Gin had been living in Orario for almost a year now.
It was therefore natural that there would be some places he was really familiar with.
For him, those would be the 4th District where Helheim was, the 3rd District where he spent the early days of his adventuring, and of course, the 8th District.
It wasn't just once or twice that he had visited this district. This area was pretty much his second home and hunting ground now.
Well, the sentiment went both ways, as people from the 8th District somehow knew him pretty well even before he leveled up.
"Oi, Gin! I am cooking up some new menus. You want to try it?"
"Garmr!? Wait, we are really busy at the moment. Why don't you go to old Sanders' place instead?"
"Mr. Hvergel. Good day to you. I hope you will visit our cafe again in the near future."
"Gin, Gin! Hello!"
He took out some of his snacks from his pocket and handed them out to a group of kids.
They gave him a toothy smile in return and whispered beside his ear, "Praise Hel."
"Praise Hel."
He nodded to them too!
"Don't forget to brush your teeth afterward, you guys!" he shouted out as they jogged away from him.
Sighing at their half-hearted "okay~", he stood up and looked back at his current companions.
"What the hell was that?" Lyra asked him.
"What? You don't like it when people praise Astraea-sama?" Gin shrugged. "I am just teaching them some good manners. You do pray before you eat and stuff, right?"
"You are not wrong, but you are definitely not right either," Lyra remarked. "You look like a cultist, bro."
"Hey, the legal term is familia, okay? We don't do cults in the Hel Familia. Elise and I are the only ones who pray daily to Hel anyway." He shook his head in frustration before muttering under his breath.
"Do I need to housebreak the newbies after all?"
"Eh, guys, his eyes are turning red." Gin heard Alise point something out, but he ignored it.
"Anyway, yeah, let's just go to Sanders. They have this crispy fried chicken. Ah, they do salads and vegetable soups too, so don't worry, Ryuu."
"Gin."
"Hmm?" Gin turned to Ryuu at her call.
"You are… really popular."
"It's the Hvergel natural charm. My ma was exactly the same." He recalled it fondly. "She would sing outside, and somehow some forest animals would come out and approach her."
"Your mother must be a very gentle person," Ryuu nodded.
"Hee, she must be a very good singer. She made friends with those animals then?"
Gin looked away from Alise's hopeful look. "…They are probably getting along inside her stomach."
""She ate them!?""
"Hey! Not all of them, okay!" he explained, coming to the defense of his mother. "The deer dealt a surprising counterstrike before my ma could capture it."
"Hahaha! Your mother's wild!" Alise and Lyra cackled as Ryuu held her head. "Is your entire family that crazy? How about your dad? Any funny stories to share?"
"My father, huh?" Gin scratched his chin for a while before beginning. "The truth is, he was..."
"He was…?" All of them were hanging on his words now.
"…Wassup~"
"Oi!" He received a slap to his chest courtesy of Alise. "Damn it, Gin! Just give it to us straight!"
"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry. Kind of hard recalling stuff about my father, actually." He grinned. "He was an adventurer. Pretty active once too. He would come maybe like one or two times every five months or so. I don't know him that well." He said this as he made his way inside the restaurant.
"Like, he always talked to me with this flat tone and short words. It would always be something like, 'Oh.' 'Interesting.' 'I see.' That guy had no vocabulary at all." He sighed.
"When I asked Ma about it, she would only swoon and say, 'Your papa is cool, right? That cold exterior is totally hot.' Just because he's a bit handsome he got a 'get out of jail free' card from conversing with me. Unbelievable."
"Hahaha… You didn't get along with him at all, huh?" Alise chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry, Gin. Is it a taboo topic for you after all?"
"Nah, I wouldn't say taboo. It's just that our relationship was too flat to be called father and son, so there isn't much to say." He finished giving his order to the waitress as he answered her. "He is my father because he did the dirty with my ma. I accept that, sure. But that's it. My relationship with him is nothing more than two dudes who coincidentally got stuck with a person they couldn't get along with."
"Are you angry at him?" Ryuu said quietly.
"I'm not." He heaved a sigh and leaned back in his seat. "No point in being angry at strangers, or the dead for that matter."
"Gin, that's—"
Gin raised a finger at her, stopping any words that might come out.
"That's how it should be. I am not angry at him. I don't see the need to be angry at him. His story is over—curtain call, all that jazz. I am not going to live my life under his story."
"That's a bit sad, don't you think, bro?" Lyra stared at him. "'His story is over?' I think your story with him was left without a conclusion. That must've left a bad taste, huh?"
"Not really. I have no more business with the dead. When life ends, it ends. We just need to accept it. I don't care about some what-if ending. I got a non-satisfying conclusion? Sure it sucks, but that's just how life is."
"I won't regret any of it. I will only treasure what I have."
He didn't have any choice in the matter anyway.
What could he do? Curse death? No way in Hel!
"I will treasure life and accept death as it should be, because I am Hel's Beloved Champion," he said, more to himself than to them.
...
"Thank you for your patronage, Gin, my boy. I hope you and your friends will come here again," old Sanders said as he saw him out.
The other three were already waiting outside the building.
"I can't speak for them, but you know my stomach will always be there for you." Gin grinned as he put some chicken sandwiches in his pocket.
"By the way, are they your new familia? Or are they from the Loki Familia?"
Gin looked at him in disbelief. "Sheesh, they are from the Astraea Familia. You know, the group that always does patrols and stuff? I thought they would be more famous than this."
"Ah, I see. I see. I do know the name, but I never had a face to put the two together." Sanders said as he glanced at them.
Nodding after a second, he turned back to Gin. "Hmm, you should have said so sooner. Please wait here for a while."
Gin watched as he walked back into the restaurant and disappeared into the kitchen.
"Gin, are you ready to go?" Alise approached him. "I know we don't have a fixed schedule, but if the others think we slacked off, they will chew us out for sure."
"I know, I know. It shouldn't take long." He waved her off. "So where are we going after this? First District?"
"Yup, after that, we will head to Babel before calling it a day." She nodded. "It's a good thing that nothing bad happened today. All in all, it's a nice, quiet day."
"The chance of something happening just increased because you said that," Gin mumbled under his breath.
Anyone who tempted fate with lines like that somehow always ended up making things serious.
Praying to Hel that nothing too bad would happen, he waited silently as old Sanders finally came back.
He was carrying some wooden containers with him.
By detecting the smell coming from them, Gin could easily guess that the contents were obviously food.
"Gin, did you still order more?" Ryuu commented as soon as she saw it. "I know that you eat a lot, but isn't this too much?"
"Personally, no." He shrugged. "I didn't order this one, though. I already got mine right here." He pointed to his snack pocket.
She looked at him and old Sanders with a puzzled expression.
Her expression grew more puzzled as the elderly man approached her and handed her the food.
"?" She looked confused by the gesture.
It was kinda funny to see how such a simple thing could leave the mostly stoic elf this perplexed.
"I didn't order this too."
The old man laughed and handed a container to Alise too.
Understanding the scene, Lyra grinned and shamelessly accepted the food with an open hand.
"It's just a little treat from me, Missy." He smiled. "It won't fully cover what you've done for the city, but I hope this will remind you that some of us are truly grateful for your service."
"Haha, we are not in it expecting a return, though," Alise said happily.
"The free food is nice, though. You should do this more often, old man," Lyra added before yelping as Ryuu hit her head. "Hey, what the hell was that for!?"
"We are not doing this to receive thanks," Ryuu scolded her. "We are doing it to protect the peace because it is the right thing to do."
"Doesn't mean you can't enjoy the side benefits, though," Gin remarked.
She turned her attention to him now.
He raised his hands in surrender. "Hey, peace. I am just saying that rejecting free food is a sin. What? Are you going to help others and expect that no one will do it for you in return? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and all that."
"That one is talking about revenge, though," Lyra commented.
"Nah, it's talking about how the world works. For us in the Hel Familia, at least. 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, goodwill for goodwill, and a wild hunt for the evil.' You can change the last part to make it sound cooler and more personal too. Try it."
"An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, the beat from the wing of justice for the evil." Alise hummed.
"I like it."
"See?" Gin pointed out. "Anyway, just accept it, Ryuu. Being just is all well and good, but being just and being hardheaded are two different things. If you are troubled by this gift, then just work harder and help more people in return. That's just how things work."
"…Is that how it really is?"
He nodded to her. "It is. Simple, right? Just think of it as a kinder, more noble form of give and take. Besides, rather than contemplating the morality of accepting a gift, it's more important to say thank you to those who show you their goodwill."
Hearing his words, Ryuu stayed silent for a second before turning to old Sanders.
"Um, thank you. We appreciate it," she said almost shyly.
"Yes, thank you very much! I feel like I'll do even better with this."
"Totally. Thanks, kind old man."
"You are very welcome." He chuckled good-naturedly. "I am glad that I could do my part to assist you, even if it is nothing."
"Anyway, we better move out soon. We have a schedule to keep, people," Alise said as she led the way.
"Thank you again, old man."
Lyra gave the old man a friendly wave, while Ryuu only made a polite nod.
Gin followed their lead and said goodbye to him too, but Sanders tapped his hand and motioned for him to come closer.
"Gin, my boy, those girls are quite the characters. Are they your…" He let the unspoken question hang in the air.
Well, better make it clear for him.
People seemed to be under the misconception that Ryuu was the only eligible target for his teasing.
Well, they were wrong!
As his goddess always said, "All are equal before death," and as her champion, it was obvious that he would follow in her footsteps.
"Please don't spread it around, okay?" Gin smiled at him, looking down shyly to hide his true face.
"Oh! Ohohoho! That's my boy! Now give me some!" He exclaimed excitedly and showed his palms.
Gin met them with his own.
Hel yeah!
"It's okay, my boy. Your secret is safe with me."
"I am counting on you, then, sir." Gin gave him a handshake and walked away.
'Keikaku Doori.'
....
On an unrelated note, following that day, his familia was left puzzled as random dudes, sirs, and bros in the 8th District gave him high fives one after another.
But that's a story for another time.
....
The sky turned orange as they were about to wrap up their patrol session.
The four of them were walking down the western part of the First District.
The high wall of Orario stood tall in their sight, giving a certain kind of security to its citizens.
Although he always wondered, when would they get the grim reminder that they lived in fear of monsters and were disgraced to live in these cages they called walls?
…No wait, that's the wrong series.
Anyway, he absentmindedly looked around and noticed that they were on the street near the Blue Pharmacy.
He wasn't going to drop by there to say hi, though.
Usually he always brought Hel or Elise there to keep him grounded.
Facing Miach-sama alone was too risky; he didn't want to test his luck and end up opening another route.
"So how is your first patrol, Gin?" Alise asked him, as they made their way to the center of the city to end their patrol.
"Is it everything that you expected? Or is it way less interesting than you hoped?"
"It's a normal day. Normal is nice sometimes," he replied. "My life is filled with a lot of drama and excitement already. I don't need more epic scenes added to it."
"Well, just keep it up. Once we arrive at Babel, we can call it a day and go back home. You can tell your familia about how cool and exciting it is to be on a patrol." Alise giggled. "It's a good thing that nothing happened, I guess."
"…Alise."
"Yeah? What's up?"
"Do you read books?"
"Hmm? I read one or two stories when I was a kid. Not really a fan though; they have too many words and not enough pictures. Playing outside is better."
Ah, that explained it.
That was why she had no sense of security around her words.
Gin closed his eyes and slowly counted down inside his head.
Something would happen. Definitely. This was Alise's fault for tempting fate!
"Alise. Let me teach you something. No, Ryuu, Lyra, hear me out too." He reached out to them.
"There are certain words that you should never say in certain settings, okay? Like if you block a group of monsters and say stuff like 'Leave it to me, I'll catch up later!' that's you wiggling your finger in front of a rabid bitch called fate."
"Huh?" Before he needed to explain more, the rabid bitch finally bit out.
BOOM!
An explosion rang out in the distance, followed by smoke and the distant sound of panicked screams.
Judging from the direction, it was somewhere in the Second District.
He unsung his bow wordlessly as the three stared at the direction of the explosion.
See? This is what happens when you don't watch your words!
He prayed that this would be a piece of wisdom that would hopefully survive against the test of time.
"Fate is a bitch, true, but you are pretty much fate's bitch." — Gin Hvergel.
"It's in the direction of the magic tool factory!" Lyra shouted out and broke out into a run. "Alise, Ryuu! Head there first! You two alone should be quicker! Every second counts now!"
The two Level 3s nodded and left him and Lyra in the dust.
He could see Alise rushing through the street while Ryuu took off and hopped from rooftop to rooftop.
Damn, they were definitely high Level 3s.
They were way more agile than Ais. Both of them must have had hellacious Agility.
Well, he better show them what he could do too.
"Oi bro, where are you going!? The action's over there!" Lyra yelled at him as she realized that he wasn't even running in the same direction as her.
Rather than following them, he ran in the direction of the wall.
"Fun fact about me: I am an archer!" he responded confidently. "Fun fact about archers: We are a hell of a lot more dangerous up high and far away!"
"-! You better own up to your words, bro! I am going after them."
"I know! Happy hunting to you too!" he shouted out before breaking into a run.
The buildings were a blur as he sprinted toward the city wall.
He half-ran and half-jumped over the ramp and stairs leading to the top of the wall.
It took a while, but he was finally at the top of the wall, looking down at the mayhem happening in the distance.
How weird. They looked so small and yet so clear. They were so far away that no stray attacks could ever hit him.
Well, sucked to be them. The world is unfair after all. That's just reality.
Only this time, for once, he had all the advantages.
Picking his targets wasn't that hard; he only needed to assist those who could tip the scales in their favor, and right now the leading actor in this act was obviously not him nor the Astraea Familia members, but the person already fighting against the villainous specks in his sight.
He reached deep into his mind, calling out the spell that marked the crisis in his identity as an archer.
The spell which ironically enough became the bread and butter to his fighting style.
"O' evil descend, Reminds the Mighty of their burden, and the Weak of their powerlessness. Empty, unanswered prayers are their only salvation from despair. None shall escape my grasp, for I am beloved by Hel."
Poor little evil ants, struggle against the binding shackles of your fate.
"Ginnungagap."
As dark vapors materialized one after another, taking hold of the faraway specks that he knew were his enemies, he smirked and sent a silent message of support to the leading actor.
"Enjoy the limelight for now, O' Beauty Goddess's Apostle."
He watched from afar as his darkness was painted over by red.
The black sword of the dark elf clad in a black cloak danced across the battlefield, bringing judgment and despair down on his enemies.
Hah, how laughable.
The two separate darknesses befell the evil and became the light of hope.
The two that should remain in the shadow, loyal and unassuming behind the dazzling light of their goddesses, ended up taking the spotlight instead.
But that was fine.
If this rondo of jet-black darkness was the play dictated by fate, then he would play his part and dance along with the tune!
"We shall be the instruments that bring down suffering to the evil," he whispered to the dark soul below.
"This is our requiem, Dainsleif [Black Fairy's Demon Sword]."
And that day, the two dark stars crossed paths.
...
Hogni Ragnar, the former Dark Elf King turned Freya warrior, surveyed the battlefield as he mowed down another Evilus member with his sword, [Victim Abyss].
It was a misfortune for him to stumble upon these villains.
Had he not gone to the Goibniu Familia to have his weapons serviced, then he wouldn't have had to deal with these annoyances.
They weren't difficult opponents.
Evilus members were mostly Level 2 or 3, with the occasional Level 4 or 5 executive. Thinking about the loud and violent [Arachnia] or the twin menaces from the Alecto Familia, he decided that this rabble was the better alternative.
'It would be better if there weren't so many of them, though.' He dashed and cut down another one before sending out Burn Drain to the ones that kept their distance.
It was a rarity for him to fight while fully in control like this.
Usually, he would only battle for a moment before retreating behind the safety of the ideal black king provided by Dainsleif.
For someone who felt nothing but nervousness and anxiety from people's gazes, a spell that could let him take the back seat while a better, more confident version of himself took control was a blessing.
There was a good reason for this.
He had no need to use Dainsleif when the battle would be over quickly.
He watched as the members of Evilus panicked and futilely tried to shake off the mysterious dark chains around them.
It didn't hinder their movements, but the chains were obviously weakening them to a great degree.
The resistance from Evilus had been reduced to basically nothing.
Even the one who seemed to be a Level 4 was reduced to the level of a slightly good Level 3.
'A skilled curse user is behind this.'
It wasn't only one or two.
All the Evilus members around him were bound by the dark chains. He had fought curse users before, but none of them were able to affect this many targets.
The user was unknown, but they were clearly on his side.
He was definitely thankful for the assistance, but at the same time, he was a little envious of the mysterious spellcaster!
'I want to fight without being here too. Why did I learn the blade again? Ah, right. I am pretty good at it, aren't I?'
Even as he thought this, his sword didn't stop to reap the lives of his enemies one after another.
It was a massacre.
Having a Level 5 like him against weakened rank-and-file members of Evilus was overkill.
Their extra numbers were doing nothing except helping to cover the ground with more corpses.
"…Kukuku, greet the darkness of the great beyond from the requiem of my blade. Hee, hee, heeheehee."
The incoherent rambling escaped his mouth from nervousness, and his smile gained a sardonic and psycho-like quality without him meaning to.
This always happened whenever he knew people were watching him.
The members of Evilus saw him coming, but their attention was still divided between the incoming death in the form of the charging dark elf and the terror from the unknown curse.
"Dammit, don't come any closer, Dainsleif!"
"He's insane!"
"Find the curse user already! He couldn't be that far away!"
"Shut up! There's no way I can locate them that easily! It could be anyone!"
Away from the battlefield, the mysterious spellcaster was posing menacingly.
If he had been here, the members of Evilus would have figured out that he was the culprit in a heartbeat, but as he was far from their view, his identity remained hidden from their minds!
As the indirect cooperation of the dark elf and the champion of Hel continued unimpeded, Evilus was thoroughly stomped before the members of the Astraea Familia even arrived there.