The night passed.
After Isagi and Cecil got up and ate breakfast, they bid farewell to their Goddess and went out together. However, they were not heading to the Dungeon, but to work part-time jobs!
Currently, the Astrea Familia's financial situation was terrible!!
Otherwise, they wouldn't be renting a place here on Daedalus Street. Of course, another reason was that the Goddess didn't want news of her return to Orario to spread. Aside from a few familiar deities, no one in Orario currently knew that the Astrea Familia had returned.
Including Isagi and Cecil; when they registered as adventurers at the Guild, they did so nominally, listed under other gods' Familias.
So, living in this mixed-bag slum district also served the purpose of avoiding unwanted attention.
But the most important factor was the lack of money!
The cost of living in Orario was simply too high!!
It was also because the Astrea Familia didn't have any savings to begin with. Back in Solingen, Isagi, the girl, and the Goddess lived on the edge of a forest outside the city. They built their house from timber they cut themselves, ate food from their own fields, and gathered fruit, hunted, and caught fish in the forest...
They could be entirely self-sufficient.
But in Orario, that naturally wasn't possible. Everything required money; even being an adventurer cost money.
The daily wear and tear on weapons and equipment, potions for stamina recovery and healing wounds, as well as various items—although his skill, the Healing Gourd, saved a sum on medical costs, he still had to carry what was necessary.
The gourd could only be used three times; he couldn't just come back once it ran out, could he?
Although the income from being an adventurer was quite substantial, the consumption was indeed high, barely maintaining a balance of income and expenditure...
And this was only because he had Cecil to repair his weapons and equipment for free.
It was said that even the Loki Familia, one of the strongest Familias in the city, would find their finances stretched thin due to the expenses of expeditions, requiring members to farm monsters in the Deep Floors to make money or something similar.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
Being an adventurer really was expensive.
As for why Cecil, being a blacksmith, didn't forge equipment to earn money...
Unknown blacksmiths found it hard to sell equipment for a good price, not to mention the girl wasn't a member of a famous forging Familia like Hephaestus or Goibniu.
Setting up a roadside stall would be worse than just working part-time...
...
"Welcome! One serving of Mustard Fried Potato Balls, thirty valis."
Isagi's part-time job was helping run a fried potato ball stall on North Main Street in the mornings.
As Orario's national snack!
The fried potato balls were indeed quite delicious—potatoes deep-fried and coated with various sauces; it would be strange if they weren't tasty!!
Moreover, Orario's potatoes were all cultivated outside the city by the Demeter Familia. As the Goddess presiding over agriculture and fertility, the crops and fruits she cultivated were fragrant and mellow, far superior to ordinary varieties.
And while working, Isagi fully utilized his subjective initiative!
Just in the past two days, he launched a brand-new dish he developed himself—
Rich mashed potatoes topped with a runny fried egg, paired with sauce, and with options to add sausage, bacon, onion, and various other ingredients. Its name: "Omelet Potato"!
With this.
Two servings of fried potato balls plus a fried egg and some side dishes could sell for one hundred and eighty valis.
It was practically making big money!!
"Delicious!"
A beautiful Elf girl with long, golden-yellow hair tied in a large ponytail at the back of her head held a lunch box. She used a spoon to shovel the piping hot fried egg and mashed potato, mixed with mayonnaise, into her mouth, immediately showing an incredibly happy expression on her face.
"This is too good!!"
"Eh?! Lefiya Viridis, is it really that good?"
"It really is! You guys should get one too."
"Then I'll have one. Add egg, add sausage, and for the sauce... I'll take coriander sauce!!"
"Me too."
"And me, me, me!"
"Lefiya Viridis, aren't you still eating? Why are you ordering another one?!"
"Hehe..."
The energetic boys and girls before him were incredibly noisy.
They were all wearing red and white uniforms, making it obvious at a glance that they were young students from the [School District].
The [School District].
Isagi had heard about it from Cecil.
It was a massive ship standing tall upon the sea—no, rather than a ship, it would be more appropriate to call it a city in a certain sense.
These children from all over the world would learn various kinds of knowledge there, and at the same time, learn how to fight.
It circumnavigated the continent, and every three years, it would return to the port city of Melen, not far outside Orario, and dock there for a period.
During this time, it was the days when students from the [School District] came to Orario for "exchange and study."
Among them, some would join the Guild in Orario after graduation, or stay in the [School District] as teachers and researchers, while a considerable number would join various Familias in Orario, becoming core forces.
And obviously, the goal of the students before him was also the Dungeon.
"Let's go!"
The Bovine-kin youth leading them was absurdly sturdy; he carried a great axe on his back, and his muscles were clearly defined under the tight uniform. If it weren't for his face full of childishness, no one would think he was just a half-grown student.
He polished off two servings of Omelet Potato in just a few bites.
Afterwards, still unsatisfied, he bought out all the remaining fried potato balls, intending to use them as dry rations.
Many adventurers indeed did that. Although fried potato balls weren't very tasty when cold, they provided considerable satiety and energy. As long as one wasn't going on a deep-level expedition, but rather staying in the middle or lower floors, they were indeed quite good food.
And thanks to these students, he could get off work early today.
"Thank you for your patronage, please come again~"
Using a standard professional smile, Isagi sent the students off and stuffed handfuls of valis into his pocket. Then he began to pack up the stall. At the same time, Cecil arrived to bring him lunch and pick him up.
The cute blue-haired girl drove a carriage.
It was loaded with baskets of fruits and vegetables and meat kept in a cool box.
Cecil's part-time job was helping the Demeter Familia deliver goods to shops in the city, including but not limited to fried potato ball stalls like his, as well as taverns and restaurants.
At the same time, she would bring him a bento prepared by Goddess Demeter.
"Today it's fried eggplant and chicken curry, how nice... Goddess Demeter's cooking skills are really good~"
"What do you mean by that?!"
"I'm not saying your cooking isn't good, nor am I talking about Goddess Astrea."
Why so sensitive?
"Hmph!"
Seeing the cute girl puffing up her cheeks as usual and turning her head away, Isagi only felt that this made the food even more appetizing!
The relationship between Goddess Demeter and Goddess Astrea was quite good, and they took great care of him and Cecil. It was said that when they left Orario back then, Lady Astrea had received help from Demeter.
Quickly finishing the bento while sitting on the carriage, Isagi skillfully put the armor Cecil had stayed up all night repairing back on his body.
Next, of course, was heading to the Dungeon.
Going alone.
Cecil was a blacksmith, and having already reached Lv. 2 and obtained the [Blacksmith] development ability, there was absolutely no need to continue leveling up.
Most blacksmiths were like this. Although the Hephaestus Familia had a certain number of "Combat Blacksmiths," they mainly served as logistics troops who followed along during Familia expeditions to the Deep Floors, responsible for repairing weapons and equipment on the go.
Very, very few would participate directly in combat.
Plus, the girl had her own things to do. Not just part-time work, but also the [Promise] she made with Goddess Astrea when she joined the Familia...
___
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