would earn money with his own hard work and so would refuse all such loans, but if his Familia ever found themselves in a life-threatening position, he would accept Hestia's offerings a hundred times out of hundred. He was truly a god that cared for his children… that and a god whose small desire was to try to beat everyone in swordsmanship.
He mumbled to himself, "That former Maat Familia child… she shows promise too heh." for he'd given her some lessons in the nodaichi the same morning. He shook his head of all such thoughts as he turned around.
"Hey-hey, Takemikazuchi—!"
Takemikazuchi froze with one leg floating above the ground, paused as he had in the middle of taking a step. That voice… he did not want to meet the owner of that voice, for Takemikazuchi knew who it was all too well. He practically flung his body around in indignation to face the owner of the voice.
"Hermes...!" "Yes, it is I, Hermes! Been about a week, hasn't it, Takemikazuchi?" Just as he expected, a rather slender god was coming toward him. This new deity was of medium height, his skinny yet toned arms and legs sticking out of his traveller's clothes as he approached.
Being a god, Hermes's features lined up so well that no one would be able to find a flaw. He reached up and pulled off his winged, broad-brimmed hat to reveal flowing locks of brownish-blonde hair.
His effeminate looks and overwhelming charm were the complete opposite of Takemikazuchi's masculine refinement, but everyone in the know knew that Hermes' danger level was far greater than the sword god's…. for very different reasons.
Smiling from ear to ear, Hermes started twirling his hat on his finger as he walked all the way up to the other god, all most as if he were attempting to disarm the other god's suspicion by acting so casually.
"What, what are you doing here...!?" was the indignant response of Takemikazuchi, clearly unwilling to discuss anything with the messenger god.
"Aw, don't look at me with that angry face. And I came all this way just to talk to you too, Takemikazuchi!" pouted Hermes, almost as if he had been a puppy who was slapped, as he gazed downwards.
"Don't say such things, even as a joke! Aren't you the one who leads all those other idiots in making my life miserable?!" came the annoyed growl of Takemikazuchi, unamused by the face Hermes was making.
"Ha-ha-ha, sorry, sorry! I just can't help teasing you when I see you, Takemikazuchi!" was the response.
Hermes's insolent tone did nothing to brighten Takemikazuchi's mood. The god's face was turning bitterer by the second. Every god has one or two quirks about them, but Hermes took the cake when it came to wild behaviour… well apart from Ganesha that was, and even Ganesha could be the reliable Onii-San… rarely.
In fact, Hermes routinely left his Familia's home, the one place he had any influence in Orario, to travel around the world, for reasons that were best known to himself, and himself alone.
Takemikazuchi wasn't sure if Hermes was just a born traveller or if he just couldn't stand being in the same place for a long time, but he did know that the deity had never stayed in the same place for more than half a year. It went without saying that Hermes Familia was an autonomous group run by its members—who were completely left to their own devices.
"I just came back into town and happened to pass by, so I thought I'd stop in and congratulate you...I mean, congrats on little Mikoto's leveling up, Takemikazuchi. Your Familia has gotten quite a bit stronger. We'll have to do business in the future… I'm sure we'll work well together!"
"Ha? Just came back? That fool was back two days ago… met with me yesterday…what exactly is he upto, spouting lies to Take?" thought Loki, still seated at the nearby table with Hephaistos. Neither of the male deities seemed to have noticed the two of them.
Whether on Tenkai or here in Genkai, Hermes had always been extremely good at positioning himself to succeed. "Such diligence is the key to not making enemies", Takemikazuchi thought to himself.
Hermes extended his hand, but Takemikazuchi didn't reciprocate the offer right away, before cautiously asking, "Hermes...why are you back so soon?" for after participating in the last Denatus, Hermes had packed his bags and headed out for parts unknown. Usually once he left the city, he wouldn't be back for a month at the very least, and sometimes even longer than that.
But this trip lasted only a few days. It was by far his shortest. Takemikazuchi didn't try to hide the suspicion on his face, for if Hermes had returned to Orario with such haste, something or someone must have spurred him into doing so. Hermes paused for a moment before smiling once again.
"Heh-heh, what with all the interesting rookies taking the stage, you can't blame me for being curious about them. So I took care of some things and came back a little early…" was the languid response.
"Especially..." Hermes continued, his eyes shining as his smile widened as he rolled his hat in his hands.
"Hestia's 'Bright Prodigy.' With him being the new record holder, I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in the boy, I mean… he did shatter the Sword Princess' record like it was a toothpick!"
Hermes's narrow eyes opened just a little bit wider as he flashed even more teeth in an even more confident smile. Takemikazuchi frowned as the charming god revealed his true intentions, and two more identical frowns came from the seated goddesses, though the Trickster Goddess was doubly annoyed at her Aizuu-tan being insulted.
"Takemikazuchi, you see Hestia quite a bit, yes? Do you happen to know anything about one Bell Cranell?" asked Hermes, cheerily adjusting his gloves as he did so.
"Nothing. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." came the lightning fast response from Takemikazuchi, earning him silent approval from the red-haired duo.
"Ha-ha, you're so cold.", pouted the god as he took a step backwards, his gaze tracing various passers-by for a moment.
Hermes squeezed his shoulder blades together, thrusting his head forward as if he were trying to peer into Takemikazuchi's face. At long last, he took a few more steps back with that charismatic smile still plastered on his lips.
A sudden gust of wind came out of the west, and so it ruffled through their hair giving the appearance of dancing strands of silk in the sudden breeze. Hermes broke off eye contact from the other god's sidelong glance and looked up toward the sky as if the wind was a portent he had been expecting.
"Ah, I can't wait to meet him." to which Take snorted, "I'd like to see you get past his Familia Captain." before he walked away in the direction of his Familia home, done with the conversation. Once he'd dropped out of the eye-sight of Hermes, he quickly slipped through some side-streets, heading in the direction of the Hearth of Bravery, when he was suddenly pulled into a side-street by a pair of thin hands.
He yelled in surprise before he finally looked upon those who'd pulled him, it was Loki and Hephaistos, who had solemn expressions on their face. Take spoke, clearly confused, "Loki? Phaistos? What… why'd you two pull me back here? I need to get to Hestia…" before he looked off into the distance, clearly unwilling to disclose more in the presence of the trickster goddess.
Loki rolled her eyes at the god's actions before she spoke, "A'ight, Ai'ght, calm down Take… Phai-Phai here's as good a friend to Hestia as you are, and I've a vested interest in keeping the boy safe from that fool's plots… not that I care for that rabbit kid in particular… but…" she trailed off, blushing as she did so.
"Ah… I see, that rumour of Loki getting a boyfriend… so he was from Hestia Familia after all… mmm that kind of makes sense as to why she'd look after Hestia's kid. That red hair I saw out of the corner of my eye back then was these two huh, so they know about what Hermes asked anyhow…"thought the sword god when Loki continued, "Don't bother goin' to Loli's house, I've already sent a message to his Familia."
Take was confounded and stared at Hephaistos who nodded, "That necklace on Loki's neck, well it's a pretty unique item, allows for conversations over a medium distance with its partner, pretty useful if I say so myself Take, so Hestia already knows right now I would think, don't bother wasting your energy by walking over there.
Take blinked for a moment before he giggled, "Partnered pair of necklaces huh Loki? If you don't call me to your marriage with Hestia's kid, I'll be very disappointed…" to which Loki simply blushed as she looked to the side. Take continued, "But I wonder… what exactly is Hermes upto?"
Loki simply laughed at this as she spoke, "Wha'ever it is, ya said it yaself, I'd like to see him get past my boyfriend, that Captain and the other guys Loli's collected."
====================XeX====================
It was west afternoon right now, and West Main Street was filled with crowds of people and countless horse-drawn carts, all drenched in the soft sunlight of the time. Within the human horde, a certain deity and one of his followers made their way through the entirety of it all.
The god placed his hands on his hip as he asked his followed, "So then, Asfi, what did you find out?" to which the blue-haired follower monotonously recited, "According to the public information available at the Guild, he's currently achieved the floor of thirteen, though it indicates he's likely to keep pushing deeper."
The deity was quite obviously Hermes, who'd been snooping around on his own time since he'd met Take a few hours earlier, and the woman wearing a white cloak and winged sandals was Asfi, his Familia's captain. She continued, "He's been buying salamander wool to equip his party, and seeing that he's going to floor thirteen, it's pretty much expected to do so."
Hermes seemed to ponder this as he spoke, "Little more than a week after levelling up and he's already heading down to the middle floors… certainly there's no doubt the boy's a record-holder… though I wonder what Take meant earlier."
The woman herself, being a former princess would look right at home in the company of other deities with her perfectly symmetrical face, eyes brimming with knowledge, and brilliant silver glasses accentuating the irises. Her hair was a stunning aqua blue with a few lighter shades mixed in, and it had the texture of strands of water were flowing from her head.
Indeed her beauty was so radiant, that she was drawing the stares of quite a few people along the street. She pointedly ignored the stares as she spoke, "In addition, I have discovered he possesses extremely powerful Magics… magics in the plural, one of which quite resembles the Sword Princess' Ariel in a lesser fashion, and the other was powerful enough to destroy an infant dragon with one blow, which was witnessed by many."
Asfi continued her report, continuing to ignore the stares of the people as she did so"...That's not the only reason."
"Go on." came the curious response of the god, as he placed his hands inside his pocket.
"Many adventurers believe that the only reason he defeated a Minotaur is that he was lucky enough to land this Magic attack. That he is a weakling who only finished off a Minotaur due to it being crippled. Some go as far as to call him the 'Phony Prodigy.'"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha! Phony prodigy! Got a nice ring to it! P and P!" Hermes's mouth opened wide as he laughed as he popped the p's.
Many people were startled by his roar of laughter and stared as he passed by. But Hermes was enjoying himself too much to care, his shoulders jumping up and down in glee.
"So they're saying that he only managed to hit it with his Magic, he only delivered the last blow to a monster with its foot in the grave...but a god's Blessing won't be fooled by such cheap descriptions...But yes, I understand what you're trying to say."
Hermes narrowed his already thin eyes as soon as his own laughter died down. "I believe these opinions can all be explained by one thing: the fact that he levelled up so quickly...Ah, yes. Adventurers are always so hard on one another."
"I have confirmed that Bell Cranell is not very well-liked by other adventurers, apart from those in his own Familia"
Hermes motioned for her to continue to which the adventurer nodded, "Hestia Familia moved into a fortress-type home that used to be Osiris' former home, and it appears to have been financed by two of their members who are former nobles or kings of some sort. They were later joined by a pallum who was part of Soma Familia, and another two men, one of whom is again… curiously a king, while the other was described by various people as a great archer, due to him testing various bows in Babel without effort."
She paused as the noise in the street drowned out her words, for it was a group of bards of various races that were giving a live performance for the townspeople under the sky, singing various songs of places they'd visited, things they'd seen and everything in between.
Hermes easily sidled himself between the large ring of people surrounding the bards, and clapped when they'd finished, before he dropped a few thousand valis into their collection box. The bards themselves could hardly believe their luck, for indeed, to be appreciated and rewarded by a god was an immeasurable experience for most civilians.
Asfi asked her god a question as soon as they started walking again. "Do you plan on doing anything to the Bright Prodigy? Especially when Lord Takemikazuchi warned you of running afoul of their Familia Captain?"
Hermes could feel her eyes boring into the back of his head as they continued forward, but he listened as she continued.
"Ordering me to collect information without giving a reason, you must be very interested in him..." was the suspicious words Asfi gave out.
"What's this, Asfi? Are you jealous because I haven't been around?"
"Hardly!" scoffed the blue-haired adventurer as she dropped her formal tone in an instant of anger, quickly turning her head away and massaging her forehead. Her god was particularly annoying.
Hearing her god's teasing tone had brought out all the frustration that had built up while working for him over the years. Her composure was gone. A face that had exuded an aura of knowledge now only showed the resentment of someone who had been led on wild-goose chases by a particular hat wearing deity for far too long.
"I'm saying I've had enough of your errands. I've done so much so that you can just go anytime! Think of what I've been through! And if a god is warning you to stay away from a child, maybe you should keep that in mind?"
"I'm grateful to the others, and especially to you, Asfi. Without you, things would fall apart pretty quick. I'm counting on you quite a bit. Trusted by your friends and your god—ha-ha! That's quite the position! Besides, Take's always like that."
"...I hate this." she grumbled, and indeed she sounded like she was about to cry for a brief moment. Hermes just smiled at his follower and playfully patted her on the head. Asfi's silver glasses were jarred loose from the impacts and fell to the tip of her nose as she looked at the ground.
"...Have you made contact with Hestia yet? You can bypass that Captain by doing so atleast…" Asfi sighed as she pulled herself together and asked a completely different question, so as to not let her ill feelings stew.
Realizing that her rambling god had no intention of revealing his plans to her, she decided to try a different route. In response to her question, Hermes forced a smile and said, "No, not yet. I must talk with a certain someone before I can do that."
Before a stern-looking Asfi could respond with another question, Hermes came to a stop in front of a certain bar, the large establishment that was the 'Hostess of Fertility' whose terrace was filled with customers at this time of day.
The pair walked through the entrance, and were greeted with, "Welcome, myaw!... Myew? Lord Hermyews?" to which the traveller god chuckled loudly as he spoke, "Oh! Chloe, it's been too long! Sorry to barge in like this, but could you call Mia for me?" as he smiled brightly at her.
The catgirl stared at the pair for a long moment before she spoke, "Sure, meow! Just a moment, nyano." for she wasn't about to refuse the request of a god, no matter how strange the god was, for the respect for deities was near universal.
The floor creaked as the well-muscled body of a handsome dwarf woman appeared behind the bar, who grunted in displeasure, "The hell's a god want in the middle of the lunch rush?"
"Don't look at me with those sour eyes, Mia. You're ruining your pretty face." came the half-flirty words of the god.
"Any more jokes and I'll take off yer head. I'm busy, y'hear? Ya got somethin' to say, then out with it." came the unamused response of the dwarfess. Mia was not the least bit intimidated by the god in front of her. In fact, the owner of the bar was scaring Asfi enough to shake in her sandals behind Hermes, which was only expected, since she was a Level 6 who'd only temporarily retired.
The deity, on the other hand, was not the least bit afraid, and walked right up to the counter, resting his elbows on the edge. "Well then, I'll get right to it—could you make an appointment with Lady Freya for me?"
Hermes lowered his voice as he leaned over the counter between them, his face right in front of Mia's. The dwarf held her ground, locked eyes with Hermes, and cocked an eyebrow at the request Hermes had asked of her.
The deity's orange gaze and her piercing stare bored into each other, each warring silently until finally, "Humph."
"I'm not a messenger for fool gods. You've got feet—if you wanna talk to the Lady so bad, use 'em." Mia practically spit the words out of her mouth, flatly rejecting Hermes's request. "Hmph," she angrily sighed out of her nose and disappeared back into the kitchen. Hermes watched her robust body vanish behind the door before turning to Asfi, forcing a smile as if to say, "That didn't work."
"Not my problem", she seemed to reply with her disinterested look, for she'd already told him she was tired of being overworked.
"...Lord Hermes?" came a high-pitched voice through the bar, cutting through the din within.
Hermes looked over his shoulder in response to hearing his name, his expression changing in the blink of an eye. "Hm? Oh! If it isn't Syr! It's been so long! How've you been?"
Syr, dressed in her waitress uniform, had just come into the main part of the bar after returning from her break, and had spoken to the god, clearly intrigued at his presence.
"Yes, a very long time indeed, Lord Hermes. I'm glad to see that you are well." she spoke softly, using all of her professional experience in doing so.
"Ahh, you always were the one with the best manners. What do you say, Syr, want to get out of here and have some fun? A date with you would go a long way to healing the heart that Mia just ripped to shreds. You'd do that for me, right—Hey! Ow-ow-ow! Let go of my ear, Asfi, you'll tear it off!"
Syr politely smiled at the god's attempt to use what just happened as a pretext for something completely different. "I'm going to have to decline," she responded as Asfi punished Hermes while silently glaring at him.
Syr guided them to a seat at the bar, Hermes grudgingly massaging his ear along the way.
"Please have a seat here..." was the polite request of the professional waitress.
Syr gestured to a seat at a table, but Hermes walked right past it as he swaggered towards the counter, before seating himself on the chair.
The chair that Hermes plopped himself down on was normally the seat that Syr reserved for Bell, his usual spot, and so the girl was speechless as Asfi took her position behind Hermes. The deity looked up at Syr and smiled.
"Hey, Syr, can I ask you something?" to which the girl cautiously responded, "Yes… what is it?" to which Hermes chuckled, "If you happen to know anything about Bell Cranell, would you tell me?"
Instantly the girl's shoulders twitched, and all the waitresses within earshot made eye contact, silently communicating with one another in the noisy bar and café. Syr looked down at Hermes' flamboyant smile in silence for a moment before she spoke, "There's nothing that I want to tell you at this time, Lord Hermes." unblinking as she spoke.
It was clear that the waitresses would protect the boy, and so Hermes shrugged his shoulders like he was joking around. "You don't trust me?" to which the young waitress' smile expanded as wide as it could go, "No, not in the least bit."
Suddenly, a loud baritone voice came through the noise of the bar, "Ah Syr Flover, are you on duty right now?" to which the waitress turned around, glad at the distraction, nodding as she did so when her eyes widened, "Oh yes… oh! Mister Saber! What can I do for you?"
Indeed, the Hestia Familia captain had foregone his armour for a simple pair of white pants and shirt, which just barely concealed his well-built form. He smiled kindly as he spoke, "Oh, it is nothing much, since our chef has taken today off, I thought I'd order a few parcels of some dishes to take-away for later on, the Familia's staying down there for quite a while. Perhaps some orders of Pasta, a few burgers, and a couple pizzas. Oh, I will leave it to you to choose the sauce and dressings for the pasta, because Bell seems to adore the dish when its ingredients are similar to the ones you recommend."
Syr cursed under her breath at this development, though an invisible blush had creeped up around her neck at Bell liking the choices she made for the pasta. The reason she'd cursed was obvious… Hermes had heard this, and indeed, the Traveller God had instantly turned around at the man's words. Syr gazed into the Captain's eyes, and gave a pointed stare in the direction of Hermes in the most subtle way she could.
Saber was mildly confused, but he caught on very quickly to what she was trying to imply, and so he nodded at that. Syr went off in the direction of the kitchen to relay the order, while Saber himself sat down at the counter, right next to Hermes.
Hermes spoke slowly, "So… mister… Saber was it? How is it that you know Bell Cranell?" with a wide smile on his face as he asked the question. Aurelian looked over at the god, his golden eyes staring into Hermes' placid orange ones.
Aurelian stayed quiet for a few seconds before he spoke, "He is part of my Familia, I am afraid I do not know your name, god?" to which Hermes chuckled "Hermes, it's Hermes… so he's part of your Familia… what can you tell me about him?"
Aurelian turned his body around, his gaze hardening as he growled, "Lord Mercury… perhaps it may seem disrespectful, but I see little benefit or good in revealing details about my Familia member to a strange god in a bar."
Hermes raised his hands slowly, as if to calm the adventurer, before he spoke, "Now now, I mean I'm only asking about him cause I'm curious… It's not like I want to hurt the boy or anything! Also… Mercury? I'm surprised you know of my other name, not many adventurers care to learn of the gods' other names."
Aurelian blithely spoke, "You are better known as Mercury to me, the same way Lady Hestia is Vesta. For a god of boundaries it is curious that questioning me about my junior does not seem to consider this a breach of the same …?" he trailed off.
Hermes bit his tongue at this, the adventurer in front of him seemed to be well aware of what all his domains were, and exactly how to neuter Hermes' advances without flatly refusing him or insulting him. Hermes however, was the god of eloquence as well, and so he spoke, "Is curiosity truly such a great affront? You can hardly blame a god for being curious, Saber, for after all, is the boy not the record holder? I had heard that he was fond of this bar, and so I wished to ask the waitresses about him, and they refused me. You are his familia member, and so asking you would satisfy my curiosity would it not? After all, I have made clear that I do not pose any danger to him."
Saber seemed to muse this before he spoke, "Perhaps you do not, but I know enough that when you leave for trips, you do not return unless a month or more as elapsed, and in my experience, to return so quickly only tells me that you must have a client who's interested in the boy. And I cannot put my trust in such a variable. So even if Vesta told me that you can't be much of a bother, I am afraid I will have to refuse to reveal any information, Lord Mercury.."
Hermes slowly nodded, surprised at the man having deduced why exactly he'd been doing what he did… but even worse, he'd been foiled yet again, and so he sat patiently, deciding to make the best use of his visit to order food. He watched the back of the old man, who'd collected his parcels, before muttering "I could swear I've met that guy before… in Tenkai of all places." to which Asfi simply spoke, "Eh!?"
When Saber returned to the Familia Home, the first thing he did was to deposit the warm parcels inside the magical-device that maintained their freshness before he went over to Hestia's office. The goddess in question was perusing several sheets of paper, mainly as to start up her own restaurant that served homely food… or something like that, cause she had been very indecisive on which field she should begin a career in, and had even considered starting a cabbage farm with Demeter's help.
She raised her head, a pencil in her mouth, before she dropped it onto the desk as she spoke, "Well? Did you get the dinner, Seiba?" to which the old man chuckled as he spoke, "Truly goddess, your naming sense is strange… why would you call me 'Seiba'?"
Hestia paused, as a confused yet pensive expression appeared on her face before she spoke, "I… honestly don't know? Something came over me when I connected dinner with the word Saber…. though I feel it should be you who should be asking me if the food's done. Ah nevermind all that, Luci."
Aurelian laughed at this, near doubling over at being called Luci of all things before he spoke, wiping a tear from his eye, "Luci? Ahahahah… Luci! My wife was the last person to call me that, but I suppose it does not matter, we are relatives of a distant… very distant sort, the type that's separated by worlds."
Hestia mumbled, "I guess? But what's with that face you're making?" as she stared at the suddenly serious expression that had plastered itself onto the Emperor's face. To this Aurelian slowly shook his head, "Oh, it was about Mercury… Gilgamesh's girlfriend seems to have been right when she delivered the news about him this morning. He seems to be very interested in Bell, and if my intuition tells me, it's on behalf of someone outside of Orario."
Hestia paused, processing the words spoken before she jumped out of her seat, fuming "Ha!? Hermes!? After all that time we were buddies up in Tenkai?! Why, I never! The audacity of that messenger! That big baka! What does he think he's doing to try to poach my Bell-kun?"
Aurelian nodded at this, before he took a seat himself, "If anything… I believe it may be Juno, because the boy's aunt and mother were both part of that Familia no? She may be interested in bringing him in as well… though if the history of those two tells me anything, it might be Jupite…. err, Zeus."
Hestia frowned at this as she spoke, "Hera? Hmm… maybe, I remember her as a Yandere type… she might actually do that. But she's been busy chasing Zeus last I heard, so I doubt it's her, but what reason would Zeus have to chase Bell-kun?"
She sat down at this, her mini-goddess self racing to try to understand what was exactly happening when Aurelian asked, a conflicted expression on his face "Lady Vesta… may I ask you something?" to which the goddess nodded, slightly confused, "You… are, in-fact the elder sister of them both, yes?"
Hestia's face contorted into apprehension as she screeched, "Eh!? EH!? EH!? Elder Sister?! No, not at all! I'm a young goddess! And besides… that would be gross, I mean, Hera keeps trying to make Zeus hers, and Zeus is a very persistent womanizer… so to imagine the two of them together… on top of being my siblings… ehhh?"
Aurelian's eyes widened at this before he asked, "But are not Inanna and Ishtar twins? As are Frey and Freya? Surely there's some relations between gods?" to which Hestia's ponytails wrapped around her arm as she spoke, "Oh… you're asking if all the gods are related? No… I was wondering what you meant by calling be a distant relative, but no, I'm not related to Sol or any other gods I used to work with. I mean we all share a creator, but only a few gods call each other brother and sister. Frey and Freya are literal twins, and so are I-I-Ishtar and Inanna, but not all gods are related."
Her knees twitched as she continued, "Yeah, I mean Apollo and Artemis are twins as well, but there are very few gods who are actually siblings."
Aurelian pondered how to answer this question before he spoke, unaware as he was of the original Greek gods' nature as Spaceships, "Well… you see, in our mythology, you, Pluto, Neptune, Jupiter, Juno and Ceres were the first-born of the Olympic Pantheon. You were all born to Kronos and the Magna Mater, though between gods, blood was pointedly ignored, seeing as to how Jupiter ended up marrying Juno." omitting the large-scale kin-slaying as he did so.
Hestia's face twisted yet again, this time in horror, but Aurelian wasn't done, switching to describe them in their Greek forms "Well, you were still a virgin goddess, do not worry about that, though Poseidon and Apollo both propositioned yourself. With your request, Zeus… who was the head of the pantheon, granted you the immunity from being propositioned, and the myths say you went ahead to tend the eternal Olympian Flame."
Hestia leaned forward, intrigued at the tales of her counterpart, while Aurelian shook his head around, "I apologise, Lady Vesta… though I did infact grow up on tales of the Olympian gods, I was a henotheist of Sol, as in I worshipped only my father alone, though I believed in your existence as well. I do recall a hymn of yours if you wish for me to repeat it to you?"
Hestia nodded vigorously, very curious at this offer, as Aurelian recited the same "To Hestia, Fumigation from Aromatics. Daughter of Kronos, venerable dame, who dwellest amidst great fire's eternal flame; in sacred rites these ministers are thine, mystics much blessed, holy and divine. In thee the Gods have fixed their dwelling place, strong stable basis of the mortal race. Eternal, much formed, ever florid queen, laughing and blessed, and of lovely mien, accept these rites, accord each just desire, and gentle health and needful good inspire."
Hestia was very flattered at what she'd heard, and so she turned as red as a tomato before she spoke, "The other Hestia certainly got it good then, ever florid… but I'm a young goddess, not a venerable dame! Though you said something about Olympia… well, our world's Olympia is where Aphrodite lives right now, though I don't know much about it, apart from it being a Sanctuary or something."
Aurelian corrected her, "Though the pantheon was termed the Olympic one, the gods dwelled on Mount Olympus, not on Olympia, which was a city in Greece. Though your description of your Olympia intrigues me, that is a matter for another time. But yes, you and Hermes were described as to work well together even in our world, I do not know why he would seek to antagonize you."
Hestia nodded seriously, before curiosity took hold of her again, "How was Hermes related to me… I mean the other me?" to which the prompt response came, "Well he would be your nephew, and so would Apollo, Ares, and Dionysus. Artemis, Athena and Hephaistos would both be your nieces… though Hephaistos was known as a man in our world. Oh yes, they were all the children of Zeus, except for Hephaistos, who was born to Hera alone."
Hestia clutched her head as she tried to process having such a large family among the gods, let alone the fact that Hera somehow gave birth to Hephaistos on her own. Her eyes swirled before she shook her head as she spoke, "Your world… gah, I don't even want to think about it… having such a family would scare me, though being an aunt to Hephaistos, Athena and Artemis would be… something"
Aurelian's golden eyes twinkled, "I would not think so… your extended family did… beat up a stalker god who tried to err… molest your counterpart when you were asleep in a garden, Priapus. Well the entire Olympic Pantheon had a field day beating him up. When you became the bearer of the sacred flame, well… you became everyone's reliable "Onee-San" as you would call it and so Priapus' actions were rewarded with a magnificent thrashing."
Hestia chuckled at this, imagining Zeus and Hera setting aside their differences, Ares stopping his thoughts of war, to come together with the others Aurelian had mentioned to beat up Priapus. "Well, Priapus should be around here somewhere, though he never stalked me like that in Tenkai."
Aurelian chuckled, "If he should do so, I think I would suffice to teach him a lesson, Hestia, though I dare say Lancer, Arash, Gilgamesh, and the Lords Miach and Takemikazuchi, along with Lady Hephaistos would join me for the same."
Hestia giggled, "Aww… Luci, that's sweet of you." her mind now distracted from the fact that Hermes was seemingly stalking Bell. The Emperor smiled as well, though his thoughts had never wavered.
====================XeX====================
"It's a shame Miss Mahari couldn't come with us… I'd have liked another Level Two with us." came the words of Bell, to which Lily responded, "She did tell you in the morning that she has to investigate stuff with Arash. Lily does think she would have fit in well though, she seems experienced and she's pretty nice." which was a sentiment Bell agreed with.
"Today was pretty good in terms of drops, eh?" posited the crimson-haired smith, cutting through the discussion about the newest Hestia Familia Mmeber as he bent over to collect drops left by the recently killed Al-Mirajs and Hellhounds. Lily nodded, "Yeah, though why Bell is leaving behind so many drops, Lily does not understand."
The boy groaned at this, though by now he had resigned himself to the rabbit jokes the party around himself had been making. Welf nodded pensively, "Indeed, I feel bad for killing so many Monster Bells… but a Smith's gotta eat… err… earn, that said I guess I could make some good light armour for you with all these drops."
Lancer chuckled softly, "The Dungeon no doubt has a curious taste in humour, forcing us to kill so many monsters that have a resemblance to our own Rabbit, but perhaps we should stop with the jokes, Bell is probably… done with us."
Bell nodded rapidly at this, thankful for the man's words before he quickly scarfed down the sandwiches Syr had made for him. This was not because he loved them… but because the sooner he got it over with, the better. Bell groaned as he thought, "I mean… I really appreciate the fact that Syr gives me lunch everyday… but why do these sandwiches taste like…. sandpaper?"
Lily and Welf were both rapidly finishing their own packed lunches as well, while the Servant himself was keeping watch in the narrow room they'd camped out in. Today had been a good day, though indeed, the words Gilgamesh had told him and Saber of Lord Hermes' strange interests were something to be thoughtful of.
As he kept watch, Lancer noted the grim expression on Bell's face before stifling a laugh as he asked the party in its entirety, "Do you want to go further down?" to which Welf was the first one to respond, "I guess we should Mister Corvinus, getting a few more drops can't hurt…but only a room or two more… because even with you watching over us, it'll be tough for us normal Level 1s to keep up."
Lancer chuckled at this, for he knew A+ Agility was quite enough to safeguard his party, but prudence was something that should never be condemned. He nodded, "Very well, let's go."
They continued to walk forward, and strangely they found that there were no monsters to be found. Welf scratched his head, "This is weird… where are all the monsters anyhow?" when a loud cry came echoing through the caverns, "CHIGUSA".
The fear and anguish was evident in the person's voice, and Bell's own party understood that they were near a battle party that had perhaps ran into a large horde of monsters, and the so-called Chigusa must be one of them who had been injured or killed.
Lancer's keen ears picked up the sounds of metal clashing against stone, which indicated that the monsters the people were facing were Al-Miraj, and so they continued down the path in a forced march. They found themselves on top of a cliff with a trail leading downward into a large pit with the exit of the room located across the other end of the pit.
The party seemed to be comprised of three men and three women, of whom only one had great success fighting the monsters. Perhaps she was the only Level Two amidst the bunch. Another fighter, an archer, was covering a fallen woman as best as she could, though the relentless rabbits were haranguing them in all possible directions.
Lancer mused what he was seeing, before speaking slowly, "We can move backwards or slip past them, unless you wish for us to do something else entirely, Bell?" he asked, already half-expecting the response.
Bell could not respond, as he watched the party scrambled, when Lily spoke, "Bell… Lily thinks there's no gain if we risk our own hides to help that party… Lily would say that they're just as likely to ditch us and run away… not all adventurers are as good-natured as you are"
Welf nodded pensively, "Indeed… like Lil' Lily said, they'd probably take advantage of anything we do and slip past us… besides, it really isn't our business."
And Bell knew that they spoke sense, for it was an unwritten rule that parties should generally stay out of each other's way, and only come together in fighting extra-ordinary enemies. A horde of Al-Miraj did not qualify as an extra-ordinary enemy, but still… they were going to be overwhelmed… and could Bell stomach the thought having stood by and having done nothing?
But… did he not promise to himself that he would become that hero his Aunt had gave up her life to try to bring about? If he was to be a hero… there could be no hesitation to save others, Arash had told him about how he'd waged everything for the sake of the people of an entire country… and if Bell was to be a hero how could he not save six people?
His thoughts were accelerated when more monsters seemed to be crawling through crevices and through the walls, and so he spoke, "I'm going to help them… Lancer, Lily, Welf…" his voice apologetic.
Lily rolled her eyes as if she'd expected the outcome all along, though there was a big smile on her face as she did so, "As if you would have done anything else Bell, let's go then." while the smith chuckled, "Lily's right on the money… if you'd told me you'd want to run away I'd have wondered if you were an Al-Miraj hiding in the real Bell's place. Ah… looks like we're going to do this eh?"
Lancer chuckled as the trio of young adventurers jumped down from the cliff to aid the party. He muttered, "Some things… never change." before he disappeared from view and re-appeared next to the Captain of the beleaguered party, on the other side of the room.
The man yelped in shock, but when he realised it was another adventurer, his eyes hardened in calculation. These thoughts were broken when Lancer effortlessly carved through a squad of hellhounds that had attempted to corner him as he'd been protecting his injured compatriot.
The Captain could hardly believe what he was seeing, but a testimony to his role as a captain, his eyes quickly re-focussed to the sound of fighting on the other side of the room, where he saw three adventurers clear a path through the Al-Miraj for his party to slip through.
He called loudly, "I don't know who these guys are, but they're helping us! Grghh.. Get through the gap, and hold up a defensive formation with those three, ahh… Chigusa needs those potions now!"
An Al-Miraj jumped through the air, its landform cleaver poised to cut his head. He cursed as he attempted to raise his arm-guard to catch the blow, for he could not use his spear, as he was carrying Chigusa. But faster than his eye could track, the bunny-monster had been skewered through, and his brain later processed it to be the strange silver spear of the man who moved so fast.
There was no time to thank the whirlwind of a human, and so he quickly moved through the gap, when his eyes flashed in recognition at the white-haired boy he saw, before calling out, "Mikoto, Naoki! Help the record-holder! Tasuke, cover our flanks with the other two! Asuka, get the potions here fast!"
The party moved fluidly, a testimony to their experience of working together, while Ouka himself placed Chigusa down gently so as to allow Asuka to tend to the wound. He stood at the ready, protecting the two of them from any threats. Ouka's eyes widened as he saw the ridiculous speed the spear-wielder was moving with as he skewered three Hellhounds like they were little more than three pieces of meat.
Even in the dire situation, Ouka, who had been raised by the martial god Takemikazuchi, could not help but stare in awe at the immense skill the tall man had with the polearm. It was two minutes later, when the fighting had come to a halt, that Mikoto's voice called out, "There are no more monsters to our flanks… but looks like there might be a full-blown Monster Party up front."
Ouka grimaced, for indeed, though there were no monsters in their immediate vicinity, but several more hellhounds and Al-Miraj were tearing themselves from the Dungeon Wall. He could even spot a few Hard Armoured and Bad Bats… this was not good.
The man up-front turned to the record-holder, his voice sombre, "Looks like I'll have to stop holding back." to which Ouka's jaw dropped. "Holding back? That guy was already like a Level 3." But now, leaving a gale in his wake, the tall adventurer disappeared from sight and carved through the entire horde like they were so many cakes.
The tip of his spear skewered several monsters, while its bottom flattened several more. His right hand darted out, punching clean through a hellhound as he still spun his spear. This spear wielder was a whirlwind made flesh, and the monsters, which had an intellect far above that of the monsters of the Upper Floors perceived that fell enough as they beat a retreat.
Well that is, a singular Al-Miraj fearfully clinging to a yelping hellhound as it darted away, the pair were the only survivors of the maelstrom. Littered about Lancer were so many chunks of dissolving flesh, skewered corpses, and thrown up dirt.
What their six man party had not been able to do; this strange adventurer had done in less than a minute. Ouka could even see that the red-haired adventurer that had been part of Lancer's party was awed, clearly having not expected such speed and power from the man.
Ouka quickly closed his jaw however, because the man's prowess had been put to rescue the Takemikazuchi Familia, and so he bowed deeply in the direction of the record holder, "Thank you very much for helping us. We do not know what would have happened had your party not intervened." Barring the still unconscious Chigusa who lay resting on the ground, the rest of Takemikazuchi Familia followed suit in thanking the Hestia Familia party.
Bell quickly responded, "Oh no, it's really nothing… I mean, you were all in trouble… and I couldn't simply stand by… so I dragged my friends into the issue." as he rubbed his head shyly at the thanks he was receiving.
Mikoto nodded seriously, "Not many adventurers would have done that… we can't thank you enough for doing so. Oh, I'm Yamato Mikoto… of the Takemikazuchi Familia." she spoke, her voice tired yet grateful.
Ouka continued, "I'm Kashima Ouka, the Captain… we are indebted to you. You're all part of the Hestia Familia?" to which Bell simply nodded, "Yeah… we're all from Hestia Familia, apart from Welf who's a Hephaistos Smith, besides, Lord Takemikazuchi is a good friend of our goddess, so you could say we would have helped you regardless, you don't really owe us anything."
Ouka turned towards Lancer, before bowing towards him yet again, the etiquette of the Far Eat demanded nothing less , "I thank you sir… you were the one who truly saved our hides. May I know your name?"
Lancer clasped the man's shoulder as he spoke softly, "You did your best as a Captain… that is not my pity, it is my assessment as a former General. You are still young, the older you grow, the more efficiently you will conduct your party, so I shall say do not be harsh on yourself. As for my name… well you may call me Matthias… I happen to be the Vice-Captain of the Hestia Familia."
Ouka held his breath at the statement, before his expression morphed into gratefulness. "I see… I thank you for your kind words… but I have much to learn nevertheless. But even though Chigusa's condition has been stabilised… we should head up to the surface, I do not want to keep your party here."
Lancer shook his head, "There's little more we could do down here anyhow, we'll tag along." The Takemikazuchi Familia audibly sighed in relief at these words, for having the protection of such a powerful adventurer on their way up would ease their tension and remove their worries.
As they continued their way up, Bell was lost in thought… but more than that, he had a serene smile on his face. "Ah… I helped save someone! Arash, Saber and Gil would probably approve… I guess even grandfather would approve, the party did have cute girls after all. Wait, what am I thinking? Ahhhhh" as he shook his head, blushing at what he'd just thought of.
Welf who was walking next to him, stared at him with knowing look on his face as his smile grew before he clapped Bell's back in laughter. Lily suspiciously hmmphed in the direction of Welf, before she smiled in the direction of Bell's back, the boy's good nature never stopped surprising her.
====================XeX====================
"Gruah" came the yelp from the male raccoon demi-human as he was knocked clean unconscious by an arrow which had a fist as its head. Indeed, the owner of this arrow was none other than Arash Kamangir. His partner, Mahari however, was currently wiping the blood on her nodaichi onto her arm-guard.
She sighed out, "A fist… on an arrow? Now I've seen everything… but then again you are a Heroic Spirit of all things…" shaking her head as she forced her claymore to stop levitating so she could begin wiping it as well. She'd accepted the idea remarkably quickly, seeing as it was only a day since she'd joined, though having had the friendly man in front of her disappear into thin air and have him point out things twenty kilometres away ended her disbelief real fast.
Both of them were currently inside a partially underground hideout that they'd only located after staking the Entertainment district since the afternoon. On the floor they stood, there were the bodies of five other demihumans, who had been present with the raccoon man as his guards.
Mahari had elected to capture the leader than kill him, along with using him to build a case besides the trafficker. Arash spoke, dispelling the fist-arrow, "Rifle through that desk, the third drawer has a false bottom; I'll keep guard." and so Mahari did exactly that.
There were plenty of ledgers that stood to account for the finance of what this place nominally seemed to be, a minor, currently closed gambling shop, but behind the third drawer she found a small, dusty notebook, that had a palm-print of a red ink on its surface.
"Seeing the future huh, handy stuff… though I guess you're simply seeing things as they are, eh?" she spoke, before shaking the book free of dust. She flipped to the page with a bookmark, and seeing that the date corresponded to three months ago she began reading it out aloud, , "We should get our batch in three months, Mistress Astarte should be pleased… it is our first batch in three years after all. Hudogi's been reliable, though the fuck is greedier than a shrew."
She gritted her teeth in anger, before she flicked backwards, this time to two years ago, a large gap between dates, "That bastard Ted isn't even Ted for real… though he won't buy atleast he won't interfere in our business… not that we have any business right now, everything's tight as fuck in the city, we'll have to wait for a bit. Apparently, the Red Cult got destroyed over in the Black Desert… I hope to god that's right."
She flicked backwards yet again; to three years ago, though the mention of a Red Cult confused her "Ishtar doesn't want anything to do with us, though Astarte and that other chick goddess think she probably has another operator since she isn't crushing us for some reason. That or we're ants to her and her operator is much more subtle about it. Heck, I suppose that's what she gets for mainly dealing in Amazons, she doesn't need to force those horny fucks into the job, and she doesn't need as many exotic goods as we do…"
Arash growled, "Exotic goods huh? These people know how to get on my nerves… though the fact that Astarte has a collaborator is something we should keep note of. Ishtar seems to know of them, but doesn't seem to be working with them, even if she allowed them to exist."
Mahari nodded before she continued to read, now having flipped back to four years prior, "Aeshma's the creep that seems like he'd pay good money, though for some reason that bastard simply doesn't want to buy anything from us, though Astarte said that he certainly has his hand in some other pies."
Arash was very surprised, "The demon of wrath? I suppose he counts as a god of sort… hmmm, interesting, but it doesn't tell us much." to which Mahari nodded, as she flipped through again, "Oh? This is from five years back… the main body of Evilus was active back then, though I guess we might be going too far back."
She shook her head as she read it, "Evilus got shattered… Braver went to town on them, though there's certainly tendrils of those bastards around the continent. I wonder if he got that other cult too… that Cult of the Red Matron… that one spooks even Mistress Astarte, heck it was enough to terrify me. I thought I heard some whispers about how Nyssa or someone is involved."
She paused, frowning at what she'd read. Evilus Tendrils had been crushed across large portions of the continent as well, but nobody had ever heard of a Cult of the Red Mother.
She continued to read, her frown deepening, "They murdered Alastor Familia… apparently the poor Ganesha sods who went to investigate found something that indicated that the culprits murdered Alastor himself in… some crazy circle with weird symbols. I don't want to ever mess with someone who's crazy enough to outright kill a god… I even liked Alastor Familia, those cunts took down some big-time serial killers."
Her frown deepened, and her cadence slowed as she continued to read, "Ganesha never knew that it was the Cult though, they simply pinned it on Evilus in general. But I know it was them… who else would put that message… if it can even be called that. I don't even want to write it, but eh… mom always told me if I write something creepy down… I would forget about it…. I'm not a good man… but I want to forget about it by all that's right in the world, and I want them to get caught… that said… I don't even want to know if they painted this in a god's blood."
She spoke, a great sense of unease falling upon her, "He's written something in the old script… let me try to decipher it, the world shall dry? No… it shall drown in seas of red when we are… arise, we shall break the wheel six times when we awake, and the false flame… no, father above us shall be dethroned. Our true mother shall rise from her lair… prison and devour the world and free us from the long shame of the inverted pillars…hinges of existence. The boundaries shall erode, and we shall pull ourselves through the hole made as the drums rejoice as the iniquitous person… prison breaks."
Her hands shook as she closed the book, and she was keenly aware of how a bead of sweat rolled down her forehead. The very air around them seemed to have dropped a dozen degrees, and she could keenly hear the creaking of the chair she was seated on.
It was Arash who cut through the heavy atmosphere with his voice, though Mahari noted it was very serious now rather than as it had been before. "Deranged cultists… I did not expect this. Evilus might have been a group of Gods claiming to be evil… but there is nothing that has the potential to be as evil as those at the very edge of insanity, at the cusp of becoming unfathomable. But he said that they were destroyed, so I guess it isn't anybody's problem anymore."
Arash had intimately dealt with those possessed by unknowable beings back in Chaldea, but this, his Clairvoyance told him this was merely the babble of a regular albeit deceased, deranged cult that sought ascension or something similar, even if they were led by a god, Nyssa, who the Grail told him was the equivalent of the Greek god of Insanity.
"But that business about seas of red… that reminds me of the Chaos Tide. But did these cultists believe the Dungeon was their mother? It births life, monsters… that is true, but the gods consider it an antithetical existence… it cannot be one of their primordial kin. No… it is not like Tiamat, applying the rules of our world to this one won't make sense." Indeed, Arash had been one of the seven Servants Ritsuka had taken with him to that Singularity, and the Chaos Tide had been truly terrifying, though the Lostbelts… were something else.
He firmly squeezed Mahari's shoulder before speaking, "It doesn't matter, my Clairvoyance tells me they're dead, so come now, let's get this guy to Miss Shakti, missy. Then we can get back home and we can have a proper Familia Dinner!" as he flashed his bright smile at her.
She smiled back, re-assured by his warm presence, and so she packed the small diary into her pouch. Though some small part of her was still afraid of the strange words she'd read.
Chapter 12. I'm sorry it took this much time, got jabbed with the vaccine and was sick the past three days. Now I'm good, so I should be able to bring in another update pretty soon. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, though I think it's a bit shaky, and might re-edit bits over the next couple days.
All constructive criticism is welcome, both in reviews as well as PM.
Candidates:
Rider: Iskander, Ushiwakamaru, Perseus (Successful Shinji), Georgios
Caster: Tamamo-No-Mae, Proto Merlin, Alfia.
Assassin: Regend (Saviour of France), Semiramis, EMIYA (K)
Berserker: Darius III, Mysterious Heroine X Alter, Vlad III, Beowulf.
Pseudo-Divine Spirit: Ishtar, Chiron.