DANMACHI: The Silence's Heir (OC x Freya)

Chapter 10

GODDESS FREYA

The Goddess of beauty sat atop the tower of Babel, looking down at the vast city down below, as if a ruler looking down at his dominion as she swirled her wine in the glass, with a smile adorning her face.

And while to others it may seem that she was looking at the whole city, her gaze was following a single adventurer in the city, this one with a soul so dark that it felt as if it would swallow the whole world, in stark contrast to her precious Bell-kun whose soul was so pure that it had no hue to it.

The said adventurer was walking towards an inn, beside an elf she was acutely aware of. His sheer presence is reputed enough to make others leave the way for them.

"It seems I have been rather too invested in Bell-kun that I forgot about you, Inumaki-kun," she whispered to the air as she continued to observe Orario's rather infamous prodigy.

"A mistake that has allowed you to escape my clutches once more," and wasn't that a loss, especially after the boy had finally learned about the true enemy that had been targeting him ever since his birth?

"What should I do, Ottar-kun?" she asked seductively, glancing behind at the Boaz champion that was her familia's ace and Orario's strongest adventure—Ottar, the Warlord.

The large child's face did not shift, even as he watched her two favoured children who were not part of her familia, as he replied dutifully.

"You should do as you desire. Give us the order, and we shall complete it," his reply was as expected, and she chuckled at the display of loyalty.

"Such loyalty," she added as she saw the boy drop off the blonde elf at that all-familiar inn before he left for that decrepit church once more. And she was rather jealous that both of her precious children had been taken up by that Hestia.

Well, no matter, she would allow her to keep them—at least for some time.

"I am afraid there is no need for any action right now. Facing Inumaki-kun alone was another matter, but now, with Loki's familia at his back, I would not want you all to suffer for me," she said as Ottar nodded.

"We would be honored if you gave us the command," and she knew they would be.

"But there is no need. Inumaki-kun has finally recognized his true enemy, and as much as I know him, he would not like me interfering in his crusade against them for all they have done to him," though she knew that there was a time that the boy thought her to be the one behind all his suffering that was not true.

No. The boy had enemies far more sinister and conniving than he realized, enemies that worked from the shadows, targeting him specifically because he was Orario's greatest hope. Her actions had only ever been to shield him, to protect him from the enemy that to this day remained hidden in the shadow.

And to this day, she knew only of an alias associated with it. A name feared all over the underbelly of Orario—Enyo.

And suddenly, the grey-haired boy stopped, and she saw him look up straight at her, his eyes turning that beautiful scarlet that had entrapped her heart. Even miles away, their gaze met, and a shiver ran down her whole being as a gasp escaped her lips.

"Oh," she whispered. She saw those eyes narrow as the boy continued on his way after a small nod, leaving her surprised.

"Hahaha, it seems he has learned quite a few tricks in the time he was away," she gasped as her own eyes glinted, still following the boy who had the potential to surpass everyone in the city, even the warlord standing behind her.

And that was why Evilus was targeting him. This so-called Enyo was targeting him for the greatest threat to their nefarious plans was not the Loki familia or even her own familia.

No. It was him.

For he was the inheritor of the will of Orario's greatest adventurer.

"It seems that things are going to get rather interesting. Inumaki-kun seems to have a good grasp of things on his side, after all he was never the one to lack motivation. Though it seems I must intervene, on the part of my other child," and with that, her gaze shifted to the other side of the city towards the exit of the tower of Babel, where a white-haired rabbit was talking animatedly with an elf now clad in armour.

"But now, what am I to do about you, Bell-kun?" she asked herself as she leaned forward, for with the return of Inumaki-kun, things had become complicated.

Because when it came to comparison, they were both equally unique and filled with potential.

"Perhaps I will be rather selfish for a while," and with that, she took a sip of the wine, stood up, and approached the open balcony.

"Ottar-kun, if it came to battle, could you defeat Inumaki-kun?" she asked. It was a question that had often perplexed her, and the giant boaz seemed to think about it for a time.

"If our level was equal...." he began quietly.

"....it is highly possible I would lose."

0000

GODDESS HESTIA

Hestia watched all the stuff waiting for her at the church as she returned from her job, and couldn't believe her eyes.

There was food, a whole new bed, and so forth. Everything that they could never afford before.

"Bell-kun, am I dreaming?" she asked the white-haired boy, equally mesmerized beside her, and the boy pinched her cheek.

"Ouch," she winced in pain.

"I am afraid not," he said as the door opened once more.

"This is real," and her head snapped to the side as she saw Inumaki-kun entering the room with a spear tied to his back. Its red gleamed even in the room, and even as a goddess, she could feel the power emanating from it.

"I brought all of this," he said as he looked her in the eye.

"You did, but how?" she asked, and he rolled his eyes.

"It's not even that much. I made a short trip to the dungeon, cleared a few levels, and gathered some stones to get the basic necessities so that we could at least survive for a few days. As for the rest, I plan to go on a campaign on a few days, to at least the middle floors. The money from that should allow us to move to a better place than this place," she was surprised but later realized that this was the power of a first-class adventurer.

"Bell-kun!" she suddenly screamed.

"We are rich!" They both jumped in joy at her words as they jumped on the new soft mattress. They continued to enjoy themselves as Inumaki-kun began to busy himself.

And yet, as she thought about his words, she stopped, as her head snapped towards him.

"You are going to go to the middle floors alone," she asked, and the grey-haired boy turned towards her.

"I could, but I am not," he said, much to her relief.

"I am not going to let you take Bell-kun to the lower floors," she shouted, and he shook his head.

"I am not taking him. I have decided to party up with an old friend of mine. She will be accompanying me on this," and she perked up at that.

"She?" she asked conspiringly, and he nodded.

"Yes, she," he replied as Bell-kun listened on from the side.

"And just how strong is this friend of yours?" she asked.

"She is a level 4," and she was taken aback by those words.

"Level 4!" Bell-kun screamed, and Inumaki-kun shrugged.

"Yeah, a level 4..."

0000

INUMAKI-The Silent

A few days later, Inumaki found himself outside the dungeon entrance, alongside Bell-kun as he was set to enter it after nearly half a decade. It was a bit nostalgic given than in his early days he had practically lived inside the deep monstrous labyrinth.

"Then I will go on ahead," Bell, added clad in full armor, his little cousin had been making killing in the dungeon for the last few days, and Inumaki even at his level found himself surprised by the boy's sheer speed of growth.

"Sure," he said given that he was still waiting for Ryuu to arrive, and with that he ran off as he stood there waiting for Ryuu. The other adventurers walked past him, whispering, murmuring in the background, while the supporters remained back intimidated by his presence.

He wore no armor except arm guards, for most of it needed repairs which he knew were going to cost a lot. That was the main purpose of today's expedition, both to familiarise himself with the dungeon once more and to make some money to move out of the church and maintain his equipment.

"I am sorry for making you wait," came the voice from the side, and he opened his eyes and saw Ryuu Leon standing there, clad in a green cloak and a white mask, her signature blade Futaba, tied to her belt.

And with a single nod, they were both off, entering the dungeon, in the midst of a slew of whispers.

"That day, you said that the true culprits behind Astraea-sama's demise were Evilus," she began as they entered the first floor, and he nodded.

"I did," for that was the truth. And yet this was but the surface of the true crimes of that sinister organization. They had also been the ones spreading all sorts of rumours about him, associating him with them, and ruining both his life and reputation.

"Then where are they?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"I do not know yet. " For a while, he could recall a bit about the tale of Bell Cranel. It was the bitter truth that those very memories had failed him, for he had believed in them too much. He had let his sense of knowing blind him to what was going on around him, something he would not let happen anymore.

"They are hidden, and they are hidden well. Even after five years, I was not able to track anything related to them," he replied to her as a whole slew of goblins and kobolds gathered infront of them.

"Then how are we going to go after them," she raged, a sounding a bit frustrated.

"I said I never found anything about them, but I was able to gather some information regarding those that may or may not be associated with them," and with that, they both came to a halt as he reached for his spear and cracked his neck as the red eyes goblins snarled at him.

"Let me take care of them," he said and she nodded, as he took a small breath and opened his mouth.

"Gospel!"

BOOOM!

And the resulting explosion rocked the whole floor, covering it in a cloud of dust, and as the dust cleared, what remained of the whole hoard of goblins was a river of magical stones.

"Over the years, I was able to find out five names that are in someways associated with them," he began as they began collecting the larger of the stones, leaving the smaller one's given that they had brought no supporter they needed to preserve room for the better stones they would come by later.

"Who are they?" she asked.

"The Goddess of beauty Ishar..." he began recounting the names that had taken him five years to gather up.

"The God of dreams, Ikelos, The God of Wine Soma, The God of Death, Thanatos, and the most mysterious amongst them all," for that was a name he had not expected to come up when one thought of evil and yet there was no doubt about it.

The familia that had been responsible for ruining his reputation and life was none other than Orario's largest and most respected familia.

"....The Goddess of fertility and farming, Demeter."

"Impossible," even the blonde elf gasped out at that allegation, and he shook his head.

"I thought so as well, but there is no doubt in my mind. She is somehow connected to all this," and with that, they pocketed the stones and looked each other in the eye.

"Let's speed this up now, shall we," he offered, and she nodded as she took out her own blade.

"Let's," and with that, they raced forward, steps in sync with one another as they tore level after level, leaving behind awed adventurers as they tore through monsters in a blur only to stop at the 18th floor, the Logue Town, a place where an adventurer had just been murdered.

.

.

.

.

The executives of Loki familia passed through the dungeons, most them dungeon diving to gather funds for the rather expensive weapon procurement and repairs that had just been done for them by the God Goibinu, and yet they were rather put down by the lack of monsters.

"The number of monsters is rather low?" added the captain of the Loki familia, Finn Deimne as he led the group, and the blonde ace of the familia nodded.

"Indeed, and there are many magic stones that have just been left here as if someone thought them to be not worth gathering," added Tione, the Amazoness, as she picked up another rather small but still quite valuable stone.

"Indeed," though most familias would never do such a thing.

"Is this Freya familia's doing," because apart from them, only they could afford to be so wasteful.

"No, they have supporters to do this. This is the work of someone else. A smaller but elite party, one whose purpose was just to race through the initial levels," and at that, the blonde girl Ais perked up, her mind reeling back to times of the past.

"It kind of reminds me of your old times, Ais," Gareth, the executive added, as the newcomer Leyfia perked up.

"What do you mean by that, Gareth-san?" she asked as the captain chuckled.

"You see, in her early days, Ais became rather absorbed with killing monsters that she considered it much of a hassle picking up the stones," the captain explained as the newcomer Leyfia turned towards the blonde in surprise.

"Especially when she teamed up with that grey h..."

"Captain," came the voice of Tiona, interrupting the story as the small hobbit perked up.

"What is it?" he asked as he saw her pointing forward.

"I think you might want to see this."

0000

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