Chapter 13: The small favor
Once again the streets were busy. It hadn't been that long since the incident downtown had happened and yet it seemed like everyone's routine went back to normal.
"Hey isn't that the one that they say stopped a crowd of Evilus from wreaking havoc down the street?'
"His appearance matches the description that they were saying and he's walking with Lady Astraea."
It also seemed that the people were once again talking about him but in a more positive light? Word seems to travel fast in such a short amount of time. It hadn't even been a day yet.
"It seems everyone is starting to see you in a more positive light Archer," Walking beside him, Astraea seemed to be taking his new public view with stride. She must've felt so proud for him.
"My accomplishment earlier isn't worthy of such praise. I was merely doing what a servant should do and protect their master," he wanted to downplay the whole thing. He truly saw no reason for heroics to be praised so highly by everyone.
"Now, Archer, we both know that isn't true. Because of your actions, you protected the city and saved a lot of people from Evilus," however it seemed Astraea didn't think so herself. Looks like she really wanted him to enjoy the stoplight.
Seeing that her mind wouldn't change, Archer thought best to move the conversation along. "However their true goal still remains a mystery. We still need to keep our guard up for whatever they may be planning." ('Plus there could be a master hidden among them.') He decided to keep that last part to himself. There was no need to pile more worries on top of the already existing one.
Perhaps this matter should be one he should investigate himself personally.
His warning seemed to snap Astraea back to reality. Astraea was a little flustered at the sudden realization. "M-my apologies. Your right Archer, we still need to beware the danger ahead." Archer did find some pleasure in seeing his master's slightly flushed face.
Seeing this, Astraea could only once again cutely pout at him. Their reactions to each other did not go unnoticed by the general public.
Noting that they have been walking for a while now, Archer's curiosity prompted him to ask his master where they were going. "By the way Lady Astraea, just where exactly are we heading?" Archer asked.
"Fufu. Why spoil the surprise right now Archer?" Astraea giggled. It was clear as the sky above them that she wouldn't be spilling just exactly where they were going. Archer could only raise an eyebrow at her. "Don't worry you'll find out soon enough. We're almost there."
Was it too late to start worrying about what his master was planning?
After a few more minutes of walking they arrived at their destination. The building in front of them was decently large and looked well kept. He was curious about what was so special about this building.
Noticing that Archer was looking at the building with curiosity, Astraea then called out to him. "Come on now Archer, no need to be scared." she called out to him.
He was anything but scared and she knew it. Honestly, her teasing sometimes…
Upon entering the building they were greeted by an empty hallway. Once he closed the door, he could hear it. The sounds of multiple footsteps making their way to them. The sources of those steps soon relieved to be multiple young kids running towards them, more precisely Astarea.
"It's Astraea!"
"She's back!"
"Can you play with us?"
Several young children had rushed and gathered around Astraea wanting her attention. The interaction told him that she has visited this place multiple times and built a good relationship with the residents. His attention was soon drawn to another figure around the corner.
"Ah Lady Astraea, it's good to see you again." The one that just greeted Astraea was an older woman in her mid twenties. Just from her aura alone he could tell that she showed great care for the children.
"It's good to see you too Maria. I see the children are as lively as ever." Astraea greeted back with a smile.
It was soon then that the woman now identified as Maria, noticed Archer standing next to the goddess. "Oh and who's this with you?" Once she noticed the children began to notice him as well. Wonder and curiosity had filled their eyes. Usually whenever Astraea visited them she was either by herself or with one of her Familia members. This was the first time she had ever brought a man over.
Seeing everyone now push their attention towards her companion she let out a small giggle. With everyone's attention now on him, he started to look ever so slightly uncomfortable. He did well to hide it but she could tell. "Everyone, this is Archer. He's someone that has saved me and is currently staying at my Familia home for now," she introduced to everyone.
Wonder and awe were now in the children's eyes. They started to gather around him.
"Hey mister, is what Lady Astraea say is true?"
"Does that mean you're strong?"
"Why is your name Archer?"
All of a sudden he was being bombarded with questions from them. He didn't even have to look at his master to know she wouldn't help him get out of this predicament and she was enjoying this way too much.
Thankfully someone took pity on his suffering and put a stop to it. "*Clap* Alright kids, that's enough. Let's give Lady Astraea's guest some space. There will be plenty of time to ask him questions later." The kids started to disburse away from him and follow Maria to the next room over. Astarea soon followed.
He made a mental note to thank Maria later.
The next room over was a fairly simple room, a kitchen to be more exact. Once Archer entered he could see all of the children gathered up in front of Astraea and Maria. Seems they were planning on making something.
"Alright children, today I thought we could make some baked treats." At the mere mention of baked goods, all of the children present had their attention drawn to Astarea. Kids did love their baked goods after all.
Astraea soon organized the kids into little groups. Some were helping getting the ingredients out, others were making the batter. From the sidelines Archer watched them work. He could tell this wasn't the first time they've done this. Everyone looked to be working in harmony and fulfilling their task quite well. A bit of guidance was occasionally needed from Astraea and Maria but nothing too major. He was quite impressed.
"Taken an interest in the kids, have you?" Hearing a voice call out to him, it was none other than Maria making her way over to him. "Sorry if I'm interrupting. You looked a bit lonely so I thought I could keep you company for a bit. You don't mind, do you?"
He gestured to her that he didn't mind at all. The two stood in silence for a bit, keeping watch over the children. Maria was the one to break the silence.
"So Archer, just how did you come to know Lady Astraea?" Maria had asked. "Never has Lady Astraea brought a man over to the orphanage so it was quite the surprise when you came in with her."
"It was a chance encounter. I just happened to be where Lady Astraea was and saved her from some… unfriendly acquaintances."
"Oh… I see," Maria seemed to understand who he was referring to. He worded it not to scare any of the kids that might hear them. "Well I'm glad that you were there to save Lady Astraea. So you have my deepest gratitude Archer." She bowed to him in thanks.
Naturally he waved it off.
Seeing as Maria's question had been answered Archer decided to ask one of his to her. "So what about you? How did you come to know of Lady Astraea?"
It took a moment for Maria to think about Archer's question but after a few moments of thinking she smiled with a look of nostalgia in her eyes. Now Archer was really curious what their history was.
"Ah. Well our meeting wasn't as grand or as heroic as yours. It all started a few years back when Astraea first arrived in Orario. At the time I was still grieving after the death of my husband and in deep despair. Whenever I was out in the streets there were a lot of children who were alone because of the dungeon. I decided to take it upon myself to give these kids a place they could call home and a second family. It was only after a few weeks when my orphanage was established that Lady Astraea came to visit. She just happened to pass by one day and offered to help around. Naturally the children took a liking to her instantly," He wasn't too surprised after seeing the children's interactions with his master.
"I'm grateful for all that Lady Astraea has done. Without her support I don't think the orphanage would last as long as it has."
From this small conversation Archer could tell that she was sincere and truthful. He was sure that Maria was someone to be trusted. He could only wish that she and the children wouldn't be caught up in the crossfire.
"Ah my apologies. I didn't mean to bore you with my story."
"Please don't apologize, I did ask to hear it after all. On the contrary I think what you're doing is quite admirable," Archer explained. "You're giving these kids a place they can call home and taking care of them. You've become their light and given them hope for a better future."
His words spoke the truth. He did find Maria's actions of taking in these kids to be admirable. It reminded him of a certain memory from long ago. One of much more… happier times he could say.
"Ara. You flatter me Mr Archer but I'm just doing what I think is right."
Soon enough as the two were engaging in small talk, they could hear the children starting to get rowdy again. Turns out as they were conversing they managed to finish making the treats. All that was left was waiting for them to be baked in the magic oven. While waiting to pass the time, Astraea guided the kids to the outside area to keep them entertained.
Maria seemed to be the first to notice the group moving. "Oh. Seems like Astarea is taking the kids out. I better join them," As Maria began to follow them she noticed that a certain someone in red wasn't following. "Are you not coming Archer?"
Hearing the caretaker calling out to him, Archer responded. "No, at least not yet. If it's alright may I use the kitchen?"
It took a moment for Maria to think about his question but she managed to catch onto what he was planning. With him figured out she gave him a sincere smile. "But of course you can. I trust that you'll look after it well." With that she left to catch up to Astraea and the rest of the children.
Now with the permission of the owner of the building Archer got to work. First exploring what he had to work with. First was seeing what ingredients were there. Taking a look he was surprised to see the pantry was pretty full. Everything inside was still fresh as well. Next was the cooking tools. The kitchen had all the standard pots and pans in pretty good condition and in the right sizes he needed. Now he just needed to decide what to make.
There wasn't a clock to tell him the time, he roughly estimated it to be just past noon. Taking a peek outside the window he could see the children running around the yard with Maria and Astraea keeping watch. Not to mention there were cookies baking in the oven as well so something too heavy wouldn't be ideal. In the end he decided to make a tomato and basil soup.
Now that he had decided what to make, he needed to get started.
Roughly an hour and half had passed and kids finally tired themselves out from playing outside. Once they reentered the building, the faint smell of the spices tingled their noses. Curious as to what the smell was, they followed it back into the kitchen only to find the man that Astraea had brought and a big pot on top of a stove. To the side of the pot, was a cloth covering something. Maria and Astraea had an idea what it could be.
Hearing the footsteps just outside of the kitchen entrance, Archer could see the kids looking at him, curious to what he was making.
"I'm sure you've all worked up quite the appetite. I've made some soup for you all," As soon as he finished speaking, the stomachs of the children started to rumble. Astraea and Maria let out a small giggle only for their stomachs to grumble as well, giving them a tint of red on their faces and a small smile from Archer. "Why don't you all grab a bowl and I'll serve it up."
Soon enough everyone was lining up with a bowl in hand awaiting the freshly made hot soup.
Afterwards, everyone was full with satisfied looks on their faces. They enjoyed it so much that the pot was completely empty. All that remained were dirty dishes.
Archer tried to do the dishes but Maria insisted that she and the kids do it. He tried to talk her out of it but it only got worse in his favor once Astraea joined in.
"AR~CH~ER." She spoke in a soft yet somehow commanding tone that brought shivers down to his very core. She wasn't just asking him, she was commanding him. Even Maria and the children were getting chills.
"Tch. Very well…" reluctantly he surrendered to his masters order, bringing a warm smile back to the goddess's face.
WIth everyone, but Archer, cleaning the kitchen and the dining table a certain someone was left brutting on the table by his lonesome. While he was ordered to stay back and relax he was already plotting to go over what they missed when no one was looking. It's not like his master was going to use a command seal to order him not to.
"Got room for one more Archer?" The one wanting to sit beside him was Maria. From the corner of his eye he could see Astraea working with the children. "I thought we could continue our conversation from earlier. I hope you don't mind." He gestured to her that it was okay.
"I must say Archer, that was a very delicious soup you made. I don't think I've had a soup that good in quite a while."
"It was no problem. Looking at the time, I figured the kids hadn't had their lunch just yet and it seemed I was right," he replied. "If you would like, I can teach you how to make this soup."
There was now a glint in Maria's eye at Archer's offer. "Really? Are you sure?"
"Don't worry I'm sure. It's a fairly common recipe that even the kids could make. Not to mention the ingredients are fairly cheap to get in the market or you could grow them in the garden if you wanted."
"That's great. I'm sure the kids would love that. Thank you very much Archer." Maria was quite grateful for Archer's kindness. A small tear of happiness could be seen leaking from her eyes. "You're a kind man Archer. I'm sure your family would be proud of the kind soul they raised."
Ah. Family. An old familiar word that was now lost to him. He wondered what they would think about him now. Would they be proud or would they be disappointed in what he's become. Sure he may have met them back in Chaldea but they were very different people from different worlds and time, not the ones he originally knew.
Seeing Archer's slightly saddened look, Maria knew she had hit a bit of a sore spot. "Oh my. I'm sorry… I didn't know."
"It's fine. You didn't know," he retorted. "Besides that was a lifetime ago and I've already made peace with their passing." He then soon felt a pair of arms hugging him from behind. It felt warm and oddly comforting. He knew who it was.
"You've been through a lot Archer," Maria's voice was spoken softly to him. He could tell that she was trying to comfort him. Strangely he did feel some comfort from Maria. This feeling felt oddly familiar to him yet foreign at the same time, he wasn't sure what to think of it. "You're a very strong person." He knew the meaning behind those words.
"Ara, are you enjoying Maria's hug Arc~her?" Snapping back to reality, Archer's eyes slowly turned to the sound of that voice. From the corner, he caught Astraea with a cheshire grin like she just caught something spectacular. And it wasn't just her. The children around her were also looking at him with that same grin.
He knew he wasn't getting out of this one or escaping the aftermath. He just knew Astraea was going to mention it to the others.
"*Ahem* I do believe that the children have waited long enough for their cookies, don't you think Maria?" He really needed to change the subject now. He just hoped that it was enough to sway the children from judging him more.
Thankfully it worked. The mere mention of consuming the goods they made with Astraea grabbed their attention. They were now awaiting Maria's approval with anticipation.
"I think the kids deserve it. After all, they've done such good work," With her approval the kids celebrated in joy. "Alright kids line up. The cookies aren't going anywhere just yet." She began to guide the children over to where their hard earned work was, leaving only a grinning goddess and a poor soul that was unfortunately stuck.
"Not a word to the others."
Astraea only smiled harder. She was so telling the others about this at dinner tonight.
Archer could only sigh in disappointment. His E ranked luck was showing itself again.
Elsewhere
On the other side of the city several members of the Ganesha Familia were surrounding a destroyed building. Parts of the outside were heavily damaged, a few small holes everywhere and a giant one at the entrance.
The inside wasn't much better. Rubble everywhere and several guards were injured. Thankfully there were a few healers around to treat them.
Standing at the forefront Skati was overwatching everything. A few hours ago Ardee, as well as Alise and Ryuu, informed her of what happened earlier. She was surprised to hear that Archer was the one to defeat the Evilus all by himself. She did however take note of the words that Archer parted them with. She'd be a fool not to consider them.
After hearing their report she ordered an investigation around the city. It would take a while to interrogate the ones they brought back so all she could now was to search the city for anything unusual. Thankfully Ryuu and Alise offered to join in the search.
Only an hour after she issued the order she received word of an attack and rushed over immediately. The place that was attacked was a magic manufacturing stone factory. Once she and the others arrived at the scene of the attack, she ordered a squad of Ganesha members to conduct a full search of the building with Alise joining in. Ryuu and Ardee would instead use their magic to heal the injured.
While Shaktii was overlooking the operation, one of her members arrived to report. "Captain, we've conducted a full search of the building. Aside from the damage to the building we've found that several vaults of magic stones were empty."
Already the news wasn't too good. Since magic stones the cores of monsters living in the dungeon they contained magic power inside of them and whoever attacked the factory now had a giant supply of these stones to do whatever they wanted with them. The question now became what would they be used for?
"I'm afraid that wasn't the only thing taken," Shakti raised an eyebrow. What else could they have possibly taken from here? "The Hammering system was also taken, I'm afraid."
"The Hammering system? What could they possibly want with that?" Shakti wondered. Whatever the case was, Archer's words did appear to be true. The Evilus true target was the factory. She had a feeling that this was merely the beginning of something bigger.
Back at the orphanage
Back on the other side, we find that Archer was facing possibly one of the hardest tasks he ever took on. Eliminating humanity as a Counter Guardian was a depressing but simple job for him. Fighting servants in a battle to the death. Challenging with its own ups and downs but he could manage. Saving the world from world ending threats. That was… complicated to put it into simple words but a task he managed with the aid of other servants from across various timelines and periods. But entertaining children… how on earth did the others manage it?
Sure he would look after Jack, Nursery Rhyme and Jeanne Lily back at Chaldea but that was him mostly making tea and lunch sets for them. Plus they were more than capable of looking after themselves. If anyone were to mess with them they were either very brave, very stupid or very powerful to take on those servants.
He wondered how the others like Jeanne and Tamamo would handle looking after kids.
Right now, like when he first entered, the kids had surrounded him and were bombarding him with questions. Things like his origins, how strong he was, how he met Lady Astraea, small things like that. These kids were quite curious about him.
Sadly he wouldn't be receiving any help from Astraea or Maria as the two needed to have an important discussion which left him the sole person to look after the kids. Even if they were around he had a feeling they wouldn't be helping them.
He supposed all he could do was to entertain them for now.
Calmly he called out to the kids. "Alright kids settle down. If you do, I'll share with you a story of one of my adventures." Hearing this, the kids quickly gathered around him. They were eager to hear what he had to share. Once everyone was settled he began to tell his tale.
Tis was a tale of a haunted summer camping trip. While he did have to change some of the context and details of the story, he left the important parts mostly intact and the kids seemed to be enjoying it. Thankfully the part about ghosts trying to murder him and his companions didn't seem to traumatize them.
By the end of the story the kids were looking at him in awe. It seemed like they were captivated by his story.
"Can you tell us another one Mr Archer?"
"What happened next?"
"Can you show us your skills like you told us in the story?"
And a little more interested in him as a person. In his eyes these kids admired adventurers and looked up to them. While he didn't classify one in the city he did have plenty before he came here. But he would save those for another day.
"I think that's enough stories for one day," The kids only looked at him with a downed expression. They clearly wanted to hear more about his tales and adventures. "Now, now. There will be plenty of opportunities to hear more of my adventures."
"Do you promise?" One of them had asked. The others started to look at him cutely with puppy eyes.
Seems like he now had no choice but to promise them. It wasn't like the puppy dog eyes the kids were giving him had any effect on him, totally not.
With his free hands, Archer rubbed the top of the two of the kids heads with a small smile. "Sure, I promise to come by again." The kids cheered to accepting the promise.
Outside the room Astarea and Maria watching from afar. Their conversation had ended a little while ago so they went to see how Archer was interacting with the children. To their surprise they caught him in the middle of telling the kids one of his adventures. Like the kids, they took interest in his story as well. Soon enough Archer had finished his story. They even heard his little promise he made to the children and found it quite cute.
Both of them then entered the room, catching the attention of Archer and the kids. All three of the adults in the room knew that it was starting to get late so Archer and Astraea would need to be heading back soon. After saying their goodbyes, Astraea and Archer began to make their way back to the Stardust Garden.
"Well, did you enjoy yourself Archer?" Astraea had asked.
"It was… enjoyable," replied Archer. He was surprised that he had a decent enough time, by his standards, at the orphanage. He made a mental note to visit again sometime. He did make a promise or two after all.
It was then that he was reminded of a certain moment that happened earlier. "By the way Lady Astraea," Astraea looked at him, curious to the reason Archer was calling out to her. "Please don't tell everyone about what happened earlier."
She only gave him a cheeky smile before walking ahead.
At least he tried to save himself from embarrassment.
