Chapter 1
The Mystery Party
At the outskirts of a small, secluded village, a young boy no older than 10 years old stood in front of a grave, tears dotting his eyes. He wore a simple brown sweater and a pair of pants. He had white hair and red eyes, an appearance similar to that of a rabbits. He was relatively small for his age. His name was Bell Cranel and, as of a few mere weeks ago, he has no family to call his own.
"Grandpa…" Bell whimpered, looking blankly at his grandfather's grave. He missed him. He missed his his smile. He missed the way he carried him on his shoulders. He missed the stories he used to tell him. He missed it all, but now Bell's grandfather was gone and he was… alone.
Down in the village, a mid sized group of people walked into the the village through the village gates. If you were to describe the group in one word, it would be peculiar. Or, perhaps, diverse. The group had various species in it its ranks. Such as elves, dark elves, dwarves, prums, a werewolf, and humans. Each of them had the vibe of a warrior. No, an adventurer. They were quite eye catching to the plain villagers, to say the least.
"Excuse me, sir," a female elf addressed nearby villager, a merchant, after separating from the group. She was tall and beautiful. She had long, beautiful auburn hair and chocolate brown eyes. She wore a long blue robe and had a long wooden staff- a wand. "Could you point us to where the mayor's office is, please? Or, perhaps, you know of a boy named Bell Cranel-kun?"
"Bell-kun?!" The merchant exclaimed, shocked. "Why do you need to see him?!"
"So you do know him," a human man said, smiling. He was a tall man with a powerful, muscular build. He head neck length black hair and onyx eyes. He wore a silver, waist length, coat with two pockets over his black undershirt and and black paints. Strapped to his waist were two machetes. "Care to tell us where he is?"
"What is your business with him?" The merchant said suspiciously. Almost everyone of these visitors were armed with some kind of weapon, and the ones who weren't carrying a weapon looked like they didn't need one to cause trouble. "That boy has been through enough without suspicious fellows like you bothering him."
"Whoa, calm down there, Merchant-san," the human man requested, waving his hands in defense. "We mean no harm to Bell, you, or anybody else in this village. We're just here to take the kid away."
"What?!" The merchant cried, outraged. He was so loud the other villagers who were in earshot started gathering around. The man's companions groaned in exasperation and frustration at his faux pas.
"Please, excuse his poor choice of words," a human woman said as she stepped in between the two men. She was a tall, beautiful woman with long, silky black hair and emerald green eyes. She wore a grey cloak over her body. "We are acquaintances of Bell-kun's grandfather. We are aware of his passing and are here on his bequest."
"You mean, you people know Old Man Cranel?"
"Yes… if that's what you refer to his as?" The human woman said, sounding slightly surprised.
"B-But how do you know about his death? It isn't like anyone expected or desired him being killed by a monster. He was a pervert, but a good man. No one desired his death."
"The mayor, who knows of us, sent us a letter after C-Cranel-san's death," she explained. "His name is Seymour, am I right?"
"You are," the merchant nodded. "Alright, I'll take you to Seymour-san's place. Business is slow-"
"Wait!" One of their group members-a young female elf- suddenly shouted alarmingly. She was holding her head with her hand like she was having a headache.
"What is it, Phina?" The woman elf who started the conversation with the merchant in the first place asked.
"Monsters!" The elf girl, who was now named Phina, answered immediately. "They're weak, but there are several of them. Ten, maybe more."
"Monsters, but how can she-"
"Where are they?" The human man asked, cutting off the merchant.
"T-That way!" Phina pointed in the general direction. "Not too far from here. About 8 kilometers!"
"8 kilometers that way? But that's where Bull-kun is!"
"What?!" The human woman, who had been very cool and composed up until now, screeched in horror. Her face contorted into anxiety and rage.
"T-The cemetery! H-He's always going there," the merchant flinched, intimidated by the woman's mood swing. Even the other members of her party were showing various degrees of worry and fear. What was Bell to her and to these people? "E-Ever since the old man died. Even if he isn't there, there's definitely-"
"Right," the human man nodded, understanding the gist of it. Bell certainly wasn't the only one to lose someone he loved. There was likely at least a couple of people at the cemetery. Unknowingly about attacked by some horde of monsters. "Alright, let's deal with them. Since there-"
*SWOOSH*
Without waiting to hear the human man's orders, the human woman leaped into the air with more height than any normal person could be capable of and land on the roof of a two story build with impeccable grace. For the briefest of moments, the beautiful image of the woman's cloak fly off of her body revealed her well endowed womanly figure and the white sleeveless dress with two knives strapped to her waist, then, subsequently, the cloak fell right back onto her body. "I'm going."
"Kyra!" The human man shouted frustratedly, but she had already began to move, the sound of her leaping from rooftop to rooftop quickly died down after she had yelled, "I'll slay all of the monsters and bring bell-kun back home safely!"
"...Well, what now, Kuda?" A muscular male dwarf in armor asked the human.
"It's fine," Kuda sighed. "Kyra will slaughter the monsters swiftly, however…" Kuda turned to to Phina and young female chienthrope. "Phina-chan, please go and heal anyone who has gotten injured. Nim-chan, use your magic to get her there, please."
"Yes, sir," Phina said.
"Understood, Kuda-san," Nim the chienthrope girl obeyed. She offered her elf compatriot her hand, which Phinatook. Then, she started reciting a twenty second long spell that covered both girls in an emerald green light. "Shift!"
*POP!*
With a sound that was similar to a bubble popping, the two girls disappeared and instantly reappeared several hundred meters in the direction of where Kyra was going. Nim said "shift again and the two disappeared once more. Shift was obviously a type of trigger word that let the castor and anyone in contact with her teleport.
"Haaa," Kuda sighed depressingly as he watched the two girls go.
"Something the matter?" The elf woman asked.
"I wanted to go save Bell," he admitted. "But since Kyra already went…"
"That's it?" a male prum sighed disappointedly.
"So, merchant-san, If you could-"
"..." Kuda stopped when he saw that the merchant had a face of utter shock. It was understandable. Just moments ago, an elf he didn't know started saying there was horse of monsters coming to hurt and kill people, then he saw a woman leap higher and swifter than anybody ought, and after that he saw magic and two girls teleporting. Anybody would feel overwhelmed, at least a little bit.
"Merchant-san?"
"Who… Who are you people?"
"Hm... " Kuda put his thumb and index finger on his finger and thought to himself. "Generally speaking… all of us belong to Zeus Familia."