I'd seen Andrew drag Hestia and me around before, but now that I was the mount, it felt a bit strange as though something were wrong with me carrying him around, though maybe that was just because he was heavy.
His partially broken sword had its handle caved in, and the sword blade had a few dents in it. Perhaps the weapon also contributed to his weight, though he was also a large person to begin with.
I let out a huff as I slowly pushed open the guild door. I was ignored by most, but a panicked guild employee approached us.
It was that half-elf girl who was kind of cute- no! My heart belongs to another! His heartbeat quickened slightly at my sudden stop, and I frowned deeply.
"Does he need treatment?" Her words were careful, as though she were about to step on a hunting trap.
"What- obviously yes!" This woman was clueless.
Instead of continuing to be clueless, however, she let out a sigh of relief.
Oh. She was asking me if he was dead. She quickly gave a whistle to a large cow Demihuman, and the woman came over with heavy and hurried steps. She was in uniform, same as the rest, but she wore a mask covering her mouth and had large goggles on her eyes.
"Stop holding him like that. You're only making his injuries worse." Her tone was cold, but I wasn't handing Andrew over to someone I'd never met before. I especially wasn't leaving Andrew alone with this random older woman.
I heard rapid paces behind me, and much to my relief, it was Rose. His advisor.
Her expression twisted in anger, her gaze flicked over me, the half-elf, and the demihuman. Then she turned back to him.
"Why are you all just standing there? Get him to the medical room!"
The faces of the other two paled slightly, and I found myself ushered into a small office where, at Rose's death glare, I gently placed him on the medical bed. The half-elf left, leaving with a quick 'best wishes' to our small group.
"What the hell happened?" Rose prepared to grab my wrist, but on instinct, I caught it and prepared to twist, though I did catch myself and prevented the injury.
Her expression only twisted further as she yanked her hand away, but my eyes, however, grew dull.
"We need privacy to talk about what happened. Andrew's health comes first."
"Whatever happened could be critical to his recovery. Tell us what happened."
"Blunt trauma to the back, arms, and legs. Lots of bleeding."
She turned away, annoyed but with focus.
"Lara, can you work with that?"
"Already on it. Honestly, I'm surprised this kid is still alive. What an interesting person." She opened a drawer, revealing plenty of safely tucked away healing potions. 8 in total.
"This will cost you-"
"Do it." The words left my mouth before my brain registered them, and Rose waved her hand. However, 'Lara' still hesitated.
Did I need to remove-
"I'll cover it if they can't. Just do it."
With that, Lara got to work, and she also got to live another day. Healing potions were poured down his throat, and then she gently opened some of the wounds to remove the blood from the internal bleeding, and then poured in healing potions. Most importantly, on his spine and legs. Surprisingly, his arms weren't that injured.
As the blood was cleaned off, the operation was successful, and while the doctor most likely saw his Status, she didn't seem to comment on it at all.
Though I believe that woman did inform me that guild doctors have special goggles that don't let them see the Falna. Useful in case I ever needed to hide my skills, but required a doctor as soon as possible.
Perhaps that was the best outcome. That way, I wouldn't have to handle this doctor afterwards.
"He's stable."
There was an audible sigh of relief from Rose and I; however, Rose seemed slightly confused after her action.
How strange . . .
She cleared her throat and spoke up, her voice authoritative, but ever so slightly shaky.
"Leave. I'll handle things from here."
The doctor left without a word and gently clicked the door closed behind us.
Then it was three of us, all alone in this tiny room.
I stared at Andrew's mostly naked body, the massive tattoo on his chest almost seeming to stare right back at me.
The tattoo twisted countless eyes opening upon the rapidly fusing creature- I blinked. It was just a tattoo.
I'd seen it a few times before, but I wasn't certain what it depicted.
"What. Happened." Rose sat on the bed next to Andrew. Her eyes were boring into me, causing me to frown.
I could kill her. But that wouldn't be the best option. Andrew trusted her, and while she wasn't a part of the familia, she cared about him.
I could at least put the faith he held for her in my actions for just a moment.
I silently took out the bag at my side and extracted what we'd received for our efforts, though I would be the first to admit it was mostly his.
She stared down at them in confusion, and then narrowed her eyes further.
Then I mouthed the word of the monster we'd killed.
Then she paused and stared back down. Then she sucked in a breath. Her eyes widened in apt shock.
"That's insane."
I held back a scoff. Did she think I didn't know that? However, Andrew seemed to have the habit of making the impossible possible.
He'd turned a demonstrable avenger into his dear companion after all. What couldn't he do at this point?
I buried a sigh, a small smile making its way onto my features as I stared intensely at him.
I knew he'd be alright. He was just that type of person. Someone who you could count on even when the world was collapsing in on itself.
A weak cough left his lips, and his eyes gently fluttered open. He silently looked at Rose, then at me. I didn't let out a relieved sigh; there was no need.
I knew he'd be alright.
"Feels like I got hit by a truck."
A what?
Tears started to leak from my eyes, barely even acknowledging the words.
Andrew Ariti POV
"Feels like I got hit by a truck."
It hurt really badly! My whole body was wracked with pain, and my vision was a little blurry. My hands stung, and my back felt tight.
I've never had to overcome an internal conflict like that before; usually, I'm the one helping others through them.
A rabbit slammed into my chest, causing me to let out a weak sputter.
"Belle, your clothes might get dirty like this."
She let out a small growl and stuck close to me, all I could do was give a small sigh and hug her right back!
My eyes panned to Rose, who was just staring at me and frowning, like I'd done something wrong and she was preparing to berate me.
"What happened?"
I slightly tilted my head at her words.
"Well, we went into the Dungeon and Belle did a great job of beating up monsters on the first floor, then this big armored guy showed up with a meteor hammer-er, it's like a long flail. Anyways, I beat him up after overcoming my unresolved inner turmoil and awakening to a power slumbering inside me... then I passed out."
As was the Shounen way. Everyone knows that after awakening a new power, you have to dramatically fall unconscious (preferably after defeating your current foe).
Rose took a seat on a chair next to us and simply stared at me silently before muttering something under her breath.
Foolish. Foolish. Foolish! I hear basically everything!
"What the fuck?"
Alright, well, I didn't NEED to hear that, but I have a small laugh at her muttering. Rose was simply blindsided by my shoneness.
"So Belle, that was a Hunter, right?"
She shot up and practically dashed across the room to our drops. A monster crystal and an emerald arrowhead.
"Indeed. My former . . . Guardian made certain I was educated on them. However, getting the drop as well? That's only been recorded a single time to my knowledge."
Rose raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"That's highly confidential. Your former guardian must be someone of great importance."
Belle let out a laugh, it was . . . Strange. As though a madness was tinged behind it.
"Not important to myself, but you could make such a claim if you so desired."
Belle was talking weird again. This arrowhead must clearly be a big deal. Rose's expression twisted slightly, and a thought occurred. If something was highly confidential, why did Rose know about it? Was Rose secretly a manger level entity or something?
Truly, Rose was stronger than I first believed.
"So what does it do?" I stared at the little arrowhead, my eye unblinking as I stared in deep fascination. This thing had a certain allure to it that I just couldn't shake! It was just that shiny!
"Do you know about development abilities?" I shook my head, and Belle slightly stared up from her clinging form to stare directly at Rose with widening eyes.
"Is this one of those items?" Belle started to trail off as her eyes narrowed. While she knew of the item's existence, she was certainly lacking information on it. With that said, she was still in possession of way more information than myself!
"Indeed, it's-" Rose paused, and lightly bit her lip as she glanced over at me. She'd been so enraptured by the item she'd forgotten to answer my question, and she finally realized it.
"Apologies, I'll summarize. This item can grant someone the qualifications for the Hunter development ability- A highly sought after development ability that is normally extremely difficult to gain." She took in a breath as she stared directly into my eyes, which caused me to blush lightly. "The qualifications, as normal, are to kill the creature you faced and to have it die by your own hand."
"Oh, that would be pretty difficult." Rose let out a snort at that, while Belle simply frowned.
"I can do it." I put a hand on my chin. Well, if she says she can do it, then she can do it.
"Alright, we don't need to use this on you then." I plopped my fist into my open hand. "Do you think Welf would want it?" Rose's expression twisted in confusion while Belle's frown grew.
"Whose Welf?"
"He's not a part of our Familia."
Rose's jaw dropped for a moment before she strangled a sigh, then she leaned in towards me and started to berate me!
"Don't give away something this valuable, either save it until your familia is strong enough to safely sell it, or use it on a member of your familia you can trust."
Her eyes flicked over to Belle for a moment, but Belle beat her to whatever she was about to say.
"I don't need it. I am going to kill my Hunter."
"How do you even know one is going to get sent after you? Even then, defeating it by yourself isn't reasonably possible." Rose's eyes shot back to me, and she palmed her face. "Unless you're a freak of nature."
"I have complete faith in her abilities. Either way, if something goes wrong, I can back her up!" I slightly tilted my head towards the drops and picked up the green crystal, staring deeply into its near emerald sheen. "So, how much is this worth?"
"Every Hunter is unique, so is the value of its stone. I'll get it appraised and the value back to you in the next week. To tide you over, I'll give you a million Valis in the meantime. It's at least worth that much."
I could practically hear the sound of money. Even Belle let out a light gulp at the sheer amount of funds being given to us.
"Yeah, that sounds good Rose. Thank you!"
However, Rose didn't immediately leave. Instead, she remained seated and continued to stare right at me.
"Do you have any idea why the Dungeon hates you?" I slightly tilted my head.
"I'm going to take that as a no." She put one leg over the other and looked at the two Shounen Heroes in front of her with a troubled expression. So I had to reassure her!
"Rose, we are alive thanks to your advice. Even if the Dungeon hates the two of us, we won't give up!" Belle gave a cute nod, and I couldn't help but flash Belle a thumbs up.
She always knew how to back me up! Rose leaned back in her chair and let out a groan, but I could see the hint of a smile on her face.
"Fine then, I won't try to convince you otherwise. Just make sure you keep coming to me for advice. Don't want to have either of your deaths on my consciousness."
I practically bounded from the bed and stared Rose straight in the eyes, causing her to nearly flinch backwards out of her chair.
"Does that mean you are going to be Belle's advisor as well!?"
"S-sure." She cleared her throat before continuing. "As long as it means it'll keep you alive." Tears leaked from my eyes as I hugged Belle, the girl blushing vibrantly at the action.
"Belle, Rose is going to back you up, too, now! Isn't that amazing?"
"Y-yeah." I could feel Rose gazing at Belle over my shoulder, and she let out a small 'heh', which only seemed to drive Belle deeper into embarrassment.
Rank 6: Tense Negotiations - Slightly Increases all Parameters while facing against another Familia
"Don't tell anyone outside your Familia about you defeating a Hunter, I should hope that goes without saying."
Dang it! I wanted to tell Welf!
I let out a small sigh and agreed to her demands.
"Alright." My tone was defeated, but the truth was that I was still riding the high of victory.
We had to tell Hestia! I lifted my body off the bed and gave Rose a grateful nod. However, as I put my hand on the doorknob, I frowned.
Why was I only in my underwear? Silently turning back to the pair, I spotted a box full of bloody clothes.
"Oh." Belle silently stared at me, her eyes slightly glazed over, but Rose was not stunned by such an act. Instead, she just walked past me and out the door.
"I'll be back in a moment." The door gently clicked behind her, and now I was in a staring contest with Belle!
"That was pretty crazy, right? What happened after I took a nap anyways?"
She blinked and then looked up at my eyes with a blush, then she turned serious.
"I ran into a few people, but the problem handled itself somehow." I nodded; those were the best type of problems.
"We should get our Falna's updated with Hestia, I'm sure we've both gained quite a lot from this trip."
Belle let out a sigh and got up from her seat.
"We'll just have to wait and see. Its not like we were in there for that long." She gently paced towards me and gently set a hand on my shoulder.
"We're all alone right now. Just me and the Hunter killer himself."
I blushed faintly at the praise.
"Well I couldn't have done it without you!" She quivered slightly, and her blossoming blush deepened. Belle didn't realize I had experience with the heart to heart shoulder touch technique! I had the perfect counter.
The DOUBLE SHOULDER TOUCH. Passed down from my father to me, and from his father to him. I drew in a weighty breath and put both my hands on her shoulders while I looked downwards towards the floor. My head slowly panned up, and I stared directly into her crimson eyes.
Then I smiled, from the heart!
"I couldn't have asked for a better partner."
I'd used this technique only once before, but Belle was deserving of it!
We'd fought a supernatural monster together; what else could I ask for from my dear companion?
"Y-you, you really-"
"Am I interrupting something?"
The door opened behind us, and Rose looked between the door's crack with a bored expression.
"You really-" Belle's teeth gritted as she spoke, but the case shoved in her hands caused her to quiet down immediately. Not because of what was in the case, but because of what was on top of it.
"My boss considers you a good investment, it took a little bit of negotiating but I'm sure you'll find a use for it."
On top of the case was a ring with a purple star shaped gem in the center. However, the shiny object didn't woo me this time; instead, I cracked open the case, with Belle practically diving for the ring. The massive amount of Valis in front of me made me smile.
"Thanks Rose! I knew you would have our backs! Though, whats the ring for?" This wasn't the first time someone had randomly given me a ring, nor would it be the last. Of that I was certain. Presumably, this one was magic, though Rose didn't seem like the type of person to hand out jewelry for no reason after all.
"This ring grants its wearer increased magic and curse resistance. That ring is free, but the potions you used and new clothes are being deducted from you one million valis. That case has 600,000 Valis in it."
I have no idea how many potions we used, but they must have been insanely good to cost that much! Rose and Belle really didn't hold back with my healthcare!
"Thanks for everything, Rose. You really are amazing." I stared straight at her and then at the clothes she was handing to me.
"You don't need to say that every time I do something for you."
"But I want you to know, you deserve the compliments!"
Rank 7: No More Surprises - Increases Sensory Perception when being Ambushed.
Oh yeah. I should probably put these on.
Also why is Rose looking at me like that?
___
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