Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

While the king was busy getting ready to leave the island, Raven and Linkle had both teleported to Athenia. Landing by Reina, the two expected to be yelled at, however, seeming tired even in her sleep, the blacksmith was knocked out cold with half of her body hanging out of the bed and the blanket.

Wasting no time, the two-headed outdoors and went straight over to Helga's house. Upon arriving there and knocking on the door, the Valkyrie gently opened the door after a while but didn't let the two in just yet. Peeking out through the gap in the door, she glanced the two up and down.

"What do you need? I thought you were gone for good finally," opening the door, Helga heaved a sigh and gestured them in.

Getting inside without a word, the two remained quiet until the Valkyrie had closed the door and began leading them into her living room.

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"We're here to ask for your help," although she heard Linkle as clearly as day, Helga ignored the witch for a moment and motioned for the two to take a seat before saying anything else.

Following her direction and sitting across from her on the set of couches, Raven and Linkle both watched Helga reach into thin air and grab herself a wine bottle. Labelled with a pig being stirred in a red pot, the bottle's content became slightly more apparent.

"Pig's blood wine," grabbing a glass from her gift from the gods, Helga sat down in front of the two and started pouring herself a glass. Obsessed with blood wines ever since the holy war, the Valkyrie ached for the taste of the obscure and this was the only time she could try such things without the fear of being caught by her daughters. "Do you two need a glass?"

Instantly shaking their head in denial, Linkle, as well as Raven, let her know that they'd rather pass. Allowing the Valkyrie to get a sip of the wine and settling properly on the couch, Linkle leaned forward and began explaining to her everything the same way she'd explained it to Shamisha and Mono.

Still keeping the deal with Elana a secret, Linkle gave away everything she possibly could without revealing too many secrets. The failsafe was one such secret amongst many, but Helga wasn't naive enough not to pick up on the fact that there were pieces of the story missing. Yet, unbothered and uncaring about the matter, the Valkyrie took a big gulp of the wine and gave her answer.

"Sorry, but I can't help you."

"Come again?" The upfront rejection left Linkle aghast.

Raven felt much the same, however knowing Helga much better than the witch, he at least had a clue why the Valkyrie had refused to help.

"Your kids, you're worried about leaving them?" Hitting the nail on the mark, Raven got a sharp index pointed in his direction.

Smiling at the mage as she placed her legs on the coffee table, Helga stretched her back a little before taking another gulp of the wine and justifying her decision further.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"There's that, and the fact that you guys can't afford to hire me, and the fact that I'm not leaving Athenia until absolutely necessary–"

"It is necessary!" Linkle interjected, jumping out of her seat with an angst-ridden look in her eyes. "We need you there to fight this…king! And this demon!"

"What's necessary to you might not be necessary to me. Have you stopped to consider that fact even once?" Stumped yet again by Helga's response, Linkle kept staring at the Valkyrie drinking her glass of wine. "I don't wanna do it, it's as simple as that, and what made you think I would continue to help you indefinitely? I've served this world enough. It's your turn to take care of it."

Looking at Raven while saying the last part, Helga frowned her brows a little and added.

"Unless harm comes to my daughters, I'd prefer to avoid leaving this place even if it means leaving you and your party stranded," even if her explanation was sound and Raven understood why Helga was doing what she was doing, he felt a bit betrayed but didn't let it get to him–at least not as much as Linkle let it get to her head.

"Come on! There must be something we can do to–"

Rolling her eyes, Helga loudly scoffed in Linkle's face.

"You don't understand, do you?" Looking right at the witch's face, Helga shook her head trying to convey just how little Linkle understood her situation. "Maybe if you had a kid or two you'd know; you'd know why I can't leave unless I know for sure that we're gonna come back."

Pointing towards the door, Helga gestured for the two to head on out.

"Talking about going to hell like it's a trip to the garden, good luck but forget about me helping you two," fanning her hand continuously, she kept urging them to leave before her daughters arrived.

Left with no choice but to leave, the two walked out of the house disappointed and even somewhat frustrated over how they were treated by the drunken Valkyrie.

"Now what?" Raven asked Linkle, but the witch hadn't a clue as she was thrown off of her train of thought.

Having preemptively expected Helga to join the party, she'd worked a plan with heavy involvement from her, but now it had to be reworked. Thinking for a while outside of Helga's house, the witch's mind drifted through deep thought, all the while, Raven was approached by Helga's dog Cerberus.

Walking up to him from inside the house, the beast sat down beside him and kept huffing while looking up. Raven tried to move away but the dog continued to follow him. Eventually, as the two began to walk and the dog kept walking beside Raven, he realized that although she wasn't coming herself, the dog must've been sent by Helga.

"Great, first Mono and now this dog, as if we didn't have enough liabilities with us!" Even though Raven agreed to Linkle's statement, assuming there must've been a reason Helga sent Cerberus, he decided to put his faith in the Valkyrie and continue with the rest of their plans.

From meeting with Darius and getting a ton of scrolls to gathering physical weapons to replace magical items in case magic couldn't be manifested by him or his party anymore. Even preparing for the most obscure of spells by staying in Darius's shop for a few days, the mage prepared until the last second before the news of Aran's arrival on Lantherem hit.

Note: Sorry for only 2 chapters, still trying to get the hang of writing 3 chapters per day, will try to put out more tomorrow, anyways thanks for reading and supporting my book!