2 Journey across the Orario

The next morning. Somewhere in Daedalus Street.

Several children have appeared outside the front door of Maria's Orphanage.

The commotion was audible even on the other street.

"Boss, what do you mean you are leaving us?! What about Mother Maria? What are we going to do?"

"Bart, listen," Gin said while putting his hand on the shoulder of a half-elven child who was almost a head taller than him. "If we don't come back, that would probably mean we found a familia that would take us in… or we have been kidnapped. Either way, we probably won't be able to come back, so you will be the boss from now on."

Hearing these words, Bart was shocked for a second. Before he started thinking about all the good things that happened in the few years he lived in the orphanage with Gin - him challenging Gin, being brutally beaten up, and even becoming a best friend.

Everything that was piled up in his heart wanted to get out.

His eyes started tearing, while he was unable to say anything coherent.

"B-bo.. *sniff* boss, but how can I-I do…?"

However, he was again interrupted by a firm voice.

"Bart, you must be strong. Keep training and try to become a Guild employee. I know you can do this," Gin said, already turning around and looking at the destination ahead - the Babel. "I will probably come back later, so we can still be friends, but, again, you must take care of everyone in the orphanage. Just keep the same rules, and things should be fine."

"T-thanks, boss! I know you will succeed and get into a good familia! *sniff* I promise I will take care of everyone here. You can… you can rest assured!"

"I knew it, Bart. Everything is on you from now on," he said to a tear-eyed child.

After that, all the children who appeared nearby while Gin and his friends were talking were also somewhat red-eyed.

Before Gin was able to say anything, he heard a kind and caring voice that always brought warmth and happiness to all children at the orphanage:

"Gin, you must take care of Alfia and Meteria," Maria said with a heavy smile while holding a small bag in her hands. "I always knew you never wanted to become a Guild employee, but an adventurer… I just didn't think this day would come so soon…."

"Mother Maria…" he said, with a complicated tone and heavy heart.

"Haha, don't be entangled, Gin. I knew that this would happen, so please take this bag that would help you along your way. Don't forget that you will always be welcome back."

"Mother Maria, I will always remember your kindness. I promise you will be happy when you see me come back to visit."

"I hope so… Good luck, Gin. Good luck, Alfia and Meteria."

"Bye!" "See you later!" "I hope you join Zeus Familia!" "Bye, guys!"

Numerous kind words have been said when the trio went out from their home to the world unknown.

"Let's go…."

***

Orario was indeed a metropolis where life boiled even in the early morning. East Main Street has already been somewhat crowded, forcing the traveling children to hold their hands to not get separated in traffic.

Numerous races already went out of their way to prepare to open their taverns, cafes, and shops. Some of them were strong dwarves carrying ale barrels to their pubs, while somewhat sophisticated-looking elves were opening their numerous stores.

Some prums who were suspected to be supporters carried heavy bags - following their respective adventurers.

Gin even saw a tall human adventurer that had a company of 4 Amazonesses holding onto his arms.

However, none of that made him lose his focus since he knew that if one got lost on their long journey, it would pretty much mean that they would be lost forever.

The city was huge, and the only way to find Freya Familia's manor that Gin remembered was to go to the tower, ask for the road leading to Coliseum, and then turn 90 degrees to the right and follow that road until the city walls. The road he was looking for and didn't know the name for was South Main Street.

Sometime after their ambitious journey started, the silence was broken by an important question.

"Are we going to the big tower?" asked Meteria, after asking Gin to stop and sighing heavily.

"No, but we only know one way to where we are going, so we must come to the tower first."

"By the way, Alfia, what did Mother Maria put in the bag?" Gin asked since he was too focused on pedestrian traffic maneuvering and gave the bag to Alfia right after they had left the orphanage.

"Some rye bread, water bottle, and more than 1,000 Valis," she replied after some thought, but then nodded to herself and immediately added:

"We should go back to Mother Maria to thank her later, Gin."

"I agree," agreed the kindest one of the three.

"Didn't we promise to come back? Every single person from our orphanage who became an adventurer always sent some money back - even that werewolf guy. Was it Yanric or Yanren?" he said while squinting his eyes due to the sun that reflected itself from the Babel right onto his eyes. "Anyhow, we won't be the first to be ungrateful to Mother Maria."

Next hour Gin and Alfia have been walking without saying any words, with only Meteria making occasional "Wow" sounds before they slowed down for a bit.

"Ahem… Gin, can you tell that story of the *cough* Little Red Riding Hood *cough* again, please."

"Again…" muttered Gin, before thinking again about if his decision to tell all the fairy tales from his previous life to the audience of orphan kids was a good choice.

The biggest issue was that all of them would have a favorite story they would like to hear multiple times. And, don't even get him started about the happy endings and how many children wanted to go to sleep right at those moments - a short moment of happiness in their lives…

"Somewhere in a faraway land lived a girl…" he shook his head and started retelling the story for the 18th time…

***

3 hours later, the kids finally arrived at the tower.

It was already close to noon, their journey being a true challenge for their age.

The hot sun was striking down over their heads - as if reminding people that they should get into the Babel and Dungeon, only to grind those magic crystals.

'I need to find an elven, cat, or human woman so that they will help us with directions….' Gin decided before looking around the square that surrounded the Babel.

Plenty of adventurers were available to ask, but this operation had no room for error.

And using his childish appearance to abuse the maternal instinct of female adventurers was something he planned on doing.

Not even a minute later, a cute, green-haired human girl with a long, around 69-inches long, staff and a D-cup chest has appeared nearby. It was clear she was waiting for her party.

Staff indicated that she was most likely a mage or a healer. Combined with her youthful appearance and the fact that she was waiting for someone, she was a perfect target…

***

"Excuse me, Ma'am! Can you please help me with something?"

"...?"

"What do you need help with, child?"

"Ma'am, thanks for the help! I just wanted to know if you could show us the road that leads to the Coliseum. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find the road signs here."

"Coliseum?" she said while holding her finger to her lips and looking around.

After 10 seconds of her looking around and then asking another adventurer for confirmation, she pointed to the same road the kids had come from, confirming Gin's previous speculation on their path.

"Coliseum should be this way. By the way, what do you need Coliseum for? Maybe I can help?"

"Thanks, ma'am, but we only needed to know the direction of the Coliseum. We are going to the south of Orario."

"Well… In that case, I wish you good luck, kids. Don't get lost on the road! Bye-bye!" her plump chest jumped a bit when she said the last words.

"It was nice to meet you!" "Bye!"

However, after finally identifying the end direction of their journey, Gin saw that, even though they haven't been walking for some time, Meteria and Alfia were still quite exhausted.

The former was almost collapsing.

"Well, let's make a break, then we will continue."

There was no need to push things too much - no one was chasing them.

"Thanks…" was the brittle voice of Meteria before she almost collapsed on the grass off the road.

"Gin, it is so far away from the orphanage," Alfia earnestly said while opening the bag and sharing the pieces of bread and some water with the three of them. "Can we really come back?"

"We won't need to go back because we will have a new place to stay today. I know it."

His reply only made Alfia raise her eyebrows as if she was not totally convinced, while Meteria forced a weak smile in-between bites.

However, Gin didn't see that she was already on the verge of tears from all the pain 3 hours of walking had brought her. Especially the few times she has already fallen due to random adventurers accidentally bumping and pushing her on the road.

Another long road, spanning around the half of Orario, awaited the young trio.

***

Several hours later. Fifth District, South Orario.

The 3 children walked up to an imposing and grand front gate of the massive manor sitting on a hill.

The state itself seemed absolutely out of place with the general area surrounding it. Yet, if one would enter the city from its southern gate, they would almost immediately see the truly enormous estate to their right.

Towering stone fence with strangely sophisticated engravings, at least 5 meters in height, covered the whole place from all four sides. The gate was full of intricate and refined patterns and sharp corners - giving a feeling of both majesty and danger. The area inside the gates was full of white and yellow flowers blooming over the perfectly green plain. The only space not filled by either grass or flowers was the road to the manor itself.

The utterly white marble building, consisting of 2 massive wings and 5 or 6 floors, was indeed a sight to behold.

No, "building" would be the wrong word.

A palace, yes.

A magnificent, imposing, and grand palace.

The estate itself reminded Gin of some old European architecture. Perhaps "Spanish Empire" would be the most likely term to describe the overall theme of the whole place.

The bright blue sky with a radiant sun clearly showed that it was well past noon, but before approaching the gates, the trio decided to take another break. They wanted their first impression with the goddess to be as good as possible.

"Finally…" said Alfia, while Meteria only breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Let's wait for a little and finish the remaining food," he said while opening the supplies bag the matron gave them.

However, to Gin's surprise, there was nothing left to eat already. The only good thing was that they still had some Valis - enough to eat once or twice and maybe get a very cheap room somewhere.

They had made some stops here and there during their trip, exhausting their supplies.

It was a massive mistake for Gin to not take care of the food issue beforehand.

He was too focused on the familia issue, neglecting the journey itself. The mistake was not fatal this time, but it was still a reminder to him that he was careless.

If not for Mother Maria's kindness, they would be probably starving at this point.

At least the other preparations were still ready - like the letter he wrote beforehand.

After another 10 minutes, the children have finally rested well enough to partake in the next part of their journey - the conversion with the gatekeeper.

***

A sweaty werewolf gatekeeper of Freya Familia stood proud near the gate on this sunny day. Everything was going great - he was able to show himself during the daily "Battle Wilderness" sessions that took place enough to make others fear his strikes as a strongest level 2.

As a reward for being the last to stand on the field (although with the help of some sneak attacks), he was rewarded with the privilege of guarding the front gate - the gate of HER estate.

'Maybe she would even pass by the gate today? I am so excited!' he thought.

However, to his regret, it was not a goddess walking out from the manor but some poor-looking kids walking up to him. He didn't even want to talk to them if he was being honest.

"Excuse me, Sir. Is this the Freya Familia estate?" said a small, silver-haired child, holding a folded letter in his hands.

"Yes, brat," the werewolf said while holding the long halberd in his hands. "What do you need?"

"I brought a letter from Lady Penia to Lady Freya. Can you please deliver it to her? It's very important."

The letter in his hands was now in the hands of the guard.

"Ehhmmm… Who is Lady Penia? Never heard of it…" he replied while holding the somewhat crumpled letter and thinking about something.

"We were asked to bring her the response, so can we stay here at the gate, please?" said the boy, without giving the guard an opportunity to reject.

"Hmmmmm…" he hummed while scratching his head. "Sssssssuuure…"

Not even a few seconds later, he called some muscular 6-feet-tall cat person who was patrolling the estate and asked him to give the letter to Lady Freya. Even though he didn't fully believe that any god would send 3 children (or maybe prums?) to deliver it, he didn't want to take any chances with the letter.

"Thanks, Sir. We really appreciate it."

"No problem, just wait here until she responds."

***

However, no one knew that a pair of eyes not far from the group watched the whole conversation from above.

"While I know that the letter can't be from an old hag of poverty, it still makes me quite intrigued about what is in it," said a dignified Goddess of Love and Beauty, sounding somewhat playful.

"If anything, I would want to recruit these blooming souls. Do you want to fake a letter to get into my familia?! …Ha. Hee-hee! Ha-ha-ha!"

A big upward smile appeared on her face.

Not a minute later, a follower knocked on her quarters' door.

"Enter," was the kind yet regal voice behind the door.

"Lady Freya, we've got a messenger from Lady Penia who brought this letter. They are waiting for a response at the front gate," the cat person said after kneeling on one knee.

"Give it to me," she said, her voice full of impatience, and immediately moved closer to the window with the letter in her hands, only to start reading.

'Dear, Lady Freya…'

***

"Gin, are you sure it's going to work?" Alfia asked, her voice full of anxiety.

It was already several minutes since they had been standing at the estate's front gate, but it didn't seem like there was any response.

The letter itself was pretty short, and Gin didn't know if Freya was just busy or genuinely didn't care. Nevertheless, he planned on staying there for around two hours if needed - just so they would have enough time to find a suitable inn to stay in before tomorrow.

"I am very confident. Trust me. It won't be long befo—"

However, he was interrupted by the opening of the gate and the appearance of the same cat person who had gone to deliver their letter.

The hearts of the 3 of them tightened as if souls waiting to be judged by the words of God.

But the following words they heard made them feel like a heavy weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

"Lady Freya would like to see the three of you. Follow me."

***

The road to the Goddess' room was truly a sight to behold.

Perhaps the Folkvangr itself could have been added as one of the historical landmarks of Orario with how complicated and detailed everything looked like.

Starting from the perfect marble exterior, the children went in to see pristine, perfect-white corridors.

Almost everything in the interior was decorated with gold and silver.

Numerous pictures of what seemed to be random landscapes appeared on the walls.

The sounds of fighting were also heard.

'That must be the "Battle Wilderness" since it is not the sunset yet…,' Gin thought.

The pillars they passed near the staircase were also carved with some unknown patterns and what seemed like nordic runes.

Spacious windows brought a strange addition to the atmosphere since they all made it look like the central part - the garden - was indeed something right out of the ancient legends.

On the top floor, the trio has finally walked to their destination.

A gentle knock on the door from the muscular cat and then…

***

"Come in," a soprano voice sounded somewhere deep in the room.

The door opened, but everyone was incredibly tense.

As usual, the silence was broken by a certain girl…

"Wow… so pretty…" muttered the white-haired child the moment the trio walked into the, what appeared to be royal chambers, and she saw the appearance of the goddess.

"Ha-ha-ha! Thanks, child. You are quite pretty yourself," Freya said with a warm and caring smile, making the young girl smile in response to the praise.

However, in the following sentence, she changed her tone to a completely different one.

"And, are you the one who claims to be the next captain of my familia?"

'God, the charm is so hard to resist… Think about your goals - right, my goals!' Gin frantically collected his thoughts.

"Yes, Lady Freya. As a future youngest level 7 adventurer in Orario, I also brought my future level 7 vice-captain with me today to join."

The effects of his words could not have been described as anything else rather than incredibly amusing to one of the strongest figures in Orario. She wasn't even listening properly when he spoke - she was captivated by the beautiful souls in front of her.

'Such beautiful souls that are about to bloom at such a young age,' she thought.

To her knowledge, Freya would take them in even if she would just see them on the street, but now she wanted to wait for the child to finish speaking - it was clear to her that he did prepare some sort of speech to convince. She really wanted to hear that.

His soul fluctuations as he tried to resist her deliberately toned-down charm were also adding to her total amusement.

"Also, we didn't come empty-handed," he said before stretching out his hand and summoning Minazuki. "I know that such an ability is not a common one."

"Very interesting," Freya finally said while focusing all her attention on the sword that appeared in the hands of the young boy.

A sword with particles of the soul.

She has never seen anything like that.

But was it not for moments like this she was recruiting people in the first place? To find new and exciting things.

She didn't know anything about the sword, but she knew that she wanted to see more.

And the children in front of her would bring her just that.

However, it was clear to her that the boy wanted to say something more. He showed his ability akin to a negotiation.

The thought of negotiation happening between her and a small child in front of her amused her for a second, making her lips curl upward.

She waited for what he would ask for, but unfortunately, he seemed to be unable to start.

'Things didn't go as planned, Gin?' she inwardly smiled. She was pretty impressed already and wanted to see the children as part of her familia, but since he wanted to ask for something, she decided to help:

"Well done, I'm really impressed," the goddess said while tilting her head. "But it seems like there is something you would like to ask for?"

"Ehem… Yes, Lady Freya," Gin hurriedly replied before taking a breath and pointing with both hands to Alfia and Meteria. "My friends that came to join with me today are sick. I don't think Meteria would be able to be an adventurer at all with how bad her condition is. However, I assure you that Alfia's condition is better, and her talent is truly outstanding. Alfia and I are absolutely guaranteed to become first-tier adventurers in a short time. All I ask is that you would provide the medical treatment to both of them, and we would repay double the costs as members of your familia. It is not a loss-making business for you, Lady Freya."

To this, Freya slightly frowned while Gin panicked.

'Well, I tried my best….'

Everyone other than the living manifestation of Love and Beauty stopped breathing.

Silence ensued for a minute.

Then another one.

Heartbeat could be heard in the air.

Eventually, the goddess put her index finger to her lips in a thoughtful gesture.

The next moment, everything changed.

She started radiating majesty in all directions, making it hard to even say a single word to her.

However, through the endless streams of oppression, Gin felt some… appreciation?

"Very well, I shall grant your request," the beautiful goddess playfully smiled and said in a sincere and affectionate tone. "You will all become members of Freya Familia from now on."

"Lina," she said somewhat loud while also ringing the bell before a young elven woman appeared in the room.

'A chamberlain, perhaps?' Gin concluded.

"Lady Freya?"

"Give each of them the room and bring them to me today for Status updates."

"Yes, Lady Freya," the elven maiden respectfully replied.

Before the children started moving, they all bowed and thanked the kind goddess.

"Thank you, Lady Freya," their voices brimming with gratitude.

"Ha!" She laughed and smiled like a caring mother. "It is never an issue to help my own children. I hope you three will keep on bringing me more surprises."

Her lips curled upwards in a playful manner.

There was no need to go back.

A long, exhausting journey was finally over…

However, before Gin was able to leave the room to follow Meteria, Alfia, and Lina, he heard her voice:

"Don't forget what you promised me in the letter, Gin. I am very optimistic about you…."

Joyous laughter echoed in the hallway before the door finally closed.