.
"Miach...I´m sorry, I´m so sorry."
Nahza didn´t even try to hide her anger, she cried because of it. After Apollo and his familia left to spread the news about the wargame, Miach was finally able to take Nahza into his arms.
"Because of me you had to agree to something like that. *Hic*"
"Nahza, it´s okay. As long as you aren´t hurt."
She gritted her teeth and looked to the remains of their familia´s home.
"Everything is gone...that bastard!"
Nahza didn´t care that she talked like that about a god.
Bell, Haruhime, Lena and Lily could just stare at the ruins of their home.
"Lord Miach, can´t we report the Apollo familia to the guild? This is a crime!"
"I wish we could, Bell. But Apollo will say that it was an accident, caused by one of his children and that he will punish his child seriously. He has the money to just pay for the damage, but I agreed to the wargame."
"But that would be a lie!"
"Maybe, but he could bring enough other gods to his side. They would say that accidentally destroying our house and accepting the challenge are two different things."
"He held Nahza as a hostage!"
"I know and I want to punch him for that, believe me."
They all saw how angry Miach was, it was their first time seeing him like that.
"But he will probably just say that they "rescued" Nahza and made sure that she didn´t get hurt after our house collapsed, to make up for the destruction and showing his good will."
"Who would believe him?!"
Miach sighed. "Bell, as much as I hate it so say, not all gods have a strong sense of justice like Artemis, Astrea or Ganesha. They want to be entertained and some are craving for a wargame."
"But he attacked our home! I thought this counts as an act of war?! Doesn´t he need to get sent back to heaven?"
Miach shook his head while he patted Nahza´s back, the chientrope trembled out of fury, crying at Miach´s chest.
"It sounds hard, but not for something so small."
"So small? He destroyed the peace in Orario."
"Bell, you remember the Pleasure Quarter?"
"Yes, why?"
"Do you think they sent Freya back to heaven for destroying an entire District?"
"But goddess Ishtar had planned something evil."
"Yes, we know that and Freya. Everyone else just had to believe her, she still paid a huge fine. Bell, we gods have some really bad habits, one of which is perspective or the understanding of time. We are immortal and only return to heaven if someone physically harms us or if we break our rules. For us as a small familia it is bad what is happening here, but other gods could see it as a small prank or misstep that will be forgotten in a hundred or two hundred years. You know the story of how Loki and Freya turned against Zeus and Hera, there are always two sides to the story. Some detest Freya and Loki for it, saying they rose to power after Hera's and Zeus' children gave their lives to protect Orario. Others have realized that some gods would attack Hera and Zeus now that they were weak and see it as Loki and Freya saving them by banishing them."
This was actually the first time that Bell heard this version of the story. He always had disliked the goddesses Freya and Loki for what they did to his grandfather. Alfia openly hated the two, claiming that Bell´s mother would´ve lived longer if they weren´t banished from the city. They had told him to make his own experience with the two familias, but so far he never met them...at least he thought so.
"So we have no choice but to accept? Even when we were forced to do it?"
"We have to wait for tomorrow, there will be a Denatus because of that, trust me."
"And what do we do now?"
"We need a place to sleep, but first see what we can save from the remains."
Miach´s children followed his order and searched in the ruins of their home, but there was barely anything left. At first they barely talked, but the emotions soon burst out of them, all of them were worried.
"Lord Miach?"
"Bell?"
"How can something like this happen? Is Orario really that bad?"
His god sighed. "I wish I could say no, trust that it is better than it was in the past. The problem is, as soon as the danger is gone, people start to feel comfortable. And some feel too comfortable, get bored. And Apollo was always-Nahza I can understand you, but please don´t do that.-Apollo was always more than a bit eccentric."
While Miach said Apollo´s name, Nahza spat on the ground. No one could blame her for that reaction.
"They will pay...I will make them pay!"
It was the first time for Miach´s other followers to see Nahza this angry.
"They destroyed Lord Miach´s and my love nest!-I mean our familia´s home! I will make them pay!"
"Lord Miach?"
"Lily?"
"Doesn´t this attack count as bringing war to Orario?"
Miach smiled wryly by his next sentence. "Unfortunally, we are a very small and unimportant familia at the moment. Do you think it really would disturb Orario if we would be crushed and I sent back to heaven?"
"This is cruel!"
"It is the reality, Lily. But I am glad that this familia already means so much to you."
"Of course it does! Lily loves this familia!"
They continued to search, but all they could get were a few potions, Nahza´s bow, a few arrows and their hidden money safe.
And...the unicorn pestle.
.
There was only one place they could go to. After taking all they could use from the ruin, the Miach familia went to Alfia´s house. Bell knocked a few times, but she didn´t open the door.
"Bell, I heard silent groans from the house."
Bell looked to Haruhime, she had the sharpest ears of them all.
"Mom?!"
He pushed the door open and went inside, finding Alfia pretty fast. She lay groaning on her couch, a damp rag on her forehead. It was easy to see that she was very weak at the moment.
"Mom, what happened?!"
"Hey...Sweety..."
"Is it your illness again?"
"Mh..."
She tried to nod, but stopped as soon as she started to move her head.
"Shall I bring you your medicine?"
"Please..."
Bell wanted to move, but Haruhime already did it.
"I know where it is."
Alfia closed her eyes. "Why are you here?"
"It would be better if I tell you that later."
"No, it´s okay, I´m used to this. Tell me."
Bell sighed, looking to Miach, who nodded.
"We got attacked, our familia´s home got destroyed."
Alfia just breathed for a few moments.
"By whom?"
"The Apollo familia."
"I see."
"Mom?"
Alfia didn´t react in the way he thought she would.
"What does this god want?"
"Ms. Alfia, if I may?"
"God Miach...go on."
"Apollo challenged me to a wargame, he held Nahza hostage while he did that. I had no choice but to accept, as far as I understand, he wants Haruhime and Bell in his familia."
"I see..."
Now it would come...now Mama Dragon would arise, spit fire and protect her young one, probably destroy the Apollo familia.
"Then beat them and take what they have in return..."
That...wasn´t what anyone of them expected to happen.
"Ms. Alfia?"
Alfia seemed to feel better when Bell gently took her left hand in his left, stroking her hair gently with his right. Being close to Bell, especially direct body contact, always helped her to feel better.
"This god is just a little fly, a minor pervert... Bell was raised by the king of all perverts, god Apollo is nothing against him."
"Bell was raised by whom?"
"Who do you think is the king of all perverts? Z-"
"Mom!"
"eus..."
Since Alfia felt so weak, she didn´t notice that it was Haruhime who asked that question. Haruhime and Lily looked confused and a bit shocked at Bell.
"You were raised by lord Zeus?"
"Mr. Bell, how did that happen?!"
He haven´t told Haruhime and Lily about this so far, this knowledge could be dangerous for them.
"Can I explain it to you two a bit later? Please."
""Okay.""
"Ms. Alfia, what do you mean to beat Apollo?"
"I won´t get worried because of the Apollo familia, they are weak. If Bell...if you all can´t overcome something so small, then you won´t grow at all. Their captain is level three...they have a few level two...they have numbers, but not much more."
As carefull as possible, Bell gave Alfia a bit of one of the potions that Nahza had made for her.
Alfia went silent for a minute, then she slightly squeezed Bell´s hand.
"Bell, you are my son. I would be disappointed if you can´t beat them. Show me what you got and do your best. And for Haruhime, Liliruca, Lena and Nahza, do your best, work together."
Miach smiled gently. "You are not worried one bit?"
"No...I just don´t like the sound when they destroyed your house...so noisy. You can stay here, I guess that is why you are here."
"Thank you."
"Not for that."
Alfia sat up with Bell´s help, soon she got her usual behaviour back. With closed eyes, her face turned from one to the next.
"That they attacked you while the party was away shows that they are weak. Do you best at the Denatus tomorrow, god Miach. Liliruca, you have to share your room with Haruhime. God Miach and Nahza, you can have the guest room. Bell...the couch."
It made sense, Lena still had her own room.
"I expect no accidents to happen while you all are here. There will be strict times for the bathroom, no accidentally going in while someone of the opposite sex is inside."
Alfia´s face wandered to Nahza and Miach.
"No cuddling, no kissing in my house. I don´t want to hear a single sound from the bedroom. This is a chaste house."
They all nodded, not that they intended to do something like this. Alfia still allowed that Miach and Nahza comforted each other in the guest room bed, they had gone through a lot on this day. Still, adult cuddling was forbidden.
When Alfia finally got up from the couch, she looked already better.
"We will need more ingredients for the dinner."
It really helped them all that Alfia wasn´t a person to freak out or panic, that here sheer presence forced them all to calm down.
At some point after they had dinner, Alfia opened her door and stepped outside.
"You there on the rooftop, the three over there, the two over there. I know that you are all hidden and watch my house. You will get this warning one time. Leave and go back to your god if you want to live another day. If even one of you dares to get closer to my house or the people inside it, I will destroy you."
That she didn't raise her voice but spoke softly was the most frightening part of her threat. Alfia had noticed every single one of Apollo's spies.
"You have thirty seconds to leave, ignore my warning and it will be the last dumb thing you ever did..."
Alfia remained in front of her house, soon she heard the rustling of clothes. Not one of the spies would return to watch her house again, but they would report Apollo about it.
And lead the god to a very, very dumb idea.
After she got back into the house, Alfia went to Miach.
"Do you have a minute, god Miach?"
Miach was about to discover one of her most fearsome traits.
.
.
"This is outrageous! I, Ganesha, am upset and appalled!"
The hall of the gods was filled to the brim, nearly every single god in Orario was present. The only exceptions were gods like Demeter, who was mostly outside of the city to work on her fields.
"My dear Ganesha, what is wrong? It was an accident, I swear."
Apollo grinned sardonically.
"A child of mine caused a small accident and Miach´s small house got damaged in that. I deeeeply apologize and tell you, my child got punished fiercly."
The mood in general was very good in the sacred chamber. All the gods had heard of the wargame, it had been a long time since the last. The Monster Filia was a great event, but a wargame promised variety.
"You attack a smaller familia to force them into a wargame with you? Shame on you, Apollo!"
"Oh my dear, beloved sister. Such harsh words from you."
Artemis growled. "Don´t you dare call me your sister."
A very small goddess sat next to the blue haired Artemis.
"Artemis is right, you are shameless!"
"Oh, aunt Hestia. I nearly didn´t see you there. Please tell me, how are you lovely children today?"
"Salt! Does anyone have salt for me to throw at him?!"
Most of the other gods chuckled, there were only a few exceptions.
Apollo smiled. "Anyway, both gods have agreed to the wargame and before someone wants to complain, this will only strenghten my familia and as such, Orario."
"What is it that you demand of me, Apollo?"
Miach and Apollo had their seats in the middle of the hall. There were sometimes four seats at this table, but only when the four big familias talked with each other alone, which didn´t happen often.
"I want that lovely white haired boy of yours, what was his name? Bell Cranel, the dragonboy?"
A few gods laughed.
"Oh and also that really rare fox girl of yours, the one with the three tails."
Now more than a few male gods complained.
"Apollo, you fiend! I want her in my familia!"
"I had my eyes on her first!"
"She should be mine!"
"Curse you, Apollo!"
Artemis groaned. "Men...all the same."
There were only two gods that didn´t joined the cursing or celebration, two goddesses. One of then had silver hair and just smiled like a queen. The other had a quite grim expression, Astrea was not happy at all.
"And what else?"
"Oh this is all, you don´t have much more to offer. You can remain in Orario and of course I will pay for the damage of your home, I guess 1000 Vals should be enough, right?"
"What your child broke was very valuable."
"Fine, fine. Just send me the bill. I will pay it after I made your children mine."
Miach shook his head. "You won´t get your way."
"Hoh, I would like to see how you plan to stop me. Oh and there is someone else that I want."
Miach only raised an eyebrow.
"That really hot adult woman in whose house you stay at the moment. I want her as my personal maid!"
"She isn´t part of my familia, so this is out of question."
"Hm, such a shame. I will get her otherwise then. *Slrp*"
Apollo licked his lips in a very lewd way, unnoticed by the gods, the area around Alfia´s house suddenly shook in a small earthquake. She could feel it when someone talked naughty about her.
"Then will you agree to a duel? My strongest member against yours?"
"Ohohoho, how naughty of you, Miach! You want to fight your member against mine? Ohohohoho!"
If looks could kill, Apollo would be sent back to heaven right now, so intense was Artemis' stare. More gods laughed, the goddesses mostly rolled their eyes.
"Can´t you be serious for once?"
"Oh I am serious. But no, a duel won´t be entertaining."
A red haired goddess agreed with Apollo. "He is right, Miach! Don´t make this boring!"
"Loki..."
"Since I challenged you, I will be generous. You can choose between three options. An all out battle in the big arena. A chase through the city "Where is the god?" style. Or how ab-"
"I propose a siege." Miach´s eyes were cold.
He won the other gods over in the moment he finished his sentence, nearly everyone cheered.
"Ahahahahah! I didn´t know what a fool you are, Miach! Fine, but you can´t defend a castle with only five children, so you can be the attacker!"
A hand got raised in the ranks.
"Ahm, may I say something? In this scenario, numbers matter the most, so Miach will be at a huge disadvantage. How about we let Miach have some help?"
It was Hermes that proposed this.
"No. A wargame is a battle between familias. If you let him have help, our divine rules would b-"
"Are you scared, Apollo?"
Freya spoke for the first time during the Denatus. Her hands were elegantly clasped and her chin balanced on the backs of her fingers. It looked cute as well as very grand and eloquent.
"You have over a hundred children, Miach only five. This would be too boring, don´t you think? Or don´t you love your children enough to trust them with a few more poeple? Don´t make this boring for me, okay?"
Of course, like always, many gods agreed with Freya, so did a tiny goddess.
"Freya is right, let Miach have some help!"
Freya chuckled when Hestia jumped to her feet so that they could see her better. Miach looked shortly to Freya and showed her a thankful nod.
""""Helpers! Helpers! Helpers!"""""
"Don´t insult me! Fine, he can have three helpers. But not one child of the two strongest familias! And of those familias who want to help him, it can only be one child who is among the half who joined the familia last and are the youngest! And I will accept only one level three at maximum! Not one above that level! How about this?!"
Silence followed.
"Petty..."
"Petty..."
"So petty..."
"Anyway, I propose that we will start in one week!"
Miach returned Apollo´s gaze and slightly shook his head. "I´m sorry, this won´t be possible. My children just escaped death in the dungeon, their equipment is destroyed and our home too, this caused enormous shock in them, they aren´t able to fight at the moment. If we would fight in one week, this would be over in a few minutes. Apollo, you surely don´t want to be known as someone who only dared to fight against a beaten opponent, right?"
"You surely demand a lot!"
"It was you who challenged me, Apollo."
"Hah, fine fine. I will give you...ten days. Not one day more. Prepare yourself and let this become a good show. I will use the time to dream about my two new members, that fox girl will surely be a lovely maid."
The other gods cheered and clapped for Apollo, his offer was more than fair for them.
"We have to decorate the city!"
"This will be a huge festival!"
"A siege will take three days, we have to finish all our jobs until then, so we can enjoy it!"
"Miach, make sure your children give us a good show! I don´t want this to be over in ten minutes!"
As the Denatus came to an end, Miach got accompanied by Takemikazuchi and Hephaistos. Among the last gods that left, were Ganesha and Astrea.
"Astrea, this is bothering you, right?"
She nodded. "We both know how this challenge really happened. I can´t stand this."
"You are thinking about something, right?"
"Yes. Ganesha, I´m sorry, I need to talk to my children."
"Okay, I will talk to mine about the preparations."
.
.
The various gods went to their familias to talk to them.
While Hephaistos went to her home and had a talk with Welf, Takemikazuchi´s children listened to his words about the wargame.
"Now you know what will happen."
"This is so dishonorable! To simply invade someone's home with a large majority while the warriors aren't home to defend it!" Mikoto was visibly upset.
Ouka had a grim face. "And that after we just survived in the dungeon, after Bell Cranel did such a great deed against the Goliath, to save us."
Chigusa looked down. "This is unfair..."
Takemikazuchi´s other members agreed.
Their god´s eyes wandered to Mikoto.
"Mikoto, there is something I want to ask you."
"Yes?"
"Will you agree to help Miach and his familia? You meet the requirements that Apollo set up."
"Of course I will! By my honor! This is a chance to pay sir Bell back!"
"You have my thanks, Mikoto."
"It is a samurai´s duty to answer the call of her lord!"
Mikoto placed her hands on the wooden floor and bowed in a traditional way.
"Then I guess it is time to give you these. I wanted to wait until your birthday comes up, but your katana got destroyed and you need new weapons."
Mikoto looked up when Takemikazuchi placed a wooden box in front of her.
"Mikoto, you will help on our familia´s behalf. To support our friends in need and pay a part of our debt back. So I send you with these two while we still have to think about a new sword for you."
Inside the box were two short swords in the far eastern style. One was black, the other white.
"These are Chizan and Tenka."
Mikoto´s eyes shone.
.
.
Miach´s familia listened to his words when he returned from the Denatus. Many people felt strange that night, those whose houses were closest to Alfia's. Someone with a very keen sense of magic, such as Riveria Ljos Alfr, would have sensed the emanation of magical power. Alfia barely contained her growing anger. However, she was sure that Bell and his friends would pass this test, after all he was her son. It was also good that he would experience first-hand that not only monsters posed a danger to someone.
It was hard for everyone to sleep this night, except for Alfia, everyone was worried. Nahza and Miach were a bit shy when they wished them a good night and went to the guest room. It would be a new experience to sleep in one bed together, so far they had taken their time.
"Miach.."
"Nahza.."
It helped very much to sleep in each others arms. Even when she was worried, even when their beloved home got destroyed, in this moment, Nahza was happy.
.
.
"I can´t thank you two enough, and you two too!"
Miach bowed slightly to the four people in front of him.
"Lord M-Miach, please raise your head! A god shouldn´t bow to a mortal." Mikoto got easily flustered.
"I feel a bit unwell about that too." Welf scratched his cheek.
At the next morning, Miach had left Alfia´s house together with his followers. The most important step would be to repair their equipment and find helpers. As it turned out, Takemikazuchi was already waiting at Hephaistos´ place with Mikoto.
"Still, thank you very much. Now we need only one helper more, work on a strategy and prepare ourself."
Welf looked at Mikoto´s hip, noticing her two short swords.
"Your katana got destroyed when we fled to the 18th floor, right?"
"Yes, sadly we don´t have the money for a new one."
Welf´s eyes wandered to Bell.
"Bell, what about "those"? You said you don´t need the long one."
"Can you use it to make a sword?"
"Easily, the natural curve helps a lot."
Hephaistos stopped next to Welf. "Are you talking about the drop items?"
"Yes, you still have them, right?"
"Of course, I finished examining them."
After Bell had killed the irregular, two drop items remained on the ground. One of them was a long claw, like the ones on the left "hand" of the monster. The other, was the hornplate on the head of the monster, together with a part of the two, curved horns.
Bell turned to Mikoto. "Ms. Mikoto, thank you very much for helping us. As it turns out, we have a drop item that belongs to me, that would make the perfect base for a new katana for you."
"Sir Bell, that is really kind, but I can´t acc-"
"Mikoto."
She looked at her god, who interrupted her.
"You have sworn an oath to help Bell and his familia, so you have to be prepared as good as possible. You need a new weapon, we can pay them back for that later. Hold your honor high, but duty trumps modesty."
"Yes, lord Takemikazuchi!"
"Bell, I have to thank you again."
"It is only fair and I know that Welf´s hands were itching to work with that drop item."
"Hah! You know me already quite well! Man this will be awesome!" Welf grinned.
Hephaistos´ eye wandered to him. "Do you need help?"
"Nope. I want to do this alone."
"I mean with the other stuff. You only have nine days, a bit short of time, don´t you think?"
"Irgh.."
"I will ask Tsubaki to help me, to fix the equipment of your friends."
"Isn´t she busy?"
"Not at the moment. And she will surely like to get her hands on equipment that you made, to repair it."
"Argh...she will tease me again."
"Most likely, bear with it."
Hephaistos was happy, that Welf had found people he would call friends. Happy that it was him to ask her to let him help them, before she even had the chance to ask him if he would like to help.
Bell raised his hand. "Lady Hephaistos, isn´t that breaking the rule of the wargame? That we receive more help than allowed?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "This has nothing to do with the wargame. My familia fixes equipment for adventurers all the time. It just happens that one of my smihts has more work than he can handle, so another helps out. This happens pretty often for common work when an "underskilled" smith works."
Hephaistos´ eyes showed a teasing glint, Welf knew how to take her comment.
Welf clapped his hands. "Alright, I will start with Ms. Mikoto´s Shimajirou first!"
Mikoto´s expression froze. "Shima...jirou?"
"Yes, I already came up with a name for your new katana. Oh and I need a few measurements of you, like your arm length and the legs, so that I know how long the katana has to be."
"Can´t you give it another name?!"
"Why? I think Shimajirou is pretty cool. If you don´t like it, how about Zentazuken? Or Kage no ken?"
Mikoto would plead Welf fiercly to give it another name. She would manage to get through to him, so her new katana would be named "Zansetsu". Mikoto was still a bit amazed that Welf understood a bit of the far eastern language.
.
Miach smiled while he watched the children talk.
"Now we have six in the party."
"Seven."
"Nahza?"
"Seven. I will fight too."
"But..."
Nahza shook her head. "It is not the dungeon. I am the captain of our familia, even when I don´t usually fight. They destroyed our home and threatened my fellow familia members and my lov-..my god! I can´t forgive them and will make them pay! Literally pay! For every single Vals we will be missing!"
It was good that they had the damaged equipment with them, but there were some things that Hephaistos or her familia couldn´t fix.
"Little Haruhime, I´m sorry but we can´t fix your bow. I can write down a few shops for you, that specialize in bows."
"Auu...this will be expensive..."
Miach smiled gently. "Don´t worry, we will use evey Vals we have saved up so far. It makes no sense to hold back and when we win the wargame, we will have enough money. Nahza, would you go with Haruhime?"
"Of course..." Nahza had calmed down, so she fell back into her usual, sleepy way of talking.
"Haruhime, I would like to come along too!"
"Gladly, Mikoto."
Hephaistos looked at the damaged shoulder guards of Mikoto and Haruhime, Mikoto´s was a bit bigger.
"If you two want, we can fix them in a way that they match with each other. So each of you had a piece of equipment that looks like one that the other has."
""Please do!""
The goddess smiled and took notes.
"Ahm..." Lily raised her hand.
"Yes?"
"Lily would like...an armor too...if that is possible. She will have to fight in the front line maybe."
"That shouldn´t be a problem."
"But Lily won´t give her measurements to Mr. Welf!"
"That is out of question. A body armor for a woman should be done by a woman. Do you have something in mind...Liliruca, right?"
"Yes, Lily´s name is Liliruca. Lily doesn´t have something particular in mind..."
"Oh~~~Ooooooh!"
"Mr. Bell?"
"I have a fantastic idea, Lily!"
"Huh?" Lily backed a bit away when Bell turned to her with shining eyes.
"The perfect idea for you! It would suit you so well, I think!"
Bell explained as quiet as possible to Hephaistos and Lily what he had in mind and asked Miach for permission about something.
"Eeeeeh?! You want Lily to look like that?!"
"It would be awesome!"
"It would be embarrassing!"
"No it wouldn´t, trust me!"
It was hard for her to look into Bell´s shining eyes. They were so innocent and hopeful.
"But...would lord Miach be okay with this?"
"Absolutely. I think it is a wonderful idea. Nahza, what do you say as the captain?"
"It sounds good, I would like to see that..."
"Auuu..this will be expensive."
"Lily, I told you money doesn´t matter right now. Hephaistos, do you need something else for this?"
"No, I have everything here. But I don´t think you have enough money, so I will fill out a promissory note."
"This sounds fair, I will pay back every single Vals."
"Lily will work hard to pay everything back!"
The talk in Hephaistos´ place continued, until they heard a loud knock from the door.
"Tsubaki, come in."
"Mornin´ boss. Someone´s looking for you and one of your guests."
"Oh? Who may that be?"
Tsubaki turned to the door and waved outside. "Come in."
The person that came inside was a young, female elf. She had moderately long blonde hair that she wore tied back and bangs that flew to the middle of her forehead. The elf had deep green eyes and a beautiful youthful face close to adulthood, that would fascinate many man. If she wished to do so, she sure would be able to easily enchant several with her beauty.
She wore a simple, blue and white robe, an elvish style sword hang at her hip and and also had a long, dark blue coat.
"I wish you a good day. I was sent to talk to lady Hephaistos and lord Miach." She nodded slightly, elves rarely bowed.
Bell, Haruhime, Lily, Lena, Mikoto and Welf had seen this elf before.
Miach recognized her too. "You are one of Astrea´s children, right?"
"My name is Laurier. Lady Astrea sent me here, she would like to talk to you and your familia, lord Miach. And in case if wouldn´t find you here, I should ask you, lady Hephaistos, were he might be."
"Astrea wants to talk to us?"
"Yes, I shall invite you to the Stardust Garden, your whole familia and your two helpers."
"How do you know these two children are my helpers?"
"I don´t, but lady Astrea is wise and intelligent, she anticipated it."
"My friend knows me quite well."
Hephaistos smirked. "About to charm another woman, Miach?"
"No, don´t worry. Nahza is the only one for me, my love and my life."
Nahza was visibly happy that Miach made clear that she belonged to him.
"When does Astrea want to talk to us?"
"As soon as possible."
Welf raised his hand. "I don´t have much time, I need to go to work right away after writing down Ms. Mikoto´s arm and leg measurements."
"Then we will inform you later, Welf. Hephaistos, Take, is it okay when we go right away?"
""Sure.""
"Young Mikoto, would you accompany us? Nahza, Haruhime, can you wait with the shopping a bit?"
All three nodded.
Miach turned to Laurier again. "Then please go ahead, young Laurier. We will follow you."
"Thank you."
"Mikoto."
"Lord Takemikazuchi?"
"You have a free hand in your actions, you don't need to ask permission for anything. You are a samurai as much as you are a ninja. Whatever you do, try your best and I'm sure you'll make us all proud. The honor of our familia rests on your shoulders until the end of the wargame. And I'm convinced you can shoulder it."
"Yes!"
.
.
Miach, Nahza, Bell, Lena, Lily, Haruhime and Mikoto followed Laurier to her home. Despite the situation, Mikoto and Haruhime were happy to be able to fight together. Mikoto would protect her dear friend and wouldn´t allow that another lewd god got his hands on her.
Haruhime belongs to sir Bell, I will protect her honor!
No one harassed them during their walk, the reason for that was probably Laurier. She was among the weaker members of the Astrea familia, but she belonged to that familia. Also, it would let Apollo look bad if his children would harass the Miach familia.
When they arrived at the Stardust Garden, Laurier opened the gate and let them walk into the garden. Before she arrived at the door, it got opened by a human.
"Laurier, you found them fast."
"I was lucky, Ryana."
The woman turned to Miach. "Welcome to the Stardust Garden, lady Astrea is in the living room. But please take your shoes off when you enter."
Miach nodded and gave his followers a sign to follow him. It felt a bit like the last time when they were here, but only a bit.
Bell was again amazed by Astrea´s divine beauty, she was just...beautiful. Of course Haruhime and Lefiya were even more beautiful in his eyes.
The whole Astrea familia was present, but unlike last time, they all stood left, right and behind their goddess, who was sitting in her arm chair, but got up when Miach came in.
"My friend, I wish our meeting was at a more pleasant time."
"We can´t help it, but the times were worse in the past."
"That is true, please, take a seat."
Miach noticed that not one member of Astrea smiled, they all looked very serious.
"Your child said you want to talk to me?"
"Actually, it is my children that want to talk to you and your familia. Alise?"
Alise was the one that stood behind Astrea´s armchair.
"Lord Miach, I hereby swear you that what we are about to say comes from us. We asked lady Astrea to allow it and it wasn´t her that asked us. And if someone complains, I will repeat this in front of as many gods as I have to."
What Alise said had a simple reason, a mortal couldn´t lie to a god. Like that, Miach saw that what Alise said was true, Astrea had nothing to do with whatever they wanted to talk about. It was their way to make sure that no one would talk ill about their goddess or would accuse her of breaking the rules.
"I am all ears."
"We want to help you, lord Miach. My little sisters and I want to help your familia."
Alise tended to call her fellow familia members like that sometimes. Miach looked at Astrea´s children, all of them returned his gaze.
"To be precise, we don´t want to help you in the wargame, only one of us wants to do that." Alise smiled and looked to the side.
To Bell´s enormous surprise, Lefiya made a step forward.
"I fulfill the requirements set by lord Apollo, if you allow it, I would like to stand by your side in the wargame."
"Young Lefiya, this is really kind and honorable of you. May I ask for your reason?"
Lefiya looked very serious. "Justice. What happened to bring you to accept the wargame wasn´t fair. As a member of this familia and a follower of lady Astrea, I will fight injustice."
Miach showed Lefiya a deep, thankful nod. "If my familia agrees with it, I will gladly accept."
The god looked to Nahza, who looked to Bell. When it came to fighting, he was their leader.
Bell bowed down. "I can´t thank you enough, lady Viridis."
To his surprise, a few of Astrea´s children chuckled.
"M-Ms. Lefiya will be enough, Bell Cranel."
"Understood."
Astrea silently cleared her throat. "So Lefiya will fight alongside you, but there will be a few restrictions. Since this is a siege, Lefiya won´t enter the castle or fortress, depending on what they prepare. She will support you on the outside and use her magic against the walls and such. You all have to win this fight. Lefiya is capable enough to lay waste to the whole castle on her own, but this would proof nothing. Because of that, Lefiya will mostly use only one magic spell of her and is allowed to use another once. As you know, Miach, we can´t show our full strength when all of Orario is watching."
There were only a few gods and familias that Astrea really trusted. Familias like Ganesha´s, Hephaistos´, Hestia´s, Takemikazuchi´s, Miach´s, Artemis´ or Demeter´s. As far as the official records went, Lefiya was a level three adventurer, but no one outside of her familia knew how she fought. Her appearance and race gave away that she was probably a magician, but no one even knew what magic spells she could use. In fact, Lefiya was one of the biggest secrets of the Astrea familia. She was the only mage in all of Orario that could use so many magic spells, not even Riveria Ljos Alfr was able to do this. Some gods guessed that she was really talented, that was why she was called the Thousand Elf.
Alise grinned. "If Lefi goes all out, she would obliterate the Apollo familia and the castle in one spell. I sure would like to see that."
"C-Captain...this is too much."
"Have more confident, little one. You are crazy strong, that is for sure."
Bell noticed that Lefiya´s ear tips got red, a really cute sight for him.
.
"I thank you for your help in the wargame, Lefiya. Now we have the three helpers that are allowed. But you said you all want to help us, how?"
"It is the best when Alise explains it."
Alise took a deep breath and looked at Miach´s followers.
"As I said, we won´t help you with the wargame or prepare you in any way for it, no chance. Nope. That wouldn´t be Justice, since it would break the rules. Buuuuuuut! We are allowed to teach a young familia of dungeon newbies, who just nearly died the other day, a few things. There is nothing wrong with that, I asked lady Astrea. All we do is train a bit with a familia that became new friends for us. That you have a wargame in nine days is just a coincidence."
Alise´s smile widened to a grin.
"And what kind of training do you have in mind?"
"Ooooh that´s simple. Our familias will split up and train in small groups. During your trip to the 18th floor, we saw what kind of equipment you use and a bit how you fight. Some of our familia have fighting styles that go well with those of some of your familia. We will match them and teach you about fighting, the dungeon, outdoor camping...I mean "camping in the dungeon" and such."
Alise winked.
"You have already thought about the siege, right?"
"Siege? What siege? I don´t know anything about a siege. This is just a friendly training session for eight days between two familias whose gods are friends. We basically will only take care of our juniors. But I need to warn you, lord Miach, don´t try to get too close to lady Astrea."
"Hah...why is everyone telling me this? But to reassure you, I have a woman in my heart and she is the captain of my familia."
"""""""""~~Oh my!~~"""""""""
Most of Astrea´s children looked at Nahza now, who got a bit red.
Alise shook her head. "Hah, that must mean god Apollo have destroyed your love nest, unforgivable! The least you should do when you win is take his whole home and familia´s assets."
Miach showed them a "mean" smile. "And I intend to do exactly that. He destroyed our home, took Nahza hostage and threatened my children, no one does that."
Astrea smirked. "Miach, it has been a long time that I saw you smile like that."
"I am not just some handsome, gentle god, trust me. And as far as I know, there is another side in you too, the lady of Justice."
Astrea smiled now in a special way. Her appearance, her friendly and gentle behaviour let most people forget that Astrea was also a trained warrior and had steel in her veins.
"Uuuuuuh, I love it when lady Astrea smiles like that, hehe, such a nice vie-Ouch!"
Alise´s head jerked forward when Ryu dealt a slight chop with her hand on the backside. "Behave yourself, Alise. Don´t talk about lady Astrea like that."
Miach looked at Alise again.
"Do you have trainings teams in mind?"
"Hmm."
Lyra raised her hand. "I demand a prum team, I have lots of things that I want to teach the young lady over there."
Lily looked a bit uneasy. "Lily doesn´t want to complain, but aside from being the supporter, she also fights with a spear and you don´t use one, correct?"
"No, but Neze does sometimes. She isn´t the best among us with that weapon, but the best one is too shy to teach someone."
The werewolf woman winked to Lily when Lyra mentioned her name.
"Alright, Lyra and Neze will take care of Lily."
Kaguya raised her hand in an elegant manner.
"You there, the young samurai lady."
"Y-Yes?!"
"I will take you under my care."
"Eh?"
"My name is Gojouno Kaguya and yours?"
"G-G-G-Gojouno?!"
"Oh, you heard of my clan?"
"Who wouldn´t?! And my name is Yamato Mikoto."
"Then, little Mikoto, we two will have a lot of fun."
"I will be in your care!" Mikoto bowed down in her usual way.
Iska Bra´s eyes wandered to Lena, who returned the gaze.
"You have a nice fashion sense."
"Thank you, I want to impress my future husband!"
"Oh my, tell me more about this."
Lena and Iska grinned, they already got along. Maryuu and Ryana would work together with Haruhime and Nahza.
The various women seemed to get along pretty well with each other so far.
Bell looked to Alise. "And what about me?"
"Oh, you belong to Leon and me. A little warning, we won´t be gentle with you."
Alise winked...a happy, innocent, free minded wink...that promised Bell a whole lot of pain.
Ryu was more professional. "We two will train with you, Mr. Cranel. Your main weapon is a sword and you use short chant magic, right?"
"Yes to both."
"Then our fighting styles are at least a bit similar to yours."
Alise grinned. "Also, Leon and I are the best swordswomen in our familia."
"Oy!"
"Don´t "Oy" me, Kaguya. You use a katana, that is completely different from a long sword or my rapier."
Bell gulped. "I will train with two level six adventurers?"
"Jup, and you won´t get much breaks."
Ryu smiled slightly. "Despite how she talks sometimes, Alise is really a good teacher. We won´t go too far of course."
"Hah, Leon´s words are really good for my heart. But a bit of a warning, no matter how tired or unfocussed you are, don´t even try to "accidentally" fall onto Leon or me. Or bump into us, especially not Leon, you would regret trying this."
"I wouldn´t try something like that!"
"Good, then show us we can trust you. Lefiya will also be there from time to time, you two have to get used to each other. But she will also be part of the other training groups, so that the party can get used to her. Oh and don´t get fooled by the fact that she is a mage, Lefiya could give you a really hard time in a fight, since she is level three."
"I have no doubt that Ms. Lefiya is really strong."
"Hehe."
"Hm?"
"Looks like something brought you to our familia again, I wonder why that happens so often?"
"Ahm, it is how it is, I guess."
"I guess. Alright, then let us leave now."
"Leave?"
"We are going to the wall and train on top of it. Our home isn´t the place for combat training like we do it. Oh but be careful up there, we don´t want to destroy parts of the wall."
Bell heard Lyra´s voice after Alise´s words. "You mean again, right?"
"Psssht! You know that was an accident!"
Strangely, Bell could´ve sworn that the very tip of Ryu´s ears got a tiny bit red and she looked a bit flustered.
Alise waved. "Come now, Leon and I won´t go too far this time."
.
Bell Cranel didn´t know what awaited him, just like she said, neither Alise nor Ryu were gentle with him. It was a good thing that Ryu was able to use healing magic. The last time he took such a beating was when Alfia´s training got really intense to prepare him for the dungeon.
He noticed something, while Ryu had two swords with her, she only used the special wooden one, never the other. She would always carry it on her back, which he found strange since she didn´t use it.
During a pause, while sprawled on the floor and covered in minor bruises and scratches, Bell dared to ask a question. Alise and Ryu sat in niches of the parapet.
"Ms. Lyon?"
"Yes?"
"I hope it's not too rude, but is there a reason you never draw the other sword?"
"Yes, there is one. For your training it is enough when I use Alf´s Lumina. And in case you want to ask why I carry it with me then, this sword is a memento of a very dear friend. I promised to always carry it with me when I do the work of Justice."
Even when he had no romantic feelings for Ryu, he had to agree that she was really beautiful when she smiled like that, slightly touching the hilt of the sword.
Alise was surprised that Ryu answered the question so openly, it was rare for her to trust someone so easily.
"And I´m sure she is watching over you every time, Leon."
"I hope so."
Bell smiled slightly. "I am really thankful to you two that you help me like that."
Ryu shook her head. "It is the right thing to do."
"Leon is right, Justice demands it! Now up to your feet, break is over and those who don´t train honestly won´t get dinner!"
And while Bell started his training with Alise and Ryu, the other members of his familia also went to work.
.
Before Nahza and Haruhime could start their training, they had to go and buy something. Laurier was the one to accompany them again, since she knew the perfect shop. When it came to bows, no one beat elves by making them. There was a shop in Orario, where different types of elvish style bows were sold. The shop owner had traveled across the land, searched far and wide for the various elven clans and forests to learn about the bows they made.
The two animal people didn´t know what to expect.
"Wow..."
"I have never seen bows like this."
Laurier nodded. "It really is something. I have a bow on my own, made by the shop owner."
The elf rolled her eyes slightly. "Our captain demanded that at least one elf of the party should use a bow. She said it has to be like that, something about the myths of our people."
Haruhime´s tails swished slightly. "In the fairy tails and stories of old, elvish warriors were most of the time described using bows, magic or that they were excellent swordsmen."
"Our captain said the same."
The shop owner was a pretty tall, male elf. Out of respect for the two animal people, he didn´t used elvish when he greeted Laurier.
"I wish you a good day, forest sister."
"And save travels to you, forest brother."
The elf turned to Haruhime and Nahza. "I welcome you to my shop and wish you a good day."
"Good day..."
"Good day to you too."
Laurier stepped forward. "Both use bows, they were destroyed recently."
"I see and so you came to me."
"You make the best bows in Orario."
"I thank you for your kind words."
He turned to Haruhime and Nahza. "Do you have by chance your old bows with you?"
Laurier told them beforehand to do that.
"Ah, the far eastern style, they make really good bows. And a sharp shooter, unusual for adventurers."
"I am not an adventurer anymore..."
"I apologize for my mistake. You are part of the Miach familia, correct?"
"How did you know?"
The elf looked at Haruhime to answer. "You are widely known in Orario, young lady. The news spread far and wide about you, and also that the god Apollo had challenged the god Miach to a wargame. So my guess is that you are preparing for it now by buying new bows."
"You noticed all that in such a short time?"
"The benefit of a long life and much experience. I also take a bit of pride to say that even our young princess owns a bow from my shop."
This elf was one of the few people in Orario that would call Riveria young.
"Can you recommend something?..."
"Do you want something similar to your last bows? I have a creation on my own, I mixed the far eastern style with the style from the Ryumilua forest."
Haruhime was all ears. "I would like to see that."
Since he was really good at his job, the shop owner found the perfect bows for Haruhime and Nahza.
"According to the news, your wargame will be a siege, correct?"
"Yes. Then I would like to show you something."
What the shop owner got from the back of his shop was the biggest bow that Haruhime had ever seen. It was made in the far eastern style, but pretty huge.
"Only an adventurer can use this bow and only someone that knows how to handle a far eastern bow. The range and penetration are far greater than your bow. However, you have to stand still for a long time and the target should preferably not move. Very impractical in the dungeon, but perfect for a siege. Also, these are the arrows."
Haruhime was a bit taken aback by the sheer size of the bow. For now she and Nahza would only buy one bow for each other. Haruhime in the mixed far eastern and elvish style.
And Nahza...her bow was really special.
The bow resembled a harp. Instead of one bowstring, this one had three. One bowstring went up normally, the second ended further forward, and the third even further forward, but all ended at the same low point. This style was actually called a harp bow, the different strings allowed a skilled archer to adapt to different distances. But it would take some practice. Nahza also received a new quiver that featured three compartments, each string holding a slightly different type of arrow. The plumage of the arrows was slightly different, so she could feel with her fingers which arrow she was touching. The whole thing wasn't cheap, of course, but Miach had specifically instructed her not to save any money.
Nahza would learn that if she really wanted to go all out, she would use all three strings at once to shoot an arrow, which wasn't easy but had tremendous power.
Haruhime would return five days later to buy the siege bow when the party honed the strategy for the wargame.
.
Lily received more theoretical training than actual combat training at first, but she got teached very valuable things for the wargame and also later for the dungeon. In case they would ever go on an Expedition, Lily got prepared well.
.
"You are from the far east, just like me, correct?"
"Y-Yes..."
"There's no need to be so shy, I won't hurt you."
"U-Understood!"
Mikoto sat really stiff on her legs in Kaguya´s personal room. The whole room was decorated in a far eastern style, the floor made from tatami mats. It should actually calm Mikoto down, but Kaguya´s appearance didn´t help with that. Like always, Kaguya had the side of her kimono pulled down where her artifical arm was. The sight of the arm wasn´t the problem, but the way Kaguya sat and the fact that there were tatoos all over her silver arm, drawn with black ink. She could actually wash them off and draw new ones, in case she got bored of the current ones.
Kaguya sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning slightly forward with the silver arm resting on one of her knees. The free hand of her natural arm held a long, elegant Far Eastern pipe. A very fine coil of smoke curled from the pipe bowl. Kaguya didn't really smoke, but every now and then she liked to puff on a little special herb. It had more to do with her demeanor. To Mikoto, Kaguya looked like a cross between a Far Eastern noble lady and a rich criminal. What exactly was the image that Kaguya intended. She really was a "bad girl".
"Or is it my name that makes you nervous?"
"Ahm...I´m sorry..."
"You don´t need to be nervous, first and foremost I am lady Astrea´s follower. I won´t do anything to you just because I am a Gojouno and you might by accident be unpolite."
To tease Mikoto and make her a bit nervous, Kaguya sucked on her pipe and blew some smoke into the air.
"It tastes really good, do you want to try?"
"I am still a minor, I can´t!"
"You know that the laws and rules are different here than from our home?"
"S-Still! I am a warrior, I shouldn´t do these things."
"How old are you?"
"Eighteen."
Kaguya turned off her pipe, carefully cleaned it and placed it on a special stand.
"Do you want tea?"
"Ahm."
"I have some really expensive one from the far east. But unfortunately none of my familia members really appreciate the tea, they just don't have the right taste for it. And drinking tea alone is no fun, right?"
Kaguya didn´t wait for a yes or a no, she just started to make tea in the traditional way. Mikoto watched in fascination, she only knew this technique from Haruhime, while Kaguya did some movements a little differently. In fact, her technique was even more elegant than Haruhime´s.
"Wow..."
"Don´t look so surprised, I am of noble birth too, I should be able to do something like this. Even when I don´t have a particular reason, I do it every week."
Out of politeness, Mikoto remained silent until Kaguya had finished tea, watching her helped relax her a little. And just like Kaguya said, the taste was really something.
"Is it good?"
"More than just good. I think I never had such good tea before in my life."
"Well it is expensive after all."
"Lady Goj-"
"Kaguya, or Ms. Kaguya, little Mikoto."
While Mikoto used the most polite form of address in the Far Eastern language, Kaguya was content with the simple, trivial form. However, Kaguya was also the older and technically more senior of the two.
Mikoto cleared her throat. "Ms. Kaguya, why did you bring me here?"
"Judging by the way you move and hold your body, your demeanor and whole appearance, I´ve seen that you are a samurai or at least try to become one, correct?"
"Yes, I studied under lord Takemikazuchi the martial arts."
"Hmmm, but there is also something different in the way you move and scan your environment as soon as you enter a room."
"I-I´m sorry for staring!"
"No, it´s okay. Say, you aren´t "just a samurai", right?"
"What do you mean?"
Kaguya nodded to Mikoto´s hip. "Your Wakizashis. I could understand that you have one when you would strife for a samurai fighting style, but you have two for a reason."
"My katana got destroyed in the dungeon, a new one is currently made."
"And yet these Wakizashis form a pair, judging by their appearance. Say, did your god teach you in the ways of the ninja?"
Mikoto nodded with a serious face. "He did."
Kaguya´s smile widened in a dangerous way. "Perfect."
"Ms. Kaguya?"
"I will make you my pupil, young Mikoto."
"Eh?!"
"Don´t look so surprised. I am aware that your god has a great knowledge when it comes to martial arts. In fact, I deeply respect lord Takemikazuchi for what he is. Maybe I should visit your familia sometimes. Anyway, he has a wide knowledge about all forms of martial arts. But you are aware what my clan is, correct?"
"The...the dark ones..."
"Such a dramatic name, but I guess it fits. To say it simple, my family took great pride in their sword techniques...and the most skilled ninjas in the far east. There isn´t one member of my family that isn´t a trained assassin."
"Ahm..."
"Why am I telling you this? Look over there."
Kaguya pointed at one of the walls, with a small shrine. Three weapons hang there, a long tachi and two kodachis.
"These are my personal weapons, Higanbana and Futaba."
"The flower of death?"
"Fitting, right? It is actually not the first one of that name, but I name my katana always like this. I used the first one when I was level three, but now we are both stronger."
Kaguya took a sip of her tea and continued.
"Seeing you sitting here, using the same kind of weapons like I do, brings me to an idea. Our fighting styles are actually pretty similar, even when I refuse to actually fight like a ninja, but you don´t, correct?"
Mikoto nodded.
"So, as your master...or maybe the older sister? I will show you some of the things that I know."
"O-O-Older sister?!"
"Hehe, I like the sound...say it again."
Mikoto got a bit red and fidgeted. "Older..sister."
"Mmmh...now try the higher form."
"Elder..sister."
"Uuuuh I like that, you may adress me like that."
Kaguya´s smile showed the perfect behaviour of a noble lady. Mikoto wasn´t sure if Kaguya was actually a real noble lady, the opposite or a mixture of both. Maybe it depended on her mood.
"But...I have siblings...kind of."
"Hm, maybe I should talk to lord Takemikazuchi. Anyway, let us continue, you have a question."
"Why would you show me what you know?"
"I won´t show you the secrets of my family...well maybe I will, we will see that. To be honest I always wanted a little sister that looks up to me. And with your hair- and eyecolor, you look surprisingly similar to my clan..."
"I am an orphan.."
"And...do you happen to remember your parents?"
"No, I was too young..."
"Hmmmm~~~ So it isn´t impossible. I mean our eye colors aren´t exactly common in the far east." Kaguya smirked.
Mikoto felt a bit uneasy. There is no way that we are related...right?
Kaguya clapped her hands slightly. "Before we start, what do you know about Iaijutsu?"
"I learned about the quickdraw technique from lord Takemikazuchi, but only in theory so far. What I do shouldn´t be called a real quick draw."
"Good, then let us head to the garden, there is an area reserved for me."
"Your trainings area?"
"Not directly, I use this spot to...chop wood."
.
The first trainings day began for the Miach familia and their helpers. While his children were busy, Miach went back to Alfia´s house, to tell her what was going on and then go to shop a bit for food.
A rough time awaited them before the wargame would start.
The only one that wasn´t worried, was Alfia. She believed in Bell and this was just a small hurdle he had to overcome. Alfia wouldn´t interfere with this matter, she couldn´t take everything away from Bell or he would never grow.
.
.
.
The fierce training fights between Alise, Ryu and Bell would catch the attention of a certain amazon, one with a giant, double sided sword as her favorite weapon.
.
