***

It was afternoon, nearing night.

Sitting at the table with Eileen and Araceli, Theodore saw Nevih, Reiner, and Zakadon return from their search for a healer which took almost a full day for some reasons.

Before Theodore could say anything, Reiner suddenly spoke up.

"Hasn't it been well over an hour?" 

Briefly glancing at him, Theodore answered. "I bought the whole restaurant. Now go take a seat quick, we're having a meeting right now."

While Zak and Nevih immediately got to their seat as soon as Theodore said that, Reiner stood on his spot, baffled about what Theodore had just said.

"M- Master Aryl, you bought the whole thing? H- How much did it cost?"

"About 2 Platinums with a couple of Golds sprinkled in there for insurance cost. Why does it matter though?"

"No way... are you possessed?" 

Before Theodore could retort to Reiner's words, Celi suddenly spoke up.

"Reiner, get to your seat. I know that Aryl spending money instead of being stingy is a foreign concept to you but the meeting is more important."

'Seriously, do they think that I'm incapable of spending money or something?' Theodore thought.

Stopping the irritation from showing on his face, Theodore waited for Reiner to take his seat before finally beginning the meeting.

"Alright, now for our party's first strategy meeting. First, you will now instead have 3 days of rest, for you have to carry out a job tomorrow."

Seeing that everyone was nodding and not daring to say anything, Theodore smiled in satisfaction.

'Good. Seems like everyone's upholding the only rule.'

He then continued. "Second, I'll tell you about the content of the job."

Taking in a deep breath, he shouted. "Sunyhyx! Come here!"

A few seconds after Theodore let out his shout, the mustache man from before came out of the kitchen.

"This is Sunyhyx, the chef of the restaurant. Now, although I've bought this place from him, he must still work here for at least tomorrow. So he'll choose 2 of you to be his assistant." Theodore said as he gestured for Sunyhyx to choose.

Twirling his mustache, Sunyhyx marched toward the rest of Theodore's party members with a confident gait.

"Hmm... the Orc's out."

"Kurghhh... of course..."

Moving on from Zak, he scrutinized Eileen's face.

"The Elf's good. She's in."

"Hey! I'm not doing anything without my Zak—"

"Eileen, listen to him. This is an order."

Hearing Theodore's words, Eileen pouted and leaned back on her chair as she crossed her arm together.

Sunyhyx shook his head bitterly then stared at Reiner and Nevih. "These two are out also."

Reiner sighed in relief upon hearing this.

Nevih, however, shouted in dissatisfaction.

"What did you say!? How dare you exclude the Hero of Storms fro—"

"Nevih, if you keep talking then I'll rip your throat out and stuff it up your ass instead of your mouth." Theodore glared.

Chuckling at Nevih's horrified face, Sunyhyx then turned toward the only person left. "The Phoenix's decent enough."

"Alright, thanks Sunyhyx." Theodore clapped to garner everyone's attention. "For the rest of you that didn't get to be Sunyhyx's assistant, your job is simple."

"...And what might that be?" Reiner asked with concern in his eyes.

Grinning, Theodore took out a few pieces of paper and handed it to everyone.

"Meet the heroines."

***

Zakadon walked in the streets, trying to hide his bulky body under a dark cloak. Judging by the fact that everyone was staring at him as they walked by, it seemed that his efforts were futile.

‘Kurghhh… what do I need to do again?’ He scratched the back of his head as he tried to recall what Aryl told him.

Eventually, his face lit up as he remembered what to do. However, he soon grimaced as he realized how dangerous his mission was; One wrong step and he would be as good as dead.

‘Kurghhh… no! I am a warrior! I’m not afraid of death!’

And with those thoughts of self-encouragement, he waited at the corner of the street for his targets to come.

…

After a few minutes of waiting, Zakadon saw 3 figures that stood out a lot on the busy streets of Pyriaville.

One was a girl with flaming red hair and vermillion eyes, the other was a girl with silver hair and red eyes that looked like rubies.

His gaze then drifted toward the girl who was walking right behind them; She also has silver hair, but her eyes were light-blue.

‘Kurghhh… they are my targets…!’

But as Zakadon was about to approach them, he suddenly halted his steps and reconsidered if he actually wanted to go through with this or not.

After all, his targets were Eleanor Salvant, Ria Pyrian, and Sylvia Ecertold; Three very politically influential figures. Thus, a fate worse than death would await him if he messed up.

Zakadon looked around nervously and ultimately decided to carry on with his mission, praying that the shadow guards of these girls wouldn’t attack him as soon as he stepped out.

“Kurrghhh… stop!” 

His shout was redundant, however, as his burly body had blocked his targets’ path as soon as he stood in front of him.

Crossing her arms and frowning, Ria - the red-haired Phoenix gazed up at Zakadon's face.

“An Orc? What is an Orc doing here?”

“Kurghh… what I am doing here is not of your concerns.”

“Oh?” Ria raised an eyebrow, amused. “Being disrespectful to me in this territory? Since it looks like this is your first time here, I’ll inform you of something important. I am Ria Pyrian, daughter of…”

Zakadon sighed and ignored Ria just like Aryl had instructed him to do.

‘Kurghhh… Aryl was right. She’s as annoying as Nevih.’

And with that thought, he turned toward Eleanor who was looking at the whole situation with a bored look on her face.

“Kurghhh… Imperial princess…”

“Yes?”

“Can you please… not go to the restaurant?”

Instantly, the atmosphere around Eleanor changed as Light mana suddenly surged around her.

Staring at Zakadon with eyes that bore a little bit of rage now, Eleanor spoke, voice hard.

“Do you know what you’re requesting of the Imperial princess?”

In response, Zakadon reached into his Space pouch and took out the brooch that Aryl handed him earlier.

Staring at the brooch with a blank look on her face for a few seconds, Eleanor sighed and muttered.

“So it’s him, huh?”

She then turned her attention toward Zakadon again.

“Orc, did the person who gave you this give you any instructions?”

“Kurghh yes. She told me to give you this piece of paper.” 

Receiving the paper and reading its contents, Eleanor rolled her eyes and grabbed Ria’s hand. 

“Ria, let’s go. I need your help with something."

“Huh? Aren’t we going to dinner with Arthur though?” Ria said in a confused voice.

“...This is more important than the dinner. Let’s go!”

As she was about to leave with Ria, however, Sylvia suddenly spoke up.

“Do you need my help too?”

“No.” Eleanor shook her head. “You just keep going to the restaurant. And remember—”

Her voice then turned serious. “—Make sure you get there at all costs.”

Staring at the departing figure of Eleanor and Ria for a while, Sylvia turned around, bowed to Zakadon, and then continued walking toward the restaurant.

“Kurghh… mission completed…?”

***

Nevih stared at the four people in front of him with his eyes wide open.

One was a girl with brown hair and green eyes, the other was another girl who had blonde hair and blue eyes, and she was no less beautiful.

Nevih then drifted his gaze to the left, where a boy his age with brown hair and eyes stood. Right next to him was a little girl who had pink hair and blue eyes.

The little girl and the brown-haired boy aside, Nevih thought that everyone here was extremely attractive.

‘That green-eyed girl must be Saintess Amelia, and that blonde girl must be lady Krista Nightshade! They are truly worthy of being Saintess Aryl’s acquaintance!’

And…

‘They are also worthy of being in my future harem!’ Nevih thought while giggling like a creep.

Getting very uncomfortable with this situation, Amelia slowly spoke up.

“Umm excuse me, you’ve been blocking our path for a full minute now. What do you want from us?”

“Don’t waste your time with him, Amelia.” Raun suddenly spoke up. “He’s probably trying to steal you from me. But worry not, for I am here!”

Hearing Raun’s words, Nevih woke up from his delusion and reprimanded himself inwardly.

‘Get a hold of yourself! You have to carry out Saintess Aryl’s order first. Gathering members for your harem comes later!’

And with that thought, Nevih turned his attention toward Amelia again. This time, with a serious expression on his face.

“The Saintess of Storms Aryl I told me to send you this letter.”

“Aryl…? That name sounds vaguely familiar…” Amelia muttered as she received the letter and read it.

Seeing that Amelia was staring at the letter with wide eyes, Raun hurriedly asked. 

“Amelia, are you okay? That bastard just gave you a love letter, didn’t he? As expected, I should have k—”

Before Raun could finish his sentence, Amelia used her hand to cover his mouth and shushed him.

“Shut up for a second.”

Nevih flinched in fear despite that sentence not being directed at him.

'Y- Yea... she's really Saintess Aryl's acquaintance...'

After reading through the letter again, Amelia called Krista and Alicia over and showed it to them.

“What do you think we should do?” Amelia asked as soon as they finished reading the letter.

“Isn’t it obvious? We should do what brother want.” Krista answered immediately. 

Alicia, on the other hand, merely shrugged her shoulders. “Do what you want. As long as I don’t have to do anything exhausting, I’m fine with it.”

Nodding, Amelia turned toward Raun and tried to pull him away. 

“Let’s go. We have some urgent things to do.”

“But what about dinner?”

“It can wait for later.”

“But I’m starving!” Raun said as he stood his ground, not letting Amelia drag him away.

Amelia was at a loss on what to do. She had never expected Raun to be this adamant about dinner.

As she was about to just call the whole plan off and apologize to Theodore later, however, she suddenly saw Krista clinging onto Nevih’s arm.

“Oh my, what a handsome guy. I might just ditch Raun for you.”

“Wh- What?” Nevih’s face was flushed red. Although he wanted a harem full of beautiful girls, he never actually had any experience with girls before.

‘Th- There were only old fogeys in the main basilica of Storms! Wh- What am I supposed to do!?’

In contrast to Nevih’s confusion, however, Amelia grinned as she knew what Krista was trying to do. Thus, she also clung to Nevih’s other arm.

“I agree with Krista. The more I look at this guy, the uglier our Raun looks.”

She then dragged Nevih away from the direction of the restaurant along with Krista.

Raun, now waking up from his stupor, shouted as he chased after them. 

“WAIT! YOU BASTARD! GIVE ME MY GIRLFRIENDS BACK!”

Now left alone behind, Alicia sighed.

“Amelia’s there so Krista shouldn’t get herself into much trouble… guess I’ll go back to the hotel then.”

***

Reiner's mission was a walk in the park compared to Nevih and Zakadon's tasks.

“Candy, you want?” He said as he held a candy in front of a girl with black hair and blood-red eyes.

The girl, Lucy Fertilus, a grand duke's daughter, who also happened to be his target, nodded fervently. 

“Yes!” 

“Okay then, follow me into this… dark alleyway that is... completely devoid of people."

Surprisingly enough, Lucy followed Reiner into the alleyway without asking any questions.

‘Why do I feel like a criminal now?’ Reiner sighed as he started to regret all of his life decisions up until now.

***

"They have must have finished their job by now..." Theodore muttered as he waited for his target: Arthur and Marie.

And he didn't need to wait for long, as he soon saw a familiar golden-eyed pushover and green-haired Elf walking down the road alongside each other.

Grinning, he used [B - Ash veil] to create several humanoid figures. He then lightly tapped the brown grimoire on his waist to give them the outer appearance of Arthur. He set another figure made of Ash aside and gave it his appearance using the grimoire.

"Hmmm... something's not right..." Theodore muttered as he scrutinized the lump of Ash.

Eventually, he realized what was missing.

"Right, I forgot to give it a few mortal wounds." He said as he gave the Ash a few realistic-looking wounds.

With the preparations now completed, he sent the lump of Ash that had the appearance of himself to right in front of Arthur.

"Th- Theodore?" Arthur stared at the figure before him in disbelief. "What are you doing here? I thought you didn't want to go to the beach? No! More importantly, why are you wounded!?"

In response, the lump of Ash turned toward the direction of the restaurant and began running toward it.

Arthur, being the pushover that he was, couldn't leave his rival alone! Especially not when he could clearly see him being mortally wounded like that!

"Marie!" Arthur shouted. "Meet me at the restaurant later. I have to help Theodore!"

"Arthur wait! I will help too—"

Before Marie could finish her sentence, waves of Ashes suddenly revolved around her, blocking her entire vision.

"Wh- What is this?" 

But upon regaining her calm, Marie took a deep breath and moved the Wind mana around her.

<[Gust]>

Instantly, the Ashes dispersed as they were carried away by the gentle gust of wind.

Scanning around frantically, Marie widened her eyes in surprise upon seeing that... there were several Arthurs now, and they were all moving in different directions.

"Shit! Who's messing with us!?"

Gritting her teeth in anger, Marie decided to chase after all the Arthur clones, one at a time.

"I swear if I ever find the culprit, I will rip his throat out and feed it to the dogs!"

...

A few seconds after Marie left, a figure emerged from the dark alleyway nearby. And of course, the figure was Theodore himself.

"Too bad you'll never know that it was I who did it." He grinned mockingly.

With his job now done, Theodore decided to take it upon himself to patrol around the perimeter of the restaurant. 

"Reiner, Zak, and Nevih have already completed their tasks..." he muttered. "...I'm doing this just to be safe. But there shouldn't be any variables left that threaten to ruin my plans."

...Or so he thought.

***

"...And that's how you feel Lightning mana. Did you get all that, adorable little dragon?" Lyn chuckled as she patted Glacia's head.

Currently, she was inside the private training room of the hotel Sylvia was in, teaching Glacia Lightning magic.

"Nn! I got it!" Glacia exclaimed as she smiled widely.

"Okay. But still, I'll demonstrate just to be extra sure!"

With those words, Lyn conjured a [Lighting bolt] and shot it to the other side of the room.

The [Lightning bolt] flew through the droplets of rain, its power depleting every inches it traveled. However, it still managed to reach the other side of the wide training room and charred a part of the wall black.

"Sylvia's artificial rain is not as conductive as natural rain..." Lyn muttered. "...But at least it works."

She then turned her attention toward Glacia again. "You see how I moved the Lightning mana?"

"Nn!"

"Okay. Now try moving it the way I did."

Nodding, Glacia closed her eyes in concentration and tried to will the Mana around her. After a few minutes of doing so, she suddenly shot her eyes wide open and looked straight into thin air with an excited smile.

"Elektra! You're back! Want to play with me?"

Staring into empty space for a few more seconds, Glacia then exclaimed. "Yay! Let's go find mommy!"

'Imaginary friend? She reminds me of myself when I was little...' Lyn thought as she watched Glacia talking to absolutely no one.

'...I should play along with her for a little bit.'

Thus, Lyn crouched down and asked. "Finding your mother? That's nice. But how are you and ermm... Elektra going to do it?"

Smiling brightly, Glacia answered.

"By smelling mommy's Mana! Elektra, Zap!"

Bzzzzzzzzt—!

As purple electricity crackled around her, Glacia suddenly turned into a bolt of Lightning and disappeared from her spot.

"WHAT?" Lyn stared at where Glacia once was in disbelief.

Despite Glacia not knowing how to feel Lightning mana mere minutes ago, she could already use Lightning spells now.

'And she used [Lightning dash] at that...'

Lyn gulped a mouthful of saliva as she stared at the trail of charred ground which extended all the way into the streets.

"As expected of Theodore's daughter!"

Lyn was so busy fantasizing about Theodore, Sylvia, and Glacia that she forgot she was supposed to look after Glacia today.

"This should make a great fanfic! Hehe... I should make a Theodore fanclub when I get back to Avaron~"