I stared down the man standing before me, my irritation barely masked. Me and the three hunters sat—or rather, loomed—inside a so-called "questioning room."
No tables. No chairs. No door. Just bare stone and a thick, choking silence.
[Grey]: Well, Mr. Detective, you're quite rude. No chairs for your guests? No refreshments? Honestly, how uncivilized.
The man pinched the bridge of his nose, looking like he was teetering on the edge of giving up on life itself. Deep bags under his eyes. His uniform was rumpled. His soul? Crushed.
[Mr. Detective]: Miss... you ate the chairs. The table. The iron bars. The door. You even ate the guards' weapons. We're... improvising.
I blinked slowly. The three hunters beside me were still twitching slightly from leftover Bloodborne madness. One even chuckled under his breath.
Right... I might've gotten a little hungry after falling through a screaming nightmare void.
Before I could sass the poor man further, a second person entered—an older, grim-looking woman with the air of someone used to ordering armies.
[Grim Woman]: Enough. Bring them to the Guild Hall. If they survive the paperwork, they can enter Orario like everyone else.
The Detective flinched like he'd been slapped.
[Mr. Detective]: B-But they're—
[Grim Woman]: —Monsters? Weapons? Nightmares in flesh? Please. This is Orario. We've seen worse. Or have you forgotten the last time Loki's familia summoned a dungeon dragon by accident?
I smiled wide—too wide—and cracked my knuckles.
[Grey]: Paperwork? Sounds deadly. I accept your challenge, old lady.
The hunters gave a ragged cheer behind me.
Maybe this new world would be fun after all.
They dragged me and the hunters—still dripping bits of nightmare blood—through the busy, noisy streets of Orario. People stared. Some pointed. A few prayed.
The hunters didn't help, laughing like lunatics at every terrified look we got.
We finally arrived at a massive, elegant building: white marble walls, giant banners fluttering overhead, and a line of desperate-looking adventurers stretching out the door.
The Guild Hall.
Inside, they shoved us into a smaller room.
It was... paper.
Mountains of paper.
Desks filled with papers.
Walls stacked with papers.
I could hear the paper breathing.
A woman with glasses and a sharp, predatory smile stood behind the front desk. She looked like she could kill a dragon with her glare alone.
[Guild Worker]: Name?
[Grey]: Grey. No last name. You don't need to know it.
[Guild Worker]: Race?
[Grey]: Depends on who's asking.
She gave me a look that said, "Try me, freak."
[Guild Worker]: Fine. 'Unknown.' Reason for visit?
[Grey]: Fell out of a nightmare. Ate the prison. Now I'm here.
The scratching of her quill didn't even slow down.
Professional. Terrifying.
[Guild Worker]: —That brings us to damages. Prison reconstruction: 12,000,000 valis. Guard rearming: 3,000,000 valis. Therapy for traumatized staff: 5,000,000 valis. Emotional damages: priceless, but generously estimated at another 10,000,000 valis. Total: 30,000,000 valis.
The hunters behind me started sweating bullets.
[Hunter 1]: Grey, we just got here—
[Hunter 2]: That's a whole familia's yearly haul!
[Hunter 3]: We're gonna get executed!
I yawned, then reached into my inventory—ripping through the stitched space-time pocket stitched into my soul—and dumped a massive sack of gold bars onto the counter.
The thud shook the whole building.
A few adventurers screamed.
The Guild Worker barely blinked.
[Grey]: Will that cover it? Got more if you need.
The Guild Worker finally looked up. Just once.
There was... fear in her eyes.
[Guild Worker]: Y-Yes, that will suffice. Welcome to Orario, Miss Grey. Please don't eat any more government property.
I winked.
[Grey]: No promises, glasses.
The three hunters roared with laughter.
Behind us, the Detective finally collapsed into unconsciousness.
[Grey,]: Alright, boys! Time to find a Familia, a good bar, and something big and ugly to kill!
Orario wouldn't know what hit it.
[Five hours later]
The hunters and I were sprawled across the sidewalk like a group of freakish, slightly radioactive homeless men—the kind that would definitely stab you, steal your money, and sell your shoes for questionable drugs.
We had somehow scavenged a harmonica, a battered piano missing three keys, and a set of cracked and rusty drums.
We were terrible.
But we were loud.
People passing by gave us very wide berths. Mothers pulled their children closer. Merchants nervously pulled down their shutters. A Level 2 adventurer sprinted past us crying, for reasons even I didn't understand. A random drunk adventurer tossed us a silver coin, either out of pity or a desperate attempt to make us stop.
[Grey]: Boys... this is not how I thought our conquest of Orario would start.
[Hunter 1]: At least we're making music! Music of the soul!
[Hunter 2]: Grey, we're scaring the gods themselves. That's gotta be worth something.
[Hunter 3]: Maybe if we make enough noise, a Familia will adopt us... out of pity, or maybe if we sound bad enough, the gods will smite us out of pity, I mean I welcome death... but not this noise.
I kicked my legs out, swishing my slightly bloodstained gothic skirt.
The city moved around us, adventurers laughing, merchants shouting, a drunk guy fighting a lamppost two streets down, kids daring each other to run closer to the "demon band" (us).
Orario was alive.
And for once, I didn't feel like I was slipping into madness.
I almost felt... normal.
If you ignored the monstrous aura leaking off all four of us like a chemical spill.
And then—
A soft, hesitant tap tap on the cobblestones.
I looked up.
Standing there, nervously shifting from foot to foot, was a young man with snow-white hair and a face way too innocent for this cruel world.
He wore light armor and short sword that was his size.
His red eyes locked on us, and to my shock, they didn't show fear.
Only pity.
Deep, ocean-sized pity.
[Bell]: U-Um... excuse me... A-Are you guys... looking for a Familia?
The hunters froze mid-chaos.
Hunter 1 dropped his drumstick.
Hunter 2 tried to fix his hair.
Hunter 3 sat up like a corpse, jolting awake.
I stood, towering over Bell like a gothic nightmare made of teeth, void, and frilly lace.
[Grey]: We might be. Depends. Are you recruiting stray murder-hobos and eldritch horrors today, sunshine?
Bell laughed nervously, scratching his head.
[Bell]: W-Well... my goddess Hestia said it's okay if I, uh... found more friends... a-and you guys look like you need a home.
For a second, none of us moved.
Then, Hunter 1 dropped to one knee and saluted.
Hunter 2 broke into tears.
Hunter 3 hugged Bell's leg like a lifeline.
I wiped an imaginary tear from my eye and gave a mock-bow.
[Grey]: Bell Cranel, you beautiful, naive soul. You just adopted the apocalypse.
Bell smiled awkwardly, already starting to regret everything.
But it was too late.
The contract was sealed.
Orario wasn't ready for us.
[Chapter end]