True Vorpal Bunny (Danmachi SI) Ch.24 (Patreon)

Chapter 24:

Thirteen year old Iru strolled through the streets of Orario. Three years and a half after the complete eradication of Evilus, the Hume Bunny had started having a growth spurt though he doubted he would get very tall.

Things had been going well over the last few years. The Astraea Familia came back from their expedition to the 30th Floor, and nowadays Ryuu, Lyra, Kaguya and Alise all had reached Level 5 while the rest of their Familia lagged behind at Level 4, which still made them an elite Familia by any standard with four first rate adventurers and seven second rate ones.

Iru had completely forgotten about Bete being part of the Vidar Familia, a Familia that had been involved in the original Nightmare of the 27th Floor. Since they hadn’t been exterminated this time, it meant that Bete never ended up joining the Loki Familia. 

The Hyrute twins had come to Orario as expected and ended up in a fight with the Loki Familia, where they joined after losing to Finn and Gareth.

Iru had to dodge thrown knives the first time he saw Tione and Lyra fight over Finn and he hadn’t been able to hold back his laughter at the scene.

There was one thing that bothered Iru though. He had gotten his timeline mixed up in regard to Dionysus. The drunk god only became part of Evilus after learning of the Corrupted Spirit’s existence when Filvis came back as a Creature after the event of the Nightmare of the 27th Floor.

This meant that the current Dionysus was still an asshole hiding behind a pretty face, but he currently had no plan to destroy Orario, mostly because he had no way to do so.

Back to people Iru didn’t want to murder/send back to Tenkai.

Lili was Level 4. Blood Red had become a pretty well known name and another symbol for the Pallum race. She had received a lot of offers to transfer into another Familias instead of staying in a third rate one like Soma’s.

Anya for her part had plateaued. She had never enjoyed fighting. The only reason she had joined Freya familia was to not be left behind by her brother, and then she joined Iru’s party because she felt indebted to him.

After a while, Iru had to ask her if that was what she really wanted because he didn’t want to force her, and they would still be friends.

And so, after a talk with Freya, Anya put down her weapons and joined the Hostess of Fertility. But unlike canon, this Anya didn’t feel abandoned by her brother. She went to see him on her days off, much to his false annoyance.

And she knew about Syr’s secret. Freya had decided that the cat girl was trustworthy enough to show her after a few months where they had become close while working.

[hr]

“Any reason why you want to tell her?” Iru asked the disguised goddess while they waited for Anya to arrive. Syr had invited the Cat Person to eat out with her and Iru after work.

“If I want to be more true to myself, I should be true to other people. Anya is silly, but she is loyal.”

[hr]

And that was that.

There had been some waterworks when Anya discovered that the friend she had been making at work was also the intimidating goddess of her Familia. Anya had always been scared of Freya which had never gotten better thanks to the bloodthirsty, competitive environment of Folkvangr.

So, to know that this goddess also had a soft side that she had ignored because of her fear, Anya had felt kind of stupid. But she had straightened up and hugged Syr, swearing to not reveal her secret.

That almost got thrown out of the window when Anya got used to greeting Syr with a hug and did the same with Freya.

Iru’s reminiscing was interrupted when he saw a familiar face.

“Iru!” Ais Walleinstein, who had recently ranked up to Level 5, waved with a smile on her face.

“Hey, Funny Bunny!” Tiona waved twice as hard.

Iru felt proud of himself for Ais’s progress. This was the power of socializing the traumatized child. She could actually show human emotions nowadays!

Along the two waving girls, there was of course Tiona’s sister, Tione. The Pallum-chaser could almost be mistaken for a decent human being when she wasn’t being horny for Finn’s ass.

And then, there was the fourth member of their little group, a  brown-haired, blue-eyed elf who was currently looking shocked. Lefiya Viridis gazed at Ais’s smiling face like it held all the secrets of the universe.

Then, she turned towards the person that caused that smile.

“Hm, Miss Ais, who is this man?” The elf asked shyly, a small blush appearing on her face and unable to meet Iru’s gaze when he turned to look at her.

“That’s Iru.” Ais said as if that explained everything. Then, she seemed to realize something so she pushed Lefiya forward, eliciting a squeal from the elf.

“And that’s Lefiya. She’s a new adventurer in our Familia. Riveria picked her up.”

Iru huffed in amusement.

“Ais, you’re making it sound like she’s a stray Nine Hells found in the street.”

“Not really.” Lefiya turned a grateful look at Ais for defending her. “She’s from the School District, so more like an animal shelter.” That gratitude turned into an offended whine.

“Miss Aiiiiiis! Don’t tease me…”

Then, the bullied elf gained a look of recognition, followed by awe and panic.

“Wait! You’re Iru Kratz!”

“Yup.”

“From the Freya Familia!”

“Indeed.”

“The Record Holder!”

“Verily.”

“The Beast of Caerbannog!”

“I have been called such. Nice to meet you too.”

The calm way Iru replied seemed to take the wind out of Lefiya’s sails.

“We’re from rival Familias. Should you be talking to us so brazenly in public? Won’t that be a bad look for our patron deities?”

That earned her snorts from the members of her own Familia. Iru decided to have mercy on the clueless elf.

“Listen, you graduated from the School District, led by Baldur, right?” Lefiya nodded. “He sounds like a great and respectable god.”

“He is!” Lefiya gained some heat to her voice, as if daring anyone to disagree.

“Yeah. Don’t expect the same from most gods in Orario. 90% of them are clowns.”

“Hey!” An offended voice called from the crowd of passerbyes, clearly having heard Iru.

“Move along Boreas!” Iru roared at the wind god.

“No respect, I swear.” The god of a minor Familia kicked a rock and continued on his way.

“Still, they are gods, worthy of respect and worship.” Lefiya tried to defend the Deus Dea.

Iru looked at the poor thing with pity, then turned toward the three other girls who had been watching the conversation going.

“She hasn’t spent five minutes alone with Loki yet?”

The twins and Ais nodded their heads in harmony.

“Riveria made sure to keep her close while she gets used to the Familia.” Tione sighed.

“It’s like a shepherd trying to keep a wolf away from a lamb. Now I’m hungry.” Tiona added.

“Loki won’t stop trying no matter how many times Riveria hit her with her staff.” Ais said with an exasperated shake of her head.

“Oh.” Lefiya seemed to get how her fellow adventurers saw their shared god.

“Yeah, your god looks like a little girl but has the soul of an old pervert.” Iru gave the finishing blow.

If not for elf customs forbidding casual physical touch, he would have put a hand on her shoulder to soften the blow.

And just like that, Lefiya Viridis, former member of the Baldur Familia, one of the most talented graduates of the School District, had her worldview on deities shattered.

[hr]

Iru decided to treat the girls since he just broke their new recruit. Ais guided them to where she wanted to eat.

“She has discovered this new stall and she won’t stop buying lunch from here.” Tiona explained as they got away from the district with the best restaurants and inns.

“If not for Riveria forcing decent food down her throat, she would be gaining weight, adventurer physic or not.” Tione grumbled.

“Ah. Mama elf strikes again.”

“Please, don’t call Riveria-sama Mama elf.” Lefiya protested from her position next to the blond bloodhound who let her nose guide her to the food.

“She basically raised Ais. She’s totally a mom. She just doesn't want to admit it.”

Lefiya had no argument against that.

The smell of fried food reached Iru’s nose and they arrived at their destination. Ais rushed ahead to order before anyone else.

“A bag of regular Jagamarukun, five extra spicy, two curry-flavored and three double-sized.”

Iru blinked.

“Just a moment! Your order will be ready soon, young lady!” The deity behind the stall said, eagerly accepting Ais’s money.

Hestia, goddess of the Hearth, dunked the potato snacks in boiling oil.

That was another effect of Evilus being completely wiped out. That meant that gods who had escaped their punishment in canon had been sent back to Tenkai earlier, and so some gods had been allowed to come down earlier.

One of which being the diminutive goddess currently peddling fried potato snacks in the middle of the street after being kicked off Hephasteus’s couch.