Rum (DanMachi - FGO Reincarnation Chapter 1)

Something bummed into me and rose me awake.

I was groggy as I sat up from the table I was sleeping on. Hand massaging my face side? Cheek? Face area. Top part where a bandana goes around the skull.

I opened my eyes and the Soma house, that might as well be a bar, was dead silent. Everyone looking at me. Their fear making them silent. Not that those who were drinking stopped, but they were all quiet, trying their best to not draw my attention. Balance of self-preservation and wanting to get drunk.

They were right of course. Nothing will piss someone off more, than waking up from a drunk induced sleep. The memory of that sweet buzz being the last thing before sleep, just pissed me off even further, because now everything now was fucking loud and fucking bright, and the inside of my head is trying to punch its way out!

I looked to the side to see what hit me. There was a pallum with her back half toward me. Her bruised eye looking at me with worry and something else. That, that...word for stuff getting better but not really.

Can't focus. How much Soma did I drink last night?

As always the second I become remotely sober, the faces of everyone from Chaldea started pouring to the forefront of my mind. I clicked my tongue.

I needed a drink. I needed to stop thinking.

There were three people a few feet away from my and the pallum. The one in the middle, a middle-age guy with animal ear, had his hands raised saying something or other. He was saying something, as loud as he could, trying to calm things down.

Fuck, does he look disgusting. Who the fuck puts cute animal ears on old fat guys? The Gods have no fucking taste if they had a hand in creating this.

The man flinched. An angry look came to his face for a second, before he quickly covered it up with an apologetic one. I said that last part out loud? Probably.

He tried to playing things off with a laugh. No one laughed with him. His voice was grating. An adventurer's heightened senses really were a curse right now.

I stood up and everyone nearby flinched and leaned away. Those standing walked away. The group of three with the fugly raccoon guy were starting to pale and stepped back.

The pallum next to me flinched, and almost seemed like she was gonna step away, but held herself in place. Her hand were help up in surrender. To me? To the group angry with her? Don't know, don't care. She looked resigned to whatever will happen now.

My hand was one the table. Without a word, I opened my magic circuits, let the od flow, reinforced the table enough that it can harm an adventurer. At the last moment, I remembered that Level 1s are pretty squishy.

Then I grabbed the edge and swung it.

CRASH!

=====

Lili tried her best not to flinch as the table zapped by her. Her best effort didn't amount to much, as the table was fast enough to wiz through the air, and the force of her just passing made Lili stumble.

The loud crash that followed echoed in the Soma HQ and made everyone flinch.

"Strike." The heavy bored and annoyed voice of the old adventurer came from behind her. The table had slammed all of Canoe's group into the wall. The building wall was now cracked and broken in places, from the three adventurers smashing into it. Lili was sure the table was what did more damage though.

Liliruca Arde did her best not to shake and looked way from the carnage, and over her shoulder to see the every present glare of Michael Chaser directed toward her. She gulped and tried to make herself small. Well, smaller than she already was. She didn't know if now he will ignore her, or send her flying as well. Or worse, take her as his supporter for a while.

It was always a gamble interact with the sole Level 3 in the Soma Familia.

Michael was always temperamental. All Lili knew about interacting with him was to keep her words clear and to the minimum. Everyone tried to forget about him and leave him alone. After all, what can anyone in the Soma Familia do to someone, strong enough to do whatever he wanted without consequences.

Canoe had been pushy in trying to find if Lili had extra money this time. Which well, she did, but she needed that to eat, otherwise she would have to dig into her savings for leaving the Familia again. She couldn't afford to do that for the fifth week in a row. It was a gamble to fall in a way, as to hit the sleeping Chaser, now she hoped he would ignore her.

"You." His gruff voice had Lili flinch.

"L-Lili apologizes for-"

"Follow me."

Her shoulder slumped as she did as was told. Michael took a bottle from one of his waist pouches. It was an Elixir. He opened and took a swing from it. Lili tried not to grit her teeth at seeing that display of luxury. Curing a hangover with an Elixir. The others in the Familia didn't hide it as well.

No one approached though. No one tried to steal from Chaser. Those who did, no longer have the ability to do so again.

When you're strong enough you can be that wasteful, huh. Lili thought envy tinged with angry filled her, before she pushed it away.

"Here," Lili caught the bottle, nearly dropping it as her arms protested the sudden movement. "Drink."

Lili did as she was told. Downing what's left over in the bottle, feeling all her wounds and exhaustion wash away, and her mind reinvigorated. The dread within her didn't abide though.

Michael had one soft spot. Children. Those who looked young. Or at least that's how it seemed.

He never hit the younger members of the Familia, even if they annoyed him. He just took them as supporters and had them fight in the Dungeon for his amusement, from what Lili heard.

And it looked like that's what's going to happen to her now.

"Tsk, Michael, must you be so violent? Making repairs to our home again are cost-"

"Blow it out of your ass, Capt. Fuckface." Michael flip Zanis Lustra, Captain of the Soma Familia, the bird while walking, not even bothering to look at him.

Zanis's expression turned ugly, but he didn't do anything. After all, he was only a Level 2.

Lili kept her expression neutral, and her face down. At least she got to see something enjoyable before her coming torture.

Now a few blocks away, Lili considered trying to endear herself to Soma's strongest adventurer.

"Is Mr. Chaser thinking of being the Soma Familia's captain?" Lili asked. Thinking about it, with how Michael's attitude can be summed up as 'leave me alone and I won't punch you in the face', it probably would be a good idea to make him Captain.

"Huh? Why the fuck would I do that?"

"With how you keep challenging Zanis's authority, that's what it looks like-"

"Who?"

Lili tilted her head at the question.

"Zanis? The Captain?"

Michael just gave her a blank look.

"The one you were just arguing with, when we left the Soma building." Lili slowly clarified.

"Capt. Fuckface?"

"...Yes. Zanis." Lili wondered if Michael didn't have some brain disease. Maybe she can run away, and he would forget she was there?

"Oh right, his name starts with a 'z'."

Lili blinked a few times at that.

"You don't know the Captain's name?"

"That is way too much effort for me to giving a fuck out, Half-Pint." Michael said and kept walking.

Lili despite her attempt to be stoic, couldn't help but snort. The nickname for her maybe annoying, but seeing how low Zanis is regarded by the strongest adventurer in her Familia, did brighten up her day a bit.