DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
After finishing their business at the Pantheon, the members of the Aislynn Familia made their way back to the Dragon's Nest. Upon arrival, the group split up to get cleaned up before dinner. However, instead of everyone going back to their own rooms, all the women in the Familia decided they would take a bath together in the communal bath. And that included Aislynn.
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"I hate taking baths with most of you.," Akatsuki muttered while looking at the other female members of the Aislynn Familia. However, when she looked at Aletia, she breathed a short sigh of relief.
"What was that look for?" Aletia asked in a dry tone while glaring at Akatsuki.
"What are you talking about?" Akatsuki asked while avoiding eye contact with the blonde vampire. "I didn't give you any kind of look."
Despite looking away, Akatsuki could feel Aletia's glare boring into the side of her head, causing cold sweat to form on her temples. Meanwhile, the other ladies, all more well-endowed than Aletia and Akatsuki, could not help but giggle, drawing a glare from Aletia in their direction, as well.
"Anyway, we'll be getting our Falna updated after dinner tonight.," Violet said, trying to defuse the situation. "Does anyone think Tatsuo-Kun will be able to go down to the Tenth Floor next week?"
"I doubt it.," Elicia replied while still trying to get her giggles under control. "I mean, the threshold for the Tenth Floor is B-rank Attributes, right? Tatsuo still has three whole ranks before his highest Attribute reaches B."
"That's true.," Sakura added. "So, we'll probably all be able to explore with him next week."
"I wanna be on Tatsuo's team.," Aletia said with a pout. "I haven't been on the same team as Tatsuo ever since we got to this world."
"I don't wanna be on Tatsuo's team." Elicia said with a pout of her own. "He always blames me for everything that goes wrong."
"Was it like that when you were in Sakura-San's world?," Momo asked curiously. "You two did that [Mission] by yourselves, right?"
"No,," Elicia replied while shaking her head. "Nothing like that happened. He did make me eat room service food once, though."
"But that was your fault, if I remember correctly,," Sakura said thoughtfully.
"*Sigh* Yeah, it was," Elicia admitted. "I don't remember what I did exactly, though. I either teased him too much or forgot to tell him something important."
"That must have been torture,," Aislynn said. "Eating average room service food when you have one of the best cooks in most worlds cooking and feeding people right in front of you must have almost given you an ulcer."
"Ugh! You don't know the half of it.," Elicia lamented. A moment later, she shook her head and put on a lewd smile while looking at Violet and Sakura. "More importantly, let's talk about you two. Tell us, what kind of stuff do the three of you do together when you spend the night together?"
Immediately, the atmosphere in the bath changed. With Elicia smiling lasciviously, Aislynn put on an interested expression as if she did not already know the answer to Elicia's question. Meanwhile, Violet, Sakura, and Momo blushed in embarrassment, with Momo's blush being the fiercest. At the same time, Aletia glared at Violet and Sakura with envy. Yet, she did not pretend that she was not interested.
The only one who showed a different expression was Akatsuki. And although it was not filled with disdain like when James or Naotsugu talked about stuff like this, it was still not a pleasant one.
That was mostly because she was single and the guy she liked, the master of her guild, Shiroe, never seemed to show any interest in her.
But that was neither here nor there.
However, the next word to come out of her mouth let everyone know what she thought of how open Elicia was.
"Pervert."
Like that, the ladies continued to chat until they got out of the bath. When they arrived in the main hall, they were just in time for dinner, which was as delicious as ever. Then, after dinner, everyone took their turns to have Aislynn update their Falna.
However, to everyone's disappointment, no one raised their Attributes high enough to go down to the Eighth and Ninth Floors with Tatsuo. There were a few who raised some of their Attributes to F, though.
Tatsuo, on the other hand, was able to raise his Agility Attribute to D. meaning that if he managed to accomplish something the gods considered a "significant feat," he could raise his Level to 2. However, doing so before his Attributes reached the limits of their growth would be foolish.
Either way, despite the fact that no one was eligible to go down to the next section of the Dungeon, the atmosphere in the Dragon's Nest did not fall too low. Because despite the disappointment, they all knew that they were way ahead of the curve when compared to any other adventurer. At this rate, most of them would probably reach Level 2 within four months while Tatsuo would probably reach Level 2 in three.
The following morning at the Dragon's Nest started the same as any other day would, Tatsuo and Alfonzo woke up early to prepare breakfast before the other members of the Familia got up to either train or study while Elicia slept in.
Things were different on the top floor of the Tower of Babel, though.
Currently, Freya was lounging in her favorite seat while browsing through dress designs Ottar brought back from the Pantheon. Meanwhile, Ottar stood near the room's entrance with his usual stoic expression on his face.
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"*Sigh* I thought I told you to only bring me these designs once a week, Ottar,," Freya said in an incomparably bored tone. "Although they are all talented, none of the seamstresses in this era can think outside the box. It's quite dull."
"Apologies, my Lady,," Ottar said while bowing slightly. He then continued while straightening his back. "But I thought you would find one of the submissions interesting. Or rather, I thought you would find one of the submitters interesting."
As he spoke his last sentence, Ottar used three large steps to cross the room. Arriving at Freya's side, he reached down to the small table where the evening gown design submissions were placed, picked up the stack, and began to flip through them until he came to the one he mentioned.
"It's this one,," Ottar said while handing the envelope containing the submission to Freya.
Without holding too much hope, Freya accepted the envelope. Then, she disinterestedly looked over the name of the submitter and the Familia they belonged to.
*Clatter!*
However, when she saw the name, Elicia Marcus Taylor of the Aislynn Familia, Freya sat straight up in her lounge chair. In fact, she sat up so violently that the lounge chair moved slightly and bumped the leg of the small table placed next to her.
"Really?" Freya asked excitedly. "One of those children actually submitted a design?"
"So it would seem,," Ottar replied. "According to rumors, this Elicia designed and sewed every article of clothing she and the other members of the Aislynn Familia wears. And that includes all of Lady Aislynn's outfits, as well."
Unfortunately, everything Ottar just said was a waste of breath because none of it entered Freya's ears after she saw the name of one of the children that interested her so.
*Rip!*
After tearing open the envelope containing Elicia's design, Freya turned towards the small table while pulling the designs out of the envelope. However, just as she went to put the design on the table, she noticed that Ottar had already placed the other designs back where he got them from.
"These are in the way,," Freya said expressionlessly as she swept her arm across the surface of the table.
*Swoosh!*
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A moment later, all the other designs on the table were sent flying through the air. And as it happened, Ottar was in the path they flew. Even so, he did not even flinch. Instead, after letting the discarded designs hit him and fall to the floor, he started cleaning them up silently without making any noise that could disturb his goddess.
Meanwhile, Freya spread Elicia's designs over the freshly cleared table and looked at them with shining eyes, as if they were a priceless treasure. And the longer she looked, the brighter the glint in her eyes grew.
*Bang!*
"This is the one!," Freya exclaimed jubilantly as she slammed her hands on the table. Then, she turned to Ottar and continued with excitement. "Ottar, hurry up and call the seamstresses. Have them start working on this immediately."
"It will be done,," Ottar said while once again bowing politely before he swiftly left the room to carry out his goddess' order.
Meanwhile, at the Belit Babili, the Familia headquarters of the Ishtar Familia, Aisha had just returned with the information that Ottar picked up a package from the Guild. And as soon as Ishtar heard it, she immediately stood up from her throne and began pacing back and forth in the room.
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"That package was probably a stack of designs for the quest she put out,," Ishtar said after taking a moment to contemplate. Then, a frustrated frown appeared on her face as she continued. "What could that woman be up to?"
"Right now, there's no way to tell,," Aisha replied. "Although it is common knowledge throughout Orario that Freya is looking for someone to design an evening gown for her, the reason has not been made public."
"You think I don't already know that?," Ishtar asked in an irritated tone as the sound of her footsteps continued to fill the room. "But that is exactly what I want to know. Anything that woman is preparing for is something that should belong to me. That arrogant woman does not deserve it."
Hearing that, Aisha had nothing to say. In fact, she wanted to leave but knew she would be punished if she did so. She had been in the Dungeon for the last week or so, following Ishtar's order to get to Level 4 as fast as she could. And when she went to the Pantheon to exchange the spoils from her recent trip, she just happened to see Ottar picking up something from the quest counter.
If she didn't know that Ishtar would throw a tantrum if she did not find out at the earliest time, Aisha could not have even reported to Ishtar until after she got some rest and something to eat.
'Besides, I need to make sure I'm well rested tonight when Haruhime has to take clients,' Aisha thought to herself while watching Ishtar pace back and forth. 'Otherwise, one of those men might try something after she passes out. *Sigh* That girl really is too pure for this line of work.'
"If I had to guess, it probably has something to do with the Aislynn Familia.," Aisha said after shaking off the stray thoughts.
In response, Ishtar's eyes widened. Then, she frowned again.
"What could she want with that weak Familia?," Ishtar asked herself after thinking about what Aisha said. "Perhaps she wants some of Aislynn's children… Could they really be so special? If they are, maybe I should…"
Reaching that point, Ishtar forcefully stopped that train of thought. Like every other god in Orario, Ishtar knew just how terrifying Aislynn could be. In fact, it should be considered a miracle that Aislynn has not come looking for her after all the times Phryne wanted to destroy her business or suggested kidnapping her children.
"*Gasp* Where is Phryne?," Ishtar asked with a hint of panic in her tone.
"I don't know,," Aisha replied with a hint of confusion in her tone. "I didn't see her when I got back. She's probably in that room of hers with some unfortunate man that was unlucky enough to catch her eye."
"*Sigh* I hope so,," Ishtar said while she had a premonition of incoming disaster.
As for what Phryne was up to right now…
She was trying her best to fulfill Ishtar's prophecy of disaster.
Frustrated by Ishtar not allowing her to take action against the Aislynn Familia, whether because of Aislynn's business taking customers from the Entertainment District or wanting to "seduce" Tatsuo because she thought she would get some insight into what Freya was planning, she had been staking out the Dungeon's entrance to get a feel for the Aislynn Familia's movement patterns.
Though, she was not staking it out personally. Although Phryne had an overinflated sense of her own appearance… Or maybe because of it, she knew if she were to watch the Dungeon's entrance personally, it would draw too much attention. So, instead of personally staying too close to the Dungeon to watch out for the Aislynn Familia's habits, she forced her underlings to do it and report to her.
Naturally, Aislynn knew about all of this. But until Phryne planned to make a move herself, Aislynn could not be bothered, as the other members of the Ishtar Familia were not brave enough to disobey Ishtar's orders. Only Phryne was self-important enough to do something like that.
And right now, Phryne was in her private quarters in Belit Babili, a lavishly decorated room that was quite suitable for a Familia Captain. But at the same time, there were implements that would make people question whether this room was truly meant for the captain of a Familia.
For example, the chains and shackles on one wall. Or the rack of torture instruments placed near the shackles. And most importantly, the naked, heavily injured man who was restrained by the aforementioned shackles.
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But the two people in the room, Phryne and one of her underlings, an Amazoness, paid no attention to any of those things. While things were just the way Phryne liked them, the Amazoness had seen what happened to those who commented on Phryne's hobbies. And she had no intention of ending up with a fractured skull for saying something she shouldn't.
Instead, the Amazoness focused on reading the report in her hands, so she did not accidentally look at anything else in the room, and that included Phryne, who was hard to look at on her best day.
"So, it's just as I thought," Phryne said after hearing the report. "They take a break every seventh day. Then, that's perfect. After I seduce that boy, he can spend those days with me. I'm sure he'll be so happy for the chance to be with such a stunning beauty like me."
It took everything the kneeling Amazoness had not to start dry-heaving after hearing Phryne call herself a "stunning beauty." Luckily, fear happened to be a good counter to involuntary bodily responses if the fear was strong enough.
"You can go," Phryne said while waving the Amazoness away.
Immediately, the Amazoness stood up, bowed, and turned around to leave. However, before she could take more than two steps, Phryne spoke again.
"Oh, and take him with you," Phryne said while pointing at the man chained to the wall. "Although I'm sure he really doesn't want to leave, I refused to be tied down by a man. My beauty is meant to be shared."
'Doesn't want to leave, my ass.' The Amazoness thought to herself. 'If you hadn't broken both his mind and body, I bet that poor man couldn't run fast enough to get out of here.'
"Yes, Lady Phryne," the Amazoness said as she turned around and concealed her inner thoughts. Then, she quickly moved to carry out Phryne's order.