This Labyrinth City, Orario, built atop the Dungeon, was centered around a giant white tower. From that center, eight main streets extended outward in the cardinal and diagonal directions… north, south, east, west, northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest, dividing the city evenly into eight sectors.
Among them, North Main Street was famous for its abundance of clothing stores. Shops here sold apparel suited for all races… Humans, Elves, Dwarves, and more, and even offered custom tailoring, making the area extremely popular.
"Ais, come try this one on!"
Inside an Amazoness specialty clothing shop, Tione held up an outfit with an outrageously high level of exposure, grinning as she enthusiastically beckoned.
"Isn't that way too little fabric?!"
The blonde elf covered her face in embarrassment, though through the gaps between her fingers, her eyes revealed a certain curiosity for something more stimulating.
There were practically only two scraps of cloth left.
Amazonesses really had no sense of shame!
"Sigh!"
"Lefiya, could it be... You don't want to see Ais wearing this outfit?"
Tione was the elder of the twins. Compared to her younger sister, her biggest distinguishing feature was her far more impressive figure, along with a more mature personality.
At that moment, she looked at the dazed blonde girl nearby with a thoroughly mischievous smile.
"Eh?!"
"W-Well... it's not that I don't want to see it..."
Lefiya was dressed as usual in a pink top, with white thigh-high stockings covering her legs. Combined with her slightly youthful face, she gave off an exceptionally pure and innocent impression.
But whenever the topic involved Ais, she became incredibly easy to fluster.
"Sigh!"
Hearing the repeated sighs coming from nearby, a vein bulged on Tione's forehead.
"Tiona, can you stop sighing already?! We finally came out shopping, and you're completely ruining the mood!"
Tione loudly scolded her younger twin.
"But when is Ryoji coming back...? Sigh..."
Tiona crouched there gloomily and, after speaking, let out another heavy sigh.
As Tione's younger twin, it was almost as if all the nutrition had been stolen by her elder sister, leaving her figure in a truly tragic state.
Because the person she liked hadn't returned for many days, her usual lively smile had completely vanished. All day long, she did nothing but sigh, looking exactly like a patient suffering from severe lovesickness.
Ever since Ryoji went into the Dungeon more than ten days ago, he had yet to return.
Normally, the longest they'd go without seeing each other was two or three days. But this time, the separation had stretched to four or five times that length.
And it wasn't just Tiona; all the beautiful girls in Loki Familia had been listless these past few days.
Who knew whether something had happened to him...
Seeing this, Lefiya secretly began to worry as well.
Even when first-class adventurers or Familia executives entered the Dungeon, they usually stayed no longer than about a week.
Yet Ryoji had been gone for two full weeks, almost comparable to the length of a full expedition.
It was hard not to worry.
"Can't you be a little more mature? Even Lefiya is calmer than you!"
Tione walked over to her younger sister and grabbed her ear, lecturing her.
"He's ridiculously strong. Even you lost to him. And he's great at running away and sensing danger, so why should we be worried? He's probably just gotten so obsessed with the Dungeon that he can't pull himself away. Right, Lefiya?"
"Eh? Y-Yeah, uh, that's right! Exactly!"
Lefiya guiltily averted her gaze.
In truth, she was genuinely worried too.
But for reasons she herself didn't understand, she always acted as if she didn't care.
She had been troubled by this for quite some time now, feeling as though she no longer understood her own heart.
Just then,
The blonde girl who had been absentmindedly staring into space suddenly sharpened her gaze, as though she had noticed something, and quickly ran toward the shop entrance.
"Ais, what happened?"
Seeing her reaction, Tione turned around and asked.
"...I think I just saw Ryoji."
The blonde girl fell silent for a moment, but then her tone became uncertain again.
"But was that person in the black robe really him?"
There were quite a few adventurers in Orario who liked wearing black robes.
The figure she had just seen did feel strangely familiar, making her instantly think of Ryoji, but could she really identify someone just by a black robe alone?
"Seriously?!"
Tiona's eyes lit up, and she dashed to the shop entrance like a gust of wind, looking left and right.
"Why is even Ais like this now?"
Tione let out a long sigh toward the sky, groaning with a headache.
"Exactly how many girls in our Familia have had their hearts stolen by him?"
She was pretty sure that probably wasn't actually Ryoji.
Rather, Ais had been thinking about him so much lately that she mistook some black-robed person with a similar build for him.
Over the past few days, whenever she had nothing to do, Ais would just space out. From time to time, she even went to Ryoji's room to check whether he had returned.
To someone experienced like Tione, that behavior was already enough to confirm that Ais's heart had been carried off.
Of course, compared to her silly little sister, who ran to Ryoji's room every night to sleep there and crazily inhale the scent lingering on his pillow, this was still nothing.
Lefiya's expression suddenly stiffened.
For some reason, she cared very much about what Tione had just said.
It felt as though she had somehow been offended, and her emotions churned together like an overturned bottle of mixed flavors.
"Let's head back first."
Ais suggested to the group.
Just moments ago she had still been absentminded, but now her eyes were shining brightly, as though she was anticipating something.
Seeing Ais like this, Tione could only nod helplessly.
Originally, the girls had come out shopping specifically to cheer Ais up a bit.
Who would have thought that less than half an hour after coming out, they'd already be heading back?
But if Ais's mood improved, then that was worth more than anything else.
As for Tiona?
Whatever.
"Let's go back, let's go back!"
Completely unaware that her elder sister basically wasn't considering her at all, Tiona excitedly shouted along.
The four girls left the clothing store and quickly headed back toward their Familia's base.
At the northernmost side of Orario, on a prime roadside plot along the North Main Street, stood a highly conspicuous building towering above all the surrounding structures.
Seven spires surrounded a central tower, creating a distinctive style reminiscent of a forest of spears.
Its walls were mostly bronze-red, and atop the central spire flew a flag embroidered with a comical clown motif, fluttering in the wind.
This was the headquarters of one of Orario's premier top-tier Familias,
Loki Familia.
Its name was Twilight Manor, a famous landmark on North Main Street.
Inside gathered a large number of high-level adventurers, an absolute concentration of elites.
"Has Ryoji returned?"
The moment Ais reached the entrance, she immediately asked the member guarding the gate.
"Oh, he just got back."
Before the gatekeeper could finish, the girls had already rushed into the base.
Sure enough, no matter where they looked, they could see the beautiful girls of the Familia lighting up with excitement, every face overflowing with happy smiles.
The gloomy atmosphere from several days ago had completely vanished.
"What kind of monster is this?! How are you already Level 5?!"
And just then,
From the very top floor of the central tower came the utterly incredulous scream of their chief god, Loki.
The entire Loki Familia instantly exploded into an uproar!
(End of Chapter)
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