Chapter 28: Hostess of Fertility (Part 3)
Cassian could see Syr stiffen and clench her hands, it was easy to tell that she was less than pleased with that discovery.
'In canon, she didn't really seem to care or mind Bell being in Hestia familia, so this is new.'
Freya's reaction was quite different and much more severe than in canon, but then again, Cassian could guess the reason behind it.
Freya never saw Hestia as a threat. She was an irrelevant obstacle, that Freya could brush aside anytime she wanted. As such, Bell being in her familia never bothered her, but this is different.
Hecate was a rival for her as their domains overlapped. It wasn't one or two times that they had arguments or even fights break out over souls. Usually, it was Freya who gained an interest in and desired one of the souls in Hecate's possession, which led to the conflict.
As the goddess of magic, Hecate had many worshippers before the age of gods. And many of them became powerful mages in their own right, especially elves. Some of them achieved so much and had their soul shine with so much brilliance that Freya couldn't help wanting to take them for herself and add them to her collection.
Their biggest fight, one that was waged on such a scale that other gods needed to intervene and mediate, was over the soul of the greatest elf sorcerer in history, Celdia, the saint that the elves revere and worship even more than the actual gods. The current line of High Elves, including Riveria Ljos Alf, are the descendants of Celdia's sister, Rishena.
Hecate's penchant for attracting interesting souls to herself and Freya's tendency to poach those souls led to them establishing a relationship as each other's rivals. They didn't exactly hate each other, sometimes they even drew entertainment from their squabbles, but they weren't exactly friendly either.
Once they descended on Gekai, the situation between them calmed a bit. As neither were involved with dead souls anymore they didn't get into conflict anymore. Plus, with Hecate being uninterested in starting a familia and seeking out children to join it, Freya didn't have to poach anyone as there was no one to poach. That helped more, and so they rarely even came in contact with one another.
That is why Freya was feeling so nervous and was extremely displeased to find out that Cassian was part of her rival's familia. Already, she knew it would be very troublesome to steal the elf from her.
But it turned out she underestimated just how hard her task would be, as she was currently slowly finding out. Her greatest weapon, one even Hecate was wary of, was proving to be useless here.
That's why Hecate was enjoying this situation so much. It felt very good to mess with Freya like this as revenge for all the annoyance.
"I-I see. I've heard that Hecate was not interested in starting a familia, so what changed?" Syr asked with a well-concealed strain in her voice.
"That's Lady Hecate for you server girl," Hecate answered with smugness, causing veins to throb on Syr's forehead. "And I changed my mind. Wanted to try out something new, I suppose. Now, I'm feeling quite parched, so be a good girl and run along to fetch us some drinks."
"V-Very well, I will be back shortly." Syr ground out through gritted teeth and a fake smile. Cassian was worried that the vein throbbing in Syr's temple was just about ready to explode.
"Uhm, is it- is it a good idea to antagonize her so much?" Nico asked nervously. He was quite worried that any more and a raging Boaz would descend on them.
"Ah, it's quite alright. I've known her for millions of years and can tell when she's pushed too far. Right now, she's far too fixated on the pretty boy over there, to care much about a couple of slights." Hecate confidently stated.
Leo was just thoroughly confused by the whole thing.
As the night wore on, Syr tried more and more to get Cassian's attention, but it didn't work no matter how much she amped her charm. It got to the point that she received a withering glare from Mama Mia, once she started distracting the other customers too much, and was forced to stop.
Once, she got her bearings back, Syr was once again expertly acting and concealing anything that might have been bothering her from all the others. Everyone except Hecate that is. They've known each other and quarreled for long enough, that she could see through her façade with ease and tell that Freya was becoming more and more unsettled.
Confusion dominated her mind as to why nothing she tried worked, which transformed into desperation. She even started wondering if Hecate was somehow messing with her abilities.
Not even Ryuu was capable of telling apart that something was wrong with her best friend, but she was attentive enough to notice that Syr spent an unusually large amount of time at one table in particular. It seemed that every time she was free, she would run to that table and talk with the occupants. The white-haired elf in particular. She became interested in what was going on and started paying more attention.
But Cassian was paying less and less attention to all of this. No, he was far too busy being consumed by the greatest despair he had ever felt. Not even the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads in the form of Freya and Ottar compared.
The longer the night dragged on the more the other's got drunk, but not him. No matter how much he drank he didn't even feel tipsy. He started ordering the heaviest drink the pub had but even chugging it only slightly affected him for a couple of seconds before it instantly vanished and he was back to perfect sobriety.
The other patrons even started staring at him incredulously, wondering just how high his abnormal resistance was, which they had already decided that he 100% had. But Cassian didn't pay them any mind.
"I can't get drunk…" He muttered, devastated. His Witcher body that he was so proud of, had betrayed him.
"Li –Hic– listen" Nico slurred with rosy cheeks while leaning heavily against the table. "You know –Hic– you know what we need? We need, like, a –Hic– a big quest! A dragon! No, wait… a giant! Or, like, a –Hic– a... really big chicken!"
Leo burst into a fit of giggles, her head resting on her folded arms as she struggled to keep her eyes open. "A really big chicken? Nico, you'd –Hic– you'd probably run if it clucked too loud! Like, 'Oh no, not the mighty –Hic– rooster!'" She imitated Nico with exaggerated dramatics, then dissolved into laughter.
"N-No! I will not run –Hic–! I… I will stand and fight. A-And they will call me the –Hic– the "Great Chicken Slayer"!" Nico shouted indignantly while swinging his mug around and splashing the ale inside.
"Shhh… shhh, you mortals… you mortals are… so loud." She attempted to wave them off, but her hand flopped down more than it gestured. "Do you know… do you know… I could turn… turn all the chickens into… into doves? Or ducks! Yes, ducks! Then… then what?" Even Hecate had lost her usual graceful demeanor and slurred out her sentences.
Nico leaned over, eyes wide and glazed. "Whoa, Hecate, –Hic– like… ducks are –Hic– mean, you know? Like… they chase you. They –Hic– just… chase. And quack. Scary, –Hic– quacking ducks!"
Leo nodded in agreement, slapping the table. "Right? Ducks are –Hic– jerks! And geese! Geese are just… they're just... evil ducks. Evil, bitey –Hic– ducks!"
'What the fuck are they talking about?' Cassian was forced to sit there and listen to their drunken ramblings with a perfectly sober mind. He felt like crying.
"hehehe, it seems your friends have had quite a bit to drink." He heard a giggle as Syr approached and talked to him.
"Yeah, but at least they're enjoying themselves." Cassian comforted himself with the knowledge that at least they would be dying tomorrow from the hangover. That's when he would get his revenge laugh.
'Mental note – Hide all the potions.'
"You drank a lot too. In fact, I was worried that you'd drop dead from the amount you drank, but looking at you, you're not even tipsy!" She said surprised.
"Heh, I guess I'm a pretty heavy drinker, or maybe the drinks here aren't all that strong." Cassian saw the gleam in her eyes when she looked at the drunk Hecate and realized that she had reached her breaking point and with Hecate indisposed now was the best time for her to act.
If it was Hecate blocking her somehow, now she wouldn't be able to, so it was the perfect moment to strike.
"I think, it's about time we leave. Or soon they won't even be able to walk and I'll have to drag all three away. Can you tell me how much we owe?"
Syr was surprised for a moment but then smiled mischievously. "Of course, I'll be right back!"
Cassian took out his money pouch and started taking out coins and putting them in another smaller pouch that he'd hand over. Today should have cost them quite a lot. Especially with all the Soma Wine that was drunk. Eventually, he gave permission to Nico and Leo, so they drank a single glass too. Though Hecate was the one responsible for most of it.
And as he expected…
"Your total is 165,000 Valis!" Syr came back with the tab.
'Damn…' He finished putting away that amount and handed over it to Syr. That was more than 10% of what they earned today. But he guessed it wasn't so bad. In the future they would start earning more and more, until 165,000 Valis was nothing more than pocket change.
As he was handing over the pouch containing the money, his hand came into contact with Syr's. Looking up, he saw her eyes glow for a moment and then felt as if something just rammed into his metaphorical mental barrier of some kind, before being rebounded more or less harmlessly.
"Gugh-" Syr made a sound as if something hit her in the stomach and knocked the wind out of her, forcing her to take a step back.
Cassian couldn't help a smirk coming onto his face before quickly wiping it away and pretending to be a little confused.
"Guess all of those drinks got to me now. I felt a little dizzy just now." He rubbed his head as if clearing away some grogginess as Syr watched him with her eyes widened to a comical extent. "Ah, are you okay? It looked as if you were in a bit of pain?"
"Ah-ah" She struggled to form a sentence from the shellshock she was feeling, before shaking her head and smiling up at him brilliantly. "No, I'm alright. Guess I got a bit tired. Thanks for the concern!" She replied cheerily, happy that he was finally talking to her normally and even showing concern.
"Okay then. Well, we'll get going now. Thank you for the service, everything was quite delicious." He said and smiled at her. He was happy that at least this part worked out properly. He soothed a bit of pain with the success, telling himself that it was worth it.
Grabbing the trio, he started half guiding, half dragging them out and towards their residence. He decided to bring Leo with them to stay over as he didn't know where she lived and didn't want to let her go alone while so drunk.
"Agh –Hic– I wanted to drink more –Hic–!" Nico protested, but Cassian was having none of it.
"You've had more than enough for today. Now pipe down or I'll knock you out with Axii." Cassian said while Hecate was on his back piggybacking him, as she was already snoring away.
"Ughh fine –Hic– but I wanna piss."
"M-me too –Hic–." Leo joined groggily, already barely awake.
"Let's find a –Hic– a bush then!"
"A bush? I can't –Hic– pee in a bush –Hic– like you!"
"Eh? Why –Hic– not? Aren't we both guys?"
"Hey, who are you –Hic– calling a guy?! I'm a girl!"
"Huuh?!"
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