Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka - Volume 7 CHAPTER 3 AGONYOF THE FOX AND THE RABBIT

“So? Let’s hear it.”
I had been told to take a seat.
The goddess towers over me, arms crossed in front of her chest.
I finally made it back to Hestia Familia’s home, Hearthstone Manor. Everyone has gathered in the
living room.
Quite a bit happened after I left the Pleasure Quarter. As a result, I didn’t get back here until early
morning.
I tried to sneak in as quietly as I could, but it was no use. The goddess captured me right away and thus
started the interrogation.
“Spent the night in the Pleasure Quarter, did you~~? So now, Bell, what do you have to say for
yourself, huh~~?”
She figured out that I’d spent the night at a brothel before I could deny it.
With that sweet musky smell all over my body, I’m sure it was obvious. She’s looking at me like I’m
the scum of the earth. Tears won’t stop leaking out of my eyes.
She worked late into the night last night; no one was here when she came home. Then once Welf and
the others got back, someone was missing. She feared the worst for hours and hours, and then I showed up
smelling like this. Of course she’s angry with me. I can’t blame her twin black ponytails for flexing
toward the ceiling.
What’s worse is that Lilly’s standing right next to the goddess, with an equally scary look on her face.
Welf sighs a little ways away. Mikoto is so anxious I can feel it from here.
“L-L-Lady Hestia, I am at fault for everything that transpired. Please be merciful with Sir Bell…!”
“Mikoto, be quiet.”
The goddess shut down Mikoto’s attempt to protect me without even looking at her.
Lilly knows the full story of what happened in the Pleasure Quarter, and she’s fuming—which means
all of them think I was doing that late into the night just because I smell like the working ladies.
“So thennn…you slept with one of the prostitutes, did you~~?”
“N-no!”
I vigorously shake my head left and right, desperately trying to convince my goddess that I’m innocent,
and try to ignore her terrifying tone. I’ve never heard anything like it.
“I-I didn’t sleep with anyone, nor do I want to! This is all a big misunderstanding!”
“So, if that’s the case, whyyyyy was Mr. Bell out all night?”
Now Lilly’s using it, too?! They both have the wrong idea! How am I supposed to convince them?!
I can’t exactly tell every detail of what happened in the Pleasure Quarter. Same thing goes for the fact
that I got lost on Daedalus Street on the way home after Haruhime led me out of the red-light district.
The only option left is to earnestly deny everything at once.
“Wh-what I’m trying to say is, I didn’t do anything like that with anyone!”
“Is that sooo?”

The goddess narrows her eyes at me. Lilly must be on the same mental wavelength because she
chooses that moment to hold up a small bottle.
“Then you mind explaining this?”
The goddess takes the bottle from Lilly and thrusts it in front of my face. It’s a clear glass bottle about
the size of a chess piece, filled with red liquid—an aphrodisiac.
Lord Hermesssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!
My soul screams in anguish.
That damn bottle has gotten me into so much trouble since last night. I can still see that dandy smile of
his in the back of my mind. But now it feels more like a plague than anything else.
I want to tell Lady Hestia everything about how that bottle came into my possession.
However, “I’d like you to keep the fact I was here a secret between us. Agreed?” I can still hear his
voice in my head.
I don’t have the courage to break a direct promise with a god.
No matter what anyone says, the gods need to be respected and their orders obeyed.
I’m trapped between the promise and Lady Hestia’s icy death stare. CRICK! My head slumps like a
puppet whose strings have just been cut.
“…How should we proceed, Lady Hestia?”
Lilly looks away from the pitiful pile of human flesh I’ve become and turns to face the goddess.
“…No one can lie to a god. Bell is telling the truth.”
Lady Hestia pauses for a few excruciatingly long moments before saying that and letting out a long,
deep sigh.
Relief rushes through me. I look up at her, my face filled with joy for the fact that my pleas had
reached her. However, those angry eyes reappear almost immediately.
“However, I cannot forgive you for spending the night in the Pleasure Quarter! I can’t forgive the fact
you’ve even shown interest in that wretched place!”
Fixing my posture, I want nothing more than to quell the anger pouring out of her, convince her it’s all
a big mistake.
But those icy, sharp eyes won’t let me speak. The words evaporate from my mind as I hunch back
toward the floor.
“You will spend the day serving a punishment as I see fit. That will give you enough time to think
about what you’ve done. Well?”
“Yes…”
That’s the only word that can slip through my dry throat.
I caused a major incident in the Pleasure Quarter, the territory of another familia. I made us look bad.
I’m the leader; this familia’s reputation is based on my actions. The goddess’s hands are tied—it would
look bad in front of the other members if she didn’t punish me.
Her role as head of the familia complete, she turns and exits the living room, leaving behind the
pulsing aura of anger in her wake. Lilly follows suit.
“My most sincere apologies, Sir Bell…”
It’s finally over. I’ve been sitting in this position so long that my legs are completely numb. I try to
move, but the pins and needles force me back to the floor. More blood fills my legs as Mikoto walks over
to me.
I tell her not to worry, that it was all my fault because I was the one who followed her. “You don’t
have to apologize,” I say, forcing a smile.
“You really okay? You had us worried.”

Welf walks over to me with a grimace on his face.
After we were separated last night, they apparently heard that a group of Lady Ishtar’s Amazons was
chasing a rabbit. In fact, they almost got caught up in it after my pursuers lost sight of me at one point.
They had no way of knowing and retreated before the Amazons saw them.
I made everyone worry…I can’t express how sorry I am about that.
“Don’t think I have to tell you, but listen to Lady Hestia. Don’t go back.”
“…”
“You saw something you wish you hadn’t, right?”
I break eye contact with Welf and look at the floor.
That’s right—Haruhime……
“…Oh yeah, Mikoto, why did you and Chigusa go to the Pleasure Quarter in the first place?”
Desperate to change the subject, I turn to face Mikoto and ask her.
She explains everything to me.
“We heard there was a prostitute residing in the Pleasure Quarter who resembled someone from my
homeland…We went there to look for her.”
The moment she says this person had been missing for years, my eyes shoot open.
No way…The dots start connecting in my head.
Both Haruhime and Mikoto are from the Far East.
“Hey, Be-ell!! I haven’t got all day!”
My train of thought is derailed by the goddess’s angry voice calling me from outside the living room.
I force myself up toward her voice. This must be how little kids feel when parents pull them away
from something interesting.

My punishment turned out to be community service.
Basically, I go around the area, greeting everyone I meet and helping anyone who needs it.
I say my name and familia, then assist with any odd jobs waiting to be done or try to solve their
problems.
“Sorry for the trouble, Little Rookie! Couldn’t have done it without you!”
“My pleasure!”
Sweeping the backstreets, replacing magic stones in the lamps, carrying boxes…A friendly middle-age
man thanked me for everything as I set off to find more people.
It’s important for familias—which are composed of people from different countries and cities—to
present a friendly image to our neighbors. And at the very least, they get to know our faces and think of
our goddess in a good light. Being accepted into the community is the first step to adjusting to our new
home.
We’ve had our hands full just living our lives until recently…But Hestia’s own words, “Love thy
Gekai neighbor,” describe her extremely well.
This punishment is probably her way of getting all that off to a good start.
“It’s the Li’l Looky!”
“Oh wow, he is!”
I make my way down a street with my arms full of plywood when a little boy and a little girl point at
me.
Who would have thought the War Game would have this much impact? Two kids remembered my title!

Their eyes are sparkling with wonder and admiration.
This is awesome…! How should I respond, though?
I’ve been working really hard all morning. My limbs are tired and covered in sweat, but I do my best
to wave back at them.
“He’s all shaky.”
“So weak!”
I never knew innocent words could be so merciless. The smile dissolves from my lips.
I’m not out fulfilling a quest right now. My Level 3 Strength is being used on errands and repair jobs
for free. Those kids may be right…
I greet person after person, do job after job, and wind up on West Main Street before I know it.
“Whitey, do your best for us, meow!”
“Sorry about this, Mr. Adventurer!”
The cat person Ahnya grabs my attention as I pass in front of The Benevolent Mistress. She asks for
my help to repair the leaky roof of a nearby building.
Ahnya and one of her human coworkers, Runoa, call out to me as I ascend a ladder to the problem
area.
At this rate, should I just start my own business…?
“This is saving us a whole lot of time, Mr. Adventurer!”
“Once you’re done with that, meow, I’ll give you my panties as a thank-you, meow!”
“Keep them!”
Another cat person, Chloe, appears next to Runoa. My face turns beet red as I yell back to her.
The three of them look up at me from the street level. A fourth person, the elf Lyu, walks up behind
them and slaps them all across the backs of the heads with one swift motion. “““UGGHA!””” All of them
wince in unison.
Breaking out in a cold sweat, I set to work. The first thing I have to do is pry up the rotting wood with
the back of a hammer and then slide in fresh plywood before nailing it all into place.
Haven’t done anything like this since I lived with Gramps! These skills are finally coming in handy. I
admire my work for a moment before descending the ladder. Lyu and Syr, another waitress at The
Benevolent Mistress, are there waiting for me.
“Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Cranell. I apologize on behalf of my colleagues.”
“Taking time away from your busy schedule to fix our roof…Sorry, Bell.”
“Ah, it was nothing.”
I give a light bow. They’ve helped me out so much in the past, I really can’t complain.
Lyu’s sky-blue eyes slowly blink as she returns the gesture. Syr’s blue-gray hair swishes when she
smiles back at me.
“You’ve become quite the household name, Bell.”
“Do you really think so?”
“Yes. Adventurers, regular customers—everyone’s talking about you.”
Syr tells me that I’m becoming very popular.
In fact, there hasn’t been a day since the War Game that my name hasn’t come up at some point at their
bar.
A few people recognized me after I ranked up to Level 2, but nothing like this…Those kids from
before…now I find out people are talking about me over beers? It almost doesn’t feel real.
I scratch my chin and look away from her. She’s giggling at me, too.
“Mr. Cranell, please have lunch at our café.”

“Are…are you sure?”
Lyu waited for a break in our conversation to invite me to The Benevolent Mistress. This is too good
to be true.
“Yes. You repaired our roof, so I’m sure that Mama Mia will allow—”
Lyu suddenly stops speaking.
She’s standing about an arm’s length away from me, but she takes a step back and tilts her head to the
side.
“I know this, but where…?” Her eyes narrow as those words quietly roll off her tongue. Syr must’ve
noticed something was strange, too, and takes another step closer.
She leans in real close. I can feel my cheeks burning again. Her nose flares open as she takes a big
whiff of my shirt.
“This smell…”
With those words, my face instantly goes from burning hot to ice-cold.
A smell on my body—a shower, fresh clothes, and a morning of hard work didn’t get rid of the musk
from last night?!
“S-sorry, forget about lunch! We—we have something else to attend to!”
Their backs were already turned before they started speaking. The two girls make leaping steps past
the other waitresses.
I turn to leave, but I can feel Chloe’s sad eyes boring into me. It’s time for a quick exit.
“…Haaa~.”
I could’ve had a nice lunch, but instead I run away rather than try to clear my name. Pitiful, absolutely
pitiful.
I join the flow of demi-humans traveling down West Main Street underneath the clear blue sky.
I didn’t think I’d have to skip lunch as part of my punishment…but I’d forgotten all about the Pleasure
Quarter while doing my volunteer work. Haruhime was finally out of my head, but everything came
flooding back when the girls noticed that smell. Now I’m just depressed.
There hasn’t been a chance to get any of this off my chest, and now the weight is back. If only I had
someone to talk to.
I keep putting one foot in front of the other, afraid that I’ll drown in this whirlpool of dark emotion if I
stop moving.
Absentmindedly drifting down West Main—Adventurers Way—my ears only vaguely notice the noon
bells in the distance. The flow of traffic guides me into Guild Headquarters.
“Oh, Bell.”
Eina sees me from her spot behind the reception counter the moment I walk to the main doors of the
mostly empty Pantheon.
She’ll listen to me. She’s always had advice for me and never let me down. I’ve gotten this far
because of her.
But what can she do? I ask myself as I drift forward. The Guild knows what’s going on in that
district…It’d probably just cause more problems when all is said and done.
Is this really a good idea? My feet come to a stop in the middle of the lobby. Eina’s still looking at me
from behind the counter.
She stands up, says a few words to some coworkers, and walks out to greet me.
Coming right up to me, she doesn’t wait for any “hellos” and says:
“Shall we go to a consultation box?”
Right away.

“Ummm…”
I stutter, but she just smiles back at me.
“You’ve got something on your mind, something important? I can tell.”
She says it’s written all over my face.
Her soft emerald-green gaze meets mine through her glasses.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Come to me for advice on anything. I’m your adviser, it’s my
job.”
A sudden candlelight flickers within me.
That’s when I know I should talk with her. Eina has always been kind; she’ll guide me through this.
She’s offering me help before I’ve even explained what’s going on. I’d have to be an idiot to refuse.
There she is, smiling and waiting patiently for my response. I give her a big nod.
I’ll trust her!

“A brothellll?”
The smile from a moment ago has disappeared, replaced by a stare of contempt.
I knew it…I admit to myself, crying on the inside.
We’re inside the consultation box. This place is soundproof so that adventurers and their advisers can
discuss matters without worrying about being overheard. So with that in mind, I started talking about what
happened in the Pleasure Quarter…The moment the word brothel came up, Eina’s demeanor went cold
real quick.
Her perfectly trimmed, thin eyebrows stand on end as anger blasts from her eyes.
The lenses of her glasses flare from the other side of the desk between us before she stands up. SLIDE.
Her chair slips backward across the marble floor.
“So you’re saying that you spent the night with one of those women?!”
“N-n-n-n-n-n-no! Not at all!”
She accuses me with veins pulsing in her red face.
I don’t know if it’s because she’s a half-elf, but she’s looking at me like I’m some pile of garbage. A
particularly revolting pile of garbage she’s angry with for some reason.
Coming back to herself, Eina shakes her head back and forth and looks off to the side.
“W-well, you are an adventurer and a man, after all…It’s only natural that you’d be curious about that
kind of thing at your age…But…but, to actually…”
The tips of her short elfish ears turn bright pink. Struggling to find the right words, she practically spits
them out.
“But to actually go~~?!”
She yells at me with both her eyes clenched shut.
“I forbid you to go to another brothel, ever! Understood?!”
“Eh, ah, but—”
“EV-ER!!”
“Y-YES, MISS EINA!”
She threateningly leans over the table. With nowhere to run, I desperately nod my head up and down,
completely overwhelmed.
Backing off, Eina sits back down in her chair. She’s always felt like an older sister to me, mature and
knowledgeable. But right now she’s pouting like a little girl.
Great, now someone else is mad at me. She still won’t look at me, arms crossed and ears beet red.
I really shouldn’t be asking women for advice on this sort of thing. Too late now, though.

An awkward silence continues for far too long…I feel so tiny in this chair. At long last, I work up the
courage to ask her a question.
“Um, is there anything you can tell me about Ishtar Familia…?”
She thinks that my head’s full of visions of fun nights with prostitutes. But at long last, she looks at me
from behind the side of her glasses. The anger’s still there.
Members of that familia spent most of last night chasing me through town. Whether I like it or not, I
have a history with them now and they might try to find me again. I should learn as much about them as I
can. I try my best to convey what happened last night to Eina, and that I wasn’t trying to scout for my next
“adventure.”
She watches me in silence for a few moments before letting out a light sigh.
“I’ll be back in a moment.”
She finally decides to believe me, and leaves to go get a file from her desk.
“Ishtar Familia…As you know, they’re a highly influential Dungeon-prowling familia whose territory
encompasses all of the Pleasure Quarter.”
Eina brought back a small pile of folders and thumbs through them as she speaks.
I hang on to every word she says. There’s no telling when I might need this information.
Most members of the familia are Amazons, and 90 percent of all members are female. Although they
earn a great deal of money working in the Dungeon by day, 40 percent of their income is generated from
the Pleasure Quarter in the third district of Orario.
“A group of Amazons within their ranks have become known as the Berbera. Most of them are at Level
Three, the exception being their leader, ‘Androctonus, the Man Slayer.’…Phryne Jamil is a top-class
adventurer at Level Five.”
Level 5—a cold chill runs down my spine. Memories of what I saw last night are going to give me
nightmares.
Just as I thought, Phryne is one of the elites. With that much strength and speed, how could she not be?
And her given title, Androctonus……It’s scary how much that makes sense.
“Uh…Is there any information on an Amazon named Aisha and a renart called Haruhime?”
“Actually, Aisha Belka is rather well known. While she is listed as Level Three, there are rumors that
she’s right on the cusp of Level Four. As far as Level Three is concerned, she’s the cream of the crop.”
Eina also tells me that Aisha’s title is “Antianeira.”
“As for this renart—Haruhime, was it? I’ve never heard of her. She’s not on our list, either…Most
likely, she’s a noncombatant.”
Eina runs her finger down the page in her file. I assume that’s Ishtar Familia’s roster.
A noncombatant…a member of the familia who hasn’t received a Blessing.
That makes a lot of sense. Leaving Aisha and others like her out, I get the feeling that most of Ishtar
Familia’s members are in charge of the brothels…And Haruhime was sold to them, so they do their best
to keep her true identity a secret. Her name appearing on that list would only cause trouble.
Eina asks me if I know anything and I immediately say no.
“Back to the topic of the Ishtar Familia itself, the Guild has assigned them an ‘A’ rank. They’re one of
the most powerful and influential groups in Orario.”
“…”
“They’re on the complete opposite side of the spectrum from Hestia Familia. Especially Phryne
Jamil…She once fought head-to-head against the Kenki. Miss Wallenstein was nearly defeated.”
“WHAT?!”

That little tidbit of information from Eina shakes me to my very core.
Miss Aiz—almost lost?
“You have to realize this was a few years ago. Ms. Jamil was at a higher level at the time…Ms.
Wallenstein recently surpassed her by ranking up to Level Six.”
Eina quickly tries to reassure me, but it’s too late.
Phryne is already on a plane that my idol struggled to reach…
If that’s true, then Ishtar Familia truly is among the best of the best. There’s no denying that now.
Moments pass where I have no idea what to say.
“Is everything all right?”
“O-oh, yes…I’m fine.”
Coming back to myself, Eina’s explanation takes a sudden turn.
“I don’t have all the details on what I’m about to share with you. I’ve never been in charge of any
members of that familia, but…there have been rumors that Ishtar Familia doesn’t report accurate
information to the Guild.”
“Like, hiding their real power?”
“Exactly. Several rival goddesses raised complaints against them, saying that their members fought
with strength well beyond that of their reported levels.”
I suddenly remember something that Hestia told me—that Hermes Familia had done something similar
to this, lying about their levels.
“They convinced us to take action. The Guild launched a full investigation into Ishtar Familia,
specifically pertaining to the level of the Berbera, under the threat of severe punishment. Goddess Ishtar
was forced to show us all their Statuses.”
“And……?”
“…Innocent. Not even a hint of foul play.”
The declaration blindsides me.
“Every one of them matched our records to the letter. That’s when she went on the offensive, claiming
that she had been falsely accused…She demanded the Guild be penalized and pay her a heavy fine. We
agreed to all her demands.”
“Th-they took money from the Guild…?!”
“Yes, and quite a large sum at that. All her followers’ Magic and Skills had been revealed to the
Guild, so she had a great deal of leverage…Ever since that day, we haven’t been able to take any real
action against Ishtar Familia.”
Powerful enough to take money away from the acting government of the city…? Sweat is pouring out
of my skin now.
“We were forced to level penalties against the familias that brought up the charges as well. Ishtar
Familia wiped them out in their weakened state. Their goddesses were sent back to Tenkai. All this
happened around five years ago.”
“…”
“It’s hard to explain, having watched all this happen. Everything turned out like some kind of script,
all the actors played their parts…It felt as though we were all attached to strings and Goddess Ishtar was
the puppet master.”
Eina crosses her arms, deep in thought as she tells me what she can remember from those days.
Their members’ Strength and Speed far surpass their reported levels.
A secret that even a full investigation by the Guild couldn’t uncover.
What’s Ishtar Familia got to hide?

“Bell…personally, I’m afraid of Ishtar Familia. Even without the brothel you mentioned earlier, it
would be best to avoid those women whenever possible.”
That’s a clear warning based not only on their strength as a familia but also the very real possibility
that they’re doing something shady.
Then Eina tells me that I should do everything in my power to avoid what happened with Apollo
Familia.
I sit in my chair in complete silence. Eina looks over at me like I’m about to fall over some kind of
edge.
I still see that renart’s face every time I close my eyes, but I have to say something. Since I have no
response for Eina, I ask her a question instead.
“…Eina, does the Guild know…about the Pleasure Quarter, what’s happening…?”
I have to know if what Haruhime said is true.
Eina knows immediately that I’m referring to their business practices and averts her eyes.
“…Yes. The Guild has taken a neutral stance. We know what is happening behind closed doors there
as well—but I think it would be next to impossible for us to do anything about it at this point.”
Haruhime was right.
They’re ignoring the truth in order to keep the peace.
Eina looks legitimately sad, too. The truth weighs heavily on both of us.

The city was filled with rays of afternoon sunshine.
While most adventurers were busy toiling away in the Dungeon underground, the citizens of Orario
went about their business, finished their shopping, or tried their best to kill time.
Several gods and goddesses walked among them, finding ways to entertain themselves. One deity
made a pass at an absolutely radiant elf. Meanwhile, a group of gods gulped down alcohol as they walked
around, day drinking with abandon. Yet another one was playing with a group of children, kicking a ball
back and forth. Deities were everywhere.
Orario’s Western District was a bit livelier thanks to the community service of one adventurer. One
god made his way through the busy streets, staying out of sight until he arrived at another bar.
“Little Ahnya, call Mia for me. It’s urgent.”
“Meow, Lord Hermes again, meow?”
Hermes called out to the first waitress he saw the moment he stepped through the doorway of The
Benevolent Mistress.
The catgirl reluctantly disappeared into the back of the bar. An even more annoyed female dwarf
appeared moments later.
“I’m begging you, Mia, send Lady Freya a message for me!”
“This again? Told you last time, you got legs, use ’em. I ain’t doin’ it.”
“But this time she actually might kill me!”
Mia’s rejection made Hermes become desperate.
The god was alone. Quickly weaving his way through the tables and all the way up to the kitchen
window, Hermes came close enough to the irritated dwarf to keep their conversation from being
overheard.
“You see…Bell—oh, Bell!”
“What’s happened to the lad now? You do somethin’ to ’im?”

“It’s not my fault…I was powerless, helpless…I’m not the bad guy here…!”
“Out with it already…
“Before my fist goes through yer face,” she added with a twitch of the lip. Hermes’s already pale face
went even bleaker under the incredible pressure of her sharp gaze. His mind scrambled to find the right
words and shove them out of his mouth before she made good on her promise.
“Ishtar’s got her sights set on Bell…He’s in danger on so many levels!”
Mia’s annoyance steadily became dumbfounded amazement as Hermes explained the events that
unfolded the previous night at Ishtar Familia’s home.
He revealed, under intense questioning by Ishtar, that the goddess Freya was rather taken with the boy.
“Please, Mia, send a message in my place! If I had to explain all this to Lady Freya in person…”
He could already see the look on the Goddess of Beauty’s face, a cold smile as she mouthed the words
“Death, yes.” Hermes trembled every time he closed his eyes, her locks of silver hair whipping through
his mind.
That’s when another person, a silver-haired human girl, appeared behind the terrified deity.
“How do you mean Bell is in danger, Lord Hermes?”
“UWAH?!” Hermes nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise.
He spun around and saw Syr smiling back at him.
“Earlier today, there was the faint but unmistakable smell of musk on Bell. You wouldn’t have had
anything to do with that—now would you, Lord Hermes? What’s your answer?”
“N-n-now, Syr, my dear. Don’t you know it’s wrong for a mortal girl to scare a god?”
Her lips may have been smiling, but the accusation in her eyes exerted so much pressure that the tone
of Hermes’s voice went noticeably higher.
That got the attention of the other employees. It wasn’t long before a small crowd gathered around the
kitchen window.
“HYEHE!” More questions battered the usually charming deity. Mia massaged her temple and let out a
long sigh.

It’s early evening. This sky is a beautiful shade of red as the sun sets in the west.
I did some more volunteer work after talking with Eina. But the goddess had insisted that I meet her in
front of a store at this hour.
Lilly, Welf, Mikoto, and the goddess—still wearing her Jyaga Maru Kun street-stand apron—have
gathered in front of an old door, and we go inside the rather shabby-looking bookshop.
“Hey, there! We’re here to help, as promised!”
“Ah, Hestia. You really came.”
Apparently, the goddess had made that promise a while ago.
She’d told each of us two or three times this morning to meet here, but none of us knew her plan until
now.
“You’re so famous now, you threw these old bones for a loop. Thought you’d be too busy to keep a
promise to little ol’ me.”
“Hee-hee-hee, you know how it is. But it’s too late to join now, you had your chance!”
“Ha-ha-ha, that I did. Big mistake on my part!”
This bookshop is the place where the goddess gave me her Blessing.
She took me here after we met, and I received Falna soon after. This is the birthplace of our familia.

The elderly human shop owner looks over Lady Hestia’s head and says, “Ah, been a while, Bell.” His
soft white beard dances with each word.
“Nice to see you again, too,” I respond with a short bow.
“Okay, everyone. Just like I explained this morning, we’re going to help get the storage room back into
shape. Think of this as some community service, so do your best.”
With that, we set to work.
I wonder what Haruhime’s doing right now…
I pick up the first pile of books I find in the storage room and carry it out, but my brain can’t stop
thinking about her.
We spent only a couple of hours together, but that fleeting smile of hers won’t get out of my head.
I wonder if she’s waiting for her first customer…My cheeks flush red and I shake my head back and
forth, trying to get that image out of my mind.
I sigh and go back into the first floor of the bookshop.
Welf, Lilly, and Mikoto are already inside, their backs to me as they focus on lining up books. The
goddess isn’t in here, though. My best guess is she’s probably in another room with the owner, going over
paperwork.
“…Um, Miss Mikoto.”
“What is it, Sir Bell?”
I set down the pile of books in an open spot and get Mikoto’s attention.
She turns away from the books…I have to ask her what’s been on my mind since this morning.
“Do you know a renart named Haruhime?”
“Wh-where did you hear that name?!”
Her whole body flinches for a moment before she rushes over to me.
Lilly and Welf turn to listen as I start to explain what occurred last night. How I happened to find her
in the red-light district, and how she happened to end up in Orario.
All of them listen intently to my story, but every so often I see Mikoto tremble. She straightens up each
time, regaining her composure…She has one hand across her chest, her eyes locked on the floor by the
time I finish.
“If it’s okay…Could you tell me how you and the other members of Takemikazuchi Familia know
Haruhime?”
I want to know more about her. I made my request as earnestly as possible without sounding desperate.
Mikoto stands there for a long moment, collecting her thoughts. Finally, she slowly nods.
“…I have spoken of this before, but the six of us were raised by Lord Takemikazuchi and a few other
deities in a shrine.”
Indeed, she told us that Ouka, Chigusa, and everyone else were orphans after the War Game was over.
Each of them was taken in by the shrine under different circumstances, but they lived together like one big
family.
“We traveled to Orario from the Far East for financial reasons…Our shrine was too impoverished to
support children in need.”
More orphans coming in but almost no income to help feed them. The days of living off scraps had
piled up, and something had to be done.
They met with the gods and goddesses of the shrine and made their decision. The oldest and strongest
orphans, the ones able to fight, would travel across the ocean with Lord Takemikazuchi to Orario.
This city is blessed with an unlimited resource known as the Dungeon. They would make money with
their own hands and send it back there to support their home shrine.

I’d felt like this since the first time I heard the story but…the fact that I came here just because I
wanted to meet girls makes me want to dig a hole and hide inside out of shame.
Setting aside those feelings for the moment, I can tell Mikoto is about to get to the important part, so I
focus on listening to her.
Even Welf and Lilly have stopped working and turn to listen to Mikoto’s story.
“I first met Haruhime long before the journey to Orario…About ten years have passed since then.”
Mikoto avoids making any eye contact, her gaze scanning the floor as she recounts those memories for
us.
“Our shrine was located on a mountain. Lady Haruhime’s manor was located at the foot of it. Born into
a life of luxury, she had never once left that manor. Her world was completely different from ours…but
Lord Takemikazuchi took pity on her.”
—All of you, bring her into the outside world.
It was a strange order, but Lord Takemikazuchi had given it with a childlike smile—at least that’s what
Mikoto says.
Lord Takemikazuchi is a god of war, more specifically of styles of combat. He’d been training all of
them since the day they’d arrived at the shrine, so Mikoto, Chigusa, Ouka, and the others had no trouble
sneaking into the manor and bringing Haruhime outside to play.
“So that would mean that you and Haruhime are childhood friends…?”
“Yes, it would. However, her family discovered our activities. After that day, their patrols became
more frequent and thorough…”
Being nobility, the family couldn’t let this slide. Haruhime’s father was furious with them…Luckily,
Lord Takemikazuchi stepped in and apologized on all fours, the dogeza technique, until her father agreed
to let them off easy.
“He’s very quick to apologize, for a god.” I hear Lilly’s voice come from across the room. Judging by
her tone, this is hitting her just as hard as it’s hitting Welf and me.
“We brought her outside many times. Climbing the mountain, chasing through the fields, splashing
around in the river…But it all came to an abrupt end.”
“Was that when…?”
“Yes. It came at a time when shrine donations were increasing and all of us were too busy to go to the
manor…On the night before we were planning to make our first visit in weeks, we were informed that
Haruhime had been disowned.”
She was chased out of her own home. Mikoto and the others searched for any clues as to her
whereabouts but came up empty-handed…
This probably had something to do with that prum man Haruhime told me about.
From there, she was sold and came to the continent, to Orario.
Takemikazuchi Familia arrived here about two years ago. Haruhime had already been in the city for
some time.
“My time with Lady Haruhime may have been much shorter than the years I’ve spent with Captain
Ouka and the others…but we were more than just acquaintances. I would call her my friend.”
Mikoto fell silent to signal the end of her story.
There’s a great deal of remorse in her words…I can feel her pain from here.
A heavy silence falls around us.
“…Lilly thinks this is obvious, but…”
A soft voice breaks the uneasy tranquility on the first floor of the bookshop.
Welf is leaning against a bookshelf with his arms crossed. Lilly’s standing next to him. She continues.

“Please don’t think of trying to rescue that renart.”
“!!”
“Of course. We just finished a War Game, and taking action right now would cause another one, yes?”
We put everything we had into it and somehow managed to emerge victorious, but Lilly says that all
came with a price.
Becoming famous is one thing. At the same time, however, information about us circulates much faster
than before and more people want information about us. Many familias are researching us at this very
moment.
That blast of cold truth pops the balloon of happiness that had been in my heart since those kids
recognized me this morning.
“Ishtar Familia is completely different from what Apollo Familia was. Stop to consider what it
would be like to fight their members one-on-one.”
“…!”
“As we are now, even if we manage to convince others to help us, we would be completely wiped
out.”
The difference in strength is too great. That’s exactly what Eina told me…
Lilly’s words are so direct, so powerful that I can’t string together a response. Mikoto opens and
closes her mouth many times, but she can’t say anything, either.
“Above all else, Lady Hestia would bear the largest burden. She might not realize it herself, but after
the War Game, she has territory. Other deities will want to take it from her and cast her out.”
We shouldn’t bring this to her attention. The goddess has enough to worry about as it is.
Lilly’s small rant comes to an end. Her frigid tone held nothing back.
Bringing up the goddess felt like the final lock of a straitjacket. There’s nothing I can say now.
Mikoto can’t even look at Lilly. She’s slumping over, clearly hurting.
“Hey, you don’t have to play devil’s advocate.”
Welf tapped Lilly on the back of the head a few times with the book in his right hand.
Lilly didn’t know how to react at first. But then she smacks the book away.
“L-Lilly’s no devil’s advocate!”
But she’s blushing. I watch for a moment and realize what’s going on, thanks to Welf.
Lilly was forcing herself into this role—playing the bad guy.
Doing it for our familia, for the goddess, and for us.
Mikoto’s figured it out, too. Lilly hides her face as Welf steps forward and takes on the persona of a
big brother.
“As a member of this familia, I have to agree with Li’l E. I refuse to put us in danger.
“But.” That word catches my attention. Mikoto and I immediately look up at him.
“If the two of you want to do something, I’m here to help. I’ll see it through to the end, right next to
you.”
Words of encouragement! I see Mikoto’s face light up as a new hope swells in my chest. I still can’t
form words, but for a completely different reason.
My position, my hopes, and the responsibilities that come with them.
I’m weighing all of it in my head, but it’s so heavy that I can’t move.
There’s no clear answer, but it has to be here…I open my mouth to speak when suddenly—
“HEY! Back to work! We’re not leaving here until this place is spotless!!”
The goddess came to check on us. She’s standing in the doorframe, yelling at the top of her lungs.
Our conversation comes to an immediate halt. Muscles springing back to life, all of us quickly jump

back to our stations and our hands grab the first books in sight.
“This conversation stays between us. Lady Hestia can’t know about it.”
Lilly whispers just loud enough for us to hear after Lady Hestia exits. She warns us that it would only
make the goddess worry.
All of us give her a quick nod. “And!” She locks eyes with me.
“Mr. Bell, please don’t even think about going to the Pleasure Quarter tonight! It will only cause more
problems!!”
“O-okay.”
How did she know that I wanted to go check on Haruhime? Lilly goes on to say that as long as those
Amazons have me marked as a target, going there would only put the familia in more danger. Now I really
am forced to stay.
I turn back to the bookshelf, feeling absolutely powerless. The goddess comes back into the room and
tells us to split up. Each of us is assigned to a different area.
“Sir Bell, thank you for informing me.”
“Miss Mikoto…”
Mikoto thanks me as we make our way through the hallway. I catch a glimpse of the side of her face as
we part ways. She’s usually very composed, but I can see her true feelings are threatening to spill out…
But I have a job to do right now.
I go up the stairs and into another storage room. The air is pungent with the smell of old books.
This is where it all started. The goddess gave me her Blessing in this room.
Bookcases stuffed to their limit stand in front of all four walls, and the floor is littered with piles of
books.
A new wave of emotion sweeps over me as I step inside and set to work.
“…”
My eyes are drawn to a certain book sticking out of one of the bookcases. Checking to make sure I’m
alone, I make my way over to it.
Carefully picking it up by the spine, I open it.
It’s a collection of heroic stories that I remember reading when I was young. I flip through the pages as
my eyes race across them.
There are quite a few of them in here. Memories come bubbling up as I go, until my eyes fall on a
specific picture with the passage:
“I know of the atrocities you have committed, wretched Babylon!
How many men have you ensnared and dragged down a path of darkness and pain?
Have you no shame, common whore?”
It’s a scene where the main hero rejects a confession of love from a prostitute.
The hero is standing over the lewdly clad prostitute, glaring at her.
There are piles of male corpses in an arc behind the woman. There’s no denying that the hero is in the
right.
—“Prostitutes are the ruin of heroes.”
Haruhime said that to me last night.
Yes, prostitutes are the min of heroes.
At the very least, it’s written here in this book about heroes.

This hero just happens to have experienced a lot of pain by getting involved with one.
By rejecting her, he incites her rage. She attempts to seek revenge but is slain by the hero’s hand in the
end.
Prostitutes are the objects of contempt, compassion, or empathy, perhaps, but never as someone to be
saved from their fate.
Those women have gone down an unclean path and are often the subjects of scorn and disdain.
The heroes I’ve looked up to since childhood more than likely wouldn’t try to help them.
“…No.”
It’s just as Haruhime said.
Prostitutes, who have sold their bodies and hearts for profit, would never have a hero come to their
rescue.
They wouldn’t be allowed to…stand among the heroes.
“…”
My eyes glance over the tragic story of this hero as I stand next to the bookcase.
Feelings of powerlessness and gloom grip my heart. If it was going to make me feel like this, maybe I
shouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place, shouldn’t have felt any compassion for her, shouldn’t
have learned anything.
I keep asking questions and trying to answer them inside my head, hoping that some passing thought
might solve all my problems.
But I know I don’t want to regret meeting her.
Each meeting is something special to be treasured, I’m sure of it.
“…Gramps, I…”
I replay the conversation downstairs in my mind. Things that I should do, things that I want to do. My
head heavy with words and voices, I glance outside at the twilight.
The deep red in the western sky is being overtaken by the darkness of night.

A golden-yellow moon hung high in the night sky.
Haruhime stared up at it from her place in the gallery.
She gazed at the light beaming down, tracing its path all the way to the other brothels in the red-light
district. Tonight was just as busy as last night.
Sitting next to her was a large group of humans and other demi-humans, all wearing red kimonos. The
eyes of many potential male customers passed over them.
However, on this night Haruhime sat on her knees with her back pointed straight up and her eyes
looking through the crowd of men.
—Is he there, is he there?
She was looking for the white head of the boy she met last night.
Her golden bushy tail flicked back and forth each time a new face came into view.
Last night was truly…
Fun. It was like a dream.
She hadn’t experienced anything like it since the olden days when her friends would come and take her
out of the manor in her hometown.
His kindness and warmth had had a profound effect on Haruhime.

And his ruby-red eyes were stunningly beautiful.
They were so pure she could see clear into his heart.
She couldn’t help but smile every time she remembered any one of the stories they talked about. Her
chest felt warm whenever she thought of his voice.
“Maaaster!”
One of the women seated in front of Haruhime in the lineup called out to a passing man, her lusty voice
filled with excitement.
There had once been another woman who worked alongside Haruhime who developed feelings for a
customer.
Another animal person like herself, Haruhime could still remember the triumphant look in her eyes
when she declared, “You wouldn’t understand.
“Only when you fall in love will you know.” Those were her words.
That, or something close to it, might be what she was feeling now.
It was just like those stories she’d read in her youth. A hero would suddenly appear and whisk her
away to a different world, saving her from an empty life, just like how the heroines fell for their rescuers.
If…if that boy…
The power of her imagination had deteriorated substantially since her childhood. But now it was
reinvigorated.
While few in number, she did know of a few prostitutes who had received “redemption” from an
adventurer and left the Pleasure Quarter for good.
Most of them, however, were once again alone after said adventurer failed to return from the Dungeon
and they fell on hard times…The others left Orario behind, traveling the world together as partners.
If this dream came true for her—Haruhime’s train of thought came to a crashing halt.
It was only her imagination, but she couldn’t believe that she let such a frivolous idea connect itself
with the boy.
Prostitutes didn’t deserve that kind of opportunity. She couldn’t do anything and therefore was
worthless.
But more importantly, Lady Ishtar would never let me leave.
“…”
Haruhime ran her fingers down the black collar around her throat. She let her head fall, resigning
herself to her fate.
Despite being surrounded by the other prostitutes in the vibrant Pleasure Quarter, she had never felt
more alone.
There was a great demand for them in Orario.
The fastest way for someone to earn money in the city, other than becoming an adventurer, was to sell
their body in the Pleasure Quarter. Once they had gained notoriety—by developing connections with
famous adventurers and influential familias—they could wield a bit of power.
With a strong familia in their court, Haruhime had been told, the feeling rivals that of becoming a
queen.
There are many prostitutes who heard stories of this as well and came to Orario of their own free will.
Even without a Blessing, they were able to use this power to set up their own establishments.
Just like for adventurers, becoming well known in the Labyrinth City meant that a person acquired
influence as well. The promise of power had drawn in most of the prostitutes she knew. Very few shared a
past like hers.
The only reason that she had value as a prostitute was because of her race. Renarts were extremely

rare and would attract many customers.
…I…
It might have been easier for her to scream out, “Why was I doomed to this fate?”
Or she could have directed all her anger at the prum noble who created this mess in the first place.
But she lacked the courage to scream and was too afraid to hate another person.
Haruhime knew this about herself.
“Not that face again. Flash a grin already.”
The more experienced prostitute sitting next to her quietly scolded Haruhime for looking depressed in
the lineup.
Her head and shoulders snapped up as a reflex. Her face emerged above the front row of the gallery,
revealing her to all the men standing outside the brothel that served as her prison.
She had been very proud of her golden locks as a child living in the manor. But now, they were her
least favorite feature.
Her ears and golden hair made her stick out like a sore thumb. Every one of the men standing outside
instantly looked at her.
It was the same as always.
A dreamy expression overtook a slender chienthrope when their eyes met.
Never look away from a customer, even if he’s not your type—the voice of her superior jolted through
her mind. She maintained eye contact with the dog person and did her best to make a doll-like smile.
She could see the wheels turning in his head, the courage he was trying to build up. The dog person
kept his eyes on her as he ran to the brothel entrance connected to the gallery.
That’s right, the boy was quite surprised…
Last night’s chance encounter replaying in her mind, it looked like she’d be selling herself once again
tonight.
Her face remained as emotionless as a smiling doll’s, but the other prostitutes in the lineup spotted
something interesting outside.
“Hey there, lover boy!”
“Hunky man, why don’cha call on me tonight?”
A new face had appeared just outside the wooden fence—a young human with graceful features. The
working ladies immediately greeted him with enthusiasm.
He was looking at each of the prostitutes in turn, until finally his gaze landed on Haruhime.
His eyes shot open as the young man jumped forward and clung to the wooden fence with all his might.
“Lady Haruhime?! It is I—Mikoto!”
Haruhime stopped breathing.
The voice, and the serious, straightforward look in the human’s eyes were enough to know “he” was
telling the truth.
It was her childhood friend who should be far away from here—Mikoto, disguised as a man.
Haruhime had been unable to witness the War Game because no Divine Mirrors had been opened in
the red-light district. She’d had no way of knowing that someone from her past was living in the same city.
Confusion and panic now threatened to overtake her.
Frozen in place, her body began to shake so hard that a small ring on her collar started to clatter.
—Why here, why now?!
This was not the joyous reunion she had envisioned, but the deepest pits of her despair.
The final dream she’d kept, returning to her homeland and happily embracing the friends who had
meant so much to her, was gone, shattered. Her past self who lived in their memories was completely

destroyed, now that they knew what had become of her.
So embarrassing!! So humiliating!! So utterly humiliating!!
The last of the shame she possessed set her body on fire from within. She wanted to scream, “Don’t
look at me!” at the top of her lungs. She would have given anything for a knife to cut the soiled clothing off
her body so she could tear it to shreds.
Why…
Why now? Why did she have to come now?
If only this day had come a few days later, she would never have had to face this shameful reunion.
The other women followed Mikoto’s line of sight; now everyone was staring at Haruhime. Trembling
from head to tail, she forced her mouth open to speak.
“…You must have me confused with another. I do not know you…”
Tears started to well up behind Mikoto’s wide, unblinking eyes.
A woman appeared in the doorway that led to the reception desk. Taking in the moment, she raised her
voice.
“Haruhime, you have a customer.”
“At once…”
Willing her body to remain still, the renart rose to her feet.
Mikoto pressed herself against the fence and desperately called out to Haruhime before she
disappeared from sight.
“Wait, please wait, Lady Haruhime!”
Looking away from her childhood friend, Haruhime left the gallery.
“Don’t make a fool of yourself today.”
Haruhime passed a particularly tan Amazon in the hallway. She said nothing in response to the other
woman’s blunt instructions.
“Yes, ma’am,” she finally said, her mind surfacing for a brief moment from the darkness that had
overtaken her. The Amazon continued on her way, leaving Haruhime alone with her thoughts as she
walked to the room where a man was most likely waiting for her.

The glowing lanterns of the red-light district glistened far below.
Aisha watched the flow of people going through the Far Eastern–style portion of the Pleasure Quarter
until the squeak of a door signaled the arrival of the one who had called this meeting. She stepped away
from the window and walked to the middle of the room.
Members of Ishtar Familia had gathered in a spacious meeting room on the twentieth floor of their
home.
A group of Amazons had grabbed chairs and sofas from the space and dragged them into the middle—
said Amazons being the leaders of the familia as well as the strongest warriors among them. The Berbera
had assembled. Phryne claimed one of the largest sofas for herself and occupied a spot in the very middle
of the room.
Aisha roughly plopped her full weight onto an open sofa and waited for their deity, Ishtar, to walk up
to their makeshift circle of sofas and chairs.
“Looks like everybody’s here.”
Her personal assistant, Tammuz, was quick to pull up a chair for his goddess. Ishtar took a long drag
from her pipe before taking a seat.

The reason that everyone had gathered here tonight was because Ishtar had issued an urgent summons.
“Calling a meeting out of the blue like this, what happened, Lady Ishtar?”
“I was plannin’ on huntin’ down a particularly nice male tonight.”
Ishtar paid no mind to the Amazons’ complaints and opened her mouth to speak.
“All of you avoid Freya’s brats—and bring me Bell Cranell.”
The congregation fell silent.
Then, almost immediately, “But you’ll just devour him, Lady Ishtar!” And a wave of other complaints
surged forward from the Amazons. The jealousy in their voices was obvious, but all Ishtar did was say,
“Settle down,” with a grin.
“What was the part about avoidin’ Freya Familia?”
Aisha leaned back onto her sofa and raised a different question. Ishtar answered.
“It seems that she’s obsessed with the boy but isn’t making a move for some reason. And I’m going to
snatch him before she does.”
An ominous smile appeared over a beautiful face that could make anyone stand and stare any other
time.
“The moment she learns that her favorite pip-squeak has fallen for me…Oh, how I’d love to see that
face.”
The goddess’s eyes closed and her lips curled up as she envisioned exactly how the events would
unfold.
“How tasteless,” came the voices of the Berbera as they grinned to one another. Ishtar looked at each
of their faces in turn and issued a warning.
“I forbid any of you to feast—especially Phryne.”
“…Ge-ge-ge-geh. Unthinkable, Lady Ishtar. Me, ignore your orders?”
The leader of the group, bearing the title of Androctonus, had been silent up to that point. She took
Ishtar’s thinly veiled threat in stride.
Ishtar’s eyes narrowed, as if she could tell that the massive Amazon had something else in mind.
“No snacking, either. The moment you get your hands on him, he’s useless to me. I get him first…Once
he’s filled his purpose, I’ll give him to all of you to do what you wish.”
PHOOO. Ishtar exhaled a thick cloud of purple smoke.
Phryne couldn’t hide her disappointment as the smoke washed over her face. However, she couldn’t
go against her goddess and reluctantly accepted her conditions.
Aisha and the other Amazons stuck their tongues out at the dejected Phryne, taunting her.
“But you know, Lady Ishtar…”
“What is it, Samira?”
“Is now the best time to take Bell Cranell? I think it best to wait until after the Killing Stone Ritual to
make a move.”
Samira, an Amazon with hair the color of ash, voiced her opinion in a distinctly male way.
“I learned of Bell Cranell from a rather unwilling messenger…I don’t trust him to keep his mouth shut.
It won’t be long before Freya realizes I know how to hurt her. Take the boy before she can protect him.”
Ishtar paused for a moment as she looked out over her followers. Another out-of-place smile grew on
her lips as her amethyst eyes burned from within.
“Once the ritual is complete, we declare war on Freya. That pipsqueak’s going to make one hell of an
opening bell…All of you, be prepared.”
She was going to use Bell to start their war—the Amazons showed no hint of cowardice, only smiled
like wolves on the hunt. Phryne’s frog-like lips bulged out into a grin as well.

Aisha was the only one to remain stone-faced and silent.
“Ge-ge-ge-ge-geh. So how do we get the trophy bunny? Where do we spring the trap?”
The other Amazons licked their lips after hearing what Phryne had to say.
“Aboveground is too dangerous, avoid it.”
Ishtar joined the conversation.
Every person in Orario was paying attention to Hestia Familia after the War Game. Word would
spread quickly should anything happen to one of their members. It wouldn’t take long for the Guild or the
enemy to hear about it.
“There are too many eyes in Orario,” is how Ishtar put it.
“In that case…the Dungeon it is.”
It was Aisha who put everyone’s thoughts into words.
All adventurers knew that if you were going to commit a crime, the Dungeon was the place to do it.
The middle levels were the best place because only upper-class adventurers could enter them. The
chances of being discovered were extremely slim.
“How do we bait the rabbit?”
“Just using Lady Ishtar’s name will get us what we need. Grab anything you think will be useful.”
In the place of their arrogant leader, Aisha took a more realistic approach in answering her allies’
questions.
Phryne huffed through her nose, as if bored with the idea. “Problem?” retorted Aisha with a glare.
“Should we bring Haruhime?”
Samira’s short ash-gray hair shifted as she turned away from Phryne and Aisha’s staring contest.
The Amazon was looking at Ishtar, but the goddess knew her question was aimed at everyone in the
room. It was an interesting proposal.
“Do as you wish, but…What, is the Little Rookie that strong?”
“If nothing else, he’s faster than all of us.”
Sure, they had been trying to hold off Phryne at the time. But the Amazons recounted to their goddess
how they’d failed to capture their prey during the hunt last night. Most of the participants were Level 3.
“I had some idea after watching the battle with Hyacinthus…But how is a newly ranked-up Level
Three so fast?”
The new record holder wasn’t pulling off an elaborate scam; he was genuinely at Level 3.
Aisha couldn’t agree more with Samira’s words.
“I don’t care if you useless varmints want to use Haruhime. Use anything you want, just corner the boy.
I’ll take care of the rest.”
Phryne’s declaration didn’t sit well with the other Amazons. All of them shot her sideways glances
filled with disdain.
At Level 5, she was the only one who could keep up with their prey. Aisha rolled her eyes before
glancing toward the window.
Although she couldn’t see it, the red-light district was just beneath her gaze.
“…Haruhime is a bumbling fool, barely a part of the familia. Why not let her out and spread her wings
one last time?”
Aisha’s proposal caught the rest of the Amazons off guard. Every set of eyes in the room immediately
focused on her.
Phryne’s brutish voice sounded almost immediately.
“Are you brain-dead? What if she ran away? Or was that your plan all along, Aishaaa?”
“…”

“We can’t let anyone else know about that, now, can we?”
Veins bulged in Phryne’s forehead; her eyes looked ready to kill. Aisha didn’t answer.
For the first time, no one came to Aisha’s defense. In fact, Samira added fuel to the fire.
“What the hell do you see in that timid fox? As for me, I hate her.”
Samira’s lips twitched back into an awkward grin. Ishtar remained silent, only puffing another cloud
of smoke into the middle of the group.
Aisha glanced into the cloud, only to see two amethyst eyes glimmering menacingly on the other side.
A chill ran down her spine, her body quivering.
Aisha gritted her teeth and willed her body to be still. At long last, Ishtar blinked.
“Of course not.”
That was the end of it.
Aisha’s proposal ignored, they started to work on setting a trap for the rabbit.
Aisha exhaled through her nose and once again cast her gaze to the night sky out the window.
An almost full moon shone brightly over the glow of the red-light district.

In the darkest hour of the night…
The sharp echoes of high heels echoed in the highest level of the white tower in the middle of Orario.
The sharp sounds grew louder as a figure wearing an extremely revealing black dress stepped with
much more force than necessary down a hallway. The figure’s pearly white skin emerged from the
shadows as she arrived in front of a tall door. Her assistant was waiting for her, and he opened the large
wooden barrier to let her inside.
“Ottar, my wine.”
Moonlight penetrated the glass windows of the highest floor of Babel Tower, filling the room with
long shadows. The Goddess of Beauty, Freya, said nothing else as she took a seat in her chair.
Her long silver hair curled on top of her shoulders and extended down beyond her feminine back all
the way to her delicate, thin waist.
Her assistant, a boaz with a boar-like body built like a mountain, quietly followed his mistress’s
instructions.
“Is something troubling you?”
Ottar placed the glass of wine on an extravagant table carved to look like a bountiful basket of fruit,
then he waited for his goddess to take a sip and asked her a question.
A rare foul mood lurked beneath her normally calm and peaceful exterior. Ottar lowered his head as
Freya glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.
“Have you heard nothing from Mia?”
“No.”
If her assistant’s short answer had offended her, Freya showed no sign of it. She did, however, gulp
down another mouthful of wine.
The rest of her silver locks fell off her shoulders as she rocked her head back. Removing the now
mostly empty glass from her lips, she turned to face her assistant and spoke.
Information had been acquired from a certain god—that another Goddess of Beauty, Ishtar, had
become aware of something important.
“Is it wise to continue to leave that god to his own devices?”

“Indeed, I should punish him next time we meet.”
Hermes would have passed out from fright had he been present for this conversation.
Freya ran her fingers through her hair, curling the silver locks around her fingertips.
“I hated Ishtar watching my every move, so I behaved myself for quite a while…but it’s gotten old.”
She was pouting, very unlike her usual self.
His goddess had been offended. Ottar clamped his mouth shut but could not control the expression of
anger on his face.
Freya sighed, completely oblivious to the horrifying visage behind her that would have sent a
Minotaur running out of sheer terror.
“Ishtar knows about that child. As long as she doesn’t do something stupid, that’s fine.”
“…Such as attack him in cold blood?”
“That would be rather cute, actually.”
Despite Ottar’s concerns for the boy’s safety, Freya saw past it to the real danger.
Considering the discord between them—caused by her rival’s overwhelming jealousy—Freya had a
general idea of what Ishtar was planning.
There was only one solution. Freya quietly sighed again.
“Shall we take Bell Cranell into our protection?”
“…No, wait.”
Freya paused for a moment to consider her assistant’s suggestion before sharply striking it down.
“My apologies,” said Ottar, lowering his head once again. Freya didn’t look at him, instead casting her
gaze out the large glass window.
She took in the view from Orario’s highest point, eyes tracing the cityscape for a few moments.
Her head slowly turned until Ottar came into her line of sight.
“Keep an eye on Ishtar’s children. Inform the others…I will reside at home for the time being.”
“As you wish.”
Ottar’s courteous response filling her ears, Freya downed the last bit of her wine.