"Welcome— ...oh, it's Sister Aisha!"
The burger shop was its usual noisy self. Haruhime stood behind the counter in her black-and-white uniform — the kind that made her look almost like a maid — and the moment she looked up, she spotted the familiar Amazon woman walking through the door.
Several days had already passed since the Ishtar Familia disbanded.
The fox-girl still felt a little dazed whenever she thought about it. She hadn't understood what was happening at all — one moment she'd been in the city, and the next she'd simply appeared on some deserted island in the middle of the ocean. It had been utterly baffling.
Then, the very day after she returned to the city, the news came: the Familia was dissolving.
Suddenly homeless, she had been taken in by the kind-hearted Goddess Astrea, who told her she was welcome to come and work at the shop. Haruhime had hesitated at first, but with nowhere else to go, she'd stayed — and over the time since, she had gradually grown comfortable here, and...
"Everyone here is really wonderful," she said.
"That's all I needed to hear."
Aisha gave a small nod.
Haruhime didn't belong in the Pleasure Quarter, and letting her join just any other Familia in the city risked all manner of complications. For now, remaining with the Astrea Familia was genuinely the best option.
The Goddess of Justice's Familia was powerful — and more than that, it put people at ease. Whatever else one might say, Astrea had always been, in the hearts of adventurers, a goddess of purity and unwavering righteousness.
"Where are you headed, Sister Aisha?"
"I've joined the Hermes Familia."
"...Huh?"
Hermes?
Haruhime blinked, visibly struggling to process that. She'd assumed Sister Aisha would do what most of the others had done and join one of the goddess Familias that ran establishments in the Pleasure Quarter.
But as it turned out — whether it was exhaustion, or simply a change of heart — Aisha had no particular interest in the city or in adventuring. What drew her instead was the wide world beyond the walls, and all the varied sorts of men one might encounter out there.
The Hermes Familia acted as the Guild's "messengers," traveling all over the world on a near-constant basis. It suited Aisha perfectly.
Something else had surprised even Aisha, though.
After Goddess Ishtar left the city, the Kali Familia had chosen to stay. They had, after a fashion, taken over the "business" the Ishtar Familia had left behind in the Pleasure Quarter.
Not that those battle-hungry women were much interested in the work itself — they mainly served as security, keeping order throughout the Quarter.
Many of the former Ishtar Familia sisters had ended up joining the Kali Familia as well. There were rumors that the Guild had stepped in to encourage them to stay; whatever the truth of it, having two Lv.6 adventurers in the city was a significant boost to its overall combat strength, provided they could confirm they weren't affiliated with any Dark Familia.
Well — none of that was her concern anymore.
Aisha was about to leave the city. She had a commission to fulfill in the Empire, somewhere quite far away, and she'd come to see Haruhime one last time before she set out.
"By the way — does Goddess Astrea know about your magic yet?"
"Yes... she does."
The transfer of her Falna had been completed shortly after Goddess Ishtar dissolved the Familia. Her powerful magic had astonished the Goddess and her Familia companions alike — and over the time since, Haruhime had come to her own conclusions about what she wanted to do.
She said:
"I'm going to go adventuring with the senior members of the Familia."
"The senior members" naturally meant Isagi and Ryuu and the others who'd been here longer.
For Haruhime, making that kind of decision had not been easy. The Goddess had said she was perfectly happy to have her just keep working at the shop — but Haruhime still wanted to do something, to contribute with her own power, just like her seniors did.
"Then be careful. The Dungeon is dangerous."
"I will!"
They waved goodbye.
Watching Haruhime's resolute little face, Aisha shook her head — though inwardly, she thought there was really nothing to worry about. It was the Goddess of Justice's Familia, after all. Surely nothing too strange or terrible would happen to the girl there.
Ah, right.
She hadn't only come to see Haruhime. Aisha quickly tracked down Goddess Aphrodite in the back kitchen.
"You found it!"
The beautiful golden-haired Goddess's eyes lit up the instant she saw the "Holy Grail" Aisha produced.
She'd finally gotten it back!!
"Please take care of Haruhime, Lady Goddess."
"Leave it to me!"
Hands on her hips, Aphrodite gave a confident hum — though the overall impression she gave was not, in any way, one that inspired confidence. Fortunately, Goddess Artemis was standing right beside her, lending the airheaded golden beauty at least a small measure of credibility.
Though, to be fair.
The Goddess of Beauty had originally wanted Haruhime to join her own Familia. Because the fox-girl was genuinely, spectacularly beautiful, and above all else, beauty was non-negotiable.
Ah, she was so envious of Astrea. The children of that Familia were all gorgeous and powerful — she wanted some like that too... but never mind all that. Now that the Holy Grail had finally been recovered, it was time to get back to that little "arrangement" she'd made with dear little Lefiya—
— ◇ —
Late that same evening.
After the burger shop closed, out at the farmstead of the Demeter Familia beyond the city walls, Isagi and the girls gathered together to test Haruhime's remarkable "Level-Raising Magic."
"Grow!"
With everyone watching, the fox-girl began to sing. That voice of hers — slightly girlish, with an irresistible sweetness to it — had a way of drawing people in.
"By its power and its will, treasure beyond count, wishes beyond measure. When the bell rings out, grant glory and all that is dreamed."
Golden light began to bloom, gathering above Haruhime's head.
"Grow!"
"This body that has swallowed the Divine Wine, bathed in the golden light of the gods. Return the mallet to the earth — bestow thy blessing."
A tiny hammer of light took shape, coalescing from the gathered radiance, and then drifted gently down — almost playfully, like something from a game — and lightly tapped the top of Isagi's head. It dissolved into a cascade of brilliant golden light.
"— Grow."
"[Uchide's Mallet]!"
Power surged through him.
It was completely direct. Overwhelmingly intense, and yet with no discomfort whatsoever — his Ability Scores rose dramatically across the board, and not just by a little. It was the kind of increase that broke through an entire tier.
Isagi found himself moving with sudden, involuntary care.
He was genuinely worried that if he moved carelessly, he might end up destroying Goddess Demeter's flower beds and vegetable garden.
He glanced over at Ais.
The golden-haired girl understood without being asked and walked over, then settled into a defensive stance.
Isagi threw a single punch.
He hadn't put his full strength into it — not even close. Even so, the almost visible ripple tearing through the air and the shrill, piercing shockwave that erupted in the next instant sent Ais flying.
Far. Very far. Very, very far.
But almost in the same instant, she came flying back on her own.
"That really is something else, Haruhime."
Isagi was genuinely impressed.
At the same Level as Ais, a normal punch from him had no business hitting that hard. But with the Level-up applied? The difference was staggering.
That said — through repeated testing by the girls over the past several days, Haruhime's Level-Raising Magic did have its limitations.
The duration was somewhere in the range of ten or so minutes — that much was already known.
More importantly, there was a daily cap on how many times she could cast it, because the magic consumed enormous amounts of mental stamina. It was strictly a trump card, not an always-on buff she could maintain indefinitely.
Of course, those limits could be addressed later through leveling up and better equipment.
There was also one other thing worth noting.
Haruhime's "Level Raise" didn't actually increase Skills, Magic, or Development Abilities. At its core, it was more like a magic that elevated all Ability Scores — but crucially, it elevated them in a way that broke through the level cap entirely.
Because, as everyone knew, the hierarchy of Levels in the adventurer world was ironclad.
A Lv.4 adventurer with every Ability Score at "S" rank — every stat above 900 — would still, in all likelihood, be thoroughly beaten by a Lv.5 adventurer with every stat at "0." Simply stacking raw numbers was not enough to erase the gap between Levels, and Haruhime's magic could actually bridge it. In that sense, this particular aspect of the ability was remarkably important.
Of course, from Isagi's perspective, the higher one's Level, the more the gap between same-Level adventurers was decided by magic and Skills — not raw stats. Level differences at the upper tiers were another matter entirely.
In any case: Haruhime's magic was excellent. Powerful and practical in the extreme — capable of making future adventures considerably more "straightforward" and manageable.
The prerequisite, of course, was that she actually joined his party and went into the Dungeon with them. That was the real question.
"Haruhime, you're still Lv.1, right?"
"Mm... yes."
Actually — she didn't even technically qualify as an adventurer yet.
Back in the Ishtar Familia, the Goddess had considered developing her. It wouldn't have been difficult — in fact, it would have been straightforward. The Familia had large numbers of second-tier adventurers, and they regularly organized expeditions against Goliath and the Monster Rex Amphisbaena, so there was no shortage of Excelia to go around. Training up Ability Scores would have been even simpler, with so many same-Level partners to spar against every day. As long as her stats reached the threshold for a level-up, she could have been promoted easily — and the Familia had the money for all the potions and equipment she'd need.
And yet — even in those conditions — Haruhime had never managed to level up.
Because she had, quite simply and completely, zero combat capability.
Haruhime was a pure support.
In Orario, this situation wasn't uncommon — if anything, the truly rare case was someone like Heith, a high-Level healer with strong combat stats. The far more typical situation was healers and support-type adventurers like Haruhime sitting permanently at Lv.1 or Lv.2.
That said, such adventurers still participated in dangerous battles and even expeditions. Isagi had heard that Amid had already confirmed she would be joining the upcoming operation to subjugate the Corrupted Spirit lurking in the Dungeon's Deep Floors.
As long as someone protects them, it works.
There was no other solution — leveling up was simply too difficult for them.
Haruhime had said she had already prepared herself mentally for that reality, but Isagi was still a little hesitant. His "special Dungeon" was genuinely extraordinarily dangerous, after all.
Although, given their current party composition, protecting her during combat probably wouldn't be a problem.
Hmm—
Naturally, proper training was a must, regardless.
Isagi had already asked Heith, and obtained Goddess Freya's permission, to send Haruhime to train at Folkvangr for a while.
His thinking was this:
The next major challenge in the Dungeon was looking very much like it would be "Alfia." As a Lv.7 adventurer, even if the entire party leveled up to Lv.6, there would still be a meaningful gap to contend with. Having Haruhime along — able to grant everyone a Level Raise — could make that fight considerably more manageable.
Lost in those thoughts, Isagi left the girls to their continued testing of the Level-Raise magic and wandered over to a wicker chair in the corner of the courtyard, settling in to rest.
The early summer night sky sprawled wide and lazy above him.
Without even realizing it, he'd been in Orario for nearly a full year now. Time moved fast. Things had changed — genuinely, truly changed.
The faintest motes of golden light drifted around his fingertips once more.
The last traces of his Divine Power.
He'd burned through all of it when he'd released that "Nightmare" the other day — somewhat accidentally. But that didn't particularly bother him. He'd simply accumulate more.
If anything.
The experience had given him something to think about.
Did each Character Card come with its own method of using Divine Power?
It was just a guess for now. He'd test it out once more Divine Power had built up. For him, that wasn't any particular effort — just keep adventuring in the Dungeon, charge the [Ring of Covenant] through battles, open the Dark Hall, and then let Ais and Riveria and the others go in and suffer— ah, he meant adventure — for a while.
In the courtyard, the small Golden Tree still glowed with its soft, warm golden light, filling the air with a sense of boundless comfort.
The Ishtar Familia was gone now, come to think of it.
His grand plan to make the Astrea Familia "rise to fame" had, technically, failed.
Because things had gotten way too out of hand.
He could hardly go out and publicly admit that the "Nightmare" that descended on the city that night had been his doing.
Goddess Astrea had told him to keep a low profile.
Nothing to be done about it. Sigh.
Though apparently — whether among the adventurers of the city or among the Gods themselves — a certain new nickname had started making the rounds.
[Black Night King].
Isagi's thoughts on this?
Not enough.
"Night" alone? That was just one piece of it. What about "Day"? And beyond that — there were so many other things still unclaimed.
Naturally, he'd want all of it.
And just like that, he was off again, chasing some thoroughly irresponsible line of thought.
— ◇ —
Meanwhile, inside the farmhouse.
The Goddesses who had worked a full day at the burger shop had already washed up and were relaxing in the living room. Demeter was preparing a late-night snack. Astrea was rummaging through the cooler for something to drink. And Aphrodite — under the increasingly impatient gaze of Artemis — was, very quietly and very sneakily...
...slipping the Holy Grail, which she'd managed to get back at long last, into the hands of Tiona, who had also very quietly and very sneakily snuck in from the courtyard — and whispering detailed instructions on exactly how to use it.
"It's all up to you now."
"Leave it to me!"
The Amazon girl, now entrusted with this weighty mission, clenched her little fist with the utmost gravity and solemnity.
---
Author's Note: Happy New Year! It's just another everyday chapter, but it still feels worth saying — we only get one of these a year, after all. Wishing everyone happiness and longevity. May this year bring you all good fortune!
____
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