celebration at the hostess of fertility

Chapter Twenty-Five: Tobikomu Mae ni Shinkokyū

"Hmmm… Hermes was able to get me much more than I was hoping for, good"

The parcel arrived very quickly, detailing so much information it actually boggled his mind that Hermes indulged him so much.

'It seems Fels wasn't kidding about Hermes owing the boy quite a debt'

He had no illusions about the god; he likely could have turned over half as much or less for what he had gotten as payment, but it seemed that Hermes intended to make good on his integrity, at least to draw him back for more if nothing else. Luckily, Aedan had already spoken with Hestia and gotten permission from her and his captain; that day, he would begin his work immediately, with a spring in his step after the previous day shared with the young boy who was quickly endearing himself to him.

After he left, Bell prepared for their return to the Dungeon now that they had well rested. It was true that the mapping work paid well, and they earned quite a bit as they went, but- as Lili ever reminded him- their taxes would remain high, even with the voucher to waive a small sum of their annual amount. It was for that reason that he bid the others to head straight to the 18th floor with Ryu to make camp with enough supplies to last a week while he made a detour to act on some advice he had been given from Alfia: he was on to hunt the elusive Jack Bird.

Given that it was supposed to spawn on only the first floor, there wasn't that much space to search, yet even for Bell with his Luck, it took three hours before he even spotted it, and when he gave chase, he was shocked to find that it could run from his first-class speed!

'I guess it would be really hard; otherwise the handful of first-class adventurers who could catch it would just monopolize it'

Little did Bell know that using the Jack Bird as a source of income was too unreliable for such adventurers who could make just as much doing their normal dives into the lower floors. For him and his Luck, though, it was not only feasible, but useful to do so. After another thirty or so minutes, he finally caught up to and easily slew the monster, taking its guaranteed drop, the Golden Egg.

Being on the first floor, he decided to simply turn it in to the guild first then continue down to join his Familia. Eina was shocked, but pleased at him turning in the elusive item, and credited 1,200,000 vallis to the Familia account, given the egg was larger than it was normally, apparently. Shrugging it off, and with their finances secured for at least a couple of months now, he made all haste to get down below as quickly as possible.

With most all of the Familia being gone on a short expedition, Alfia was left at Hearthfire Manor alone with her thoughts, with even the goddess being out at work. This left her to- of course- enjoy the silence she found herself in, and ponder at the recent events in her life. Though she hadn't made their connection clear, she had been overjoyed to be united with her… sister's son. Not nephew… that was a word for old people. Bell had attached himself to her heart even more earnestly and quickly than Horus had predicted when they learned of him. Still, she also had to come to terms with something else he had mentioned after they had joined the Hestia Familia, and became privy to their secrets.

'He really is destined to be the next hero, isn't he?'

There really wasn't any questioning it. From his origins with a no-name familia, alone with his goddess, to his skills and rapid growth in power, renown, even some controversial infamy, to his desires and ambitions. She couldn't fathom why Zeus had seen fit to leave him behind, nor where he even bothered to go, since he was clearly still in Gekai as Horus kept his status all the way up to when they converted to Hestia Familia. She could understand- though not forgive- his father for leaving, likely just as heartbroken about the destruction of the Familia and death of her sister as she was, but he was without her will and fortitude. The both of them simply missed out, in her eyes, on the chance of knowing what an amazing man he was growing to be; though she knew she had also missed much, too.

She, Zald, and Erebus had mixed results with the true intentions of their plan, getting Orario to boost its strength, yet stagnate after that victory, for the most part. It was only with Bell's arrival and Horus' return that things seemed to be set back in motion to the right heading. Still, that thought gave her pause; turning over once more a question that had plagued her for years, and she now had the chance to investigate it.

'Why was someone of his power kept in Orario all this time? It wasn't as though we thought we needed more help, but Zeus and Hera must have known how strong he was, and that more would not have been a detriment to the quest…'

So she cast aside her cherished silence to set out and leave the mansion empty, in favor of seeking out answers from the old caches that she knew of in the city as an executive of Hera Familia. Both she and Zeus had kept such stores of both vallis and information spread out secretly in the city, from gnome lockboxes, to the Guild's keeping, and even simply well-hidden in the city itself. Horus didn't seem aware of these, so she resolved to seek them out and find what they revealed. Perhaps a bit spitefully, too, she wanted to make something of all that vallis sitting forgotten for her sister's son, as well.

'His fifteenth birthday is coming soon, as I remember… he should be well gifted on entering manhood, and I can think of no greater use for the wealth left behind by those two foolish gods'

Having rested from their expedition, and allowing the news to circulate of their recent level-ups, Loki Familia had been hit with the bombshell that the King Ottar had matched their pace.

"Well, I still feel good about our own position" Finn smiled, thumbing his chin as- thankfully- his digit was free of any aches or throbbing, "With the three of us at level 7, and our four juniors at level 6, the balance of power is perhaps in our favor, for the time being"

"Agreed, and depending on how things go, it may tip even further" Riveria mentioned, alluding to their- potentially- promised training which could heavily benefit not just their juniors, but themselves.

"Still cannah believe it, but Loki wouldn't fib to us"

"Indeed, the level 10 theory proven, and all it took was a human older than even any elf can claim" their captain smiled wryly.

"I don't know if you heard, but the Hestia Familia actually completed a mapping assignment which fully filled in the Guild Dungeon Map down to the 18th floor; they even left earlier to continue that mapping work beyond that point; so now it is all available publicly"

"It must be serving them well, though I can't imagine they'd have an easy time with what come after the safe zone, if they plan to continue completely mapping the Dungeon"

"It's somethin' they only started a'ter he joined, so ah can't help but think it's somethin' he set them on specifically to optimize their growth"

"… I didn't think of that, but you may be right, dwarf"

"We shouldn't wait on any development to happen with Haroeris or Hestia Familia without doing anything ourselves. We need to make our own preparations, and probably plan another expedition since we may well have time to go down again before they are ready for anything. I would like for us to get used to our new level, and for the others to all be as close to being ready to level up as they can be before that slave driver can come knocking. Riveria, could you also get Alicia to investigate anything that could aid us in completing the last Grand Quest? The more information we have at hand, the better our chances will be to come out victorious"

All while things above ground were beginning to really get spun into motion, Bell was down in the Dungeon, watching over his Familia and killing monsters as Lili worked to collect notes on the 19th floor. He and Ryu were working hard to not take too much away from the others, and still help just enough that they wouldn't be overwhelmed. They had set a blistering pace for themselves, though; in the first week they would stay down on the 18th floor, they would make their way to the end of the 20th floor, and attempt to cover the next two floors in another week-long trip. The twenty-third would take a third week, and then the final floor would be attempted for another week, if all of their stats were in the range they needed to be. Currently, they were all at level 1 still- save for their level 2 members- with Welf, Mikoto, Oriana, Lili, and Haruhime having waited to level to get their status up a bit higher, too; as it turns out, Lili and Haruhime had gotten the right to level up after the first map quest was completed. Bell suspected they would be alright after this week, but they would have to wait and see. Everyone wanted to get at least one or two of their stats to S before doing so, but the only one who had a ways to go was Haruhime. Bell desperately wished he could do more, but that was why he was careful in his actions moving forward, so as to give them all the excellia they could have as safely as possible.

Regardless, for a party of experienced level 1's and 2's watched over by a pair of level 5's, they handled the lower floors easily; waves of monsters in variety, monster parties, the Dungeon was unable to foil them as they made steady progress through the week. Making use of a timepiece, they paced themselves and returned to the 18th floor for rest at intervals when they needed. Eventually, they hit their target a day early, and so Bell decided that they would stay so that the 18th floor could be mapped while they were there, and they would spend some extra time so that Lili could go ahead and compile what she already had that way it would be complete.

The week and two days had flown by quickly, and they headed back up to rest at home and resupply, having no trouble as the Goliath had not spawned and nothing else could really challenge them; still, Bell did have them systematically eliminate and gather the materials from everything they encountered up to the 10th floor. At last, they arrived back in Orario, and decided to go to the Guild together for the first time.

Having arrived at between morning and noon, the building wasn't very busy, so they were received quickly. Bell exchanged the results of the short expedition as he completed the paperwork for it to Eina while some other employees sorted through their loot. In the end, they walked out with another 1,040,000 vallis to the Familia coffers, but nearly a fifth of that would go into covering the expenses for their next trip below; still, they were doing quite well for themselves, and as such planned a trip to the Hostess of Fertility that night in celebration.

Arriving home, they were greeted with greater reason to celebrate.

"Welcome back everyone!" their goddess had been waiting for them alongside Alfia, and Aedan quickly came to join. They had a short meeting and were given tea prepared by the older woman while Bell debriefed the older members and their goddess on their progress.

"I would guess that puts the Familia account somewhere above four million?" Haroeris pondered.

"Currently, the precise amount is 4,235,500; Lili checked to make sure"

"Hm, by the time you reach the Water City, that will likely triple, at least, and double again after you complete it to the next safe zone on the 28th floor; excellent work! By then, the guild tax waivers should make it easily possible to go ahead and pay our tax early, which will likely earn us a bit more good faith. Then we can really focus on building up the Familia finances and get Welf some time to make more equipment, and buy what he doesn't make to fill out for our needs"

"We will return for the next week in three days, so that everyone can rest and Goddess can update our status'; how has your time been here, Mr. Aedan, Ms. Alfia?"

"I've been looking into something from our previous familia" was all the woman said, earning a nod from the man.

"My progress has been quite good, unexpectedly. By the time you all reach the Water City, I hope to have spoken with everyone I aim to here in Orario. After that, I will arrange a meeting between us all here for a time when you all have hopefully completed your work down to the 28th"

"Great! Then~" just as Bell was about to continue, they had guests arrive, and Haruhime quickly went to let them in. Unexpectedly, it was Loki Familia, but only their top three executives and Loki herself.

"Wassup shrimp! We came to solidify some agreement or somethin' that our kiddos been talkin' about, apparently"

"Hmph, whatever… welcome Loki Familia, and Loki, too, I guess. I already know about the details of it, and I agree to it; so long as Loki agrees, we can go ahead and make it all official" Hestia pouted, seeming not terribly happy about the arrangement, but mollified by her Familia's happy reaction.

"Then as the Captain of Loki Familia, I'll present and have already signed this formal agreement to our alliance with Hestia Familia; detailing the agreement we discussed before" Finn said, laying out flat a large piece of scrolled parchment. Bell went to read it, Lili at his side, before nodding with a smile.

"Everything lines up to me" he took a pen and signed his own part as the Captain of Hestia Familia, "Now it's official, the Hestia Familia and Loki Familia are allies!" a cheer went up at his words, with Gareth being the only one of their guests to get enthusiastic about it, cheering aloud and raising his fists, but Riveria and Finn both clapped with smiles, "Now that we have it in writing, and since we planned to go out tonight, why don't you join us for a celebration at the Hostess of Fertility?"

"Ha! Ya know how to seal the deal, kid, I like it" Loki smiled widely, and such was how the whole group of them made their way together to the popular, rowdy pub for an evening of good food, drinks, and company.