Chapter 6 - Orario

Hoofing it all the way back to Orario was quite the journey. Thankfully the Artemis Familia was more than capable of acting as our guards the whole way back. It was decided that the Artemis Familia and Hermes' guard would take the credit of slaying the Evilus group as saying I did it would cause a lot of problems. No one argued against it as announcing it would mean I would have countless Familias after me which would be annoying. When we got to Orario, we were greeted by a group of deities at the Main Gate.

Having already sent a messenger in advance, they were all well aware Zeus was among us. They weren't necessarily thrilled that he was there, but given the situation currently going on they were willing to compromise a little. Having Zeus sign an agreement to not take on any new Familia Members during his stay, it was decided he would be Hermes' guest and would not be allowed to partake in most of the Familia activities since he had only Zald left. In addition, once the situation passed and Bella and I were old enough to safely join a Familia...he would have to leave.

"Ya also have to stay away from the bars!! You can only drink at Hermes place!!", Loki shouted, "We ain't footin your bills anymore!!"

"I understand.", Zeus said swallowing his pride for Bella and I.

"Since you have agreed to our terms, you can stay here to raise your grandchildren. Once they are of age though, you must leave as promised.", Freya stated glancing over towards Bella and I.

Shielding Bella from her, I knew Freya would be a major issue given how young Bella was. Knowing that she was looking at our souls, I could see a twinkle in her eyes as she looked at Bella. Leaking some of my pressure on her, I wanted her to understand that I had no qualms with executing her if she targeted Bella.

'He is a feisty one and that is quite a temper he has.', Freya thought, 'They may be off limits for the time being, but I can wait a few years for them to mature. Both of them will be mine.'

"Would yah stop eyeing the kiddos? You are starting to make me think you actually are a pedophile.", Loki snickered.

Ignoring the insult, Freya left immediately since her reason for being there was done. Leaving as well, Loki returned to her residence to likely get drunk. Surprisingly many of the lower ranking Familias came out to greet Zeus as he had directly helped them in past by protecting their Familias or even providing direct aide to them. That said, they were careful to keep the greeting short as to not upset Loki or Freya.

"Even though you can't take the credit for it, I want to thank you again for protecting my precious children.", Artemis said with a polite nod, "Even though I don't let men join, I have no issues pairing up on expeditions with reliable people. When you become an Adventurer, come find us so we can talk."

"Thank you for coming to our aide and protecting us all the way here.", I replied bowing my head respectfully.

Parting ways with them, we followed Hermes back to his residence. Walking into the Traveler's Inn, it was like walking into a nice tavern...if people weren't all gambling and drinking. Bella saw what they were doing and Zeus what was going on, he told her they were playing games. Immediately asking if she could play with them, he said she could when she was older.

"Lydia, can you show them to their rooms?", Hermes asked his Captain.

"Sure.", his Captain said leading us upstairs.

Handing us keys, she told us our room numbers and went back downstairs. Seeing that none of the rooms were numbered, we ended up trying every door till we found the right rooms.

'She is just as lazy as the storyline said...', I sighed finding my room.

It was a standard size inn room with a bed, wardrobe, a desk, and a window. Sighing with frustration, the first damn thing I intended to do when I was older was to buy a house. Staying at an inn or a rundown place Hestia did was a no go. As an up and coming Adventurer, I wanted to start out on the right foot.

'Besides which, I need a good pad for bringing the ladies back too. There are a lot of spoiled Goddesses here that need reined in by me. I will have to take one for the team to protect Bella, such a shame.', I thought with a smirk, 'Just you wait ladies!'

"Just so you are aware, since you are technically a Divine Being...you can knock up the Goddesses here. Keep that in mind when you start courting one or more of them.", Clark warned me telepathically.

"Thanks, I didn't think about that.", I thanked him, "That is something important to think about."

Looking out the window at the city, I admired the view of the place. Even though there was a lot of crap going on in this city, something about it made it feel cozy. Thinking about places I might want to live, I saw a familiar face skipping down the street.

'Oh no...', I thought, 'This can't be right!!'

"Hehe!!! Time to lay on the charm for more booze!!", Aqua giggled approaching the tavern, "I wonder how much booze I can get today!"

'Why is she here!? This is a rip off!!', I thought heading downstairs, 'Damn this Useless Goddess!!'

By the time I was downstairs, Aqua was already performing party tricks. They really weren't that exciting, but the men were fixated on her. Noticing that the women were pissed off for some reason, I looked back at her to see what was really happening. Seeing her twirl around...I saw the reason clear as day.

'...she really doesn't wear panties...', I thought twitching in anger.

Spotting me, she stopped what she was doing and ran over with a smile. Wearing a mischievous look on her face, she asked me if I was a new member. Telling her I was a guest of Hermes, her eyes lit up with excitement. Seeing the smile on her face grow, she asked me another question.

"I see...maybe you could do me a favor, and I can let you have a peek.", Aqua laughed playfully as she lifted her skirt a bit.

'Time to borrow a Goku line...', I thought, "No one wants to see your dirty, old fanny. Go put some panties on!!"

Hermes and the men started cracking up as they pounded the table with their fists. The women spat out there drinks in shock as they hadn't expected me to be so blunt. As for Aqua...she puffed out her cheeks and started flailing her arms around.

"It's not dirty!! I just took a bath!!", she shouted at me, "And I do wear panties, but I make them invisible so perverts don't try to steal them!! Why does everyone call me crazy!!"

"Because if they are invisible everyone can see everything!!", I retorted before cracking a smile, "By the way, is it true you like toads?"

Seeing the look of horror on her face, it was clear she had already quested with Kazuma and company. Rubbing her shoulders trying to calm herself down, she looked at me like I was a demon.

"Where did you hear that!? Who told you about that!?", she pleaded grabbing my shoulders, "Was it Freya!?"

"Huh?", I said pretending to feint ignorance.

"It was, wasn't it!! I knew she was jealous of my flawless beauty!", Aqua proclaimed like an idiot, "I am going to have a word with her!"

Storming off in a huff, I smiled satisfied that she had left.

'She didn't even react when I informed her the men could see her female bits.', I thought with a sigh, 'Aqua really is an idiot...'

Glancing over at Hermes, he was giving me a teasing grin.

"Enjoy it while you can kid. I can tell you when you are an adult, you don't get away with things like that.", Hermes stated with a smirk.

"Meh, it's alright. I heard from a traveling merchant that Aqua's Familia was full of weird people.", I replied.

"They are...and all of them have large amounts of debt.", Lydia sighed rubbing her forehead, "Some of it is owed to us on bar tabs."

'Like Goddess like Familia...', I thought, 'I wonder how bad of a beating Aqua will get from Freya. No way she is going to let a comment like that slide.'

Deciding to go out and explore the city alone, Hermes didn't seem to care given the display of strength he had seen from me several days prior. Taking materials I could sell to craftsmen that I had collected, I sold the materials for a decent price in the market. Since none of what I sold was monster materials, I felt confident I didn't have to worry about the Guild putting their nose in my business. Taking the money and ducking into an alleyway, I stuffed most of it in storage while leaving some money in my pocket to spend.

Wandering around marketplace, I browsed the items they had for sale. The closest I had been to a market like this before was a farmer's market in my old life. My grandparents loved taking us there, and haggling with farmers for fresh produce. Jane and I enjoyed it too because we always got fresh squeezed lemonade from a kind old lady.

'I miss those days...', I thought continuing to walk around, 'I will have to make some lemonade sometime for Bella, I am sure she'd like it.'

After a while of walking around, I was going to explore the area closer to Babel when I spotted someone familiar darting between people. Seeing her chestnut hair under her hood, I realized it was Lily...just a much more adorable version of her. Trying to figure out what she was doing, I realized that she was pickpocketing Adventurers who weren't paying attention. She was small enough that in the dense crowd, they weren't even noticing her cut a hole in their coin pouch and stealing a few coins.

'She is good!', I thought, 'But she has to be careful, that technique won't work on all-'

Before I could finish that thought, she got caught by a more seasoned Adventurer. Grabbing her by the hair, he took the coins she had collected and chucked her into an alley. Instead of pointing out the theft, he decided to keep quiet since it meant he could keep the money. Walking off like nothing had happened, I ran into the alley to check on her. Finding her lying on several broken glass bottles, she didn't even cry a little from it.

"Are you okay?", I asked reaching out to help her.

"I don't need a filthy Adventurers help!", she spat.

"I am not an Adventurer...", I refuted, 'Not yet anyways...'

Looking back at me, she realized I was a kid just like her. Picking herself up, she pulled shards of glass out of herself before dusting off.

"Hold still.", I told her.

"What are you going to do?", she inquired.

'By my Grace you are healed.', I thought using Ark to heal her injuries.

Feeling a warmth she had never experienced wash over her, she didn't know what was happening. In a few seconds the warmth vanished, as did the pain she had been feeling.

"What was that?", she remarked, "It...it doesn't hurt anymore."

"I used one of my skills.", I told her.

"A skill?", she questioned.

"I am from the countryside so I have fought monsters, and learned skills.", I lied.

"Oh!! You were with that group that the God Hermes brought back.", Lily said remembering the commotion earlier in the day.

"So why are you stealing from people?", I asked her.

Since I was her age and had healed her injuries, she must have felt a bit more relaxed around me as she told me her story. Saying that she was born into the Soma Familia, she told me that from the age of 1 she had been out on the streets finding loose coins and pickpocketing. Her parents didn't care about her in the slightest, and expected her to pay her own way through life. Telling me that she was still paying off the time her mother had to nurse her, due to her mother not being able to work during that time, I felt angry at them for that.

'We both had shitty parents...', I thought knowing how bad it hurt, "So you have to find money to eat?"

"And to pay for protection.", she remarked, "If we don't want to get beaten by other Familia members, we have to pay for their mercy. Sometimes it's food, sometimes it's money, and on occasion sometimes we even have to do their laundry. I hate it!! I hate all Adventurers!!"

"I can understand given how hard you have to work.", I agreed, "Why don't you leave the Familia?"

"The last person that tried...they were taken into the Labyrinth and never seen again.", Lily shivered in fear.

'What!? What the fucking hell!?', I thought as I started to get even more angry.

"She was my pickpocketing friend and the only other Pallum child my age in our Familia.", Lily whimpered.

"What about her parents?", I asked.

"They got a thousand valis, and forgot about her.", Lily told me.

Knowing full well that the Soma Familia was full of shit bags, I didn't want Lily to go back. I always felt bad for her because she never really had any option, but to follow them till Bell save her. Not wanting to let her go back there, I grabbed her hand tightly.

"Come back with me to Traveler's Inn.", I stated with determination, "You don't have to go back to place you aren't wanted."

Looking at me like I was crazy, the wheels in her head started turning.

'Why is he being so kind to me?', Lily thought, 'I just met him yet he wants to help. When I look into his eyes...it's like he knows the same pain as me.'

"My parents abandoned me, and never once looked back. If not for a kind old man, I would have died on the streets as an infant. I know it might be hard to trust me, but I want to help you.", I told her, "You shouldn't have to suffer alone..."

"O...okay.", she meekly agreed.

Taking her back to the Traveler's Inn, I asked Hermes for permission since it was his home. Looking at Lily, he looked back to me and gave his blessing. Watching us run up the stairs, Lydia and Asfi elbowed him.

"She is a child you lecherous old man.", Lydia jabbed.

"Ouch!", he yelped, "Cut your God some slack, even I don't go after children."

"Then why did you let her come in. We know she is a member of the Soma Familia, and they get violent when people like her leave.", Asfi reminded him.

"First of all, after what we saw him do...do you want to tell him no?", Hermes chuckled, "Secondly she isn't leaving the Familia, she is spending time here. I am sure his sister could use a friend, we don't have any children but you here Asfi. Are you saying you want to keep her entertained?"

Seeing those valid points, they relented and didn't fight him on it anymore.

'The truth is, I want to see how far he is willing to go to help her. Is he willing to make an enemy out of the Soma Familia to protect her, or will he cave like others have who stood up to protect people in her circumstances.', Hermes thought to himself, 'It's a problem that needs fixed, but no one is willing to step up and fix it. Not even Astraea has stepped up to help them...things could change if he does something about it, I am sure of it.'

"Read'em and weep boys!", Lydia laughed throwing her cards down, "I got a Royal Flush!"

"Damn it!!", the other players cursed.

"Lord Hermes, aren't you upset you just lost all your money?", Asfi asked putting her cards down.

"What?", Hermes said snapping back to reality, "Wait I lost!?"

Cursing his luck and lack of focus, he threw his cards down and walked away to drink his loss away.