"What exactly is the price you want from me? With your reputation, you couldn't possibly be short of money," Airmid asked, cutting straight to the chase.
She was convinced that Noah had hidden motives.
Haruhime was shocked, 'So that was it!'
On the other hand, Noah was speechless.
While he did have other motives, he was actually just completely broke.
During the battle with Phryne, he realized his healing magic was still too weak.
His healing power depended entirely on the level of spells he knew, and the only one he had learned so far was "Recovery."
By taking healing potions and mixing them with his "Recovery" spell to make healing bullets, the effect was better than using the spell or potion by itself.
Even so, it still could not compare to mid-level healing magic and low tier at best.
It was good enough for normal fights, but not enough when facing strong monsters like the toad.
"Then I will be direct—my target is you." Noah's words shocked everyone.
Beside him, Haruhime's fox ears and tail stood straight up like antennas all at once.
Airmid's hand slipped, almost dropping the priceless item she was holding.
Her face quickly turned bright red and heated up.
White smoke seemed to rise off her head, almost blowing her hat off.
Huh? Did he just confess his feelings to her?
And he was a boy several years younger than her!
While she did like younger men, it was way too soon for this!
"Your magic, Dia Fratel... if you would allow me to study it..."
"I am so sorry, but I cannot accept this right now!" Airmid shouted shyly before running away to the back of the shop.
Noah stood frozen in place.
"Huh?"
He got rejected before he could even finish his sentence?
He had not noticed that all the shop workers around them were blushing and watching excitedly.
Seeing that Airmid was avoiding him, Noah felt sad for a moment before accepting it.
"I guess it was not that easy after all," Noah said, shaking his head.
He felt truly disappointed.
After all, this was the special magic of the city's best healer.
He wanted to learn about this power, but was the rare item for growing back lost limbs really not enough to convince her?
He knew he might fail.
However, he never expected to be rejected so quickly and completely.
Did he need to offer her more things to study the strongest healing magic?
"Let's call it a day. We can go back to the base and find Hephaestus, Haru... Haruhime?" Noah suddenly noticed something strange about the fox girl next to him.
She seemed different from her usual self.
It felt like suddenly noticing that a pet you were raising had lost its energy.
It made him feel worried!
He reached out, lifted her bangs and placed his hand on her forehead.
It looked like he was checking her temperature, but he was actually using his Appraisal skill on her.
"It is not a fever from a cold... could she just be tired?"
Even though Haruhime had become an adventurer, all her ability stats were still at zero.
Her body was still like a normal eleven-year-old girl's, and she had not grown much yet.
Because of this, her physical strength was very low.
Noah had felt this kind of weakness before, so he understood how she felt even without using his Appraisal skill.
"Wait right here for a second."
Noah bought a stamina potion straight from the shop.
His Appraisal skill showed these results:
"Stamina Potion (X) Raspberry Juice"
· A mass-produced drink for kids made by the Dian Cecht Familia
· Can this even be called a potion?
· It has 73% raspberry juice
· It has 1% real stamina healing liquid
· It is basically watered-down medicine."
Even though it was a scam, it would be enough to make Haruhime feel better.
Noah waved the raspberry juice in front of Haruhime and asked, "Are you feeling tired from the heat?"
He blew on the bottom of the bottle.
Right away, thick white frost formed inside the clear glass. "A cold drink might help you feel better."
Watching the drink suddenly turn ice-cold, Haruhime's emerald eyes got their sparkle back.
She took the raspberry juice, took a careful sip, and said happily, "It is so sweet."
"And very cold."
Seeing that she was feeling a bit better, Noah suddenly realized something.
'Wait a minute.'
'Had Airmid said she could not accept it right now?'
'Thinking about it carefully, was that really a rejection? She had only apologized.'
'Could it be... it was simply her time of the month? Maybe that was why she said no!'
The more Noah thought about it, the more it made sense.
Still, he probably should not expect to see her again today.
After all, it would be very embarrassing for a shy girl to know a guy guessed something so private.
...
After figuring this out in his head, Noah brought Haruhime back from the Dian Cecht Familia to the Hephaestus Familia's home base.
But when they reached the entrance, he instantly felt that the mood inside was very strange.
Just a few steps past the door, an older dwarf saw him and jumped out while yelling.
"Do not worry, Noah! The Ishtar Familia can go fuck themselves! We have your back!"
Noah was surprised as he forced a stiff smile and nodded at the Level 3 dwarf.
But that dwarf was just the start.
A few steps later, an older beast-man jumped out.
"Noah, we stand with you!"
"Those awful women, how dare they treat our new member like this!"
"Let them see the true power of steel!"
Noah was completely speechless.
Almost everyone he walked past looked furious and extremely upset.
They seemed even angrier than he was!
Everywhere he looked, angry blacksmiths were smashing their hammers onto their anvils.
Their arm muscles bulged as if they were about to tear, and their eyes were glowing red with rage.
'Was i really cared for this much by the whole Familia?'
Confused, Noah walked over to the goddess Hephaestus.
Tsubaki was there with her too.
'What was going on?' His confused face clearly showed that he had no idea what was happening outside.
"Yo, Noah-boy! Hahaha, you look scared by everyone's high energy out there," Tsubaki laughed.
"Uh..."
"Do not flatter yourself—they are not just angry because of you."
"I was not thinking that..." Noah lied.
Honestly, the feeling of being protected and cared for by everyone was amazing!
No wonder people loved being treated like royalty.
"Did something else happen?" Noah asked.
Since he had been passed out for two days, he had missed out on all the city gossip.
Tsubaki smiled fiercely and cracked her knuckles.
"Ishtar's people actually dared to insult our girls. They called Goddess Hephaestus an unwanted freak in tenkai! They said she is an ugly monster who wears men's clothes every day, and a hot-tempered demon!"
"You added that last part yourself, did you not?" Noah asked, doubting her words.
"Shut up you idiot!" Tsubaki yelled back, giving him a warning glare. "And those women in the Pleasure Quarter claim we blacksmiths all smell bad. They hate it when our Hephaestus Familia members go visit them!"
"From the way you are talking.... you go there too, even though you are a woman?" Noah was just surprised.
"Anyway, this fight will not end easily! We will make the evil Ishtar Familia pay!" Tsubaki was getting fired up again.
Right then, Hephaestus, who they were just talking about, suddenly spoke up.
"Do not act without thinking, you fools," Hephaestus said.
"There is no way this will just be a simple fight. I know Ishtar very well. She would never let herself look bad. Since she lost her strongest fighter, she will definitely use her charms to trick men from other Familias into helping her."
"How could she do that? This is a War Game!" Tsubaki asked.
"Did you forget? Ishtar is a Goddess of Beauty. Plus, she is the type of person who will do anything to get what she wants." Hephaestus looked worried.
If this War Game was strictly a one-on-one battle between their two Familias, they would already have won.
But Ishtar would never agree to those rules.
If Ishtar could somehow convince a group of gods to take her side and make the rules favor her, things could go wrong very quickly.
Noah suddenly spoke up. "The Ishtar Familia has been working with the Evilus. The reason they have so many women working for them is because of this. When they cannot force normal women to work, they buy slaves from the outside. And the only people who can sneak slaves into Orario are the Evilus!"
Even so, surely Ishtar was not crazy enough to ask Evilus for help directly.
That would make the Ishtar Familia partners with Evilus.
If that happened, the whole city would likely turn against them and wipe them out!
"Noah-boy, you are famous now!" Tsubaki cheered.
"A Level 2 adventurer beating a Level 5 in a fair fight? That story is way too crazy!"
"Do you actually believe those rumors?" Noah asked.
Could that even be called a "fair fight"?
Honestly, neither the words "fair fight" nor "defeat" fit what actually happened.
His opponent had not taken him seriously at all.
She had looked down on him, which was exactly why she ended up getting thrown into the sky by his gravity reversal magic.
Also, it was not really a one-on-one fight.
Thanks to Haruhime's level-boost magic, he was temporarily pushed up to Level 3 during that battle.
On top of all that... even using his magic power-ups and forced gravity control, he had only managed to give Phryne a concussion.
If Bete had not shown up when he did, the angry toad woman would have easily torn him and Haruhime to pieces in a heartbeat.
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator