Like a flock of ducks, everyone from his party followed Raven through the city streets. Regalia, the djinns, even Maria and the rest of the original party, everyone walked behind him, their expression sour as can be. Only a handful had stayed behind at the castle to help clean up the mess left behind by the intruders. Mino, Arche, and Maine, the trio of monsters, were one of them, and thanks to their larger body size and collective strength, things were moving a lot faster than they would otherwise.
Erika was expected to stay behind as well, but the hurt from having her goddess's city attacked had left her with a taste for revenge. Recognizing that without saying a word, Raven led the party through the now deserted streets to find some place to clear his head that wasn't the mansion or the church, as he didn't wish to go there just yet.
After looking around for a while, the group surprisingly found a shop in the bazaar still open. A lone man stood behind the grilling counter, his eyes devoid of life as he fanned the flames on skewered meat. At first, the general wondered whether they should even stop there, but upon looking closer, Raven remembered the man from a long time ago.
'Still kicking, huh?' It was the same shop that he'd visited for a date with one of his girls at the very start of his journey. Not to mention, the owner had been there working every day ever since Raven was a kid–one of the few people that seemed genuine in his concern for other people, especially the unfortunate who'd lost their children during the migration of surrounding refugees around Athenia.
"As good of a place as any, besides, he has enough chairs to seat most of us too." Although concerned why their leader won't just head to their mansion, everyone simply followed his lead and settled into the tented stall. Moving his chair closer to the grill, Raven looked up into the hollow look of the man.
The life in him was drained–something had happened that much was obvious. Perhaps the death of a loved one or maybe…
"Did you lose a kid in the war that we were fighting?" He asked, unable to help himself.
The man's lips parted for a moment, but then, as his eyes turned to Raven, a light chuckle escaped instead of an answer to his question.
"Sit tight, you rascals…been a while since I've seen you and your group all together." Changing the topic, he glanced around at the other orphan kids whom he remembered. Faint flashes of their youth, their noisy games and pranks rose in his head, it almost made him smile, but then, breaking that light expression, he returned to his work. "I'll get you something to eat, hang tight."
It was clear as day as to what had happened, but there was little Raven could do to help him now. Thus, with a heavy heart, he turned to the others and instantly his eyes locked with Erika's. She'd been staring daggers at him, waiting for him to turn and give her the green light to be her goddess' messenger.
"I know that Monty found a colony where they serve a major god–if he's one of the council, just let me return the favor, and those abominations won't dare touch our land ever again." Her deep blue eyes flashed a bright red as she showered scorn through her words. Carnage would be her revenge, and given the circumstances, Raven saw no reason to prevent her from going on her own to send that message.
"Tomorrow morning, you're free to go. As for now, I need you to start working on the runic ritual for magical clones of us all, including Markus and even Helga. That should help the city remain somewhat safe. I'll try to come up with failsafes soon enough."
Nodding her head, Erika rose from her chair and instead offered it to Maria, who'd been standing beside her. As the ex-queen took seat, the high priestess was already ready to leave and work on a kingdom-wide rune with Asmodia helping her.
"I'll get to it then–"
"Sit down…" Interrupting her, the shopkeeper pointed a steaming skewer towards the priestess. A bit shocked, Erika was taken aback, and so were her companions. "Sit down and eat something first. Who knows, maybe that could mean the difference between life and death. You shouldn't be taking any chances today!"
For once, the man's eyes were vibrant. He truly wanted to feed them, if not to cure their hunger, then for himself. As an adoptive parent, the only way that he could have a kid, he wanted Erika and the others to stay by him a little while longer, just so he could remember how it feels to feed his family even after the presumed death of his son.
"F-fine, I guess?" Unsure what to feel, Erika conjured herself a chair made of water and sat on it without getting herself wet. Crossing her legs, she stared at the man as he focused on his work again, which gave her time to wonder. "What was your kid's name? Maybe I healed him once or twice back in that desert?"
"His name?" With a light chuckle and a gasp, the man responded. "Aradin, I was searching for him in the crowd of soldiers–never saw him anywhere."
"Aradin, you say?" Raven asked, squinting.
"Yeahhh…I adopted him like Rose did that Amedith kid over there." Glancing over at Amedith, dressed in a dark and gothic look, the man awkwardly and quickly looked away. "Kids and their fashion these days."
"Ey', Old man! What did you say?!" Already embarrassed for being brought to Athenia in the state that he was in while trying to infiltrate the same city Monty currently was in, Amedith nearly jumped out of his seat to yell, but was quickly pulled back in by Liliyana's hand.
Amidst that flicker of chaos, Raven had just enough time to wonder whether he should tell the man about Aradin or not. The dark water infection, the party barely understood how it worked and if it could infect other people around him or make him rage uncontrollably, then perhaps it was best for Aradin to stay away from his family for a while longer.
'I can't tell him now, he's gonna practically beg me to see him.' Already, he could see the old man begging at his feet. There was no way he could say no to him then, and thus, telling everyone to keep their mouth shut about Aradin through their mental link, Raven decided that only once he'd been deemed safe to be around would the soldier be allowed to visit his family.
As for the rest of the evening, the party sat at the shop and discussed what to do next. Enjoying the food and having other passing soldiers join them, the group simply relaxed for a few hours while also getting some work done. At night, however, everyone was back to work. Erika was especially hastful that night as come morning, she had a grand sacrifice to make–the death of a rival god's city.