135 A Painful Loss—An Adventurer's Everyday Reality!
Chapter 135 - A Painful Loss—An Adventurer's Everyday Reality!
"Haha, that really cracked me up. Trash will always be trash."
Hibachitei, the tavern where Luke and Bete had once forged their friendship.
The various honey-made drinks served at this tavern left an unforgettable impression on Luke, and to this day, it remains one of the few places he frequently visits in his free time.
Before he even stepped foot inside the tavern, Luke could already hear the sound of insults coming from within.
"What's wrong? Not convinced?"
"A bastard like you wouldn't even be able to fight back!"
"Don't overestimate yourself. All you, trashes, should just scram!"
Finn walked up to Luke's side, followed closely by the upper echelons of their Familia: Loki, Riveria, and Gareth, not one of them missing.
"That's the Captain of Vidar Familia, Bete Loga. I heard you two are pretty good friends?"
Luke stood at the entrance of the tavern, listening to Bete's relentless stream of mockery toward the other customers.
"How long has it been?"
Luke asked Finn out of the blue.
"About two days, I think. It's been like this ever since he left Vidar Familia."
Finn had given Luke a brief rundown of the situation on their way over.
The Vidar Familia had already left Orario.
The god Vidar shared a deep bond with Loki, and upon his departure, he had specifically sought her out.
"There's a ferocious 'wolf' among my Familia."
"Perhaps I—and my Familia—are about to get ourselves killed by it."
"Loki, would you look after him for me?"
Those were the exact words spoken by god Vidar at the time.
And they were the reason Loki and the others were here now.
Stepping into the tavern, Luke was met with the sight of countless overturned tables and a werewolf youth rampaging about.
The owner of Hibachitei stood behind the counter, seemingly unfazed by the chaos unfolding before him, calmly polishing a wine glass in his hand.
Only when he saw Luke enter did the barkeep pause his task, point toward Bete's direction, and give Luke a look that said, "I leave it to you."
Nodding to the barkeep, Luke made his way toward Bete, who was fuming in the corner.
"A bunch of useless bastards like you calling yourselves adventurers is laughable."
"Are you guys just holding each other back?"
"You, wastes, should just..."
"Bete, long time no see."
The voice from behind interrupted Bete's tirade.
He didn't respond to Luke's greeting, merely turning around to silently observe Luke, the only friend he had left in Orario.
Unfazed by Bete's silence, Luke picked up a round table lying on the floor and said to Bete, "Have a seat. It's been a while since we last saw each other; might as well catch up."
Bete still didn't speak, but he didn't refuse Luke's invitation either.
He picked up a chair from the floor and sat down.
Almost immediately after Luke and Bete sat down, the barkeep appeared with two drinks in hand.
One cup of crimson mead, one cup of honey juice.
Bete stared at the cup placed before him, his mind wandering back to the day they had first met, three years ago.
"On the house."
The barkeep tapped Bete's head with the tray he was holding, then turned and returned to his spot behind the counter.
"Tsk..."
Clicking his tongue, Bete took a hearty swig from the crimson mead.
As the mead burned its way down his throat, Bete finally spoke to Luke.
"It's been six months since I've last seen you, and you haven't changed a bit."
"Yeah, not much has changed for me. But you... you've changed so much, I almost didn't recognize you."
Hearing Luke's words, Bete knew that the other man must have witnessed his outburst earlier.
Without waiting for the atmosphere to cool down, Luke asked Bete about the cause of his transformation.
"The Vidar Familia, what happened?"
"..."
Bete picked up his cup, intending to take a sip, but then seemed to think of something and put it back down.
Pick up, put down, pick up, put down.
He repeated this action three or four times.
Finally, he looked at Luke and said, "I should thank you first for saving my Familia members... no, for saving the lives of those trashes."
Bete's words instantly made Luke understand the ins and outs of the situation.
"The nightmare on the 27th Floor, was the Vidar Familia also involved in that incident?"
To be honest, Luke hadn't noticed at the time.
He and Bete were friends, yes, but their friendship was limited to the two of them personally.
Neither Luke nor Bete had ever bothered to learn much about the other's Familia members.
There had been hundreds of adventurers trapped at the time, from Familias both large and small.
So, it's reasonable that Luke hadn't noticed Bete's Familia members among the group.
"Heh, they were all there, every single one of them."
"And every single one of them came back alive."
The tone in Bete's voice was complex, a mixture of relief, sorrow, pain, and a sense of release that he himself couldn't quite understand.
This time it was Luke's turn to fall silent.
The two of them drank their beverages in silence.
After a while, Luke asked Bete,
"I remember you mentioned that the Vice-Captain of Vidar Familia was your lover, right?"
"What about her... did she give up too?"
Giving up
A common phenomenon among adventurers in Orario.
When Luke heard from Bete that every single member of Vidar Familia had returned alive and well, he knew what had happened.
Faced with the overwhelmingly powerful Floor Boss and the endless hordes of monsters, the members of the Vidar Familia had lost the confidence and courage to continue their journey as adventurers.
Adventurers abandoning their adventuring lifestyle to become supporters, or to retire and live ordinary lives, or even applying to have their Falna sealed and leave their Familia base and Orario altogether.
Such cases were all too common in this labyrinth city.
Faced with the prospect of insurmountable terror, some people found it difficult to muster the courage to keep going.
The mere thought of facing invincible monsters down the road would instinctively lead them to retreat, to give up.
Shrouded in the shadow of death, adventurers unable to overcome obstacles would forever be mired in fear.
Everyone had their own reasons for choosing to become an adventurer, and in this world, becoming an adventurer was not the only path one could take.
Having experienced the 'nightmare', the members of Vidar Familia, with the exception of Bete, their Captain who had been absent from Orario, had all chosen to give up.
Therefore, God Vidar had decided to lead his entire Familia away from Orario and into the outside world.
Just then, Bete returned.
"As the Vice-Captain, she suffered severe injuries to both her arms and legs in that incident. Though her wounds have healed to some extent after receiving treatment, she will never be able to engage in high-intensity combat again."
Sitting across from Bete, Luke could hear the other man gritting his teeth.
"I can't accept it!"
"I can't accept their apologies, I can't accept their cowardice, and what I can't accept the most is her giving up!"
Back then, when Bete returned to Orario after exacting his revenge, he was met with tearful Familia members, a Vice-Captain who had lost all hope, and his god's apology.
'Why have you all chosen to give up so easily! Why are you, a god, apologizing to me!'
That was the only thought that had lingered in Bete's mind at the time.
(PS: The latest chapter 161 and 162 really made me cry 😭😭. Sorry, I just couldn't help myself from posting this.)
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