Chapter 9: Sidequests
The next morning, after their usual spar, Bell led Lily and Archer to the Blue Pharmacy to restock on their spent potions.
"Good morning," Bell called out. "Is anyone here?"
"…Good morning…Bell," Naza's tired sounding voice appeared from behind the counter as per usual. "Here to restock?"
"Yes," Bell nodded. "We used up a lot yesterday. Oh and some more mind potions as well."
"Oh, good morning Bell."
As Naza pulled out a case of potions, a man with long blue hair wearing some rather patched and frayed robes stepped out from the back as well. The man had a presence similar to that of Hestia, meaning that he was also a god…most likely Miach himself.
"Good morning, Lord Miach!" Bell greeted with a quick bow as Lily and Archer did the same.
"So these must be the new members Hestia was telling me about," Miach said as he looked over Lily and Archer. "Please to meet you."
"Lily is honored to meet Lord Miach," Lily said.
"Likewise," Archer nodded.
"Take good care of Bell, all right?" Miach said with a friendly smile. "He's a good customer and Hestia particularly adores him so it'd break her heart if he got hurt."
"We noticed," Archer and Lily reply at the same time causing Bell to blush and squirm a bit.
"Here we go…" Naza said, as she packaged the potions. "Is this enough?"
"Yes, that is enough," Lily nodded as she held out the money to pay for them.
As she took the bag however…
"FU-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA, I'm coming in!"
The room shakes with a roar of laughter, and as the door is kicked off its hinges.
"You got my money for this month, Mii-ahh-chhh?"
A middle-age god with graying hair and a beard wearing a white robe with intricate gold embroidery appeared in the doorway. Behind him stood a shorter girl around 150cm tall wearing a white and blue uniform complete with a tiny hat on her head.
"Dian…!" Miach muttered with a rather bitter expression on his face.
"I dragged myself all the way out here 'cause you never showed up. Be grateful, you ruined beggar, bwahahahahahaha!" The other god let out another laugh.
In a bad way the god reminded Bell of Caster in the way he laughed arrogantly at seemingly everything…not that Bell would ever say that to the king's face.
"That's Dian Cecht…" Lily whispered to Bell who nodded in understanding.
"I see your shop is just as dusty as always! Gotta make this a quick visit, being here too long's gonna make me sick. Oh, I see misery loves company! Hosting some more beggars so you won't get lonely?" Dian Cecht asked as he glanced over toward the Hestia Familia before promptly dismissing them and turning back to Miach. "Well, Miach? Where's my money?"
"It's-" Miach began but was cut off with another laugh.
"Guess you still don't have it even after I gave you an extension after the last extension!" Dian Chet shouted. "But I'm all out of goodwill! Have the money by tomorrow or I'll take your home to cover your debt!"
With that, the older god let out another barking laugh, sending spit flying everywhere before leaving with his Familia member as abruptly as he appeared.
"Umm…what was that about?" Bell asked. "That was Lord Dian Cecht, right?"
"Yes…" Miach replied with a long sigh. "The two of us don't get along with each other even in Tenkai. It only got worse when we came down to the lower world and set up rival business but then…"
"…Then I ruined everything…" Naza jumped in when Miach's voice trailed off, prompting Bell and Lily to share a glance, recalling the rumor they discussed yesterday. "I also used to go into the Dungeon like all of you…until I messed up…got beaten by a monster…and had my right arm eaten by it."
Somewhere along the line, Archer had placed his hands on both Lily and Bell's shoulders. After hearing what happened to Naza…his grip tightened causing the two to wince a bit, prompting him to quickly ease up as Naza rolled up her right sleeve that was longer than her left, revealing a completely silver arm made of smooth metal that seemed to act just like a regular arm.
"A prosthetic," Archer noted and Naza nodded.
"Lord Miach got it for me after I lost my real one…it's from that Dian Cecht Familia. He practically begged them. Aside from selling potions, they also take custom orders from adventurers and make special items to help their customers. This airgetlám, or 'silver arm,' is one of them."
With a faint clicking noise, Naza flexes her steel arm and fingers to show them how it worked.
"…Is that why there are no other members here?" Lily asked, looking around the dark store.
"Yes…" Miach nodded. "Everyone left after I took out a loan for the arm. They had every right to since I didn't tell anyone about it and I didn't stop them. Only Naza stayed behind."
"Me and a massive loan…" Naza growled…her voice filled with self-loathing. "I can't even fight monsters anymore…I just freeze up so all I can do is help make potions after spending six years to reach Level 2 and getting the Synthesis Development Ability."
"EH!? You're Level 2?!" Bell shouted in surprise. "I never realized that…"
"As I said it doesn't matter…I can't fight monsters anymore so it's useless on me. Everything we owe to that stuck up moron is my fault…"
"Naza."
Naza looked like she was going to continue berating herself but Miach silenced her by simply calling out her name. A heavy silence fills the room as Bell turned around to look at Archer who was looking at the god with a hand on his chin.
"Then?" Archer asked. "What are you going to do now? From the sound of things this loan isn't something that one or two people can come up with overnight."
Bell wondered if Caster was able to help but it sounded as though he was done using his treasures for other people after what Hestia asked him to do. His knife still felt amazingly heavy after hearing its price tag.
"We…do have one idea…" Naza admitted as she and Miach shared a glance. "But you're right. It's impossible with just the two of us."
"I see…" Archer nodded as he picked up the bag of potions that had almost been left forgotten on the counter. "Then I hope you find a solution soon."
"Eh?"
Bell had thought that Archer had come up with a way to help them but it looked as though he had no idea what to do.
"By the way, Lily," Archer began. "Changing the subject for a moment. Is there any other way for Adventurers to make money quickly? I'm tired of relying on Caster's money for nearly everything. Like say does the Guild have bounties or something?"
Lily blinked a few times in confusion at the shift in topic before her eyes widened as she stared at Archer.
"Yes," she replied with a nod. "Sometimes people put out Quests to the guild. Basically, these are requests for Adventurers to keep an eye out for items while they explore the dungeon that the requester, or client, isn't strong enough to get for themselves. The client then prepares a reward for the items and the Adventurer collects it after the Quest is complete."
"Heh…that sounds convenient," Archer nodded as Naza and Miach bounce their gazes back from Lily and Archer. "I wonder if there's a way we can get one suited for Bell's level."
Understanding what they were saying, Bell chimed in.
"Hey, Lord Miach, Naza!" He said quickly. "Do you happen to know anyone who might have a Quest for us? Or rather, maybe you have one for us right now?"
He wasn't exactly proud of his acting skills but right now, he didn't care.
"You three…" Miach began, as if he could barely believe his ears.
"Y-yes," Naza said quickly. "We do have a Quest…two of them actually."
Miach looked at Naza as she returned his gaze again to which he nodded.
"The first one is rather simple…" Miach began. "Though its difficulty is only due to the fact that it's a rare monster on Floor Seven."
"Hmm…when Lord Miach says rare monster…then it's that right?" Lily asked. "A Blue Papillon?"
"Yes," the god nodded. "Basically we need its drop item, Blue Papillon Wings. As much of them as possible."
"Lily understands," Lily nodded. "Blue Papillons are the opposite of the regular ones who spread poisonous powder from their wings and instead spread a healing powder, right?"
"I see…that definitely would work well in a potion then, probably," Bell said with a smile. "Then the second one?"
"…Eggs of a Bloodsaurus," Naza replied, causing Lily to pale in fear.
"B-Bloodsaurus!?" Lily repeated. "Those monsters appear on the thirtieth floor! There's no way we can get those! Even if we could it would take well over a day t even reach that floor!"
"No, don't worry about that, Miss Lily," Miach replied. "There's actually a nest of them up here on the surface."
"That's even worse!"
"…Isn't that bad?" Archer asked, placing a hand on Lily's head to calm her down.
"There's no worry," Naza replied. "You should have learned it from the Guild, right? Monsters on the surface are much weaker than the ones in the Dungeon. Their Magic Stones are so small they might as well not be there. At best, an Orc from the Eleventh Floor could give it a run for its money."
"Then I'll handle that one," Archer said as he turned around to look at the pack on his back. "How big are these eggs? Would they fit in this thing?"
"Huh? You plan on going by yourself?" Miach asked.
"If they really are about as strong as an Orc then I will have no trouble with them," Archer replied. "If they're beyond me then I can get away easier on my own."
"W-well…if you insist," Miach said. "In that case, you can find them in the Deep Forest Seoro near the Alb Mountain range east of Orario. I suspect there wouldn't be more than a dungeon or so eggs. Again, I only need as much as you can carry. Oh and if possible, don't kill them all. It'd be nice to have a renewable resource after all."
"Got it," Archer nodded. "Should probably find a cart…"
"Then we'll handle the Blue Papillons," Bell said as Lily nodded behind him.
"Lily has an idea!" Lily said, thrusting her hand up into the air. "Come on Master Bell. Lily needs to buy something."
"Ah, wait Lily, you don't need to pull!"
And with that, Lily dragged Bell out of the shop.
"Then…please excuse me, Lord Miach, Miss Naza."
With a polite bow, Archer also took his leave.
"Thanks again," Miach said as he waved after him.
"Good luck," Naza called out after him as well.
X-x-X-x-X
After getting a map from the guild and renting a cart from the gates, Archer was on his way to the forest indicated by Miach and Naza.
"Bloodsaurus…" Archer repeated the name of the monster. "…From it's name…is it a dinosaur?"
Although Archer would never admit to it out loud, the thought of seeing a real live dinosaur made him feel a bit giddy. For some reason, compared to dragons which he knew existed both in the Deep Floors of the Dungeon and scattered across the surface (the biggest of which being the One-Eyed Black Dragon), a dinosaur seemed so much more novel.
Tying the cart at the edge of the forest, Archer grabbed an empty bag and slowly made his way into the woods. Almost immediately the surroundings go dark. Each tree in this forest seemed to stretch several meters into the sky and their leaves covered everything in almost total darkness, with only small beams of sunlight making its way through as the floor was covered in vibrantly colored wildflowers and dark moss. One would have to be insane to come here in this wild land at night without preparations.
Taking to the trees, Archer made his way through the forest without any problem, avoiding the smaller monsters that made their home.
Finally, he spotted a wide depression in the ground.
A footprint.
Stopping on his current perch, Archer's eyes scanned the forest until…
"Bingo."
In the distance he could spot three five meter tall monsters looking through the trees as if sensing an intruder. Blood red in color to match their name, the monsters stood on two legs with three jagged toes and had two stubby little arms with two fingers for hands. It's massive sharp teeth poked out of its mouth showing that it was indeed a carnivore.
"…It's like meeting a real life T-Rex…!" Archer said, a smile creeping onto his face before he quickly shook his head. "No…remember why you're here…"
Although Miach asked him not to kill all of them, Archer was sure that just these three wouldn't affect the population at all. Of course, as they were standing around their eggs, he couldn't risk them trampling over them so just killing them where they stood was out of the question. He also couldn't dematerialize as he wouldn't be able to pick up the eggs or his backpack if he did.
"Then…"
The only path left was to lure them out with force.
"Since they are only on the level of orcs…"
There was no need to create anything special. Just the usual arrows should do the trick.
With bow in hand, Archer closed the distance until he was just in range of their vision. The trio of monsters looked up at him just as he pulled back on his bow. The silver arrow zipped through the air and tore through the Bloodsaurus closest to him like its body was made out of paper. In a shower of gore and blood, the monster fell over, rocking the entire forest.
It looked as though Naza was right. Monsters on the surface were all mass and no power. It certainly would explain why it was considered amazing to get even to Level 2 outside of the Dungeon when a surface equivalent of a Floor Thirty monster was only as strong a Floor Ten Monster. Then again, getting to Level 2 was a massive achievement just inside Orario already.
The two remaining Bloodsaurus roared as they charged at Archer in a blind rage. Two more arrows and two more dead monsters. Frankly, it was rather anti-climatic. He had hoped to have had a chance to ride one or at least have them put up more of a fight but…it was like facing the last boss of a video game only to see that it was level 1 when you were level 100.
"Well, if it's easy then it's easy…" Archer sighed as he jumped onto the ground and walked past the corpses. "Wonder if removing the Magic Stone would cause them to disintegrate as well when they were born from eggs rather than the dungeon."
Questions for another time.
Moving past the corpses, Archer found a slope and came across a nest situated between two trees. Like Miach said, there were about a dozen or so eggs here. Glancing at his bag and then at the eggs Archer let out another sigh.
"Guess I'll need multiple trips…"
X-x-X-x-X
"…You really managed to get them…" Miach said as he stared at the five Blue Papillon Wings and a dozen Bloodsaurus eggs in front of them.
"It was simple," Lily said. "Master Bell and Lily just waited until four of them showed up at a pantry. Then we followed them away and took them down before they knew what was going on."
"As for me I found a nest without any parent standing over it," Archer shrugged.
It technically wasn't a lie. The three Bloodsaurus were standing over the nest but around it.
"Thank you," Naza said as her tail wagged back and forth beneath her long skirt. "With this we can make our new potion."
"What kind of potion is it?" Bell asked.
"It's a potion that should be able to heal the body and the mind," Miach replied with a smile. "We'll do our best to finish it up by then so drop by in the morning and we'll save a sample for you as your reward."
"A double mind and body potion!?" Lily asked. "Lily has never heard of such a thing before! W-wouldn't that be extremely valuable?"
"Well…it's going to help pay off our debt so yes," Naza nodded. "But it's thanks to the three of you we got so many ingredients."
"Enough to get a discount on future orders?" Lily asked with a smile.
Miach opened his mouth to respond for for a small thud to sound out from under the counter and for the god to wince in pain.
"Ow ow ow…I uh…sorry, that's not part of the Quest Rewards," Miach said with a wry smile as Lily let out a small "boo" in disappointment. "For now please accept these regular potions before the double one."
"Thank you," Bell said as he accepted them. "We'll be good for a few days with this."
"Please come again," Naza said with a small smile as the three of them said their goodbyes and left with the reward and the satisfaction of completely their first Quest as a Familia.
X-x-X-x-X
"Welcome back!"
When the three of them returned home, Caster and Hestia greeted them at the door.
"Well? How was your day?" Hestia asked.
"We helped the Miach Familia by completing some Quests," Bell replied.
"Miach huh? I heard he was having some trouble with Dian Cecht but it's good to hear that you're helping him out."
"I trust you have been compensated for your efforts?" Caster asked.
"Yes!" Lily nodded. "Twenty Regular Potions and five Mind Potions on top of what we bought earlier this morning. Also Lord Miach promised a sample of their new Potion that should heal both the Mind and Body."
"Hoh…now that is an interesting concoction. We should hope that they are as good as they claim to be then."
"Have you had dinner yet?" Archer asked Hestia.
"Ahh…not yet," Hestia replied, shaking her head. "I know you're probably tired but-"
"No worries. I can get started as soon as I-"
Archer's words were interrupted as the bell from the front gate rang.
As one, they all shared a glance.
"Did you invite some guests over, Goddess?" Bell asked and Hestia shook her head.
"If I did I wouldn't have invited them over in the middle of the night," Hestia pointed out.
Caster turned toward Archer and jerked his head toward the front and the Servant nodded before hurrying back outside while they waited in the foyer.
"Yo Hestia, it's been a while."
The visitor was a god, that much was certain. An orange-haired god with perfect features to match his status though much more effeminate looking than both Archer and Caster.
"Hermes?" Hestia spoke the identity of the god for the sake of her Familia. "What do you want so late at night?"
"Sorry for the late visit," Hermes said with a smile and an apologetic look to Hestia. "But I have a package and a letter for you."
Placing down his pack, Hermes pulled out a box and a letter.
"All right, the first one is for a…Liliruca Arde," Hermes said as held out the box. Then he tapped the letter. "And the letter is for…and I quote, 'The Captain of the Hestia Familia.'"
"Lily is here," Lily said, picking up the box and turned it over in her hands in confusion.
"I will take the letter," Gilgamesh said as Hermes handed the letter over to him.
"All right, delivery complete," Hermes said with a satisfied smile. "Whew, I certainly didn't expect this kind of delivery. I mean, who would have thought both Soma and Loki Familia would want something to be delivered to your little Familia, Hestia. Well then, good night."
And with that, the Messenger God left as quickly as he came, leaving Lily to stare at the box as if it was some kind of bomb while Caster looked over the letter with curiosity.
With the suddenness of delivery, they convened in the dining area for a meeting saved for Archer who was preparing them a late night snack in the kitchen area but he could still hear and participate in the discussion from there.
"First off…let us get the bigger problem over with," Caster said as he turned to Lily. "Open it."
"Yes…" Lily nodded as she carefully broke the seal and lifted the cover off the box to reveal…a bottle of Soma Wine. "Lily knew it…"
"Maybe Lord Soma is trying to make amends?" Archer asked. "You drank the Soma wine and didn't lose yourself to it so he considered it an appropriate gift?"
"Or rather…how much does that cost?" Bell asked, his body shaking slightly. "The failure was worth sixty thousand Valis right?"
"Lily accepts Lord Soma's apology! But Lily doesn't want the wine! Lily doesn't care how much she can sell it for! So Lily humbly offers it to her king as tribute!"
Lily spoke in a quick and rapid tone as she pulled the bottle out and placed it in front of Caster with shaking hands and with her face and arms flat on the table.
Caster paused or a moment before speaking as his eyes went from Lily to the bottle of Soma Wine in front of him.
"That is a gift to you from a god," Caster said, placing a finger on the top of the bottle. "And while this is more than worthy enough to be a part of my treasury, it is not mine to accept."
"But…" Lily mumbled as she lifted her head up and looked at Caster. "Lily doesn't want anything to do with Lord Soma anymore…"
Caster's eyes bored into Lily's before he let out another sigh.
"Very well, I shall hold onto it for you," Caster said as Lily let out a long sigh of relief. "But only until you come of age. Then, we shall open it and drink to celebrate your first steps into adulthood."
Lily looked less than happy that she wasn't completely getting away from what she no doubt considered a cursed wine but she didn't say anything as she sat back up straight and nodded.
"All right…now what does that idiot Loki want?" Hestia asked as Archer set a plate of sandwiches in front of everyone before sitting down properly at the table.
Caster opened up the letter and read through it, his eyes moving side to side silently before a frown appeared on his face.
"It is a notice and a request," he said. "Loki Familia is planning an expedition to the Lower Floors of the Dungeon."
"Ah, that," Hestia nodded. "Loki's captain has gotten rather ambitious lately. He plans these expeditions every now and again and their Familia make deep dives into the Dungeon that last for weeks. But what does that have to do with us?"
"It says that they were forced to abandon their previous expedition when they ran into monsters that spewed out an acidic substance that melted their weapons and they were forced back up to the surface. To mitigate this, they hope to hire Archer alongside a number of Hephaistos High Smiths to repair and maintain their weapons and for Archer to create replicas of their weapons as well as Magic Swords to help push through them."
"I see…" Archer muttered while Hestia was fuming.
"They want to take a Level 1 all the way down to the Lower Floors!?" She shouted, completely ignoring that Archer was not a normal Level 1. "No way! No how! Forget it! She can kiss the bottom of my shoes!"
"You're not wearing any shoes right now, Goddess," Bell pointed out.
"Not the point!"
"They wish to discuss it tomorrow," Caster said as he tossed the letter onto the table. "As they are the ones requesting assistance, they will meet us here."
"We don't even get a say in it, huh?" Hestia growled as she slammed her hands on the table. "Archer! Shoot them down right away!"
"With words, right?" Bell asked.
"I don't care!"
Caster turned to Archer to ask for his input since the request was for him after all.
"To be honest, I want to help," Archer admitted. "If the plant monster that appeared the other day was anything like the kind of Monsters that appear on the lower floors then I'm sure they need every advantage that they can get. However…" he turned to Lily and Bell. "I am not comfortable in leaving you two alone in the dungeon for a week or two. Not that I don't think you can handle it, but I would simply worry because I am a worrywort."
"Lily knew Master Archer is like a Mama," Lily teased as Archer simply grunted, unable to say anything against it. "Master Archer doesn't have to worry though. Lily survived for a long in the Dungeon by herself. She can look after Master Bell and herself without any problems."
"They will have to stretch their wings without their mother hen watching over them eventually," Caster said, getting in on the fun although he kept his face neutral. "Let us hear the details tomorrow before deciding. Meanwhile…" he turned to Bell. "Once you finish your morning training, you and Arde shall head into the dungeon." He then turned to Lily. "You are to use your judgment. I want you to reach the tenth floor but go no further. If you feel as though you cannot make it, do not overextend and return immediately."
"Yes!" The two of them nod in unison again.
"Murgrrr…" Hestia let out another growl before sighing and sliding face first onto the table. "I don't want anything to do with Loki, but if you want to do it Shirou, then I won't stop you."
Archer rocked side to side in his chair for a moment at the use of his old name, telling him that Hestia is definitely not happy about this but he wasn't going to refuse outright without hearing Loki Familia's side properly.
Lily looked confused at the unknown name but a quick whisper from Bell and she nodded her head in understanding. She then whispered something about "Gil" to Bell and Bell turned his eyes at Caster while Lily nodded again.
X-x-X-x-X
The next morning, after being smacked around by Archer for an hour, Bell and Lily headed to the dungeon completely outfitted while Hestia, Caster and Archer awaited the arrival of Loki Familia.
"Why do we have to listen to that flat chested joker anyway?" Hestia grumbled as they waited in the living room with Hestia sitting in a blue arm chair while Caster took an entire couch for himself and Archer simply leaned against a wall as usual. "You're too nice for your own good, Archer."
"If someone is in trouble, isn't it only right to help them?" Archer asked back as Hestia mumbled something under her breath.
"When are they even getting here anyway?" Hestia asked as she shook her head.
Her answer came with the door bell ring with Archer pushing himself off the wall to welcome them in. A moment later, Archer came back with Loki leading a blonde Pallum, a green haired Elf, Tiona and Ais taking up the rear.
"Quite a show of strength against our small Familia," Caster noted to the Loki Familia Captain, Finn Deimne.
"My apologies," Finn replied with a wry smile. "I had initially only planned to take Tiona with me but Loki decided to tag along and we needed more minders."
"Hey Goldy, been a while," Loki said with a smile.
"Goddess Loki," Caster nodded before turning to the others to acknowledge them before turning back to Finn. "Then let us get straight to business. This Familia is still small and not as well off as your own so cannot afford to take too much time off."
"Haha, very well," Finn nodded as he and Loki sat down at the Sofa across from Caster at his gesture. "Simply put, we wish to borrow Archer's magic for our expedition."
"Hoh…is an expedition so trivial that a Level 1's magic can actually make that much of a difference."
"That is what we hope to discern."
"Unfortunately we have little reason to divulge our Familia's secrets to the Familia of a goddess that is at odds with our own."
"That's right so clear out!" Hestia shouted, one foot on the table as she pointed toward the door.
"Aww come now Chibi," Loki said. "At least hear us out over some tea?"
"Tea is for guests! Not for people who invite themselves over at their own convenience!"
"Moving on," Caster said with a cough into his hand. "Is there any particular reason for this expedition? Did you not return from one just recently."
"Well yes," Finn nodded. "But there was a lead to something we were investigating and there is supposed to be a clue on the 59th floor."
"A clue…huh," Caster muttered as he moved his arm and a portal appeared by his side where he stuck his hand into it. "Would it happen to involve this?"
And he pulled out the Magic Stone left behind by one of the plant monsters.
"Well now, you figured it out," Finn said with a smile.
"It is not particularly difficult," Caster said as he tossed the Stone toward Finn who caught it. "But what is in it for Loki Familia to investigate such matters?"
"Well, they seem to be bringing up monsters from the Lower Levels up to the surface," Loki pointed out. "Isn't that enough cause for concern?"
"I suppose so," Caster said, sounding uninterested. "But then…we are drifting from the original topic. Why do you assume that Archer's magic will be of any assistance to you?"
"Archer was able to create an exact…or at the very least…close enough replica to a sword that Ais only had for five days in seconds," Finn said as he turned toward Archer. "And he was able to hold his own rather well against those monsters despite supposedly being only Level 1."
"Supposedly nothing," Hestia said, slamming her hand on the table. "He received the Grace only a few days before Monsterphilia. He can only be a Level 1! We're not hiding anything from the Guild!"
"My apologies, Lady Hestia," Finn said quickly as he held up his hands. "I did not mean to imply as such."
"Hey hey, Archer?" Tiona spoke up as she unwrapped the massive piece of cloth she had been holding onto. "Do you think you can make a copy of this?"
It was a massive double bladed sword that was made out of some extremely high quality metal. Archer glanced toward it and a pained expression appeared on his face.
"Ah? No good?" Tiona asked.
"No, it's not that," Archer said as he held his hand out to the side. "I'm just feeling the pain that those poor blacksmiths must have felt making that thing as well as all the repairs they had to do. Trace…On…"
Lightning surged down Archer's arm as something began to take form in his hand.
"Judging the concept of creation. Hypothesizing the basic structure. Duplicating the composition material. Imitating the skill of its making. Sympathizing with the experience of its growth. Reproducing the accumulated years. Excelling every manufacturing process…"
At those last words, what looked like an exact duplicate of Urga appeared in Archer's hand causing Tiona to cheer happily while Riveria, Finn, and Loki looked rather shock at it.
Tiona then gave her Urga for Ais to carry as she walked over and took the one from Archer's hand.
"Whoa…it looks just like it," she said did some slow and careful swings as to not hit anyone or break anything. "I wonder if its as strong as the real one though."
"Please do not hit the blades against each other," Riveria said quickly. "You do not want to get on Goibniu's bad side even more."
"Well, looks like that answers that question," Finn noted.
"So it seems," Caster replied with a frown. "But have you not commissioned Hephaistos Familia for weapons with the Unbreakable Durandal trait already?"
"Durandal weapons can still dull even if they can't chip," Finn replied as the Urga in Tiona's hands vanished when Archer held his hand out toward it, causing the Amazon to pout. "By having a source for instant weapons with quality anywhere close to our original ones would be a massive boon for us."
"Very well, then I shall ask one more thing," Caster said. "What is in it for us? As I said, we only have four people in our Familia. Archer is the Familia's veteran front-liner and is watching over the other two's progress as they enter the dungeon. It would be a heavy blow to our finances if we were to lose him for even a week."
"Would a percentage of the drop items and Magic Stones cut it?" Finn offered. "Compared to the Upper Levels, the Magic Stones on the Lower Levels are much more valuable. A single stone can go up to tens of thousands of Valis."
"And with the increase in reward comes with an increase of risks," Caster pointed out as he leaned back in his seat. "But I suppose this will be a good opportunity to raise your Status, Archer. What is your answer? Leave Cranel and Arde alone to their own devices for a while and go on the expedition? Or refuse and keep watch over their growth?"
"…I agree to those terms," Archer said as he clasped his hands behind his back. "To be honest, I've been feeling like I haven't been contributing much of anything in terms of Valis. This could be a chance for me to stop relying on you to pay for everything."
"It is a king's duty to manage the finances of his kingdom," Caster said with a smirk as he waved a hand lazily at Archer who simply grunted. "There's no need to worry yourself over trivial things."
"I refuse to be indebted to you any further than I am now," Archer said simply as Caster simply laughed it off.
"All right!" Loki said as she clapped her hands. "Now that the important stuff's out of the way. How about we relax with a drink? Think you can share some of your stash, Goldy?"
"Unfortunately it is my policy not to hand out a gift to the same person twice," Caster said as he glanced at Hestia. "And I believe you have worn out Goddess Hestia's welcome."
"Darn right you have!" Hestia shouted. "If you're done then get lost!"
"Then please show this pass to the Loki Familia home and you'll be let in," Finn said as he tossed a token at Archer who snatched it out of the air. There was a depiction of the Loki Familia's emblem on it. A cross-legged joker with a card behind it.
"All right. About what time should I head over?" Archer asked.
"Well, we still have some things to handle on our end," Finn said. "If you can come over tomorrow at noon, that would be great."
"Putting this aside right now…is it all right to let someone outside the Familia to enter the Home?"
"I trust that you'll be professional when on the job," Finn said, his smile not leaving his face.
"Hmm…Understood," Archer nodded as he extended his hand to the Pallum who took it without hesitation. "A pleasure to be working with you…although I don't know how much help I'll be."
"No worries. I think you'll be able to help out immensely when the time comes. You didn't lose your head when fighting the plant monsters the other day and even dived in to successfully help Lefiya and Ais. I know you won't be a burden."
"I will do my best not to fail those expectations then."
And with that, the Loki Familia left, with Riveria dragging a depressed Loki who failed to get more wine from Caster.
"Just remember one thing, Archer," Caster said. "You are a member of Hestia Familia, not Loki Familia. Your duty is to return from the expedition alive. Not to die trying to play the hero as you please."
"Your concern is noted, oh King of Heroes," Archer replied with a shrug.
"Archer!" Hestia cut in with a shout as she ran up to Archer and looked up at him. "Please…come back, okay? Don't die down there since Loki's children definitely won't care to bring you back…okay?
Archer's reply was quick and simple.
"I promise."
