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

Chapter 19

ALISE LOVELL

Alise Lovell had begun to suspect the rumors surrounding Astrea-sama's ascension as soon as their fight with Silent had begun all those years ago. No. A part of her had been suspicious even before that, and yet, in her grief she had pushed it all down, only for the doubts to come back when they had come together to face him as he was banished from the city.

Alise Flovell was a level 4 adventurer, much like her other familia mates and yet she was not blind to her own faults and failures. Her level may be the same as Inumaki-kun, but the difference between them was astronomical, and even then, there was still his broken magic, one that allowed him to tap into his mother's prowess.

Had he wished to he could have slaughtered her and her friends in seconds. And yet he had not, it had been a rather one-sided fight, as he dismantled them all one by one, disarming them with minimal force.

Ryuu had bene the last one to fall, her rage and hatred deriving him beyond her limits, and yet even she would fail, and Alise would try to push herself, to save her friend as she saw him approach the blonde elf.

And yet she had stilled as soon as she had caught a glimpse of his face and had seen the pain and guilt plastered on it. And in that moment of stillness, she watched him reach into his pocket as he emptied several viles of high-level healing potions before he took out his spear and thrust it right there before vanishing into thin air, leaving behind but a simple whisper.

An apology.

Of her friends, she had been the first to wake, first to grasp that spear, and feel its power. The famous Gae Bolg, the Heart Piercer, a weapon believed to be unmatched by any in Orario. And as she gripped it she understood the reason why he had left it there—to protect them.

As the wheels clicked in her mind, she decided to follow after him, to get the truth from him, but for that, she had to make a sacrifice. For though she knew she could convince Kaguya and Lyra of her theory, she knew that Ryuu would not listen.

Her blonde friend could be rather stubborn when she wished to be. And she knew that if she was to ever repay the boy for his kindness, then she had to chase after him. She had to help him when he was all alone against the world.

As she had suspected, Ryuu and her had gotten into a massive fight, and in the end, the blonde had stayed back in Orario as she was joined by both Kaguya and Lyra on her mission, and a further two years to even meet the boy.

And the truth was as she had expected it to be. Inumkai-the Silent was innocent, their Goddess's ascension had been part of a deal or conspiracy one that had involved their safety for in their two years of being away from Orario they were not attacked by Evilus even once, something that she refused to believe as a coincidence given how deep the organization's roots ran.

But it would not matter anymore. Evilus's return was now the talk of every inn, including the one she sat at. And soon enough they would be destroyed.

"So, you figured it out as well," she asked proudly as both Ryuu and herself sat beside each other at the bar. Kaguya and Lyra chatted away with the rest of the workers, sharing tales of their exhaustive adventure.

"I did," Ryuu replied as she looked towards her.

"But why didn't you tell me?" she asked, as Alise looked down guiltily, for there were more than reasons for that. Selfish reasons.

"You were too angry. I tried a few times, but you just wouldn't listen," she answered before taking another sip of the ale that had been offered to her.

"But there was another reason," she decided to come clean and saw Ryuu frown as she looked down guiltily.

"I did not want the people to forget about Astarea-sama, about her ideals," she answered and looked up.

"And you were always the one who carried those ideals to the best," and she smiled, and it was what had driven her to choose Ryuu even on that floor. For she knew that as long as Ryuu lived, a part of Astrea-sama's ideals would continue to live on in Orario.

"I see," Ryuu mouthed as her eyes turned towards her glass.

"So, how did you end up working at an inn?" she asked looking around the place felt rather homely reminding her of their own castle from back then, specially with how Kaguya and Lyra seemed to be getting along with the rest of the staff.

"I was tired and alone," Ryuu answered, looking to the side at the gathering behind them, her eyes landing on a grey-haired girl laughing with everyone.

"And then, at that moment, I was offered a helping hand, and the rest is history," and seeing Ryuu gaze at that girl made her heart swell with joy and jealousy.

"Why didn't you come back earlier, though? Inumaki-kun has been back for several weeks now?" Ryuu suddenly asked, making her lips thin as she tried to control her rage.

"Ah, well its because of that bastard. We were stuck in a town near the coast called Melen cleaning up after him," she complained, and that was not even the first time he had put them to work like that.

Not that it had not helped her and the rest. Even without getting their Excelia updated, she could feel that both she and Kaguya had grown a lot, and it was all because of him.

"Melen. What were you doing there?" Ryuu questioned, and she became quiet at that.

"Tracking down a lead to Evilus," she answered and immediately saw the blonde's face contort at the mention of that evil.

"Did you find anything?" she asked, and Alise nodded. They had found quite a lead.

"We did," she answered.

"What?" and she shook her at that question.

"It is not my place to tell. You will learn soon enough. The whole city will," she answered as Ryuu nodded.

"It is good to see you girls again, Alise," a booming voice interrupted her. She looked up and found herself face to face with the owner of the inn, Mama Mia. The giant of a woman was a retired adventurer, one whose level even dwarfed her own.

"It is good to see you as well, Mama Mia," she greeted the veteran woman who smiled at her.

"So, what are you going to do now that you are back in the city, Alise?" the older woman asked making her frown.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I was asking if you three are looking for a job as well," she elaborated as she leaned forward.

"Believe it or not, this place can get rather rowdy at night. We could always use a few extra helping hands around the inn," and she realized the generosity and thought about it.

"Thank you for the offer, Mia-san, but I am afraid we will have to decline, at least for some time," she answered.

"Why?" Ryuu asked from the side, and then she told them the main reason behind their early return was that they had had to leave things halfway back at Melen, trusting Njord-sama and his familia to get the rest done.

"Because he needs our help with something. He has asked us to train a kid, someone named Bell Cranel," she answered and saw both Ryuu's and Mama Mia's eyes widen at the mention of that name.

"Bell Cranel?" they asked, and she nodded. He had sent them a time and place where they would meet the boy in question, and they were to pummel him into the ground and push him to his limits in the next month.

And after having been trained by that bastard himself, Alise knew just how to do that.

"Yes, do you know him?" she asked, and they exchanged glances.

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INUMAKI-The Silent

From what little Inumaki could still remember, Bell Cranel's growth speed was supposed to be exceptional, driven to exuberant levels because of his sheer desire to grow stronger.

But the truth was no matter how exuberant his speed may be, Inumaki neither cared nor did it matter, for he had long stopped relying on his dreams; his mere presence had altered everything, and in the fifteen years, he had forgotten most, if not all, the important bits and pieces from the scarce dreams he had.

Moreover, he planned to make his move soon against the rather formidable Ishtar familia. They were directly connected with the smuggling of the violas, the new plant-like monsters. He had learnt of their involvement in the port city of Melen, discovering the games being played there and had decided to put it all down.

Soon enough, Ishtar's familia would learn that their operations in the town of Melen had been destroyed, and as soon as they would learn that, they would make a move against him. Alone, he would care little for them. Despite the Ishtar familia being rather strong, he was confident in his ability to face them.

But he could not say the same for his Goddess and his cousin, Bell. And so, he had called for backup, knowing that Alise and the rest would be almost done with the mess he had left for them back at Melen.

He had met them years ago while fighting monsters in one of the neighboring countries. The three survivors from the Astraea family had spent a lot of effort trying to chase after him. Initially, he had expected them to be after him for revenge, but when she had approached him rather calmly, he had been surprised and had humored her request for a talk.

And to his surprise, the red-haired ex-captain of the Astraea familia had somehow figured out the truth by herself, and he was further shocked when she had asked for him to train them and allow them to join him on his adventures. Given that he had to train and the lack of proper monsters to push him beyond his limits, the offer was a godsend for him.

So they had begun to move on together as a group, and he would face all three of them together at once to train himself, often putting certain limitations on himself to push himself for the future that was to come. It was the only reason that despite being away from the dungeon he was able to rank up to level 5 upon his return, all the excelia he had gained whole training with Alise and her friends had been enough to push him beyond his rank of 4.

But even level 5 was not enough. Not when the aim was to go down to floor 59 of the dungeon. Already, Loki familia had declared their intentions for an expedition, shocking the whole city. The date was yet to be announced, but No matter, Inumaki knew that he needed to get stronger no matter.

Going into the dungeon alone was one option, but he would adopt it later, especially when he had one far more efficient way to push himself beyond his limits. And so, earlier in the day, he had sent a missive to a certain adventurer asking for their availability and had received an affirmative answer as he had expected.

And now he found himself alone, with nothing but several boxes of healing potions beside him in the ruins in the East of the city, a place where once Zald had fought against a young rising adventurer.

And suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted his thoughts as a sole figure walked into the ruin. His height and width dwarfed his own, and his face was as expressionless as always. On his back, two great swords were bound, and he also carried a rucksack on his shoulders.

His muscles hard as steel, his eyes razor sharp and glinting as he looked at him and nodded.

"You came prepared," he asked pointing at the box of healing potions, making him smirk.

"They are for you," and Inumaki's taunt was met with no smile, but those eyes did light up as he put down his bag and moved into the open air.

He was among the few adventurers in the Orario that could take him at his best and still push him beyond his limits. And though things seemed to have devolved much over the years, in the past, it was much more common for him to train with both Ottar and Ais, especially when they had initially started.

"I did not know you would agree so readily," Inumaki questioned as he began to stretch.

And Orario's strongest and the pride of Freya familia, Ottar, the warlord, put down his swords as he cracked his knuckles and got into his stance.

"You know better than anyone that the Goddess would never let me deny such a request from you," he said, and he did know that. And shameless as it was, he would use each and every advantage he could to reach his goal. He could waste no more time. Not anymore. Things were moving too fast, and he needed to be ready.

"You make it as if you had no interest in coming here," Inumaki taunted as he took a deep breath, calming his mind as he steadied himself. Ottar did not react to his words making him click his tongue, the taunt in that silence not lost to him.

"Then I will have to make it all worth your while, king," and with that, the second his feet touched the ground, he activated his magic, and felt the world around him shift as it all became sharper, coming into focus, and as he blurred towards Ottar, he could see the large boaz's body move his smallest movement not lost to his enhances vision.

And as he neared the giant, his fist went right past the hastily brought up arm by the man, and for the first time since his arrival. He saw the face of Ottar shift as his fist scratched his face, his attack cutting through his defense, as Inumaki's lips turned up.

"You have gotten slower, Ottar..."

.

.

.

And so began an exchange of blows that would last hours and hours. During all that, a few people stood on one of the decrepit towers, watching the exchange between the two mismatched adventurers with hungry gazes.

"He scratched Ottar's face," a dark elf, one named Hogni, gasped as he saw his captain getting injured for the first time in his life. A feat even he had not been able to accomplish.

"Is he cheating?" he asked, yet the man beside him, an elf wearing a pair of glasses, the infamous Hildrsielf, shook his head.

"No," he answered, for this was not his first time seeing such a spectacle.

"He is not, it's just that he is simply the worst kind of opponent for Ottar," he elaborated as he adjusted his glasses before suddenly his eyes shifted to the cat-human vice-captain of his watching the fight with rapt attention.

"The one who can see everything...." and even at a distance, he could see those accursed eyes, the one's which had earned him another nickname in their own familia.

"...The Red Eyed Devil."

0000

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