Is it wrong to Speak in a Dungeon? Chapter 16 (Patreon)

I do not own Danmachi/Jujutsu Kaisen or any other referenced franchise, only my own OCs.

{Thoughts}

“Speech”

Character Sheet / System Text

“Tvs, Radios, Texts, and newspapers…”

(Disclaimers)

*Onomatopoeia*

“Cursed Speech”

…

…

“... And you’re sure there isn’t anything I can do to help?” Lefiya worriedly asks once again, glancing at Edias with twitching eyebrows every few seconds.

I revealed Edias’s existence to her some time ago, still using the ‘Guardian Spirit’ explanation. Lefiya’s reaction was a lot more extreme than Lily’s considering how she’s an elf, with them having their whole thing with spirits and whatnot.

The admiration she held for Edias soon evaporated though as soon as Edias slept on my lap, the elf immediately declaring a love rivalry against the literal dungeon.

Edias found it amusing and asked that I don't do anything about it, so I’m letting her be for now as long as it doesn’t become hurtful to Lefiya’s growth.

“Unless you have some sort of political power to repel the Far East’s ‘claim’ over me, you will not be getting involved Lefiya. That’s final.” I sigh with exasperation and stare at the girl with narrowed eyes, challenging her to dare ask again.

She gulps nervously and looks down. “O-okay… How will you deal with an entire country coming after you though…? I don’t mean to doubt you, but… A single familia is not as powerful as an entire country, Shishou…” She stares at the ground with a complicated expression, probably doing that anime protagonist thing where they blame themself for being too weak despite the problem not really having anything to do with them.

I mean, I guess I am her teacher… so she does kinda have something to do with this, but I already said I could handle it.

Whether that’s the truth or not is for me to find out.

Actually…

{Hey Edias, did I lie when I said I would handle it?} I ask with slight curiosity, brushing her hair with my hands as she happily lounges on the couch and in my lap.

[... Nope… You told the truth…]

Interesting… That’s weird. I know that it’s only the truth because I believe I can handle it, but it’s kinda weird being able to tell if your confidence is fake or not.

“... I’ll handle things as I go. The guild records show that the highest level in any of the Royal Court’s Familias was level 4, belonging to Hikari Hyuuga. There were only a few level 3s noted as well such as Reimei Sanjouno, Kakusu Gojouno, Arashi Shison, and several others.” Lefiya despairs at my words, almost breaking down right then and there at my casual indifference regarding the level difference.

“Shishou… You’re a level 2…” She comments painfully, her eyes wincing at the bluntness of her words as she sighs and facepalms.

“... She brings… a good… point…” Edias comments with her head in my lap, her legs that were halfway off the couch kicking the air in boredom.

“... Perhaps. I should be ready to level up in a week… That should be when the Denatus will be as well as when I will be approached by the ‘messenger’ of the Far East. Delay them a few more weeks and I’ll have reached the same level as their strongest.” I hum mindlessly and continue to brush Edias’s hair, not sounding very worried as Lefiya’s eyes widen.

“... You… You’ll level up next week…?” She asks with a slight tone of horror as I blink. I sigh and smile with a warm exasperation at the girl, karate-chopping her on the head with my free hand.

“Nothing will change just because I reached your level, Lefiya. You will still be my student no matter what.” Her eyes widen slightly at my words, a small blush reaching her face as she looks down in embarrassment. “I can already level up if I want to, I’ve been able to level up for a week or two now. I’m simply waiting to max my stats first before moving on.”

Lefiya freezes, slowly moving her head up and turning to me with blank eyes.

“... You leveled up two weeks ago… What do you mean ‘I’ve been able to level up for a week or two now’...?” Her tone sounded completely lifeless, her expressionless face almost making me burst out laughing.

“... It doesn’t matter anyway. I’ve already fought a level four when I was training in preparation for the Soma War Game, I should not have any trouble with them once I level up and get that power boost.” I shake my head with slight amusement, feeling my reserves grow slightly as I speak such arrogant words.

“Y-you’ve fought a level four!?” Lefiya asks in surprise, staring at me in awe as I nod my head with amusement. “I-Incredible… and you haven’t even leveled up yet…!” Her face seems to glow with a bit more confidence now that she realizes I may have a better chance than she previously thought.

“... I mean, we’re not even sure if this will need my strength to solve. If they held even the slightest bit of honor, they’d place me against a person of my own level if they wanted to win me with a fight.” I point out to Lefiya with a thoughtful look, making her nod her head after a few seconds in agreement.

“Y-yes! If we consider all of these points… Surely nothing can go wrong!-” My hand quickly moves to block Lefiya’s mouth, my eyes widening in horror as I’m too late and she finishes her sentence. She blushes a deep shade of red at the sudden contact, looking at me with widened eyes of confusion.

“What have you done…?” I ask with dread, already feeling my danger sense scream like crazy (figuratively) as she glanced around the room in confusion and panic.

“W-what did I do??” She eventually asks once I remove my hand from her mouth, not noticing Edias’s exasperated look and giggles.

I slowly move my hands to my face, covering my mouth like I had just been told the worst news of my life. “Lefiya… Why would you challenge the ancient spirit that is ‘Murphy’...?” Lefiya’s eyes widen at the mention of ‘ancient spirit’, suddenly a lot more unnerved now that spirits are involved. “... Did no one ever teach you to never challenge him by stating ‘Nothing could go wrong!’ or ‘Things couldn’t get worse!’...? You’ve doomed me…”

Lefiya’s eyes widened considerably, shaking her head furiously and gaining a look of realization on her face.

“Oh… Oh my gods… Have I been challenging an ancient spirit by accident all of my life…?” She questions with dread, probably remembering the number of times she had said something similar.

As an anime protagonist, she’s probably said that type of statement every other day. I know Bell’s said it a few times in the dungeon and Edias informed me she felt a sudden urge to begin spawning a shit ton of monsters… That bastard Murphy exists, I’m sure of it!

“It’s okay Lefiya, I’ll do my best to still handle things. Just promise me not to tempt Murphy again…” I raise my hands appeasingly to the panicking elf girl, making her nod her head furiously.

“I-I won’t! I learned my lesson!” I sigh in relief and slump back, resting my hand on Edias’s head as she giggles in amusement.

[... If Murphy exists… Let him come…]

You’re way out of your league Edias… Don’t challenge the actual primordial deity of ‘fucking your shit up’. Throwing hands ain’t gonna mean anything when a magnitude 8 earthquake hits the dungeon outta nowhere.

“Moving on from that… How has your progress been? Have you been following my instructions while dungeon diving?” My question makes Lefiya nod her head seriously, her brows furrowed cutely as she pulls out a status paper and hands it to me.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Name: Lefiya Viridis

Race: Elf

Level: 3

Ability Scores:

STR: I- 98 —> G- 291

END: H- 169 —> F- 358

DEX: G- 217 —> E- 434

AGI: G- 265 —> E- 476

MAG: A- 849 —> S- 989

Development Abilities:

Mage: H

Abnormal Resistance: I

Magic:

• Elf Ring

Summon burst magic that is able to use any Elf Magic. To use it, the user must know the chant and the effects of the magic. It uses mind for the summon burst and for the magic summoned. If the user has the Mage development ability, the user's magic circle will change color to match the owner's magic circle color.

“I wish upon the name of Wishe…”

“Ancestors of the forest, proud brethren… Answer my call and come to the plains.”

“Connecting bonds, the pledge of paradise. Turn the circle and dance around. Come, ring of fairies.”

“Please - give me strength!”

• Arcs Ray

Fire off a blast that can change trajectory to home in on its target. The blast attack can be remotely exploded without hitting its target by the chant “Alio!”.

“Unleashed streak of light, bow limbs of the holy tree.”

“You are an expert of the bow. Shoot, sniper of the fairies.”

“Penetrate, arrow of absolute accuracy!”

• Fusillade Fallarica

Unleash a wide-range fire attack over an expansive area.

“Proud warrior, snipers of the forest.”

“Take up your bows before the advancing plunderers. Answer the call of your brethren and ready your arrows.”

“Tinge them with flame, the lamplight of the forest. Release them, the fire arrows of the fairies.”

“Falling like rain, burn away the savages!”

Skills:

• Fairy Cannon:

Increases the effects of all magical spells used drastically. Effects are doubled in power if the spell being cast is an attack-based spell.

…

“Your physical abilities… They’re growing at an amazing pace. I’m glad you haven’t been slacking in your training, Lefiya.” Her face glowed happily at my praise, a dumb smile reaching her face. “You’re also very close to reaching 999 in Magic… I’m proud of you.” She puffs her chest out proudly at my words, a small blush entering her cheeks.

“T-thank you Shishou… I couldn’t have done it without your help.” I tilt my head before shaking it negatively.

“You may be utilizing my skill to boost your growth, but it is your effort that is being boosted. You’ve done a great job, don’t dismiss your efforts.” She nods her head seriously at my words, not refuting my words at all and smiling with a slight hint of smugness.

How adorable.

“How are things with your Familia? I imagine your goddess is taking your growth quite well…?” Lefiya stiffens at the mention of Loki, her smile straining slightly as she looks down nervously.

“U-uh… She hasn’t commented about it m-much… Lady Riveria has been giving me weird glances recently though and… recommending certain books for me to read outside of my studies…” Oh my god… Calm… I am calm…

… I am not calm!

I fail to stop myself from laughing loudly once Lefiya mentions Riveria’s book ‘recommendations’, making the elf girl blush furiously and glare at me.

“W-what?? W-why are you laughing…?” She asks embarrassedly, glaring at me weakly as I raise a hand into the air in apology and then clear my throat to try and suppress my laughs.

“My apologies. I just didn’t think the elven princess would be interested in that type of literature…” Lefiya’s eyes widen in horror as she realizes I understood what she was referencing, quickly paling at the realization she just exposed the princess’s… taste.

“S-shishou! Please forget everything I just said! You must not let another soul know!” She quickly jumped out of her seat and held my shirt desperately, her panic making me almost laugh loudly again.

“I will not speak a word of what you’ve said, calm down Lefiya.” She calmed down significantly from my words, breathing out a sigh of relief and sitting back down.

“A-anyways, the others have been doing fine… Ais has recently leveled up to level 6! She’s been busy training with her new strength so she asked me to apologize to you on her behalf for not visiting in a while…” Lefiya seems quite happy as she speaks. Her words do make me realize that Ais hadn’t visited in quite a bit…

Speaking of which.

“Tiona hasn’t visited in a day or two… That’s quite odd for her, no?” I ask Lefiya curiously as she chuckles and nods her head.

“Yeah, she’s been going into the dungeon a lot more ever since Ais leveled up. She’ll probably visit later today or tomorrow once she’s back from the dungeon.” Ah, that makes sense. It’s not nice knowing that the person you matched in power until recently suddenly becomes way out of your league.

“I see… I’ll look forward to her and Ais’s next visit, then.” I tapped Edias’s cheek with my finger as she slowly entered my body and I stood up, leading Lefiya to do the same. “I suppose you have your own things you need to do today, yes? That’s fine, just make sure to keep up with your training.”

“I will. Don’t worry about me slacking off, Shishou.” Lefiya nodded her head seriously and smiled as I led her to the door.

I guess I’m free to do as I wish for today…

…

…

[A few days later…]

Ever get the feeling of Deja Vu?

Well… I am getting that feeling right now.

I slowly exit the guild doors while waving farewell to Eina, making my way through the busy streets of Orario. Edias emits amusement from inside of me, clearly amused that this situation is happening again.

… Someone’s following me. Invisible, again. I feel them slowly tracking me from the rooftops with impressive speed, keeping a decent distance away from me. They were definitely doing a much better job than Asfi had when it came to stealth. Too bad they decided to enter my sensing range, voiding any effort they made toward stealth.

Who is it though…?

It can’t be Hermes or Asfi. This person positively (or maybe I should say negatively) reeked of Negative Energy, even more than even Ryuu. Unlike her though, they did not have despair and depression as their emotions, but pure malice instead.

I slowly entered another random alleyway, jumping up and landing on the nearby roof once I was deep enough into the alley. I moved to the center of the roof, slowly turning toward where the person following me was.

They moved away from where I was looking to stand on a different roof, but I simply tracked them with my eyes no matter where they went.

“... Do not even attempt running. You will only get so far with your speed.” I comment with boredom while staring at where they were standing, placing my hands in my cloak.

*Woooooooooosh!*

“... Oh? Is that so…” I suddenly hear from behind me, feeling the sharp tip of a blade poking my back. The spot I was looking at previously is now completely empty and the voice of a man speaks out from behind me while digging the blade deeper into my back. “... Are you sure that I’m not fast enough…?”

[!!! DANGER !!!]

“... Yes, I’m quite confident that you aren’t fast enough.” I reply lazily to the man, pushing the spike of Edias’s black matter deeper into his chest.

“... Hm.” He releases a begrudgingly impressed noise, taking his dagger away from my body and stepping back as Edias’s body slowly returns back inside of me.

Thanks for the save, Edias. Stando Powa indeed.

“... Your stealth and speed… and I can see that you are from the Far East. Gojouno Kakusu, correct…?” I turn around to face the man with a blank face, noting his Far Eastern features with narrowed eyes and making a wild guess.

His face does not react whatsoever to my inference, but his emotions do spike with surprise for a moment. That’s all I needed to realize the truth…

… That was level 4 speed at the minimum. No… He was almost faster than Tiona… who’s a level 5…

The guild records stated that the last time he registered his level was when he reached level 3… I see.

“... Perhaps. You are Inumaki Michael, the 3-week wonder.” He states more as a fact than a question, making me cringe slightly at the disgusting nickname. “... Not a fan, are you? I recommend not breaking a world record so vigorously if you don’t wish for stupid nicknames like that one…” His voice held a tone of exhaustion and fatigue, a certain sarcastic and apathetic glint hidden somewhere as well.

I take a moment to inspect his appearance. He had pitch-black hair, dull onyx eyes, and slightly tanned skin. His clothes consisted of what I could only call an unholy mix of ninja clothes and a suit, mostly having black and darker colors as their color palette. I could no longer see the dagger he held against me anywhere, probably concealed somewhere on his body that I cannot see. He seemed to be around his 40s… but I knew he was 60 at the least.

The Gojou clan’s Yaksha of Terror… the figurehead of the dark(er) side of the Far East… This man is the most feared assassin in the Far East and no joke in Orario’s underworld…

“... Had enough of inspecting what I look like? I would’ve worn a mask if I knew someone was going to look at me so intently today…” He speaks with the same sarcastic tone, shuffling on his feet slightly as I narrow my eyes and tense.

“... You did not deny my accusation. What does the Far East’s Yaksha of Terror want with me?” I stare at him down unflinchingly, my eyes slightly lidded to show my boredom and indifference. His lips twitch slightly while looking at me, narrowing his eyes slightly.

“... You know quite a bit about the Far East for someone who has never been there… It seems that our nation may have a little rat… How troublesome…” He sighs in exhaustion and leans his back on the wall behind him, clearly displeased.

My eyes widen slightly before narrowing, a frown crossing my face as I uncross my arms and take a step forward with a glare on my face. “... You seem awfully confident that I’ve never been to the Far East.” I note with a tinge of irritation in my tone as he chuckles silently.

… Takemikazuchi… I hope he doesn’t get in trouble before I’m able to resolve things…

“... If you’ve ever been to our land, I’d know. Even if you crossed our borders for a single step before running away, chances are that I’d still know…” He seems extremely confident in his words despite his tone not wavering from the sarcasm and laziness it held this entire time.

Noticing my approach, he stops leaning against the wall and steps forward, suddenly pulling a Ninjato out of his clothes despite there not being a reasonable way for it to have been stored in his pants.

I raise an eyebrow and stop walking forward, placing my hand on my waist. “... Neat trick. Mine’s better.” I comment with a hint of amusement while slowly pulling out an entire Naginata from my body, watching his eyes widen the slightest bit before returning to normal.

“... Can’t say this has happened to me before. Congratulations, you’ve finally surprised me…” He comments sarcastically before sighing and lowering his blade. “... Easy there. I have explicit orders to not hurt you, but I’m sure she won’t mind a cut or two on your pretty face if I’m forced to defend myself.”

I roll my eyes. “... I’m sure the limbs you lose are a worthy price for the few cuts you’ll manage to land on my face.” His eyebrows rise challengingly at my words, an amused expression reaching his face.

“... Quite a confident brat you are… Even the twerps around the Imperial Palace don’t have as much arrogance as you… You’re, what… only level 2…?” I let out a few chuckles at his words, shaking my head in amusement and staring at him with pity.

“You’d do well not to underestimate me simply because of our level difference. Blink and you’ll find yourself missing a vital body part of yours, that I can guarantee.” He doesn’t seem bothered by my threat, simply tilting his head and staring at me blankly with his almost lifeless eyes.

“... Is that so?” He asks rhetorically, slowly hiding his blade back in his clothes as it disappears completely and leaves no indication that it was ever here. “I suppose I might as well inform you now that we’ve met… Though you probably already know considering how you recognized me…”

He takes out a scroll from… somewhere, throwing it at me as I catch it with one hand and continue staring at him silently.

“... You have been summoned by the Royal Court… They demand that you appear at the Kyūtei’s steps in ten days, three days after the Denatus... You are convicted of failing to properly register yourself into the Royal Court’s ranks, basically committing treason or whatever…” He yawns carelessly after speaking, clearly not caring one bit about the entire thing.

“...” I stare at him silently, my gaze turning colder and colder as my hand twitches slightly.

“... Listen, kid… I know that you’re probably panicking right now despite the strong face you’re putting on, but I really do recommend that you turn yourself in peacefully… You’re not ready to see what will happen if you resist… Both Hikari and little Reimei have shown slight interest in your potential, so you don’t need to worry about being forced into stuff you don’t like or being conscripted into the ongoing civil war… That can easily change if you resist, though…” He sighs again tiredly, staring at me with the smallest amount of pity he can muster. My gaze hardens at the look, not at all pleased with being pitied by someone like him.

“... Your words are unnecessary. Inform the ones that hold your leash that I will be meeting them in ten days. I pity your country’s future now that you’ve placed me in your sights…” I eventually sigh and turn around, speaking in a deadly cold tone while slowly walking away from Kakusu.

“... Kid, I’m warning you… You really shouldn’t do anything rash… You don’t understand the consequences of what you’re doing…” I hear Kakusu’s voice call out to me as I’m walking away, the slightly worried tone confusing me momentarily.

“... No, you are the one that does not understand. Whether or not you are successful in capturing me, your country’s fate is sealed… It's quite pitiful…” I don’t allow him to speak another word, jumping off the roof and beginning to make my way home.

Kakusu doesn’t move after me anymore, his signature moving in the opposite direction of me until it was no longer in my range.

… Whatever.

…

…

“... So you’re going to go to the Far East in ten days…?” Hestia asks worriedly after reading the scroll Kakusu gave me. I reply with a small nod, glaring at the scroll silently.

The scroll had a little note that was intended for Takemikazuchi, but Kakusu probably didn’t care enough to take it out. It was basically just ordering him to go deliver this scroll to me a day before the Denatus. The scroll itself was basically the same thing as what Kakusu said, but with a lot more forcefulness and threats in case I try to resist my ‘rightful’ retrieval.

… I didn’t even see my name written on this thing. I don’t think this scroll was handwritten for me. This thing looks like it's just mass-produced to be sent out to people, not actually made for a single individual. I don’t know if I should somehow feel more insulted or not.

“... Yes. In the best-case scenario, the gods understand the truth in my words when I speak that I do not belong to them. That’s unlikely though. Worst case scenario, I’m gonna have to destroy an entire country.” Hestia rolled her eyes and pinched my side with a sigh after hearing my words.

“How about we don’t anger dozens of gods by ‘destroying’ their country? Not even mentioning the amount of trouble we’d have to deal with if we do really do that, it’s not exactly a very heroic feat you’d like to associate yourself with.” She chides me with an exasperated tone as I turn to her with amusement.

“I never said I was going to destroy the actual country’s land and people. The Royal Court is fair game, but I am no demon lord who’ll involve innocents for absolutely no reason.” I refute her words while shaking my head humorously, ignoring the way she rolls her eyes again.

“You are the closest person to being a ‘demon lord’ this world has. Did you forget who resides inside of you? And who exactly is she?” Upon being mentioned by Hestia, Edias slowly exits my body with a smug face, floating behind me and placing her chin on my head.

“... Demon Lord… I like…” She grins at Hestia once the goddess shivers slightly, glancing at me helplessly.

“World domination is too much paperwork, Edias. Do you want to spend several decades of our lives doing nothing but paperwork?” Edias’s eyes widen before she quickly shakes her head rapidly. Hestia despairs once she hears my words, clearly unenthused that this was the way I was discouraging Edias from going sicko mode.

“... No way… Farm somewhere…” Edias has a lot in common with Freya, huh? I’m beginning to think that there’s a pattern here somewhere…

“... I’m not sure what to do exactly. I’m worried… I don’t want to leave you and Bell alone as it’s… a chaotic time we are in these days… but I know that I need to go or there is going to be some trouble.” I decided to stop joking around and finally speak seriously, turning to Hestia with a worried look in my eyes.

I held no fear for my own life, but my Familia…

“... You idiot…” Hestia smiled softly while pulling me into a hug, ignoring my light glare as she stroked my hair with her fingers. “Bell is no longer the defenseless little idiot he was when he first got my Falna. He’s grown stronger… You can count on him to help you sometimes.”

I roll my eyes and pat Hestia on the back as she stops hugging me, shaking my head with an amused smile. “It’s my duty as Familia Captain to worry. That little idiot would sooner die than allow himself to let me down, of that I have no doubts… but it’s the ‘die’ part that worries me…” My smile slowly turns into a frown, my eyes hardening again.

Hestia sighs again, her eyes full of sympathy as she sits back down with a gloomy expression.

This was definitely a bigger problem than I first expected. I expected to have home-field advantage, but the Royal Court had decided to drag this to their domain by ‘recalling’ me to the Far East.

If I don’t comply, the Far East will probably cause enough of a ruckus that Orario would just kick me out to not have to deal with my bullshit. After all, a single Familia is not worth an entire country’s wrath, even if a few of the Familias here could easily dispatch that country.

Why would they though? Just give them their singular ‘rightful’ adventurer and be done with it. No need to go to war for a single person, no matter how talented.

In fact, removing the competition is an even bigger plus for them.

I doubt Oranous could do much to quell either the Far East or Orario’s wrath, even if he’d most likely try his hardest in fear of Edias’s retaliation… so this is all up to me.

… Kakusu was much stronger than recorded… and Hikari Hyuuga’s last recorded level-up was… almost a decade ago.

… But they do not have access to monsters like Orario does. It’s… It would be almost impossible for anyone without an Excelia-boosting skill to level up without encountering any powerful foes.

“... If you… need me… I’ll protect… our Familia…” I hear Edias’s voice say from behind me, her arms wrapped up around my neck. I spot Hestia smiling warmly at the both of us from the corner of my eyes.

“... Thank you Edias. I’m counting on you in the future.” I really am. Edias and I have been working to make a few synchronized techniques to really take advantage of the abilities she grants me. Edias by herself is a cheat that will easily place me in a level 4 power once I level up, even as a freshly leveled-up level 3 adventurer.

Edias giggles in response and I feel myself relax slightly, thinking with a lot more clarity now that I wasn’t as stressed.

I cannot ask Lefiya to involve the Loki Familia with my matters, but there should be nothing wrong with asking her to visit Hestia and Bell regularly to back them up in case anything happened. I have no doubt that my two students together could take anything on if they fought together.

At least when it comes to lesser threats. Some familias I am worried about like the Ishtar Familia may be a bit too far out of their reach right now… but I don’t need to worry about that thot.

Freya wouldn’t dare allow any other love goddess any hold over me. Ishtar capturing Bell or Hestia would do just that, so I think Freya would at least block that particular thot from moving against my Familia.

The only canonical Familia I’d have to look out for is the Apollo Familia… Which is weak enough that I could rush back home, wreck their shit, and then go back to whatever the hell is going to go down in the Far East.

… Yes... I think I should be okay. We’re going to be okay.

“... I’ve realized my plan. It’s time we quit this gloomy nonsense and got off our asses to actually work.” I sat up straight and furled up the scroll, throwing it in Edias’s storage soon after and standing up. “Don’t you both think so too?” I ask with a smile, looking back at the two girls.

“I mean, yeah but what are you going to do?” Hestia tilts her head with puzzlement, looking weirdly at Edias who simply nodded and floated after me with a happy smile.

“... It’s time I finally reach level 3.”

…

…

“... Seriously…? Shijima no Kyojin…?” I stare weirdly at Hestia as she nods her head with a grimace, an awkward smile on her face.

“... Yeah... At least you didn’t get Bell’s treatment…” We both stare at Bell who’s currently sitting on the couch with a complicated face, looking indecisive about being happy or sad at his alias.

“... I mean, it’s not that bad Bell… You could’ve gotten something like ‘Little Rookie’...” I try to cheer him up, referencing his canon nickname as he laughs weakly and nods.

His nickname is ‘Star of the White Hare’ or ‘Lepus’, like the star in the Orion constellation which is commonly represented as a hare.

My nickname is translated to ‘Titan of Silence’, apparently the few times I had forcefully silenced the crowd during the wargame had quite an effect on the gods. My dramatic finisher did not help either considering how elevated I was on the pillar I stood on. So it’s supposed to be some chuuni alias about how I was an ‘unmovable’, ‘unflinching’ titan of silence.

… Now it just sounds like I’m Attack on Titan but in Japanese. Shingeki no Kyojin… I’m like 3 Katakana symbols away from just being an anime.

It’s me, Eren Jaeger! Tatakae… Tatakae…!

I shake my head with a smile of amusement and turn to Lefiya, watching her confused reaction with even more amusement.

I’ve already lectured Bell (and Hestia, but she already knew) about the cringe factor of most of the gods’ aliases, that’s why he isn’t jumping for joy at such a ‘cool’ Alias. Lefiya on the other hand… still believes that both of our nicknames are normal and an ‘honor’.

… I’ll have to fix that eventually.

“... It… It’s not bad…?” Bell asks hesitantly as I nod and ruffle his hair, patting him on the head.

“It’s not. Just don’t start flaunting it around proudly… Hestia and I will probably die if you do that.” Hestia nods her head with panic, paling at the thought of watching Bell show his Alias off as if it was something to be proud of.

“I won’t.” Bell nods his head with a small smile. The smile soon disappears as I take my hand back, turning around from him. “... You’re leaving today, then…?” Bell asks with a slightly sad tone as the room’s atmosphere turns gloomy again.

Hestia and Lily lower their heads sadly, and I spot Lefiya gritting her teeth and gripping her blade in the corner of my eyes.

“... Calm down, everyone. This is just a temporary leave, I promise. Not even the gods could keep me away from you all, Arcanum or not.” I chuckle at the gloomy reaction everyone gives, taking my time to pat them all on the head as only Hestia grumbles.

“... How are you going to travel? I could possibly-” “Don’t worry about it, Lefiya. I can simply fly anywhere I want once I’m out of Orario. Just promise to take care of my Familia while I’m away, okay? I’m counting on you.”

Lefiya seemed like she wanted to do something to help, but I quickly reminded her that I was fine. She slumped down in disappointment before furrowing her brows and gaining a look of determination, looking up at me with a fire in her eyes and nodding her head seriously.

“... I won’t fail you, Shishou.” She promised me resolutely, making me smile and nod my head to her in thanks.

“Bell… I am trusting you to protect Lily and Hestia while I am away. Do not fail me, Vice-Captain.” Bell’s eyes widened at my words before turning watery and forcing him to close them again. He looked down and nodded silently to me, unable to speak because of his emotions.

“Lily… I’m sorry for not being able to spend that long with you before having to leave, but I promise to make it up to you when I’m back, alright?” I ruffled Bell’s hair one last time before moving to the small Pallum girl, patting her head as well as she looked to the ground and nodded.

“No… I’m very grateful for everything you’ve done for me Mikey… Thank you for saving me from my fate… I’ll eagerly wait for your return, even if it means the return of your hellish training…” She made a poor attempt at a joke as she tried to stop herself from crying, failing miserably as tears formed in her eyes and slowly trailed down her cheeks.

“Ah, actually… you all are not exempt from my training just because I’m not here.” Bell, Lefiya, and Lily all turned to look at me with horror, a despairing look on their faces as I smiled and patted Hestia’s head. “I gave Hestia some strict instructions on how to train you all on my behalf. Of course, I’m not here to… train you personally… so I’ve upped the difficulty slightly to make up for that.”

“... Devil…” Lily muttered weakly, moving away from my touch and hiding behind the couch as Lefiya and Bell nodded involuntarily.

“Huhuhu!~ You all will be having a great time with me, I promise! I can’t wait to see how being in Michael’s place feels…” Hestia cackles maniacally while staring at them, making the three of them turn to me with pleading expressions.

“She’ll be reporting your progress to me once I return, so don’t even think of slacking.” I easily ignore their pleading stares, smiling happily and moving to the door without even looking at their faces of despair.

We move to the front door before I stop and realize something.

“Ah, yes. Edias… come tell your goodbyes to everyone before we leave.” I call Edias out as she agrees enthusiastically and exits my body, immediately grabbing Lily into a hug.

Lily is her favorite, by the way. That time Lily called Edias a ‘pretty fairy’ really stuck with her, so she’s stuck being Edias’s favorite now… for better or for worse.

“... Be safe… Take care…” She made Lily promise before moving on, patting Bell on the head with a smile (and probably imagining him to be an Almiraj) before moving on to Hestia and hugging the goddess.

Once she’s with Lefiya, she quickly gives a smug look to the elf before hugging her. This leaves the elf with a complicated expression on her face as Edias moves back and waves from behind me.

“I don’t need to tell you to take care of the children for me, do I?” I speak to Hestia, bending down to hug the goddess as she huffs and rolls her eyes. The aforementioned ‘children’ all naturally looked scandalized at being called that.

“Of course not.” She retorts with a small smile, hugging me back for a second before I let go and walk back to the front door. “I’ll make sure they’re all in one piece once you’re back, you can count on me!”

“Very well then. It seems… this is goodbye, everyone. Don’t you dare die while I’m away or I’ll personally fly to Tenkai to drag your soul back screaming and force you into a 48-hour training session as punishment.” Everyone smiled happily before their smiles turned panicked and their eyes widened in absolute horror.

There, that should be enough motivation for them to not die while I’m away.

“Come back safely Mikey!” Hestia was the only one that was still bright and cheery, unaware that my promise extended to her as well despite being a goddess.

“I will.” I promised them one last time, stepping out of my home and taking a deep breath. I look up, staring intently at the bright moon shining down on me with a complicated feeling bubbling inside of me.

… It’s time.

Edias sends a feeling of reassurance into me, making me send a feeling of gratitude back before finally moving.

I quickly dash through the streets of Orario, eventually jumping on a roof and beginning to make my way east (as that was obviously the direction of the Far East). I reach the gate leading to the outside before I suddenly feel a familiar presence approaching me with considerable speed, making me pause right before the gate’s entrance.

… Kakusu again?

I stare at where he’s approaching, the air displacing for half a moment before his form appears on top of the roof’s chimney in a flash. He looks… exactly the same as when I saw him a few days ago… except for the slightly irritated look on his face.

“... So, you finally decided to go huh? Finally… I’ve been waiting for way too long… How the hell do you expect to make it to the Far East in the three days you have…? It’s on the opposite side of the world…” He complains with a tired sigh, stepping down from the chimney and moving closer to me as I tense and reposition my feet.

He raises his hands in surrender. “... Calm down… I’m here to help you get there safely and on time… Would be quite an annoyance if you died during your travels and made all that work for nothing…” He quickly explains, sounding quite exasperated with the entire thing.

My eyes narrow. “... What makes you think I want or need your help? In fact, you’d probably be more of a hindrance in my travels than if I were to travel alone.” I responded coldly, angling my body away to show my unwillingness to travel with him.

I can’t fly if he’s with me. If my calculations are right, I’d only need to fly for 10 hours at my max speed to reach the Far East. If I take a few rests during my travels, I can easily finish that in two days instead of the full three days I have.

… I also would like to check out the place before I meet up with the locals. It’s good to know what could possibly be my battlefield beforehand.

“... Haah… I knew you’d be a stubborn one… They always are…” His form blurs again and he appears next to me in a flash, his hand moving forward to grab my shoulder.

“... Is this a threat?” I ask with a glaring look as I grip his hand which was barely an inch away from my shoulder, squeezing down on his wrist to show my displeasure. He chuckles tiredly at my words, rolling his eyes lazily and not reacting to my grip.

“... Have a little trust, will you? We’re going to be stuck together for a long time… building a friendly relationship would certainly make things easier…” My eyes only harden further at his words, angered by his assumption that I was going to surrender myself.

“... I don’t need your help traveling. Without you, I’ll be able to reach the Far East in only three days. Offer your help to someone that wants it.” I shove his hand away, beginning to walk away while placing my hands back in my cloak.

“... Oh yeah? What if I told you there was a way you could reach the Far East… tonight…?” His words make me stop walking, turning back with a disbelieving expression as I stare at his lazily smirking face. “... That’s right… Just come with me and we’ll be there in no time…”

… Is… Is this guy offering me candy if I got in his van…?

My incredulous look must’ve made him realize that something was wrong as he quickly shuffled on his feet and sighed, stepping to the edge of the roof and glancing back at me.

“... Listen, just follow after me… You’ll see…” He sighs tiredly and jumps off the roof, completely ignoring the gate and edging the walls of Orario swiftly.

… I guess we’re ignoring the gate…

I take a single second to contemplate what I should do before sighing and following after him, boosting myself with CE and quickly jumping through the rooftops behind the extremely fast assassin.

It was actually pretty tough keeping up with him without using my magic and trump cards, but he seems to slow down once I trail too far behind. Not that I really needed it since I was locked on to his signature, but he didn’t know that so whatever I guess.

He eventually lands on a roof and uses it to jump above Orario’s wall, speeding past the guards that were patrolling at speeds that were too fast for them to see.

I narrow my eyes while bringing my hat of invisibility out, placing it on my head before jumping up the roof and ignoring the clueless guards as I move past them. I then continue chasing after Kakusu’s signature, placing my hat back in Edias’s body as I do so.

After a few minutes of chasing after the extremely fast man, his signature eventually stops moving and I spot a large hill in the distance with his signature directly placed on top of it.

I pick up the pace and quickly arrive at the top of the hill, finding a small Japanese-styled shrine of some sort hidden in the trees. A quick probe showed that there were two signatures inside this time, the new one standing next to Kakusu directly.

… At least it’s not an ambush. If it is, they’re fools for only sending two people.

I slowly open the door and enter the shrine, narrowing my eyes at the surroundings and inspecting them thoroughly as I make my way to the center of the building.

Next to Kakusu, a moon-silver-haired girl with soft light-blue eyes stood in Miko robes, staring at me with a curious expression and a tilted head. Her face looked young, not enough to be a teenager but definitely enough to definitely be in her 20s.

“... Excuse me.” I fail to stop myself from greeting her politely, not wishing to intrude on someone’s sacred grounds impolitely even if they were possibly the enemy. I did not know what this girl’s relation to the Far East was or why I was here, but she looked too soft to be any threat.

… Although… she held a considerable amount of negative energy. Nowhere near Kakusu’s level and definitely not anywhere near Ryuu’s level, but it was a thousand times more than the average person.

“Ah, Welcome! You must be Inumaki Michael, correct? I am Mikazuki Miyu, but please call me Miyu from now on!” She bows to me slightly in greeting, a soft smile on her face that reflects her soft tone perfectly.

… I’m… I’m getting deja vu… Oh my god…

… White hair like Bell, blue eyes like Lefiya… Was… Was there any Far Eastern adaptation of Danmachi…? I’m very certain there was not, but if there was… I think I just found another Protagonist in this world…

“... Feel free to call me Michael, if you wish.” I nod my head to the girl, my eyes softening the smallest amount before I turn to Kakusu with a glare. “Gojouno, what are we doing here and when are we going to make our way to the Far East? If you were lying about what you said then I will be leaving. I have no time to waste.” I speak coldly to the man, noticing his face turn incredulous.

“... Wow… Even he can’t resist little Miyu’s charm…” He mutters under his breath as I barely catch his words and feel myself sweatdrop. “... Calm down. Little Miyu here is how we’re going to reach the Far East…” He gestures to the girl as she blushes slightly and bows again.

… Yeah, she’s a protagonist. It seems this world’s two protagonists didn’t have enough of a dark backstory, so it decided to create her… or at least that’s probably what happened if her negative energy was anything to go by.

“... I see. How exactly are you going to do that if you don’t mind me asking, Miss Miyu?” I turned back to the girl, my gaze was no longer glaring but it did not soften as it did earlier.

“A-ah… Please come stand inside of this magical circle, I will begin chanting immediately.” She gestures to the floor and places her hands together, closing her eyes as if she was about to recite a prayer.

I furrow my brows but do as she says, looking down and realizing that the floor’s pattern was one akin to a magical circle. Looking up, I notice that part of the roof has been turned into a framed half-sphere glass roof that was definitely unnatural in most shrines.

“... You’re lucky that you interest the higher-ups enough that they’re willing to reveal Miyu’s abilities to you… I can confidently count the number of people who know about her magic on… maybe twenty hands or something…” He mumbles with visible fatigue, clearly not actually caring beyond informing me of how ‘lucky’ I am.

Miyu begins chanting a very long chant in Japanese, a silver glow surrounding her body as the magic circle underneath us begins to also glow brightly. I turn to look at Kakusu’s face, his careless demeanor and dull eyes revealing nothing to me as I cross my arms and wait.

“... This… This is a teleportation circle.” I comment as a fact rather than a question as Kakusu’s eyes widen slightly, turning to look at me with the smallest hint of surprise in his eyes. Miyu herself seems shocked with how her eyes opened slightly, but she still continued to chant without much trouble.

“... You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you…? Yes… Little Miyu has the ability to teleport people from one circle to another… only at night when the moon is up though…” He sighs and turns away after composing his face, mumbling about something or the other as I narrow my eyes and hum.

… It’s a decent ability. Not as crazy as straight-up teleportation since it apparently only works in predetermined locations and at night when the moon is up, but still quite a powerful ability.

… He said that this ability isn’t revealed much to outsiders huh? Why would they show it off to me…? Attempting to sway me by letting me in on something secret to make me feel ‘special’? No… Surely they don’t think that’d work.

… Wait… I am only 16-17… They probably see me as an unruly child with a ton of potential.

Do they actually think that this is gonna work…? I understand that most of their higher levels are extremely old as they usually come to Orario at a younger age and then leave once they get older to go back to the Far East, but surely they don’t expect someone who’s a Captain of a Familia to be some immature child who can be swayed by simply befriending them…

I’m beginning to feel a headache approaching and I haven’t even entered the Far East yet…

Miyu finally finishes her super-long chant, a silver glow encompassing my entire vision as I feel the space around me shift completely. I close my eyes and sense my surroundings as best as I can, failing to feel anything but void for a few seconds before finally feeling my feet firmly on the ground again.

I spread my senses around me to the max, reopening my eyes and swiftly glancing around to ascertain my location.

The first thing I notice when I look around is that we are in another shrine again, this one significantly bigger than the last if the window view of the entire city outside indicated anything. I stare up in surprise as I notice through the tempered glass roof dome… the sun was up.

Ah… I hope I don’t have to deal with any Jet Lag. I did technically teleport, so hopefully I won’t have any problems…

Miyu lets out a tired sigh and stumbles slightly, Kakusu quickly catching her before she could even begin tripping. I nod my head to her and look around again, noticing a few girls that look like shrine maidens standing around. They all wore similar Miku clothes to Miyu, but one woman, in particular, stood out to me.

“... It seems our guest has arrived. I welcome you to Kamakura, the heart of the Far East, Inumaki Michael.” The woman spoke with a voice full of authority, the lack of divinity being my only indication that this wasn’t somehow a goddess.

She was extremely beautiful, having silky smooth blonde hair that fell to just above her ankles and was tied at the end of it. Her eyes were crimson red, an ominous red glow surrounding them alongside a red eyeliner that only complements her blonde hair further. She exhibited elegance, virtuousness, and glamor passively alongside a natural charisma you could only find in a born leader. Her clothes were similar to the Miko clothes the other shrine maidens had but were a lot fancier, with gold and red colors instead of the normal white and red colors everyone else had.

… Is this Hikari Hyuuga?

“... You are… Hyuuga Hikari?” I ask with furrowed brows while keeping an eye on Kakusu in the corner of my eyes, slightly tense for obvious reasons…

This might be her. The strongest the Far East has to offer. Captain of the Amaterasu Familia and the second-in-command of the Royal Court’s non-divine ranks. The Akenomyōsei (Morning Star)...

Her eyes did not waver at my question, nodding her head indifferently and raising a hand to dismiss the other shrine maidens as they all bowed and quickly shuffled out of the room. Miyu and Kakusu walked out of the magic circle on the ground and in front of Hikari, the former bowing her head while the latter simply nodded.

“... I am, indeed, Hyuuga Hikari. I must thank you for deciding to arrive before the specified time. It is always a pleasure when those that we recall decide to arrive before the specified time to ensure that they are not tardy.” Her face softens slightly at Miyu, turning slightly exasperated at the sight of Kakusu’s complete lack of respect. “Thank you for guiding our newest member here, Miyu… and Sir Kakusu.” She glares half-heartedly at Kakusu as he shrugs his shoulders indifferently while Miyu blushes deeply and nods.

“... Wasn’t a problem. Though I was a bit confused about the clashing instructions you guys gave me for this job…” Kakusu complained with irritation clearly aimed at someone not present, Hikari raising an eyebrow in response with slight confusion.

“... Explain.” She ordered in an authoritative tone, unlike the slightly softer tone she got once the shrine maidens left the shrine. Kakusu shrugged lazily and passed her a crumpled note which she took and read silently for a few seconds

“... I believe there has been a misunderstanding regarding my intentions in coming to the Far East.” I decided to finally respond to her earlier words, slightly miffed by her assumption that I am their ‘newest member’ as I walked forward to stand outside of the magic circle. I throw the scroll they had given me, Kakusu catching it with confusion as I glare and watch the scroll unfurl. “... I have no interest in joining your nation, nor am I willing to leave my Familia.”

Kakusu’s eyes widen slightly as he reads the scroll for a second before passing it to the surprised Hikari, who seemed genuinely shocked at my words for some reason.

… This is odd. Kakusu should be perfectly aware of my displeasure, so why is he so surprised I’m still not leaving my Familia and entering their nation…? Anyone would be displeased with the very clear threats the scroll held. Hell, Kakusu’s blunt and lazy delivery was less offensive than what was written in the scroll, and that’s an achievement. Do they think me a pushover that won’t do anything out of fear…?

My eyes grow slightly colder as Hikari glances at the scroll, her eyes widening in surprise momentarily before hardening coldly. She purses her lips and turns to me, a sharp look in her eyes that was only enhanced by the ominous glow surrounding it.

Ma’am, you are in the wrong anime. You aren’t an Egoist, stop having Barou’s glowing aura eyes, please.

“... I see there has indeed been a slight misunderstanding. Very well, I will move to resolve this matter at once. Sir Kakusu, please guide our… guest… around Kamakura until I am free to return.” She grips the scroll in her hands and slowly turns around, walking away with calculated steps as Kakusu smirks lazily next to me.

“... Someone’s gonna die… Oh well… I suppose we’ll leave you to your duties then, little Miyu… Come on, Inumaki…” Kakusu pats Miyu on the head once before beginning to walk out of the shrine, leaving the extremely confused girl behind as she stares at me with a slightly hurt look.

Oh, it seems she had expected me to simply join the nation without any of this nonsense. Unfortunate, but you’re wrong. This place is of no interest to me.

I offer her the smallest of nods before moving forward, following Kakusu and leaving the poor girl behind. He leads me through the shrine’s door and we exit soon after, finally getting a glimpse at ‘Kamakura’... Capital of the Far East.

You expect me to say something like ‘It’s beautiful!’ and ‘So bright!’, but the negative energy emanating from this place was barely less than the admittedly better parts of Orario. I easily noticed that the bright and beautiful city in the distance held disgusting amounts of negativity behind its lively facade, hidden deep in the shadows.

“... Quite a sight, eh? Don’t let it trick you though… This place ain’t what it seems…” Kakusu shakes his head with a complicated sigh, stopping to let me stare at the scenery for only a few seconds before moving again.

“... I’m aware. This place reeks of negativity. I wouldn’t be surprised if you told me your nobles allowed starvation and plague to rampage through here if only to amuse themselves…” He raises an eyebrow at my words but doesn’t comment, staring silently at the city as we slowly walk on the path from Kamakura to the shrine I had come from.

“... You weren’t supposed to get that scroll, you know? That was a scroll reserved for… when we need a heavy handed approach… I didn’t realize at the time that you had gotten that scroll, but we’ve really started off on the wrong foot huh…?” He eventually speaks again once we enter the city, Japanese Toro lanterns visible in every corner of my vision as I glance at the nearby buildings.

… It’s literally barely noon. Why are the lanterns still on? These guys would be terrible with electricity…

“... I believe we’ve started off on the foot we were always going to find ourselves at. I stand by everything I said to you a few days ago. I have no interest in joining the Royal Court.” I don’t bother with trying to hear him out for what he has to say, already knowing what their goal was in the end.

Doesn’t matter if they held a gun against my head or got down on their knees and begged me to leave my Familia, my answer will remain the same either way.

He stares at me with a slightly regretful look in his eyes, not replying to my comment and simply leading me deeper into the city silently. I notice a palace of some kind in the distance, recognizing it to probably be The Imperial Palace judging by how large it is.

… I’m extremely confused… but more importantly, I am extremely fucking annoyed. It sounds like there was some mistake with the scroll that was sent to me, but that doesn’t make me feel any better. Not only did they make a mistake with something related to me, they don’t seem bothered by it beyond the fact that a mistake was made.

Do they expect me to just eventually ‘get over it’? I really wanna say some very unkind words… but for the sake of my own existence’s purity, I will refrain for now.

I clench my fists, tightening them until they pale and gritting my teeth slightly.

… All of this. All of the worry I have to endure because I have to leave my Familia and friends behind… all of it was for people who couldn’t even send the right scroll or something.

[... At ease, Michael… Please do not stress… Their incompetence is a… good sign… It’ll all be okay…]

Edias suddenly emits a feeling of calm reassurance inside of me, allowing me to regain my composure and calm once I allow her to extinguish my anger with her emotions. I take a deep, calm breath as I return the feeling with gratitude.

{... Thanks.} That’s all I say before refocusing, finding that Kakusu was about to enter the palace in front of me. I quickly move closer behind him, glancing at the guards on the outside as they all immediately recognize Kakusu and bow their heads.

It’s unsurprising that some of them held fear in their eyes. This is not just a Gojouno clan member, this is the Gojouno.

“S-sir, is this man with you…?” A particularly brave guard asked with only the smallest stutter, moving forward to Kakusu while staring at me.

“... He’s walking with me, isn’t he? Or do you think I can’t notice the boy walking right behind me…? I don’t remember getting that old…” Kakusu doesn’t hesitate to snark at the guard, the sarcasm making any confidence the guard had evaporate immediately as they bowed their head in apology and quickly ran back to their position. “... Let’s go, Inumaki...”

I follow after him into the gigantic palace, not sparing a glance at the quivering guards and gliding past them with my hands in my pockets. I glance around the luxurious walls of the palace, not really caring for the actual interior and more so keeping an eye out for any sign of danger.

I feel a signature quickly walking our way, rounding around the corner, and entering my vision. It was a gigantic man (like 6’3, I’m just short…) with built muscles, long blue hair held up in a ponytail, light blue eyes that looked almost stormy, and wolf ears and a tail. He wore a happy smile that could easily put anyone at ease at the sight of it, even with the man’s gigantic and intimidating stature.

“Sir Kakusu! I’m glad to see that you’ve come back safely from your last mission. I’m guessing this is the newest member you were sent to retrieve?” He spoke charismatically with an enthusiastic tone, moving to me and extending his hand for a handshake. “Hello there! My name is Arashi Shison, nice to meet you… Inumaki Michael, correct?”

My eyes widen slightly at his words as I tilt my head at him, ignoring his attempt at a handshake completely. “... Hiraishin… Stormbringer, correct?” I ask with a tense tone, staring at him intently.

… This dude is insane. Not literally, but he was known to be quite… eccentric. He’s got some lightning powers that were recorded to destroy an entire house once when a few men tried to hit on his alleged girlfriend.

“Please try and give our newest member some space, Arashi. I’ve told you time and time again, you are extremely intimidating to people you’ve just met, you dolt.” Coming in from behind Arashi, a renard with golden blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and a surprising four tails on her back walks into vision. She bows to Kakusu slightly, a gesture he returns with a lazy nod before she turns to me with a small smile. “I am Sanjouno Reimei. A pleasure to meet you, Inumaki Michael.”

… This is the older sister of Haruhime, I think. She’s also probably Arashi’s girlfriend according to the guild records. They don’t usually keep track of that stuff, but Arashi did kinda blow up an entire house because someone was hitting on her very aggressively… I don’t blame them for keeping note of it.

“Taiyō no Kemono… the Heavenly Beast… This is quite the reception…” I mutter with a slightly tense tone, eying the three monsters around me.

I would’ve dismissed them some time ago when I had thought them to be only level 3, but Kakusu’s performance has shown that the guild records can only be used as a guideline… There’s a very big chance that at least one of them is a level four here.

I would not be worried if I had to fight only one of them, but I do not feel confident fighting them when they have both a level & number advantage, and two decades' worth of experience at the least (Kakusu is in his 60s, so he probably has several decades of experience over me) each...

“No need to stress about it Rei, Inumaki here doesn’t seem to be uncomfortable with me at all!” Arashi doesn’t seem to care that I didn’t take his handshake, moving to pat Reimei on the back with a huge grin. “Ain’t that right?”

“... Actually… There have been some complications regarding the… recruitment of our guest Inumaki Michael here… I’d ask Hikari later for the details but… Inumaki is not very happy with us, I can tell you that much…” Kakusu sighs exasperatedly as if my ‘happiness’ was troublesome and simply an annoyance, the other two gaining looks of confusion and turning to me.

“... Has there been a problem with your retrieval, Mr. Inumaki?” Reimei asks worriedly, staring at me with concern as Arashi frowns and glares at the window.

“I swear… If those traitors have been up to something, I’m not going to relax until I strike down at least a dozen… no… ten dozen of them!” He declares loudly while puffing his chest, Reimei’s lips twitching next to him from amusement.

“... No. The problem here was not with the condition of my ‘retrieval’, but the fact that I am being ‘retrieved’.” I reply with slight irritation and a lot more exasperation, unsure if I was dealing with seasoned adventurers or actual clowns anymore.

They both look quite confused at my words, turning to Kakusu for answers only to receive a lazy shrug from him. They turn to each other with confusion before shrugging at each other and turning back to me.

“I’m unsure what you mean exactly, but I guess we’ll just have to solve it later.” Arashi shrugs and smiles again in a carefree way, offering me a fistbump that I casually ignore without sparing a glance.

“... Yes, as he said. For now, I believe that the Supreme Goddess would like to meet you as you have already arrived. Let’s not delay any longer.” Reimei bows her head and turns around, slowly leading us deeper through the enormous palace.

We walk for a good minute before reaching two gigantic doors, Reimei and Arashi moving to stand behind me and Kakusu stepping next to me.

“... When we go in there, don’t forget to bow. You don’t want to see the trouble that will come if you don’t bow to that lady…” He tiredly grimaces, clearly remembering something from the past as I stare at him with half-lidded eyes.

He blinks out of his impromptu flashback, staring at me with slightly widened eyes as I don’t give him a response. “... You will bow, right? Please don’t tell me you are about to do something stupid…” His voice becomes slightly tense, his eyes widening further as the two doors slowly begin to open and reveal the great hall.

It was truly luxurious, the pinnacle of Far Eastern design and a building befitting of the literal gods. A carpet extended from the door all the way to the end of the room, climbing up the stairs that led to an elevated platform.

Atop that platform was Amaterasu, and…

I have once seen Freya, about a month or so ago. She was extremely beautiful despite the cloak she had covering her entire body, but her beauty felt… artificial to me. It felt like I was not staring at something beautiful, but at beauty itself… and that irked me.

This goddess was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen in my life. Most gods were extremely beautiful or handsome no matter what their domain was, but Amaterasu was probably the pinnacle of beauty when it comes to goddesses that do not have the domain of beauty.

I would not be surprised if someone informed me that Hikari was her biological daughter. Amaterasu had almost frighteningly similar features, with wavy and smooth golden hair that reached down to her waist while shining like the sun, piercing crimson eyes that felt like the sun, and an unimaginable beauty that could put a man to death with a mere glance. Her pupil held a small fire at its center, reminiscent of a small sun calmly in the core of her eyes.

I walked forward into the hall with an uncaring expression, ignoring the few who were in the stands at the side as well as Kakusu who seemed to be having a panic attack as he moved behind me.

Once we reached the center, the three behind me immediately bowed to Amaterasu… but I did not.

The god that was standing next to Amaterasu with lightning-blue eyes and pitch-black hair quickly turned to me with a piercing glare, his eyes slightly widened at my lack of respect, and clearly angered by it.

“You dare come into the Imperial Palace and disrespect the Supreme Goddess without showing a hint of shame? Do you have a death wish!?” He exclaims loudly, gaining Reimei and Arashi’s attention as they both realize that I hadn’t bowed.

“... Oh, you’ve done it now…” Kakusu mutters under his breath with a groan, sighing tiredly as he continues bowing.

The god, which I assume to be Susanoo, looks like he’s about to speak again, but is interrupted as Amaterasu raises her hand. She stares at me intently, the fire in her eyes dancing within her gaze until she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

“... Inumaki Michael,” She speaks out, her voice sounding like silk to my ears despite the authoritative tone it held. “... You have leveled up again.”

[!!!]

My eyes widened in shock at her words as the entire hall matched my surprise, staring at Amaterasu for a few seconds before turning to me with matching incredulity.

… I see.

“... I have. I suppose you were not expecting that I’d do my best to level up before arriving here, were you?” I respond to her coolly, feeling the smallest bit of victory entering my body as I finally manage to derail something in their plans.

I spot Hikari standing behind Amaterasu, looking at me with both shock and slight anger. It seems she wasn’t happy about the clear disrespect I was showing Amaterasu right now.

“... I did not, but it matters little in the end.” She narrows her eyes slightly, the uncaring expression she previously held turning into a focused, serious one. “I have been informed of your… hesitance… toward exiting your Familia and returning to your rightful place in the ranks of the Royal Court.” She speaks with slight intrigue, slight exasperation, clearly somewhat irritated by that.

“... Yes. I’m here to inform you that I am not from the Far East. I have never belonged to the Far East. My ancestors have never been or belonged to the Far East. In fact, I’d say this is the first time someone of my blood has ever stepped into the Far East.” My words make everyone turn surprised, all of them looking at Susanoo’s shocked face with similar shock as they realize that my words are true.

… Amaterasu on the other hand…

… She doesn’t seem surprised at all…

…

…

So very sorry about the number of timeskips. Gave myself a week+ of space and then realized that I’d rather not add any more filler and simply move into the arc. Anyways, here we have it ladies and gentlemen! The start of the Far East arc! Keep in mind that everything here is 90% made up as this shit ain’t explored in Danmachi, but I’ll do my best to ensure that its still sum good stuff!

Quite scary how many high levels there are hm? It does make sense though… They’re all quite old and have left Orario long ago, why would they show up in the original story? They have nothing to do with the bunny man with red eyes.

They’re obviously all made up like some of the Soma level 2s, I do wish you could forgive me for making such a challenge so that things could be a little interesting.

Hi Patreons. I should be done with an exclusive HP chapter soon for you guys, so turn up for double upload within 1 week for the first time in a while! I’ve been getting some motivation again recently, but I do have some exams in like 2 weeks so I might try to send a few chapters before then so I can focus on studying. Thank you for understanding homies.