The day after a small celebration with Bell, Lili, and The Hostess of Fertility, I had been working on some documents since morning. (By the way, today was a workday.)
The document was about the red-haired woman that Lefiya mentioned three days ago. It wasn't exactly a request, but from what Lefiya said, it was unbelievable that this woman had fought on equal footing, or even better, with the likes of Valenstein.
There was no way someone like that would be casually roaming around Orario. Still, it could happen to me someday, and more importantly, since someone I know had been attacked, I couldn't just ignore it.
So, I planned to work until noon, then spend the afternoon investigating this woman.
Knock knock knock.
A usual, quiet knock. I took my eyes off the documents and glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 9 a.m., the usual time Lefiya came.
"Already this late…"
I put down the pen, a magical item Asfi gave me that lets me use a small amount of blood as ink, and headed for the door.
As I reached to open it… I froze.
(Huh? That's a lot of people.)
One, two, three… seven?
No way, that's way too many. Did I forget some big group was coming today? Huh? This feels off. I have a bad feeling about this.
Nervously, I opened the door.
Bang!
"Whoa!"
"Hey, the leader's here. Open the door within a second."
"Now, now, Tione. We came barging in, so don't be unreasonable."
"Yes, leader!"
"Hey there, kid! Long time no see!"
"We came to visit!"
"…Excuse us."
"Sorry for showing up with such a crowd."
Suddenly, the door was forced open. Standing there were most of the key members of the Loki Familia, except a few, and their patron god, Loki himself.
I looked silently at Lefiya, who had knocked quietly just before. She gave a troubled smile.
"…What's going on here?"
"Ah, ahahaha…"
Not wanting to leave things hanging, I invited them into the sitting room. Wait, did we have enough chairs?
…..
I served tea (luckily, we had enough cups and chairs) and asked why they had come. The gist was:
Hmm, I'll go see Toki today → Hey, Lefiya, where are you headed? Oh, to your boyfriend? Then I'll come too! → Wait, you're going somewhere? Oh, to that boy's place? Then we'll come as well! Let's bring Ais along too! → …Okay → Huh? You're going to see him? Perfect, I wanted to talk with him anyway → If the leader's going, then I'm going too! → Yeah, Lefiya always relies on him, so we should thank him properly → Result ← Here we are.
"…My head's starting to hurt…"
"S-sorry about that."
No, Lefiya, you don't need to apologize.
"Anyway, kid, you live in a pretty nice place, huh."
"Well, when traveling with Hermes, I got plenty of chances to earn money. I put all of it into this place."
Well, I've had opportunities since coming to Orario too.
Growl~
My stomach suddenly growled. I quickly covered it.
"Oh, I forgot I haven't eaten breakfast yet…"
"Ah, then I'll cook something."
"No, it's okay. You're the guest, after all."
"I want to do it. Just sit down. I'll borrow some ingredients from the kitchen."
"Ah, sorry for always making you do this."
Our usual exchange. Meanwhile, the Loki Familia folks whispered among themselves.
"Lefiya seems really lively, doesn't she?"
"Yeah, like she's being herself…"
"Like a couple talking, huh?"
I didn't hear anything. Absolutely nothing.
After a while, a pleasant aroma drifted from the kitchen.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. I didn't have many ingredients, so it's not much."
"No, just making it is enough. But we'll have to stock up on food."
I took a bite of what Lefiya brought. Yep, it was delicious today too.
"Hey Lefiya, you're like a visiting wife."
Pfft!
"Loki, don't tease her."
Ignoring Loki's mischievous grin, we finished our slightly late breakfast.
"Phew, thanks for the meal."
"By the way, Toki, why didn't you eat breakfast earlier?"
"Hm? Ah, I got caught up making some documents. Oh, hey, Finn, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"I want you to look over the materials I made. I'll bring them now."
I went to the living room and grabbed part of the documents I'd been working on.
"This is it."
"This… is the dossier on the woman who attacked the 18th floor?"
"Yes. I heard about her from Lefiya, and I was planning to investigate any witnesses this afternoon. Are there any mistakes or omissions in this?"
"…No, nothing stands out. Riveria, Ais, what do you think?"
"Let me see… Yeah, I think it's fine."
"Me too."
"Thank you. I'll proceed with the investigation based on this."
Having people directly involved really improves the credibility of the documents.
"But are you sure this is okay? You're part of the Loki Familia, but you weren't even at the scene, right?"
"No, but we never know how any connection might affect our Familia."
"…Come to think of it."
"What is it, Valenstein?"
"Just call me Ais."
"Got it. So, what was it?"
"That woman was after some cargo on the 18th floor that someone from the Hermes Familia had."
"The name was… Lulune, I think?"
Lulune Louie. A Level 3, second-class adventurer in the Hermes Familia. Mostly acts as a thief and rogue. Very fond of money.
"…Sorry, I just became a direct party to this."
"Hahaha! That's rough, kid!"
Knock knock knock.
At that moment, there was a knock at the door.
"Coming!"
I stood up and opened the front door.
"Hey, got a minute?"
Standing there was one of the shop clerks from the Hephaestus Familia's stall.
"Oh, is this the usual order?"
"Yeah, and it's quite a lot this time. Can you handle it?"
"Sure, no problem. Let's move over to the garden."
….
Lefiya's side
"Hey, Lefiya."
"Yes?"
"What's he doing?"
Our eyes were on Toki, who was swinging a sword. Nearby, the clerk who had just arrived was watching him seriously.
"He's checking the quality of the weapons."
"Quality of the weapons?"
Just then, Toki finished swinging the sword.
"So, how is it?"
"Well, the sword is a bit short. Also, it's a little light, so it would suit a small-sized race like a Pallyum or a younger human."
"I see… Could you try this spear next?"
"Got it."
He took the spear and swung it again.
"He's getting a feel for the weapon's characteristics to decide what kind of opponent it's best suited for."
"Hmm, interesting."
"Well, he's not very good at it yet."
"I heard he's only dabbled a bit. His main weapons are knives and a halberd."
"A halberd… That's a tough one to use."
This went on for about an hour.
Side out.
….
After the work was done and the customer left, I talked again with the Loki Familia members. Honestly, I was pretty nervous.
"Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"You were the one chased by a Minotaur on the 5th floor, right?"
"Yes, that was me. Thanks so much for your help back then."
"No, if anything, it's our fault to begin with."
"Well, when first-class adventurers all attacked together, even the Minotaur ran away."
"Besides, it got away too."
"Huh?"
I didn't understand what he meant. Did something else escape besides the Minotaur?
"You and the girl you're in a party with ran away…"
"Oh."
Now that I thought about it, Bell literally ran off like a startled rabbit.
"Who's that person? Running away after being saved by Ais?"
"Was I scary back then?"
"…"
So that's how it was. And Ais was actually bothered by it.
"Huh?"
"Oh, no, nothing. To cut to the chase, she didn't run away because she was scared of Ais."
"Then why?"
"When you're being chased by a monster and just about done for, then suddenly someone swoops in and defeats the monster, and that someone is a famous Sword Princess, beautiful and strong beyond belief, you kind of want to run away just because of how overwhelming her presence is."
"Whoa, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Yeah, I get it."
"You do!?"
…
That was the kind of conversation we were having when…
Knock knock knock.
"Hey, Toki, are you there?"
A familiar voice, well, more like a familiar god's voice, called out.
"Hm? That voice…"
"I'm opening now!"
I opened the door, and as expected, standing there was a god.
"Hey, it's Mercurius! Long time no see!"
Behind me, Loki popped his head out.
"Hmm? Loki, what are you doing here?"
"Well, this kid says he's my daughter's boyfriend, so I came to see what kind of guy he is. And what about you, what brought you here?"
"Oh, that…"
Mercurius pulled something from his bag, it looked like a potion.
"I came to talk about a new product."
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Note: Here's the introduction of an original god: Mercurius. Mercurius (Mercury) is the Roman god of commerce and is often equated with Hermes from Greek mythology. Also, the Hephaestus Familia shop clerk who appeared this time won't show up again. Just a background character.
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