Deepening the Bond
"A katana?"
"That's right."
After returning from the Dungeon, Welf invited him to visit his workshop. There, the red-haired man told him a bit about his life as a smith of the Hephaistos Familia before meeting him. He then offered to make him a weapon from the drop items that they collected earlier.
"Let me guess, it's because of your captain, right?" Welf asked.
"A-Ah, yeah," Bell replied, laughing with embarrassment as he scratched his head. "I realize that I need something with a longer reach and considering I have seen her wielding her sword, I suppose katana would be a good idea."
"I see." He put his hand on his chin. "But still, a katana…"
"Is there something wrong?" The boy asked.
"Well, you see…" The smith tried to think of how to explain it with simple words. "Do you want an authentic katana or simple a Far Eastern sword that look like katana?"
"Eh?" The white-haired boy became confused. "Um, what do you mean?"
"You see, there are many types of swords from the Far East with katana being the most famous. Many people simply look at the curve and that it's from there before calling it a katana." He explained. "There's also the matter of…how difficult it is to create one."
Bell didn't make any comment, simply listening to his words.
"I once witnessed how the captain of my Familia, Tsubaki, created a katana from scratch. The way the alloy is created is like nothing you ever see. She said that it's due to how poor the quality of iron is in the Far East." Welf continued. "And that's not getting to the forging the sword itself."
"So, you can't do it?"
"Unfortunately, no. Even if I gained Blacksmith Ability, I doubt I could make one. It's simply nothing like anything that I ever made." The man put his hand on his chin. "Though I could create something that looks familiar if that's OK for you."
"Alright, then." The albino boy gave his answer. "I don't want to make it difficult for you."
"Meh, it is fine. Besides, I've heard that a good adventurer always make their smith cry." There was a beat before continuing. "Actually, don't do that, please?"
"Ahahaha..."
Using the drop item that he acquired from the expedition, Welf started to create the sword. Seeing how much he concentrate on working, the young adventurer decided to remain silent, simply watching from the sideline.
It was during the sunset when the smith was done; the sky had turned orange. He inspected the blade, looking for any sign of imperfection. Looking at the sword himself, Bell admitted that he didn't see any difference from it compared to Okita's, but then again, he was not a smith; Welf likely knew something that he did not.
"Well, everything's perfect." The red-haired man stated. "All that's left is to give it a name. Hmm, maybe…Ushiwakamaru?"
That's a Far Easterner name, so it fits. The albino was about to agree when…
"No, no. Maybe…Minotan? Yeah, that…"
"I prefer the first!" He quickly said.
"Huh?" Welf looked at him before sighing. "Well, it's yours. I suppose you have the right to choose the name."
Bell was glad for that. He already had a very mundane title. He didn't need a weapon with a ridiculous name!
After accepting the offer, she traveled towards Edo, where the recruits of the would-be Roushigumi gathered. Along with her were two of her childhood friends, Kondo and Hijikata. Earlier, before departing, she bought Manju and ate them with the children. There were some left and – in the middle of the journey – she decided to share them. While Kondo immediately accepted it, it took a while before Hijikata did.
She smiled at that; he always put on such a hard persona.
When they arrived at Edo, they noticed that there seemed to be an unusual amount of ronin wandering around, judging from how many people walking around with a sword; a sign that one was part of the samurai-class. They were likely in the city for the same reason as them: joining the Roushigumi.
They were about to search for a place to settle when they met fellow samurai from Shieikan, Saitou. They talked with each other a bit before he offered to escort them towards the inn where other Shieikan samurais were staying. All three of them agreed; it was better to be among familiar faces.
Upon arriving at the inn, they were indeed greeted by familiar faces; Inoue, Nagakura, Yamanami…
She suddenly turned her head, something that was noticed by others. It might be her feeling, but she felt as if they were being watched just a moment ago. It appeared that they thought the same as well since Kondo immediately closed the inn's door as they walked towards their rooms.
Inside one of them, Saitou told her, Hijikata, and Kondo about the latest event surrounding the Roushigumi. Apparently, there was a rumor that Kyokawa Hachirou, the person responsible for recruitment, had strong loyalty to the Emperor. Not that they were not loyal themselves, but that usually meant – unfortunately – that the person was not loyal to the Shogunate.
Such was the time; one had to choose between two rightful leaders. Loyal to one meant disloyal to another.
In any case, they now knew that there was more than meet the eyes of the recruitment. Who knew how many ronin in the city that would actually work to reestablish law and order in Kyoto and not simply adding more chaos?
When the time finally arrived, a force of 250 men marched towards Kyoto under the leadership of Kyokawa Hachirou. Not long after arriving, they returned back to Edo due to his plan being discovered.
Except thirteen among them.
They decided to go to Mibu, a village southwest of Kyoto, to set up their base; it was how they gained the name of "Mibu Roushigumi." They petitioned Matsudaira Katamori, the daimyo of the Aizu Clan, to stay in Kyoto to fulfill their original goal of protecting the Shogun.
After careful examination of the situation, the daimyo decided the need to change the mission; from protecting the Shogun to patrolling the streets of Kyoto and restoring order in the name of the Tokugawa bakufu.
And thus, the Mibu Roushigumi – the Ronin Squad of Mibu - became the Newly Selected Corps.
The Shinsengumi.
"Here you go, Hep."
Hephaistos accepted the papers and immediately reading them. Meanwhile, Okita and Hestia remained on their seat, waiting for her to finish. It didn't take long for her to do that; it was only three papers, after all.
"I see that you've been thinking through about this." The goddess stated as she nodded her head. "Very well, then. You have my permission."
"Thank you so much, Hephaistos!" Hestia replied as her face was adorned with a big smile.
"Don't think about it." The red-haired woman simply waved her hand. "It's nice to see that you're finally doing something other than slacking around."
While she meant to compliment her, the Goddess of Hearth couldn't help but felt her heart being stung.
"While we are here," Okita spoke as Hestia tried to recover. "Lady Hephaistos, what's the deadline to pay the debt regarding Hestia Knife?"
"Eh?" Said goddess blinked several times before looking at her friend. "You didn't tell them?"
"It's my personal responsibility. No need to involve my Familia." The twin-tailed goddess answered before looking at her "child." "Anyway, how do you know about the debt?"
"Educated guess." The Samurai explained. "There's no way you can immediately pay for the Knife considering the financial status of the Familia."
"About your question," Hephaistos spoke. "You can ask Hestia for the details, but it's 200 million."
"As expected." She sighed. "There's no way a weapon as good as that would be cheap."
"For the deadline, there's none. Of course, I expect you to do your best to repay it as fast as possible."
"It will be done." With that, the Captain of Hestia Familia stood from her chair. "Come on, Lady Hestia. We should visit Lord Goibniu since now we have permission."
"W-Wait for me!"
Hephaistos leaned her head, using her hand to support it. She chuckled, happy at knowing how much the life of her best friend had improved.
"So, this is where we're going to live now?" Bell said.
"Yep!" Hestia replied. "At least until Goibniu is finished with the renovation."
"Can't believe the old man actually took up construction as a side job…" Cú muttered under his breath.
Hestia Familia was currently standing in front of a building. It was a simple two-story wooden house. Just like the church that was currently under renovation, the house was also owned by Hephaistos. Despite the latter looking better than the former, the church was actually the better option.
For one, the church was closer to both the Dungeon and Hestia's workplace, meaning that the location was more convenient. Another was that the house was closer to the more shady part of the city.
"Come on," Okita stated as she walked towards the building. "Let's put our belongings inside."
It didn't take them long to do that since they didn't have much, to begin with. There was only a sofa, a table, several chairs, several books, eating utensils along with bowls and plates, cooking equipment, a bed, and the mattress. Oh, and clothes, but only for Bell, Lily, and Hestia.
After putting them inside, Bell went outside to get some fresh air and stretched his limbs. When doing that, he noticed that Cú was on the top of a building, apparently writing something with his finger on the roof.
"Cú?" The boy said, causing the Servant to look him.
"Yes, Master?" He asked back.
"What are you doing?"
"Creating a Bounded Field." He explained. "Or something close to that."
"Um, a Bounded Field?"
"Imagine it as something like an alarm. If someone with bad intention tries to approach our home, then the people inside will be noticed."
"I see." Bell nodded his head. "But won't we move back to the church?"
"Don't worry. It's easy to be dispelled. And after we return, I'll just create another one around the church." Caster then jumped off the building. "Anyway, now I just need to carve a rune inside the house and everything's set."
"After you're done with that," Both of them turned their heads and saw Okita approaching them. "I need you to do some chore. We're almost run out of potion."
"Oh, so we need to visit Miach again?" Bell said, causing Cú to look at him.
"Indeed." She nodded before looking at the fellow Servant. "Can you do it, Cú?"
"Of course." He nodded in return, knowing her intention.
"Good." The Samurai nodded her head before noticing that the boy was staring at her. "Is there something wrong, Bell?"
"A-Ah, nothing." He waved his hand. "I just…has a certain dream."
She immediately knew what he meant. She turned her attention at Caster, who understood and decided to leave both of them alone, heading towards the Blue Pharmacy. After he was far enough, the captain turned her attention to the boy.
"So," Okita opened her mouth. "Anything that you want to ask?"
"Um, well, none," Bell replied hesitantly. "I just…you know, it's kind of impolite to ask someone's past. T-That kind of past, I mean."
"If that's your problem, then worry not. Charlotte and Cú already know about it."
"Eh?"
"You remember the Classes of Servant, right? I am Saber, Char's Assassin, and him Caster."
"Y-Yeah."
"If this is a normal Grail War, then the three of us will use our respective Class to hide our True Name, for it will reveal our history and thus our weakness."
"So, the moment a Servant knows the True Name of another, they will immediately know the history of said Servant?"
"Correct. So, no need to feel ashamed asking. You're simply just another person knowing about my first life."
Bell nodded his head. He put his hand on his chin, thinking if had something – if any – to ask. He then remembered one specific thing about her in the dream.
"So, about the founding members of Shinsengumi," He spoke up. "How many of them are your friends, exactly?"
"Most of them." She answered. "We studied in the same dojo and use the place for gathering as well."
"Is the name happen to be Shieikan?" He asked, which received a nod. "So, you studied along with Kondo and Hijikata?"
"Childhood friends, in fact." Saber giggled as she remembered her past. "You know, it's funny. I was born of a low-ranking samurai family, Kondo is from a farmer family before being adopted by a samurai, and Hijikata was a medicine peddler. By all means, our friendship should be impossible yet it happens."
Bell only had little knowledge about the Samurai. What he knew was that they were like the nobility of the Far East; they have fief, trained from childhood in both academic knowledge and martial arts, and stood above the common masses.
While he knew that interclass friendship was a common theme in many stories, he also knew that in reality, most of the time that was not the case.
From the smile on her face, the boy knew just how dear she considered them to be.
"Here you go," Miach stated as he put bottles of potion on the desk.
"Thank you, Lord Miach," Cú said before looking at the paper in his hand, sighing.
"Is there a problem?" He asked, noticing Hestia's "child's" discomfort.
"Ah, nothing. It's just that," Caster scratched his head. "Well, we're planning to renovate our home since it could no longer accommodate all of us. So, our budget is going to be quite tight."
"I see." The god said in return as the man in front of him put several valis on the desk. "You know what…"
"Hmm?"
"The Pharmacy is planning to have a discount to attract more customers," Miach explained as he gave back most of the money. "I suppose there would be no problem in having it earlier."
"No, no, it's fine." Cú tried to give it again. "We know that you're in a tight financial situation as well, so…"
"No, no, I insist." The god gave the money back once again. "In fact, our Pharmacy won't be able to operate to this day if not for the help of Hestia Familia. Just consider it as thanks from the Miach Familia."
"Well, if you say so." The Servant reluctantly accepted it.
Inside, however, he was smiling.
"Hook. Line. Sinker."
If there was a similarity between the Miach in front of him with the Miach that he knew, Cú thought, was that they were both too nice for their own good. There was a reason why Miach's father, Dian Chet, was able to injure him four times in the head before finally killing him without any fight occurring. Like, sure, Miach was not a war god or something close, but he was still a Celtic god.
Indeed, Miach's own kindness and compassion often brought him nothing but trouble.
In the market, Naaza was buying ingredients for making potions when she suddenly shuddered. It was as if something terrible had just occurred.
"I don't know why." She spoke to herself. "But for some reason, I feel that I need to kick Lord Miach when I return."
"We need to think about your cover."
That was the declaration that Hestia made in the middle of dinner. The other stopped eating and turned their attention towards her.
"What do you mean, Lady Hestia?" Charlotte asked, in the middle of tearing her bread.
"It's something that I noticed when Okita and I went to the Guild to change our address." The Goddess explained. "I overheard a conversation between two staffs there. They are talking about not only how fast Bell becomes Level 2, but the quality of the magic stones that the Servants brought."
"Considering he's now a record holder, I can understand the first one." The Samurai said. "What about the second one, though?"
"OK, the stones, they come from monsters like Minotaurs and Hellhounds, right?" She asked, receiving a nod. "Those monsters are beyond the ability of Level 1 to handle. So the fact that you can frequently give the Guild their stones and drop items make them suspicious."
"AH!" Lily exclaimed, understand what Hestia was trying to say. "They think that we're falsifying our Levels!"
"T-That's bad, right?" Bell asked.
"Of course! The rate of tax that the Guild imposed on each Familia is different, depending on the Levels of their adventurers." The Pallum explained. "If they believe we're falsifying our Levels by misinforming them, they will send someone to inspect us."
"And even if we can prove them that we're indeed Level 1," Cú said. "It's simply even more suspicion."
"Well, every Familia has their own secret, so we don't have to worry that far." The Goddess of Hearth stated. "Nevertheless, we need to give you guys a cover that is plausible and won't be suspected."
"We can simply use our past lives," Okita suggested. "But of course, we need to modify it to hide who we are and in such a way that it won't trigger the deities' anti-lie sense."
The Servants nodded their heads before resuming their dinner. Unlike earlier, they seemed to be more distracted, something pausing to mutter something to themselves. The remaining members of the Familia simply decided to continue eating as well, waiting for them to create their cover stories.
Once dinner was finished, the Servants told the rest of the Familia their stories.
"I was a member of the Shinsengumi, a police organization consisted of ronin and low-ranking samurai." Okita was the first to speak. "After my master was defeated in a power struggle and most of the group was killed, I decided that it was the time for a change."
"Hmm…" Hestia listened closely to the words, trying to see if she detected any lie. "The last part feels like a lie to me. Try to make the wording more ambiguous."
"Of course, Lady Hestia."
After the Samurai, it was Charlotte's turn.
"I am a daughter of a minor aristocratic family from a kingdom that was engulfed in a revolution. I sympathized with a group of moderates after the revolution became more radical and heading towards terror." Assassin spoke. "I decided to assassinate a leader of the radicals, hoping to end the violence. Instead, I received a death sentence and things got worse. The rest is history."
"That's good enough." The Goddess stated. "Let's stick with that."
Finally, it was Cú's turn.
"Alright. I am a warrior – also a druid, I suppose – from a land that is far away from Orario. I once fought in a war to defend my home from a rival kingdom. There's a tiny bit of 'problem' in the end, but things went smoothly afterward." He told them. "I like to test my skills against not just powerful people but also beasts. You can say that Orario with its monsters interested me."
"Say, Cú," Bell spoke up. "By the 'tiny bit of problem,' do you mean that you got…?"
"Killed? Yep." Caster simply nodded, as if he was talking about the weather. "A short life but one that is fulfilling. I have little regret about it."
"…you're not lying," Hestia stated before sighing. "If that's what you considered 'tiny,' I don't want to know what you consider a big problem."
"I suppose meeting my old teacher would be one of them." He said before trembling. "Don't get it wrong, she's not a bad person. But there's a reason many in my time feared her. Hell, I only learned from her because of my father-in-law's demand."
"Why would your in-law demanded that?"
"So that I would get killed by her training and not marrying his daughter."
Upon hearing that, Hestia and Lily stared at Cú for a full minute before turning their eyes to Bell, who became confused.
"Eh?" He commented.
"It seems that Bell and Cú have more similarities that Lily thought." The Pallum commented. "Both of you do dangerous things just to get a girl."
One of them made a choking sound due to being embarrassed while another simply laughed.
Once more, the Hestia Familia plus Welf ventured into the 11th floor. Near the entrance of the floor, they could hear the sounds of steel clashing with rock, shouting of people, and roaring of monsters.
"Man, today's quite full, eh?" The blacksmith commented. "Usually, it's quiet enough that we could only hear a few other adventurers' fights."
"That's right. It's usually not this loud." Lily, who had the most experience with the Dungeon, said. She noticed another party nearby and decided to ask. "Hey, can you tell us what happens here?"
"There's a large group of monsters coming from other floors." One of them, an Amazon, answered. "Hurry up! We won't have another chance like this!"
"Not everyone is a battle maniac like you!" Her partner chastised her.
As the party parted away, heading towards the direction of the fight, Cú immediately went after them.
"Come on! What are you guys waiting for?" He shouted at his party. "Let's not be left out!"
The others soon followed. As they approached the location of the fighting, they saw that each adventurer party had created their own pocket; they fought only the monsters in their surroundings, leaving the rest to other parties. It was likely a compromise between dealing with the surge of monsters and following the unofficial rule of leaving others alone unless an emergency occurred.
"There!" Cú pointed out. "An empty space! With a lot of them to boot!"
"Aren't we heading straight to the biggest danger?" Welf exclaimed, fear in his voice.
"Yeah! And that's what makes it fun!"
Once he was close enough, Caster created runes in the air, sending a stream of fireballs towards the monsters. They tried to avoid them, but many simply clashed to each other, ending with many of them being burned alive.
Those who survived the initial attack began to strike back at the adventurers. Wasting no time, the party soon fell upon them.
One by one, Bell tore apart the monsters that attacked him. The corpses of imps, kobolds, and goblins scattered around him. The blades in his hands, the Ushiwakamaru and the Hestia Knife were drenched in blood and ashes.
Upon seeing a group of orcs approached him, the boy sheathed the Knife and used his free hand to cast his spell.
"Firebolt!" He shouted as he fired one after another.
Several of them were killed by the bolts. When the remaining managed to get close enough, Bell unsheathed his Knife and charged towards the approaching monsters.
Using his speed and agility, he moved from one orc to another, attacking the vital parts of their body. Head, neck, abdomen, he hit them anywhere that he knew would cause their death. He also accidentally stabbed the magic stones of some of them, which was why some orcs turned into ashes upon death.
When the last orc fell, Bell realized that he had no time to rest; a pair of Hard Armored was rolling towards him in their ball form. Before he had time to think, the boy received a warning from a member of his Familia.
"Bell, duck!"
He did as he was told, just in time as a beam of light hit the pair of monsters. It sent them to another direction; one was rolling towards a group of monsters that Cú fought while the other went towards a rock.
The boy glanced to his back and saw that it was Charlotte who gave him a hand; to be more precise, her angel familiar, which grew in size before shrinking back to its original size. He gave her a thumb up before returning to the fight.
His next opponents were the imps, armed with landform weapons. He swiftly killed many of them. One of them managed to get to his rear and tried to stab him. Bell immediately turned around and parried the attack with his knife before slashing the imp into two with his sword.
He was about to deal with the rest when Okita suddenly appeared and annihilated the remaining monsters. As if on cue, it was at that moment that the entire fight stopped; all monsters in their area had been killed.
The Samurai turned to Bell and gave him a thumb up with a grin. He was about to reply when she suddenly coughed up blood.
COUGH COUGH
In the end, he could stare incredulously at the sheer mood whiplash.
In the aftermath of the battle, the Hestia Familia plus Welf decided to take a rest except for Lily and Charlotte, who harvested the magic stones and collected the drop items. While resting, the blacksmith decided to do some checking on his sword. Seeing that it was a bit dull, he sharpened the big blade.
"So, Bell," He spoke up. "What do you think about Ushiwakamaru?"
"It's perfect, Welf!" The boy replied, holding the sword in his hand. "Well-balanced is and comfortable to hold."
"Ushiwakamaru, eh?" Okita commented, knowing a certain warrior who possessed that name. "Speaking of which, you wielded that sword with the knife on your other hand, right?"
"Yes." He nodded. "What about it?"
"Nothing. Just remind me about a story from my homeland." The Samurai replied. "About a warrior who dual-wielded a sword; one's long while other's short. Former to attack while latter to parry."
As they talked, Cú simply watched them before deciding to join in.
"So, Welf." He said. "What kind of weapon that you know how to make?"
"Well, almost all. Spear, rapier, greatsword." The red-haired man answered. "As long as it doesn't need a complex method. Their quality is also not that great in comparison, to be honest, since I am just a Level 1."
"I see." Caster nodded. "Then, I have a request for you."
"Hmm?"
"As you can see, while I am a druid – a type of mage, in case you're wondering, I am more of a spearman-type." He sighed. "While my staff is a good substitute, it's still not a spear. And unfortunately, I have lost mine."
Hearing that, Bell once again felt guilty of not summoning Cú as a Lancer.
"So, you want me to create you a spear, right?" Welf guessed. "Well, like I said, the quality of my weapons…"
"Nah, it's alright." He told him. "My spear is one-of-the-kind in this world, so I don't expect you to recreate it. Just something decent would be enough for me."
"Indeed. His spear is…a magical weapon, I guess you can say." Okita explained. "It always seeks the heart of his enemy, making sure that the attack will be lethal."
"Damn, that's one impressive weapon!" The blacksmith commented, now understanding even more of Cú's feeling. "Anyway, I suppose I can do that. But it's going to take time."
"Take as many times as you needed." The Servant in question replied. "I am not in a hurry or anything."
"Alright then." He said with a smile.
Finally, the day had arrived.
"Everything should be in order." An old man with a thin yet muscular body spoke. "If you need something tweaked or changed, let me know and we'll redo it."
"Thank you so much, Goibniu," Hestia told him.
With that, the old god left the Familia in front of the church.
The recently-renovated church.
"Let's go inside." The goddess declared.
Once inside, they watched in amazement at the absolute change of the building. The roof was patched up, the rotten pews and other furniture were gone, and there was a hefty, sturdy door in place of the former entrance. The church also now possessed a proper dining area and storage as well.
"As expected of Goibniu…" Hestia commented before shouting. "Alright! Let's decorate our home!"
""OOOHH!""
With that, the Familia began to decorate their home. Some of them were quite normal, like Lily putting a flower pot on a table, Bell using a new bookshelf to store the books, and Hestia hanging a painting of a hearth. Some were more exotic, like Okita hanging calligraphy of the Far East, Cú making runes on some part of the church that doubled as a security system and Charlotte rolled out a carpet that for her looked like a Persian rug.
The Frenchwoman wondered if Persia of this place was called Near East, considering how the term the Far East existed.
Once they were done, the members looked at each other and smiled in satisfaction.
…
"Less than a thousand…" Bell muttered as they were heading towards the Dungeon. "I can't believe we spend so much…"
"Renovation is not cheap, you know. Especially old building." Okita told him. "There's also the decors and furniture that we bought."
"At least now all of us have a bed," Charlotte stated. "Or futon, in case of our captain."
"Wait, just being curious," Welf said. "How did you guys sleep before then?"
"Sharing the bed, using a sofa, and just outright sleeping on the floor with a sheet," Lily told him. "And yes, it's as uncomfortable as you imagine.
"Anyway, considering our financial status, we must work extra hard now," Cú stated. "Maybe we should try to go deeper. 12th or 13th floor, perhaps?"
They continued their conversation as they entered the Babel. However, they hadn't even reached the first floor when something happened.
"Help!"
The party stopped upon noticing a Far Easterner woman running towards them. There were tears on her purple kimono and she looked to be almost out of her breath.
"Hey, isn't that Zetsu Ei?" Lily stated upon recognizing a woman. "A Level 2 that was announced alongside Bell?"
"You're right." Bell agreed upon recognizing her as well. "Yamato Mikoto of…"
"Bell?" Welf asked when the boy suddenly became silent. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"…of Takemikazuchi Familia."
The moment he said that the eyes of other members of his Familia became wide. Takemikazuchi was a close friend of Hestia…and one of his "children" was asking for help!
Wasting no time, the white-haired boy ran towards Mikoto, who almost fell to the ground if not for Bell catching her.
"What…?" She said, sounding very weak.
"Hang in there!" Bell told her as he turned his attention from her. "Lily, potion!"
"R-Right!" The Pallum replied, taking out a bottle of potion from her giant bag.
"N-No…" Mikoto protested. "There's…no…"
"Listen!" Okita stated. "Drink the potion so that you can recover. If not, we couldn't know what happened to you."
Accepting the order, the adventurer of Takemikazuchi Familia accepted the bottle and drank it as quickly as she could. It took her for a while to recover. Once she did, Bell let her go so that she could stand up on her own.
"T-Thank you…" She said. "A-Anyway, we don't have time! We must…!"
"Hey!" Saber stopped her. "We need to know what happened."
"R-Right! Our party. It's ambushed by monsters!" Mikoto told them. "We…we are unable to hold them and Chigusa – one of us – is heavily injured. I was sent her by my captain to ask for reinforcement."
"Then let's go with haste. Lead the way!"
With that, the objective of Hestia Familia plus Welf was changed; they were now heading into the Dungeon to rescue the "children" of their goddess' friend. As they headed deeper, Bell couldn't help but having a terrible feeling in his heart.
He could only hope that they were not too late.
Answers to some reviews:
Marshall Cross Marian: None at the moment. So far, Hestia Familia has no reason interacting with the Loki Familia beyond Ais sometimes seeing Bell training, especially considering the conflict between the two goddesses.
Taijutsu: Not really. The concept of demigod, which doesn't exist in Danmachi, means that Cú is an unknown being. The closest thing to describe it using Danmachi term is that he's someone who has a falna from the moment of his conception and at such a high amount.
So, there would be no trouble for him to go to the Dungeon.
poopheadpyro: I am still undecided about extra classes.
Harouki: Ah, from the writer of the story that inspires me! I am honored!
Anyway, yeah, you're right. Summoning Servant is quite fun to write and I can't wait to do that again. Though as you said, the pacing and character build-up would be affected.
Thanos Cradik: Of course ;)
Chaldea: Come on, I am sure the answer is obvious
If you have a question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.
Review, please!
