It was late at night again!
Heith wrapped her padded coat a little tighter around herself. Stealthily, she left the empty Familia base and spotted the figure of the young boy waiting for her not far down the long street.
The winter snow was heavy.
Fluttering and falling, it dyed the streets and houses in vast swathes of pure white.
Why am I being so careful?!
It wasn't until she walked out the back door that Heith realized, with delayed hindsight, that there was currently no one in the Familia base anyway!!
The expedition team heading for the Deep Floors had already departed a few days ago, back when she was still adventuring in the Dungeon with Isagi and the others. At this moment, inside the Freya Familia base, [Folkvangr], only a few low-level members remained.
So there was absolutely no need to be sneaky!
Regarding this, Isagi didn't have much of a choice either. It really wasn't his intention to call a girl out from her Familia in the middle of the night. It was just that, these past few days, he had somewhat lost his concept of time.
Actually, adventurers all had similar situations.
In the Dungeon itself, there was no concept of day or night. Most of the time, you rested when you could, and when you couldn't, you just pushed through.
Being able to fall asleep anytime, anywhere was a compulsory course for high-level adventurers.
Of course, it was mainly because his rest had been too "sufficient" recently, or simply because the nights were busier.
Hmm!
In short, thinking that they were about to return to the Dungeon for an adventure soon, naturally, preparations had to be made before departure. One of these was to train... ah, no, to "modify" Miss Heith!
"Did Miss Heith's Ability Scores increase after returning from the adventure this time?"
"Yes!"
Walking amidst the snow.
The direction the two were heading was opposite to the Pleasure Quarter, which reveled day and night. Thus, the path ahead always seemed silent. The woman didn't know where Isagi was taking her, but she didn't mind, simply following him.
After the last adventure ended, she had indeed sought the Goddess to update her Status. Both [Magic] and [Excelia] had increased!
Regarding this, the woman only felt it was incredible. Goddess Freya, on the other hand, was fine; she seemed to have guessed it long ago—perhaps because she knew the boy had reached Lv. 4 after coming to Orario only about a year ago, and there must be some reason behind it.
Heith was pleasantly surprised!
Because if this continued, after a good number of such adventures—two years, no, maybe one year—she might be able to gather enough [Excelia] to upgrade to Lv. 5!!
However—
"Just that little bit?"
"???"
What do you mean 'just that little bit'?!
Seeing Isagi's expression, which was written all over with "I thought you were about to upgrade to Lv. 5, why will it still take a year or two?", made Heith want to jump up and punch him!
This guy who simply doesn't know the "suffering of ordinary people"!!
But Isagi felt his thinking wasn't wrong. The reason Heith gained so few Ability Scores and Excelia was because her "participation" in the adventure wasn't quite enough.
To be fair.
In the previous adventure, the main thing Heith did was occasionally cast a healing spell on Tiona. Aside from that, she didn't really do anything else.
This was what was said before.
Because the adventure and combat were relatively easy, as a Healer, she naturally wouldn't gain much in terms of Ability Scores and [Excelia].
"So, I thought about it carefully. We should increase Miss Heith's sense of participation."
"?"
To be honest, the woman had originally thought Isagi was going to "fire" her.
After all, she really hadn't done much before.
And from the looks of it, didn't the boy and his team know healing magic themselves?
They certainly did.
Not only did Ryuu-senpai and Lefiya possess healing magic, but his own "Golden Order" also contained many incantations for clearing abnormal statuses or restoring vitality.
But the point remained: neither he nor the girls were Healers by main trade. They couldn't focus all their energy on that.
So, Miss Heith was essential!
But to prevent this guy from slacking off, and to keep up with the squad's growth, Isagi, as the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Familia, after deep deliberation, decided to expand her "business."
"Come, Miss Heith, let's start by learning how to use this thing."
Unknowingly.
Isagi had already led the woman to the edge of the city. Treading on the thin snow, the boy skillfully walked along a somewhat abandoned path, ascending the city's incredibly lofty perimeter wall.
Under the faint moonlight, the surroundings were incredibly silent, giving Heith a somewhat inexplicable feeling—in the dead of night, coming to a deserted place like this with a boy, why did it feel like a tryst?!
But by the time she realized it, it was too late.
Heith watched as Isagi took pieces of steel arms out from beneath the pitch-black cloak behind him.
Ah!
She certainly recognized these things—
[Legion Prosthetic]!
Heith had once thought these were some kind of [Mystery] items. They looked like armor for the forearm, but in reality, they had various different functions.
There was the [Steel Left Arm] which was ordinary and just threw a heavy punch;
The [Puppeteer] which could eject a grappling hook;
The [Divine Thunder] which fired electric currents, and the [Flame Blade] which could spray flames, as well as the [Chaos Demon] which threw out viscous acid;
The [Aegis] which could block attacks and generate explosions, and—
"This is called a landmine, you know?"
Isagi installed a Legion Prosthetic named [Godly Machine] onto his arm. Visibly, it had a rather thick "drill." Through a striking motion, it could embed a small "iron ball" into the ground.
Landmine?
Heith had absolutely no idea what that was.
But soon, as the boy pulled her away to a distance, he then threw a Magic Stone toward the iron ball he had just buried.
The instant it was touched—
BOOM!
A violent explosion accompanied by scorched dust and smoke caused Heith's entire body to tremble.
"Miss Heith can understand it as a Flame Rock buried in the ground."
Now she understood!
"And there's this. This one can fire cannonballs. You can count it as firing Flame Rocks too."
Isagi quickly equipped another Legion Prosthetic, named [Eagle Eye].
"The drill bomb it fires can break into a monster's body, or penetrate armor, exploding from the inside."
Following the boy's introduction.
A bomb was truly fired, drilling straight into the stone face of the city wall. Not long after, the roar and vibration of an explosion came again.
Fortunately.
The city walls, built in the ancient era a thousand years ago to resist monsters surging up from the Great Hole, were truly very sturdy.
This bit of damage was nothing to them.
Regarding this, Heith rubbed her forehead, thinking Isagi was being too reckless. What if the guards of the Ganesha Familia heard the commotion and came running?!
Isagi naturally had a solution: just jump off the city wall and run!
This was all taught to him by Ais.
Because in the past, after arguing with Mama Riveria, the golden-haired girl would often run here alone.
It could practically be considered her secret base!
Isagi also felt it was pretty good. Compared to going outside the city, this was much closer, and it was equally undisturbed, allowing for combat practice.
"Come, Miss Heith, you try it too!"
"Okay."
She roughly understood what Isagi wanted her to do.
Different Legion Prosthetics had different functions, but during battle, the boy and the girls didn't have time to switch them out.
But she, as a Healer, did!
Watching the boy seriously explain the operation method of each Legion Prosthetic and their approximate "usage scenarios" to her.
For some reason.
What was with this slight little emotion welling up in her heart inexplicably?!
Not only did he not fire her, but he was also worrying about her?
He really... I could cry.
Heith pursued her lips, completely unaware that in the boy's heart, the idea was to forge her into the strongest "Tool Person"!
This was merely the beginning.
As everyone knows, all gifts bestowed by fate have a price marked in secret. Furthermore, Isagi intended to collect a little interest first—
"Take these things back first, Miss Heith, and get familiar with them."
"Okay!"
"By the way, Miss Heith is very free recently, right?"
"Uh... yes..."
She was indeed very free recently.
Because her companions in the Familia had gone on an expedition, there was almost no one in the base. The guys who remained were obediently guarding the house, not engaging in the daily slaughter and combat like before at all.
Then, as a Healer, she naturally had nothing to do. Rarely having such a long vacation, Heith actually felt a bit unaccustomed to it.
"In that case, could Miss Heith come and help out? We recently opened a hamburger shop..."
Isagi's hamburger shop was selected on the street side of North Main Street, near the semi-circular plaza. It was a two-story detached building.
It was very close to the Astrea Familia base, and not far from where he used to set up his stall selling Jagamarukun.
Moreover, standing at the shop entrance, one could see the Twilight Manor of the Loki Familia in the distance, as well as the Demeter Familia's base within the city, [Wheat Manor]—a large building that had been completely transformed into a chamber of commerce and was incredibly busy every day.
Currently.
The employees in the shop were mainly the two Goddesses—Demeter and Astrea.
This was actually a bit of a small worry.
Although Isagi, Ryuu-senpai, and Miss Heith (who had been asked previously) would come to help when not in the Dungeon, it couldn't be helped that for more than half the time in a month, he and the girls would be adventuring.
So, recruiting employees became a top priority!
This wasn't originally difficult.
Mainly, Isagi was thinking that he wasn't just recruiting shop assistants, but also recruiting Familia members.
The Goddess of Justice thought so too. However, the Astrea Familia had always been very "elitist," and the Goddess wasn't a casual person either. In reality, the "assessment" to enter the Familia was very strict!
"For real?"
When Isagi, Cecil, and Lefiya heard the Lord Goddess speak these words with righteous severity, they all revealed such expressions.
Regarding this, Ryuu rubbed her forehead in distress again.
"In short, they must at least harbor justice!"
This was Astrea's bottom line!
But just this one rule blocked quite a large number of adventurers, and was the core reason why the number of people in the Astrea Familia had always been small.
Then there was no helping it.
They could only leave it like this for now. Matters regarding recruiting new Familia members to work at the fast-food restaurant couldn't be rushed.
Isagi decided.
He would talk about it after returning from the Dungeon adventure next time.
In the meantime, the storefront would be left to the two Goddesses. Oh right, he almost forgot the little Spirit, Yuufi. This guy could probably count as half an employee, right?
Originally, "capturing" this guy from Solingen and bringing her to the city was to use her as a weapon.
The result was very unsuccessful.
According to the Goddesses, Yuufi was still too young and simply didn't understand anything.
And most importantly.
With Yuufi being so young, it was also difficult for him to establish a "bond" with her.
Just like in the fairy tales of those Heroic Epics, a Spirit's power depended on her relationship with the Hero. The more intimate and inseparable the two were, the stronger the power she could grant the Hero. Only when they reached the ultimate level of completely sharing the same mind, with no distinction between each other—
[Only then can the Spirit transform into the Hero's weapon].
"This is the setting of the Gods."
"?"
Isagi typed a big question mark at this.
But thinking that Spirits were originally envoys of the gods, it wasn't strange. Not strange at all. Chunibyo Gods adding Chunibyo settings—it was very logical!
"Doesn't Isagi think it's cool?!"
"Not at all."
"?!"
Therefore.
Isagi could only temporarily suspend the idea of turning little Yuufi into a weapon. After all, no matter how you looked at it, this guy was just a brat!
She couldn't even be considered a loli, but was at the level of a toddler!!
How was he supposed to share his mind intimately with this kind of guy? That kind of thing was impossible, right?!
And even if it were possible, he couldn't do it!
Isagi didn't want to become social garbage, nor did he want to be looked at by others with "strange eyes."
Thus.
Time quietly passed by for several days.
It was another night with heavy snow fluttering about. Isagi and the girls gathered at the old spot in Central Park.
The stars and moon were sparse.
The goal of this adventure was still to explore the unknown areas of the Dungeon as much as possible and collect more "Plot Information."
The most important thing was information regarding that "Silence," Alfia.
If she really was a Floor Boss, then he and the girls would probably be stuck for a long time—a top-tier adventurer of at least Lv. 7 was definitely not an opponent the current squad could challenge.
Most importantly.
The small abandoned church located at the outermost periphery of the [Inner Holy City] where she was located... no matter how one looked at it, it didn't seem like a place similar to a [Throne Room].
He speculated: since she was an adventurer, maybe the other party would have a "Storyline"?
Holding such thoughts.
Isagi planned to use this adventure to figure out the basic situation as much as possible.
And just as the boy and girls set off.
It seemed.
The red-haired woman who had been waiting on one side of Central Park, leading numerous fellows dressed in black robes, also entered the Dungeon together with them.
________________
Interlude 01: An Ordinary Day Being Taken Care of by the Mama Goddess (Daily Side Story)
Isagi's day off began by waking up in the arms of the "Mama" Goddess.
The winter days were cold.
As time went on, the weather in Orario took a sharp turn for the worse, making one not want to step out of the house at all on ordinary days.
According to Goddess Demeter, in previous years at this time, she was always alone at home, doing nothing but sleeping. Since there was nothing else to do, the silent, snowy winter days—whether day or night—were a bit too long for the Goddess in charge of "Agriculture."
But Isagi felt that, even so, this wasn't a valid reason for her to cling to him all day long!
He felt the beautiful matronly Goddess was going a bit too far.
Before coming here, Isagi really hadn't expected it to turn out like this. He thought this would just be another daily routine, a time to relax and rest at the farm outside the city when not going to the Dungeon, just like before.
The result was that, starting from yesterday, Isagi was a bit taken aback. And what made it even harder to handle was that it looked like today was going to be exactly the same as yesterday...
Indeed, exactly the same!
Isagi realized this the moment he woke up from his dream, before he had even opened his eyes.
In the dim darkness.
A sticky, warm breath seemed to be glued to his face, faint yet persistent, making one want to struggle free from it. Isagi moved his hands and feet slightly, taking a few seconds to realize that he was currently being pinned down by the Goddess.
The delicate, soft matronly woman combined with the heavy bedding—under this double entanglement and suppression, he felt somewhat immobilized.
"Mmm—"
Making an effort, he planned to slowly extract his limbs from the warm embrace.
Isagi wanted to get out of bed.
Mainly because he felt a little hungry. Logically speaking, it wasn't easy to feel this way early in the morning, but perhaps it was because the energy consumption over these past few days had been a bit too high, leaving his body in urgent need of replenishment.
However...
After struggling a bit, Isagi discovered that random movements would make it very difficult to escape the current situation, so he needed a strategy.
For instance, first, he had to extract his left arm, which had been used as a pillow for most of the night, from under the Goddess's head.
It was a bit numb.
And there was a sweet, cloying fruity scent lingering on it, as if it had been "marinated" in the fragrance.
Thus, after regaining the freedom of his left hand, he could use the momentum to prop up his body, lift the quilt, find a leverage point with difficulty, and then, successfully get up!
In one motion, he flipped Demeter over.
The thin gray sunlight of the early morning spilled into the room, revealing the Goddess's honey-colored long golden hair and her soft skin, which still carried large patches of cute pink flushes, looming indistinctly before his eyes.
The visual impact was quite direct.
The room seemed a bit sultry.
Therefore, even though she was wearing only a thin white gauze nightgown that had been squeezed somewhat out of shape, beads of sweat still seeped from the beautiful matron's forehead. He didn't know if it was because it was too hot while sleeping just now, or if it was leftover from last night.
The charcoal fire in the fireplace was still burning; someone must have gone to add new fuel.
Isagi paused for a moment.
He realized it must have been Goddess Astrea.
Yesterday, it was Demeter who got up early to cook, while the other one slept in hugging him. Today, they had switched, hadn't they?!
Since that was the case...
Soon.
Isagi heard the sound of footsteps coming from outside the house. Before long, sure enough, the Goddess of Justice returned, wearing the same style of thin gauze nightgown.
She was carrying a serving tray.
On it were milk, bread, fried eggs, and simple breakfast items like sausage and bacon.
Seeing that he was awake, she didn't speak.
Instead, seeming to imitate Goddess Demeter from yesterday, the first thing she did upon walking quickly into the room was to close the door.
Thus, they entered a state of private space.
She stopped pretending completely!
The Goddess's stunningly beautiful face always appeared flushed. She arrived at the bedside in a few steps, and then quickly pressed him back onto the pillow.
No getting out of bed!
Words were completely unnecessary.
What time it was in the morning seemed to become entirely unimportant. What was important was that eating breakfast meant eating breakfast, and continuing to sleep meant continuing to sleep.
Isagi watched as the beautiful matron to the side also woke up from her dream in a daze.
Then.
Her whole body softly entangled him once again.
At this point, it was a bit different from yesterday. For example, Isagi felt that he shouldn't always be this passive.
So, since he was going to take the initiative, then right now he should let Goddess Astrea feed him breakfast—she intended to do that anyway—while on the other side, he would start...
The Goddess of Justice imitated how Goddess Demeter had been yesterday.
Sitting on the bed, letting him lean against her, he didn't need to do anything at all; he just had to focus on eating.
This was Astrea learning from the matron.
At this time yesterday.
The two Goddesses had swapped roles; she watched from the side while Demeter brought breakfast. But today was somewhat different because Isagi also decided to be a bit "active."
So.
The current Demeter couldn't lazily watch from the side like the Goddess of Justice; instead, she had...
Things to do.
Mmph!
Isagi could even feel Goddess Astrea's hand holding the silver fork trembling, clearly very unaccustomed to it (indeed, it was her first time), seeing Goddess Demeter at the side being...
While pretending not to dare to look, she was secretly peeking, making one think about letting her try it too later.
Heh!
In the room, aside from the Goddess's slightly quickening breathing, gradually, only the sound of the charcoal fire popping softly and the sounds of chewing and swallowing remained.
Having regained a bit of the rhythm through his slight initiative, Isagi's mood instantly improved significantly.
The Goddess was right.
When fighting, one must focus on fighting; so when resting, one must rest to one's heart's content.
The huge farm was very quiet all day long.
After breakfast.
Isagi went back to sleep, not waking up until the afternoon.
He felt that day and night had been somewhat reversed over these past two days, and his biological clock was completely messed up. Perhaps winter was just like this; cold, making people not want to do anything.
He climbed out of bed again only because he was hungry.
Both Goddesses were nowhere to be seen. Isagi put on his clothes, went downstairs, and after washing up, he saw the matronly Goddess busy in the kitchen, heating up food for him because he had woken up.
Only then did he learn.
Lady Astrea and Ryuu-senpai had gone out.
Coincidentally, Demeter was also preparing to go out. She wanted to go to the Port City to purchase some seafood and come back to cook a big meal in the evening.
Actually, she was purely looking for something to do.
If not for this, she estimated she would have continued sleeping at home in the afternoon. Let alone the Goddess, even Isagi felt that would be too outrageous.
As mentioned before.
Running over to stay with the "Married Woman" Goddess for rest could be considered a holiday that was overly "leisurely."
He didn't need to do anything at all. The Goddess, who always said "Mama, Mama, Mama...", would handle everything on her own, almost as if she wanted to raise him into a useless person.
But to be honest, Isagi always felt that such a life was missing something in this other world.
There were no mobile phones or computers!
So, staying at home, aside from reading books, meant either chatting idly with the girls, talking about completely nonsensical topics.
Or...
It was just like these past two days; because there was nothing to do, they could only do—
Although it was very "vulgar," it wasn't just him thinking that; the Goddesses thought so too!
That was why they had to find a reason to go out this afternoon.
Otherwise, they would surely only be able to stay in the room... In that case, it would seem a bit too "slothful." Just like yesterday, continuing to do that kind of thing incessantly—probably even Goddess Demeter started to feel a bit "embarrassed."
"Let's go, Isagi!"
The matron finally finished dressing.
There was no excessive adornment. Her golden, slightly curly, waist-length hair, which was a bit too sweet and cloying, was just draped down.
Under the leather furry coat was a dark brownish-gray high-collar sweater. It was simply the most common attire for mature women in winter, yet precisely because of that, it was particularly eye-catching.
Isagi felt a bit strange.
How is it that the Goddess seemed to have gotten bigger?
An illusion?
Or is it that at certain times, things visually appear larger than they actually are?
Emptying his mind and pondering such marginal questions, Isagi also wrapped himself in his padded jacket and went out with Goddess Demeter.
Because being alone at home meant having nothing to do anyway.
Outside the farmhouse, the little mare that the little Spirit Yuufi transformed into was already pulling the carriage, ready to go!
The Port City of Melen was a two or three-hour drive from Orario, but the little mare could get there in just over ten minutes; she was incredibly fast.
Of course, the most important thing.
Was that no one needed to drive, allowing both Isagi and Demeter to stay inside the carriage cabin.
"Get in the carriage with Mama."
From the moment they stepped out, she actively took his hand.
Isagi was actually still a little unaccustomed to it. The matron's hand was quite soft, with a strong enveloping sensation, appearing especially warm in this cold winter day.
Especially.
This guy even put his hand together with hers into her coat pocket.
Now it was even warmer.
Sitting in the carriage was actually a bit cold; after all, it was just a wooden cabin. Generally speaking, a brazier would be placed inside, and heavy curtains would be drawn to maintain the warmth within.
But they didn't do that today.
Perhaps the matron did it on purpose, just wanting to snuggle up to him like this to keep warm, to feel the tenderness and beauty of the moment.
Why did it feel inexplicably innocent?!
Isagi felt this didn't match the mature "composure" that Lady Demeter displayed!!
Or could it be...
He looked at the "Married Woman" Goddess beside him.
The words conveyed by those charming, pale golden eyes containing honey allowed Isagi to understand instantly!
"Come, let Mama see if your hands are cold."
She took his left hand again; now he was even more certain!
Thus.
Easily breaking free from the entanglement of the matron's palm, Isagi very effortlessly groped directly inside from the side of the coat the Goddess was wearing.
"!!!"
The posture of holding the other party was a bit strange.
But it didn't matter, because no one would care. The focus right now was entirely on his ice-cold palm.
After the morning's events, Isagi had learned to "take the initiative."
Very easily.
First, he used one hand to achieve his goal, directly letting the Goddess feel the cold. Moreover, theoretically speaking, the third warmest place on her body felt the most direct "icy touch"!
Subsequently, Isagi took out his right hand, which had originally been tucked in the matron's pocket and warmed thoroughly.
Wait a moment.
He waited until his right hand quickly became ice-cold from exposure to the winter air, then repeated the old trick, letting it converge with his left hand, which had already been warmed to the point of seeping sticky sweat.
Comfortable. Now it was comfortable.
It just left the Goddess being "stimulated" by the sudden cold for a long time again.
However.
Isagi felt this was what she wanted in the first place.
Not only because, visibly to the naked eye, this fellow became even softer and more delicate, but those charming eyes also once again revealed a feigned angry look that provoked one to want to "discipline" her.
Generally, at times like this.
Isagi would have to "accelerate." There was no helping it; this was instinct. One could only say that the mature matron was just too skilled; she always knew how to utilize these micro-expressions.
The carriage cabin quickly quieted down.
Outside, the wind and snow continued.
The little mare ran silently, huff-huff, along the long road covered by snow, just like the cold wind sweeping past.
Before long, she carried the youth and the matronly Goddess to the Port City of Melen.
Subsequently.
It wasn't Demeter's first time at the long dock street where seafood was sold in the small town. So at this moment, she only needed to lift a tiny corner of the carriage curtain.
She didn't even need to show her face. She only needed to use her voice to tell the fish merchants what seafood she needed, and then have them pack it all up and deliver it to the farm at home before evening.
There were still several hours before nightfall; time was completely sufficient.
The matron suppressed small muffled groans, and from time to time, she had to use eyes that looked like "blame" but were actually completely "encouragement" to stimulate Isagi to put in more effort.
So by the time they went back.
The situation in the carriage was a bit different again. Proceeding step by step, you see; no matter how warm a place is, it can't stay that way continuously for several hours. And to be honest, Isagi felt his hands getting sore.
Propping up that kind of thing is tiring!
Very normal!
So gradually, starting to do other things was also very normal!!
The result was that inexplicably, the little mare Yuufi, who was preparing to return to the farm from the Port City, received intermittent orders from the Goddess, telling her to circle the roads outside the city and "run freely for a while" first.
As long as she didn't go back, she could run however she liked.
Although she couldn't quite understand this, the little mare was still happy. As long as she could run around everywhere, for a Spirit whose mental age might be at the level of a "child," it was fun and interesting.
The result was.
When Isagi and Goddess Demeter returned to the farm in the carriage, it was already almost nightfall. The matron felt somewhat guilty, deceiving herself that it was because "night comes earlier in winter."
But when they returned home, looking at the brightly lit farm, and especially the "meaningful" look in the eyes of the Elf girl who ran out to welcome the two.
The married-woman Goddess also inexplicably felt a sense of shame rising from her heart.
Especially.
Because they came out in a hurry, she was still tidying up her somewhat messy sweater and coat.
Isagi also saw Ryuu-senpai when he came out. However, the youth did not read the complex words from the other party's eyes: [Alise and Kaguya were indeed right; one has to be fast and direct! So next time...]
For the youth, the ordinary daily life mostly passed just like that.
If one had to say it was different, it indeed had some differences from the usual, but what was clear was that in the future, such "daily life" would become the norm—
____
New Story: Junji Ito: I Shall Smash Hellstar Remina
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