"Hahahaha, really? I think so too!"
At that exact moment, inside the Hostess of Fertility, a flirtatious male god was surrounded by several cute girls.
A cat-girl waitress passing by cast him a look of total disgust and quickly stepped out of his way.
This blatant reaction did not escape the male god's notice.
"Ahh, to be so disliked... Anya-chan, you are breaking my heart by acting like this," the male god sighed.
He put his hand over his chest and faked a look of pure heartbreak.
He was such a good actor that it almost looked genuine.
But the sensitive cat-girl just felt her scalp tingle with absolute disgust.
"Hermes-sama is a playboy, and you are way too old for my taste, nya." The adorable cat-girl showed zero respect for the god, openly criticizing him right to his face.
"Eh—I am just feeling lonely because all the children of my Familia are away on a mission! Calling me a playboy is too harsh. I am actually quite a devoted man."
A female adventurer sitting next to him carefully fed him a peeled grape.
Hermes bit into it and closed his eyes with an expression of pure bliss.
'Ugh.'
Anya completely ignored him and walked off to take orders from some newly arrived customers.
Syr walked out from the kitchen and shot a subtle glare of disgust at Hermes, though no one noticed it.
"More drinks! Bring us more ale!" Hermes shouted.
He raised his empty wooden mug high after downing his wheat beer in a single gulp.
The heavy alcohol had already flushed his cheeks a bright red.
The female adventurers sitting around his table kept cheering and urging him to drink more.
Hearing his loud request for more alcohol, Mama Mia snorted coldly.
"We are out."
"Huh? You are lying! There are plenty of barrels right there!" Hermes pointed at the bar.
"I said your money is out," Mia corrected him with a dark smile.
"Hah?!" Hermes suddenly looked completely sober.
He sprang up from his chair.
His money was gone?
"No way!"
"Yes way. Not only is your wallet completely empty, but you still owe me for those last few rounds of drinks."
"Wait, ahhh... what is Asfi doing?! Why isn't she back with the money yet?!" Hermes muttered angrily under his breath.
Hearing that he was out of money, the female adventurers immediately stood up and left to find other tables.
They had not actually come to the pub with the god—they were just taking advantage of a rich idiot to score some free drinks.
Now that his wallet was drained, they naturally dumped him without a second thought.
"We do not do tabs here!"
Mia reached over the counter and effortlessly lifted Hermes into the air with one hand.
She grabbed him by the ankle and turned him completely upside down.
Shaking the god like a ragdoll, a few loose coins fell out of Hermes' pockets and bounced onto the floor.
After picking up the loose change, Mia glared at him.
"You are still short 120 valis. You better have your Familia children bring it over quickly."
"Hey now, Mama Mia, I am a regular customer! How can you treat me like—"
Mid-sentence, Hermes' heart suddenly skipped a beat.
An inexplicable, terrifying sense of crisis surged from deep within his soul.
His divine instincts were screaming at him, telling him to run!
'This exact feeling...' he had experienced it once recently.
So it was not unfamiliar.
He slammed his hands on the table and leaped backward. "It is coming!"
Seeing his deadly serious expression, Mia frowned in confusion. "What is it? Who is coming?"
"Mama Mia, I am so sorry, but I will come back to pay my tab later! Whatever you do, do not tell anyone I was here!"
After shouting those instructions at lightning speed, Hermes turn around and bolted toward the pub's exit, disappearing into the night.
Based on how fast he was sprinting, it looked like he was running for his life.
Mia originally wanted to chase after him for skipping the bill, but she still had work to finish in the kitchen, so she had to let it go for now.
She planned to settle the score with him later.
No one could skip their bill at the Hostess of Fertility and get away with it unpunished—not even a god!
Less than half a minute later, Noah walked into the tavern with Haruhime.
The two walked straight over to the counter and sat down in front of Mia, ready to order their dinner.
"Oh, it is Noah. Bringing Haruhime on another date today, huh? How sweet," Mia teased with a booming laugh.
'D-d-date...' Hearing Mia call it a date, Haruhime's face instantly turned bright red.
Her imagination immediately drifted off into some wild, romantic fantasies.
She was completely lost in thought!
Noah, who was used to this by now, paid it no mind.
He grabbed a menu, but before he could even open it, he suddenly snapped it shut.
He sniffed the air and frowned slightly.
"Strange. It feels like there is a foul disgusting smell in here."
Hearing this, Mia instantly became furious.
"You brat, what kind of nonsense are you spouting?! How could my tavern possibly stink?!"
No sooner than she roared, a male adventurer near the entrance, who had clearly drunk way too much, couldn't hold back his bloated stomach and vomited all over the floor.
A thick vein bulged on Mia's forehead.
She slammed her massive fist on the counter and yelled, "You bastard! Get the hell outside!"
Noah sniffed the air a few more times.
"No, I am not talking about the smell of the tavern. It is just that I suddenly feel incredibly angry for absolutely no reason."
He had not felt this way before walking into the pub.
But now, it felt like there was a sewer-like stench clinging to the air nearby.
Just then, the cat-girl waitress Anya walked back out from the kitchen.
Seeing the empty table near the door, she asked, "Has Lord Hermes finally left nya?"
"Ah, that bastard suddenly looked panicked and ran off," Mia grumbled. "I am not sure why—maybe his debt collectors finally came looking for him."
Crack—!
Noah's hands shook with rage, instantly snapping his wooden chopsticks perfectly in half!
"Hey!" Mia scolded him, though she quickly handed him a new pair of chopsticks.
Noah glared darkly at Anya and asked through gritted teeth.
"Hermes?"
"Nyaa! Noah, your face looks so scary right now, nya!" Anya flinched.
"Ah, sorry. But the Hermes you just mentioned—was it the god of the Hermes Familia himself?"
"Yes, nya," Anya nodded obediently.
Noah stood up without a word.
He told Haruhime to wait for him at the counter, and then he rushed out of the tavern doors.
Standing on the street outside the pub, he scanned his surroundings.
He rapidly used his Truthseeker skill on every single person he saw, desperately searching the crowd for Hermes.
Nothing.
He is already gone.
'Did he somehow sense me coming and run away in advance?'
'The core members of the Hermes Familia were down in the Dungeon right now, meaning no one was up here to protect him.'
'No wonder he slipped away so fast!'
'Tch. No wonder it felt like there was a foul smell in here—it is because a dirty rat was just sitting in the room!'
'Lucky for him he runs fast.'
Noah did not enjoy his dinner very much after that.
The lingering stench of Hermes being nearby made him unbearably irritable.
Meanwhile, the little fox spent the evening happily chatting with the tavern staff, building her relationships with them.
She quickly became good friends with both Syr and Anya.
Even the tough Mama Mia seemed to like her a lot.
"If Noah ever abandons you, you can always come work as a waitress at my place! I will make sure to protect you well," Mia promised, happily giving the little fox a thumbs-up.
The little fox was deeply moved, though she knew Noah would never abandon her.
But Noah knew exactly how heavy Mia's promise was.
Mama Mia used to be the captain of the Freya Familia.
She was a mentor to Ottar, the strongest adventurer in the city, and Ottar still worshipped her like an idol.
Mia's own strength was at the absolute pinnacle of Orario.
When a Level 6 powerhouse made a promise to protect you, it was a guarantee you could take to the bank.
...
Returning to the workshop after dinner, Noah did not dive straight into his blacksmithing work as usual.
Instead, he lay down on his bed, closed his eyes, and meditated.
He needed to bring his mind and spirit into a state of perfect, absolute calm.
Even though he was not sure if meditating would actually help him unlock a better magic spell, he wanted to do everything in his power to succeed.
So, he deliberately spent forty minutes just clearing his mind.
Finally, he opened his eyes.
With a clear, bright gaze, Noah placed the Ancient Grimoire in front of him.
"Haruhime, I might fall into a deep sleep in a minute. Please do not worry about me."
The little fox tilted her head and blinked.
Even though she did not quite understand why he said that, she nodded in agreement.
Noah took a deep breath.
He softly recited the secret unsealing spell he had stolen from the Grimoire.
The exact moment the password was spoken, the aged worn-out magic book suddenly blasted out a terrifying wave of energy.
Could it even be described as intense?
It was the first time Noah had ever felt raw magic power like this.
Was it vast? Oppressive?
Under the crushing, overwhelming weight of this magic power, Noah felt as tiny and helpless as a mayfly.
It felt as if a colossal ancient god had just descended from the heavens and was staring down at him, bringing a powerful shock to his soul.
His pupils shrank.
He stared intently at the pages of the grimoire, completely frozen in place.
The ancient words written in the book lit up one by one before Noah's eyes.
The magical symbols began to glow, continuously dancing, spreading, twisting, and spinning off the pages.
It felt as if he were being pulled through a glowing tunnel into a much more magnificent world.
Finally, a door appeared before his eyes.
Noah checked his own body.
He found that his legs, feet, and hands felt completely solid, as if he were truly standing in this strange place.
So, he tentatively took a step forward, carefully approaching the door.
This door was incredibly strange.
It had no actual wooden door panel and no handle.
It was just an empty door frame.
Beyond the frame was total, swirling chaos. He could not see anything clearly through it.
He slowly reached out and placed his hand on the frame.
Suddenly, a string of numbers popped into his mind.
69.
'What did that mean?'
Just as Noah was wondering what the number 1122 meant, he felt a sudden, inexplicable force push him away.
He was rapidly pulled backward through the tunnel.
The scenery around him moved way too fast to make out any details.
Then, he abruptly stopped.
He had stopped inside a completely empty, pure white room.
In the middle of the room, there was another door.
Just like the first one, it was an empty frame with no panel and no lock. It looked as if he could easily step right through it.
Carved into the wall directly above the door frame was a string of numbers: 69.
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