Ryuu glanced at Syr and frowned. "I do not think that you should-"

"Oh shut up, Ryuu. I'm pissed right now. Let me drink in silence."

Ryuu flinched and stared at Syr in shock. And then she looked at me and that shocked turned to understanding before shifting a bit to disappointment.

I waved my glass at Ryuu and said, "Hey. Don't misunderstand here. I didn't do anything to hurt Syr here."

Welf let out a deep sigh and said, "Could you grab me a drink too, Miss Ryuu? I think I'll need it."

"...I think I will grab one for myself as well." Ryuu sighed and then walked towards the back of the kitchen.

I sipped on my glass of beer and then took a look around.

The Hostess of Fertility was surprisingly empty today. Outside definitely wasn't, but the only ones in the cafe/diner/tavern today was me, Welf, Ryuu, Syr/Hornie/FreyaImposter, and Mia who was chilling in the back of the kitchen.

I set my glass down and then looked at Syr. "Where are the other girls today?"

Syr snorted. "What? Looking to flirt with more women already?"

Welf shook his head and gave me a sidelong glance. "Bro. How do you have this effect on women?"

"I stole a bit of Freya's charm by accident. And no, I'm not." I eyed my glass of beer and shifted it to the side for the moment. It wasn't giving me a buzz anyway or doing anything to help this headache, so... yeah. Let's just ignore it.

I looked back at Syr and said, "I was just curious. There seems to be a lot going on today, so I was wondering if they were out doing something."

I didn't know what was going on, but I did notice a lot more people than usual on the streets this morning while I was taking Welf and Ryuu over. And with how strong the other waitresses in the Hostess of Fertility were...

Well, with how many flags I'd been raising, I would have liked to have a bit of information to work off.

Ryuu walked back with a tray filled with more glasses of beer as well as a big bottle of wine. Setting it down on the table, she handed Welf a glass and said, "Anya, Chloe, and Lunoire are taking the day off to explore Monsterphilia."

I blinked and then stuck my finger in my ear to clear it out. After that, I looked at Ryuu and said, "Come again? I think I didn't hear you right."

Welf snorted and said, "So you're a pervert after all, huh, Bro?"

I felt my face heat up, but I said, "H-Hey! Anyone would misunderstand with that sort of name!"

Welf shook his head and grabbed his glass of beer. "It's the big event hosted by the Ganesha familia. A big festival to show off tamed monsters and everything." He sipped on his beer and said, "I was planning to take Pyrrha out to look around today, but someone dragged me out instead."

Syr let out a long suffering sigh and muttered, "I wanted to go on a date with Bell-kun today. She promised me I could."

...Let's ignore that comment for now.

"Anyway..." I drained the rest of my beer and called. "Mama Mia! Bring out the food!"

Welf blinked and said, "Bro?"

"What?" I set my glass to the side and said, "Everything's set up for a big fight or monster breakout later, so I gotta stock up on energy, right?"

'Right.'

You still haven't answered who you are, oh mysterious voice in my head.

'Thou art I, and I am thou-'

Go screw yourself.

xxx

Lili was having a bad day.

The adventurer party she was leeching off had been wiped out in a freak accident the other night in the Dungeon while she was stocking up on a supplies. Because of that, she had to go find a new one to go explore with, but since today was Monsterphilia, there weren't any adventurers going into the Dungeon.

Well, there were, but none that would accept a Level 1 supporter like her.

Then there was the fact that the next payments were due in a few weeks and Lili was short...

"Hah." Lili tugged the tattered edges of her hooded cloak a bit closer and muttered, "As always, Lili has bad luck..."

Maybe she should draw some from her savings? But if she did that, it would be clear that she was hiding funds from her Familia. Captain Zanis was already suspecting that she was up to something, so-

"Miss! Miss!" A cute young girl's voice echoed from nearby.

Lili blinked and came to a stop, looking towards the speaker.

As expected, it was a young girl. Long white hair, mismatched red and blue eyes, and a cute white and red dress.

The girl was standing behind a small shop stall selling trinkets. There was another girl with her, one with short red hair, blue overalls, and also mismatched red and blue eyes, although the shades were a bit different.

The second girl looked up at Lili and then shyly looked away immediately after.

Supervising the two girls was a beautiful woman with long blue hair tied in a braided ponytail. Wearing a pure white dress, and with the serene aura around her, she seemed to be a goddess.

Except, she didn't have the distinctive atmosphere that all gods had, so it seemed like she wasn't.

Even so, that woman wasn't just some pretty face.

Although she was smiling and acting all refined, Lili could tell that the woman was strong. Those emerald green eyes staring at Lili were definitely sizing Lili up.

"Miss!" The first girl waved and said, "I heard you say you had bad luck, right? My Daddy has that a lot too, so this should help you!" After saying that, the white-haired young girl held out a small box to Lili.

Lili blinked and slowly walked over. "Um... Lili was just talking to herself."

The young girl nodded and said, "Daddy does that too!" She smiled and said, "So Miss should definitely take this! Since you're like Daddy, it should help a lot!"

A pure and innocent expression. Nothing but goodwill and happiness.

Lili didn't want to be a bother to someone like that or get her wrapped up in any trouble, so she considered just walking away.

But then she got a closer look at the trinkets on the table.

They were haphazardly made items. Misshapen rings, clumsily woven cloth bracelets... the sort of crafts you would expect from children.

But the *materials* those trinkets were made from...

Lili wasn't an appraiser, but she had a good eye.

That ring there... it was made from Dir Adamantite. And that little marble... it was definitely Oricalchum. The shimmering pendant there... wasn't that a blood onyx?

Lili gulped at the sudden realization that what she dismissed as pile of trinkets were probably worth more than what she had made in the past six months risking her life.

And as she had that realization, she had a sudden urge to test her luck-

Only to feel a sharp gaze on her. That woman with light-blue hair.

Lili looked over to see the woman smiling at her. A casual, genial smile. And the woman was standing casually as well, arms crossed and patiently waiting.

But Lili could see it. A faint gleam of a barely visible crystal arrow pointed at Lili's head. Something out of eyesight for the two young girls, but one that anybody in front of them could see.

"Miss?"

The first young girl tilted her head, confused. "Do you... not want it?"

Lili shook her head and smiled. "Lili will take it. Thank you."

"Great!" The young girl handed the box over and let out a bright smile. "Then, be safe! Oh! And if you need a party to go in the dungeon, I think Daddy is looking for more people soon! So if you're still lonely, come back here tomorrow and I'll introduce you, okay?"

Lili eyed the blue-haired woman before giving a slow nod. "Lili will think of it. Thank you."

With that, she made a quick retreat, mixing back in with the crowd-

Wait.

Lili hadn't noticed it since it was so sudden and strange, but now that she thought about it, wasn't it weird that it had been so quiet around that stall? The girls were cute, the trinkets were incredible, and that woman was divine beauty in mortal form, so there should have been more of a commotion...

Just to check, Lili glanced back only to see that there wasn't a stall there at all. Where the girls had been, only a blank wall was-

No. If she watched the crowd closely, the people were subtly moving around it, politely nudged out of the way of where the stall should be.

Lili immediately looked away and kept walking.

"Don't think too deep about it, Lili..."

She gulped and then resisted the urge to tremble.

Trouble. That was definitely trouble. She didn't know if those two were really kids, but if they were, then they were the kids of some incredible adventurers that Lili didn't want to get involved with.

"...What did she give Lili anyway?"

She was still holding the box, so it was definitely real. But...

Lili stared at the box, hesitating. 'Should I open it?'

Her mind was telling her it was trouble. But her intuition said it was money. And weighing the two...

"...It shouldn't be that dangerous."

...Lili decided to open the box. And when she did...

"...Eh?"

[Fina's Delivery Service, activated!]

A cute voice echoed in Lili's head. But not just that. The moment the voice finished talking, something else appeared. A flurry of glowing messages floating in thin air, along with a transparent store shelf.

[Being an adventurer is dangerous, so my friend Pyrrha and I made a useful store! As long as you have the ring, you can use our shop wherever you are, even in the dungeon! We don't have a lot yet, but we're working hard to practice and make useful things!]

[Here's what we have right now and our prices!]

> Blocky Silver Ring - 100 valis

> Pointy Hot Sword - 1000 valis

> Pretty Auntie's Healing Potion - 250 valis

> Glittery Bang Swoosh ring - 100 valis

.

.

.

"...Am I dreaming?" Lili tilted her head and muttered, "...Lili must be dreaming. Something like this can't be real, can it?"

xxx

"Wow!" Fina tapped at the glowing window in front of her and said, "Miss Lili's buying a lot already!"

Pyrrha leaned over and said, "I-Is she? Then... did we make something good?"

"Mmhm!" Fina nodded and said, "It's just like that blonde mister said! People really like convenient things! And magic is really convenient! Now..." Fina reached into thin air, her arm vanishing for a moment before popping back with a small bag of coins. "We have spending money!" She turned towards Artemis and said, "Can we go shopping now, Auntie Artemis? There aren't many customers anyway, right?"

Artemis smiled, subtly adjusting the invisible barrier repelling people around the girls' tiny shop stall. "Just a bit longer. Your mother should be here soon..."

"Sweetie!" Hestia smiled as she walked over, carrying an armful of crepes. "Did you sell anything?"

Fina nodded and held up her bag of coins. "Mmhm! A lonely big sister bought a lot from us, so we can pay rent!"

Hestia's smile froze and then she let out a deep sigh. "...Dammit, Bell. Stop teaching our kid weird things..."

"What weird things, Mommy?"

"Nothing, Sweetie." Hestia patted Fina's head before looking at Pyrrha and Artemis. Smiling again, she said, "Now then, let's go have fun at Monsterphilia!"

xxx

In the sewers beneath Orario, a masked man held up a vial of glittering orange liquid.

Enyo tilted his head and said, "...It's a pity that Freya realized the charm Ishtar placed on Ganesha, but this should still work."

He tilted the vial to the side, causing a tiny white jewel with what looked like a fetus inside of it to become visible from within the liquid. "I'll have to have Filvus suggest it to that alchemist later to make things more interesting. But for now..." Enyo tossed the vial into the sewer water, watching as it shattered, the contents completely dissolving away into the sewage.

Beneath his mask, Enyo grinned and said, "Now to just wait as the seeds of the first Orgia sprout..."

xxx

I paused in the middle of chomping down on a footlong sandwich.

Welf looked over at me and said, "Something wrong, Bro?"

"...Yes." I took the bite from my sandwich and chewed it before swallowing. After that, I frowned and said, "And I don't know what... You haven't gone out of your way to make anything crazy recently, have you?"

"...No?"

"...Hm." I set my sandwich down and said, "...Then why do I feel like someone I know just opened Pandora's box?"

xxx

"Achoo!" Fina sniffed and then wiped her nose.

Hestia frowned and said, "Are you okay, Sweetie?"

"Mmhm!" Fina nodded and said, "I'm fine, Mommy! I think Daddy's just talking about me- Oh! It's Auntie Freya! Hi Auntie!"

"My. What a coincidence."

Freya made her way through the crowd, tugging along a small figure behind her.

One who made Hestia freeze in place.

Bellatrix peeked out from behind Freya and gave a shy wave. "H-Hi."

xxx

"...Ryuu. Pour me another."

Ryuu tilted her head and said, "...That is your tenth one, Bell."

"And I'm feeling that I'll need a dozen more to deal with whatever the day's throwing at me, so if you would be so kind..."