(3rd person PoV)
"Henry? Henry! Wake up!" Ray noticed an abnormality with Henryk today. He started hugging her much tighter in his sleep and cried silently, expressionlessly.
unlike usual, he was hard to wake up. They had to make him stand up, splash him with water and shake him around a bunch while calling his name. If all of that did not work, they directed light at his eyelids.
By the time he woke up, everyone was there. They were concerned for him. This is the first time any of them saw Henryk cry.
"Was it a nightmare?" Ray asked with a concerned face.
"Papa, the brown douche?" Fey remembered this happening once, a certain fear and barely hearing Henryk muttering something about a 'brown douche'.
"Fey, no bad words, and yes. It was about that" He confirmed Fey's suspicions.
"Pa, can we hear the story?" Gladia wanted to know who, or what, has shaken her brave father so much as to have a nightmare.
"Yeah, I also want to hear that. It's the first time I see you, the person Dia's bravery's inspired from, scared of something" Said Olympia. She sat down to listen if he opted to share that memory.
The brothers looked at each other, nodded their heads and sat there, silently waiting.
The insectoids also joined by flying in and waiting.
"You pushy bunch!" Henryk laughed that off. It was okay to want to hear stories.
"My lady, does falna help restore memories that've been forgotten?" Henryk asked. He knew that he forgot that memory, or the last part of it at least, since arriving here.
"Sometimes. What? Did you have a nightmare because you remembered something?" Hestia raised an eyebrow at that.
"Yeah. Anyway, let me get something clear. I may call him what Fey said I did, but the reason this memory haunts me is because of my own blunders" Henryk pointed out.
'I will leave out the swear words, to make sure to not bleed the ears of everyone present' He started narrating his story from there.
(Flashback)
(AN: Henryk told them the story after filtering some of the not desirable parts of his language. You see them as they are since you do not need to have someone cover your eyes from reading these words)
Henryk woke up groggily, opening his sleepy eyes with difficulty. 'I made it so the sun shines on my eyes, just so I could wake up before it's too late into the morning. But damn the morning sun! It's blinding me!'
As he raised himself from the bed, his eyes caught something that was not supposed to be there. A human silhouette.
His body reacted with instinct. He grabbed the rifle he always keeps hidden between his bed and the wall. He pointed the rifle at the person setting backwards on one of the chairs.
"Norman, you fucking idiot" Henryk sighed tiredly as he lowered his weapon. He muttered to himself as the other party smiled knowingly. "You know, if I wasn't used to your ass being here regularly, I might've shot you by now"
"You missed me the first few times, though?" Norman was pretty chill about the fact that he just had a firearm pointed at him.
"You reckless bastard" Henryk massaged his temples. "When would you come at a more proper time? You always choose a time that causes problems" He sighed again.
"You sigh too much, Henhen" Norman said with a most smug voice.
"Stop. It." Henryk pointed the gun back at Norman with a vein bulging in his forehead.
"But that's a cute nickn-" Henryk put his finger on the trigger, making Norman retreat.
"Fine! I'll stop! You damn killjoy!" Norman hastily raised his arms in surrender.
"The safety was on. I anticipated your untimely arrival" Henryk put the gun away, not before whacking Norman to drive him away.
(Line Break)
"Henhen, hmm" Ray hummed, a wing to her chin. "That may become handy later" She mumbled.
"Ray? Can you stop? I've had enough of that nickname" A scary face was there on him.
"Yes!" Ray almost yelped.
'Even though I wanted to tease him with it' He was going to hear it very soon.
"So, that 'walking-spoiler' person is called Norman?" Hestia was curious after the little bit Henryk shared a few nights before.
(Nested Flashback)
(AN: Yes, a flashback in another flashback's chapter)
"Captain, do you think we can push through the following days with the same method?" Henryk was discussing dungeon plans with Bell.
"We will" Bell agreed without hesitation. The results spoke enough for a reason.
'Heh! He got a step forward. That's the most confident thing he said today' Henryk was glad that Bell was trying to be firmer and more confident in his words. He needed that to lead the more strong-headed adventurers.
Let us purposefully avoid knowing that these two idiots will have an earful from Eina whenever she knows about this. They were talking about facing off against monsters from floor 14 one on one.
"Henryk, could you come with me for a moment?" Hestia wanted to talk to Henryk privately. She asked him to do so and went the way she wanted. It was like she was saying, 'You will follow me'.
Henryk followed Hestia for a distance outside the church. They were walking while they talked.
"After coming from the dungeon with Ray, your eyes changed. The way you looked at us became different. Before that, you saw us in a way I couldn't describe, but it was disturbing. After coming back, your view of us became more like you would look at us kinder, like you were seeing us as people for the first time. Is it related to the other world you came from?" Hestia could perceive how others looked at her. You tend to develop that ability after living as long as she did, even if you were a spoilt brat of a deity.
"Ignoring how you knew, it's related, yes" Henryk brushed it aside, filing it as her peering into his soul to know that. "But don't ask me about it. It wouldn't please you, nor would it benefit you in any way. You better off not knowing the details on that" He sighed a long sigh. "As for why I changed, which I know you will ask me next, that I can tell you" Henryk admired Hestia's cute face... no, correct that. He laughed at it. She was pouting and trying, and failing, to kick him. He simply avoided her kicks.
"I realized that the way I looked at people from this world was going to hurt the people who're close to me. I don't want that. I've been hurt in a similar way before. It was agonizing. The people I called friends were all getting closer to me for material gain and nothing else. They didn't see me for who I am, not even as a person. Orphans were that easily left out.
When I discovered it and confronted them about it, they said that it was so obvious and that I was of no use for them anymore. They deserted me completely upon learning that I will no longer give them anything"
Henryk's face twisted in both relief and anger. "That was except for this one guy! He was fucking clingy! I pushed him away for a long time until I just got tired of it and let him do as he wants! He always bothered to visit me inside the forest of all places! At least once a weak at that! Do you know how bad I wanted to silence him after every time he visited only to tell me how a story goes before I even started reading it?! He loved to see my reaction to him stripping me of the excitement of reading a new, unknown story!"
"He was a good friend to you, wasn't he?" Hestia noticed how Henryk's eyes and voice got progressively shaky while he talked about that friend.
"He was, and I hate him, too. I hate how I could never see him again, probably" Henryk had a longing gaze as he looked into the distance, at the expanse of stars before him.
"But I hold a vain hope, my lady. What he once said rings back and again within my memory, as yet another piece of a story I wanted to discover myself, "And who knows? Maybe two lost souls can still meet again somewhere, out among the stars".
I hope he becomes a lost soul like I did. As I had no human relative after my gramps passed away, he was the only human I ever anticipated seeing where I came from" Henryk held a hand up high, as if he was grasping at the moon, reaching for the unreachable.
(End of Nested Flashback)
"Norman Arden. How I wish to see him again. I wanna punch his face in" Henryk said with a twisted smile and sharp features, fingers twitching.
(Line Break)
"Hmph. Good" Henryk put his gun away and went to wash his face and get ready.
He returned to the living room to find that Norman already prepared breakfast and was waiting for him.
"Are you planning to be a house husband and let your wife work?" Henryk asked Norman as he took out a chair to sit at.
"You already know my answer. I would never marry any of them. They wanted to exploit the goodwill of someone. What would the child of a serpent be if not another? I may change my mind if you found me a pure-hearted woman, though" Norman looked at him seriously as he was putting jam into his bread.
"But seriously, are you sure you want to stay single for life?" Henryk took a bite of his salad.
"Is there a problem in that, Hen-" *clank* "-ryk?" Norman got 'the look'. He knew that a fork would stab his way should he say it, even accidentally. "I mean, we want a family but can't have it" Norman said, shrugging.
"True that. We can simply ignore it" Henryk said nonchalantly.
"By the way, I heard a bear while on my way here" Norman said before completely disregarding his own statement and taking a sip of his morning tea.
(Line Break)
'Can't have a family, huh?' Thought you-know-who.
(Line Break)
"Good thing I took measures earlier, knowing a bear wandered this far recently" Henryk disregarded it and continued eating breakfast peacefully as he knew of what Norman said beforehand, or so he wanted.
"Piiee!" You see, a certain winged terror entered through the opened window.
"Good morning, paralysis demon" Norman greeted the new arrival.
"Norman, you should add the part where Fey's cute. You know she is" Henryk gave Fey a piece of meat from Norman's plate.
"That was mine" Norman pointed at himself with a blank look on his face.
"I know" Henryk smugly took another piece to feed Fey.
"Hey! I TOLD YOU THAT'S MINE! YOU DAMNED THIEF!" Norman angerly took the plate away.
(Line Break)
"His reactions sound like fun" Mont wanted to see for himself. He was looking to the side, at a specific pew behind Henryk.
"They were. They were one of the most reliable sources of fun I had back then" "Henryk said dejectedly.
"Where is the brown one? Is it one of the bears that wandered near your place 'recently'?" Mont asked.
"Don't be hasty. This's related a bit" Henryk continued to tell the story from where he was interrupted.
(Line Break)
"The intruder talks back, I see" Henryk had an evil look that gave Norman the chills. "Fey! Lick 'em!"
"NOOO! YOU MADMAN! THE TONGUE BARBS! THE TONGUE BARBS!!" Norman tried to run away from Fey. But try as he might, there was no running from a bird of prey.
"You remember, right? I trained Fey not to use her barbs while licking someone" Henryk calmly sipped his tea as he enjoyed seeing Norman fear for his face.
This went on until Norman was lying face down on the floor, with a face that is still uninjured.
"This shaved a few years off my poor life" Norman raised a finger to affirm his point.
(Line Break)
"Fey remembers the fun Fey had scaring mister walking-spoiler!" A demon, she is a cute demon indeed.
'I sympathize with him. Poor, poor mister Arden. I feel your pain. I was licked too much. And now I know there are barbs on her tongue' Bell felt a sense of comradery form with this person who he has never met.
(Line Break)
"Yeah, you tough apparition. I'm still wondering how you walked it off like it was nobody's business after being struck by three lightning bolts in under five minutes. Congratulations on discovering that you aren't a human" Henryk clapped his hands sarcastically.
"Anyway, let's move on! Today's spoilers!" He was clobbered with a broom that was conveniently lying around.
"Continue" Henryk said, stashing the broom away for later.
"Yes, your majesty" He received a few more hits.
Sometime into the spoiler, Norman reached a new part.
"Do you really enjoy doing this to me?" Henryk did not display any emotions on his face. He was so used to this that his emotions dried up whenever the walking-spoiler Norman started talking about a new thing to spoil on him.
"Yes, and let me continue. So, as I was saying. There's this fox lady, a renard as they call them, being held prisoner in the red-light district. Ishtar was planning to sacrifice her using a neat thing called a killing stone. It would then be broken into pieces and given to her familia members to use Haruhime's exclusive sorcery. Bell's gonna be involved in this plot right after taking down Apollo's familia through a war game. He then ventures into the red-light district to rescue Hime after Take's child asked him for help, thwarting Ishtar's plans and resulting in the events that led to her returning to the heavens above"
(Line Break)
'Crap! I totally forgot miss Haruhime! I should get ready for that!' He controlled his expression. No unusual expression appeared on his face. The thing he failed to notice, however, is that he spelled Bell's name and said part of his future in front of everyone.
"Eh?! Me?" Bell, the entire audience as a matter of fact, was stupefied at the casual mention of him ripping a familia and thwarting another's plans.
Bell, a goofball and an innocent rabbit, was going to cause the downfall of two familias and go to an area chockfull of near-naked women and depravities. They could not believe what they have heard.
"Don't concern yourself with that. That was a story from a prophetic book of sorts. It just so happens to have a protagonist who has the same name as you" Henryk said, his mind going on overdrive to work around his blunder. 'I ain't lying, either. The author imagined the world of danmachi through means other than looking at the world itself. He never even knew that danmachi exists outside books, maybe'
"For how uncanny the resemblance is, from familias, to the ways certain things work, to even people's names, Henryk's telling the truth. This story just so happened to have a protagonist who shares your name" Hestia testified using her ungodly(godly?) lie detector. She was suspicious of there being a link between Henryk's old world and him knowing things that are identical to her world's.
'Yeah, right, that's totally true, it just so happens to be the case, of course' Henryk convinced himself using Hestia's confirmation.
"Let's continue with the story" 'I will skip the spoiler this time. Even a little more could lead to them knowing a truth that would hurt them. I will try easing them to the fact and telling them before they connect the dots themselves'
Someone was planning something.
(Line Break)
"Forget it. I've things to do" Henryk strung his bow, strapped his quiver to his hip and had his gun as a failsafe.
"Wait for me. I want to witness the marvel of your family's eagles, Henryk" Henryk gave Norman a weird look before leaving it behind them and going outside.
Henryk stepped outside. He had to go hunt with the other eagles and act as their guard in case a problematic animal showed up. Say, for example, a moose, or a grizzly.
(Line Break)
"What's a gun?" Hestia said.
"Have I said that, my lady?" Henryk said.
"Yes" Hestia confirmed.
"Well, a gun's a more advanced ranged weapon. One of its projectiles, with most being powerful penetration projectiles and being almost as fast as sound is, would probably kill anyone in this room, possibly including Ray depending on the gun used" Henryk explained.
(Line Break)
They marched through the forest.
The eagles swarmed a few poor deer. The deer were carried upside down from the legs by two eagles. Then, a third eagle starts cutting its neck. By luck, or by instinctual habit, an artery or the airway was cut and/or blocked.
Boars were next on the menu. Those were tougher, but nothing to a convocation of trained eagles. Four eagles would carry the boar high in the sky and drop it on a rocky clearing. It was cruel, yes, but they were animals. It was the survival of the fittest for them, and Henryk never touched their game. It was theirs to eat.
They also picked up any small animal they saw. Smaller birds? They ate some. Wolves? If they found a loner. Moose? Rarely ever an option. It could still happen if an old moose sick with their age was caught off-guard. They start tearing away at its calves after latching onto it via their talons. Once it no longer can move, they move to its neck and back. Hares/rabbits? A light snack, really.
(Line Break)
'Rabbits and hares were a regular item on their menu? I would never want to meet Fey's kind' Bell paled. He now knew why Fey eyed him as her prey regularly.
(Line Break)
Henryk was looking around regularly out of vigilance. That was why he saw it. A grizzly was looking at them in the distance.
Henryk slowly and quietly reached for Norman's shoulder. He patted it, a signal they agreed on to keep silent and look where the other points. Norman understood what Henryk meant by pointing at the grizzly.
The thing was standing at a distance, unmoving. They started backing away, slowly, without looking directly at its face. The bear did not move until they were far away from it.
It moved in their direction just as slow as they were moving away from it. It maintained distance.
They somehow could back away till Henryk's cabin. They entered through the door and locked it.
"Norman, this may sound crazy, but I want to kill it" Henryk said something he might have considered immoral in many other situations.
"You always had a reason to kill things. Tell me this one" Norman said.
"Here, in this area, no other predators could beat it. No other bears either. It could decide to settle here. It would become territorial if left alone for a while. We need to at least repel it before it marks this place as its own. It's still looking at the door. We can fire at it from the safety of the cabin until it either dies or retreats" Henryk opened the window to see that the grizzly was getting closer to the door to check it. It was wary, judging by the fact it was moving slowly, but steadily.
"We pick a window each and fire at its head, the eyes if possible" They each took one of the two windows. The windows themselves were too small for any grown up bear to pass through. The cottage itself was built using logs, not planks, making its walls a secure cover for such a confrontation.
*BANG*
(Line Break)
"THAT'S LOUD!!!" Hestia shouted while covering her pulsating ears. All had a similar reaction. Henryk played the sound of the guns being fired while thinking of them as music. They were, in their own twisted way.
(Line Break)
"BAAAAAWWWWWWL!" The grizzly was injured in the cheek and one eye. The pain made it writhe for a second. Then, it looked at them and readied to charge at them.
*BANG* Two more shots were fired at it. This time, they were not as lucky. The second pair of shots only grazed its skin lightly.
Henryk grabbed a grenade and removed its pin. He threw it where the grizzly will stupidly try attacking it as it may perceive it as a threat. Once the grizzly was about to touch it, it exploded.
*BAM*
(Line Break)
"THAT'S LOUDER!!!" She was nearly deaf at this point, so were some others. "That sounded like explosive fire magic" Hestia likened it to something from their world.
"That's because it is, though it was not made using magic by any means" Henryk said.
(Line Break)
The grenade did its job of injuring the grizzly enough to scare it away. Its right front paw was gone.
"It'd seem this one's a younger grizzly. A more experienced one'd charge us no matter what" Norman commented.
"Even then, it'd still come back for more once it calms down. I should be prepared for plan B" Henryk said, already formulating some rudimentary plans.
"And what'd the brilliant plan B be? Is it to do with all the rope hanging around the trees?" Norman asked him.
"Although the grizzly'd climb a tree faster than I could ever dream of, it'd be unable to use the ropes to climb. I will use them to swing from a tree to the next. The moment it reaches the tree I'm on, I swing onto the next one" Henryk said.
(Line Break)
"Isn't that too dangerous?" Hestia said, slowly realizing that Henryk's world had no magic in it, meaning that he had nothing in terms of flight.
"No, not really. I practiced it regularly" Henryk said.
"Is this all the bear did, father?" Ouros was invested in the story now.
"Hohoo~ No~, it wasn't the last I'd see of that one" Henryk said, a hint of what some might call excessive pride in his voice.
(Line Break)
A year later, Henryk woke up to Norman sitting in the same position on the same chair. He strangled Norman for a bit, then went to prepare for the morning.
(Line Break)
"Did he, Norman, do that every time he visited?" Hestia said, a wry smile adorning her lips.
"Well, he refuses to learn" Henryk shrugged.
(Line Break)
"You refuse to learn, Norman" Henryk said as he pulled a chair to sit on around the table.
"Piiee!" Fey entered the room like usual.
"Is she really the only eagle to get inside every morning?" Norman asked as he already got his plate of bacon out of their reach.
"Oh! I take what I said back. It'd look to me like you're able to learn, after all. Although, that's if it relates to food" Henryk made fun of him with a gleeful smile.
"I start to wonder, who among us's the annoying one?" Norman said, wrapping his arms around the plate for further protection.
"You, Norman, you're the annoying one. You've been breaking into my cabin while I'm asleep for the last few years" Henryk found his way to Norman's plate and took the largest bacon out of it to feed Fey.
"Piee!" She savored it.
Norman looked into his plate to find a piece missing. He looked back and forth for a moment. "HEY! THIS'S THE MILLIONTH TIME YOU STOLE FROM MY BREAKFAST!" He really did not know how or when that piece was taken.
"But it was purchased using my money this time?" It was not always the case. Both of them took turns to resupply the fridge with ingredients. The last one was Henryk's turn.
"You gloating bastard!" Norman took one of Henryk's slices and jumped away from the table, plate and compensation slice of bacon in hand.
"Your majesty" Norman got hit for that.
"Sadly, it's broken now. I can't hit him with it anymore" Henryk looked at his trusty broom, broken and in tatters, and mentally shed a tear. 'Your sacrifice won't be wasted, comrade'
"You said something?" Norman said.
"Nothing to concern yourself about. Anyway, you should stop coming here for a while. That grizzly finally decided to come back for more" Henryk said, warning Norman.
"Oh! Really?" Norman, in all his nonchalance, continued to butter his bread and put together a sandwich after adding some other ingredients.
"I found some of its traces around. For more than some years now, it was the only bear that actually got this close to where we're. I'm sure it's him" Henryk was looking at his weapons, hanging from a nearby wall.
They then followed the routine they had for the last few years. They went hunting with the eagles. After an hours and some minutes, they heard rustling in the bushes.
*GROWL* The bear barreled towards them, throwing itself at the nearest target. That target happened to be Norman. He jumped back, but its claws still slashed him in the chest. The wound was large but superficial, and the bear's claws may as well carry dirt and infections on them.
(Line Break)
There was a collective gasp among the familia. Henryk's friend was in danger.
"What happened to him after that?" All asked in varying wordings.
"I will tell you what I know after the story" Henryk said.
(Line Break)
Henryk, in fear of losing his one and only friend at the time, panicked and hurriedly fired at the bear's intact eye. His aim was flawed by his rashness, however, which made the bullet go through one of its ears instead.
'Good thing we're in my territory of this forest. The ropes've been newly replaced, too. They should be able to support my weight' Henryk was always making sure he and Norman were close to the ropes.
Henryk climbed one rope and cut it above where the bear reaches. 'That's one escape rope gone' He momentarily lamented the loss of one of his escapes.
'Should I give them the command? They weren't trained in it that many times... Fuck it! Norman's life's at stake here!' Henryk was internally agonizing on making a fateful decision.
"Eagles! Rescue!" Henryk had four of them carry a heavy load once, around 70kg, towards a hospital. He did that just in case he needed to go there. Problem was, he was heavier than that load. He had to make a little alteration to this command. Whenever he issues this command, the eagles will go grab a specific large piece of cloth. It was big enough to be carried by eight eagles.
The weight they could carry now elevated to a little over 110kg. They could carry Norman, who was a measly 86kg.
"Norman! Let them treat that wound first thing when you arrive there! This thing's claws had things other than your blood on them! Be safe!" Henryk said, forgetting that Norman probably knew what the bear's claws carried.
"Henryk! You bastard! You better survive this! I won't have anyone else to bother if you don't!" Norman shouted as he was being carried away.
"Now, let's start by taking your life" Henryk saw the bear slowly make its way up the tree with only one claw.
Henryk climbed the rope until he reached the branch it was attached to. He switched his magazine to a specialized one. The bullets in this one were designed so that they would penetrate the flesh first, then release a high concentration lead solution into the wound after settling in it. They were the only illegal thing he had.
(Line Break)
"I did not take you for one to own an illegal item, father" Gracie covered her mouth and said in astonishment.
"Survival's the first priority, Gracie. Everything else comes after unless it's someone else's life and you give yours to keep theirs" Henryk said.
(Line Break)
"SLOWPOKE!" Henryk shouted.
*BANG* "BAAAWWWL!" Henryk fired at it. It missed the organs, but the bleeding and the lead poisoning would build up after a good number of bullets puncture deep into its flesh.
*BANG* "BAAAAAWWWWL!" Henryk fired another bullet into it and, seeing how close it got despite only having one front paw to climb with, swung to the next tree.
He got to the top of the rope and climbed on the branch to set his aim again. "YOU SLOWPOKE! WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT FUCKED UP ARM OF YOURS? HUH?"
*BANG* "BAAAWWWWL!" He fired yet another round into its flesh.
The fight went on for a few more minutes, until misfortune struck. Henryk fell to the ground. And although his fall was broken by a bush which he planted a lot of beforehand, the bear was upon him before he could stand up. He did not bother switching his bullets to the normal ones, boasting more raw firepower. He did not have the luxury of time.
"BAAAAAWWWWL!" The bear opened its jaws to bite his face off, but he took the best course of action he saw.
'If I can't live, then you should fall with me!' He pointed the gun in the bears mouth, directly below where its brain should be.
*BANG* "BAAAAAAAWWWWWWWL!!!" The bear was set for a path to its imminent doom. If the bullet did not kill it, the lead solution would poison it near the brain, killing it. Sadly, Henryk received one last hit before the bear fell unmoving. The momentum that remained in the bear's one remaining claw allowed it to slash him across the neck. He blacked out after that, forgetting how that fight ended.
(Line Break)
"It haunted my nightmare last night, after remembering it. The fact that I don't even know if Norman survived makes it even worse" Henryk felt remorseful, and it showed on his face. The guilt of endangering Norman ate at him whenever he remembered the incident, which was often.
"Henryk..... did you...." Hestia, the one who knows that he came from a totally different world, paled at the notion of blacking out while bleeding from the neck.
"... Yes, my lady. The blunder I mentioned before starting the story was dying to the bear. If I didn't, I'd be able to confirm Norman's situation or do something about it" Henryk was hesitant to tell them, but he convinced himself to tell them under the excuse that they are his new family.