Chapter 34

Today was a rare day, as it was a break from the dungeon. The day was peaceful and my familia members went about their business. It had been another month of grinding since my first stunt which I repeated from time to time.

The use of monster bait had helped me in increasing my stats at a fast rate and recouped the loss of Valis spent on potions used to accomplish said feat with a bit of profit.

The 35% percent cut was deducted of course for the familia use. In the past two months we had amassed around 3 million Valis in familia funds.

It wasn't much but it's was still a lot for newbies to make, well mostly me but that was just from the 35 percent cut made to the Valis of each dive in the dungeon for 2 months .

It was time for patrol once again with the Astraea familia. We had grown awfully close with each other. We interact a lot and they visited us a lot too.

Well mostly because of my interesting recipes that they had taken a liking to and Lili.

I wanted to go to the hostess of fertility soon but I was too tired after my activities daily.

My schedule was to wake up, eat, go to the Astraea familia to drop our goddess, go to guild and talk with Rose and Shizu briefly before dungeon diving.

Then after diving, I join the night patrol with the Astraea familia. On my Rare days off I join the day shift. This cycle had been monotonous since the meeting with Astraea.

'Luckily Syr hadn't done anything, well I would try going there tonight' I thought before exiting the manor with Bahamut.

"Have you been having fun at the Star dust garden" I asked Bahamut as we walked the streets. The other familia members were probably already in the dungeon or were on their way to it.

"Yea it's fun to hang out with Astraea. Its getting boring to just visit daily though" she said.

Why didn't I think of creating a small game to keep her busy. She had said that she was bored a lot of times, but I didn't take it seriously.

"I have a small game idea, will try to make something fun for you to keep busy with" I said to which she smiled and nodded.

We soon arrived at the star dust garden. I then knocked on the door, Ryuu was the one that responded. Well, she still hadn't opened up to me.

'Maybe if I talk about Rize, she would talk more with me' I thought as I was invited into the manor with Bahamut. To my surprise I wasn't the only guest today. I instantly recognized two people in the group of guests.

One was Shakti Varma and the other was Ardee Varma. Although about 7 years currently from canon, Shakti looked exactly the same as in the series only a bit younger.

Astraea and her familia members were also in the room, everything about the atmosphere gave bad vibes. I introduced myself and my goddess after which, I was lead to a seat.

This meeting was called by the Ganesha familia for whatever reason. I was then briefed on the series of events along with Bahamut.

The evilus had been attacking a magic stone factory, which a patrolling group from the Astraea familia found. They then called Shakti to discuss their recent movements.

Shakti then said that this was the fourth attack time they had attacked a magic stone factory and they always took the hammering system of magic stones. It seemed that they couldn't figure out what they were planning.

This was seriously bad news. It was a sign that the start of the great feud was about to begin.

The seven days of death, where Orario will become a sea of flames and the streets would be bathed in blood. Ardee was meant to die around this period which I would do all I could to prevent.

We talked for a while about the topic with Shakti, Alise and their familia members before deciding to start our patrol.

I would have to ban dungeon dives for the familia for 2 weeks just to be safe. My familia members were still just level one so no need to risk their lives in this bloody battle.

I also had to stock up on supplies for up to two months from today. I didn't know what would happen to the economy of Orario after these dark events.

I bid Bahamut farewell and left on patrol. For the next 2 weeks, I planned go on patrol with the Astraea and Ganesha familia to be of help with the ongoing situation.

I was was happy with my hoarding mentality now as I had a decent stock of potions and elixirs at the manor.

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Today I was on patrol with the Astraea familia. The sky and atmosphere looked gloomy as we walked the streets.

"The city seems dead" said Ryuu as she rarely starts a conversation.

"Yea but things are a bit better compared to before" said Alise in reply. I was about to join in the conversation before a little girl approached our group and thanked the girls for saving her yesterday and left.

"This is a sign that what we have done is right" said Alise while puffing her chest proudly, this earned her a few laughs from us. She somewhat lightened the mood.

Another incident occurred soon. A persons cry for help could be heard, so we rushed over and discovered that a person had been robbed by a man.

The man noticed our presence and tried to run but was quickly stopped by Ardee, who was nearby. We then asked him to return what was stolen.

"Let me go" the man screamed while yelling insults at us.

"It's all your fault, you so called adventurers haven't defeated the evilus yet and keep saying you will protect us" he said still screaming.

"I lost my job and everything because you can't do your job, how else do I live if I don't steal huh? Answer me" he said in a hoarse voice while sobbing.

No one could speak as the atmosphere was awkward. What he said was partially true and some adventurers that weren't evilus were making the situation worse.

The civilians were frustrated and wanted an outlet for their rage. Now I understood why the Astraea familia died out. They were basically forced by the circumstances and pressure from the scared people to take more extreme aggressive methods in rooting out the Evilus.

They were kind of justice fanatics, well mostly Alise so I could see it happening. Though I was a bit annoyed by this but what could I do about it now.

The silent atmosphere was broken by Ardee as she approached the man and showed him an understanding smile.

"We understand what you mean, but by stealing you become part of the problem. Don't steal anymore" she said. The man showed no positive response to her words.

"I will let you go, if you promise to never steal again" she added to which the man showed surprise.

"Ardee, we were meant to lock him up as punishment, you can't just let him go" Ryuu said as she seemed annoyed about the whole incident.

"We will just have to wait an see if Ardee is right. She caught him so it's her decision to make even if we don't agree" I said. To which Alise smiled and nodded in agreement. Seeing this Ryuu said nothing. The man was still in disbelief that he was being let go.

"Are you really letting me go" he said apprehensively.

"If you return what you stole and never steal again, I will let you go" Ardee said.

After that the man retired the stolen item and left. Ryuu wanted to protest at Ardee's decision again but we stopped here.

"Ryuu forgiving someone is another form of justice" Ardee said.

"Sigh, Ardee I know you are a good and kind person but trust me this may come back to haunt you. I hope you are prepared for the consequences of your actions" I said. I remembered the incident in the dungeon involving Lili.

Not everyone with a sob story was good. People should have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

"I know and, I am prepared" she said in reply.

'Well that didn't stop you from dying' I wanted to say this in reply but just nodded and kept my thoughts to myself.