Some time had passed since Hestia was driven out.
By now, had she met Bell Cranel and begun spending sweet, lovey-dovey time with him—at least by Hestia's standards? If I remembered correctly, right after Hestia was thrown out, a god seeking children and a child seeking a god met...
If that part hadn't been affected, she had probably taken in her first follower that very day.
Anyway...
"Quit lurking outside. If you're coming in, get in here already."
"Wow, so even I can't fool a Level 4's senses, huh?"
"Senses, my ass. I knew you were coming ages ago because of that humming of yours."
"Oops... This habit of unconsciously humming whenever I finish a [job]... I should fix that."
This guy was Zeke Albin of the Mitra Familia.
His outward appearance fit the image of a delinquent to a tee.
Healthy tanned skin over clearly defined muscles, dingy blond hair, and earrings bearing intricate, flashy-looking patterns—probably the Familia emblem.
He walked around with his eyes narrowed and a suspicious smile that always seemed on the verge of appearing.
No matter how you looked at him, he was the kind of blond, tanned punk you could find in any city.
But his ability was anything but that of a punk.
If I had to choose the Level 1 adventurer I knew who was most likely to reach Level 2, I could confidently pick Zeke over even my apprentice Welf.
I hadn't known him for very long. At most, about three years.
Our first meeting had been ordinary. He came to our shop and bought equipment for himself. That was all.
The only unusual thing was that he had chosen his weapon with his own eyes, without anyone's help.
Then, just as he was leaving with the weapon, Limus happened to be coming in.
The two faced each other. Limus wore a puzzled expression, while Zeke looked troubled before quickly walking away.
"Do you know him?"
"Well... There's a Familia that recently moved into the back alleys, which doesn't suit its name at all. The Mitra Familia, you know?"
"Mitra...? Why would the god of contracts and the sun god deliberately come to the back alleys?"
"How should I know? It's probably the usual game the gods play. A good god can become an evil god in an instant, and an evil god can become a good god just as quickly. Living in the back alleys doesn't necessarily make them the evil-god type, though."
"So that was the Mitra Familia?"
"Mm, probably? Ever since [that incident]... How should I put it? I've gained a bit of influence in the back alleys."
"What... Ah, you mean during the [Hunt]? You did say something like that back then."
"Yeah... Since then, I thought I was just keeping the peace and sorting out the pecking order in my own way, but apparently I ended up with the biggest influence on Daedalus Street?"
"...What are you, some kind of underworld boss? Hahahahahaha."
"Shut it! Anyway, that's how it turned out. Whenever a new Familia or organization moves in, it's customary for them to come greet my side. The gods don't come, of course, but unless it's a particularly large organization, everyone usually comes, including the captain. He was among them."
"Hmm... Then why did he look so pale?"
"Who knows? Maybe it was because he saw me."
"...You're not in the Dian Cecht Familia... No, they say there's no cure for delusions of grandeur. What am I supposed to do with you...?"
"You filthy Prum-curser, you filthy Orario-curser! Were you not listening to a damn thing I said?! I told you I have the biggest influence in the back alleys!"
"Sure, sure. But what kind of influence could you possibly have that it grew so much?"
"It's a mix of an information network and brokerage. Normally, the two are separate, but while gathering information during the [Hunt] and running around everywhere, some people ended up gathering under me. They were people who wanted to work under me, so I couldn't exactly abandon them. I started putting them to work as informants and brokers. It's not suuuper illegal. At worst, we divert finished magic-stone items?"
"...Just don't get caught."
"Don't worry. All the grunts who might get caught operate in separate cells. You need to be at least a mid-level boss before there's any real connection."
"Fine, then. Anyway, what did you come here for?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
After that, Zeke would occasionally stop by our shop to repair a dagger stained with blood or buy a new weapon.
Two years had passed since then, and he was already among the very best of Level 1, looking toward the next level.
"So, what kind of [job] did you do today?"
"Well... A supporter whose disappearance would go unnoticed disappeared without a sound. That's all."
"Is that so."
"...You're not going to say anything? I mean, I buried someone."
"At least the Zeke I know isn't the kind of guy who slits someone's throat without a feeling just because a request came in. You're the kind who looks into your target and only buries them when you decide there's enough reason to do it. What more would I have to say to someone who can keep his own line? It's not as though one of my people died."
"...At times like this, you're really scary."
"What is?"
"Everything you said before that sounded really nice. But once I heard that last line, I got the feeling immediately. [I don't care as long as you don't touch my people. But if you do, be prepared.] Something like that?"
I snorted at Zeke's words, took the dagger he had brought, and began sharpening its edge.
"That's only natural. I know my own limits. I'm not someone capable of embracing and saving everyone else. So I should at least make sure to protect my own people."
"What do you mean, a Level 4 adventurer isn't capable? At that level, you're more than capable enough."
"If being Level 4 meant I could save everyone I wanted to save, there wouldn't be anything for your Familia to do. I already know the limits of what I can do, so I don't pay much attention to what lies beyond them.
When we hear that someone died through a book or a rumor, we don't burst into tears and seek revenge for them. If someone is right in front of me and I can stop it or help them, then I will. But if it's just a rumor or news I've heard, I'll feel a little regret and leave it at that."
With a faint, hollow chuckle, I continued sharpening the blade against the whetstone.
"And you should have lived through the days when Evilus was running rampant. See whether you'd so much as blink at hearing that one person died. There were times when the screams, shouts, and clash of blades never stopped on Daedalus Street for an entire week. Compared to that, you burying someone who deserves it is nothing."
"Seriously... Should I say I'm glad I wasn't around then... or that it's a shame I never got to see you during your innocent days...?"
"You should be glad. Orario back then was... literally hell on earth.
At the time, I focused on the good moments and tried to brush aside the hard and painful things. But looking back now, there were overwhelmingly more disgusting things in between.
The shopkeeper I'd cheerfully greeted that morning would be hanging from a streetlamp the next day, covered in blood with his guts pulled out.
There were times when parties of dozens trying to catch Evilus members fleeing into the Dungeon got caught in a Pass Parade and were literally slaughtered.
Once, I bought a loaf of bread to eat but dropped it and didn't pick it up. A perfectly healthy dog ate it instead, then vomited black blood from all seven holes in its head—its eyes, nostrils, mouth, and ears—and died.
Back then, you had to assume everyone but your family was an enemy. If you'd been there, you would have grown stronger, sure. But they wouldn't have been good memories."
"...Ugh."
"I told you, it was hell. These days, Astraea Familia's final efforts have almost uprooted them all... but there are probably still some of them lurking deep below. Then, when an opportunity comes..."
Thunk!
"They'll sink in their fangs..."
"What did my dagger ever do to deserve being stabbed into the table...?"
"...I was checking whether the edge was sharp enough."
"What kind of wood would a table have to be made of for the blade not to sink in when a Level 4 uses his strength?"
"Enough. Five thousand valis."
"...? Wasn't it three thousand?"
"That's the fee for the story. How dare you try to stiff a senior after hearing his precious life story?"
"..."
"What are you staring at?"
Zeke glared at me with an extremely aggrieved look, but when I casually squeezed the mallet beside me—crunch—he paid up on his own.
Becoming a blacksmith really was the right choice!
"By the way, do you go down into the Dungeon often?"
"Not much lately. I've been busy with [jobs]. Though I think it's about time I started going down and hunting monsters again."
"Hmm... Wait two or three weeks. Form a party with my apprentice."
"What apprentice all of a sudden?"
"That bastard has been holed up in the forge doing nothing but hammering iron, so his Status isn't improving. I'm about to kick him back into the Dungeon."
"Is that really something a blacksmith should be saying...?"
"Your Status needs to improve for you to level up, and you need to level up to obtain Smithing, the first goal of a blacksmith, idiot."
Bonk!
It was only a liiittle tap by my standards, but apparently Zeke didn't see it that way.
"Ooooooow!"
"You understand? Thanks!"
"Grrrgh...!"
"Yeah, yeah. I'll have a proper talk with Welf about it."
Now Welf would enter the original story as well. Originally, Bell and that Liliruca Arde met, formed a party, went through a divine comedy, and then met Welf... But I didn't know whether Liliruca Arde would turn over a new leaf in this world just as she had in the original.
So it would be better to put Welf through a little tempering with Zeke first, then place him in Bell's party.
Zeke belonged to a back-alley Familia, but he was strict about contracts and promises. If it was a contractual relationship like a party, he would be trustworthy.
Sigh... So this was truly the beginning of the [Heroic Tale]. How great a change had the small differences I created brought about...? I was curious.
At that time, I didn't know.
That the supporter Zeke had buried was Liliruca Arde.
Or what sort of synergistic effect her death and the differences I had made would create.
Or how the future would change.
I knew nothing.