Chapter 20

Monotony.

The lack of variety and interest; tedious repetition and routine.

Truth be told, that was not something Drake Aurion ever thought of experiencing firsthand. From his duties as a Noble to all the problems with the Divine in his world, there was barely ever a time to take a breather without any of the weight on his shoulder..

And yet, here he was. Sitting on a bench, resting his back on it under a tree near a fountain in Orario watching as time passed.

It has already been a week since he gave Tsubaki her new forging tools to forge. The blacksmith didn't waste any more time locking herself in her forge soon after, as he had expected.

However, he couldn't help but feel a little confused after his last check-ups on her. He didn't use his eyes on her to see what emotions she was going through, but he could see some sort of guilt reflecting in her eye.

He didn't bother asking, mostly because the blacksmith knew he noticed her stare and asked not to worry about it. She asked if they could talk when she was done forging some of the weapons she had been thinking about all this time.

He was a little bit worried, seeing as she was his friend. However, he had always given his brothers and friends privacy regarding their problems… until they pretty much became too much and reached the point where it was coming back to bite them in their asses, his own included.

Things in the Hostess were ok as well. As a matter of fact, he had started to work a little more now that Tsubaki didn't make him do any commissions for Item Drops. However, he had done such a pretty good damn job that it even made Mia feel guilty seeing he pretty much did all of that with pretty low pay and no complaints at all.

So, she decided to give him a full week off, making all of the staff groan seeing as he was pretty much carrying them. He had complained about it, saying that if she wanted to give him a week off, then maybe she should do it when Syr returned, to which she replied-

'Beggars can't be choosers, brat.'

So, he reluctantly accepted.

And so here he was, with nothing better to do.

'Free time? Oh, you poor thing.' Yuri Lowell said in his mind, his sarcasm easily noticeable. 'Do you know who probably doesn't have free time?'

Drake rolled his eyes already knowing where this was going. 'The real you back in Remnant?'

'The real me back in Remnant.' The Fourth Guardian repeated. 'And do you remember why that is?'

Drake sighed. 'Because-'

'That's right; Because you put me on the seat of the Emperor, you piece of shit.' The blonde just stared blankly at the fountain, ignoring his friend's salty remarks.

Yuri was usually one of the chilliest people he knew, if not one of the laziest. He, along with Flynn and Jude, were the heirs of the 'Imperial Knights' in the Kingdom of Mistral before they decided to cut all ties with the Kingdom and start what would be known as the Fifth Kingdom Of Remnant with the Knights after a lot of trials and tribulations.

Neither Jude nor Flynn could take up the role of the head representative of the kingdom. The former was because of taking over the duties of the Great Spirit Maxwell, and the latter because he was the commander of their military force. Leaving only Yuri to take-

'That's a lie and you know it.' Yuri stated. 'Any of you could have taken the seat after deserting your kingdoms and you know it.'

'Not true.' Drake replied. 'Let me remind you I was rather infamous to the people of the other Kingdoms for a lot of very… justified reasons. Me taking the seat would have raised the paranoia to a whole new level.'

'That's what happens when you have blackmail material on everyone.' Zelos added his thoughts to the conversation.

'Guy was already dealing with the whole White Fang situation, and Lloyd was trying to do peace talks with the other kingdoms.'

'And what about Zelos and Luke…' There was a silence between the two, but Yuri could feel Drake's stare of 'Really bro?'.

'… the fuck am I thinking?'

'Rude!/Hey!' Both redheads complained, only to be easily ignored.

'Besides, what are you complaining about? you said it yourself, this is a 'real' Yuri Lowell problem, not the imaginary guy complaining right now.'

"Excuse me." A low voice was heard, but it was easily ignored as Drake focused on his talk with Yuri.

'Oh, that's just rude.' Yuri complained, as did the others. 'It's only ok if we say 'we are not real', you ass.'

"Mr. Adventurer?" Again, the voice was easily ignored. As a matter of fact, the owner of said voice seemed to be hesitating in her actions seeing the person she was trying to address had a rather annoyed look in his eyes.

'You really are gonna play that card with me.'

"Mr. Adventurer!?"

'It's annoying you, so yes.'

'Ok, girl face. You wanna go, let's-'

" !"

Liliruca Arde recoiled back in fear as Drake's head suddenly snapped at her with a very angry look at her.

"Lili's very sorry." The young Pallum gave an apologetic bow. "Lili didn't mean to anger you."

Drake just stared, his annoyance towards his brothers faded as all of them reached the same observation.

'That's one big ass bag.'

"Lili just wanted to know if you were in need of a Supporter."

'And she speaks in third person. That's not gonna get old anytime soon.' Luke snorted in sarcasm.

"Not an Adventurer, kid." The blonde replied, leaving aside his little feud with Yuri for later as he looked to the fountain and ignored the Pallum.

"But Lili has seen you going into the Dungeon sometimes."

Drake raised an eyebrow. "Spying on me, aren't you?" The Pallum panicked at the question, making her shake her hands and head frantically in defense. "No! Lili just happened to see you sometimes."

False

He narrowed his eyes at the appearance of the Darkness's words above her. His eyes focused on her face seeing as the rest of her body was covered by a cloak.

'She's not malnourished. But she's barely in a good state.' Jude gave his medical assessment.

'She most likely kept an eye on you for some time and waited for her chance to offer her services.'

He agreed with Guy's reasoning. However, that didn't mean he was gonna even consider it.

"That's still a no." He said without a hint of mercy, making Lili's shoulder drop incredibly low.

"I see… Lili will leave then." She frowned. "I guess this will be another bad day for Lili."

True

"Lili's other Familia members will most likely scold me again and beat me for not doing a proper job."

True

"Lili's rations will most likely be taken as a punishment again."

True

Drake's eye twitched as he saw the supporter retreating in a very, VERY, slow fashion.

She was trying to make him feel sorry, and failing miserably in her attempt… At least that was Drake's case.

'Come one. Can't you just consider it your good deed of the month?' Lloyd stated, pretty much thinking among the line of Dwarven Bow #2; Always help someone in need. But even so, he had his reservations about it.

'Weren't you complaining not even five minutes ago about having nothing to do?' Drake fought the urge to groan at Yuri's statement, seeing he was one hundred percent correct.

'…Fine.' he internally sighed before focusing his gaze on her; his eyes started to glow. 'At least let me see what I am working with… oh. ' he exclaimed, seeing a familiar Familia symbol above her.

'Well… isn't this an interesting development… what are you gonna do, bud?'

Drake started to ponder, narrowing his eyes at the still slowly retreating Pallum. Now he had a good idea of what she was really after, which meant he was actually gonna be a little busy. But first, he had to address Zelos.

'Don't call me bud.'


Liliruca Arde couldn't possibly walk any slower if she wanted to.

By now, Adventurers would usually take pity on her and tell her to stop. But it seemed like this one would take a little more word…

'Lili could try the sad puppy eyes strategy.' She thought to herself, preparing to look over her shoulder and try to apply said face, only to be interrupted by her soon-to-be target.

"Wait."

She mentally cheered before turning around with a rather well-set sad face. "Yes?"

Lili could see a twitch in his eye as she approached him.

"Are you really that desperate to obtain a job? Because I am gonna tell you now; I am not easy to deal with… or keep up with for that matter."

"Lili understands, Lord Adventurer."

There was another twitch.

"Ok then… Here are some conditions though."

Lili tensed, seeing as this was usually where she got even less than minimum pay.

"First, I will decide how we split the money. If I so wanted to, I can decide for all of the money to go to either of us and you wouldn't have any right to complain at all."

"Yes, Lord Adventurer." She nodded with a straight face. Mentally thought, it was a completely different story.

'Of course, he will threaten me with giving me nothing, typical Adventurers.'

"Second, you won't be able to change your decision of working under me until I say we are done. So no backing out in the middle of the Dungeon under any circumstances."

She nodded, thinking that it couldn't be so bad; estimating they would get to Riviria at best.

She would understand before long just how wrong she was.

"Third, and I am just saying this in a metaphorical way; don't, fuck with me. I mean it, because you will get no Hope or sympathy from me if you try something."

A drop of sweat ran down her cheek, fighting the urge to not flinch at the sudden chill around her the moment he said Hope.

"Fourth and last… drop the 'Lord Adventurer' gimmick you are doing."

The blonde found it weird, seeing as the Pallum put on an apologizing expression.

"Lili can't do that. Lili's just a mere Supporter and can't show any disrespect to Adventurers!"

"Don't care. Also, drop the speaking on a third person tick while you are at it."

Lili internally bit her tongue, not really being able to fulfill both of those requests. It's not that she didn't want to, it was that she had been doing that kind of verbal tics and honorifics for a long time and it was now a part of her.

"… Lili can't accept those terms."

He closed his eyes and sighed. "It's not like I am asking too much."

'It is to me!' Lili thought.

"… Fine… at least call me Boss then. Can't stand being called a Lord in any sense."

He still cringed a little bit at being called that, but it was still better than her choices.

Lili beamed a smile of 'gratefulness' at him before giving him a bow, not noticing he had stood up and began walking straight to the Dungeon.

"Keep up Supporter."

Lili spanned back and finally noticed he was walking away, making her chase after him to fulfill her 'job'.

Not having the slightest idea, he also had his own agenda regarding her.


"How's Bete?" Finn asked, sitting behind his desk while eyeing his Goddess sitting a little afar in front of a table with a half-finished bottle of wine on it.

"Leaving his uninterrupted complaints aside, he is better." She replied in a low tone; she wasn't in a good mood. And neither was he.

It had already been a while since Tione's group had returned from that Guild-sanctioned Quest below the lower floors. Suffice it to say, none of the executives nor their Goddess expected the outcome of it.

First, there was the fact of an unknown group collecting objects that Tione described as possible divine artifacts. This could be confirmed by Loki, and most likely every other Deity in Orario as well, seeing how she felt said divine energy once apparently as one of the unidentified robbed individuals manipulated it in some ways before giving him the ability to cast Earth elemental spell with such ease that definitely didn't make Riveria feel any jealousy; not at all.

'She kept trying to shift the topic back to the magic items.' Finn thought, recalling the High Elf would put on a rather intrigued expression hearing about the weird magic. And it only got worse when Tione mentioned they had some sort of Knives that could store strong spells and crystals that could teleport people, something unheard of and incredibly unimaginable until this very moment.

And just to put the cherry on top, things just got more complicated when he was mentioned; the blonde with green draconic eyes that he had ordered all of his Familia to avoid when Ais had stated his presence and eyes were similar to the One-Eyed Black Dragon.

According to Tione, not only had he beaten Udaeus with the help of a friend, but also obtained a drop item from the Monster Rex which was supposed to be just an old-time rumor made by the people of Rivira.

There was also the fact that apparently he and his friends were two of the few people that had a hand in crafting those knives and even had the knowledge of those teleportation crystals. But to Finn, the most important bits of information were the facts that those items were not only just originally his, but also fact that the blonde and the cloaked individual knew each other; and apparently, there was some bad blood between them.

'The enemy of my enemy is my friend…' Finn thought as if preparing a way to talk with Drake regarding the events of the Dungeon. Sadly, he couldn't help but laugh awkwardly as he remembered their first meeting had been awful. 'And he looks like the type of person to hold a grudge, so approaching him is still a no.'

Especially if his conversation with Bete and Tione in the Dungeon was anything to take into account.

"Can't come up with anything, Finn?"

The Pallum sighed, seeing as a certain stubborn person had entered the room and taken a seat without him noticing. "There are too many things to have into account, Riveria." He looked at the Elf. "A lot of them we don't even really know anything about."

"Oh, but do you know who does?"

'And here we go.' Finn couldn't detect any tone of sarcasm in her voice, but he knew it was there pretty well hidden in Riveria's tone; that damn Elf was way too 'educated' for her own good.

"I do. But let me remind you he might as well just say, and I quote: 'Fuck Off' straight to our faces."

She raised an eyebrow. "And whose fault it was?"

Now the sarcasm was clear.

"I accept my little ruse of letting Bete do as he pleased backfired a little-"

"Majestically." Loki corrected nonchalantly as she took a sip of her wine.

"Majestically." He internally sighed. "But there's only so much I can do if the other party doesn't even want to address us."

"You say that like you have tried everything, but have you?"

"I am trying to. I sent Raul earlier today to extend an invitation with a designated place and time."

Loki took her attention off her glass and looked at Finn with a raised eyebrow. "As in, not here? Why?" she asked, none of them noticing her eyes had slightly opened at the mention of Finn's idea.

"Because of Ais," Riveria interjected, making Loki understand in an instant. The girl has been more hellbent on training and Dungeon diving than before after she had crossed eyes with him in the Hostess over a month ago. They were so afraid of the girl mental's stability that they ordered Tione and the rest of her group not to comment anything at all to anyone, in risk it might reach Ais's ears.

"And what did he say?"

Finn sighed. "I am afraid he wasn't there. Apparently, Mia gave him a day off."

Riveria narrowed her eyes, finding the excuse highly opportunistic. "Is he? Or perhaps Raul got pushed around and got a rejection?"

Loki snorted. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Finn laughed awkwardly, feeling a little sorry for the young Adventurer. "Now, now. I am not lying, and neither was Raul." His statement was met with a very exasperated sigh from the High Elf, who stood up from her chair before addressing the Pallum.

"Seeing as you took the initiative of approaching him, I see no problem in attempting to do the same," Riveria stated, being more tempted in questioning those items that had been previously mentioned rather than the events of the Dungeon.

However-

"Sit."

Not only Riveria's eyes widened, but so did Finn's. Because such a serious word – such a serious order – came from none other than the jester of a Goddess, who was looking at her with her narrowed eyes, not a single sign of being drunk present on her face.

"Sit." She repeated again, filling her glass of wine with the same serious gaze as before gesturing Riveria to do as ordered. "Sit or I am gonna tell Gareth to sit on you just to keep here. And we all know he would be more than tempted to do it."

Riveria's jaw dropped, just staring at the Goddess with a lot of confusion at her sudden change of demeanor.

"Right now, I am rather a bit annoyed despite the fact that I am drinking something that's supposed to be a wine twice as old as Riveria."

The Elf's eye twitched, but said nothing after taking back her seat. This was one of the faces Loki usually didn't show except to a selected few. The face of pure controlled anger and disdain at the fact that something of great importance was happening under her nose and someone else was responsible for it, or that someone was outsmarting her.

"I am sure every deity in Orario felt the Arcanum in the Dungeon along with a tiny little shift of power in the Dungeon again." Loki said, making both of her children look at her in surprise seeing that hadn't been mentioned before, but Loki waved her hand as if it was nothing. "Tione and the rest were already in close proximity to a 'Divine Artifact', so they wouldn't notice that, but us Gods, that's a different story."

She took another sip of her wine, pretty much finishing it all in one swing. And yet, she didn't show any signs of being drunk.

"All of that happened… and yet, don't you find it weird that Ouranos hasn't said, done, or called a meeting about it?"

The message was clear; Ouranos knew something, and he was covering it.

"I don't know whatever our dear wonder blonde and geezer are in league with each other. But I do know that I am not gonna be kept out of the loop. However," she stared at Finn. "I am not gonna give either the satisfaction or the pleasure of seeing me ask nicely like a damn lost puppy asking for a treat." She was clearly making it clear that she wasn't happy about Finn's idea of seeing him.

"There's something weird going on in the Dungeon: I and pretty much every deity knows it. The only difference is that I am not gonna wait for something massive to happen like the rest. So, I want you to give the order to keep our eyes and ears open for any little rumor in the Dungeon until we get something that can be tracked and used against either of the two."

There was something Loki knew about her Familia and she accepted it to heart; it was the fact that her children would rather follow Finn's lead than hers, something the Pallum also knew. Therefore, she would let it pass, solemnly because she found what her Children did entertaining and a little chaotic, which was to her liking.

But, when it came to the matter of the Divine… that was a whole different story. She could hardly wait to show her smile to either of her true objectives when she got the upper hand in whatever secret metaphorical game of chess was going on.

"I think I like you better when you are truly drunk." Finn said, giving a nod of agreement to her orders while Riveria pinched the bridge between her eyes in pure stress.

"I find neither likable. Her drunk self is more easy-going, however," She eyed her. "Maybe the wine isn't strong enough."

"Oh no. It is." Loki took the full bottle. "I just need something a little more potent for my current mood."

Riveria narrowed her eyes. "What? Did you drink all the Soma in your stock?"

"Yup." She replied without a single hint of shame as she relaxed a little seeing as what had to be said was done and it was understood by her Children. "I had someone fetch me some from the store…" she scowled. "But it seems like there's none in the streets."

"… It is rather improbable for all the Soma in the city to be out of stock seeing how expensive it is."

Loki shrugged at the High Elf's reasoning. "Or Soma just decided to take another step forward with his laziness and opted to not make his own stuff… lazy fuck." She replied before taking the full bottle to her lips, drinking from it directly without shame while her children watched her with deadpanned expressions.

None of them really cared as to why the sudden probable change of attitude of the wine God.


Liliruca Arde had done a lot of 'questionable' things in her short life.

She had robbed, scammed, and left Adventurers to die after triggering traps set by none other than herself.

She was enough of a realist to admit she wasn't a good person; and frankly, she didn't care one bit. Others disregarded her with ease, opting to even ignore her existence unless they needed something from her; and by needing, she meant stealing. So why should the Pallum in disguise even consider caring about others?

And if one day she ended up meeting her demise by one means or another due to any circumstance and ended up in the underworld, she would grudgingly accept it.

However, right now Lili was facing quite a dilemma. Her current situation had made her re-evaluate all of her life's choices to the point she didn't know what was better.

In other words, Liliruca Arde wanted to fucking die right now.

"Please stooooooop!"

The Pallum's shouts were easily ignored as she continued feeling the current of the wind as she was easily being dragged by the upper handle of her bag with great ease.

"Are you sure?" The blonde menace, who she had no other option but to call Boss, decided to pay her a little bit of attention. "What about the horde of Monsters chasing us?"

The Pallum twitched, having momentarily forgotten about the Monsters that had been chasing them ever since they left Riviria. Speaking of which-

'Ridiculous. Simply and outrightly ridiculous.'

Lili was having a hard time accepting her reality.

The blonde had managed to get them to the eighteenth floor in the span of fifteen minutes by dragging her in the same fashion, and another twenty minutes to reach the White Palace. All of this while just speeding through all of the monsters that seemed to instantly want to give chase to the blonde, including those that were already chasing or engaging some other Adventurers.

'Is he carrying some sort of bait!?' Lili couldn't help but ponder seeing the number of Monsters was just ridiculous.

"Finally." Her thoughts were interrupted by his words. She was about to ask what he meant by finally, but she was suddenly dropped onto the floor.

"Wait, wait, wait! Why did we suddenly stop!?" she asked, noticing they were in a rather spacious room. She quickly looked his way to actually question his sanity, only to know her to answer the moment her 'Boss' stood a couple of feet away with a blade she was sure he didn't have on him before in hand.

She shouted, suggesting to continue running until they could find a way to go up the Dungeon and lose the Monsters in their way. But it all went to deaf ears as she saw him take a stance with the sword.

Despite how she felt towards her God, Lili had the urge to pray to him even if she knew that would amount to nothing. But all of those thoughts were thrown off her mind the moment he made a simple upward swing with his blade.

"[Demon Fang]"

She managed to hear a faint whisper before a massive blue fang-like wave of energy was shot off from his blade towards the Monsters, managing to wipe off the front line of Monsters and knock back those around it before he charged in with a powerful thrust.

Lili was dumbfounded, not being able to mutter one single word nor process any coherent thought as she saw the blonde, someone completely unheard of, wiping a massive horde of Monsters on his own without any hesitation while shouting name techniques that were foreign to her.

And despite all of this, her subconscious couldn't help but ask one single question.

'Just who did I offer my services to?'


Had it been any other day, Lili would have been delighted by the number of Crystals she was gathering. But she couldn't help but be wary of her 'Boss', who was currently sitting cross-legged on a plain stone, elbow on his leg while his head rested on his hand as he silently watched her.

She would claim he was watching her every mood. But the boredom reflected in his eyes gave her the idea he was just waiting for her to be over with her task.

"Lili thinks Boss should help out a bit. We would be done faster if you did."

He snorted. "I managed to get us here in a time record, and dealt with the Monsters chasing us. And you have the audacity to ask me to help with your job?"

Lili pouted. "Boss didn't have to put it that way."

He simply shrugged.

"Also, Lili recalls seeing some Monster Drops on the ground as Boss fought the Monsters. But Lili doesn't seem to find any now."

He waved his hand. "Pay no mind to it, just focus on the crystals."

She mentally cursed, seeing that it was a wasted chance to get more money from those dropped items. The Pallum was sure he had something to do with that, probably related to the fact his blade was gone seeing it was no longer with him.

'Lili's starting to think Boss really doesn't need a Supporter.' She thought, recalling the other reason she had approached him.

"Boss's really strong, taking all of those on his own. Can Lili know what Level you are?"

"Strong enough."

Lili's smile twitched as she picked another crystal, praying that all of his answers weren't as vague and dry.

Sadly, that was the case.

"How old are you, Boss?"

"Not that old."

"How did Boss do all of those techniques? Is it a skill?"

"I just did."

"Where are you from?"

"A faraway place."

By now Lili just wanted to slam her face against a wall. She was getting absolutely nothing out of him.

"What about you? How long have you been a Supporter?"

"Huh?" she stared back, only to be met with the same bored-looking eyes.

"You have been asking me a lot, it's only fair I do the same."

Lili couldn't help but twitch as she continued with her job, thinking of playing the very same card he had been playing so far.

"Lili's been working as a supporter long enough."

"I see. So, since around the time you were old enough, I suppose."

Lili flinched, seeing as he pretty much figured it out just by her vague answer.

"Is it a job that pays well enough?"

Lili didn't answer, she didn't want to give in any signs of weakness.

"I mean, you barely look healthy by how skinny you are; even by Pallum standards."

"Lili isn't a Pallum." The 'not' Pallum removed her hood to reveal a pair of dog-like ears on top of her head. "Lili is a Chienthrope."

Lili became worried the moment she noticed his eyes narrowing, hoping he hadn't managed to see through her Magic somehow.

"That's even worse. At least being a Pallum would explain why you are so damn short."

Luckily, that wasn't the case.

"Lili doesn't appreciate the verbal assault." She crossed her arms and looked away, playing her role as the cute little girl.

"Believe me, my tongue can be a lot sharper than this." he snorted. "Right now, I am just curious seeing you have been working for a very long time, and yet you don't have enough currency to treat yourself to enough food to be healthy, a clock that isn't old and dirty, or a bag that clearly doesn't have fixed holes around it."

She was showing her back to him. And yet, he could easily tell she had a rather somber look on her face.

"Lili's Familia is… not the best environment to grow up in."

His mind started to ponder, recalling something Tsubaki mentioned off-topic about how some people had better chances as Adventurers if they were given the option to choose which Familia they wanted to belong to, rather than being part of one from the moment they were born.

This was probably one of those cases.

"They monopolize your earning?"

His question was answered by a hesitant nod.

"And what about your Deity?"

There wasn't any kind of answer or reaction about it, she just stood still before she resumed storing Crystals in her bag.

Drake internally sighed, figuring it out he wouldn't get much more out of her at the moment.

"Forget I asked, then." He said, standing up from the rock before stretching up a little after his instincts started to act up again. "Also, stop for a moment and stand over there, would ya?"

Lili's slight wariness and depression seemed to fade as she looked at him, his blade right in his mind once more.

"But Lili isn't done yet."

"I noticed, and you won't be done anytime soon either at this rate." He started to crack his neck from left to right as Lili's eyes widened at the sight of several holes forming in the walls behind him… no.

All around them.

"Bo-Boss-"

"It's ok. Just go to where I pointed while I deal with this…" she nodded frantically as she did as told. "If it makes you feel any better, I will help you collect the Crystals when this is done."

Lili would usually refuse the idea; saying something like it was her duty as a Supporter, or something along those lines… and yet she couldn't find the words to do it after she witnessed another one-sided bloodbath.


Lili felt as if she had done a rather poor performance as a Supporter. Seeing as her current role was only to gather Crystals, yet it took her far more time to do her job than the time it took her Boss to dispose of all the Monsters that appeared.

Luckily, he had done as promised and helped her get some of them into the bag.

Therefore, she was calm, although a little on guard, walking back up as they walked through floor twenty-seventh. Although, if there was one thing that she had to complain about, it would be-

"Cold?"

Lili nodded frantically as she embraced herself.

She hadn't felt it when they were going down before because the adrenaline and the speed they were going through at the moment were so high that her body hadn't realized how low the temperature on the Floor was.

"It's the first time Lili's on the Floors of the Great Fall," hell, it was the first time Lili had even made it through Rivira and the White Palace in the same day and in time record no less. "So, she wouldn't know if it's normally this cold."

"Can relate to that." He thought out loud, seeing as not only his body was pretty used to extreme temperatures, but manipulating his clothes with Aura to alter the different levels of heat or cold he could feel also helped him adjust just fine if he needed to.

Although, he seemed to recall the Guild records stated that these few floors were either humid or chilly depending on the Dungeon. But it wasn't supposed to be this 'chilly' if being able to see Lili's cold breath was a sign of something.

"All Lili knows is that this is the floor on which the Amphisbaena appears. But I think Loki Familia took care of it just recently."

He nodded, recalling it was a day before he dealt with Udaeus.

He stopped for a moment, his instincts pretty much making him weary for a moment as he stared around the floor, only to stop as he started at the end of the waterfall known as the Great Fall.

His finger twitched, almost to the point where he instinctively called upon his blade inside of the shadows as he released a small growl… only to suddenly stop, followed shortly by his instincts. He continued narrowing his eyes at the massive waterfall, but decided to drop it as Lili called for him.

He turned around and walked towards her, starting to ponder if the Dungeon decided to pull back with whatever 'she' was about to pull.

He wouldn't know.

At least not for now.


Various voices and footsteps were heard inside the Guild.

Adventurers chatting left and right about their exploits, findings, and earned riches of the day. In some way, it kind of reminded him of the one and a half semesters he was forced to attend Beacon Academy back in Remnant before he found a way of slipping away from Ozpin's grasp.

A place full of teens who were training to be the protectors of Humanity.

'What a fucking joke.' Drake thought; recalling that without discipline, a bunch of Aura-released stupid brats were just that: undisciplined, irresponsible, no Aura-trained brats who thought they were on top of the world simply because they had managed to kill a single Grimm or made it into the damn Academy; boasting about so-called 'achievements' like if they were worth something the moment it really mattered.

Spoiler alert; they really didn't.

'Oh yeah, the Battle of Beacon… good times.' Zelos said, with a rather somber tone to it.

It wasn't a good time for anyone. Especially since the whole thing could have been avoided had it not been for a team of four stupid girls, one of them with a Hero complex.

'Now, now. There's no need to go there.' Guy intervened, feeling the tension raising as they all started to recall the night they were painfully reminded that no one was invincible. 'I am not gonna go full shrink and say to count to ten. But let's try to focus on something positive… like that one fiery redhead coming at you.' His voice seemed to lower down as he caught a glimpse of Rose Fannet walking to him with her ever-neutral face, and a rather scolded-looking Lili to her side.

'If this wasn't a probable serious situation, and I didn't know you preferred cats; I would say you were trying to hit on another woman. What would Sienna say?'

'Eat shit, Zelos.'

Drake's side lip slightly moved upward, his mood definitely better than a few seconds ago.

"Rose." He greeted, remaining arms crossed while resting against a wall as the female werewolf opened her mouth to do the same, only for her jab to remain hanging before both recalled something.

'Right. I never introduced myself.'

"… Is this your Supporter?" She gestured to Lili, who was looking down with a neutral expression.

'No, ma'am. That's indeed, not my child.' If Zelos was trying to make him laugh, he was doing a really good job.

"Since this early afternoon." He replied, hoping there wasn't gonna be some kind of issue.

"I see." Rose looked at her clipboard. "Your Supporter exchanged crystals for an amount of roughly Fifteen Million Valis."

The blonde just stared blandly before sighing. "Is it The Guild's policy to question someone when they exchange for a high amount of money?"

"Usually, it isn't." her eyes narrowed at Lili. "However, we have gotten reports of a Pallum with her appearance scamming and leaving Adventurers to their luck in the Dungeon. The amount of money she exchanged just made us notice her."

"And tell me, are those descriptions about the mentioned thief exactly that, a Pallum?"

Rose nodded, making Drake look at Lili, who was starting to sweat despite how stoic her face was.

"Because I seem to recall seeing a pair of Chienthrope ears earlier when we were in the Dungeon." Despite how calm his voice sounded; Lili could tell he was challenging Rose with his gaze.

"I see. In that case, I think there will be no problem if I check for myself."

Drake could see the panic in the Supporter's eyes, making him curse in annoyance at what he was about to do.

"I don't think there's a need for that." He suddenly stated, forcing Rose to stop as she was about to pull down Lili's hood. "Unless you have a warrant and a witness to testify against her, she's not in any obligation to collaborate with you or The Guild."

Rose's eyes widened, looking at him in shock for a mere moment before she returned to her usual professional composure.

"I see. In that case, I humbly apologize." Lili's eyes widened as she saw the most notorious person of the Guild staff slightly bowing her head at her. "If you would like to file a complaint to the Guild… Please, just say so."

Lili took a few steps back in panic, waving her hands with the same emotion. "There's no need to bow down to Lili. Lili just wants to get paid and go home." She then looked at Drake, pretty much pleading to go on with her words.

"Sure. Go on ahead and take everything."

"Thank you, Boss. Lili will… what?" she asked dumbfounded, something Rose could relate to seeing she wanted to make a double take at what she just heard.

"You heard me."

"But! Lili can't possibly take all that money for herself!"

Drake wanted to groan, seeing that little outburst got the attention of some Adventurers close to them. Some of them with a very familiar Familia symbol above their heads, if Drake's glowing eyes were able to notice before he glared at them; it had been enough to make them go away, but not before taking a last look at Lili.

"Remember the rules I set when we met? One of them was that I decided how we split the shares however I see fit. Well… I already said what your share is going to be."

That means, all of it.

"But… but, why?"

He sighed. "Lili, it's not to show up. But I am pretty much rich, not 'whore on top of tower rich', but still rich." It took Lili a few moments to figure out who he was talking about, she paled considerably while a drop of sweat went down Rose's cheek, being thankful none of the members of Freya Familia were around to hear him. "Not to mention I still have a ton of Crystals that haven't been exchanged, so yeah."

He still could see confusion in her eyes, making him be a little more honest with her.

"You definitely needed the money, so consider it my good deed of the week."

Lili looked down at the floor. "Lili understands." She nodded, pretty much feeling as if she had been some kind of charity job. "Lili deeply thanks Boss for his actions." She bowed. "And Lili hopes to be able to work with you again."

"If I am not too busy, sure." He shrugged, making Lili's eyes spark before looking at him. "Although, let me ask you something."

He eyed the entrance of the Guild with a narrowed gaze. "Do you have a place to hide the money? I am afraid your little outburst from before might have gathered some undesirable attention." He raised his voice at the last part, directing those words to the Adventurers near the entrance, forcing them to scatter away knowing what they were up to.

"Boss doesn't have to worry about Lili. Lili knows where to hide her money."

True

"Good. Go on your way then."

"I will tell the staff to give her the amount. But," Rose looked at him. "if possible, I would like to speak with you about another subject that involves you."

Drake nodded. "It's ok. I want to speak with you about something regarding floor twenty-seventh, as well."

She raised an eyebrow, but agreed regardless as he went on his way to a private room while the werewolf went with Lili to collect her money.


"First of all, allow me to apologize for throwing accusations toward your Supporter." She said after taking a seat on the other side of the table. "Even if you are not affiliated with the Guild I-"

"You were right." He said suddenly, making the werewolf raise an eyebrow. "The Pallum thief you mentioned before, it was most likely her."

They stared at each other for a while. But the blonde could easily see how a small vein was starting to pop off the side of her head. "You said-"

"I said that I saw a pair of Chienthrope ears." He sighed, having to repeat the following words again. "I am unable to lie thanks to a deity, so my words are true."

"And you simply expect me to believe you now?"

He could feel her anger increasing despite how calm her voice was.

"It is what it is. However, I would like you to consider why we are even having this conversation."

His words reached her reasoning, concluding it wouldn't make any sort of sense.

'Unless he's some sort of sociopath… he does look the part now that I think about it.'

She shook the thought away.

"Let's say I believe you." She narrowed her gaze. "Why allow her to accompany you? Why even intervene for her?"

He leaned back in his seat. "She approached me earlier today, offering her services and selling out the tale of the poor girl that had nothing to eat. Which sadly, was true. In all honesty, I was gonna throw her a bag full of valis and be done with it." He narrowed his eyes. "But then I noticed which Familia was she from-"

"How did you know which Familia she belonged to?" she interrupted him without care, and she was in her full right to do so after what he did. And he accepted it.

"Let's just say I have a very good set of eyes." His eyes glowed for a moment, making her reach the conclusion it was some sort of skill.

"And her Familia has something to do with your actions today because…"

"A hunch really. I crossed eyes with her God on my second week here, I think it's related to that."

Rose sighed in exasperation. "Can you be any vaguer than this? There's something you're clearly not telling me with just that."

"Sadly, there is,"

Soma was a Moon deity, the same domain his Mother, the Spirit of the Moon had. The blonde could feel something was off the moment they met in the fish market that day, but it was now that something was stirring because of that simple meeting.

"And it's personal."

He heard a faint groan before a tired sigh escaped her lips, accepting his answer with nothing else to say on the matter.

"At least do you have anything that proves she approached you with any other ulterior motive than just stealing from you?"

"She started asking questions of the personal kind. I know it doesn't sound like much-"

"It isn't." she interrupted him with clear annoyance, seeing that so far to her it all sounded like supposition and nothing else.

She rubbed the bridge between her eyes, reaching the conclusion it was another thing he was keeping to himself.

"So, her ears?" she asked, wanting to know how exactly she had ears from a different species, and why the blonde jumped to her defense.

"It was some sort of Magic."

She was about to ask how he knew that, but the faint glow of his eyes told her all she needed to know.

"She had kept going the whole time we were together until we separated briefly. She was no longer using her magic when both of you approached me."

Rose started to ponder, rubbing her chin slightly. "All magic uses Mind. If it's magic that changes her appearance, it would mean she had been consuming her mind for a long time until you were separated."

He nodded. "My guess is she deactivated it not only to avoid a possible mind down, but also saw no need to continue seeing she already showed me those set of ears."

"And the reason she didn't activate when we were together earlier was because we would have heard her chant… sadly, that part makes sense. And you stepping in for her would also make sense seeing it would be pretty suspicious if you let her keep approaching you without questioning the lie of her previous records as a thief."

Rose's reasoning deepened as she recalled certain cases of assault in the Dungeon. The victims always reported a different individual; however, her height and some descriptions like her bag were a common denominator in those cases.

"Is there a chance her magic can fully change her appearance?"

"I don't see why not. But right now, I would like to ask about her God."

She nodded, putting the subject aside for later. "Which God is it?"

"Soma."

For some reason, something in her mind made a 'click' sound the moment the Werewolf heard that name.

"Ok… you might be up to something with your suppositions." He raised an eyebrow at her. "When did you say you met Soma?"

"A week after I first met you."

She leaned back, ticking the arm of her chair with her finger as she started to ponder. "Are you familiar with the wine named Soma?"

Rose earned a deadpan look from the look in his eyes.

"He named a drink after himself?"

"Please focus." She fought the urge to sigh as he rolled his eyes.

"It's a wine that Soma fabricated back in Tenkai before coming down, and he decided on trying to recreate it here without the use of his Arcanum with no real result to it. Although, all of his failed attempts are sold really well in the mortal world; despite being considered failures, many still consider it something out of this world."

"And I take it he's a little obsessive with that hobby?"

Rose nodded.

"It's for that very obsession of creating his wine that he doesn't pay attention to his Familia. We usually get a lot of complaints from other Familias regarding them; and as for those who usually don't cause any trouble, they are usually consumed in the intoxication of having drank his wine; carving more and more as if it was a drug."

Her words made Drake recall Lili's words regarding her Familia. Since neither Lili nor Rose were lying about their statements, it meant there was someone who was taking advantage of the state of the Soma Familia, abusing their power to do what they wanted.

"And I take it all of this is relevant because…"

She leaned forward. "Orario ran out of Soma stock." The corner of her lips moved slightly upward. "Care to guess when?"

He narrowed his eyes. "Around the time I met him… he stopped producing his wine."

She nodded at his conclusion.

"It's not the first time a God has grown obsessive over a mortal," both eyed the top of the giant tower through the windows of the room. "So, I suggest you be careful."

He sighed. "Not even a full month has passed, and I have another damn deity being annoying."

Rose simply stared at his eyes for a moment; she could see the clear hate in them. She admitted, she was a little curious about what he meant by another, but-

"I better not know."

Both sighed before Drake addressed her about something else. "So, what did you want me to talk about?"

"… Finn Deinme came asking for you."

She saw once more the clear disdain in his eyes, along with a full change of demeanor for a brief moment. "Oh, do pray to tell what that overgrown child wanted with me."

Rose's lips twitched upward at what was the blonde's view of Finn.

"He came asking about you a day after we met in the early morning in front of the Dungeon." He remembered, along with everything else that happened that day. "The very same day a commission of the Dungeon was solved, and not by Loki Familia as it was meant to be."

He snorted.

"And how do you know I had anything to do with that?"

She gave him a sly smile.

"Someone at the top decided to classify the whole request as confidential before Loki Familia could even make a report about it, so I am not interested in what happened. However, Finn started asking questions about someone with your exact description; it wasn't hard to put two and two together afterward." She chuckled.

Drake mentally nodded, although there was something else that bothered him. Rose's remarks about the Guild classifying it as confidential raised a flag in his mind.

The request the Guild had issued ended up involving Adam, and by extension Ratatosk. If it was classified and not to be mentioned before Loki Familia could even report what happened, it meant that the person on top of the Guild knew what happened about it.

Which meant there was a very big chance said person was related to Ratatosk in some way, most likely in a positive way. This also reminded him of how Shakti Varma had come asking questions about him a little after that incident.

'… shit.' He thought, reaching the conclusion of a possible cooperation between Ratatosk, Ganesha, and the head of the guild.

And since he knew from rumors that the head of the Guild was a greedy moron, that only meant one other individual was the VIP.

'Ouranos…'

He pushed the idea away, not really seeing any worth in worrying about it if he couldn't do anything.

"A report had come my way about a Drop Item when Finn was questioning me." He focused back on Rose. "About a giant black sword never seen before; a drop from the Monster Rex registered under Tsubaki Collbrande as the owner."

Drake chuckled; he already knew where this was going. "Finn asked about it, didn't he?" he leaned forward, placing his elbow on the table while he rested his head over his palm.

The proximity between their faces was still rather moderate, but he could appreciate the sight of the red-headed Werewolf mocking the Pallum.

"He did." She smirked softly. "I recalled Tsubaki hadn't entered the Dungeon that day, but you did. And like a piece of a puzzle-"

"It all came down together."

She nodded. "Not gonna deny it; hiding something from that smug Pallum was quite hilarious."

He could relate with that way of thinking.

"Thanks for the warning." He meant it. Had she commented he was working with Tsubaki, it would mean some unwanted attention from the clowns for Hephaestus and his friend.

"Now…" she leaned back, indicating the moment of jokes and games was over. "What did you want to talk about floor twenty-seventh?"

"… has there been any reports of anything unusual about that floor recently?" he adopted the same position as her.

She raised an eyebrow. "Not specifically… why?"

"… So… you know about that little Quest you mentioned a little bit ago being classified?"

Rose's eye twitched, not liking where this was going.

"It rings a bell."

"You might or might not have another one of those incidents in the future."

Rose Fannet fought the urge to groan as she closed her eyes and sighed as calmly as possible. "… please tell me it's not another one of your hunches."

"Worse, Instinct." He said with a serious tone before he stood up. "Let me know through Tsubaki if you hear anything about that."

She nodded, almost becoming exhausted by the mere thought of a future ordeal.

"One last thing," she stood up and walked in front of him. "I don't want to repeat what happened earlier in the Guild Hall, so-" she gave a slight bow. "I am-"

"You do remember I am not an Adventurer, nor am I affiliated to the Guild in any sense, shape, or form, right?" he stated, making it really obvious to her what was what he wanted.

She smiled, amused by his behavior and dislike for such formalities. She couldn't say she disliked it though.

"My name is Rose Fannett, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

To her surprise, he removed the bottom of his scarf a little to address her; even if it was with his usual bland face.

Although-

"Drake." He firmly shook her hand. "Likewise."

She couldn't say she disliked that either.


Whatever smiling façade Liliruca Arde had been showing her the whole day, it quickly turned into a blank and monotonous expression as she went past the doors of her Familia Home.

She walked in a calm and composed manner, paying no attention to all the Familia members laying against the walls all around her with no real light in their eyes, or those imploring their God to make some Soma.

Despite the lack of Soma out in the streets, their Captain had secured quite a few bottles inside their HQ to keep the people in line, which is why their usual operation of 'sharing' the wine at a 'reasonable' price was starting to run short. Meanwhile, those with no real mind in their conscience were just begging like they usually did.

"Took you long enough."

Lili tensed, stopping mid-walk as she looked to the side to see a blue-haired man with glasses approaching her.

Her Captain, Zanis Lustra.

The man who in her eyes defined her idea of Adventurers; greedy, selfish, arrogant, and sinister.

He would usually have a smile on his face that Lili could only describe as disgusting. However, these past few days his face had nothing but a deep scowl on it; which was something positive in her book, having to talk to him… not so much, however.

"I heard from some of our fellow Familia members that you received quite the amount of payment for your services today."

Lili cursed herself again, remembering her little outburst in the Guild a few hours ago.

"That money could really help us right now, you know? Our Familia's not in the best financial state at the moment." He circled her, saying words filled with nothing but lies regarding the well-being of the Familia.

"Lili doesn't understand what you mean. Lili wasn't paid for her job at all."

That was, naturally, a lie.

She had been carrying two massive bags of Valis and dropped them in a secure place. And thanks to her 'Boss', she was sure there was no one near the Guild when she had left the establishment with the chances of being tailed.

"Oh, Lili." He lowered his face to her level, showing the clear disdain and annoyance in his eyes. "I knew you were just gonna lie the moment you walked through that door empty-handed."

The Pallum felt a chill run down her bag as Zanis stood straight.

"However, I think this little insult towards my intelligence can be overlooked at the moment seeing there are more pressing matters. Tell me," His eyes narrowed. "What did our God want from you exactly? Does it have anything to do with the person to whom you offered your services today?"

Zanis recalled Lili had been called to their God's office several times in the past few weeks. And seeing that their God's most recent behavior couldn't be explained by simply asking, due to their God not being the most communicative being, he had no other choice but to keep an eye on the Pallum. She would usually leave and walk through the city, not offering her services; but rather, looking through the city for something.

At least that was the initial thought, only to be corrected today when his men reported spotting her in the Guild with someone; a clear change in the pattern.

Lili hadn't been looking for something, she was looking for someone.

Too soon to tell?

Maybe.

However, the clear tension in Lili's hands as she grasped tightly the handles of her bag told him he was on the right track.

"Say, what does our God want exactly with-"

"Lili."

The eyes of both widened as they looked diagonally to the balcony to see their God, looking down on them with uninterested, but cold eyes. A sight anyone who addressed their deity had been seeing as of late instead of the usual bland one.

"Forgive me, Lord Soma." Zanis bowed. "I was just-"

"Stop wasting time and come to my office." The God said, retreating into his office as he ignored the pleas from his children.

"Yes, Lord Soma." Lili gave a small bow, watching to her side to see her Captain drawing blood off his lips after biting them due to pure frustration, the look of disdain in his eyes just made it better.

She didn't waste time in quickly running in her way, not wanting to risk if Zanis tried to pull something.

With every step she took, Lili recalled every time she went into her God's office was due to a Falna update or attempt to leave her Familia with the usual means. With the amount of money she got today, she could take that chance again several times over; although that would be like going into a losing fight, seeing she could not resist the effects of Soma.

However, the days in which she would attempt that trial by fire were long gone, at least for now due to her God's sudden new interest.

The information she got was pretty minimal, but she had finally been able to find him with only her God's description.

So, with a heavy sigh, Lili stepped into Soma's office to meet the same cold eyes as before. He asked the same question he had been asking for a few weeks now.

He would reply something along the lines of "Try again tomorrow" whenever her answer wasn't positive.

But this time, it was different.

"I found him."

Lili could see how her God's eyes gained some brightness before he gestured for her to take a sit.

"… Tell me about him."