Foreword: Remember to leave a review, those are always appreciated! Let me know if you liked this chapter or not! Hope you enjoy!

Finally, Hikigaya Hachiman gets a clearer view of the whole picture.

Ishtar Familia. It was Ishtar Familia. The one behind the scenes was Ishtar Familia. The giveaways were so obvious that had this been a light novel, I would've immediately expected a plot twist of some kind.

I was still hoping for one, but the longer I stared at the people on the docks from my vantage point on a rooftop far away, the less likely it seemed. All 12 of them were wearing headwraps that obscured their faces, but I wasn't an idiot that would fall for that kind of paper-thin disguise.

The tanned skin, the revealing armor that covered little-to-nothing, and the fact that all of them were female from the sounds of their voices–they were Amazons, no doubt about it. I had no doubts, because as the man of culture I was, identifying Amazons wasn't difficult at all.

In this world, Amazons were practically the living embodiment of some degenerate otaku fantasies. The saying went that art imitates life–and clearly, the doujin artists back at home had taken some inspiration from Orario's Pleasure Quarter.

I'm not kidding. If you told me that the Amazons were actually copy-pastes of some character out of any of the half-dozen trash light novels that littered the industry, I wouldn't have been surprised.

Aside from the threat they posed to this isekai's age rating, however, this wasn't a joke. There was only one group in Orario that employed Amazons and could deploy Level 2s and 3s as a 2nd-string squad–and that was Ishtar Familia, which ran the aforementioned Pleasure Quarter in question.

Ishtar Familia. Rank: A. Type: Business and Exploration. Members: However many people there were in the Pleasure Quarter. Led by Phyrne Jamil, alias Androctonus. Highest cleared floor: 45th. Number of floor bosses cleared: 29.

Even if I counted only the Berbera, which were the familia's combat-based members, that still left around 120 people in the familia, with a majority of them at Level 3 and Jamil at Level 5. This was the kind of familia that other gods had to band together to even stand a chance–if your name wasn't Loki, Freya, or Ganesha, that is.

It fit the exact description of the group that Hermes was looking for.

Ishtar had an iron grip over the Pleasure Quarter, one of the few places where you could find almost anything. Orario was generally known for its security, but from Spider had said in the past, if you wanted something to be smuggled without being caught, then you either went through the casinos or the Pleasure Quarter. The familia was practically an industry in and of itself–just like the similarly A-ranked Hephaesteus Familia, it pulled in tens of millions Valis every year.

They were also a familia that had made their way to the 45th before, and they had the strength to match the monsters there. Even if I assumed that this was the fullest extent of their power, that more than covered the familia's ability to acquire Inferno Stones.

The only thing that was missing here was motive–but that was Hermes's job to figure out, not mine. There was a mention of a 3rd party during the conversation between Murdock, Njord, and Rubart–someone in the sewers–which was probably related to Evilus, either directly or indirectly. There was no real other connections I could make otherwise.

I wasn't sure of anything yet, obviously. It was possible that another familia was employing the Amazons here, hiding their strength like Hermes did, and that Ishtar was a complete red herring–as unlikely as that seemed. Furthermore, if the Amazons knew where the Violas were being kept or hidden, it might be possible to either deal with the problem on my own or–far more likely, note it down and call in reinforcements.

That was why, as the Amazons began walking away from the docks, I began following behind them.

Following the Amazons took me out past Meren's city gates to a rather simple beach, similar to the one I had been at earlier today. From the relative safety of the cliff far above the beach, I watched as the Amazons stripped off their headwraps, their sighs of relief audibly clear to me.

"Whew, finally outta there! I thought I was gonna sweat to death in that!"
"Yeah. I can't believe we have to put 'em back on when we go back into the city, though…"
"What a drag…"

As they started talking to each other, I watched as some of them started stretching, limbering up while others unsheathed their weapons and began practicing swings in the air. Overall, though, the mood among the group seemed to be fairly easygoing.

"Hey, that's enough." A stern voice cut through the Amazon's chatter. "We're here to get this job done, and then get out. Ishtar-sama wants this quick and clean. Take this seriously. Is that clear?"

–So it was Ishtar, just like I thought. And that adventurer in gray hair–I didn't know every Level 3 adventurer that existed, but I knew that person as well.

Samira. Alias: Bite. Level 3. That was one of Ishtar's best, right behind Jamil, Tammuz Belili, and Aisha Belka–all of whom were executives in Ishtar Familia. According to what the Guild had, she was fairly close to reaching Level 4.

"Alright, alright. Sheesh… way to ruin our fun." There was a bit of grumbling among the Amazons–the Berbera–but they complied with Samira's order, readying their weapons before Samira reached into a sack on her hip. She flung her arm outwards, and I watched as glittering magic stones splashed into the water.

It took a few seconds, but it wasn't long before the water began churning, and I watched as 4–5–6 Violas erupted from the water, shrieks loudly tearing through the night. The secluded location suddenly made sense. It wasn't meant to be a base or a secret place where the Violas were stored, or that Njord and the others knew where the Violas were to begin with–rather, it was simply a place where fighting them wouldn't attract any attention at all.

"Go!" At Samira's command, the Berbera leapt forward to engage the Violas, splitting into pairs that each moved to engage the Violas on their own. I watched as one Berbera deftly knocked several tendrils out of the way before swapping with her teammate, who made use of the opening to inflict several heavy slashes to the Viola's body; to their right, a different pair worked to deflect and cut down the tendrils firing at them before engaging the Viola in close quarters.

They were matching the Violas fairly well. They weren't outright dodging the Violas's attacks or instantly killing them per se, but the injuries that they were taking were minimal, mostly from glancing blows or from blocking.

But they hadn't fought Violas before–or, if they had, they didn't have much experience in particular with it. That much was obvious from how they were hesitating to approach, focusing on shaving away the Violas' tendrils before carving away at the monsters' bodies to kill them instead of targeting the Violas' Magic Stones. Either they didn't know where the magic stones were, or they weren't willing to risk it.

It was a better strategy, to be fair–but it was also one that relied on the safety of numbers. I couldn't do the same thing because I was fighting the Violas alone, and killing them instantly dealt with the immediate threat of multiple enemies the fastest. If Hackard was still here, it would've been a different story, but–well.

That only brought to mind things I was trying to forget, so instead of dwelling on it, I shifted my position and focused back on the fight between the Berbera and the Violas.

By this point, the Berbera were winning rather handily. 2 of the Violas had been reduced to only their bodies, and as I watched, one of them finally went down as an Amazon cut a particularly deep wound in its neck. There wasn't much else to see as the monsters were mopped up, the Berbera that had finished early turning to help their compatriots. Once the bodies were lying across the ground, it wasn't long before the Violas' bodies transformed into ash. I watched as the Berbera reassumed their previous positions on the shorelines and Samira began tossing Magic Stones into the water again. So it was a rinse-and-repeat strategy that would bait all the Violas over until they were all slain, then.

There wasn't any point in staying here. I wouldn't be getting any more information out of them.

I waited until the Violas began emerging from the water again and the sounds of fighting to start up before making my exit, slipping away from the cliffside and making my way in Meren's direction. I waited for a bit after sliding down the rocks and landing on the beachside pathway, but no other sounds of footsteps reached my ears, and it didn't seem like anyone else was around.

Either I hadn't been noticed at all, or if I had, that I hadn't been followed. I'd have to be careful while I was still in Meren, though.

That left me only with the problem of Ishtar Familia to think about as I walked back to Meren.

There was no easy way to deal with this. Ishtar Familia was important enough to control an entire fraction of Orario, both in literal and economic terms. Any attempts to seize their assets through the Guild–the only organization that could do that–would probably be stonewalled by red tape, brute force, and the best lawyers money could buy.

Sending in Loki Familia would probably work, but the destruction and casualties involved given the lack of substantial evidence would be far too high for either Deimne or the Guild to accept, especially given Ishtar Familia's importance to Orario's economy. The public backlash would be too much, and given how both of them prioritized their reputation, force was also unlikely.

The only way that was left was something akin to sabotage, or somehow finding enough justification for Deimne to warrant moving–something that could directly tie Ishtar Familia and its dealings to Evilus.

I hopped over Meren's city wall, landing behind a tavern near some trash cans, and paused. There was a slight, soft thud, almost imperceptible. There was a silence that was only broken by the slightest sound of a breath being slowly drawn in and then nervously exhaled out.

–I was being followed.

2 people, from the looks of it. I couldn't really turn my head to get a good angle, though. They were high up on the city wall behind me; turning to look up at them risked them getting a good look at my face. Was this the Berbera, or someone else?

There was a quiet rustling of cloth behind me as one of them moved, and I heard the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath.

I didn't stick around for anything else, immediately taking off at a sprint into the alleyway. There was a cry of surprise behind me, and I heard a muffled curse as the 2 behind me scrambled to regain momentum and start to chase.

But I was Level 3, so catching up wasn't going to be easy, even if it was the Berbera that were behind me. It wasn't long before I was several blocks away from Meren's gates and deep inside of the city's alleyways, taking several random turns along the way while making my general direction towards the inn I was staying at. Since I was Level 3, it would be near-impossible for someone lower-leveled to catch up to me, but if I wanted to completely lose my pursuers, it was probably better to take the longer way and–

The sounds of footsteps echoed out from behind me. You've got to be kidding me. I turned just enough to see a figure clothed in white chasing behind me from the rooftops–and gaining. Not good.

As I reached the nearest intersection, I pushed off the ground hard, angling my feet to rebound from the wall and execute an emergency turn into the alleyway to my right. Out of the corner of my eye, however, I watched as my pursuer overshot before making the same turn, keeping pace behind me.

This wasn't good. I had a B in Agility–whoever that was, they were definitely Level 3 if they were keeping up like that. And they had the advantage of not having to navigate around the obstacles that were in the alleyways, meaning that it was hard for me to shake them while I was still stuck on the ground.

As I considered my options, I vaulted over a pile of boxes, easily clearing them before landing on the ground and continuing to sprint.

Turning and fighting wasn't an option. If this really was the Berbera, then I'd get tangled up fighting just one of them–not to mention what would happen if the rest of them caught up. If this was someone else from Evilus's side, that was even less of a reason for me to try and fight them, especially since now there was an added risk of taking an Inferno Stone to the face if I did.

I couldn't head back to the inn right now, either, not with someone still chasing me. I could try blending into the crowds of Meren at the docks and hiding, but if they were Evilus, civilians weren't going to be anything more than collateral–and I didn't want to draw any attention to the fact that I was here, either.

That left somehow shaking them off via attrition or trickery. The good news was that they seemed to be a melee fighter, given the sword I had heard them drawing.

"Purge, cleansing lightning." I hated it when I was immediately proven wrong. Female voice, definitely a chant. "Dio Thyrsos." And it was already finished. Not good.

I executed an emergency evasive maneuver, jumping off the ground before kicking off the side of the closest building to abruptly change my direction. There was a crackling sound as a golden streak of lightning cut through the air where I was just a second earlier, slamming into the ground and sending up a spray of rubble.

For the spell to connect with that amount of force using such a short chant–that had to be an elf. I hit the ground and tucked into a roll, prepared to keep running before rapid footsteps sounded out from behind me.

They had already closed the distance. I didn't have a choice but to fight. Reaching into my side holster, I spun around and flung out 2 throwing knives at the figure behind me as my hand went to my sword. They deflected the knives with ease before lunging in, gleaming shortsword in hand, and I caught a glimpse of black hair and red eyes.

–Had 2 adventurers from Orario come in, asking all sorts of questions about the Violas today. My eyes widened as I remembered Rubart's words. That's right. Hadn't I already drawn that conclusion earlier today about which other factions could've possibly been in Meren at this point in time?

I deflected the first swing before swinging my sword to block a second attack, locking blades with Filvis Challia.

Afterword: I don't know, I couldn't really come up with an appropriate title. I wanted to say something like "the board is clear, the pieces are set" or "the fog of war clears", but that felt a little too game-like. What do you think? Should I go back and do something like "For Hikigaya Hachiman, the fog of war clears" or something like that?

Apologies for the much shorter chapter. I had finals for the first week (which I somehow survived, yayyy) and then I spent the rest of the 2-week period trying to work off the burnout. I promise we'll get back to longer chapters soon. Remember to review!

See you soon!