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The morning sun rose over Orario.
The light hit the massive stone mansion.
Yesterday, it belonged to Apollo.
Today, the Hestia Familia symbol hung over the front gates.
Elias stood on the high balcony.
He leaned against the stone rail.
Dee sat on the rail next to him.
She swung her legs back and forth.
She was eating an apple.
They both looked down at the front gates.
A massive crowd of people stood outside.
There were at least a hundred of them.
They all wore dirty, broken armor.
They were the former members of the Apollo Familia.
Bell stood on the other side of the iron gate.
He looked very nervous.
Welf stood right behind him, holding his heavy sword just in case.
"Please let us in!"
A tall man in the front shouted.
"We have nowhere else to go! The Guild took all our money!"
"I am sorry,"
Bell said. He scratched the back of his head.
"But this is Hestia Familia property now. I can't just let strangers inside."
"We are not strangers! We fought you yesterday!"
A woman yelled from the back.
"That doesn't make it better,"
Welf pointed out.
"You tried to kill us."
"We had orders!"
The tall man pleaded. He grabbed the iron bars of the gate.
"Apollo forced us to fight. But Apollo is gone now. We saw what true strength looks like. We want to follow the man with the spear! We want to learn from him!"
Up on the balcony, Elias let out a long sigh.
"They are talking about you,"
Dee said. She took a bite of her apple.
"You have a fan club."
"I don't want a fan club, Dee."
Elias said. He didn't look happy.
"I am not a teacher. I don't have the patience to train them."
"They look very desperate,"
Dee pointed out.
"They lost their God. In this city, an adventurer without a God is nothing. They cannot enter the dungeon. They cannot make money. They will starve."
Elias watched the crowd.
"That is how the world works."
Actions have consequences.
They followed a fool, so they lost everything.
Down at the gate, Hestia suddenly marched out of the front door.
She wore a bright white dress.
She looked very important.
"Step aside, Bell!"
Hestia ordered. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the crowd.
The former Apollo members fell silent.
They looked at the Goddess with hope.
"Listen to me carefully!"
Hestia shouted. Her voice echoed over the walls.
"You attacked my children. You made fun of me. I should leave you all on the street!"
The crowd looked down at their boots.
A few people started to cry.
"However,"
Hestia continued. She raised one finger.
"This mansion is very big. It is too big for just few people. It is full of dust. The gardens are a mess. If you want to join my Familia, you will start at the absolute bottom. You will sweep the floors. You will wash the dishes. You will do the laundry."
The tall man looked up.
"We will do it! We will do anything, Goddess Hestia!"
"And,"
Hestia added, looking very serious.
"You won't bother Elias. He is not your master. He is not your teacher. If you annoy him, I will kick you out myself. Do we have an agreement?"
"Yes!"
The crowd shouted together.
Hestia smiled a huge, proud smile.
"Bell, open the gates. We have a lot of cleaning to do."
Bell unlocked the heavy iron gates.
The crowd rushed in.
They didn't look like warriors anymore.
They looked like happy servants.
They immediately started picking up trash and pulling weeds from the grass.
Elias turned away from the balcony.
"She handled it well,"
Elias said.
"She gets free workers. The Familia gets bigger. And I don't have to deal with them."
"A perfect trade,"
Dee agreed. She tossed the rest of her apple over the rail.
"So, what are we doing today?"
Elias looked up at the sky.
"We rest during the day. But tonight, we are going out."
"Oh?"
Dee raised an eyebrow.
"Where?"
"You said the next problem is in the Red Light district,"
Elias answered.
"I want to see it."
Dee laughed softly.
"You want to go to the pleasure quarter? I didn't think you cared about that kind of fun, Elias."
"I don't,"
Elias said with a straight face.
"I care about the layout. If we have to fight Ishtar, I want to know the battlefield. I want to know the escape routes. I need to see the streets."
"Always the soldier,"
Dee teased him.
"Fine. I will be your tour guide."
The sun finally went down.
The sky turned dark purple, then completely black.
Elias put on a simple dark cloak.
He left his naginata in his room.
He only brought a short knife hidden in his belt.
Dee wore her usual strange clothes.
She didn't bother to hide her face.
They walked out of the mansion quietly.
Bell and the others were busy organizing the new members.
No one saw them leave.
They walked through the city.
The normal streets grew quiet.
The shops closed.
But as they walked further east, the air changed.
It grew warmer.
The smell of sweet perfume and thick smoke filled the air.
They turned a corner and saw the entrance to the Night City.
It was incredibly bright.
Red lanterns hung from every window and door.
Loud music played from the taverns.
The streets were packed with people.
Most of the workers here were Amazons.
They wore very little clothing.
They stood in the doorways and smiled at the men walking by.
"Welcome to the pleasure quarter,"
Dee said. She put her hands in her pockets and looked around.
"Ishtar's territory."
Elias kept his eyes straight ahead.
He memorized the turns.
He noted where the guards stood.
He looked for dead ends and open roofs.
"Hey there, handsome,"
A tall Amazon said. She stepped right in front of Elias. She smelled like strong roses. She reached out and grabbed his arm.
"You look tense. Come inside. I will help you relax."
Elias looked at her hand on his arm.
He didn't pull away, but his eyes were entirely cold.
"Let go of me,"
Elias said. His voice was flat.
The Amazon frowned.
"Don't be rude. You came here to play, right?"
Dee stepped up right next to the Amazon.
She looked up at the tall woman.
Dee didn't say a single word.
She just stared into the Amazon's eyes.
The Amazon froze.
Her skin turned pale.
She quickly let go of Elias's arm.
She took a step back, breathing heavily.
She looked completely terrified of the small girl.
"Sorry,"
The Amazon whispered.
She turned around and ran back into her building.
"What did you do to her?"
Elias asked.
"Nothing,"
Dee smiled.
"I just reminded her how small she is. Keep walking, Elias. The big tower is this way."
They walked deeper into the district.
The streets grew wider.
In the very center of the quarter stood a massive building.
It reached high into the night sky.
It was decorated with gold and bright red silk.
"That is Ishtar's home,"
Dee pointed.
"The Toad lives there. And the Fox girl is kept inside."
Elias looked at the walls.
"It has strong defenses. Guards at every door. The windows are too high to climb easily. Tell me about Ishtar's fighters."
"They are almost all Amazons,"
Dee explained.
"They fight well in groups. Their captain is Phryne Jamil. People call her the Toad. She is Level 5."
"Level 5,"
Elias repeated.
He thought about it for a second.
"Hyakinthos was Level 3. The Toad will be faster and stronger. But size and speed don't matter if the technique is bad. How does she fight?"
"She uses heavy axes,"
Dee said.
"She relies purely on brute force. She is very durable. But she is also incredibly arrogant. And she is very, very ugly. Her personality is worse than her face."
Elias nodded.
He committed the information to memory.
"And the Fox girl? Haruhime. Why does Ishtar keep her?"
"Haruhime has a rare magic,"
Dee said.
She stopped smiling.
"It is called Uchide no Kozuchi. It allows her to temporarily boost anyone's Level. She can make a Level 3 fight like a Level 4."
Elias narrowed his eyes.
"A level boost. That is a dangerous power for an army to have."
"Yes,"
Dee agreed.
"Ishtar wants to use it to destroy the Freya Familia. Ishtar hates Freya. She wants to be the goddess of beauty. But Ishtar is too weak on her own. So, she plans to use Haruhime."
"You said they use her like a battery,"
Elias said.
"What does that mean?"
"They have a special ritual stone,"
Dee explained quietly.
"They are going to break Haruhime's soul into pieces. They will trap her magic in the stone. Then, Ishtar can use the level boost on her entire army at once. But Haruhime will die in the process."
Elias looked back up at the giant tower.
The bright lights didn't look beautiful to him anymore.
They looked sick.
"That is a waste of a life,"
Elias said coldly.
"And a very poor way to use magic."
"Bell will find out about it soon,"
Dee said.
She watched a group of drunken adventurers stumble out of a tavern.
"He will meet Haruhime by accident. He will try to save her. It will start a war between Hestia and Ishtar."
Elias crossed his arms.
"Can he win?"
"By himself? No,"
Dee shook her head.
"The Toad will crush him. He will need help."
"Then I will be ready,"
Elias stated.
He turned around to face the dark street leading back home.
"I have seen enough. I know the layout. I know the enemy. Let the rabbit try to be a hero first. If he fails, I will bring this tower down."
Dee walked beside him.
"Just like Apollo's castle?"
"Yuo,"
Elias said.
"Just like that…"