Danmachi Vol X pt1

 INTERLUDE

NOTES OF OBSESSION

There once was a man consumed by obsession.

He was wise, accomplished, and a renowned artisan.

His achievements ranged from crafts of every kind to the creation of whole structures. Even after making countless contributions to culture and society, his fixation on receiving praise from the gods and goddesses drove him to complete a massive white tower. Beautiful  yet solemn, it reached  closer to the heavens than any other building. A monument most befitting the deities, it was conferred the name “Tower of the Gods.”

Indeed, the designer was an undeniable prodigy. No one before or after has ever approached his level of brilliance.

There was nothing he could not build.

The man had no doubt that he was unparalleled.

However, at the far edge of the world, he became entranced by something.

It was the entrance to a massive void found in a corner of the continent.  A

gateway to another world that opened up under his feet.

He  found  an underground  labyrinth  filled  with  fantastical  phosphorescent light, overflowing with flowers and minerals that had never  been seen before. Divided into many strata, the various floors changed in appearance the deeper he traveled. It was also an abyss that constantly spawned  monsters and seemed to extend downward with no apparent end—this was the Dungeon.

The  man  beheld  this  world  completely  isolated  from  the  surface  and

perceived it as a “work of art.”

Only a will that surpassed mortal bounds could have crafted this creation. Not long after, the man trained his body and improved his Blessing in order to journey deeper and deeper into the labyrinth.

The more he learned, the more obvious it became.

Its  composition,  its  shape—everything  was  far  too  complex  for  human intelligence to comprehend.

The mystical Dungeon. It broke him.

He  was  overwhelmed  by  the  beauty,  that  ultimate  chaos,  that  seemed  to encompass all of existence.

From the broken man’s throat arose a howl, the sound of a monster that had thrown away its humanity.

The man devoted himself exclusively to his craft thereafter.

Although he continued  to fulfill the tasks given to him, the man began  to stray from rational thought and walk down the wrong path. With every passing day, more and more people found that they could no longer grasp the concepts driving his creations. Once heralded as a genius, he soon became  known as a madman. He disappeared between the pages of history soon after.

His own exceptional skill and the strength granted to him by his unique but flawed conviction inspired him to create a world even more magnificent than the underground labyrinth.

—Limits to what man can accomplish? As if I care.

—I’ll create something better, you’ll see.

—If gods are irrelevant to this domain, they must first be outdone.

No matter how much blood he shed, though his skin tore to reveal the flesh beneath, the shovel and pickax in his grasp never lay idle. No one knew that the man persisted on this new path alone.

However, his body gave out long before his ambition could be realized. One man could live for only so long.

He cursed his mortal flesh and fell into despair as his limbs refused to obey his commands. He lamented his faltering, flickering life. Then he left  behind a curse—words  that  would  allow  him  to  overcome  these   limitations—in  a notebook.

Along with the “blueprints” that filled his mind.

The man left everything to those yet to be born, his successors who would carry his name and legacy into the future.

Build, you will build!

Build a creation to outdo it, build your desire!!

This is your purpose!! You are my descendant, though I know not your name

or face!

Should your eyes pass over this notebook, there shall be no escape from the blood filling your veins!

The mad hunger and insatiable thirst will never fade! The fire burning in your belly can only heed my call!!

Carry out my desire!

Obey your blood, remain loyal to the yearning. Stay true to what we long for!

Ambition, ambition, ambition!!

Fulfill the aims of our cursed existence!!

It was all written in the notebook.

The man’s persistence was clearly spelled out. “……”

Dix leaned against the back of a sofa as he held the tattered old notes in one hand, reading silently to himself.

He  turned  a  page,  the  ink  upon  it  faded  and  smudged  to  the  point  of illegibility in places, beneath the magic-stone lamplight as a voice called out to him from behind: “Dix, everything’s ready.”

A large man appeared as Dix lowered the goggles strapped over his forehead. The smoky-quartz lenses covered his eyes as his lips curled into a sneer.

“Great, let’s get to it.”

Rising to his feet, Dix tossed the old notebook onto the sofa without a second thought.  He  grabbed  an  ominous  spear  propped  up  against  the  wall  before following his hulking companion down a hallway shrouded in darkness.

The air smelled of stone and felt chilly, as though it had never known  the warmth of the sun’s rays. Dix smiled to himself as black iron bars and  cages came into view before whispering under his breath.

“‘Stay true to what we long for’…Well said.”

Rattle, rattle. Chains shook fearfully from every direction.

The vile hunter listened with glee, laughing from deep in his throat.

 CHAPTER 6

BEFORE THE STORM

A bright light rouses me out of my light sleep, drawing my consciousness awake.

Feeling the morning sunlight, I open my eyes.

Familiar sights fill my blurry field of view: crystals that I couldn’t bring myself to sell and a jar of fruit seeds, a desk and chair adorned with  various things taken from the Dungeon, a few books and an exhausted  grimoire on a wooden shelf, a half-open remodeled closet storing weapons and armor.

This is my room.

My personal space inside Hestia Familia’s home. “……”

Not only did I skip my usual morning training, but according to the clock on the wall it’s almost time for breakfast.

As I begin to rise, the rest of the bed comes into view. I look at the  spot beside me.

Nothing. No one is there.

Just a hollow, empty feeling and wrinkled white sheets.

I’m looking for a girl who’s no longer here. I turn away and get up.

After changing  out of my sleepwear,  I head out the door. The hallway  is jarringly  silent. No matter how many times I look out the windows  over  the central garden, I don’t hear that playful voice. Has our home always been  this quiet?

The warm sunlight slanting in through the windows leaves no doubt in my

mind that summer has arrived as I make my way from the third floor down to the first.

“Morning…”

The rest of the familia is there to greet me in the dining room. “Yo.”

“Good morning.”

Welf and Lilly smile as I make my late entrance. I have a feeling they’re

trying to be cheerful for my sake.

Mikoto and Haruhime in her maid outfit notice me as well. “Good morning,”

they say with heavy smiles.

A fragrant aroma is wafting in from the kitchen. Mikoto probably made her

Far East–style fried eggs this morning.

I think to myself that they probably taste sweet as a feeling of déjà vu  hits me.

“It’s unusual for you to sleep in.” “Sorry…”

“Mr. Welf isn’t blaming you. Breakfast is almost ready, so please wait a few moments, Mr. Bell.”

“Okay…Um, where’s our goddess?”

“Lady Hestia said she had an errand to attend to before going to her part-time job, so she left early this morning, Sir Bell.”

“Yes, and she was stuffing Jyaga Maru Kun into her mouth as fast as  she could…”

Welf, Lilly, Mikoto, and Haruhime are all talking like nothing’s  changed… but something is different. Like gears that aren’t lining up right…as though one part is missing, leaving the rest spinning around uselessly.

Everyone’s a bit off.

Hardly any conversation is going on. It’s bright and sunny outside, but  the mood doesn’t match that at all.

Everyone  looks  lost,  or  maybe  just  absentminded   as  they  prepare  for breakfast.

Haruhime has it the worst.

Instead of her usual radiance and cheer, she’s filled with gloom, and her fox ears and thick tail hang limply.

Her eyes twinge with worry as she works her way around the table, setting

out plates.

“…Lady Haruhime.” “Ah…What is it, Miss Mikoto?” “There’s, just, one too many plates…”

Mikoto grimaces as she points it out. Haruhime’s shoulders jump when she notices.

“M-my apologies!” She quickly clears the extra set.

She had absentmindedly put it where a girl had always sat until just a little while ago.

A girl who always wore an innocent, pure smile…a vouivre girl. Lilly, Welf, and I saw it happen but couldn’t say a word.

“Let’s eat…”

Everyone takes a seat at the table.

Once the meal begins, only the sounds of forks on plates and quiet chewing fill the air.

Two days have passed since the Guild issued a secret mission for us.

The events that took place in an unexplored frontier region on the twentieth floor of the Dungeon—in a Xenos Hidden Village—left a dark cloud over Hestia Familia.

Xenos. Monsters who can talk.

They possess a great deal of intelligence  and self-awareness,  despite  being beasts, and are shunned by both people and the average monster.

A black-robed mage called Fels—who claims to be the shadow of the Sage— said that the Xenos all share a desire to walk on the surface and  interact with people. This incredibly difficult goal uniting them originates from their dreams of their own past lives, dreams they all have.

Shocking was not enough to describe this string of revelations.

There were so many that it almost seemed better to give up on thinking at all. But right now, the real reason that we’re brooding so much is…much simpler. Our parting from Wiene.

For a time we sheltered and protected the young vouivre girl, but in the end we entrusted her to her fellow Xenos. Despite their wishes, there’s currently no place for monsters on the surface. In the past, the people had claimed this realm for themselves by seizing land from monsters. The two could never coexist.

Before we lost everything, there was no choice but to go our separate ways, for Wiene’s own safety.

In fact, Fels also said that there are hunters lurking in Orario who will stop at

nothing to capture a Xenos. I already told Fels about the god Ikelos and how he sought me out to ask about a talking vouivre. Apparently there’s nothing we can do about it now.

We feel powerless, so lost and lonely it’s like a part of us is missing. Those emotions are refusing to let go.

“……”

I’m not really surprised that conversation never picked up. Welf and Lilly did

their best to find a topic, but nothing really stuck.

It’s been like this ever since we finished the mission and returned from  the

Dungeon early yesterday morning.

My heart cringes every time I remember the look on her face at the end, tears running down her cheeks.

Looking up, I notice that Welf and the others are staring at the open spot next to me…where Wiene once sat.

It’s empty.

It feels like a dream that someone so full of life was there not long ago. Everyone’s looking for her, not just me.

It’s hard  to believe  that  the absence  of one girl could  leave  all of us  so downtrodden—Haruhime, Mikoto, Welf, and even Lilly.

Though amid the sadness…there  is a silver lining. We know the  moments where we felt like a family weren’t a lie.

Even if that girl was a monster, different from people like us. “…Bell?”

I’m on my way out of the dining room after breakfast when Welf calls  my name.

“I think I’ll…go to the Dungeon for a bit.” I pause for a moment to answer. Glancing over my shoulder, not only Welf but Lilly, Mikoto, and Haruhime

all look at me with concern.

I put on my most reassuring smile. “It’ll be fine. I’m planning on  coming back right away.”

There’s something I need to know.

If I’m going  to continue  being  an adventurer  in Orario…I  can’t  keep  on without confirming something.

“You sure you’re okay?” “Yes…”

I answer as calmly as I can before opening the door and exiting the dining

room. I make a quick stop at my room to grab equipment before I leave our home in Hearthstone Manor.

“……”

There isn’t a single cloud in the sunny blue sky.

The perfectly aligned paving stones of the street sparkle in the sun’s rays. The warm path is the only thing I see as I trudge through the street, head downcast. I don’t notice the rest for a while.

Sounds of horse-drawn taxis. Townspeople going about their business. The

noises that fill the city every day are still here, unchanged.

Yet I make no sound as muscle memory leads me along the route to the white tower stretching toward the heavens: Babel.

“Bell.” “Oh…Syr.”

A voice breaks through the din as I travel down West Main Street.

Tap, tap. Seeing me pass by, Syr comes down the steps from The Benevolent

Mistress’s front entrance and approaches.

“Good morning. I made a lunch for you again today, so if you’d like…Bell?” Syr holds up a basket full of food with a big smile on her face, but her words

trail off as she leans in for a closer look at my face.

Her eyebrows arch in concern; her silver hair swishes around her shoulders. “Did…something happen? You look really pale…”

“…!”

Either  Syr  is  amazing  at  reading  people,  or  my  thoughts  have   made themselves too obvious on my face.

Whichever it is, I have to reassure her right away so she doesn’t worry. “No, I’m fine. Just overslept a little this morning…”

“…I…see.”

“And, well, I won’t be spending much time in the Dungeon today. So, about the lunch…Um, sorry.”

I can’t accept this basket. Doing something else pathetic would only  make her worry more. Thinking this, I promptly refuse today’s offer of lunch.

I quickly force a rather unconvincing smile, and as I start to string together a genuine apology…she stares intently at me and then takes a step closer.

“Huh?”

Now she’s right in front of me, leaving barely any space between us.

I can detect a pleasant whiff of her soap, which brings a blush to my face as

Syr points her finger directly between my eyes. “Bell will cheer uuup, Bell will cheer uuuuup.” “……”

…She starts twirling her little finger around and around. “Bell will smiiiile.”

“…Um, Syr?” “Yay!” “Wha—!”

She finishes with a tap on the tip of my nose, and I let a yelp slip.

I blink several times in surprise as Syr beams with joy.

“Magic words to make you feel better…I do it all the time for the kids at the orphanage, too, you know?”

She leans in close enough to whisper into my ear as though sharing a secret. That was the last thing I was expecting to hear…but even more surprising, my faces relaxes and I start smiling a bit, too.

It’s a natural expression, probably one that I’ve forgotten how to make during the last few days.

And I do feel a little better, I think, thanks to this cheerful girl. “…Thank you, Syr. I’ll be on my way.”

“Of course. Take care.”

Grateful that she didn’t press any further, I leave Syr behind, feeling bad that

I couldn’t say more.

“Chalky-hair  blockhead!  If you don’t eat Syr’s lunch, we’re the ones  who have to take care of it, meow…!”

“As troubling as it is…the little adventurer didn’t look himself today.” “I’ve never seen him so down in the dumps before, meow.”

Ahnya, Runoa, and Chloe watched the conversation on the street from one of The Benevolent Mistress’s windows and chatted among themselves after the boy left.

Sob…!  The  human  Runoa  turned  to  look  over  her  shoulder  as  Ahnya, standing next to her, did her best to hold back tears.

“Are you worried, too, Lyu?” “No, I…”

Lyu, who had also spied on Syr and Bell with her coworkers, was about  to dismiss their concern when she stopped herself.

“…Actually, yes. This does worry me.”

She and the Amazon Aisha had accompanied the boy down to the eighteenth floor five days prior. Lyu gave an honest answer as memories  of  his strange behavior came to mind.

Just like Syr outside, she watched the boy’s retreating form.

Sunlight filled the city streets.

Summer had arrived on the mainland, each day warmer than the last. Orario was no exception, meaning that most people out and about were wearing short sleeves and other light clothing to stay cool.

As for the adventurers on their way to the Dungeon, they were fully equipped with battle cloth and plate armor as always. The metal adorning their bodies glinted as they moved about the city. Animal people and dwarves wearing thick body armor had to squint to keep sweat out of their eyes. It would be no laughing matter if one of them wound up dying because the heat outside drove

them to wear less armor. Adventurers walked a little faster than normal as they entered Central Park, knowing that they would be safe from the fiery sun inside the Dungeon.

As Bell was joining their ranks on the way to the Dungeon…

“Hello.  I  hate  to  do  this,  but  is  there  any  chance  I  could  speak  with

Ganesha?”

Hestia, faint traces of sweat on her skin, reached a giant statue depicting  a man wearing an elephant mask that stood outside another familia’s home.

“I don’t have an appointment  or anything,  so I know this is asking a  lot, but…”

At this request  from a goddess  even  smaller  than themselves,  the  animal person and dwarf standing guard at the front gate exchanged glances.

The location was in the southwest section of Orario, close to the city’s  flea market. The spacious property was separated from the rest of the city by a tall white  fence.  In  the  center  was  an  incredibly  bizarre  statue  of  a  giant  man wearing an elephant mask sitting with his arms and legs crossed.

This was Ganesha Familia’s home, Iam Ganesha.

The towering statue, or rather building, was so oversized that taking in  the whole thing hurt people’s necks. The awe-inspiring structure was famous for the story  that  the  slightly  eccentric  god  residing  there  spent  his  familia’s  entire savings  to  pay  for  its  construction.  It  ranked  alongside  Babel  and  Orario’s shopping district as a must-see location for tourists visiting the city.

Sticking out like a sore thumb, as always, Hestia thought as she beheld  the unusual building that served as Ganesha Familia’s home. “Please wait here,” the animal person guard said before heading to the compound. Hestia was grateful for  his  polite  reception  even  though  she,  the  deity  of  another  familia,  had personally  come  to visit. She watched  Ganesha’s  follower  disappear  into the statue’s groin—the building’s main entrance.

“If Lord Ganesha could just do something about those incomprehensible

whims of his, then we could…Arrgh!” “Ahh, I’m sure you guys have it rough.”

Hestia lent a compassionate ear to the dwarf’s complaints, but it wasn’t long before the young animal person returned to the front gate.

“Lord Ganesha is currently in the backyard. He says he doesn’t mind if you come on your own.”

“Oh, thanks.”

The goddess offered a quick thanks to the guards as they opened the gate and

she passed through.

She thought the elephant-faced god was being a little too careless at first, but then decided that Ganesha must trust her enough to allow it. Feeling a little more positive about her visit, she made her way around the giant statue’s base toward the backyard.

The grounds  of Iam Ganesha  were  grassy  fields—or  maybe  a large  open pasture. If it weren’t for the merchants’ loud cries calling from the  nearby flea market,  Hestia  could  have  forgotten  she  was  in  the  middle  of  a  sprawling metropolis. She noticed from the corner of her eye several stone stables the size of small factories as she approached the rear courtyard.

“Whoa!”

The goddess flinched as soon as she rounded the statue’s knee.

The calm, rolling plains were interrupted by a metal fence, the bars glinting in the direct sunlight. Each shaft was thicker than Hestia’s torso  and  possibly made from mythril or perhaps Damascus steel, a foreign material used to forge weapons,  or  even  adamantite.  At  any  rate,  each  thick  rod  had  been  driven straight into the ground and stood up like a post. Fully armed adventurers stood at attention  on both sides, continuously  monitoring  the grounds.  The air was thick with tension.

Several adventurers, most likely tamers, were on the other side of the fence with monsters—some in the process of being tamed—issuing their commands.

“D-don’t see this every day…”

An aquatic  horse known as a kelpie was on a rampage,  its beautiful  blue mane whipping in the air. Three almalosaurs swung their bludgeoning tails back and forth and attacked  with the spikes  protruding  from their  hide. The awe- inspiring  tamers  looked  equally  impressive  as they  faced  terrifying  monsters from below the lower levels of the Dungeon with whips, bending the beasts to their will by force.

Hestia  had  heard  somewhere  that  Ganesha  Familia  alone  had  legal

permission to not only keep live monsters for the Monsterphilia but to also extract monsters from the Dungeon and house them in the city proper.

If the Guild’s information was accurate, it was also Orario’s largest familia in terms of membership.

With its many first-tier adventurers and high average Level, it was safe to say that Ganesha Familia was among Orario’s best. They possessed an S Rank and were worthy of being mentioned alongside Loki Familia and Freya Familia.

Also known as “Orario’s Peacekeepers,” the sheer size and strength of the

familia  was  probably  the  main  reason  why  the  Guild  allowed  them  to  keep monsters in the first place.

God of the Masses, eh…?

Ganesha  Familia  maintained  close  ties  with  the  Guild  and  had  members stationed at all of Orario’s gates to help preserve the peace. Average citizens held them in high esteem.

Due to this great level of trust, the people of Orario still felt safe despite the monsters  housed  inside  the  city.  Everything  was  possible  because  it  was Ganesha Familia, renowned for its accomplishments.

For  several  minutes,  Hestia  was  transfixed  by  the  sight  of  the  tamers engaging the monsters one-on-one before she remembered why she had come in the first place. She began scanning her surroundings.

Her first thought was to ask one of the adventurers keeping watch near  the fence, but then she heard a shout.

“I am Ganesha!! Ergo, do not snap your teeth at me, monster!”

Found him.

The ridiculously loud masculine voice led her right to the deity.

He wore an elephant mask and stood inside the fence, staring down a monster as he cautiously  approached  it. The infant dragon before him had  been fitted with a magic item, a plate at the base of its neck—evidently it had been tamed. Seeing a tamer at the god’s side, the dragon didn’t lash out at once but instead eyed Ganesha, watching his every move.

“Nothing to be scared of. Nothing at all!” “……”

“It’s not scary, not scary—that’s a good dragon! Who’s a good dragon?” Ganesha wrapped his arms around the towering dragon’s chest the  moment

he was within reach and started scratching the creature’s neck and shoulders as though he were playing with a dog.

“RROOOOAAARRRR!”

Without warning, the infant dragon’s fangs flashed in the sunlight as its open jaws sped toward the elephant mask.

“Whoooa!”

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

“How many times have I told you not to do anything stupid?!”

Roll, roll, roll! Ganesha managed to jump away in the nick of time, but he lost his balance in the process and tumbled through the pasture. At the same time, his followers shouted all kinds of reprimands as they rushed in to help. The

tamers immediately stepped in to calm the raging infant dragon.

Hestia watched the scene unfold, dumbstruck.

“Ganesha, avoiding disaster by a hair!!…Whew, thought I was a goner.” “So tell me, does that happen a lot, Ganesha?”

“Oh? If it isn’t Hestia! You were here?!”

Ganesha had rolled all the way to the fence. Sounds of battle ringing in her ears, a slightly perturbed Hestia looked down at the elephant-masked god at her feet. Ganesha, fit and muscular, sprang to his feet the moment he saw her. With an “alley-oop,” he grabbed hold of the metallic fence and vaulted over the top.

Landing right next to Hestia, he immediately struck one of his strange poses. “Welcome to my abode! And to answer your question, I’m out here whenever

I have a spare moment!”

“Putting your life at risk to play with monsters?” “To find the meaning of true friendship!”

Ganesha  flashed  a needlessly  pleasant  smile,  displaying  his shining  white teeth. Hestia could only sigh.

Without any further small talk, she got right to the point of her visit. “So, I hear you know about the Xenos?”

“……”

As  Hestia   broached   the  topic,   Ganesha’s   comical   demeanor   instantly disappeared, and his mouth snapped shut.

The  expression  beneath  his  mask—most  likely—became  gravely  serious. “We need privacy,” he said, turning his back to her.

Ordering  his guards to stay behind, Ganesha  led Hestia to a wooded  area close  to the white  fence  at the edge  of the compound.  Alone,  the  two  gods started talking.

“You know about the monsters who possess intelligence?” “That’s right. Straight from Ouranos’s mouth, to boot.”

Ouranos. Hearing that name connected all the dots for Ganesha. He had no

further questions.

Just as Bell and the rest of the familia had discovered the Xenos on their secret mission, Hestia had learned about Wiene and her kind from the deity in charge of the Guild, Ouranos.

Not only that, but the majestic deity had informed her of his actions and that

Ganesha was in the fold.

“It was a shock. Not just the fact that you’re working with Ouranos but the truth behind the Monsterphilia, too.”

“When I was first approached…When Ouranos first told me, I didn’t believe my ears.”

Ganesha  then proceeded  to explain how he came to understand  Ouranos’s will,  as well  as how  he  had  been  placed  in charge  of the  Monsterphilia—a festival  with  the purpose  of not just simply  putting  monsters  on display  but promoting friendship with them and encouraging the birth of monsterphiles.

Hestia marveled at the completely unfamiliar gravitas in Ganesha’s eyes  as he brought her up to speed.

“Did you believe him? What Ouranos told you?”

“Well, I had a chance to meet one of them on a separate occasion. It was a goblin, wearing a red hat… I couldn’t turn a blind eye to one with such a fluent command of language.”

Apparently,  Ganesha  had  been  at  a  loss  as  to  how  to  react  when  Fels smuggled the small-bodied  Xenos out of the Dungeon to meet him in  person. Hestia and the others had had much the same reaction to Wiene.

After that, Ganesha went along with everything.

With a Xenos present, he accepted what he’d seen firsthand and decided  to cooperate with Ouranos’s proposal—to organize the Monsterphilia.

“…Have you told your children?”

“Only  a  very  select  few.  You  may  think  it  laughable  that  I  would  hide something from the children, but…my familia is very much in the dark.”

The  circumstances  called  for  it.  Preventing  the  worst  possible  outcome required staunching  the flow of information  as much as possible.  The masses would, no doubt, become incredibly apprehensive or even violent if they learned the truth.

Even now, the truth hurt.

Ganesha gazed at the tamers and adventurers on the other side of the fence. “We have permission to keep approved monsters in captivity…We do it

under the pretext that our main purpose is to study their habits and tendencies as

well as collect information to assist adventurers in the Dungeon.” “That’s what your children think they’re doing as well, isn’t it…?” In truth, they were carrying out that goal, too.

The Guild had received from them detailed and valuable information about the weaknesses and characteristics of specific monsters, which they archived and currently used to aid adventurers putting their lives on the line in the Dungeon. Even Royman Mardeel, the most powerful person in the Guild, recognized the value of their work and continued to support them.

The  true  objective  of  eventually  establishing  a  friendly  relationship  with monsters was still a secret. What’s more, no one had any reason to suspect it.

“What about yours, Hestia?”

“They’re the reason I know in the first place…Bell and everyone knows.” Hestia explained how everything began with Wiene’s arrival and her familia’s

decision to protect the young monster girl, sharing information with one of the few others who knew the truth.

She also told her familia about her conversation  with Ouranos while  they were away on their mission. She was aware of everything they had  learned at one of the Xenos’s Hidden Villages.

The only thing she left out was Ouranos’s will—his belief that Bell and her familia had the potential to become the bridge between monsters and people.

“What do you plan to do, Hestia?”

“…My children are more important to me than anything.”

Protect Bell and the others. Be with them. That was Hestia’s sincerest will. That, and—.

“—If my children have decided on something, then I’ll cheer them on and do everything I can to help. If they want to save the Xenos, then I’ll lend  them a hand.”

“I see…”

“I won’t give orders as a goddess or force anything on them.”

Hestia’s  decision  hadn’t  changed  since  the  moment  she  engraved   her

Blessing into Bell’s back—it was here that she revealed her own will. “This is their story, their path.”

She would let them decide, assist them when she could, and watch over them. Hestia continued, “…I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried, though.” Confronted with Ganesha’s questioning gaze from beneath his mask, Hestia

averted her eyes and let her honest concerns surface.

What would the Xenos’s presence bring to Orario, to the world as a whole? Hestia knew it was risky to attempt to realize the absurd vision of making

peace with monsters, and yet she could still see a fleeting image of the vouivre girl’s teary eyes in the back of her mind. Caught in a quandary, Hestia gazed out over the pasture.

Wounded tamers affixed chains to newly tamed monsters beneath a bright blue sky.

“…Ganesha, how do you feel about all this? What do you think is going to happen?”

“To be blunt, I don’t know.” “I figured as much…”

Ganesha gave an honest answer as he followed Hestia’s gaze out over  the grounds.

The goddess sighed as the two of them watched a tamer instruct a monster to walk by hitting its hide.

“However.” “?”

“If  these  Xenos—no,  monsters  in  general—truly   desire  peace  and  not bloodshed…”

Ganesha turned to face Hestia.

“Then  I  will  cease  to  be  the  ‘God  of  the  Masses’—and  become  ‘Neo Ganesha, God of All Beings’ for people and monsters!!”  he declared,  as if to drive away the gloom threatening to settle in.

Flashing a smile, the deity confidently looked to the sky and puffed out his chest as Hestia watched in amazement…until her lips started to curl upward.

“…This is the first time I’ve ever thought you were cool, Ganesha.” “That’s because…I am Ganesha!”

Hestia let herself laugh at his confident boast.

A wide array of maps covered every speck of open space on each wall.

In addition to being completely wallpapered with diagrams of terrestrial and marine  topography,  the room was filled with interesting  trinkets  and  unusual items, many of which were rarely seen in Orario. Several plants more suited for an arid desert, as well as an impressive collection of shells and pearls, decorated the furniture and tables. A stand of well-worn traveler’s  hats, each decorated with a feather, stood out among the clutter.

A man and a woman sat facing each other over a desk in a room fit for a true

world traveler.

“Failure, huh…That’s not good.”

The god Hermes sat on a chair with his elbows planted on the desk, fiddling with a sand dial as he spoke.

The gorgeous woman, who sat stiff as a board on the other side of the desk, was Asfi.

She had come to her god’s private quarters in Hermes Familia’s home to

report the results of her most recent assignment.

“I  have  no  excuse.  After  our  targets  retreated,  my  subordinates  and  I remained in the area until earlier today in hopes of finding new leads, but…it’s entirely my fault that we allowed them to escape.”

“Come now, I’m not blaming you.”

Asfi’s face had steadily lost color during her report and subsequent apology, but Hermes waved it off, indicating that she shouldn’t worry about it.

The two of them were discussing the failed plan to track Ikelos Familia.

The  Guild—or  rather  Ouranos—had  issued  Bell  and  Hestia  Familia   a mission: to journey to a Xenos Hidden Village.  The true purpose was to  use them as bait to draw out Ikelos Familia’s hunters, then it was up to a group of Hermes Familia adventurers under Asfi’s command to trail them. Their goal was to locate the hunters’ undiscovered home base, where they held captured Xenos until they could be smuggled and sold on the black market.

However,  Ikelos  Familia  had  realized  they  were  being  followed  in  the Dungeon and broke off their pursuit of Bell’s party to make their own  escape. Asfi’s mission ended in failure.

“But they prevented you, Perseus herself, from completing your  task…Tell me, what did you think of them? The targets.”

“…Rumored  connections  to  the  Evils  notwithstanding,  the  entire  group seems to be a congregation of brutes and thugs. Especially their  leader, a man wearing goggles…”

Ikelos Familia was a Dungeon-prowling  familia with a history shrouded  in darkness.

Residing in Orario for well over twenty years, their familia ranking was B. Its members  had  reportedly  made  several  trips  into  the  Dungeon’s  deep  levels. However, the group itself remained in the shadows; perhaps due to the inordinate amount of time they spent underground, hardly any of their members had gained any notoriety or fame on the surface.

“The man is  sharp and cunning. Even as  he  gathered enough forces to

overwhelm our party, the moment he discerned our identities, he immediately decided to withdraw.”

The leader of Ikelos Familia had been cautious of Asfi, a brilliant item maker whose extraordinary talent was known worldwide.

Known as Perseus, she invented a number of phenomenal and mysterious magic items like Hades Head, a helmet of invisibility.

Since they didn’t know what Asfi’s side had hidden up their sleeves and their

home base might be discovered,  the leader  of Ikelos  Familia  ordered  all  his subordinates to retreat without leaving a single person behind to avoid the risk of capture.

“A man who wears goggles…Would that be Dix Perdix?”

“The same. Not only is he Ikelos Familia’s leader…He became a second-tier, Level Four adventurer nearly ten years ago.”

He had been given the title “Hazer.”

At  the  time  he  received  it,  the  man  was  already  famous  for  massacring monsters at a pace that bordered on insanity.

“Assuming  he’s  only  been  growing  stronger  and  more  experienced  since then…it’s possible that he’s as powerful as a first-tier adventurer.”  Asfi’s eyes became  grave,  her  voice  taking  on  a  severe  tone.  Hermes  lightly  sighed  to himself.

“First things first, we’ll need to apologize to Ouranos…With that out of the way,  we should  assume  that  the enemy  has a good  idea  where  the  ‘nest’  is located. I assume they’ve been able to work out that much information based on our actions  alone.”  Hermes’s  orange eyes narrowed  as  he voiced his train of thought.

“What about the monsters in question…?”

“They were told to relocate to a different nest no matter how our plan turned out. Most likely, they’re on the move as we speak.”

Hermes explained that Ouranos wanted to account for as many variables as possible  and  had  instructed  the  Xenos  to  leave  the  Hidden  Village  on  the twentieth floor and travel deeper into the Dungeon.

Even so, Asfi could hear a hint of concern as the deity explained, almost as if he were talking to himself.

“There’s nothing more we can do from here, so I know it’s pointless to  be worried, but…”

“……”

“Aaagghhh, I got a bad feeling about this.”

Hermes didn’t waste any time after whispering those words. Looking up, he barked a new set of orders.

“Keep an eye out for any movement on the middle levels, Asfi. Use Rivira as your base and stay on guard.”

“Affirmative.”

As though his divine intuition had told him, he said:

“It won’t be long now—they’re going to make their move.”