Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the soundtracks. Danmachi belongs to Fujino Ōmori, Final Fantasy XV belongs to Square Enix.
Is it wrong to seek answers?
Chapter 15: Hostess of Fertility
OUTSIDE – STREETS OF ORARIO – EVENING
While Bell and Lily were speaking with each other about some stuff, Noct was with his thoughts somewhere else again.
He still couldn't believe that Ravus is supposed to be the captain of Dia's familia.
He remembered how Dia sent Emma and her friends to the dungeon to meet with other Familia members.
And since they were returning from the 54th Floor, as he remembered Eina saying it to be one of the deepest floors a Familia ever reached, Ravus has to be strong to be such a familia's captain, maybe even as strong as Ottar.
(OPENING: Promare OST – Gallant Ones by Hiroyuki Sawano ft. Mpi & Benjamin)
Lily and Bell noticed how Noct was 'gone' again, „hey Noct, do you hear us"
Noct then looked to Bell, whom voice he heard.
„uh, yes, you needed something? " Noct asked disorientated.
Bell and Lily looked concerned at each other for a moment before turning to Noct again.
„you're thinking about Ravus, right? " Bell asked while noticing how Noct reacted.
Noct looked for a while at her before looking straight at the street again.
„Did anyone of you both ever met him for real ?" Noct asked while looking again to Bell, who has described to him how Ravus looks like in the first place.
„expect that I saw him fighting in the Greatsword Battle Festival, Emma and her friends we met today were the only adventurers from the Dia Familia we've met for real so far, I've never had the real opportunity to meet Ravus directly, " Bell said while feeling a little bit disappointed for not able to tell Noct more.
„well, I've talked with Prima once about their Familia … ", Now Bell and Noct looked to Lily at the same time, „... she proudly said that 'her Familia's the strongest in the whole world, even stronger than Freya and Loki' ".
Bell and Noct looked a little bit dumbfounded since it's pretty frivolous to claim something like that.
„I know...", Lily said, knowing what both boys thought, „...but it's a clear fact that the Dia Familia is considered to be one of the strongest Familia's in Orario, and some people even claim, that they're one the same plane as the Freya Familia."
This statement was enough for Noct to realize that Ravus has to be as strong as Ottar.
They wanted to talk more about them, but they saw that they already arrived near the pub.
Then, out of nowhere, they saw Ryuu coming out, who noticed the 3 adventurers coming.
„I see you've finally arrived, there's a table reserved for you 3, " Ryuu said to them.
INSIDE – HOSTESS OF FERTILITY – ORARIO
There were plenty of people enjoying the served foods by the maidens. Many of them talked rather loudly of many different things, especially their today's adventure in the dungeon.
But when Bell, Lily, and Noct came in, some guests looked at them, while others were still busy eating the delicious food.
„is that him ? " one male guest whispered.
„black spiky hair, there's also 'little Rookie', it has to be him " his partner whispered back.
Noct felt uncomfortable by such behaviors. He remembered back in school, how some girls whispered the same way. It didn't bother him back then, probably because they were girls.
While most guests felt dignified while looking to him, there were 4 Elves on a roundtable who didn't look happy at all, but Noct decided to ignore them.
It was at this moment that they saw 2 girls with cat ears coming fast towards them. Noct could sense rather strong energies coming from them.
„meow meow meow, good evening, meow I introduce, meow name is Anya, " said the orange-haired cat girl.
„and meow name is Chloe, welcome to the hostess of Fertility, " said the black-haired cat girl.
While Lily seemed already bugged by those 2 waitresses' behavior, Noct got more irritated since those 2 were staring at him.
„good evening Anya, Chloe." Bell greeted them.
„Hello meow too, Bell, " Anya said while looking briefly to him only to look to Noct again.
„and you must be the one Ryuu was talking about, right ?" Chloe asked while closing the distance between them.
„Did she ?", Noct asked while moving away from her while looking to the said Elf behind him, who for some reason closed her eyes.
„Anyway, I'm Noct, nice to meet you" Noct introduced himself, which resulted in both cat girls to blush.
Then both girls turned their heads to Bell and then to Noct. They did that three times.
„now I understand why Ryuu couldn't decide, " Chloe said while looking to Anya.
'honestly, I would take both' she thought while feeling happy.
Ryuu, who immediately understood what they meant, made a serious expression while staring at Chloe.
„but that even Syr thinks the same, is ..." Anya was about to finish her sentence until,
„Anya …... ", they heard Syr from behind, which scared the called girl immediately.
„Meowwww …...", Anya screeched slightly.
„I don't think Mama Mia will be pleased if you both keep our other guests waiting, " Syr said while 'smiling', as the 4 witnesses. Noct couldn't believe that other women were showing that kind of expression.
„ „ Meow …..." " both cat girls screeched at the same time, which made them go away, serving the other guests coming into the pub.
But then Noct noticed something unusual about those 2 cat girls.
While they went away, he saw that they not only had cat ears but also each a cat tail, which made his mouth gape slightly.
'what the...', he thought at first. But then he remembered that he already saw a cat girl today, right before he and Bell went for the Babel-shop.
'but I didn't saw her having one' he remembered, but then he also remembered that she was standing along with her 2 friends.
'probably her tail was behind them' he concluded.
„hmm-hmm" Ryuu hummed, signalizing Noct that he's staring too long.
Noct turned back to Syr, „oh yeah, good evening Syr" this time he greeted her, which she replied with a more happy smile.
„good evening Syr." Bell greeted with a smile, „good evening." Lily greeted less impressed.
„good evening to you too", Syr then looked again to Noct, „it seems you're the center of attention again, Noct." Syr said while keeping her eyes closed.
„really? " Noct wondered if she's talking about what he's been thinking she's talking about.
„of course, I mean fighting against Orario's strongest adventurer and then being praised by him, that's something not everyone experiences." Syr said to him then looked to Lily and Bell again, „anyway your friends are waiting for you, follow me."
(soundtrack: „09. Hostess of Fertility 豊-女主人亭")While the group was following Syr, Ryuu noticed how most guests were staring in awe towards them, especially Noct.
„he's a real dream, isn't he ?" Ryuu heard Chloe asking her on her left side.
„and he was even looking back at me." Anya commented this time to her 2 peers.
„wrong, obviously he was looking to me" Chloe answered back to Anya angrily.
While both cat girls started growling at each other, Ryuu regretted not telling them both about that Noct never saw Demi-Humans before in his life, which of course is the real reason he looked back. Ryuu decided to go back to work, ignoring her two peers.
„what are you standing there you both ?" Anya and Chloe heard a fellow brown-haired peer of them.
„meow, there you are, Lunoire." Chloe told her.
„did meow see, he has finally come, meow." Anya said to her.
„who are you talking about ?" Lunoire asked with a rather distrustful expression.
„The new one Ryuu was talking about, you know the one who lost his underpants, that's why many customers were angry yesterday, meow." Anya explained.
„I wish I could be there in Melen back then to see it for myself." Chloe said, this time more quietly so that only her two peers could hear her.
„and new rumors say that he even fought against 'King' and even made him giving up meow." Anya added since she's impressed, no, maybe even falling in love with Noct while looking to him.
„Are you crazy?, I mean it's the 'King' we're talking about." Lunoire said, still skeptical about the rumors.
„come on meow, there's no other topic which is talked today than that, and what's more, he's a cutie, even I would say he's as cute as 'Silverlight', so come on, look for yourself meow." Chloe added impatiently.
When Lunoire finally looked herself in their direction, she had the greatest shock in her life.
She saw a very handsome spiky black-haired young man, with a trained body underneath his blue and white-colored clothes.
Lunoire's face turned beet red. A second later, she realized that her heart was beating faster than usual, ''What's going on, what's wrong with me.'
„ „oooh" " Both cats viciously said while looking at Lunoire's red face.
Her expression relaxed after hearing her 2 fellow peers, „ what ?"
„you fell for him, didn't you ?" Chloe asked Luniore.
Lunoire got red again, this time, however, out of embarrassment, „no I didn't." she claimed, but her red face told the two cat girls otherwise.
Anya then looked to Noct again, „I don't blame you, I mean which girls wouldn't? "
„that's right, I doubt there are any girls or women who would call him ugly ?" Chloe asked.
Luniore and Anya agreed what Chloe said.
Lunoire always considered finding a fitting husband,
but since she was pretty strong herself, she knew that men would avoid her, since most men are looking for weaker women,
because otherwise, they would, as Syr explained to them, have low self-esteem, because on the one hand,
they wouldn't feel being 'the master of the house' anymore,
and on the other hand, they would feel
being 'protected by a strong/dangerous/scary woman'
instead of 'protecting their weak/beautiful/'not so scary'-woman',
because most men prefer the latter of course. Lunoire, as her fellow peers, always thought about this subject as a sign of how dark and unfair the world can be for women.
But now seeing Noct, and also remembering how all adventurer-customers and now Chloe and Anya talked about his fight with Ottar, it was crystal clear that he has not any low self-esteem. Luniore felt like she has finally been rewarded for her hard work and pain she had in this pub.
„and since he's could deal with 'King', I wonder how good he would deal with Mama Mia." Anya wondered, which made Chloe and Luniore agreeing.
„huh, who would how to deal with me?" an elder female voice asked out of nowhere.
All three girls felt a cold shiver running down their backs. It was Mama Mia looking rather angry by the situation.
„do you want to know how I DEAL with LAZY EMPLOYEES ?" Mama Mia asked them angrily, which terrified them of course, „now back to work or …..."
„ „ „ we're sorry !" " " the three girls immediately did what Mama Mia told them.
While her employees got back taking orders and other stuff, Mama Mia saw the black spiky-haired boy her girls were talking about.
'so he's the one who fought against Ottar.', Mia breathed in and out before smiling herself, she saw how he spoke to Bell and the other friends who reserved for them. 'like Bell, he seems like a good behaved boy' she thought before going in the other back in the kitchen again to see for her chef named May.
The trio finally reached their reserved round table, along with certain familiar faces, but there was also someone they didn't saw before.
„There you are you three." Seti greeted them after he stood up.
„good evening Seti, Erika, and you too guys" Bell greeted the whole group they just met today in the Dungeon.
Then along the unfamiliar man stood up too.
„May I introduce, this is Edgar, also one of our Allies" Edgar introduced himself.
„Hello, I'm Edgar, captain of the Dellingr Familia." the brown-haired young man with the Cyan eyes shaken with the Hestia Familia's members' hands.
After sitting on one of the free chairs, they looked at the menu. While Bell and Lily didn't take long, Noct struggled to choose a fitting meal, since it's his first time eating here. Syr already appeared to them, ready taking orders, which didn't relax Noct at all.
But then he found a fitting meal.
„I'll take the grilled noodles with beef, please." he ordered after everyone else said theirs.
„Alright, thank you for your order, " Syr said before disappearing again.
While waiting for their meal, the group talked again about today's adventure in the Dungeon. Seti and Erika explained that this was the first time on the 10th floor for them and that they didn't expect themselves getting that fast into trouble.
Then Bell and Noct explained that today was Noct's first day in the Dungeon, which shocked the group again. Seti remembered Ottar's indirectly statement about Noct being down there for the first time, but that it was his first time overall in the dungeon was something none of Seti's and Erika's friends expected.
The same goes for Edgar, who told them three, that he and his Familia were one of the many who witnessed his fight with Ottar.
They continued talking about more stuff, like where they were all living, what everyone's impression of Orario is and more. Then, they saw Ryuu and the others serving the ordered food to them.
At first, Seti's, Edgar's, Erika's and their comrades' food were served, then Lily's, and at last Bell's and Noct's.
Noct was about to eat this delicious smelling food, but then he noticed that something was strange about his Noodles with beef.
By looking at it, he noticed the noodles were served in a 'very strange shape'.
„Um, Noct", Bell called him, which made Noct look to him, „is it just mine, or does your noodles also have 'that shape'. "
Noct then looked to Bell's Noodles with chicken. There was no mistake, it has the same shape.
(end of soundtrack)
…...
Their served Noodles and meat had the shape of a heart.
…...
(ENDING: Jacob Lee – I Just Know (New Immunity Remix) )