Snowflakes drifted down quietly, and the pure white snow scene against the night kept the evening from looking too dark.
The second floor of Leon's house, inside Jeanne's bedroom.
The Holy Maiden was curled up under her thick blanket, but the faint, intermittent, lilting sounds of intimacy drifting over from the bedroom next door were like a fine thorn, leaving Jeanne feeling as though something were lodged in her chest, smothering and unbearable.
Most of the night had already passed, and she was still struggling, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
"Aaaaaah!"
"That bastard! Scumbag!"
"How long has it been now, is it ever going to end!"
She finally couldn't take it anymore and threw off the blanket, sitting bolt upright. Beneath her tangled blonde hair were a pair of bloodshot pale violet eyes.
She glanced at the time. Past three in the morning already.
She drew in several deep breaths, face taut, biting down on her lip, trying to settle herself.
The next second, hauling a heavy pair of dark circles under her eyes, without even time to change into proper gear, she just grabbed a Banner Lance, threw on a pair of low boots, and, radiating murderous intent, strode across the snow straight for the Dungeon entrance at Babel.
She needed to vent!
...
In the small hours, Babel stood empty and desolate, with only the occasional solitary Adventurer, along with the sort who prowled the underworld and worked trades that couldn't see daylight, showing up at this hour.
With the year's important festival drawing near, not only were the major markets, trade associations, and commercial Familias doing brisk business, even the underground black market and illicit dealings were hitting a year-end peak in "performance."
Right now, in the plaza at the Dungeon entrance, plenty of cloaked, furtive figures were gathered together talking in low voices. The identities of these people couldn't bear public scrutiny at all. Some might be assassins, some might be wanted criminals, and others might well be information brokers. In short, they were all working some high-profit gray trade, or hired on by some outside noble or trade association, outlaws who'd spent years licking blood off the blade's edge.
Just as this bunch was lazily chatting, getting ready to discuss where to go have their fun after they'd pulled off a big job, a woman with blonde hair, wearing white cat-themed footie pajamas and hauling heavy dark circles under her eyes, came striding briskly down the upper stairway with an imposing air.
"Whoa! What a beauty!"
"Tch, you don't see a stunner like that even in the Pleasure Quarter..."
"Looks and presence both, perfect!"
"What, you've got ideas?"
"Better to act than to pine, eh?"
Burning gazes locked onto Jeanne in an instant. But she didn't so much as flick the corner of her eye toward this crowd, only kept her gaze cold as ice and her steps unbroken as she sped toward the entrance to the first floor.
"Oho, quite the temper!"
Saying that, the guy shot his buddies a look and hurried after her, unable to wait.
In a corner of the Adventurer's plaza, a group watched flatly as that pack of fools who didn't know the value of their own lives vanished into the passage, then slowly drew their eyes back.
"Boss, you're not gonna warn them who that lady is?"
Sparing a glance at the youngster beside him, the bushy-bearded big man tightened the winter cloak around himself and spoke his mind plainly.
"Bunch of idiots. Can't even recognize the famous Demeter Familia's Holy Maiden, so what the hell are they even doing scraping by in Orario? These stinking out-of-towners come to Orario to beg and don't even wipe their eyes clean first, really think this is some backwater of theirs where anybody can be pushed around?"
"Huh... the Demeter Familia's Holy Maiden? Isn't she only Lv.2?"
"Bullshit. You believe whatever the Guild tells you?"
"Eh?"
The boss scanned the surroundings warily and dropped his voice to warn the underling at his ear.
"I picked up some whispers through special channels... word is, a while back the Demeter Familia successfully took down the Monster Rex of the 27th floor, the twin-headed dragon Amphisbaena. That damn thing is a monster with a challenge rating as high as Lv.6. Use your brain and think about it, how could a Lv.2 possibly beat a thing like that head-on? And on top of that... anyone with eyes can see the Holy Maiden's role is a vanguard!"
"You think a Lv.2 of yours could meet a Lv.6 twin-headed dragon Amphisbaena head-on?"
"That... sorry, boss. I don't have what it takes."
"Like that even needs saying?"
"But they did pull off the kill. Doesn't that strike you as strange?"
"It's plenty strange."
"So here's the thing. According to the intel the Guild made public, apart from that Lv.3, no, Lv.4 leader, the Priestess of Desolation, the Demeter Familia, the Holy Maiden, the Pure White Shield, and the Shadow of Sorcery included, all only hit Lv.2 after the twin-headed dragon was taken down. Doesn't it strike you that this intel contradicts itself from the very start? You telling me they pulled off that kill at Lv.1?"
"So there's only one conclusion: either there's something off about the twin-headed dragon, or there's something off about their real strength."
"Here in Orario, those nobody Familias and Adventurers hold a card up their sleeve at the drop of a hat, and lying about their level is bread and butter to them."
"Eh?"
"Young man, the waters of Orario run very deep."
"If you want to get by in this place, you've still got a lot to learn."
"Whatever you do, don't be like that pack of fools just now, daring to go provoke someone before they've even got a read on them. They won't even know how they died."
"What's your take on them?"
"My assessment is, a bunch of dumbasses."
At that, the young man hurriedly fished out the little notebook he carried and earnestly jotted down the boss's words of experience one by one, treasuring them.
"Alright, while the festival's got the market hot, let's hustle and pull a few more jobs, try to ring in a fat new year!"
"So boss, what's our target this time...?"
"Hmph, the Great Tree Labyrinth, of course. Lately the price of recovery-type materials has been climbing like crazy, and the buying price on the black market is already double what those pharmaceutical factions pay!"
"It'd be against all reason for us not to make that money!"
"So that's it!"
With that, the boss reckoned the time in his head and got ready to start moving.
"Those idiots have probably already been torn to shreds by monsters by now. Let's go, we're moving out."
"Boss, look! Another beauty!"
"Shut it. That's the Holy Maiden's companion, the Demeter Familia's Pure White Shield!"
Unlike those cloaked, skulking types in the plaza, the one strolling over openly and unhurriedly right now was Rose.
She first glanced around, and only after confirming there was no sign of Jeanne did she smile and walk toward the corner, narrowing her eyes and asking the bushy-bearded man softly.
"Excuse me, did you happen to see a blonde lady in pajamas come through just now?"
"Yes, yes, yes!"
"She went down this passage!"
"There were also a few guys with bad intentions who followed after her. If I'm not mistaken, they'd be muscle hired by some outside noble."
Rose's movement as she turned paused for a moment, and she tilted her head to cast a faint smile.
It was just that... her smile was so lovely, and yet it gave everyone else present the feeling of being plunged into an icy pit.
"Very good. Thank you for the information."
"D-don't mention it..."
Watching that figure vanish into the depths of the passage, the bushy-bearded man and his companions let out a heavy breath of relief.
"Holy shit... they're both supposedly Lv.2, but the pressure that woman gives off is nothing like a Lv.2 Adventurer!"
"Lv.3? No... definitely the kind of top-tier Lv.3 that's just one step short of leveling up, or even..."
Thinking of a certain hair-raising guess, the bushy-bearded man hastily shook his head.
"Damn it, the cursed Guild, not a single piece of their intel is reliable!"