6 We Meet Again

His decision seemed to trigger a strange response from his patron, though that thing's personality seemed to have taken a hit and Verhund's connection with it was poorer than ever.

He wondered what was the cause. Although there were some beings in the last mission who were strong enough damage the darn thing, Verhund was sure none of them had the means to actually reach it.

In a position where this boss of his could do whatever it wanted and leave scot-free, how did it get this messed up?

In the past, its actions made sense. It was always after something somewhere, letting him and his 'companions' do the dirty job of stealing attention or bringing the objective to light.

Even if that thing always chose the hostile path, it was never really bent on mindless murder, it just did whatever it took to reach its goal, though Verhund never understood what they were.

But now the kingpin was actually sending a voice command - full of static, even - ordering him to have a vacation, since when was this big cheese this understanding?

Though the place he was sent to was filled with gods... Verhund soon came with a certain realization and struggled to keep his grin away. He was back in public, he had to remember he was a normal person at boring times.

The monster threat had already been contained by then, allowing people to once again safely flock to the streets.

Verhund didn't gather much from the passing pedestrian, word of mouth was slow no matter how used people were in passing it.

Sighing at this awkward civilization, Verhund climbed a random building, receiving odd and wary gazes from the crowd as he searched for the trails the monsters left behind in their little escapade.

Moving along the rooftops, he was actually surprised by the situation when he saw the actual traces.

There were many lines stretching and twisting throughout the many districts around the stadium's, but the actual area the monsters came from was mostly fine.

The monsters seemed to have set their eyes on their target at the time of their escape or even before it happened.

Verhund spotted two big paths taken by monsters, one went to the marketplace before turning and heading towards a district where things were even more cramped than the rest of the city, funnily enough, the simple housing design there looked much more modern than outside of it, if you didn't take the unstable grounds and most likely half-baked foundations underneath them.

The other and greatest route made by one of the monsters would fit nicely as a new road, it was as wide as the medium-sized streets of the city and most definitely longer than them, crossing a district and a half, it headed straight to the closest city gate before stopping abruptly midway through.

If Verhund took his earlier conjecture of the monsters really having a certain target to reach, then the former trail was that of a monster chasing something or someone and the latter was of one aiming to ram the gates down for some reason, it might be in his interest in taking a trip outside later on.

For now, Verhund took a last look around and located a three-stories high restaurant not that far, he remembered passing by it before, though he wasn't interested in entering and having a meal at the time.

He didn't have any money then anyway.

Dropping to the ground right next to the restaurant, Verhund stood in front of the door standing right at the corner of the building, he looked inside... and then stepped back to have another look at the structure.

There was a board at the entrance naming the place as 'Maiden's Paradise', considering the homely look it had from the outside, Verhund had supposed it was a family's restaurant but... it was actually a pub?

Verhund just shrugged and ignored the lack of festivity in the pub's design and entered inside, the place seemed popular enough, they probably had some modicum of food servings.

The first floor seemed to be the only place accessible to guests, so it probably doubled as an actual house for the workers inside.

There were many tables taken by parties of adventurers, no doubt some of those who worked to exterminate the escaping monsters from earlier, a waitress awaited by the side of the most renowned teams around.

Verhund spared nothing but a glance at the people since he was more interested in the interior, which actually looked like a proper pub. He sat by the counter - which was strangely empty - and waited for a waitress to come.

It didn't take long for a small girl in the waitress' uniform to leave the kitchen and come attend to him.

"You seem new to the place, friend! Here, see anything you'd like?"

The menu was half-half drinks and food, filling both front and back. Verhund didn't lose much time in it and soon made his decision.

"Spaghetti and Stroganoff, please! Also, just some water."

"Right away, sir! Thanks for the patronage!"

She quickly noted his wish and ran back to the kitchen, coming back not much longer and sitting in the stool on the other side of the counter, finally having something other than her head peeking over the thing.

"The food's coming in a few! Why don't we talk a bit to pass the time?"

"Sure! Why not? I'm Verhund, you?"

"Cinthia! What brings you to the city? Or is it the same old 'i'm coming on an adventure' thingy?

"Chaos!"

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"People here are so laid back they look like countryside folk. Yet the place is swarming in bloody activities! Isn't it really strange? It smells like an adventure, doesn't it?"

"Are adventures supposed to be so... dark? This is the first time I hear of it!"

"What are you saying, my friend? Adventure has always been a bloody business, people just romanticized the whole thing! It was never a thing of heroes, but that of a wastrel who had no other choice!"

"But if it is, then why are adventurers so famous nowadays?"

"What are they exploring?"

"The dungeon!"

"Oh? Are they colonizing the place, making it safe and proper so that people can live in it?"

"Haha! No way! The dungeon is always spawning monsters from its walls! Aside from a few safe-zones at set floors, it is impossible to inhabit the insides!"

"Well then, what do they do?"

"They explore the dungeon?"

"What for?"

"To become famous? I don't really know, but they seem to be racing to be the first to explore deeper floors."

"Then do they only gain money from monster cores?"

"That and sometimes they drop material for weapons and some other things. Apparently, stuff from deeper floors are worth a lot!"

"Eh... aren't they miners, then?"

"Miners?"

"Yeah. They go down a cave and mine for resources, exploring deeper when trying to find a new spot."

"That... isn't wrong? But it doesn't sound right either... No, actually it...-"

"It doesn't sound nice, does it?"

"Exactly! Now how am I supposed to face other adventures and not laugh at them from now on!?"

"How should I know? Fighting monsters seem like a nice way to pass some time, though."

"You can say that because you're an evil man, I was a pure Maiden until you came along!"

"Now, don't say things that might change the genre! Anyways, isn't this like, a great time for my spaghetti to come and I start to eavesdrop on some min- err, adventurer party that suddenly became really loud for whatever reason?"

"Ah! Your food seems to be ready! Be right back!"

"...I said it as a joke, though."

Verhund really wasn't expecting for things to go this way, and just in time, Cinthia came back with a plate filled with spaghetti and cream as one of the groups served by a waitress started to get louder and cringier due to the drinks.

Verhund, though, kept focused on speaking with the waitress that - for whatever reason - suddenly wanted to accompany him, only involuntarily hearing bits and pieces, enough to know that some victims of one of the monsters were in the pub, sleeping on the second floor.

"Well, good food, and I'm full. Here, for the bill. And thanks for the chat. See you again!"

"Have a nice night, Verhund!"

Verhund was ready to search for an inn or something like that when - strangely enough - his patron contacted him again, this time informing him of a certain location for whatever reason.

Once again on the rooftops, he observed that the objective seemed to be in some ruins adjacent to Daedalus District.

He moved on and reached the ruins in an hour.

Worthy of being recognized as ruins, the place had lots of abandoned and wrecked constructions, rendering him unable to properly navitage through the place.

Verhund noticed from whatever still stood that the place used to be reserved for temples and altars to the gods. If they were abandoned now it either meant that they were moved or people thought it a waste to make offerings to altars when there were gods right in front of them.

If it was the latter, though, it meant that the city had a history of before the gods descended. It was a small town, most probably.

Verhund casually thought of things like these as he walked around closing in on his objective.

After following the indescribable compass in his head, Verhund approached by a lone tree overlooking a good part of the city, a person seemed to be peacefully sleeping under it.

Her body had just reached adulthood, and still expressed a great deal of youthful spirit. Her hair a literal painting of the cosmos, faintly glowing a dark-blue with weak purple stains and multiple-colored starlight everywhere. Her face - as you can surely expect - was beautiful, so much so that even a divine of beauty and love might lose to it.

No more was necessary to describe the fact that this familiar person certainly did not belong between the mortals.

As if realizing someone approaching, the girl - no, woman - stirred, slowly opening her eyes that drowsily turned towards the nearing Verhund.

"We meet again, little Tiamat."

Tiamat looked blankly at Verhund for a few good seconds before her eyes regained clarity.

"YOU BASTARD DOG!"