"What? People asking money for protection? Here?" Hestia's twin tails bounced as she shot to her feet, blue eyes wide with disbelief.
"Yes," Welf replied evenly. "And they went as far as to imply you allowed it. Or at least that's what they wanted me to believe."
Hestia's expression darkened.
"Hmmm…" Aisha crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall. "I think I've heard of this before."
She turned toward Hestia, voice flattening.
"Back when Ishtar owned the Red Light District, she used a gang to extort money from business owners outside her territory. They'd collect under the excuse of 'protection.' She'd split the earnings with them."
Welf's eyes narrowed. "So they're leftovers."
"I assumed they'd scatter after Ishtar fell," Aisha continued. "Looks like they just went underground instead." A dangerous smile curved her lips. "If they're back, they need to be reminded whose city this is."
Hestia clenched her fists. "Sheesh… Ishtar was such a bitch…"
Before anyone could respond—
The door burst open.
"Goddess Hestia! Welf!" Lena rushed inside, completely out of breath.
Hestia hurried forward. "Lena, breathe! What happened?"
"It's— it's Welf's shop! It's burning! Someone attacked it!"
"What?!" Welf didn't wait for another word. He was already moving.
....
Smoke rose into the evening sky like a black banner of defiance.
By the time they arrived, the forge was half-charred, flames licking at what remained of the wooden frame. Neighbors rushed with buckets, forming lines to douse the blaze. The anvil was cracked from the sudden heat shift. The front counter was nothing but splintered embers.
Welf stood frozen for a moment.
Not shocked.
Angry.
Hestia walked forward slowly, eyes reflecting the firelight.
"This…" Her voice was no longer shrill. No longer cute.
It was cold.
"This is war."
The murmuring crowd quieted.
She turned to Welf. "The Hestia Familia will compensate you for everything. Materials. Tools. The building. All of it. Don't worry about that."
Welf clenched his jaw but nodded once.
Then Hestia stepped forward, right there in front of the district residents who had gathered to help.
She spoke one name.
"Diana."
The ground behind her darkened.
Shadows peeled upward from nothing.
And from them, Diana emerged, kneeling immediately before Hestia.
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
One of Damien's Shadows.
Here.
Kneeling.
Awaiting command.
Hestia's small frame stood tall.
"Diana," she said calmly, voice carrying absolute authority. "Find every single one of them. Bring them to me."
Her eyes hardened.
"If they resist… end them."
Diana lowered her head.
"Yes, my Queen."
And vanished.
The shadows folded inward and disappeared like mist swallowed by night.
Hestia turned toward Aisha.
"Follow her."
Aisha grinned sharply. "Gladly."
She dashed off immediately, chasing the direction the Shadow had taken, boots pounding against stone.
The district remained silent.
Watching.
Waiting.
Hestia turned to face them all.
"People of the Hestia District," she began, her voice steady despite the lingering smoke. "It seems we have enemies among us."
She paused, letting the words settle.
"But worry not."
Her expression softened slightly, but the steel remained beneath it.
"As the one responsible for this place… we will take care of it."
She placed a hand over her chest.
"I promise in my name—Hestia."
The fire behind her finally began to die down.
"Now… go back to your work."
...
"HAHAHA! This is good!"
Coins clattered loudly across the wooden table as one of the men shoveled them into a sack. The small warehouse reeked of cheap ale and smoke.
"How much did you extort?" asked the leader of the Andra gang, leaning back in his chair.
The man counting grinned greedily. "We're close to one million valis, sir."
The leader nodded in satisfaction. "Good. As long as that monster is stuck in the expedition, we don't have to worry about him. We squeeze as much as we can… then relocate. Maybe the South Main next."
The door creaked open.
Two men walked in laughing.
"Now that'll teach them to know who we are!" one said.
The other snorted. "We burned that blacksmith's whole life down. That's what happens when you refuse the Andra gang!"
The leader's smile vanished.
"You two… what did you just say?"
"Oh, nothing serious, sir," the man replied casually. "Just some new blacksmith who wouldn't pay protection. So we made an example."
The leader stood slowly.
"I told you to lay low."
"Relax," the thug waved him off. "New guy. Opened recently. No one important. Name was… Welf, I think."
Silence.
The leader's face drained of color.
"What?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah, Welf something. Red hair. Fancy shop."
The leader moved.
The punch came without warning, sending the man crashing into crates.
"YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!" the leader roared.
The room went still.
"That's Damien Ardent's best friend!"
The thug on the ground blinked in confusion. "What? I… didn't…"
"FUCK!" The leader kicked over the table, coins scattering everywhere. "You just provoked the Hestia Familia! FUCK!"
"Sir— Damien's in the Dungeon. It shouldn't be—"
The sentence never finished.
His head separated cleanly from his body.
It fell to the floor with a dull thud.
Blood sprayed across the wall.
For a moment, no one moved.
Then the shadow on the wall shifted.
Not cast.
Not natural.
It peeled itself free from the darkness.
The leader's mouth trembled as he fell backward onto the floor.
"Sh… Shadows…"
Another gang member screamed, "SHADOWS! DAMIEN IS HERE! RUN!"
They ran.
They died.
Every single one who tried to flee was cut down instantly. Silent. Precise. No wasted motion. Diana moved like an executioner born from night itself, her blade severing limbs and throats without hesitation.
The warehouse became quiet again.
Only the leader remained alive.
Aisha stepped through the doorway casually, stepping over a corpse as if it were trash in the street.
"So," she said, looking down at him with open disdain. "You're the leader."
He trembled, unable to stand.
"Good. Goddess Hestia would like a word."
....
Broad daylight.
The Hestia District was full.
Shops reopened. Citizens whispered. Children peeked from behind doorframes.
And down the center street walked Aisha.
Beside her walked Diana.
In Diana's hand was a long strip of heavy robe fabric.
Tied to it
The entire Andra gang.
Wrists bound. Ankles tied. Faces bruised and pale.
They were dragged across the stone like sacks of garbage.
No dignity....No resistance....A public display of Power...Authority and Consequence
People stared openly now.
No one whispered.
No one doubted.
The Hestia Familia might not be large.
But it had teeth.
The procession reached the Hestia Manor, where Hestia stood waiting.
The gang members were thrown to their knees before her.
"Confess," she said simply.
They did.
Every one of them.
Fearfully.
Desperately.
Each remembering the exact moment a fellow member tried to run… and ceased to exist.
By the time the Guild representatives arrived, the confessions were complete.
The Andra gang was taken away in chains, their fate sealed under Guild law.
As they were dragged off, word spread through Orario's streets.
The Hestia District was not undefended.
And provoking it
Was a fatal mistake.
/*\
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