Bell moved carefully, with the permission of Alfia, he was on the 8th Floor now. He had to promise her to be carefull and don´t take any risks or she would go with him into the dungeon. As they had planned, Bell went to her house in the morning and returned the cleaned boxes from the dinner. Before he left his Familia´s home, he saw Nahza coming out of her room, she had more than a bid bedhair, which let her look really cute. After they ate breakfast together, the study session had started. She had become quite the good teacher and made sure he rememberred everything. While being very strict, Alfia praised him when he did good.
After the study session, she had asked him about everything, while forbidding him to look into his notes. If he couldn´t answer all of her questions, she wouldn´t allow him to go deeper than the 6th Floor. Of course he could still go to the 7th, but she would see through every lie he might try if she asked him how deep he went.
"6th to 8th Floor, name all new monsters and basic attack patterns."
"Frog Shooter, range attack with longe tongue. War Shadow, agile and has razorsharp claws. Killer Ant, strongest armor on these floors, calls for help from other Killer Ants when in trouble."
Alfia nodded. "Continue."
"Purple Moth, spreads ppoisonous powder from it´s wings. Needle Rabbit, very agile and attacks with the horn. Blue Papilio, rare monster, doesn´t attack, can heal other monsters."
Now she raised an eyebrow.
"From the 8th onwards, enhanced versions of the monsters from 1st to 7th Floor."
Next she asked him about the floor designs, but he could only give basic answers since he hadn´t seen them before on his own.
"You did well, Bell."
A smile appeared on his lips.
"Your status is high enough to go into these Floors, but remember that status isn´t everything. If you underestimate the dungeon, you will die."
"I won´t underestimate it."
"And if you see an irregular?..."
"Then I will run away and alarm the guild."
"Good, here is your lunch box."
"Thank you, Mom."
Before Alfia could do that to him, Bell leaned forward and kissed Alfia´s cheek.
Starting his day like that was really nice.
He had everything ready and was about to leave the house.
"Bell, you forgot something."
"Hm?"
When he turned around, Alfia kissed him gently on the forehead.
"Heh, you are one hundred years too young to surprise your Mom."
"Hehe, oh and Lord Miach and Nahza said the food was really delicious, I can only agree on that."
"Is that so...hm good for them, but of course my cooking is good. Make sure to return the lunch box to me later, who knows if I will make too much food again by "accident"."
"Until later then, Mom."
"Stay safe, Sweety."
.
.
While Bell Cranel explored carefully the start of the 8th Floor, a young woman in another part of Orario sat by her window and sighed.
A faint knock came from the door.
"Hah...Come in..."
"Ais, is something wrong?"
The young woman with the golden hair turned her head away from the window, clouds had gathered in the sky, maybe it would rain in the evening. Her visitor came in and closed the door behind her.
"Riveria, I don´t know, I...feel bad."
The adult elf sat carefully down on the couch, next to Ais. Everyone was relaxing on this day, like every time they came back from an Expedition. The various members spent their day like they wanted to. Some slept for most of the day,
some went into the city. While Tiona and Tione had invited Ais to go shopping with them, she hadn´t felt like it.
Riveria had talked with Loki before she went to see Ais, she wasn´t the only one worried.
"Because of what happened yesterday?"
"Yes, someone nearly died and it was our fault."
"That is true and a serious matter."
"I feel sorry for that boy, maybe he was traumatized by it."
"That is a possibility."
"I...I...Riveria, what should I do now? What if the two elves from the Astrea Familia weren´t there? I don´t know if I would have made it in time...and then...he...he..."
Riveria noticed that Ais´ hands were lightly shaking while she looked at them depressed.
"Are my hands for nothing more than killing?..."
It hurt Riveria to see Ais like this, the high executives and Loki had noticed that Ais got more and more depressed lately. Even her level up to six a year ago hadn´t changed much.
"Ais, it isn´t like that."
Riveria noticed that Ais was close to crying. Tears were coming not because of the boy, he was just the last of many, many drops that breaks the camel's back. Everyone had their burden to bear, but Riveria knew that Ais never wanted to go into the dungeon in the first place, her circumstances forced her to do that or she would go insane and getting devoured by grief and sorrow.
In Riveria´s presence, Ais could be a little more open.
She noticed the expression on Ais´ face while she looked at her hands, as if they were stained with blood.
"Why do I feel like that? All I ever needed was to get strong and my comrades in the Familia. But now..."
The rise in status at level six was very slow, no matter how many monsters Ais slew in the dungeon, it rarely went up a point.
"Ais."
Riveria gently closed her hands around Ais´ and forced her to look into her eyes.
"What does your heart want to do?"
"I feel really sorry for the boy, I..."
Riveria showed her a motherly smile. "Then you should go on our familia´s behalf and apologize to him."
"Huh?"
"You know when you do something wrong, you should apologize. We have to apologize after all and it looks like your heart wants to do that."
Ais was in thoughts for a while.
"You are right, but how do I find him?"
"You could wait until the Astrea Familia returns and ask what he looked like, maybe they saw his familia´s sign. Or ask at the guild, at least his advisor should know about the incident."
"Then I will go to the guild."
Now Riveria smiled slightly and squeezed Ais´ hands gently before letting go of her.
"Please take your coat with you, it looks like it will rain soon."
"Okay."
"So the-"
Riveria stopped when Ais suddenly made a step forward, put her arms around Riveria and hugged her. A bit perplexed at first, closed Riveria her arms around Ais and returned the hug. Ais was getting close to become nineteen years old, but for many things she still was a child. A child that needed the embrace of a mother figure.
"Thank you, Riveria..."
"It´s okay, Ais..."
The adult elf didn´t minded that Ais´s face was pushed against her bosom. If she wanted to admit it or not, Riveria had become Ais´ foster mother. They remained in this position until Ais calmed down. Sometimes when she did that, Ais trembled and sobbed, she just had to let the feelings inside her out.
"And Ais?"
"Hm?"
"Next time, just go with Tiona and Tione, it will help you."
"Okay.."
.
.
While Ais Wallenstein fought her mood and tried to brighten up a bit, another young woman was in a better mood, due to her changed fate.
The Astrea Familia moved further down into the dungeon, Alise led them from the front like always. Normally Kaguya would be in the middle of the formation and Ryu in the rear guard, or viece versa, but this time both were at the end of the line. It wasn´t supposed to be a big or long Expedition, their goal was to move to the 37th Floor and fight Udaeus. And yet, this time things would be different from usual. Alise, Kaguya and Ryu wouldn´t fight with the others. Alise would stand by and just strike down the smaller skeletons that came her way, while the others fought Udaeus. She would only intervene when something went wrong.
Ryu and Kaguya on the other hand, they would only move with the group down to the 28th Floor.
Ryu enjoyed every trip into the dungeon with her familia. Ever since the fateful day when her familia got nearly killed by that strange monster, she was thankfull for every single moment with her familia. Be it in the dungeon, training together or working part time in the pub or go on a short vacation with the familia, it was just nice. And she got along well with her friends from the pub that weren´t part of her familia. .
.
One day she even got the chance to go with Astrea to a party of the gods. Freya held the party this time and to spice things up a bit, she had written in the invitation that every god should bring a child of their familia with them, but not the captains, to give someone else the chance to shine.
Since it wouldn´t be Alise, everyone guessed it would be Kaguya. But Kaguya suddenly said her tummy would ache and that it was probably that time of the month for her. That they still needed someone strong to accompany Astrea and of course this one needed to wear a pretty dress to fit into the party.
Slowly all eyes of her familia had wandered to Ryu.
"Eh, m-me? In a dress? N-No way."
But even Astrea had looked really curious and hopefull.
In the end she wore a green dress that looked like it was made from leaves and vine tendrils. Her whole familia got really excited when they saw her in that dress, but Ryu was still easily overshadowed by Astrea, at least in her opinion. While Astrea was a beautiful goddess, the others had seen Astrea often in a dress, for Ryu it was a first time.
And then on the party...
"Ryu!"
"Huh, Syr?"
"Hey, what a coincidence to meet you here!"
Syr smiled happily all over her face, someone was following her slowly.
"Syr, why are you here?"
"Hehe, Freya asked me to accompany her!"
"Oh my, this is your friend that you told me so much about, Syr?"
Ryu´s eyes widened when the goddess of love and beauty, Freya, stopped next to Syr. Her dress was made out of a silver material and even with her very deep cleavage, it didn´t looked cheap or slutty. The goddess before her eyes was pure elegance.
Sometimes Ryu forgot that Syr was a member of Freya´s Familia, just like Ahnya and Mia.
"Yes, Freya. This is my dear Ryu!"
The goddess looked at her with her usual slight smile, Ryu´s ears and cheeks somehow got red when she looked into the goddess´ eyes.
"You are quite pretty, young lady."
"Th-Thank you!"
While Ryu stuttered and stumbled under the eyes of the goddess, someone came to rescue her.
"Ah, Freya, your party really is refreshing."
"Astrea, long time no see. You really have a charming child here."
"Hehe, Ryu is my pride and joy."
Astrea´s eyes wandered to Syr. "Good evening, Syr."
"Good evening, lady Astrea."
Freya raised her eyebrows. "Syr, say how can it be that you speak to her so politely and to me with just my name?"
"Eeeh? But I thought we were friends, Freya?"
Ryu´s eyes nearly popped out of her sockets, she couldn´t believe how Syr talked to the goddess.
"Well you are right, can I let you here for a bit? I want to talk to Demeter."
"Of course."
Astrea understood the hidden message from Freya. "Ryu, I want to talk to Ganesha for a bit, can I let you here with Syr?"
"O-Of course!"
After the goddesses left, Syr and Ryu enjoyed the party a bit on their own.
"Ryu, you look soooo pretty in that dress!"
"Really? I don´t know...it doesn´t really suit me..."
"What? You look so cute, like a fairy queen! I´m so glad I got a chance to witness this."
"You look more pretty than I do, Syr...a dress is not fitting for me."
"Mouh Ryu, you can´t be a battle hardened warrior all the time, a dress like this is a good way to catch the eyes of a man."
"Why would I want that?"
"Hehe, tell me honestly that you have zero interest in love. I saw how curious you, Lefiya and Filvis were about your goddess and lord Ganesha."
"Irgh..."
"I´m sure you will find someone in the future."
"S-Syr..."
"Oooh! I love this music, come on Ryu, let us dance!"
"Eh, together?"
"Of course, I mean I doubt that we would find a man for you in the next five minutes, hm? Or do you want me to find one for myself quickly?"
"Aboslutely not!"
Ryu had the strong urge to protect Syr, it weren´t romantic feelings, but she owed Syr a lot and saw her as her best friend outside of her familia.
While both woman walked to the dance floor, Syr rememberred something.
"Oh right, Ryu?"
"Hm?"
"Tomorrow night, Chloe, Lunor, Ahnya and I want to play cards, will you come too?"
"I have the late shift anyway."
"Hehe, it is more fun when you are around."
Not that Ryu would be able to win in a cards game against Syr, not even Lyra managed to do that. The only games that they were able to win against Syr, were those that used dices.
"Oh and Ryu, Freya allowed you to have a sleep over in my room if you want."
"Huh?! Ahm...when did she do that?"
"On our way to the party."
"But how did you know I would be here?"
"Oh ahm...ah...a...guess? Ehehe. By the way, how is Kaguya´s tummy?"
"How do you know she is feeling unwell?"
"*Gasp*"
"Syyyr...did you all planned this?"
"Whaaat? That is crazy... We would never work together just to see you in this beautiful dress... I swear..."
"You aren´t looking into my eyes..."
"*Cough*"
The evening was still a great fun, at some point Astrea went to Ryu again and told her she would go to the after party where only gods were allowed. So Ryu took Syr´s offer for a sleepover, it was her first time doing that.
It felt a bit strange to use the same coach as the goddess Freya. When they arrived at Babel, where Syr´s room was and Freya tended to sleep, Syr accompanied Freya to her room to help her with the dress. Afterwards Syr came back and showed Ryu a bathroom that was beyond luxurious.
Only a few people that had Ryu´s complete trust had ever seen her in the bath without a towel.
Washing each others backs was nice and they chatted about many things, Syr even dared to tickle Ryu´s ears for a moment. The bath felt really nice.
What took her breath away was the view from Syr's bedroom...and the sheer size of the bed.
"Ehe, I like to have a bit of room, apparently I tend to roll around in my sleep."
"Wow..."
"Ryu?"
"I was never so high up before in my life..."
Ryu was really at a loss for words.
"Hehe."
"Syr?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
Both sat next to each other in front of the giant window, according to Syr, Freya´s window was even bigger and further up. They could see much of Orario and the land around.
Ryu would never forget this sight in her life.
She didn´t moved when Syr leaned her head against Ryu´s.
"Ryu?"
"Yes?"
"I´m so glad I met you and that you are my friend."
"I´m also very glad, I really like you, Syr."
Her friendship with Syr had saved her life in the past when she was so desparate, now she never wanted to miss spending time with her dear friend.
And Ryu would never fully understand how much this friendship meant for Syr.
But of course it created a huge misunderstanding when she returned home the next morning. It was almost like Alise, Lyra, Kaguya, Neze and the others wanted to misinterpret that Ryu slept somewhere else this night.
.
.
Ryu smiled by the end of her memory, she had a good life in Orario and was statisfied with nearly everything. The only thing she really wished she could do was to thank whoever or whatever had saved them from the monster back then.
"So, Kaguya, Ryu, it´s time."
The party had stopped and gave the two adventurers time to change behind some trees, separated from each other. They exchanged their usual clothes for dark ones. Kaguya put on a long sleeve to cover her silver arm, she only did that when "dark work" had to be done.
Ryu used a black cape with a hood instead of her usual green one.
The fact that they accompanied the others into the dungeon had only been a deception to any eyes that might be watching them. They had waited a whole day and traveled with the others before secretly making their way back. Ryu had something of a secret informant if you wanted to call it that.
Syr.
Working in the pub was a good opportunity to pick up rumors or information. And no one was better at it than Syr, no one knew more people and was more liked. At some point Syr had found out about Ryu´s hidden work and asked her if she could help her with informations. She had fun with this "detective work" how she called it.
Like the time with the casino, it was really usefull.
And lately they got the information that something odd happened in the Entertainment district. There were rumors, rumors of rumors, that the Ishtar familia was doing something, was up to something. Syr was worried about the peace in Orario and the fact that Ishtar didn´t liked Freya.
She had given Ryu all the informations and rumors that she heard, Ryu would then tell her familia and Astrea would inform Ganesha and Shakti. It always went like this, officially the "Dark Justice" didn´t existed. But Kaguya and Ryu would gather informations and spy around in the Entertainment District for a few days.
They would do nothing except someone got in danger, if there was official crime to record, Ganesha´s Familia would deal with that. The area was a bit touchy as the Ganesha Familia did not normally operate here. The Guild left the Pleasure Quarter alone as long as nothing really serious happened. But if... then action would be taken.
"Hey Leon."
"Hm?"
"Why didn´t you bring Syr with you? Didn´t she wanted to come with you so badly?"
"I would never bring her with me to "that place". Syr is an angel, she would be sullied just by the air there, she is too innocent for that place."
"But you are ready for that place? You are the most innocent of all of us."
"I am ready, I will protect Orario."
.
"Phew, the 8th Floor is really something else."
Bell finally found the challenge he was looking for. The monsters were stronger and more came together. His father´s blade was really good and cut through most of them without much problems. He only moved so far that he could still see the exit to the 7th Floor.
There was more than one reason for that.
First of all he didn't want to get cocky, it was wise to test the floor carefully. Also, like Alfia had said, status wasn't everything. With stronger goblins and kobolds appearing here in larger numbers, along with the other monsters, the threat composition changed. Also, the monsters appeared out of the walls faster than before.
And the third reason was logistics. Since he was alone, he had a backpack with him that he could quickly drop off in an emergency. In his backpack he carried his lunch box, a bottle of lemon water, special gloves and a dagger. Gloves and daggers were used to remove magic stones from monsters' bodies, only then they turned to ashes. It was a disgusting job at times, but that was part of it. Bell got better at catching monsters in a way that didn't damage the stones and made them easier to remove. Even if he was able to gradually take out six monsters that came his way, removing six stones afterwards took a while. In addition, the paths became longer and he could only carry a certain amount of magic stones and drop items. So even if he got to the 8th floor, he couldn't get very far before he had to go back up. Leaving magic stones lying around was strictly forbidden, it could create irregular monsters. Dropping items were different, but they were valuable and Bell wanted to make money.
Thankfully Alfia had given him a crucial tip for the time when his backpack was full. He should follow the path where stronger adventurers moved from the entrance down, so he wouldn´t encounter many monsters.
On the upper Floors it happened from time to time that he encountered low leveled adventurer like himself, but the further he went down, the rarer it happened.
"Hm, I guess I sh-"
Bell´s words died out when he looked right...and saw blue wings slowly moving through the air.
A blue papilio.
The rare monster moved slowly through the air, without caring about Bell.
Lucky!
With a thud, his backpack hit the ground as he dropped it and dashed forward without thinking twice. The monster noticed his quick movement, but it was too slow to react. Just to be sure to not damage anything valuable, Bell rammed his sword through the papilio´s head.
"Creek..."
The butterfly-like monster twitched one time and fell with Bell to the ground.
"Yes!"
Grinning happy, Bell dragged the dead monster to his backpack. Now he had to hurry, he didn't know exactly where the magic stone was and prayed that the wings would be preserved. It was quite the nasty work and he felt a bit sorry to gutter such a beautiful creature. But then again it was a monster and Alfia had drilled into him multiple times, that some monsters used their looks to draw adventurers in and then kill them.
Like Harpies, Sirens or Mermaids.
It became quite the mess until Bell found the magic stone in the papilio´s chest.
"Ah, finally."
The monster´s body started to crumble and turned slowly to ash.
Two of it´s wings remained.
"YES!"
He was overjoyed as he took off the gloves after cleaning them, not all of the monster´s blood and such that was on the gloves turned to ash. Bell prepared his nose for what was to come now, holding his sword stretched away from his body.
"Thunderbolt."
Lightning washed over his blade and jumped from it to the next wall. Since his sword was made out of mythril, it could withstand and dissipate his magic easily. It was the best way to burn away blood, fat and other things so that his blade would be clean. That was something that his hero stories never spoke of,
each monster that he slew left something on his blade and he would have to clean it again and again or he had problems to fight.
One time his sword slipped to the sight as he blocked a kobold´s club, a dungeon weapon. The fat and blood on his blade had made it slippery.
There were special cleaning tools and clothes for weapons, but Bell didn´t had the money to buy them for now.
Putting everything back into his backpack, he carefully lifted up the wings.
"So, time to go back, I have a delivery to make.
.
.
Ding..Ding...
Nahza and Miach turned around as they heard the door getting opened, both were busy cleaning the shelves.
"Bell, welcome back."
"Ah, Bell w-"
Nahza got big eyes when she saw what the grinning Bell held in his hands.
"I got lucky today."
"Are those Blue Papilio Wings?!"
"Yes, I encountered one on my way back from the 8th Floor."
Miach smiled happy. "This is wonderful, Bell."
Carefully to not damage them, Bell put the wings on the counter.
"I hope they will be of use."
"Absolutely..."
Bell giggled slightly, when she didn´t yelled out, Nahza indeed spoke in her calm, tired way.
"And here are today´s earnings, I made 12.000 Vals."
Miach looked surprised. "So much?"
"I found a few dropp items, the 7th and 8th Floors really give good money."
"I hope you are still carefull?"
"Of course, my Mom threatened me that she would come with me all the time if I become reckless."
Miach chuckled while Nahza carefully carried the wings into the "laboratory".
Bell opened his money bag and was about to take out 6.000 Vals.
"Bell, please keep 9.000 for yourself today."
"Huh?"
"These wings are really valuable and you should keep a bit more money for yourself."
"But I want to help the Familia."
Miach smiled gently. "That doesn´t mean you have to bring in all of your money, please use it for yourself, for armor and such so that you will be safe, okay?"
"But lord Miach..."
Miach came forward and gently put a hand on Bell´s shoulder. "You are one of my children now, Bell. I couldn´t stand it if you got hurt because you don´t have the armor needed for the dungeon."
"Hm."
Nahza returned and smiled too, very happy because of the wings. "See it like that, Bell. If you have a good armor and cleaning tools, you can go further into the dungeon and earn more money that way. Invest something now to increase your gain..."
"That makes sense, I guess."
Miach continued. "Also, do you know what would happen to us if you get hurt because we took away your money and your mother finds out?"
Bell gulped.
Nahza put a package on the counter. "Bell, could I ask you to go now? Or do you want to take a shower first? It would be better to go soon, before it starts to rain or gets dark."
"No, I will go now. Oh and my Mom made too much food again by "accident". I ate with her so I brought something for you, while I´m away with the delivery.
""*Gulp*""
God and mortal reacted in the same way when Bell put two small boxes on the counter.
"Bell...is your mother an angel?"
After hearing Miach´s words, Nahza suddenly pouted and her tail and ears twitched angry.
"Lord Miach, you can´t go after the mother of your follower..."
"That wasn´t my intention, but please tell her our thanks, Bell."
.
After leaving the house, Bell returned to the West Main, their home was pretty far in the west of Orario, close to the walls, and followed the big street to the Main Plaza below Babel.
No matter how often he saw this giant tower, he never stopped being amazed by it. He wondered how it could stand so tall, without breaking down or leaning to one side.
I wonder who lives at the top.
Eina had told him that various gods lived in the tower, that there were floors where no mortals were allowed or only when they belonged to the god´s familia or were invited guests.
The sky rumbled a bit and he looked up.
Maybe I should hurry a bit.
Bell sped up his steps, he had a long way to walk and then the same distance back again. While he could take shelter in Babel, he didn´t knew how long it would rain.
It would be nice if our home were a bit closer to the center of the city, I´m sure Ms. Nahza would sell more then.
The buildings in the south of Orario looked a bit different, mostly the same but there were differences. He got told that it had something to do with the districts, that each had it´s own flavor. Eina had told him that there was one district that had mostly factories and forges, while another inherited the school that she went to.
The more he learned about Orario, the more fascinated he was from the city. But strangely, he got never told what the city of night was.
Since he delivered a package there, Bell guessed it had something to do with people that worked mostly at night in Orario.
I guess it makes sense to let them all work in one part, if everyone would work spread over the city, they would disturb the neighbors at night.
Nahza only told him that it should be quite quiet at this time of the day, since it only got really lively during the nights. Following the South Main, he made good progress, not many people came from the south at this time of the day. A few people looked at him with a grin when it became obvious in which direction he moved.
"Someone´s eager."
"Hehe, the youth."
"The early bird catches the worm huh?"
"More like, he wants his worm taken."
Bell had no idea what the people talked about, but he kept moving towards his destination. He got a bit surprised when he seemed to arrive, massive walls surrounded the whole area. From what he saw, it really looked like a city inside the city.
A few lanterns were already lit up, glowing in a low red. He could imagine when it was dark, the whole city of the night would be tainted red.
Probably out of consideration for the neighbors that want to sleep, how nice of them.
Two women with light armor stood left and right of the entrance to the district, each of them holding a spear.
"Oho, someone´s looking for fun, hm?"
"Hehe, how handsame this young man is."
He didn´t really knew where to look at, both didn´t wore much armor. Both were really pretty and he felt his face getting warm.
"Oh my, he blushes just by our sight already?"
"How cute, ehehe."
"Ahm, I´m sorry, is this the City of the Night?"
"Yes it is, you found your destination, young man." The woman winked.
"I-Ist there a shop here called "Crimson Lotus"?"
"Ohoooo? Someone has an exotic taste."
"Oh my, you like the far eastern style, hm?"
"I have a package for them."
Suddenly both women laughed.
"Ahahaha, I´m sure you have a package for them."
"Probably a big package, hmmmmm?"
Bell looked at the package in his hands. "Quite big, yes."
The first woman whistled. "Every man says this."
"I mean I need both hands to hold it."
Now both got silent for some reason.
"Wow..."
"Oh my..."
"Could you tell me where the Crimson Lotus is, please?"
"Sure, I just hope they are ready for such a package. But I think service time hasn´t started yet, you are a bit early."
"Oh, I hope someone is there, I came out of the dungeon early for that."
Something about Bell awakened an urge in the two women to cuddle with him. One of the woman wanted to make a step closer, then a smell around Bell hit her. She froze instantly, this light smell...it smelled like...danger.
Her instinct was telling her to keep her fingers away from him, it was the same instinct that warned her about betrayed wives or terrified mothers. She had the feeling as if a dragon was glaring into her very soul, baring it´s fangs.
"Just walk straight up after you walked inside, you will see the shop on the right side, it was a big lotus flower in red above the entrance. You know what this flower looks like?"
"Yes, I have seen enough flowers already."
Both women glanced at each other and smiled slightly.
"Just knock, be polite and I´m sure they will let you come inside."
"Thank you very much!"
Bell went on his way, holding the package with both hands. Natural innocent people and perverts were never a good mix, just like perverted, red-haired gods and natural, blond airheads. It caused misunderstandings between them and Bell was way too innocent to misunderstand the sentences that they had spoken just now.
.
"Phew, that was good."
Haruhime went back to her room, today she had trained with her normal bow, not the traditional one. She got better and better with it, her grip got stronger, but she sweat after a while. So she had taken a shower to clean her body thoroughly.
"Haru Haru?"
A young amazon with very few clothes on her athletic body. Due to her opened vest, she wore slightly more clothes than most amazons.
"Ms. Lena?"
"Say you don´t have anything to right now, right?"
"No, my shift starts in two hours."
"Could you be so nice and have a look at the door? We are awaiting a delivery, it should be here before we start."
"All right."
"Thank you so much, Haru Haru! I have to prepare myself for the shift too!"
"G-Good luck."
Each of the women had another way to prepare herself for the night. Lena normally wasn´t at the Crimson Lotus, but she wanted to test out wearing far eastern clothes for once. Also, but she didn´t told Haruhime that, Aisha had asked Lena to keep an eye on Haruhime. Lena was one of the few amazons that Aisha trusted completely, mostly because she was too simple minded to betray her and work in secret against them.
She also wasn´t really happy with the things that the Ishtar Familia did recently, but she followed the orders from above.
Disobeying orders had serious consequences. Either they were physically punished by Phryne, which hurt badly, or they were summoned to Ishtar himself. Aisha had received this punishment once and Lena was really scared that it could happen to her too.
"Hah, I hope I find a good man tonight. Someone dangerous, a guy that gives me the right chills, you know? That wants to claim and "devour" me, like a wolf. You know what I mean, right?"
"I don´t..."
"Ah you will get there some day."
"I doubt it."
"Oh and be sure to give the delivery guy his "tip" when he is handsome."
"What do you mean?"
Lena closed her mouth and moved her tongue along the inside of her right cheek, as if something was bumping against it there, while she moved her left hand as if she was "brushing her teeth".
Haruhime got deep red. "Please don´t do that..."
"Hm, why?"
"It makes me uncomfortable..."
"Hah...you are the purest "girl" I have ever seen."
The term "girl" was used in this district for harlots that were too uncomfortable with the real description for their job. Lena was surprised that Haruhime understood what she had implied, she doubted that the fox girl had ever done that for someone.
It wasn´t like Lena was an open pervert, but amazons were way more open with their sexuality than others.
.
.
Bell continued to follow the street, the buildings here had really large windows of an interesting design. He saw a more than a few pretty women on the streets, wearing elegant dresses or other clothes. Nothing too revealing, since due to the massive rainclouds in the sky, it was a bit fresh. Most of them smiled friendly to him or winked.
They giggled when he turned his face away immediatelly, he was more than a bit red. So many pretty women in one place was too much for him.
I wonder why there are only women here? Could it be...
Bell gasped when it came to him.
That has to be it! Only women work in the city of the night! They probably have jobs that are best done at night, and there are only women so they will feel safe without having to worry! That´s probably why this place is guarded! Wow, Orario really is a nice place to give women the chance to work safely at night.
To show the women that he was no threat and that he meant them no harm, Bell smiled friendly when they looked at him.
Eventually he arrived at a big shop with very large windows, a crimson lotus flower was made from wood and hang over the entrance.
"I guess it is here."
He looked left and right, but there were no other shops that looked even similar. From what he could tell, this shop had a far eastern touch.
Bell knocked a few times and waited, there was no way he would just go inside.
The door got opened slowly...and the time stopped for him.
"Yes, how may I help you?"
What awaited him wasn´t just a pretty or beautiful girl of young woman...in his eyes she was a goddess. She wore a red kimono, sandals around her feet, had long, blond hair and two, cute, fluffy for ears on top of her head. But her friendly face was what enchanted him, that and her eyes.
He was literally speechless. When the elf that he had seen was gorgeous beyond equal, then this fox girl´s exotic looks and her very appearance...he thought which word would be fitting to describe her. She had a pure beauty around her that awakened the urge in him to protect her, to care for her...to fluff her ears and her tail.
I may have a problem...to think things like these after seeing her for the first time...I´m shameless.
"Hello?"
Bell was still unable to answer.
"Ahm..."
He blinked a few times, his mouth opened but no noise came out. The woman looked down to the package in his hands.
"Are you the one with the delivery?"
"I have delivery."
"Hm?"
"I, delivery, for you."
His brain felt pretty empty at the moment.
"Are you okay?"
I really want to touch her ears...fluff her tail...
"Ah, y-y-yes! S-S-Sorry, I have a delivery for you."
"Ehe, would you please come in?"
"O-Okay."
The woman opened the door and let Bell come inside. He was right, the shop really had a far eastern touch. Now he saw that a fluffy tail moved behind the woman. It increased her beauty and cuteness by at least 33%.
"Please follow me, I have to confirm that everything is inside."
"Understood."
She led him to a room in the back, where he could put down the package on a table. Carefully she opened the package and looked inside, Lena had told her what they had ordered.
"It looks alr-"
.
The mother of all thunderclaps tore the sky apart and echoed like the end of all days over Orario.
.
"Kyaaa!"
Bell´s heart jumped when he saw her crouching down and covering her ears, her stail stood stiff with all hair standing up behind her.
How cute...
Right when she wanted to get up, echoed the next thunderclap and she squeaked again. Bell saw that she trembled a lot.
"Are you okay?"
"Mmmmmh!"
She was shaking and probably afraid of thunder. Eina told him that most animal people had very sensitive ears and an excellent hearing. So it was probably much louder for her than for him.
Bell didn´t thought about anything when he moved, he crouched down in front of her and gently put his hands on her shoulders.
"Everything is okay, nothing will happen to you."
She looked up into Bell´s friendly eyes, then to his hands, she felt no danger from his touch.
"Oh, s-sorry."
Bell carefully took his hands away, the sky rumbled again but the following thunderclaps were not as loud as before.
"I-It´s okay, I´m sorry for showing you something so unsightly."
"No, many people are afraid of thunder."
Bell offered her his hand to help her get up out of reflex. She was touched by his chivalrous behaviour and put her hand on his. A slight smile was on her lips as she let him help her up.
"*Cough* I was informed that it was paid in advance, is that correct?"
"Yes, my familia´s captain told me so."
"That´s good then."
She led him back to the entrance of the shop, but...
It wasn´t just a downpoor, it looked like the end of the world outside. More jagged lightning ripped through the sky, the fox woman beside Bell twitching each time the thunder rang out. All the women working in the district who were still on the streets ran back to their shops to seek shelter.
"Oh no.."
"Is it far to your home?"
"At the west end of Orario."
"Oh, you would get completely soaked and probably sick if you run back in this weather."
"I think so."
"Do you want to wait here until it stops?"
"Would that be okay?"
"Of course, I don´t think any customers will come in this weather."
"Customers?"
She looked a bit surprised at him as he wondered.
Just as she wanted to guide him to a place where he could wait, her ears twitched as she heard someone mumble.
"Maaaaan, what a rain, no one will come today..."
"Yeah, such a shame."
"Hey, is that delivery guy still here? Might as well kill some time until it stops."
"Delivery guy?"
"Yeah, I saw him briefly when Haru Haru greeted him, quite handsome."
"Oho? A young delivery guy? Nice."
Bell didn´t heard this conversation, but Haruhime did.
"Quickly!"
"Uegh!"
He stumbled a bit when she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her to another room. As soon as they were inside, the closed the door.
"Hm, where is he?"
"Let´s ask Haruhime."
Oh no!
"Please forgive me!"
What happened next was too fast for Bell to understand it fully. He was pushed down on a large mattress on the floor, in the next moment, the fox woman was on top of him.
"Wha-Eh-Wha!?"
"Don´t move."
Bell heard the door getting opened slightly.
"Oh my, Haruhime already gives him his "tip", let´s leave them alone..."
After the door got closed again, Bell looked perplexed to the fox woman, her face was as crimson as the sign outside of the door.
"What...was that?"
"I´m sorry! I´m so sorry!"
She jumped back, landed on her knees and hid her face behind her hands, the ears pressed flat onto her head, while her tail curled around her as if to hide her body in shame.
"I´m so, so sorry! There was no other way to protect you!"
"What do you mean?"
"The others were coming for you."
"Eh? What did I do wrong?"
"You are here, that is enough already, since no one else will come in this weather."
"What do you mean no one else will come, are there other deliveries today?"
"No, there shouldn´t be, but no customers will come."
"Customers?"
She nodded, still hiding her face in shame.
"What customers? And what does that have to do with me? Did I made them angry?"
"Not angry no."
"Then there shouldn´t be a problem."
"Do you want to go to them?" She looked a bit...disappointed.
"Not really no, by the way, what do you sell here at this shop? You spoke about customers."
"Eh?"
"Hm?"
"Ahm...don´t you know what this here is?"
"Not really, I was never before in the City of Night."
"Really?!"
"No, I only arrived in Orario eight days ago."
"Oh dear gods..."
"What is it?"
"Ahm...we sell us here..."
"Eh? I don´t understand."
"This...is a brothel."
"Sir?"
"A...brothel?"
"Yes..."
"Oh dear heavens..."
"Yes..."
An awkward silence followed.
"I have to go!"
Bell jumped to his feet.
"Please wait the others are st-"
Instead of grabbing his sleeve, Haruhime accidantelly grabbed his left trouser and his pants slipped down just a tiny little bit, to reveal a bit of his stomach.
"A gentleman´s stomach-Kyun..."
"Ah, M-Mylady!"
She fainted in front of his eyes.
.
.
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes...thank you, Mr..?..."
Bell had only put her gently on the bed without touching her more, thankfully she had recovered fast.
"Bell. Bell Cranel."
"Thank you, master Bell."
Master!?
She put a hand over her chest and smiled friendly. "I am Haruhime."
"A beautiful name."
Bell looked around a bit in the room, the far eastern touch together with her looks reminded him of something.
"The daughter of the sun..."
"Eh?" Her ears perked up.
"Oh, I´m sorry, I just rememberred a book that I read."
"You read the "Daughter of the Sun"?"
"Yes, it is one of my favorite hero stories."
Her face suddenly lit up.
"I love that book too!"
What followed was a long talk between Haruhime and Bell, he would stay half of the night in her room until the rain finally stopped. Only when he wished her goodbye for now, he realized how it had to look that he stayed at a brothel for most of the night.
She doesn´t deserve this...she looks as pure as untouched snow.
During their talk, they somehow came to the topic why she was at the brothel. For him, she had felt very lonely and seemed to be very happy to be able to talk to him. And she was the first person he had met that was as fascinated as him from hero stories.
Ms. Haruhime doesn´t deserve this...is there a way?
.
Unnoticed by Bell Cranel, an adult amazon watched him as he left Haruhime´s room, the brothel and the City of the Night.
There wasn´t much time until the ritual came up, only two weeks.
After he left the Pleasure Quarter, Aisha turned around and decided to talk to Haruhime for a moment.
Over the course of the next week, she would see this white haired young man nearly every day, the Ishtar Familia seemed to order a lot from this small Familia, Aisha had a clue why.
