Balm in Gilead Chapter 10 (Patreon)

“You don’t owe me anything.”

The golden eyes across from me blinked slowly. “I disagree. It was my Familia that drove the monsters up from the lower floors.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman’s hand tighten slightly on the hilt of her rapier. “It should not have happened.”

I held back a sigh. Really, I just wanted the woman to leave me alone. Unfortunately, Lili had let me know she was apparently a level five, and one of the most famous adventurers in the city.

Not the type of person I could afford to piss off. “The monster stones were more than enough.”

Really, letting us harvest all of her kills brought in more than twice the vallis we normally made. There was even enough to replace Lili’s pack. Honestly, the look on her face…

“I still disagree.”

I rubbed my temples. Guess it was my turn to accept charity. “Then what would you suggest?”

She hummed, looked up towards the sky as she continued to walk.

We were heading down one of Orario’s many roads, the crowds parting for the famous Aiz Wallenstein. The spotlight was the absolute last thing I needed, but pulling a fast one on a level 5 clearly wasn’t in the cards.

“I could offer you lessons.”

I shook my head. “I use a pickaxe.”

“I know.” The woman turned her golden eyes back to me. “But you need more practice.”

Could she tell that just from seeing me holding the stupid thing? She probably could. I ran a hand through my hair. On the one hand, it would just bring more attention to me, and the Soma Familia was gunning for me right now. On the other—more metallic—one, my stats were improving rapidly, but my skill with medieval weaponry? Not so much.

Monster stampede aside, that last group of twelve Soma adventurers had almost killed us, and according to Lili, the familia had hundreds of members, each as slavishly devoted to Soma as the last.

Devoted to the wine, that is, not the god.

I sighed. “Will you stop bothering me if I accept?”

She gave a silent nod, still watching me with those mirrored eyes.

“I’d be happy to accept training then.”

She nodded again. “Meet me on the south wall at sunrise. There are few people there.”

“Got it.” I raised an eyebrow. “Was there anything else I can help you with?”

But the woman wasn’t even looking at me anymore. At first, I thought that was my cue to leave, but then I noticed a slight, almost imperceptible widening of her eyes.

I turned to look over my shoulder. There was a half-collapsed food stand, one of several on this road alone.

Though granted, the rest were still up and running.

“It’s gone.”

I looked back at Aiz. From anyone else, that would have sounded like nothing more than a statement of fact, but out of her…

Well, it seemed like someone had just killed her dog in front of her.

“Foods stands close all the time.”

After a moment, she nodded, eyes flicking to the side. “I guess they do.” She shrugged with a single shoulder. “I was… looking forward to this one.”

With a blink, I turned back towards the food stand. Was it…? I held back a snort. It was the same stand Hestia used to work at. “Guess they closed down after all.”

It only took me a second to realize my mistake. And then a steel grip clamped down on my shoulder.

From the hand, most notably, that she wasn’t wearing a gauntlet on.

“You know about this stand?”

I blinked, quickly evaluating my options. “I never went; the line was always too long.” I waved a hand. “I heard they switched employees.”

“Oh.” She turned back to the food stand. Eyes narrowing. “So, they’re still out there.”

“… What’s still out there?”

“Jagamarukuns…”

I felt a drop of sweat run down the back of my neck. Yep, it was Hestia’s old food stand, after all.

Aiz was clearly broken up about it. Oddly, I didn’t feel any burning need to introduce her to my goddess. “Can I go now?”

“Yes.” Aiz let go. “South wall.”

“Tomorrow, sunrise.” I nodded again, stepping back. When she didn’t react, I took another step back, and another, before slipping into the crowd still streaming around the high-class adventurer. Aiz, for her part, was still looking at the abandoned food stand.

When I lost sight of her, she still hadn’t moved.

I quickly made my way to the tower of Babel. The Soma Famila was stepping up their game, and… I wanted to make sure Hestia was okay on her walk home. I thought I could keep them focused on the low hanging fruit, but, well, I’d been killing groups of them for almost a week now.

It was only a matter of time before they got desperate.

I found Hestia as she was exiting the tower. “My Goddess.”

She perked up when she saw me, throwing herself into a hug, which I—with two arms now—caught easily. “Taylor! You came to pick me up.”

“I did.”

“Why’d you finish delving so early?” Hestia tilted her head at me. “Usually you don’t get back until the sun goes down.”

I felt a pang of guilt. I didn’t want to spend so long in the dungeon, but there were sharks in the water, looking for the faintest hint of blood. I had to get stronger to keep her safe.

Of course, that didn’t mean I wanted to keep everything from her. “There was a monster stampede, some big expedition coming up from the lower floors.” At her worried look I just smiled. “Don’t worry.” I held up my metal arm, the gold inlays glinting in the evening light. “I got out without a scratch.”

Hestia pouted at me for a moment, before sighing and relaxing into a hug. “I still worry about you.”

“Why?” I nuzzled her hair, pulling the both of us into the shadow of a pillar where we were mostly hidden from sight. “I promised I’d always come back to you, didn’t I?”

“Yes, but… I just wish I could do more. You’re my most precious child.”

I swallowed. A part of me jumped to the whole ‘I’m you’re only child’ bit, but saying that felt cheap. Hestia’s love for me was so deep that I had yet to find the bottom of it.

In some ways, I doubted I ever would.

Instead, I just hugged her tighter. “You’ve done so much for me already, my dearest goddess.” I felt Hestia squirm, but she didn’t move to pull away. “Just this arm has made all the difference in the world. It saved me today.”

“Good!” Hestia leaned back so she could look me in the face. Her cheeks had a light dusting of red. “That’s what it’s for, to keep you alive.” She looked me dead in the eyes, sapphire orbs shining with inner light. “I would do anything to keep you alive.”

I could only smile. “And I you.”

We stayed like that for a moment, as the sun continued its inexorable march towards the horizon. Then Hestia giggled. “We got a bit serious, Tay.”

I nodded. “I guess we did.”

She hopped from my grip but didn’t let go of my hand. “C’mon, you’ve had a tough day, but it means we get to have dinner together!”

I laughed. “Always thinking about food.”

She pouted at me, cheeks puffing out like a chipmunk’s. “It’s part of my divine domain!” She tugged me along, the two of us heading towards the restaurant district. “What type of goddess of the Hearth would I be if I didn’t enjoy a good meal!”

“A skinnier one?” I paused tapping my chin with my other hand. I felt a little jolt of glee run through me as I realized I could now hold Hestia’s hand while doing other things. In fact, I could practically hold her hand… all the time. It felt practically scandalous. “No wait, it all goes to your chest.”

“Ho, ho!” Hestia raised the back of her hand to her mouth. “Is my cute little child jealous of my magnificent figure?” She patted me on the arm. “There, there. I’m sure you can still grow some, if you eat your vegetables!”

I smiled. “How could I be jealous of what’s already mine?” I pulled her into a hug. “You’re my dearest goddess, aren’t you?”

“Y-yes!” Her face went red to the roots. “Mou, Taylor, why are you doing that? You’re embarrassing me.”

I just smiled more. “Haven’t you heard?” I scooped her up and continued to walk. “It’s a parent’s job to embarrass their child, but once they’ve grown up, it’s a child’s job to embarrass their parents.”

“I don’t think that’s how it goes…”

I hummed. “Well, maybe if you didn’t blush so easily, I wouldn’t enjoy it so much.” At her sputtering protest I just continued speaking. “So, what did you want to do for dinner again?”

“Oh, is someone looking for a place to eat?” I paused at the voice coming over my shoulder. I glanced back, catching sight of a silver-haired girl in a maid outfit. She smiled wider as she caught sight of us. “I thought it was you two!” She skipped over, taking my other hand. “Ooh! This is so shiny. It suits you, very dangerous.”

I blinked, even as Hestia quickly jumped out of my grip. “Thanks?”

“Oh, you’re Syr!” Hestia beamed at the girl. “From the Hostess of Fertility.”

“That’s me!” She winked at Hestia, before putting on a thoughtful look. “You looked really cute there goddess; are your daughter’s arms really so comfortable?”

Hestia stuttered. “Th-that’s secret familia only information!”

Syr giggled again. “Of course, of course. Say, what if I joined your Familia then?”

I felt something hard lodge in my throat. Still, when Hestia tugged on my arm, I put on my best smile. “Whatever makes you happiest, my goddess.”

But, of course, she saw right through me. “Taylor…”

“I mean it.”

“Oh my!” Syr pressed a hand to her lips, eyes shimmering as if she was about to cry. “I—I could never break up such a cute couple!” She leaned towards Hestia conspiratorially. “Though, I don’t think Mama Mia would let me take time off from my job anyway…”

They shared a giggle, and then Syr continued. “How about I make it up to you by treating you to half off at the Hostess? We have a special deal on the couple’s plate tonight.”

I quirked my lip. “We’re—”

“Deal!” Hestia grabbed Syr’s hand, giving it a solid pump.

“Um.” I looked towards my goddess.

“We said we wanted to try it last time, didn’t we Taylor?”

I let out a small sigh. “I guess we did.” I waved my hand towards Syr. “Lead the way.”

“It would be my pleasure!” She reached out, snagging both of our hands and pulling us gently down the road. I would have pulled away, but Hestia looked like she was having too much fun, and I couldn’t find it in myself to ruin that just because I was a little uncomfortable.

We arrived at the Hostess in short order, Syr finding us a cozy table half-tucked away in the back. “I’ll be your server for this evening!” She whipped a pen and notepad out of her apron, green dress swishing as she made a cutesy pose. I just raised an eyebrow, and she giggled.

Hestia elbowed me. “Taylor, be nice.”

I looked at her, before slumping slightly. “I just can’t say no to you.” I turned back to Syr, ignoring how my goddess blushed again. “Thank you very much.”

Her eyes sparked as she looked at the two of us. “No problem!” She giggled again. “Just seeing you together is a treat! So, I’ll start you off with the couple’s meal?”

I opened my mouth to reply, when the door to the Hostess slammed open again and a group of high-class adventurers filed in. “We return from the depths of the dungeon!” a silver-haired man shouted. “Mama Mia! Buy a round for everyone, on me!” A cheer went up from the rest of the tavern.

A green-haired elf whacked him on the head. “We haven’t even been paid yet, Bete.”

He laughed, waving a hand. “She knows I’m good for it.”

The rest of the Familia was a motley bunch, including a pallum I could barely see and two Amazon twins. And, of course, because it was that type of day, Aiz Wallenstein. Her eyes caught mine immediately from across the room, before sliding to Syr, and then Hestia.

I saw the exact moment she made the connection, eyes widening that barest fraction. I didn’t even need to look to see that she’d started moving across the room towards us.

Instead I turned back to Syr. “Better make it a double order.”