Danmachi Familia from Hell

1

- Anyone, anyone at all, but why the fuck them?! - shouted a bald dwarf with a dark beard at the top of his lungs. - I get that someone finally has to go down into that cursed mine and butcher those pieces of shit, but did they really have to bring them here?!

- Beeegh! - another dwarf sitting right beside him replied with a belch. - How the hell should I know? I'm a blacksmith, not a councilman - he said before raising his mug of foaming beer to his lips again.

- But did we seriously need them? Aren't there any other familias outside Orario anymore?

- There are, and so many you wouldn't even manage to name them all - interjected a male human sitting a bit farther away after taking a solid swig of his drink. - Besides gods who stick to specific regions of the world like Kali, Ra, or Freyr, there are tons of familias roaming the continent far and wide. Artemis and her followers are a good example.

- Hahaha! - cackled an old man wrinkled like spoiled fruit from the inn's second-floor balcony. - I've heard about them! Beauties like that could visit us anytime, no reason needed.

- And that kind of thinking is exactly why you haven't found yourself a woman in seventy years of life - the dwarf enjoying his beer replied dryly.

- I'd rather have peace and quiet than spend two decades dealing with a dozen unbearable brats like you! - the old man shot back.

- What did you say, you shriveled-up hanging pie...

- Gentlemen, calm down! - pleaded the one who had just ordered another drink.

- If anyone wants to start trouble in my place, they better say goodbye to their teeth in advance.

One glance at the over two-meter-tall giant behind the bar, currently polishing a glass, was enough to cool both the old man's and the dwarf's enthusiasm for fighting.

- What exactly do you all have against them?- asked a blond pallum dressed entirely in black while savoring honey-glazed ribs.

- What do we have against them?! - echoed the dwarf who had started the discussion. - For starters...

- For starters, they worship the god of death! - interrupted the local tailor sitting by the wall. - People like that kill for some sick pleasure!

- Who knows what'll get into their heads once they're done with the monsters?! - the bald dwarf finally got to speak again. - Maybe slaughtering beasts won't be enough for them and they'll start a fucking massacre in the city!

- Do you have any actual reasons to think that, or did one idiot pull that nonsense out of his ass and the rest of you started following him like some fucking prophet? - asked a calm red-haired dwarf whose beard was braided into numerous thin plaits. He too was dressed completely in black. - Because if so then... - He paused and sighed heavily. - Do you have to eat like a damn animal?! There's cutlery, for fuck's sake! You don't have to tear meat apart with your fangs and splatter grease all over me! - he yelled at the werewolf sitting between him and the pallum, a creature utterly unfamiliar with table manners.

- I eat like this because I want to! - snapped back the beastman with navy-blue hair and eyes.

He too wore black, just like his companions.

- Those lunatics have spent centuries doing anything that turns a profit - the man at the bar finally answered. - Doesn't matter whether the job involves killing monsters or people.

- And supposedly they use black magic that makes people rise from the grave, except they're not people anymore, just mindless beasts - the innkeeper added.

- Exactly, that too! - the bald dwarf chimed in. - How could a familia that treats life and death like some damn game possibly be decent people?!

- You're exaggerating - the pallum tried to calm them. - I heard that while they don't mind getting their hands dirty, they still have honor and refuse jobs that are outright immoral, unlike the followers of Sekhmet.