An unfamiliar plain ceiling was the first thing Gin saw when he opened his eyes.
He lay on a sofa, it seemed.
He focused on his body, noticing the pain from the violence inflicted on him had faded.
"I see you are awake now, Mr. Hvergel."
Gin turned his head toward the familiar voice.
As expected, it was Rehmer.
He sat at a desk across from him, filling out forms.
Gin sat up. "Rehmer? Is this the Guild?"
'I hope it is and not his personal room. That would be awkward.'
"Yes, we are in a Guild lounge. You were out for half an hour. It is two hours past sunset." He finished his paperwork and gave Gin a semblance of attention. "Do you remember what happened to you?"
"I was chased by a criminal across Daedalus Street. He wanted the golden egg… at least for the first half. Something about me rubbed him the wrong way, and then he aimed for my life."
"I see. Then he managed to knock you out, correct?"
"No, the one that knocked me out was this blonde elf. She sucker-punched me out of nowhere, man." Gin sighed. "Well, at least she's cute."
"Oh dear, do you hear that, Ryuu? That gentleman over there thinks you're cute."
Another, less familiar voice piped up from behind him.
Gin turned his head.
Sure enough, the Astraea Familia members entered his view.
They were giving the blonde elf the full teasing treatment: grins, elbowing, and knowing looks.
The blonde elf ignored her fellow familia. Her expression remained stony, but the hint of red on her ears betrayed the effort.
Gin lay down again, turning his attention back to the ceiling.
He hoped a ceiling tile would fall, or that Dix Perdix would reveal himself and end his misery.
No such luck.
"I see there is no problem with your memory."
'Rehmer, dude, how the hell can you remain calm at times like this?'
"Your condition looks fine as well. I believe you have made a complete recovery."
"Not my mental health, no," Gin groaned. "Please tell me the golden egg is okay at least."
"Rest assured, Mr. Hvergel. The Astraea Familia delivered the Jack Bird Golden Egg intact in your name. The Guild is handling it right now."
Gin relaxed at the info. 'Finally some good fucking news.'
"Speaking of the golden egg, there will be some important discussions involved in the exchange. We understand you had a long day, so the Guild will wait for the negotiation tomorrow."
"Will there be complicated bureaucracy stuff?"
"Yes."
Gin was in no state to think clear right now.
The chance might be small, but it was better to wait rather than get duped over something this important.
"Thanks. Let's push our talk to tomorrow then."
"Okay, you're done talking? Ready to head back now, bro?" Lyra, the pink-haired pallum, asked.
"Pardon?"
"It's already night. We will take you home," Alise explained. "With everything that happened, I think it's better if you don't take any more risks today."
"I appreciate the offer, no offense, but I assure you I am capable of getting home on my own."
"You sure you're okay? Hey bro, see how many fingers am I holding?" Lyra raised her middle finger in front of his face.
Gin stared at the offending digit for a moment, gave his next move some serious thought, and decided to do it anyway.
He watched horror dawn on her face.
He sucked it.
His tongue, his mouth, the inside of his cheek. He used them all to give her what she deserved!
"Bro, the fuck!?"
Being sane with no hidden fetishes, the pallum yanked her digit out of his mouth.
The finger's exit was accompanied by an audible popping noise.
'Okay, that sounds kinda dirty.'
"One," Gin answered.
The pallum wiped her finger on one of Rehmer's forms.
Rehmer just allowed it to happen, distancing himself from the situation.
"See? I'm okay."
"I doubt that."
'Shut up, Rehmer.'
"You're skilled. Are you sure this is your first time?" the Far East woman quipped from the side.
"Eh, I still need more practice if you ask me."
"Fufufu, but in all seriousness, you have no need to act tough. We are partly responsible for your current state after all. Our goddess would scold us should anything happen to you."
'If anything happened, huh?' Gin doubted anything would happen, but refusing them after all this seemed immature.
"…Fine, but no hand-holding."
"Oh? Any special reason for that?"
For a moment, his mind conjured an accurate depiction of Hel's face.
"…No."
"I see." She walked up to Ryuu, the blonde elf, and gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, Ryuu. He doesn't give his consent. I know you are disappointed but please bear with it, okay?"
"Kaguya!"
"Oh, if it's Ryuu, then never mind my earlier statement." Gin joined in on the teasing, eager to watch someone else squirm for a change.
Ryuu turned toward him in surprise.
Her expression was a mix of panic, embarrassment, and disbelief.
Gin offered his hand to her, knowing she'd at most spit at it.
'Wait, knowing it and still doing it is idiotic, not gonna lie. Heh, whatever.'
"Come on, Ryuu. See, this boy wants to be friends with you again."
Gin moved his hand, making all kinds of motions in hopes of endearing it a little...
"I want to hold Ryuu-tan, pyon!" Rabbit-san VA: Kaguya.
"Ryuu-tan, don't hate me, woof." Dog-san VA: Lyra.
"Ryuu-tan. I am a Ryuu too." Dragon-kun VA: Gin.
"Wow, how did you make the last one!? Can you teach me how later!?"
'See, even Alise is impressed.'
"You have one of the most useless talents ever."
'Shut up, Rehmer.'
"No! We are wasting time! Let's just go!" Ryuu rushed out of the room, her face redder than ever.
'Ah, no dice, huh.'
Saying goodbye to Rehmer, Gin and the rest followed behind her.
....
Rather than taking the short route back through the alleys, they opted to walk on the main road, picking a safer route in case of an ambush.
It was a long route—walking back toward Babel before heading to the north district—but Gin didn't mind the extra steps.
Right now, safety was everything. Safety could be fun.
Even more so after talking with the Astraea Familia.
"So this evil familia coalition is called Evilus?"
"Yes." Alise nodded. "They are dabbling in almost every crime in Orario these past few years. From petty thievery to large conspiracies, they don't care about the scale as long as it causes trouble for the city."
Alise seemed to be talking about something serious, but Gin could only think about how this Evilus group's naming sense was worse than Hel's.
If Hel was the leader, she would at least name it Helverg: The Road to Chaos or something.
"So the crazy dude from before is a part of Evilus too?"
"There's a fair chance, yeah," Lyra said. "Dix seems used to doing dirty business like that. He didn't hesitate about killing you or the residents, right? Sounds like Evilus to me."
Gin thought back to his would-be murderer. Yep, forget his actions. Just from his appearance alone he seemed evil enough.
"So your familia is like an alliance of justice to counter Evilus?"
"Alliance of Justice? No, no! We're not that big of a deal!" Alise blushed at the description. "Our goddess Astraea-sama is a kind goddess. She cares about Orario's well-being. All the more so for people who can't defend themselves."
'Wow, she's probably the most decent goddess I've ever heard of.' Hel was still better, though.
"We do patrols along with the Ganesha Familia. Sometimes large familias like Loki Familia and Freya Familia join in too," Kaguya said. "All of us do our parts to make a better Orario."
"We could do better, though," Ryuu said in a hushed tone.
'She's hard on herself, huh? That Ryuu.'
"Well, seeing you guys in action today, I think you've done well. I mean, I am alive here, right?" Gin gave her an easy smile. "Right now I'm still a newbie, but give me one or two years and I promise I'll chip in with my familia too. Who knows? If I end up doing something great and save Orario from the big bad and stuff, that means you did something great indirectly, right?"
"Wow, that's some statement, Mr. Rookie." Lyra poked at him. "If you can't live up to that, I'll be laughing my ass off."
"I'll make sure to be strong enough to save you. I can already see it. You crying in relief as I appear with my bow and arrow." Gin joked along with her.
"I have a hard time picturing that," Ryuu said.
Gin did too, but there was nothing wrong with dreaming a little, right?
"Don't waste your time picturing it, then." Gin grinned at her. "Just make sure to burn it into your memory when the time comes."
Time seemed to pass fast, and before he noticed it, the gate to Twilight Manor was in sight.
"Well, here we are at last." Gin turned toward the Astraea Familia and gave a brief bow to show his gratitude. "Thank you for saving my bacon back then. I wouldn't be here if not for all of you."
All of them gave him a smile. He could even see the corner of Ryuu's mouth lift a little. That was the equivalent of a big smile for her.
"Please don't mention it, Gin. Helping each other is the right thing to do." Alise was being a saint, as usual. "Oh, but you better be careful dealing with the money from the golden egg, alright? A Level 1 with that much money would be an easy target for people."
Gin couldn't call her paranoid given what happened today. Well, better to follow her advice, right?
"No worries. I plan to spend it all as fast as possible."
"Huh?"
"I will buy a house," Gin said. "It will be hard for them to steal a building, yeah?"
"Fair point." Kaguya smiled. "I advise against spending it all in one go, however."
"Yeah bro, where's our saver fee?"
"Lyra! That's rude!"
"Hoo, a reward, huh?" Gin pretended to think for a moment. "It can't be helped. Ryuu!"
"Me?"
"I know what you want. But only this one time, okay?" Gin let out a heavy sigh. "I'll let you take me out on a date."
"Huh!?"
"Oh my, he can read your mind, Ryuu."
"Yikes Ryuu, you're not his only savior. Share a little, sis."
"That's not—"
"Fine then, I will make a special exception and let all of you join from a distance. I will even pay for your food. Happy?"
"Woohoo! You're the best, Gin!"
"Such a gentleman. I'm impressed."
"You mean you're going to treat us? Thank you, Gin! You shouldn't have."
"Wait! I haven't ag—"
"Okay, this weekend I'll visit your familia house! Prepare your bellies, ladies."
Gin beat a hasty retreat, not giving Ryuu a chance to voice her objection.
----
This is the current age of canon cast:
Bell C. 6 Years Old
Ais W. 8 Years old
Lili A. 7 Years old
Welf C. 9 years old
Y. Mikoto 8 years old
Ryuu: 14 years old
Alise: 17 years old
Kaguya: 18 years old
Lyra: 17
Tiona: 9 years old
Tione: 9 years old
Bete: 15 years old