(This chapter was uploaded on Monday 13/November/2023 8:00 PM, timezone GMT+3)
('1), ('2), ('3), etc. means that there is some explaining for the thing in the notes at the end of the chapter.
"..." small moment of silence
"Talking"
"He-" Someone was interrupted.
'Thinking'
[Skills' names, chanting and spells' names]
Don't shy from commenting on typos and/or inconsistencies. That and/or suggesting a modification to certain things that didn't make sense to you.
I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.
(With the Hestia familia. Day 2 of Nephelont's arrival)
"Wake up, Thuu~ It is time for breakfast~"
Eucleia woke up early today. She felt refreshed and her body felt lighter for once in the last several years.
Right now, she was waking up the son that took the most after Nephelont as a child.
Thumper took after Nephelont's love for sleeping longer. Unlike Nephelont, however, the sun does not bother Thumper. He slept until he got enough shuteye, or until it was time to eat.
"I wanna sleep more" Thumper pilled the blanket over his head to cover her voice.
'Oh! No! I need to act fast!' If she gave him any time to fall back to sleep, she would not be able to wake him up for the next few hours.
"Thuu~ It is soupy salad today~" Eucleia whispered the most alluring words for her little rabbit.
"... !!" Thumper's eyes shut wide open, and he jumped out of bed. "What are we waiting for? Let's go! Mommy!" He loved the soupy salad Ais made.
Ais first made it for Nephelont when she noticed how he chokes on his food easily. It was something that Nephelont kept eating for years until he died.
"Look at you!" Agni was giddy herself. She would not admit it, but the soupy salad was appealing to her tastes.
Clementina and Augustus already disappeared into the corridors, likely to appear at the dining hall.
(Line Break)
"Shouldn't we wait for Henryk and Norman before talking about this?" Welf said as he watched his cute grandchildren being pampered by Eucleia.
"Not this time. Their mission may take longer than we could afford to wait. We need to talk about it in private later, maybe after breakfast. Also, we can always use the enchanted magic tool he left to contact him with" Bell informed Welf of his opinion as he looked at Ais. Her hands were shaking.
"Agreed" Welf noticed it too.
Ais's instincts were very accurate. If she felt something, it may be a big thing.
"I may have something to add to that discussion, father. I felt my body getting lighter this morning. Not to mention, the bed did not feel as cold today. I am feeling a hopeful and peaceful feeling in my heart" Eucleia did not know why, but the bed she used with Nephelont felt warmer than the last few days, which were ones of the coldest.
"We will talk it over later"
They continued their breakfast, with the familia members' children playing around the hall, making a mess of everything that crossed their path.
(Line Break)
"So, what do you feel, Ais?"
Bell started the discussion. By now, Tiona and her daughter joined in.
Tiona's daughter was a seventeen years old amazoness. She wore a white saree with red gash-like marks all over it. She liked it after she grew up seeing Tiona wearing hers. Her hairstyle and the color of her eyes are the same as Tiona's while her hair was as white as Bell's. She had a feminine variation of Bell's face and was as flat as her mother is.
As for Tiona's saree, it was the same color as her old pareo.
"I... don't know. I feel like my hands want to reach to Desperate and unsheathe it. I feel like I need to go to the dungeon and see someone... familiar?... in there" Ais said while observing her shaking hands.
"The warmth I felt compared to the past while felt like a part of me returned. I do not want to get my hopes up... but it feels like he is coming back" She was emotional.
"That is what I felt too" Ais did feel that same feeling. She just did not know how to describe it.
*RING!* A ringing sound came out of a tool kept on Bell's desk.
"That should be Henryk. I will pick it up" Bell got up from his seat and picked up the call.
The tool was an enchanted item made by one of Henryk's children to allow them to communicate at a great distance. As long as they are on the same continent, they can reach each other with a pair of these tools.
"Hey there, little bro" Henryk's voice came over.
"How is everyone's health?"
"They're fine. What about the ones sitting with you?"
"They are fine too. But how did you know we were sitting together?"
"Well, I wanted to talk about something. Scarlet found the tail of a smell she hadn't smelled for the last six years" Henryk felt like he was dropping a bomb. It was one huge bomb in that conversation.
"It was-"
"Nephelont's smell. Someone, or something, out there has somehow acquired the same scent as Nephelont. The problem comes from the fact that the scents Scarlet smells are unique to each individual. Even little Lia and the kids did not smell the same as him. Do you see where this goes?"
"Blunt as always, aren't you?" Welf said as he suppressed his emotions.
"You know me, old man. I stay honest with my words" Henryk said, free of any guilt that others may feel after saying such heavy things to the family of a deceased person.
"You're older" Welf shot back at him.
"Now, consider that Cassandra had a dream. It was a short one, one where she saw a golden rabbit with mismatched eyes crawl out of its burrow. Its paws housed claws that carved through rocks and stone that blocked its way up. That does nothing but confirm it" Cassandra Ilion accompanied Henryk and Norman in their mission. She had her 'reasons'. Daphne, as the one who considers herself Cassandra's caretaker, also joined the mission.
"Nephelont... My sun has returned" Ais's eyes shook for a moment. As the first tear wanted to spell out, she resolved herself. She stayed strong and decided to get ready to go find him.
"Do you have any clue as to where we could find him?" Tiona was curious as to how they would find him.
"Nah, mom! We can just follow mother Ais's feelings! She should still be able to tell where he is!" Raya, Tiona and Bell's daughter, was excited to see her big brother again. She promptly forgot their years of separation and looked forward to it, their eventual meeting. She was planning on giving him a kiss. ('1)
There was just one mistake she made. She forgot that Ais does not feel the exact location Nephelont is at. ('2)
*BAM* The door was slammed open. Its hinges were crying for help.
"Why did you not invite me to this meeting? I heard what Henryk said as I was passing by. Do you have any excuses, Bell?" A woman that Bell was the spitting image of entered the room. She now knew that her grandson may have returned and was raging about her son holding off on telling her. She started pinching Bell's cheeks furiously while pouting.
"Stop it, Meteria. Bell might have been waiting to tell you later, once they are sure" Another one came in, with her eyes closed. She bumped her pinky toe to the edge of the sofa's leg but marched on as if nothing wrong had happened. ('3)
"Alfia! Bell didn't tell me about this hopeful possibility! He knows I would love to see my grandson again!" She tried to look pitiful to her sister, utilizing all that her face could give.
"But even then, he did something wrong. He should have told you about this meeting at least" Meteria won Alfia over. Alfia was weak to her twin.
"Bell! Let's go!" Ais's ecstatic feeling overwhelmed her desire to shed tears and cry in relief. She just wanted to go see her sun. She practically dragged him out.
"Ais! Argonaught! Wait for me!"
"Dad! Mom!"
Tiona and Raya walked out behind them.
"Waaah~ Where are they going?" Another teen that looked like a copy-paste of Bell walked into the room just as they were going out. He was still sleepy and yawned his fair share before getting in.
"Hey there, Ludwig. They're going out to try and find your older brother. He's returned"
The people who were still in the room only felt a gust of wind and Ludwig was gone.
"Should we go, Hephaestus?" Hestia did not assist in the conversation since it was more of a family's secret meeting. She was going to do another thing to express her relief at Nephelont's return.
"Never. You remember the last time someone ate it by accident?" Hephaestus knew what Hestia wanted to do. She was going to make Nephelont's personal recipe for potato puffs.
"I will be more careful~" Hestia got on it and went to the kitchen to prepare the snacks' ingredients.
"You! I'm tired of dealing with your problems!" Hephaestus did not say that with a heavy heart. She was smiling light-heartedly while following Hestia to the kitchen to make sure no one dies.
"The others should be informed" Welf went around informing those close to Nephelont of his possible return.
Haruhime collapsed into a mess of tears while Mikoto took out the strongest of her weapons in preparation. Aisha raised her only visible eyebrow and said that she will join what she called "A Rabbithunt".
(With Bell)
"Captain, a group of adventurers want to talk to you" One of the people assigned to guard duty today came and informed Bell.
"Can they come another time? I am preparing to go to the dungeon now"
"They said that it involves a monster that had a striking resemblance to your son, a dragon with night-blue skin and was covered in different shades of green crystals from head to toe"
"Bring them in" 'They might give us an important clue. We should listen to them for now'
(Line Break)
"I thought it would be full of grand decorations and golden accents and other things" The three adventurers that came in were Ramon, Carl and their captain.
"You think everyone would be drunk on power? Henryk Williams, the familia's vice-captain, made sure they didn't become tyrants, abusing their power wherever they went. He weeded those out right as they appear in the familia's ranks. From rehabilitation to being kicked out, not one of them was spared" Ramon remembered seeing them do something wrong, seeing Henryk and his children drag them somewhere then seeing their bruised bodies pitifully apologizing to those they wronged.
"I did not keep you waiting for long, did I?" Bell entered the room in his adventuring attire, with his infamous light armor, Pyonkichi MKXIII. (Yes, Welf did not change his naming senses)
"Not at all, Sir"
"You can call me Bell, Alonne. Both of us are captains of our respective familias" Bell sat on the chair opposite theirs with an expression that made them feel relaxed.
"So, Bell, we came today to tell you about a monster we think might have something to do with your son. It appeared on the 24th floor and didn't attack anyone. A report claims that the monster even talked and knew reason and could make and keep promises"
"And where is that dragon going?"
"It went deeper into the dungeon. We received another report from a party coming from a prior expedition that they were stalking the same dragon unknowingly. They confronted it and were left to go even though the dragon could have killed them. The dragon was last seen going to the 30th floor, likely to go deeper"
"That but confirms it, little brother" The tool connecting to Henryk was forgotten and was still on.
"I think it does, Henryk. But that also means we will need to hurry up. Lest we miss our chance" Bell left the mistake of the tool being forgotten on unsaid.
"As a father, I cannot find a way to express my thanks to you. Is there anything you want for your information?"
"What about sending help for our next expedition?"
"That can be arranged, only after knowing how many people you want us to send for help"
"Little brother, maybe send 4-5 people? Their familia won't need more people from our familia to help them go through to the 30th and back. I suggest also helping the other familia if you know their name" Henryk contributed.
They exchanged a few more words and pleasantries then went their separate ways.
(Day 4 of Nephelont's arrival)
Seeing the scale of the search, Bell somehow made a miracle by convincing Ais to wait for two days to gather allies, to make sure they find him.
It took them the entirety of day three to prepare the teams and draw Nephelont's portraits.
Now, they are gathered at the plaza around Babel. Bell was giving them the briefing one last time.
"We will be searching for a monster that looks like my son in his final moments! A night-blue-like dragon covered in different shades of green crystals!
We will search by making small search teams that will go to every inch and corner of the floors we pass by!
A stronger team will go down first to exterminate any monster within the main path of every floor while level seven and eight personnel will remain with the searching teams to ensure safety if an emergency arises!
When one party finds him, they should announce it using the magic tools we distributed on each party's supporters!
An additional magic tool, a magic flare, will be used in case a search team needs assistance from the personnel who stay with them on the same floor!
Once the magic flare is depleted, the searching team retreats!
Your own safety comes first!
As for how he looks! These portraits should suffice!" Bell signaled for the portray of Nephelont in both human and dragon forms to be rolled down. It was from the front and the side of both forms.
"We shall depart now!"
"Oohhh!" The familia's members and those who participated from allied familias started moving with Bell's lead to dive down in search of Nephelont.
The rabbithunt began.
(End of Chapter)
'1:
Get your minds out of the gutter. It is a chaste kiss on his cheek.
'2:
Well, Ais can feel his general location in a spherical range around him. She can mistake up and down, or left and right. She can be quite an airhead when it comes to this. Not this time, though.
'3:
"Besides that, she was also a very clumsy person." right out of the wiki. Alfia is clumsy.
And about that 'rabbithunt' thing... Yeah, I made that word up, maybe, possibly.... Anyway, it became a word if it was not before.
Tomorrow will be another chapter of the Hestia familia and we will return to Nephelont's underground adventures.
Have a nice day, ladies and gentlemen.