Tales Of Fate: F

by Drake D Zero

A path fulfilled, a goal achieved. His story was to end at that point, there was no denying that. His memories vouched for his claim. And yet..."Where the hell am I?" - Story is M-rated and OC-centric, with some elements of AU to it, as well.

39. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Beta-reader: Before you start reading the Chapter, I want to apologize. The truth is, the author has had this Chapter ready for…some time now (weeks), but he couldn't post it because I didn't find the time to beta-read his wonky af English.

So the delay in posting this time around is because of me alone. Blame me if you need to blame someone. Or well…blame the author's wonky af English skills -_-. It takes a lot of time to make his wonkiness readable.

Anyway, that's all from me.

Go read now -_-

---

Time: the day after Rose was forced to resign

'Well… what do you know… maybe he really was up to something.' Rose Fannet thought, entering through the doors of the establishment that had been adamant about firing her just a day before; wearing one of her spare uniforms seeing her usual one was still stained with blood.

Despite how she felt about Drake at the moment, the Werewolf followed his advice in coming into the Guild as if she was prepared for work. She had also prepared her resignation letter just in case.

As for what her eyes were seeing… she couldn't help but adopt her usual stoic expression…if not a little colder than usual.

Royman Mardeel stood between the entrance and the reception desk, facing her. Truthfully, she found a little bit of amusement in his current appearance,as he had definitely seen better days; pale, exhausted, with bags under his eyes… he wasn't the most elegant Elf… but now he looked no better than a wasted and grouchy grape.

"Miss… Fannet… how are you fairing on this day?"

Rose raised her eyebrow in honest confusion. She knew this was most likely Drake's doing, but she didn't know what the blonde had done. She hadn't even heard any rumors between yesterday and today seeing how she pretty much locked herself in her room. But his tone… defeated, tired… and the subtle hint of anger… even with his current state, she could tell he didn't like what he was doing one bit.

"Hard to say; some events take more than a single day before you're able to leave them behind." She narrowed her eyes, remembering the events of her abduction. She was not in the mood for whatever bullshit Royman was trying to do, even if it was in her favor.

"Yes," his eyes twitched as if recalling something that had happened to him as well. As a matter of fact, many… no… all of the staff members present looked at him with a mix of disgust, distrust, and fear. "I think I am rather familiar with that feeling myself."

The Elf took a deep breath, swallowing his pride as he looked at what she was holding.

"Is that your resignation letter?"

She nodded, handing it to him after approaching him… only for him to rip it apart in an instant.

"After some consideration and reflection; I think I may have been a little harsh with my decision yesterday… so, let's all let bygones be bygones and keep moving forward," she mentally gritted her teeth, seeing the look of disgust he was giving her behind his eyes; those were not the eyes of someone being remorseful at all.

"Fucking hypocrite."

His eyes snapped, as did his head as he looked in the direction the mutter had come from. "Who said that!?"

Nobody said anything, his staff was either scared of him or outright defiant at him. "Enough of this!" he turned around to address them. "Stop standing there and start working! Adventurers will arrive soon!"

They did as told, leaving the Elf huffing before he looked back at Rose; no longer faking being cordial with her.

"You may return to your job and do your obligations; do not forget for a moment that I am the one that makes the calls regarding the staff. Despite what might have happened yesterday and what Ouranos might have to say, if you commit any transgression you are done for. Now get back to work."

He retreated, leaving the Werewolf alone as she stared at him with no hint of emotions… but behind her back were her crossed arms, grabbing each other tightly to hold out her anger; with enough strength to break the bone of a normal person.

Suffice to say, things were somehow back to normal after that.

The number of people who were wary of her was only a few.

Her friends still treated her normally, showing some worry for her well-being.

Of course, it didn't take her long to hear what exactly had happened to Royman; nearly killing a vagrant kid…

'Ah… so that's what it was.'

The redhead didn't know how Drake had done it, but she was sure he had staged the whole thing; it didn't take her too long to figure out that the kid that was assaulted was the same one that set her up with her abductors.

According to the news, the kid had survived, but escaped from the infirmary the very same night he had been admitted… and was never heard from again as the days went by… and she honestly didn't care.

But even so, she now understood most of Drake's actions the day before.

From making her save face by saying she would resign, to leaving Royman in a bad light…

'...and he says he did it because he felt responsible… going so far and just saying that doesn't add one bit.'

She couldn't help but sigh at said thought, almost making her thoughts of him turn to be something more than just platonic… or just outright horny.

And so… days went by, focusing only on her work… soon after everything was set into normalcy once more… until the day Orario was almost wiped out by a fucking tornado.

---

After Orario was almost fucking wiped by a fucking tornado.

Rose sighed, seeing the mess that was her workstation… or, to be more specific, the lack of a workstation.

Parts of the Guild building had been ripped off the establishment; along with many desks and documents. "This… this is so gonna influence my early retirement."

"Spoken like an old mutt, heh Rose."

Her lips twitched upward a little before turning around to see her Elf-friend.

"Sophie, you are an Elf; you will barely grow any wrinkle by the time you are done working here."

"Now that's racist." The Elf replied tiredly, sitting on a piece of broken wood after trying to 'clean' the whole mess that was their workplace. "Those fucking gusts of wind were getting out of control… but this is just ridiculous."

Rose nodded, recalling the gusts of wind these past few weeks… she pondered, but nothing came to mind regarding how this could have happened, or if it was connected to the Dungeon somehow.

"Eina?"

Her train of thought stopped, seeing her junior walking towards them with a defeated expression on her face. She couldn't blame her given how almost everyone almost died; some people were even dragged into the air. Thankfully, seeing the whole thing ended as soon as it started, there were only a few people with broken bones at most after taking a fall… definitely better than dying.

But the look the Half-Elf had… seemed to be because of something else.

"I… I was scolded by Royman."

Sophie flinched, eyeing Rose to the side to see her adopt her stoic expression. Ever since her return, Royman had thrown a comment at the Werewolf regarding her job; all subtle, but with a clear message towards her.

And every single time, Rose had taken the comments like a champ… or so it would seem. Because nobody noticed how she held both of her arms behind her hand to contain her anger.

"What happened?"

"I…" Eina trailed off. "I was just looking for him to report something after the event…"

Royman had been found in front of the entrance to Ouranos chamber; knocking on the door and calling the God's name over and over… but there was no answer.

And then he spotted her, unloading some of his stress on her before dismissing her.

"That's… actually worrying," Sophie commented, seeing Ouranos was the one that called the shots in this type of situation.

"… This is the Great Fall all over again, only worse." Rose said in exasperation as they heard someone else coming; their superior.

"Rehmer?" The Chientrope in question looked the worst out of all of them; he was trying to take control over everything due to the responsibilities that came with his position.

"Help gather everything in the conference hall… we have information on the culprit of this disaster." He stated, focusing on Rose for a moment before leaving.

"The hell was that about?" her friend asked, noticing his stare lingering on the Werewolf.

Rose didn't say anything. But she felt something trying to crawl all the way up her throat… she had a bad feeling about this.

---

'Son of a bitch.' She cursed, seeing she was right as she saw a picture that resembled none other than Drake.

No wonder Rehmer was focusing on her, as he and everyone in the Guild thought the two of them were a thing… which was her fault, by the way.

"After having corroborated outsources, it was concluded that everything that has transpired today, along with the past few days, has been orchestrated by this individual."

And then came the murmurs.

"His last known location was confirmed to be the Dungeon, where we believe that the culprit tried to cast a Spell to create a tornado that would wipe out the city. But seeing as that didn't happen, it is believed that he failed." Rehmer continued, addressing all the staff members as Royman sat behind a table with a stern expression. "As of this moment, this man is the most wanted person in Orario; all Familia are to be informed of this and are meant to hold a joint excursion in three days to hunt the culprit's whereabouts."

Rose gripped the paper in her mind, seeing how all of this was too convenient; too specific despite the current situation.

Her eyes focused on Royman, clearing his throat as he said his part. "We have looked upon the information of this individual in the Guild's records… not a single register of him or mention whatsoever."

'Ah… I see where this is going.'

The only person Drake had ever interacted with was her.

The only person who had dealt with whatever question he had of the Dungeon or other related matters, had been her.

And the person who had been covered for him and his relationship with Hephaestus Familia-

"Rose Fannet, stand in the center."

-was also her.

"Rose," Sohpie whispered her name, worried for what was about to come.

"Don't worry about me. And Eina," she looked at the Half-Elf, seeing she had been in a meeting with her and Hephaestus Familia not too long ago. "Don't say anything, don't step up no matter what happens."

The Half-Elf didn't have to react, seeing as the Werewolf walked to the center of the room… it was kind of funny, seeing it was not too long ago she had to stand on that very spot when she said she would quit.

"Seeing as there's close to nothing on this individual, I will proceed with some questioning seeing you have seen him on various occasions."

Rose would have thought Royman would enjoy this far more given their current relationship… but he seemed surprisingly focused on this.

"Why is this individual not registered as an Adventurer with the Guild?"

'A battle of wits it is,' she mentally sighed, standing firm and grasping both of her arms behind her back. "He does not represent any Deity in the city, nor does have access to the services of the Guild."

"And yet he has been seen in the Guild's Library."

Royman pressed on, but his current strategy was too weak for her liking. "The guests are free to consult the library of the Guild. But to give more emphasis on this, he has not used any of the Guild's actual services as of this day."

It was funny now that she thought about it.

Tsubaki was the one who would supposedly exchange his crystals for him… but not a single time has she come in the last three months.

'He's surely stacked up.'

She shook the thought away, focusing back on the matter at hand.

"And yet you were seen aiding him like you would any other Adventurer." He narrowed his eyes, as did she in return.

"Those are just speculations from other's eyes." Partially a lie, seeing she did reveal something about what had been happening in Water City.

"It is your word against others," Royman discarded the topic. "During your time with the individual in question; did he mention anything about his intentions in the city?"

"None that I am aware of, no."

Truth, they had kept each other's personal things to their own.

"You are not making this any easier for yourself, Miss Fannet," he leaned on his desk; arms resting on the table as hands supported his chin. "We know for a fact that he has the support of a Familia thanks to our contacts, yet you are keeping this information from the authorities."

Her eyes opened slightly… he was not meant to know that… she had been careful about that. If anything, only Eina probably knows about it. The Half-Elf would have commented on sharing the information about their meeting.

"I am going to give you one last opportunity… do you have any information regarding who this Familia might be?"

It was then she finally noticed… the glint of amusement in his eyes.

She breathed in… and out… gripping her hands tightly behind her back to the point they became dull due to the strength used.

Rose Fennet knew what was going on now, to its more precise point… but she decided to humor him on this.

"I do not."

Royman's mouth twitched for a moment. "I am afraid that was your last chance, Miss Fannet… I will be sure to address this with Hephaestus Familia," and that… was the final confirmation she needed. "Guards, take Miss Fannet away and-"

"I do have something to say, though," the guards stopped, as did Royman seeing he was rudely interrupted. He was about to ask what it was she needed to say out of pure amusement… but she beat him to it. "Seeing as we are on the subject of the information gathered here, I have to ask; who exactly is your contact?"

The Elf scowled, seeing an act of defiance once again. "I have no reason to-"

"How reliable are they?"

His scowl deepened. "You are being rather ru-"

"How did you manage to get all of this documentation in so little time after the incident?"

He stopped, mentally snorting as he saw no problem answering that question. "As I mentioned before, the Guild staff had been working diligently to-"

"That is a lie." her stoic face remained, not giving him the right to even finish his part. "I request to all those here present, to raise your hands if you took part in such an investigation."

Royman's eyes widened, finally realizing what Rose was going for. He looked around, seeing not a single person raising their hand… looking at each other in confusion. "It was secret for a reason, Miss Fannet! Now, stop with this useless line of questioning and-!"

"There was no such investigation, Royman! In fact, I find it rather weird how you got all of this prepared while not a single hour has passed since the whole city was almost destroyed and the whole Guild made a complete mess of."

And as such… her message was sent; casting doubt in the minds of the members of the Guild.

It was just impossible for Royman to have all of this ready after such a catastrophe… something didn't add up.

"Rehmer," he looked at the Werewolf. "You are the second in the line of command here; did you have any prior knowledge of this?"

The Chientrope pondered… concluded rather quickly as he prepared to give an answer.

"Quiet! Every single one of you!" the Elf shouted, panting… a reminder of that day in this very hall when he was disrespected.

"This information is the only lead we have of what is happening in this city! And this… this… this mutt is just trying to plant the seed of doubt in all of us!" he focused on her, his façade of calmness broken once more. "This is enough, Miss Fannet! You will be taken into custody or else-"

"Or else what?" The Werewolf finally let go of her hands, letting them fall as Rose let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding; letting out a heavy weight off her shoulder… her anger. "Are you gonna stab me with a pen as well?" she asked mockingly, tilting her head to the side with a smug smirk.

Royman's face turned red; recalling the night he had been in some sort of trance… and nearly killed a kid because of it. "How dare you!?"

Rose ignored it, smiling softly as she unbuttoned her sleeves while walking towards the Elf.

"Do not compare me with yourself! You lousy murderer!"

"Right, because stabbing a child to rob him of his money is better than fighting for self-defense." She fixed her sleeves as she continued approaching him.

"I wasn't in my right mind!"

She snorted. "And you still have the audacity of being the head of the Guild while being senile."

And that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Guards! Take her away! Lock her in the darkest cell of the detention center until I say otherwise!"

There was a reason as to why Rose was being so confident through all of this, it was not only because she knew her accusations were right…

"I… can't!" one of the guards got a hold of her before trying to force her to stop… but it was futile, seeing now not one but two tried to… and failed, as she simply walked on as if nothing but breeze stood in her way.

Ever since that day, Rose had worn the Aura choker Tsubaki had given her… being the only reason she was able to survive that day. No one was ever gonna get the better of her… that was what she told herself.

"Stand back, Rehmer," she made a gesture with her arms, pushing the two guards into the ground with minimal effort as Rose walked past her co-worker. "Someone is gonna need to take charge of the Guild when I am done with him."

"I know your arguments holds ground, but beating him to a pulp is not the answer."

"Please," she chuckled. "That's for pigs in the slaughter… he will reach that part eventually on his own," her hand extended over the table, getting a hold of his neck in the same way Drake had before dragging Royman to her side. "I am just going to talk to him." And then she slammed his face on the table.

"Now, let's review the facts-"

"You fucking animal!" she rolled her eyes, ignoring his outburst.

"There was no such investigation done by the Guild, and you couldn't prepare all of this given the mess the Guild is in thanks to that tornado," she got a hold of his arm, lifting it towards her as his eyes widened. "So how did all this information come into your possession?"

"I-!"

*CRACK*

The Elf's screams were heard through the whole hall, echoing and bouncing after she had easily dislocated his shoulder.

Whatever he was going to answer, Rose did not know… her first goal was to make her point clear-

"I am not in the mood for games, you fucking Elf." She stated, mentally apologizing to Sophie for the Elf slander. "Now, speak!"

"I-!" she applied more pressure on her hold. "I don't know!"

"I gotta admit, you are being more resilient than I thought you would be." She stated, no hint of amusement whatsoever.

"I am telling the truth! I had gone to look for Ouranos regarding this whole mess, but he didn't answer!" he gasped for air through the pain; Rose was not letting go of her grip. She knew the Ouranos part was true thanks to Eina. "When I returned to what was left of my office, the documents with the information and the wanted posters were already there!"

Even as his shouts of pain continued echoing through the room, the whole staff seemed to ignore them as his only coherent message reached their ears.

"And not for a single moment did you think that whole thing was fishy from the beginning," her gaze centered on him. "No… you did know… and yet, you still insisted on pulling this stupid little number of an act. So, why?"

"Because the order had already been issued."

Her eyes darted to the side, focusing on Rehmer after hearing his statement.

"I wasn't there when he reached the office. But he had been staring at the table with a pale stare." His eyes narrowed, crossing glares with the Elf. "It was the order issued to the Familias; approved with his signature and personal stamp."

Her eyes widened as the Chientrope continued.

"When I asked about it, he had stated someone had already been tasked with delivering a copy of the issued order to the Familia of Orario, along with a wanted poster and some of the information he had already shared."

"Is everyone here accounted for?" Rose raised her voice through the hall, seeing the staff looking among each other, expecting someone would say a member was missing… that wasn't the case besides those that were gravely injured.

The Werewolf crossed eyes with Rehmer, their thoughts in sync as they reached the same conclusion.

"All of this.. you did all of this to save face again, didn't you, Royman?" The Werewolf continued. "You didn't want anyone to know that someone had falsified your signature and taken your stamp; that would be another stain on your little, perfect reputation, admitting someone used you in some way or another for their agenda."

"And so, you decided to play the part," Chientrope took over. "Dragging all of us into this…" he took off his glasses before running his hands through his face. "But I don't get what part Rose had to play in here. You could have easily stayed quiet and let things play out as they were."

"Because he decided to take advantage of all of this mess." Rose looked coldly at the Elf. "It is as you said, Rehemer; he decided to play the part… and take advantage of it in the process."

Trying to get back at her for his previous humiliation. He already knew there was something between her and Drake… So he used that to his advantage; only to backfire majestically.

"Do you wanna know where you screwed up this whole fiasco?" she got closer to his greasy face, almost placing her lips on his head as he managed to look at her eyes… her yellow glowing eyes. "You knew about Hepaheatus Familia."

She was not exaggerating when she decided to keep that part of his connection with her a secret. Nobody other than Eina knew about… Royman couldn't figure that part out just with a mere investigation; she was sure Drake and Tsubaki were also careful in that regard as well.

Had Royman not mentioned that she would have thought this was just something to get back at Drake… but she now knew this whole thing had been set up by someone else to blame the blonde.

"You now know everything! Let me go, you stupid savage!"

Rose had to be honest, for a moment she had forgotten Royman was in her grip.

"Useless fucking Elf."

Again, sorry for the slander, Sophie.

"The fuck did you just-"

*CRACK*

His screams resumed, stronger than before seeing Rose had broken his arm this time.

Royman panted, finally being let go as he fell on the floor. He looked up, ready to glare at the Werewolf, only to be met by a kick to the side of his face before being sent crashing into the wall.

"Rehmer," the Chientrope looked a little dumbfounded at her, fixing the sleeves of her shirt. "Issue an order stating for all Familia to cease on the previous order; just say the truth, that Royman's signature had been forged," she looked at the hole where the Elf laid for a moment. "And say he's not stable at the moment; both mentally and physically."

The Werewolf sighed, adopting her stoic expression once more before taking a copy of the documents Royman had displayed.

"Wait… where are you going?" he asked as she left the hall while ignoring the rest.

"I would like to say I am taking a paid leave of absence… but I am gonna do some damage control of my own."

Rehmer rubbed the side of his face in exasperation, seeing he was now in charge of this whole mess. "You do realize this won't be as easy as just issuing the order, right?" that made her stop. "The citizens, Adventurers, Familias… many will think we are withholding information in this regard if we proceed with this."

Rose Fannet didn't look back, heading her way to her destination. "If they decide to believe us or not; it is not our problem."

The Chientrope sighed, looking across what remained of the door thanks to the almost tornado. He looked at the hole where Royman lay unconscious; giving an order to the guards to lock him up until the time was right… and then he looked at the rest of the staff, waiting in suspense to see what the orders he was about to give them were… but there was only one single thought in his mind.

'Being wiped out by a tornado doesn't sound too bad right about now.'

---

"… And thus… I am now here." Rose explained, having arrived at the Hephaestus Familia HQ as soon as she left the Guild.

Suffice to say, both Goddess and Captain had been rather perplexed at Rose's sudden change in demeanor ; seeing she had always been respectful and educated.

Thankfully, no words needed to be said seeing all she needed to do was show them the wanted poster and share with them the information that had been left to set up Drake.

Both Goddess and Captain scowled at what they saw; the latter gripped the paper as her single eye looked at the image with burning ire, while the latter sat behind her table; pondering at how this came to be.

Rose explained the events that had come to pass, including her abduction seeing they were rather curious as to why the racist Elf had a bone to pick with her in the first place.

After her explanation, the only thing Tsubaki Collbrande did was raise her hand; leaving it in the air as if waiting for something.

"…" Rose simply ignored her, looking over the Goddess of the Forge.

"Bitch, come on! Don't leave me hanging," Tsubaki complained. Funnily enough, Drake also pulled the uncaring act of a High-Five sometimes.

"You do realize you might get fired this time?"

Rose huffed in amusement at the Goddess' question. "Only if Royman isn't relieved of his position in the Guild; Ouranos will most likely have the final word on this." Her eyes moved to the side to avoid her gaze as her smirk turned into a somehow shameless one. "And if I do get fired… I will submit my application to a Familia."

The Goddess closed her eyes with a nod; Rose's experience in the Guild was something you couldn't just find everywhere. She was sure she would be of great help to her Familia in the administrative part. "I am sure your talents will be put to good use here."

"… ah."

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow, seeing the Werewolf return to her stoic expression. "I was thinking of submitting for Soma Familia."

The Goddess' eye twitched.

"I heard they have been doing rather fine in the alcohol business. And words of their new way of operating has been nothing but positive; even Drake suggested them."

Hephaestus used to be chosen second over many Gods; mainly only over the looks department for obvious reasons… but being placed second over Soma of all Deities…

"I have officially hit a new low." She opened her drawer, taking out her trusty bottle before serving herself a shot.

"Is this normal?" Rose asked, feeling the image she had of Hephaestus as a dutiful Goddess shattering a little.

"Life has been bullying her a little as of late," Tsubaki commented, still waiting for that High-Five while she focused on Drake's poster… something didn't add up. "It's his eyes."

The Werewolf finally looked at Tsubaki. "Excuse me?"

"His face, jaw, cheeks… all of those check." Her eye narrowed. "It's his fucking eyes that have been bothering me the most out of this poster," she placed it on the table, letting the Goddess take a better look at it after taking her shot. "They look just so… inhumanly angry; even if they were abnormal in the first place, they just give me a very uncomfortable vibe… Goddess?"

Hephaestus didn't say anything, seeing as she was focused on the poster now… unconsciously holding the right side of her face; the marks under her eyepatch itching at the mere sight of the eyes on the drawing.

"I am fine." she pushed the poster away, along with her uncomfortable yet familiar pain. "What Rehmer said is right. Many in this city will not just stay idle at this, even if the Guild say it was a mistake on Royman's part."

Rose nodded. "Which is why we first need to know and speak with the person at the center of this mess before them."

The Werewolf really didn't know what Drake was doing in the Dungeon, or if he was really involved in this. Now that she thought about it, he had mused with her the weirdest events happening in the city; knowing he had a hand or knew something about what was happening on the Great Fall and Water City with the sudden ice on those Floors.

There was also the convenient conclusion that the Monster causing Earthquakes in the Dungeon was solved the same day he had obtained the Udaeus drop item… the fact that Finn Deinme tried to investigate him when his Familia supposedly was the one who solved the whole thing made her think that wasn't the case… and looking at how , both Goddess and Captain were acting… it seemed as if that was the case.

"He had gone into the Dungeon to help with the little wind issue," Tsubaki stated, taking out her Scroll with a single hand. "… shit."

Rose raised her eyebrow; she had been about to ask about the weird device in her hand, knowing Drake also had a similar one in his possession. But whatever it was she saw on the screen was enough to finally drop the hand that had been waiting for a High-Five.

"I need to excuse myself for a moment," The Blacksmith stated as she did exactly that, leaving the redheads alone.

"You mentioned a ransom letter arrived for Drake when you were abducted," Hephaestus carried on, trusting Tsubaki to take care on her end. "Is it possible that the person that orchestrated this and that are the same individual?"

"I wouldn't discard such an idea; both documents were delivered without anyone noticing… but I am afraid that the handwriting between the two is completely different." Not to mention she had been checking documents of other Familias in her free time to see if the handwriting of any of those documents was similar to the ransom letter, seeing she still felt she had seen it somewhere.

"In that case, all we can do is wait for the move they will try to pull," Hephaestus waited solemnly as she pinched the bridge between her eyes.

"… Wait," Rose blinked several times. "You have an idea regarding who might have done this?"

Hephaestus snorted as she served herself a second shot. " Not really. But I do know two Familias in this city that will try to use this to get back at him."

Rose sighed, somehow not finding it surprising that somehow with his attitude would earn some enemies in the city. "Who might they be?"

Hephaestus stopped her movement right as she was about to drink her shot, only to place it on the end of the table for Rose; the Werewolf's puzzled look was enough to make her release a chuckle. "You are going to need it."

"Even if I am not currently in my Guild position, I will not drink during work hours," Rose said sternly as Hephaestus retrieved another glass from her drawer.

"You will… also, go on and grab a chair; you might as well have a seat while we drink."

The Werewolf's scowl deepened a little. "Just tell me which Familias-"

"Loki and Freya," Rose's scowl broke, instantly replaced by a blank expression.

She remained quiet, moving to take a chair and place it in front of the desk before sitting and gulping the shot down in a single go.

"That's what I thought," The Goddess said with dry amusement as she served more for the both of them.

---

"What do you mean you lost contact with Drake?" Tsubaki asked, staring at her Scroll's screen to see Rita's image.

"Exactly what that sounds like." Rita Mordio replied drily.

Tsubaki's Scroll had been bombarded with messages for the last few minutes. Some among were from none other than Liliruca Arde, whose Familia had already received the Guild Order… kind of weird Hephaestus hadn't.

The Blacksmith had messaged her not to worry, telling her that she would contact her later with what she could find in regards to information.

And the rest were for Rita; giving a poor summary of Drake's whereabouts.

Apparently, she had been monitoring from afar what they were doing in case Ratatosk's side decided to pull some trick… and someone did play a trick, but it wasn't them.

"All three floors were blown up?" her eye widened at what she heard.

"Yes… they had apprehended the individual who had the Centurion of Wind in her possession." She scowled. "But the floor they were on, the one above, and the one below all blew up in a consecutive explosion before they could rip the Centurion off the person they were chasing."

Tsubaki narrowed her eye… discarding this being one of Ratatosk's plots seeing Adam was also there…

'That… and the fact Drake wouldn't die from something like that.' She thought confidently, knowing Rita's line of thought was similar.

"That kind of thing never happens… even by Dungeon standards."

"So we agreed this was a set-up by a third party, then… what?" Rita raised an eyebrow, seeing Tsubaki growl as she rubbed the side of her head the moment the word 'set up' was said.

"We also have a situation over here," Tsubaki said with a stern expression as she gave a summary of the recent events.

"It is all connected… too many coincidences for them not to be…" Rita sighed in annoyance. "And here I thought Drake and the others were already past secret plots and assassinations."

Not surprising she would say that, seeing Drake and the rest were Nobles back in Remnant.

"Listen… I am going to try and find out more about what happened in the Dungeon; you try to do the same on your side."

The call ended, leaving Tsubaki sighing as she leaned back against the wall to think.

'Explosions in the Dungeon… with enough amount to cover three damn Floors, and powerful enough to wipe them.' She crouched, resting her elbows on her knees while her hands remained intertwined; used as support for her forehead. 'The amount of explosives needed for that could not go unnoticed on the surface… 'I will have to ask Lili to investigate a little on that.' Time to make use of that information network Zelos was being so proud of.

She sighed. 'No one comes to mind regarding who could pull this shit out of all the people Drake had pissed off; Aeshma? Still buried somewhere. Soma? He's basically Drake's number-one fan. Freya? Not her style… but charming Drake already failed… wouldn't put it past to try something like this… Loki? I am not in a position to pull this shit… but I am well aware that fucking Pallum will try to pull a fast one.'

Tsubaki groaned, clenching her fist in anger as her single eye almost glowed thanks to her Aura Bracelet… she wanted blood; to tear something apart out of pure frustration for what was happening. Her hand went to the small metal chain around her neck before pulling it up, revealing the white ring Drake had given her hiding in-between her breasts.

She stared at it, clenching it with both hands in frustration.

Three whole months… that was how much Drake's anonymity and peace had lasted… and she didn't know who needed to suffer for it coming to an end.

It was only a matter of time before Finn and Freya tried to get something out of this… so she had to be prepared as well. "Time to call up some favors," she took her Scroll out, sending a message with instructions to Lili as she stood up to return to her Goddess' office.

Time was now of the essence, and she had to gather her team before tomorrow and debrief them.

'At least it is a good thing everyone is on high alert-' her train of thought crashed, right after opening the door to her Goddess's office to see Hephaestus and Rose; drinking to their hearts' content.

"So he went on… for two whole hours?" The Goddess asked incredulously with a blush due to her partial drunkenness as Rose placed an empty glass on the table.

"He was merciless; using my body as he pleased the whole damn time." Rose was not faring any better; long gone was her stoic personality,now replaced by that of a friendly drunk. "I couldn't even feel my hips the next morning."

Tsubaki's eye twitched, seeing them both taking this easy while she tried to gut her mind out for solutions… they hadn't even noticed her presence.

"Hey, you two," she walked over them with an emotionless glare… before smiling sheepishly at both. "Mind pouring me one; I sure need it." she stated, taking another chair close to them before taking a seat.

"Hey!~" they exclaimed happily as they welcomed her.

She still had some time before meeting with Lili… might as well use it now to loosen herself up before things got complicated.

---

"I wonder… whatever this is a chance… or an chance for disaster in disguise…" Finn contemplated, sitting behind his table with a somehow neutral yet tense expression on his face.

His eyes darted down, looking at the poster of none other than the blonde with abnormal eyes that had turned his Familia upside down… regardless of the Captain's own decisions on the matter.

He hadn't been able to keep his usual professionality for too long in public; remembering the emerald eyed blonde's criticism towards the Pallum… and him calling his birth name.

Despite the highs and lows Finn and his Familia had gone through the years, he would like to say they have managed to break through all the adversities on their way… but this… this was different… and somehow personal.

His eye twitched, recalling the animosity started because Bete thrashed a memento left by Drake's sister; he really didn't have any room to argue there.

But even so, The Braver could not just sit in defeat and personal humiliation… but how could they counter this?

Freya Familia was one thing.

Yes, Loki may win in the quantity department… but in quality? Leaving aside all the Level Six, Ottarl carried the Familia along with his alias of King.

But what was a King to someone who defied every norm in the book and authority… What was a King compared to someone willing to not only offend, disrespect, harm, fight… but also kill a Deity at full power, no less?

'If Bete's suppositions are anything to go by, that is…'

Ottarl had always been a mountain that seemed impossible to reach in the current era; being the only Level Seven in the city… many… a lot of members of his Familia would fall trying to climb that mountain; which is why Loki Familia opted to just settle for that 'equality' between the Familia… until Freya decided to go crazy one day and waged War for some weird reason.

No; that was not an exaggeration, being one thing that had plagued the darkest corners in Finn's mind up to date.

But Freya Familia was not the problem… he was.

Leaving aside the weird occurrences happening in the city; Drake and one of his brothers claimed not to be interested in the silent political and power struggle in the city despite his own power and supposed former status as a Noble.

So, by all means, Finn could just let this go after the last strike… right?

There was no need to seek more bad blood between them… right?

Finn could just focus on elevating the status of his Familia while leaving the taller blonde alone… right?

All good questions; with a more than obvious answer for someone as methodical as him… but he could not.

Whatever the reason; either thinking Drake would become a threat to them in the future, or even the possibility of him joining with a rival Familia, or if he decided to change his mind about his so-called 'normal' life in the city, etc, etc. In the end, Finn could just not shake any of those thoughts out of fear… and a little bit of resentment towards his latest words.

In a nutshell; Finn was being salty.

For these very reasons, he isolated himself from his Familia; doing his best to clear his mind of all unnecessary thoughts on the matter… until an order from the Guild came to capture Drake.

"There's a LOT of irony in this," he sighed, leaning back on his chair with a heavy sigh before moving his eyes to the one other person in the room; sitting on a sofa, elbows resting on her knees and arms wrapped together while her forehead rested on them. "Don't you think so?"

"Aye…" Loki's head lifted up a little… her eyes open with a deep scowl. "So fucking ironic it isn't even funny." She groaned.

His Goddess had been surprisingly passive since that day; somehow understandable seeing Drake's older brother manage to arouse fear within her with only a few words.

Finn wasn't gonna deny it; he was kind of curious about what kind of expression his Goddess would make.

What he saw was anger, fury, hatred… and pain the moment she saw the Guild's order and wanted poster.

It was honestly the first time the Pallum had seen his Deity open her eyes so much… and somehow being in pain; she had gripped her chest, groaning as she almost fell to the floor. When asked about it, she only replied she felt as if someone had run their hand through her back and gripped her heart.

…Specific much?

After she had calmed down, she couldn't help but curse at the drawing out of instinct more than anything else.

When Finn looked at it, he thought that whoever did it had put a lot of detail on it… especially in the eyes; somehow different to the ones Drake had. As a matter of fact, they were so detailed that it reminded him of the One-Eyed Black-Dragon… and it was at that very moment they both silently agreed not to show this to Ais under any circumstances.

However, before any of them could come up with any ideas of what to actually do regarding this, another order came with the intention of seizing and desisting the previous one.

Because of this, Finn and Loki had come to conclude several things…

One; something was happening inside the Guild for them to want to cover this all of a sudden.

Two; Drake seemed to be connected with the violent currents of wind happening in the city… including the near-ending tornado.

And finally; this was probably just a theory… someone was setting up Drake. Why come up to this conclusion?

The Centurions.

Loki Familia now knew of them, in various aspects.

The incident with the Centurion of Ice was still fresh in their mind. One of the things this Divine Item had caused was affecting the terrain of the whole water city… along with its Monsters. So, what did prevent the Centurion from causing this kind of damage on the surface?

Just like there were Earth and Ice, there was surely a Centurion with the Element of Wind.

"Blondie most likely went into the Dungeon to deal with it; fucked up somehow in the process making that damn Tornado start to form, and then stopped it… for now." Loki sighed, hating being sober now more than ever as a migraine started to form.

"Indeed," Finn looked to the side, seeing what was outside of his window. "How long do you think we have?"

Loki didn't move, knowing what was already going on in the sky.

Right now, they were clear… but just as she -along with every single Deity in the city- had felt a huge amount of Divinity coming from the Dungeon into the Sky, she now could feel it happening again; although in a very small amount by the minute compared to a few hours ago.

"It's only a matter of time…" she sighed. "You know what is coming, right?"

Sadly, he did.

Someone always needed to be responsible… Just like the city blamed Zeus and Hera for their failure during the last Big Quest. Sure, Loki and Freya decided to make lemonade out of the whole mess… but that didn't change the fact the need for blame was always there.

And now that the Guild had shown many Familia his face and possible relation with this disaster at hand… they would be out for blood when it all came to an end.

Some for the actual concern for the city, some for entertainment… and some just to get something out of this… seeing how the matter in the Dungeon hasn't been fixed also gave a lot of fuel for them to act.

"As much as I would like to know who would make such an elaborate setup, we have to deal with the big ass elephant in the room." She clapped her hands before looking at him. "What are you planning to do regarding this whole mess?"

Finn sighed. "The most methodical part of me would like to avoid this at any cost."

There wasn't only the matter of most likely dealing with Drake… but also dealing with yet another Centurion; their odds of dealing with a Divine Artifact weren't good at all… especially since the only reason they were able to get out of it alive last time was thanks to none other than Drake.

"But there's also a lot of cons in this."

Their Familia's credibility and reputation would go down even deeper than it already was, not to mention there was also the advantage other Familias might take out of all of this if they just stood back… and there was of course the fact of not contributing to the safety of the city.

"And that cunt part of you?" Finn laughed awkwardly at his Goddess' definition of his worst aspect.

His laugh died down, staring once more at the wanted poster. "Not gonna lie… I would like to take this opportunity to neutralize a threat."

There was power in numbers, after all.

He was sure many Familias would join this little quest… which meant a chance against the blonde.

And yet… he still felt… knew… their odds were still poor if they were to engage Drake.

"… I hate the fact that I agree with you."

Finn blinked, breaking a small mocking smile at her Deity. "Is that also your cunt side talking?"

She simply flipped him off. "I am in pain, Finn." She stood up, walking towards the table. "And no, I am not talking figuratively, mentally, or any of that bullshit," she planted her hands on the table, gripping the poster in her hand before clenching her fist to not see it; the source of her pain. "My fucking back and heart can't stop beating in pain ever since I saw this."

Finn's eyes narrowed tentatively. "… Are you receding your previous order?"

She leveled her glare. "I am going to leave it to your Judgement… but remember we have a lot to lose in this."

It was one of those times in his life when his decision would affect the lives of others…the Nightmare of the Twenty-Seventh Floor was a clear memory of that.

"You do realize we are going to need her in case things go south."

Loki's eyes narrowed. "Now you are just brewing a combination for disaster." She sighed. "We both know her state of mind is not stable at the moment."

"And it will continue that way unless we find someone to help her," Finn concluded, agreeing with Drake and his brother, admitting Ais' behavior was partly on them. "But there's no one in the city with the experience to help a troubled mind… but that might as well be what we need."

Yes, her state of mind was a mess… but her drive on the matter was sharper than ever; her multiple attempts to escape despite not having a Falna were proof of it.

"You better set the record straight for her, then." She turned around, realizing that she was gripping the wanted poster in her hand. "Tch!" she gritted her teeth, shredding the poster into pieces as her pain continued.

"… And now I am the one that's gonna have to clean that mess…along with all the ones to come." Finn thought out loud, looking out the window one last time as he mentally prepared for the day to come.

---

"… I hope you know you are not fooling anyone?" Mia Grande stated, standing with crossed arms as she stared at one Tsubaki Collbrande after stepping into her pub with a deep scowl while carrying a certain Pallum on her shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes. "I know the whole city must be stressed, but don't you think you should hold back the drinking?" The Dwarf could smell the alcohol from where she was standing.

Tsubaki's scowl dropped in a tired sigh. "My Goddess and a Guild Receptionist suddenly became good drinking buddies; I was just dragged into that mess."

An absolute fucking lie if a certain gray-haired waitress had ever heard.

"… I take it you are here because of this?" Mia's eyes narrowed, showing the wanted poster of someone who resembled a familiar blonde.

"He was set up." The Blacksmith replied in a heartbeat, her drunkenness disappearing in an instance.

"We figured that much," Lunor stated close by, stopping with her cleaning as did the rest of the Hostess' usual suspects.

Tsubaki's eyes narrowed. "Then you also must have figured out why I am here." Her eye moved to all of those who had a Falna.

The pub owner released a low growl before looking at Ryuu, Lunor, Chloe, and Anya. "Follow me," then she looked at the rest of the staff to instruct them to continue with the cleaning.

"I see this place was left pretty much unscratched."

"All thanks to the brat, not sure what he did though," Mia stated, guiding them towards their office before entering it. "Come on in."

The former Adventurers entered, along with-

"Nope, only people with Falna allowed," The Blacksmith stated, planting her hand on the other side of the entrance to prevent Syr from getting in. "Normies not allowed."

"Normies!?" Syr Flova stated perplexed; not knowing what the word meant, but still feeling offended somehow. "Can't I just join in? I am just worried about what's going on."

"Nope!" Tsubaki stated blandly.

"But-" Syr softly grasped Tsubaki's hand, focusing on her sole eye. "I insist."

Tsubaki blinked for a moment, staring at her purple glowing eyes for a moment before- "Nope!"

She stood back, walking into the room; before turning back to slam the door in Syr's face; whose expression was completely unreadable as the door blocked it.

Tsubaklli softly rested her face on her palm; thinking she was seeing things as a small headache hit her while something between her chest seemed to burn. "Am I really that drunk?"

"Mama, are you ok ~nya?"

Her train of thought stopped at the sound of Anya's voice. Her sole eyes focused on Mia, looking at the Blacksmith with what Tsubaki could identify as amazement and a little bit of fear.

"… What?" she asked, the pain in her head fading as Mia just continued staring. "What?" she repeated her question, finally breaking Mia off her trance before the Dwarf cleared her throat.

"It's nothing… just carry on."

Tsubaki couldn't help but raise an eyebrow… it was probably nothing.

"So… why don't we all catch up first?"

---

"To think the Guild would be compromised in such a way." Mia pinched the bridge between her eyes. "Royman, you fucking useless Elf."

Ryuu would usually throw a subtle flinch at such a comment… but her mind went elsewhere.

Someone had used Royman's signature and seal to issue an order to search and capture Drake after not even an hour had passed from the city nearly being destroyed. To make things worse, whoever this mastermind was also knew of his connection to Tsubaki and Hephaestus Familia.

"And this person is also responsible for the whole Windy-Windy bullshit?"

'Great choice of words, Lunor,' The Elf thought with a deadpan.

"No…" Tsubaki hesitated for a moment before looking at Ryuu. "That goes more hand in hand with another thing that happened not too long ago."

'… Ah.' Ryuu recalled the whole Ice incident in the Dungeon and Bete Loga's possession.

"Whoever is responsible just decided to take advantage of this situation then… but even so, for them to be so prepared to set up something like this." Mia pondered for a moment, Freya would be the usual suspect… but the Dwarf was sharp and experienced enough to know when the Goddess was about to pull some bullshit.

"Oh… it just keeps getting worse…" Tsubaki stated. "My… sources tell me the Floor Drake had been on was blown up; along with the floor above and below him." She chose her words carefully, not wanting to have to explain the mess that was Rita Mordio and the whole technology aspect that came with her.

Thankfully, it seemed as if all of them just took her words to heart… especially Ryuu Lion, seeing as her face turned pale at the mention of blowing up Floors.

'meh, it's probably an Elf thing' she shrugged it off.

"The materials needed to cause that kind of damage in the Dungeon is not something that would go easily unnoticeable nya~," Chloe thought out loud, being a former assassin helped to see past the simple thing.

"I am glad you mentioned that because this is where she comes in," Tsubaki's eyes darted to the side, to the Pallum she had been carrying over her shoulder.

"… I honestly forgot Lili had been here the whole time." Lunor thought out loud, just as Tsubaki finally placed her down.

"Your words aren't making Lili feel any better," Lili stated with dead-like eyes. "Miss Tsubaki had abducted Lili out of nowhere and carried her around over her shoulder without a care in the world; Lili pleaded to be let down, but Miss Tsubaki just ignored me."

She sounded so defeated it even made Tsubaki and Mia feel bad for her.

"I blame it on drunk me," the Blacksmith's words were of no help whatsoever. "But hey, the city is trying to make sense of what's going on, so probably they didn't even notice us."

"They did!"

"You really are unhinged, huh?" Lunor's deadpan question was only answered with a thumbs up. "But anyway… what does Lili have to do with this?"

The Pallum cleared her through, regaining her composure… and trying to get some of her dignity as well. "Lili and the rest of Soma Familia didn't have much time seeing all of this is so recent. Miss Tsubaki had asked us to investigate the records and everything related to the cargo entering the city."

That got their attention.

"Apparently, a certain amount of materials had been entering the city for some time; alone, they are not enough to blow up a single floor-"

"But with some time, it would be enough to blow up three…" Ryuu concluded; trying her best to maintain a calm breathing at the thought of destroying Floors in the Dungeon. "Who issued this order?"

Lili glared. "The Guild."

Everyone but Anya groaned, the Cat-Person having a bit of trouble following the conversation.

"That would explain why no one thought it was weird that so many explosives were smuggled into the city," Lunor sighed before looking at the Pallum. "And given the recent development with Royman, I am gonna guess all of the approvals for this order were also forged."

Lili shook her head. "Miss Lunor is only half-correct; these were not forged with Royman's signatures, but other high members of the Guild."

Lunor groaned; things just kept getting more shady by the moment.

"When asked about them, none of them showed any recollection of ever signing those papers." The Pallum recalled, having been forced to use Cinderalla to pose as someone trusty from the Guild to progress with the investigation. "Members of Soma Familia also managed to question the porters located at the entrance; it was a long shot, but some recall the days the explosives got in the city. Apparently, It seemed as it was always delivered by the same person every time with a huge carriage… but the path they took was always different every time."

Meaning, there was no way of tracking.

"Well… no more reason to keep poking that bear…" Mia groaned, running her hand through her face in exasperation. "Which brings us to this… you want to form a party to search for Drake."

Tsubaki cleared her throat. "I had an idea… putting together a group of remarkable people…" Her seriousness faded in an instant. "Unfortunately all I have is a somehow decent Pallum in hand to hand combat, a deadbeat bounty hunter, an assassin with a more than questionable taste, and a useless Elf."

"Hey!/ Hey nya~!" more than one person shouted.

"Lili has been training hard in her CQC!"

"You are saying that you expect us to go into the Dungeon and deal with whatever bullshit is Drake is currently dealing with, an evil mastermind that wants him dead and the very probable witch hunt that someone will surely call on Drake despite the Guild now ordering not to hunt him?" Lunor counted, surprisingly calm to Tsubaki's surprise. She could tell the former Bounty Hunter was about to blow up, but someone beat her to it.

"I am in."

"Of course, you would say that," Lunor sighed in exasperation at Ryuu's words before sighing; covering her face with her hands to think a little before looking at the Blacksmith. "Our odds are not good, even with the weapons you gave us."

To this, Tsubaki simply smirked. "Oh, don't worry about that… I will get you covered in that department."

Lunor didn't know why… but she couldn't help but feel confident in the Blacksmith's words… and a little intimidated as well.

"Wait nya~" Everyone looked at Anya, pointing at each of the people that had been mentioned; Lili, "Pallum in hand to hand nya~", Lunor, "Deadbeat bounty hunter nya~", Chloe, "assassin with more than questionable taste nya~", Ryuu, "and the useless Elf nya~."

All of the after-mentioned felt offended a second time as Anya pointed at herself. "Where am I? The adorable and good cat nya~"

Chloe couldn't stop her eye from twitching at the audacity of the other Cat-Person.

"… Sorry, but I can't let you tag along," Tsubaki replied with a serious glare, making Anya's eyes widen. And just as she was about to ask why, Mia beat her to it.

"It's for Freya, isn't it?" The Dwarf stated surely. "Or to be more exact; Allen."

The waitress turned pale at the mention of her brother; hands clenched together and legs trembling, not being able to look at either Dwarf or meet their eyes.

"See…" Tsubaki sighed. "It's only a matter of time before someone calls for the damn hunt on Drake; Freya will most likely join on it, and I can't have someone freezing in the middle of battle just because of her personal issues."

It was a little bit ironic, considering that Allen seemed to be a Tsundere for his sister according to Drake; but she didn't have the time or patience to pull a therapy session on the cat girl.

"I agree with her," Mia commented. "The others are free to go if they so please… but you will stay, Anya."

She looked down, not finding the words to counter their thoughts of her… because they were right.

"There, there," Lunor said with a sigh, dragging the girl to sit next to her as she comforted her while Chloe took the stage.

"When will we go nya~?" she asked. "The Guild order stated the hunt would be in three days; so it would be wise to move before that nya~"

Tsubaki scowled. "In that, we agreed… but sadly, things are not gonna be so easy."

The fake information that had been delivered stated that whatever had caused the tornado to start forming had failed. That alone gave the idea that the culprit -Drake in this case- was wounded; it was very likely they would want to take advantage of this as soon as possible with no time to waste.

"We have to expect them to move that to tomorrow, as well." She gave a tired sigh. "I am gonna go and prepare things and return later before the day ends with the whole plan, you guys do you for the time being."

She turned around, ready to leave and continue things… but someone stopped her.

"Hold it…" Tsubaki sighed, turning around ready to throw a remark at the Elf… but her words died down the moment she saw something familiar reflected in her eyes… hate… and fear.

"Given the situation that happened in the Dungeon… there's something all of you should know," Ryuu stated, clenching her arms as they trembled; making an effort not to despair as she recalled that fateful day.

"… You mean the explosions on the Floors." The Blacksmith concluded, seeing it was since the mention that the Elf's behavior changed.

"Correct…" She took a deep breath. "Just like we confirmed with Udaeus; there are certain conditions to meet for him to draw his sword… and just like that… there's a certain… condition that has to happen for a certain Monster to spawn in the Dungeon."

"Elf." Mia said with a stern voice, seeing it looked like she was about to pass out or throw up at any given moment. But she stopped, seeing Ryuu shaking her head softly as she told Mia not to worry with a hand gesture.

"Its name is Juggernaut… the Monster responsible for killing everyone in my Familia."

---

Tsubaki couldn't help but contemplate after the lore bomb that damn Elf had dropped on her; throwing yet another complicated stone on their road.

Astraea Familia had not been by any means weak; being a Familia full of Level Fours.

To make things worse, the way Ryuu had described it made it sound as if the damn thing was the damn Grim Reaper by how easily they were wiped out, story-wise.

"I sure hope this is just another one of that Elf's exaggerations." She sighed, seeing her mind into focus mode.

She now had to comment to her Goddess about what had happened and what she and her 'party' had agreed on.

"Goddess! Please!"

She groaned, gritting her teeth as she saw many of her fellow Familia members outside and inside her office, making it look as if they were raiding it.

"Ok, what the fuck is going on now?" she walked through all the Blacksmiths, stumbling with them until she finally stood in front of her Goddess; elbows resting on her table while pinching the bridge between her eyes.

"Let me guess; Loki Familia requested assistance?"

The only reply she got out of her Goddess was a positive grunt.

"Wait, you knew about this?" Beckendorf asked, confused about what was going on as he suddenly showed a wanted poster of Drake.

"Oh, great. That finally arrived here, as well." She muttered in annoyance, snapping the paper of the Adventurer's hand.

"They are all over the city."

That made Tsubaki freeze as she looked at her Goddess; realizing now why she was in such a bad mood.

"I take it this is related to why our Diosa doesn't want us to participate." Leo Valdez said, resting against the wall close to the table. "The Guild is putting on the effort of pining everything on him."

"The Guild has nothing to do with this," Both Goddess and Captain muttered, sharing a look before the former sighed.

"The Guild's being used, and he didn't do anything." Tsubaki reaffirmed, before turning around to address all her underlings. "And No; we are not answering Loki Familia's request."

And then came the outbursts and complaints... despite all that noise, she could still hear her Goddess impatiently tapping her finger.

Why aren't we acting?

Why is the Guild not issuing them an order as well in the first place?

How do you know he isn't really involved?

Why are you protecting him, Goddess?

"We just can't stand here and do nothing," a certain Blacksmith stated. "We will be looked down on by the whole city if we don't act."

Tsubaki didn't say anything, adopting a posture similar to her Goddess as she pinched the bridge between her eyes. "You really are digging your own grave."

Her voice went to deaf ears as many agreed with the Adventurer's previous statement… the lone Goddess in the room finally raised her head slightly… her single eye dangerously narrowed.

"… Do all of you share that same sentiment?" her voice was just loud enough for them to hear between the shouting; many murmured in agreement… She fully lifted her head, smiling with a closed eye… such a visage made Tsubaki facepalm as she walked to the wall to rest against it next to Leo.

"… ok, what's with the attitude?" he asked, seeing her Captain just sigh at his question.

"Give it a moment."

"I see… in that case; strip." She opened her drawer, taking out a small knife she used to update her children's Falna… but it wasn't going to be used for that. "So I can remove your Falna."

That killed off whatever noise was left; along with the fake smile on her face, now replaced with an unreadable expression.

"Before I start, let me remind you something to every single one of you," she slammed her fist on the table. "We are not a police force, nor gardeners, pharmacists, warriors, and above all else; We. Are. Not. Heroes. We are Blacksmiths… or is that call for action perhaps too lucrative to every single one of you?"

Nobody said anything.

"Drake had gone into the Dungeon to prevent the very destruction that almost befell the city. Something must have gone wrong during his venture, and now someone is trying to take advantage of this; going as far as using the Guild to that end."

"So that's why the Guild gave the cease and desist order," Leo muttered, running his hand through his face as Tsubaki simply hummed in agreement.

"Goddess, if that is truth; isn't that the more reason to-"

"I am not done, Welf Crozzo," more than one person in the room winced at how she said his last name. The Blacksmith in question turned pale as his eyes dilated, realizing his previous statement might have been a mistake.

"Told you so," Tsubaki muttered as if reading his mind.

"It is normal for even Blacksmiths to dive into the Dungeon to farm materials and even at the request of another Familia for expeditions; meeting your end is a huge probability in such situations." Her eyes softened a little. "But this is different, completely out of the spectrum of what might usually happen in the Dungeon… As your Goddess, under no circumstance can I allow myself to send you there knowing full well how you will meet your end," her gaze hardened. "And you WILL meet your end if you do so."

She places her knife on the table. "But in case you feel you have some duty to answer this call of action, I am sure any Familia will take any of you for sure… so, who's first?"

Nobody said anything, letting a lingering silence take place before someone coughed. "Hey… Crozzo, I think she means you."

His eye twitched. "Oh screw you!"

And then the murmurs took place, jokes directed at a certain redhead, and so on.

"You are going, aren't you?" Leo asked, seeing the whole thing with crossed arms along with Tsubaki.

"Is it that obvious?" her expression remained stoic.

"… The times I have seen you two together can be summarized as either a pair of bickering siblings that were separated at birth-" Tsubaki tilted her head from side to side, somehow agreeing with him. "Or a pair of married couples that have been through many married years without any of the sexual tension."

Tsubaki chuckled, flipping him off without looking at him.

"You sure you will be fine alone?"

"Worried about me?"

"… Un poco." Leo replied, earning a glare from her as she waited for a translation. "A little."

Tsubaki sighed, tapping his shoulder a few times before clapping her hands to get everyone's attention.

"Ok, people; Mother has already given you your slap on the wrist and now she needs her ale," she ignored her Goddess' groan as Tsubaki told all of them to get out. Not a moment later, all of them were walking out of the office… including Welf, being dragged by Leo with ease thanks to Level difference.

"… Can you please drop the 'Mother' bullshit? It is bad enough Drake pulls that one whenever it comes to my Adventures" Hephaestus was really in no mood for anything.

"Do you remember the first time you gave me the 'You are not a Hero, You are a Blacksmith' speech?" she walked around the table towards her; opening her drawer to see an empty bottle. "Oh, right; we drank this one with Rose… where's she anyway?" she opened the second drawer, whistling as she took out a brand new bottle.

"Back to the Guild, seeing what other kind of damage control she could do… among finding out who might be responsible for this."

*TAP*

Her eye moved to the side, seeing a full shot ready for her. "As for your previous question… I think you were fifteen at the time."

"Ah yeah… What did you call it again?" Tsubaki served herself. "The age of stupidity; where every little shit thinks they are meant for something great."

"I didn't put it like that," she raised her glass, making a small toast with her Captain before taking it all on a single swing.

*TAP* *TAP*

Both placed their glasses down.

"Everything's going to shit, all in the span of a single day… and tomorrow is gonna be worse." She gave a deep sigh.

"Finally having regrets?"

Regrets… towards helping Drake… Tsubaki didn't need to put it into context to know that was what she meant.

Since meeting him, her whole life had gone upside down; constant stress of others finding out about him and her connection to him, fear of him going full Godslyer on them, having an existential crisis of all things-

'That last one is on Ratatosk, though…'

-and now, someone knew about their relationship… and might use that against either of them in the future.

… did she regret it?

No… he was a really great person despite everything, and knew about Forging… and-

'And he called me beautiful' she snorted. "Fuck, I am pathetic." She extended her arm to take the bottle off Tsubaki's hand, but her Captain slapped it away.

"Wha-"

"Nope…" Tsubaki took the top of it and closed the bottle, placing it in the drawer before closing it. "Now, stand up and come with me; I need help with several things and only have today to forge them." She tapped her Goddess' shoulder several times before walking away. "So, come on, take that hammer Drake made for you and come with me; it's time you use it."

"Don't you need special gloves for that?" She asked, recalling using those hammers released a wave of Aura that harmed those who didn't have it unlocked.

"Already made several of those some time ago?" She turned around and continued walking backward. "And don't worry about what to do. It's time the Goddess learns Forging not even she knows."

She left the room, leaving the door open while the Goddess just stared… instantly standing up to open a safe on her final drawer to retrieve the red glowing hammer Drake had forged for her.

"Wait for me!"

Tsubaki would notice later her Goddess' eye sparkled like that of a child.

---

next day

"Fuck my life… this actually looks like an actual expedition," Tsubaki thought out loud as she saw the large group of people gathered in front of Babel, taking a sip of a can of MONSTER from a nearby alley; courtesy of Rita… it had been a long night.

"Your Goddess is quite the character" Speaking of the AI in question… Apparently she had seen the whole thing from afar, not really feeling like interacting; such an introvert.

"To be honest, it is also the first time I have seen her acting like a child wanting to learn something new… quite the sight," Tsubaki replied, moving her hand to the device in her ear as she spoke with Rita.

"Bitch, you are just salty she learned and understood runes faster than you."

Tsubaki simply snorted, admitting a little of the accusation. Even so, she accepted it… her Goddess' main domain was the Forge, it was only natural she would learn matters related to her Domain with ease.

"So… see anything interesting?" she asked, knowing the AI probably had more than one invisible drone checking out things.

"Besides seeing three separate groups that might resemble the cast of the Lord of the Rings; nothing really?"

Tsubaki tilted her half-drunk can a little. "I really need to see those fucking movies."

"Wait… I see something… " Tsubaki tensed for a moment, hearing the urgency in Rita's voice. "Some idiot in an alley, touching her right ear for some odd reason like a dumbass."

The Blacksmith deadpanned; knowing she was talking about her. "Well played, you bitch."

"Relax a little… also, seriously, you don't have to do the hand-on-the-ear thing."

She was aware, but it was a habit by now. "Just keep an eye out for when Lili and her group arrive… and some other undesirable people."

"Like that Hobbit-" Tsubaki opened her mouth, ready to correct her. But it wasn't necessary. "Sorry, that Pallum; short, blonde, uses a lance to overcompensate and wears a fake smile on his face."

"The one and only; just be sure to warn me when he arrives."

"He's walking right towards you."

Tsubaki snorted, not believing her this time as she went from another sip of the can. 'Fool me on, shame on me. Fool me twice, shame on-'

"Tsubaki?"

*CRUNSH*

She instinctively crushed her can, turning towards the exit of the alley before throwing the can back.

"Braver! To what do I owe the pleasure?" she placed her usual smile as naturally as it was to breathe. But the main problem was not him, but the person next to him.

"Who's the tomboy reject?"

And Rita was not making it any easier. "Goddess Loki, greetings to you, as well."

"Ah, I see."

"Cyclops," the Goddess greeted without a hint of shame, already knowing Tsubaki knew what her alias meant. "Happy to see you here despite this whole mess." Her eyes opened. "At least, that is what I would like to say if it wasn't for the fact that not only don't I see Hephaestus here, but the lack of Blacksmiths of her Familia is also concerning."

It was then that the AI understood why the Blacksmith was so tense. From what she had learned the Deities could tell if someone was lying. Worse of all, the one in front of Tsubaki was one of the two she was looking to avoid.

"Despite everything that happened yesterday, the Familia was already tasked with kind of an ultimatum yesterday; so most of our hands were tied." Tsubaki replied with ease; the ultimatum in question being the position in their Familia.

That's right, it was time to apply something Drake had been doing since day one to avoid this kind of situation; bullshiting with the truth!

"Is the task at hand really more important than the safety of the city?" Finn neutrally stated; a hint of criticism easily detected in his voice.

"Such is life, Braver; a million people could die, but the World still moves on." The Blacksmith stated, mentally groaning seeing she was now sounding like Drake with his cynicism/realism… wait, no; that's also something she would say.

"True enough," his eyes darted through her whole figure; noticing she was wearing a white cloak that covered her whole body. "I take it you are not here as a Blacksmith either, seeing you don't have your portable Forge with you."

"Afraid not…" her smile disappeared. "A friend of mine went missing yesterday in the Dungeon." She looked at the crowd. "And with everything that happened, I can't help but be a little worried."

"… This is quite unusual; for you to be worried about someone."

Her eye twitched as Finn's scumbag smile returned. "Braver, buddy! I may be unhinged but I do have friends."

"My apologies," he innocently waved his hands. "That wasn't my intention," his eyes steeled. "Despite our separate circumstances, I really hope we can count on your assistance regarding what we may find down there."

"I bet it is." She mentally snorted; knowing the deep grudge the Pallum might have on her friend.

At this, Tsubaki forced her own scumbag smile as Finn extended his hand at her; ignoring the eagle-like gaze of the Goddess of Trickery… fooling her seemed to be a near-impossible task, even with the truth.

"Sure thing, Braver." She shook his hand, hard. "As long as our objectives align." Her smile widened. 'That shit ain't happening.'

"Hmm…" Finn retrieved his hand, looking at it for a moment before looking back at the Blacksmith. "By the way, have you by any chance seen any member of Soma Familia?"

'Shit,' she raised an eyebrow. "No, not today; why?"

His face turned neutral again. "We believe that they may-"

"Finn," his words died down, looking over his shoulder to see Riveria walking towards them. Tsubaki couldn't help but narrow her eye at that, mostly because of who the Elf was accompanying.

"We are almost ready," the Elf commented before slightly bowing to Tsubaki in acknowledgment. "Cyclops."

Loki snorted, seeing the Blacksmith's eye twitch once more; Loki knew the meaning behind her alias but others did not, which made this too funny for her.

"Did I say something wrong?"

"Plenty, Your Highness," Tsubaki replied with a forced smile, increasing the confusion of the Elf.

Riveria shook the thought away, looking at the silent person next to her. "Is there something you want to say, Ais?"

Ais Wallenstein stepped forward, letting Tsubaki take a better look at the girl; suffice to say, the Blacksmith looked far better with the eyebags under her eye than the airhead of a girl in front of her. Appearance-wise, she looked as pristine as always, if you ignored the void-like stare she was giving.

"I am very sorry for destroying your Forge and all the damage I caused." She bowed, making Tsubaki grit her teeth slightly.

"I have heard beggars give a better apology than this," Riveria fought the urge to flinch at the Half-Dwarf words. "Last I heard, she had been locked in her room with all Falna privileges removed; so, my question is, what is your damn attack dog doing here?"

"Hey!" Loki snapped. "Everyone here's been having a bad time and shit to deal with; that doesn't mean you can degrade them to the rank of animals!" The Goddess didn't waste time moving next to the girl, placing her hand around her shoulder.

"Please understand," Tsubaki focused on Finn. "The current situation calls for all hands on deck," his eyes narrowed. "The individual we are hunting is extremely dangerous; We can't afford to take any risks."

"And yet you bring the child that might stab a bitch in the back if she so wants to," Loki prepared to give her a piece of her mind after that comment. "I am just saying, I am not gonna hold my punches this time if she tries some bullshit again."

Tsubaki forgot about subtlety at this point. This had nothing to do only with covering for Drake, but with the audacity of disregarding common sense by letting the clearly unstable child participate in a manhunt…

'That, and her murder boner for Drake.'

"Is that a threat, Cyclops?"

It was at that moment that Tsubaki considered if Drake was a bad influence… because Loki's face looked so damn punchable at the moment.

"Oh my~"

Tsubaki's head slumped, cursing her luck as the one other Goddess she wanted to avoid had appeared.

"Incoming nouveau riche bitch at your twelve," Rita's voice sounded in her ear. "I am going to take it that is Freya." Tsubaki only made a small hum in confirmation.

"This little quest hasn't even started, and there's already conflict between the parties," Freya sighed. "Reminds me of the old days… doesn't it, Ottarl?"

The Strongest Adventurer in Orario hummed; standing right behind her along with Allen Fromell while the rest of the executives closed behind her.

"But if it isn't the sex addict," Loki snorted, ignoring the subtle glares from Freya's children. "Why pray tell is the woman with the best view in the city gracing us with her presence?"

"Even I know when something important is happening, Loki dear." A slight look over her shoulder to see those gathered made them know what she meant. "But I am starting to doubt the success of this little endeavor if we can't get along before we even start."

And to the surprise of all of them, her eyes landed on the last person they expected; Tsubaki Collbrande.

"Tsubaki dear; what seems to be the problem?" asked the Goddess responsible for placing the alias of Cyclops on the Blacksmith.

Whatever confidence Tsubaki had wavered at that moment; you never wanted Freya to pay attention to you, EVER.

It was then that she remembered, Freya might most likely know of her relationship with Drake due to the incident with Lili, Hedin, and Hogni. "Fucking Elves," she thought out loud, making all of those with long ears flinch or twitch for a moment; mainly Riveria.

She smiled amused. "Oh, questionable taste aside…"

'That is not what I meant and you know it!'

"You look terrible, dear," her eyes narrowed as she took a step forward, her hand extending and eyes glowing. "I am plenty sure many capable Blacksmiths are going on this quest to support all of these Adventurers with their weapons," her eyes started to glow purple. "Why don't you sit this one out and come with me?"

Tsubaki just stared, to everyone else it seemed as if she had entered into a trance. "Nah," only to then calmly push the Goddess' hand away; feeling a small headache forming in her head, along with another burning sensation in her chest. "I already have plans."

She stared for a moment, noticing the astonished look of all around… all but Freya; seeing the Blacksmith with nothing but a neutral smile, as if expecting this.

"Now," she walked out of the alley, stepping away from the small group that had formed. "I have better things to do."

Too bad she had been stopped again, feeling a large and big hand getting hold of her shoulder.

'This fucking day just can't get any worse,' her thoughts were paired with her narrow eye, looking over her shoulder as she was shadowed by the imminent mountain that was the King.

"My lady insists; please do not make this hard for everyone," she could feel the pressure on her shoulder, and to be honest… it didn't feel like much, nor did she feel the intimidation one would feel around Ottarl; her recent experience really had changed her.

But even so, Tsubaki didn't want to make a scene… more than it already was, anyway.

"Hands. Off." Not only her eye but everyone else's were widened; feeling a slight divine pressure as Ottarl instantly did as commanded.

No, it hadn't been neither Freya nor Loki who did such action.

"Ah," she looked to the side, seeing her own Goddess's eye and hair glowing as she walked towards them.

"Phae Phae, I think you are being a little-"

"Quiet, Loki." Hephaestus' divinity died down as she walked past the Trickster. "May I remind you; that you are in no position to criticize anything." She eyed the Sword Princess for a moment, who averted her gaze at the ire of a Goddess.

"Hephaestus, dear; you look worse than your Captain." Freya said with genuine concern; and it was justified.

Yes, the eyebags were visible under her eye just like Tsubaki thanks to the 'Forging Marathon' they had yesterday. But besides that; her hair was messy, there were stains of coal on her face and her clothes, her clothes looked wrinkled, her shirt was badly buttoned, and the most important thing of all… she was holding a can of Monster in her hand; something only Tsubaki and Rita knew the meaning of.

"Reminds me of myself when I pulled an all-nighter."

Tsubaki hold the urge to snort back. If anything Drake and Zelos said about Rita was true, then she could picture the cat being on an even worse attitude the morning after due to the lack of sleep.

"It's called working for a living; unlike two Goddesses I can think of," Hephaestus snarked, making Loki roll her eyes knowing she was one of those two. "You have got a lot of nerve trying to charm my child, Freya."

The Goddess of Love and War only smiled coyly. "Whatever could you mean?" She narrowed her eyes at Tsubaki. "She's perfectly and completely fine." she turned around, walking away with a wave. "I will be taking my leave now, so take care down there."

The Goddess of the Forge clapped her tongue, burning a hole in the back of Freya's head.

"Well, that was something," and then there was Loki. "Say, when did your child develop an immunity for charms?" Hephaestus locked eyes with the other Goddess, only for the former to grow alert the moment Hephaestus' hand moved to the holster holding a forging hammer.

"I am tired, exhausted, mentally fatigued and on the brink of losing consciousness with my eye open-"

"You just said you are tired in four different ways." Loki deadpanned, regained some of her panic when Hephaestus took out her hammer.

"Just say your piece, Loki," her eye narrowed. "Or leave."

The Goddess gulped, not feeling like being the subject of the reenactment for the 'Aphrodite Beatdown'… but her curiosity always got the better of-

"Thank you very much for your time, Goddess Hephaestus." The Goddess of Mischief was silenced thanks to Riveria; locking her arm around her neck before dragging her away while Finn said their Goodbyes. "Again, I hope everything turns out fine in this endeavor."

"… It is becoming real hard not to want to punch him in his face," Tsubaki thought out loud, not noticing her Goddess rushing to her before grabbing both of her cheeks with a single hand. "Hey, what gives!?"

"Say Freya is a cunt," Tsubaki couldn't help but blink as their respective eye locked with one another. "Any Deity nearby could feel Freya using her charm; that is the main reason I found you so fast." Her grip on Tsubaki's face tightened. "You might even be charmed and not even know it, so I need to be sure of it."

"And calling the most unstable woman in Orario a cunt is a test to that?"

Hephaestus deadpanned. "Because women don't like it when they are called out, and you wouldn't dare to state such a thing if you were charmed."

… that made sense to the Captain.

"Freya is a cunt." And thus, her face was freed.

"Seriously, how did you even manage to be unaffected by Freya's charm?" Tsubaki simply shrugged. Drake had taken his time to translate the new skill she had gotten after her previous stats update, none of the Skills had something related to 'Charm Negation' in their description.

"I appreciate the last-minute save and everything… I honestly thought you would be sleeping."

Her Goddess made a glare. "Is that why you left me sleeping on a chair?" she had passed out on said chair after a long session of forging.

"I put a blanket on you," The Adventurer received another glare; realizing she had left her Goddess, covered by a blanket… inside a forge of all places… it was then she realized her Goddess' clothes had taints of sweat as well. "My bad," she rubbed the back of her head. "I really wanted to take a bath before arriving here." And that statement was said without a single shame.

Hephaestus sighed, taking a sip of her Monster can before leaning against a wall. "Is everything ready?"

Tsubaki nodded, her face turning serious as she saw all the Adventurers. "Lili and the rest already have the items, now… it's only a matter of time before shit goes down…" her eye narrowed, noticing the worried look of her Goddess. "What is it?"

"I came here to see you off… but as I got closer I started to notice something," Tsubaki raised an eyebrow, joining her Goddess on resting against a wall. "Almost every God in the city is here?"

The Adventurer's confusion remained. "So? Isn't it normal for Gods to come and see their Children off?"

"I would agree…" she stated, locking her sights on Gods like Ganesha… his usual loud personality nowhere to be seen. "Despite the situation, Deities would still joke around and try to make the situation something out of a comedy… but none of that is here."

Tsubaki blinked, realizing such a little detail had never reached her train of thought… and now that she thought about it… it was indeed worrying…. Seeing the Gods afraid of something… to the point they didn't want to talk about it.

Something else was amiss here.

---

"Ready for your great speech?" Loki asked, seeing Finn walking to her after checking out everything for the 'incursion' was ready despite the short time they had to prepare.

"Almost every big Familia is here; it is about time we start." He turned around, preparing to head to the entrance of the Dungeon, dropping his smile for a moment. "Although… now there's another thing running around in my mind."

"Ah, good; I don't need to beat around the bush with this one," her eyes opened. "Keep an eye on Hephaestus Captain; I am very sure Freya used her Charm on her and the bitch walked it off like it was nothing."

"I noticed," he scowled. "As did Freya."

Loki did as well, noticing the Goddess of Love seemed completely unfazed with the fact that someone was able to resist her charm. "That sex-obsessed Goddess only approached her to confirm her suspicions."

Now the question was, at what moment did Freya notice there was someone who could pull such a stunt?

"That's not the only thing," he looked at his hand. "My hand went numb when I shook her hand," he laughed awkwardly. "I don't know if she was holding back or not, but for a moment I thought she really wanted to break my hand."

Ais had mentioned Tsubaki had more strength than that of a Level Five; the possibility of her having reached Level Six and not having reported it was a good theory.

"Can't blame her though… that tax cost for Level ups is just criminal."

"Indeed." Finn shared the sentiment.

"My face!"

They blinked, looking to the side to see a commotion.

"Oh." Finn muttered, noticing another person of interest in the distance.

---

A couple of minutes ago.

Luan Espel, a member of the Apollo Familia… and also the Familia's weakest member.

He had the bad habit of talking big and believing himself to be someone of great worth only because of the Familia he belonged to.

Now, however, that was a different story.

"A fucking expedition of all things, really!?" he thought out loud; going back and forth with crossed arms at his current predicament. "I am just a mere Level One for crying out loud."

Apollo had always been exaggerated, extremely so.

Going as far as to ruin someone's life completely just to get someone to join his Familia said as much… there were also hundreds upon hundreds of statues of himself in the Apollo Familia HQ; but that was beside the point.

Everything he had ever done was work in the city, his Familia rarely went into the Dungeon. Now all of a sudden they were gonna dive into it… there wasn't even an estimate of how many floors they would have to go down to look for a single person.

"Excuse me," someone stumbled against him.

"Look where you are going," and another.

"I am sorry nya~" and another.

"…" That last one barely acknowledged him.

He gritted his teeth, having fallen to the ground after the last person -a Pallum by the looks of it- stumbled against him. "Hey!" he stood up, rushing to the white hooded Pallum before grabbing her shoulder fiercely. "Learn some manners you- AH!"

The hooded Pallum beat him to it; moving her shoulder back to place a lock on Luan's arm before pushing her's forward, just as she quickly turned around to deliver a lariat.

"Damn," Lunor commented; clapping her hands along the rest at the sight of the Apollo Familia Adventurer hitting the ground with a broken nose. "That hand-to-hand training has really paid off, huh?"

"Doctor Jude hasn't been wasting his time on me," Liliruca Arde stated, completely forgetting about the Pallum on the ground before walking towards the group.

"What is the meaning of this!?"

Too bad she had gathered too much attention.

Ryuu Lion was not one to groan in annoyance. However, she recalled her days with her Familia; more specifically, the days when her Goddess crossed paths with a certain God. Astraea couldn't help but groan every time she saw that God's smug face.

"It seems it was a direct assault toward one of our Familia." A tall brown-haired man stated, standing next to a red-haired Deity; Apollo, the Sun God.

"Unbelievable!" The God exclaimed dramatically; putting an act with his hands to play along the part. "To meet such a lack of comradery on such an important day." The God looked down, locking eyes with Lili's; seeing no care for his presence in his eyes. "The audacity of this one. Do you not know who stands before you?"

"Apollo, God of Sexual Predators," that… that was definitely Lili's skill taking hold of her… the worst thing is, she didn't care at this point. She knew of Apollo, Zanis had made a lot of deals with them in the past… mostly related to 'attaining' certain Adventurers.

In that sense, he was no different than Freya. But if you had to pick a lesser evil, it would be the Goddess of Love without a doubt; at least she was hot.

"How dare you address my God in that way!?" Hyakinthos Clio -Apollo's Captain- shouted in anger, taking a red blade out its handle, only to be instantly met by a wooden blade to the throat, courtesy of Ryuu. "How dare-"

"Hold your tongue, my Child," Apollo raised his hands, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Ryuu; even with her cloak, some of her features were easily visible. "How the mighty have fallen…" he easily recognized her. "What would Astraea say if she saw you now?"

Lunor and Chloe narrowed their eyes, a similar expression was displayed on Ryuu's face; almost gritting her teeth in the process.

"It is a shame, though," his wicked lips twitched upward. "I seem to recall there's a bounty on your head, and you are threatening my dear Captain; criminals really know no bounds."

"Speaking from experience?" Lili asked, still having no control over her tongue. By this point, the staff of the Hostess couldn't help but groan seeing they were putting a full foot in their grave.

"You really have a sharp tongue," God scowled in disgust before looking at Ryuu as his eyes glowed. "Stand down."

Ryuu's eyes widened, feeling the God's Divine Authority on her; dropping her blade and falling on her knees as the God looked at the rest to do the same… only to see a white blur jumping at him; swiftly moving behind his neck before locking her legs on it, pulling a sharp dagger that was placed right on his eyes.

"… remember when the plan was keeping a low profile nya~?" Chloe asked, just as Lunor ran her hand through her face at the sight of Lili holding a God hostage. "I think we can discard that right now nya~."

"Damn, that's hot." The newcomer's voice made Lunor groan ever further, already knowing who it belonged to.

Goddess Loki, accompanied by Finn Deinme.

"Oh look, another child predator nya~" Chloe's comment made everyone who knew of her antics glare at her and the sheer audacity of such a claim; even if she was right on that comment.

As for Finn, he had no other choice but to fake a laugh; those rumors about him were still present thanks to Zelos' stunt that day. "That is all a misunderstanding", his eye focused on Lili as his smile widened. "Even so, it is good to see you as well, Lili."

The Soma Familia Captain instantly made a face of disgust while still holding the Sun God hostage. "You are as disgusting as ever, Lord Finn."

"Hey, I enjoy a nice drama like any other Deity," Loki's eyes focused on the God held hostage. "But the situation doesn't call for your pettiness, Apollo."

The God gritted his teeth, trying not to fall as the Pallum still clung to him with her weapon. "Are your mole eyes making you unable to see what is happening!? I am clearly the victim here!"

Loki stared for a moment, only to snort. "Right, and Freya is a saint." She sighed. "Can we please drop this and leave whatever repercussions are to follow for later? I was already on a scene with Freya not even ten minutes ago, and people are already gathering here for another one!"

Such was the case, seeing there was another group of on-lookers watching the whole thing, most of them being Apollo Adventurers waiting for blood.

"Sure thing! I will gladly postpone this until later; teaching this mongrel a lesson that will make them beg for mercy. But I can't if I am being held hostage."

Lili narrowed his eyes.

"You hear him, brat. Let him go and solve whatever-"

"Pass."

Loki blinked, zoning on the Pallum one last time. "Pass? You can't pass! That's illegal!"

Lili didn't care to humor her. "If problems are just gonna come knocking back in the future… Lili thinks she should put an end to this while she still can."

The Gods' eyes widened; detecting no lies in her words. "Hey, hey, hey! Don't do something that will surely bite you in the ass later."

"Nah… Lili has too much Determination to care." Her eye got closer to the Gods' eye; the Deity could do nothing but tremble as he struggled to remain on his feet.

"Stand down."

Lili's eyes widened, instantly jumping off the God as everyone looked to the side to see another God approaching; one that was barely recognizable due to his current appearance, his shaggy clothes being the only thing that identified him.

"Damn, Soma; Have you been lifting? Loki sounded genuinely surprised, going past the ponytail that now showed his face, to focus more on how tight and imposing he looked.

"Sorry, Lord Soma," Lili commented, looking a little down. "Lili really couldn't control her-"

"So she was your Child!" Apollo interrupted them infuriated; not noticing a single fist clenching tightly as the God approached them. "I should have known such uneducated vermin must have belonged to-!"

The God never finished his sentence; many eyes widened seeing the God's body hitting the ground after a single punch, courtesy of none other than Soma.

"…" he stared at his fist for a moment, as if analyzing the feeling generated due to his action. "Take your God and leave."

His Godly command was heard and soon followed; leaving only some onlookers, the waitress of the Hostess of Fertility, and Loki and her Captain.

"Have you always been this forward?" Loki asked in genuine curiosity.

"I have been working on my social skills," he replied in a dull tone. "However, some books have suggested that a more direct approach can help others see your point of view."

Lili facepalmed; thinking that her God probably took the meaning of those words in a rather extreme way.

"And as if things couldn't get weirder, you of all people are talking about reading," Loki actually shuddered at the thought. She knew his Familia had taken a new leaf per day; now being the biggest provider of alcoholic drinks in the city, without his signature Soma no less. "Things really are going to shit." She crossed her arms as she approached him along with Finn. "Speaking of which, do you know what your VIP is doing in the Dungeon?"

Some narrowed his eyes; knowing she referred to Drake.

"None in the slightest," he locked eyes on Loki before zoning on Finn. "But I am to assume you have already made your assumptions on this."

"That is all we have, assumptions." Finn crossed his arms and stared straight at the Deity. "If he's indeed responsible for this, we must deal with him accordingly." He sighed, relaxing his muscles. "But in case he isn't, I hope we will be able to work together to solve the issue at hand. For that reason, we ask you if you could share something you might know that might help us with this."

Soma pondered for a moment, sighing before looking at Finn in a similar manner he used to before meeting Drake; with boredom. "People are going to die," all of those listening visibly flinched on how dull he sounded. "I hope you are able to bear all of those deaths on your conscience."

He looked at Lili for a moment. "Please, do be careful down there." The Pallum simply nodded, seeing her God turning around before leaving.

"Bah!" Loki snarked. "Still acting like a damn bum despite looking buff; what a waste of time." Loki stated, walking back to her Familia before leaving Finn with Lili.

"I hope we can-" he started with his usual bravado, only to be stopped by Lili.

"Mister Finn," she showed her palm as a sign to stop. "Lili wants to make it abundantly clear that she's not interested in you; I have a whistle to alarm all in case you try to approach me, and in the worst-case scenario Lili will shoot you if she has to."

He stopped, genuinely surprised; the idea of him being a pedophile was planted in her head.

"But I-" he tried, only to be stopped again by all three waitresses standing between them with crossed arms.

"Dude, get a hint already."

"Yeah, she's not interested nya~"

"…"

The Elf remained silent, unable to think of anything cool to say like her two co-workers. But even so, it did carry pressure on him.

"Let's go." Lili commanded, walking away from the Pallum, leaving him speechless at the sheer disgust she had for him… he blamed Zelos Wilder for that.

"We are not gonna dive with the other Familias?"

Lili shook her head, checking her scroll to see Tsbaki's last message. "We have already lost too much time. Loki and Freya Familias have already spotted Miss Tsubaki, We will have to see how we rendezvous in the Dungeon later."

Lunor sighed, silently praying to her own Goddess to look over here as they went through the entrance of the Dungeon.

---

"I appreciate all of you answering my call for arms; on such short notice no less." The Braver stated with a loud voice. "I know many of our Familias don't see eye to eye in many regards, and that may not change any time soon in the future."

Many Familia in Orario stared along their deities, with only a few missing; such as Demeter or Ishtar. He was actually grateful the latter was not here, seeing the animosity between them and Freya Familia was something that had existed before any person in the city had been born.

"But I think I speak for everyone that the safety of the city comes before any of our individual interests!"

He let the idea sink into their minds for a short moment.

"The Guild had claimed this individual," he held the wanted poster in front of anyone. "is responsible for the weird occurrences with the wind that have been happening for over a month now, and for some reason, they now say not to hunt for this person."

"Has the Guild spoken anything regarding this?" Hedin Selland asked, already knowing the answer to the question.

"Not a word. To make things more complicated, they refuse to share anything about how they got the information or why the initial search was ordered to be canceled." He crushed the poster in his hands. "It has become clear that it is up to us to take matters into our own hands."

"And pray tell, Braver," The Apollo Familia Captain asked with a scowl. "How are you so sure this individual in question is in the Dungeon?"

Finn smiled.

"I can confirm, with all the present Gods as my witness, that I know he's in the Dungeon."

He couldn't say it. But the reason Finn knew Drake was indeed in the Dungeon was because Lili and the waitresses were heading into the Dungeon; both closely affiliated with him.

"However, I cannot assure you on what Floor he might be at the moment."

Hyackinthos snorted. "A nobody that no one has ever heard of? It will be a miracle if we don't find him before reaching Rivira."

There were a lot of hums and snorts… but Finn, his Familia, and even those in Freya Familia knew better than anyone what Drake was capable of.

'Were my thoughts really that arrogant when I first met him?' Finn wondered, having sort of a realization of how such arrogance had brought him down so much as he compared himself with the Apollo Adventurer.

"With that being said," he slammed the pommel of his spear on the ground to silence him. "Let us depart."

---

"He really has talent as a politician."

Tsubaki didn't need a translator to know Rita had called Finn a scumbag.

"I will take my leave as well," Tsubaki muttered with a neutral expression; seeing all those Familias entering the Dungeon.

Her Goddess curtly nodded, not seeing her Child leave as she continued resting against the wall. Her eye feel heavy due to the lack of sleep.

She looked at the empty can of energy drink in her hand. "I guess there's only so much these can do…" she prepared to walk away, turning around- "Might as well go…" – only to stop as he noticed Soma looking at her with a bland expression. "… now."

They stared at each other, with the Goddess being awfully self-conscious of how different he looked… while she looked like a complete mess.

"I really can't stop hitting lows, huh?" she thought out loud.

"I personally don't think you can hit anything lower than Aphrodite."

If words could kill, Hephaestus might as well have been sent back to Tenkai with that burn.

"Oh, great; you have learned how to make fun of people," Hephaestus stated with a chuckle mixed with self-pity.

"May I have some of your time," his eyes narrowed. "There's something I want to discuss… or rather, confirm with you."

Hephaestus raised an eyebrow. "As long as it is over a hot cup of coffee, sure." She really needed something to wake her up.

"Do you mind if I tag along," their eyes widened in surprise.

The voice they heard was recognizable for any God that had met this particular Deity would forever remember him by how not only loud and obnoxious he was, but also by how many times he shouted his name.

"There's also something I would like to confirm with the both of you," Ganesha stated, clearly scowling under his mask as no sight of the loud God was seen.

---

AN: This was meant to be longer, but I am already approaching 18.5K by the time I am writing this.

Beta Reader: Thank fucking god.

Onto the notes:

-Here we finally have a chapter dedicated to anyone that isn't the MC, somehow refreshing to be honest. All to set the stage for a big event to come through the whole Volume.

-Rose: I am actually glad about the route I am taking with her, shaping her into something more than a mere tertiary character by breaking her out of being some staff member unlike Eina. No, not shitting on the half-Elf; it's just that I want Rose's role to be something more than a support with knowledge of the Dungeon like Eina is to Bell.

-Loki: Have to thank the beta-reader here seeing he is the Loki Familia expert-

Beta Reader: Your are welcome, also, fuck y-!

I needed a reason to make them try to instigate more problems but also have in mind all they have to lose if they gave a step forward or did nothing at all; Soma's words to Finn will attest to that as well...

-Tsubaki: taking the chance to expand her a little more as well, instigating the fear that her best friend could actually be in danger for once, and risking her life and her Familia in the process; even Loki is on her ass now. Then again, there's Hephaestus who's enabling such behavior, and speaking of which…

-Hephaestus: I don't know if any of you played the 6th anni event for Danmeno; but that line about Blacksmiths was said by her to Welf while trying to forge a Deus Ex Machina for Bell. I personally don't like that line of thought, because it would be like accepting a role and be nothing more than that because the story demands it. But I saw it as a perfect chance to use so as to not send the members of the Hephaestus Familia to the slaughter.

-Soma: Personally think this guy has the biggest character development-

Beta-reader: and still has the least screen time among all the mentioned; peak character writing dude.

What he said.

-Freya: Suddenly interested in Tsubaki and now wants to steal her as well… ? who knows?

Beta-Reader: … are you really going for a shitty NTR plot?

*Shrug*

I mean, it is Freya.

Beta-reader: … fair.

Anyway, thanks for reading. The next one should be a short chapter seeing this one was cut short.

Beta-reader: it is not gonna be short so stop lying -_-