667Foreword: We're back. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
No matter how he thinks about it, Hikigaya Hachiman isn't able to respond.
At the core of it, expeditions were just larger-scale versions of Dungeon dives. You would dive with a small party, anywhere between 2 to 5 people. Anything further than 10 was considered an expedition given the amount of time, people, and effort involved.
In the past, I had participated in a few expeditions, tagging along as a combat member so I could scout out and experience deeper areas of the Dungeon without having to risk diving there with just what I knew. The deepest those expeditions had reached was the 36th Floor, right up to the Guild-rated limit for Level 3s.
But if what Hermes had told me was accurate, than this was probably more dangerous than even that. That was why, the morning of the expedition, I found myself going through the items I had prepared one last time.
There were the basics, the things that were essential to my survival–my sword and my armor, along with the accompanying Undine Cloth cloak and the knife that served as my backup weapon. There were the Potions and High Potions that I usually brought with me, along with other medical supplies like bandages and medicinal salves–20 of each, split halfway to be stored on my person and in my pack. Other supplies included the ration bars, supplemental weapons like my throwing knives and my blowpipe, and some basic poisons and antidotes I had made in advance.
Then there were the extra preparations I had made for this expedition specifically. Most importantly was the Elixir–I'd shelled out 8 million in exchange for one from Miach, personally guaranteed by the god to rapidly heal fatal wounds in under a minute. I'd prepped an assassin's knife, one similar to the kind Rollo used, which had already been loaded with Poison Vermis venom. I had bought another bunch of firebombs to counter the Violas.
As I finished the preparations, I gave the sword's blade one last wipe with the oiled rag in my hand before sliding it back into the sheath.
At this point, I'd done all I could. I could buy another Elixir or two and use up the rest of my savings for the foreseeable future, but if Miach's work wasn't enough to keep me alive, then most likely I wouldn't even have the chance to use the other Elixirs even if I'd bought them.
For other serious injuries, top-shelf High Potions wouldn't be any different from the lower-quality Elixirs, and even though it meant taking a financial hit, I'd made sure every single one of my Potions and High Potions were the best money could buy. Now wasn't the time to be cheap.
With everything done, I packed everything into my bag and headed out from the Hostess. Hermes had told me the meeting place in Rivira–the Golden Cellar–so that was where I was headed.
On the way, though, I found my path intercepted by a figure in a black cloak. "... Hikigaya Hachiman." My eyes narrowed as I stared at the figure in the black cloak that had, once again, appeared from seemingly nowhere as I was cutting through Orario's back alleys towards Babel.
Fels hadn't bothered to hide their footsteps this time. But even though I had heard them coming in advance, it did very little to diminish my surprise at watching them appear out of the thin air.
"Yo," I responded. This time, though, I kept my hands in my pockets. Hermes had confirmed Fels as a nominal ally, so there wasn't any point in getting ready to fight.
"I'll get straight to the point." Fels didn't waste any time. From beneath the black cloak, a metal gauntlet peeked out. There was a blue crystal resting on top of Fels's hand. "This is for you. It is a magical item of my own design; I call it the Oculus."
Picking the Oculus up, I held it up to my eye. To my surprise, the surface of the crystal changed; I watched as the blue light inside shimmered before turning completely black.
"Each Oculus is part of a pair," I heard Fels explain. As I watched, they reached into their pocket and pulled out an identical crystal–and from the corner of my eye, I saw the image in the crystal I was holding change, rippling like a mirage to show what could only be me.
Fels's voice had taken on a second layer beyond the regular vocal distortion I heard as their voice also began to come from the crystal. "They can transmit both images and sound between one another, making them useful communication devices." So they're basically phones. Good to have.After 5 years here, I didn't think that the technology of this world could surprise me any further, but here we were.
"Got it. You want this on me so you can keep an eye on the situation, right?" It wasn't hard to tell why Fels had showed up. If they needed eyes at the situation, then using this world's equivalent of a video call was definitely the best way to do so.
Fels dipped their head. "Correct. I will be actively monitoring the situation through the Oculus, though I will stay silent so as to not arouse suspicion. If you need help, all you need to do is speak into it and I will send for help immediately. In the case where it is destroyed, I will do the same."
"Alright." Taking the crystal, I fixed it to one of the pouches on my waist. "Anything else?"
"There will most likely be another Crystal Fetus on the 24th Floor." Fels shifted, their robe swaying back and forth. "... I have told the others this, but I will say it again. It is my personal advisement that, should you come across the orb, to destroy it. Do not attempt to capture it or bring it back. We cannot risk another incident like before. And while it might be useful as a specimen for research, it is far better to deny the enemy a resource than to risk carrying it back to the surface like before."
I nodded in understanding.
"In that case… I wish you the best of luck, Hikigaya Hachiman." With that, I watched as smoke billowed out from Fels's sleeves, and they vanished away once again.
~~This is a Line Break~~
At a moderate jog, making my way to the Golden Cellar in Rivira was the quick work of an hour or so. It wasn't long before I found myself at the bar, sipping every so often from the glass of water I had ordered and successfully ignoring the bartender's persistent stare as I sat in a corner.
It was about 30 more minutes before the door opened again and I looked up.
The bar had been reserved by Hermes Familia a few days before, which meant that the people could only be from the familia. To my surprise, however, the people that stepped through weren't Andromeda and the rest of the familia.
Instead, I watched as a blonde girl with a sword at her side stepped into the room, accompanied by two elves–one with golden hair carrying a staff, the other with black hair carrying a wand with a shortsword sheathed at the hip.
So Wallenstein, Viridis, and Challia were the additional reinforcements that Hermes had mentioned. That was good; Viridis's presence would be a considerable addition to the familia's firepower, not to mention the absolute powerhouse that was Wallenstein.
As I continued looking at them, Viridis's eyes scanned the room and landed on me. Her mouth hung open in surprise and she gave me a tentative wave, which I returned with a nod.
"Hello again, Hikigaya-san!" At Viridis's words, both Wallenstein and Challia startled–had they not noticed?–before turning across the room to face me.
"Yo," I responded. There wasn't much else to say.
"Hikigaya. It seems we will be working together once again. I'll be in your care." Surprisingly, Challia punctuated her words with a bow in my direction. Maybe it was just my impression of her, but she seemed a lot more relaxed compared to when we had met last time.
"Mm. We… meet again." Wallenstein's head dipped downwards as she greeted me. "I… hope to be of use to you on this quest." The words that came from her mouth were exceedingly formal and sounded like something she had rehearsed in advance, so I waved them off.
"You should be telling that to Andromeda, not me. I'm just a member." Honestly, with how little I interacted with other people in the familia, it was really hard to even classify me as a 'member'. But there wasn't really a lower rank than that.
At my words, Wallenstein blinked. "Oh. Right." Her head tilted to the side thoughtfully. "Well… it's good to be working with you." To that, I nodded, and without any further words to say, the three of them took seats at the bar as we waited for the rest of Hermes Familia to arrive.
It didn't take long. After about another 5 minutes or so, my ears picked up the sounds of a large group walking down the staircase, the wood creaking beneath their weight. I looked at the door just in time to see it open, Andromeda striding into the room as she was followed by a few other members of Hermes Familia that I recognized.
"Pock is still angry. Pot's doing her best to keep him in check, but I feel like this is going to blow up in our faces when we get back." Entering the bar shortly behind Andromeda with a massive greatsword and greatshield holstered across his back, a golden-blonde weretiger had a frown on his face as he relayed something to her. "After all, he was ready to use this expedition as his chance to Level Up, but ended up being kicked off because of the restriction."
Falgar Batros. Alias: Sokos. Level 4. He was in charge of the vanguard section of Hermes Familia's party during expeditions.
"Honestly, it can't be helped. Captain's the one who set the Level 3 restriction, after all." A girl with brown hair cut into a short bob followed behind, unslinging her massive pack from her shoulders and setting it down on the ground with a sigh. "Hermes-sama said he'd take care of it and send them on a few jobs outside of the city, but I can't help but think that they'll just end up making a mess of things."
Nelly. Alias: Kriphoros. Like me, she was Level 3, but she occupied a far more important position in the familia in comparison, acting as the leader of Hermes Familia's rearguard members.
"We'll just have to deal with it once we get to that point." Andromeda sighed. "Pock can be mad at me all he likes. All I need is for him to be alive to do it."
"Haha… That's cold, Asfi-san…" Behind the three of them, I watched as Hackard shook her head as she walked in, heaving a sigh. "I can't say that you're wrong, though."
"Mhm. In any case… it seems that everyone needed has already arrived." Andromeda's eyes flicked towards me before turning towards Wallenstein, Viridis, and Challia. She gave the three of them a brisk nod. "Nelly, the supplies. We'll distribute them now so there aren't any problems later."
"Right." As Nelly began rummaging through her pack, Andromeda stepped towards Wallenstein, Viridis, and Challia, offering a hand.
"I assume Braver's briefed you on the details already, but just in case, I will go over the details of the expedition one more time. Our goal is to head to the pantry on the 24th Floor, locate the cause of the outbreak–presumably the Crystal Fetus–and to eliminate it, as well as any defenders. Failing that, we are to retreat and have our actions supplemented by a secondary follow-up from Loki Familia's main force." As she spoke, Andromeda pushed her glasses up, the lenses gleaming in the light. "There are no discrepancies in this, correct?"
All three of them shook their heads. Andromeda nodded. "Then in that case, allow me to provide a detailed account of our strength and our roles. Counting the three of you, we will have 21 members, all of them 2nd-class adventurers from Level 3 upwards. If there are no objections, I will be splitting you up for the time being."
No one made any objections, so Andromeda continued. "Sword Princess, I'll be placing you in the vanguard, but leave the fighting to us for now. Kill any monsters that get close, but I'd prefer that you save your strength for when either Revis, the sheep-skulled Tamer, or any similarly high-Leveled threats show up."
Wallenstein gave an "Understood," and Andromeda moved on. "Thousand Elf and Maenad, I'll be assigning both of you to the rearguard. We have Meryl as our backline mage at Level 2, so you'll be supplementing our firepower while Maenad acts as protection against close-quarters threats like the Violas."
"A-alright!" Viridis forced out, clutching at her staff while Challia nodded. Behind Andromeda, I watched as Nelly walked up to them with a wooden case, the clinks of glass bumping against glass coming from the box.
"Here are the supplies we procured for you. I assume you have your own 1st-class potions already, Sword Princess, but I took the liberty of procuring an Elixir for you anyways. It might work slower, considering your higher Level, but it should still be of some use. As for Thousand Elf and Maenad, here are 15 second-class Potions, 5 High Potions, and an Elixir for life-threatening emergencies, each." Andromeda's expression softened by the slightest bit as she looked at Viridis. "I'll be counting you."
In response, I watched as Viridis straightened some more, determination entering her eyes. "I'll do my best!"
"Good." Andromeda gave them a sharp nod. "I have some other things to take care of, so feel free to acquaint yourself with the rest of the familia in the meantime. Falgar and Nelly can brief you on details if you have any questions." The 3 of them migrated over to talk to the other members of the familia, and I watched as Andromeda's head turned in my direction.
It wasn't long before she had made her way over to me. "Hikigaya. You'll be with the vanguard." Her eyes scanned me before she nodded approvingly. "I see you have your own Potions and High Potions prepared, but if you need a restock during the expedition, then talk to Nelly. I've set aside the same amount for you as well."
Her hand extended out towards me, the glass vial sitting snugly in her palm, and I reached towards the Elixir. But as I tried to pull it away, Andromeda's fingers remained tightly wrapped around the glass vial, her expression dead-serious as she looked at me.
"Hikigaya." The weight behind her gaze seemed to fix me in place.
At that moment, I was reminded of the fact that I wasn't only talking to Andromeda, the adventurer–but rather, Andromeda, the familia captain. "I understand that you're not accustomed to adventuring in large parties. But I ask that you please obey to any orders you are given, either from myself or from Falgar. Otherwise, we might end up being at risk."
I didn't respond, and so she kept going. "Our enemy is far more than a large amount of monsters. It is very possible that you will have to kill people, and that you will have to leave others behind. But if it's an order, I ask that you carry it out without any hesitation." Her gaze didn't break away as she continued staring at me intensely. "Hermes-sama has entrusted those lives to me. I ask that you do the same and trust in my judgement."
There wasn'r really anything to say to that, so I nodded.
Andromeda's expression didn't change, but her eyes seemed to soften a little. "... You can blame me or curse at me later after everything's said and done. But make sure that you carry out the order anyways. Is that understood?"
"Yeah."
"Alright. Then in that case, prepare yourself. We head out in 5 minutes." With her cloak swishing out from behind her, I watched as Andromeda turned and walked away back into the crowd.
It wasn't long before another head of blue hair emerged, falling into the chair across from mine. "Heya, Hikigaya."
"..." I thought about ignoring her, but in the end, found myself forced to respond anyways. "Hackard." There was a bit of silence as I waited for her to speak. I wasn't sure why she had approached. There wasn't any real reason for her to strike up a conversation with me.
"Honestly, I don't know what I'm trying to say." Her eyes didn't meet mine as she looked down at the table. "But… I think that we need to sit down, talk things out. For real, this time."
"There's nothing to talk about," I pointed out. But Hackard's response was strange. She didn't laugh it off or wave it away. Instead, she shrugged.
"Maybe that's what you think. But… I think there's still some stuff that we need to discuss." This time, her eyes rose to meet mine. "Especially about what you said, back in that hospital room."
At that, I felt myself stiffen. If Hackard noticed, she didn't say anything about it.
"I know that now isn't the time. The expedition comes first, and all that." Hackard's eyes were steady as she kept talking. "But I don't wanna dance around you about it and pretend like nothing's happened between us. You feel the same about it, right?"
"..."
"You don't have to answer that. Just 'cause you're not responding doesn't mean you're ignoring me, right? We've known each other too long for that."
I didn't have any way to refute Hackard's words. And that was because she was right. As much as I wanted to deny it, she knew me too well to take my silence as me ignoring her.
"But…" Hackard paused for a moment. It looked like she was searching for the right words before she continued. "... even if we're not partying together anymore, we're still here, right now. And that doesn't change the fact that we're friends, right?"
This time, I found myself looking away.
I didn't say yes. But I didn't say no, either.
That must have been enough of an answer for Hackard, because she gave me a smile. It wasn't the confident grin she normally sported. This one felt gentler somehow, more fragile in a way I couldn't describe.
"I guess it's been really roundabout of me to put things like this, but my point is… I'm counting on you as usual, Hikigaya."
Before I could respond, she patted my shoulder and got out of her chair, melding back into the crowd of Hermes Familia members. Staring at her back, I could only ponder.
I wondered if that discussion was unavoidable. I understood the kind of choice Hackard had taken all too well. What she had chosen and I wanted were far too incompatible so as to allow for anything like compromise.
What had been done couldn't just be undone. Even if the party had been disbanded, that didn't mean that we were suddenly back to being complete strangers. Wasn't that the problem?
–Is it that you find my care for you unacceptable somehow?
The answer to that question might have been yes. But it wasn't an answer she had accepted. What could I do? How could I provide a reasoning to her that she would accept?
No matter how I thought about it, I just didn't have an answer to that question.
Afterword: Sorry for the lateness, and the shorter chapter.
I kinda lost my voice both literally (I yapped too much too many days in a row) and metaphorically. It felt rusty writing in Hikigaya's voice… but I think I was able to find it again. Maybe that's what I get for writing three Interludes straight. Oops.
Anyways, the fighting begins next chapter. I'm incredibly busy this quarter, so my biweekly schedule might come under strain (as you can see), but rest assured that this project is not on hiatus or anything.
Let me know how you felt the chapter went! Thanks for reading!
See you all sometime soon,
Oreo the Cookie