Is It Wrong to Skitter In A Dungeon? Chapter 54: Thy Name is Vengeance (Patreon)

Chapter 54: Thy Name is Vengeance

“I repeat, Sword Princess, why are you attacking my Familia in the middle of the city?”

Taylor was not often angry… okay, that was a lie. She got angry a lot. But it was rare for her rage to burn so hot and yet feel so calm. A paradoxical state, one her father had once referred to as ‘the Hebert Fury.’

And as Taylor stared down at Ais Wallenstein, who stood with her sword drawn trying to cut down Bell, Wiene, Haruhime, Mikoto, and Aisha, she felt the rage fill her to the point not even her ability to disperse her emotions into the swarm fully worked.

Bell was looking up at her in relief, but he did not lower the Hestia Knife. He had several cuts on his face and arms, but he refused to budge. Why? Because Wiene was trembling in fear behind him.

Aisha, Mikoto, and Haruhime were nearby as well, the Amazon and Far Easterner much worse off than Bell due to not having any weapons of their own. The renard was untouched, but her clothes were scuffed and dirty as she crouched beside Wiene, holding her close to her chest protectively.

“WELL?!” Taylor demanded once more, her voice echoing through her swarm.

“That is a monster,” Ais declared, pointing her sword at the Vouivre.

“Are you blind? Or do you perhaps not see the Hestia Familia emblem she is wearing, or the fact she is bearing a Tamer Tag?” Taylor asked.

While the latter was somewhat discreet as it was incorporated into a black choker worn around the Xenos’ throat, the former was quite hard to miss as Wiene’s black cloak was stamped with a golden depiction of the Hestia Familia’s sigil.

“It is a monster. It must die,” Ais said, completely ignoring everything else.

“I thought you would have learned by now to leave the monsters of my Familia alone,” Taylor spat out, annoyance tinging her voice.

She then glanced down at her Familia members. “Bell, take Wiene back to the manor. Aisha, Mikoto, Haruhime, you need to leave as well. Now.”

Bell nodded, having absolute faith in his sister. Haruhime and the others had more reluctant looks but they also tensed up, preparing to run.

There was no starting signal. Instead, thousands of insects charged in towards Ais, forming black tendrils that twisted through the air. Ais began to cut them apart before simply rushing into them after seeing how ineffective it was, choosing to bulldoze through the swarm in her desire to chase after Wiene.

Sensing the danger, Taylor quickly caused the swarm to burrow into Ais’ clothes and hair, causing unbearable itching and tickling across her entire body. Despite that, the adventurer had a single-minded devotion to destruction and ignored the sensations.

‘New plan,’ she thought to herself. ‘I need to keep her attention on me so the others can escape!’

To that end, Taylor shot down from the sky, aiming to kick Ais in the face. She saw it coming, of course, and twisted aside, but she did not expect Taylor’s fake arm to blast her in the face with water, soaking her to the bone and causing her to splutter in bewilderment.

“…Grow!”

In the distance, Taylor heard Haruhime finishing chanting as she ran off with the others, and she felt power surge through her body.

She didn’t relax or let her guard down, though. Even with a boost to her Level, she was still weaker than Ais. It would be an up-hill battle to keep the Loki Familia executive away from everyone.

‘But it’s not the first time I’ve fought people far stronger than myself,’ Taylor thought, a hint of nostalgia trickling into her before straightening up.

Sensing her determination to continue the fight, Ais glanced towards where Bell and the others had run off to, but turned back towards the parahuman, acknowledging her as a threat and obstacle.

Taylor sent her swarm towards Ais again, enveloping her in thousands of bugs, trying to blind and suffocate the insane adventurer. She couldn’t cause a problem is she was unconscious, right?

“Tempest,” Ais intoned darkly, and her spell, Ariel, burst to life around her, shredding the tendrils of the swarm. Caught in the whirlwinds she had conjured, the insects on and surrounding her were torn apart and scattered.

The attack also created a gap in the buzzing cloud that Ais took advantage of, lunging towards Taylor. The parahuman narrowly dodged, bending out of the way an instant before Ais’ blow landed.

‘Just like Ryuu,’ Taylor thought as she quickly made distance between them. ‘She learned from our first encounter.’

A part of Taylor regretted using this trick against Ais back then. Ais was an insane monster hater, but she was also a battle maniac. Of course she’d have learned from the encounter. But at the same time, Taylor had been a Level 1 at the time, and it’d been the only way to protect Chris.

More bugs shot forward in a tide of chitin, seeming like they were going to crush her. Ais blasted them apart with a second round of Ariel, ripping the swarm to pieces, but they’d been nothing more than a distraction for her.

Behind Ais’ back, dozens of small gnats and ants snuck up onto the girl. And thanks to the main swarm in front of her, she never noticed Taylor secretly planting a few insects on Ais, forcing them to burrow into her clothes and armor. Not many, but enough.

Ais shot forward again, moving faster than Taylor could keep up with, but thanks to the bugs on her, Taylor could tell when Ais’s body tensed up and began to move. It gave her less than a second of warning, but that was all she needed to twist out of the way of another attempted stabbing.

“Enough, Ais Wallenstein!” Taylor shouted as she flew up onto a roof. “Stop this!”

 “Never!” Ais retorted, and kicked off the ground as she jumped towards her opponent, the ground shattering beneath her.

Sword flashing, Ais aimed a strike at Taylor’s eyes, but it passed over her head, severing a few strands of hair.

‘Close!’ Taylor thought as she barely managed to duck, before retaliating by punching Ais in the stomach with an Earthquake Fist. It hurt her, but the younger girl’s Level 6 stats caused an attack that could kill a Level 3 to only mildly inconvenience her.

Ais recovered faster than Taylor had anticipated, and only quickly raising her golden arm in front of her face saved the parahuman. The blow was still overwhelmingly strong and jarred Taylor’s entire body while also sending her sailing backwards.

Taylor smashed through a roof into some poor family’s attic, wooden splinters and broken ceramic tiles falling around her.

‘Okay, now you’ve done it,’ Taylor decided as she pulled herself out. ‘No more ‘nice’ Taylor.’

Her swarm rumbled angrily and rose up, and the streets turned black with millions of insects. Spiders, roaches, fleas, centipedes… a seething tide that began to form dozens of magic circles across the ground.

Suddenly, Ais was driven to her knees as the magic circles activated and a crude copy of Mikoto’s gravity spell pinned her in place.

“What is your problem, anyways?! They are just monsters!” the parahuman growled out, staring at Ais in frustration as the Sword Princess struggled against the spell. “It is the Dungeon that hates all life! Once they leave the Dungeon, monsters are nothing more than animals! Powerful animals, but that’s it!”

“LIAR!” Ais shouted. “Monsters are cruel! They seek to destroy everything in their path and know nothing else! They must be destroyed!”

Taylor shook her head. “How pitiful,” she uttered in disappointment.

“Do not! Pity me! I’m… not… weak!” Ais snarled, pushing herself to her feet as she threw off the gravity spell’s effects on her, and the maddened warrior swung her sword at the parahuman once more. It glanced off of the Taylor’s golden arm, who’d raised it to block the strike just in time.

“Is that the best you can do?” Taylor taunted, before summoning her wings and rising into the sky. She flew higher, until she’d gone to a height not even Ais could easily reach.

Ais stared up at her, eyes unblinking and unfocused, before tightening her grip around her sword. An explosion of wind suddenly erupted from her, surrounding her body. She then leapt up into the air. Instead of falling, Ais kept ascending, the magical storm she’d wreathed herself in forming a pair of wing-like tornados on her back.

Taylor just watched on, a grin slipping onto her face. “Finally. Let’s take this elsewhere.”

The parahuman then shot forward, grabbing onto Ais’ face with her golden arm, and dragged her through the air away from the packed streets of Orario’s central district.

Ais’ surprise only lasted for a moment and she broke free of Taylor’s grasp, but Taylor had managed to bring them away from the spot they’d just been fighting at, far enough away from the rest of the city to not worry about collateral damage.

The Sword Princess began to swing her blade wildly, sending shockwaves of razor-sharp wind flying at Taylor, but the parahuman managed to avoid the attack, weaving through the air with graceful maneuvers.

In an instant, the battle had turned to Taylor’s advantage. She was far more used to fighting in the air, and her own method of flight was tailored to that specific task. And while the parahuman had less Mind, Ais’ method of sustaining her tornado-wings was crude and rapidly draining her own reserves of magical energy.

Taylor began to fly circles around Ais, keeping her distance while shooting beams of magic out of her artificial limb. Ais, being new and clumsy in the air, managed to hack apart some of the magical beams, but others managed to strike her, exploding violently all over her body.

They did some damage, but it was mostly cosmetic. Scuffs and burns on her outfit. As annoyed as Taylor was with Ais, she didn’t want to actually hurt the other woman.

‘Not that I actually can,’ she grimaced as yet again a bolt of lightning did nothing except cause Ais’ hair to frizz up.

‘It must be Ariel,’ Taylor thought to herself. ‘The magical wind is insulating her, deflecting most of the power from the Magic Blade Cartridges, and making them even less effective than usual.’

“Weak,” Ais suddenly spat out, causing Taylor to frown at the tone the adventurer was using.

“Do you refer to me? Or are you acknowledging your own failures at last?” Taylor demanded.

“You’re wrong…” Ais muttered, and the captain of the Hestia Familia frowned as her eyes were unfocused and staring at something else nearby. “You’re… I am strong… I survived! I am strong!”

‘She’s talking to herself,’ Taylor realized. The Sword Princess had gone completely loopy! And sounding too much like Sophia for her to feel comfortable.

“I’m strong… I… am Vengeance,” Ais uttered, and she began to drag the sword across her palm, her blood staining the blade. Her life juice suddenly ignited into black flames that radiated madness, and her aura flickered, growing loud with the sound of hate-filled screaming.

“Shit!” Taylor explored, immediately shooting upwards. Just in time, too, as a wave of black flames surged forward, nearly incinerating her.

‘She’s not holding back anymore,’ Taylor thought, glaring at her opponent. ‘I have to end this! Now!’

Taylor dove down, her golden fist glowing with magic as she gathered a massive amount of electricity around her, the Magic Blade Cartridge heating up. It would break after this attack, so she had exactly one chance to make it count.

Weaving past more blasts of black flames, Taylor got up close and personal, and managed to punch Ais in the face. Normally this would have been impossible, but right now Ais was running on autopilot, completely dead to the world save for throwing out attacks.

As her golden knuckles slammed into Ais’s cheek, waves of lightning cascaded across her body, causing her to twitch and her tornado-wings to fail. She plummeted towards the city, smashing into the street below with an explosion of broken cobblestones, wind, flames, and lightning rippling outwards before finally settling down, a large cloud of dust rising up.

Slowly, Taylor began to descend, glaring at the hole Ais had made in the ground. ‘Of course it wouldn’t be that easy,’ she thought in annoyance as the Sword Princess pulled herself out, rubble falling off of her. There was a small bruise on her cheek, but little else to show for the parahuman's attack.

“Stop this, Ais,” Taylor repeated, relaying her words through the swarm. “You’ve caused enough damage!”

“Must… kill…” Ais uttered, lost in her own world. “Must… protect… not weak… not weak!”

“Look at yourself!” Taylor snarled in frustration. “You’re so obsessed with killing monsters that you’re becoming the very thing you hate!”

Ais paused, taken aback by the claim that managed to pierce the haze shrouding her mind. The stunned reaction didn’t last long, and she shifted into a lunging stance, only for her left foot to nudge some broken glass on the ground, distracting her. She glanced down, eyes widening before going utterly still.

Whatever Ais saw in her reflection had unsettled her, as the madness filled gaze was replaced by one of disbelief and confusion.

Nearby, some rubble shifted, and her head snapped towards the sound, combat instincts honed in the Dungeon zeroing in on what she assumed was a threat. Once more she froze as it was not a foe she came face to face with, but a mother and daughter pair, the two of them having been caught up in the sudden fighting that had descended onto the street. They’d tried to escape, but hadn’t gotten far, and clearly hoped to take advantage of the unexpected lull to sneak away.

What had truly stopped Ais in her tracks, however, was the look of terror the mother and daughter sported as they trembled under the Sword Princess’s gaze.

‘Has anyone ever looked at her with fear before?’ Taylor wondered.

The parahuman was a former villain and warlord. She was used to people giving her looks like the ones on the family’s faces. Ais, though… she was a hero. Praised and loved. Until now.

The two women weren’t the only ones to be staring in shock, disbelief, and fear at the scene. Plenty of other people were cowering in their shops and houses on the street that had just been subjected to a clash between powerful adventurers, but just as many were peeking out of the windows or holes in their walls.

All of this finally seemed to break through whatever mental block Ais had going on, and her sword dropped from her fingers before she fell to her knees.

Taylor didn’t care. She was no longer looking at the Sword Princess and instead had directed her gaze down the street.

“You took your sweet time getting here,” she said, annoyance bleeding into her tone as she glared at Loki, Finn, Riveria, Gareth, and Leyfia.

The Loki Familia were staring at the scene, various emotions dancing across their faces. Loki’s expression was one of disbelief. Finn looked disappointed, and Gareth was amused, oddly enough, while Riveria was frowning at Ais. Leyfia, for her part, was glaring daggers at Taylor, which the parahuman felt was unfair.

“What happened?” Finn demanded. He didn’t have his spear, but none of them really needed weapons to be dangerous.

“The Sword Princess attacked Bell while he was out with a new Tamed monster,” Taylor replied. “She tried to kill one of our Familia’s members. Again.”

“Damn it, Ais,” Riveria groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Why is she like that?!” Leyfia demanded, pointing at the Level 6 who was still kneeling in the dirt, eyes empty and unseeing.

“She started to get… mentally disturbed as the fight progressed,” Taylor revealed. “Shortly before and after she unleashed a bunch of black flames she just shut down, fighting automatically. In order to stop her, I punched her. Didn’t work exactly, but when she finally saw what she’d done, and how the people were looking at her, she just broke down.”

“Finn, Gareth, take Ais back to the Twilight Manor,” Loki ordered, and the Pallum and dwarf looked at each other before nodding. The stocky bearded adventurer hoisted her onto his back and they walked off.

‘If only Miss Yamada was here. If she could help parahumans she could probably help with whatever mental issues Ais has,’ Taylor thought to herself as she watched the blonde get carted away, feeling a pang as she missed the kindly therapist.

Those thoughts would have to wait, though, as she turned her head to stare at Loki and the two elves who were with her.

“Mind coming with me back to the Hearth Manor?” Taylor requested. “Since Leyfia is here with you, we can take care of that deal we made earlier. And afterwards, you can discuss repayment to our Familia, Loki.”

“Lead the way,” the red-headed goddess demanded in a sour tone, gesturing at the parahuman.

Loki’s mood wasn’t great, no doubt contemplating how much it was going to cost their Familia to repair the damage Ais had caused to the city. If the grimace on her face was any indicator, it was going to be expensive.

The group marched back to the Hearth Manor, all while fearful eyes watched them leave. Once they’d left the scene of the scuffle, there was a lot of silence, nobody willing to talk, though Loki and Riveria seemed to be having a conversation with each other using just their eyes and a few discreet gestures.

‘Secret hand signs for communication? Or perhaps just a close familiarity with each other?’ Taylor wondered. Could have been both, based on what she knew of the myths of Loki.

Whatever the case was, it was better than the angry glaring she was getting from Leyfia. The brown-haired elf either had a massive crush on Ais and despised Taylor for beating her, or she had the usual anti-human biases the rest of her kind did. Again, could be both.

‘Whatever. I don’t have time to care about the feelings of another Familia’s member,’ she thought to herself, before sending some of her swarm ahead to alert her own Familia of their arrival.

When she reached the street where the manor was located, Taylor looked over the spot where just days ago had been a giant hole. Magic and the Falna made construction work incredibly easy, and it was already hard to tell where Evilus had tried to breach her home.

At the gates of the mansion, she found Hestia and Ryuu waiting, the latter tapping her foot impatient, and her expression got angrier when she saw how beat up Taylor was.

Despite the parahuman’s best efforts she’d gotten a few nicks and cuts during the fight, and her outfit, not meant to be worn in combat, had gotten scuffed up.

“Taylor,” Hestia said, her tone revealing how annoyed she was.

“It’s looks worse than it actually is?” Taylor tried to offer, but the goddess just scoffed before glaring at Loki.

“So. Loki. Here to apologize over the behavior of your Familia member?”

“Yes,” Loki replied, her own tone lacking any of the usual smugness it typically carried. “Ais was completely out of line. She should know better than to attack a Tamed monster in the streets. Or anywhere, really.”

Leyfia shot a betrayed look at the Trickster Goddess, but Riveria was nodding in agreement.

“She will be disciplined,” Riveria declared, voice stern.

“Good,” Hestia huffed, before looking at Leyfia. “I suppose you originally were going to come here for her?”

“That’s right,” Loki nodded. “Is the deal still on?”

“Throw in an extra favor and it will be,” Hestia replied, folding her arms under her bust, and Loki grimaced but nodded.

“That’s fair,” she admitted.

It was more than fair, really, and Taylor knew it. The Hestia Familia was small but it had a lot of power. A Level 5, a Level 4, and multiple Level 3s was more than most could boast of, and it had raised their Familia all the way up to C-rank.

Seeing that the deal was done, Hestia turned to Ryuu. “Go on and heal our troublesome captain, if you please.”

“Of course. Noah Heal,” Ryuu intoned, glowing green energy suffusing Taylor and healing her wounds.

Nearby, Leyfia stared intently at the magic circle, memorizing and learning it. Of all the Spells to copy, Noah Heal was without a doubt the most important. Healing magic was rare, with most of the people capable of casting Spells that removed injuries belonging to Dian Cecht, who jealously guarded them.

More than anything, though, it was the stamina restoration effect of the Spell that was drawing Thousand Elf’s attention. Mending minor wounds was one thing. Recovering stamina? Much rarer, almost as much as Healing magic itself. Both in a single Spell? Beyond exclusive, and incredibly important.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” Loki muttered as she watched the Spell work its magic on Taylor. “That is definitely worth two favors.”

Riveria inclined her head, watching the scene carefully just like her student. Even if she couldn’t automatically copy magic like Leyfia, she was a master at modifying her own Spells, and would probably find a way to use some elements of Noah Heal for herself.

When it was over, Taylor gave Ryuu a grateful nod, and the green-haired elf just nodded.

“So! Is that all?” Loki asked, clapping her hands.

“Until Ais can learn some self-control and restraint, it would be best if she keeps her distance from Bell and the rest of the Familia,” Taylor replied, and Hestia nodded her head rapidly.

Of course,” Riveria agreed. “Thank you for your help, and the Spell. Come, Leyfia, we’re going to go practice.”

“Y-yes, ma’am!” Leyfia said, startled out of her thoughts.

“Yeah, we better get going,” Loki said, and waved lazily at the trio in front of the manor’s gate and then walked off with the elves, heading back to the Twilight Manor.

“My children are such delinquents,” Hestia sighed as she and the other two members of her Familia walked back inside the Hearth Manor. “Did you have to get into a fight right in the middle of the city?!”

“Yes,” Taylor replied simply. “Ais’ ideals were too twisted for there to be any other outcome.”

“I am impressed you survived in one piece,” Ryuu commented.

“No! Don’t be impressed!” Hestia puffed. “Be upset she got into the fight in the first place!”

“It wasn’t easy, but she wasn’t trying to kill me for the first half of the fight,” Taylor admitted, fully aware that the Sword Princess could have done a lot worse. “And in the second half… she wasn’t fighting with a full deck, if you catch my drift. Very monotonous and straightforward – if powerful – attacks. I survived by using my swarm to predict her movements and attack patterns, and then desperately dodging.”

“A reckless method,” Ryuu commented. “But an effective one.”

“Are the others okay?” Taylor asked. “Were Bell or Wiene hurt?”

“No, they were unharmed,” Hestia reassured her. “Bell got scuffed up protecting Wiene, but it seems like Ais was holding back.”

Taylor nodded. It made sense. Ais could have taken Bell out of the picture in short order. Even with absurd stats for a Level 3… he was still only Level 3. He didn’t have the omni-cognition of her swarm to let her react to threats before they even began to attack. And with him down, Wiene would have been…

The parahuman shook her head, not wanting to think about what would have happened to the adorable Xenos girl if Ais had gotten her way.

“It’s a good thing Ais seems to like Bell. That affection was probably the only reason they both came out of this unharmed,” Taylor mused. Hestia pouted, her jealousy towards Bell dating Ais an amusing sight as always.

Upon entering the manor, the trio was greeted by the rest of the Familia who were crowding around the foyer.

“You’re okay!” Bell exclaimed, and many sighs of relief were exhaled when the others saw their captain was in one piece.

Wiene threw herself at Taylor, burying her face into the young woman’s stomach as she wrapped her arms around her waist in a crushing hug.

“Yeah, I managed to hold out long enough for Finn and Loki get her under control,” Taylor explained as she tenderly patted Wiene’s hair.

“We were all very worried when we heard what happened, but it’s a relief to know you are fine,” Marius said. “And it’s also good to know Bell and Wiene made it out safely as well.”

“To think you could force a draw with the Sword Princess… truly remarkable,” Tammuz murmured, his eyes shining with adoration as he looked at her.

“Um, Taylor-Sama, do you need anything?” Haruhime asked, the renard in a maid outfit stepping forward timidly.

“Thank you,” Taylor assured her. “I suppose I’ll need to replace these clothes. Can you and Lucia patch them up tonight?”

“We can!” Lucia assured the captain, Haruhime nodding in agreement.

“Aren’t you worried that Wallenstein will reveal Wiene’s existence to her Familia?” Karen inquired. To the swordswoman’s surprise, Taylor denied it with a shake of her head.

“No. Mostly because I never expected Wiene to stay a secret forever. It doesn’t bother me,” Tayloer replied. “And even if they do suspect we have an intelligent monster, what exactly can they do? Besides, the Loki Familia owes us after today.”

“Loki is also curiosity incarnate,” Hestia spoke up. “Back in Tenkai, when she wasn’t picking fights or playing pranks, she was ferreting out secrets. She’ll want to uncover our secret and won’t do anything that would spoil her fun. Which means we can count on her to keep Wiene a secret if only to have something to hold over the other gods.”

“I’m sorry,” Bell muttered.

“For what? You had nothing to do with Ais going crazy,” Welf assured him.

“And Lili doesn’t think it was your fault that the Sword Princess was also walking around earlier in the afternoon,” Lili added.

“Ais is… broken,” Taylor told Bell, which caused some people to look at her in confusion.

“Broken?” Bell asked nervously.

“What she did today… those actions are not something a sane woman does,” Taylor informed her half-brother. “At some point in the past, Ais lost her mind. And she has never properly recovered. Nobody gave her the help she needed, and the wound has festered.”

‘I should know,’ the parahuman thought bitterly. ‘If not for Bell and Hestia, I fear I’d have been just like her.’

“How can I help her?” Bell demanded, clenching his fists in determination.

“You still want to help her? After what she tried to do to Wiene?!” Haruhime demanded, glaring at the boy. He flinched, but didn’t back down.

“If she really is hurt, then she’ll just keep trying to do this, won’t she?” Bell retorted. “If we want Wiene to live freely under the sun, then I believe Ais has to understand that the Xenos deserve to live, just as much as anyone else!”

“It won’t be easy,” Taylor warned.

“I don’t care! I will help everyone!” he declared firmly.

Taylor stared sadly at her brother. It was a heroic desire, but trying to save everyone would break him, just like it did her. Yet a part of her wanted to see Bell’s dream come true… and so, with a sigh, she told him what to do.

“The only way you can help Ais is to make her want to be healed,” Taylor told him. “She will never get better if she refuses to acknowledge there is a problem.”

“I will do that,” Bell vowed.

“If you find a way to do so, then I won’t stop you. Now, can you tell me what happened?” Taylor asked, still patting Wiene’s head.

“Well, I was showing Wiene around, letting her get an idea of where different things were in the city, when a runaway cart suddenly came shooting down the street! It was going to hit a boy, buy Wiene leapt in to save him!” Bell explained.

“That was brave of you,” Taylor praised the Vouivre, and Wiene blushed happily.

“It was! She grew wings and rescued the boy before he got hit and stop the cart!”

“Weren’t people scared by her?” Emma asked, concern for both the citizens and the Xenos girl.

“At first,” Bell admitted with a frown, one mirrored by Wiene. “But the boy wasn’t frightened. He was just awed by Wiene. And people saw me, and they saw the Familia emblem Wiene wore… and that seemed to calm people down.”

“Were they surprised she could speak?” Primo wondered.

“Some of them were,” the white-haired boy confirmed. “But when Miss Haruhime, Miss Mikoto, and Miss Aisha came over and started acting friendly with Wiene, things turned out even better.”

Taylor nodded in understanding. If so many adventurers were fine with Wiene, then surely it was safe for civilians too? At least, that was the reasoning the regular folk had probably had.

“What were you three doing out there, anyways?” Leo asked.

“We were following Bell because Haru was worried about the two of ‘em,” Aisha replied without shame. Haruhime whined in embarrassment and Hestia chuckled fondly.

Taylor felt a flash of satisfaction at that. It was a step in a right direction. It was proof that Xenos and surfacers could possibly co-exist.

“I am glad everyone is alright,” Taylor breathed out. She then looked at everyone sternly. “But don’t let your guards down.”

“We won’t,” Bell promised.

“Mmm! Let’s talk about something a bit more cheerful!” Hestia declared, not liking the stern atmosphere. “Like about how it’s almost time for my restaurant to open!”

“Oh! Is it soon? I’m looking forward to it,” Silva said eagerly.

“Yes, this ‘fast food’ concept is intriguing,” Oriana agreed. “Food prepared quickly with the intent of being eaten on the go… I am excited!”

“Great! I need some taste-testers to make sure everything is ready for the grand opening!” the Goddess of the Hearth said.

“I’d better help,” Taylor piped up. “Got to make sure you followed my recipes correctly.”

“You know I did!” Hestia replied, hands on her hips as she looked at the parahuman with fond exasperation. “You hovered over my shoulder enough times, after all!”

Gita snorted at that, while Taylor rolled her eyes. So what if she’d done a little hovering? She’d just wanted to make sure the sanctity of American Fast Food was preserved.

“Anything else to prepare for the opening?” Taylor wondered.

“Lemme check. Lucia! Are the outfits for the severs ready?” Hestia asked, turning to the Familia’s seamstress.

“Yes, Lady Hestia! I have ten prepared according to the measurements you gave me,” Lucia promised. “I can have them delivered whenever you want.”

“Good, good!” Hestia cheered. “Everything is coming together!”

“Speaking of preparing things, I want to Level Up,” Aisha declared and everyone turned to her.

“What do you need to do?” Taylor asked.

“I’m almost ready to hit Level 4, but I need something to push myself over the edge,” she replied. “I want to head into the Dungeon and fight the Goliath. Alone.”

“You will take a few other people with you to watch your back,” Taylor stated. “When will you leave?”

“Tonight,” Aisha replied. “The Goliath is estimated to respawn sometime tomorrow, and I want dibs. I was planning on camping on the 18th Floor so I could get to the Wall of Grief nice and early.”

“Alright. Any volunteers?” Taylor asked. To her lack of surprise, Bell, Mikoto, and Haruhime raised their hands. However, she was surprised to see Emma and Welf do so as well.

“I need some more materials to make everything we need for Knossos,” Welf explained. “Was gonna trade food and basic supplies with Rivira to get some of it.”

“I-I want to get stronger,” Emma stated with determination.

“Hm. Very well. I have no issues with this arrangement,” Taylor said. “Keep in mind that in a few days, we will be joining the Loki Familia on a resource run. We will be going as deep as the 36th Floor.”

“Ah, in that case, I’ll wait until then,” Welf replied, lowering his hand. Emma bit her lip but kept her hand raised after a moment.

“Alright. Bell, watch Aisha’s back. Mikoto, keep Haruhime and Emma safe,” Taylor replied. The team of five all nodded, and the captain of the Familia gave them a small smile. “Good luck.”

The quintet left to prepare for their overnight trip into the Dungeon, and the rest of the Familia dispersed throughout the manor. Though in every room, the swarm watched, keeping a protective eye on everyone.