Bell Cranel never once questioned his life of how the world truly works until the day he died from a Minotaur in the Dungeon before meeting a strange man who made him question his goals. Yet death was not his end but another journey. Years later after his resurrection and finally completed his task, Bell found himself back where it all started on that fateful day. So what is his plan now that he is back home? Become this world hero? Nay become Elden Lord in this brave new world.
Hello my fellow readers, I apologize for posting this chapter late. I originally was planning to post this on August. However, in the beginning of the month I was feeling sick and later I found out I was tested positive for COVID. Wasn't fun at all. Nevertheless, I managed to recover from it.
Also It's going to be a bit tricky for me to post stories now instead of two or more months. Reason? Life and job were other reasons I couldn't post chapter 3 in September. But it doesn't mean I'll stop writing. It'll just mean it will take time for me to write in my free time and have beta readers check my spelling or grammar. So just be patient and again thank you all for taking the time to read what I write.
SmugyBoy - Thank you for telling me about the website. I really appreciated it; it'll help me in the long run.
GoldenFire 215 - I never thought of having the cast of Danmachi reading/watching Bell's journey through the Land Between. It would be interesting to write about, but it might be difficult for me due to life and work.
Again thank you all for your feedback on the reviews. It always helps me to improve both the story and my writing is always appreciated.
I do not own Danmachi/Is it wrong to pick up a Girl in a Dungeon, Elden Ring, any minor From Software Inc., and other franchise's material that I used in my story. They belong to their rightful owners and publishers. The only thing that I do own is my OC (Own Characters). Other than that, let the story begin. Rated M.
Flashback would be all italicized.
Short flashbacks would be all italicized and bold.
'Thoughts would be italicized with apostrophes.'
"Speaking would be a quotation."
"Demonic/ Otherworldly beings / Celestials will be in bold."
Chapter 3 One hell of a night
Two Hours before the confrontation between Bell and Bete.
After a hard day of work for Loki and her rascals, it was exhausting. Filling out the paperwork of what the explore team went through and the floor they stopped before returning back home was tiresome. Luckily no one was fatally injured; just some scratches and old wounds. With a bit of spit and healing potions, everyone should make a full recovery this week.
The only problem was that her children accidentally caused a Monster Raid to run up to the upper floors. Yet the major problem was a bloody pack of minotaur that fled up top. Luckily, no one was killed from the Monster Raid, so yeah. Unfortunately, that was a major no-no to the Adventure Guild, which forced the Loki Familia to pay the penalty fee for causing this bloody miss, so not yeah.
So as of now, the Loki Familia are kind of broke at the moment, but hey, they will bounce back from this.
But for now, after filling out every kind of bullshit paperwork and reports, it was time for the trickster and her kids to head out for dinner at their favorite place to eat, the Hostess of Fertility.
Once they all sat at their usual spot, they began to order, and as usual, Loki tried to sit next to her cute and adorable Ais to try to get a feel for her. Only to receive a fork to the face. Was it painful? Yes. Yes, it was. Was it worth it? Most differently, it was.
Sadly her party pooper mama had to spoil her fun, which Loki called her only to receive a 'STOP CALLING ME THAT' shout later; for Loki, it was so worth it.
"Can't wait to get some food in my belly. I'm starving here." said Raul as he finished his order.
"Ditto here, Raul. What about all you guys?" Anakitty replayed to everyone, which she gained by a nod or 'yes' from her members.
With their orders ready and the waitress writing down their orders, another waitress came by to drop off their drinks. While the party was chatting, Tiona noticed their young elf member was looking down.
"Hay, Lefiya. What's wrong? Are you still down about what happened a couple days ago?" Tiona asked Lefiya, which caused the rest of the familia to look at her.
"I feel like I wasn't strong enough in helping to bring down that mysterious monster caterpillar or whatever it was." Lefiya said, remembering that enormous creature. Even with her powerful spell, it wasn't enough to kill it.
"Don't talk like that, Lefiya. You helped us tremendously in fighting that bug." Tiona said, being honest to her fellow peers.
"It's true what my young twin said, Lefiya." Tione told her young elf friend as she continued. "You may not have caused a lot of damage, but you managed to pin it down for us to finish it off."
"She's right. You bought us lots of time for us to move our injured comrades." Raul said bring up a valid point.
"They're both right. You even help us annihilate those buggers' offspring with your spells. So give yourself a break and take in the praise, you know." Anakitty pointed out with a cheery smile for putting in her two cents.
"Lefiya." Lefiya heard a soft voice as she turned towards Ais, whom she idolized and looked up to, and with said idol continued. "They're right. Even though you need time to cast your spell to slay those strange monsters. You succeed where it counts. So, in the end, you did a good job back there." Hearing her idol, a woman of few words, was praising her, brought a smile to her face.
*SLAM*
Before Lefiya could be motivated by her teammates cheering her on, a loud sound from a mug struck the table, causing everyone sitting at the table, and even the customers to turn their heads toward the perpetrator.
Bete, the 'Vanargand' of the Loki Familia, was the cause of the noise as he gave a harsh glare at Lefiya, who flinched. "Just because you had helped to kill some monster doesn't make you strong!" Bete argued while receiving a refill from a waitress as he continued. "In fact, relying on others only shows you how weak you are, especially if you can't even beat the weaker monster that the dungeon spits out!" Bete stated out loud towards Lefiya.
As Bete drank his beer, he ignored Riveria's frown at him. At the same time, Finn pinched his nose in frustration, Gareth's disappointed expression at Bete's behavior, and Loki being Loki. He began his creed of insult to not only Lefiya but to those who were also listening. "This is even more so on other people who are weaker in general! If they can't even fight off monsters, their only option is to flee! Then they are fucken losers!"
Bete shouted, his voice to be heard by his low-level elf member and by the rest of the inn to hear it. Some of the customers felt slightly uncomfortable, while others felt self-loathing and doubted their skills.
Lefiya felt hurt the most as she looked down with an expression of sorrow, her elven ears pointing down, mirroring her expression. As Tonia came to comfort her teammate, she gave Bete a heated glare for saying such things to her friend.
"Oi Lass, that's enough out of you." Gareth sternly warns Bete to stop his ego rising, only to get a snort out of their werewolf member.
"If they died in the dungeon, it should tell them that they were weak and unfit for being strong. After all, the strong live, and the weak perish!" Beta claimed before finishing his mug with one gulp. "Weakling just gets in the way of the strong!"
"Enough, Bete!" Riveria shouted at him with a heated glare. Her patient was running thin with Bete bad-mouthing her apprentice. But also disapprove of how he disrespects the dead. She looked at her goddess to do something, but all she saw was her drinking her drink, not caring. However, a closer look at her closed eyes tells a different tale that only Loki's top children can see and understand.
"What, it is the truth?" Bete questioned Riveria, which brought back her attention to him. " Look what happened to those other adventures that abandoned that lone loser after the Monster Raid yesterday."
Raul actually winces at that. Bete hit a sore spot as Raul remembered his past before joining his current familia. Before he could think back to his past, he felt a hard squeeze on his shoulder and looked towards Anakitty, who was lending him some comforter.
Tione, on the other hand, was looking at Bete with murder for his previous statement. Remembering her and her twin formal home. Remembering her past childhood. Remembering the coliseum to please her ex-goddess. Remembering the day she…
"Probably abandoned the person because they were so bloody weak that they didn't want to be dragged down to an early grave. Ha, it's the person's fault for being weak, to begin with." Bete said, getting Tione out of her dark thoughts of her past.
No one on the table noticed this, but the captains, their goddess, and Ais saw a demi-sheep girl flee the inn. Riveria let out a sad sigh seeing this, with both Finn and Gareth letting out a disappointed expression towards Bete. As for Loki, it wasn't her problem if the mortal decided to do something rash. It was all on the demi-sheep girl's fault if she decided to do something foolish.
Ais, on the other hand, didn't know how to feel about it. She was known by her peers and even other adventurers to be an airhead at times. But in truth, it was hard to express her emotions because of her past trauma that still affects her to this day. The only one who knows of her past is her goddess and the captains. They have been protecting her past from other deities and Evilus. Nevertheless, she knows deep down Bete went too far but doesn't know how to solve it.
Not knowing what to do, Ais decided to look around to keep her mind off it. As she looked around, her thoughts went back to yesterday's incidents. With the Monster Raid and the strange white hair teen. When she finally reached her destination, hoping it wasn't too late when she heard the fighting. Only to be soaked in minotaur blood and see the massacre caused by one lone adventure. When she returned with Tiona to her parties and told them what happened. They asked who it was, and all she could say was that it was a lone adventure with white air and crimson eyes like a white rabbit.
'How did he do it? How was he so strong?' Ais thought to herself, wanting to know how he did. She needed to know because she needed power. Power to avenge her father. Power to save her mother from that wretched black dragon that took everything from her,
Looking around, her eyes land on a particular teen, an azure nomadic warrior teen.
The warrior gear was fascinating to her with its unique design, and the weapons he carried looked well cared for. But the twin blades on his waist look to be made out of gold. Wasn't gold a poor material to use to smith weapons?
As Ais was trying to gain a better look at the warrior, she saw him turn his head, allowing her to see his face. When she saw his face, she was surprised to see who it was. It was the same teen from yesterday that killed all those minotaurs. She could never forget his crimson eyes, even if his head cloth covered one of his eyes. His eye holds that of a warrior.
As she looked at the warrior, wondering how he was able to slaughter the minotaurs without breaking a sweat. She heard the table bang and turned her head to see who had done it.
Riveria slammed the table while standing up and looking at Bete, finally having enough of his creed being flung around. Their familia were exhausted from their exploration in the dungeon's lower floors. "Bete, that is enough! This conversation is over! Silent your tonged Bete, or god help me. I'll drill you to the ground from training! Be silent, and let us all enjoy the food." Riveria shouted at Bete before turning towards customers and bowing to them to apologize for her member's rudeness.
See, Bete lets out a grunt of annoyance before setting down and taking another drink.
Only for Tione to snatch it from him with a stern look. "No more drinking from you, Bete. I don't want you gripping anymore because you're not sober."
"You little-"
"Say it! I dare you…."
"Both of you! Lass and Lassie, that is enough." Gareth glared sternly at them, with Bete and Tione sitting down but still giving out a heated glare to each other.
Seeing the conflict finally resolved, Ais looked back at the warrior. Wanting to know more about him.
"I see Bell caught your attention, nya?" She heard a voice; she looked up to see the waitress, Anya, a cat people who had been serving their table, said.
"Bell? Bell is his name?" Ais asked with a tilt of her head.
"That's right, Bell Cranel, nya." Anya said with a nod of her head.
"Wait, Ais, you've been looking at a boy!?" Tonia shouted in surprise. Getting the whole familia's attention.
Seeing how this might get them the wrong idea, Ais clarified the situation. "It's nothing like that. I wanted to know more about the person who slayed all those minotaurs that we accidentally escaped."
"Dammit, Ais. Not this bullshit again." Bete slapped his hand on his face before looking at his member. "I don't buy it. That some solo adventure killed off all those monsters and not you. So tell me the bloody truth that it was you! And not some low-level adventurer that did it!"
She looked up at Bete with a tired sigh and pointed at the azure warrior. " I'm telling you the truth, Bete. If you don't believe me, then ask him yourself. I believe his name is Bell, and he is right over there."
"HHHHUUUUUUHHHHH!?"
The whole Loki Familia looked where Ais was pointing at, and lo and behold. Bell was sitting at the bar chatting with Mama Mia.
Before anyone could process this, Bete stood up and stomped towards Bell to gain answers.
"God dammit, Bete…." Tione facepalms herself for her drunken idiot member, getting them into another mess.
"Ah, shit, here we go again." Raul said with a tired sign.
"Bete ge-" Riveria was about to shout but was stopped by her fellow captain Finn. Looking at her fellow captain as to why he stopped her only to receive one word, 'info.' Remembering when they were filling out reports, one of them was how Ais described a lone adventure. Who had singlehandedly massacred a pack of minotaur from reaching the surface and later learned that said person saved other adventurers in the process. Wanting to learn more about this new player. Is he a higher-level adventure? Is he from another familia? Can he be recruited into their familia?
Information is key; right now, they lack information about this person. Looking at her goddess, who was also paying close attention to what was about to happen. Thus with a tired sigh, Riveria quietly sat down to wait and see how this played out. As she, her fellow captains, and Loki let it play out to gain more information about this azure nomadic warrior.
Riveria just prayed that it doesn't escalate any further.
"Oi! You, seating at the bar!" Bete yelled at Bell in a demanding way as he walked towards him. "I want a word with you."
"Mm? Were you talking to me?" Bell replied with a tilted head as his hand pointed at himself.
"Yes, you! Who do you think I was talking to!?"
Bell's only response was shrugging his shoulder in an 'I don't know motion,' getting Bete's left eye twitching in annoyance.
"ENOUGH!" Bete shouted, getting everyone's attention before he continued. "Are you Bell?"
"Yes."
Bete narrowed his eyes, measuring Bell. "Are you responsible for slaying all those minotaurs in the upper levels?" Bete said, gaining everyone's attention. They were listening to this with surprise by Bete's question about the monster raid yesterday. There were big rumors that a lone adventurer had single-handedly slaughtered a horde of minotaur. Allowing other lower-level adventurers to live another day. Nobody knows who the person was, but only a level 5 or higher could have done it without breaking a sweat. Yet no name had been announced as of yet, until now.
"Who knows? Maybe I did, or maybe I didn't." The red-eyed nomadic warrior said with a tilt of his head as he rested his back on the bar.
"DON'T FUCK WITH ME! TELL ME! DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT SLAY THOSE MONSTERS!? YES OR NO!?"
"…What are you really here for, Bete Loga?" Bell asked with an emotionless expression, throwing off everyone except Mama Mia with how calm Bell was against the raging werewolf.
"Ah, you know who I am then." Bete laughed before his expression became serious. "Then let's get this over with. Did you massacre those minotaurs in the dungeon in order to save those losers?"
"Losers? By chance, are you calling those lower-level adventurers losers for just fleeing to live another day?"
"Who else do you think I was calling losers!?" Bete shouted in anger at his question being avoided by another question.
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why call them losers when the odds were against them, and the only option was to flee so they could live." Bell said as he stared at Bete's eyes as if trying to grasp Bete's principle. "Because I feel like there's something more to this than just the monster raid. More to why you called them losers in the first place. The question is, why?"
Bete was getting more impatient but decided to answer Bell's question. "Listen here, you little shit. I'll be generous with you and answer your damn question on why those adventurers who fled are losers. It's because of my belief."
"Your belief?"
"My belief in this world, of the strong! Those with power can dictate how they choose their life, and those who are weak are trampled by the strong, with no one to blame but themselves for being damn weak. In a world where the strong thrive and the weak perish. If one can not be strong and die in this survival of the fittest world, they are better off being looked down upon or, better yet, forgotten." Bete stated his creed for the inn to hear. Some of the lower-level customers felt uncomfortable, while other higher-level adventurers who only thought of themselves nodded in Bete's creed. While some high-level adventurers didn't agree but didn't dare to comment on Bete. The waitresses in the inn gave Bete a disdainful look, while Mama Mia had a poker face. The Loki Familia had mixed emotions; some let out a tired sigh as if they had heard this a hundred times. Tiona gave Bete a death glare, and Ais blank face remained unchanged. The captains closely listened to the conversation, and finally, the goddess Loki drank her beer. However, upon closer look, she was actually listening to their conversation.
As for Bell, he said nothing, just stared at Bete for a while until finally, Bell spoke. "I see, then what you're saying is that the strong live and the weak perish, right? Might makes right, and the weak are devoured by the strong. That the dead should be looked down upon by the strong. Is that your creed?"
"Bloody right it is!"
What happened next threw everyone in the inn, including Bete, off as Bell went into full-blown mad laughter.
"I see," Bell said while trying to control his laughter. "So those who died should be looked down upon for being weak, right?"
"Finally, someone here is getting it!"
"In that case, your nomadic clan must truly be weak and pathetic for being slain by the massive monster, right?" Bell laughed again with a mad grin, shocking everyone in the inn with what he said.
"…!"
"I mean, you've survived the beast onslaught, and your clan didn't. By your own creed, your clan was too weak to survive in this dog-eat-dog world. In which case, they are beneath you or any higher-ranking adventurers, no?"
"…!"
Everyone was silent as they listened to what the lone warrior was saying to the 'level 5' werewolf of the Loki Familia, having his own creed used against him right to his face.
As for Betes Familia, they were surprised to hear this from a stranger no less. The younger Loki Familia members were surprised that Bete was from a nomadic clan but were all killed off by a monster. But to hear this from a stranger using Bete's own creed against him. They don't know how to react to this. The captains planned to learn more about this Bell character, but instead, it had backfired spectacularly. They were about to step in, but their goddess stopped them and let this continue. They questioned her at first, but she is giving them an 'I'll explain later' look, so they allow it for now and continue hearing this in hopes of learning more about this stranger and Bete's past.
"I guess in a world where the strong thrive and the weak perish, where would that leave your dear family? Your clan chief was your father, who was supposed to lead and protect the clan's well-being, yet he couldn't save the pack? Your mother, who couldn't protect herself or even your older sister from the beast that ripped them to shreds? But must impartially…." Bell got up from his seat and walked towards Bete, whose grin was gone, and his hair shadowed his eyes.
"In your own creed, where does your precious, delicate, younger twin sister fit into this world pecking order, B-e-t-e?" Bell finished with a mocking tone.
Without another word, Bell sidesteps to his left, with the bar table being the first casualty of the mad wolf that was now out for blood, white rabbit blood.
"What did the poor table ever do to you?" Bell said with an innocent mock reply as he again dodged another punch from Bete, who was now seeing red. Bell constantly dodged a barrage of punches as he led Bete outside the inn to avoid collateral damage.
"Come on, Bete? What did I say wrong? All I said was in your own creed that the strong live and the weak perish to be forgotten?" Bell kept mocking Bete as he both dodged and asked him questions about what he did wrong.
"HOLD THE FUCK STILL AND DIE! YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Bete shouted in fury as he tried to hit the bastard in front of him. Yet the little shit keeps on dodging him!
"How about no!?" Bell shouted as he finally took action by parrying Bete's right punch before he uppercut Bete in the chin. Causing Bete to take a step back to shake off the pain he felt on his chin while giving his hated glare at the nomadic warrior walking casually towards him.
"YOU ARE FUCKING DEAD!" Bete shouted, charging with blind rage at Bell. When Bete was in range, he let out a barrage of fist strikes only for Bell to maneuver them. Within a moment, Bell would block Bete's strikes only for the said attacker to receive retaliation of punches and kicks.
Bete threw a haymaker at Bell only for him to duck under the strike before he grabbed Betes head with both hands and brought up a knee strike into Bete's face. Holding back a scream of pain from the knee strike, Bete didn't have enough time to react to Bell kicking him on the stomach causing Bete to flung across the ground hard. As Bete hit the ground a third time, he righted himself and landed on his feet, crouching down and looking up at Bell with unbound fury. Without any thought of his own safety, he charged in, mad to begin his assault.
Bete jumped in the air and brought down an axe-kick toward his prey. At the last second, Bell dodged the kick by rolling away from it.
A second later, a crater was formed, after which Bete turned his whole body and bolted towards Bell with a right hook punch. Only for Bell to duck under the strike did he bring an uppercut to Bete. However, Bete caught it with his free hand and turned his whole body to throw Bell over his body.
As Bell soared midair, Bete dashed towards him with a jump kick. With no option, Bell brought up both his arms to block it.
Soon enough, the kick of the forces sent Bell across the ground hard before he right himself upward to see Bete was upon him with a haymaker.
Waiting for the right moment to strike, Bell saw it as he parried Bete haymaker. Then followed up with two powerful punches to his opponent's abdomen, causing Bete to let loose a grasp of air.
Bell did a sweep kick without missing a beat, knocking Bete off his feet only for him to roll out of the way from an axe-kick.
Righting himself up quickly, Bete jumped at Bell with a spin-kick only for Bell to block it. Not allowing any time for Bell to grab his leg. Bete brought it back and followed up with multiple jabs.
Bell brought up his arms to block them, but one got through and hit him. Fortunately, his chest plate absorbed the blow, which allowed Bell an opening.
Rolling his left arm around Bete, right armed, he trapped Bete from escaping. Before Bete can react, Bell viciously jabs Bete multiple times on his stomach and face.
Bell turned his whole body with great force and tossed Bete hard on the ground. Bete coughed up blood from the impact, and on instinct, he rolled away just in time for a punch hitting the ground.
'How!?' Bete thought, righting himself up quickly while wiping the blood off his mouth. With great resolve, he charged at Bell.
He should be at a lower level, right? Then how is this fucker still standing from his attacks? Any lower-level adventurers should be out for good. And yet?
Bete did a low right jab, which made Bell block it with both hands. Only for Bell to receive a sucker punch to his face. However, Bell didn't flinch in the slightest.
Bell brought up a front left kick against Bete, who saw this coming and caught it with both hands, not realizing it was what Bell wanted. Without missing a beat, Bell did a spinning right jump kick toward Bete's head. Getting stuck as Bete was flung to the ground. Bete raised his hand on the ground and flipped to land on his feet. Looking up at his opponent, he charged at him with another fury of jabs.
Bete did two jabs only to have them dodged by Bell. Leading him to be wide open for Bell to counterattack him by bringing up his leg for a powerful kick.
Bete raised his hand to block the stick only to be pushed back from a front kick by Bell, who stood his ground.
Shaking the pain off his arms, Bete gave a deadly glare at Bell, who was no longer smirking. No, that wasn't accurate at all. He was never smirking when the whole battle began. He was showing no emotion whatsoever. However, his eyes tell a different tale. That bastard's eyes was looking down upon him! With disappointment and pity? HOW DARE HE!?
Gripping his fists, he lunged at Bell with fury. "YOUR FUCKEN EYE. HOW DARE YOU LOOK DOWN AT ME, YOU LITTLE SHIT! YOU ARE FUCKEN DEAD! YOU HEAR ME! YOU PIECE OF SHIT! DIIIIIEEEEE!"
The two combatants continued their fight, ignoring everything outside around them as they drew out a crowd of the inn customers and bystanders alike.
Mia's waitresses watched in amazement as they saw Loki's Vanargand getting decimated by Syr's guest. Some of them took great pleasure in seeing Bete taken down a peg. Syr, in the beginning, was worried for Bell's safety when he picked a fight with Bete of all people. Yet now her worries turned to awe as she saw Bell going toe to toe against Bete, who specializes in close combat.
For the Loki Familia, the younger members were shocked at how things went drastically wrong from Bete getting his answer from the blue nomadic warrior. Bete's creed of the strong strive and weak perish with the dead be looked down upon, with said creed used against him, and finally, a full-on brawl with their werewolf member out for blood. Only to be receiving a beating of a lifetime.
As for the captains who let this situation get out of control by trying to gain information from the nomadic warrior, only to backfire on them. Feeling responsible for this whole mess, Finn and Riveria, with the help of their other captain, Gareth, were about to step in to stop this fight from escalating. They were stopped by the head inn owner, Mama Mia, who gave them a stern glance.
"Let them fight. Bete brought this upon himself."
Anakitty who heard this shouted at the inn owner, "WHAT ARE YOU MAD?! WHAT HAPPENS IF BETE ACTUALLY KILLS HIM! OR WORSE, THE NOMADIC HAS WEAPONS ON HIM IF HE DECIDED TO U-"
"If you haven't noticed, girl. Bell had every option to use his weapons to defend himself, but instead is only using his bare hands or kicks against that idiot wolf of yours." Mia said, getting the other Loki members to realize she was right. At any time the moment Bete had the intent to kill the nomadic warrior, he could have retaliated with deadly force. But instead uses his fists and kicks with nonlethal force. Before they could ponder this further, Mia continued, "Besides, Bete had this coming for a long time! I had enough of his bitchin and 'gripping of his creed. He needed a reality check."
"But this was our fau-" Riveria tide to protest, hoping for Mia to see reason. But alas, she was interrupted by Mia.
"And whose fault was it to poke a sleeping drake, Mmmm?"
"…"
"Loki, let them fight this out, or otherwise I'm banning you from my inn, you got that!? And don't you dare worm your way out of this time! I know it was you that took my wine bottles, you little shit!" Mia said, giving a death glare to Loki, who was calm on the outside but was sweating like a pig on the inside.
Loki looked at her children with a defeated sigh, telling them not to interfere and let the two combatants finish their fight. With no other option, they reluctantly watch. However, if the captains couldn't stop the conflict, they decided to study the nomadic warrior skill instead and hopefully gain something out of this for later use.
As the two combatants clashed into a deadlock, Bete was growling murder while Bell looked at him with pity.
"She loves to stargaze on top of high places with you." Bell said quietly, for only Bete to hear it. Bete froze from hearing that.
'No, that couldn't be!' Before he could react, he was sucker punched in the face. This caused him to return to reality and charge at Bell, but his hatred wavered.
As they traded blows, mostly Bell evading or parrying Bete's attacks, he finally snapped. There was no way this bastard knew about him or his twin sister. He was trying to get inside his head.
"YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ME OR M-"
"Your youngest twin has a birthmark shape of the crescent moon on her left back shoulder." Bell interrupted Bete, shouting.
This finally causes Bete to freeze as he slips his guard down for Bell to deliver a decisive knockout blow. Bringing both his fist back, Bell performs a devastating pouch toward Bete's stomach, causing him to sail toward the wall of a building. Causing the wall to form spider-like web cracks on the wall. Bete slid down on his ass with exhaustion from the fight, but luckily he was still conscious.
Bell walked towards Bete's prune form and grabbed him forcefully by his jacket with a stern face, "Listen here, Bete Loga! Don't you ever talk shit about anyone being weak, you want to know why? It is because we were all at one-point weak in our life. We learn from those mistakes by fighting smart, knowing when to fight or to fall back to fight another day." Bell stated at Bete as he continued. "Not only that, but gaining aid or lending a hand to others is not weakness but strength. It is strength to know when one needs help to surpass obstacles or even gain newfound power and acknowledge one's self-weakness to one day surpass it. After all, those strangers we barely meet may one day become our greatest companions in our dire time of need. And if you think you can solve your inner demon on your own, then you're digging yourself a shallow grave."
"Another thing, Bete. Don't you ever dare talk shit about the dead, whether they were weak or not. It's true that the world is a cruel mistress and that anything can happen. The simplest of things can still fail even the strongest of people, while a weak person from birth can overcome trials that would break any man or woman. So don't talk shit about the dead if you don't want people to talk shit about your dearly deceased family and clan! They all deserved peace in the afterlife, not looked down upon. Got it, Bete!?" Bell shouted at Bete to get his message across into his thick skull.
"And one last thing, Bete…." Bell said with remorse as he got close to Bete's ears and whispered something to him.
"…"
"…!?"
Bell dropped Bete like a puppet whose strings were cut only to lie motionlessly. Seeing Bete loses his will to fight.
Bell nodded at his work; he knew it had to be done for both Bete and her sake wherever she was. Turning around, he had another thing to deal with.
"Loki, I apologize for beating your member, but he crossed the line and needed a reality check." Bell said to the goddess; as said goddess familia twin amazon, male human, elf girl, and the female cat people members ran towards their down member. The only ones that stayed were the captains, the blond girl, and the goddess herself.
Rubbing her head Loki replied. "Ma ma, I didn't like how it went down, but no harm was done. It was our fault for not stopping it from escalating in the first place. So our bad." Loki replied, and her other captains were showing signs of apologies.
"I see. Well, nevertheless, I want to thank you for your member returning my stuff and my steed to me." Bell said as he bowed to show his appreciation, but when he looked up, he got a confused look from the goddess herself, with her captains being confused too.
"What do you mean by thanking me?"
"I have a card with your symbol addressed to me." Bell said, handing Loki the card.
Sure enough, it threw Loki a curve ball as she saw her Familia symbol of a trickster. She read the letter and when she got to the name "Yours truly, Trusty Patches? Who the bloody hell is this Patches!?"
"So Patches is not a member of your Familia?" Bell said, tilting his head in confusion but deep inside, he knew the answer.
"No, he is not! Whoever this Patches is, is a piece of shit and a liar!" Loki said with full-blown anger. How dare this mortal use her Familia to smear her good images. When not 'if', when she gets her hand on that slimy bastard, oh, there will be hell to pay.
"Is she going to be ok?" Bell asked as he took a couple steps away from her for his own safety, and by the looks of it, Loki's captains were doing the same too.
"Don't worry about this; it has happened on rare occasions." Finn said with reassurance, yet his eyes tell another story.
"Do I dare ask?"
"No, for your own sanity, don't ask."
Bell nodded at the Pallum as he turned towards his destination; he paused as he saw the blond girl running towards her down member. Only to pause as he looked directly at her. They stared at each other, gauging each other until Bell finally spoke. "I apologize for spilling blood all over you yesterday down at the dungeon."
Ais stared at him for a while until she spoke back. "No. It was our fault for causing the whole monster raid. I should be thanking you for saving the lives of other adventures. And yet…" She paused as she looked down at Bete's prone forms. "I didn't like what you said to Bete. I don't think I can forgive you either…."
"Then don't." Bell said to her, surprising her until he continued on. "He needed a reality check that his creed is wrong. That it will only bring more misery to himself 'She wouldn't want that for him...'" Bell said quietly to himself, an afterthought of the person who saw him as another older brother.
Yet Ais heard it but was puzzled at first but realized he was staring at Bete with sympathy as the twin went to check up on him. Even though some members of her Familia sometimes called her an airhead. She is not as oblivious to some things; however, she could piece the puzzle together this time. The only thing she could only do was a nod to him before running towards Bete.
Seeing Ais running to her member Bell nodded before sprinting towards his second objective. As he ran, he brought up his fingers and whistled through the rings as he jumped in the air. Surprisingly, the people of the inn and some of the Loki Familia wondered why he did that until they were surprised as a steed materialized underneath him as he rode off into the night.
"Not gonna lie, Syr." Mia said with surprise at first, seeing Bell summoning a steed out of nowhere and riding off. She had a gut feeling of knowing where he was heading off to. As she walked up next to Syr, who was amazed, not knowing Bell's steed could do that until she turned around, feeling Mia's presence. "The kid has style." Mia finished with a grin.
Syr's only response was a nod as she replied. "He sure does, and I have a feeling he is going to bring some interesting times here." Syr finished off with her giggling.
When Ais reached Bete, he was still motionless as the twin tried to shake him out of his funk. When she kneeled down to look at Bete and asked him what was wrong. She stopped because when she looked into Bete's eyes. A wide range of emotions was displayed in his eyes; anger, sorrow, confusion, loss, and…hope?
"She also loves to stargaze on top of high places with you." For Bete, all he heard was the repeat of what Bell had said to him during the brawl. "Your youngest twin has a birthmark shape of the crescent moon on her left back shoulder." It couldn't be possible. Could it?
He saw her on that day. The day his whole world shattered. There was no way that person knew about him or her because on that day, he buried his youngest twin sister. "And her name is… Reene."
And yet… something deep down in him wants to believe. Is it possible? Could she even be "Reene…" All Bete could say as he looked up at the stars ignoring his members who were worried for him. If she was here now…saw what he had become…what would she think of him?
What has he become?
In the dungeon lower floors of the entrance, it was quiet with all the adventurers calling it a night and heading back home to their familia. The only activity is monsters crawling around the floors looking for prey or patrolling.
It was quiet…to quiet.
*SLASH*
*STAB*
*CRUNCH-STAB*
*SLASH*
A body hit the floor; a body of a live monster with its legs sliced off as it looked up with a snarl before a blade decapitated it. In one of the floors lies an opened chamber for monster parties to surprise unprepared adventurers. In said area lies dead monsters lying across dismembered body parts. With many magic stones indicating the monsters turned to ash, leaving behind their magic stones and monsters loot.
At the center of all this carnage was a lone person slaughtering them all with no self-preservation. The person was worn and tired from the constant fighting. With rips on their gear and with few slash and bite marks on their skin. Furthermore, the person was drenched in blood from either the monsters or their wounds bleeding.
A closer look at said person was actually a young woman, a young demi-sheep woman. Her sword was drenched in blood, showing the strain of breaking from all the continuing fighting. Looking around her, she could see that there were still more around her, with more pouring out of the entrances of the next floor, or emerging from the walls themselves, giving birth to more monsters.
Ready for another round, she let her guard down when a dungeon lizard carrying a crud blade sneaked behind and slashed her back. Holding back a scream of pain, she turned around and stabbed it through the heart.
*CRACKED-SHATTERED*
Her blade finally shattered into pieces. Seeing this, two goblins charged at her, yet not going down without a fight. She threw her broken hilt of a blade, which stabbed the leading goblin in the eye as it screamed in pain. With one out of the way, she picked up the crud blade and slashed the other goblin. This caused it to fall on its knee, and its head rolled off its body after its prey beheaded it.
Panting, she looked around, seeing them circling around her waiting for an opening or for her to finally collapse.
"This was all your fault that Mark was injured! If you had been more useful, this wouldn't have happened!"
She ducked as a kobold tried to launch at her, only to collide with its kin.
"Don't waste your breath on this pathetic loser. She is only useful in getting in our way or, at worst, gets us all killed."
*SLASHED*
Wanting to cry from the pain, she felt a goblin bite on her right arm before it was stabbed in the face.
"We're taking the valis to pay off our friend's medical bill. And don't even think of joining our gods familia. You are unworthy. Even the dwarf thinks you are unworthy of joining his gods too! He didn't care about you! He was just using you for his own entertainment!"
Finally losing all her strength, she collapses on her knees, too weak to get back up with both exhaustion and, most of all, self-doubt forming in her aching heart.
"Do the world a favor and die, you loser of my kin!"
...They were right. What was she thinking to come here in the dungeon in the first place?
To show them and herself that she wasn't useless, that she can stand on her own two legs?
Trying to stand up again only to-
"Weakling just gets in the way of the strong!"
Fall back down again. Was he right? Was Bete right about her?
"Probably abandoned the person because they were so bloody weak that they didn't want to be dragged down to an early grave. Ha, it's the person's fault for being weak, to begin with."
Yes…Yes, Bete was right about her. She was abandoned by her party members for being weak. Abandon for being useless to others. Her own home, which she and her family had helped for as long as she could remember, abandoned her. Everyone in her life had abandoned her!
Looking up wit tired eyes, she sees the monsters charging at her, ready to devour her. Soon tears filled her eyes. This world was so cruel, yet… the weak gets in the way of the strong… It would probably be better for her to die and be forgotten.
'Dad…mom… I'm coming home soon.' The demi-sheep thought to herself as she closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
*CRACKLING-BOOM-GALLOP-SLASH*
Hearing multiple noises, she slowly opened her eyes and what greeted her left her speechless. Multiple monsters were on the ground with electricity running across their remains. A couple of the monsters had been slashed in half, with light slowly engulfing their body. However, she noticed a shadow eclipsing her and slowly turned around. Behind her was an azure warrior riding a steed with a greatsword on his right hand while his left hand surged with lightning.
Sadly, exhaustion started to creep upon her. As her world began to fade into black, she saw the warrior turn towards her with a lone crimson eye filled with concern and relief, and then blissful oblivion came.
'I'm glad I made it just in time.' Bell thought to himself as he finally reached the dungeon's exit while carrying another passenger. The same demi-sheep girl who fled from the inn no thanks to Bete gripping. He was thankful for going to the dungeon to look for her first. Because in his heart, he knew that if it was his old self back then and was in her shoes. He would have done the same too.
Speaking of said demi-sheep, I looked down at her, and before she was a mess, with cuts and bite marks all over with most of her wear nearly torn to shreds. Except for her glasses which surprisingly survived. Luckily he has extra blankets inside the bags of Torrent he carries, and she is wrapped in them to protect her modesty. Nevertheless, thanks to his incantation healing spells, her wounds are healed and flawless of any scars..
Looking at her, she is soundly asleep, probably due to exhaustion from fighting all the monsters down at the dungeon. Bell felt thankful for being able to save a life here. While at the Land Between, he tried to save as many as possible, some being more successful than others. Yet he still regretted not being able to save the other. If only he saw the sign, if only he was fast enough, if only he wasn't naive back then, if only…
Feeling something knock him out of his negative thoughts, he saw Torrent trying to get him out of his sorrowful thoughts of his past.
"Thank you, my friend. I needed that." Bell said to his trusted steed that he petted his partners and received approval from said steed. However, a new problem arose.
What to do with their passenger? He had every intention to rescue her but now what?
'I'll think about it when we get back home.' Bell thought to himself
As they finally reached their home, Bell just realized a problem, how was he going to explain this?
Before Bell could think of a solution, the front door had opened up to a smiling Hestia. However, the moment she saw him and the passenger he was carrying warped up. She froze, and her smile went down for a bit until it returned.
"~ O Bell-Kun, what is this ~?"
Hestia's expression gave a smile. However, if her eyes had anything to say about it, it wasn't a warm smile.
"I can explain…I think."
Everything feels so sore right now. Is this what death felt like?
What was she even thinking of heading into the dungeon with her already fragile mindset back at the inn? Would killing all those monsters prove she wasn't worthless after all?
No, she failed to return, and her reward was a painful death. How pathetic, she couldn't even do that right, and the pain…
"…"
'No, wait, I can still feel it.' She thought and began to realize it wasn't the pain she was feeling but soreness throughout her body. Furthermore, she could feel that she was lying on something soft and something warm covering below her head.
As she slowly became aware of herself, she began to hear noises. At first, they were muffled. But as her senses started returning, she began to hear two vices. Two voices are having a conversation, with the leading voice sounding feminine, indicating it is a girl talking.
"-od thing out of this is that I don't have to thank Loki for finding your stuff and returning Torrent. Thank heaven for small miracles."
The Goddess Loki? Return what stuff? And what is a Torrent? What in heaven's name is going on?
She slowly woke up and heard the other voice, a male voice speaking in kindness.
"Ah, it looks like our guest is finally awake. Oh, and you might want this back too." The stranger said, handing her something. The moment she accepted the gesture, she reached out to grab it, only to realize it was her glasses.
Nodding a 'thank you,' she put them on while sitting upright, and her eyes finally opened. She was greeted by a small, no, a loli girl with big boobs wearing a short white dress, with twin ponytail hair flowing down her lower back. While the final person in the room was an azure nomadic warrior with one crimson eye. Who was staring at her with worry and kindness; however, staring into his face, he seemed familiar.
It took her a second to realize, but she remembered that at the dungeon at the last second, before the monsters could rip her to shreds, the stranger appeared to save her. He was also down there yesterday and saved her and her… formal party from hordes of minotaurs.
"It-its you!" The girl shouted in surprise to be rescued by the same person twice. "You're the same person from before and-and-."
Before she could say anything else, a finger was placed on her lips, and as she looked up, she saw the nomadic warrior smile. "Let's calm down for a bit, ok? Why don't we introduce each other first."
Her face was blushed red for forgetting that she was likely a guest here, for wherever here is after her blunder at the dungeon. "Right, my name is Daisy. Daisy Kelly." Daisy replied with a small smile to her rescuer.
"Nice to meet you, Daisy. My name is Bell Cranel. And this lady over here is…." Bell said, allowing the small girl to introduce herself.
"Hello, there, child. My name is Hestia. The goddess of the hearth, home, architect, and currently the head of my familia." The goddess said to the demi-sheep, and before she could say anything, Daisy was in a panic.
"YOU'RE A GODDESS! I'M TERRIBLY SO-" Daisy shouted in panic as she learned that the loli was actually a goddess. She tried to apologize, but Hestia stopped her from getting up. Hestia gently sat Daisy back down on the couch to avoid her from aggroing her injury.
"None of that, please. I may be a goddess, but I prefer you don't put me on a pedestal like most deities. Besides, my child and I are not doing so well financially." Hestia pointed out by spreading her arm out to show Daisy their rundown home.
"But we're getting back on our feet! With me working at a shop and my child going to the dungeon to ge-."
"*CAUGH* Hestia, I think you're getting off track." Bell said to Hestia with a smile.
"OH, right! Anyway, please just call me whatever you feel like as long as it comforts you."
"…Alright, Lady Hestia. Thank you..." Daisy trailed off, finally calming down.
Hestia nodded her head with a smile before her face became serious. Before Daisy could ask what was wrong or if she had offended her with something she did. What did she do?
"Why were you in the dungeon in the middle of the night in the first place?"
Daisy froze as she heard this, but before she could say anything, Hestia continued. "I heard from my child what happened at the inn, but I want to hear your side of the story? Why did you do something so recklessly? You could have died, you know?"
Daisy was hesitant to tell her- no, them about it; afraid to open up her bottled-up emotions. Until she felt her hands being held gently, she slowly looked up at Hestia, who gave her a concerned look. A concern look just like her… mother.
"Please let me help you Daisy." Hestia said with a gentle voice of concern.
Slowly Daisy started to open up about her past that she once lived in Altena. A country that is famous for its magic and academies that teaches students about magic, while living there with her parents, who once owned an apothecary shop that sold potions and medicinals for the people. It was a good life, spending time with her mother and father. Seeing the people's smiles after helping brought a smile to her. But those happy times came to an end when tragedy struck when her parents died from a horde of monsters attacking the town they lived in. With her parents dead and her home gone. She picked up what few things she had left and headed to Orario for a fresh start by joining a familia.
Only it wasn't as simple as she thought it would have been as she was denied by half of the familias here in the city. It only got worse when she was low on valis that she got desperate and she joined a party. That allowed her to join their party; until Hestia stopped her and asked her questionably.
"Wait, wait, wait, hold up a moment, Daisy. Did you join a party without a familia?" Getting a nod from said demi-sheep, Hestia panicked and shouted. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING! IT'S DANGEROUS TO GO IN THE DUNGEON WITHOUT A FAMILIA!"
Before Daisy could talk further, Bell stepped in. "Technically, what she did was legal. Adventures who have yet to join a deities familia can still join a party to see if said members are worth joining their gods or goddesses familia. Before bringing the new recruit to said deities to decide if they are worth joining their familia."
"Wait, really?" Hestia was surprised to hear this.
"Yes, really. Haven't you read the manual? It was mandatory for deities and new adventurers to read about dungeon crawling and adventure guides?" Bell asked surprisingly that Hestia hadn't heard of this.
"…"
"…Well, if you were able to party up with the other adventurers, you must have read the manual too, right Daisy?" Bell asked Daisy, only to see her head down; he could have sworn her cheeks were red.
"…"
"…Doesn't anyone read the manual anymore?"
"…"
"… Let's…Let's get back to the subject, alright." Hestia said with embarrassment, planning to read this manual in her free time when she gets the chance. Getting a nod from both parties, Hestia continued. "So which Familia party did you try to join, Daisy?"
"They said their familia was Soma." Daisy said that caused Hestia to make a sore face, which Bell caught right away.
"Do you know this god and his familia?"
"Yeah, I heard of Soma and his familia…." Hestia said with a tired sign getting both Bell's and Daisy's attention. "Soma Familias does dungeon crawling, but their main specialty is creating wine, which said wine is both popular and expensive."
"I'm hearing a 'but' coming along?" Bell asked and got a nod in return from Hestia.
"Those are just rumors, but the familia has done some questionable things, and if one of the rumors are true… they are willing to backstab anyone to gain Soma's wine even if Soma had stated that it was a failure." Hestia said as she looked up to see Bell with a poker face, but she could tell his eyes tell a different tale, while Daisy was shocked as she covered her mouth with her hands.
"Is there anything more you can tell us about Hestia?" Bell asked, wanting to know more about the Soma Familia if they ever cross paths and to be better prepared if conflict can't be avoided. Only to receive a shake of her head to confirm a negative answer. Inwardly cursing, his next course of action is to go to Hostess of Fertility Inn and ask Syr or Mama Mia for more information about the familia when he has the chance. Looking back at Daisy, he needed to know. Daisy, were are the four party members all from Soma?"
Getting out of her shock, Daisy shook her head. "No only three of them were from Soma Familia, an elf, a demi-sheep, and a pallum."
"And the last person was a dwarf if I remember correctly, right?"
"Yes, that is correct Bell. But… does that mean he is friends with the other three? Was he also using me like what the Soma party member said?" Daisy questioned, starting to believe that she was being used from the start.
"Daisy, focus. What was the dwarf's name or his familia?" Bell asked her, not wanting her to think of the worst-case scenario.
"I… I forgot his name with everything going on… But I do remember what he said about the familia he was from."
"Oh, what familia is he from, Daisy." Hestia stepped in and asked her.
"He said he's from the Miach Familia."
"Oh, then it's Garms." Hestia said with a sigh of relief.
"You know him?" Bell curiously asked.
"Of course, Bell-kun, I know hi-" Hestia paused for a second. Wait, how did she know him? In fact, how did she know Garms was from her friend familia? She only remembers that Miach had only one member left since the incident… 'No. That can't be right. Garms has been with them before the incident helping them pay off the debt, right?' Hestia thought, but every time she thought any further about it, her head started to hurt as if…
Closing her eyes shut and placing her hands on her head to soothe the pain. What is going on? Until she felt a hand on her head, rubbing her head to soothe the pain away. Slowly looking up, she saw her child with a concerned face.
"Hestia, are you alright?" Bell said, worried for her.
"I'm- I'm alright, Bell-kun. I just got a headache, that's all. Probably from overworking again." Hestia said with a smile sticking out her tongue with one eye closed to assure him she was all right. Getting a nod from Bell, he drops the subject and pulls his hand off her head to let her continue.
"As I was saying, I know Garms from my friend Miach of the Miach Familia, who specialize and sell medical and potions for both adventurers and locals alike." She said, but she could've sworn her child's eyes let up, but nevertheless, she continued. "And I know Grams pretty well, if he joined your party yesterday. Then he was likely to keep an eye out for you for your own safety in case if Soma's members tried anything funny."
"Then-then what they said about me and what Garms told them was a lie?" Daisy asked, hoping for the truth. Only to get a nod from the goddess, which allowed Daisy to let her shoulder fall down from all the anxiety she had and calm herself, knowing that what Soma members said was all a lie.
"I take it that he saw you joining them and tag along to keep you from harm's way but wouldn't they not allow Garms to join them for their own scheme?" Hestia asked the question.
"Could be multiple possibilities, but anything can happen in the dungeon. Just look at what happened yesterday. Need I say more?" Bell said at the end with a question, looking towards Hestia and Daisy only to receive a nod from both.
After pausing to get her thoughts together, Daisy continued her story by going into the dungeon with the party she joined. Then the whole monster raid happens and returns back to the surface. They all returned to the Adventurers Guild for medical aid for their injured member and turned in the magic crystal. While waiting, the remainder of Soma Familia blamed her for her incompetence and weakness. It got worse, saying they and the dwarf that told them believed she was a worthless loser and that she should go somewhere and die. Afterward, they left with all the valis leaving her broke. Taking their insult as truth, she didn't go see if Garms agreed with them or not. She needed to leave, which only got worse when she returned back to the inn she was staying at; her room was broken in with all her belongings stolen. When the manager saw this, instead of helping her, she was kicked out and never to return.
With nothing left, she wandered the city aimlessly with all her hope shattered. When she was at her lowest point, one of the waitresses, an elf working at the Hostess of Fertility, saw her and told her to come in. Saying it was on the house. Accepting the elf waitress' hospitality, she ordered her meal. Hopefully, seeing this sign that her life was starting to turn around. Only for Loki Familia to come in with Bete to bring about his creed was the last straw, and she fled. She ran into the dungeon hoping to prove that she wasn't useless, and fought the monsters on her own. Unfortunately, she became overwhelmed by the monsters, and fatigue began to kick in. She thought it was it for her until Bell came and saved her again.
"-and the rest is history as they say." Daisy said with a sad and defeated tone.
Hestia didn't know what to say after hearing about Daisy's life tragedy. It was heart-wrenching to hear Daisy trying to make a life only to have setback after setback. It wasn't right for Daisy to go through all those hardships only to receive nothing in return for all of her hard work. Before she could do anything else, she saw Torrent materialize behind Daisy and place his head on Daisy to comfort her. Only to receive an 'eep' of surprise, wondering where this horse came from.
"*Chuckles* Don't be scared, that's just my steed, Torrent. He wants to comfort you, and if I'm not mistaken, he's happy you were not harmed from both events in the dungeon." Bell said with a smile as he saw Daisy calming down as she began petting Torrent's head with a surprised and happy expression.
"I-I see. Thank you for your comfort." Daisy said with a smile, only to receive a lick from Torrent getting a giggle from Daisy in return.
"Anyway, Daisy." Bell said, getting Daisy attended. "Don't worry about what Bete said at the inn. In fact, ignore his philosophy or anything that came out of his mouth. I already took care of it."
"Took care of it?" Daisy said, tilting her head in confusion, still petting Torrent's head.
"Yes, everything has been taken care of. Hopefully, Bete will learn from this." Bell said with a reassuring smile towards her, gaining a small smile from the demi-sheep. "Well, in any case, I think it's time we all call it a night, ya?" Bell said, stretching out his limbs as he tried to fight off a yawn.
"Good idea, Bell-kun. But how is the sleeping arrangement going to work?" Hestia questions Bell with a thoughtful pose.
"Easy, you'll be sleeping on your bed. While Daisy can take the coach. As for me, I'll sleep on the floor with my sleeping bag." Bell stated as he took out the sleeping bag from Torrent's saddle and laid it down next to his trusted steed.
"What! But I could never-"
"No buts, Daisy! You just told us that you don't have anywhere to go, and the only things you have are the monster's magic stones and your ruined gear. As the goddess of the hearth but most importantly of all is home. And right now, you need a home, so please, Daisy, you can spend the night here. Allow your heart to heal, alright." Hestia said she walked up to Daisy and squeezed her shoulder to Comfort her.
Daisy's eyes began to water as she rubbed them as she replied to the goddess, "Than-thank you so much for your hospitality, lady Hestia."
"Not a problem, Daisy. In fact, you can stay here as long as you need for your heart to heal. Always remember this, no matter how difficult life throws at you, there is always a tomorrow that will bring a new dawn and hopefully bring in new opportunities for you. You just have to persevere, and I know one day you'll reach your dream, for whatever your dream is, Daisy." Hestia said in a motherly voice as she hugged Daisy, who finally broke down and clung to her as she cried out all her sorrow.
Bell smiled at his goddess for showing her caring side of her and assuring him that Hestia was well deserving of the titles she bears.
Soon enough, Daisy finally cried herself to sleep, with Hestia gently tucking the demi-sheep to sleep on the coach.
As she got up, she let out a sad sigh. "Her whole life has been a struggle from one tragedy to another. She was almost at the end of her rope when she arrived here. Hoping for a fresh start but only…." Hestia trailed off, not wanting to finish it.
Bell came over, placed his hand on Hestia's shoulder, and patted her with a smile. "Don't think about it, alright. It's in the past now, and all she can do is keep moving forward for a better tomorrow." Bell said to her with reassurance, with even Torrent nodding at what Bell pep talked.
Nodding her head, she smiled back at her first child. "Yeah, you're right, Bell-kun." Hestia said with her cheery self and hugged him.
Bell paid in kind and hugged Hestia back. They stayed there for a bet until they all called it a night. With Hestia sleeping on her bed and Bell lying on his sleeping bag. Next to his steed that had already fallen asleep. As Bell started to lie down, he looked back to Hestia and Daisy. While listening to Daisy's story, he felt she wasn't telling the whole story. Only half-truth, Hestia probably caught this too but didn't want to say anything to her. Instead, wanting to focus more on healing Daisy's broken heart was Hestia's top priority. Nevertheless, if Daisy is ever ready to tell them the whole truth, they'll wait for her when she is prepared. Until then, they'll wait until she is ready.
Once Bell laid down on his sleeping bag, he let slumber take over him. Soon enough, he dreamt of his past.
As the Hestia familia slept, Daisy slowly opened her eyes and stared at both the goddess and her hero. Before deciding what she was going to do tomorrow to repay their kindness. Soon she drifted off to slumber, and the church of the Hestia Familia slept blissfully for the night.
After the whole fiasco at the Hostess of Fertility Inn between Bete and the azure nomadic warrior known as Bell, they all headed back to their home Twilight Manor.
The moment they arrived home, Bete, without saying a single word, sensed his defeat against this azure warrior named Bell. Whatever that guy said to Bete before and after the brawl had rattled him up to the core. Some of Loki's familia members were worried when he didn't act his usual self as he just went straight to his room with a thousand-yard stare. The Twins and even Ais tried to get him to talk, but all they got was the silent treatment until finally, he spoke to them with a please leave him alone. Bete, one of their level five strongest who badmouths anyone weaker, hasn't earned his respect, and with some members saying Bete has a stick-up, his ass had used 'please.' Bete saying please does not work together. At first, Loki thought he was replaced by an imposter masquerading as Bete. To gain knowledge on where she hid her stash of wines until Riveria smacked her head to take it seriously. Nevertheless, Loki wanted to know more about what was wrong with Bete, but they would let him have his space for now.
After leaving their resident werewolf some space, the amazon twins and the young elf hanging out with the Sword Princess, Raul and Anakitty are calling a night with what they saw tonight back at the inn.
As of now, Loki and the three heads of her familia have pressing matters to deal with. They are in a conference room, planning to go over what they had learned at the inn.
"All right, before we get into anything about what we all learn from that dramatic event. I would like to point out one thing." Loki said, with all playfulness in her eyes gone, replaced with conviction. "Whatever you guys heard when the kid thanked me for returning his stuff by one of our members. I have never heard of or even recruited a guy named Patches."
"Maybe he was a past member who died or was separated while your familia and Finn explored the dungeon? After all, there are times you can be forgetful when drinking too much Soma's wine." Gareth thought aloud as he looked at Finn for a response ignoring his goddess's complaints of no trust in her whatsoever. Only for Finn to shake his head negatively.
"Not likely because I was Loki's first member in joining her Familia when I arrived here to Orario all those decades ago. Not only that, but I keep every record of our members in the vault. So I'm positive that Loki and myself had never recruited a person named Patches."
"So it likely the card was a forgery, masquerading as us. But for what reason and why?" Riveria asked, trying to figure out why give out false information? Before she could think any further, she gave a death glare at Loki not to bring up her ridiculous idea about stealing her wine stash. Getting her goddess to shut up gave her a sigh of relief. Until Loki opens her mouth again.
"…Or they could be hiding their true fraction," Loki stated calmly, leaving all her jokes aside.
"…You don't think it's… Evilus, do you?" Gareth said, pulling out a pipe to start smoking.
"The odds are slim, but we can't rule it out." Finn said with a stern face recalling the incident so long ago.
"Or it could be someone we piss off, and they are getting back at us by making us go on a wild goose chase." Gareth suggested as he puffed out smoke from his pipe.
"…That could be a possibility." Riveria said, rubbing her chin, knowing that they may have stepped on a few toes over the past decades. Until she remembers what the nomadic warrior said to her goddess. "We do have a lead. We just need to know how Patches is connected to this Bell person?"
Everyone paused and thought about what Riveria suggested as meaning to it. If this Bell person knows Patches and if the card had any indication, they both have a history. So it's a lead, at least.
"Well, with that settled, our next conversation on who should we talk about first, Bete or this Bell character?" Loki said as she sat down on a couch, glancing at her children.
"I believe we should talk about our current member, and we all know so little about. But now…" Riveria trailed off as she looked at her fellow captains.
"For starters, then…." Finn said, sitting on his chair while bringing his hand together. "…after the whole fiasco at the inn. We learned quite a lot about Bete's background that we didn't know."
Everyone was silent on that one because, truthfully, no one knew much about Bete. All they know was something happened to him as a kid, and he came to Orario to get stronger, and that's it. Even Loki knows so little about Betes' formal member of Vidarr Familia and Vidarr himself, who requested her to look after Bete. Even still, Vidarr didn't give her much about the lone wolf past until now.
"Was that the reason why you stopped us early? To gain more insight about our member Bete's past?" Riveria said to her goddess, with her fellow captain all looking at Loki. Wanting to know why Loki allowed it to escalate so much into a one-sided beat-down brawl.
"…Yes." Loki finally said as her shoulder was slummed down for a moment before continuing. "Betes' old familia, the Vidarr Familia. Vidarr asked me to look after Bete. But he didn't give me much to work with about Betes' past. Only that Bete was motivated to become stronger. However, with everything happening tonight, it was too much to pass up to learn more about Betes past."
"…I see." Riveria can understand Loki's reasoning because they learn a lot from this information about their werewolf member's past. "But I still didn't like how it came out. There could have been at least another way this could have been done."
"Right, right. I'll take full responsibility for this fuck up." Loki said sincerity, getting a nod from Riveria.
"Ok. We all cleared that mess up; now, let us all return to what we all learned. From what we gather from the whole mess, Bete was from a clan. Probably a nomadic clan of werewolves." Gareth said, recalling what he heard.
"That Bete father was the clan leader of the clan of Werewolf with a wife, older sister, and a younger twin sister." Riveria continued Gareth's thoughts, but her 'motherly hen,' as most of her familias like to call her, started to appear until the head captain continued her thoughts.
"Yet something likely happened to them. Likely dead if Bete's reaction had anything to say about it." Finn said with a grim afterthought before letting out a sigh. As much as their plan backfired to gain more information on this Bell character, they managed to get more info on Bete's past. Hopefully, they can figure out how to help him to cope with his inner demons. It will be an uphill battle with how much Bete keeps his cards close to his heart.
"Again, at least it is something to work with, unlike Vidarr, who gave me so little to work with. Nevertheless, my little minions as we work our heads to come up with ideas to help Bete with his inner demons. Let's start with the leads to our anonymous minotaur slayer." Loki said, getting all her captains to turn to her last subject of the night. "From the whole mess, we all saw what we get out of it?"
Finn started first as he named down what they learned. "His name is Bell Cranel."
"The lad has experience under his belt if the one-sided massacre didn't say anything about that." Gareth puffed out another smoke.
"He was down there yesterday when the whole Monster Raid happened." Riveria said with mixed feelings about being thankful for his assistance with the minotaurs. However, Bell's action tonight did bring a negative view of him in using Bete's creed against him and beating him up. But in the end, she didn't know if she should be thankful for whatever he said may have helped them in helping Bete to overcome his past problem. "Yet he knew Bete's clan and family if Bete's reaction is accurate, which I believe is."
"Don't forget that the Lad can also summon a steed out of thin air." Gareth pointed out, recalling how it was summoned by just whistling.
"That too." Riveria agreed with Gareth's observation back at the inn.
"Then was this Bell person telling the truth, Loki? About Patches and Bete life?" Finn asked his goddess, who, instead of replying right away. Sure this Bell straight up told Bete childhood, which they could use to help Bete. But was all of it true, or were some of it just to get Bete to throw the first punch?
Loki had her eyes closed thinking. It should have been easy to say yes or no. After all, gods and goddesses can tell if mortals are lying or not, and yet.
"I don't know." Loki finally answered, surprising them all.
"Wait, what do you mean you don't know?" Riveria asked in surprise.
"It means I don't know. I couldn't tell if this Bell was lying or telling the truth. Which, to be frank, astonished me." Loki dropped the bombshell on her three captains, and the room went silent. Allowing them to digest what they heard from their goddess. Coming up with ideas of how it was possible for this Bell
"Could it be that the Lad has an ability?" Gareth finally said out loud, getting everyone's attention.
"That is a possibility. Is that possible, Loki?" Riveria asked her goddess only to receive a shrug.
"It is possible, but mortals can gain abilities by either their personality or…."
"Great renown." Finn finished his goddess sentences.
"But to have an ability, one has to be from a Familia, which means." Riveria said logically because without joining a Familia from a god or goddess. One cannot gain ability in the first place.
"Bell is likely registered at the Adventure Guild." Finn said, feeling like they were getting a lead on this mysterious nomadic warrior to see who his deity was.
"But we have to be cautious too. For all we know, Bell could be an Evilus member. Probing the city defenses, or worse, trying to derail us from a bigger picture from behind the scenes…." Gareth said with a stern thought allowing his fellow captains and Loki to digest the idea of one possibility.
"Furthermore, This Bell character was able to keep up, if not brush off Bete attacks, while delivering decisive blows to Bete. Which Bete is no pushover." Finn said, getting nods from his fellow captains
"Then it's likely Bell is either at the same level as Bete with better status, or he is higher level then Bete." Riveria said, putting her thoughts out, gaining nothing but silence as they thought about what this meant in the long run.
"…Well, in any case, let's call this a rap tonight, folks, because it looks like we have some work to do tomorrow." Loki said, with everyone agreeing with her.
As Finn and Gareth picked up their things and exited the conference room, only Loki and Riveria were left. Riveria was about to get her staff and go to her room for rest. She and her goddess heard a knock on the door.
"Yo, who is it?" Loki said, chilling out in her seat.
Within seconds a guard came in with a wrapped container and an envelope. "Sorry for disturbing you, vise-captain and goddess, but I have a package for you, Loki."
"Oh? When did it arrive, and from who?" Loki asked, curious who would send a package at a time like this.
"This package arrived when you and the other went out for dinner. As from whom, the envelope is from Soma."
Without another thought, Loki was upon the guard to receive her gift with maddening eyes.
"Loki! Control yourself!"
"Hell no! My darling little mama!"
"Stop calling me that!
"No can do!"
"Think Loki, Think! Why would Soma send his most expensive wine to you!"
"I Don't know!? Maybe because he loves me!? HAHA, There you are, my precious!?" Loki shouted gleefully as she held it like her life depended on it.
"Read the letter! At least we don't know if it was Soma or one of his Familia members who sent it!"
"It's Soma wine, for crying out loud! Nothing can go wrong with Soma wine!"
Letting out a tired sigh of being ignored by her goddess yet again. She looked at the guard whose eyes were traumatized due to Loki's antics to get her bloody wine. Riveria took the card and opened it up to read the content. As she read the letter, she got to the end and paled as she read the name of who sent Loki the wine bottle.
"WAIT, LOKI DON-" Riveria shouted in a panic to stop her goddess from drinking the wine, fearing it was a trap. But alas, it was already too late. The moment Loki gulped the wine bottle down her throat was the moment she was going to learn the hard way.
At the Hostess of Fertility, everything was back to normal, with some calling it a night or still having room for supper. On the second floor overlooking the bar, a few people are seated up there, with one of the tables being used by one particular man. One particular bald man, who was enjoying his order while talking to one of the waitresses.
"My oh my, this is some fine beef and ale, my lovely kitty. Tell my regards to the chiefs and Mama Mai, would you love?" Said the bald man as he finished his drink only to get a refill by the waitress.
"Not a problem, Patches, nya." The waitress said after filling up his drink. "I have to say, the whole fiasco early was surprising, nya. I wonder where Syr found that Bell person, nya? "
"Sorry to say, Anya, but I can't spoil the fun." Patches said, getting a cute pout from Anya as he continued. "You just have to find out for yourself. After all, the white rabbit knows how to shake things up a notch, no?"
"YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
"What was that, nya!?" Anya shouted, flabbergasted as she rubbed her cat ears from the pain she heard, and if she was not mistaken, the whole inn, no, the entire city heard the scream of pain. By the sound of the scream, it almost sounded like…Loki?
"That, my dear lovely little kitten, was the sound of music to my ears." Patches said, snickering madly before turning around and below to the crowds who just recovered from the screaming they all heard and raised his drink. "Drinks on me tonight, fellas, haha haha HAHA HAHA HAHAHAHAHAHA." Patches laughing gleefully, he usually never paid the tab for everyone drinks; it wasn't in his nature. Still, he'll make an exception for this. After all, there could only be one trickster in this city.
No mortal noticed this, but all the deities in the lower world shivered, not knowing why but soon a shadow war would be waged against them. A prank shadow war waged by one bald man, Patches the Trickster of Deities, and it would be glorious. For the gods and goddess…not so much for them.
That's a wrap for chapter three and it looks like Loki was the first casualty of Patches prank shadow wars and sadly it looks like it won't be the last time for poor Loki. What do you readers think that Patches put in the Soma wine? Let me know your thoughts on the review LOL.
What were your thoughts on Bell vs. Bete fight? I wanted to make it interesting by giving Bete a chance to get a couple hits or kicks against Bell. Sadly for Bete, Bell was able to shrug off Bete's attack and dish out more strikes in return. Also, I thought Bell using Bete's own creed against him was a pretty good idea. What are your thoughts, my fellow readers?
Also, Bete's twin younger sister was Reene, not Luna. Like I said in the last chapter, chapter 2, I thought Reene was his twin sister but reading the manga and wiki stated that Reene was Bete's childhood friend/crush. While I thought Luna was his older sister by two years. So for the sake of my story, Reene is his twin younger sister, and Luna is his older sister or was his older sister. Just wanted to clarify with you all without getting you all confused.
Hope This chapter was great, and see you all next time!