Adama frowned up at Loki Familia, weighing the pros and cons of trying to cut them.

  He would certainly lose. The prum, Finn Deimne, was Level 6 and well known as a powerful warrior and experienced adventurer. He was a true opponent, one who would require all of Adama’s attention to defeat. Assuming he could win at all. Finn Deimne by himself would have been a handful, but with backup, things would be near hopeless for Adama. The dwarf, elf, and cienthrope were all in the upper echelon of Loki Familia adventurers, and all of them were either Levels 5 or 6. And that didn’t even consider Alura. Maybe he could try to wheedle Deimne into a duel…

  Adama shook off the suicidal impulse and sheathed his sword. He had a Familia to go home to, and it was a fine line between good training and suicide. Alura had already sheathed her weapon, and Loki Familia promptly took them into custody. The duo was subsequently marched to the Guild’s prisons within the city and led into the specialty cells, meant to hold high-level adventurers. The stone walls were made of magic-enhanced orichalcum, a valuable material of surpassing durability. The bars were similarly indestructible, with lines of blue magic flowing conspicuously up and down the metal. Hearthblade was taken away, and Adama was swiftly ushered into the holding room. The door quickly shut behind him, and Adama turned to glare at the muscular dwarf who’d pushed him inside. The stoic warrior was completely uncowed. Gareth Landrock was as easy to intimidate as a large boulder.

  Adama could respect that, so he turned his mind to business instead. He took a fighter’s stance and began manipulating his Mind in various patterns throughout his body. He was looking to refine the speed, scope, and direction of the chantless Endless Sword. His control was far from what it had been in his past life, due to the differences between madra and Mind, so he was always looking for opportunities to improve his mastery of this world’s power system. He briefly considered hiding this ability from his jailers, but that cat was out of the bag after his fight with Alura. In order to win, he'd unleashed several chantless spells without hesitation. And yet, he’d failed to kill the dangerous Amazon.

  As Adama meditated on his failure, he was interrupted by another figure being marched into the prison. He opened his eyes and watched as Emily Teasanare was led past his cell to an adjoining one. As this happened, they locked eyes, and she tearfully cried out, “I’m sorry, Captain! They caught me!”

  “Don’t mind it.” Adama spoke back, presenting an unaffected fa?ade even as he felt his stomach sink, “Can’t fret your way out of jail, can you? Stone certain we’ll get a way out of here soon.”

  His words weren’t mere bravado, as it was unlikely that the Guild would hold them in prison for long. It was bad for business to keep powerful adventurers locked up, especially if they hadn’t actually hurt any innocent people with their shenanigans. Adama wasn’t worried about a long stay. He was worried about something else.

  As they sat there, Alura called out from an adjoining cell, “You are a fool to have made an enemy of Ishtar Familia. Our vengeance will be swift.”

  Adama ignored the woman, his attention turning back to Loki Familia as they began to take their leave. However, it seemed like one wanted to stay. The jade-haired elf leaned against the wall, watching Adama with thoughtful eyes as her colleagues made their way out. The dog-eared cienthrope spoke out from the prison’s threshold in an irritated voice, “Hey Riveria, you comin’? We can get someone else to do guard duty.”

  The elf’s eyes flickered to the door before moving back to Adama as she coolly responded, “Go on ahead. I’ll take care of guard duty for now.”

  With that, the rest of the arresting Familia filed out. Adama met Riveria’s eyes, but before he could speak, Alura piped up again, “My Amazons will hunt down your friends and take back our sister. You dare to kidnap one of our own! I-”

  Riveria waved a hand, and Adama felt magic flare from the direction of the voice. It cut off immediately, and the mage spoke again, “I have activated the magical restraints on her cell. We cannot hear her, and she cannot hear us.”

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Adama gave a fractional nod of gratitude, “That’s a neat trick. I’ll have to have you teach me.”

  Riveria’s lips quirked slightly before she grew serious once more, “I owe you a debt of gratitude, swordsman. Even if you had other reasons, you saved my family from a great danger. Perhaps you have received your reward already, and yet I must thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

  To Adama’s surprise, she bowed low, then continued her speech, “I would have liked to go myself, but I was forbidden from doing so by my goddess and Ouranos. They both assured me that someone was handling the situation, though I never imagined that such a new and young adventurer would be the man to solve the problem.”

  Adama was disturbed to learn that Ouranos and Loki had known what he was doing on his quest. Had they been watching him? Had Fels followed him unseen? Or did they have another way of monitoring him? Adama shook off all these questions and refocused, “Glad to hear you’re grateful, because I need a favor.”

  She straightened, looked him in the eye, and waited to elaborate. Adama detailed what he wanted done, watching for any sign of reluctance on the mage’s part. He saw none. Once he was done, Riveria hurried out of the prison without delay. A short while later, some low-level guards from the Loki Familia showed up to guard the imprisoned adventurers, but Adama had already sunk back into his training.

  For now, he’d done all he could.

  …

  “Quickly, quickly, come this way.” A reptilian voice hissed out, the creature’s large claws beckoning toward the somewhat cautious adventurers. Ouka had followed Adama’s instructions, guiding his battle-weary party into the Dungeon and toward a certain underground sanctuary. They’d all been shocked at what they’d found there.

  Initially, all Take Familia had seen was an empty, open cave at the location Adama had marked on the map. The young adventurers had been confused before Mikoto had called out, “Adama sent us!”, and the rest was history. A small army of talking monsters had swooped in, terrifying the Familia and creating a minor panic all around. Eventually, they managed to reorganize and refocus. Ouka and the others learned that these were Adama’s allies, and they were eager to explain their situation and ask for help in their escape. Ishtar Familia was definitely still tracking them, even as Adama did battle with Alura, and hiding in the Dungeon alone probably wouldn’t be enough to throw the Familia off the scent.

  The talking monsters, or Xenos, as they called themselves, had eagerly agreed to help. Apparently, Adama had recently saved one of their own from certain doom, so the whole group was eager to help. They were currently smuggling Take Familia deeper into the Dungeon, taking elaborate routes and making evasive maneuvers to throw any trackers off the scent. The large reptilian, a crimson lizard man named Lido, seemed eager to reassure the adventurers and their renart friend, “Don’t worry, it’s gonna be just fine. We’ll keep you safe from the bad guys!”

  “Lido, you’re scaring them.” Chided a siren, a monster in the shape of a beautiful human female with wings for arms. This particular siren had gleaming golden plumage with blue tips. The lizardman turned toward the siren with the air of a distressed man, his voice cracking a little, “Aw come on Ray! I’m tryin’ to be friendly.”

  “I know, I know. But I’d really appreciate it if you killed some of the monsters up ahead instead. It would help us get away much faster.”

  Lido nodded thoughtfully, “Good idea.” He waved goodbye at the humans, “See ya later!”

  He dashed away, and Ray the Siren turned to the adventurers with a benevolent smile, “Lido may look scary, but I promise he’s a total sweetheart. He’s also an excellent fighter, so you’re in good hands.”

  The adventurers were calmed considerably, with Ouka blushing and being unable to meet the Xenos’s eyes. Their clip picked up considerably, and whatever pursuers they’d had were swiftly left behind.

  …

  It was about a day and a half before Adama and Emily were let go from prison. It was Riveria who came to pick them both up, the elf mage calmly explaining, “The Guild has said that they are willing to let you out on a warning. However, your Familia will likely receive a citation. It’s a very minor fine, but things will get more severe if you are caught fighting within city limits again.”

  Adama searched her face carefully, the swordsman’s brow furrowing curiously, “What about Alura’s claim we kidnapped one of her Familia members?”

  “The Guild has decided that that is an inter-Familia conflict. If it endangers the city again, then things may change, but for now, the Guild and Loki Familia have adopted a “hands off” policy.”

  Adama nodded solemnly, though he didn’t lose his frown as he continued, “What about that favor I asked you for?”

  Riveria’s face darkened at the question, though she didn’t say anything besides “I’ll show you.” Adama and Emily then followed Riveria as she led them back down the winding streets of Orario, with Emi confused and Adama grim. It wasn’t long before they reached their intended destination.

  The destroyed ruins of Hestia Familia’s home.