Dungeon Menagerie 11 (Patreon)

Commissioned by InfiniteChaosRei

Dungeon Menagerie

Chapter 11

-VB-

“Hi!” 

Vanessa blinked as she looke down.

“Hi… kid,” she began and ended because, well, she kind of knew who this was. 

It was hard to be a fan of Danmachi and not know who Bell Cranel looked like. 

Athena popped out from behind her and stared at Bell. “Oh, you’re Hestia’s child.”

Bell looked at Athena, who was barely taller than her, and his eyes lit up with recognition. “Ah! You’re Lady Athena!” 

Oh, and he recognized her goddess, quickly. How often have you been meeting Hestia - and spending money?

Bell looked like what he did in the shows. Short-ish white hair, red hair, crappy beginner’s leather armor, a single shortsword, a pair of … not boots, and not even a backpack. He looked like a freshie. A noob. An adorable -.

She shook her head. Weird thoughts away! She was not going to be a harem interest for the protagonist! He had a dozen plus girls for that anyway.

… Wait. If her goddess and his goddess were friends, then wouldn’t Athena start bugging her to help Bell because Bell was her friend’s kid? 

Was she getting sucked up into canon events even when she specifically chose a goddess who shouldn’t have been involved? 

Did this world run on narrative predetermination? Fate? Destiny? 

Did simply staying in Orario mean that she was going to be sucked up into the shenanigans of the protagonist? Wut? 

“Oi, snap out of it.”

She blinked and looked down. Bell and Athena looked back at her, the former with worry and the latter with slightly exasperation. 

“Take this kid out.”

… Did her goddess just ask her to kill the protagonist? 

Well, it would mean that she wouldn’t have to deal with the bullshit …

“No, not like that,” Athena hissed. “I mean show him around the dungeon. Make sure he understands what he’s doing and everything. This guy’s so pure and uninformed that a goblin is going to shank him.”

“Oohh, you mean like that,” she muttered. “Not like ‘get a bodybag.’”

Bell looked confused. “Why would you need a bodybag?”

“I wasn’t going to do that, you know,” Vanessa momentarily ignored the protagonist. Would he disappear if she ignored him or rejected her goddess’s request?

“I’m just doing my friend a favor.”

“... I’m not sure if I want to,” she hummed as she crossed her arms. “I’m supposed to be resting today anyway. You have no right to take away my day off, even if you are my goddess.”

Athena snorted. “What a pious child I have. I promise to stop spending your money for the rest of the week if you do it for me.”

Vanessa turned to Bell. “We’re going to the dungeon, kid. Do you have money on you?”

He looked confused and a little panicky. “Wait, why do you need to know if I have money…?” he asked, squeaking a little.

Adora-.

Shut it. We are not going to join canon shenanigans.

“Because what you have sucks,” she replied with a drawl. 

Oh man, she’s been getting more and more used to being an adventurer, wasn’t she? She never thought about things like armor before. Now, she was critically analyzing Bell. Like Athena taught her. Huh. Her goddess did a good job training her. Vanessa glanced at her spear while Bell tittered to an answer. 

Yeah, she was getting real good at using her spear, even though she hasn’t held a weapon in like … ever. Holding a gun once didn’t count, especially since she shot it and it struck her nose from recoil. 

“Umm… I do have some money…?” he stuttered out. He was obviously uncomfortable right now, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was that she could finally get Athena to stop spending! 

“Not enough to get yourself better armor and weapon?”

He shriveled up. Like an adora-.

Mind, no. Heart, I will murder you if you do not stop. Money is on the line.

“CAW!” 

Bell jolted when Mori, who’s been standing quietly by our side, abruptly crowed out. 

But Vanessa knew what he was saying.

“You are right. He’s a beansprout.”

Bell looked shockingly self-deprecating at her comment.

She snorted. “Let’s go get some gears for you. You can pay me back when you get better at making money later,” she told him as she turned around. “What about you, Lady Athena?” 

“I think I’m going to go back home,” she yawned. “I wanna just lazy around. Maybe see Hestia on the way.”

“Hmm. Not going to splurge while you’re on your way there?”

“Nah. That would be lying after making that promise. I may be a patron of many arts but lying is not one of them, Nessa,” she said as she too turned away, waved over her shoulder, and left. 

Vanessa walked away, and soon heard Bell following after her. His footsteps even sounded like pitter patter -.

STOP IT!

I CAN’T!

I’M GOING TO DROWN YOU!

TRY IT, BITCH!

“U-Um, where are we going?” 

She looked at Bell, blinked, and then realized that she hadn’t told him anything beyond the intent. “Well, we need to get you a proper backpack. You need potions, too, especially if you intend to fighting solo. You’re going to need better armors than what you have right now. Most importantly, you need a better weapon than that.”

Because his shortsword looked shabby with how dirty, chipped, and brittle it was. It was probably meant to last him a month, max, in the Dungeon’s upper floors. But whether he had fighting experience or not, he ruined it before that. If she remembered correctly, he shouldn’t have been in Hestia’s familia for less than a month.

She paused for a second when she felt the Celestial Menagerie swell up again-

A giant eye looked down at her. It was so big and so massive … but it was also intelligent and powerful. It almost glowed with a baleful light, and she found herself shivering - begging - to not be here. Everything was too bright. Everything was too hot! 

It looked all over her, searching for something. 

Then it closed as if to ignore her.

-and nothing happened. It subsided quietly, leaving her alone.

Cold sweat broke out and she nearly gasped and fell to her knees, and she would have if she hadn’t been training and fighting for the past month or so. She only stumbled, paused, and then continued on. 

What was that?! 

What the fuck was that?! 

“Crr…”

She glanced up and saw Mori, and her eyes widened when he also looked uneasy and … terrified. This was the first time that she saw Mori being afraid of anything. 

Seriously, what did the Celestial Menagerie try to draw on?

-VB-

Its tendrils whipped and snapped at the air where something had tried to connect to it. It was a human, but it was not here. It also hadn’t stayed long enough for it to analyze and deconstruct it. 

Its purple eye swept from side to side to determine the anomaly … but it was long gone. 

… Whatever it was, it had survived preliminary testing, the first to do so.

Vel’Koz must find it again.