"Let's stop here for tonight. Miss Ryuu, you need to properly memorize this addition and subtraction table."
"..."
Having eaten and drunk his fill, and having smacked the elf girl's small hands until they were completely red, Al finally stood up, letting her off the hook for now.
However.
Just as Al was about to get up and leave, suddenly, a noisy sound came from the tavern's entrance.
"What are we having for late-night snacks tonight?! What do you want to eat, sister? I want to eat a big piece of roast meat!!"
"Let's see what the Captain wants to eat... Oh right, Lady Riveria is coming too..."
"The Captain isn't eating, are you an idiot, sis!! Oh right, and Aiz. It seems I forgot to ask her what she wants to eat when we came out. That girl has been looking so depressed lately..."
The tavern doors were suddenly pushed open.
One tall and one short, the two charming Amazon sisters strode right in.
Then.
Tiona spotted at a glance the most conspicuous white-haired boy in the crowd.
It couldn't be helped. Besides being handsome, he was indeed quite tall, and with that small sphere flying in the sky, it was impossible for him not to attract attention.
"!"
Tiona suddenly got excited, shouted loudly, and then pointed at Al, yelling.
"Profiteer!!"
...
"Speaking of which, what on earth is this thing..."
"Have you never seen it either, Gareth?"
"No... It's not an ordinary steel creation, is it? The ore used... the texture, and... the curvature, it's too perfect. Can someone really forge such a precise gadget..."
Twilight Manor.
The Loki Familia's base. At this moment, in the main hall, the Vice-Captain Riveria was together with another Level 6 member of the Familia's top three executives, the dwarf Elgarm, Gareth Landrock.
They were studying the steel creation brought back by the Amazon sisters just last night, which was called an "Air Combat Mechanic."
As a member of the dwarf race.
Gareth had the kind of appearance that fit the commoner's prejudice.
A height of 1.5 meters, a burly physique, and thick brownish-yellow hair and beard. He was like a small hill, solid and reliable.
At the same time, dwarves possessed an innate talent for various forging techniques and ores.
After all, compared to elves who lived in forests.
Dwarves usually lived in hills and valleys, and indeed frequently engaged in mining and blacksmithing.
Today, Riveria called Gareth over, wanting him to take a look at what exactly these two Air Combat Mechanics were.
After all, the elf woman had been confirming it for a whole day.
These things.
They were absolutely not creations related to magic. From the inside out, there was no trace of magical aura present, and the ancient texts passed down through generations of elves had no records of anything similar.
"Without a doubt, they are creations of Mystery."
After studying them for a long time, Gareth finally gave his definitive final judgment.
"But that newcomer from the Demeter Familia, the guy who made these things, should be Level 1."
"It's fake then."
Gareth shrugged and continued.
"Maybe he's hiding his Level. Isn't that quite common?"
"Hmm..."
According to regulations, all adventurers in Orario needed to register with the Guild, but it was true that some Familias would deliberately hide their members' actual Levels, or even hide the number of members.
Not only because high-level Familia members would be charged more taxes by the Guild.
There were also all sorts of bizarre reasons, entirely born from the capricious and petty thoughts of the gods leading those Familias.
"The Demeter Familia is, after all, a large Familia that has survived from the era of Zeus and Hera to the present. It's impossible for them not to have a trump card..."
"That seems to make sense."
The thoughts of Riveria and Gareth were logically sound.
But if he was a trump card, why act so high-profile recently, renting out this kind of Mystery creation to their Familia for an expedition?
"Loki also said she couldn't figure it out, she just said, 'If it's Demeter, there's no problem. Feel free to use them. That girl is a super good-natured woman.'"
"It's not a bad thing anyway. Maybe the Demeter Familia really just picked up a super incredible rookie recently, who knows."
If that were really the case.
Then the other party would be extraordinarily incredible.
Mystery.
Among all Development Abilities, it was the rarest and most miraculous skill.
It could be said that in all of Orario today, the number of adventurers possessing Mystery could be counted on one hand.
It was known as the power that even Gods cannot decipher.
Its effect.
It allowed one to create miraculous, variously functioning mysterious creations that others completely could not understand.
The most famous among them was the legendary Sage who, hundreds of years ago, created the Philosopher's Stone that granted people longevity and eternal life.
Did the Demeter Familia truly possess such a rookie?
"Just like Aiz. Well, after all, Aiz has grown up too. Next, it really should be the stage for newcomers to make their appearance."
Gareth couldn't help but sigh.
The times were like this, with exceptionally talented juniors constantly emerging to replace old folks like them.
Such a sigh drawn from the passage of time made Riveria slightly displeased.
After all.
She was the oldest person in the entire Loki Familia, aside from their deity...
Besides, she absolutely refused to admit that a guy who acted like a profiteer could be mentioned in the same breath as their Aiz!!
"Speaking of which, how is Aiz?"
Twilight Manor was surprisingly quiet today.
That was because.
Loki had taken most of the Familia members and run off outside the city to join the fun. The excuse of a Unicorn appearing was simply absurd!
Fortunately, the members were already used to their deity's capriciousness—although the Guild had a rule that gods were not allowed to freely enter and exit Orario.
But presumably, Loki had her own ways; she was never one to like following rules.
The others also treated it as going to watch the excitement, swarming out just like that.
Only a few members, including Captain Finn, who was still in his room planning the next expedition, and Riveria, stayed behind at the base.
"Aiz went back to her room after taking a bath."
The girl had been a bit off since she came back yesterday.
Today as well.
She always showed an absent-minded look. Even when called several times, she would blankly pause for a few seconds before reacting, looking preoccupied as if she was always thinking about something.
"Could she really be in love?"
Gareth suddenly threw out the explosive theory that Tiona had been clamoring about all day.
"That rookie from the Demeter Familia, damn it, just one meeting, and he's enchanted our Aiz like this?!"
"Nonsense!!!"
Riveria glared fiercely at the dwarf in front of her.
Impossible!
Her child would absolutely not be infatuated with a guy who acted like a profiteer!!
Riveria refused to admit it, she absolutely refused to admit it!!!
Although.
Riveria was indeed a little worried.
After all, logically speaking, Aiz had indeed become abnormal after coming back from the Hephaestus Familia's shop with the Amazon sisters last night.
During that time.
Aiz had only seen Tsubaki from the Hephaestus Familia, the Guild Advisor Eina, and...
That guy from the Demeter Familia!!
But no matter what, Riveria would never admit it, nor would she allow that filthy Human Empire Profiteer to lay a finger on...
"Mama Riveria! We caught the profiteer and brought him back!!"
Following the noisy sounds coming from outside the hall.
Riveria also froze for a moment, and then, she saw the person following behind the Amazon sisters.
A handsome boy with a sleepy face, even rubbing his hair and yawning.
"I've said it so many times, I'm not a profiteer."
Al solemnly clarified once again.
At the same time, he looked at the beautiful and tall green-haired elf woman currently in the hall, then tilted his head and subconsciously sighed.
"Mama? So there really are that many people with weird hobbies in this world..."
Future mother-in-law, Riveria
<><><><><
Read Advaned Chapters on : patreon.com/Kaizo247
~ Evey 150 PS = Bonus Chapter!
~ ush the Story forward with your [Power Stones]