Emiya: "During yesterday's 'Monster Festival,' did an accident happen?"
"Yes, suddenly a lot of monsters lost control, broke away from Ganesha Familia's control, the scene was in chaos," Syr answered.
In the morning, while eating breakfast, Emiya and the people of the tavern talked about yesterday's news.
Yesterday afternoon, Emiya and Riveria went to the Holy Staff Festival, but unexpectedly, on the other end of the city, at the Monster Festival such an accident occurred.
"Many people were injured, and even adventurers died protecting civilians," Syr supplemented.
Emiya: "It was... adventurers from which Familia?"
"It seems it was members of the Dionysus Familia."
Dionysus Familia's adventurers already had dozens who sacrificed because of monsters, this time another death was added.
Emiya thought of Filvis and Aura, recently because of being busy with Loki Familia's affairs, it had already been a while since he contacted them.
"For such turmoil to happen, Ganesha Familia's situation...", Emiya inquired.
"Mm, now Ganesha Familia should be overwhelmed, and the Guild is also in chaos," Ryuu answered.
A large-scale event like the Monster Festival, but such a serious safety accident happened, naturally city administrators could hardly escape responsibility.
However, the God Ganesha's popularity among residents had always been high, called the "God of the Masses," his friendly image helped stabilize the situation.
Plus, in this incident Ganesha Familia's first-level adventurers reacted promptly, quickly controlled the situation, which kept the final casualties relatively low, avoiding a greater disaster.
By contrast, the Adventurer Guild received more criticism.
"Some say those out-of-control new type monsters were actually secretly bred by the Guild, Cat even heard dining customers discussing such rumors nya," Anya said so.
She paused, as if recalling something, then continued, "And, Cat heard people on site describing the special monsters they encountered, no matter how Cat thinks, they seemed like that plant snake Cat encountered before nya."
Emiya: "You mean, the man-eating flower?"
"Yes yes, exactly that nya!"
Anya nodded, "It was precisely because those monsters were powerful and their defense was amazing, Ganesha Familia couldn't resolve this incident quickly nya."
On the eighteenth floor, the strongest monster they encountered was undoubtedly that Fallen Spirit. At the same time, the plant-type monster controlled by that red-haired beast tamer was not ordinary, especially those man-eating flower monsters.
They had huge bodies, and strength and durability matching their size. Among Lv.5 warriors, only adventurers like Ais and Tiona who had top attack power and rich combat experience could kill them in one blow.
Additionally, magicians like Lefiya with strong firepower could also kill these monsters, but ordinary magicians simply couldn't release magic of such power.
And that those man-eating flowers appeared at the Monster Festival also showed this incident was definitely not a simple accident, but an enemy's plotted scheme.
This sudden loss of control at the Monster Festival not only left Ganesha Familia overwhelmed, but also seriously damaged the Guild's reputation. Civilians already had some fear of monsters, and after such chaos, that fear undoubtedly magnified further.
This situation was clearly what the enemy hoped to see.
"Is it trying to use this incident to pin down Ganesha Familia's strength?", Emiya thought.
Because of the Monster Festival's aftermath, Ganesha Familia indeed needed to invest a lot of manpower and energy, which would undoubtedly weaken their efforts in searching for the dungeon's exit.
However, Emiya didn't think this alone could change the situation.
Even if Ganesha Familia was held back, Loki Familia and Hermes Familia were also doing their utmost to search.
They were thoroughly searching suspicious areas of the dungeon as if digging three feet into the ground, the net was tightening, the space the enemy could hide in was getting smaller.
Emiya looked at the catgirl again, and softly asked, "Anya, are you okay?"
Anya's movements paused slightly, then she showed a smile, "Mm, I'm fine nya."
Though she said so, the girl still put on a lively appearance, trying hard to look carefree.
But Emiya knew, that smile was very forced, her inner knot wasn't so easily untied.
Emiya fell silent for a moment, then slowly said, "If you ever need to talk, come to me anytime, Anya."
———
BANG!
Dionysus's hands heavily slapped the table, making the cups on it tremble slightly.
His beautiful green eyes were full of grief, his voice low and hoarse, "My Familia members, because of those new type monsters, have died."
Loki and Hermes sat opposite him, for a moment not knowing what to say.
Hermes and Dionysus had always not gotten along.
Maybe because both were handsome male gods, a subtle same-gender repulsion arose between them, causing them to often mock each other in the heavens, and even after descending to the lower world, whenever they met they still clashed.
Yet at this moment, seeing the grief-stricken Dionysus, Hermes could only sigh lightly.
Dionysus took a deep breath, then raised his head and looked at Loki, his expression very firm, "Loki, I know, your Familia also encountered those monsters on the eighteenth floor."
Saying so, he took out a multicolored magic stone from his bosom and placed it on the table.
Many adventurers from Rivira Town participated in the eighteenth floor's battle. Whether those terrifying man-eating flower monsters or Loki Familia's outstanding performance in battle, these things couldn't be completely hidden.
And now, seeing this special magic stone, Loki's gaze became sharp, as if pondering something.
"This magic stone, it came from yesterday's Monster Festival?", Loki's brows furrowed slightly, staring at the magic stone on the table and asking.
Dionysus nodded, "That's right, before the Guild, I retrieved this magic stone."
After the Monster Festival's turmoil, the Guild forcibly retrieved all dead monsters' magic stones, especially these strange colorful ones, strictly forbidding anyone from privately possessing them.
But clearly, not all gods would unconditionally obey the Guild's orders.
"I don't trust the Guild," Dionysus's voice was low and firm, "That god Ouranus, no one knows what he's thinking. There were already rumors before, saying Ouranus was secretly raising a group of monsters as his private soldiers. Who knows whether this incident has anything to do with him?"
"You suspect Ouranus?", Hermes spoke with some hesitation, "Indeed, that god does have many secrets, I can also sense that he seems to be hiding something."
Dionysus nodded, his eyes flashing with anger and resolve, "So, I can only trust you two. Loki, Hermes, I need your help, I want to avenge my children."
———
"Anya, are you there?", Emiya lightly knocked on the door.
"Mm," From the room came the girl's somewhat dull voice.
Emiya gently pushed open the door and walked into the room.
Compared to Ryuu's extremely empty and simple bedroom, Anya's room was full of a girl's atmosphere.
What entered the eyes was orange, with bedsheets and curtains embroidered with cat paw patterns, on the bedside table were a few roughly made dolls.
The dolls were cute chibi style, there was an orange-haired catgirl, a silver-haired human girl, a blonde elf, a red-haired boy, and so on.
Anya sat on the bed, curled up in a corner, wrapped tightly in a blanket.
As expected, the energetic appearance she put on outside in the morning was just her way to hide her fragile inner side.
And now, alone in the room, her emotions finally couldn't help but darken.
Precisely because he realized this, Emiya came here specially, he couldn't let go of Anya whose mood was off.
While Syr and Ryuu quietly eavesdropped at the door.
They felt that Emiya talking to Anya alone might make it easier for the girl to open her heart, but regarding their companion's condition, they too couldn't feel at ease.
Emiya pulled over a chair, sat by Anya's bedside, and softly called her name, "Anya."
Anya poked her head out of the blanket, after a moment of silence, the girl spoke, "Shirou, actually, Cat is... a member of Freya Familia."
Emiya nodded, "Mm."
Regarding this, he had long guessed.
An adventurer who reached Lv.4 before the age of twenty, looking at the whole Orario, only Freya Familia, Loki Familia, and Ganesha Familia could nurture such a genius.
Plus, Mama Mia was once captain of Freya Familia, Anya's identity wasn't hard to guess.
Anya's voice became somewhat blurry, "Cat and brother, joined Freya Familia together... at that time, Cat was picked up by the Goddess."
Emiya looked at her, confirming, "Anya's brother, is [Goddess's Chariot] right?"
"Mm," Anya lightly nodded, "Brother is very amazing, Anya is much weaker... could only follow behind him."
Reaching Lv.4 at such a young age, Anya was undoubtedly a genius. But her brother, Allen Fromel's talent still made her feel inferior.
Allen Fromel, nicknamed [Goddess's Chariot], was the youngest Lv.6 adventurer in the whole dungeon city, even the whole world.
Even more shocking, he didn't rise later, but was promoted to Lv.6 at the same time as Finn, Riveria, and Gareth, those top adventurers.
That is to say, in ability values, Allen was already at Lv.6's peak like Finn and them, only lacking accumulation of heroic feats for further upgrade.
Ryuu reaching Lv.5 at eighteen already shocked the city as a genius.
And Allen, at eighteen, stepped into Lv.6's hero realm.
Anya's talent compared to her brother Allen, seemed insignificant, making her never have the courage to contend with him.
The girl never thought about surpassing Allen.
Her dream was simple, just wanting to always follow behind her brother. Just like when they were little, working hard together, facing danger together.
However, those days no longer existed.
"But because Anya was too weak, brother... didn't want Cat anymore," Anya lowered her head, her voice choked with sobs.
The turning point was a failed expedition.
Anya almost got killed by a powerful monster from the deep floors, barely escaped the dungeon alive, and because of her mistake, caused the expedition plan to stop.
The weak girl let her brother and the whole Familia down.
("Trash.")
("You're too weak.")
("Completely useless.")
("Get lost.")
Allen coldly said so, mercilessly.
The goddess Freya didn't hesitate either, between Anya and Allen, she unsurprisingly chose the latter.
Just like that, Anya became an abandoned cat.
Afterwards, the lost Anya was taken back by Syr, became the tavern's second employee.
In the years that followed, Mia and others joined one after another, and later Ryuu, Lunoire, Chloe and them.
After getting used to the new life, Anya gradually forgot the painful memories of the past.
However, as she chose to become an adventurer again, the heavy shadow of the past ultimately still caught up like a nightmare.
"Shirou, Cat doesn't know, whether she can still be an adventurer..."
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