บท 44: 18+++
Chapter Forty-Four: Mondai ga shinkō-chū
Silence reigned as they marched through the wooded region, not even a trace of ruins remaining to mark the place supposedly their senior's former homeland. The man himself said not a word to break it either, only leading them forward.
Riveria's heart ached; she knew what it meant to be a long-lived being, but not having any idea what being uniquely so among ones people would feel like. There had been more than one time she wondered about Aedan's history before they met. Hell, before she had been born, and what a thought that was…
Now here they were, walking through an area that so long ago- even to her people- had once been home to his own ethnos, his people, friends, and family. Memories trampled by the rampage of time and monsters, and recovered by nature.
Nothing of civilized occupation remained.
Their march is uninterrupted, but the leading element overtakes Aedan as he comes to a stop slightly away from the path, gazing at a small field- little more than a patch- of flowers. The rare sight of beauty held a bed of pink carnations, interspersed by clumps of dark crimson roses.
He held his gaze for some moments as the column passed him by, until Alfia and Riveria came to pull him along with the others, to which he offered no resistance, and tore his eyes away from the beflowered plot.
Taking a rest for the night, Ranulf observes, "These beasties are doin' good to keep pace ahead of us, I think"
"True, we aren't going as quickly as we can, but they must still be getting exhausted keeping away from our advance" Jasmine agrees, speaking perfect Koine, brushing her long, cobalt hair back with her fingers.
Musashi watched the campsite silently, his gaze drifting to the man that recruited him, seeing him smoking a pipe slightly away from the fire. Sighing, he decided on chasing the man's back without formally challenging him, for the time being. Now wasn't the time, and he would surely have the opportunity later.
Their pursuit continued as they forded a river the next day, marching hard until the mountains fell away around them, and the trees thinned as a great plain stretched out before them.
"The Valley… ended?" Gareth wondered.
"Seems so" Ottar grimly noted, as they could now clearly see, far away from them, a great mass of monsters. Even from the distance though, it was clear to see that the horde was twice what it should have been based on their previous engagements.
"Looks like they've been reinforced with their reserve" Finn noted as his thumb throbbed, "and I can also make out some irregulars among them; must be their elite corps, as it were" he chuckled humorlessly.
"Pfft! Like any of that'll make a difference; even if they still have 6,000 or so, we're still enough to crush them all!" Thors thumped his chest harshly, his fellow Familia loudly voicing their agreement, having linked up with the forward group of executives in their advance through the valley.
"I'm afraid the trap is more involved than that" Aedan spoke clearly, he and Musashi the only ones looking behind them, back into the entrance to the valley. There, in the ideal position for them to retreat to in order to fight the monster horde, was a conglomeration of humanoid figures interspersed with monsters.
"Evilus" Alfia stated simply.
"Creatures and tamers, I'd bet" Gareth nodded, gripping his great ax tightly.
"Belisarius" was all Aedan said, deferring to the man's leadership in the situation to simplify things, and he was met with an instant response.
"Braver, take Elgarm, Nine Hells, the Sword Saint, the Warlord, Silence, Haroeris, and the rest of your Familia to secure the entrance back into the valley; everyone else will follow my lead: a fighting retreat back the way we came. By the time we make it to our allies, the way to the valley will be clear!"
Facing the army of some 6,000 dragon-kin monsters, the rearguard started up their part of the operation as Finn led the others quickly toward their revealed enemy.
"Haroeris, King, Gareth, come with me at the front to scatter them. Tiona, Tione, Lefiya, turn their left; Silence, Riveria, Musashi, turn the right. Raul! Keep the others in reserve and direct them as you see fit when the opportunity arises!"
That was all he had time to relay, before their assault began in earnest, and Aedan crashed on ahead of them, wreaking terror among the Evilus forces and their tamed monsters as his roars drowned out those of the Dungeons fiercest monsters. In short order, he was joined by the rest, forcing their enemy on the back-foot immediately.
It wasn't a one-sided slaughter, but it was clear that despite surprising strength, the enemy had little more than numbers to show for their efforts. With their devastating magic brought to bear, it wasn't long before the Evilus forces used their tamed monsters to cover a frantic retreat.
Still, several of the humanoid-creatures remained alive, Alfia observed even as she brought down one last opponent, 'Not dead…' her eyes narrowed as she followed the subtle actions of the defeated, and then widened as she recognized a tactic known to her by the pawns of the shady organization.
Her hand flashed with speed as it slipped under the mask and into the mouth of the person before her, pulling out a pill before it could be bitten into. Unfortunately, most of those still breathing were able to follow through with their given orders, and those potential captives expired as the deadly capsules were consumed since they could not retreat.
Aside from the one she stopped, nine remained alive due only to unconsciousness, which would have to be good enough.
"Damn! Raul, keep a guard on the prisoners with Cruz, Alicia, Lefiya, and Riveria; Aiz, chase them down with Silence and Haroeris! Everyone else, come with me to finish off the monsters with the others" Finn snapped off orders to keep the momentum, and they were followed that instant.
All in all, it was a well-handled ambush on their part.
"No losses, ten captives taken, the monsters wiped out, but the remaining Evilus slipping away from us yet again" Finn sighed at the result.
"Sorry Finn…" Aiz muttered, depressed at having failed to find their targets.
"Its strange… there shouldn't be any that can surpass our speed, so either they are well-hidden, or know of hidden ways to escape unknown to us" Aedan noted, "Perhaps some sort of travelling magic?"
"No use moanin' 'bout it now" Gareth harrumphed, "This is a sign to return home, plain 'n simple"
"Right enough" Belisarius agreed, looking to Baldr, "We can leave the remainder to you once we arrive at Vinland?"
"Of course! Thank you for the effort given in aiding us; were it not for you, we certainly would have been overrun by these numbers and devious tactics; this is the first time that we have had issues with this Evilus group. I'll be sure to inform our god and goddess about this"
Having drugged the prisoners, they loaded them up like luggage, and were able to backtrack with haste, given they weren't expecting an encounter with another horde. Having separated from the remaining part of Odin and Frigg Familia at the border of Vinland, they continued as quickly as they could to Orario.
A little over a month was the time passed while the group was away from the city, and their return saw them swapping stories with those who remained and returned early.
"They had these creatures, some as powerful as our strongest?" Allen asked, his lip curling as he observed the eleven total captives, held in the Guilds secret Crypt; a small prison for troublesome adventurers, "How?"
"A person is given a falna, trains, and consumes magic stones at the same time. It seems like a grotesque shortcut to power" Finn shared, "though what drawbacks taking such a shortcut entail, I can't say"
It had been discovered that most of those captured had been controlled in their actions; members of Penia Familia, with an elf named Aura Moriel as their ranking member. The very same that Alfia had prevented from killing herself with poison.
With the revelation, Penia- who had no recorded members of her Familia- was to be detained, and the mind-controlled members deconditioned from their experience. The final prisoner, though…
"Filvis" Lefiya muttered forlornly, looking at her friend chained in the cell beyond. Bell had been the one to capture her, and it confirmed something Loki had suspected for some time.
"That seals it; Dionysus is definitely involved; probably roped Penia in without her even realizing it" the goddess sneered, "Gotta be the same dipshit calling himself Enyo, I bet"
Given the situation, Aedan knew that the security of the city would take precedence, but he could perhaps still convince Ouranos of letting them go one group at a time to return to the task of hunting the Harbingers and Divine Artefacts. With this in mind, the impromptu meeting adjourned. Shakti and Ilta needed to return to their Familia to see to the security of the city, while everyone wanted some updates to their status.
A soft laugh echoed in the finely decorated chamber, "My, to think the effect we learned of would be so potent as this" Freya sighed dreamily, admiring not only the growth of her children, but recognizing the strength of the effect Bell and Aedan were having on them.
"I can only imagine the effect for his own Familia" Hogni hummed as Hedin exposed his own back, "For it to do so much for us…"
"Indeed" his goddess agreed as she updated the other elf's status, beaming in happiness at the results, "I'm so proud of you all"
"We have all risen farther, but still not to the point the Haroeris required before we level up" Hedin noted, frowning in dissatisfaction despite the otherwise unbelievable pace, "An average of C in our stats isn't enough"
"We've grown this much so fast" Hogni said with more vigor, striking a pose, "Surely with what remains before our main objective, we will advance once again!" after his statement, the elf deflated, losing all his confidence, "At least, I hope so…"
As the various groups returned to necessary activities, Loki Familia resumed their role leading the investigation into Evilus. With so much stirred up, Ouranos was keeping a tight leash on the Orario native adventurers. However, Loki wished for them to be allowed to gather intel before any serious moves would be made.
Accepting the state of things, Aedan contented himself with being secluded away in his workshop at Hearthfire Manor, intending to be productive in crafting now that they had returned home. Once things settled down, he would set a date and time for relaying the plans he had previously made on tackling the Harbingers and finding the Artefacts.
Bell had- of course- decided to organize a hard press into the Dungeon among Hestia, Miach, Takemikazuchi, and some of their allies from outside of Orario among the Kali and Bheara familias. Being uncompromising and filled with drive, he set their goals high, accepting numerous quests and putting their target at floor 51.
"51!? I mean, we've come pretty far, Bell, but that might be too much…" Welf rubbed his head grimacing. He was worried that they would fall behind, none of them being level 5 yet, but close.
"You guys have been able to take down Udaeus without me being there, and reach the safety point and begin exploring the floors after him to boot. I believe that together, we can reach that goal; the biggest challenge will be Balor, and it will be the perfect thing to push everyone to the next level"
Their eyes bugged nearly out of their heads at his aim, all speechless at the audacity of their captain and friend.
Ouka in particular noted how different this Bell Cranel was to the one he had fixed in his mind. Among his own Familia, he, Mikoto, Chigusa, Asuka, and Hiro were able to try to level up. If they could, Mikoto would become first class, while he and the others level 4, a significant boon, to be sure. But Udaeus was already a brutal fight for them to pull through, even with Hestia Familia taking the lead.
Daphne was thinking similarly. Their own Familia was still quite small, but this would put her and Cassandra in range for reaching level 4, possibly. High risk, high reward; she sighed, knowing that was Bell's signature mindset by now, with the Dungeon especially.
However, it was Hestia Familia that had their minds going a million kilomeders an hour. If what Bell said was true and they pulled it off, Welf, Lili, and Haruhime would be eligible to push to level 5; and could reach the requirement in joining their friends on the grand quest. Of course, Mikoto had insisted on joining them, too.
In the end, the group agreed to Bell's ambitious plan, and set out after making proper preparations for their adventure.
"You accomplished all of your objectives, yet managed to lose Filvis while making an optional move against one of our enemies?"
"Yes, Lord Enyo" the tall woman said smoothly, "I saw the captain of Hestia Familia out alone with his goddess, and didn't think it was an opportunity we could pass on"
"Well, I can't blame you after all" He hummed, "Had you been able to kill Hestia there, You'd have been able to easily kill him, too, and the others might have been able to kill the strong ones left in the Valley… Oh well. Filvis was a strong and loyal pawn, but her loss isn't overly consequential to our endgame; she won't divulge anything to them"
"Of course, but I think this blunder has a silver lining"
"Oh? What might that be?"
"Bell Cranel has grown to the point of being able to hold myself, Filvis, and Corona at bay on his own, despite public records stating him to be level 7. He ought to be checked by Filvis alone, and yet…"
"I see, so the Hestia captain ought to be more of a priority than he currently is? Hmph, a level 7, ridiculous… something is strange with that one; I hadn't even heard of him a mere few years ago. To be so strong even as such a high level on top of that is suspicious; shall I leave it to you, Madeira?"
The woman's lips curved into a wide, sadistic smile, "I was praying you would allow that, lord Enyo"
Her deity returned the smile, "Do as you please"
"Hello Aedan, Alfia!" Hestia greeted the two a while after Bell and the others left to enter the Dungeon for their expedition, "I wanted to talk to you two for a little bit if that's alright"
"That's perfectly fine goddess" he responded, Alfia nodding in agreement.
"Thank you! Er, actually I've been putting this together for some time now, ever since I found out about what you were planning to do" the petite goddess held out a large packet of papers.
"It's a compilation of research I did on things that could help you all. I could probably found out more, but it may not be any use if I don't give it to you in time for you to go through"
Aedan took the pack curiously, talking as he began to sift its contents, "What sort of things are included in this research?"
"Well, I came down from Tenkai pretty recently, so I remember a good bit about the artefacts you're trying to find, so I put everything that came to mind about those in there. That's most of it, honestly. Oh! There's also everything I can remember and find about the Spirits themselves there, too!"
"This is very substantial goddess, and a great help. We should have plenty of time to go through this while the others are away" he nodded with a smile.
Hestia puffed up her large chest with pride, "Don't underestimate a bookworm goddess!" her exclamation earning a chuckle from him and a quiet laugh from Alfia.
"Miss Filvis, I understand your loyalties, but you can truly make this much easier on yourself" Alicia was beginning to become frustrated with the interrogation of their prisoner.
The others that had Penia's blessing were stripped of the falna and were transitioning into being out from under Evilus' thumb, but Filvis was different. Being from the Familia of the main suspect for Evilus' mastermind, she had to remain detained until some answers could be drawn from her.
Of course, they had yet to resort to anything unsavory. Finn had left herself, Riveria, Lefiya, and Aiz to the work for now. Lefiya being the most effective, but still unable to get anything useful from their interactions. It seemed to have a positive effect, if nothing else.
"I will say again, I cannot nor would I betray my lord's trust; call me and my actions what you will"
"Frankly, I don't care about that; what I care about is the safety of this city and my Familia. If you have any sense of that care left in you, then please tell me something" her sharp words were met with only silence, and she sighed.
"So be it. I'll leave it here for the day; you can expect Lefiya and Riveria by sundown" she said, lying as the pair would actually arrive at noon, but they needed to confuse the prisoner's sense of time, according to Finn.
Two weeks into their expedition, things were going well.
Having made their way to the safe room on the 39th floor, they noted that only two quests remained to be completed below that level: collecting ten kilos of adamantite from the deep levels, and twenty Fomoire's horns as well, both for substantial rewards.
Once his Familia, Mikoto and the others, as well as Daphne, Cassandra, Aisha, Lyd, Ray, Wiene, Uskari, and Lidari- in addition to Kiera and a few Amazons of Kali Familia- were all rested and ready to move on, they dove below, progressing quickly through the floors to their goal.
"Man, thanks to Welf's arrows, this adventure has been very manageable" Iris hummed, holding her bow across her stomach as they marched away from an exhausted adamantite vein.
"His equipment just keeps getting better and better; he's been working on it every single day for months now" Oriana agreed.
"Anvil-head is good at what he does, Lili will say that" their senior noted, making sure to be loud enough for the man to overhear.
"Glad to hear you like that new lance, Shrimp"
"Hmph!" Lili did think that the weapon crafted for her was superb, but she wouldn't say it out loud, certainly not right now. For shorter fighters like her, having the reach of a polearm was reassuring, should she need it.
Bell smiled, enjoying the feeling of adventuring with the others again after so long. It had been over a year since he'd been able to; still, he knew that if things went well before long, they might have a definite chance of sticking with him and Ryu as they went on their grand quest with the others.
Balor was a terrifying sight to behold as usual. His massive bulk overshadowing the army of monsters that surrounded him, which were each already larger and far stronger than the Minotaur above. Frankly, Balor didn't even feel like he could push Bell to Level up if he fought him alone, but that wasn't the goal for this dive.
Bell would be drawing his attention and attacks, though. His strongest allies would be led by Ryu to bring him down, while their Xenos companions helped the others bring down and keep control over the other monsters that would harass them. Welf's magic weapons and standard equipment alike continued to shine as they had up to that point in the expedition, allowing the army level 3's and 4's to take down monsters a whole threat level above them, as their aces whittled down the Ram King.
All the while Bell used the Rex to train his Endurance and Strength. Still, he idly noted that even Balor couldn't muster the power to push him back or harm him more than slightly, despite their supposed level difference.
'This just goes to show how strong those three are' he thought to Filvis and the other two unknown assailants. The leader was far stronger than the Rex before him, he was sure of that.
If nothing else, he noted that Balor would not suffice as a challenge to level up when he was ready for his next adventure. But for their current one, Ryu killing it along with Aisha, Lidari, and Uskari was more than enough. He smiled as they wrapped up the battle and moved onto the safe zone, seeing that nobody was seriously injured.
Dipping into the 51st floor after everyone had plenty of time to explore the safe zone above and rest, Bell felt a resonance with his skill on the floor.
"Ryu, do you feel that?"
"Yes, I believe he must be here"
"What're you guys talkin' about?" Ouka frowned, expecting trouble.
"Our skills are activating, which on this floor, must mean that Cadmus is spawned and waiting" Bell smiled.
Lili matched his look, "Master Bell, if Lili remembers, there was another quest asking for water from Cadmus Spring; if we were able to also get the Cadmus Hide…" vallis symbols practically shone in her eyes. Laughing, Bell nodded.
"We'll need to be cautious; it's more than I planned on us doing, but since we're already down here, why not? I'll take the lead, Ryu, please bring up the rear"
In the end, it was a good call.
Overflowing with loot, their expedition made a safe return to Orario. The informal alliance of their familia had been making better and more improved dives into the Dungeon, but this had been the greatest since Bell and the others left for the 100th floor so long ago. Miach- despite the small size of his Familia- was ranked somewhere in the middle of those in all of Orario, while Takemikazuchi was in the top half ambiguously.
Hestia Familia, though, was undisputedly at the top. After a very recent beginning, and a logarithmic rise through the hierarchy. This last expedition only cemented that positioning.
"Hahahaha, congratulations everyone!" Hestia cheered, throwing a bunch of papers everywhere, "I can't believe how well you all did"
Emma, Karen, Iris, Leo, Lucia, Gita, Primo, Gina, and Love all levelled up, finally reaching level 4, and only one Dungeon dive after Oriana. Laughing, she quipped, "Goodness, you guys caught me up so quickly"
Welf, Haruhime, and Lili all did the same, earning the right to move into the realm of first class adventurers. For Lili and Haruhime, this mostly meant the right to go with Bell and the others on their grand quest. Welf was of the same mind, but even more then the level up, his eyes were drawn to another part of his update that made him grin widely.
"Yes! I'm glad all that work I put in on the safe zones didn't go to waste" his Blacksmith ability had gone up to A rank, while a new, unique developmental ability was available to be the obvious choice. So without hesitation, he chose the Enchanter ability. Ryu also earned the ability to level up, though she refrained from doing so as her stats were not yet ideal.
Still, she, Uskari, and Lidari marveled at all being able to level up so relatively soon after their last ordeal.
"With a bit more of a push, we could go on ahead" Lidari muttered.
"We shouldn't rush; make the most of it, like we were told" Uskari told him.
Bell though, had much more modest gains to show for the effort. They were still amazing to anyone else, but to him, seeing only a couple hundred or so points total on his status was more of a letdown than anything, compared to his previous results. Still, he knew this was only to be expected, and decided to go for a walk to help ease his mind.
That it served a dual purpose in patrolling the city was a bonus.
Losing his thoughts while his feet carried him aimlessly, he almost ran right into a shorter form in front of him before he stopped on a dime.
"Mister Bell" Rye was standing before him, cleaned up and dressed in decent cloths; actually, in probably the best he owned. Despite his Familia becoming patrons for Maria's Orphanage, they couldn't support them into total luxury. Much as he'd like to, they were at least able to amply provide for them, and allow Maria to care for all the children she could in a way that didn't overburden her.
"Hello Rye; did you need to ask me something?" he smiled kindly.
"Er, well… I, I just turned 13 and-"
"Ah! Your birthday!? I didn't know, did someone mention it? Hang on, what would you like for your birthday Rye? If I can get it, I'll~" Bell's rambling was cutoff as Rye laughed.
"S-sorry mister Bell, but you looked funny. Um… I didn't say that for you to get me something; but I talked with momma Maria. She said you guys were supposed to return yesterday, so I waited until now to be sure. She's still against it, but since I'm 13, I can choose to become an adventurer if I want, and- well…" Realizing what the younger boy was saying, Bell still patiently waited for him to express it in his own words.
"Will… will you let me join your Familia?!" keeping his smile as Rye shut his eyes and bowed; Bell came and wrapped his arm around him, pulling him along as his eyes snapped up to him.
"Let's go on back home and talk to the others; it isn't just my decision, but you have my support at least, Rye" he already knew the others would go along with him, but needed Rye to understand that nobody in Hestia Familia had the final word until they all had a say.
Rye smiled and moved ahead of him, pulling him along as he led Bell back toward his own home in the quickly darkening city.
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