My Daily Life as a Dungeon Crawler is More Grindy than I Expected, Chapter 3. | Unfortunately, Hikigaya Hachiman Can't Help Helping.

…

"Going for a new look, Cranel?" Stepping off the final step of our home's stairs, I couldn't help but make note of the difference in my familia's apparel.

Really, the only difference was that he wasn't wearing his coat anymore. That and the amount of armor he had on had increased exponentially. He went from the single iron chestplate that the Guild had provided us to a chestplate that extended up to protect his neck, a pair of mismatched wrist bracers, and a full set of shoulder, elbow, and knee pads.

From where I stood, I couldn't tell what type of metal they were supposed to be made of, but almost all of the pieces were as white as his hair and random red lines etched into them - all save for the bracer he had on his left wrist, which was a deep emerald green. Color scheme wise, it completely clashed with the rest of the outfit, so I couldn't help but wonder what possessed him to buy it. Oh, wait, I knew exactly what the reason was.

Letting out a quiet shriek, my snow-haired familia ripped his head away from the mirror in our storage closet to face me. Oh, so that's what you were doing~? Well, I'd be lying if I said that I couldn't relate with you at all. "Ah, Hachiman, you're back already?!"

"'Already'?" Not quite understanding the shock, I raised a brow at the question. "Cranel, you do know that it's the middle of the night, right?"

"R-Really?" Wait, what do you mean 'r-really'? Just how long have you been posing in the mirror for?! "Aha, I guess I must've lost track of time or something…."

Sensing an easy target, my brain instinctively went into overdrive. If my time in school has taught me anything, it's that when someone did embarrassing things, they had to be mocked and ridiculed. My apologies, Cranel, but there can be no exceptions—

"Ah, home sweet home~!" Oh, yeah, Hestia-sama was right behind me. Well, it was a good thing that I didn't actually fall victim to my baser instincts because that would've ended up like every time I brought up Hiratsuka-sensei's nonexistent love prospects - not well for me. "Bell-kun, are you in here? Hachi-kun and I are back from shopping!"

"Oh, I'm here, kami-sama!" Unsurprisingly, my familia's entire expression brightened up at the sound of our kami-sama's voice. "Welcome back—!" My confusion spiked when the albino suddenly cut himself off and turned back to me. "Oh, are you going for a new look too, Hachiman?"

…It seriously took you that long to notice?

"Ah, I see you've noticed the changes." Coming from much closer behind me, I turned my head to look over my shoulder and I found that Hestia-sama had already descended the stairs with the smuggest of looks on her face. She raised her hand up towards me, almost as if I were some sort of pet stuffed in some costume for the sake of being put on Twitter. "Well, what do you think of the new and improved Hachi-kun, Bell-kun? I got him all the clothes myself."

Instead of an answer, all my kami-sama got in return was complete silence. Oi, you both know that you're making things more awkward by not saying anything, right?

"Oh, um, it's very…" The desire to sigh filled me when I saw my familia open his mouth to answer, despite clearly not wanting to. For whatever reason, I had the distinct feeling that it was going to get really loud in here really quickly. "…colorful?"

"Wait, you don't like it?!"

"I never said that I didn't like it!"

My prediction coming to fruition, I let out a sigh and began making my way over to our storage closet. Silly, Cranel. Don't you know saying that's not going to get you any further out of hot water?

"But you might as well have said that! Since when is 'colorful' a compliment?" Putting my new crossbow down next to the closet door, I slipped my backpack off my shoulders, placed it on the ground, and opened it up. "W-well, what about it do you not like, Bell-kun?"

Pulling out the bundle of bolts I had gotten from that weapons vendor, I put them down onto the shelf next to my old quiver. Hm… Should I go ahead and put them in there now? Eh, whatever, I can just do that tomorrow morning.

"Um…?" Reaching up, I began to unwind the scarf around my neck. "The colors, I guess? I just don't know if they really fit."

"Wait, what do you mean the colors don't fit?" Stretching it out flat, I began to fold it up. "I thought that they'd work really well to contrast his general dark, gloomy attitude."

One half fold, two half folds, three half folds. There we go. All folded up. "Well, I-I mean, don't you think that's part of his appeal, though?"

The response left Hestia-sama speechless. On that note, where should I put my scarf? My first thought would be up on my scarf next to all of my other equipment, but we also use the closet to hold all of other stuff, so there was a chance it could get dirty by accident. But then again, where else would I put it? Maybe up on one of the higher shelves then?

"Hm, maybe you're right…." Whelp, up you go, scarf. "Hachi-kun, what do you think? You like your new clothes, right?"

Less experienced men might've been caught off guard by suddenly being dragged into an ongoing conversation like that, but unlike those men, I've spent months as a member of the Service Club, where pretty much every conversation involving me ended up like that. Wait, that happened back at home too…. Okay, scratch that, every conversation involving me ended that way. Either way, the point is that I knew exactly how to answer that.

Turning my head to face Hestia-sama, I found that the tiny goddess was looking at me with a pair of big, blue, puppy-dog eyes. This really means a lot to you, huh? Well, sorry to disappoint you, but you're not going to get the answer you're looking for just because you're looking at me like that.

To emphasize this thought, I shrugged. "They're fine."

There might have once been a Hikigaya Hachiman who cared about what he looked like and the clothes he wore, but he's been dead and buried for a long time now.

At the end of the day, clothes were just things you put on at the start of the day and then took off once they were no longer needed. In terms of tangible value, they only had as much as one was willing to put on them and since that was more often than not influenced by the opinion of others; outside of their main purpose, that made clothes essentially worthless to me.

As long as it fit, I would wear it and that's always been the extent of my thought process. Bonus points if they were cheap too.

"See, Bell-kun? Hachi-kun likes his new clothes." A smug smile split my kami-sama's face as she planted her hands on her hips. Eh, what are you talking about, woman? That's not what I said at all.

Cranel just let out a strained chuckle behind me.

Eh, whatever. I had more important things to talk about anyways.

"By the way, Cranel." Turning towards Cranel, I began informing my familia of my plans. "I'm going to be leaving an hour or two earlier than usual tomorrow morning, so feel free to head to Babel at the usual time."

"Oh, does that mean you want me to go into Dungeon by myself again?"

"Oi, weren't you just listening to me? Why do you think I'm going to be leaving so early?"

"G-Got it!" As per usual, my familia was quick to shrink at the slightest bit of provocation, but unlike usual, he actually decided to follow it up with something. "Oh and if you don't mind me asking, why do you have to leave so early tomorrow?"

"Oh, don't worry." I smirked at my own vagary. Heh, so unnecessary. "You'll find out once I meet you at Babel."

…

Sincerely, I disliked having to get up early. Not to imply that I liked getting up at any time - the baseline of my hatred was spread out pretty evenly in that regard - but earlier than usual was definitely the worst.

Back in my old world, the standard starting time for all schools was eight in the morning; from elementary to middle school, that's how it's always been. In high school, I started an hour or so later. So, one might expect that after having years to adjust, my body would be used to waking up around that time, right?

Wrong. If my little sister wasn't the sweetest person in the world and didn't wake me up every morning, I'd surely miss all of homeroom and most of first period every single day. If not as a victim of my own sleep schedule, but by choice. Death was an acceptable alternative to consciousness and there wasn't a soul who could convince me otherwise.

Unfortunately, however, this mantra was far from a catch all as there indeed exist some situations that could drive me out of my domain long before I was ready, and today just so happened to be one of those situations.

"Oi, Crozzo, you in there?" Knocking on the door of my newly appointed personal smith, I got my answer almost immediately in the form of the sound of metal bouncing off metal. Steady and rhythmic, I knew exactly what had caused it. Of course, I had heard it before I had walked up to the door, but my parents didn't raise someone who barged into places without some form of warning. Sighing, I put my palm up against the battered door. "I'm going to let myself in, okay!"

Knowing that I probably wouldn't be getting a response, I pushed the door open and was unsurprised to find that not much had changed from when I left yesterday. Crozzo was still sitting by his forge and anvil, metal chisel in his left hand and hammer in the other.

Placing the prior down on the table of tools next to him, the blacksmith used his now free hand to pick the curved piece of metal up off the anvil and raised it to about eye level as he looked it over, forcing my attention onto the bags under his eyes, which most definitely hadn't been there the day before.

Have you slept at all since I left, Crozzo?

Having asked that question in my head, I got no answer back, which was probably for the best. I didn't know if he was finished working or not and knowing that blacksmithing involved working with molten hot metal, I decided it best to refrain from making my presence known for the time being. He clearly didn't know that I was here and a surprise might make him drop and damage my armor— I mean, hurt himself. Yep, wouldn't want him to hurt himself. Not at all.

Stepping inside and closing the door behind me, I waited for the blacksmith to show any indication of completion, which he did when his face suddenly went from scrutinizing to a wide, toothy grin. "Phew, finally finished!"

Oh, so you are done? Well, talk about convenient. At this rate, I might actually make it to Babel on time.

Knowing that I would be able to do so without incident, I began making my way over to the blacksmith, who raised his hammer hand and used his wrist to wipe some sweat off his cheek as I did so. Twisting himself in his seat, he turned to face the open window that sat behind his workstation, incidentally doing so to his left, which brought me right into his line of sight.

I didn't know if it was because of sleep deprivation or whatever, but it took him several moments of blank staring to process that I was standing right in front of him, which was signalled to me when he jumped up off his stool in fright. "Oh, crap, Hikigaya!"

"Yes, yes, I'm Hikigaya." Deadpanning my response, I came to a stop right in front of the shocked smith. "So, you all finished with my order, Crozzo?"

"Hold up, don't just change topics like that as if it's normal!" As if to emphasize whatever emotion he was feeling, probably shock and a bit of anger, Crozzo began pointing at me. Oh my, what boorish behavior. Did your mother not teach you better? "When'd you even get here?"

"Just now. I knocked and you didn't notice, so I let myself in."

"Well, couldn't you have said something once you walked in?"

"You were still working on when I did." I shrugged as I told him the truth. "I didn't want to interrupt since I figured there was a chance you'd react like this, but with the added possibility of messing something up."

"Hm… Fair enough, but next time just say something." If begrudging had a physical form, it'd be oozing off the Hephaestus smith right now. A small part of me felt like lobbing a half-assed apology his way as recompense, but his entire visage brightened before I could do so. "Only a newbie smith screws something up because they're caught off guard." He raised his left hand and pointed at himself with his thumb as a grin cracked his features. Um… You do know that you're still holding that piece of metal, right? I can't even really see your thumb. "Me, on the other hand? I've been doing this for years, so no need to worry about me!"

"Whatever you say, Crozzo." I didn't know whether or not to be encouraged by his show of confidence, but to move on to more pressing matters, I decided to take his word for it. "So, about my order?"

"Oh, right!" The red-headed smith's attention shifted towards the workbench next to his forge, which had gotten a lot more cluttered since I last saw it. Various tools were strewn all over its surface, but right in the middle of it, laid side by side in a much more orderly fashion, were the four of five of the items that made up my order. "Well, unannounced as it may be, you dropped in at just the right time. It took me all night, but I just got the last of it done right now."

"Really?" Ignoring the jab, I made my way over to the table. "Well, thank you for all your effort then."

"Ah, don't mention it." Crozzo's smile grew wider as he brushed off my gratitude. "It's not like this is the first time I've had to pull an all-nighter to fulfill an order."

Deciding to honor his request, I returned my full attention to what I had come here for. Like I had said, five items made up my order - four of which were sitting right in front of me and the fifth was in Crozzo's hand. Out of the five, four consisted of pieces of armor; a pair of pauldrons, a pair of knee guards, a pair of wrist bracers, and a chestplate. They all basically shared the same description; rounded, grey as the steel they were forged from, and unremarkable as armor could get (as per request).

The first four pieces were all on the workbench in front of me, but being a red-blooded teenager, my mind immediately fixated on the black sheath that was laid out horizontally right behind them. The general shape being immediately recognizable by any Japanese person - hell, I could probably even say the same for pretty much every person in the entire world at this point - I let out a sigh.

Having no actual idea as to what I was doing when it came to the practical application of swords, I told Crozzo what kind of weapon I wanted and gave him free reign on what to make me as long it fit those parameters. Clearly, that was a mistake because he made me the one kind of weapon I'd rather he not make me. Sure, I may have come to the same conclusion yesterday, but I did that incredibly begrudgingly! Besides, the hakama Hestia had gotten me was already skimming the line of turning me into a complete caricature, but now add a katana into the mix? I don't know whether to be annoyed or offended.

"So you went with a katana?" Reaching out for the sheath with my free left hand, I picked it up off the workbench and turned back to its creator. "You couldn't have picked something a little less stereotypical?"

"Eh, 'stereotypical'? What does that mean?" Eh, wait, what do you mean 'what does that mean'? Is that not a concept in this world yet?

…Well, whatever. Like I said yesterday, a sword is a sword. If it kills monsters like how I want it to then I have no real right to complain. "Don't worry about it."

Turning my attention back to the weapon in my hand, I stopped time and gave it a more thorough once over.

In terms of what it looked like in its sheath, it pretty much resembled every other katana I've ever seen in my life, save for the fact its curve extended all the way down to its hilt, which told me that Crozzo was going for something along the lines of a tachi in terms of style.

Guessing its length, from tip to tip, it seemed to be a little shorter than the length of my leg - at least two-thirds of that being made up by the wooden sheath, which was painted black and lacquered to a semi-glossy sheen. Its hilt shared a very similar description, being made out of some sort of white wood artificially made darker by the black cord wound tightly around it in the typical criss-cross style, forming not-so uniform diamonds all the way down to its buttcap. On that note, it and the guard were the only unorthodox parts of the blade as they were made out of steel or some other kind of silver metal.

Either way, nothing extraordinary so far. Let's see what's inside.

Go.

Setting the crossbow in my right hand down onto the workbench, I turned away from the bench and Crozzo and made my way to the center of the room. Alright, if I remember my research correctly, there's a certain way I have to do this….

Holding the weapon out in front of me horizontally at about chest level, I put my thumb onto the guard and pushed on it so that a sliver of the blade was out. Using my right hand to grip the handle, I pushed the hilt into the sword and pulled it free, revealing a sight that I couldn't help but admire.

Again, the blade wasn't something I haven't seen before, but there was something about its silver-grey form that made me smile. Shit, my heart was starting to beat a little faster too. Go away, childhood glee! You're making me break character!

"Well, can we call love at first sight or what?" Hearing myself being made fun of, I turned towards the redheaded smith and glared my hardest glare. Unfortunately, all that did was make him chuckle. Oi, can't you see that I'm having a moment here? "Okay, okay, but seriously, I can't have you staring at a sword all day. So, what do you think?"

Pointing the tip of the sword out towards in front of me, I looked down its spine just to confirm that it was perfectly straight and also because I thought it would make me look cool. Admittedly, my reasoning was mostly the latter. "Well, you're asking me before I've even put it to use, but from what I can tell, everything seems to be in order." Returning the weapon to its sheath, I turned back to Crozzo. "So, what do I owe you for all this?"

The question got the blacksmith to drop the smile he had on, having him replace it with a downward-facing gaze and crossed arms over his chest. "Hm, you said that you only had 16,500 valis to spend on equipment, right?" Not knowing why he was bothering to repeat information that we both clearly already knew, I nodded, which made him smile again for whatever reason. "Well, looks like you owe me 16,500 valis then."

I shrugged at that. "Alright, if you say so."

Not having been born yesterday or being named Cranel, I knew what the blacksmith was doing. Surely, given the quality of all the equipment I was getting from him, he could've justified asking for more than that even with the discounts he had offered me yesterday, but because he either wanted me to stay his client or just showing he didn't actually care about money, he chose not to.

Not that I minded at all. I wasn't one to take advantage of— I mean, turn down someone's generosity.

…

If there was one thing I've learned about Bell Cranel in the month that I've known him, it was that he was a magnet for trouble.

I could've easily blamed it on him being the main protagonist of this series and left it at that, but seeing as I've already endeavored to keep myself from seeing this world and its inhabitants as characters from some sort of preplanned story, I had to think outside the box.

Could it be possible that he just lived a much more charmed life than everyone else? That through a combination of coincidence, happenstance, and bad luck; he just so happened to have more going on in his life than others. Of course, being a man of logic and sense, I found such an explanation to be inherently bullshit and hand-wavy, but it still had to be considered. Luck, both good and bad, could only go so far, after all.

The more appealing answer to me would be that someone behind the scenes was pulling strings and making it so that these things were happening to him for some nefarious plot, which on the surface, sounds more insane and illogical than the luck explanation, but all of the pieces I've collected so far pointed towards that conclusion. So, in short, I was inclined to believe that it made more sense than any onlookers might give it credit for.

That being said, such a logical and well thought out explanation couldn't explain Cranel's strange propensity for attracting women as well.

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. "Again, Cranel?"

"Aw, come on!" Oh? So, instead of chuckling to yourself sheepishly, you're actually going to argue for your point this time? Well, that's certainly new. Dumb, but new. "You have to admit that it's not a bad idea!"

I let out another sigh. I mean, that's not actually the problem here, Cranel, but I guess you have a point - that point being the Chienthrope standing before me, who I immediately recognized as the hooded supporter I saw following that nothing side antagonist from a few days ago. Or, at the very least, there were two extremely short supporters wearing the same hooded white cloak and comically oversized backpack running around Orario.

"Hello there, you must be the party member Bell-sama told me about. Hachiman, was it?" The short supporter extended her small gloved hand out to me as she spoke. "My name is Liliruca Arde and as Bell-sama has already explained, I'm a supporter. It's nice to meet you!"

I blinked at the hand being offered to me. Wow, do you actually think I'm stupid enough to fall for that cheery, helpful attitude of yours? You're so clearly faking it, you're making Isshiki seem subtle in comparison. Well, whatever. As of right now, I have no proof that you're trying to take advantage of the inexperience of some newbie adventurers, so I'll play along for now.

Taking the Chienthrope's hand, I shook it. "Yo."

My distrust of her must've shown because she let out a chuckle as she released my hand. "Not very talkative, are you?"

I really didn't want to humor her by replying, so I remained silent and waited for things to get awkward enough that Cranel answered for me instead. "Aha, don't mind him. He's like this with everyone he meets."

"Oh, well, that's, uh, reassuring?"

"So, Hachiman, how about it? Having her join us in the Dungeon for the day wouldn't be so bad, right?" Turning towards my familia, I found him staring at me with a strange look on his face. For something like this, I would've expected him to be more excited, but right now, he seemed rather conflicted? Wait, if that's the case, why are you even entertaining the offer? You should just tell her 'no'— "Plus, think about how many more valis we could make if we could just focus on killing monsters."

Yep, there was definitely something wrong here. If Cranel of all people was approaching the arrangement tentatively, then that had to be the case. Now, I just needed to figure out what she was after to begin with.

The obvious answer was the ludicrously-priced, Hephaestus brand knife on my familia's hip, but unfortunately that brought more questions to mind than it answered. Like, how did she even gauge its value when it was still in its sheath? That would have to mean that she got a look at it while it was out, which really could've meant a lot of things, but none of that mattered in the long run.

All that really mattered was what I was going to do about it.

Letting out a sigh, I did my best to sound exasperated. "If it's only for today, I don't see a problem with having her come along."

"Really?!" I turned towards Arde, who was looking up at me with her brown eyes wide and full of surprise. I didn't know if it was the ears, but all of a sudden, I was starting to feel like I've done this song and dance before. "Well, I promise that I'll do my best to live up to your expectations, then, Hachiman-sama!"

Upon turning towards Cranel, I found uncertainty in his crimson eyes as he met my gaze. Good. That just means that I won't have to explain anything later.

Wordlessly, I nudged my head towards Babel Tower. "Come on, we should get going. The more time we waste here, the less money we have at the end of the day."

"Ah, r-right!" As if I kicked him in the shin, the boy jumped at the sudden command.

"A very practical way of thinking!" Yeah, yeah, whatever. "Oh, by the way, how should we handle things while we're inside the dungeon? While I may just be a supporter, I do have a few ways to help you in combat if you so need it."

"Cranel and I have a system, but don't worry, we'll explain it to you once we get there." Turning myself towards Babel, I started the trek towards it. "Now, come on."

"Got it!/U-Understood!" And from the sounds of it, my two party members followed suit.

The best way to counter a trap was to walk into it knowingly and so, that's why I used my thumb to pop my katana out from its hilt ever so slightly, making sure that only a sliver of steel was visible.

Stop. Yep, smiling. Go.

Hmph, figures.

…

Hiding information from someone was a difficult thing to do, especially if that person was hiding things from you as well.

If they had any amount of intelligence, they'd spend every moment in your presence being wary of being found out, so any logical inconsistency was liable to blow the whole thing. For example, say that you didn't want the suspicious supporter you hired for the day to know how you and your familia operated in the Dungeon. The best way to keep that hidden wasn't to try and hide it in its entirety, but rather, it was best to be honest with some parts and to obfuscate its others.

That's why, even though I was hundred percent sure our new party member was trying to dupe us in some way or another, I still had Cranel be the bait.

"Hachiman!" Although, the trap that he was leading the monsters into was a bit different from usual. "Four Killer Ants! One right behind me!"

Typically, a day in the Dungeon for Cranel and I was spent looking for and finding choke points in the Dungeon's layout, such as a narrow hallway leading to a large open room or a stone bridge spanning over a gorge, etc. We would then use the lack of room that those locations provided to make killing large sums of monsters much easier than it typically would for adventurers of our experience.

Of course, since we were always trying to get to the floor below us, we wouldn't linger in them for too long. Instead, we followed a route that would take us through our best spots, so if someone were to find out what some of them were, they could use them against us.

To prevent that, instead of waiting behind a corner of one of our favored choke points, I was standing in the middle of a clearing of one of our least favored spots, as it was a bit out of the way of our usual route down to the Seventh Floor.

"Um… Are you sure that this is going to work?" Behind me, Arde chimed in with a clear apprehension in her voice.

"Yep." Drawing my crossbow's string back, I notched an arrow and raised it with my one free arm, aiming it at the opening Cranel was going to be shooting out of any second now. "You remember the plan?"

I heard the supporter hum in affirmation. "Only follow when both you and Bell-sama are in the hallway. Oh, and pick up any equipment you drop, right?"

Not looking her way, I nodded and right then, Cranel came exploding out of the hallway.

Stop. A pair of red glints were coming from the darkness about heel level to his right. Doesn't seem close enough to have to target specifically with bolt, which was good since it dramatically lessened the possibility of friendly fire. Aim a little above one of the red glints, preferably the one farthest away from Cranel, and fire. Go.

Using my whole hand to squeeze the firing mechanism, the bolt was let loose and soared right by my familia and into the dark, hitting what I assumed was the Killer Ant with a loud squelch.

Releasing my hold of the crossbow as the recoil brought it up towards my head, I dragged the soles of my boots against the dirt and dropped down into a ready stance that I was stealing from a video game. I used my thumb to pop my katana from its hilt, waiting for Cranel to run past me before exploding forward myself.

Running right into the hallway, three sets of red glints revealed themselves to me at different intervals of brightness. Stop. The brightest and closest was on the ground to my left; second was to my right at about eye level and was almost just as bright as the first; and the third was at the same height and direct as the second, but seemed duller than the rest. Probably a bit further back. Best bet would be to try and slash at the first at an angle that would kill the second, and then follow through with the third. It was a good thing that I was stuck holding my katana with my left hand, because it made getting that angle much easier. Go.

Getting so close to the first Killer Ant that I was essentially past it, I pulled my hilt so that it was almost fully behind my back, planted my feet, gripped my blade's handle, and slashed diagonally. Hearing two crunches and shrill indications of death, I spun with the momentum of my first attack, bringing my weapon over my shoulder, and slashed at the final Killer Ant.

Hearing it die, I flicked the weapon off my blade and returned it to its sheath, making sure to do so slowly. I couldn't help but smirk a bit after. Heh, I must've looked really cool there—

Before I could finish admiring my ability to steal cool poses from video games, the sound of stone cracking coming from behind me caught my attention. That being said, I didn't bother turning around since I knew Cranel would be on his way.

A loud and audible crunch told me that I didn't make a mistake.

"Wow, that was really impressive, you two!" Soft clapping accompanied Arde's praises.

"Hehe, t-thanks." Oi, watch that tone, Cranel. Otherwise, I'm going to start assuming that the only reason you agreed to pick her up as our supporter was that she's cute. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it was, but my opinion of you would still plummet. "I have to give you a lot of credit. With you here, I feel like I can just go all out on killing monsters. How about you, Hachiman?"

Despite the circumstances, I couldn't really disagree with Cranel's opinion. Not having to deal with all of the tedium dungeon crawling entailed was a nice change. It's too bad our supporter was so obviously a lying crook. "Yeah, can't say I disagree."

"Oh no, the way you two have been killing monsters has been much more impressive than anything I've been doing. It seems like you two haven't even broken a sweat yet." The fake humility made me narrow my eyes. It's a good thing that I wasn't facing them. "Although, with the level of equipment you two have, I guess I really shouldn't be all too surprised. Seems like you two have been adventuring for years."

"Oh no, Hachiman and I have really only been adventurers for a month or so."

"Really? Then where did you get a knife like that? It seems really powerful." Ah, nice trap there. If I wasn't already so suspicious of your intentions, I might've not noticed it myself. "If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"Huh? 'Where'd I get it'? Well, my kami-sama got it for me. Oh, right, that reminds me. Are you a member of a familia too, Lili?" Oho~? You're thinking to ask smart questions as well, Cranel? Never mind what I said earlier, my opinion of you is on the rise.

"Yep, the Soma Familia." 'Soma', eh? Unfortunately, not a name that I was all too familiar with at all, both in this world and my old one, which meant that I was going to have to go see Tulle or Hestia-sama for more information later. "Anyways, I'm going to start picking up all of these monster crystals. Hachiman-sama, do you think you could stay over there and keep watch?"

I hummed, once again popping my katana out ever so slightly.

Just as she said she would, Arde began to pick up all of the magic crystals littering the floor, but after the first, she glanced upwards and pointed towards something I couldn't see. "Oh, that one still has its crystal. Bell-sama, do you think you could get it? It's a bit too high for me to reach." Reaching back to her hip, the hooded supporter pulled a cheap looking dagger out and handed it over to Cranel. "Here, use this."

"Oh, uh, thanks." My familia took the weapon being offered to him.

"You want to call it a day after?"

Turning back towards whatever Arde had pointed towards, Cranel answered. "Um, yeah, now that you mention it, I'm pretty beat. I wouldn't really mind heading back now. How about you, Hachiman?"

"Well, if you don't feel like you can continue, I don't see much of a problem with stopping here." That and considering what our supporter was doing while your back was turned, there's something I needed to address.

Tiredly, I let out a sigh. Why couldn't I have just been wrong?

…

Out of all the insults thrown my way over the course of my life, the one that I never quite understood was being called a 'stalker'. Granted, I was nowhere near delusional enough to not understand that when I recited information that people didn't expect me to know, they'd be liable to jump to certain conclusions - unfounded conclusions, sure, but people often strayed towards the negative when faced with murky intent.

All that being said, the logic just never added up to me. I'm a proud, self-identifying loner for kami's sake! Why would I ever seek out contact with another person?

Anyways, the point is that I didn't have a lot of experience stalking people, despite what a lot of my classmates might've assumed. So, it was a good thing that I've seen more than enough intrigue plots to have a basic idea on what to do right now.

The Chienthrope who had introduced herself as Liliruca Arde stole Cranel's knife, slipped it right out of its sheath while the owner wasn't looking and now, just walked out of some sort of shop with a disgruntled look on her face. If I had to guess, it was probably because she just learned the intrinsic value of the knife when it wasn't in the right hands.

I couldn't help but smirk a little at that. There weren't many people who knew the actual value of the ebony blade. Sure, from appearances alone, one could probably guess that it cost a lot of money, but I doubted that anyone would go as high as one-hundred million valis. The only ones who knew about its exorbitant price tag were me, Hestia-sama, and Hephaestus. Hell, even its wielder only knew that it probably cost our kami-sama a lot to acquire.

So, of course, being made by the greatest smith in all the land and being worth more valis than most of Orario's people made in ten thousand lifetimes, the knife was outfitted with a certain precaution as to prevent possible theft from occurring - that precaution being the fact that it had been magically infused with my kami-sama's power, meaning that one had to have her blessing to even be able to use it in the first place. Right now, the stolen blade was nothing more than a knife-shaped chunk of metal, which made it practically worthless.

Still, worthless as of the moment or not, I still needed to get it back from her and gently remind her that (awfully executed) crime doesn't pay, and I couldn't do that if I remained hiding behind this corner. Besides, she should be at a far away enough distance where I could get back to tailing—

"Wait a second." My body stiffened up at that voice. Popping my head back out to look at Arde, I found that she had crossed paths with a certain pair of barmaids. Dammit. Well, that puts a damper on my plans to extort— I mean, teach her a lesson. "You, little Pallum, let me see that knife you're hiding in that cloak."

Woah, you actually noticed that? Note to self, Ryuu Lyon is a scary person who I should be scared of.

"Ryuu?" Clearly confused, Ryuu turned towards her elven friend.

"Someone I know lost theirs recently, I want to know if it belongs to them." A familiar chill ran down the length of my spine at the tone of her voice - void of all emotion, it still managed to promise nothing but pain and retribution.

"Oh, you must be mistaken, this is my knife!" Arde visibly tensed up as she said. Oh no, that's not going to help you at all. "Sorry, but I can't help you."

"Give me the knife." Being faced with clear deception, Lyon somehow managed to make herself seem even more intimidating. Wait, why did you just put a coin out—? "I only know one knife that looks like that and it certainly isn't yours."

Moving so fast that my eyes barely registered the action, the barmaid turned around and used her thumb to flick the coin at Arde's back, doing so with so much force that it made the supporter recoil forward and drop Cranel's knife upon impact.

I could feel my eyes widen and my jaw drop a little at that. Alright, correction, Ryuu Lyon was a scary person who I should be really scared of.

Having been found out completely, the Chienthrope thief let out a scared yelp and darted forwards, prompting the elf to scoop up Cranel's knife and start chasing after her all in a single, deft motion. Syr followed after a moment, which told me that I should probably go and chase after them, but my feet remained glued to the dirt.

Just who in the hell was Ryuu Lyon?

Interlude 7 | Despite Herself, Two Hands Reach Out to Liliruca Arde.

…

"So, uh, Lili…"

I sighed as I let my back collide into the wall behind me. Letting myself slide all the way to the ground, I brought my legs up to my chest and hugged them closer.

"Do you want to go back to the Dungeon with me and Hachiman?"

My brows furrowed as I pressed my forehead into my knees.

"I'll still need to run the idea by him, but when I tell him how many valis we made today, I'm sure he'll come around to the idea!"

Those memories made his smile pop back into my head and not knowing what else to do, I slammed my right hand into the dirt.

"Well, how about it? Would you like to officially be our supporter?"

Relaxing the hold I had on my legs, I let my shoulders slump as I slammed the back of my head into the wall behind me. The short sting and the proceeding uncomfortable warmth allowed me to pull my attention away from what was bothering me.

Dammit, what in the world is wrong with me?

Guilt wasn't something I felt all too often, at least not when I stole from adventurers, but now it was swarming me. It was all because of that boy, the one who had been so kind to me from the very moment I approached me.

In a sense, my guilt made a lot of it. He had showed me something rare and put his trust in me, and my first instinct was to take it and abuse it for my own gain. And even when it became clear what my intentions towards him were, he gave me the opportunity to try again. Maybe not willingly, but still….

Was that just it? Was he just that incredibly stupid? Only an idiot could've been shown so many signs and not understand what they meant. Well, if that was the case, then what happens next was his own fault—

"For someone who's supposed to be a thief, you're not very good at being subtle." I could feel my eyes widen the moment that voice hit my ears. My head shot up to face it and I found myself staring at a familiar face, who stared back at me with a pair of beady, little grey eyes. "Yo."

Leaning on the wall opposite of the one I was sitting against with his arms crossed over his chest, my eyes immediately snapped onto the sword in his hand. "H-Hachiman-sama, what are you doing here?"

He stared at me for a moment, before closing his eyes and allowing his shoulders to fall. "Look, I'm going to tell you this once, that act of yours never fooled me. I knew you were going to try and steal Cranel's knife pretty much from the moment we met."

If my eyes could widen even further, they would've. Fear coursed through me once again as I instinctually pushed my back further into the wall behind me. "Wait, you knew?! But how did you—?"

"—Please, even Cranel noticed that there was something not quite right about why you approached him." Wait, so he knew too…? "He's just so trusting that he doesn't want to believe that you would do something like that."

I couldn't keep my head from falling forwards at that. "W-Well, even if that's true, then what are you going to do about it? He already got his knife back, so I don't have anything to offer you."

"Hm, what are you talking about? Of course you have something to offer me. You can tell me who that adventurer in the red coat was - the one you were following into Babel a couple days ago?" My body locked up upon hearing that. "I'm guessing you tried to steal something from him too?"

"'A-Adventurer in a red coat'?" My mouth moved to answer the boy, but the words came out sounding shaky. "I-I don't know what you're—"

"—I wouldn't really blame you if you did." His interruption made my body lock up again, but this time for an entirely different reason. Looking back up towards Hachiman-sama, I found that he now had a large sneer on his face. "With how he was treating you, I'd say he had it coming." Suddenly, he pushed himself off the wall and walked over to me, only stopping when he was standing right over me. "However, I don't remember me or Cranel treating you like that, so what's your reason?"

I blinked and stared up at the boy. "M-My reason?"

"Yeah, I don't think anyone would go through all this trouble if they just wanted money." He squatted down and looked me right in the eye. "So, why?"

"'Why'? You're seriously asking me, a lowly supporter, why would I ever steal from an adventurer?" A sudden indignation coursed through me, causing my head to drop once more as I balled my right hand into a fist and squeezed. "Don't make me laugh, there's no way someone like you could ever understand!"

Instead of a response, all I recieved from the boy was silence. Hmph, I expected as much. Hopefully that would be enough get him to leave me—

From out of nowhere, the beady-eyed boy let out a sigh that interrupted my thought. "So, you're one of those types, huh?" Suddenly, the boy's legs straightened. "Well, if you don't want my help, I can't force it on you." Wait, 'help'? "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you, Arde."

Hearing that made my head shoot upwards and upon doing so, I found that the boy had already turned to walk away. Panic and confusion spiked within me, materializing itself as a hollowness in my stomach as I watched him move further and further away.

I knew that it was probably too good to be true. Everything that I had gone through in my life told me that, screamed at me to just let him leave. We hadn't even known each other for a day, there was no way he actually cared, but….

"W-Why?" Reluctantly, despite all my efforts to keep it from doing so, that word slipped from my mouth and unfortunately, the rest came surging out with it. "Why would you say that?"

My question caused Hachiman-sama to stop. He turned his whole body to face me, before almost immediately turning his head to face a wall. "I did it for Cranel's sake."

"Bell-sama?"

"Yeah, knowing him, he'll probably want to hire you to be our supporter officially and since you did just try to steal from him, I was going to have to tell him about all this." The raven-haired boy breathed in and let out a sigh as he turned back towards me. "But since I know him so well, I know he's the type of idiot to want and help regardless, so consider this me being proactive."

For a plethora of reasons, his explanation left me entirely speechless. He offered to help me because he thought his familia would anyway? On one hand, that had to have been one of the dumbest, most nonsensical things I've ever heard and on another, he said it all so calmly, so evenly that I found it hard to call it a complete lie. Still, nothing about him told me that I could just trust him, but even if he did have an alternative motive, what if…?

Taking a deep breath, I did my best to calm myself as I asked the question that plagued my mind. "If… If I tell you, will you really help me?"

"Well, I have only been an adventurer for a month, so try and keep your expectations in check." Smirking, he scratched at the back of his head as he answered, which didn't help give me much hope, but eventually, he returned to a more even expression. "But I'll lend you an ear at the very least, will that do?"

"I…" Would it? It was far from the answer that I wanted to hear, but if it gave me the slightest chance of improving my situation? "I want to be free of my familia."

It was definitely better than nothing.

What did it mean to help someone? Depending on who you asked, the response you'd get could differ greatly. Take the Yukinoshita sisters for example; despite the fact that they grew up together, I knew that their opinions on the matter were the complete opposites of one another.

When we first met, the younger Yukinoshita touted it as something virtuous - believing it to be the responsibility of those with ability to help those who didn't. The older, however, had a different view of things - believing that personal growth not driven by the person was nothing more than a hindrance to them. Either way, both views had their own merit, no matter how much I disliked it.

In my own case, there was a time where I rejected the idea of help as well, although not in the same way that Yukinoshita Haruno did. What she saw as an obstacle, I saw as something irritating. More often than not, I didn't want and I didn't need anyone's help, all because I'd rather fail entirely on my merit than have someone lorde their superiority over me. Then I was forced to join the Service Club, which forced me to face an idea that I hadn't ever wanted to consider.

Time after time, when faced with the opportunity to help someone solve a problem, I did. It didn't matter how begrudgingly I did so or what justification I managed to scrounge up to have it all make sense in my head. All that mattered was that when it came down to it, I could never help myself, even if the result was detrimental to me.

That's why I currently found myself sitting outside the Abandoned Church I called home, sitting right next to the front door, staring at nothing as I seriously contemplated the best way to help Liliruca Arde free herself from the Soma Familia.

In all respects, I shouldn't have been considering it at all. Even though the request didn't have any inherent hostile connotations to it, actually trying to solve it would immediately put us at odds with another familia and the Hestia Familia was still far from a position in which I could even pretend it was a good idea. That being said, the fact that I didn't have a single idea as to what Soma's actual standing in Orario was didn't help things along at all either.

Sure, the fact that I had never heard of him up until today was a good thing since that probably meant that he wasn't on the level of Loki, but Arde did mention that there were quite a few people walking around with his falna, which already put us at a disadvantage if things were to go awry.

Clearly, I was going to need more information before I made a decision on this—

"Ah, so you were out here, Hachiman?" Oh, Cranel? Where did you come from? Turning to face my left, I found my white-haired familia standing over me, a relieved look on his face for whatever reason. I couldn't help but notice how our home's front doors had been cracked open just enough to allow passage. Eh, how'd you manage to do that without me noticing? "I was beginning to get worried. How did Crozzo-san like your feedback—."

"—That? Oh, that was a lie." Having already prepared myself to have this conversation, I breathed in deep before using the bottom of my sword's sheath to push myself to my feet.

"'A lie'?" Eh, what's with that surprise? There's no way that this is the first time I've ever lied to you, can it? Oh wait, right, this is the first time I've ever told you about it outright. Heh. "Why would you lie about something like that?"

"I needed to have a conversation with Arde about your knife. I assume you already know what actually happened with it, right?"

Cranel let out a sheepish chuckle and started to scratch at the back of his head as I did so, probably hoping that all of that movement would distract me from the fact he took a step backwards. "You heard about that, huh? I think I must've dropped it somewhere because Lyon-san ended up finding it—"

"—Don't play dumb with me, Cranel." My familia's entire body stiffened when I said that. "You're nowhere near a good enough liar."

"M-Me lying?" The albino's crimson eyes shot open at the accusation, waving his hands out in front of him as if that would actually convince me otherwise. "I'm not lying to you at all! I mean, when have I ever lied to you about anything?"

…Eh, fair point and your delivery is starting to get better, but that stutter gave you away from the start. "Do you seriously expect me to believe that you just so happened to have dropped your knife somewhere? I may insult you a lot, but I know you're not that dumb, Cranel. You know Arde stole your knife, don't you?"

My familia pursed his lips and hung his head. "Yeah…."

"Ah, good." I exhaled hearing that, closing my eyes in the process. Well, at least, I won't have to worry about convincing him now. "That'll make this next part much easier."

"Hachiman, b-before you say anything, I feel like I need to tell you something." Opening my eyes, I was immediately beset upon by something that made me want to roll my eyes. It was something I liked to call Cranel's 'dumbass face'. Others might say that it was more akin to a 'look of determination' or whatever, but with Cranel involved, the two might as well have been synonyms. Either way, the boy was now boring his crimson eyes into me and I stared back wordlessly. "I don't care that Lili-chan tried to steal from me."

Stop.

Hearing that made me want to sigh, but knowing what that might imply to my familia, I kept myself from doing so. Oh, of course, he'd assume that I'd try and tell him that to stay away from Arde. I forgot that I'm supposed to be the pragmatic one. Actually, now that I think about it, I could see how this whole scene would be framed too.

The two of us meeting late at night, after having been out of each other's presence for a little while? Add in the fact that I started the conversation by saying some pretty vague and antagonistic-sounding things? Yeah, this was supposed to be one of the first moments in the story that really defined our rivalry.

'Rivalry'? What rivalry? Aren't you two in the same familia? How could you two possibly be rivals? Well, let me explain.

Based on almost every piece of media I've ever consumed, there was no way that I wasn't supposed to be Cranel's rival character. How did I know this? Well, there's the fact that in almost every tangible aspect, we were the other's complete opposite.

Appearance? He had light hair and I had dark hair; I had the dull, dead-looking eyes that were often described as off-putting and he had the bright, lively kind that seemed to trap someone's attention from first sight. Personality-wise? I would basically be saying all the same stuff, but replacing all the nouns.

I'm supposed to be Cranel's mirror image in every way. So, when we ran into moral dilemmas like this one, that trend was supposed to continue. Hikigaya Hachiman and his cold, calculating pragmatism was supposed to clash against Bell Cranel and his warm, friendly naivete.

Fortunately for the both of us, I've never been one to chase trends.

Go.

"I just don't think that she'd—"

"—Good because I don't care either."

"…Eh?!"

Wait, no, that came out sounding harsher than I wanted. Better clarify before he gets the wrong idea. "Well, to be specific, I stopped caring after I spoke to Arde about it. Say, right before I interrupted, were you about to say something like, 'she just doesn't seem like the kind of person to do something like that without a reason'?"

"Oh, y-yeah." My familia's eyes were wide as saucers as he stuttered out his response. Oi, did you seriously just take another step back? You're not helping my attempts to sandbag this conflict, y'know? "H-How'd you know?"

"Because that's exactly what I thought, although probably not in the same way you did." Also, you're one of the most predictable people I know, Cranel, but that didn't make what I just said any less true. "People always have one reason or another to justify why they do something, even murderers and thieves. Now, do you want to know what her reasoning was?" The boy didn't say anything in response but nodded after a moment's hesitation. "She wants to leave her familia."

"'L-Leave her familia'?" Cranel took a step forward as he asked the question. "Why would she want to do something like that? That's—"

"—Cranel, she's a supporter." Already having a feeling as to what he was going to say, I had to cut my naive familia off and remind him of that fact. "You want to know what that means? It means that, from the very start, her familia deemed her not worthy of being an adventurer and let's just say that kind of treatment extended out to a lot of other things." My standard frown deepened as those words left my mouth. "I'm sure that I don't have to spell out what I mean by that, right?"

"But if that's the case, then why doesn't her kami-sama step in and do something?" Anger was now present in the albino's voice. Tense shoulders, grit teeth, and balled up fists too? Yeah, you're starting to get pissed. Good. Really, I'd be more worried if it turned out you weren't. "He gave her his blessing, didn't he? That means she's his child too - just as much as any of the adventurers! How could he let stuff like that happen?"

The question made me sigh. In the end, despite our current economic circumstances, the fact was that me and Cranel were pretty lucky to have found Hestia-sama. "Arde said that it's because her kami-sama doesn't care about anything other than making wine. Now, I really don't know what any of that means, but as of right now, we can't be wasting time wondering about intent. If her familia really is that shitty to her, then I don't see much of a problem in lending a hand. You?"

"Of course, I'll help!" I couldn't help but smile. Why'd I even bother to ask? "I can't dream about being a hero and let something like that go on!"

Snorting, I nodded. "Alright, but before you run off playing the hero, there are still a few things we need to figure out first. I wanna help as much as you do, but let's not jump into conflict with another familia without taking the proper precautions first."

"Oh, y-yeah, you're right!" Cranel visibly startled as he sputtered out his response, which made me chuckle under my breath. "What'd you have in mind?"

"Well, first, we need to figure out what we're dealing with. I don't know about you, but I don't know much about Soma or his familia."

"Oh, earlier when I went to go turn in our magic crystals today, Eina-san said something about them!" Right index finger extending outwards, excitement poured into the albino's eyes as he spoke. I blinked at that. Huh, so you actually went out of your way to look into it? Well, that's a pleasant surprise. "Apparently, they're an expeditionary familia like us, but they also sell booze too." Oh, so they sell alcohol? Alright, at the very least that eliminates the possibility that Arde was alluding to something else with that whole 'making his wine' bit. "Although, with how she was talking about them, I don't think that they're very well-liked."

Not well-liked? Huh. In a world like this, I would've thought that a familia who made and sold alcohol would have a better public image. "Did Tulle mention why?"

"No, not really." Scratching at the back of his head, Cranel turned his head up towards the sky. "I don't think she knows too much about them either unfortunately, but she did say that whenever they come to turn in their monster crystals, they always seemed really desperate for whatever reason."

I let out a sigh at that. A part of me wanted to mentally berate my guild advisor for saying something so vague, but still, it implied that things might be going wrong for the familia and that was definitely a better platform to start out with. "Well, that's not much to go off of."

"Yeah…."

Damn, I figured that we were going to need to go out and do more research, but—

"Oh, Bell-kun, Hachi-kun!" My brain came to a grinding halt when I heard my kami-sama call out to me. Turning towards where it was coming from, I found Hestia-sama stepping off of the road in front of our home and into our front yard. Ah, she's still wearing her food stand apron. She must've just gotten back from work. "What are you two doing out here so late? Is there something wrong?"

Oh, right. I forgot that you're totally someone who might have useful information in this situation, but how do I even bring the subject up—

"Oh, kami-sama, you're back! Do you know anything about a kami named Soma?" …Oh, yeah, how could I forget that the possibility of all subtlety died when Cranel was around?

"'Soma'?" Hestia-sama blinked at the sudden question. Cupping her chin, she turned her blue eyes up towards the sky. "I've certainly heard the name before, but I can't say that I know too much about him. I never really talked to him, even when we were still both up in Heaven." Pouting, she crossed her arms over her chest and went silent for a moment, before suddenly perking up. "Oh, I do know that he makes really good wine! I've had it a few times since I've come down from Heaven and it's always been really tasty - really expensive, though."

I frowned and clicked my tongue at that. Dammit, back to square one then.

It seemed that my response peaked the interest of my kami-sama because she turned her head to face me. "Oh, is there something wrong, Hachi-kun?"

"No, I was just hoping you knew something about him."

"Oh, okay." She turned back to Cranel. "What made you ask about him anyways? Did you two run into him or something?"

The question made me take a deep breath in. Alright, knowing Cranel, this conversation is about to take a turn for the worse. Best prepare myself now for the coming argument. Well, at the very least, I can always use Cranel against her since he's with me on this—

"Oh no, it's just that our new supporter is a member of their familia is all." Once again, I found my entire brain coming to a halt. I even had to fight the urge to look surprised. "I asked Eina-san about it earlier today, but she really didn't know much about it at all."

"Oh, you two hired a supporter? That's great! My children are becoming more and more like real deal adventurers by the day!"

"Ah, but we are real deal adventurers, though!"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say~. So, what's your new supporter like?"

"Oh? What's she like? Well, first off, she seems really smart—"

"—Wait, did you just say 'she'?"

As the conversation devolved back into our usual familial trappings, I couldn't help but tune more and more of it out so I could focus on what just happened. In all of my time knowing him, I never thought that these words would cross my mind in reference to him in any serious context, but now I was practically being forced to.

Did Cranel just lie?

…

As one might infer from my earlier musings about how hard it is to hide information, doing the opposite was by far the much easier task.

Despite the best efforts of all those involved, no information was ever completely hidden. More often than not, all one really needs to learn top secret information is to look for and find someone who knows about it and get them to talk. That was much easier said than done in my old world where methods of surveillance were at an all time high, but here in Orario? People were always talking, you just need to know where to find the information you're looking for.

"Wait, you want to go where?!"

In retrospect though, I probably shouldn't have told Cranel about where I wanted to start looking first, especially when we were walking down the crowded street towards Babel.

"The Pleasure District." I deepened my frown and shrugged my shoulders as I repeated what I had just said literally a second beforehand. Seriously, I get that you were caught off guard and all, but what's the point of making me repeat myself? Has all your shouting finally started to deafen you, Cranel? Well, welcome to the club then! You've only gotten yourself to blame! Talk softer, dammit! "There an issue?"

"N-No, but why would you want to go there? You do know what The Pleasure District is, right?"

"Yes, I'm fully aware of what wanting to go to the Pleasure District means." I rolled my eyes at my familia's prudity. You can take a face full of Hestia-sama's greatest weapons and not flinch, but you'll start choking up and stuttering at the mere mention of a place where sex happens? Hmph, aren't you a walking contradiction? "I'm going there to see if I can find any place that knows anything about the Soma Familia. Considering that it's an entire district meant for pleasure, I figured that there would have to be people there that know their alcohol."

"O-Oh, well, I guess that makes sense…." Fortunately, explaining my plan seemed to quell my familia's worries. Wait, no, he's pressing the tips of his index fingers together. Looks like this conversation is continuing. "For a second, I thought that you wanted to go there because you wanted to, uh, y'know?"

Narrowing my eyes at the insinuation, I turned my head fully to glare at my familia. "Oi, just what kind of guy do you take me for?"

"Oh, uh…." Yeah, you better tense up and start looking all over the place, especially with what you were implying.

"Anyways, while I'm doing that, I need you to go and start asking around taverns too." I turned to look back in front of me as I informed Cranel on his portion of our information gathering quest. "Oh and make sure to make it seem like you're just looking to buy some of their wine. I'd rather not draw any attention."

"Got it!" From the corner of my eye, I could see my familia nod his head energetically before suddenly turning to face me. "Wait, this reminds me, are we going to have Arde be our supporter today? I know that you wanted to wait on making a decision about helping her, but—"

"—We'll hire her."

"Woah, wait, really?!"

I didn't bother to acknowledge my party member's shock and simply shrugged. "I said it, didn't I?"

Really, outside of the attempt to steal from Cranel, there was no real reason for me to not consider hiring Arde to be our supporter. When we were in the Dungeon, she performed her job admirably and even boosted our productivity by a lot. We made it down past the fifth floor in half our usual time and we even got to the seventh floor, and weren't dead tired when we did so. We somehow even made 18,000 more valis than average, bringing our total for the day to 21,000 valis (7,000 each).

In the end, it seemed that being able to focus solely on killing monsters did in fact make us better at killing them. Who would've thought?

"Oh, but be sure to keep her at arm's length." That being said, I liked making money, not being an idiot. There was no way that I was just going to forget that the little Chienthrope tried to steal a knife that put my kami-sama in a hundred million valis in debt. "She's not in the clear until we can prove what she's saying about the Soma Familia is the truth, got it?"

Instead of instantly responding, the albino stared at me for a moment before letting one of his usual smiles cross his face. "Got it, Hachiman."

Eh, what the hell was with that reaction for?

…

Being a high schooler, I naturally didn't have a lot of experience with Red Light Districts. Actually, considering my idea of a 'crazy night out on the town' was not leaving my home at all, it would probably be more accurate to describe my level of experience with them as 'beyond lacking'.

That being said, unlike my white-haired cohort, the idea of going to Orario's version was far from a daunting one. Not to imply that I didn't have my reservations, but fortunately, going in with the mindset of having better things to do than worry about seemed to help get me past the first threshold without much issue - that first threshold being the literal wall that kept the Pleasure District hidden away from the rest of Orario.

Now, I had as much knowledge of city planning as Yuigahama did math (practically none whatsoever), but I couldn't help but be appalled at the lack of subtlety behind the choice. Keeping the place where all the city's vice takes place behind actual closed doors? Really? Then again, I probably shouldn't have expected as much from the people who thought it was a good idea to turn Babel Tower into a glorified shopping mall instead of anything of actual value. Also, in all fairness, it wasn't like the actual place itself was any more subtle about its function either.

Thanks to various forms of popular media, I knew that Red Light Districts in this kind of setting often housed brothels, but nothing could've prepared me for the sheer amount of exposed skin that I would see from the moment I stepped foot into the place. It didn't just stop there either.

As far as the eye could see, women of the night were trying their best to get all those passing by to pay for their services, doing so openly and brazenly. Flirting, various forms of chiding, and even light touching that extended up to full on grinding up on people; no method of advertisement was spared. Being a fully functioning seventeen year old boy, I couldn't describe it all as anything other than sensual— Ahem. I mean, sensory overload.

Other than that, the Pleasure District seemed no different from any of the other business oriented streets in Orario. Although, the sweet smelling incense that seemed to follow me no matter where I went and the actual red tinge of the magic crystal lamps were a dead give away that this wasn't the rest of Orario.

How did they even manage to get them to look like that? Tinted glass? A special kind of magic crystal maybe? Either way, whoever's decision it was to make them that way, it's really obnoxious. I get it. This is the Red Light District. You don't need to keep bashing me over the head with that fact. Please stop.

"Hey there, big fella~!" Oi, didn't I just say to quit it with the reminders?! "Why don't you bring that studly rear over here and give little ol' me some company?"

"C-C-Certainly, fine madam! H-H-H-How shall I—" Knowing where that conversation was heading and preemptively wanting to die from second-hand embarrassment because of it, I forced myself to tune it out. Poor sap, I hope your performance between the sheets is better than the one you put up on the streets. I'd like to say that I'm rooting for you but I could also honestly care less.

"Well, well, what's a fine little lady like yourself—" Yeah, no, cutting that one off too. Still, it's good to know that there are ways women can have a good time here too if they want or, at the very least, I hope that was the intent behind you walking up to that girl, hot guy host-san. Not that I would be surprised if a reality so dark existed in a world like this.

"Hey, hey, onii-chan~!" Wait, did I just hear someone say onii-chan—? No! Don't fall for it, Hachiman! That call for help is impure, tainted, completely unlike that of Komachi. It'll surely lead you to a path worse than damnation. "Do you have some time for me? I really need your help with my—"

Letting out a sigh, I kept my focus on the path in front of me and did my best to continue down it, which didn't seem any less clear of potential pitfalls at all. It was times like this where I was happy to know that the most powerful of my 101 skills, Stealth Hikki, more often than not worked as intended. If I had any more of a presence than none at all, this mission surely would've been a lost cause from the start.

That being said, it was probably best I get started on that mission now before I found my attention being led astray any further. Alright….

Mission start! Current objective: locate a tavern and procure information on the Soma Familia.

If I were in a video game, me saying that would automatically update my HUD and show me where I needed to go without much effort on my end, but unfortunately, life couldn't be so simple and streamlined, meaning that I had to stop time and actually scan the road in front of me for information.

On paper, one might find the idea of having to actively search for and find a tavern in the Pleasure District somewhat oxymoronic, considering that this was Orario's little niche for all things vice, but so far, it was proving to be much more difficult in practice.

Even after having slowed all the commotion going on around me to a halt, I still couldn't see any signs of what I was looking for. Sure, I had just arrived here a few moments ago and thus, haven't really gotten farther than the main road, but as far as my eyes could see, it was still brothels upon brothels.

Logic dictated that I not assume that the entire district would be composed solely of them, but heeding that knowledge would also force me to acknowledge that I would need to venture further into the district to actually find them, which made the cautionary part of my mind scream that I should give up and head home while I was ahead and still had my innocence.

Still, for the sake of information, I needed to thrust myself further into the depths in front of me, whether I liked it or not. Lol.

Go.

…

The process of establishing a place's atmosphere was a difficult thing to try and explain; as while there were plenty of small details to take into account when doing so, there was always the possibility that none of them may prove to be necessary when everything was said and done.

For example, before they did anything else, one had to look at what they were describing and figure out the scale in which to describe it on. Was your focus an entire city spanning countless kilometers? It was best to keep away from listing finer details and make note of things in a more general light. The opposite? Then, the very same principle might be your best bet or it might not be. Basically, you had to judge these things on a case by case basis, which was exactly what I was trying to do with the tavern standing in front of me.

In terms of specifics, it wasn't all too different from the rest of the buildings around it - it being just one of many that sat interconnected to one another on this street. Some were longer than others, some were taller, but they all shared the same basic characteristics. Red brick walls that held up various kinds of wood ornaments that only really served as an aesthetic difference between the shops.

Now, I knew that this was probably because of this world having a lack of variation when it came to building materials, but the lack of overall differences made me wonder if this was all someone's conscious decision. Nonetheless, the point is that, outside of all of the sparse signage indicating that it sold alcohol, it pretty much looked like all of the other buildings around it. Wait, this place is named The Randy Wolf? Ew, that's gross—creepy even. How did this place get any business with a name like that?

…Eh, whatever. It's not like I came here expecting the highest brow of all establishments in the first place.

Entering the tavern, I found myself being sorely disappointed with the decor of the place. I didn't know what I was expecting, but for a place that dubbed itself The Randy Wolf, I certainly expected something a little less bog standard. Really, the only defining quality it had interior design wise was its size and layout, which was much more reminiscent of a few hole in the wall ramen shops I knew of back home than an actual tavern - it only having enough room in its front dining area for four large tables and had several smaller ones lining the strip of space extending towards the back of the establishment (that also housed the a long bar/food prep area).

Other than that, its actual furniture seemed to be almost identical to that of every other tavern I've entered. Then again, that list of taverns only really consisted of The Hostess of Fertility so maybe I wasn't the best judge on that— Hold up, that name is just as gross and creepy now that I think about it!

"Eh, a customer? This early into the night?" Before I could go any further down that trail of disgusted realization, a voice called out to me and reminded me that I actually needed to turn Sokudoku on before I monologue like that, as to keep from looking like a complete and utter weirdo. "What's wrong, kid? Not even the ladies outside willing to take you?"

Unsurprisingly, I could only describe the voice that had asked me that as deep and gruff, but in a different way than what I was accustomed to. Normally, those descriptors would tell me that the speaker was a man, but this voice had a certain quality to it that kept me from jumping to that conclusion immediately. Maybe there was something in the pitch or overall cadence, but for whatever reason, my mind didn't immediately jump to that conclusion. Fortunately, turning towards the voice illuminated the reason for that almost immediately.

"Well, what are you doing dawdling over there for?" That reason being that the person talking to me was, in fact, not a man but a woman. "C'mon, get your sorry behind over here and sit down. I can help you drown your sorrows plenty."

Stop.

Stopping time dead in its tracks to give myself time to come up with a good response, my eyes scanned the woman speaking to me and the first thing that caught my attention was the big black eyepatch that sat on top of where her right eye should be. Its size told me a lot, considering that it covered near that entire side of her face. Unsurprisingly, the next thing that caught my eye afterward was the eye that she didn't have to hide, which was a pale blue, almost grey and had a sharpness to it that made the muscles in my back want to stiffen up for a second. Yeah, definitely not someone I wanted to underestimate.

Outside of that, there wasn't much else about her that I felt needed to be addressed in full detail. She had a pair of black triangular ears on top of her head that reminded me of that unbearably loud teammate of Wallenstein's, which led down to long black hair that extended to her mid-back. If she were wearing a suit and an inexplicable lab coat instead of a plain blue dress and a white smock, I'd call her a spitting image of Hiratsuka-sensei. Well, a spitting image of her if she were both European and also this world's version of a werewolf. So, really, they didn't look that much alike at all.

With that in mind, however, the stranger in front of me seemed to share one thing with my former Japanese teacher and that was the general energy she exuded. Instead of the usual sugar, spice, and everything nice that women were made of; this woman seemed to be made out of snip, snails, and puppy-dog tails, which was fortunate because I already knew how to get on her good side.

Go.

Trudging my way over to the bar, I sat myself down onto the very first stool in the line of them, putting a comfortable amount of distance between me and the bartender.

"Sitting all the way over there, huh? You the distant type or something?"

"There's distance between us, isn't there?" Purposefully not sparing her a glance, I leaned forward onto the bar and propped my right elbow onto the bar before resting my cheek on my hand. I never thought I'd ever say this but it was a good thing that adventuring was such a tiring occupation. At the very least, it made acting disgruntled and exhausted really easy.

The werewolf was silent for a moment before chuckling. Good. Not even a minute in and I'm already halfway finished with my first objective: establish a rapport. "So, it's like that then? Alright, what're you having to drink tonight?"

"Ale, please. No rush if you were busy with something before I came in, though."

"Hmph, do I really look that busy to you, kid?"

"Not really, but I didn't want to be presumptuous."

"'Presumptuous'? Kid, there isn't a soul in here besides us two." I felt like smirking when I heard that, but knowing that such a reaction would garner suspicion from the barkeep, I did my best to keep my satisfaction in check. "That wouldn't be presuming at all, that's just common sense."

Having already accomplished another goal of mine, I shrugged. "Whatever you say."

More silence followed my conceding. What? No smug follow up about me being wrong? Not even a self-righteous 'you're damn right'? Wow, such kindness! Maybe I was wrong to try and compare you to Hiratsuka-sensei. I'd never be able to live losing an argument with her down.

"Alright, here's your ale, kid." Hearing wood slide against wood, I turned towards my left and found a mug being slid across the bar towards me. Stop. Note the angle of approach and cut it off with my hand when it gets close enough. Go.

Lifting my head up off my hand, I carried through with my plan, the amber liquid in the mug sloshing slightly as it came to a stop against my palm. "Thanks."

"Shouldn't I be the one saying that to you, though?" I raised my brow when the barkeep started to scratch at the back of her head. Eh, what's with that reaction? Is thanking your server really something to be surprised by here in Orario? Wow, this really is an uncouth city. "You're a real polite kid, you know that?" The werewolf shot me a toothy grin. "And here I was thinking that you'd be a pain when you first walked in here."

Um… Didn't we just finish trading verbal barbs not too long ago? "'Polite', eh?" I scoffed at the compliment. "If you consider me polite, then I don't even want to know what your usual customer base is like."

"Well, you bothered to say 'please' and 'thank you', that's a good start in my books." The eyepatch wearing werewolf made a show of contemplating the topic, using her left hand to cup her chin and placing the right on her hip. She was even looking down towards the ground— Wait, are you actually thinking about this seriously?! "Oh, and you didn't come in here already piss drunk, ranting and raving about some dame that wouldn't jump on your meat. That helps."

I blinked at the werewolf. That wasn't a high bar to clear at all…. "That so? Well, it looks like I chose a good time to stop in then."

"Not a fan of the noise, I take it? Yeah, you definitely seem like the type." Oi, what in the hell is that supposed to mean? You're not wrong but still! "Anyways, you never answered my question, kid. What're you doing here?"

Shrugging at the still jovial werewolf, I took a swig from the mug in front of me. Ugh, yep, still gross. "I wanted a drink."

"There are plenty of places outside the Pleasure District if you wanted a drink." Hands on the bar, my server's face lost its smile and became more serious. "This place, though? The only people that come here are the whores outside and all the people who couldn't pay them to have sex with them, and I reckon it's still too early for either to be the case."

Shit, the reasoning for her suspicion was actually really sound. It was a good thing that I didn't actually need to have one myself to counter it, otherwise I would actually have to pause time to think of one. "And? What are you even doing open this early if people don't usually come in until later?"

"Fair enough." Leaning back and off of the bar, a smile returned to the werewolf's face. "Although, you do know that lets me fill in the gaps how I want, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, do whatever you want." Snorting, I waved off her question and took another swig of my ale. Like I care what some random bartender thought of me. Oh, right, I hate the taste of ale. Yuck. Wait, that reminds me…. "By the way, you have anything stronger than this?"

"What? You trying to insult me, kid? Of course, I have stuff stronger than that." Crossing her arms over her chest, her smile turned into a grin and suddenly, I felt as though I had just stepped onto a landmine. "Why? That ale not doing you in quick enough?"

Doing my best to ignore how quickly she perked up and what that might possibly entail, I shrugged, took another swig of my drink, and purposefully allowed my distaste for what just entered my mouth to reach the surface. "No, I just hate the taste of ale. So, really, anything that tastes better would do as long as it gets me drunk."

"Ah, so you might be one of them stuffy wine drinking types then." Unsurprisingly, she showed no qualms in displaying her disappointment to me. Hah? Did I get your hopes up or something? Great, now you're really starting to remind me of Hiratsuka-sensei. "Well, I suppose that I've got a few bottles stashed away in the back somewhere…." Scratching at the side of her head, she cast a weary gaze off towards her right. "What were you thinking about having?"

"Got anything made by Soma?" The question made the werewolf freeze. "I keep hearing he makes some of the strongest stuff around, so it seems like it's a good enough place to start."

"You want some wine, eh?" Arms returning to back under her chest, I found myself being met with a large dose of speculation from the barkeep once more. "No offense, kid, but I think you might be punching a little bit above your weight there."

"Eh, why do you say that?" I didn't quite feign my reaction to the jab. "Is that stuff really that strong?"

"Saying that it's strong would be underselling it. I've only ever drunk the imperfect stuff before, but even that only took a single cup to get me buzzed. Word is that the pure stuff can get your soul drunk, whatever that means."

I wolf-whistled at the claim. It's so strong that it could get your soul drunk, huh?

On the surface, it sounded like a long-winded exaggeration to play up the wine's quality, but considering that the wine was being made by an actual God, I couldn't quite dismiss the thought outright. So, what could getting your soul drunk possibly entail? Wait, didn't Cranel say something about some of the familia members acting really desperate earlier? Couldn't that mean….

"Oi, barkeep, what do I owe you for the ale?" Mind now set on what my next steps were, I stood up from my stool, hand already traveling down to the coin pouch on my hip.

"Hm? 20 valis, why? What's up? You planning on leaving already?" The werewolf placed her hands on her hips as she closed her eyes and shot me a disappointed frown. "I mean, you've barely even touched your drink. You could've at least kept me company until the rush starts, y'know?"

Rolling my eyes at that last part, I placed down what I owed onto the bar. Getting distinct flashbacks to some talks I had with Hiratsuka-sensei, a part of me wanted to take a jab at her for what she just said, but I knew that'd only put me at risk of getting sucked into an unnecessary conversation.

"Sorry, but I've got better things to do than hang around some lonely wolf all night." So, I worked it in as I turned towards the door and bid my farewell. "Thanks for the ale."

"Hah! You're welcome, you cheeky brat." I thought that'd be the end of our conversation, but right as I reached the door, I stopped when I heard the barkeep saying one more thing. "Oh and despite the eyepatch, I'm not as blind as I look. Next time you wanna use me for information, just come out and ask. It's not like I've got better things to do around this time anyways."

I turned back towards the werewolf and flashed her a smirk, before exiting out the door. Well, that certainly turned out better than expected—

Before I could finish that thought, I felt something graze my right shoulder, doing so with enough force that it knocked me flat onto my face. Now, I didn't know if having a falna actually played a factor in this or not, but being basically super-human, I figured that it'd take quite a lot to do something like that. So, naturally, I couldn't help but turn and see what had barrelled into me.

…I don't know what I expected to see, but I certainly didn't expect a basically half-naked Amazonian woman. Oi, watch where you're— Wait, what the hell are those pants?! Why are you even bothering to wear them if you can see right through them!

Having been bumped into quite a bit over my seventeen years of life, I expected to hear one of two responses. The first being the most common: a hurried, half-hearted apology that I'm sure had been uttered a million times over. The second being general reproach, which was a lot less common but certainly far more memorable. Be it a disgusted glare from over their shoulder or a simple 'watch where you're going', the faces of all of those people got burned into my memory and then went onto my 'will murder' list.

All that being said, what I received from this woman was somehow far more insulting.

The Amazon didn't say anything and didn't even turn to look my way. The fact that I was in her way in the first place didn't even seem to register to her. To her, I was basically no better than the dirt under her bare feet.

A part of me wanted to say something - my mouth even opened to do so, but something held me back. Maybe it was the logical side of my brain reminding me that I didn't want to make waves here or the fact the woman bumped into me and nearly took me clean off my feet, but it promptly shut itself as I watched her continue down the street before eventually turning a corner.

I snorted. White, huh?

…

Covering up my yawn with my hand, I used my other hand to pull open the door to my basement home.

"Ah, Hachiman's home!" Without having even taken a step down the stairs, my ears were already being beset with my familia's yelling. I let out a snort as I once again dragged my work weary body down the stairs, half expecting to be pounced on the moment I stepped down off of the final step and as luck would have it, that's exactly what happened. "How did your business in the Pleasure District go? What was it like? How many women were there? Are you still, uh… intact?"

Is this what the corporate slaves who own dogs feel every time they go home for the day? If so, I don't understand what all the hype is about. This isn't relaxing me or making me feel loved at all! Also, what was with that hamfisted euphemism at the end there? If you're gonna say something that incredibly blunt in your attempt to be subtle, then you might as well just come out and ask! "I'm not even going to justify that last question by responding to it."

"Oh, uh…" My familia scratched at the back of his head as he let out a sheepish chuckle. "So, I take it that nothing happened then?"

"Cranel…" I closed my eyes as I let out a sigh. "I know that we've been doing well in the Dungeon ever since we hired Arde, but even then, what even makes you think that I had the money to pay a woman to have sex with me?"

Aforementioned albino let out an exaggerated gasp. Reopening my eyes, I found that he was now physically recoiling backwards. "So, you did think about it then?"

I raised my brow at my familia's question. "I mean, I'm a guy, aren't I? Am I suddenly not allowed to have thoughts about the opposite sex?"

"But come on, you have to admit that it completely goes against your whole self-identity!" Hah? 'Identity'? Cranel, isn't that like the second time you've brought that up in the past week? Let me tell you this, my loud familia, the people who keep talking about identities tend to be the ones who don't have one of their own. So, by— Wait, why does this rant sound familiar? "I mean, nothing ever seems to phase you, even when you're talking to a pretty girl." Pressing the tips of his fingers together, he cast a sideways glance down at the ground next to him. "And I know that you said there were girls you've liked before, but I just sorta figured that you weren't into that sorta stuff, y'know?"

I blinked at the explanation. Being completely dumbfounded by my familia's reasoning, I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Cranel, I'm going to tell you this once and once only." Reopening my eyes, I looked my familia dead in his bewildered, crimson eyes. "I'm not a prude just because I don't get flustered at every woman I meet."

"R-Really?!" Was physically recoiling really necessary there, Cranel?

Letting out a sigh, I shook my head and made my way over to my makeshift bed. "Believe whatever you want, Cranel. I'm way too tired to be having this conversation."

"Wait, so if you do have, uh… those sorta thoughts, then does that mean you've had some about Hestia-sama?"

The question stopped me dead in my tracks. Wait, did Cranel just…? Did he seriously…? "No. Never. Ask me that ever again and I'm throwing you into a pit of Killer Ants."

"So you have had thoughts about her?!"

"I'm not answering that question."

"That might as well be an answer!"

Yep, time to go to bed, Hachiman. Just lay down, pull your blanket over you, and turn to face the wall. Don't even dignify that idiot's nonsense by giving it a response. He'll see fit to try and twist whatever you say to fit his favor again.

"Ah, home at last!" Halfway through my attempt to defend myself from Cranel's idiocy, the last voice I wanted to hear came bouncing down the stairwell. "Bell-kun, Hachi-kun~! I'm back from work!" Unfortunately, my heart, the traitorous creature that it is, decided that it would be best to skip a beat with every step my kami-sama made down the stairs. Oi, this is no time to get anxious! Become still! If you don't, you'll play right into Cranel's hand! "How are my two favorite boys in the world?"

"Ah, kami-sama!" Just as he did with me, Cranel made sure to greet our master with the enthusiasm of an overeager puppy. "Welcome back! How was work?"

"Oh, well, work was work. It was really slow at Hephaestus's so my shift just seemed to drag on and on…." My kami-sama's answer was interrupted by a moment of silence that preceded a soft moan. Almost immediately, the mental image of her arching her back in a cat-like stretch popped into my traitorous head and all of a sudden, I found myself fighting against the need to turn to face my familia. "I'm just really happy to be home."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do to help you relax?"

"Ah, that's my Bell-kun~! Always so considerate, but don't worry. Just being able to spend some quiet time with my children will be more than enough." You say that now, but I can tell by the tone in your voice that you're actually just hoping that he'd suggest something rather than you tell him. I've experienced the same thing from Komachi to ever be fooled by it ever again.

"Hehe, really? Well, if you need anything just let me know and I'll be more than happy to provide. It's the least you deserve for all you've done for us!"

…Welp, it looks like that part of Cranel still hasn't changed at all.

Interlude 8 | For the First Time, Bell Cranel Can Save Someone Else.

…

"Hey, Hachiman…" For whatever reason, my dark-haired familia's entire body stiffened up the moment I said his name and, almost immediately, a spike of panic ran through my body. "Oh, m-my bad! Did I scare you just then or something?"

"Hm? Oh, no, I'm just not fully awake yet." Hachiman yawned to himself silently after he said that and this time, I couldn't help but find his sleepiness strangely fitting. Typically, whenever he'd show signs of being tired this early in the morning, I'd wonder about if he got enough sleep last night, but considering what he had to do last night, I could only nod to myself acceptingly. "What is it, Cranel?"

"Oh, I was just wondering about what you wanted to do with Lili-chan's whole—" Before I could finish my question, a yell rang out from somewhere around me and reminded me that, even though the street we were on wasn't busy at all, we were still out in public. "—uh, problem. I just sorta realized that we didn't really get a chance to talk about it last night."

My familia blinked at me and stared at me for a moment, which made me want to smile. Hachiman was a generally thoughtful person, so seeing him take time to come up with an answer could only mean—

"—Are you seriously already thinking about another girl, Cranel?" Eh? "Flova probably slaved away in the kitchen to make you that lunch and this is how you repay her?" Wait, what?! That's not what we're— "Trust me, girls don't like it when you have other girls on your mind in general, much less right after they do something nice for you." S-Seriously! Can we please get back on— "Keep that up and you'll be kissing those boxed lunches of yours goodbye."

…

"W-Wait, really?" Crap, I wouldn't want Syr-chan getting mad at me. I gotta find a way to— "Hey, that's not what we were talking about here! Can we please get back on topic?"

"Hm? Not up for the usual routine?" He smirked at me as he said, which made me frown, which only made him snort and push off the wall he had been leaning on. "Well, I'll take that as a 'no'."

I closed my eyes and let out a groan. "Please just answer the question…."

"Your question?" Wait, were you even listening to me?! "Oh, right, you wanted to know if we were going to help Arde…." The Far Eastern boy turned his head downwards and got into a thinking position, crossing both his arms over his chest. He stayed like that for a moment or two before turning back up to look at me. "First off, how did your search go last night? I think mine turned up enough information to make a decision, but I want to make sure everything has been accounted for."

"Oh, right!" Suddenly, I felt like slapping myself in the head. Somehow, the fact that I had spent hours going from tavern to tavern looking for anyone who had information on the Soma Familia had completely slipped my mind. I ended up so frustrated too! How in the world could I have possibly forgotten? "To be honest, I don't really think it went so well."

"Hm?" I couldn't help but smile a little and scratch at the back of my head when I saw Hachiman raise a brow at my answer. "Was no one willing to talk to you or something?"

"N-No, it wasn't that…." Struggling to find the words to best describe what I was trying to say, I frowned. "There were people willing to answer my questions when I asked, it's just that I felt like I kept getting the same answer no matter who I talked to?"

When those last words left my mouth, yesterday's frustration came flooding all back to me. It seemed like no matter where I went or who I talked to, the only thing I could get out of anyone was that Soma makes wine so good that the pure stuff could get a person's soul drunk, but that didn't really explain why Eina-san seemed so cautious of them. It just meant that the familia made good wine, didn't it? If that was all, then why did Lili-chan have such bad things to say about them? Could she really just be—

"Tell me, Cranel." My focus was forced back onto my familia when he suddenly said my name. "Did any of them say something about their wine being so strong that it could get your soul drunk?"

"Eh, how'd you know?!" Were you reading my mind?!

My dark-haired familia snorted before answering. "Because that's exactly what I was told last night when I asked, but do you want to know what that tells me?" Excitement spiked through me as I nodded my head in response. "It means that the pure version of Soma's wine is so good that it can get people addicted to the stuff and this is really just a hunch, but if the Familia's members are acting all desperate for valis like Tulle said, then I think that's the reason why."

"So, basically, what you're saying is that the reason the Soma Familia members are acting all strange is because they're addicted to their kami-sama's wine?"

My familia nodded. "Although, I really don't have any hard evidence to prove that theory. Still, I think it's the most plausible explanation as of the moment."

Hachiman's response changed the reason for my frown. What he was saying made sense, but if that could really be the case…. "Wait, but that doesn't explain why they'd need the valis in the first place. If their kami-sama is the one making the wine, shouldn't they be able to get as much of it as they want?"

"Hmph, in a perfect world maybe." Huh? Hachiman, what's wrong? Why are you smiling at me like that all of a sudden when you just said something so dismissive—? Wait, did I say something good there?! "Here's a quick lesson in economics, Cranel." Oh, wait, he's getting all serious again! "If people are desperate to get something, that more often than not means that there's not enough of it to go around and when that happens, the price to acquire that something naturally goes up." As my familia spoke, he acted out what he was saying with his hands, starting out with both hands at the same level to start with before then lowering one and raising the other. "Now, considering that the pure version of Soma's wine is talked about like it's some sort of legendary item, it's probably safe to assume that a jug of it would sell for quite a bit, but if that's the case, then how come the familia's members all still so desperate for money?"

Hachiman suddenly stopped talking after that question. Having gone through this same routine with him plenty of times before, I knew that he was waiting for me to answer. A surge of panic ran through me as I lowered as I hurriedly began trying to scrape a good response together.

Now, because I was so used to him doing this, I knew that it didn't matter to him if what I said was right or wrong, but I also knew that he was probably expecting me to be wrong and I couldn't just let him be right! A hero couldn't just let himself perform as expected! He always had to exceed expectations!

Hm, what could make something like wine really hard to sell…? "Ah, maybe it's because the wine is really hard to make? Like, it's really expensive or something?"

"So, you're saying that it might be because the pure wine costs so much money to create that they can't make a profit on it?" I nodded tentatively. "Good answer, but you're forgetting that the Soma Familia are the ones controlling the price of the wine, meaning that if it costs them so much valis to make, they could easily sell it for a price so absurdly high that it makes them a profit regardless. And knowing Orario, I'm sure that there's someone out there so absurdly rich that they could afford to pay for it, which tells me that they're either not selling the pure wine at all and hoarding it all for themselves."

I swallowed hard as I listened to Hachiman's explanation, trying to make sense of it all in my head. So, if the members of the Soma Familia really are desperate to get money like Eina-san said, that means they're not selling their pure wine? Not because it's so hard to make, but because they want to keep it all for themselves? And they want to keep it all for themselves because they're addicted to it? But wait, if a lot of them are addicted to it, then wouldn't that mean someone— "Wait, Hachiman, you don't think—?"

"—That someone's using the wine to control the rest of the familia?" My heart fell when I heard how Hachiman said that. "Of course, I think that. Although, I'm surprised that you of all people would jump to that conclusion too, Cranel." He scoffed before flashing me a smirk. "And here I thought you were supposed to be the optimistic one. Hestia-sama's gonna kill me when she finds out."

I had heard what my familia had said in its entirety, but instead, my mind chose to focus on another matter entirely. One of their own familia? How could they do that? A familia might just be a family in name, but you were supposed to treat them like they were! Even if you normally wouldn't get along, even if you have completely different goals, even if they keep more secrets than you can count, even if they make you feel less important by just existing….

Familia are supposed to take care of another! You're supposed to be able to trust them! To try and use them to make money…? That… that's… unfor—

"—Oi, Cranel, you still in there?" I blinked when I heard my familia's voice call out to me and found that I was looking down towards the ground. Looking up, I found that my familia had gotten closer to me at some point. "Come on, we don't have the time to stand around getting angry at something we can't fix," he lowered his raised hand and nudged his head towards his left as he spoke. "You wanted to help Arde get away from that familia, right?" I nodded. "She's probably waiting for us at Babel Tower right now, we should talk to her about everything."

"Oh, uh…" Guilt began to weigh on my shoulders as I watched Hachiman turn and walk towards the tower. Releasing the grip I had on the straps of my backpack, I shook my head hard and started after him. "R-Right."

As it typically did, silence reigned over the two of us as we walked together and it always was, my mind was swarming with thoughts about what just happened. How could I have let myself get carried away like that? Sure, what was going on with the Soma Familia was awful and horrifying, but this wasn't about them. There was… there was nothing I could do to help them - not right now at the very least. All I could do now was focus on Lili-chan and helping her get out of this situation, and that should've been my only focus. That's what a true hero would focus on. That's what Hachiman focused on—

"Oh and Cranel?" At some point, my eyes fell to the ground once again. Looking back up, I found that my familia was looking back over his shoulder at me. "Um…." His little grey eyes turned away from me for a moment before settling back on me. "Don't be too hard on yourself, alright? It's only natural to be angry."

Suddenly, I found myself stopping, to which the dark-haired boy did the same. He turned towards me and we stared at each for a few moments before a smile forced its way onto my face. After that smile, came a laugh.

My familia blinked and asked, "What's so funny?"

"Ah, it's nothing!" I couldn't help but start scratching at the back of my head. "I just remembered something you said earlier."

"Hm?"

"You know, what you said about how I'm supposed to be the optimistic one?"

"Yeah? What about it?"

"I just thought that I could say the same about you."

Hachiman blinked, scoffed, and smiled. "What do you mean? I'm not optimistic at all."

I smiled and laughed back. Nowadays, I wasn't so sure about that.

…

Chapter End.

A/N: Hey, this story is up on SpaceBattles. Join the fun and conversations. People are currently arguing about waifus, but that's not all that goes on over there.