'Let's go back in time a little bit...'

/On the day of the war game…/

'Many people could be seen in front of the massive gates leading to Orario.'

'Even if there was a War game happening, people still needed to come in and out of Orario as time waited for no one.'

'The sun shined brightly, but the atmosphere wasn't calm and beautiful...'

'Of course, some of the soldier and Guild employees would be much happier relaxing at their homes or at a bar seeing the War game, but someone has to be here, making sure everything was fine and dandy.'

'Orario can't stop just because of a few Familias fighting over their own matters… Unless those Familias happen to be the Freya and Loki Familias, in that case Orario will stop.'

'Back at the waiting line, two people could be seen going inside Orario, shaking their heads as they did so.'

'One had a sword at his waist while the other one had a pair of daggers hidden behind his cloak'

"Security really changed over the years." Said the one with the daggers

'His voice was old but steady.'

"I don't think that's the case, there are several strong adventurers all around us even if they aren't showing themselves, they are there." Said the other person, looking around the place with his strong senses

"Anyway, we arrived, what do you think we should do now?" He asked

"We don't really have a time limit, but it would be better to return as soon as possible and leave as few traces as possible, let's go to the Guild first, if he joined a Familia, there should be no problem directly asking someone to send a letter to him." Replied the one with the daggers

"That's a bit risky, but it's not like we can ask for the Familias book and go over each Familia manually, it would take an eternity. Also, the possibility of finding out what we wish by asking the people on the streets is very small." Said the one with the sword

"But first, I need to eat something, else I will fall before we even meet the kid." He said as he looked around, his stomach rumbling

'But as they walked, they noticed that all restaurants were fully booked.'

"A war game was always considered a big event, but did it get even more popular over the years? It seems as if the entire city is interested in this. Was it like this during your time?" Asked the one with the daggers

"Not exactly, it depended on the Familias, some War games were broadcasted while some others were just mentioned in the Guild."

'The two went to a bar and they luckily found an empty table, they asked for some food and drinks, not alcoholic drinks, one asked for orange juice while the other had grape juice.'

'They also learned about who was the one fighting at the War game, it was a surprising 2 vs 1 situation!'

"Even back then, a situation where more than two Familias participated was very rare, so much so none happened during my days, I only ever heard of it." Said the man with the sword

"It seems interesting, how about we take a look? It's happening as we talk." Said the man with the daggers as he pointed toward the projection near the ceiling of the bar

"Sigh, fine, my back hurts from all of the walkings anyway."

'The two sat on the table, eating their food as they enjoyed the War game.'

…

'As time passed, their eyes popped out in surprise!'

"Is this… A solo War game?! I am not seeing things am I?" Asked the man with the daggers

'He couldn't believe what he was seeing, it was literally a one against all situation.'

"It seems so, we really came at the right time, it would've been a sin to miss such an interesting display."

"Look at him, he has an interesting array of magic, and they all seem to be short chant, and he is very proficient at using them, it's just a shame we can't see his face because of the helmet."

Strength and precision, he is both fierce and tactful, what an interesting adventurer.

"But it makes me wonder what made him even be there in the first place, a War game like this doesn't just happen." Said the one with the sword

"Let me go ask someone." Said the other guy as he looked at the side, getting up and calling a waiter

…

"Excuse me, friend." Said the man as he sat at a nearby table

'Soon enough, a waiter came with several mugs of beer. Of course, all ordered by the old man to make the mouths of these adventurers a bit looser.'

"Can I ask you guys a question?"

"Ask away, friend!" Said one of the guys sitting at the table

"Don't exaggerate it this time Jony!" Said a girl on the side, laughing as she interrupted them

"Shut up Fuilaz! Please, ignore her, she already had 5 beers, she is mildly drunk." Said Jony

"I am not 'MILDLY' drunk! I am just a little tipsy!" Replied Fuilaz

'The old man chuckled at this energetic group before he said:'

"I just came back to Orario from a long trip, what's going on in this War game?"

'The guys on the table didn't know how to reply.'

"It's a rather strange story, friend because the information is quite scarce with mostly being rumors and exaggerations." Said Jony

"Anything is fine."

"In that case, the earlier this story goes seems to be about a few days ago, there was a small conflict between the Hestia Familia and the Tityos Familia, it is unknown what happened, but what is known is that Tityos manor was in flames and mostly destroyed by the time the sun rose."

'This made the old man with the daggers raise his eyebrows.'

"Some say they provoked the Hestia Familia, some say it's the contrary, some even dare to say it's a rivalry over the beauty that is Hestia, whatever truth led to their conflict."

"But this is but a part of the grand scheme of things, friend."

"As there is also, Apollo. What happened between them is a bit more convoluted since it is confirmed that the Hestia Familia challenged them first during one of Apollo's seasonal banquets. You know those right? Fancy banquets reserved for the Gods, they are super famous around Orario…" Asked Jony

'But seeing the old man's confusion, Jony proceeded.'

In my time, there was no God Apollo, he seems to be one of those superfluous Gods...

"The banquet itself doesn't matter but what happened during it is, I even heard a faint rumor that the banquet was brought forward by Apollo and that it had to do with all of this, however, I can't confirm that."

"A friend of mine participated in the banquet since he is the Captain of his Familia, and even though they are small, it just so happened that the banquet's theme was to have the Gods bring one of their children with them."

"And Hestia brought her Captain and sole Child with her."

"What happened afterward?" Asked the man with the daggers

'He noticed the drinks were almost ending so he ordered a few more.'

"The party happened as per normal, he even told me, Freya, herself participated! Man, what a sight it would've been, seeing all of those big dogs like Loki and…"

'Seeing he was getting out of topic and the War game was rolling, he focused.'

"What led to this situation was what happened afterward…" Said Jony as he explained how Apollo tried to frame the Hestia Familia for assaulting them

"And this led to the Hestia Familia challenging them at a War game. Trust me, man, my information is the most accurate."

"But how did THIS, happen?" Asked the old man

'The four adventures on the table looked at each other.'

"By the looks of it, the Hestia Familia proposed this, they wanted to fight both Familias at the same time." Said Jony

'The old man had some of his questions answered, but he was still very confused.'

'He thanked the adventurers and left to his own table.'

"You're back, how was it?" Asked the old man with the sword while he watched the transmission

"It's like this…"

'He started to explain what he learned, greatly surprising the other old man.'

"HAHAHA, they had immense balls, that we can't deny." He said as he laughed out loud

"They are foolish, but yes, brave." Replied the other

"Oh yeah, did you ask for his name?" Asked the old man with the sword

"Ah? I forgot, does it matter?"

"Not really, but it would be interesting to know the name of such an interesting figure."

'Just a shame the two were new and stopped immediately after arriving at Orario, otherwise, they would've gone to the Guild and learned who this boy was.'

'Or heard from someone else, unfortunately, everyone in the bar was super focused on the War game for small talk, the old man was lucky to have found a group that was even willing to divert their attention from it!'

'The two continued to enjoy the War game, being in for yet another big surprise…'

…

'On the screen, Vultus, Captain of the Tityos Familia surrendered!'

'And he challenged the Captain of the Hestia Familia!'

"This is getting interesting!" Said the one holding the sword

"A showdown to let their differences aside, you need to give props to the one called Vultus, some of his companions were indeed killed during this War game, or at least, they won't be able to be adventurer's anymore."

"But will the other side accept?" Asked the other one

'Their eyes were now fixated on the screen!'

----------

"Let's have a fight and put our differences to the side!" Said Vultus as he pointed his ax at the Hestia Familia Captain

"..."

/Chuckle/

"... When I first met you, I thought you were a muscle brain. And it seems I was right." He said as smoke started to cover him

'Soon enough, the smoke dispersed, revealing Silver without his armor.'

----------

"?!?!?!?!?!"

"COUGH COUGH!"

'The two old men suddenly reacted in an extreme way, one almost fell from his chair, he looked as if his heart had stopped while the other started to choke on his juice.'

"This!? Oi! Am I seeing this right?!" Asked the one with a sword

This can't fucking be?!

"Am I not senile yet! I can see it clearly!" Replied the other one

'The two looked at each other, their eagerness to see this fight went down the drain as they expected for the worst…'

"I accept this fight!" Exclaimed the Captain of the Hestia Familia

'And it happened…'

/UOUUUU!/

'Everyone in the bar screamed in excitement at this! Some of them were sad to lose a lot of money, but it all went away under the euphoria of this War game!'

'Soon after he said that, Vultus started his charge while the Captain of the Hestia Familia just raised his hand.'

/BANG!/

'From the sky, a dark flash descended! It was a black Halberd!'

'Silver grabbed the Halberd and slashed down, intercepting Vultus' charge!'

…

'As the fight raged on, the two old men could now be seen stunned, one was as pale as the mist on the 10th floor while the other had a frown so big his eyes had disappeared below his old skin…'

"I guess we found him…" One of the old men said as he laughed out loud

How did this happen? How did our grandson… And this strength...

"... Give me some time to think, I can't believe that's my grandson." Said Saphos

"Look at him! He developed his magic to a point where we couldn't even recognize it anymore, not only that, he got much stronger in such a short period of time… Wait, wasn't the Captain of the Hestia Familia Level 2? I heard some of the people say that…" Asked Lington

"..."

"..."

'The two looked at each other, was their grandson really this insane kid?'

"As expected, my training was effective." Said Saphos as he nodded to himself out of nowhere

"... Shameless old man, you did nothing but beat him up as training, I was the one to teach him proper combat…"

'The two old men started to argue, thankfully, the bar was very noisy and no one cared about what two senile old men were discussing…'

…

'Despite the intensity of it all, everything was supposed to end at some point.'

'The battle ended with the defeat of Silver as expected by all, however, it was a well-deserved defeat, and in no way, dishonorable.'

'On the contrary, his strength was proven to the world!'

'He fought to the very end until his body gave in and he got unconscious, but he never touched the ground, as he lost consciousness while standing!'

/BOOOM!/

'When everyone believed it was the end a sudden explosion happened!'

'Hyakinthos was back, and ambushed the Hero of this War game when he was at his lowest!'

/BANG!/

'Saphos slammed at the table with immense anger as he engraved the image of Hyakintos on the back of his mind.'

'Lington, who is usually calm and more conserved could be seen holding his daggers tightly in anger.'

'Disbelief and anger…'

"He's alive!" Screamed one of the customers at the bar

'The two old men looked at the transmission and they both let out a sigh of relief, but their anger was not soothed.'

"I want to see that guy privately…" Said Saphos

"Me too, but first, we need to clean this mess." Said Lington while he pointed at the ground and at a very angry barkeeper

…

'Sometime later, Saphos and Lington could be seen walking across the streets of Orario without an aim in mind.'

"Should we go to the Guild and just ask where the Hestia Familia house is?" Asked Saphos

"Yes but… Let's give the kid some time to rest, I bet this fight was a bit too much for him, and hearing our story might make his recovery even more painful for him." Replied Lington

"We'll wait a day and visit him after tomorrow night." He said

'Saphos nodded, it was a sound plan, and in any case, they had a few things to settle before meeting him.'

'In his case, there was a need to…'

"Let's stop by my parents' old house first…" Said Saphos as he looked East

…

/3 hours later/

'The two could now be seen on a graveyard, looking down on two gravestones.'

[Civius Esca

Died XXXX during the Great Feud

]

[Alialtar Esca

Died XXXX during the Great Feud

]

"..."

'Old man Saphos watched with sad eyes the gravestones of his parents, two people he did not see for the past few decades since he fled Orario to live with his wife.'

'The last time he talked with them was to brag about his grandson's growth through a letter, but since their talks were so sparse and rare, he did not expect anything bad to have happened during those years of no contact...'

'However, the worst part about their deaths was the fact they did not die a natural death but instead, they died in a conflict he had long forgotten about…'

(N1)

"Just what happened 5 years ago for so many people to have died at once? Look, all of these are…" Said Lington, but he shut up when he realized it wasn't proper

'After a few moments, Saphos got up, turned around, and left as he tapped Lington's shoulder.'

"Let's go, there is a lot to do in the Guild." He said as he left in silence

'Lington knew he was very upset, but there was little he could do apart from following him.'

…

/Two days later…/

'Lington and Saphos could now be seen inside the ruins of a sky scrapper near the old Church, waiting for Silver to come back.'

'Saphos wasn't as gloomy as he was two days ago, but he was still a bit upset.'

'It was simply a lot of information for a poor old man to take, his grandson and his parents... It was a lot to process.'

"He's here." Said Lington as he watched Silver's figure appear on the horizon through a hidden gap on the wall

"Ready to give him a surprise?" Asked Lington

'Saphos smiled.'

"Sorry for being such a black cloud, the past is in the past, now, let's give our grandson a real surprise!" Said Saphos

'They waited until he was about to enter the Church to jump before Saphos suddenly pulled Lington towards the ground.'

"... There's someone else here." He whispered in a barely audible tone

"..."

"... They left." He said as he felt the presence of however was following Silver disappear

'Lington sneakily tried to catch a glimpse, and lo and behold, he saw a few people jumping around the ruins leaving for the horizon.'

"... I must be getting old for allowing such a big group to approach me..." He said

"On the contrary, they seem to be at a high level, and not only that, they approached Silver from a distance way over what a Level 3 would be able to detect, even for Silver, who is clearly stronger than his Level, they are being overly cautious." Said Saphos

As if they are monitoring him and not exactly spying on him, since just like it would be hard for Silver to detect them, it would also be hard for them to spy on Silver with precision...

"Tsk, out of everything, this had to happen, now we can't appear and risk being exposed." Said Lington

"Change of plans, we are going to follow these guys and see what we can learn about them." Said Saphos

I want to know who dares to stalk my family.

"Since they are following him so blatantly, how about we wait for them here again?" Asked Lington

"Sounds good, we can properly tail them next time… If they come back." He said

'The two old men went back to the dark, watching over their grandson in silence.'

'Would they be able to find out about the identity of their stalkers?'

.

.

.

Notes