Skadi gave instructions on where the home of Ganesha Familia was, that the home would be easy to locate and identify and to `look for an elephant´ but Ragnar was confused at this last part. Regardless he set off into the city, going to a place he has never been before so if anything it would be a good idea for sightseeing.

Following the main street he found many shops already opening their doors and more and more people coming out to enjoy the day in Orario, many of them of course were adventurers heading towards Babel and that's where Ragnar was also heading.

Waking up early in the morning to not go to the Dungeon felt strange, even more so that he wasn't clad in his usual combat gear, however, he took the axe from that girl back in the expedition.

In hindsight it was going to be a simple day; return the axe, go back to Fimbulvetr and then head into the Dungeon. No ifs or buts.

The instructions from his goddess were simple but not necessarily easy to follow, things like `go down the street with the red stall´ or `Follow the path with the broken parts of the road´ were easy to understand but when he found that there was more than one street where the road was not that well maintained or that there were multiple stalls that had red, it was more of a challenge so he would not get lost in the city so this prompted him to believe that Skadi was perhaps not that great at giving directions or moving around.

Still, the strangest description was about the elephant. Was it a statue? Was it some sort of metaphor? What was an elephant? Those were some questions that kept him busy while he walked around, finding this place.

The one thing Ragnar knew was that the Ganesha Familia was perhaps the biggest one in Orario, not the strongest but it was definitely the one that had the most members, as such they were usually posted around the city as guards.

The Ganesha Familia was well-known, it was important enough that anyone heard about them and knew where they were. Well, there was one exception. He cursed himself for not bringing Noel or for not asking anyone, he feared that people would laugh or judge him for not knowing, if he was an adventurer he should know or maybe if he lived in the city he should be in the know. His brain was playing tricks on him.

He continued, unknown to him whether he was on the right path or he will have to return. This was definitely new to him, places he hasn't visited or that he hasn't seen before. He looked to his left and saw the giant castle, if it can be classified as that, which was Loki Familia's base. Whenever he went to the Dungeon he would see the tip of that structure in the distance, wondering what kind of things could happen within those walls, the home of the second most powerful Familia in Orario; maybe they were training or preparing to go to the Dungeon, he could only wish to see what was happening.

As he kept going down the street he looked around at all the different stores, hearing what other people were saying or anything going on, from merchants arriving to other conflicts happening outside of Orario's walls.

It was interesting to hear that outside of perhaps the most important city in the Lower World there were still things happening as well as other major cities or even empires. He has been in Orario for over a month and it feels like an eternity since his arrival yet the events before that were still as vivid as if it was yesterday.

His eyes went to the front, trying to distract himself once again from this mental fog as his legs stopped moving and his attention shifted to something completely different. A structure that he has never seen before but it was clearly hard to miss. It was a person, or rather a humanoid being with the face of an animal with long ears and a trunk for nose with its arms crossed. The stone eyes were overlooking the street and all of the people that were walking.

Ragnar has seen Freya Familia's home and he considered being a show of opulence but this was complete different. Perhaps it was also opulence but not in the same way. A statue made for a deity? To show the strength of the Ganesha Familia? It was something and the blond was unable to find the words to describe what it was, the only thing that came out from his lips was a simple word:

"Oh."

This home was built like a temple, with stairs going up to the bottom part of the statue. He tried to imagine if it was a different situation, where it was Skadi who owned a place like this and instead of the strange man-elephant creature for a statue it was just a massive Skadi. A quick huff came from Ragnar's nose as a smile formed on the edge of his lips. It was ridiculous yet fun thought.

He stopped near the edge of the `home´. A red brick path laid in front of him and on the other side there were stairs that led into the altar-statue-creation; the magical lanterns were turned off at that time in the morning and to his surprise there weren't that many people in the vicinity, perhaps it was still early.

His presence earned the glances of a few people there, some didn't even look like adventurers. He felt out of place, maybe they knew he belonged to a different Familia, maybe it was his style of clothes or just someone who has never been in this part of the city before.

Ragnar took a deep breath and walked forward, feeling more eyes drawn to him with each step that he took. His foot quickly moved up the steps and saw the entrance at the bottom of the statue. It was a dark tunnel that he could not see much and in front of it were two guards protecting the door.

As he approached, both adventurers clad in light armor moved closer to the center of the entrance to block the blond's path.

"Halt, what brings you here?"

"Is this the home of the Ganesha Familia?"

He cursed himself for asking that question. He could've done it way earlier or even not in that place, his mind prepared him for the earful that he was going to receive.

"Yes, you do not look like someone from this place of the city." One of the guards asked. "So I ask you again, what brings you here?"

"Right…" Ragnar looked down and pulled the axe that he took from the Dungeon that day. "I-…" However the reaction he was expecting was different. The guards had the spears at the ready, prepared to fight the captain if needed.

He raised his hands to show his intentions even though his heart skipped a beat. "I'm… I'm not here to cause trouble, I just want to give this back." Ragnar presented the axe and they lowered their guards.

The two members of the Ganesha Familia looked at each other in confusion, not only was the presence of captain completely sudden his goal was even stranger.

"I presume there is a story as to your actions?"

Ragnar sighed, he wasn't expecting them to recognize him after the incident in the expedition but at the very least he wished not to be treated like a complete stranger or even an enemy.

So he had to tell them the story about said expedition, how it went wrong and how Rati, the girl who accompanied him in his group, was unfortunately killed by the brutes. There was no doubt that they recognized the name and the incident he was talking about although compared to how the Skadi Familia felt, these two guards were for the most part unmoved.

"So, after I found out about which Familia she belonged to, I decided to come here and return the weapon to someone."

The guards remained quiet, looking at each other but one of them sighed. "Stay right here, I think I know who to look for."

Ragnar had to wait there, he sat on the steps of this altar. It was about ten minutes since the guard left and he was wondering whether he got played all along and they were just laughing behind his back. At least not literally since he didn't hear the guard still protecting the entrance mocking him or anything.

He started to think that it was a dumb idea, or that he would return another day with probably more information as to who he should give the axe to, probably even leave it at the entrance and be done with it, but he also thought about how it could lead to some repercussions; what if it was considered a declaration of war in the city? Could the Skadi Familia beat them? Unfortunately that was an easy answer.

However, during all these inner thoughts that he had, he didn't notice the finger poking at the back of his head.

Ragnar turned and saw a girl with black hair and tan skin. It reminded him of Rati except that this one had black wolf ears on top of her head and her uniform was closer to one of the guards, the scars on her face revealed quite the experiences in the Dungeon.

"You were looking for me?"

"I don't know, I wanted to give this back." Ragnar presented the axe to this girl as he stood up. "You knew Rati?"

"Mh…" The sound she made was affirmative but the look on her face was anything but happy. "Please, let's go somewhere else for a talk." The wolf-girl took the lead and stopped before the captain would follow. "By the way, my name's Aapti."

"Ragnar, Skadi Familia."

It was quiet walk out of the Ganesha Familia's grounds but they didn't move that far. They sat on a bench in front of an old tavern that was near the altar. The place was closed but they could see some shadows on the other side, still preparing for a day of work.

Once they were seated, the captain gave the wolf-girl the axe who started to inspect it. The look of melancholy and sadness was something that Ragnar could easily see. The fingers running across the edge of the weapon, seeing her own reflection.

She asked him about the same story, how he met her and got the axe. Ragnar obliged, giving her the same thing he said to the guards albeit omitting a few gruesome details, feeling that her reactions were more than enough for him to know that it was best not to put salt in a metaphorical wound.

"I see…" She muttered, her eyes not leaving the axe.

"I had to use it else I would've died down there as well. I did not mean to be a sign of disrespect but it was an emergency."

"Don't worry, I understand the predicament you were in." Aapti replied and then looked at Ragnar "Did she say anything else during that expedition?"

"Nothing else, I'm afraid. We were mostly protecting those miners so we didn't have much time to talk. If anything she gave me the impression that she was a good girl."

"You are not wrong. Rati is… was like a young sister to me. She looked up to me ever since she joined," the adventurer smiled, "she was asking me to train her to go out with her. To teach the ways of Orario and the Ganesha Familia. She was after all a curious girl who wanted to be an adventurer."

"Heh, guess even your Familia has someone like that…"

"She's been with us for quite a while now, and I was certain she was going to be close to levelling up soon. Captain even said she saw some potential in her which is why she entrusted her to me."

"Like some form of mentor?"

Aapti chuckled "I guess you can see it that way. I let her join us for some quests or even regular activities, no matter where we went she was happy. And I thought… maybe she could join that expedition and learn a few things for herself." The wolf-girl went quiet.

Ragnar did not know what to say at the time, it was true that she knew both girls for a very brief time so it was hard for him to make a good judgment of both, if anything they gave him a good first impression.

"Hey." Ragnar caught her attention. "Don't blame yourself for that. Those brutes are the ones responsible and they are dead. They got what they deserved"

"Did they?" She sighed. "I should always strive for those type of people to meet justice but… I suppose that no matter the outcome, we would never get Rati back."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to be. No one blames you for surviving or for what those people did. I wish everyone came out safely but there are things that are beyond our control."

Aapti smiled and presented the axe to the captain. "I want you to have this."

"Wait, I can't. It belonged to Rati, to your Familia, to you even. I can't take it."

"Well if it's mine then I can do whatever I want with it and what I want is for you to have it!"

Ragnar was ready to reject it, saying he didn't deserve it but figured that in doing so it would become a loop, going back and forth between him and Aapti. He had to eat his words and took the axe.

"Thanks…" The captain looked down and noticed there was something on the axe's handle, something that he never took the time to look in detail. There was an engraving in the wood, it didn't stood out nor did he felt it when holding it in the past. "Huh? It's engraved."

"Yes. It is a custom made axe; it has no magical properties but it is made out of a better metal according to the blacksmith. It has no extra value than any other axe, perhaps sentimental is where the value truly resides…"

The engraving had strange words, similar to the parchment that Skadi gave him whenever there was an update on his stats, more of the god language that he could barely understand.

"You understand what it says?"

"Not exactly. I asked Ganesha for some help, some encouraging words but his first reaction was something the lines of `I am Ganesha! ´ definitely did not help." Aapti chuckled and the captain could not stop but to being confused at her comment.

"In any case, he did come up with something thanks to the vice-captain's input."

She traced her finger over the axe's handle, pointing at each inscription. "May your axe strike true and help you move forward." The wolf-girl smiled "Might be a bit cheesy as someone in the Familia out but I feel like it was perfect for her, someone who thrived to be a better adventurer. Maybe it will fit you too." She moved her finger away from the axe as Ragnar took a moment to appreciate the symbols better.

"Heh, thanks I suppose."

"You do look like a new leaf so it is best to encourage the rookies to reach new heights." There was a moment of silence, Aapti gave a hearty sigh and laughed afterwards "Look at me, letting my heart out to some adventurer kid who showed up at the base's doorstep."

"Uh… thanks?"

"Oh, please no, do not take it as an insult but when I woke up I didn't expect this day to go like this, you know? If anything I should be the one saying thanks, at the very least to give me some closure on what happened that day."

There was silence again, neither of the two adventurers had anything to say, even more so for Ragnar who had no words, just a slight feeling of relief that he was able to fulfill what he came for, and if anything he was not feeling guilty of still having Rati's axe, despite being his now, he could not dissociate the weapon from the original owner.

The captain stood up and took a good look at the giant man-elephant statue. "I think it's time for me to leave, I don't want to take much more of your time." He tilted his head forward and was ready to return to Fimbulvetr.

"Ragnar, was it?" The Ganesha adventurer asked and he turned around again. "Have you ever pondered on what happened during the expedition?"

"I was more focused on surviving rather than thinking back about it…"

"I mean now, you look back at it and it makes you wonder things, you know? Like why was your group targeted or why did they decide to keep you alive compared to the others?"

He would be lying if he said that he didn't think about it. He asked himself plenty as to why he and Brynhildr were the only ones who were not killed, he wanted to believe it was because he was the captain of a Familia and Bryn belonged to Odin's, even then what was the point of kidnapping two level 1 adventurers?

"Why do you ask?"

"It's something that has been bugging me. Maybe it is a coincidence but it is true that Orario has seen its fair share of conflicts, either a war between Familia or something more open." The wolf-girl stood up. "Ignore me, I am one to worry way too much on things, but… be careful out there, alright? You don't know who might be watching."

The adventurer turned and walked back towards the giant statue but Ragnar stood there, thinking about those words.

Was there someone watching him?

He turned around, but no one seemed to mind him, he was just another person in the city. Was it actually a threat or maybe a warning? Sure he hasn't lived in Orario for a long time but what if he was actually someone's target? What if what happened was not a coincidence?

"Argh… need to stop doing that." If anything he took that advice despite all the overthinking he was doing.

There was not much else to do for him so he put the axe to the side and started to walk back to the base.

On his way back he felt more comfortable, either because the weight he had on his shoulders has lessened or because he was somewhat familiar with the path he was walking on. More stores were opening and there was even more people walking around, he could still consider it early.

Despite this, there was a smile on Ragnar's face, feeling somewhat accomplished even if it was something small, at least for his metrics. By the time he reached Babel he took a good look at the tower, it was going to be another day of adventuring after all!

The captain smiled, he turned around and was ready to return when-

Thud

Ragnar crashed against someone who fell to the ground. This time he could feel the many eyes looking in his direction.

"Ouch." He rubbed his chin and looked at the fallen person. "Are you alright?"

A human girl with gray-bluish hair tied in a knot, he never saw her before but recognize the dress she was wearing. It was from that one pub that he visited a while ago with Thom, so he figured she must be a waitress as well.

"Y-yeah…" The girl rubbed her forehead and saw that the blond reached out to help her up. "Thank you." She smiled and accepted his help but that brief happiness soon turned when she saw some of the groceries she bought on the floor "Oh no!"

"Don't worry, I got it." Ragnar offered to pick up everything. From fruits to vegetables and some other things like bread; he put them all together in the bag and then held it tight. "I'll carry it for you." A little detour won't hurt him.

"Thank you again."

"To the Hostess of Fertility?"

"Yes." The human smiled and the two of them proceeded to walk in the direction of the pub. "It is a surprise to see you again." The captain was confused at her comment, he didn't recall seeing her during his only visit, then again the place was brimming with adventurers so it was hard for him to see who else was in that place.

"Oh, sorry. I was working there that day and I saw you along with that other patron, it is hard to forget someone with that bright hair."

"Uhm… y-yeah… but I just went there once, didn't have the time or money to go there a second time." Most of the expenditures that he and Noel had were mostly buying food or repairing their gear so having a meal at one of the pubs was not ideal for their economy and the one from their Familia.

"Eh… I'm Ragnar Strand, from the Skadi Familia."

"Yes, I heard of you! Sorry, what I meant was that there is people talking about you and your goddess." The girl then noticed she almost forgot something "Oh, apologizes, my name is Syr Flova."

"Nice meeting you, I just wish this meeting was under different circumstances." Surely most of the people he met in Orario was under strange circumstances, whether he was unconscious in bed, waking up in the middle of the Dungeon after being kidnapped or even rescuing someone from said place.

"So what's the word about me?"

"Nothing that should worry you, things like the Skadi Familia is active again or that a member of that group was involved in an incident underground. Like I said, nothing to worry."

"Right…" In a way he was expecting different type of rumors, perhaps some of the heroics like rescuing Noel or his valiant escape rather than `an incident. Although there was nothing valiant except relying on Brynhildr for that escape. "At least it's nothing bad, I guess."

"That is a good attitude to have," Syr smiled, " So what were you doing this early in the morning?"

"Mh? Oh, I went to deliver a weapon." He tapped the axe that was tucked between his body and the belt. "The person was good enough that she let me keep it." It was best to save the details, there was no need for a waitress to listen to that kind of story.

"Really? You must leave good impressions on people then, maybe you do have a charm for the ladies!" The waitress said with a playful and jokingly tone, especially after she noticed the captain blush.

"I am joking, but at least you give me the impression that you are not a bad person."

"I bumped into you and you dropped all the groceries, the least I could do was to help carry them."

"You could've left me behind, not everyone who is an adventurer is a hero."

"True, but at least I want to believe I am trying to make a difference." Ragnar responded. Perhaps he was not going to become the greatest hero that Orario or the Lower World has ever seen, sure it was a noble goal but he wanted to remain realistic about it.

"That's good to hear! Because otherwise I would've told the girls to beat you."

Ragnar mind stopped on its tracks while his body continued to move. What did she mean by that? Was it some form of threat? It clearly sounded like one to him.

"Um… what?"

"It is a joke, although the other waitresses do have experience handling rough customers, same as Mama Mia." Syr got close to Ragnar and moved her hand to partially cover her mouth. "Here is a little advice, do not get on Mama's bad side." She whispered, there was still a playful smile on her face.

"Ah, I get it." He didn't. "Thanks for the advice."

They could see the Hostess of Fertility in the distance, at the very least the sign that was hanging, there was another waitress cleaning the street.

"You know? You could visit the Hostess again, we serve delicious food every day!"

"Sorry but I don't think it's in my price range. I am still a low level adventurer so I'm not that good of an earner." Ragnar shrugged,

"Mh… then how about this? You can promise me that you will one day come for a meal. It doesn't have to be tonight or tomorrow but it can be at some point. Maybe when you grow up as an adventurer?"

"I don't' know when that will be."

"It's alright, I can wait. As long as you don't forget it!"

It was a simple request but being realistic it was impossible to fulfill it, at least at that moment. He would still thrive to be stronger, to become a better adventurer and a greater hero.

The blond could say no but he couldn't just let that girl be disappointed; they were not friends but that did not mean that he wanted to make Syr to be sad, and even less he didn't wanted to put to the test the threat he received earlier. Ragnar sighed for he knew full well that he could not decline it.

"Very well, I can make that promise, eventually."

"That's good to hear, thank you Mister Ragnar." The innocent smile from the gray-haired warmed the captain's heart.

A few more steps and they arrived at the entrance of the Goddess of Fertility where they found an elf with green hair cleaning the street, she was also dressed in the usual uniform.

"Syr," the worried girl called her out and eyed Ragnar as if he was a threat, "What happened that took you so long?"

"Oh, no need to be worried Ryuu, I bumped into Ragnar here and he offered to help me carry the groceries, " despite the explanation, the elf still looked at the captain with distrust.

The three of them saw some people running down the street in a hurry. None of them looked like adventurers but clerks or even civilians "Is there something going on this morning?"

Syr nodded at Ryuu's question "From what I heard there were some merchants that arrived in the city and they said that they survived some monster attacks. Not only that they said that they saw some villages in the north being burned and destroyed by those monsters."

Ragnar felt a click after hearing that, clutching the bag closer to his chest.

"It seems that was not the first attack, unfortunately. Although I think someone arrived recently who is supposed to be a survivor."

"Miss Syr." The gray-blue haired turned at the captain, the smile that she had was probably gone when she saw his face.

The color in Ragnar's face was gone, it was pale and his eyes showed a strange feeling as if he was not in that place. His lips were shaking and the hands were clutching the bag even tighter, threatening to rip it apart and crush the contents.

"M-Mister Ragnar?" Syr took a step away and noticed how the elf slowly moved with the broom in hand to protect her.

"Miss Syr, where… where is this person supposed to be? " The low, yet shaky, tone in his voice was worrying the waitress.

"Uhm… they… they should be by the north gate, or maybe around that place." Ragnar turned after hearing that and gave the almost crumpled bag to Syr.

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I must leave now. There is something that I need to do."

The captain turned around and proceeded to run away from the pub's entrance. He heard that Syr called him out but he his mind was focused on that survivor.

Attacks on villages? Monsters? A survivor? This could be the best coincidence for him, he did not dare to leave the walls of Orario just yet but this was a prime opportunity. Ragnar had many questions and he needed answers and maybe this survivor could provide those.

His eyes were set on the tip of the Loki Familia's base, it was near the northern gate so he used that as a guiding point.

I'm sorry Skadi, I'll be back at Fimbulvetr soon.


One of Ragnar's recent burdens was lifted but another one has appeared, although this one seems to have a bigger impact for him. On top of that, new and familiar characters have appeared!

Now the real question is: What type of answers will Ragnar get? What kind of questions does he have? Will he get what he wants? Who or what was behind the incident at the expedition? There are many questions to it and the answers won't appear just yet. The road of an adventurer and a hero is slow but in the end it will pay off for him.

And that's it for this chapter, thanks everyone who've been following the story so far, there is still a lot to work on and I try to improve with every chapter, whether in terms of content to characters to many more things. However this will be it for this year, I will take what's left of December to rest and come back in January for a new chapter. Happy Christmas and a new year!

With that I bid farewell, have a great week and I'll see you all in 2024!