Chapter 36: Erupting Rage
The storm did not subside when morning came.
Thankfully, Berserker and Fia had managed to get under the cover of the pavilion just outside of the dining area to keep themselves dry when the storm began but the harpy did not appreciate the constant booming thunder at all.
"I guess we forgot to take into account freak rainstorms when setting up their tent," Hestia said with a sigh as another clap of thunder caused Fia, Primo and Assassin to flinch. "Do we have to build a small hut or something instead?"
"We might be able to get away with just making the tent larger and using some undine cloth for the outer layer," Archer said as Fia buried her head into Berserker's chest to try and hide from the thunder. "Though I suppose that that's a bit expensive."
"We could set up runes instead," Lancer suggested. "But I am unsure how viable it will be for a long-term solution"
"Well, it's not like we can set anything up without a budget anyway," Hestia muttered, glancing across the table to the head seat, which was currently empty. "And Caster hasn't left his room yet."
"I went up to check on him a bit earlier, but he didn't answer when I knocked," Rider said.
"Maybe he's just not feeling well?" Emma offered.
"…Do Spirits even get sick?" Gina asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Maybe he just…has a lot on his mind," Bell replied, having not told anyone about his dream yet and had no plans to share something like that.
"Hey Primo, Caster called you up last night, right?" Gina continued turning to the elf. "Was everything okay?"
"Huh?" Primo blankly stared at the Amazon for a moment before quickly shaking the cobwebs out of her head. "Oh right. Everything was fine. We just had a chat about some things, but he seemed…normal? I don't really know him well enough to say I guess."
"Well, it's not as though Gil is really into making friends after all," Hestia shrugged, and Bell inwardly winced at his goddess's words. "In any case, we'll bring him something up later. Will you guys be going into the Dungeon today."
Primo and Emma both turned toward the window at the downpour with hesitant faces while Gina let out a small giggle.
"W-we probably should, huh?" Emma asked Primo who reluctantly nodded her head.
"And Lily and the others can't take any more time off, right Bell?" Lily asked, turning to Bell. "Bell?"
"Huh? Ah…right. Yeah."
Looking around, Bell realized that everyone was staring at him.
"Are you all right, Master?" Lancer asked. "You seem distracted."
"S-sorry, I guess I'm just worried about Caster," Bell admitted. "I know that it's not like he shows up for breakfast every day since he sometimes has business to attend to, but he always showed up if he's at home though."
"Come to think of it, that's true huh?" Hestia muttered with a nod. "Something must really be bugging him then."
"Then what should we do?" Rider asked. "It might be best just leave him alone for a bit, right?"
"He definitely isn't the type to talk to someone about his problems," Archer pointed out. "He'll probably insult anyone who tries to find out too."
"…Adults always keep their problems to themselves after all," Primo noted with a bitter face.
"Well we're talking about that Captain after all," Gina added. "His problems are probably something us mere mortals can't hope to understand."
"So, we should have the goddess go talk to him then?" Emma asked.
"I think me going up to someone who claims to hate deities to ask what's wrong will just make him even angrier," Hestia replied.
"Everyone keeps saying that, but I don't ever see him do anything that shows that he dislikes the gods. If anything, he showed both you and the goddess Loki quite a bit of respect."
"Well, even so, I don't wanna find out what he means when he says he doesn't like us."
The Servants save for Berserker and Assassin shared a glance and Bell had a feeling what they were thinking about. If a god had been responsible for the scene that he saw…Bell couldn't blame Caster for his rage. Even Bell was not sure he would be able to forgive anyone who would hurt Lily, Emma or the other girls, deity or not.
The doorbell suddenly rang, causing everyone to turn toward the front door.
Wanting to clear his head a bit, Bell jump up first and headed toward the door, only stopping to catch an umbrella thrown at him by Archer.
Bell couldn't think of anyone who would visit in this weather except for…
"Welf!?" Bell called out as he ran out to the front gate toward his friend who was smiling despite standing in the rain with nothing more than an Undine Cloth Cloak over his head, his greatsword hanging on his back and a crate tucked under his arms. "What are you doing out here?!"
"Well I didn't know if we were going to go to the Dungeon or not with this hell of a storm, so I thought I'd head over to check and bring your armor with me."
"Well we were but you didn't have to come all the way here. We could have met up at Babel."
But Welf simply smiled and waved him off as he crossed through the gate with Bell lifting his umbrella over the taller boy's head. As he moved to close the gate however…
"Wait! Please don't close it just yet!"
A voice called out to them from down the street.
"Syr!?"
The pub waitress was running down the street with nothing but a raincoat over her head as she clutched a small package under her arms.
With a quick look at Welf, who nodded in understanding, Bell ran out into the street to meet her halfway.
"What's wrong, Syr?" Bell asked as he held the umbrella over her head. "Why are you all the way out here?"
"Because of you!" Syr replied, raising her voice a bit so she could be heard over the rain. "How long has it been since you came over to pick up a lunch?"
"…Lunch?"
"Yes, my lunches!"
"…AH!"
Bell remembered. He had always stopped by the Hostess of Fertility to pick up a handmade lunch from Syr. However, due to various circumstance, the last time he had done so was way back before the Floor Boss Fight, before he had even met Emma and Primo. Then there was the fact that Archer had returned to the Familia and Rider's addition, there was never a problem in food that Syr's lunches of…variable and questionable quality had fallen out of Bell's mind.
"B-but that's because we were sleeping inside the Dungeon for the Floor Boss and then we left on vacation and we hadn't been inside the Dungeon …"
"No excuses!" Syr said with a humph. "That's why you're not going to be escaping today! Here!"
Without giving Bell a chance to explain, Syr forced a small box wrapped in cloth into his arms.
"Be sure to give it back when you return, okay?" Syr said with a smile and a wink that made Bell's heart skip a beat before running back down the street, leaving Bell staring after her with the lunch in his arms until he felt a weight on his shoulder. Turning to his side, he found Welf leaning against him with a knowing smirk on his face.
"Always the ladies' man, ain't ya?" He asked Bell to which the boy could offer no retort.
"L-let's just get out of the rain…" Bell said as they hurried into the house with Bell feeling as though he had forgotten something.
"Oh my, Welf!" Rider said as she stood in the foyer with towels in her hand. "You came all the way here in this weather?"
"Eh, it wasn't so bad," Welf said, accepting the towel from the woman. "The Undine Cloth kept me completely dry. Same with Bell's new equipment."
"Even so…"
Rider let out a sigh as she shook her head and looked over her shoulder.
"Well, we're still in the middle of breakfast so you're welcome to join us if you haven't eaten yet."
"Oh, I'll take you up on that."
"…This isn't the real reason you're coming over is it?" Bell asked with a grin.
"Nah…course not!" Welf replied with a grin of his own.
As Welf stepped through the doorway into dining room though, he let out a yelp as his eyes locked onto Berserker who was patting the still shaking Fia on the back.
"Ah."
Right. That was what Bell had forgotten.
Berserker lifted his head up and met Welf's eyes before giving the smith a small wave, prompting Welf to stare at Berserker for a long moment before slowly turning his head toward Bell.
"…It's always minotaurs with you, isn't it?" He asked with a shaky voice as a grin formed on his face.
Bell could only let out a dry laugh in response as Welf seemed to understand what was going on immediately.
X-x-X-x-X
"Sorry Welf!" Emma said, clapping her hands together in front of her face. "We didn't know how to tell you about it."
"Nah it's fine," Welf said quickly. "Sure, it was a shock but as long as he's not going to rip my head off then it's all good."
"You don't have to worry about that," Primo assured him with a smile. "Berserker is really friendly!"
"Well if you're saying it, then it must be true."
Even though he was saying that, Welf still looked a bit nervous around Berserker when compared to Fia. It was probably just the sheer size difference, but Bell was sure Welf would understand in time.
"So, with this both Parties will go into the Dungeon today," Hestia nodded to herself as she confirmed it.
"Do you have work today, Lady Hestia?" Gina asked.
"Who's going to go out shopping for snacks in this weather?" Hestia asked as a massive thunderclap punctuated her words. "There's no way the stand's going to open like this. The food'll get soggy or worse, get blown away."
"Yeah, I bet."
"So, what's the formation like?" Welf asked as he glanced over at Archer. "You are coming with us too, Archer?"
"That's the plan," Archer nodded. "Though depending on the circumstances, either Saber or I will split off to do some solo hunting. We have a goal to hit after all."
"Got it," Welf acknowledged with a nod as he glanced over at Fia and Berserker again.
"Of course, Master Welf will still get his complete share of the profits," Lily said.
"No, I wasn't thinking of anything like that," Welf said quickly. "I'm already well off after all the work and payment your Captain gave to me. So, I don't mind if I get a smaller share."
"No, you're getting the amount we agreed upon when you first joined the Party," Lily insisted. "There is no reason for Lily and the others to change the contract now."
"Give it up, Welf," Bell said with a wry smile. "You know Lily won't back down when it comes to money."
"The contractor trying to raise the amount paid while the contracted is trying to lower it," Lancer muttered with a hand on her cheek. "Truly you will see all sorts of things if you live long enough."
"No kidding," Hestia agreed with a nod.
X-x-X-x-X
Once breakfast was finished, everyone quickly returned to their rooms to prepare their equipment while Welf remained downstairs to chat with Rider and Hestia.
Bell quickly put on his newest set of armor, the Pyonkichi MkIII, and examined himself in the mirror. The design hadn't changed much from the MkII but if he trusted Welf's ability then the armor was no doubt stronger than it was before and it was definitely much lighter meaning that Bell's mobility would remain unhampered without sacrificing anything in terms of protection.
In terms of weaponry, Bell still had the knife Hestia gifted to him, the silver baselard created by Archer, and the red dagger, Ushiwakamaru, created from half of the minotaur horn he had given Welf weeks before. Said dagger now had a twin, the Ushiwakamaru Type 2, made from the other half of the horn to compliment the baselard and replace the longsword that had been destroyed by the Black Goliath. The mythril axe he had brought back from his little…Adventure with Lefiya had been maintained and was ready to be used if Bell so wanted.
It was currently resting inside Bell's closet, but Bell wondered if he should use it to make a makeshift grave for the poor Adventurer who lost their life to that plant monster instead. It was because of that axe that Bell was able to protect Lefiya which allowed them to escape but Bell wasn't sure if it was okay to use something of such high quality at his current Level.
Thus, it would sit inside his closet until he decided one way or the other.
As he walked toward his door to head downstairs, his hand stopped just at the doorknob as his gaze wandered upward toward the ceiling.
He thought back to the dream. At how utterly broken the man within it had been at the loss of his friend. His only pillar of emotional support. Had he steeled his heart in order to rule properly? Did the man who stood alone and above all others care about anyone anymore? What exactly reflected in those eyes that could see as far as the gods above did?
Resolving his heart, he pulled open his door and headed upward to the fourth floor instead.
Bell knew he was probably going to be making a nuisance of himself but…he knew all too well the pain of losing the only person that was close to you, to lose a pillar of emotional support. After his grandfather had fell to his death off a cliff, Bell had been completely lost at what to do, at the aftermath of his death and with his life in general. It had taken him weeks to gather the resolve to sell their farm and move to Orario to become an Adventurer.
He knew nothing he could come up with or say to Caster would change anything but at the very least, he wanted to talk to his Servant before leaving, regardless if it was for his own sake or Caster's.
So, there he was, standing in front of the King's office. Taking a deep breath, Bell raised his hand and-
"Enter."
The response came before Bell's fist could knock on the door, as though the King knew Bell was going to bother him. Nonetheless, Bell opened the door and stepped through.
Caster was at his chair, as usual, but he wasn't combing through papers or clay tablets like he often did. His arms were on the armrests to his side and his eyes were closed as if he was sleeping.
"What is it?" Caster asked without opening his eyes.
Bell thought for a bit at what he was going to say and decided that saying that Caster was missed at the dining table would either annoy him or be met with apathy.
"I just wanted to report that we're heading off into the Dungeon now," Bell replied. "And I was wondering if you had any last-minute tasks for us."
Caster did not answer for a moment.
"None. Continue as you see fit. However, inform Gwen that both Parties are to remain within the Dungeon until you yourself decide it is time to withdraw. When you do, you are to regroup with the Second Party and withdraw together."
Bell nodded his head in understanding.
As Lancer would be part of Party B, Bell would be able to find them wherever they were. Perhaps this was Caster's way of making sure nothing untoward happened to either party on the way out. With four Servants together it would take something catastrophic on a greater level than the Black Goliath to take them on.
However, Bell didn't think it was right to just leave like this.
"My King, are you all right?" Bell asked. "You don't look like you've slept well."
"A Servant does not require sleep as you should well know," Caster replied with none of his usual force. "But I will admit that I am feeling rather tired. I have begun thinking about things of the past. Nothing important."
Bell knew it. Caster did indeed see the same dream Bell did.
Without thinking of the consequences, Bell opened his mouth again.
"Did you dream of your friend?"
The question caused Caster's eyes to open and level a glare at Bell who weathered it with barely a flinch.
"My friend?" Caster asked incredulously. "Where is this nonsense coming from? My dream was of my battle against a beast whose very existence threatened to drown my kingdom in an endless flood. Nothing so banal as something about a friend."
His words were sharp, but Bell knew that they weren't as harsh as they could be.
"In the first place, do I look like someone who would carelessly take on friends?" Caster continued. "Even that useless goddess of yours can see that much."
It was faint but Bell could swear that he heard a loud sneeze from the kitchen, four floors below.
"Besides, even if I had a friend, I would have already forgotten their name," Caster spat out with a frown while leaning back into his chair. "Because I can't speak it anymore."
Bell's eyes widened slightly. That last sentence was all Bell needed to know if Caster still remembered the broken body within the dream.
"Humph, it seems that you are rather impudent this morning," Caster said, closing his eyes again but not before depositing several blue cloaks into Bell's arms. "I grow weary of your presence. Begone."
"My apologies," Bell replied quickly, trying to keep a smile from forming on his face as he gave Caster a bow before quickly leaving the office.
It was just a bit, but Bell felt as though he understood his King just a little bit more.
X-x-X-x-X
"You know…all of us walking together like this makes it feel like we're about to go on a deep dive expedition," Gina noted as Hestia Familia plus Welf ran down the street under the cover of umbrellas and Undine Cloth cloaks. "And the Captain's money seems bottomless as usual. Undine Cloth as raincoats…of all the…"
"Don't think about it too much," Archer said, patting the Amazon on the back.
"With this kind of rain, I can't believe the Dungeon doesn't get flooded," Primo said, glancing up slightly, only to quickly pull her hood over her eyes as another flash of lighting streaked through the air.
"That's probably because the entrance to Babel Tower is a bit above ground level and Orario's sewer system is big enough to draw away the water."
Even in this storm the two Parties were not the only ones moving through the storm. Several other Adventurers were also begrudgingly pushing through the shower to head to Babel Tower. Those who didn't let a little water stop them from Adventuring and those that couldn't afford to take even a single day off for their livelihood were making their way to the Dungeon as per usual. Although several of the usual food stands that lined the streets had closed up for the day with only those that had their stands connected to a larger store remaining open.
"So, we're all going in together until the Third Floor?" Emma asked.
"That's about right," Gina nodded.
"I guess it's too early for Primo and me to join Bell and the others, huh?"
"It probably isn't a good idea," Bell said. "I didn't go past the Fifth Floor until at least two weeks in."
"And that is still way too fast!" Lily pointed out. "It's one thing if Bell was in a Party at that time but you were still Solo, right?"
"Yeah but…I met Archer because of that so it's fine, right?"
"Well, that's practically ancient history by now," Archer muttered with a nostalgic smile.
"Also, since they're in a Party, Emma and Primo's Status are growing much faster than mine did when I started out."
"Of course, that's thanks to my superb leadership!" Gina said, puffing her chest up with pride.
"Even though we got lost a few times…" Primo muttered, causing the Amazoness to deflate a bit.
"A-at least I'm still better than Emma!"
Said older girl just let out a weak chuckle, unable to say anything back, having gotten them lost on the way back to the inn when they were back in Melen even though their hotel was one of the tallest ones and could be seen from almost every part of the port.
"What about you, Welf?" Saber asked. "Did you take things quickly or slowly when you first started out?"
"Ehh, a bit of both," the smith admitted. "I went as far as I could in one go and if I ran into something, I couldn't take easily I ran back up a floor for a bit before trying again. Though as you know, I ended up getting stuck on the Tenth Floor until you guys added me to the Party."
"That seems to be the pattern," Lancer noted glancing at Gina who just shrugged her shoulders in response. "But I suppose it would be different for everyone."
Their small talk lasted all the way until they reached the entrance of Babel Tower where they quickly ran in to take shelter from the rain. The entrance was much busier than usual with the Adventurers who usually took stock out in the plaza in front of the tower taking shelter within as well.
"Praise the gods who decided to build Babel Tower on a higher level!" Gina called out once she jumped in causing several of the surrounding Adventurers to chuckle or nod in agreement.
"It's really crowded in here today," Emma noted as she took down her hood. "That's quite a long line heading down."
The stairs that descended into the Dungeon was packed to the brim with Adventurers making Bell wonder if most of the Adventurers just loitering around entrance on the edges of the wall was just waiting for the line to get shorter before moving themselves.
"Let's move to the wall," Bell said as he looked over his shoulder to see several more people running up the steps. "We're kinda blocking the entrance."
With a round of nods, the party moved toward an empty section of the wall and waited for the line to move themselves.
Lily's backpack hit the floor with a thud as she opened it up to do some last-minute inventory while everyone, aside from the Servants, were doing some equipment checks themselves.
Even though they kept to themselves, Bell felt several eyes looking their way. Raising his head up slightly, he quickly noted several people awkwardly avoid his gaze as if they didn't want him to notice them staring but there were a few Adventurers who didn't turn away.
For a moment Bell wondered if Saber and Lancer were drawing attention with their flirting again but they were mostly behaving themselves. The couple was leaning against the wall together with Lancer's head on Saber's shoulder but otherwise not doing any of their usual love talk. By all accounts they were just a normal Adventuring couple.
Then again, that itself would still draw the eyes of jealous Adventurers who didn't have a partner for themselves, especially a beautiful woman like Lancer or a cool and handsome man like Saber. Mostly the former as the majority of Adventurers were men after all.
Bell hoped that no one would try to pick a fight with them because of it.
"No need to worry about people staring, Vice-Captain," Gina said, popping up next to Bell's arm. "You do remember that the Familia took out a Goliath before I joined, right? People are only just now getting a good look at you and the others."
"I think more at Lancer than anyone else though," Emma added with a wry chuckle.
At her words, Saber's gaze hardened as he turned his head slightly at the watchers only for them all to quickly turn away. Apparently, no one wanted to say anything to the guy with the glowing red Magic Sword.
"Gaaaaah, the Upper Floors are going to be packed today!" Gina shouted in annoyance as she scratched the sides of her head. "New plan, we're going to go all the way to the Fifth Floor!"
"Huh!?" Primo let out her own shout in surprise at Gina's declaration. "Is that okay?"
"Of course. It's not like there's anything stronger than a Dungeon Lizard that shows up there and Emma can already beat two on her own at the same time. With me and Lancer around, the two of you will be just fine."
Primo did not look happy at that explanation at all as she turned to Lily.
"Isn't this the part where you jump in and say that that's reckless?" The elf asked.
"Hmm?" Lily raised her head out from her pack. "Lily thinks its fine. Aside from a larger spawn rate there isn't much difference between the first Five Floors. It's one thing if Miss Primo or Miss Emma were alone but so long as Miss Lancer is with you all then Miss Primo and Miss Emma can raise your Status up faster while still be relatively safe. And that to complete Lord Caster's objectives the Second Party needs to advance as well."
"Why am I not included?" Gina demanded with a pout. "I might only be a Level 1, but my Status is plenty high enough for the Fifth Floor!"
"I'm all for it as well!" Emma chimed in, pumping her arms.
"It would seem that you have been outvoted, Miss Libera," Lancer noted with a laugh as Primo's head and ears slumped in defeat.
"Uuu…I'll do my best."
"That's the spirit."
"By the way, you sure you still want to join us, Jackie?" Welf asked, causing the smallest Servant to look his way. "Not that I'm complaining but don't you want to hang out with your friends?"
"We do…but we like being with Mommy more!" Assassin replied as she wrapped her arms around Bell's waist in a hug.
"Aww…"
Emma let out a teasing smile as Bell scratched his cheek in embarrassment. He did feel rather happy about it as he patted Jack's head though.
"It would appear that the line has thinned out considerably," Saber said as he and Lancer separated. "Shall we depart?"
"Of course!" Bell nodded. "Let's begin our next Adventure!"
Everyone aside from Archer and Lancer let out a cheer at Bell's words with the former simply shaking his head with a smile while the latter let out a weaker cheer as she shyly raised a fist in the air with the others.
X-x-X-x-X
"Blast away these hapless rejects! Lumine Pleiades!"
The orbs around Primo flashed once before beams of light streaked forward, shooting around Emma and Gina as they crashed into the walls and floors beside the pack of dungeon lizards charging at them. The spell shattered their momentum and formation, sending the monsters flying into the walls allowing Gina and Emma to charge forward for the initiative.
Normally Primo should be doing her best to target them directly but as they were after the Magic Stones within the monsters to meet Caster's objective, she had to improvise.
"Are you all right, Miss Libera?" Lancer asked. "Do you need a Mind Potion?"
"No, I'm still just fine," Primo replied with a smile.
"That's good to hear. But remember to say something if you are feeling tired."
"Of course."
According to that elf waitress, Ryuu Lyon, constantly using magic doesn't increase one's capacity for using magic outside of how one's parameters increase thus there was zero reason to push one's Mind to its limit before taking a potion as it carried the risk of Mind Down, rendering the Mage a useless burden that had to be carried away from the battlefield.
Primo refused to be a burden so she had asked Bell and Ryuu to describe the symptoms of Mind Down as best he could so that she could watch out for it and prepare herself to take a potion to recover her Mind.
As Emma and Gina handled the monsters, Lancer was moving to the corpses, drawing a rune on their bodies. Primo stuck close to the Servant, still keeping an eye on the battle in front of her, and watched as the corpse burned away, leaving nothing but the Magic Stone behind.
"It really is convenient," Primo noted as Lancer smiled. "Can't Mister Saber do that too? When he looked over Emma and me, he just cut them out normally."
"That person does not use fire if he can help it," Lancer replied. "I heard his reasoning for it, but I cannot quite comprehend it."
"Is he afraid of fire? Even though he defeated a dragon?"
"He says it is only natural for people to fear fire…but perhaps it is because he fought a dragon that he came to fear its destructive power. No…perhaps it's because of…"
Lancer's voice trailed off as she turned her face away from Primo before moving to the next corpse.
Primo tilted her head to the side in confusion but thought it was probably best not to ask.
"Done!" Gina shouted, throwing her hands up as Emma stabbed her new blade into the lizard's skull. "That's a good workout. How are you doing, Emma?"
The older girl was leaned over, hands on her knees as she was desperately gasping for air.
"Can we…take…a break…please?" She begged between gasps.
Compared to the Mage Primo and the Veteran Gina, Emma was running ragged. Ever since they had split off from Bell and the others it had been one group battle after another. At least Primo didn't have to fire another volley in this one so they could collect much more Magic Stones than before.
"Sure thing, Emma," Gina replied as she pulled out a map from her pack. "Let's see, the closest Safe Zone is…"
They walked for a few more minutes with Lancer lending Emma a shoulder to lean on before they came across a dead-end room. Once they settled in, Emma leaned against the wall and slid down with a thud.
"Here you go Miss Flores," Primo said offering Emma a canteen.
"Ahh…I'm alive again!" Emma sighed after drinking a good portion of the canteen. She then turned toward Gina. "How do you do this every day?"
"Well, to be fair, it's easier on me because I spent time as a Supporter and that my Status is higher than yours when I first came down here. So basically…experience."
Emma let out a long sigh as she rubbed her eyes.
"I wish I could grow as fast as Bell."
"You and the rest of the city. I wonder if I should try training with a Servant too?"
"I would be happy to assist you in that regard as well," Lancer offered before glancing up as if looking toward the direction where the sun should be on the surface. "It should be almost noon by now. Should we have a quick meal as well?"
A quick round of nods answered her, so the Valkyrie pulled out the portable Magic Stone stove and started heating up the kettle. Primo pulled out a rag to clean her staff as Gina and Emma pulled out some parchment containing their notes of Rune Magic to study in their down time.
She wasn't envious of their studies. Although she was curious about Rune Magic herself, she already had her hands full with her own magic…as well as the new duties given to her personally by Caster.
X-x-X-x-X
The previous night Primo had been suddenly called up to Caster's office.
"Umm…Captain?" Primo asked as she knocked on the office door. "It's Primo. You wanted to see me?"
"Indeed. Enter."
The response was curt and to the point as per the Captain's usual attitude toward things.
Nevertheless, Primo timidly opened the door and stepped inside to see Caster reading over something on a tablet before setting it aside to look up at her.
"What's wrong? Sit."
"Y-yes!"
Even though Primo had entered on her own accord several days ago, she felt rather worried at suddenly being called up without any notice.
Once she sat down in one of the chairs across from Caster, the man began to speak.
"Have no fear, you have done nothing to warrant a reprimand from me," Caster said, no doubt trying to assuage her fears. "This is merely a meeting concerning your future prospects."
"…My future?" Primo repeated.
"Indeed. You are young and as such, can be molded in countless different ways. You desire to be a Mage as great as Riveria Ljos Alf is already known and I have already begun my endeavors to make it so. However, how exactly do you wish to compare yourself to her? As a pure Mage or perhaps as a leader as well?"
"Me? A leader? But I'm…"
"Young? Bell Cranel is only four years your senior and is Vice Captain. Would it be too much to say that you will eventually take over as Captain yourself?"
"Captain!? Me!?"
She didn't expect that. Of all the things Caster could have called her up for she certainly didn't think it'd be about talks into becoming his successor.
"But…why?" She began but Caster dismissed her worries with a simple huff.
"Use your head child," Caster said. "My anchor to this world is a child with dreams of dying gloriously in the defense of others. Even if he does not die in battle then it's an existence measured in a century at best. Although it is none of my concern as a ghost, it would be remiss of me as a Captain to allow the Familia to end with me. Thus, it is necessary to train a successor beforehand."
"But…why me?" Primo asked.
"I told you to use your head. What separates you from Flores and Gwen?"
"…Um, that I'm a Mage and…an Elf? Ah."
"Precisely. On the off chance that Cranel does die from age instead of battle, the divinity he received from his High Level Falna would guarantee that he lives longer than both of them. The only one who would outlive him would be…"
"An elf like me…" Primo finished for him and he nodded.
"I am not one to waste my time on pointless endeavors," Caster continued. "There is no point in training a successor who will perish soon after or before me. Thus, there is only one logical choice, don't you agree?"
Primo could see his logic, yes. She also understood that there was no way she could protest this decision. In that Caster would refuse to listen to her protests and that this was what she wanted.
To be relied on despite her age.
"I understand!" She said, mustering up all of her courage for the work ahead.
"Good," Caster nodded as he pulled something out of his treasury and placed it in front of Primo, causing her to lean back, eyes wide in shock. "Hoh, you are aware of what this is."
A statement, not a question.
"A…grimoire," Primo answered. "Captain…sir? Sire? You're not thinking…"
"I only make worthy investments. As such it is only natural for you to receive one. Of course, there is no need to read it right away if you feel you are still…inadequate."
Primo didn't care that Caster was disappointed in her nervousness. Taking the staff was already pushing her nerves. To take a grimoire that could reach millions of valis was too much for her as she was now.
"C-can I at least wait until I'm Level 2?" Primo asked.
"Humph, I suppose it is too much for a child to handle," Caster muttered before stuffing the Grimoire away. "No matter. Let us continue with the reason why you are here. Every night after mealtime or your return from the Dungeon, you are to spend some time in this office observing and assisting. You are free to take the end of the weeks off as well as whenever Lefiya Virdis arrives to tutor you."
Primo suddenly realized why Caster decided that it was unnecessary for Primo to learn Rune Magic. She had enough on her plate as it is.
"As an aside…what do you see when you look at Berserker?" Caster suddenly asked her.
"Berserker?" Primo repeated, looking over her shoulder. "Umm…how do you mean?"
"There is no hidden meaning in my words. Merely describe what you see."
"Umm…I don't know what to say. I just see a minotaur…um, one named Asterios. Even though he's very scary looking at a glance he's actually very nice. Oh, and none of us in Party B had any problems in fighting regular monsters despite knowing about Asterios and Fia."
Caster didn't say anything as he looked at her for a moment.
"I see…so that is the common sense of Man in this world," he muttered.
"Captain?"
"No, 'tis not important."
Discarding his thought, Caster turned his eyes back on Primo.
"We will start immediately. First off, familiarize yourself with this."
Caster moved some papers written in Koine in front of Primo and she realized that they were portfolios of everyone in the Familia.
Each one had an up-to-date Status, their equipment information from the material used to costs (Primo thought her heart was going to stop when she saw the cost of Bell's black knife), and a definition of their Skills as Caster understood them.
"A Captain should know everything there is to know about their Familia members' abilities. Personal history is unimportant outside any information that may pose a problem in the future. Familiarize yourself with your comrade-in-arms and family."
"Lily came in from another Familia?" Primo asked in surprised. "I thought she was always a part of Hestia Familia."
"That note is a mark of shame for Arde. Do not bring it up if you do not wish to cause undue stress."
Primo nodded her head again as she looked at Emma's profile, noting that the older girl had made a month's journey from her village to Orario, much further than Primo's own trip.
"Captain…did you find out anything about Miss Flores's older sister?" Primo asked.
"Sophia Flores?" Caster asked. "I have come across no new information about them."
Primo's ears drooped slightly before they perked up again.
"No new information" meant that he was at least searching for her. If anyone could find Emma's older sister than it would be Caster. Although he was always harsh and spoke in cold and distant words, the Captain showed his care for all of them through his actions.
"You appear to be thinking about something useless," Caster's voice snapped Primo back to reality. "I will say this now. I pay attention to anything that can be disruptive to my future enjoyment of this world. Should Sophia Flores end up as an enemy, I will not hesitate to remove the problem with prejudice."
A cold chill ran down Primo's spine telling her just how serious Caster words were.
Wanting to calm herself down, Primo dove into the portfolios in earnest.
It was rather late by the time she was done reading and Caster allowed her to go, but even so…rather than shrink, the pile of paperwork on Caster's desk had grown in size making Primo worry about her future.
X-x-X-x-X
"Mommy behind you!"
"I see it!"
Spinning around on his heel, Bell turned to face the monster charging at him from behind.
Naturally, it was a minotaur.
With a war cry, he launched himself forward the massive monster wielding an axe made out of stone. Drawing the baselard out, Bell flung it at the minotaur's arm. The blade sank into the monster's wrist, forcing the monster to drop its weapon. Once Bell was close enough, he drew out Ushiwakamaru Type Two and sliced the monster's wrist off before jabbing the blade into its throat.
"Done!" Bell shouted.
"All wrapped up here too!" Welf called back, pulling his sword out of a hellhound corpse. "But man…I was worried that taking care of that…er…guest of yours might have made you unwillingly to kill monsters anymore."
"Fia told me not to worry about that," Bell replied as Assassin dove onto the minotaur corpse to begin carving out the Magic Stone. "And to worry about protecting myself than to worry about others."
"Huh…so that's how it is."
"And well…it's easy to tell if a monster's one of them or not since regular monsters attack them too so they wouldn't be traveling in a pack."
"What about you, Master Welf?" Lily asked. "Do you have any problems?"
"I dunno. Wait until we get to the Nineteenth Floor where we meet actual harpies and I'll let you know."
"Ahh…" Bell let out a noise of realization.
Hellhounds, al-miraj and minotaurs were one thing but could Bell keep at it if he were to come face-to-face with a monster harpy?
"You know…it's really amazing how much one person can change in a month," Archer said from the back of the room with Saber.
"You are referring to Bell?" Saber asked, turning to the Servant of the Bow.
"Before I left on the Expedition with Loki Familia, Bell was just barely able to defeat a minotaur. Now he can easily dominate them without fear. I suppose that should have been the case back at the Boss Fight…but it still feels like I missed out."
"Now Master Archer sounds like a dad who came home from a war to find his child has grown up," Lily said with a smile as she looked up from pulling out a Magic Stone as Archer shook his head with a sigh.
"Do I look like I'm old enough to have a kid?" Archer asked. "That's more Saber's territory."
Archer's words caused Saber to let out a hasty cough.
"A-anyway, I think this is a good enough haul for the day," Bell said quickly as he turned to Welf. "Unless you're looking for more Drop Items, Welf?"
"Hmm?" Welf looked up from a hellhound fang that had been left behind. "Oh, nah, I think we're good. We even got a minotaur horn outta this run."
"Then let's meet up with the girls and head back up," Bell decided. "We got quite a bit today, right Lily?"
"That's right," Lily nodded. "If everyone can keep this up, we'll reach the set goal easily."
"One million, huh?" Welf muttered with a hand on his chin. "I'm pretty sure you guys spent that much and more just on that vacation…as well as my commissions."
"That guy's probably going to increase the objective the next month," Archer replied with a shrug. "And once we reach the price the Guild set to bring Tamed Monsters up to the surface, we might be asked to bring another one up. Worse comes to worse, I can just sell the Drop Items I got from the Deep Floors if he doesn't want to sponsor them."
"Well, I don't think it'll come to that," Bell said, accepting a bag of Magic Stones and Drop Items from Assassin before patting her on the head. "It's not like bringing them all up at once is a good or feasible idea."
"You're using your head, good," Archer said simply as Bell made an unhappy noise.
In any case, they quickly made their way back through the Dungeon, clearing out any monsters that got in their way. They found Emma and the others on the Fifth Floor just in time to see Emma and Gina cut down the last of the lizards surrounding them.
"What's with all the lizards today!?" Gina was shouting as she threw her arms up in the air. "It's been one pack after the other! Did we trip some sort of monster party that sends them out in small waves at a time!?"
"I'm too tired to understand any of that," Emma muttered as she leaned up against a wall.
"Sounds like they had a tougher time than usual," Welf muttered before calling out to them. "Hey! You girls all right?"
"Ah, Welf!" Emma said as she pushed herself off the wall she was resting against. "You guys are here already?"
"You say 'already,' but it's been almost ten hours," Archer said, causing Primo and Emma twitch in surprise. "Yeah, that's how it was with me too. You lose track of time pretty easily in here."
"I should get a pocket watch or something…" Primo muttered as Archer held up a hand.
"Will this do?" He asked as a small brass pocket watch with an engraving of vines and flowers on the front.
"Ohh! Thank you, Mister Archer!"
As Primo happily accepted the watch, Bell turned toward Gina.
"Are you guys ready to leave?" He asked.
"Whenever you are, Vice-Captain!" Gina reported with a mock salute. "Since we got caught in a rather strange situation, though nothing we couldn't handle, we got a lot of drops today!"
Lancer took that as the cue to walk over and hand over their spoils to Lily who opened the bag and glanced inside.
"Hmm…Lily worries if the Dungeon is about to do something crazy again," Lily said as she looked over from Bell to Saber. "Lily votes to leave as soon as possible."
Bell nodded his head in agreement. The Adventure wasn't over until everyone made it back home safe after all.
"Are you all right, my love?" Saber asked as he stepped up to Lancer. "Was there any trouble?"
"No, none at all," Lancer replied, gazing lovingly into Saber's eyes.
"Oh, here we go."
Bell found himself sighing as he braced himself for another wave of sweet nothings from the couple. Gina had her hands up to her neck, pretending to choke under the weight of their love.
"The Dungeon seems to be a bit colder today due to the storm," Saber continued, neither he nor Lancer noticing Gina's act. Saber then took her hand into his own. "It would not due to let your hands grow cold."
"Oh? But I believe they could be even warmer."
"Warmer? How so?"
To answer her husband's question, Lancer entwined her slender fingers with Saber's. That single action certainly made the tunnels extremely warm all of a sudden.
"Bleh."
Gina did a splendid twirl on one foot before flopping her back onto the ground with her tongue lolling out. The scene had caused the Amazon to drop dead to escape it.
"Welf, did you take out everything you wanted from the Drop Items?" Bell asked, desperate to get some other noise in the corridor that didn't come from the two flirts. "If you did, we'll sell what's left to the Guild."
"Hmm?" Welf turned toward Bell, his eyes glossed over slightly with exhaustion and a look that once again said that he pitied Hestia Familia for being forced to live with the two. "Ah yeah, I got everything I need right here."
Welf answered him with a pat on the bag tied to his waistband.
With that confirmed, the party made their way out of the Dungeon without any trouble and headed straight for the Guild once they reached the surface. The rain had not let up at all, so they quickly ran through the streets to reach the Guild building to make their exchange.
"Let's see," Lily began as they commandeered a corner of the building to count their earnings. "Group B made forty-eight thousand Valis today."
"Ahh…there was a stupid amount of lizards today after all," Gina said, rubbing her forehead in exhaustion. "Oh well, at least we made well above average today."
"As for Party A, Lily and the others made one hundred and seven thousand Valis thanks to all the Drop Items that appeared."
"Lucky as always, huh?" Archer asked, turning to Bell who simply laughed while scratching the back of his head.
"Like this we'll be able to meet Caster's expectations in no time," Emma said happily.
"That just means Lord Caster will increase the goal once it's done," Lily pointed out as she separated some money from the second bag out and handed it over to Welf. "Here you go, Master Welf. Your share for the day's work."
"Oh thanks," Welf said as he accepted the cash before wrapping an arm around Bell. "So now that we're done with work how about some food? I got this place I wanna show you. The mead they got is amazing."
"Just the two of us?" Bell asked.
"Well, I won't say no if anyone else wants to join."
"Lily will pass," Lily replied. "Lily wants to get home and see if Lord Caster is feeling better."
"I don't want to be out in the rain any longer than I have to," Primo said as Gina nodded her head in agreement.
The Servants aside from Assassin also excused themselves, leaving only Assassin and Emma to join the two of them.
"Are we going to get in the way of your guy's night out?" Emma asked with a smile as she walked with Assassin's hand in her own.
"Nah, it's nothing like that. Just wanted to show you guys some other places in this city to eat at."
Welf led them down the soaking streets to the southern end of the city about one block pass the hustle and bustle of the high-end casinos and hotels to a bar off the main road.
There was a big red sign similar to a Familia's emblem on the wall. It was the symbol of the bar: Hibachitei, the Flaming Wasp.
"It seems pretty busy tonight though," Emma noted as they stepped inside and looked around. "All the tables and seats have been taken…"
Bell looked around as well but couldn't find an open spot. The place was filled to the brim with Adventurers and regular citizens alike. It wasn't as big as the Hostess of Fertility, but it was filled to the brim despite the rainy weather and Welf had told them that many people came to this place just to drink the deep red mead that the bar was famous for.
"Damn, picked a bad time…" Welf muttered with a sigh.
Bell was about to say that they could wait a bit or come again another time when a voice called out to them.
"Hmm? Oi, is that you Moonlit Dawn?"
Bell's head turned toward the somewhat familiar sounding voice and saw a scruffy looking Adventurer sitting alone at a round table near the wall.
"That's…"
"It's the old guy from the Boss Fight!" Assassin said, pointing toward the Adventurer.
"Who are you calling old!?" Mord Latro shouted back. "I'm only thirty-five!"
"That's still old…" Assassin muttered quietly as she hid behind Bell, causing the boy to laugh.
"Darn kids…" Mord grumbled before gesturing them on over. "If you need a seat then come on over."
"Umm…what about your friends, Mister Latro?" Bell asked as they walked over.
"Keh, they up and ditched me so it's their loss," Mord said as he waved Bell's concerns off. "And none of that 'Mister Latro' nonsense. Mord is fine. Just sit your butts down and let me treat ya all for the first round."
"Is that okay?" Emma asked.
"Don't worry your pretty little head girlie. Thanks to your friends' getting us involved in that Boss Fight of theirs, I made a ton of money from the drops so consider it me returning the favor."
"Well if you insist," Welf said with a smile.
"I do. But only the first round, got me?" Mord reminded them with a laugh.
Bell had thought that the older man was one of those rough sorts like a bandit…and while that first impression probably wasn't wrong, he did seem to have some good points as well.
They took a seat at Mord's table with Bell and Welf sitting on Mord's sides, Assassin sitting next to Bell and Emma sitting across from Bell next to Welf.
Three mugs of the famous red mead came out for Bell, Welf and Emma and a cup of juice for Assassin. The five of them clanked their cups together before Mord and Welf happily downed their drinks while Emma and Bell carefully sampled theirs.
Bell had only taken a sip, but it was enough to fill his body with warmth, something that was perfect for the weather outside.
After the first drink, Welf ordered another as well as several dishes to go with it. Before long, grilled ham steaks, fried fish, and various other items lined the table.
"Looks like you guys had a good run today," Mord said with a laugh. "Did you go back for a second round with the Goliath or something?"
"I don't think it'll spawn for at least another week, right?" Bell asked.
"Oh yeah, that's right…Bors was looking for people for it…maybe I should join up again…"
It looked as though Mord was raring for another go at the Goliath…or at the very least the bounty of smaller monsters that it would call to defend it.
"Hey Smith," Mord began, turning to Welf. "How much do those Magic Swords of yours go for?"
Bell winced at Mord's question but to his surprise Welf just shook his head.
"Sorry, not for sale," Welf said rather calmly.
"Damn, ah well."
Mord also seemed to have gave it up rather quickly. Probably understanding that that sort of fire power was either hard to make or not something to give away easily.
"Hey Mister," Assassin suddenly spoke up. "Have you fought harpies before?"
Bell, Emma and Welf turned as one to Assassin in surprise but Mord didn't think anything of the question.
"Oh, thinking of going pass the Eighteenth Floor then?" Mord asked looking rather happy at being asked a question. Perhaps it was because it stoked his pride as a Veteran Adventurer? "Yeah, they show up pretty much everywhere in the Nineteenth Floor. They're basically like the bats in those foggy floors. They'll come in, scratch at ya with their claws then bail out while the sirens blast you with magic. They're smart as hell too. If you take down one or two quickly, the rest will piss off and try again later."
Bell and Welf nodded their heads to show that they were listening.
Bad bats were annoying enough to fight even though they wouldn't do much damage to their party of Level 2s but having a flock of harpies attack you sounded awful if you didn't have a mage or archer to pick them off without waiting for them to strike first.
At least they had Lily's crossbow and Bell's magic to pick them off from a distance, but would it be fast enough? He wasn't sure how fast they could fly after all and even though Bell's Firebolt was extremely fast in both cast time and travel speed, it wasn't all that powerful without Argonaut to charge it up. That said, it could vaporize anything weaker than an al-miraj in one shot now.
Bell couldn't exactly test its strength on Fia both in that he can't use it against a friend and that Fia was more or less an enhanced species to begin with so he couldn't use her as a basis for regular harpies either way.
Still, he wondered why Assassin brought up harpies.
"Well if you have any other questions just let me know! Old Mord's got plenty of advice for ya newbies."
"So, you are old," Assassin said, causing Mord to blink in realization to his own words and smack his hand against his face with a grumble.
"By the way…" Mord suddenly leaned in close while lowering his voice, causing Emma, Welf and Bell to lean in as well. "You guys know why the hell that thing ended up showing up?"
That thing he was talking about was probably the Black Goliath.
"I asked Lord Ogma about it and he said that the you-know-what does some crazy shit if it detects a god within it. That's why they can't go there."
Mord's unasked question was pretty clear.
Was there a god there?
"I don't know," Bell admitted. "Aside from you and your friends, I didn't see anyone else."
"Well, there was Lord Hermes," Welf reminded him. "But he was on the Eighteenth Floor. If he was spotted, wouldn't it have done something down there instead?"
Bell and Mord nodded in agreement while Emma just looked a bit lost at it all.
"So, you guys got nothing either huh?" Mord sighed as he leaned back.
"Aren't you worried that it might show up again?" Emma asked. "Especially since you're thinking of challenging the Floor Boss again?"
"Ehh, no way it can happen twice," Mord said. "Besides, there's always at least a hundred people down in Rivira that take part in the fight. Bors, the guy that more or less run the place, also always tries to rope Ganesha Familia to assisting too so it'll be fine. That said I'm going to be all the way in the back first."
It would seem that Mord's greed would not trump his survival instinct.
"Well, do be careful either way."
"Haha, Missy, I didn't survive this long without being careful. That said, I can't just sit around on my ass anymore. I need to get back my Adventurer Spirit!"
"Ohhh! Clap clap clap clap."
Mord flexed his scarred arms as Assassin gave him a small applause which he accepted with a laugh.
"Well let's talk about something fun then," Mord said as he sat back down. "So Moonlit Dawn…Bell. What's your type?"
Bell, who was just in the middle of taking another sip, nearly spat it all over the table.
"Huh!?" Bell asked as Welf laughed at him.
"What type of girl you looking for?" Mord asked again with a sly smile. "Can't be too early for you to think what kind of girl catches your eye, right?"
"I…uh I…is this really…"
Bell turned toward Emma for help as Welf's earlier laugh told Bell that he wasn't going to be of any help.
"Actually, I'm kinda interested to know too," Emma replied with a smile.
Et tu, Emma!?
"Fine, how about this?" Mord asked, the grin still on his face. "Let's start from the top. What race do you like?"
"Why!?"
"Just play along, Bell," Welf said, laughing a bit into his hand. "All in the name of getting to know each other better."
Seeing that Bell had no allies in this fight, as Assassin was thoroughly engrossed in chewing the sausage on her fork, he had no choice but to come up with an answer.
"…Um, an elf…I guess?"
All the elves Bell knew were admittedly very pretty. From the cool Ryuu, to the fairy-like Lefiya, to the reliable Eina and even cute little Primo was definitely going to grow up to become a head turner in the future.
"Elves, really?" Mord asked looking surprise. "Gonna have to be some pretty open-minded elf to let a human touch her then."
Bell supposed he was just lucky in that regard.
As Bell was about to take another sip of his drink, a loud voice behind him cuts through the rest of the tavern.
"Get this, some 'bunny' just got famous overnight!"
Glancing over his shoulder, Bell saw a group of six Adventurers all wearing matching uniforms with an emblem depicting a bow and arrow over a flaming sun.
The one who was speaking was a pallum like Lily and was obviously trying to make a show of his drunken speech.
"That rookie sure got some guts! Don't care if he really is the record holder, it's amazing that people swallow all of his lies! I couldn't pull that act off in a million years!"
It was rather obvious who the pallum was talking about. Their eyes met and the pallum sneered at him, showing that he knew that Bell was sitting there when he started his tirade.
"Apollo Familia," Mord said quietly. "Ignore em, kid."
Bell knew that that was probably the best thing to do but the pallum sure as was making it hard.
"Anyway, I've heard he's extremely good at running away. That must be how he got the level-up! He ran away from that Minotaur until it collapsed from exhaustion. That's a bunny for ya! Quite the talent!"
If there was a minotaur who could be defeated like that Bell would love to see it. It might be an easy way for Emma and Primo to get some good excellia.
"And to make it worse, I heard some broad believed that crap and joined the Familia right after that. Probably chasing after some bunny tail."
Emma's hand froze halfway toward reaching for one of the fried appetizers with a look of confusion on her face.
Were they talking about her?
Bell's vision was slowly turning red. He may not have had the courage to speak up if they had just kept the insults to him but if they were going to go after Emma?
However, some movement in the bottom of his eye caught his attention and his hand quickly shot forward and grabbed Assassin's arm. The girl had been looking between Bell and the pallum, slowly putting it together that he was insulting Bell. That he had switched to Emma had Assassin slowly moving her hand toward one of her daggers. If Bell wasn't careful, that pallum and his Familia might be assassinated by her on their way back home.
Assassin looked at Bell in surprise as he took her hand and placed it on the table. Bell wasn't sure how strong Apollo Familia was and even if they were a hundred members strong, he had no reason to believe that Hestia Familia couldn't win if their Familias came to blows. He just didn't want to be the one to start it which meant he had to keep Assassin from doing anything reckless.
He could feel the staff and other patrons were looking at them, wondering what was going to happen. He had to keep everything from flying out of control.
Caster would kill him if it did.
To Bell's surprise though, Mord was grinding his teeth in quiet rage even though he had just told Bell to ignore them. Was he getting angry on their behalf?
"I also know that his Familia is led by some goddess not worthy of even the slightest shred of respect. You'd have to be pretty weak and stupid to join a disgraceful deity like that!"
"You take that back!"
Before he knew it, Bell was on his feet, glaring down at the pallum, which wasn't that hard as he was only a little taller than Lily who was even shorter than Assassin.
It was one thing to insult Bell, it was already pushing it to insult Emma, but to insult Bell's goddess? The one who person who took Bell in when he had lost everything, the one who gave him a home, a family? The one who he revered more than anyone else on the planet?
Right now, Bell wanted nothing better than to wring his little neck. And judging from the fear in the pallum's eyes, he knew that too.
"S-see? Bull's-eye. Can't bear the shame, eh? You probably stole credit for the Goliath too-"
"NOW LISTEN HERE YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
In a flash, Mord had jumped out of his seat, sending his chair to the ground and had ran over and grabbed the little bastard by the throat before Bell could, snapping Bell out of his blood rage and making him step back in surprise.
"Just cuz you Apollo bastards are so shit that half of ya can't stand up to a minotaur without shitting yourselves doesn't mean that everyone else is as weak as you. Even a Hestia Familia pallum Supporter is strong enough to blow a minotaur's brains out. And you think you can just shit on that!?"
"M-Mister Mord, calm down!" Emma said as stood up and grabbed him by the arm. "You're making a scene and-ah!"
Before she could say anything else, one of the other Adventurers stood up and grabbed her, only for Mord to throw the pallum at the other man and pull her back, tossing her into Welf's arms.
"Come on then, you bastards!" Mord shouted. "I fought with them so show me if you're hot shit or not!"
"You bastard!"
"You've done it now!"
Four of the other Adventurers stood up and lunged at Mord who let out a roar as their table is knocked aside, sending dishes and food to the floor.
Bell pulled Assassin out of her chair and to the wall as Welf did the same for Emma.
The Apollo Familia must have only been Level 1 or low Level 2s as Mord was single handedly taking on all four of them. The pallum had been knocked out early on when Mord stomped on his face to keep him from standing up.
"…Shit!" Welf cursed as he pushed Emma over to Bell and jumped in to help Mord, grabbing someone who had jumped on the older Adventurer's back and smashed him onto the floor.
Bell was about to join in too, but Emma wrapped herself around his arm.
"Don't!" She warned. "Just calm down before this gets worse!"
"How can this possibly get any worse?" Bell asked.
"It's three Familias fighting already," she reminded him. "Don't make it four-"
She was then cut off as a wooden mug flew out from the side and hit her right in the head, knocking her back into the wall as she crumbled to the ground.
"Emma!" Assassin screamed as she knelt down and placed her hands on Emma's head.
Something snapped in Bell's head.
"Jack. Stay here with Emma."
Bell didn't wait for Jack to reply as he ran straight into the fight, toward the brown long-haired man who was smirking at him, telling Bell that he was the one who threw it.
As Bell drew close, the man threw a punch that could probably be said as fast but…
"Is that it!?"
But compared to Saber's punches, he might as well have been holding still. Bell grabbed the arm as it drew close and brought his own fist up at the man's elbow.
There was a sickening crunch as the man let out a scream of pain which was promptly silenced when Bell delivered another punch to his face, sending him flying out a window and into the rainy street.
Bell couldn't hear anything but his heavy own breaths that he was trying to get back under control.
Then…
"Holy shit, Bell."
Bell turned around to see Welf and Mord gaping at him. The Apollo Familia Adventurers were also gaping at him in fear and they flinched back when his eyes went to them. They quickly grabbed the unconscious pallum and made a hasty retreat, no doubt grabbing their other friend on the way back.
Bell then heard the rest of the bar whispering about something, but he didn't care. He walked back over to Emma and Assassin and lifted Emma up in his arms. That person was probably a High-Class Adventurer if they could knock her out like that, but Bell didn't care about that.
He was just angry.
Angry at the Apollo Familia and angry at himself for not stepping in before it came to this.
"Let's go home, Jack," Bell said, and Assassin just quickly nodded her head as if she was scared of doing something that might set him off again.
"Hey kid…" Mord began but Bell just dropped his share of the day's earnings on his chair so the staff could use it to fix the broken furniture and dishes and walked passed Mord and Welf to leave the bar.
He just wanted to hurry home.
