Fractured God

Lily, it's okay, you can vent.” Vanessa softly replied.

“Screw off, I said I'm fine!”

Lily had told Vanessa what happened in the dungeon from her point of view. Now, this might not seem like something that'd garner this reaction until you realise, for most of that, Lily was, to put it bluntly, useless. Further driven home by the fact when they encountered the leader of the cultists, she rendered useless not even half way into the fight. Her contribution to their victory is debatable at best and actively harmful at worst.

“Lily, come on.”

She stood up and turned around.

“I'm fine, Vanessa. We all have our bad days.” She said as she dusted her behind off.

“Lily, come on.”

“I- I'm fine.” She said as her voice cracked. “I just-”

She sounded like she was choking on every subsequent word that exited her mouth.

“Turn around Lily.”

She clenched her fists and turned around.

“S-see? I'm fine.” She started with tears in her eyes.

“Be honest, Lily. You hated how that all went down, didn't you?”

She struggled for a few seconds before covering her face and sitting down on the stool.

“It's not fair!” She shouted. Her tears dripped between her hands.

“It's not fair! Why did I even go if that was all I could do? I'm a joke, aren't I Vanessa!?” She cried.

Vanessa got up and walked to her friend, trying her best to comfort her.

“Hello, Kevin.”

“Huh? Oh, hello Ms. Elizabeth.”

On their way home, the pair of Tina and the aforementioned Elizabeth encountered Kevin.

Tina rolled her eyes and Elizabeth gave her a sly pinch to the side. She already predicted her thoughts. “Why are we stopping for him? He barely did anything plus based on looks only he seems pretty weak.” Or something along those lines was currently in her foolish head. Hopefully, that fool would be able to process the idea of interacting positively with comrades for no gain.

“I'm surprised to see you out here.”

They were all by a dirt road in a forest. Well, given its size it was more of a path than a road.

“Oh, I just met up with some of my guild members. They decided to train out here for the time I was gone.”

“Really? I'm sure they could have trained in the town just as efficiently.”

“Yeah but… it's close to my own training grounds and for some reason, they think the luck will rub off on them. Especially our leader.”

“Leader? Aren't you the guild leader?” Elizabeth asked.

“Well, it's complicated.”

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. Other than seeing him occasionally with Ezekiel and the sparse guild meetings, she didn't really interact with him much.

He continued. “Since I'm the best in terms of combat, they said it'd be a safe bet to pencil me in as the leader. But, uh,”

“What is it?”

“(I can't really say they offered that for me to join now can I? I was going to join regardless but they kept offering thinking I'd join Ezekiel.) I realised I wasn't fit for the position and gave it to a more suitable member.”

Elizabeth patted his shoulder. “(He's not telling the whole truth but he might just be excluding details he finds embarrassing.) Nothing to be ashamed of. It's better to accept you might be suited for a role that would be commanded rather than making foolish commands.”

“Really? That seems sorta spineless if you ask me.” Tina commented.

“And that's why you're not leading any guilds, Tina.”

Tina clicked her teeth. “Come on, Liz, giving up your position is pretty spineless, regardless of the reason.”

“Tina, would you prefer if all your men died simply because you're too stubborn to give up your position? May I remind you that being a guild leader is far different from the norms you see in this parish?”

“So what? If you feel like you're a crappy leader just improve yourself. It's better than being some spineless whelp who gives up at the first sign of difficulty.”

(“I don't disagree that I'm not adventurer material but it does sort piss me off hearing her say it like that!”) Kevin thought as he hid his anger.

“And what if someone in your group is better than you?” Elizabeth asked.

“Just make them a strategist, you fall back on or something.”

“There's more to being a leader than strategy Tina. The very minimum is being able to support your guild the best you can and be a figurehead. A sort of icon for the group. If you can't do that or if you feel someone does it better there's no shame. All you'd be doing is forcing a sword to do axe's work.”

“Whatever, can we get this over with?”

“No Tina, this is a harmful mindse-”

Elizabeth then proceeded to lecture Tina then and there.

“Fine, I get it, I was wrong, geez, I wasn't even that serious…” Tina sulked. Her head was held down and Kevin watching it all go down only added to her embarrassment.

Kevin could only awkwardly stand by and wait for his opportunity to leave.

“Well, it seems you two are busy, I should be getting on my wa-”

“Hold on Kevin, I'm sorry for getting sidetracked but there was something I needed to ask you.”

He stiffened up but he faced her head-on. “(Right, that demon. She's probably curious about it.) Ask away.”

“I feel it necessary to learn how your magic works. It seems incredibly useful, so it would be best to learn how to take advantage of it in the future.”

“... wha- huh!?”

Why the hell was she asking about that? He stuttered for a few words, looking increasingly nervous.

“Uh, ah, um, d-don't you m-m-mean the demon I saw?”

“Ah, that. Based on what we saw in the dungeon, we suspect it escaped. Don't worry I've already informed the relevant parties through a letter. I'd like for it to still be in the dungeon but if that brawl you stated was real then it's likely they escaped.”