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Chapter Forty-Five: Nokemono no wakai

Lefiya was stressed beyond her limits.

Finding Filvis imprisoned was the last thing she expected or wanted, yet she couldn't change the reality of that. More than her being in chains, was the fact that she wouldn't divulge any information; Lefiya had begun to wonder how long it would be before Finn decided more drastic measures would be needed, which only served to intensify her stress.

Filvis could tell Lefiya was under duress; incredibly so.

She wasn't naïve as to the source, but there wasn't anything she could do about it. Anything she gave would be a betrayal to her lord; an unforgivable offense. Still… she could tell that with what had happened, she wouldn't be rescued. She wasn't naïve to that, either.

Having had the idea due to the pressure she was feeling, Lefiya went to the one person she thought might somehow be able to help in this situation, taking him to go see Filvis together.

"I'm sorry for asking this; I know seeing one of the ones who… attacked you probably won't feel pleasant"

"It's to help you and her, right Lefiya? There isn't anything unpleasant about that" Bell responded simply. Smiling wanly, she nodded and led them into the chamber beneath the Guild Headquarters.

Her cell door opened to reveal the now familiar sight of Lefiya, but also a new face that shocked her a bit, though she didn't show it, "Hello Lefiya"

"Hello Filvis" she moved closer to the other elf and sat down, "I brought a puzzle from the Emporium near the Academy, but for now would you like to play some chess?" Nodding, the pair went for a couple of games as Bell watched over them.

After losing the second game, Filvis couldn't help but remark, "I'm sorry, Lefiya, but my answer won't change" the other elf's ears curled down as she nodded.

"I know, I just… I thought" before she could put any other words together, Filvis' stomach growled, extremely loud in the cell. Both elves blushed as Bell raised his brow.

"I'm s-sorry Finn restricted your rations a week ago" Lefiya all but whimpered.

"It's alright. All things considered, his mercy and patience are commendable~" Filvis was about to go on, but both turned their eyes to Bell who had appeared in reach of them.

"Miss Filvis, take these if you want" he held out his hands with food and a stoppered flask, "It's just dried fruits and tea, but if you don't mind…"

"…" she stared at the human before remarking, "is that not against some rule for coming to see me?"

He simply smiled and held a finger against his mouth, "I won't tell if you don't" he whispered, winking at Lefiya.

"… we tried to kill your goddess, and capture you; you know that, don't you?"

"Well yeah, but you failed" Bell said simply, and without a care in the world. Filvis flinched, not expecting the blunt rebuff, but she couldn't deny it.

"Besides, I know where you're coming from; if it were me in your shoes with goddess Hestia… I would defy the whole world for her sake" he stated with absolute conviction.

"Goddess gave me a home and family when everyone else rejected me. She was there for me before anyone else thought I was worth anything. Really… I wasn't. She still chose me, though, a nobody with nothing to offer her. She picked me as her first Familia member, and has done nothing but support me since then.

"If it were a matter of Hestia's trust or safety, I wouldn't budge against anything"

Filvis listened closely, for a moment, feeling a sense of kinship with Bell and his sentiment. Her small smile froze, as something cracked in her mind. Listening to the man describe his dedication sounded much like her own, and yet his sincerity shattered something deep within herself.

Long she had deluded herself. The deep bond and relationship that Bell shared with Hestia so clearly and openly was what she had with Dionysus only in her own mind. A fantasy built up over many years, something she forcibly imposed upon herself at any moment she felt a speck of doubt. That paper-thin façade was shredded to pieces in front of the rock-solid surety of Bell's honest devotion to his own goddess.

Tears came first, and then the black-haired elf wept, before both Bell and Lefiya gave comfort to her. In the end, she decides to shed Ein, and chose to tell the pair all that she knows.

"Well ain't it just peachy?" Gareth sarcastically groaned.

"Even though we told her not to take anyone else to see her" Riveria rubbed her temples, "Still, this is the best result by far"

"Assuming she is telling the truth, I think we can let it slide" Finn smiled, "but really, this is quite ridiculous: Dionysus is Enyo in fact, and Evilus is composed of goddesses Apophis, Eris, Pan, and Loviatar, as well as the gods Whiro and Lamashtu. They are allied with Sekhmet, too, and have several dozen more Viola seeds, at least ten Demi-Spirit cores, and another five creatures as powerful as she is, aside from those who were in Orario with her. Which means they have seven members remaining at around our level of strength.

"Not to mention another two entities which she knew little about, apparently"

"Their purpose in coming to Orario in the first place was to sequester a large amount of magic stones for empowering their creatures, as well as scouting locations for a future attack here in the city?" Aedan pondered, "Would've made more sense to go ahead with such an attack… Guess they didn't have the resources to pull off what they wanted to"

"She mentioned that Orario wasn't the only place they were scouting, either, meaning the whole world might as well be one large target" Hedin observed.

"There's only one question" Alfia said, gaining everyone's attention, "What will we do about it? Focus on Evilus, our quest, or divide our attention?"

"We focus on the Dragon" Bell said, surprising the others, "It's the obvious choice. She said that Evilus doesn't care about the Dragon, but they do want us dead. From their perspective, and depending on their timeline, it might be better to wait and see if we don't fail against the One-Eyed Black Dragon. It would save them the trouble.

"If they need to act before we confront it, then we deal with them" he said simply.

"True enough" Belisarius agreed, "we don't have much in the way of leads from this anyhow; useful information, but nowhere to go from here. Besides, Ouranos has all of Orario's adventurers on a tight leash for the time being. I think we're good to move forward, but we might just want to make sure any groups who are allowed out at one time are very well-prepared with Evilus in mind"

"Well, on that note, we've all approved of the rosters Aedan submitted. The first group will be composed of: Clovis, Ranulf, Penda, Justinian, Jasmine, Sahiri, Ayumi, Valmathra, Fernus, Munin, Geri, Bete, Tione, and Ilta, you will all follow the lead of Gareth and Hedin to hunt down Hamal, of Aries the Ram" Finn counted off.

Gareth smiled widely, "Sounds like a fun bunch; so what can ya tell us bout the beastie?"

"From what we learned with the information supplied to Haroeris and what we gathered from the Dungeon: Hamal is a ram-like monster, in likeness of Balor, yet much more powerful, and not cyclopean. We can expect a beast around five-and-a-half meders tall, and more than half that wide" Riveria told them, "It's power will reach to the border of level 9 at the worst, and it will generate an army of smaller monsters that resemble its form like the other Harbingers"

"Big 'n strong boyo, but we've had worst" Gareth retorted, thinking back to their bouts with Ungoliant.

"Do not forget though your reduced force" Aedan cautioned, "Nor the other objective: finding the artefacts. Thanks to our research, goddess Hestia's work, and the Dungeon, we believe that you will find Hamal here" he pointed at the map between them all, "Northeast of the Alv Mountains, before arriving at the borders of the Empire; this is where you should look for it.

"In that general area, you ought to look as well for five Divine Artefacts: each of the four Chariots; they are sets of armor, the Chariot of the Sun, Sea, Thunder, and Fire respectively. The artefacts are blessed by Helios, Poseidon, Thor, and the most High. The last is the Golden Fleece.

"Don't worry if some or all don't respond to any of you, retrieve all you can and return after slaying the Harbinger"

"Don' worry too much ya geezer" Gareth joked, "ah think we can take care o' the task nicely, ya kin?" he chuckled before taking a long drink from his flask before stoppering it.

"Drunk already, dwarf?" Riveria quipped with little patience.

"Not drunk enough! Lucky me that Mamma Mia set me up with some o' her best Aetherclear; spoils me rotten she does" Rolling her eyes at her fellow's antics as he excused himself to prepare with Hedin, she refocused on the further plans ahead with the others.

"So now that we have things decided for Hamal and the area where it should be, what of its brethren?"

Aedan nodded, "As you all know, Bell already slew Antares using the aid of the Arrow of Artemis and the help of the goddess herself. Another Harbinger has been slain, though. The first to wake was Regulus, of Leo the lion. Regulus was the lieutenant of the Harbingers, and a high level 9 enemy.

"It was its awakening that caused the three great beasts to rampage some decades ago now, and led to Zeus and Hera tackling the grand quests with Poseidon Familia. It was slaying Regulus that raised Maxim to level 8 and Atalanta to level 9"

"Yet am I to guess that they did not retrieve any Divine Artefacts near where they battled Regulus, or either of the other great beasts?" Finn asked, smiling through his exhaustion at knowing they would have to go out of their way to rectify the issue.

"Unfortunately, you're right. I've already canvassed Zeus and Hera's vault with the Guild, and while they had plenty of mid-tier and even high-tier equipment, but nothing on the level of what they used to challenge the Dragon before, so nothing that would be of use to us now"

"Alright, then what do we need to look for outside of what is near the remaining Harbingers?" Ottar got to the point.

"I believe we would need to look around here" Aedan pointed to a spot near the heart of the Abandoned World, "It should be close to where Regulus awakened; there are again five artefacts to search for: Excalibur, the Caliburn of Avalon, Aegis the Divine Shield, the stone of Power, Lia Fáil, Wigar, and Goswhit, known as the Dragon Armor and Dragon helm of Avalon"

"It sounds grand, to be sure, but how should we go about finding them? We have one group to be deployed soon, but I don't think Lord Ouranos will allow another with the situation with Evilus as it is. It seems inefficient to send a group of us to retrieve the items only, as well" Hogni pondered out loud, but was answered quickly.

"I planned to see if Ouranos would allow us to task this to Hermes Familia, to be accompanied by two high level members of our familia to keep them safe against any machinations of Evilus; that is, unless Hermes denies the aid. His Familia may operate better unencumbered by outsiders to their methods"

"That will be likely" Finn agreed, "but we can lobby their aid all the same; if you all are content with it, I will make the arrangements once we adjourn here" getting no objections, they continued.

"Good, in that case, we have eight Harbingers remaining: first is a pair, Castor and Pollux, of Gemini the twins; it is the only Harbinger that consists of two separate bodies. According to our information, they are a threat of middling level 9 power. They should be found here, on this strip of land between Meilstora and Vinland. There should be four Divine Artefacts near them to look for: Vrigodharan, Gandiva, Gáe Bulg, and Caladbolg; all divine weapons, a mace, bow, spear, and sword respectively.

"Next is Aldebaran, of Taurus the bull, which is a high level 8 bordering 9 threat. It ought to be found in the Kaios Desert, in the center of the half of it west of the Nile. With it, there should be four more artefacts: Gungnir, Mjolnir, Chrysaor, and the Girdle of Heracles; a spear, hammer, sword, and armor." Aedan spoke as he handed out packets of information containing notes on each assignment that he thought would be useful for the groups.

"The third Harbinger is Praesepe, of Cancer the crab. It is a very powerful creature, even more than Regulus; it borders on level 10. Its location is due south of Beltane, on the coast. With it should be found another four artefacts: Alondite, Ragnell, Tonbokiri, and Babr-e Bayan, the Palangina; two holy swords, a spear, and another set of armor.

"The next four are tricky; two each will likely be found in pairs, if not very near each other. Unlike Castor and Pollux, each individual monster is a Harbinger in its own right, and has power which reflects this fact.

"First, Deneb Algedi, of Capricornus the goat, is a bordering level 9 on its own, but it works in concert with Pistol Star, of Sagittarius the archer. The two push to a middling level 10 challenge. According to our notes, they will likely be acting as… well, steed and rider. They should be here, on this peninsula west of the Ryumilua Forest. There ought to be six artefacts to find there, too: Claíomh Solais, Fragarach, Lúin of Celtchar, Rhongomiant, the Seven League Boots, and the Coat of Many Colors. The last two are garments of course, but the first two are swords, the middle two are spears.

"The next pair are Sadalsuud, of Aquarius the water bearer, and Alpherg, of Pisces the fish. These two are even more powerful together than the previous pair, bordering a low level 11 threat"

"Is that all?" Ottar asked with uncharacteristic sarcasm.

"They still can't match the strength of the most powerful Harbinger, but being in the seas due east of Andromeda, they will be annoying to kill. Of course, this will also make finding the six artefacts near them difficult, too: Hauteclere, Balmung, the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, the Palladium, the Karna Kavacha, and the Armor of the Green Knight. This time a holy ax, two swords, and three armor sets.

"Finally, last is Spica, of Virgo the virgin; a high level 11 enemy. It should be here, on the coastal side of the Black Desert. Near it, another five Divine Artefacts: Caduceus, Thyrsus, the Mantle of The Gold-Breast, the Mantle of Elijah, and the Book of Thoth. The first being two magical staves, then two sets of robes, and finally another Grimoire"

"I notice you have suggested a fairly small group for both Aldebaran and Spica…" Finn prompted.

"I want Bell to kill Aldebaran on his own ideally, but he can't do that, take care of the spawns of the Harbinger, and locate the artefacts in a timely fashion. As for Spica, I wish to do the same for myself with his help, and the rest of our elites"

"Your favoritism is showing" Ottar quipped, but Aedan just shrugged.

"With his skill, stacking his opportunities for excellia is only logical. If I were pushing him as hard as possible, he would be killing them all, but not only does Bell need rest, but we already know depriving others of excellia and betting everything on any one person would be folly. Zeus and Hera already tried that stratagem"

"Quite, though another issue: how are we to locate the Divine Artefacts? So far as I know, it was Hermes who brought the Arrow of Artemis to Orario where Bell managed to claim it" Riveria wondered. At this, Aedan smiled wide in… somewhat smug self-satisfaction.

"I'm glad you asked, Riveria. I'll be sure to inform Gareth and Hedin since they are making preparations now for their venture, but since we've been back, I busied myself rectifying that problem, since my captain does have that Divine Artefact you mentioned. It wasn't easy, but I was able to create a device which can be used to locate them" He placed something on the table after pulling it from his satchel, and the others gazed at the mechanism which seemed like a cross between a clock and a compass.

"What is it?" Belisarius asked.

"I call it an Antikythera Mechanism. While I can make more, it is extremely difficult. Try not to lose it or let it get damaged"

There was little to talk about after that, and they ended the meeting quickly as they all dispersed to their various duties.

While Aedan was handling things with Alfia and the other leaders of their coalition, Bell had decided to see to his duties as a captain in accompanying their newest member: Rye, as he prepared for his first foray into the Dungeon.

For Bell, it was a novel experience. When Emma and the other girls had joined Hestia Familia, they weren't total "newbies" to the Dungeon, as the gods would say. Far from it, they were already familiar with the middle levels. Rye was brand new in opposition to that time.

First, Bell introduced him to Eina as their Familia's go-to advisor with the Guild. Once his paperwork was taken care of, he brought Rye to the same shops Eina had showed him nearly two years ago, having the boy test what felt right for himself in terms of equipment, while giving advice on how to pick the best pieces of what he wanted.

"Mis- er, Captain, I don't have anywhere near this kind of money" Rye pointed to the collection of items he and Bell had approved of. Bell smiled, knowing Welf was already planning on what to make for their newest member, but this trip also served to teach Rye, not simply equip him.

"You don't need to worry about that; now that we've selected suitable items, I will cover the cost as a gift to welcome you to Hestia Familia"

Rye gaped at Bell for a moment before grinning brightly, "Thanks Bell!"

Once Rye was outfitted with everything he needed- and now knew just what preparing for going into the Dungeon entailed- Bell took him down the atrium, into the Dungeon itself.

"Alright Rye, I just want you to get a feel for things today, ok? I'll watch your back and give you advice, but other than that I'll leave you to do as you please. We can go back when you're ready"

The boy nodded, but then went quiet as her pointed ahead and whispered to Bell, "Captain, what kind of monster is that, I haven't learned about it" Bell looked, and smiled wryly.

"I'll amend the plan just for this" he said, taking a stone and throwing it at the small monster, blowing its head to bits in an instant, "that was a Jack Bird. Since you spotted it first, I'll leave its drop item to you"

"How are you sure there will be a drop?"

"Well, some monsters have the trait of dropping a guaranteed item; the Jack Bird is one of those, and trust me when I say you wanna make sure to get it" nodding at the tip, Rye went as the monster dissolved into ash, leaving behind a shining, golden egg. He marveled at it for a few moments before he snapped out of it and stowed the item in his backpack.

Taking up his spear again, he turned back to his captain, "Okay, I'm ready!"

While her captain was away, Haruhime was at work herself, but in a much more different fashion.

"L-like this, Aisha?"

"Hmmm… better, but it's more like this" the Amazon took a fruit called a banana and slowly used it to demonstrate certain… techniques, "Fwah, like that; do that, and in less than two minutes you'll have sweet Bell singing in languages he doesn't even know exist"

"Maybe, but I still need the courage to actually go through with it"

"Have some confidence, girlie! You have all the proper skills of the red-light district now, and you have that whole 'true-love' bit going on with your captain to boot. It obvious he's got eyes for you, so all you gotta do is get him alone, and push him down" Aisha chomped her teeth together with a sharp clack, "then devour your man"

"You're right… You're right! Oh, as soon as I have the opportunity, I'll make my move; it'll be up to Bell after that"

"Again, it's pretty obvious he cares for you Haruhime" the other woman chuckled, "But I suppose that attitude is fine too; I don't think he dislikes it. By the way, let me know after you rock his world, yeah? Main reason I've been holding back for so long is out of respect to you, y'know?

"Once you've had your fun, I'm taking his fine ass for a long ride"

As Haruhime flustered, the pair failed to notice an eavesdropper outside the door, and Lili made sure it stayed that way as she crept away silently.

'Ooh, Lili knew time would be running out, but it sounds like she's about to confront Master Bell tonight! Well… then Lili will have no option but to make sure to be there, too. Lili won't get ahead of you Haruhime, but she has loved Bell longer; so Lili will at least make sure he know how she feels, then let him choose'

Breathing heavily, Rye panted as he pulled out the stone of another Kobold. Having just killed it, he added the stone to a pouch of many like it. The pouch was now full of stones, and he had added three drops to his backpack with the egg.

"I think that's enough for today. You've explored a good portion of the first two floors, and that was after running all those errands today" nodding wordlessly, the boy went with Bell to go back aboveground. Quickly thereafter, Bell showed him about turning in the magic stones and drops, and Rye got a severe shock.

"M-m-m-m-million!? Did you just say a million!?" Rose- working the return booth, sighed while shooting a mildly annoyed glance at Bell.

"That is the correct amount; don't worry, we're used to Hestia Familia claiming the Jack Bird drop, but it's your lucky day still. Don't spend it all at once" she handed over his reward and ushered him away from the booth. For his part, Rye stared at the bag and then Bell with wide eyes, "This is so much Bell- I mean Captain, and I didn't even do anything for the bird"

"I knew how much it was worth Rye" Bell smiled, "and it's still yours anyway"

He went quiet for a moment before he asked, "Then… can I donate the Jack Birds part to Mamma Maria and the orphanage?"

Grinning widely, Bell clapped his shoulder, "It's your money, Rye; I can't tell you how to spend it! I will advise you to maintain enough to cover your expenses, but for now, you will be fine to do that and keep the rest of your earnings. Let's go" he would've let Rye do as he wished before coming home that night, but having publicly been given such a reward, it was probably too tempting for unsavory types to leave Rye on his own; he'd already learned that lesson a long time ago.

So Bell went with him to Maria's and then returned home with him together, but not before making a little stop.

"It's a bit of a Hestia Familia tradition to eat here after a successful return from the Dungeon; come on, tonight's my treat!"

After making it home, Bell departed Rye to let him relax, and Bell went to tell Hestia they had returned, and she hugged him with a cheer. After telling her that he would bring Rye after his third Dungeon foray for his first update, Bell retired for the night.