Danmachi: Westward Cloud [Complete]

[Vol.4] Quest 335.5- Worry Of Tomorrow

Moonlight Tower.

"Zzzz~" Cirrus was sleeping comfortably in his bed.

"Come kids, let your father sleep," Malion said with Callisto in her arms.

"But wouldn’t he sleep better with his kids?" Callisto said to make Malion and Ryuu reconsider letting her go.

"Hmm… No. Now come along and let him sleep in peace."

"Come on, Calli," Auberon said. "Don’t you wanna talk to the Xeno?"

"Yeah, but I—"

"If you cared about Dad, you would let him sleep!" Alise said.

"Geh!" Callisto couldn’t refute her claim. "F-fine…" She said defeated.

"Come on, before Ai comes back," Ryuu said.

They leave, closing the door.

The family went down to go back to Babel.

"Do you think Moomah is done with the Denatus?" asked Alise.

"Most likely," Malion said.

"Should we get food when she comes back?" Auberon asked. "And also food for Dad when he wakes up?"

"A lovely idea," Ryuu said. "We can—Hm?" Ryuu turned her gaze north. "Malion, you can hear it too, right?"

"Yes, it would seem Art is coming," Malion said. "I know those gallops anywhere."

"Huh? She is?" Callisto said.

"Listen closely, and you can hear her."

The kids closed their eyes and listened closely.

Clop-Clop!

Clop-Clop!

The faint sounds of a horse clopping rang in their ears.

"A horse?" Auberon said.

"I can’t hear anything," Alise said, as her status was sealed.

"It sounds... heavy?" Callisto said.

"Step back a bit," Malion said, gently pushing them back.

Clop-Clop!!

Clop-Clop!!

The sound gets louder and louder.

Clop-Clop!!!

Clop-Clop!!!

They soon identified the sound.

Whooosh~

They look up to see a black figure high in the sky.

Thud!!

Rumble~

The figure lands before kicking up the dust.

"Hoh~, you guys left before I could arrive."

The dust settled to reveal Artemis riding on a bicorn.

"Ooh!" Callisto was awestruck by her mother.

"Kids, this is Kalion."

"Hello." He spoke eloquently. "I am Kalion, a Xeno. I have known your family for a long time."

"You have?" Auberon said.

"Yes, I have, Auberon, Callisto, and Alise." He walked up to them.

"He is a close family friend!" Artemis said. "Kalion, can you put me down?"

Kalion lowers himself for Artemis to get off.

"Can I get on?" Callisto said excitedly.

"Of course. Do the rest of you wish for a ride?" Kalion looked to Auberon and Alise.

"Yes!!" they both shouted.

The kids all got into the saddle.

"Ooh! We're so high up!!" Callisto said.

They rode around the Familia's home.

"So is Cirrus sleeping?" Artemis asked Malion and Ryuu.

"He is. Ai is over at his workshop making sure it doesn’t burn down," Ryuu said.

"And to let Cirrus sleep," Malion added. "It would seem there will be more restless nights for him."

"Yeah… Malion." Artemis looked at her. "How do you feel about redoing the Three Great Quests?"

"I am fine, but when it comes to the Black Dragon..." Her expression darkened. She looked at her hands and found them shaking violently. "I am horrified. Scared down to my core." She clenched her fists as tightly as she could. "That nightmare…"

"Malion." Ryuu places her hand on her shoulder. "I understand how you feel. Even I am afraid. But you do not have to go if you don’t want to."

"I am fine with going. It is just the Black Dragon that heeds me in my tracks. I have also hit a roadblock in my growth. I have been on the same level as the day I fought that monster."

"We just have to have faith that everything will be alright," Artemis said, holding Malion’s hand.

"Thank you, but I can’t shake this feeling off me."

"Then why don’t we go and get a drink?" Ryuu suggested. "I am sure with the city abuzz, we can get some nice seats."

"Very—!?" Malion caught a white figure in her peripheral vision. "Ai!!!" She shouted towards the third tower.

"Geh!" Ai said, climbing up the third tower.

"Get down here!" Artemis shouted.

"She is trying to sneak into the bedroom!" Ryuu shouted.

"Kids!! Kalion!!" Malion shouted. "Stop your mother from reaching your father!"

Seeing them move quickly, Ai climbed through the window and ran as quickly as she could up the tower.

"Damn!! I thought I could get past them! Ugh!! Me and Cirrus always sleep together after his forging is done!" Ai said, rushing. "It’s not fair that only Ryuu got the chance to do it!"

While they were doing that, the city was getting to know the Xeno.

"So... even you are attacked by monsters?" asked an adventurer to Wiene.

"Yes! So do not hesitate to save your own life!" Wiene said.

"I see, I see," said another adventurer.

"So, how many of you are there?" asked another.

"Well, not that much. We have about 50."

"Fifty!?"

With the help of the Loki, Ganesha, and Artemis Familia, they have slowly grown in numbers and even strength.

"Yes… Um, I should tell you that there is one Xeno in particular that is highly aggressive."

"How aggressive?"

"Well, he doesn’t really spend time with the rest of us and mostly spends his time in the Deep Floors fighting and getting stronger. In fact, the only reason he agreed to help is because we told him he would be able to fight powerful monsters."

"How strong is he?"

"Umm… Hmm… From our guess, he is about a level 8."

"We, uh, will avoid him. What does he look like?"

"A black Minotaur. You really can’t miss him!"

"H-how are the rest of the Xeno?"

"Really nice!"

Bell was a bit surprised by how they took to Weine. Granted, she made a striking first impression.

‘I guess having the backing of the city's strongest Familia really put the people’s minds at ease.’ Bell glanced around to find a group of people disgusted at the thought. ‘Well, we expected a lot more people to hate me and everyone, but... this amount was more than I am happy with.’

Over the days, Weine would introduce the people to one Xeno after the other.

Of course, the very last Xeno to appear was Asterius.

"Whoa…"

Many adventures looked afar upon this hulking creature.

He stood two meters tall with jet-black hide, red horns, and boulder-like muscles, and wears full plate armor made for him by Cirrus. Also made by Cirrus was a red salamander wool scarf that adorns his neck.

"Bell." He looked at him, ready to fight. "When do we part?" He had a calm yet stoic tone to him.

"In a few days, if you have an itch to fight, I can show you to the Colosseum and sate it."

He began to smile as much as a Minotaur could.

"Lead the way."

"Asterius!!" Weine shouted. "You promised not to fight until it was time!"

"A warrior must always see if those they fight alongside will not weigh them down."

"It’s fine, Weine," Bell assured her. "This will be what? Our 7 match?"

"Yes, this will be our tiebreaker. I look forward to standing above you and facing Cirrus."

Long ago, he and Cirrus met, and it went as one would expect from a person who loves battle. Asterius suffered a humiliating defeat and threw himself into growing stronger.

Originally, Asterius wanted to fight Bell every chance he got, but Cirrus persuaded him.

10 years ago.

"Why not train till you and him are at your peaks?" Cirrus said, sitting down on a sliced rock.

"Our… peaks?" Asterius said slowly, getting up, bloody and beaten.

"Yeah, it's not really fun if you guys aren’t at your 100% best, right? Plus, if you guys kill one another, then what would you strive for?"

"You." He said it, glaring at him.

"Well, I’m very flattered, but Asterius, Bell also want to stand where I am."

"!?" He shudders. "Truly?"

"Yeah, can you imagine it?" Cirrus grinned. "The special joy of reaching your prime and giving it your all!! Not having to worry about dying! Live or die, it doesn’t matter! What matters is the fight! The force of his strikes vibrated through your weapon and into your arms! The feeling of punching him into the walls! All of it knowing this was the end! Don’t you want that?"

Asterius smiled, salivating at the thought.

"Yes!!!" He proclaimed.

"Then feast!! Also, uh, if you see any signs of Spirits, make sure to inform the other Xeno; you can do that, right?"

"I will pass along anything I find of interest to them." He said, back onto his feet.

"Wonderful! And here." Cirrus reached into his sleeve and threw Asterius a bag.

"What is this?" Asterius catches it.

"Magic stones from the 60th floor and below."

"!!"

"Go on, eat; you are the Xeno’s champion."

"Do not regret what you have done today, Cirrus." Asterius opens the bag and eats all the magic stones.

"I am sure when the day comes, I will not have any regrets. That I will smile knowing I have done all that I could."