It was really nice that the Guild actually offered free baths.
Feeling completely refreshed, Al returned to the Guild Hall.
The sun was setting.
The tangerine sun was like a large glass of orange juice pouring down, dyeing more than half the city in warm colors.
This was the busiest time.
Most adventurers gathered in the plaza outside the Guild, distributing the day's loot and discussing where to grab a drink before heading home.
It was incredibly noisy everywhere.
But even in such a chaotic crowd, Al noticed the most eye-catching person among them.
"The Goddess herself is earnestly recruiting Familia members! Free instruction in archery and wilderness survival skills, and..."
A beautiful girl shouted loudly and imposingly in the plaza.
She held up a large wooden sign with the words "Romance Forbidden!" and "Only Recruiting Females" written in large characters.
This made the adventurers who were originally somewhat interested in her immediately keep their distance.
Indeed.
The Goddess before him was truly beautiful.
She had a slender and well-proportioned figure, and her blue and white skirt armor perfectly outlined her delicate waist and soft curves.
It couldn't be called large, but it gave a "just right" feeling.
Her deep blue long hair and emerald-like eyes looked so tranquil and serene.
She was like a boundless mountain forest under the bright moonlight, lush and green, making quiet rustling sounds in the breeze.
Her expression was quite stern.
It seemed to have scared off the few potential Familia members, resulting in a complete "vacuum zone" around her.
"Ah, Lady Artemis."
Eina's voice sounded behind Al. Although the half-elf woman truly respected the gods, she seemed to feel a bit of a headache regarding the one before them.
After all.
"Lady Artemis forbids any impure contact with the opposite sex. In private, she is known as the Disciplinary Committee Chairwoman of Orario."
"I see."
Al nodded, then looked away, thinking to himself.
The gods of this world seemed to have strangely diverse personalities...
"By the way, Mr. Al, where is Miss Lunor? She accompanied you to the Dungeon today as well, right?"
"Yeah... But when we came back from the Dungeon, she went back to the tavern first. She'll be busy later."
"Is that so..."
"It's really hard work. Accompanying me to the Dungeon during the day, and then going back to work at night."
However.
Al probably didn't realize that it wasn't hard work for Lunor at all. Besides, if she didn't want to do it...
"If you don't want to do it, meow will do it meow!"
A certain catgirl who dreamed of taking time off to slack off seemed to have strong opinions about this.
"So, Lady Artemis came back specifically to recruit new Familia members?"
Eina brought the topic back to the young Goddess from earlier.
Artemis was the Goddess of Chastity who presided over the hunt. Therefore, compared to clearing out monsters in the Dungeon, she preferred traveling around the world hunting the monsters left behind on the surface since ancient times.
She also frequently accepted dispatch quests from the Guild.
Seven years ago, during the Dark Age, Goddess Artemis personally led her Familia, traveling continuously for five days and five nights to return to Orario to fight against the Evils.
It became a widely praised tale at the time.
It was just... because of the somewhat absurdly strict requirements within her Familia—even shaking hands with a man was not allowed.
So they had never been that powerful.
But they did have a Level 3 Captain, making them a Familia with solid core strength.
While Eina was muttering to herself.
Al's attention drifted to the Guild's quest notice board nearby.
Taking on Guild quests.
That was still a bit far off for a rookie adventurer like him.
After all, most quests required going to at least the lower or deep floors, such as "Investigate the suspicious singing on the 30th Floor," "Gather pearl coral on the 25th Floor," "Retrieve the belongings of a deceased friend on the 37th Floor"...
And so on.
Besides those, there were also some quests that didn't require entering the Dungeon.
Escorting merchant caravans, delivering letters to certain villages, investigating suspicious caves, and...
"A Unicorn?"
Posted in the most prominent place on the notice board was a quest... or perhaps an eyewitness report.
It stated that a Unicorn seemed to have appeared outside Orario.
If it could be caught, its single horn, as a rare drop material, was said to be able to purify all toxins and could be worth nearly ten million Valis.
Many adventurers seemed to have mobilized, treating it entirely as tonight's "entertainment" activity.
After all, a Unicorn was a rare type of monster that wouldn't attack others.
"Are you also interested in catching the Unicorn, Mr. Al?"
"Hmm..."
He was a little interested, but right now he wanted to eat first.
Having farmed monsters in the Dungeon all afternoon, even though he drank quite a few stamina potions, it didn't seem to offset the hunger his body produced.
Therefore.
"Let's eat first."
Going to the Hostess of Fertility would be best.
Al waved to Eina as a goodbye, then walked toward West Main Street.
The tavern's business seemed to have been affected by the Unicorn as well.
The shop wasn't busy.
There were fewer adventurers drinking, and many requested takeout.
This actually allowed Al to pick a nice window seat and sit down.
"Ah, Al, aren't you going back to eat?"
"I'll grab a bite to pad my stomach first."
He greeted Lunor, who had changed back into her green clerk uniform and white apron.
"I'll have today's special, and an extra-large portion of beef fried rice, please."
"You sure can eat. What about drinks?"
"Anything is fine, as long as it's not alcohol."
Al could drink, but he wasn't used to it, because alcohol made his thinking sluggish, which would delay a lot of things.
"Then, how about orange juice?"
"Sure."
"Iced?"
"Room temperature."
"Coming right up~"
Not long after.
The food was quickly served. Today's special was stewed chicken. A whole chicken with a curry-like thick soup, seasoned with cabbage, potatoes, green beans, and so on, poured over the fried rice. It was absolutely delicious.
Al's appetite surged. He thought to himself, as expected, after finishing a day of adventuring, eating such a hot meal could truly be called a blissful thing.
While he was feasting.
Behind him.
A petite catgirl tiptoed, quietly, step by step, slowly approaching.
Anya's target was that small sphere flying in the sky that made this meow care about it so much!
"Meow!"
She pounced, but ended up catching nothing but air!
Anya was unwilling to give up!!
She jumped again consecutively, wanting to grab this thing into her arms, but it felt as if she was being humiliated by it.
The steel sphere bobbed up and down in the sky, displaying a smiling face on its glass screen.
Mechanical Assistant: (#^.^#)
It seemed to be intentionally teasing the catgirl.
It was more like...
A cat teaser.
The other waitresses nearby couldn't help but snicker when they saw this scene.
Until a calm-faced elf girl came over to stop the noisy scene.
"Don't bother others, Anya."
"Damn it meow! How dare you look down on this meow!! I'll definitely show you meow!!!"
"Mama Mia is coming."
"Eh?!"
Anya shrank her neck and then chose to flee immediately.
That was the end of it.
Actually, Al didn't mind. In fact, since earlier, he had been focused on eating and hadn't even noticed the "comical" catgirl.
But soon.
Al noticed the beautiful green-haired elf girl sitting across from him with a very serious expression.
"Is something the matter?"
Al remembered her name seemed to be "Ryu"?
A strange name.
"Umm..."
Ryu pursed her lips, seemingly a bit embarrassed, but ultimately, she lowered her head slightly and said solemnly.
"Could you please teach me math?!"
"Huh?"