Night.

“Come on.”

“They are waiting for us.”

The twins dragged me through the streets and stopped before a lively building. The letters carved on the wooden board triggered my memory.

The Hostess of Fertility.

It's where Bell gets his first life lesson, owned by none other than a giant dwarf woman. The catgirl and the gray-haired Syr made the place worth remembering.

We entered the place.

The giant woman standing behind the counter smiled at us.

Girls dressed in green maid outfits hastily served the adventurers.

“Asahi-kun, that doesn’t qualify as a maid outfit, you know. They lack the frilly apron!” Shiori said excitedly.

I couldn’t help but nod at her wise words. “True.”

Saeko sighed and pointed to a table. The pallum girl from Astraea Familia waved a mug bigger than her head.

“Ya, here!”

Kaguya, Alise, and Ryuu were there as well. How did these two get involved with them?

“Asahi-kun, we ran into them after you went with Grayfia. It was Shiori’s idea to explore Orario.”

Shiori squinted at Saeko. “Making me into your scapegoat again. Fine. I’ll take it for my beloved sister.”

Saeko blushed hard. “I was joking. Asahi-kun, it was my fault we went out.”

“You don't have to ask my permission for things like this.”

I wasn’t the one to keep them imprisoned in a cage. There wasn’t any immediate threat looming over our heads now.

“But we want to,” they said together. “We can’t reject our family code.”

“Sure, as you two wish. Let's not keep them waiting.”

We moved toward the tables attached to make room for all of us.

“What’s the reason for this celebration?”

Kaguya elegantly sipped from a glass. “Do we need an occasion to drink till dawn?”

“Nope.”

Anything could go wrong in the dungeon. Adventurers lived knowing that a slight mistake could kill them. They needed no reason to live to their fullest.

“I’m not drinking,” Ryuu replied and shook her head. “I can’t like the taste.”

The pallum girl raised her hand. “Special for seven!”

“Cominnya~!” The waitress’s catgirl tic was super adorable.

Alise grinned. “Yo, Marikawa-san. I see you with a new girl every time. How many wives do you have?”

Kaguya frowned at Alise’s question. “Captain, leave the guy alone, would you… it’s between him and his women.”

Finally, someone with common sense.

Kaguya turned to me with a mischievous grin. “They might be after his ‘thing’ for all we know.”

She proved me wrong.

Saeko shook her head. “Could you girls please stop misunderstanding our relationship? All of us love Asahi-kun and feel content with being one of his… women.”

Alise hugged Ryuu and bared her teeth like an animal. “I’d never share my Ryuu with anyone!”

Ryuu let out a tired sigh. “Captain, please. Act with some dignity.”

“This woman didn’t even have the ‘d’ of dignity,” Kaguya teased. “I still fear the day our Captain falls in love.”

“Yep,” Shiori agreed. “It’s gonna be a tragedy of the century.”

“Haha. If it’s about love, then only one person comes to my mind,” Alise stated while nodding. “Our goddess Astraea-sama.”

Is she into women?

Saeko spotted my doubtful gaze and placed her hand on my leg. “She has that manly, prince-like aura to her, but Asahi-kun. You’re more charming than her,” she said with telepathy in a teasing, sadistic voice.

“...”

“She means that you’re our knight in black armor,” Shiori interrupted our mental communication.

“How did you hear our conversation?”

Shiori tilted her head. “I had a feeling that Saeko would say this.”

Weird.

“Knight in black armor.” Saeko nodded to herself. “It fits his laidback, sinister persona.”

The pallum girl slammed her mug on the table, gaining our attention. “Can you two—I mean you three stop flirting with your boyfriend? It’s a painful sight for a single woman’s eyes~!”

“My bad,” Shiori apologized in a not-so-apologetic voice. “This weird captain aside, you three should easily get a man easily.”

The pallum girl scowled. “Ya pickin’ a fight with me?”

Shiori shut her mouth. She didn’t want to step on the little girl’s pride, which she intentionally did. The people of this world were so cultured to not hook up with a legal loli. From her tone, she looked like one.

“Lyra,” Ryuu said with a frown. “Shiori-san didn’t mean bad.”

Lyra hung her head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to explode that way.”

“It’s all good.”

“Here is your order, nya~.”

The cheery black-haired cat girl served. Her green eyes met mine, and she secretly clicked her tongue.

What was that for?

“Chloe, get to the next table.”

The grey-haired woman shooed the catgirl and brought the rest of the order with a brunette catgirl. She was Syr, the girl who had a crush on Bell. Her gray eyes reminded me of my manipulative stepmom. I don’t know why. In the series, she was shown to be sharp-minded, but not to this level.

This girl was dangerous.

She bowed politely. “I’ll get the drinks.”

She went away with the catgirl. Shiori patted my shoulder. “Is something wrong?”

Am I too paranoid?

“No.”

Instead of dwelling on Syr, I dug into the steaming meat.

“Saeko, let’s have a drinking challenge.”

“Umm. It could be fun. What’s the prize?”

“Don’t include me,” I said beforehand, knowing their prize will revolve around me.

Shiori clicked her tongue. “Alright. The loser has to try Shizuka Nee-san’s new dish.”

Saeko became horrified, shaking her head vigorously. “N-No way. I don’t want to go through that. It’s too cruel of a punishment.”

“Coward,” Shiori mocked Saeko with an arrogant smirk.

Saeko groaned. “I accept. Be prepared to lose.”

“Nee-san’s cooking is decent, though,” I interjected.

“You’re wrong!” They denied it together.

I shrugged and sipped on the sweet mead.

Good stuff.