Chapter 51: Machinations

As the Hestia Familia Expedition continued at its own pace down in the Dungeon, life of those on the surface continued on.

One place in particular was rather lively.

A class was currently being held within a building located in the Education District. It was a cooking class meant as an extension to the shows put on by members of Hestia Familia. A more hands on approach.

Unlike the shows however, the Guild had no part in it so the profits, and expenses, were all borne by Hestia Familia on their own.

Archer was not particularly enthusiastic about holding a cooking class, not that he particularly objected to teach others how to cook, but because the one who came up with the idea was Caster.

Still, it was a way for him to help contribute to the Familia's finances and help other people so in spite of his reservations, he did not object to teaching the class.

"That being said…"

Archer looked out toward his "class."

Sitting right in the front row was a certain amazoness along with a haggard and apologetic looking elf who looked as though she had been dragged here against her will.

Well, considering he found their names on the sign up sheet, he wasn't exactly surprised by their attendance, but he was a little uneasy.

There were several women amongst the students, most of them younger girls probably looking for an easy way to woo their targets of affection by attacking them through their stomach like a certain gray-hared waitress sitting in the middle row but so long as their cooking made people happy, Archer didn't care about their reasons for attending the class.

He did wonder about the pair of kids around Primo and Gina's age at the corner station though. He recognized them as part of a certain golden jackass's group with said jackass sitting in the back overlooking the proceedings with Saber beside him.

At the sound of the noon bell, Archer decided to start the class.

"Well, looks like it's time," he muttered with a. sigh before addressing the class in front of him. "Welcome to Hestia Familia's Cooking Class. I shall be your teacher, Archer."

"As you saw on the sign-up form, this first class is for people who either have never cooked before or would like to upgrade their cooking repertoire to 'actually edible.'"

At this, Syr gave Archer a look of confusion before turning to look over her shoulder toward Saber, who steadfastly refused to meet her gaze, opting to gaze out the window instead.

"To start with, we have some spring vegetables, courtesy of the Demeter Familia, today," Archer said gesturing to the pile of leafy green stalks beside him. "I'll be showing you all a simple recipe that can be made with these. Granted it's just a sandwich but with a few extra steps you can make it tastier than just slapping them between two slices of bread."

A few people nodded and Archer couldn't help but smirk at the children's faces when they saw that they'd have to eat bitter vegetables.

"For the seasonings we have butter, karashi, honey, mayonnaise, grain mustard and pepper. Mix together the karashi and butter for a spread and then…"

The sauces were rather simple to make. Simply by mixing together the condiments, you could get a more even taste with the new sauce.

From there they moved onto boiling the vegetables in salted water with Archer taking the time to walk around and help anyone who was having trouble while making sure to keep a close eye on Syr to make sure she didn't add anything strange. It was Bell's stomach that was at stake after all.

He also paid close attention to the pair of little girls in the corner to make sure they didn't burn themselves.

"And so?" Archer asked as he finally came across Lefiya and Tiona's station. "Why exactly are you two here?"

"We came to learn how to cook?" Tiona asked back, tilting her head slightly.

"I came here because Tiona wanted company…" Lefiya replied looking a little tired. "I had to cancel an appointment with a friend too…"

"Come on, you already rescheduled for tomorrow. right?"

"Hah…"

"Doesn't your Familia have its own dedicated cooking members?"

"What? You're sounding like you don't want us here."

"I'm just saying that you could have asked them for help and save some money…the pot's boiling over."

"Huh? Uwaah!"

Thankful for the distraction, Archer stepped to the side as Tiona messed with the dial on the stove. He nodded toward Lefiya, who wore an apologetic look on her face, and stepped over to the Pair of kids in the class.

"So what brings you two here?" He asked. They were an amazoness and a chienthrope pair.

"A friend of ours said that you were doing a cooking class and so we wanted to learn to cook to help Mother Maria in the kitchen more!" The amazoness replied with a smile while the chienthrope nodded her head, with her tail swishing back and forth.

"And so he paid our tuition fee for us," the chienthrope added, looking over her shoulder.

"He did, did he?" Archer asked, following her gaze toward the back but decided not to press further.

At least, not without telling Hestia and Rider first.

"In any case, be careful not to get burned."

""Kaaay!""

With that quick tour around the class finished, Archer decided to move to the next step.

"Once you are boil the greens, place them in a bowl of ice water then make sure they are fully drained."

Twisting the greens over the sink and then wiping them down with some napkins was enough for that.

"Umm, what's the point of doing this?" Lefiya asked, raising her hand.

"This is called 'shocking' the vegetables. By quickly boiling them in salted water and then dumping them in ice water, it makes the vegetables look brighter and helps keep their crispy texture."

"Since for most people, just having greens isn't enough, we'll also be adding scrambled eggs and bacon to it. For the eggs, crack three into a bowl, salt them and then beat them until it's a nice yellow color…with a whisk please, not with your fists."

"Say that clearly the first time!" Tiona shouted before moving to a sink as several of the other students giggled. Though one person in the back was also slowly hiding their hands as well.

The eggs then went into the frying pan, with Archer making another round to make sure no one would burn anything and to make sure no one did get burned.

"Try not to break it up. We want it to be mostly whole to put into the sandwich. And be careful about the oil as it might-"

BANG!

"Kyah!"

"Splash…are you all right?"

"Y-yes, it just surprised me."

"Wash your hands just in case."

Syr nodded as she went toward the nearest sink. In the back of the room, Archer noted Caster chuckling for some reason. Getting burned was nothing to laugh at, especially for a normal girl like her.

Once the egg was done, they added more oil to the pan and heat it over a low to medium heat and placed bacon in it well. Once it was crispy, remove the bacon and place it onto a paper napkin to drain any excess oil.

"Now that the preparation is done all that's left is to assemble the sandwich. Spread the butter on one slice of bread, then layer the bacon, the greens, the sauce and the egg. Doing it this way would make it easier to cut once they are done."

The smell of the completed sandwich started permeating throughout the classroom as the students started talking excitedly amongst themselves. By layering something heavy on top of the sandwich, it allowed the ingredients to mingle a bit and flatten the sandwich to make it easier to cut.

"Now then, cut it however you wish to finish it up," Archer said, cutting it straight down the middle before handing a child's knife to the child pair.

Some cut it straight down the middle, following Archer's direction while others cut it diagonally or even into smaller bite-sized pieces.

"Now then, the absolute most important part of cooking is to taste test your own food," Archer said. "You can't serve something you won't eat yourself after all. So feel free to dig in."

"Yay!"

With a small cheer, everyone started eating their creations with some looking satisfied while others looked worried due to adding too much sauce or too little. Overall, it seemed to be quite a successful first class however.

"Having an assistant would make things go smoother and faster," Archer thought. Rider would work but that would take time from cooking things for dinner. Considering the B Party of Gina, Emma, Primo, Karen and Lancer would normally only go into the Dungeon every other day they he might take Gina or Karen along as an assistant if they wanted to. "Then again, we only did this because Caster wanted to do it and footed the bill."

"Oh, are you done already?"

The door to the classroom opened and the Goddess Demeter stepped inside. Her voluptuous earthly beauty catching everyone's eye almost immediately.

"It seems like it was another success?" Demeter asked, glancing at the sandwiches everyone was eating.

"Yes, thanks to your produce as always," Archer replied before holding up the sample dish he had made. "If you'd like…"

"My, don't mind if I do," Demeter accepted the gesture with a smile. "Hmm…you used the field mustard did you? That's not very common as too many people think them little more than weeds."

"It can't be helped. They look similar to some after all."

"Indeed," Demeter said with a smile as she suddenly stroked his head. "Good boy."

The suddenness of the action caught Archer off guard but he wasn't sure if he should simply brush aside the hand of a goddess, least of all one of the most important ones in Orario.

"Ow!"

Suddenly he felt a few of his hairs get yanked off prompting Demeter to pull her hand away.

"Oh my, I'm sorry, it looks like it got caught in my ring."

There was indeed a ring on Demeter's hand. It wasn't really ornamental but it did feel strange to see one the hands of the goddess considering how often she tilled the fields alongside her Familia. It must have been an important gift from someone then.

Well, it wasn't his place to pry.

"Well then, I just came by to check up on things. If you plan on holding another lesson, please don't hesitate to contact us again. Although do give us a bit more warning next time."

"Of course. My apologies once more."

With that, the goddess left as quickly as she came.

With that done, he went to check on the others.

"So, how did it go?" He asked Syr.

"Hm…I think I burned the egg a bit," Syr replied as she peeked inside the sandwich to reveal some blackened spots on the yellow egg. "Otherwise I think it went rather well."

"Is that so? I'm sure Bell will be happy then," Archer said with a grin causing Syr to blush and turn away.

"Archer, try this!"

Archer turned around just in time to be force fed a sandwich, courtesy of Tiona.

"Oi! Don't shove food into people's mouths!" Archer snapped back as he pulled the sandwich out.

"Come on, it's pretty good, right?"

"You did taste this yourself first, right?"

"Duh, you said to, right?"

Even so, he could taste that she overdid it a bit with the sauce and butter in that she put a bit too much into the sandwich and that the mustard and pepper portions were uneven, making a bit spicier than usual. But that might be how Tiona herself liked it so he shouldn't comment.

"Put a bit less sauce and it'd be better."

"Come on, isn't this the part where you're supposed to say it's great?"

"Now now, you did very well for your first try," Lefiya said, trying to soothe her friend. "Using vegetables that were in season was really nice. Once summer comes along, how should we change it?"

"I'm not too familiar with what grows around here during the summer yet," Archer replied. "You might try asking what's good from Demeter Familia or one of your cooks instead."

As he chatted with the Loki Familia girls, Archer spotted the blonde, red-eyed chienthrope child from earlier walk toward the back of the room carrying a sandwich on a plate. She stopped right in front of Caster, and to his and the king's apparent surprise, offered it up to him.

"Umm…this is thanks for saving us on Grand Day from those monsters!" The girl said, holding the plate up toward Caster's face.

The king stared wide-eyed at the plate as Saber turned his head to the side with a chuckle.

"…I do not recall demanding repayment from you," Caster said but he accepted the plate nonetheless. "All you need is to keep hold your tongue about that and it would be enough."

"Yes!" The girl said, her tail wagging excitedly. "I haven't told anyone about it. You can count on me."

"Humph…"

Caster simply shook his head before handing the empty plate back to the girl with a nod of his head and a "It was adequate."

With a beaming smile, the girl returned to her friend.

Archer had no idea what that was about, and judging from the flabbergasted look on Syr's face, neither did she.

Did she know the kid from somewhere?

Well, it wasn't his problem anyway.

Once the food was all packed away, either in tins to take home or in the bellies of the students, the class was over and Archer was seeing them all off.

"Let us know ahead of time if you're going to hold another class, promise?" Tiona demanded as she and Lefiya were the last ones to leave.

"Why do I have to go out of my way to do so?" Archer asked back. "You'll find any new notice at the Guild, same as this time. Ask a receptionist to send word in that case."

"You're not being very friendly you know?"

"Sorry, this is just my natural disposition."

"Come on, no need to be shy amongst friends."

"Who's being shy?"

With a laugh, Tiona smacked him on the back once before she and Lefiya went on their way, leaving Archer to wonder who exactly the amazoness reminded him of. However, the two girls didn't even make it two buildings down when the two kids from the class earlier ran over and stopped them.

With his enhanced hearing, Archer tried to eavesdrop on them.

"You're from Loki Familia right?" One of the smaller girls asked. "You're one of the good guys right?"

"Uhh…I'd like to think we are," Tiona said, looking unsure.

"We're supposed to give this to you when we saw one of you."

"A scroll? By who?" Lefiya asked.

"Sorry, it's a secret!"

"He's a good person though so it's nothing dangerous!"

With that, the two girls scampered toward Archer's direction and he watched them go down road toward the eastern section of town.

"…What are you planning?" Archer asked, keeping his gaze forward.

"Why must you assume everything I do is nefarious?" Caster asked, appearing by his side.

"Because it's clear that it was you who told them to give that to Loki Familia," Archer replied. "Why risk using them as messengers?"

"Because it is an opportunity to light a fire under those who have grown complacent in their so-called 'superiority,'" Caster replied, glancing down the same road the two kids ran down. Archer noticed that Syr had caught up with them and seemed to be asking them about the scroll but they were refusing to tell her.

"You're talking about the Familia that's connected to the Hostess?" Archer asked.

"Of course. If something happens to them, then that one will make a move. And if they do not want something to happen, they will have to take the appropriate steps to make sure nothing comes of it."

"Even so, using orphans as bait?"

"Everything I do is for the sake of ridding my garden of its infestation," Caster replied. "Everything else is of no concern of mine."

"And yet you go out of your way to make sure she is aware of it to take the necessary steps to protect them," Saber pointed out. "For someone who claims to hold no interest, you certainly go out of the way to cover all your bases."

"I will leave nothing to chance," Caster replied. "The enemies of the world are also the ones protecting it. The gods cannot be expected to act in ways that remain solely within the realms of their own self-interest. That useless goddess of this Familia is proof of that."

Certainly, if Hestia had wanted to lead a normal mid-sized Familia as she wanted when she first started out, she would have washed her hands of the whole Xenos matter the moment it appeared. Instead, she laid down both the groundwork for bringing the Xenos to the surface as well as a way to house them within the Familia. No doubt the inn would close down sometime in the future and be repurposed into a new Familia Home to house the massive amount of Xenos and the amount of Adventurers needed to take care and protect them.

As the Servants were currently around, a large army was unnecessary but planning for the inevitable future must be done, no matter how much sleep Hestia was losing over it as well as the hair she was tearing out in frustration.

She was the hearth, and she will provide a home for those without one.

"Well then, it's time for the final blow in assuring that they will not simply stand idly by," Caster said with a smile as he turned toward the other two. "Come. Let us celebrate the end of this workday as proper 'Adventurers' should."

"…You're not planning on bar hopping are you?" Archer asked. "We'd be leaving Lady Hestia and Berserker to eat alone at home."

"If the goddess is hungry then she can eat food from the inn. As for Berserker, we shall bring food to him from the last store we will visit."

"So you have already had an itinerary in mind?" Saber asked.

"Of course."

"…I have a bad feeling about this," Archer muttered.

However, as not going along with this and not knowing what he was planning would no doubt cause even more stress, he had no choice but to stick with them.

X-x-X-x-X

"So…this is totally suspicious, isn't it?" Loki asked, referring to three identical scrolls on the table in front of Finn.

"One given to Lefiya and Tiona at Archer's cooking class," Finn began. "One given to Bete's group when they were searching in Deadalus Street…and the last one given to Loki just outside the gate."

"…Right outside?" Riveria repeated, looking at her goddess.

"Yep. Was seeing off Dionysus when this half-elf kid came up and said that he was told to give it straight to me."

"Ahh…I remember the sentries were saying that some kid was coming once in a while to look at the gate," Gareth muttered. "Guess they were looking for you."

"Pretty cute kid too," Loki muttered. "Wish they'd grow up so I can ask them to join though. Anyway…what do we do about this?"

"Well, the first thing to do is to actually read it to find out what's in it," Finn stated the obvious. "Though I have a feeling I know who sent it in the first place."

The other executives nodded and each took a scroll with Loki reading over Finn's shoulder instead.

"To the leaders of Loki Familia. Although I cannot divulge my identity due to the nature of what I am about to reveal to you, I hope that you will be able to look past it and accept my words as they are."

"…Are we sure this is from Goldy?" Loki asked, having the same thoughts as Finn. "Take it from a goddess, there's no way a guy like that would ever sound this humble even if it's to his benefit."

"Haha…well, maybe someone else wrote it for him?" Finn asked, although he was feeling that his guess might be off as well.

"While it may have shocked you to receive these letters from orphans, it is because of them that I came across the knowledge that might interest you. Below the city down in the sewers of Orario located at…"

"…Is this right?" Loki muttered.

"What's wrong?" Riveria asked.

"Me and Bete checked that location out before. Although we did find those violas things, we didn't really find anything else."

"The entrance is hidden by a false wall that can only be open from the other side. If you arrive there tomorrow morning, the entrance will be open. Understand this for what it is."

"A trap then?" Riveria asked.

"Most likely," Finn agreed.

"Once you enter there will likely be no escape until you find a key to the exit. It is a superstructure that stretches far below the surface and connects even with the Dungeon at several points. One might even refer to it as a 'manmade Dungeon' as ludicrous as that may sound. Your enemies will be well prepared for your arrival thus I would recommend not entering with anyone below Level 3 or 4 unless you are prepared to abandon their corpses as you flee. I make this recommendation with the understanding that the enemies' elite are Level 5 wielding Cursed Weaponry and you are entering an unknown territory which the enemy has full control over. The enemy will not hesitate to send suicide attackers and monsters to harass you at every corner. the layout will be filled with traps such as pitfalls and hidden explosives…"

"…I can't decide if this is all just bupkis or crazy enough to be true," Loki muttered as she rubbed her forehead. "What do you think Finn?"

"They went through all the trouble to deliver this to us, we should at least take the information of the enemy's hideout to be true," Finn replied. "We should at the very least look into that. From the sound of things this might be the only chance to strike for a long time."

"What about the infiltration team then?" Riveria asked.

"The three of us, the twins, Ais and Bete…" Gareth muttered. "Maybe Raul and Aki too. We should be able to handle ourselves but without Supporters it will be tough, even if they went out of their way to warn us that they might not survive."

"If there really is a giant manmade Dungeon down there then there's no way the seven of you will be able to scope it out by yourselves," Loki pointed out. "And I really don't like it. If this is Goldy's work, then he's definitely trying to use you all as bait."

"That's one way to look at it," Finn said with a smile. "Another way is that Hestia Familia's Spirit members will be reinforcing us after we kick up the hornet's nest."

"…Caster did hand us food supplies and antidotes back when we were returning from our Expedition," Riveria remembered. "No charge outside of lending them some of our camping space. But even if they will be reinforcing us, they might have their own objectives to accomplish."

"Hmm…come to think of it…remember how Archer lost his head and ran off ahead to take down that Demi Spirit?" Gareth asked. "You think they're hunting for another one down there?"

"Who can say but I sure don't want to fight another one up here," Finn replied.

"So basically the first thing we need to decide before an infiltration team would be our objective," Loki muttered. "Considering we got a a bunch of things we need to worry about…it'll be difficult to get all the preparations done in time."

"We don't know how far it stretches either," Finn added. "It might be prudent to simply scout it out with a small elite team first and lower the risk as much as possible. That being said Hestia Familia might not move if we don't kick up a big enough fuss as a 'distraction' so we'll probably have to plan on not getting their reinforcement as well."

"It might be best to ask them straight out for help like we did with the Expedition instead of betting it on a possibility," Riveria pointed out.

"Nah, it feels like Goldy's going behind that Chibi's back in doing this. She was pretty adamant about not getting involved after all. If we go and ask she'll just slam the door on our faces."

"Nothing says we have to go right now either," Gareth said. "Sure we'll miss this opportunity but since we know where it is, we can wait for the next one and prepare for things like these cursed weapons of theirs."

"…It doesn't change the fact that whether we go in tomorrow or who knows when, we'll be going in blind," Finn says. "We can't pass up an opportunity like this, especially since Caster has set it up for us, using us as bait or not."

"Got it."

"We'll take all our Level 6s along with us," Finn continued. "So Gareth and I, Ais, Bete, and the twins. For Supporters…let's take along the same group that came with us to the 59th Floor. So Raul, Narvi, Alicia, Cruz and Lefiya. We'll bring along Aki too, just to be safe. Riveria, I'd like you to stay behind just in case."

"Understood."

"Think we got time to head to Dian Chet's to see if they got anything to get ride of curses?" Loki asked.

"If they don't we might as well go anyway to see if they can prepare something in the morning at the very least," Riveria said, standing up.

"Just remember something Finn," Loki said. "You are just 'scouting.' If things get dicey, try and pull back right away, got it?"

"Of course."

With that, the other three left the room, leaving Finn alone. As he was about to clear up the letters when he noticed something.

One of the handles of the scrolls was thicker than the others.

With a bit of fiddling he found that the handle had been wrapped around something else.

It looked like a golden tube but there was no obvious way to open it up and see if something was inside. It was probably a gift to be used in the so-called manmade dungeon but all Finn had to go with that was his own instinct. Its use would probably reveal itself when the time was right.

"Well, if it's that guy there would be no need for a trap if he wanted to kill us," Finn decided. "He'd just waltz right through the front door."

For now, he'll keep it on him as a good luck charm.

X-x-X-x-X

For Ryuu, a busy day at the Hostess of Fertility was just another day. The food was good, if pricey, and the atmosphere constantly attracted Adventurers who knew not to push their luck against the waitresses, lest they be kicked out by the Level 4 waitresses or Level 6 matron.

The only thing different today was that Syr had taken the day off to attend a cooking class.

Rather surprisingly, everyone had begged Mia Grand to let Syr take the day off so she could learn how to cook. No, considering that most of Syr's taste testers came from this pub, it was only a natural for their hearts to become one in this matter. So much so that Mia reluctantly let Syr go.

Thus, while they were short one employee, Lunor, Anya and Chloe all decided it was worth it in the long term.

Ryuu was of the same mind but she owed Syr far too much to say such thoughts aloud.

"Welcome…oh."

As Ryuu turned to greet a new customer, she saw that it was the three adult humans from Hestia Familia.

"Table for three please," the glasses wearing Saber said, holding three fingers up.

"Of course," Ryuu replied, falling into her professional mask. "Is the bar fine?"

"Yes."

As she led the three to the bar, she turned her attention to Archer, unable to help but voice her question.

"Did Syr perform well in your class?" Ryuu asked.

"She did fine," Archer replied. "A little burnt but not inedible. Some oil did splash out but it didn't hit anyone."

"I see. Thank you."

It seems things went well then. All that's left is to hope that Syr retained what she learned and that there will be more lessons for her to increase her dishes to make for Bell Cranel.

The men made their orders after that. A round of drinks and some small plates to snack on as they drank. The three of them stood out compared to the rest of the Adventurers in the pub. None of them were making small talk with each other or anyone else in the pub. The only time they said anything was to ask for another drink or another plate.

If Syr was here she would no doubt ask them questions about Bell.

As such, it should be Ryuu's duty to acquire such intelligence herself to pass to Syr later. But it wasn't as though she knew where to begin and it wasn't as though Mia would allow her to pause her work for that, no matter how good the cause. She would have to employ all her skills in making small talk for this to work.

Perhaps this wasn't a good idea.

"What is it?" The blonde Captain of Hestia Familia asked. "Are you seeking to play the role of justice once more?"

"…What are you saying?" Ryuu asked.

She had been planning on striking up a conversation with them but they made the first move. Judging from the serious air hanging around the other two, it would seem that this was not a simple affair of dining out.

"You have been in Orario for several years now, correct?" Caster asked but continued without waiting for her answer. "Then you should be aware of the evil that lurks in the shadows, do you not?"

Ryuu felt her body involuntarily tense.

He couldn't mean them, could he?

"Loki Familia will be moving to exterminate some rats in the sewers tomorrow morning," Caster continued, ignoring or simply uncaring about her reaction. His Familia members have stopped eating and drinking and were watching him without a word. "We will observe and act accordingly at a different location. If you are interested, do come to the Home at noon."

"…Why are you telling me this?"

"Oh? I thought you would jump on the chance to play the role of a 'Hero of Justice,'" Caster said as Archer narrowed his eyes. "Of course, I intend to enjoy myself as I observe you are forced to choose between your darker impulses and your desire to keep the peace you have found for yourself."

"I am not here to amuse you," Ryuu hissed, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

Caster must have as well as the sneer on his face only grew.

"Have you forgotten? Everything in this world exists to provide me with amusement. People exist to act upon their desires and strive to accomplish them. That is what separates them from mere beasts. Of course, the same goes for those who try to become something they are not."

With that, Caster stood up with a and tossed a bag of coins on the counter before heading to the exit.

"There is no reason to go along with what he says," Archer said as he and Saber stood up as well. "He's just riling you up to mess with you."

"Agreed," Saber added. "There is no reason to walk away from the peace that you built for yourself here. Although I do not have the entire picture as he does…there is no reason for you to risk everything in a moment of passion."

Having said their piece, the two men followed their Captain out of the pub without looking back.

"What, they're leaving already?" Lunor asked, the brown-haired waitress heaving a sigh. "I wanted to recharge a bit more."

"That boy wasn't here today so what's the point, nya?" Chloe asked, fully revealing her impure thoughts since Syr wasn't around. "Meow? Something wrong, Ryuu? Your face is even scarier than usual."

Ryuu said nothing as she grabbed the pouch and headed to the back to store the money. When she got there, she was unsurprised to see Mia standing in front of her, hands on her hips. Ryuu handed her the pouch and Mia took the exact amount for the three men's bill and handed the rest over to Ryuu.

"I know that look," Mia said with a sigh.

Apparently Ryuu's thoughts had leaked through the stoic mask she had put on.

It was only natural after all.

"How can I…how can Alise and the others, be at peace so long as a single one of those scum is still alive?"

Even if she was playing right into that person's hands, she couldn't let this chance slip by. She knew she didn't get all of them back then. It was her chance to rectify that.

"If you want to go ahead and do something stupid, I won't stop ya," Mia continued. "Just be sure to come straight back here when you're done."

Ryuu didn't respond but instead simply bowed her head to the matron.

Even if she didn't deserve it, this was a place for her to return to.

X-x-X-x-X

The next morning, the members of Loki Familia, Loki herself included, entered the maze like tunnels below the city of Orario.

Members of the incursion team that Finn had listed the day before were there as well as several other members acting as a secondary relief team and guard for Loki. A member of Dionysus familia, Filvis, was also with them having come to meet with Lefiya only to ask to be taken along after realizing what they were doing.

Seeing the opportunity, Loki obliged her, as it would be a way to add onto their invading forces without risking anymore of her own Children. It also added someone who would do their utmost to protect Lefiya if it came down to it. That she is doing this on her own accord without Dionysus knowing about it was all the better in Loki's eyes.

As they traveled down the dank tunnels, Bete suddenly stopped once they crossed the threshold between the south and southeast districts of Orario.

"…Guess they were right…" Bete snarled as ever other animal person in Loki Familia turned their noses up and started sniffing the air. "Violas."

As they were now closing in on enemy territory, Finn reorganized their group and had Bete lead them toward the Old Sewerway.

There they found what they were directed to find.

A small passage jutting out of the main waterway, just wide enough for the long bodies of the violas to slip on through.

With their bodies tense, Loki Familia descended down the steps, the lingering scent of monsters filling the air and drowning out even that of the sewers above them.

They descended until they stumbled across something impossible.

"A golden door?" Gareth asked as they all gazed upon the three meter high door adorned with statues and engravings of demons and red gemstones. "No, that luster…orichalcum!"

Hearing that, several people started mutteirng and Ais's hand tightened its grip on her blade.

The master ingot, integral in the creation of the Durandal from which Superior-grade weapons, like Aiz's Desperate, were forged, stronger even than the adamantite mined in the Dungeon, and easily the highest-grade material in the entire world. It was said that the ingot's method of manufacture, similar to that of mythril, was first established back during the Ancient Times when monsters encroaching on the surface forced all the various races to unite. Long, long ago, before smithing abilities and the blessing of the gods.

Orichalcum was a crystallization of that bygone era as well as the limitless potential of the mortal realm with all their wisdom, imbued with the techniques of humans and demi-humans alike.

By all common sense, making even a dent in this door of orichalcum would be impossible.

"Right where the letter said it would be," Loki muttered. "From this direction, it would definitely spill out into Daedalus street as well."

"By letter you mean the one that brat gave me?" Bete asked.

"We got one from a pair of girls too," TIona said as Lefiya nodded her head to Filvis's surprise.

"That stinks even more than the sewers," Bete said. "This is totally a trap."

Then, as if confirming the werewolf's words, the orichalcum doors slid up into the rock, revealing a dense stone passage barely illuminated by dimly lit Magic Stone lanterns.

"Finn…"

"Yes Gareth, I saw it, too," Finn replied, his eyes narrowing. "It's our masked friend…no doubt about it. The one who opened the door is that 'creature.'"

Loki had seen none of that as the passage looked like nothing except pitch black to her eyes without the use of her Arcanum. It was only thanks to her Blessing that Finn and the other High-Class Adventurers could see into the darkness.

Finn sent off Bete and Cruz to scout ahead and they returned moments later to report that there was yet another maze beyond the doors, almost like another Dungeon.

"I don't like this," Loki muttered.

"Even though it is exactly as the letters described?" Riveria asked.

"It's because it's exact that I don't like it. It means that more and more of the crap they wrote is coming true and that means we're basically assaulting a fortress with the bare minimum of information."

"It is not as if we can put this off either. It is clear that our enemies are moving the violas through here and with their goal of bringing a Demi-Spirit to the surface, we cannot afford to dally."

"And that's the biggest part of this that I don't like!"

"Then if we're going let's leave the deadweight behind," Bete implored. "We'll all end up dead if we have to watch out for them too."

Tiona and Tione glared at Bete but before they could argue, Finn held up a hand to tell them to silence them.

"The formation has already been decided when we got the information of this place," Finn said. "We'll be taking the same members we did during the tail end of our previous Expedition alongside Filvis Challia. That should be enough, right Bete?"

"…Feh."

"Yeah except Archer isn't here," Tiona pointed out obviously.

"The entire Familia's not home," Loki replied. "I stopped by both at their base and at the shortie's inn. We got turned away at the gates saying that she wasn't there either. Not even their three meter tall minotaur could be seen."

All signs of Hestia Familia, both Adventurers and the Goddess herself had vanished from the city of Orario.

"Even Berserker?" Lefiya asked in surprise.

"You'd think there would be an uproar wherever that thing goes," Filvis muttered. "No, to begin with, how did they even bring something that big to the surface in the first place?"

"You think they used these sewers too?" Raul asked.

"We'll worry about that later," Finn cut off any further discussion with those words. "For now we need to focus on what's ahead of us."

"Right, right, good luck guys," Loki said, seeing off the infiltration group.

The group consisted of Finn, Gareth, Ais, Bete, and the twins as the main fighters with Raul, Aki, Narvi, Alicia, Cruz and Lefiya as the Supporters plus Filvis acting as Lefiya's guard.

Loki wondered if there was a forbidden elven romance blooming but the situation was too serious for her to say the words out loud.

And so, all she could do was wait with the majority of her Familia for their return.

"…It's always the worst part…" she mumbled to herself.

X-x-X-x-X

The Party forged its way through the false Dungeon as they took in the dark sights. Not only were there decorations that lined the hallways but each hallway was uniformly built and carefully planned. There was even a layer of adamantite hidden behind each wall. It must have taken decades or even centuries to build everything here. That it had gone unnoticed for so long was baffling in Lefiya's eyes.

"Man, it really does feel like the Dungeon in here!" Tione cursed under her breath.

"Yes," Lefiya agreed. "Admittedly, any sort of stronghold would likely go to great lengths to hinder enemy infiltration…though perhaps this is going above and beyond."

Almost immediately past the door, the passage split into a multitude of dizzying directions. From forks to four-way crossings, the possible paths were nigh uncountable. It seemed with every passing glance, their numbers grew further still, and the adventurers had no choice but to split up and plow their way through.

"What's that you have there, Finn?" Gareth asked from the front of the pack, causing Lefiya to look forward.

Finn was holding a small golden cylinder in his hand as he leaned his spear over his shoulder with his other hand.

"Just a trinket," Finn replied before stowing the object away. "Doesn't seem to be working yet."

"This place is just ridiculous," Bete muttered. "Orichalcum doors, adamantite walls…where the fuck did these asshats get the money for all this stuff?"

Cruz and Raul nodded their heads beside Bete.

Neither orichalcum nor adamantite, the metal just a step below orichalcum, were easy to procure. Adamantite itself can only be mined in the Dungeon and even then the high quality material used to line the walls could only be found in the deeper floors of the Dungeon. The amount of funding needed for such a project would cost even more than what the likes of Loki Familia could earn easily.

Finally, they came across a fork in the road and after sending Bete and Ais to scout both of them, discovered that both had staircases that led down to lower floors.

"Well Finn?" Gareth asked. "Which way."

Finn didn't say anything for a moment before he took out the object again.

"…You can't be serious…" Bete muttered as Finn balanced the cylinder between the two paths.

"Both directions lead deeper into the enemy base," Finn replied. "Without any idea of what's ahead it doesn't matter which direction we take and we don't have the numbers to split up here."

"I mean sure but…that method doesn't really provide us with confidence," Raul muttered.

Finn simply chuckled before letting go of the trinket, which fell over toward the left path.

"Left it is then."

Snatching up the trinket, Finn led them down the left path.

"Are we going to be okay?" Filvis asked Lefiya.

"Don't worry, I trust the Captain's judgment," Lefiya replied with a smile.

Although she said that, she noted that they seemed to have been walking for a long time without seeing a single soul. Not to mention that the steps they were taking seemed to be taking them down just like the steps of the Dungeon. By now they were probably somewhere between the First and Second Floors.

If this was really an Evilus stronghold…does that mean that this false Dungeon stretched all the way to the Eighteenth Floor where Lefiya and Bell came across other Evilus members?

Was this the Second Entrance into the Dungeon Loki Familia had been searching for then? This Labyrinth?

Not only that but Lefiya had seen the violas be born from the Twenty-Fourth Floor pantry where Loki and Hermes Familias clashed with Evilus resulting in several members of the latter losing their lives.

Did it stretch all the way down to the Twenty-Fourth Floor then? Even further?

"…It looks like a room," Aki suddenly muttered as the path in front of them opened up.

The square-shaped space that appeared before them very much resembled the various rooms of the Dungeon. It was wide enough to comfortably fit ten or so adventurers standing side by side making it easily fifty meters long.

Orichalcum doors barred the passages to their left and right, while in front of them and directly across from the stairwell was an open path leading forward.

The animal people Adventurers' ears twitched almost in unison as their eyes turned toward the path forward. A moment later, a female figure stepped out of the darkness.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"

The scream erupted from between the woman's lips the moment she came into view. It was so loud it was hard to believe it came from a human woman that was currently looking down at them.

"Oh, Braver! How I've been dying to see you, you little shit!" she screamed wickedly, spittle flecking her lip."

"…Hey Finn, you got some disease that attracts crazy broads or something?" Bete asked with almost genuine curiosity.

"I heard that!" Tione snapped back, not taking her eyes off the unknown woman.

"Hold your tongue, Bete," Finn scolded. "Besides, Tione is human…moreso than that one in any case."

"Valletta Grede, huh?" Gareth muttered. "To think she was still alive. Thought Gale's rampage would have gotten you at the very least."

"Guess she used that opportunity and faked her death."

"What a little genius we have here! Pisses me off!" Valletta's smile grew more depraved still. "Thanks to you and your bloody Guild friends, we Evilus lost a lotta muscle on that day six years ago. So you know what we did, huh? We egged on ol' Olivas and pretended like the whole bunch of us had bought the farm!"

The Twenty-Seventh-Floor Nightmare was a large-scale Pass Parade instigated by the Evilus. They lured in not only every monster on the floor but the floor's Monster Rex, as well, pitting all of them against the ensnared adventurers sent by the Guild. What resulted was a massive battle with nigh uncountable bodies piling up on both sides. Valletta and the other high-level Evilus had taken the opportunity to add their own "dead bodies" to the mix, effectively throwing the Guild off their scent in the process.

Lefiya slowly turned her gaze toward Filvis, who was shaking almost uncontrollably in anger. The dark-haired elf had been right in the middle of that and was one of the few survivors, having witnessed the death of almost all her friends and comrades.

It was also the event that earned Filvis the nickname, the Party-Killing Elf, "Banshee."

"You know what you are, Finn?" Valletta continued, her voice crackling with a violent energy directed straight at Finn. "Scum. Miserable, disgusting scum, the worst of the worst! Because you didn't go! That day, you didn't try and help on the twenty-seventh floor! Instead, you got intel from somewhere, took Freya's and Ganesha's people, and attacked our gods!"

Apparently Finn had seen through the plans of Valletta and her peers and, realizing there wasn't enough time, had simply abandoned the twenty-seventh floor. Instead, he had taken his people and attacked every single location that could possibly house the Evilus' base. He'd even discerned that their garrison was weak. Together with the help of the other gods, he succeeded in sending a frightening number of the so-called "evil gods" back to the heavens, which had tipped the balance of power between the Evilus and the Guild.

All of this made Finn, "Braver," anathema to the remaining Evilus as it had left countless members of Evilus in the Dungeon helpless without their Gods' Blessings.

"Considering what you people did, I can't say I feel sorry for you," Finn replied emotionlessly.

"Go to hell, Finn!" Valetta shouted. "Let yourself be swallowed in the majesty of Knossos…and die!"

Valletta raised her right arm and held up a sphere. Wrapped in a layer of ingot, its core appeared to be a round red sphere with a visible "D" carved into its surface. The moment the spherical and apparently magical item gave off a crimson flash, the door behind them rumbled closed.

As Finn turned around to look at the door, the cylinder object in Finn's hand began shaking violently.

"All hands, prepare yourselves!" Finn said as the doors on the two sides of the room opened up, allowing swarms of the plant-like violas to stream into the room while Valletta let out a mighty cackle and ran down the path she entered from.

As Lefiya and the others prepared for combat, something unexpected happened.

All the violas froze in place as if caught under the eyes of something greater than them.

Then, a massive Howl, a roar of a monster, echoed through the room. It was a roar of a beast unlike any Lefiya had heard before.

"No, that's not right…" Lefiya realized as the entire manmade Dungeon, as Knossos began shaking. "This is…"

And within the Howl, Lefiya could hear a voice.

WANDER!

"Everyone, forward down the path!" Finn ordered and Loki Familia plus Filvis ran down the path Valetta went down, taking advantage of the violas' confusion.

"Captain, we'll hold them back!" Lefiya shouted as she turned toward Filvis, who nodded her head in agreement.

"Don't fall too far behind!" Finn shouted over the Howl as they reached the corridor.

As the two prepared their magic, the violas seemed to regain their bearings, attracted to the new flow of magic.

"Leave them to me!" Filvis shouted, putting herself between Lefiya and the violas. "Shield me, cleansing chalice!"

Filvis's quick chant spell was complete in an instant.

"Dio Grail!"

A circular force field was triggered by her short chant. The pure-white light, a symbol of its caster's nobility, instantly transformed into an ironlike shield to protect them from the violas' onslaught as it covered the space within the corridor easily.

"Unleashed pillar of light, limbs of the holy tree. You are the master archer!"

Lefiya's song echoed within the confines of the tunnel. Now that Filvis's shield had blocked off the tunnel and the monsters couldn't take a step forward, allowing Lefiya to weave her mind into her magic.

As soon as she was ready, Filvis retracted her spell and stepped aside allowing Lefiya to fire her spell freely.

"Arcs Ray!"

The beam of light carved its way through the Violas, reducing the entire swarm into ash.

"These…these tactics are practically Dungeon worthy…!" Lefiya muttered in awe.

"Yes, we'll have plenty more time to practice them there if we make it out of here alive. Stay on guard. More on their way!" Filvis commented as the next wave approached.

GET LOST!

"Filvis, do you hear that!?" Lefiya called out as Filvis blocked the path with another shield as the two elves fell back to catch up with the main group.

"Hear what?" Filvis shouted back.

"Something…something else is coming!"

Up in front, Bete and Ais were carving a path through a strange new species of monster that was crawling out of pitfalls within the stone floor. They resembled spiders but only had six legs and stood up to a human's waist with strange red crystals embedded into their bodies.

They were different from the violas, but they too seemed agitated by the unknown Howl and the shaking of Knossos.

It was as though a second force was fighting to take control of the enemy's territory.

"Everyone get back!" Finn shouted as the cylinder in his hand shined even brighter.

AND DIE!

It was then Lefiya understood what she was hearing.

It was a chant.

An impossibly short magical chant for what it was doing.

CHAOS LABYRINTHOS!

All around them the manmade Dungeon began shifting as a purple light ran down every layer of stone and metal within Knossos. Stones began upending themselves and walls were crumbling away to make way for new ones.

"Lefiya!"

"Miss Ais!"

Lefiya called out to Ais just as she and Filvis suddenly found themselves facing a wall where the others had stood.

No longer were they surrounded by the dim green stone and walls…it was though someone had layered a second Dungeon over the first.

"What…what happened?" Filvis asked as she looked around before placing a hand on the white marble-like wall. "…It's real. This isn't an illusion."

"Did…something else take control of Knososs?"

"That's impossible! What kind of magic can do that?"

Lefiya didn't answer as she glanced at one of the stone statues that had replaced the demonic and dragonlike statues that Knososs had.

A statue of a bull.

"…It can't be…"

X-x-X-x-X

In ancient times, there was a woman that lived in a cave hidden from the rest of the world.

She had an endless void within her that she desired to be filled.

She desired men.

She desired love.

She desired all the treasures of the world.

But even if she filled her cave to the brim with such things, it would not be enough to satisfy her lust.

Thus she set out into the world, capturing the hearts of chieftains and kings, tempting them with her beauty and bringing them down to ruin.

But one king stood tall, refusing to fall for her beauty.

Heeding the calls of the gods, the king bearing a name bestowed by the gods, adorned in golden armor and wielding a golden sword raised his blade against the woman as she laid upon a mountain of corpses of the men she devoured and ruined.

"Whore of Babylon!" The king called out. "So it was you who led these lords astray and drove them to despair. For these sins, I shall cut down the monsters you hide in your heart!"

But the depraved harlot would not fall so easily.

"Hero Gilgamesh!" She screamed as she flung bolts of lighting and balls of fire at the Golden King. "I had thought you would be the one to fill this void within me. But I was wrong! I have no need of men who would disobey me! All those who defy me shall die!"

But the hero would not be deterred. With the guidance of the gods, a path was lit open for the king.

"O Gods above, I see what I must do! I shall pass judgement on this Empress of Lust and cut down this depraved harlot!"

The King cut through the Empress's magic and drove his mighty sword into the Whore of Babylon's body. The magic sword sealed the Emperess's power and drove her to the depths of the Underworld.

"Curse you, Gilgamesh! Even if this body rots away…from the depths of the underworld I will curse you! I pray that calamity will befall you! May your loved ones and kingdom be doomed for all eternity!"

But that curse did not bore fruit as the magic sword acted as a lid to seal away the curses within the lowest depths of the underworld.

Thus did King Gilgamesh return triumphant and bring order and unite the land under his rule where he led the people into a new era of peace.

X-x-X-x-X

"And that's that," Gil said with a smile as he closed the book to the applause of the orphans in front of him.

"Hey Gil," Lai said, raising his hand. "Does that mean your name came from Gilgamesh the Hero's?"

"Hahaha, who can say?" Gil replied with a laugh. "I have been told that my name came from the gods themselves though. In any case, I have to leave a bit early today so you'll have to eat without me."

"Aww…"

As the children let their disappointment be known, the golden-haired boy let out another laugh and promised them all that he would come back another day.

And so, the boy left, taking his three "attendants" with him, heading through the back of the church.

"…You have no shame whatsoever, do you?" The attendant in red asked.

"Hahaha, it was not I who requested that story be read."

"But you enjoyed it far too much."

"I won't deny that."

"…I trust you have many questions," the attendant in black said to the third of the attendants. "But it is best you keep them to yourself as he will not answer any of them."

"No need," the attendant in green and sole female of the group replied. "I believe I can tell what is happening even if I do not fully understand it. And frankly, I do not care either."

"Fair enough."

The four of them made their way through the back of Daedalus Street until they came to a collapsed building.

With little effort, the black clad attendant lifted the rubble up and tossed it aside, revealing an opening and allowing the four of them to descend without trouble.

"This is your last chance to back out, Miss Lyon," the golden-haired boy said as the attendant disguises vanished and were replaced by three Adventurers. "It is likely Loki Familia will take care of the deed without you needing to lift a finger."

"If not them, then we will," Saber said, donning his full mask.

"I will not leave that to chance," Ryuu replied pulling on her hood and face mask. "I have to personally make sure that every last member of Evilus dies."

"…That's hell you're walking into," Archer said, putting on a mask as well.

"I have been in a living hell ever since my Familia was destroyed by them. I understand what you are trying to do but I will not be deterred."

"Got it."

They made their way down the stone path until they came across a cracked golden door.

"Ooh, looks like they hadn't had the time to repair it," the boy muttered with a smile.

"…This is orichalcum?" Ryuu asked in surprise. "How did they…"

"By moving certain kinds of monsters from the Dungeon," the boy explained as he withdrew a small sphere from his pocket. One with a visible "D" carved into it. "Open."

At his words, the sphere gave off a crimson flash and the doors slowly slid up into the stone above.

"I took it off a corpse," the boy answered Ryuu's unasked question. "Do not make the mistake of assuming that I am one of them."

"Of course not," Ryuu replied. "If I did, that would mean Mr Cranel is one too and that could not be further from the truth."

"Thank you for trusting our Master's character so much," Saber replied with a quick incline of his head. "What next?"

"Next, we flip the chessboard over," the boy replied, snapping his fingers.

At this gesture, blue wisps of light began gathering in front of them, revealing the form of the massive Berserker.

"This…how?" Ryuu asked as the minotaur cracked its neck a few times before standing up straight.

"As I said earlier…" Saber said as Berserker turned to look at Gil.

"Unleash your Noble Phantasm and claim this Labyrinth as your own," he ordered.

Berserker nodded his head as he knelt back down and placed a hand on the blue stone floor.

Light began coursing through the minotaur's body as Ryuu's eyes shot wide open at what she was seeing. A monster was using magic. Not like a hellhound and its fire breath, but magic like a human would use.

"Wander…get lost…and die! CHAOS LABYRINTHOS!"

A gravely and inhuman "voice" filled her ears just as the minotaur released a massive roar, causing purple light to shoot outward and flood into the stone corridor before them. Moments later, the earth around them began to shake as the green stone was replaced with white marble and the dim green Magic Stone lamps were replaced by roaring torch fires.

"And just like that, the advantage is ours," Gil said with a smile before tossing something over to Ryuu. "That is a map of this new Labyrinth. Don't get lost now, you hear? We all memorized it already so don't stray too far from us if you can."

"I won't…" Ryuu said as she opened the scroll and scanned its contents. "…This can't be right. It extends all the way down into the Dungeon itself?"

"Of course. This is the Legendary Labyrinth, you know? Even you heard of it in Argonaut's story, haven't you?"

"…What?"

"Nevermind," Gil said quickly with a sigh. "In any case, we'll be going our separate ways here. My business lies on the lower floors and I will handle that, alone."

"Then Berserker and I will move to help Loki Familia," Archer said. "You'll be able to tell who they are, right?"

"Aahhhh…" Berserker nodded in confirmation

"…And you?" Ryuu asked, turning to Saber.

"This one shall move to smite Evil in the name of the goddess and my Master," Saber replied. "I will be honored if you were to join me, Lady Lyon."

"…Very well," she replied, rolling the map back up and putting it into her pack.

"Then one more thing," Gil said as he drew out a long golden spear from…somewhere…and slammed it into the ground, allowing Berserker to carefully tie what looked like a piece of string around it. "Hold onto this."

Berserker then handed several strings to Ryuu who held it up curiously.

To her surprise, when she held it in the direction of the spear, a thin, wispy rainbow light seemed to connect it with the end tied on the spear.

"In the worst case scenario, we can use this thread to find our way back to the exit," Gil said. "Or we can hand them out to any members of Loki Familia that we find along the way."

"Oh, so you do care," Archer muttered.

"Not particularly. It was Berserker's idea."

Ryuu gave the minotaur an incredulous look, only to be further shocked to see the minotaur nod its head in affirmation.

"Now then," Gil said as he turned back to the entrance, one red eye seemingly glowing under the light. "Shall we crash this party?"