Disclaimer: I do not own Danmachi or Kyou Kara Maou.
Chapter 4: A Chance Meeting in the Dungeon
== Murata's POV ==
Shibuya and I returned to Orario with Lord Von Bielefelt and Lord Weller. When we arrived at the guild bathhouse, an hour has not passed since Shibuya and I left through the same bathhouse, it was already night. Royman was already outside the door of the bathhouse awaiting our return as instructed by Lord Ouranos. He then gave us directions to a newly opened inn beside a famous restaurant called Hostess of Fertility. The inn is also owned by the restaurant's proprietress, Mia Grande, or Mama Mia as she likes to be called. She scrutinizes customers' intent to rent in her inn, not wanting her newest business to be associated with crooks or be turned into a cheap love motel. We are grateful that we were accepted as her new lodgers.
We have been in Orario for five days and are starting to settle in. In terms of our finances, we brought enough gold from Shin Makoku to cover a year's worth of our expenses. We had exchanged some to pay our board and lodging at Mama Mia's. We also have started earning an average of 30,000 valis a day from our daily dungeon diving. We have yet to join a familia though, but for now, we are still testing our abilities and skills in the dungeon. Back then, I only have my maryoku and sword skills, I did not have a pact with the fire element.
== Pantheon, Orario ==
Our dungeon advisor, Miss Eina Tulle, is at her wits' end because we still have not joined a familia, which means we still do not have a falna but still, we are able to go down as far as the 12th floor without receiving any injury. And speaking about our dear dungeon advisor, she had a frown in her face as we approach her in the guild's counter. We typically trade our magic stones and drop items in the morning before we go back to the dungeon, and then update Miss Eina about our progress in dungeon diving.
"Good morning, Eina-chan!" Shibuya and I greeted, which seemed to have deepened her frown. Behind us, Lord Weller is wearing his usual gentle smile while Lord Von Bielefelt is in his normal tsundere mode.
"Hi there, Misha-chan" Shibuya greeted the pink-haired guild staff who appeared to always linger near Miss Eina whenever we are at the guild.
She blushed and was about to greet back but our dungeon advisor looked at her with an eyebrow raised, as if they are having silent conversation. Seeing this, Miss Misha sighed and left to her desk.
"Why the frown in your lovely face, Eina-chan? Even with your elven heritage, if you keep doing that, you'll get old fast…"
"And whose fault will it be?" she muttered, giving a heavy sigh, arranging the documents in front of her before setting them aside.
"So, until what floor did you go yesterday?" she asked, an eyebrow raised as she looked at each of us suspiciously.
"Still the same… we haven't gone deeper than the 12th floor. I honestly don't know what the fuss is about. I've been telling you that we could go deeper to the middle floors without any problem" Lord Von Bielefelt answered.
"And I've been telling you to join a familia first before going down the dungeon! You have been lucky so far, not getting hurt at all. But until when? The dungeon could be unpredictable. A falna will enhance your ability and skills to fight monsters. Until then, you are not to go down the middle floors... Understood?" Miss Eina fumed, her voice slightly raised and people around are looking our way. She has an aura at the moment reminiscent of Lady Gisela's when Lady Gisela is in her sergeant mode, making Lord Von Bielefelt grimace and look away.
"Right, right" Lord Weller said, smiling apologetically. "And we've been discussing this matter seriously, Eina-san. We are incredibly grateful for having you as our dungeon advisor, you're always thinking about our well-being…" he added to appease the said advisor who merely sighed in defeat.
"We will surely tell you immediately once we join a familia, don't worry too much, Eina-chan. We may not look too strong, but we can take care of ourselves" Shibuya said, his right hand going to his long sword.
"Alright… What are your plans in the dungeon today anyway?" she asked.
"The same, we'll go until 12th floor. We don't plan to go down the middle floors... for now…" I replied as she glared at me. Maybe I should not have added the words 'for now'? It did not sound too sincere.
"Fine, be careful, okay? Be sure to come back safely" she finally relented and gave us a faint smile.
"We have to go then… Lots of monsters to kill and all..." I turned towards the pantheon door, grinning. It is enjoyable to rile up our dungeon advisor. Shibuya looks like he's doing the same.
As we were leaving though Shibuya muttered, "Who knows we might fall into one of the holes and end up in the deeper floors..."
"HEY! I heard that... I'm serious, no middle floors for now!" Miss Eina shouted.
"Copy that, Sergeant…" I responded with a final wave.
"You both are terrible..." Lord Von Bielefelt commented, shaking his head slowly.
== Dungeon 5th floor ==
It is eerily quiet as we explore the fifth floor. We encountered only a few monsters in our way down, which is bizarre.
"Shouldn't we have encountered monsters by now…" Lord Von Bielefelt said as we continued our exploration of the 5th floor.
"…"
I could not help but agree. Something is wrong and I feel that as if the dungeon is preparing a terrible surprise. Unpredictable indeed, as Miss Eina said.
[RUARRRW]
[RUARRRW]
[RUARRRW]
I hear the familiar howls of several minotaurs as we immediately stopped. This is the first time for the other three to encounter minotaurs. After all, these monsters should have only spawned in the middle floors.
"Minotaurs…" I said as I feel they turned to look at me as if to ask what those monsters are.
"Shouldn't these monsters have spawned in 15th to 17th floor only?" Shibuya asked as he gripped his sword tighter, looking at the direction where the howls are coming.
"Yeah, these probably escaped to the upper floors. They most likely spawned in a monster party. Some adventurers may have been fighting them, but these managed to run away" I sighed as I know that some lower-level adventurers may have already been unfortunate to cross path with said monsters.
Just then, we heard a terrified scream coming from the same direction as the minotaurs. We immediately started to run to help the unfortunate soul
As we have turned and came close to the source of the scream, we saw a teenage white-haired boy, about the same age as Shibuya and me or probably younger. He is cornered by a minotaur in a dead end and so far, has been doing a good job dodging the attacks thrown his way by the raging bull-like monster.
We are about to help but then we saw a small party of minotaurs running in a frenzy from a passageway to our left. Lord Weller engaged two minotaurs right away, cutting off both arms of one before cutting its torso.
I had no time to dwell on Lord Weller's fight as I dodged a punch from one of the minotaurs before I proceeded to slice the monster across its right arm, going across its chest. The monster disintegrated in black dust after.
I turned to look at the others just in time to see Shibuya engaging two minotaurs. He then slid to cut off their legs as Lord Von Bielefelt used his fire element to shoot fireballs towards them.
I was about to get rid of the remaining minotaur that was attacking the white-haired adventurer when suddenly I sensed a familiar wind approaching.
It has been a thousand years since I felt this wind against me. It is soothing, it feels like home.
Aria…
I was awakened from my trance as I saw a teenage girl, proceeded to cut the remaining minotaur across its arm and then slashed vertically downwards from its shoulder to its torso, splitting the monster in two before it disintegrated to black dust.
The girl has golden hair and golden eyes. She is wearing a set of armor guards, a breast plate over a white short sleeveless dress, and blue boots that passed her knees.
The girl, although she had quickly disposed of the monster, had made a mess cutting it in half in front of the white-haired kid. The said unfortunate soul is now covered in minotaur's blood, looking like he has been dipped in tomato sauce.
"Are you okay?" she asked the white-haired kid who seemed to be in a state of shock. He stared at her for seconds, and then at us, back and forth a couple of times. His lips seemed quivering, trying to steady to say something, but ended up screaming as he then wobbly got to his feet before running like hell itself is coming after him.
"HAHAHA… Did you see his face? He looked like a tomato" a young man from the werewolf race said, appearing out of breath as he keeps on laughing.
"Shut up Bete" a green-haired beautiful elven woman chided as she had arrived at the scene with the werewolf. They clearly are her companions.
The werewolf named Bete made a tsk sound, muttering 'whatever', before he turned and left.
The elf then looked at our group and then said "We apologize. Those monsters spawned in 17th floor but has managed to escape us when we were about to get rid of them."
"No worries, no one is hurt. I believe even the other kid was not hurt, just completely shocked that is…" Shibuya responded as I hear him placing his weapon back to its holder.
I could feel Ais' attention at me, staring intently. This has caught the others' attention as they all looked at Ais, realizing who this girl is from my stories.
"Have we met before?" Ais asked as I turned towards her and our eyes met.
"I don't think so, Miss. We have only arrived in Orario five days ago and have not met many people yet…" I replied. I could not help the emotions coursing through me as I look at her, remembering when she was little, asking all types of questions with those curious eyes staring at me.
"I see…" she stated, doubt evident in her voice. I then turned to leave, not looking back to see the frown forming in her face. Her face that looks so much like her mother.
"Let's go, Shibuya…"
"Thank you for helping… That was close for the other guy" Shibuya said to Ais as I heard him and Lords Weller and Von Bielefelt following.
== Hostess of Fertility Restaurant and Inn ==
We have not managed to reach our daily average earnings this day because of the incident at the dungeon. On our way to the 8th floor, we met the rest of the Loki familia who were on their way to the surface from their long expedition.
When we reached the 10th floor and we still have not encountered many monsters, we decided to head up to the surface, which brings us now to our room at the inn.
Lord Weller and Lord Von Bielefelt have decided to join us to continue our discussion on what familia we will join. Lord Weller had his back on the wall beside the window as he looks out the street below while Lord Von Bielefelt sat on Shibuya's
"I would still say that Loki familia is our best option. They are the most active and successful exploration-type familia. And this will give you the chance to get closer to that girl…" Lord Von Bielefelt pointed out, referring to Ais.
"The goddess Loki is observant and wise from what I learned. We do not want people knowing we're mazoku and not from this world. She will find out about us in no time if we join her familia…" I said as I leaned back on my bed's headboard.
"Won't that be good though, Geika? She could be a great ally if she is indeed observant and wise. I heard that she favors your daughter among her children, too… This could be an advantage to your goal..." Lord Weller pointed out.
"Hestia Familia is a good option though if you would like to be more covert… The familia is new and may not ask too many questions" Shibuya suggested. "How about Freya?"
I grimaced hearing the goddess' name. During our second day of settling in, while we were on our way to the dungeon, I felt an intense stare coming from the direction of the Babel Tower. Those eyes were curious at first but now are laced with possessiveness and desire. As days had past, it has been customary to feel them on Shibuya and me.
I later learned from the waitresses at the Hostess of Fertility that the goddess Freya lives at the top floor of the Babel Tower and rarely goes out in public. That though has not been true lately as we have seen her twice already in the Hostess of Fertility in the mornings having her breakfast. We found out that Mama Mia and the waitress Anya, were part of her familia before.
"Freya is bad news…" I said. "We should limit our dealings with her. Avoid her as much as we could."
"Yeah…" Lord Weller agreed, his eyes narrowing as he looked outside the window, in the direction of the Babel Tower.
== Twilight Manor – Captain's Office, following night ==
== Finn's POV ==
Although we have not gone deeper than our last expedition, I am still grateful and relieved because we only have few familia members who sustained injuries. We rested the first night when we arrived and will head out to the Hostess of Fertility the next night to celebrate as Loki have decided.
Speaking of Loki, I am curious to the rumors that she had told us about four adventurers not belonging to any familia but could easily venture as deep as the twelfth floor. The rumors had been circulating in the guild among the guild staffs, she said, and naturally, has started to spread among the adventurers. These four adventurers have only been in Orario for a couple of days and no one could tell where they are from.
"There's no doubt about it. I'm sure the four men we met on the fifth floor are the adventurers that Loki has mentioned" Riveria said.
Riveria gave her report of what happened on the fifth floor, of how they saw four adventurers easily disposing the minotaurs that escaped from the middle floors.
"And you said that one of them can command fire without a chant?" Gareth asked, not believing.
"Yes, the blond one uses fire magic. They have only been here in Orario for five days, the one that caught Ais' attention said himself" Riveria sighed as she massaged her temple, thinking of the girl she considers her daughter.
"Ais has been more quiet than usual after their encounter. I could not get a word out of her on what's been bothering her" she said with worry evident in her voice.
"…"
"And Ais asked this guy if they've met before, you said?" I asked, feeling my right thumb throb a bit. Somehow, I know we will be interacting with these four adventurers soon.
"Yes…"
'Before Ais was in our familia, her last memories were from a time long ago when spirits still walk in this realm. Where could she have met him?'
Just then, we heard knocking from the door.
"Come in…" The door opened and Tione, one of the Amazon twins entered.
"Finn, Loki said we should be going. Our reservation is at eight…"
I looked at the other two, Riveria and Gareth, who had already stood up and on their way to the door.
'We don't know yet if they pose any threat to our familia or Orario… I guess we'll have to wait and see…'
"Thank you for informing us, Tione. Let's go…"
We all walked together to the restaurant, with the Amazon twins leading the way. Our group is a little rowdy, with Loki attempting every now and then to be handsy with Ais unsuccessfully. Our perverted goddess, being unsuccessful, would then turn her attention towards an easier prey who happen to be the youngest elven mage in the famila and Riveria's student, Lefiya. She has not mastered the art of dodging Loki's wandering hands yet.
Our goddess's antics are nothing new to us, her perverted habits, and her love of alcoholic drinks. Despite these, we trust her with all important familia decisions. She is one of the gods that Orario could rely on.
"Seems packed tonight… Good thing I made reservations" Loki said as we hear the boisterous noise coming from the restaurant. She then walked ahead of the Amazon twins as we were welcomed by the cat girl Anya.
"Welcome to the Hostess of Fertility, nya!"
"Party with reservation has arrived, nya!" she then announced to the other staffs.
As we entered, the noise inside the restaurant stopped as people stopped their activities and looked our way. We are one of the two strongest familias after all, thus we are somewhat popular in Orario and even outside the city. The noise then slowly comes back as people resumed their conversations.
I made a quick look around at the other customers, checking to make sure that there are no one that could possibly want to cause us trouble. I noticed four adventurers eating at a corner, away from the other customers. They merely glanced and seemed uninterested with the sudden silence that our arrival has caused.
"Please be seated here. Food and drinks are coming in a minute, nya!"
"That's them at the corner" Riveria said, leaning a bit towards me as we were seated.
"I see…"
The celebration then started when the waitresses brought the food and drinks, and Loki led a toast for the familia. Everything is all going well, until Bete, the hot-blooded werewolf has gotten too drunk and has asked Ais to tell the story of what happened on the fifth floor on our way to the surface from our expedition.
"Ais, tell them what happened on the fifth floor yesterday. IT WAS HILARIOUS!" he started to laugh.
"Tell them what happened to that tomato guy you saved…" But seeing as the other has no plan of retelling what happened, he then turned to the other people at the table and started to tell the story himself.
"You know how those minotaurs escaped from the middle floors, right. There were a couple of them that ran all the way to the fifth floor. We saw one of them chasing this white-haired bloke around, until… HAHAHA" he continued to laugh hard, one hand holding his stomach.
"Ais dispose of the monster. She made a mess though, cutting the monster in front of the fella, covering him in the stinky minotaur blood that he looked like a stupid tomato after…" he continued as some of the occupants in the table laughed as well.
"The best part was when Ais approached the Tomato Loser, he went running away freaking and screaming! What a pathetic dumb ass!"
"Given the circumstances, I don't think he could be blamed…" Ais finally spoke.
"That's enough Bete. It was our fault that those monsters escaped to the higher floors. The kid should not be blamed and made fun of…" Riveria chided the drunk werewolf.
"What?" Bete stood up, slamming his hands over the table, looking at Riveria. "The kid bit more than he can chew, acting like a hero. I say that was his fault."
He then leaned over the table towards Ais, who is seated beside Riveria. "But Ais… Tell me though, between that Tomato Loser and me, who would you choose?"
I do not like where the conversation is going. "Bete, are you drunk?" I asked with a smile, trying to diffuse the tension. The drunk werewolf though did not pay me any mind, as he continued to pester Ais.
"I'm asking you Ais… If that bloke asked you for a date, would you say yes? No way, right? A guy as weak as him has no right to stand beside you. A wimp like him will never be good enough for you, the Sword Princess, Ais Walleinstein… Right?" he ranted drunkenly.
Just then, a white-haired kid whom I noticed was seated at the counter while listening intently to Bete, bolted out of the restaurant. Syr, one of the waitresses ran after him.
'White hair… Could he be the kid that Ais saved in the dungeon?'
Speaking of Ais, I noticed her standing and running after the kid as well.
The werewolf on the other hand… I could not help but smirk. Riveria seemed to have had enough of his drunken behavior and decided to tie him up the ceiling.
"What are you doing to me!" Bete shouted and tried to free himself but was unsuccessful.
"That will cool you off" Riveria replied, hands in her waist as she glared at Bete while other people in the restaurant laughed at his expense.
I glanced at the corner where the four adventurers were seated to find the table empty.
"They went after the kid…" Riveria said as she seated.
"What could they want with the kid?"
"Who knows…" Riveria answered with a shrug as we watch our familia have their fun poking Bete with a stick while he is still hanging from the ceiling.
"We'll have to wait and see..."
Thank you so much for reading.