Chapter 7: A Mother's Struggles

Freya's POV

"Freya-sama?" Ottar, her most loyal servant called out to her.

"Yes, Ottar? Have you gathered the information I want?" Ottar nodded and handed Freya a list of red-haired young men in Orario. She skimmed through it, only looking at the pictures, before stopping at one near the bottom of the list. It showed Shirou's face. she lightly tapped the picture of Shirou. "This, this is the boy I'm looking for. And what of the information I asked you to gather on that new goddess Irisviel's Famillia?"

"After asking around the shopping district based on what you've told me. The new goddess' full name is Irisviel von Einzbern, and her Famillia is called the Einzbern Famillia." So that is her name, Freya thought. "The Einzbern Famillia is rather famous, very impressive for a newly formed Famillia. Two of its adventurers are considered by many as level two adventurers, maybe more despite being actually level one."

"Oh? Are they that strong?"

"Yes, Freya-sama. I've seen the two adventurers first-hand, one has the regality often found in noble knights, and the other has the sense of professionalism often found in mercenaries and assassins." Something worth thinking about, Freya pondered.

"What else have you gained?" she inquired further, she needed to know all she can about this new Famillia, if only to know more of the Famillia of the one who surpassed even her beauty.

"Aside from the demi-god and the goddess, there are a total of 4 people in the Famillia. Heracles is one of them, though I wonder why they have him stationed outside of the house. Though, due to his size, I wouldn't put it past them to leave him out as to not destroy the house they live in." Ottar let a moment of silence to let it sink in before continuing.

"That means the last member is the boy, what have you gathered about him?"

"The boy's name is Shirou Emiya, and he alternates between working in the forge as a blacksmith, and working in a restaurant called 'The Hostess of Fertility'."

"Oh? That little restaurant the former captain owns now?"

"Yes, Mia Grande hired him a few days ago. And his cooking is highly sought out by customers, which is a problem to them since he only works once every two days due to his status as a blacksmith."

"Why does he not choose just one?"

"It is most likely because his father is an adventurer. I manage to come by this when I went to the Hostess of Fertility, and it seems his father uses a unique set of weapons only his family can use and craft. I have yet to gather what it is, or how he makes it. That is all I am able to gather." Ottar concluded his findings.

"I see, this is good information. Thank you Ottar, I hope you can find out more about Shirou Emiya. He continues to be an interesting individual. You are dismissed." And with that Ottar bowed, and left Freya to herself.

"Shirou Emiya. So, you are the one who wields such a beautiful soul." Her face was one of glee and ecstasy remembering the sight of Shirou's soul.

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Mordred was nervous.

Never had she felt that way before, she's fought her own father, King Arthur for the throne, she was raised by Morgan Le Fay - which earned some points in bravery - and she's fought several heroic spirits during the Great Holy Grail War.

So why is she nervous?

Well, simply because her 'mother' is cooking in the kitchen and it looks absolutely delicious. She's drooling just from the smell of it, and she's not the only one. The dining table was packed because of the six people occupying it – Berserker ate outside.

"Umm, mother. Can I- "

"No." Shirou answered before she could finish and Mordred pouted and laid her head on the table.

"Mordred, you should show some self-restraint. I thought you were trained better than this." Her 'father', Arturia chided her.

"I can't help it. Mother's cooking is so delicious." Mordred whined, and Shirou flinched at hearing Mordred call him 'mother'. It'll take a while for that to sink in.

"You really can't blame her, Arturia. Shirou's cooking is truly a sight, and taste, to behold. I expected my royal consort to be good in bed, but I would've never expected his greatness as a chef." Nero defended Mordred while praising Shirou's talent for cooking.

"Never thought my own son would be better than me in cooking." Kiritsugu wondered if Shirou's cooking skills were the cause of talent of experience.

"If you're wondering dad, I learned how to cook after I saw you nearly blow the kitchen to pieces." Shirou said as he walked over to the dining table and put down the food, while Kiritsugu merely scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

"It seems we have his father to thank for Master's cooking skills." Despite Scathach's stoicism and quiet behaviour, she's actually drooling at the sight of food.

"Remember Saber, only eat your portion." Shirou said with his arms crossed.

"Oh, come now Shirou. I'm not a glutton." Nero replied, only to gasp in shock as she noticed that half of the food placed on the table was gone in an instant.

"I wasn't talking to you Nero." He eyed Arturia, who was dabbing her mouth with a napkin. The newcomers were shocked – except Mordred – as to seeing Arturia's insatiable appetite.

"I've never seen father eat so much before. Well, father has eaten a lot before, but never this much." Mordred commented.

"It is simply because Shirou's delicious cooking, now I am finally able to enjoy my meals. One can only eat so many potatoes."

"Yeah, enjoy your meal as you enjoy wringing our financial supplies dry." Saber had the courtesy to look embarrassed by Shirou's comment. "Anyways, you three." He addressed the newly summoned servants. "You're going to have to work for your meals or else you don't get any. Do I make myself clear?" Scathach nodded, she thought it was suitable that they had to pay for such delectable food. She doubted even gods were immune to being entranced by Shirou's food. And seeing Irisviel and Illya convinced her that was actually the case.

"What?" Mordred and Nero cried simultaneously. They were about to complain when two kitchen knives impaled themselves in front of them.

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?!" Shirou repeated, his eyes glowing red and exuded an aura of authority. Shirou is many things; he helps people whenever he can, he's a diligent worker, and anyone can ask him to do just about anything if he has time, and if it doesn't clash with his ideals. But anything concerning his kitchen, and his food, and he will not hesitate to harm anyone who dares enter his kitchen without his explicit permission.

"Yes, Shirou/Mother." Nero and Mordred only lowered their heads in resignation. Normally, Mordred would be furious at such disrespect, but seeing Shirou so angry reminded her of her biological mother, Morgan Le Fay, and the less she remembered about that witch, the better.

"Good. Now, eat up or the food will get cold." Shirou walked outside to give Berserker his portion of the food – he's still too big to fit inside – while the dining room occupants started scarfing down the food – except Arturia because she already ate her portion and is forced to watch everyone else eat.

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Later

Later in the dungeon, Nero, Mordred, Scathach – after registering of course – Kiritsugu and Arturia were walking down the dungeon floors, killing every monster in their way.

"So, father. How far have you gotten down these floors?" Nero asked. They were currently on the 5th floor, and so far Nero thinks that the dungeon is a cakewalk for heroic spirits.

"The furthest we've gotten was the 9th floor, we were told it was safer to move onward with a group of three, we were thinking of recruiting, but then we summoned all of you." Arturia answered, she was thinking of asking Shirou to join them in the guise that Shirou would be able to gather materials from the middle floors to help with forging weapons. Oh well, there's always next time.

"We didn't want to risk getting careless and potentially getting ourselves killed." Kiritsugu added.

"I don't think that'll be a problem, we're all heroic spirits aren't we? Even if we die, we'll simply be sent back to the Throne of Heroes." Scathach commented.

"Well, I'd rather not leave behind my family, I've been living alone my whole life and all of a sudden I found out that in another timeline, I had a family? There's no way I'm passing that opportunity."

"Well, there's also the fact that Irisviel strikes your fancy. But that would be embarrassing for the 'Magus Killer', right?" Arturia teased, and Kiritsugu denied it.

Kiritsugu's reaction caused Nero and Mordred to also start teasing him, even Scathach joined in on the fun. It wasn't long before they arrived on the 10th floor. The floor was covered in a think mist, and the 'floor' was almost akin to an open field, given how high the ceiling is.

"The mist here is really thick; I can hardly see a meter in front of me." Mordred whistled, it reminded her of the morning mist back in Britannia that happened often.

"We should be careful, I heard that there are Orc and Imps don here, along with bats that'll mess up your concentration." Kiritsugu drew his new knife at the ready. Shirou gave it to him after breakfast, and despite it being made of iron, not steel, it could still get the job done. Kiritsugu had Shirou make two of these, so he would have a spare Justin case one broke.

Just as the group of five readied their weapons, loud screeches echoed from above as bats swooped down from the ten-meter-high ceiling, and Orcs and Imps jumped out of the mist to attack them. It was a fine strategy, the bats disorient the adventurers, while the Orcs and Imps attack the adventurers head-on while they're distracted. It might work for novice adventurers, but these weren't your average adventurers.

With their honed instincts, the group of five retaliated almost immediately when they saw the Orcs and Imps charge at them. Scathach used her two spears, and took care of the bats coming down, while the others took care of the Orcs and Imps. Kiritsugu stabbed an Orc with his new twisted dagger, and the Orc vanished into dust, leaving only the magic crystal core behind, all in mere seconds. Kiritsugu spotted a few Imps charging at him and reached for his gun, but stopped himself and used his dagger, he had to make a habit of himself to not use guns unless absolutely necessary, at least until Shirou is able to mass produce them, but until then he'll have to use bullets sparingly.

It only took 30 seconds for the group of five to dispatch the monsters coming at them, and another full minute for the monsters to re-spawn and attack them again.

It was another normal day in the dungeon.

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Later

"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU GUYS THINKING?!" Came a loud yell that echoed across the Guild hall – and several blocks away. The Heroic Spirit group of five merely covered their ears.

"It's fine, Eina-san. We're not hurt. Calm down." Arturia tried to calm the hysteric guild secretary.

"Calm down? CALM DOWN?! HOW CAN I CALM DOWN WHEN FIVE LEVEL ONE ADVENTURERS DECIDED IT WAS A GOOD IDEA, TO GO DOWN TO THE FUCKING TENTH FLOOR?!" Aside from Eina Tulle's hysterics, she had the attention of every person in the room, a group of five level one adventurers going down to the 10th floor, and live to tell the tale? Now that was impressive, more so when three of them had just registered this very day. If that's not impressive, I don't know what is.

Meanwhile the ones getting yelled at either closed their ears or completely ignored Eina's rant.

"Can't we just kill her and be done with it? She's starting to annoy me." All Mordred received was an elbow to the side courtesy of Arturia. "Alright, alright fine, we won't kill her. But can we have her shut up already? My ears are hurting." The group of five all nodded and placed five large bags on the counter.

"What is this?" Eina said, rather out of breath due to her hysteric rant.

"Our spoils." Was all Scathach said. Eina simply leaned back on her chair, looking like she was this close to pulling her hair out and let out a long, audible groan. Thankfully, one of her co-workers took care of exchanging the bags for Valis – that's Orario's currency by the way – and the group of five walked out of the guild building carrying five bags of Valis, while Eina was escorted to the breakroom. Overall, the Einzbern Famillia adventurers had a good day, as they now have a total of 60.000 Valis, though that's only because they went down up to the 10th floor, and Nero and Mordred thought they had earned much more.

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Meanwhile

Hestia didn't know what to do.

She'd planned to ask her friend Hephaestus to make her a dagger for Bell, her first and most loyal member of her Famillia. But that plan flopped like a dying fish when she saw Hephaestus growing frustrations over a small doohickey that grazed Hera's hand during Ganesha's party a few days ago. The only way to get Hephaestus out of her funk was to find the one who made it.

"Wait a minute, that's it! Irisviel. It was one of her Famillia members that shot that little doohickey, all I need to do is find Irisviel and as her who made it." She said to herself, only to slump in gloom. "But I don't know where she lives, and the one who could know is…. Ugh, Loki." Hestia never really liked dealing with the flat-chested Norse trickster god. She always gets on her nerves.

Hestia started pacing around the room when Bell came home.

"I'm back, Kami-sama." Said Bell as he dusted himself from dust after being down in the dungeon.

"Welcome back, Bell-kun." Though normally, Hestia would throw herself at Bell and give him a hug, she was too busy thinking of ways to find t out where Irisviel lives without resorting to ask Loki.

"What's wrong, Kami-sama?" Bell asked, he was so used to being hugged by Hestia that seeing it not happen is an indication that something is wrong.

"Well, I'm looking for a goddess named Irisviel, but I don't know where she is, and the only person who does is someone I'd rather not depend on."

"Oh, really?" Bell was looking through his memories to see if he remembered hearing about a goddess named Irisviel, but nothing came up (Note that Irisviel never said her full name at the party in Ch. 4). "Well, anyways. Did you hear, Kami-sama? A group of five level 1 adventurers managed to go down to the 10th floor and survive!" Bell said with a hint of excitement. "I heard it's a group of the new guys from the Einzbern Famillia."

"Einzbern Famillia? Never heard of it."

"Well, it's fairly new. But I heard the goddess made an entrance at Ganesha-sama's latest party."

"Bell-kun. The Einzbern Famillia, who was their goddess' name?"

"Umm, I think her full name was Irisviel von Einzbern."

"Of course, I never thought she had a full name. Most gods and goddess' only have a single name, but Irisviel is an ascendant, of course she has a full name. It makes sense." Hestia thought to herself. "Bell-kun, do you know where the Einzbern Famillia is located?"

"I don't, but I do know that one of their Famillia members, Shirou works in the Hostess of Fertility. You know, that restaurant I pass by when going to the dungeon." Hestia didn't think it's a good idea to go there and ask, people might get the wrong idea. But it's ultimately to get Bell a weapon from Hephaestus, so it's worth it.

"Thanks, Bell-kun." And with that, Hestia ran off.

"Wait, Kami-sama. He might not be…. There…. Today." Alas, Hestia was already out the door.

It didn't take long for Hestia to arrive at the Hostess of Fertility, luckily for her it was having a rather slow day – since Shirou started working there anyway – so it wasn't much of a problem for her to walk inside inconspicuously. She spotted a girl with bluish gray hair that she keeps tied with a small knot in a ponytail style. She recognized the girl as Syr, and while she was glad that someone often helped Bell when she wasn't around, she was wary of any women near Bell for fear of them taking him away from her, but she'll have to suck it up if she wants to find the Einzbern Famillia.

"Excuse me." Hestia called out to Syr.

"Yes, may I help you?'

"Yeah, I'm looking for Shirou. Is he around?"

"Oh, sorry. He's not here today, he's probably working in the forge today."

"The forge? I thought he wasn't an adventurer."

"He isn't, but he is a blacksmith." This caught her interest. Maybe Shirou knows who made that little doohickey Hephaestus has.

"Really? Well, thank you for your time." Hestia bowed and left for the forge.

At the Forge

Shirou was putting the finishing touches on a sword he's gonna put on display when somebody barged into his Forging station, making him flinch and bent the heated sword in his hands. Shirou turned to see a short girl wearing ragged white clothes, has big breasts, and has twin tails resembling Rin's.

"This must be Hestia, Illya told me about her. I hope her looks are all that remind me of Rin." Shirou thought to himself. In another world, Rin Tohsaka had the urge to hit a certain red-headed boy with several Gandr spells.

The girl who just barged in was sweating, whether that's because of the heat of the forge, or from running is anyone's guess.

"Can I help you?" Shirou asked.

"Are…. You…. Shirou?" The girl was panting. It was obvious she was running around.

"Were you barging in on everyone's Forging Stations?" Shirou asked.

"No." Hestia argued. But was made a moot point when a chorus of 'Yes.' Echoed across the hallway. A quick peek outside showed the irritated looks of the other blacksmiths on the same floor.

"What do you want, miss...?"

"Hestia, goddess of the Hestia Famillia. Are you perhaps, a member of the Einzbern Famillia?" Hestia asked, slowly catching her breath.

"Yeah, I am." Shirou put away his now bent sword for later. "Do you need me for something?"

"I came to ask you something. During Ganesha's party a few days ago, your goddess Irisviel and especially her daughter Illya managed to anger Hera, my sister. While I'm all for making fun of Hera – it's what siblings do after all – what intrigues me was what came after. Just as Hera reached out to Illya, her hand was grazed by what I could only think of as a miniature arrow." Shirou's eyes narrowed, he expected this to happen. It was only a matter of time. "While this usually doesn't concern me, I want to ask my friend Hephaestus for a favour, and I can't do that when she's fussing over that little arrow thing." Hestia sighed before continuing. "What I ask is this? Are you the one who made it?" A few minutes of tense silence later, Shirou sighed.

"Yes, I did make it." Shirou was about to say something else when Hestia grabbed his hand and yanked.

"Then you are coming with me!" Hestia dragged Shirou to the upper floors of the forge. When they arrived at Hephaestus' room, Hestia had Shirou wait outside while she went inside to make sure Hephaestus doesn't make a fool of himself.

"Hephaestus?" Hestia walked inside, and saw Hephaestus, in her chair looking like she had been binge drinking very strong ale last night. Hephaestus' hair was frazzled like that last time Hestia had seen her. "Still fussing over it."

"I know you might think I'm crazy, Hestia. But I know, I just know that this." She held up the partially flattened bullet in her hands. "This will make simple arrow, maybe even enchanted ones, absolutely obsolete. *sigh* All I need is the blacksmith who made this and ranged weaponry will be revolutionized."

"Then I have some good news, I found the one who made it~" Hestia trails off as a Forging Hammer slammed into the wall right next to her head.

"Tell me." Hephaestus said, the tone of her voice carrying a dangerous edge. "Now." her eyes burning in rage – that is because she thinks Hestia knew all along and was keeping secrets from her.

"Hold on, Hephaestus." Hestia laughed nervously. Normally, at this point Hestia would just run out while pushing Shirou inside, but this was her chance to as for favours without having to pay the debt, she was not going to let that slide. "A trade, I let the blacksmith in, and in exchange you nullify all my debts, and an extra favour I'll cash in later."

"Pick one or no dice." Was Hephaestus' reply.

"Accept both and the blacksmith leaves." Was Hestia's argument. Hephaestus gritted her teeth before relenting.

"Alright fine." She picked up her Book of Transactions ad wrote down 'Hestia's debts: Null and void. Owe one favour to Hestia.' "Now, where's the blacksmith?"

"I'm glad we came to an agreement, he's right here." In a blink of an eye, Hestia rushed out the door, pushed Shirou in and ran out the Forge.

It was now just Shirou and Hephaestus. Shirou was sweating bullets as he saw Hephaestus' look of shock into one of acceptance, and then into rage. Hephaestus threw another Forging Hammer at Shirou, who barely dodged.

"So, it was you. You're the one who caused me so much frustration." Hephaestus smiled, then she started laughing, maniacally. Hephaestus kicked a chair at Shirou. "Sit. Down." She lifted a leg and placed it on the seat pitch, and leaned forward. Meanwhile Shirou had a good look at Hephaestus' panties, and was trying really hard not to look.

"Now, let's talk, about this." She brought up the partially flattened bullet in her hands and leaned closer. Shirou only had one thing in mind.

"Fuck you, E ranked Luck!"