(3rd person PoV)
"So? Have you two reached an agreement?" The two men were standing before Eina's reception desk again. Of course, Fey was dozing off on Henryk's shoulders yet again.
"Henryk will be meeting goddess Hestia!" Bell was excited. Every hero had a party. Among them, one was his best friend. 'Maybe Henryk will fill that role?' Bell thought.
"Can I just finish most of the registration procedure now? Now that I think about it, how does it work?" Henryk wanted to be efficient. He did not want to waste time the next morning registering at the guild; something he probably could do now. He wanted to allocate all daytime tomorrow to do some dungeon delving.
"For the registration process, the presence of the patron deity, the captain or an executive member is required. Someone who is authorized by the prior people can also fill their position to register someone" Eina was looking at Bell. "Bell, as the only member of the Hestia familia, counts as the captain. He can vouch for your registration as a familia member" Eina explained to them both. Bell needed to know how this works, now that he is considered captain.
"Eh?! Am I the captain?!" Bell pointed at himself, feeling perplexed. "I have only been an adventurer since yesterday. And shouldn't Henryk be the captain if he joined? He is older and looks more experienced than I am"
"Consider that I'm not charismatic to anything but animals, a quality needed by someone occupying the seat of captain. You be the captain for now" Henryk told Bell firmly. "And don't say that I'm old. I'm only 19 this year" He followed by a complaint.
"Even though you appear to be in your late 20's?!" Misha interjected.
"Nobody asked you, little girl" Henryk shot back sarcastically.
"HEY, I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT I'M 19 YEARS OLD! I'M NO LITTLE GIRL!!" It appears Henryk brought up a sensitive topic.
After ignoring a fuming loli, they were done with the paperwork. Henryk was(not) officially part of the Hestia familia. For some reason, Hestia's opinion on this was ignored. At least, they left the familia name box empty.
"See ya" Henryk said, before abruptly taking Bell in a princess carry and sprinting out of the guild building.
"IyaaaaAaaAaAAaAAAAAAAAAA" A very high-pitched, feminine voice resounded throughout the streets of Orario. Nobody thought that a boy was the one screaming.
(Line Break)
"Good thing Fey left my shoulders before this" Henryk was glad he did not hurt her. As for Bell, the boy got out of the mortifying position before anyone noticed him being in it.
"What am I?" Bell was devastated. It was a very shocking experience.
"A rabbit. A very easily embarrassed rabbit" Henryk gave his honest opinion. "Anyway, is this the place? Is this where I will join the Hestia familia?" He emphasized the part about joining the familia.
"Yes!" Bell's mind tightly sealed off the last few minutes of his memory. They were to be forgotten. As a result, hearing what Henryk said helped him gather back his focus. "Follow me in"
One could reach this place if they headed down the west mainstreet from Babel and went north about halfway through it.
Bell led him through the creaking, broken front door. 'Not very safe'. As Henryk turned around, he found Fey flying up. He looked inside the church and followed Bell as they navigated between the pews, reaching the back of the podium, where Bell moved a certain mechanism. A piece of the wall moved aside, opening a path to an underground area. 'A bit safer, still not very safe'.
Fey decided that the door was not open enough, so she went to the highest point in sight, the roof of the church. She wanted to stay atop it, but seeing the holes littered across it, she descended through one of them to the interior of the church.
Fey saw the two going down. As her wing would not fit through the opening, she again perched on Henryk's shoulders.
"Bellll!" Just as they opened one of the doors at the foot of the staircase, a white missile with black lines slammed into Bell. He, alongside the missile, fell to the floor.
Henryk let them have their moment before interrupting them.
"Am I interrupting your quality time together?" Henryk said.
Hestia froze. As she directed her gaze upwards, she somehow missed the human standing there and looked at the bird on his shoulders.
"Lady Hestia?" Hestia heard her name being called, a little lower than where she was looking.
There she finally saw the young man. He was quite muscular and had broad shoulders. Under what he had donned, he did not seem particularly burly.
His sharp eyes, they were absorbing her, drowning her in their dark, green depths. They felt like they were ready to judge her at any moment.
His other features were all average, and his clothes were mostly plain. He wore a traditional white shirt, embroidered with brown threads on the sleeves and the collar, and a beige pair of pants of unknown material. He also had a pair of brown boots specialized for forest grounds. The boots went halfway up to his knees.
"Hey? Are you there?" Henryk waved his hand in front of her unfocused eyes.
"Bell? Please, snap her back to reality" Henryk, knowing that he could not get her attention, had Bell do something.
"Goddess, this is Henryk Williams" Bell said with barely contained excitement. Excitement that leaked out with his following words. "He said he wants to join our familia!" Bell dropped a bomb.
"Huh?! Mind repeating that?" Hestia thought that she was hearing things. She cleaned her ears on the off chance that helped her hear him better.
"Henryk here will be joining our familia, goddess!" Bell's face was radiant with joy.
"I don't believe this" Hestia was in denial, hopeful denial. She did not want to wake up from this sweet dream.
"Believe it. And before going on a tirade of the familia's situation, Bell already informed me of it. I'm joining. Oh, the paperwork's already mostly done" Henryk showed her the papers, having only the familia name section empty.
Hestia could not believe their luck, decidedly ignoring the lack of consideration for her opinion on the matter. However, as soon as she felt happy, she stopped in her tracks and thought about it some more. To get a new familia member just the next day after Bell joined, it was both a good and a bad sign.
'Why would he intentionally join our familia of all available ones?' "I want to confirm a few things with you before giving you your falna. Is that alright with you?" Hestia said in a grave voice.
"Should I go outside?" Bell was trying to be considerate of Henryk's secrecy. He failed, however, in affirming his position as captain.
"No, Bell. You stay here. It's your right and duty, as you are assumed to be the captain, to interview a prospective familia member. I can try answering your inquiries" Henryk said. Bell beamed a little but tried to hide it behind a professional mask as he sat down. Hestia found Bell's attempt at professionalism very adorable.
"Then let's start. Are you affiliated or acquainted with any familia?" Hestia said.
"I only really met Sir Ganesha. I was interrogated about my daughter, Fey, and let go afterwards" Henryk said as he pointed at Fey, who was grooming her feathers. "I met no other divine aside from you two, neither do I have connections to anyone belonging to another familia beside Hashana Dorlia, who I just met"
"Why did you choose our familia specifically? As much as it pains me to admit it, but Freya's and Loki-no-boobs' familias have way more resources and other benefits compared to ours. That is not to mention other familias that already established themselves" Hestia said.
"I did it mostly for personal reasons. If I have to say one, I'm avoiding the responsibilities that come with being part of larger familias" Henryk said. His voice showed his emotions. "I don't want to shoulder those responsibilities when I just became an adventurer"
"There is a contradiction. You are not affiliated with a familia, but you have a tamed animal. Care to explain?" Hestia said with a raised eyebrow.
"Haaaah. You aren't the first to mistake my girl for a tamed animal" Henryk frowned. The frown was intense enough that Hestia believed that they could have lost a potential member. However, she understood the displeasure now that she remembered how Henryk affectionately called Fey his daughter. "This girl's no tamed animal. She is essentially a wild eagle that imprinted on me since birth" Henryk said, his frown slowly shifting into a smile as he dwelled over Fey's antics a little. "That made it easier to make her listen to my requests. She still ignores said requests sometimes, though" He chuckled as he remembered some disobediences. They were admittedly funny.
"I sincerely apologize" Hestia said. "Why did you want to become an adventurer?"
"To make a living?" Henryk said, giving her a look that asked her why she was asking the obvious. "It's one of the easier paths. I also wanted to feel the thrill of exploring the unknown and fighting a monster or two. It wouldn't hurt"
"What life did you lead up to this point?" Hestia said.
"I lived mostly alone in the hut I built with grandpa's help in the middle of a forest. I raised my babies there, all of them were animals that I saw come to this world personally" Henryk said with a fondness a parent would have.
Hestia felt that she should not ask why he was alone and ruin the moment.
"What is your end-goal?" Hestia said.
"Spend the money I accumulated to pamper my wife and children, if I had any family with this line of work" Henryk said.
"You are welcome. Now, lay on your stomach with your back bare. I will be giving you your falna" Hestia said. She then remembered that Bell was there. He remained silent and observing the conversation without uttering a word of his own. "Bell, this is a private matter. Could you wait outside while we apply Henryk's falna?"
"Alright" Bell said. He did not feel bad. Eina made it clear to him that another adventurer's falna was private, even to their fellow familia members. Even if Hestia never told him to get out of the room, Bell would have stepped out of his own accord.
"Be careful, I'm ticklish" Henryk informed her as he started lifting up his shirt.
"Okay" Hestia acknowledged his warning.
Henryk raised his shirt to reveal a set of well-defined back muscles with a healthy amount of fat. As Hestia turned around, she had to hold in a gasp. Bell failed to hold back a gasp of his own. Henryk's back was littered with small cut and stab scars.
'The forest, he said' Hestia closed her eyes and sighed.
"Don't worry" Henryk said reassuringly, having expected this kind of reaction. "Those don't make it harder to move"
Henryk laid down and waited. It was not long before Hestia pricked her finger. She was standing beside the couch as she let a drop of her blood fall on his back.
His suffering began. He was getting tickled by the droplet moving on his back, getting spread around his back by Hestia's arguably tiny finger, but he could not move. If he moved, he ran the risk of screwing with his falna. He thought since this world is now real, he might have some unforeseen consequences for things like an unsuccessfully bestowed falna.
A transparent, soft cyan Light illuminated a small half sphere of space above his back as Hestia did her work. When she was done inscribing the falna, she was shocked.
"No way" Hestia said in quiet disbelief. "This is not happening right now" She grabbed at her hair, almost pulling on it. She was barely holding back that urge.
"Yes way" Henryk retorted. "What is it? Is there something wrong?"
"Look here, mister. It is simply unbelievable" Hestia put a paper on his back and copied his falna onto it so he could see.
Henryk took the paper and started reading.
(Line Break)
Name: Henryk Williams
Familia: Hestia Familia
Level: 1
STR: I0
END: I0
DEX: I0
AGI: I0
MAG: I0
Magic:
None
Skills:
Advanced Taming:
Taming weakened monsters with magic stones.
Tamed monsters heal with magic stones.
Same-species magic stones induce variants and alter skills accordingly.
Master of monsters:
High dynamic vision while observing tamed monsters.
Orders:
If out of a tamed monster's range of hearing, only one order could be transmitted at a time.
Upon receiving a reply, the next order could be sent.
Orders could be ignored.
For a given tamed monster, one absolute order could be given per day.
Fake Falna:
Grants a false Falna to tamed monsters.
Magic stones replace excellia; only rank-ups require your blood.
At least one racial and one non-racial skill is guaranteed.
Additional skill, {Humanification}, is granted whenever possible.
(Line Break)
"Okay? I still don't know what's so unbelievable about it" Henryk was still confused. "If you meant the skills, is it abnormal to have skills from the start?"
"To answer your question, yes, it's unusual. While it's possible to have a skill manifest the moment you receive a falna, it's rare. Having two is ever rarer. Any more than two is just absurd and is beyond reason" Hestia was explaining it to him. She then, after mulling over it for a moment, giggled. It was a happy occasion. "We are quite the lucky bunch! A person with skills wanted to join our familia! Hehehe!"
Bell was let back into the room. Henryk elected to let him know that he has a skill, since they will be adventuring together. Bell was bound to see him taming a monster or see the tamed monster after the fact. However, Henryk only told him that he had a taming skill, not a number, nor the nature or description of the skill. He did not tell him about the total number of skills either.
"Unfair. This is so unfair" Bell started crying rivers over his luck. He wanted a cool skill or two so bad, and he was let down by his falna. He felt betrayed by the world.
"Say that in a few weeks" Henryk knew of the BS called Liaris Freese. Now THAT is what you call unfair.
"What did you say? I did not quite catch that" Bell said in hopeful disbelief. Even if Henryk could not have known, Bell wanted to believe that he was getting a skill.
"Nothing" Henryk said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"Well, at what hour are we going to the dungeon tomorrow?" Henryk was going to plan on what to do throughout the day depending on when they went to the dungeon.
"I would normally go some time before sunrise" Bell said with a sigh. He needed to be realistic. While he had no skill yet, most adventurers who remained active for years were guaranteed at least one or two skills. He would get one eventually if he persevered. The determination burned in his like fire.
"A determined early riser, huh?" Henryk said. He wondered how one could be so innocent that he seems adorable even to other men. 'One could raise the question of how he looks so much like a bunny asking to be adopted'
"Hestia?" Henryk was controlled by an urge he did not recognize.
"Yes?" Hestia said.
"Can I adopt him? I always wanted to raise a bunny" Henryk said.
"HEY!" Bell screamed while doing an 'embarrassed Bell pose'.
"No, you can't" Hestia had an unimpressed smile. It was simply ludicrous. "How can you adopt my rabbit?"
"DO NOT IGNORE ME! AND DO NOT CALL ME THAT!" Bell continued protesting with a reddening face.
"Hestia, look. Bell did a "Bell thing". Isn't he cute? Shouldn't we be protecting him from the corruption this world will direct at him?" Henryk faked fawning over Bell while covering his mouth with a closed fist.
"COME OOOOONNNNNNN!" Bell's face threatened to pop off.
"Total agreement on that. We shall protect this pure-hearted boy from the corruption of the city" Hestia nodded sagely.
"STOP TEASING MEEEEEEEEEE! THIS IS SO EMBARRASSIIIIING!" Bell almost ran off by sheer instinct. He subconsciously knew that any more would kill him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Okay, okay! I will stop teasing you!" Henryk laughed as he slapped his thigh. He took a deep breath to calm down. "You can stop looking so red. We don't want to lose you to a blood pressure"
Bell was directing a death glare at Henryk, which Henryk found cute.
"What about the sleeping arrangement? I only see a couch and a bed. Should I take the couch while you two share the bed? As for Fey," Henryk looked at her only to find her already sleeping. She waits for no one. "She seems to be okay there"
"Bell, I want to talk with Henryk alone. Can you give us privacy?" Hestia suspected things. She wanted to verify them.
What Hestia said did make Bell's desire to know soar. However, Hestia's rare serious attitude dissuaded him. He went upstairs and sat on one of the pews, waiting.
"Henryk Williams, although everything you told me was the truth, you still have too many oddities around you" Hestia said with her head resting on her interlocking fingers.
"Go ahead. I'm listening" Henryk said while sitting attentively.
"What makes you sure that I will not hand you over to the others? A person who tamed a species of eagle which is supposed to be a wild species is very valuable entertainment for our kind" Hestia said. She did not try to mask it; that she was uncomfortable with the other deities' hedonistic behavior.
"The Hestia I heard of would never give up her family, even if they had very recent criminal acts before joining. Others might have also been a good choice. Among them are Ganesha, Takemikazuchi, Miach, Hephaestus and Goibniu among many others. I also know a thing or two that will interest both the Bimbo and the Flat Washboard. Heck, I know a way to worm my way to Artemis' heart, and we both know how she is with men in gene...ral..." 'Shit! That was not supposed to slip out!' A downside to living alone with only one person, a close friend, who visits bidaily is a potentially loose mouth.
Hestia had her mouth agape and mind blank at the mention of Artemis. Artemis of all people was not an option as a romantic target. She would twist a man in two and leave him to die in cold heart.
As for Henryk, he was going through a dilemma. 'Wait a fucking minute! That walking spoiler did his thing and spoiled the movie on me a few years back. Why didn't I think of this? I should go see Hermes. I hate his mug, but I need his help to send a letter to Artemis. She and her familia should never go near the Elsus ruins' Henryk gathered some resolve.
"I will go call Bell over. I may take a day or two before joining him in the dungeon, depending on the progress I make with a personal problem. This isn't a matter for discussion. I will see you after I'm done. Good night, Hestia" Henryk said to Hestia, who was still stunned into silence.
"Fey" Henryk went upstairs with Fey and said his piece to Bell. Bell, of course, was dejected since Henryk will not join him tomorrow. He still went down while thinking that Henryk had his reasons.
(Line Break)
"Now, if I was dubious Hermes, where would I exist at the moment?" Henryk wondered.
"Why are you searching for lord Hermes?" A feminine voice came from behind him. He did not hear her footsteps and turned around hurriedly to face her.
Henryk turned around to the sight of cloaked woman who has aqua blue hair with a white strand to the side. She wore glasses and appeared serious, to the point, you could say.
"I reckon you are miss Andromeda? It's a pleasure to meet you. My name's Henryk Williams. I have a message for your god to deliver. It is of utmost importance, as it may decide the life and death of a goddess" He said.
"What is the message?" She asked. It would be better if she could pass the message to Hermes.
"I want to meet him myself, as he may not believe my message otherwise" Henryk said, standing his grounds. He insisted on meeting Hermes.
Asfi pondered what action she should take from here. There were no trust problems from Ganesha's side, which weighed a lot in his favor. The thing was that it was not part of her objective to take him to Hermes. Her objective was to deliver a letter from the Ganesha familia to him.
Asfi ultimately decided to take him to Hermes. If what he said was true, then it would be a great crime to let it be. But, if he spoke falsehood to her, then she would not let him go. A deity's safety, life and death are no joking matter.
"Follow me" She said before starting to run with Henryk and Fey behind her.
(Line Break)
They ran the entire time in silence. Asfi took a glance or two at Fey, but that was about it.
"To what do I owe the honors?" Hermes said with a welcoming flair in his demeanor.
"I have no time for your quirky false personality, Hermes" Henryk quickly shut him down. "This concerns Artemis's life and death. Tell her to never go near the Elsus ruins, as there exists a god-eating scorpion of sorts. If it eats her, it would be able to use her Arcanum. Now that I said my piece, I bid you farewell" Henryk just left after he was done saying what he wanted. It left Hermes confused. Why would the young man leave so abruptly? Henryk gained Hermes' interest.
"Asfi, grab 'em" Hermes ordered.
(AN: RIP, Henryk. It was nice writing what little of your adventure there was)
"Haah" She really did not complain. It annoyed her still.
A few seconds later, Asfi could be seen dragging a limp man on the ground with Fey following behind them. Henryk had to tell her not to attack Asfi multiple times.
"How may I help you?" Henryk said in a monotone voice.
"Why did you concern yourself with Artemis? Better yet, how did you know about a monster hidden from even us?" Hermes said. The sly god of trades mixed in some lie in his question. 'What's with this eagle of his? I don't remember any of us making them this friendly'
"Knowing you, you already know why I want to help Artemis" Henryk said, alluding to the fact that Hermes already knew that he belonged to Hestia's familia, who was a friend of Artemis's.
"Aa Aa. No dodging the other question. How did you acquire information that we couldn't yet?" Hermes was smiling. He was also talking in a way that suggests the other gods not knowing about Antares, which they knew about. It is just that nobody was devoured by the ancient monster, thus their ignorance of its arcanum-absorbing tendencies.
"Tsk" Henryk clicked his tongue in frustration.
"..." Both Hermes and Asfi looked at Henryk, marveling at the audacity to click his tongue on a god. Hermes liked his daring action.
"Would you stop that creepy smile?" Henryk said unhidden disgust.
"What about answering my question?" Hermes ignored it.
"Okay, fine. I will. Just stop smiling like that" Henryk relented when faced with Hermes's persistence. Hermes had an eternity while Henryk did not.
"Here you go. Now, answer" It was another creepy smile. It was a different smile, nonetheless.
"Miss Andromeda, do you have to deal with this..." Henryk started, waving his arms around, not sure how to gesture over to Hermes. "... thing?"
"Do not talk about it" Asfi was looking at Hermes blankly with very judging, dead eyes.
"That hurts my feelings, dear Asfi" Hermes leaned back and acted dramatically with the back of one hand over his forehead.
Even Fey joined by staring at him weirdly.
"Anyway, a promise's a promise. A friend of mine told me. Sadly, he is not in the lower world" Henryk kept his promise to answer Hermes' question. The thing is, he did not specify if hidden facts are allowed or not. So, Henryk answered in a way that will delude them into thinking that his source of information, his friend, died. 'That nefarious walking-spoiler may be the toughest nut to crack out there. Good luck outliving him. I seriously wonder how he's still alive after all that happened to him' Henryk thought, smiling with clear melancholy.
"My condolences" Hermes got an itch telling him that something was amess, but this was a sensitive topic that even he refrained from being overbearing with.
"It's fine, really. He may have laughed at me if he knew I felt sad over such things" Henryk said, smirking a little. 'It's unfortunate. I guess I won't be getting spoiled on the anime anymore'
"What a weird friend you had" Asfi said. It made little sense to her. Why would one laugh at someone else mourning their death? Regardless, all relationships were different even if they were named the same.
"He was my only friend growing up. I hope we can meet again" Henryk looked through the window, at the night sky, to emphasize his act. But was it really an act? If he was honest with himself, he would have to admit that he wants to chat with him some more.
"So, as you might know, I'm also the god of trades. What do I get from this?" Hermes's calculating eyes almost made Henryk flinch.
"I will help you keep the hero of this age alive, at least until he fulfills his role. That is enough" Henryk stretched his hand for a handshake. 'Well, I will give you this piece of information you already know. Deal with it'
"Then consider your message delivered" Hermes took his hand, agreeing to what he would get in exchange. He at least pretended to not have noticed that Henryk dodged his trap knowingly. He also noted that Henryk seems to know that a hero exists and the identity of said hero.
Henryk got up and dusted himself. "Just remember to deliver my message. And don't you forget, tell her that you didn't detect any lies in my words. No matter how much of a pervert, your words as her fellow god are going to weigh a ton"
'I may have gotten a new, useful chess piece. He speaks as if he already knows that there is a hero... No, he speaks as if he knows him personally. The coming times might be interesting' Nobody knew Hermes' thoughts as he tipped his hat down.
(Line Break)
"Huh? You returned so quickly?" Hestia, with sunken, sleepy eyes, sat on a pew, while Bell slept awkwardly on another. They were waiting for Henryk. If he did not return, they would go searching for him the next day.
"And you stayed awake this late into the night? Anyway, I was lucky to run into the person I was looking for" Henryk said. He appreciated the implied thought behind staying like this.
"Who?" Hestia asked as she stood up and headed towards Bell's sleeping form. Henryk beat her to him as he carried him, careful not to wake the boy up.
"Why, Hermes of course. I needed him to deliver a message for Artemis. It might help her" Henryk said.
"What is this with Artemis?" Hestia got pouty. He joined her familia, and now he is aiming for her friend? "Do you want to curry favor with her? Is that what you meant by "I know a way to worm my way to Artemis' heart"? Huh? D-"
"Stop" Henryk interrupted her, his brows furrowed. "The Arrow of Orion. I know about it"
"Heh?" Hestia immediately switched from whatever mode she was in to a skeptical one. "Tough luck"
"I won't need it. I'm not aiming for her anyway. A mortal and a deity being in love almost always meant trouble. Often for both sides" Henryk said.
They went to sleep after carrying Bell to the couch. As for Henryk, he settled for bringing the sturdiest pew downstairs to sleep on. It was, mostly, a peaceful night.