By the end of the day, Queen Administrator still hadn't managed the foes of the sixth floor to Aiz Wallenstein's satisfaction. QA could reliably cut off their long, dagger-like fingers with the aid of thrown daggers, but that generally only took out two fingers at a time. War Shadows also appeared to be capable of trying to pummel foes with even fingerless fists, much to Queen Administrator's annoyance. The Frog Shooters that accompanied them — irritating foes that attacked by impaling foes on their tongues — were almost worse. They fared worse than War Shadows after being blinded, but they seemed to be able to retract their tongues faster than QA could throw a knife. Dodging and immediately cutting the irregular projectiles on their outbound route truly seemed to be the only viable solution.
However, Queen Administrator was not unhappy with the day's haul. Even with extensive Friend feeding, she'd still extracted enough Magic Stones to birth new Guardians for Hestia and their new Familia member. However, a quick examination by QA's Friends indicated that the child in question had not yet exited the Dungeon; she would need to wait.
"I believe I would like to wait for someone," Queen Administrator said aloud.
"Please proceed without me; it may take an indefinite amount of time for her to appear."
Rather than proceeding as requested, Aiz stopped and idly began to scratch under Sir Kara's chin.
"Tiona?" Aiz asked, seemingly confused.
Queen Administrator shook her head.
"A possible Familia member," she elaborated.
"A cat-person child of approximately ten years."
Aiz tilted her head questioningly. Queen Administrator honestly wasn't sure if the adolescent had chosen that direction so she could touch Sir Kara's head with her own or if it was simply chosen automatically. Given the events of the day, QA was inclined to think the additional contact wasn't an accident.
"Why?" Aiz asked.
"She is unhappy where she is and fits my other criteria for a desired Familia Member. I will not publicly say what those criteria are in order to prevent false imitation by others."
"Hey-yoooo!" Tiona Hiryute interrupted, bounding to beside the conversing pair and rocking back and forth on her heels. "Nice to see you back in one piece. Good day down there?"
Aiz sighed and turned to the new arrival, not appearing at all surprised to find the amazoness so soon after surfacing.
"Ta—Administrator is impatient," Aiz noted. "Ranged specialist or not, she needs to know how to dodge consecutive attacks before she goes further down. She doesn't yet."
"I have learned what I needed from the more difficult floor," Queen Administrator said reassuringly.
"I will comply with your requirements now that my curiosity is abated. Aiz, you do not need to wait for me; please proceed with the collection of your preferred potato treats."
"Supposed to stay with you," Aiz objected.
Tiona waved one hand airily and leaned back against Lady Sable. Her posture was initially stiff, apparently prepared to jump away in the event of an attack. The Hiryute gradually relaxed once she'd confirmed using a Friend as a backrest was something permitted.
"I'll do it," Tiona volunteered. "But uh, where are we going, Administrator?"
"Nowhere," Queen Administrator explained again.
"I wish to intercept my potential Familia member before they continue to a home that does not adequately provide for them."
Tiona brightened and clapped her hands together.
"The elf? I've been wanting to see who got your attention all day."
"She is a cat-person," Queen Administrator corrected, deliberately misleading.
"I may be waiting for an indeterminate amount of time before she arrives; there is no scheduled meeting time."
Tiona's forehead furrowed. Queen Administrator made a mental note to ask about that expression when they were next in private. She had the vague feeling she'd deciphered it before, but she couldn't remember what it was.
"So, wait. You're just going to sit here for hours and then start chatting with her out of the blue as soon as she shows up?"
"Approximately," Queen Administrator admitted.
Tiona let out a brief burst of laughter and shook her head.
"Okay, this I have
got to see. Aiz, you in or would you rather go home to get your Status checked?"
Aiz hesitated for several seconds before making her decision.
"Hestia and Status," the gold-eyed girl said aloud. "Loki will whine otherwise."
"Probably, yeah," Tiona agreed. "Good luck!"
All conversational participants awkwardly stared at one another for several seconds before Aiz finally began to walk toward the Hestia Familia's home. QA noticed the swordswoman frequently glancing back at Host's Friends, but the verbal tic seemed to have temporarily(?) vanished.
As soon as Aiz was out of sight, Tiona levered herself atop Lady Sable and scooted beside Queen Administrator.
"So, tell me more ab—" Tiona happily began.
"It is later: You are not stupid," Queen Administrator interrupted.
"You merely have poor cognitive patterns ingrained in your consciousness. We can fix that."
Tiona stared blankly at QA for several seconds before appearing to remember their earlier discussion. Despite her previous objections, the return of the subject prompted a short stint of laughter and a wide smile.
Archival note: Try harder to remember the word 'smile.' I believe I have used it before, but I keep forgetting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Aiz silently stared at the sheet of paper now holding her updated Status, a childish glee slowly filling her. The updated numbers showed that she wasn't just
allowed to take a break to spend time with both Friends and friends. She was being
encouraged to spend time with them. Each and every one of her Basic Abilities had gone up by an entire letter grade, and her Magic was
maxed. She'd never managed to max a Basic Ability before leveling up before. Given as training Queen Administrator wasn't exactly the sort of feat that allowed rank-ups, Aiz may very well be able to max
everything before she leveled. She couldn't remember if anyone had ever managed that before, but she was heavily leaning toward a
no.
Aiz Wallenstein
Lv. 5
Strength: C 634
Endurance: C 623
Dexterity: S 936
Agility: S 933
Magic: S 999
Hunter: G
Abnormal Resistance: G
Swordsman: H
Magic:
Ariel: Wind enchant magic.
"Tempest."
Skills:
Avenger: Activated skill. Heavily increases user's attack power against monsters; massively increases attack power against dragon-type monsters. Effect increases depending on hatred.
Teacher of Heroes: Greatly enhances growth of user as they nurture the growth of select others. Effect scales with strength of purpose and achievements of students. Most effective if a pupil was at level 1 when nurturing began.
The sounds of running feet thumping on carpet forcefully dragged Aiz's attention away from fuzzy feline Friends and back to the outside world. The Sword Princess's eyes widened as she saw Loki standing by her bedroom door.
"Loki, don't you dare—"
The goddess slammed the door open and took a deep breath.
"AIZ'S NEW—" the goddess shouted.
Aiz clapped one hand over Loki's mouth, dragged the door shut with one foot, and waited for Loki to stop trying to talk through Aiz's palm. The trickster goddess gradually petered into silence and turned betrayed eyes upon her Familia member.
"No," Aiz chided, then slowly withdrew her hand. She kept it hovering nearby in case Loki tried to shout again.
"But Aiiiiiiz!" Loki whined. "Your Abilities went up a
lot! A
lot a lot! I've never heard of anyone growing like that!"
Queen Administrator, Aiz didn't say. Even if she was jealous of her friend's Friends, she wouldn't betray Administrator like that.
"And that will paint a larger target on T—Queen Administrator's back," Aiz said firmly. "You can tell everyone when I reach level six."
Loki crossed her arms and huffed unhappily.
"She'd be
fine if you would just let me take her from that
midg—"
"No, Loki," Aiz sighed. "Administrator is trying to recruit a new Familia member right now. She's even talked about how our Familia's size would mean missing out on vital emotional support."
Loki blinked and affected a thoughtful expression. If Aiz wasn't afraid of having secrets shouted for all the world to see, the adolescent would be tempted to retreat right about then.
"Fine," Loki reluctantly conceded.
Before Aiz could wholly relax, the goddess whipped up a finger and pointed dramatically at her Familia member.
"But tonight, you're eating dinner and playing games with the rest of us!"
There was a long pause as Aiz tried to link the condition to their earlier discussion. It wouldn't come.
"I do not see the connection," Aiz finally admitted.
"And
that is why we're eating dinner together!" Loki said triumphantly.
Ah, there it is. Loki would seldom pass up an excuse to spend time around Aiz. Spending time around their Familia was really just a cover for that motive. There was one outstanding problem Aiz had been meaning to get to, though:
"That's fine," Aiz agreed. She waited for Loki to begin smiling triumphantly before dropping the explosive. "But I'm locking you in a room for three days if you touch me inappropriately."
Aiz knew Loki just intended it as a show of affection, but it really was
not pleasant. With the recent incidents in everyone's mind, Loki
needed to stop. And really, Aiz had already been asking for the goddess to do so for years; it was long overdue.
Loki's expression flipped from triumphant to devastated in an instant. Aiz steeled her heart and refused to give in. It was for the good of not just Aiz and Loki, but the entire Familia!
"But why?" the goddess asked pitifully.
"Ishtar's Familia with the number of times I've publicly told you to stop," Aiz said simply.
Loki's face froze for a moment, flickered to anger — directed at Ishtar, Aiz was absolutely sure — and finally settled on hope.
"What about in private?"
"Loki," Aiz said in warning.
"Aiz," the unrepentant goddess cheerfully replied.
Aiz closed her eyes and resigned herself to playing along with some of Loki's
other embarrassing methods of having fun. It was preferable to the alternative.
"Loki," Aiz sighed.
"Aiz."
"Loki!"
"Aiz!"
~ ~ ~
Lili hurried away from the quartet of adventurers who had, as expected, proven themselves to be little better than the monsters they slaughtered. They'd said they just needed a bit more cash for their equipment and then they'd pay Lili more later. The first few times she'd been told such lies, she was still naive enough to believe them. No longer. Adventurers always needed to buy new armor, or replace a broken piece of equipment, or pay off a debt, or take care of a dead friend's relatives, or
whatever excuse they could think of. This group hadn't even possessed the brains to count their money before making such claims. They'd had Lili empty her backpack and transfer the contents to their own rather than risk her running off with 'their' haul for the day.
(Admittedly, she
was planning on stealing from them, but still! She wasn't
that blatant!)
Lili could wait. She'd chosen this group specifically because they were of the type to think that abusing their Supporter and then leaving her to stand watch over the camp was a
marvelous idea. She'd replace their weapons with cheap—
Lili's planning was interrupted by the feeling of someone grabbing her backpack and hauling it into the air. The Supporter immediately slipped out of her nearly-empty backpack with the ease of long practice and hit the ground running; it wasn't the first time that she would need to escape someone she'd stolen from and it wouldn't be the last. Still, she
was a little confused. Her current identity was new and she'd yet to even steal anything with it! Why would someone be grabbing her
already?
Lili's cloak was grabbed from behind, and just like her backpack, Lili discarded it to keep running. Unfortunately, she hardly went five steps before something that was
not a hand seized the neck of her clothes and lifted her into the air. It wasn't actually that uncomfortable, Lili admitted, and—
—And is that one of Queen Administrator's cats?
Lili stared at the massive feline casually carrying her in its teeth, wide-eyed. What did Lili ever to do Queen Administrator? This didn't make any sense!
"Hello, sister-to-be!" Queen Administrator said in what was probably intended as a happy tone. It was clearly just unchanging and broken as Lili's own mask of fake happiness.
"I don't yet know your name, but we're going to be such good friends!"
Lili met the monarch's emotionless gaze, tried to combine it with the monarch's words and the Supporter's own precarious situation, and utterly failed to find any sane explanations.
She's actually insane, isn't she? Lili thought distantly.
Queen Administrator soon had Lili carried over to where the younger of Loki's famous Hiryute Twins, Tiona Hiryute, was bent double and clutching her stomach from sheer laughter. They were earning quite a lot of interested looks from passerby, too, but none with as strong a reaction.
"You can't just kidnap kids off the street, Administrator!" the famous amazoness gasped out.
Lili would be inclined to agree had she not been dangling from the jaws of a monstrously large cat. As it stood, she settled for hanging limply and trying to look as pitiful as possible. It didn't take much work; she really was feeling increasingly frightened. For the cats, Lili was little more than bite-sized and their teeth were
right there.
"I am still on the street," the mad monarch revealed, still moving away from the Tower of Babel.
"Additionally, I'm bringing her home. That is adoption, not an abduction."
Lili blinked and tried to grapple with the new information as Queen Administrator began to walk away, Lili still suspended from the jaws of her cats. Apparently, Administrator hadn't just been spewing nonsense words and did have a plan. But what could the foreign monarch want with
her? The cats looked as though they could carry any loads without problems. Lili supposed they wouldn't be able to retrieve monster materials and Magic Stones, but Queen Administrator shouldn't be killing enough foes to really warrant a Supporter's assistance. Lili's only explanation was that of simple, spoiled laziness; was the monarch really that desperate for a servant?
The Hiryute twin managed to regain some semblance of control and hurried after Queen Administrator.
"Okay, but—" another giggle escaped the veteran. "Really. You literally can't just steal people like that. Are you trying to make Hestia forget about your nation's child-rearing habits by bringing one home? Because I'll tell you now, it won't work."
"One: As slavery appears to be illegal in Orario, she is not legally a slave. Therefore, I cannot steal her," Queen Administrator returned.
"She is clearly unhappy in her current family and shows considerable potential. If they will not appreciate her, then the Hestia Familia will. Two: No, I am not doing this for the sake of avoiding that inevitable discussion."
What potential? Lili had tried to be an adventurer and found herself wholly unsuitable for it. She couldn't help but imagine all the different ways something could kill her or a situation could go wrong. That was fine when she was a Supporter, but potentially fatal when she was supposed to actually fight her enemies instead of only avoiding them. Admittedly, Lili felt she was a good Supporter, but her life showed that nobody
cared about Supporters unless it was convenient for them.
And what kind of
"child-rearing habits" were so bad that the Goddess of Hearth and Home felt the need to discuss them? Was Lili going to be made to fight giant cats? Surely Hestia would prevent that, wouldn't she?
"Seriously, Administrator," the Hiryute insisted. "Her Falna won't even update unless her deity releases her from their Familia."
Lili saw her chance and grabbed it with both hands, ignoring the little voice saying it was a bad idea. She'd take questionable motives and dubious past practices over the Soma Familia without complaint.
"Lili would love to join Queen Administrator's Familia!" Lili chirped, her mask of false happiness eternally intact. "Lili has been trying to leave the Soma Familia for a
long time, but she isn't allowed. Could Queen Administrator help Lili with leaving? Nobody there cares when Lili cries and they sometimes deliberately make it worse."
There. Given the high number of witnesses, now Queen Administrator
needed to aid Lili or risk a large blow to her recent heroic reputation. If Administrator possessed any political savviness whatsoever, she might realize what Lili had done and be bitter about it, but
Administrator was the one to grab Lili. Any consequences were the monarch's own fault.
Lili hadn't expected the madwoman to squee aloud and hug Lili, though. The Supporter froze, unsure of what to make of such an irregular development. At least Queen Administrator didn't appear to mind Lili's lack of reciprocation, even if it did seem like half of Orario was watching with keen interest.
"Aww, Tiona! Did you hear what she just did? It was so cute!"
The younger Hiryute looked at Queen Administrator with a mirror image of Lili's own bewilderment. Lili couldn't help but feel relieved that she wasn't the only one aware of the monarch's madness. The phrasing was odd, though. Had Administrator noticed Lili's maneuvering and been
happy about it? It wouldn't make sense, but little about the current situation did.
"...Ask for help...?" Tiona Hiryute hazarded.
Queen Administrator shook her head, opened her mouth, stopped, and appeared to think better of whatever she was going to say.
"I shouldn't explain," the royal rookie decided.
"It would sabotage her efforts. Suffice to say that I will gladly help my excellent soon-to-be-sister gain her freedom."
Lili blinked again as Queen Administrator's original greeting finally registered with her. That was one possible interpretation of a Familia member, but it wasn't one often used; it would make in-Familia romantic relationships rather awkward. Were the Shard-Spirit's curses powered by the betrayal and lethal sacrifice of a sibling or something? That seemed like the sort of thing that would — at least in stories — grant enough power to curse one's enemies. But no, Hestia only met the queen a few days ago. Even if all the rumors were wrong and the Goddess of Hearth and Home was actually an evil witch, Hestia and Administrator shouldn't have had
time to coordinate such a scheme. A few days wasn't long enough to conceal the evidence of such things from even Orario's irresponsible eyes.
"Administrator," Tiona said carefully. "I'm as happy to help..."
The amazoness trailed off and frowned. Lili waited for the inevitable refusal to help, explanation of why it was a bad idea, and general dismissal. The Hiryute wouldn't suffer negative repercussions for being
"sensible" about things.
"Fuck it," the Hiryute decided. "Count me in. It's a better way to spend the evening than what I'd had planned."
The adventurer paused and smiled evilly. Lili impatiently waited for the other shoe to drop. Adventurers would never help if they didn't need to.
"But we're clearing it with Hestia first."
There it is...n't? Lili wanted to frown with confusion, but she kept her happy front as intact as always. Queen Administrator's public promise of aid hadn't vanished, and even if her reaction to it was all wrong, it seemed as though she was well aware of the trap Lili had set out. One short explanation to Hestia and Lili should have the goddess's reluctant aid, too.
"We could be finished and victoriously returning by then," Administrator protested.
Then why aren't we heading toward Soma's home? Their path was clearly leading them in almost the complete opposite direction. Lili was guessing they were returning to the Hestia Familia's home out of force of habit.
"Remember Hestia's reaction when we picked her up from the market?" Tiona Hiryute pointedly asked.
Even Lili had heard about that incident, although it was likely corrupted with changes from being spread via word-of-mouth. Apparently, they'd been in such a hurry to get Queen Administrator and Hestia to the pantheon that they'd dragged the latter atop a cat and took off, leaving Hestia's stand completely unattended and the contents gradually ransacked over several hours. The Loki Familia eventually retrieved it, but all the supplies had been stolen by then.
Queen Administrator's lips slanted downward. The lack of movement on the rest of her face made her look furious instead of the sadness she'd likely intended to express.
"Yes. Understood; I will comply."
"Good," Tiona said firmly. "And transfer Lili to one of your Friend's backs, would you? She can't be comfortable and we're earning all sorts of weird looks."
Actually, it isn't really that bad. Lili was more worried about her clothes tearing. Still, she didn't voice her complaints as Queen Administrator transferred Lili to the same cat as her and hugged the disguised pallum to herself. That part, Lili
would complain about if she'd thought anyone would care. As it stood, she resigned herself to acting like a temporary doll for a monarch of dubious sanity.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Hestia repeatedly switched her gaze between Administrator and the tiny, chestnut-haired cat-person child —
surely, she can't be older than ten or eleven? — holding one of Administrator's hands as they stood beside one another. Both of them wore unchanging smiles that were more than just a little
off and hinted at terrible lives to those who didn't know Administrator. Given as the child likely didn't have Administrator's excuses, Hestia was understandably worried about that. In fact, even
Administrator's excuse was worrying with the revelation that one of her homeland's magical experiments was responsible for her injuries. Hestia still couldn't decide whether Queen Administrator fleeing her homeland would be worse or if they'd kicked her out for a perceived deficiency in communications after
causing that problem.
Behind the two stood Tiona Hiryute and QA's Friends. The cats were doing their usual examination of any new area they entered, but at least Tiona was giving Hestia an apologetic look. The amusement twitching the amazoness's lips threatened all that, though.
"This is Lili. I want her in the Familia. She already has one, but Tiona and I are going to fix that."
"Queen Administrator kidnapped me!" Lili chirped, the dead words sounding suspiciously like a cry for help.
Hestia immediately flicked both eyes to Administrator, intending to transition to a glare. Tiona shook her head before that could happen.
"Administrator's methods aside, Lili apparently does want to leave the Soma Familia," Tiona provided.
Hestia breathed a sigh of relief before remembering other possible interpretations of
"fixing" someone's possession of something. That interpretation killed Hestia's relief like Queen Administrator wished to slay those she considered enemies.
"You're not planning on killing them, are you?" Hestia asked tentatively.
There was an uncomfortably long silence. Lili's fake smile didn't waver in the slightest; disturbingly enough, her eyes even looked
hopeful as she turned to look up at Administrator.
"Only if necessary?" Hestia's child hazarded.
Tiona, thank the Heavens, was not half as hesitant. She started and shot a dirty look at Queen Administrator's back.
"Yeah, how about we
not do that," the amazoness drawled. "There are plenty of ways to get someone out of a bad Familia without resorting to violence. Doing that will just get you blacklisted with the Guild, banished from Orario, and probably kicked out of your Familia. This place thinks itself too civilized for such things."
"Not if we leave no witnesses or proof," Queen Administrator argued.
That was
definitely hope in Lili's eyes, Hestia noticed.
Just who have you brought me this time, Administrator, and what did Soma's Familia do to her?
"
We're witnesses!" Tiona said, clearly sharing Hestia's exasperation and concern. "Gods can sense lies, remember?"
"My Friends have no voices with which to tattle. They can do it for us."
"And when they leave black hairs all over the crime scene?" Tiona demanded.
"My Friends do not unintentionally shed fur."
Hestia clearly needed to cut this off before she ended up with cats leaving bloody paw-prints all over the church.
"But the point is moot because
what have I said about murder, Administrator?" Hestia demanded.
"Wait, this seriously isn't a one-off?" Tiona muttered.
Of course it isn't. Last time was genocide.
"That I'm smart enough to not need to resort to it," Queen Administrator dutifully recited.
"But what if I want to resort to it? They hurt Lili."
Hestia closed her eyes and quietly whimpered. It didn't help that Lili had looked as though she'd prefer that solution, too.
"And the
rest of my lecture?" she forced out.
"Killing all my problems just causes more problems to rise from their ashes," QA summarized.
"Very well. We will attempt peaceful methods first."
"And then you're coming home if those fail!" Hestia stressed. "There are
other ways!"
"Like War Games," Tiona unhelpfully provided before transitioning to better examples. "Or political pressure. Lili is level one too, right? That means Aiz might benefit from taking her on, which means
we might be able to bring her in if all else fails. Don't worry, Hestia; I'll make sure Administrator behaves."
If Hestia wouldn't have had to shove her way past the other entities in the room, she would've given the amazoness an enthusiastic hug. As it stood, she settled for a grateful look and all the sincerity she could summon.
"Thank you."
"I can behave without assistance," Queen Administrator protested.
"Tell me that during a week in which you haven't threatened genocide against most of Orario's other gods for their selfishness and idiocy," Hestia rebuked, carefully watching the ten-year-old in the room.
Yes, Lili certainly appeared uncomfortably interested in the mention of mass slaughter. Her facial features remained fixed in a dead front of happiness, but her eyes, posture, and ears reflected enthusiastic interest.
If she joins, I'm going to be having discussions like this regularly, aren't I? Well, better Hestia than someone who'd find such inclinations amusing or encourage them. No child was ever truly lost.
