Hestia and I left the mansion leaving a crying Apollo behind.
"Bell, do you need me to come with you?"
"You can after you inform the guild. The more people that know the batter,"
She seemed a little bummed but agreed.
I then proceeded to walk to the Hephaestus familia home.
(Welf POV)
"Crazy bastard...Why did I sign a contract with him,"
I hammered down on the piece of steel as a loud metallic sound came out. Recently from the trip to the 18th floor, I got the smithing skill, Blacksmith, and while I am happy I got it...If I had to go through that again then it may be debatable.
I continued hammering when a large explosion suddenly happened. I left my shop and saw smoke rising from a place fairly far away.
I asked around and finally found out it was at Hestia's familia base.
"Damn it..."
I ran over to try and help. Then I could say my helping was making it up for him getting me the skill but when I arrived bodies were all over the place, Lily was with the guild talking to them.
"Lily! What happened?"
"Oh, Welf. Apollo has declared a war game against Hestia. What are you doing here though? I thought you were done with us?"
"Well...Even if you guys are completely insane I still want to repay you all for getting me the blacksmith skill,"
A smile came to her face "If you'd like to pay us back, then there's something you can do..."
(Bell POV)
I entered the base and got permission to go to her personal room. I knocked as I entered.
"Excuse me Lady Hephaestus,"
"Oh, Hestia's kid. What do you need?"
"I'll keep it brief, I would like Welf Crozzo to transfer to my familia,"
"Is it for the war game?"
"Yes,"
"..."
She sat there thinking, I then suddenly spoke up.
"Also I would like to put what Welf would like first. He can reach his dream much faster by joining us as well,"
"...You're that confident?"
"Of course, when we win Welf will be known as the blacksmith who made the weapons for us, his popularity would skyrocket,"
"While yes that would be faster I still believe that having smiths work under the same conditions means how hard you work will equal where you stand,"
"...You're kidding right?"
"What?" She seemed perplexed.
"Do you not really see how flawed your system is? Being a popular familia your popular smiths get what they want, but people on the lower end don't have that chance. They can produce work just as good if not better but be ignored because their comrade's reputation is so much better to the point no one bothers looking at the no-names,"
She stared at me with one eye.
"You're killing these plants. You're planting seeds underneath a tree where it's not getting sunlight. It doesn't matter how much material they get if no one buys it,"
"Then what would you do to help this situation?"
"Simple, not bite off more than you can chew. Don't invite as many people as you do into your familia, that way there will be more chances for growth,"
"Harsh words coming from you. Hestia always said you were like a cute crow,"
"And I always thought you knew what you were doing,"
"...If you want him fine, but he has to agree,"
Then the door opened from behind me with two pairs of footsteps.
"Lady Hephaestus, please," Welf said with a bow.
I looked back at Lily who gave a slight nod back
"Alright...I suppose,"
After that I left Lily there as I went to go grab Hestia, she was supposed to meet up with us but I couldn't find her, that was until I saw her walking with another girl from Takemikazuchi's familia. It was Mikoto.
"Oh? Did she decide she wanted to join as well?"
"Yes! Sorry to make you wait with Welf but I figured grabbing her would also be beneficial,"
"No problem," I turn to Mikoto "I hope to work well with you,"
"Yea, same here," She says with a bow.
They go on ahead and leave me in the street.
"Lastly to get my knife back..." I head in the direction of the benevolent mistress.
When I arrive I knock on the door and Syr answers me, it's the first I've seen her in a long time, or I guess you could say since the dance.
"Coming through,"
"Bell! Don't ignore me!" She was throwing a small fit as I walked passed her to Ryu.
"You got a second?" I asked as I took a seat at the bar.
"Not right now, it's kind of busy here," She eyes the back table where I notice Hermes is sitting with Asfi.
"I'll stop by later tonight then,"
She gave a quick nod as I head out ignoring the annoying Syr pestering me.
.
.
.
Later that night I go back to the benevolent mistress. I notice the doors are left unlocked and go to Ryu's room.
I knock and enter.
"Here you are Bell," She hands me the knife.
I take a seat in the chair set up by a desk after retrieving the knife.
"...Do you need something else?" She asks.
"Well, truth be told I kind of need a place to stay..."
"You're not staying here,"
"Normally I wouldn't but first of all I don't have a roof, and second of all Hestia's been acting up recently,"
"...Well...Fine, but you're sleeping on the floor,"
"No problems here. You wanna grab a drink first though?"
"I can't just take drinks for free,"
"C'mon, I'll pay,"
"...You're a hassle, let's go,"
"Hehe, I get that a lot,"
We head downstairs to the bar area and she pours me a drink, but she makes me pay up front right away instead of a tab at the end. I guess she's really worried about me scamming her.
I took a sip "You know, we aren't drinking if you don't. It's on me so don't worry about it,"
"I know I know," She pours herself a drink then takes the bottle and sits next to me.
It's around 2 am as of right now so it's dead quiet. You can hear every squeak of the chair and every sip we take.
"...You doing ok?" I ask on my 3rd drink
"What do you mean?"
"I know you still haven't fully gotten over killing people yet. You still seem a little scared about it,"
"...Well, it's only natural right?"
"I suppose. I don't plan on making you do this often just so you know. This was just circumstantial since I can't really go all out just yet,"
"Hmm?"
"Nevermind, anyway, you sure you're doing alright?"
She had already blown through 4 bottles, it seemed like she did plan to reck my wallet. Her cheeks were even flushed and you could tell she was a little drunk.
"You wanna go to bed now? It's only 3 hours from sunrise,"
"...One more drink,"
I pour her glass.
"It's nice isn't it, having a coping measure?"
"...I suppose, it would be better not to have to do this at all,"
"Yea, but without people like us then good people can't exist. How would you tell the difference between good and bad if everyone was the same?"
"Ahh...I don't wanna think about it," She says as she chugged the rest of her glass.
"Alright let's head upstairs,"
"No...One more,"
"No more, my wallet's going to be hurting a lot more than your head tomorrow,"
"Fine, fine,"
I help her upstairs and put her down on the bed as I lay down on the floor. I think she's asleep since I can hear her breathing but I guess I was wrong.
"You know...I'm glad I met you Bell. I think I was a little lonely,"
"...I'm glad then,"
We both went to bed. The moonlight shimmering through the window was the last thing I saw before my eyes closed.
The next morning I woke up around noon, Ryu was still sleeping which was surprising since I thought she would have work. I then noticed a note.
'Hestia believes you are here with Ryu and won't leave until she has proof otherwise. I'm holding her back for now but she's getting more feisty. When you wake up, please go out through the window and come in, Thanks!
Love, Syr,'
'Crazy Goddess,'