Danmachi Familia from Hell

27

Cleaning up the Field of Doom and the castle from all of Vlood's victims would have taken three people weeks, if not months. Fortunately, a certain elf could summon many helpers who, being long dead anyway, did not have to worry about corpse poison, and their lack of emotions and free will meant they felt neither disgust nor fear while carrying bodies decayed by age.
There was, of course, still the option of involving the inhabitants of the nearby villages in the great cleanup, but after presenting them with the demon who had ruled their lands for seven hundred years and making long efforts to improve his image enough so that people would not tremble in fear at the sight of Teepashtee, Hades preferred not to force them into such tasks.
In truth, if it were not for the divine aura of the golden-eyed one made even more impressive by the fact that none of the province's inhabitants had ever encountered a being from the Upper World before and for Leili, who spoke before everyone about the kindness she had experienced from Vlood, the mob would probably have grabbed pitchforks and torches, which could have ended... in various ways.
The bodies were divided into two groups. The first consisted of the fallen soldiers of Ares, who were soon to be claimed, so they were laid out in the castle courtyard and covered with wide sheets. The second group included literally everyone else. They were buried in nearby cemeteries according to local customs, accompanied by Hades himself. The presence and participation of the god of death in the funeral rites was meant to grant the slain peace after countless years of existing without a proper burial.
Meanwhile, the god and his two underlings traveled across the province far and wide so that everyone would learn that from now on the "demon" would not rule from his castle, and that the fortress gates would be open to all who sought help from the familia in urgent situations such as famine, natural disasters, or migrating monsters. They also had to explain that Rakians would soon arrive again, while reassuring the people that it would not be an invasion and that the foreign warriors would disappear as quickly as they came and would not even consider spilling blood.
Finally, it was also announced that Vlood acknowledged Hades' sovereignty over his lands, which the inhabitants were likewise expected to accept. However, the golden-eyed one had no intention of imposing taxes on the populace or changing most of the local laws (cases such as cutting off the hands of bread thieves he considered too extreme and outdated as methods of maintaining order). He intended to pay for everything taken from the inhabitants and not restrict their freedoms. In return, he asked only for recognition of his authority, the presence of his familia, and peaceful coexistence.
There was so much running around, talking, negotiating, and scheming involved that even Hades, who had a head for mutually beneficial deals, suffered frequent migraines, not to mention his two followers.
One had to somehow cleanse his reputation after centuries of slaughter. The other had to explain that those moving skeletons, often resembling monsters, were not dangerous as long as he himself did not give them the order to attack.
What surprised both Belakher and Vlood was the fact that Hades decided to rebuild the ruin that had been the vampire's ancestral seat.

- My lord, this place... - Landgrave began uncertainly. - It could collapse on our heads at any moment.

Even Teepashtee, who had grown up within those walls and spent several hundred years there, believed that for anyone more "normal than himself" to live there would be sheer madness.

- If you wish to restore this place to its former glory because of me, my lord, then do not do it - the white-haired one tried to persuade him. - This place brings me far more painful than joyful memories. A modest keepsake of my family will be enough to satisfy my sentiments.

Fortunately, for the time being the king of the Underworld planned to live with his followers in some hut instead of immediately moving into a heap of rubble that really ought to be torn down to its foundations rather than rebuilt.

- There are many reasons why we need such a great residence. For instance, a proper laboratory for you, Belakher, requires considerable space.

- Lord Hades!

Even the ever-loyal and obedient necromancer could not hold back and had to insist, trying to dissuade his patron from such an unreasonable decision.

- You know perfectly well that I was able to create a laboratory for myself even in a hollow dug in the ground. I do not need university-level conditions to pursue knowledge. The cost of turning this ruin into the fortress it was seven centuries ago will be absurd. The entire reward from Lord Ares will be spent on it, and even that may not be enough.

- Not to mention how long such a project would take - Vlood added.

Hades listened patiently to his followers. He understood their point of view perfectly. In fact, if he did not know his own motivation as they did not, he would have praised them for their prudence and their ability to think independently rather than blindly follow orders.

- We really do need a great house for our familia - the golden-eyed one replied calmly. - You see, a pathetic god like me often makes mistakes.

- What are you saying, my lord?! How can you speak of yourself in such...

- And who was it that left Zagreus without care? - the god of death interrupted the elf immediately.

The violet-eyed one fell silent in an instant. Vlood, too, found himself at a loss for words at such an argument.

- I was blind - the king of the Underworld continued. - I thought only of my own loss and that, with Belakher's support, I would never have to experience it again. Then you appeared, Vlood. You reminded me of something I, as the god of death, should never have forgotten.

- Of what, my lord? - the blood-drinker asked.

- That in this world there are parents whose children were taken by famine. Children whose parents were murdered. Wives whose husbands never returned from war. Husbands whose wives died of illness. All of them experience the pain of loss. Many of them, like us, are unable to cope with it. Many of them, like the two of you, isolate themselves from society out of fear of growing close to someone and losing them again. Many of them would wish to join us.

The pupils of both of Hades' servants widened at once upon hearing their lord's words. The king of the Underworld was not someone who spoke words he did not intend to turn into action.

- Those who have known the pain of loss and wish to help us find immortality will be accepted by me into our ranks.

It was at that moment that the flourishing of the familia began. One that in the centuries to come, would become renowned for undertaking the most risky, dangerous, and sometimes seemingly impossible missions. Although they followed certain moral principles enforced by their patron despite working as mercenaries, people most often saw them as a band of gold-hungry monsters.
They were said to include demons summoned from hell by the ever-gloomy god-demons who turned the living into mindless heaps of bone and rotting flesh, demons that fed on human blood, demons with hearts as black as coal.
The truth, however, was that every one of its members had experienced a foretaste of hell in their own life-but it was precisely these rumors that led to them becoming known as a familia from hell.