As Ethan walked away from the forge, someone arrived and noticed the mess he had left behind. It was an elven girl with golden hair and light green eyes.
The moment she stepped inside, her expression changed.
She began walking through the corridors and found nothing but blood and corpses. The walls, the floor, and even the ceiling were stained with blood. She quickened her pace until she reached the area where the sleeping quarters were.
There, she found even more bodies.
The dining hall was empty. There were no corpses there.
However, when she reached the forge, not even her stomach could take it anymore. She had seen and done many grotesque things in her life, but this was the first time she had felt like vomiting after seeing something.
The room reeked of iron. The smell of blood was overwhelming.
The heat from the forge only made the nauseating stench worse.
The number of bodies scattered across the floor was beyond counting.
'They're slaves and Familia members. What happened? A rebellion?' Dina thought as she walked out of the forge. The moment she stepped outside, she ran toward the Alecto Familia's main base.
It wasn't far from there and was fairly inconspicuous.
As soon as she entered, she came face to face with her sister, Vena, a dark elf with silver hair and blood-red eyes.
"What happened? You look frightened," Vena asked.
"Something happened at the forge."
"The forge? What were you doing there?"
"One of the guards contacted me about a particular slave. I think his name is Ethan. He said we could make better use of him because he's extremely talented."
Dina thought, 'He's probably dead.'
"But what did you see?"
"Everyone's dead. There are bodies and blood everywhere." She hurried forward.
Hearing that, her sister asked, "You're not joking with me, are you?"
"Of course not! Everyone's dead! Someone broke into that place and killed everyone! The Familia members, the slaves... they're all dead!"
Vena swallowed nervously.
"Who do you think did it? One of the Evilus Familias? Do you think the Apate Familia did this?"
"Do they even have a reason to do something like that?"
"You're right... they don't."
"Do you think it was the Loki Familia? Or maybe the Freya Familia?"
"..."
After thinking for a moment, Dina said, "Why would they attack at a time like this? And why target the forge? Besides, they even killed all the slaves."
Not knowing what could have happened, Dina and Vena hurried off to meet the goddess Alecto.
They had to deal with this situation as quickly as possible, preferably without causing a commotion.
####
Meanwhile, Ethan had gotten far enough away from the building and hidden himself in a dark alley. As he ran through the streets, people stared at him as though he were insane because of the blood covering his body and clothes.
Not only because of the blood, but also because of his dirty, unkempt blond hair.
Huff~~
Huff~~
Huff~~
Breathing heavily, Ethan sat down on the ground and leaned his back against the wall.
'I should be far enough away. I don't think they followed me,' Ethan thought as he tried to catch his breath.
While recovering, he considered what he should do next.
Should he seek out an influential Familia and ask for help? He could offer his services as a blacksmith in return.
Surely any Familia would want such a talented blacksmith among their ranks, especially one who was also an adventurer capable of growing as quickly as he could.
'But would a Familia that isn't focused on blacksmithing even accept me as a member?'
Not every Familia dealt with that kind of work, so they might refuse to help him. Then again, he was also an adventurer with extraordinary potential for growth.
Even if they had no need for his blacksmithing skills, he could continue to grow and eventually become one of Orario's strongest adventurers.
Ethan closed his eyes and took one last deep breath before standing up.
He looked at the sword in his hand, which was still intact, and left the alley. He walked through the streets toward the tower he could see in the distance. It stood at the center of the city, and that was where he wanted to go.
As he walked, people pointed at him and judged him, but Ethan didn't care.
After many long minutes of walking, someone finally decided to approach him.
Ethan raised his head, and his eyes met the golden eyes of a girl. Her eyes looked just like his. The two stared at each other for a while before Ethan spoke.
"Can I help you?"
Ethan knew who the girl was, but he chose to act indifferent.
"I should be asking you that. What happened to you? Why are you covered in blood?"
Ethan glanced at his sword and then at his own body.
"I escaped from a place I didn't want to be. That's all." He said as he walked past Ais.
"Wait a second."
"What is it?"
"You're not okay. Come with me. I can help you."
Hearing Ais's words, Ethan laughed.
"Hahaha... You can help me? Are you going to kill all of them for me?"
Hearing Ethan's question, Ais kept her usual stoic expression before replying,
"What do you mean by that? Explain the situation to me."
"You'd better stay out of this. It could cause trouble for the Loki Familia," Ethan said as he walked away.
He had considered asking Ais for help, but ultimately decided against it. He thought it would be selfish to drag a random Familia into something like this.
He would have to deal with it on his own.
Ais watched Ethan walk away, staggering slightly as he did.
'...'
Silently, she let out a sigh and turned around.
As she walked away, she couldn't get Ethan out of her mind.
'His eyes and hair looked just like mine, didn't they?'