DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
The next morning, just as the sun started to rise over the horizon, Tatsuo opened his eyes. When he did, he could not help the smile that spread across his face.
"That was the wildest night we've had since we got to this world," Tatsuo muttered to himself while looking at Violet and Sakura, who were currently sleeping with their heads on his chest. "I guess they were really worried about me going down to the Eighth Floor by myself. They were probably trying to give me a reason to come back safe."
Reaching that point, Tatsuo started stroking Violet's and Sakura's hair while smiling. However, he did not realize just how gentle his smile was at the moment.
{Pic}
After a minute or so, Tatsuo decided that it was time for him to get out of bed. He carefully slipped out from between the two ladies before heading to the bathroom to get cleaned up. Then, after getting dressed, he made his way out of his bedroom and headed down to the kitchen to start cooking breakfast with Alfonzo.
Not long afterward, Tatsuo reached the bottom of the stairs in the villa's main hall.
"Good morning, T."
Hearing that familiar voice, Tatsuo turned his head. When he did, he saw Alfonzo at the top of the stairs.
"Man, I must still be pretty tired," Tatsuo said while shaking his head as he started walking towards the kitchen. "I actually didn't even notice you until you said something."
"That doesn't surprise me," Alfonzo replied with a shrug and a smile. "I mean, you were pretty crazy last night."
That last statement caused Tatsuo to come to a stop as his eyes widened.
{Pic}
"Wha-What are you talking about?" Tatsuo asked in a nervous tone.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Alfonzo replied with a grin. "Because of you, Lici was extra excited last night."
Though he did not blush, it was obvious to Alfonzo that Tatsuo was embarrassed.
"You should try setting up a sound-isolating barrier next time," Alfonzo said with a shrug. "That's what I do at home. Unfortunately, I don't have my [Metal Magic] here."
"Wait, then how come we don't hear you two whenever you're going at it?" Tatsuo asked in a confused tone.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Alfonzo replied with another shrug. "Lici likes a lot of things, but being quiet is not one of them."
For a few seconds, Tatsuo stared at Alfonzo with a dumbfounded expression on his face. But when Alfonzo reached him, he decided there was no point in thinking about it. Then, he headed into the kitchen with Alfonzo to start cooking breakfast.
After that little interlude, the rest of the morning went by the same as any other day. However, Violet and Sakura were noticeably more sluggish than usual. On top of that, because they had been so loud the night before, everyone knew exactly why.
DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Dungeon, 8th Floor.
Upon reaching the Dungeon's Eighth Floor, Tatsuo noticed that the scenery had changed once again. Like before, the Floor was a network of corridors and open spaces. However, instead of light blue or light green, the walls and ceiling were brown and covered with moss.
On top of that, the ceilings were much higher. On the First through Seventh Floors, the ceilings were ten to thirteen feet high. But on the Eighth, they jumped all the way to roughly thirty feet.
Another difference was the fact that the floors were no longer plain stone. Instead, they were covered with a layer of short grass.
"Well, this is definitely different," Tatsuo muttered while looking up and down the corridor. Then, he crouched down and pulled up a few blades of grass as he continued, "And how the hell does grass even grow in an environment like this?"
{Pic}
"Never mind, there's no point in thinking about it," Tatsuo muttered to himself as he tossed the grass to the side and stood up. "This is an anime world, and shit doesn't have to make sense here."
After pushing the superfluous thoughts out of his mind, Tatsuo chose a direction and started walking. As he did, he quickly reached an open room, which made him realize that the corridors between rooms were shorter than usual. However, he did not give that much importance. Instead, he paid more attention to the monsters in the room he had entered.
"There's a Dungeon Lizard on the ceiling," Tatsuo said with a hint of excitement in his tone. "That's the first one I've ever seen. There's also a Purple Moth fluttering around. Plus, there are three Killer Ants. *Sigh.* I should probably be ready to see every kind of monster that shows up on the floors above… minus the Jack Bird."
With that, Tatsuo disappeared from the room's entrance with a [Blink]. In the next instant, he reappeared next to the Dungeon Lizard on the ceiling with a magic circle in front of his right hand.
"[Void Dragon's Tearing Claw]," Tatsuo chanted as he thrust his right hand through the magic circle and toward the Dungeon Lizard's head.
*Squelch!*
{Pic}
As soon as the Dungeon Lizard's head was pierced, it immediately fell from the ceiling. However, before it had even fallen halfway, it burst into a cloud of black ash, and a magic stone fell the rest of the way.
At the same time, Tatsuo also started falling from near the ceiling. As he did, he began somersaulting. Then, at about the same time as the Dungeon Lizard turned into ash, he [Blinked] for a second time, reappearing above the Purple Moth.
"I got poisoned by a few of you sons of bitches last week," Tatsuo muttered as he continued his rotation. "And I really don't wanna go through that again. [Void Dragon's Tail Whip]."
In the next instant, a magic circle appeared in the path of Tatsuo's tail. When his tail passed through it, it, like his hand, was coated in [Spatial Energy] before it tore through the Purple Moth from top to bottom.
"[Void Dragon's Wing Attack]," Tatsuo chanted, spreading his arms wide as soon as he fell past the dead Purple Moth.
With two magic circles flaring into existence in front of his arms, Tatsuo swept his arms toward the remaining Killer Ants. As he did, [Spatial Energy Whips] appeared and lashed toward the monsters on the ground, shattering their bodies upon contact with the magic.
*Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!* *Clink!*
A moment later, Tatsuo landed on the ground, accompanied by the sound of five magic stones falling around him.
"Oh, the Purple Moth dropped a Purple Moth Wing, too," Tatsuo said with a grin after locating the magic stones. Then, he crouched down to pick it up. A moment later, however, a sour expression appeared on his face as he realized a crucial detail. "Damn… Now I gotta pick up all the loot by myself. Is this backpack even gonna be big enough?"
As he asked that question, Tatsuo turned his head to look at the extra piece of gear on his back. A moment later, he shrugged before moving to pick up the other monsters' magic stones.
However, just as he picked up the magic stone dropped by the Dungeon Lizard, he [Blinked] about three feet to his right. After reappearing, he saw a white rabbit monster with a thin horn soaring past the spot where he had stood a moment earlier.
In the next instant, Tatsuo [Blinked] once again, reappearing next to the Needle Rabbit. Then, he reached out and grabbed it by the neck. A moment later, he slammed it into the ground…
*Bang!*
*Crack!*
*Poof!*
…killing it on impact.
"Well, at least it shouldn't get too boring down here," Tatsuo said while dusting the ash off his hands. "But it won't be too exciting either, since I know all the ways these monsters attack. Well, whatever. The spawn rates should make up for that."
With that, Tatsuo picked up the Needle Rabbit's magic stone, stuffed it into his backpack, and started moving toward the next room.
Several hours passed after Tatsuo left the room. In that time, he fought at least one of every monster that appeared on the first seven floors of the Dungeon. He also ran into a few Adventurers and Supporters from different Familias. However, he did not get involved with them at all.
Tatsuo also found the path leading down to the Ninth Floor. However, he had no intention of heading down just yet. Although he had not found himself in any dangerous situations, he decided that, since he was alone, he wanted to completely adapt to the pace of the Eighth Floor before heading down.
DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
Meanwhile, Aislynn was once again receiving Shinichi at the Dragon's Nest.
{Pic}
"You're back a lot sooner than I expected," Aislynn said casually. "Don't tell me you couldn't find anything."
"*Sigh* I found some stuff that wasn't right," Shinichi replied in an exasperated tone. "But not what I was looking for."
"Oh…" Aislynn intoned with an interested glint in her eyes. "Well, why don't you tell me what you did find? I'm curious to know what it is."
"Like you don't already know," Shinichi replied while rolling his eyes.
"Humor me," Aislynn replied as her lips quirked into a grin.
"*Sigh* If you insist," Shinichi replied in that same exasperated tone. A moment later, his expression turned serious. "Like you said, I started my search with Dionysus, and I found something startling. None of the Adventurers in his Familia are actually his."
"Hmm… Interesting," Aislynn said, her tone making it sound as though she had no idea about this information. "Then, whose Familia are they in? And how does he update their Falna if they aren't his children?"
Once again, Shinichi rolled his eyes at Aislynn's act. Even so, he answered her question seriously.
"Penia, the Goddess of Poverty," Shinichi replied.
"A rather strange choice," Aislynn said. "Does he want the children in his house to be penniless or something?"
"As for how he tricked everyone into thinking they were still in his Familia, he used his divine wine to muddle their thoughts," Shinichi continued, as if he could not hear Aislynn's question, causing her to pout at him. "He doesn't even have to make them drink it; just the aroma is enough to make them drunk enough not to even notice who is doing the update. As for Penia, he gets her to drink it before bringing her to update the Falna while she's none the wiser."
"All these gods of wine are the same," Aislynn said while shaking her head. "There's one who gives away his children while the other can't be bothered to care about his. Why the hell did they even come down to the Lower World if they're going to act this way?"
"By the other God of Wine, I assume you're referring to Soma, correct?" Shinichi asked. He then continued before Aislynn could respond. "I don't know about him, but I've heard some pretty bad rumors about his Familia."
"Yes, and they're all true," Aislynn said with a nod.
"But as far as I can tell, Dionysus probably plans to sacrifice his Familia members in the future," Shinichi said solemnly. "When he does, it will probably be to escape suspicion. But from what? I haven't been able to figure that out yet."
"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out," Aislynn said with a broad smile. "But that's not really all that important. Don't forget why you're here."
"Yes, I know," Shinichi replied grumpily. "Although I'm curious to know, I won't forget my real objective. I can't imagine how her Majesty would punish me if I did."
"Oh, I definitely would not want to be you if her Majesty found out you'd forgotten about your actual mission," Aislynn replied. "I wonder if she would make you run around in your Edogawa Conan form at all times, not just when you're in her throne room."
Shinichi could not help wincing at the thought of such a punishment, mostly because he could only imagine what his wife, Ran, would think, having lived with him while he was trapped in that form and hiding his identity.
"Please don't talk about that," Shinichi said in a trembling tone. "If Ran ever had to see me like that again, she might beat me half to death. Then, after seeing me all beat up like that, she'd beat me enough for the other half, too."
"Ahahahaha! When you're married to the Goddess of Martial Arts, domestic violence is on a whole different level, huh?" Aislynn asked while laughing heartily. "By the way, how many times have you ended up sleeping on the couch without going there voluntarily?"
"I hate you sometimes," Shinichi said in a disgruntled tone. "Anyway, I'm leaving. I have an investigation to get back to."
"All right," Aislynn said after getting her laughter under control. "I'll wait for your good news… or until you come to me to get the answer."
"Hmph! Like that would ever happen," Shinichi said disdainfully. Then, his tone turned prideful as he continued, "I'm the greatest detective in all the multiverse. There's no way I won't be able to figure this out."
With that, Shinichi turned around and started walking away from Aislynn as his body began to fade. However, just before he faded completely, Shinichi turned his head to look at Aislynn one more time.
"By the way… If you already know who's in contact with him, why don't you put a stop to them?" Shinichi asked.
"Because her Majesty doesn't want me to step in," Aislynn replied with a shrug. "If I did, it could ruin this training world for Her Highness, and she doesn't want that to happen unless absolutely necessary."
"Ah, that makes sense," Shinichi replied with a nod of understanding. "So, that's why she just told me to find out who it is and capture him."
"That's right," Aislynn replied. "But I don't know why she didn't just have me get the information and send it to her. This could have all been taken care of on the first day if she had."
"I'm sure Her Majesty has her reasons," Shinichi replied solemnly. "She always does."
With that, Shinichi completely faded away, leaving Aislynn alone in the Dragon's Nest's main hall.
Void Multiverse, Higher Dimension.
At the same time, the Void Empress was sitting alone in her throne room. However, she did not look like the regal empress that everyone in the Higher Dimension knew. Instead, she was sitting on her throne with her head lowered and her hands covering her face.
{Pic}
"How could I have forgotten about that?" the Void Empress muttered into her hands.
Apparently, the Void Empress had been watching the conversation between Aislynn and Shinichi. Because of that, she ended up embarrassed that she had not thought of such a simple solution. On top of that, her draconic pride and status made it hard for her to admit that she had made a mistake.