3-Family Reunion Part 3

.

.

.

—------------------------

/A bit over half an hour later…/

/Chatter!/

"... A-A-And that was how I first met him... Hum..." Hestia said in an embarrassed tone as she recounted to everyone in the room how she first met Silver

"Hoho... He did the right thing, I always taught him to be proactive and direct about things, looks like that netted him a Goddess!" An old man said with a wide smile as he laughed loudly

"Hm... Are you sure that wasn't me? The only thing you taught him was how to be a brute, I taught him to be a man of respect." Another old man said as he adjusted his shirt

"As if Lington! You taught him to be shrewd! Don't distort yourself!"

"I throw that right back at you! Had he followed your teachings he would be no different from one of those northern beastman barbarians!"

"WHHHHAAAAAT? Which part of me is that brutal?!"

"It's best you don't know..."

"#!!!"

"You two... Not in front of the Goddessess..."

"Haha... We don't mind." Artemis said with a smile as she enjoyed the atmosphere

"I can tell where SIlver took his personality from, I can see bits of him everywhere." She added as she looked around

"You're kind, I just hope he hasn't caused any trouble to you, Silver has always been a little devil from a young age." Misty said as she touched her face

"When he was five, he tried to take down a Goblin who approached our Village with a slingshot."

"Oh... That story..." One of the old man said as he closed his eyes

'He could still see it...'

"What?! What happened after?!" Hestia exclaimed as her eyes opened wide

"Well... The goblin's cries echoed throughout the entire Village, causing us to step up."

"What ended up happening is that Silver somehow tangled the Goblin's legs on a fence and bombarded it with a dozen slingshots, bursting... Ahem... Causing the monster to scream loudly."

"We disciplined him heavily after that..."

"You forgot to add how you four went on an expedition to the nearby forests, exterminating everything on your way." Marcus said on the side as he checked the baby on the crib

"Details." Misty added as she smiled slightly

"And that's not even the worst we have, what about the day he tried to steal a Nobleman's ring because he was too stuck up his arse?"

"Language Saphos! And it's not tried, he succeeded." Said the other old lady with a chuckle

""What?!""

/Laughs!/

'As the minutes pilled up, more and more people began to gather at Silver parent's home and join the conversation.'

'First, it was Lington, Rubia's father, trying to figure out where his wife had gone after she ran out in a hurry.'

'Then it was Marcus' parents, Saphos and Ullia, who learned of Silver's return the same way Misty did, through their neighbors.'

'Like that, what was once a simple home housing three, two adults and a newborn child was now the gathering spot for ten, Silver's family, two Goddesses, and a young lady with unusual silvery hair.'

'Although, there was one thing in everyone's mouth…'

'Where the hell was he?!'

…

/Meanwhile…/

/Creak…/

"H-Hello?... I'm back... Gramps?" Bell said out loud as he opened the door to his home

'Like always, he acted quite shy and even somewhat defensive, but as time passed and no one replied, confusion spread across his expression.'

"Is something wrong?" Silver asked as he approached him from the side

"No… I mean, yes… There's no one home."

"Is that strange?"

"Y-Yes… At this time gramps should've been home… Same for her…"

"..."

'Looking at Bell's confusion and unneeded worry, Silver went through his words in his mind as he also reflected on their prior conversation.'

'Due to his thinking speed, Bell seemingly stopped moving...'

I can tell people were here not too long ago from the footmarks at the entrance and around this shed.

There are dozens of footmarks here, but two pairs are most distinctive, one larger than the other, which I can only assume to be the ones belonging to his grandfather and… Sister.

The bigger pair is at most five minutes old, and it leads somewhere into the Village…

While the smaller one leads to… My parent's home.

No wonder, I was wondering what it was when I first saw it as I passed through their home.

So that stranger I saw inside was her.

'Even here, Silver's guard was always up.'

'He constantly maintained a certain sensory field around himself, it was a form of training and also a form of caution.'

'Even if a Level 6 adventurer were to appear, he wouldn't be able to ambush him unless he possessed some strange means beyond his range of detection, which wasn't unexpected.'

'If someone is to reach such a Level, then their abilities can only be extraordinary.'

... To think he has a sister, I didn't expect such a thing at all…

Twins... Is it fate, my actions, or something else entirely that led to this?

I was born a few years prior to him and there were many merchants that passed through the Village as I grew up, it is not incomprehensible to think my actions and interactions with them led to a cascading effect which led to her being born.

I wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't exist either... Hum... Maybe I would...

Well… It's not like things are defined from the start, I'm not entirely unfamiliar with my memories not matching reality.

Even back then things didn't quite connect the way they should've…

'But as began to dwell on the past, Silver shook his head, going back to the present.'

"It doesn't look like they left that long ago, don't worry about it, you can introduce them to me later." Silver said as he patted Bell's head

I would certainly be very keen on meeting Zeus, but I'm not here to talk with the God himself.

I've already determined that regardless of who existed before me, I'll grow capable enough to slay the Dragon... Even if someone else does it before me.

My fate lies within the Dungeon, the Dragon is only a threat to the world outside of it. Which is still immeasurably important.

"Uhum..." Bell replied with a sad expression

"..."

This kid...

'Albeit they didn't talk for long, Silver had already taken an older brother attitude when it came to Bell, although it had been kind of imposed upon him from the start.'

'At first, he thought he was acting too forceful by being too overly friendly, but the boy ended up accepting it all too naturally… Maybe too naturally, to the point he became concerned...'

'Silver believed that there was no way he would survive out there with such a personality, but as he remembered some of the people he recruited, he actually believed Bell to be in a much better condition than he previously expected...'

'Still, it was unnatural how easily he accepted him, but as he listened to Bell, he soon learned how that wasn't solely due to his personality.'

'Throughout the months, his parents and their parents had slowly integrated him and his sister into their own family from the way they spoke to the way they referred about their son.'

'And because they had no one aside from their grandfather to rely upon, it ended up that way.'

'It didn't help how his mother treated him as her child... But that was something for another time.'

'To a certain degree, this explained Bell's embarrassment and excitement upon seeing him, it was like seeing a sibling they only heard about for the first time.'

'And Silver wouldn't let the boy down, as to a certain extent, it brought in him the desire to be a leading figure.'

'Not the Captain of the Hestia Familia but a brother.'

"Shall we go back then? They're likely expecting us."

"And honestly, I smelled something delicious from inside, it's likely dinner, and I wouldn't want to miss it."

"Y-You did? I smelled nothing…" Bell said as he sniffed the air

/Chuckle/

'With a light laugh, Silver patted Bell's head once more.'

"It would take more than a beastman to smell the food over here…"

"Didn't I tell you before, an adventurer has better senses than most, smelling good food from a few dozen meters away is nothing."

"... It'll be no different if you wish to become one as well."

Some beastman's senses are so strong they can smell everything within a floor, it takes a lot of control to not be overwhelmed by it...

And to discern things from it.

As long as there is even the tiniest bit of a dying smell, they'll be able to take it.

If they're capable enough for that...

"!"

'Hearing such words caused Bell's face to prop up as his eyes sparkled, but before Bell could reply, Silver turned around.'

"Come, we shouldn't make them wait."

At least not any further than we already did… Hopefully, I don't get the short end of the stick for this…

I have my excuses ready, just in case.

"Wait! Ehh… I mean… Uhh…"

"Hum? Is something wrong?"

"W-Wait here!" Bell exclaimed as he bolted inside

/Thud thud thud!/

'Silver only heard Bell's hurried steps as he ran around his house, and in no less than half a minute the boy was back with an extremely thick book in his hands.'

"H-Here!" He said out loud as he showed him the book

"This is…"

Is it what I think it is?

'It was a rather large and wide book with likely hundreds of pages…'

'It didn't have a Title, its cover was made of simple leather, the very definition of an ordinary and uneventful book.'

'But despite everything, Silver felt something was off about it, though it could be just a creation of his own mind…'

"Is this what you wanted to show me, Bell? The book you talked about before?" Silver asked as he grabbed the book

Nameless, there's no author's name in it either.

It's also clearly handmade.

Many books in Orario were made with printers and machines, it's not every day I see one assembled by hand like this.

Though it's well-made enough to look like one of those though.

/Nod!/

'Silver opened the book, and the contents within made his eyes open wide.'

"A fairy tale book?"

/Shake!/

'Bell shook his head fiercely, so much so Silver was impressed by his sudden change in character.'

"Not fairy tales! These are recollections of Heroes from the past!" He proclaimed loudly as he pulled the pages a little, stopping at a random chapter

"... Argonaut, the first Hero?" Silver asked out loud as he read the chapter's Title

If this is the first Hero... Then what are the other chapters about?

"Yes! This one's my favorite!" Bell said with a wide smile as he pointed at the book

'And like that, he began telling Silver everything he knew about the tale, from where it started to where it ended, all with a wide smile on his face as he did so.'

'He even added details not listed in the story at all...'

'Even though he couldn't see the book very well due to the difference in their heights, Bell told the story flawlessly to Silver without missing even a single detail.'

'It was evident that Bell had read the book so many times he had memorized every single one of its pages, to the point he could open the book at the exact chapter he was looking for at any given moment.'

'And he had also heard details not listed in here, meaningless details but they gave life to the story.'

'However, there was one important detail about it…'

"..."

This story… It's different... I need to confirm it.

"Bell, who wrote this book? It doesn't have a Title much less the name of the author."

"Who wrote it?... I-I'm not so sure about the tales themselves, not all of them have their writers mentioned, but this book itself was written by my grandfather, It is a collection of fairy tales he heard about as he grew!"

"Ah?! They're not fairy tales!" Bell exclaimed as his face grew a bit red

/Chuckle/

"I didn't question you." Silver replied as he patted his head again

As expected... This is the real deal.

... Fairy Tale books are some of the most famous books that circulate outside of Orario's walls, they're the easiest for anyone to read.

After all, many peasants outside of major cities even barely know how to read.

Most of these are actually only picture books aimed at children, but this one is mostly text… Too much text in fact… But there are several pictures in between the pages.

And they're… Oddly specific, but there's a certain tint of exaggeration, the usual with these kinds of stories... But something's off...

Argonaut is one of the most famous stories out there, most kids know of the first Hero, albeit his counterpart, the last Hero, takes more of the children's imagination…

I've read it before, in fact, I've read pretty much every single fairy tale book there is to read.

From the rise of Empires long lost to the downfall of beasts that terrorized the lands... The more exaggerated they were.

And aside from certain local books which I'm afraid I'll never really have the chance to read, I imagine I've read everything there is to read.

Most would take it as a childish pastime and curiosity, but I see it as a chance to understand the past, to reflect it onto the future.

In this world of fantastical adventurers, it is foolish to not observe the past at least once...

However, despite the ridiculous notion of taking children's stories seriously, they were, mostly, based on true events.

The problem was differentiating what was true from what was not, what truly happened was rewritten and reinterpreted over centuries of translations and thousands and hands…

But this book… It has too many things I've never heard or read about. It treats every action, and every step of each of its heroes meticulously, even containing their thoughts in some instances.

As if it was sure of itself and its depictions… This isn't uncommon as there are countless reinterpretations of such events, some made for adults, others for children…

I like to think that amidst this sea of lies, one was bound to be right, or at least, more 'right' than another… So at least having a certain idea of what happened was bound to be useful one way or another.

As such, in any ordinary situation, I would've just laughed and read the book for fun…

But this one often mentions things they never really fall upon, such as the specificities of the relationships between the Heroes and their companions, themselves and the Gods... And their representatives.

This isn't a fairy tale compendium, this is a history book.

The one who wrote this book is likely the most reliable teller there is…

"The Clown who dances comedy… Interesting."

'Silver went by a few more pages, taking a look at the other chapters before he turned to Bell.'

"I've read some of these stories, they're all…"

"COOL RIGHT?!" Bell exclaimed out loud as he jumped excitedly

"..."

He really loves Hero stories…

"Well… How about we read it later? For now, I think we should go back, is that okay for…"

"It's a promise!" Bell said excitedly as he walked past Silver, as if trying to rush whatever they were doing so he could read the stories faster

/Thud!/

"... Yeah, it's a promise." Silver replied with a small smile as he closed the book

/Clack.../

'With one last gaze, Silver closed the door to Bell's home before turning around and going after him.'

'It was time to end this Family reunion.'

...

.

.

.

Notes