The magic lanterns along the cobbled streets of Orario flared to life one after another, reclaiming islands of warm, amber light from the gathering dusk. The city breathed the evening coolness, filling with the hum of taverns and the clinking armor of returning seekers.
Rane walked slightly ahead. His gait was deceptively relaxed, hands casually clasped behind his head. He examined the storefronts and architecture with interest, like an ordinary tourist rather than a man whose body had been one giant bleeding bruise just yesterday.
Bell trudged behind him. He stared at his friend's back, and with every step, the invisible weight on his shoulders grew heavier. The street noise flew right past his ears. In his head, like a broken record, the same memory kept spinning. What had happened half an hour ago in Captain Finn's office.
...A spacious room, steeped in the scent of expensive wood and incense. Loki sitting in a chair, and Finn standing by the window. The air, following the announcement that Bell was accepted into the Familia, had felt light, until the silence was sliced by Rane's even voice.
"I have to decline."
The words rang out like thunder from a clear sky. Bell had flinched then, his eyes wide in disbelief, a strangled sound escaping his throat: "Huh?.."
The smile instantly vanished from Loki's face. The Goddess leaned forward slightly, her crimson eyes narrowing into dangerous slits. The atmosphere in the office grew so dense it became hard to breathe.
"And what exactly, I'm curious to know, is wrong with my Familia, kid?" Loki's voice was deceptively soft, but a grating edge lurked beneath it.
Rane didn't look away. He withstood the heavy, oppressive pressure of the Deity with absolute calm, offering only a quiet sigh.
"It has absolutely nothing to do with your faction, Loki-sama. For any seeker, joining you is the ultimate dream. But I have already chosen a patron to whom I intend to swear loyalty."
The Goddess stared into the youth's face for a long time without blinking. She searched for falsehood, hidden motives, fear. Finding nothing but crystal-clear honesty, Loki clicked her tongue in annoyance and leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Is that so. And who is this lucky duck? Going to give me a name?"
Rane thought for a second, tilting his head slightly.
"I haven't yet received official consent from the Deity," he replied tactfully. "Therefore, it would be impolite of me to voice the name right now. I would prefer to keep it a secret."
A pause hung in the air. Then Rane took a step back and bowed deeply, with genuine respect, to Loki and Finn.
"I will never forget what you did for us. Your help in the dungeon saved our lives. I am deeply grateful to you for everything... And I have only one request. Please, take care of Bell."
Straightening up, he shifted his gaze to Bell. The boy sat as pale as chalk, a primal fear of abandonment swirling in his eyes. Rane merely gave him a warm smile and nodded toward the door: "Come on, let's talk."
The memory faded, but the bitter taste remained. Bell clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his palms. He hadn't lived up to expectations. He had turned out to be too weak. He had become a burden that his older comrade had decided to tactfully get rid of, stashing him in a safe place.
"Why?" Bell's voice trembled, cutting through the street noise.
Rane didn't stop. He merely turned his head slightly.
"Hm?"
That seeming detachment was the final drop. Despair broke the dam.
"I'll try harder!" Bell blurted out, quickening his pace to catch up with him. Angry, hurt notes rang in his voice. "I'll train even more! I swear, I'll stop being useless! Just... don't leave me behind. Please."
Rane walked another couple of meters, then smoothly stopped and turned halfway around. His face remained unreadable.
"Remember one thing," he said calmly, without an ounce of pity. "The whole world doesn't revolve around you."
Bell was taken aback, as if he'd been slapped. But Rane, giving him no time to reflect, swept his gaze over the surroundings and gestured forward with his chin.
"Oh. We're almost there."
They stepped onto a wide stone bridge spanning an artificial canal. The place was majestic but deserted at this hour. Statues towered along the massive parapets—effigies of warriors, mages, and beastmen, frozen in heroic poses with weapons in hand. The setting sun painted their stone faces in bloody-gold hues.
Rane slowed his pace slightly, allowing Bell to pull even with him. Noticing that the boy was still walking with his head down, staring at his feet, Rane gave him a light but firm slap on the shoulder blades.
"Stop pouting."
Bell didn't even look up, stubbornly pressing his lips together. Sighing, Rane shifted the conversation to the architecture.
"Do you know where we are?"
Bell reluctantly raised his head. He scanned the rows of statues. The faces of some of the stone warriors seemed vaguely familiar, but he couldn't recall their exact names. The boy shook his head.
"This is the Bridge of Heroes," Rane explained, sliding his hand along the cold stone of the railing. "I stumbled upon it a couple of days ago while wandering around the city. Immortalized here are those whose feats have etched their names into the history of Orario since ancient times."
They walked unhurriedly past the silent guardians of the past. Gradually, their steps slowed as they reached the very center of the bridge.
Here stood a monument noticeably surpassing the rest in size and craftsmanship. A stern-faced man leaning on a long sword.
Rane stopped in front of it.
"And this is..."
"The Hero Albert," Bell finished the sentence quietly, on autopilot. His eyes traced the stone blade in fascination.
"That's right," Rane nodded. "The greatest hero. The very man who, in times immemorial, drove the Black Dragon out of Orario. He's the one who left the wound on the beast's eye, earning it the name the One-Eyed Black Dragon."
He fell silent, letting Bell soak in the atmosphere of the place, and then, without changing his calm tone, said:
"Bell. I have never considered you a burden. And it's time you stop this pointless self-flagellation."
Bell spun around. His eyes flared, his fists clenching once more.
"But then... why?!"
Rane ignored the outburst. He turned away from Albert's statue and slowly walked to the opposite side of the bridge. There, amidst the row of great figures, gaped an architectural void. It was an empty, bare podium, clearly prepared for a new statue but still waiting for its hero.
"Why do you think," Rane ran his hand over the dusty stone of the empty pedestal, "this spot is still vacant?"
Bell gave him a heavy, angry glare. It irritated him that Rane was dodging the question and changing the subject.
"I don't know," he grumbled, looking away.
Rane chuckled, completely unimpressed by his attitude.
"Because since those times, no one has appeared who is worthy of standing opposite the Hero Albert."
These words made Bell look back at the empty pedestal. His boyish imagination, raised on fairy tales, inadvertently caught on to the magnitude of the statement.
"The next person whose statue will rise in this spot," Rane continued, his voice taking on a strange, deep vibration, "must accomplish something beyond human comprehension. Something on the level of completely conquering the Labyrinth... or claiming final victory over the One-Eyed Black Dragon."
He turned around, leaning his lower back against the parapet, and looked at Bell with a faint, nostalgic smile.
"I've always remembered your words. You constantly dreamed of becoming a hero. And I will support you in that aspiration, Bell. It doesn't matter that we'll be wearing the emblems of different Familias."
Rane straightened up, and his gaze became as sharp as steel.
"However... my own aspirations directly intersect with those impossible peaks."
He squared his body fully toward Bell, flashed a wide, almost boyish smile, and extended a clenched fist.
"Therefore, I challenge you, Bell Cranel. Let's see which of us will be the first to succeed in one of these two 'impossible' quests."
Bell froze. He stared at the extended fist with wide eyes. His heart beat faster at the sheer scale of the proposed goal, but the worm of doubt still gnawed at him from within. Can I do it? I've only just started...
Rane, as if reading those thoughts on his face, snorted mockingly, not retracting his hand.
"Hey. If you can't hack it even with the entire might of the Loki Familia behind you... well, that would be a total disgrace."
It was a blatant provocation. Rane looked at him with friendly, goading mockery.
The words hit their mark, but Bell interpreted them in his own way. The boy looked at his older comrade's face, and it seemed to him that hiding beneath that smile was a deep, paternal care. He just pities me, flashed through Bell's mind. He's making all this up so I won't feel abandoned. He still worries about me.
Strangely, this realization didn't upset him; on the contrary, it ignited a flame within.
I have to get stronger, Bell promised himself, looking at the empty pedestal and then back at his friend. Strong enough that Rane will never have to worry about me again. I'll prove it to him.
All the hurt and fear dissolved without a trace. Inspired by this internal promise, Bell took a step forward. He resolutely extended his arm and struck his knuckles hard against Rane's fist.
"I won't lose," Bell said firmly, and this time his voice didn't tremble.
***
Night had fully claimed its reign by the time Rane stopped in front of a low wrought-iron fence in one of the city's alleyways.
The building behind it could hardly be called habitable. A dilapidated chapel with a caved-in roof, a courtyard overgrown with weeds, and a pervasive scent of desolation. A place forgotten by both gods and men.
Rane pushed the unlocked, pitifully creaking gate and stepped inside. Treading across stone slabs strewn with dry leaves and debris, he carefully examined the interior decor—or, rather, the lack thereof. Dust, remnants of pews, cobwebs in the corners.
Venturing deeper into the nave, he noticed a massive wooden door in the shadows of the far corner. It led to some kind of basement or utility room. Through a narrow gap near the ceiling, where the door didn't sit flush with the frame, peeked the dim, trembling light of a magic lamp.
Rane stopped. The man who hadn't blinked an eye weathering Goddess Loki's pressure and a battle with a Minotaur suddenly felt a strange wave of nervousness rising in his throat.
He took a deep breath, steadying his heartbeat, stepped right up, and knocked twice, quietly, on the dried-out wood.
The knock echoed hollowly in the silence of the church. Instantly, a clatter rang out from inside the room behind the door—as if someone had knocked over a chair in a hurry—followed by hasty, frantic shuffling.
A few long seconds passed before the lock clicked. The door creaked open a few centimeters.
A small figure appeared in the gap. The Goddess Hestia looked downright pitiful. Her favorite white dress was wrinkled, her black pigtails were disheveled, and her huge blue eyes were red and puffy, as if she had been crying for hours on end.
She peeked out timidly, and her gaze landed squarely on the chest of the night visitor. Slowly lifting her eyes, she froze.
Rane didn't wait for her to gather her senses. He smoothly dropped to one knee right onto the dirty stone floor.
"Would this magnanimous Goddess agree," he said softly, with genuine warmth in his voice, "to take a lone seeker under her wing?"
Hestia trembled. Her lips quivered, and massive new tears instantly welled up in her blue eyes, streaming down her cheeks. Overwhelmed by emotions, the loneliness of the past few days, and a suddenly ignited hope, she flung the door wide open.
"Rane!!!!" she cried in a breaking voice and, forgetting herself, threw herself right at him.
Rane barely had time to put his arms out to catch this tiny, sobbing hurricane. He let her bury her face in his neck, feeling her tears soak into the collar of his shirt.
The youth closed his eyes and, gently patting her shuddering back, answered quietly:
"Yes, my Goddess."
********************************************************************************************************* End of Volume One