Bastard Homunculus: Reborn in the Corpse Pit

"I really don't like these clothes, they're so stiff and uncomfortable, I can't move freely," Frowned Raven, shifting uncomfortably.

"Same here, I feel uneasy in this outfit," Nodded Aster in agreement.

"I should've just said that I'm sick or something and stayed home," Tacitus sighed wistfully.

It was the 15th of August, 1921, over a year had passed since the alliance with Anima was formed. And things had been going pretty peacefully and smoothly since then, there hadn't been any incidents over the last year or so.

Aster and Jules's relationship become publicly known after they hid it for about half a year, both endured a fair bit of teasing from those around them, but that had finally settled.

As for Ravella, it took her a while to get over it, she'd been withdrawn and sullen for a while, and did everything she could to avoid running into Aster and Jules.

While she still had conflicting, mixed feelings about it, she eventually got over it and moved on, at least for the most part. She was still awkward around the two of them whenever she had to interact with them, but was mostly back to normal with everyone else.

Akila and Kia's relationship had been progressing smoothly too, and Raven and Celia were as strong as ever together.

Everyone was currently at the castle, with a party being thrown to celebrate the three-way alliance between Persona, Sylph and Anima. A number of guests from the other two nations were in attendance, there was a massive spread of food and drink laid out, and the party with in full swing, everyone mingling and chatting.

"Hey, guys, you gotta try this out. It's so spicy, it hurts so good," Grinned Colt, as he approached the others, sweating slightly and his eyes a bit watery.

He was holding a plate of fried meat strips with a bowl of sauce in the middle. He dipped one of the strips into the sauce, scooping up a pretty sizeable glob of it, before taking a bite.

"Weird, I tried that before and it wasn't that spicy, just had a bit of a kick to it. Maybe it's because you're slathering so much of the sauce onto the meat, I only dipped it a little," Replied Aster, before taking a strip as Colt held the plate out towards him.

He dipped it in the sauce, before lifting it up towards his mouth.

"Wha-...?! H-Holy-...don't do it!" Blurted out Raven, right as Aster took a bite.

"W-Woah...!" Gasped Aster, his eyes tearing up as he sniffled.

Colt swiftly caught the meat strip as Aster dropped it, stumbling back shakily.

"Heh, you're right, it wasn't spicy enough before. So, it's a good thing I brought my own special spice blend that I've been working on for a while, it's got quite the kick to it, doesn't it? Tricked Lexia into eating it a few days ago to test it out, and heh, she slapped the shit out of me," Recalled Colt with a cheerful smile, as Aster coughed and sniffled.

"I sharpened my sense of smell a bit to try and get a whiff of how spicy it is, and it still feels like my nostrils are burning," Responded Raven, before walking over towards Aster and placing a hand on his shoulder, chanting, "[Antidote]."

"O-Okay, the pain's fading, but I feel a bit weird, kinda numb," Remarked Aster, letting out a quiet sigh of relief, before glaring at Colt.

"Nice, been a while since I got a glare from you," Smirked Colt happily.

"Spice technically counts as a poison, so I can heal it, but it'll probably take a few minutes before you feel fully back to normal," Raven informed Aster.

"Either of you guys want one?" Colt asked Tacitus and Raven.

"Yeah, no," Responded Tacitus dryly.

"I'm going to have to pass too," Nodded Raven in agreement, before glancing across as Jules came walking over.

"Hm? Oh, hey, Jules, how's it going?" Aster greeted her with a smile.

"H-Hey, don't call me by name in front of other people."

"Is something wrong, Commander? Has anything happened?" Frowned Raven warily.

"Please don't just assume something's gone wrong every time you see me. I, um...I just came over to speak with Aster, that's all," She muttered, averting her gaze.

"Got it, we'll give you some space," Nodded Tacitus, walking away along with Raven.

"Hm? Hey, that means you too," Sighed Raven, grabbing the back of Colt's collar and dragging him along.

"Aw, come on, man...I just wanted to make them uncomfortable by staring at them, that's all, and maybe try and trick the Commander into eating this," Responded Colt indignantly.

"Yeah, I figured as much."

The three of them headed over towards Celia, Lexia and Ravella, who were chatting with a couple of the S-Ranked Adventurers from Anima, Kora and Huskie.

"Hm? Oh, hey, guys!" Celia waved them over with a smile.

"Hi, it's been a while," Kora greeted Raven and Tacitus politely.

"Yeah, long time no see," Added Huskie with a smile.

"Wait...that smell, did you...?" Muttered Lexia as she stared at the plate in Colt's hand and sniffed, before promptly glaring at him.

"Wanna try some?"

"No! You better throw that away, or I swear..."

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the castle...

"Hey, I don't know about this, we're screwed if anyone catches us!"

"It'll be fine, we just have to make sure we don't get caught. There's nothing to worry about, I bet everyone's drunk and have their guards down by now. We should be able to sneak in and sneak out without a problem."

A pair of thieves, they had disguised themselves as caterers to sneak into the castle. They'd been biding their time, waiting till the party was well underway, before sneaking off and searching through the castle, looking for the treasury.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?"

"Yeah, I'm following the map."

"How do you know you're following it correctly? Or that it's correct at all?"

"I got it from a reliable source, it'll be fine!"

"Yeah, you asked a woman who used to work as a maid in the castle over ten years ago, you realize she easily could've made a mistake, or just straight-up lied to you!"

"Nah, I didn't get the impression that she was lying. Also, keep your voice down."

"Unbelievable..."

"Look, if the map's right and I've followed it correctly, we should be almost there. Yeah, just around that corner up ahead."

As the pair of thieves quietly made their way along the wall, they cautiously peered out as the reached the corner. A large doorway came into sight, with two guards standing watch on either side of the doorway.

"Huh, it really was right..."

"Yeah, what did I tell you? Now, let's do this."

The one with the map then took out a spherical object from his Storage Ring, a smoke bomb. He formed a small flame over his right index finger and lit the fuse, before swiftly and silently rolling the bomb towards the guards, who had bored looks on their faces and weren't really paying attention.

"What the...?" Began one of the guards, as the smoke bomb rolled over and thudded against his boot, before exploding.

The guards coughed as a cloud of smoke burst out around them, before a couple of thuds echoed out.

"Careful, don't breath it in. It's a powerful tranquilizer, those guys will be knocked out for hours. The smoke is only potent for ten seconds, it weakens after that and fades away. Alright, we should be good to go now."

"I can't believe this is really working. I actually feel a bit uneasy with how smoothly it's going."

"You need to relax. Let's get in there, grab a bunch of valuables and get out. We'll lay low for a while after that and sell the stuff, we'll be set for life."

"That does sound pretty great..."

The two of them then headed for the treasury, picking the lock before pushing the heavy doors open and stepping inside.

"Woah."

"Damn, that's a lot of treasure."

"Yeah, we could take as much as we could possibly carry and I doubt anyone would even notice. Come on, get the bags out of your Storage Ring, let's pack up as much of this stuff as we can and get out of here."

"Okay. I'm not even sure where to start."

"That pile of gold over there is catching my eye, I think that's a good place to start."

"Yeah, I-..."

"What do you think you're doing? Who are you people?" A voice suddenly echoed out from the doorway, the thieves freezing before spinning around in alarm.

"H-Hey, uh, isn't that...?"

"The Knight Commander, b-but how?!"

Tacitus had enchanted the treasury door and linked it to a ring that Jules wore, if any unauthorized individuals opened the door, the ring would start glowing and ringing, effectively serving as an alarm.

"If you think you can rob the castle so easily, you're sorely mistaken. I don't know who you are, but you will regret this," Remarked Jules icily, as she brought her sword out of her Storage Ring...