Return to Folkvangr

"I can't die...!" "This is the end." "It's finally over…."

As heavy blades and wild claws rapidly approached them, Bodvar, Mia, and Sophia saw that their lives were coming to an end. Like many others before them, their heroic adventures would soon be officially over.

"...!!!"

However, in the next moment, a strange gray gleam shone in the eyes of Poseidon's executives.

"...?!" "Wh-Where am I?" "What is going on?!"

As their lips uttered these words, their weapons immediately started to reflexively move aside to a more defensive position while their well-trained bodies jumped back.

Considering their overall confusion as to why they were in a battle with Freya Familia in the first place, they have decided to create a space between themselves and their opponents before asking any questions.

"So…" the werewolf started with a piercing gaze and an overbearing tone; his eyes were carefully observing all his newfound opponents, boaz and dwarf tightly holding their weapons beside him.

"Mind explaining what's going on here, Freya Familia?"

***

10 minutes later, with the first rays of moonlight, multiple dark silhouettes have been seen digging the ground where the secret underground base has previously collapsed.

Despite their strength being replenished by the mighty mana potions, carefully prepared for emergency situations by an Amazoness, no one had been in a particularly good mood.

Well, everyone, despite a single energetic and enthusiastic dwarf.

"Keep digging," Mia Grand's voice was heard under the night sky. "We can't return without the brats."

"Mia, if anything, both of them should be dead. With all these rocks, I think even I would die," human wearing whatever was left of his shield on his back said while diligently removing extra soil and debris. "Also, why didn't you ask Poseidon folks to stay and help us?"

"That brat could not have died so easily," the dwarf only replied, slowly drinking yet another mind potion - still barely standing due to her majorly overextending in her fight against Atlas. "As for Poseidon… I don't want them around because we don't know if they would randomly have their mind control workin' again."

"It's better for them to stay away from us," Malika added, her voice reassuring yet somewhat exhausted. "We'll find the children and then return to Folkvangr."

After hearing the voice of the vice-captain, everyone stopped talking for a while before the cat-girl saw something moving under the massive rock she had just removed.

However, when she tried to look closer at what it was, she had to jump back in surprise.

"E-Eye?!" she only screamed and crawled away before everyone else instinctively jumped back and stared intently at the same hole where the eye was seen.

"Dig it out," the captain only ordered before everyone cautiously started moving heavy rocks alongside her.

Not even a minute later, all the rocks around the green creature have been carefully removed.

Nonetheless, the creature's appearance was not what surprised all of them. No, it was the calmness and lack of aggression in its eyes.

'Is this really a monster?' a certain cat-girl thought.

"Can you speak?" Amazoness slowly asked with her head slightly tilted to the side and her hands seemingly not holding any weapons.

"Waaoaoooooooooooaoaoo!" a prolonged whale-like cry was heard. The green monster blinked a few times before it opened its mouth - forcing the adventurers surrounding it to ready their weapons.

What no one expected, however, was that from the mouth of the monster, 4 children would be slowly regurgitated, all covered in a transparent, slimy liquid.

Not even a moment later, the entire monster started becoming more and more transparent, slowly turning into green gas before merging itself into a sword in the right hand of the boy, the unexpected development greatly surprising everyone who saw it.

"...God," the silver-haired boy who opened his eyes immediately groaned before looking around and meeting the questioning eyes of his captain.

"Mind explainin' what that green animal that spitted you all out was? I assume it turned into the sword that you are holding."

"Er…" the kid replied. "I'll explain later, captain…."

"We should all go back now since we've found the Lady's children," Malika interrupted their conversation before Mia was able to reply while carefully looking at a certain red-haired girl, feeling a strange connection to her.

"What about the other 2? I assume we take them with us as well," the man said, with his hands in his pocket, making it seem like he didn't care in the slightest about the fate of the kids.

"Bodvar," Amazoness wanted to say something while still keeping eye contact with the eyes of an unknown red-haired girl before she saw a peculiar gleam in her tropical green eyes, prompting Malika to correct herself. "Wait… Nevermind. I'll carry them myself."

"I-I-I…" the red-haired girl only stuttered before a wheat-colored woman gently pulled up both her and the werewolf girl and carried them close to her warm and curvaceous chest.

"Let's go back," the vice-captain only said before dashing off in the direction of the manor, dumbfounding other executives with her strange actions.

"Meow, why do I have to carry them, nya."

***

A 30 minutes later, Folkvangr.

"—then we came back to Folkvangr," the exhausted dwarf finished her full report while standing to the right of her goddess, who was sitting on her exquisite armchair, carefully observing the tall Babel Tower and the starry sky behind it.

"Heh," Freya finally chuckled, breaking a long silence after swirling wine in a glass for a good 20 seconds. "Apollo seems to have a lot of problems right now. Even Poseidon is seemingly involved in this… It's too early to tell what exactly will happen - we can only wait and prepare."

"Understood, but what about Demeter? With everything strange happenin' lately, we should probably send someone there as well."

"You are right, Mia," Freya promptly agreed while shifting her gaze to the other side of the city and thinking about her friend. "Bodvar, go to the Wheat Hall and stay there to protect Lady Demeter until everything settles down."

"As you wish, Lady Freya," the man standing nearby Mia Grand immediately agreed with the order of his goddess and left the room, leaving only the vice-captain, the captain, and the goddess present.

"Mia, thanks for your report. You can leave," Freya gratefully said after finishing her glass of wine. "Malika, stay."

With those words, the captain of Freya Familia immediately retreated to her own quarters while making sure to check on Lina, who was assigned to washing and clothing all the returned children.

"What would you like me to do, Lady Freya?" Amazoness respectfully said with her head down.

"Is that really the case, Malika? Do you think they would be a good addition to our familia?"

"..."

In response to the silence of her vice-captain, Freya only started laughing.

"Heheh…! Malika, we both know that children so young and so weak can't survive here. Although I do admit, their souls intrigue me a little," Freya ambiguously said while standing up from her ornate and richly decorated armchair, only to start walking to the girl.

A few moments later, the relatively tall goddess pulled the girl's left hand after herself and landed on the bed in a way that made her follower lay her head on her lap.

Malika's heart fluttered even more, when the goddess started to stroke her hair.

"Perhaps…" goddess's voice seemed like honey in a girl's ears. "There is another reason why you want them to stay?"

"..." Amazoness only silently kept her face down, not knowing herself why.

"Very well," goddess concluded, thinking if this whole teasing routine was even necessary since Malika was no longer the small cute girl she once was. "Okay, well… let me rephrase it."

"I am in a good mood now," she started with her hands gently caressing the girl's back. "My new property has been safely returned, and Apollo, wherever he is, had most of his familia destroyed. If there is something on your mind, it's better to ask for it now."

"I would like to take the girl with red hair under my tutelage, Lady Freya," Amazoness confessed, after a brief pause, while moving her head a little, full of unexplainable shame for her frivolous action.

"Oh, the red-haired one?" Freya perked up and hummed while pretending to remember the girl's name despite her near-perfect memory. "Revis, I think…."

"Yes."

"And why do you want her instead of the other girl?"

"In her eyes, I see myself," Malika confessed again before her eyes started brimming with determination. "I can train her to become your sharpest blade, Lady Freya."

"Fine," Freya said, only to raise her eyebrows and smile when she saw a dumbfounded expression of the Amazoness who was now looking at her goddess's face. "What? I really just wanted to ask why… Besides, I seem to have plenty of sharp blades already."

"Our Familia is still behind some other familias," Malika promptly replied. "I believe that once you would truly stand on the peak of Orario, you would be much happier. Perhaps, even your fated Odr would come to you by himself when that happens."

With the mention of "some other" familia, Freya's motherlike smile dropped for a moment before changing again into something more positive with the mention of "Odr."

"...I just don't want another strength-chasing expressionless boy like Ottar, if you know what I mean," Freya replied to her follower before remembering just how fierce the little boaz was on the battlefield whenever she would take a look. It even seemed to her like he resembled one of her previous captains - at the very least, his fighting spirit was truly extraordinary. 'I should probably pay more attention to him….'

"I understand, my lady," a beautiful Amazoness obediently replied before standing up from the lap pillow and dropping on one knee. "I will ensure that she will be both strong and entertaining enough for your liking."

"Sigh…" Freya only briefly shook her head, a little amused at how her familia members addressed her requests. "...Do as you wish."

"Wait, Malika," goddess stopped her before the wheat-colored executive left the room.

"Yes, Lady Freya."

"Since you will be taking on apprentices, you might as well start training the other 3 you have rescued today as well," Freya said while starting to flip through a book she had just picked from her coffee table. "I feel like they would be involved in plenty of trouble in the future. One of them is my future captain."

"C-captain?!" Malika stammered, almost losing her always calm composure that she had just regained after leaving the goddess's lap pillow.

'To get such an evaluation from the Lady Freya herself, his potential must—'

"Yes, I haven't told you," Freya interrupted her train of thought in a tone more appropriate for a pair of good friends gossiping over the phone. "The kid promised to become the youngest captain of my familia. Isn't that exciting?"

"Understood," she only replied, her face not showing any amusement, feeling relieved that it was the child's self-proclamation that startled her for some reason. "I swear to train them all to their maximum potential."

***

After taking a quick shower alongside the other two girls, Alfia put on soft and clean pale-yellow pajamas brought by one of Freya's servants, her psychological state still not allowing her mind to properly process everything that happened to her today.

Only a well-known - as much as one could possibly know a single person in two weeks - voice brought Alfia back from her strange state for a brief moment.

"Alfia, are you sure you can walk to your room by yourself?" the kindhearted elven chamberlain thoughtfully asked the small girl after Alfia proposed going back by herself - before both the werewolf and human girls would be washed and clothed by an elf.

"Yes, Miss Lina," the small girl only softly replied with a weak voice. "I think I can do it."

However, when she walked out of the spacious female bathroom in her cozy pajamas and white slippers, what she saw was not just an empty white corridor but another person waiting for her outside.

A person that she wanted to be accompanied by the most at that moment.

'Let's go,' he gestured by slightly tilting his head before walking up and embracing her with his right hand, similarly to how he had supported her when they were walking out of the room she woke up at last time.

"Uh-huh," the girl only hummed in response to the boy's actions, putting her head on his shoulder.

Together they slowly walked to her and Meteria's room without any unnecessary words.

***

When the door to the room had just opened, an enthusiastic voice of a fellow 7-year-old was heard throughout the whole room.

"You're back!" Meteria beamed while jumping off the bottom bunk of the bed and approaching the two, immediately entangling all 3 of them in a warm and happy hug.

"Hi, M-Meteria," Alfia tried her best to smile.

"Meteria, thank you for waiting for us," Gin grateful said while freeing himself from the white-haired girl's embrace and moving closer to the bed. However, before he was able to do anything, he heard someone sobbing.

"I-I thought… *Sob* *Sob* I thought something… *Sob* happened to you… *Sob* guys…" unable to hold her emotions inside any longer, Alfia's little sister started to cry. "I thought… *Sob* I would be all alone…."

Nothing was left of the usually friendly smile on the Meteria's face. Her breathtaking eyes now drowning in her own tears, forcing the boy to take the matter into his own hands.

Although he was not a psychologist, Gin knew that if he were in the same situation, he would much prefer to have a shoulder to cry on, at least until the initial pain would go away.

He didn't think that the fear of losing two of her most precious people was an easy thing for Meteria, for, although she was kind, she was a clever girl that was incredibly worried about them.

With all that in his mind, Gin only pulled Alfia and Meteria closer to him, positioning himself in the middle of the two, with a wall behind their backs. The soft blanket pulled up so high it covered everything up to their necks.

When the boy tried to look around to see if his arrangement made the mood any better, he only saw a distorted, ugly smile on Alfia's face with occasional tears forming in the corners of her eyes while she looked somewhere far away through the window and the quietly weeping Meteria, with heavy tears falling on the Gin's clothes.

"Gin," Alfia softly called him while tugging his sleeve under the blanket and slowly moving her head on top of his left shoulder, her voice very weak yet firm. As firm as she could make it after collecting all her remaining strength.

"Yes…?" he softly replied, gently moving his head a little to touch her hair as if he wanted to assure Alfia that he would agree to whatever she would ask next.

"Can you… can you stay here…?" Alfia almost sobbed, her lips trembling. "—p-please."

"I will stay here," Gin replied to both of them because he felt how the Meteria's tears stopped as she heard Alfia's question. "I promise."

In response to his affirmation, Alfia only made a very deep sigh of relief while Meteria finally stopped her own free-flowing tears.

"...Alfia, …Gin," Meteria called them while looking at the same window that showed a beautiful night sky with a round moon. "C-Can you guys promise to never leave me alone again?"

Alfia's right hand under the blanket only swiftly moved to find Meteria's one before looking her straight into the eyes: "Meteria, I promise I will never leave you alone."

"I also promise, Meteria," Gin replied reassuringly when he felt Alfia's weary head falling straight onto his left shoulder again. "We will never leave you."

However, what appeared on the white-haired girl's gentle face after his affirmation was not relief but the same nervousness, seeming apparent that she really wanted to ask something else - something very important.

In response to this, Gin only rolled his eyes and helped her while hugging her closer to his chest:

"Meteria, if there's anything else, I also promise that."

"You promise?" her small face, now full of anticipation with all her tears now thoroughly soaked into Gin's shirt.

"I promise."

"Then, will you… look at the library window when you are training… I will be sitting by the window so that you guys can see me," she only squeaked at the end, even closing her eyes because of the fear of rejection of her - what she thought unimportant - proposal.

"Well…," Gin made a dramatic pause as if he was unsure if he should agree, making a small girl hold his right elbow even more tightly.

'Please!' Meteria cried in her heart.

"I promise."

"I promise too," older sister promptly added, not playing the same dramatic pause game as her friend whom she would've pinched if she had any more strength in her body than the small amount that was enough for barely supporting her exhausted consciousness.

"Thanks."

After those reassuring words, both silver-haired kids quietly started drifting off, leaving the white-haired child the only one still awake, letting her snuggle against them however she saw fit for at least 2 or 3 minutes.

"Good night, Alfia… Gin…" Meteria only whispered in the end with a few happy tears on her childish face before finally finding some comfort for the first time in the last several hours.

Like a trio of kittens in search of each other's warmth, three friends finally fell asleep.

***

In the midst of the night, before the clock even approached 2 AM, a well-dressed man wearing a heavy coat bumped into a short, bearded man closing his tavern.

"Wh-Who… Who are you?!" a young man tried to ask, his intuition screaming that the smirking aristocrat in front of him was far more dangerous than he appeared on the surface.

"Men, the polite ones, at least, would call me a monster. A blood-drinking freak," the man calmly replied before darting at the man like a hungry snake and biting him on his neck…