Power Corrupts: Small Setbacks (ch.24) (Patreon)

Ryuu, for all of her willingness to teach, wasn't much of a teacher. That much was very clear when the tip of her sword buried itself into my gut, hardened muscle offering no defense and it was only by her restraint that I merely had the breath knocked from my lungs rather than be ran through. I skid back from the blow, leaving behind a trail of upturned dirt where my feet dug in to rain standing. As soon as I came to a stop, I dropped to a knee involuntarily, clutching my stomach -- the only reason I didn't puke was because Ryuu made me vomit up everything that was in me already. 

"You're open," she warned, moving in a blur I could almost follow before her wood sword smacked me in the face hard enough that I face-planted into the dirt hard enough my face left an impression. "Even when you're recovering from an attack, you can't let the pain distract you from blocking or dodging." She reminded me -- with the ruthless taskmaster she was proving to be, I half expected her to start kicking me until I rose to my feet to emphasize the point. 

"Can you continue?" Ryuu asked, not even sounding winded, but I guess she wouldn't. It wasn’t like it was hard for her to kick my teeth in. 

I was on the other end of the spectrum -- I was soaked with sweat, dirt clung to my skin, cuts and scratches littered my body and my breathing was ragged to my own ears. Even still, my weapon was still gripped in my hand, willing to fight even though I hadn't even come close to blocking one of her attacks yet. 

"Let's take a small break," Ryuu answered her own question when I was too busy savoring air to answer her. I simply rolled over onto my back, unable to insist that I could go for another round simply because I knew that I couldn't. There was being stubborn and then there was delusion. "You are making progress," she reassured as she sheathed her weapon in a cloth belt. "Your eyes are getting a handle on my speed.'

"Doesn't mean much if I can't react to you,” I returned, enjoying the cool ground as rivers of sweat poured off my body. In the grand scheme of things, getting Natural Deodorant back when I was in the character creator might have been a mistake, but it wasn’t one that I could bring myself to regret. Without it, I doubt Ryuu would be able to stand downwind of me without gagging because I would reek by now. 

Ryuu frowned at me, “the gap between a level 1 and 3 is insurmountable. Only in the most extreme circumstances could you ever hope to beat one.” She reminded, chiding me for my negativity. “There is no shame in the progress you’ve made so far.”

My doubts must have shown because her hand dipped to her weapon, a signal that I was learning to fear. It seemed that she changed her mind about the break- Ryuu moved in a blur, giving me enough time to roll to my feet. I angled my sword, trying to block, only to feel her wooden sword to slam into my shoulder hard enough that I think she might have broken my shoulder. 

I know I shouldn’t complain, but just because my bones healed didn’t make it okay to break them in the first place!

“How can you defend yourself when your posture is so lax?” Ryuu questioned, her weapon blurring towards my leg. I tried to move my blade in the way to block the attack, but before I could so much as move, she slammed her weapon into my leg hard enough that my legs were knocked out from underneath me. I slammed into the ground heavily, I made to scramble to my feet but paused when Ryuu’s weapon was poised about an inch away from my nose. 

“Swordplay is more than attacking and blocking. Sometimes its simply better to dodge an attack, like that one. If you had simply move your leg out of the way, then I would be the one out of position while you could attack.” Ryuu pointed out, teaching me a lesson that I thought I learned, but apparently not. 

Then the harsh mask that Ryuu wore lessened before she lightly chopped me on top of the head, “I know you’re frustrated with your progress, but it’s only been a day. These things take time.”

“I just don’t have a lot of that,” I argued weakly, my tone frustrated. I felt the pressure of the deadline that I gave myself, thinking it would be enough to push my stats to where I needed them to be...I was making progress, but it just wasn’t fast enough for my liking. I was buckling down, pushing through, and it felt like I was slamming into a brick wall instead of progressing. 

“You don’t,” Ryuu agreed easily, her tone never changing. “So are you going to waste it lying in the dirt and complaining?” She questioned, her tone still the same but her voice was sharp enough to cut. 

In response, I pushed myself up, the aches and pains of my body letting themselves be known with the action. Diving in the Dungeon for over twelve or sixteen hours was a cakewalk in comparison to the brutal training that Ryuu put me through. There was no comparing the two. If only I could get exp from training. 

“Good,” Ryuu commented lightly once I was back on my feet before she moved again. Her wooden blade blurred to my legs, and I started to move one of them back, only for Ryuu to change targets with a flick of her wrist. Wood cracked against my knee, and this time it was only because I was expecting the attack that I managed to stay on two feet. Gritting my teeth, I slashed with my blackened sword, trying to catch her out of position, only for hew wooden blade to stop mine dead in its tracks. 

“Swordplay isn’t something you can cram in a few days time,” Ryuu lectured, nearly knocking my blade out of my hands. “But I can instill the basic principles into you -- finding openings, misdirection, decisions on when to dodge and when to blow, and how to do either from any position. You need to learn how to react.”

“What about-urk,” I was cut off when Ryuu stabbed me where my kidneys were hard enough I’m pretty sure she hit them. “Attacking?”

“Do you think knowing how to attack is going to make a difference in this fight?” Ryuu returned, easily dodging a wild haymaker I sent to make her back off. She made me pay for it by rapping my knuckles with the back of her weapon with an almost lazy gesture. “Despite what you seem to believe, a good offense does not offset a good defense.”

That was fair, I thought, trying to shift back onto the defense. Like a snake, Ryuu’s blade seemed to slither into the gaps, the edge of her weapon tapping my ribs, heart, and neck. If she wanted me dead, then I would be a thousand times over. 

“As you are right now, you’ll be dead with the opening move when you fight Zanis,” Ryuu pointed out, her tone still flat and that took the bite out of her words. “No matter how much your stats increase, you cannot close the gap between a level 1 and a level 2. Your fighting must improve.”

“You’ve just been beating the shit out of me for the past day, how is that helping me improve?” I questioned, some of my frustration leaking out. It seemed that her actions and the lessons she was trying to teach were completely at odds. The only progress I’ve noticed over the past day was in my Endurance stat. If anything, it was like Ryuu was using me as a training dummy, or a giant stress ball. 

Surprisingly, Ryuu smirked at my comment, her weapon blurred to my face. I reacted as well as I could, jerking my weapon to the side and the most amazing thing happened. Instead of feeling pain blossom when she hit me somewhere else, her wooden weapon bounced off mine-

Then I felt pain somewhere else when Ryuu flicked her wrist downward to slam her weapon against my defenseless leg. My entire leg went numb, bringing me to a knee because I could feel the bruise forming all the way down to my tibia. Again, Ryuu bonked me on the head, a mocking gesture, but her slight smile stopped me from getting pissed at her for it. 

“That last attack was what a level 2 should manage,” Ryuu informed, only then did it sink in that I had time to react. Barely. “And just because you managed to block one attack doesn’t mean your enemy is suddenly going to give up.” Now her lecturing tone had a teasing edge to it and, despite myself, I found myself grinning right back at her. Because, at the very least, I managed to make some progress. 

“Now, do you wish to continue?” 

I answered by standing up. 

…

Hestia looked up at the large double doors, knowing what laid on the other side. Her heart pounded against her ribs to the point that she expected it to jump out of her chest any second. Worse, she was going to face what laid behind the door alone. Even if Jericho was allowed, he was better off spending his time training. Even worse, she wasn't going to have a single ally because Hephaestus was stuck in her forge, and she wasn't likely to come out for a week because of her request. 

Hestia closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a bracing breath, Hestia reached forward to push the doors open. Her stomach dropped to her feet when she saw exactly what she expected to see. 

"Hey! It's Hestia!" 

"Look, everybody, Hestia's come to see us!" 

"Ohhhh! Is she still mad? I wanna see an angry Loli-big boobs!" 

"Did Soma die?" 

"Did you loot his booze like I asked?!" 

"I don't see any booze! She's hoarding it for herself!" 

"Stingy!" 

"Sharing is caring!" 

"I am Ganesha!" 

Hestia was bombarded with questions as soon as she stepped inside the Pantheon, a richly decorated room with a large round table placed at its center. Like every Dentus, or meeting of the gods, the table was stuffed to bursting with the various gods that made Orario their home. Dozens of them, and screaming and shouting over each other to be heard, pushing and shoving to be the center of attention -- the only ones that had any semblance of self-restraint were Loki and Freya, which scared her more than words could ever say. 

Loki sighed as she leaned on one hand, raising one hand that had a goblet of wine in it. She made a mocking toast at her, taking a sip before she slammed the goblet onto the table hard enough that it sloshed over the rim. Hestia was pretty sure that the action was supposed to impose silence on the room, only for the sound to get drowned out by the dozens of gods talking. An irritated look passed over Loki's face before she rose her goblet higher, then slammed it back down again.

It still didn't quiet down. The only one that seemed to hear her was Freya, who sent Loki an amused but pitying look. That set the goddess of mischief off because she stood so suddenly that her chair flipped backward, "SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Loki screamed at the top of her lungs, slamming her hands down onto the table hard enough that goblets of wine tipped over. "It's been twelve whole hours since Ais-tan has spoken to me, so I'm going through withdrawals!”

The other gods shut up real quick in face of an angry Loki. They sat down in their seats, their hands in their laps, while silently praying to the remaining gods in heaven that they wouldn’t be obliterated. All the while, the gods above laughed and crossed their fingers, hoping that at least one of them was taken out so they could come down. Hestia knew that from experience. 

“Oh my, it sounds like there’s trouble in paradise,” Freya commented, her voice carrying only because the other gods had quieted down. As the other most powerful familia in the city, she was the only one that could possibly stand up to Loki. 

The goddess of love and fertility looked the part -- actually...now that Hestia looked at her...the color of her hair, the shape of her face, the color of her eyes...Freya looked a lot like Syr. Or, rather, Syr looked a lot like Freya. The resemblance was uncanny, enough so that they could pass as twins if it wasn’t for the impressive bust that Freya sported. Hestia’s eyes narrowed in suspicion -- if it wasn’t for the fact that Syr lacked the aura of a god, then they could pass as the same person. 

And Hestia knew better than most what could be created by an adventurer with the Mystery development ability...now that she thought about it, had she ever seen the goddess and Syr in the same room together?

“Shaddap,” Loki waved her off, pouting. The other gods likely missed it, and Hestia would have likely had too if it wasn’t for the fact that she knew that Ais and Tiona were helping Jericho against her wishes. Even still, Hestia spent enough time on the wrong end of Loki’s pranks to know that the goddess of mischief had a trick up her sleeve. It was just a question if that trick was going to help or hurt her. “But, you all know why we’re gathered here today!”

“””””””””WAR GAME!”””””””” The gods shouted as one, throwing their hands into the air with the passion of a thousand sports fans each. Amongst all the sources of entertainment found on the lower world, the War Game was held most sacred. A rare treat to be savored, but never over-indulged else it would spoil the taste, and it tasted that much better when there was a large gap between them. For mortals, that amount of time would be years. 

For gods, it was a month or two. 

Hestia’s race might be immortal, but she knew all too well they severely lacked in patience. 

“That’s right! A War Game! The Hestia familia has challenged the Soma familia and- wait, where is Soma? Don’t tell me that idiot skipped this meeting too?!” Loki shouted, scanning the room while Hestia slinked to an available chair, feeling all the god’s eyes on her. Barely three seconds in, and she already wished that Jericho would kick down the door and rescue her from this hell. 

“Did Hestia gank him?!”

“I bet she did!”

“Murderer!”

“Wait, I didn’t see bright light!”

“Soma ain’t dead,” Loki shouted, banging her goblet like a gavel. “He’s just...being himself and decided not to show up.” Honestly, just how deep did his apathy run to not bother showing up to a Dentus about a War Game against his familia? Hestia had barely recognized Soma when she saw him -- gods could never grow or age, and since they couldn’t shapeshift in the lower world, even their appearances were static. Outwardly, Soma appeared as he ever did -- an unkempt man with an air of mystery about him. 

Only that air of mystery had been replaced with ignorance and apathy that shocked her. 

“I don’t believe it! Everyone felt Hestia’s explosive torrent of unyielding murderous rage! Soma definitely died!” A god shouted, making Hestia splutter. 

“I didn’t send Soma back to heaven,” she shouted, lobbing an accusing finger at the god that had spoken. “And stop saying stuff like that! I was a little angry, but-”

“EEEKKK! Somebody save me!” The god shouted, throwing his hands up as if Hestia could have struck him down from across the table. Though, if he didn’t wipe that smile off his face, Hestia was going to cross the table to throttle the idiot. 

“Ah, so violent! It’s always the quiet ones…”

“I thought she only reserved that for Apollo…”

“Wait, is Apollo here?! I wanted to see his reaction to Hestia losing her virginity! I wanna see him cry!” Hestia placed a hand on the table, an embarrassed blush warming her cheeks at the sudden change in topic. She folded over, the sheer amount of stupidity in the room causing her no small amount of physical pain. 

It shamed her to think that she used to want to be important enough to be invited to these meetings. Now if she never had to step foot in this room again, it’d still be too soon. 

“Talk about size difference.”

“Huh? Is he that big or that big?”

“Bet I could see the top of the Tower of Babel if I rode on his shoulders.”

“I want to ride him in a different way-”

“Who said that?!” Hestia shouted as the gods descended into laughter and gossip. Hate might not be something that she had a lot of experience with, but she was starting to hate everyone in this room. Even Freya laughed lightly behind her hand, her lips quirked upwards. Yeah, she really hated everyone in the room. They were all jerks. 

“We’re not here to talk about who Hestia is sleeping with, even though she was supposed to be a virgin goddess forever!” Loki shouted, making Hestia round on her. Who decided that she had to be a virgin forever?! “And we can hold off on making fun of Apollo until he’s here so we can watch him break down and cry. Right now, we’re talking about the War Game and what led up to it.” 

That was her cue. Taking in a deep breath, she composed what she wanted to say. She couldn’t be too wordy, or these...morons would never be able to understand. She had to say whatever it took to make it entertaining. 

“The Soma familia has been harassing mine for nearly a month -- but my child became friends with a supporter that is a member of the Soma familia.” She ignored a cry of ‘what a twist’ from a god before continuing. “Lili has been tormented, abused and stolen from by her familia for her entire life. My child, Jericho, couldn’t let that stand and neither could I. We offered to help her pay her way out of her familia but the sum was exorbitant.” She shouldn’t have used that word. She doubted they knew what it meant. 

“Ten million valis,” Loki spoke up, making several gods blanch like the number had stabbed them in the kidneys. “And Hestia has testimonies from her child as well that match up. Nothing from Lili, though.”

Hestia’s hands curled up into fists, “Because Lili is unconscious. She tried to go directly to Soma to be released from her familia but…” But Lili failed the test that he set. “He didn’t let her, then Zanis, the familia captain, gave the order to beat Lili within an inch of her life before trying to murder her with a stab to the stomach.”

“Ah, so mean.” 

“Wait, is this Lili? She’s a loli?!”

“What? No, she’s a pallum-”

“The Soma familia hurt a loli!”

“Kill them!”

“Kill them all!”

“Fire and blood!”

“Blood for the blood god!”

“Who’s that again?”

“Doesn't matter! Sacrifice them all!”

They were on her side, but Hestia couldn’t bring herself to be grateful for it. Because...justice didn’t exist in Orario. Only gods and their whims. They’d just as likely be calling for Jericho’s head if they knew that he broke a bottle of Soma wine rather than be impressed with his strength of character. 

“Zanis tried to accuse us of keeping Lili hostage, or something. And that’s when I got really mad. We went to his house and challenged Soma to a War Game. No one died!” Hestia felt compelled to add on. 

“A likely story…”

“Soma isn’t here, so he’s hella dead…”

“And she didn’t share his wine…so stingy…”

“Soma is still alive,” Loki repeated herself, sounding as exasperated as she felt. Which was saying something. “But, is anyone in favor of hitting Hestia with any kind of consequences?” She asked, and the gods started to hem and haw over it to drag out the suspense. Just to mess with her. All the while, Hestia couldn’t help but think that they didn’t bother hearing the whole story. Or bothering to get Soma’s. 

Because they didn’t care enough to. It was something that had always lurked in the back of Hestia’s mind, but the city of Orario was a really scary place, wasn’t it?

Then, on some unseen signal, they all gave their answer at once. 

“””””””””NO!””””””””

Hestia sagged with relief, some of the gods laughing at her suffering. She wondered how much of that was because of Hephestus throwing her weight around and how much of it was some god’s love for lolis. Such...such a stupid reason...and these people ran the city...it honestly hurt to think about. 

“Good!” Loki shouted, eagerly moving on, “now for the fun bit! Deciding what War Game it will be!” A great big cheer went up, and the tension returned to her. Now, it all came down to this, didn’t it? What kind of War Game decided not only Lili’s fate but theirs. Soma hadn’t asked for anything if he won, but he might not care enough to stop Zanis if he demanded for something outrageous. 

“We should do a roulette!”

“Pull from a hat!”

“Put Hestia in a booth with a big fan and a bunch of options and whichever one she pulls out is the winner!”

“Oh, that last one sounds fun!”

“It’ll take forever to make though.”

And it did take forever to make. An hour of pointing fingers to make someone foot the bill before Loki got sick of the arguing and decided to pay for it, which was probably the plan the entire time. It took a few hours for the blacksmiths to make it, and when Hestia was feeling absolutely exhausted from dealing with the gods, only then did the contraption get wheeled up to the room. 

A giant glass box with a grate floor for her to stand on, which would protect her feet from a fan that could be spun by a crank. The gods that weren’t turning the crank were fervently writing down possible war games on slips of paper. From the few that she caught a glimpse of, some of them were outrageously simple, written as a gag option -- like a drinking competition, or arm wrestling, or who could hold their breath the longest. 

Others were far more challenging. Constant one on one duels until every member of a familia was defeated on one side. An open battle. Sieges. Capture the god. Capture the captain. Capture the flag. King of the hill and so on. Challenges that would pit Jericho against the entirety of the Soma familia. 

Then, when someone noticed that she was looking, a blindfold was slipped onto her face which is how she found herself in the box, unable to see, with her heart trying to jump out of her mouth. Hestia tried to calm herself, only to flinch badly when someone rapped on the glass. “Oi, so the rules are you can grab two options -- one for each hand. When you step out, we’re going to have a vote on which hand and the option in the hand that wins is what we’re going with.” Loki explained, getting a hesitant nod from Hestia. 

Then, without further ado, the fan beneath her began to spin, blowing up the slips of paper. They fluttered across her body, rising and falling as she stood still. She racked her brain to think of a way to cheat a little, just enough to make sure that she didn’t pick two bad options. If there was a way to cheat, then it was gone from her now that the slips of paper were so thoroughly mixed up. 

In the end, Hestia just had to have faith in Jericho. That no matter what, he would find a way to win. 

With that thought driving her hands forward, Hestia reached out and felt two slips of paper slid into her hands. The gods cheered outside, the fan came to a stop, all the other options falling on her head before she took off her blindfold. Stepping outside, she held her hands out, clenched so tightly that the paper was crushed in her grip. 

“Time to vote! Left or right, gods and goddesses?” Loki called out and gods cast their vote by raising their left or right hand. A few hands rose for the right, more hands rose for the left...then Freya voted. 

“I think the right would be fun,” Freya spoke aloud, making Hestia’s insides clench. Did she see what was in the right hand? Did she know? Was it a good thing or a bad thing? Hestia desperately hoped it was a good thing because with a few words, the entirety of the male population voted for the right hand, several of them changing their votes. It was a landslide victory. 

Swallowing thickly, Hestia opened her right hand and read the slip of paper. 

King of the Hill. 

…

“That’s enough for today,” Ryuu decided as I panted, covered in bruises, sweat, and blood. The sun hung overhead, mercilessly burning in the sky without even a single cloud to grant any hope of shade. We started at the crack of dawn, yet Ryuu looked like she hadn't so much as broken a sweat. 

I knew there was a gap in power between a level 1 and a level 2 and that gap grew with each level, but...it hadn't really sunk in until now just how powerful Ryuu was. 

This time, I shook my head, willing to argue. "I can keep going. All I need is a few potions-" 

"No," Ryuu interrupted. "You're making mistakes that you shouldn't be, which makes you frustrated, and that in turn makes you make more mistakes. You need a break. Mental exhaustion is a thing, even if you don't believe in it." 

"But-" I argued, cutting myself off when Ryuu fixed a glare onto me. I didn't want to stop, though. Sure, I took more hits, but that was fine since each one helped my Endurance stat. Only...we were working on my swordsmanship, and if I kept making those mistakes, they were going to become a habit. A habit that could get me killed. "I…!" 

"A break can only help you right now. Get something to eat, take a nap, and should you wish, I will continue to train you after that." Ryuu offered, "you can't simply brute force your way through every issue." 

Which was something I already told myself I was going to stop trying to do. Even still, I didn't like it. Time spent eating and sleeping was time I could spend training. However, I swallowed my complaints and let out a soft sigh. 

"...fine," I agreed with some reluctance. Standing up, a hand dipping to my pocket to retrieve a health and stamina potion. Knocking them both back, my aches and physical exhaustion faded into nothing. Ryuu simply nodded, sheathing her weapon. 

Ryuu couldn't afford the attention, so she vanished from sight once we entered the city. Leaving me to walk back to the Hostess on my own. I felt eyes on me the moment I walked through the gates. In a way, I was used to it now, assuming it was my size, but when I glanced down an alley, I saw an adventurer there, a crescent moon and a cup of wine on his armor. Our eyes met, his flat gaze boring into my own before he offered a sarcastic smirk and a mocking wave. With that, he turned around and walked away, but I knew there were other eyes on me from Soma members I couldn't see. 

The fact that Ryuu was with me was more of a comfort than words could ever say. 

I walked back in silence, refusing to look like a coward, but it would be a lie to say that I hadn't rushed the last few steps when the Hostess entered my view. I glanced over my shoulder as I closed the door behind me, my gaze drifting upwards to see an adventurer on top of the roof, a bow in her hands. Our gazes met right up until I closed the door behind me. 

“Fuck me,” I cursed. I knew it shouldn’t be a surprise that I was being followed, and it wasn’t, but I liked it a lot less than I thought I was going to. And I thought I was going to hate it. 

“W-w-w-well, I-I mean, if that’s…” A voice sputtered out behind me, making me flinch in surprise. Turning around, I saw that it was Tiona -- her bronzed skin made it hard to tell if she was blushing or not, but how she refused to meet my gaze as she played with a lock of hair that was clasped together with a gold piece of jewelry told me that she was.

“Sorry,” I said, shaking my head. I wasn’t a dense harem protagonist by any stretch of the imagination, and that was a clear sign of interest if I’ve ever seen one. “I was just talking to myself. The Soma familia seems to have staked the place out.” I told her, not missing how a brief expression of disappointment flashed over her face. Seriously, girl, what did I do to make you this thirsty?

“Yeah, they’re being pretty obvious about it, but I snuck in pretty easily,” Tiona said, throwing her hand behind her head, puffing out her chest in a vain attempt to make her breast appear bigger. I don’t think that she got the memo of ‘flat is justice.’ 

“They’re being too damn obvious,” Mama Mia spoke up, relaxing in a chair as she nursed a tankard of beer that she used to gesture to the empty Hostess. “They’re scaring away all my damn customers.” She said, sounding like she was a few seconds away from going outside to throttle the Soma familia...and, to be honest, I would be more than okay with it if she did. 

But, in the end… “I’m sorry. I can-” I started to offer to pay back the losses she was taking, but she waved me off with a hand. 

“You can pay me back by winning. I stand to make a pretty valis if you win the War Game,” Mama Mia said, taking a sip of her beer but it wasn’t enough to hide the smirk. Still, that was a lot of faith. 

“You’re that certain I’ll win?” I questioned, making her smirk grow as she let out a short laugh. 

“No, but the odds were so against you that I can make a fortune betting pocket change,” she said, laughing at my expression, but not in an unkind way. “But, if you’re here and not fleeing for the hills then I’m feeling confident. If only because you look like you want to go another round with Ryuu, and I know well enough what she calls training.”

On the topic of the War Game… “Is Hestia back yet?” It wasn’t a promising sign when her smirk fell, replaced with a grimace as she nodded. 

“Upstairs, with Lili. And, no, she still hasn’t woken up yet,” Mama Mia answered me before I could ask.

“It’s been more than a day,” I pointed out. She should be awake by now. Ryuu said that she needed to rest, and…

“She’s not in the danger zone, yet,” Mama Mia reassured, but it sounded hollow. “Just give her some more time. If she’s not up by tomorrow morning, then...then I’ll help you find an elixir. There aren’t many things that potions can’t fix.”

“I’ll help too!” Tiona pitched in, interjecting herself back into the conversation. “I’ll get one from, uh, Loki,” she winced when she said her goddess’s name before continuing, “or I can ask one of our potion makers to hook me up. Lili will be okay! I’ll make sure of it,” Tiona declared, giving me a megawatt smile. 

The knot of tension didn’t vanish, and there was a part of me that was still worried, but I let myself hope that Lili was going to be okay. 

“Thank you. I’ll go talk to her now,” I said, giving them both a thin smile before I trudged upstairs. I knocked before entering, my gaze instantly landing on Lili when I pushed open the door. Her face had healed thanks to a liberal use of potions, and her chest rose and fell with shallow breaths. She looked like she was simply sleeping, it was just the fact she had been for over a day that was scaring the crap out of me. 

“Jericho…” Hestia said, her face set in a determined mask. “We know what the game is going to be.” She started as I closed the door, a knot of tension forming between my shoulder blades. 

“I’m guessing its bad?” I asked, looking at her. 

“King of the Hill,” Hestia informed, her hands clenched into fists so tight that they trembled in her lap. 

That...was about as bad as it could get, honestly. I guess I must have prepared myself for the worst-case scenario rather well because I simply nodded, scratching at my cheek in thought. “Huh.” 

Hestia seemed to deflate at my tone, “the other option was a slap match between you and Zanis.” 

“Heh,” I chuckled, picturing that in my head. “What are the rules? Is it timed?” I asked, recalling playing the game back when I was a kid at after-school care during middle school. I’m guessing it was going to be a lot rougher than slinging kids around until I was toppled. 

“Whoever controls the hill by the third day is the victor, or when one familia is unable to continue. It’s taking place outside of Orario, on a large hill with an old fort on it, so the defenders get an advantage. Both familia’s start an equal distance away, so whoever reaches the fort first gets the advantage.”

I nodded, “would I be able to get my status updated during the War Game?” I questioned, getting a tired nod from Hestia. 

“No, I can't. The gods are allowed to interfere in any way during a War Game.that includes status updates,” Hestia answered, her gaze drifting over to Lili. I knew for a fact that she was just as worried as I was, if not more so since she didn’t have a distraction since it was too dangerous for her to go to work. Still, that wasn't the answer I wanted to hear, but the one that I expected.

“Hestia...with these War Games...is killing allowed?” I asked, making her attention shoot towards me so fast that I spared a worry that she gave herself whiplash. Her eyes were wide, surprise and horror on her face because she knew exactly what I was asking. “The only possible way I can win is if I thin out their numbers to the point that they can’t simply overwhelm me. Unless there’s a way if the hill is contested?”

Hestia slowly shook her head, “no. Then it goes to whoever has been on it the longest. But...Jericho...killing?” She asked, a quiet horror in her voice that stabbed at my heart. I hated that she was looking at me like that, but I had to know. Simply because I didn’t have a lot of options to win. 

“If I can avoid it, then I can, but unless I can contest the hill for three days straight, then I can’t win that way. The only way I can possibly win is if I thin out their numbers enough that I can kick them off the hill on the final day.” Three days and three hundred members. It was rather frightening how that math worked out. 

“But, Jericho…” Hestia started, reaching out to grab my hand, squeezing it for dear life. She didn’t continue for a long moment, her bright blue eyes looking away, filled with shame as she failed to come up with another plan. “Can you really do that?” She asked a loaded question despite its appearance. 

“...if it’s to keep you and Lili safe...if it means we’re taken care of...then yeah. I can,” I told her, knowing that she could tell the words were the truth. Did that make me a monster? At the very least, it made me a bad person, but...I didn’t care. This was my second lease on life, and I wasn’t going to let anyone threaten it. 

If I had to murder three hundred people to take care of me and mine...then I’d do it in a heartbeat. 

Hestia didn’t say anything after that. She simply squeezed my hand, leaning against my shoulder as we both stared at Lili’s resting face. 

Wondering...hoping...that she would wake up.