Then.
The colossal beast came crashing to the ground, shaking the very earth and leaving Bete standing alone, his body bathed in red. He’d won. He had consumed the strong. His fang was victorious.
Body battered and bruised and broken, he cried out, the same as he had on that day that started it all so, so long ago.
Joy, anger, sadness, futility, pain—everything welled up inside him, forming one giant ball of emotion that burst out in a howl that crackled in his throat. Toward the moon, he howled, toward the dark night slowly fading into the light of the dawn.
I won!
I devoured it!
I’m the strongest of them all!
I’ll never let anyone take anything from me ever again! Never!!
A trickle of blood wove its way down the fang on his face.
No matter how strong he became, that pain would always follow him.
Night’s shadow curled itself around the half-ruined buildings and strewn rubble of the Pleasure Quarter’s third district—the territory of the former Ishtar Familia. Down among the ruins, voices quiet, Loki Familia conducted their investigation. Their ranks were small: Finn and Gareth in the lead, followed by a few lower-level members and a very disobliged Loki. They conducted their search without light to help guide them, not even the glow of their magic-stone lanterns.
The Guild had stationed guards around the perimeter to keep anyone from entering the Pleasure Quarter, but they clearly hadn’t assigned enough, as their group didn’t run into a single soul on their way inside, and from the looks of the untouched rubble, none of the reconstruction efforts seemed to be making any headway.
“Any thoughts on all this, Finn?” Gareth asked slowly from his spot in the shadow of a nearby brothel, most of the others already dispersed to the four corners of the wreckage.
“Hmm…The way I see it, the enemy has to have left behind at least one key somewhere in the city.”
“And what makes ya think that, huh?” Loki this time, giving a little snort from atop a dilapidated barrel she was using as a chair.
“Because Ishtar’s been sent home,” he answered, glancing over at his goddess. “We already have reason to believe Ishtar was colluding with the Evils after what happened back in Meren. Perhaps the Evils enlisted Ishtar as a source of funds, what with her grip on the Pleasure Quarter. And what would they give her in return for all that?”
“…The downfall of Freya Familia?”
“Indeed. Ishtar’s antipathy toward Freya and her familia is practically common knowledge. So I can’t imagine it would be anything but.” Finn turned his eyes back to Loki.
“Mm, guess that’s true. I bet she was plannin’ on enlistin’ Kali’s help in luring Freya and her goons down into Knossos. Spoiled brat of a goddess, really. There’s no way she wouldn’t’ve asked for a key of her own so she could go slitherin’ through the halls whenever she pleased.”
“Hmm…” Gareth mumbled at this, stroking his beard in thought. “But wouldn’t ye think the enemy’d wanna keep knowledge of a place like that well under wraps? Ye wouldn’t think they’d be handin’ out keys like candy, now, do ye?”
“Well, if what Lefiya learned from Thanatos is anything to go by, both the Evils and the creatures want nothing more than the destruction of Orario, meaning they’d come head-to-head with Freya Familia sooner rather than later anyway. Another obstacle to their goal, so to speak, much like us.”
“I see what yer sayin’. They figured they’d use Ishtar as their front man to take Freya and her bunch down now—or weaken ’em, at the very least. Which is why they agreed to help, yeah?”
Finn nodded.
Hell, that demi-spirit they fought down in Knossos may have even been Ishtar’s trump card.
“For Freya and her men to take out Ishtar Familia now…I would imagine this has the Evils reeling, too.”
“Hmm, here I was thinkin’ we’d lost everything with Ishtar Familia’s destruction, but…lookin’ at it a different way, this might be the chance we’ve been waiting for.”
“That it might. If Ishtar really was in possession of a key, then the Evils will do everything possible to try and retrieve it.” Finn nodded, finishing Loki’s thought. Though it was possible the Evils had already recovered the key, the way he was licking his thumb was evidence enough that the prum thought they still had a chance. “The Evils or us…Who’ll be the first to find it, I wonder?…The fight for the key has begun.”
“Lady Valletta! Loki Familia has been seen prowling about the palace in the Pleasure Quarter…!”
“Goddammit! So they’re on the move, are they?” Deep beneath the earth in the man-made labyrinth Knossos, Valletta cursed under her breath at the news from one of her subordinates. The accessories dangling from her ears jangling, she furrowed her brow in indignation.
“What will you do, then, Valletta dear? If I may be of any help at all, do let me know,” Thanatos said from his spot atop the altar, his black garments fluttering with the slight movement.
Valletta didn’t respond for a moment. The cogs in her head were turning within the ethereal gloom created by the blue phosphorescence of the magic-stone lanterns.
“…There’s no way they got a tip or somethin’, is there?”
“I—I wouldn’t think so, ma’am! There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to their search. Word on the street is they’re also approaching the former Amazons and prostitutes of Ishtar Familia…”
Valletta stilled, bringing a hand to her lips in thought.
Finally, she raised her head, as though she had reached some sort of conclusion.
“I want you to assemble all our assassins.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“And you, Thanatos! Go get that jackass Barca up here…Tell him to start making those cursed weapons of his. As many as he possibly can.”
“Oh? You aim to take them on, then? Outside of Knossos?” Thanatos watched Valletta issue orders, his eyes widening as a smile rose on his face.
Valletta simply brushed her hair back. “Didn’t wanna cause a ruckus up there, but…Well, what can ya do?” she retorted. “I’m not about to let Finn get his grubby little hands on even one of our keys.”
Her lips curled into a vicious smile.
“—We’re going to war.”
CHAPTER 3
UNSHED TEARS
The slight chill brushing across his skin was his morning wake-up call.
“…”
Bete slowly opened his eyes to find himself next to the window. As he went to move his limbs, stiff from staying in the same position all night, he noticed the blanket that had been draped across him. Glancing farther down toward the carpet below, he saw Lena fast asleep, her breaths soft, deep, and even. On top of the velvet chair nearby was a bowl of soup with a few vegetables breaking the surface, along with a meat sandwich—the dinner she must have made last night.
Gazing for a moment at the now ice-cold meal, he brought a spoonful of the soup to his mouth.
“Blech…” he half whispered before giving the rock-solid bread a nibble as well.
Still munching on the stale bread, he gave the girl at his feet, currently curled up like a cat in her blanket, a kick.
“Gwuaaah!” she yelped in surprise.
“It’s time for that info you promised,” Bete demanded, now out in the back garden (sorry as it was) and dousing himself over the head with a bucket of water. The werewolf had stripped to the waist, and more than a bit of drool had pooled in the mouth of the young Amazon watching nearby.
“Huh? Ah! I, uh…S-sure! Right!” Lena sputtered out, red-faced, before bringing herself back to the present. “It’s, well, you see…Phryne and the other girls were always pushing me around, right? Sending me running all over the temple on this errand or that. Well, one day, that old frog tasked me with something really crazy! ‘Find me Lady Ishtar’s weak point!’ she said.” Her impression of the toad-like woman in question left something to be desired as she watched Bete give his skin and
ears a rough rubdown with his towel. “’Course I knew I’d be skinned alive if I was caught, so I waited until Lady Ishtar was out one day and snuck into her room…where I just so happened to catch sight of a hidden door that’d been left ajar.”
“Hidden door?”
“Yeah! And behind it was all sorts of crazy stuff—gorgeous veils, golden crowns! It musta been Lady Ishtar’s secret vault. But anyway…That’s where I saw it. On top of the desk in there was a small box, and inside the box was this little ball thing made of ingot. Definitely some sort of magic item.”
Bete’s ears perked up at this, and he threw a glance in Lena’s direction.
“I didn’t see if it had any kinda symbol or whatnot on it, but…Was the ball you’re looking for made of a silvery type of metal? ’Cause this one was made of mythril, and it sure sounds like the same one from your drawing.”
“What’d you do after you saw it?”
“Erm…I got caught by Tammuz. He was our vice captain. And you should have seen the look he gave me! Chased me right out of the room demanding that I ‘forget everything I saw.’ He’s normally pretty quiet unless he’s dealing directly with Ishtar, so I guess he decided to let me go, but…” She gave a little shiver from where she was seated cross-legged atop a nearby box, no doubt reliving the memory in her head.
“So this Tammuz fella. Where’s he now?”
“Haven’t seen him since Freya Familia attacked us…Considering he was Lady Ishtar’s right-hand man, I wouldn’t be surprised if he followed her up to Heaven, so to speak…”
“Which means…that thing’s probably still there.”
“Yeah, either in Lady Ishtar’s secret room or in Tammuz’s room.”
This news got Bete thinking.
While there was no guarantee Ishtar or Tammuz hadn’t taken it with them (or at the very least removed it from that room), there would certainly be value in checking it out.
Now that his head was considerably clearer after the cold water and crisp morning air, Bete made up his mind with a soft “Let’s do this!” He would head toward the palace towering in the distance—Belit Babili.
“Hey, hey, hey! It’s all right if I come, too, isn’t it, Bete Loga? I mean, it’d probably be pretty difficult to find that secret room without me there, huh?”
“…Whatever.”
“Yippee!”
Bete shot the now happily spinning girl a sidelong glance as he shook off the remaining water on his skin and slipped his battle jacket on again. And then he was off, leaving behind the high-class brothel with chipper Amazon in tow.
“You never went back there after your familia went under, huh?”
“Well, everything in the familia vault got evenly distributed out to all its members, you know? ’Cause Ishtar Familia had a lot of girls who weren’t fighters. And everything got pretty crazy what with Aisha trying to take care of it all and, well, I guess I forgot to even go check…Ah-ha-ha.”
The sky above them was cloudy as they walked, the ash-colored clouds completely obstructing the light of the sun. Bete couldn’t help but imagine the rain that was likely on its way as he glanced up at the thick veil settling down over Orario’s rooftops.
It was a ways away from the center of the attack, but even this small backstreet had suffered its own fair share of damage. The stone underfoot was cracked, and the magic-stone lampposts stood at awkward, bent angles—even part of the roof of a nearby brothel had been blown clean away, likely by some sort of magic, and others still had errant scimitars protruding from their walls. All manner of broken debris now littered the path in front of them. The fact that Freya Familia’s swath of destruction extended even to these outer buildings was evidence enough as to the power behind Freya’s divine will—there was no way she’d planned on letting Ishtar escape.
And the carnage only increased as they made their way farther down the path.
Truly, the sight of the wreckage surrounding them might well have belonged to an impoverished slum.
“Careful, Bete Loga! The guards the Guild left here might be few and far between, but they’re still adventurers, and we’re in broad daylight. They won’t need to be close to see us.”
“Yeah, especially when someone’s climbing around on all the rubble like a crazy monkey.”
“Eh-he-he-he! I’m a monkey! Eek! Eek! Eek!” Lena stuck her tongue out at the werewolf, atop a pile of rubble as he’d described. “Meh, I’m not too worried about the guards. Just don’t wanna get into any legal trouble or whatever if they figure out who we are. Plus, some of them might be Ganesha’s guys, since they’ll do work for the Guild every now and then,” she added, jumping down from the dilapidated building.
As the path opened up in front of them, Lena beckoned Bete over to the side, and the two of them slipped between a gap in the buildings. Now that they were on the actual territory itself, it made sense to avoid the gardens, but as a bit of added protection, she guided the two of them through small back alleys and byways that were away from human eyes, as well.
Bete was suddenly quite glad he’d allowed her to come along.
Wonder if Finn and the others are searching here, too…Prolly not in the middle of the day, though. That’d certainly draw attention, Bete mused, the faces of his comrades floating to the back of his mind. Certainly, as one of the leading familias in the city, their presence anywhere was sure to turn heads, so the chance of Bete running into them here was slim at best. Even if they’d determined Belit Babili to be the main target of their investigation (as they likely had), it would take them days to scour the entirety of Ishtar Familia’s former home. There was no way they’d have reached the hidden room in Ishtar’s chambers that Lena had mentioned yet—nor the room of a certain Tammuz, if it came to that.
That reminds me—when should I go back? I know Finn told me to give it a little while, but…Ah, shit! Now I’m thinkin’ about yesterday again! Not goin’ back! No way…!
Given that Aiz had already witnessed him, it was likely his status in the familia had already taken another nosedive. Meanwhile, the undying rage of those Amazonian sisters was probably growing like an inferno. Just imagining Aiz attempting to tell the story in her awkward fumbling way, how it would get exaggerated and overembellished, made his heart drop. Nope, he definitely didn’t wanna see them.
He cursed under his breath, hiding his thoughts behind his usual mask of hostility.
Here I was just supposed to lone-wolf it up a bit…And now ’cause of this chick, I’m up to my neck in crazy, he grumbled silently, throwing the girl in question a half-lidded glance as she walked along beside him.
“How come you went and fell asleep last night, huh, Bete Loga? After I went to all the trouble of making dinner for you!”
“I’ll go to sleep whenever I goddamn well please, thank you very much.”
“Yoooou! Werewolves never think about anybody but themselves! What about when I put that blanket on you, though, huh? Did you feel your heart skip a beat? It was almost like we were newlyweds!”
“Oh, shut yer mouth already, would ya?” Bete snarled, attempting to quash the overly familiar attitude the girl was taking with him. This game of “let’s pretend” Lena kept pushing on him would end today. Once they’d finished their investigation, Lena would be out of his life for good. He refused to let her manipulate him anymore. Sure, the lovelorn Amazon would probably try to follow him back to his familia, but, well, he’d just ignore her. Yes, that’s what he’d do.
He didn’t like that being with her made him think back to things he’d rather not.
Everything that had led to the fang on his face.
…Finish this up. Get rid of her. Get rid of her for good…
And then—never again. That’s what his heart decided. Only then.
His ears suddenly perked up on his head.
“…”
“Bete Loga?”
The two of them had emerged from a narrow passageway and were currently walking along one of the district
’s backstreets. Bete came to a stop in the middle of the wide road, rows of brothels on either side.
Someone’s watching us…
He narrowed his eyes, directing a sharpened gaze at his surroundings as Lena turned around curiously.
One of the Guild’s guards? No. There’s no way. They’d be all over us already. That and they certainly wouldn’t be shootin’ us a death glare or whatever this is.
Certainly, the feeling of malice emanating from whatever was looking at them didn’t belong to an ordinary adventurer. Whoever this was was different, much different. Filth that had crawled its way out of the darkness.
And what’s more, their numbers seemed to be—growing.
“Wh-what’s wrong?” Lena asked, herself more than a little flustered at the intensity of the first-tier adventurer behind her.
“Hey! You two! What do you think you’re doing?!”
The voice came from in front of them.
Turning toward the sound, they found themselves face-to-face with two men, a human–animal person pair of adventurers, donning the all-too-familiar armbands and yellow scarves indicative of Guild affiliation—the guards Lena had claimed were few and far between.
Grabbing ahold of the whistles dangling around their necks, the two adventurers who’d been placed in charge of patrolling the restoration zone began making their way toward them.
“—Ngh! Hey, morons! I’d stay away if I were you!” Bete shouted, his fur bristling. The two guards, however, merely looked at him in puzzlement. Then, as one would expect, they brought their whistles to their lips, fully prepared to sound the alarm on these trespassing reprobates—
“—Nngah?!”
That one move was all it took.
All of a sudden, the necks of the two guards split open in twin waterfalls of blood.
The man behind them, shrouded in black and moving without a sound, had severed both their carotid arteries with one sweep of his dagger.
“Wh-what’s…What’s going on?!” Lena screamed as another dark figure leaped from the nearby roof to land next to the animal person, their own rapier drawn. Meanwhile, the two adventurer guards, not even knowing what hit them, sank to the crumbling cobblestones with a gurgling slop.
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 8 Page 9
