As someone who had crawled through the line between life and death more times than she could count, Ryuu was even more sensitive to gazes than to killing intent.
Especially when the owner of that gaze was her precious closest friend,
Syr.
Ryuu stopped wiping the table.
Following the direction of Syr's final glance before she disappeared, she looked over.
At the end of her line of sight sat the black-haired god at the head of the long table, currently turned slightly to the side, chatting merrily with the black-haired, red-eyed prum beside him.
Ryuu narrowed her eyes slightly.
Her gaze, sharp as a blade, lingered on that god for a moment.
He seemed completely unaware.
"..."
That god…
Was he the reason Syr had felt unwell and fled with such panic in her eyes?
Or did Syr have some kind of weakness in his hands?
At that thought, Ryuu pressed her lips together.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the cloth in her hand.
She gave that black-haired figure one long look, engraving his appearance into her memory.
"Ryuu?"
Just then, while she was lost in thought, a voice with a faint nasal tone called out by her ear.
"..."
Ryuu's whole body stiffened.
She turned her head.
The first thing she saw was an enlarged cat face wearing a sly grin.
Anya Fromel.
Like the tavern owner Mia, she too was once a Level 4 adventurer of the former Freya Familia.
Her title was Chariot's Clone, and she was now a waitress at The Hostess of Fertility.
This brown-haired idiot catgirl was hugging an empty tray and staring at Ryuu with her head tilted, looking thoroughly confused.
"Nyaha! Caught you, nya!"
"If you slack off here, Mama Mia's gonna scold you, nya!"
"It's nothing."
Ryuu shook her head and loosened her grip on the rag.
"I'm not slacking off."
"I just remembered there are a few barrels of kitchen waste piled up in the alley out back."
"If we don't dump them now, the smell will be terrible by closing time."
"Eh, that kind of dirty job, nya…"
Anya wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"But tonight that's Syr's duty, nya."
"It's fine. Since Syr went home because she wasn't feeling well, and I happen to be free, I'll handle it."
"All right then, Ryuu, you go. I'll cover things here with the others, nya."
"Mm."
Ryuu nodded and turned toward the back kitchen.
But just before lifting the curtain, she still couldn't resist glancing that way again from the corner of her eye.
This time, she happened to meet a gaze that seemed to sweep over her, intentionally or not.
Ryuu's heart skipped, and she quickly pulled her eyes away before disappearing behind the curtain with hurried steps.
...
At the long table, Haimer set down his wine cup.
He had naturally noticed the look Ryuu sent over.
Even after retiring, Gale was still Gale.
She was not the sort of person anyone could easily ignore.
Still, Haimer didn't pay it too much mind.
After all, it was no secret that Ryuu was excessively protective of Syr, Freya's current disguise.
Let her be.
If he acted too sharply, it would only confirm suspicions that didn't need confirming.
As long as neither he nor Freya took the initiative to expose anything, that cautious elf girl could think until her head split and still never figure out the twists and turns here.
Besides, that wasn't the focus tonight.
At that thought, Haimer withdrew his attention and turned it back to the girls gathered around the table.
From the moment they left the Dungeon, to their stop at the Guild where the staff nearly popped their eyes out at the sight of the loot, and then all the way here to the tavern, he had spent most of the trip dealing with Tsubaki's nonstop chatter and going back and forth with Shakti.
Thinking about it now, he had probably neglected his own children a bit.
With that in mind, Haimer looked at the girls' faces, now lightly flushed from food and drink, their eating pace clearly slower than before.
It was time.
...
"Oh, right."
"I've been listening to Tsubaki talk about your performance this whole way."
"I almost forgot to hear what you yourselves think."
"It was your first time entering the Dungeon, and your first time fighting monsters."
"How did it feel?"
Haimer spoke softly.
The moment he said that, Amou was the first to put down her knife and fork.
Then she casually wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth, while a light that made people's hearts tighten flickered in those long phoenix eyes of hers.
"It was great."
Short and direct.
Amou licked her lips, her voice carrying an excitement she could barely suppress, while her slender fingers lightly sliced through the air as though she were still reliving the battle.
"The resistance when my fingers pierced through flesh."
"The feel of warm blood splashing onto my face."
"And the crisp sound of bones breaking right before death…"
"Every second of it…"
"made me feel…"
"truly alive."
"Compared to those restrained, tied-down sparring matches in the past…"
"This kind of complete, unrestrained killing…"
"and the thrill of life hanging by a thread…"
"is something I'm utterly intoxicated by."
"I already feel like I was born for this."
A nearly intoxicated expression appeared on Amou's face.
The adventurers at the neighboring table heard that and couldn't help shivering, looking over at her as though she were insane.
Haimer, however, wasn't the least bit surprised.
Instead, he nodded in approval.
"That's good."
"Only those who enjoy battle can walk farther in the Dungeon."
"I trust you won't lose yourself because of it."
"Now then, what about the others?"
Haimer turned his gaze to the other side.
"Tsukuyo didn't feel anything as special as what Amou described."
Inaba Tsukuyo tilted her head slightly, her closed eyes facing in Haimer's direction as she spoke in a gentle voice.
"Tsukuyo only feels that it was very fulfilling."
"The movements of those monsters, even their killing intent… Tsukuyo could sense them clearly."
"And thanks to the sword my lord bestowed upon me…"
"and the blessing my lord granted…"
"without them, Tsukuyo would never have been able to reach today's level."
She gently ran her fingers over the famous blade White Egret resting at her side, and a faint smile appeared on her face.
"That's right!"
Rin couldn't hold back either. She nodded hard, her face full of agreement.
"My Black Crow too!"
"If it weren't for that sword, and for my lord's blessing…"
"I probably would've been surrounded by those Killer Ants long ago."
Rin touched the repaired hannya mask hanging at her waist, a slightly embarrassed smile appearing on her face.
"When it comes down to it…"
"It's all thanks to my lord."
"Exactly."
"If we'd gone in there with the broken junk we brought ourselves and tried to fight those monsters…"
"we'd be lucky if we could even be sitting here in one piece eating right now."
Perhaps the alcohol had begun to work.
The girls all started chiming in, one after another, speaking much more than before and nodding along eagerly.
In their eyes, the reason they had been able to carve through the Dungeon like chopping vegetables today was ninety-nine percent thanks to those peerless weapons and the divine blessing surging through their bodies.
As for themselves, they had probably just been lucky enough to cling to this god.
Hearing those words, the adventurers nearby who had originally only been watching for fun found the look in their eyes gradually changing.
At first, they had merely been surprised by the composition of the party, beautiful girls, wild beasts, and a god.
But as more drinks were poured and their attention finally shifted from the two bears to the weapons at the girls' sides, the air in the hall noticeably stiffened for a few seconds.
"Hey… look at the sword hanging from that masked warrior girl's waist…"
At the neighboring table, a veteran adventurer with a beard lowered his voice and jabbed his companion with an elbow.
"That forging pattern… and that scabbard material…"
"That's top-tier Hephaestus Familia work, isn't it?"
"It might even have been made by Tsubaki herself."
"Hiss"
His companion sucked in a breath, forgetting to even bring the cup in his hand to his mouth.
"You've got to be kidding…"
"What kind of background do these rookies have?"
"Weapons of that level aren't something even Level 3 adventurers can necessarily afford, right?"
"And they all have one?!"
Envy, jealousy and deep awe.
That was Orario's simplest value system, equipment often represented strength, or something even more frightening: background.
However, faced with the almost scorching gazes from the surroundings, and with the girls all chattering away while pushing every bit of credit onto him, the expression on Haimer's face gradually faded.
In the end, he let out a helpless sigh, shook his head, and raised a hand in a stopping gesture.
"Enough."
The moment that word fell, the girls who had still been excited immediately quieted down.
Haimer set down his cup and calmly swept his gaze across the faces of his girls.
The girls looked at one another, suddenly unsure whether they had said something wrong.
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