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

Chapter 20

BELL CRANEL

To be a hero meant to overcome the odds, to defy the expectations. Bell Cranel had come to Orario to be a hero, to fulfill his grandfather's desire. And in a way he had gotten complacent when he had met Inumaki-kun, seeing someone so powerful, so confident had made him doubt his own dreams and prowess.

But he could doubt no more.

He would doubt no more. He would be a hero, and to do that he now had another person to chase after alongside Ais-san, someone to look upto, someone who was willing to believe that naive dream of his with all their heart, and Bell would not let them down.

No matter what.

He had not known that just trying to save Lili-san would lead to all this, he had only just wanted to help her out of the darkness that had come over her, and he had thought that he could do it all alone. After all, it was his decision, and yet, in the end, his naivety had forced Inumaki-kun to make a massive gamble, one that could cost him his prized weapon.

Bell was more observant than people realised. He was not oblivious to the rumors and stories surrounding that weapon and how Inumaki-san seemed to care for it. It was in ways similar to how he cared for the knife Hestia-sama had gotten him. And he had put that on the line for his dream, for his sake.

It was a debt he would repay no matter what. And that is why he found himself in this decrepit and abandoned castle on the outskirts of the city, fully armored with his knife bound to his belt, he waited for his trainer to show up.

And suddenly, a chilling voice erupted from behind him.

"So he is the one that made Inumaki gamble his own weapon," and the hostility that erupted made him perk up as Bell tried to jump away in fear and trepidation. And when he tried to jump away, a pair of feet swept at his legs from behind, knocking him off of his feet as pain ripped through his legs.

"AGHHH!" and as he tried to react, a hand grabbed his head from behind before his body was pushed to the ground.

"GUGH!" he screamed in pain as his face was pushed against the hard concrete, and as he tried to push himself back up, he found himself unable to move an inch, as a foot was placed on his shoulder, forcing him even to drop his knife.

"Weak," the voice rang out, as the hand from his head was removed and a sword was pushed into the ground right beside his face.

"Huh," he gasped as he saw his own reflection in the sword and saw the dirt covering his face.

"You are weak," the voice continued and he was finally able to turn his head to look at his attacker and as he did, he found himself at a loss for words. It was a girl, one with long straight raven black hair, that matched only her eyes in their darkness.

She was wearing a red and black traditional kimono with a floral pattern, while a flower pin decorated her hair. But what caught his eye was the folded clothing in place of one of her arms.

Those eyes, she was looking down at him with contempt, and derision.

"I don't see it," she remarked as she shook her head.

"I don't see what makes you so special that he would put his most prized possession on the line for you," she remarked and he finally understood who she was referring to, and just who might she be.

"You are her, the one who is meant to train me," he gasped in pain, as she pushed her foot down.

"I am still to decide on that," she added with tongue click, as she took out her blade and raised it once more.

"I might just decide to kill you right here and now and save Inumaki-san all the trouble," she added and as she raised her blade once more, he saw that it was aimed at his neck, and in a moment of desperation he pushed himself up, , pushing back her foot and as she swung it at his neck, he rolled out of her feet and jumped to his feet.

BOOM!

"Haaahaa," he huffed in pain as she crushed the ground with her foot and raised a brow.

"Interesting, little rabbit," she remarked as she put her sword back in the sheath, before suddenly he felt a shiver run down his spine as she vanished and appeared right infront of him in a second.

"But not enough!" she whispered, and as he tried to bring up the dagger to defend him, she attacked him, sending him flying into the wall.

"AGHHH!" his back hit the wall, and a sharp pain crept up all over his body as he screamed and fell down as she walked towards him, the bells tied to her head rang as she stepped forward and shook her head as she raised her foot to crush his head.

"You are not worth..."

"That is enough, Kaguya," a voice rang out, and he watched it halt right over his face.

And he looked to the side and found a red-haired goddess right beside him, she wore silver armor and had a sword tied to her belt and was looking at the black haired girl, named Kaguya.

"You have scared him enough," she said before she knelt down and looked at him, with only kindness and pity.

"I am sorry for my friend; she can get carried away sometimes. " The goddess reached into her belt, took out a potion, and forced it into his mouth. Immediately, he felt his body heal, the pain vanished, much like his wounds, and his vision cleared up.

This was nothing like the cheap stuff he often used. No, this was a high-level potion, and she had used it on him.

"Don't worry about it," she added, probably reading his thoughts from his face.

"Inumaki-kun gave that to us to help you recover faster," she said as she offered him her help and helped him up.

"You know, Inumaki-kun," he asked, and the red-haired girl nodded as she smiled at him.

"Yes, we are friends, even though he would deny those words," she said with a chuckle, as she joined the raven-haired girl who was also joined by another person, a pink-haired pallum with bindings on her face that covered her eyes.

"Well, I think it would be best if we introduced ourselves. I am Alise Fovell," she said as she gave him a small wave.

"It is good to meet you Bell-kun," she said as his face heated up.

"The black-haired girl is Gojouno Kaguya, and the pink-haired one is Lyra Lei," and the pallum waved at him.

"Call me Lyra," she added, and he nodded.

"We were called by Inumaki-kun to train you for the war game, and that is what we will do. You will take turns facing each of us, as we instill into you the teachings that Inumaki-kun passed onto us," she said and saw the pallum girl shiver at that.

And as he heard those words, he bowed his head. He could feel the power coming off of them; they were all first-class adventurers, adventurers whom Inumaki-kun had trained, and as he realized that, he straightened his back and opened his mouth.

"I will be in your care," he shouted, and the red-haired girl nodded.

"Then let us begin..."

0000

LEYFIA VERDIS

Loki family's announcement for the expedition was met with much enthusiasm from everyone in Orario, especially when morale in the city was dwindling due to the reemergence of the syndicate of Evilus.

During the trying times, Loki familia was a beacon of strength and trust for the people of the city, especially now they were trying to reach the dungeon floors deeper than what Hera and Zeus familia had officially achieved. The recent ascension of Ais-san to Level 6 had also only helped, and so for the past two weeks, things had been rather exciting in the city.

That was all, even without the wargame that was set to precede the beginning of the expedition, the first in several years between the newfound Hestia familia and the Soma familia. The whole city was abuzz about that as well.

Leyfia on the other hand was much troubled by her own life, ever since the last campaign that had ended up in failure, she had been feeling more and more like failure, her progress stagnating infront of her eyes as she found herself being saved by those around her with no contribution by herself to show for it.

She had been waking up earlier to train herself, but despite it all, she felt stuck as she sat in the library pouring over texts that might help her learn simultaneous casting. Casting a spell while moving was an astronomical task, especially for her, given that she even found it difficult to do under normal circumstances.

But that was the next step, she did not just want to be rescued all the time. By Ais-san, by Riveria-san, by everyone, and by him as well, Inumaki-the Silent.

She could still remember the feeling of his magic even after so much time and how it made her feel safe and confident when the violas first attacked her during the monsterphilia campaign. She had thought it all a hoax until she had felt the same sensation during the attack on Riveria when they had come under attack by those two tamers.

His magic, that feeling. Leyfia sought that, that safety, that confidence.

"What should I do?" she lamented as she banged her head on the table and closed the book. As she lay there, her meditation was interrupted by the sound of a sword cutting through the air. She looked up and saw those all-too-familiar blonde locks outside in the garden swinging the blade.

It was Ais-san, and as Leyfia rose from her chair, she walked up to the window and watched the Loki Familia's ace swing her blade in the air and was mesmerized by it. Her swordplay was a thing of beauty. Ais-san swung that sword with such majestic grace that she felt her heart bubble up and tried to imagine herself being the same way.

As she was lost in her imagination, the blonde stopped suddenly, glanced towards the window, towards her, and called out.

"Leyfia," and she was taken aback as she suddenly screamed.

"Ohh," she screamed as she dropped the book she had been holding.

"Ais-san," she greeted nervously as the blonde titled her head.

"Is something wrong?" she questioned as she shook her head.

"Why don't you come down here," Ais-san asked, and one would have to be an idiot to defy her and so she made her way to the garden and found the blonde sitting there, as she pointed to the seat beside her.

"You seem rather troubled for the last few days?" Ais-san's words stilled her, she had not thought that anyone would notice her troubles, but it seemed she was more observant than she had thought.

A part of her wanted to smile and rebuff those concerns, but in the end, she found herself spilling the beans.

"It's just that I have been feeling rather useless," she added as she laid down her worries on Ais-san, and the blond was quiet for some time.

"So, you wish to train," Ais-san suddenly asked, making her look up.

"Yes, I wish to learn simultaneous casting," she added, and Ais-san nodded.

"Then how about I help you train myself?" and she lit up at those words as she jumped to her feet.

And Ais-san nodded before she felt her eyeing her with pity.

"Well, I know of a place, we should probably do it there," and she missed those words.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, just come out and meet me in the garden, and I shall help you train for simultaneously casting."

0000

Back in the home of Soma familia, Zanis Lustria found himself face to face with a high ranking adventurer, one who wielded a spear much like the Silent and whose eyes glinted the same red.

"So, he knows about us," Dix, the captain of Ikelos familia, whispered as he learnt of Inumaki's interest into them. And he knew better than anyone else, how dangerous it could be.

"See, this is what you will do..."

0000

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