After I got lectured for my reckless actions, the rest of the Familia had all gathered in my room.

  “I-I’m so gd you’re awake…!” Tetra cried as Kyumaru patted her head.

  “Honestly, you gave everyone here a heart attack when you came back looking like you did.” Garos sighed, “I feared that we would have to arrange another funeral a month after the st one.”

  “I’m sorry…”

  “You better be.” Drake huffed in irritation, “The potions we used didn’t come cheap!”

  “Seriously, there has been a limit to how reckless someone can be.” Jeanne groaned.

  “Now, now. I think she has enough lectures for one day.” Jirou told her.

  “So…” Lisa leaned over me, “How was it?”

  “How was… what?”

  “Being carried by the Braver! Were his arms as manly as they say? Oh, did he actually smell like sweet roses? Ah, I’m so jealous! I mean, I’m so relieved that you’re fine, but I’m still so jealous!”

  “Err…”

  Jirou wasn't kidding when he said that she was conflicted in her emotions.

  “I for one always have faith that you will wake up soon!” Hecate suddenly procimed, “For your destiny had never been to end here! No! This trial of fire was the spark that—”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Interrupting me!?”

  I let out a nervous chuckle at how dejected our patron goddess was after her dramatic speech was mercilessly cut off. To be fair, her saying things like that can get really annoying at times.

  After giving me one final check-up, Tris helped unravel my bandages, after making sure the guys all looked away when we did so.

  Most of my bruises and cracked bones had fully healed and apart from the slight grogginess, I feel fine.

  My hands, however, weren’t so lucky.

  According to Drake, my gauntlets had shattered at some point during my fight with the Irregur and had left shards of metal embedded in my hands; it had taken him hours to pull all of them out, even the super tiny ones.

  “Thankfully, none of them had severed anything important.” He told me, “But due to the teness of the treatment, there will be some scars left behind.”

  I looked down at my now unbandaged hands; small, jagged lines dotted all over my skin in various lengths.

  “Don’t worry, Dae!” Tris told me, “I know of a way to get rid of those scars!”

  “It’s okay; I’ll be keeping them.”

  “Eh!? But why; you had such a smooth skin before!”

  “I want them as a reminder of what I did today, and what I shouldn’t do.”

  These scars were the result of my reckless style of fighting that had nearly brought me to the edge; if I were to get strong and truly become a Hero, I got to grow past that. These scars would be a stark reminder of that.

  “Hahaha! I see; a reminder!” Jirou ughed, “That’s quite the manly idea!”

  “Dae’s a dy!” Tris cried out.

  “Not with the way she’s acting!”

  “Alright, I think we had crowded her long enough.” Jeanne told them, “You all still got some chores to do, so move it!”

  With that said, everyone dispersed and exited the room in a hurry; Jeanne bid me well before leaving after them.

  “Now that’s all over, time for an update!” Hecate suddenly popped up next to me, “I have a good feeling about this one!”

  “You sure?”

  “I’m positive! The stars have informed me of such!”

  While I wasn’t sure how true that may be, I still pulled over my shirt and id on my back; I felt my back getting warmer as my patron goddess worked on updating my Falna.

  “Now let’s see here… that fight with the Infant Dragon should raise her stats at least to—hm? Oh? OH!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  A parchment was spped on my back before I felt her getting off of me. She then handed it over with the biggest grin on her face.

  “Read and weep!”

  “Huh? What are you…?”

  Though I was confused by her choice in words, I read through my new status and my jaws dropped.

  “Hah…”

  “Mishia…”

  Eina could do naught but worry at the sight of her usually cheerful yet zy coworker sighing in front of the fortunately empty counter.

  At a gnce, it would just seem as if she was bored of the long hours she had to spend standing behind the empty counter in such a zy afternoon. But on the contrary, it was that of worry and anxiousness.

  About a month ago, Misha’s charge had come by the pantheon to get some advice, an extremely rare occurrence that got her initially excited; the excitement immediately faded when she saw the half-elf lifeless eyes.

  While Dae wasn’t exactly the most expressive with her emotions, to not see any light in her eyes was extremely worrying.

  She didn’t know what exactly she had asked of the pink-haired girl, but it had left her completely out of it when she returned to the counter.

  A couple of days ter, word spread that someone from the infamous Hecate Familia had died during a recent Dungeon expedition.

  ‘She must have been pretty shaken by it.’

  Adventurers dying was a pretty common occurrence in Orario; advisors were given a crash course on the topic after they were assigned an Adventurer, so they at least were prepared when said Adventurer ended up dead in the Dungeon.

  The Guild employees even have a tradition to bet how long a newbie Adventurer would st, a pretty distasteful way of spending their money, if you ask her.

  However, dealing with the concept of death and their own mortality was a whole can of worms that no one could fully handle. Even the most veteran among them weren’t able to fully help their Adventurers cope with it.

  Dae was Misha’s first assigned Adventurer, so she definitely had no idea how to properly help her through the grief; it didn’t help that said Adventurer hadn’t shown her face since then.

  Despite her zy demeanor, Eina knew that Misha does take her job seriously, even if she had the tendency to procrastinate till the st moment. To be unable to help her Adventurer was no doubt still gnawing on her conscience.

  “Eina, the chief is calling for you!”

  “I’ll be on my way!”

  After telling her friend about it, and getting a half-hearted reply in response, Eina left the counter and the forlorn Misha behind.

  Little did the half-elf know, her worries for her friend would soon be taken care of.

  ‘I hope Dae is doing okay…’

  It had been about a month since Misha had st seen her assigned Adventurer, and a month since their st rather disastrous conversation; at least in her eyes it was.

  She was originally pretty ecstatic to be able to give some advice to the half-elf, seeing how rare it was for her to even ask for one.

  But when she did not see the light in her lifeless eyes, she knew that it was a lot more serious than she had previously hoped for.

  And then, she asked her a question she was not expecting to hear from her.

  “How can I prove that my saviour’s death was worth it?”

  She didn’t know how to exactly answer it, or if any answer she came up with would be satisfying for the half-elf; she’s also scared that if she said the wrong thing, she might accidentally push her over the edge.

  And in her silent and long musing over the topic, Dae had simply sighed dejected before changing to topic and asking about how to quickly earn a lot of money in the Upper Floors.

  Since then, she hadn’t seen or heard of her.

  Never in her life had Misha felt so much guilt for not being able to say anything, worried that her inaction might have cost an Adventurer their life.

  ‘Should I have… said something after all…?’

  “Misha.”

  ‘She didn’t do anything rash… did she…? I’ve heard that grief can cause people to do stupid things.’

  “Misha?”

  ‘No, there’s no word of any Adventurer dying tely. And she has her Familia to look out for her. She should be fine.’

  “Misha!?”

  ‘Ah, but what if she went in on solo dives…!? She could be dead in the dungeon right now!’

  “MISHA!!”

  “UWAH!!”

  Misha let out a scream as she was shocked out of her inner musing. How long had she been out of it!? Ah, right, she’s manning the counter right now! And an Adventurer must be calling for her!

  “Good afternoon! How can I help…”

  When she looked up to greet the Adventurer, she was greeted with the half-elf she had been worried about for an entire month.

  Her clothes were slightly different from her usual attire; her usual jacket was missing, and her tank top was repced with a shirt. Her hair was also shorter, and there was some scarring on one of her hands as well.

  But that wasn’t what drew her attention the most.

  The lifeless eyes she had a month ago were now gone; in their pce were ones that seemed to radiate with life, and with something else as well.

  “You okay, Misha?” Dae asked her, “You were pretty out of it just now.”

  “Ugh…”

  “M-Misha!?”

  She couldn’t stop the tears from falling from her eyes as the relief finally sank in, “I’m… I’m so w-worried…!”

  “Ah, ah, did I do something wrong!?”

  “No, I’m just… I’m just… uwaahh!!”

  It took about a minute for Misha to calm down before one of the senior employees had them moved to the private booth so as to not bother anyone else.

  “Sorry for worrying you so much.” Dae apologized to her.

  “N-No, it’s okay!” Misha told the half-elf, “I shouldn’t have broken down like that!”

  ‘Urgh, the chief is so going to lecture me on this…!’

  Misha was not looking forward to hearing that fat elf’s sermon.

  “O-On another note, you seemed to be well!”

  “I… guess I am?” Dae nervously ughed at the comment, “I was pretty out of it, weren’t I?”

  “That’s an understatement! Last time we talked, you looked like one of the dead!”

  Compared to a month ago, and even when she first became her assigned Adventurer, Dae seemed more vibrant than ever before; she’s also more expressive than before, unlike the poker face she usually wore.

  “Did you… get your answer?”

  “Hm?”

  “That question you had asked me before.” Which Misha hadn’t been able to answer for her.

  “Ah, yes. I did.” Dae nodded, “I know what I need to do now. My path ahead is clear.”

  Misha now realised what that something else in her eye was: resolve. The resolve to keep on moving forward, despite the setbacks.

  “That’s… that’s good.”

  “…Misha? What’s wrong?”

  While there’s a relief that the half-elf was able to cope with her grief, there’s still an immense guilt for being unable to help, for not being able to give any kind of advice to her when she needed it the most.

  “…I’m sorry, Dae; I wasn’t able to help you with your question.”

  “Oh, it’s okay. It can’t be helped if you didn’t know—”

  “No, it’s not!” Misha cried out, shocking Dae, “I’m your advisor! Giving out advice when you asked for them is what I am supposed to do! And yet, when you asked for one, I couldn’t even give you an answer!”

  “Misha…”

  “I should have said something, anything! And yet, I… I…!”

  She couldn’t stop her tears from falling as her grievances gushed out of her like a leaking pipe; it was the first time she was gd that the private booths had soundproofing.

  More than guilt, she was frustrated at herself for not taking things more seriously, for not being a better advisor to the half-elf.

  Eina had told her countless times to be more proactive in her work; she regretted not taking that advice seriously.

  ‘Not anymore!’ She promised to herself, ‘I’ve got to be better! To be a good advisor to Dae! So that next time she needs advice, I’ll be sure to give her good one!’

  “Um… Misha?” Dae looked at her with a guilty expression, “I’m sorry if you feel that way.”

  “Oh, it’s fine!” Misha assured her as she rubbed away her tears, “I’m all okay now!”

  “Huh… okay then?”

  “So, what do you need from me?”

  The half-elf pulled out and unfold a piece of parchment on the wooden table between them, “I want to know your opinion on which Development Ability I should get as a Level 2.”

  “…huh?”

  Misha rubbed her ear canal to check if there was anything inside that had somehow distorted her hearing, “I’m sorry, did you say Level 2?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Who is a Level 2?”

  “Me.”

  “You?”

  “Yes.”

  “For real?”

  “For real.”

  “…”

  “…”

  Misha was really gd that the private booth was soundproofed, as she let out a loud scream at the insane news she had just heard.

  I rubbed my ringing ears over my advisor’s sudden screaming; first she was bawling in relief, then she got angry with herself, and now she was screaming my ears off.

  Looks like Hecate was correct when she said my Level Up will raise some eyebrows.

  “I-If I remember it right, you registered a year ago… no wait, it’s still a month away. Eh, then you are the new record holder!?”

  “I guess so?”

  “Wha—How did—what did you do!?”

  I decided to rey what happened yesterday down at the Dungeon; the encounter with an Irregur Infant Dragon down at the eleventh floor, my attempted escape and distraction, my fight and victory of it, I told her everything.

  “An Infant Dragon, and an Irregur one at that…!” Misha looked at me in awe as she wrote all of what I said down, “No wonder you got a Level Up! Such a feat is extraordinary!”

  “Thanks for the compliment?”

  “Ah, but we’re getting off topic.” Misha coughed with flushed cheeks, “You wish to know my opinion on your Development Abilities?”

  “That’s right.”

  Development Abilities were only possible to gain via a Level Up; they were akin to secondary stats and sometimes helped create their own set of skills.

  Every High-Css Adventurer all got one of their own, even those who did not venture into the Dungeon on a regur basis.

  “What kind did you get?”

  I pushed the list of Development Abilities Hecate had written towards her; she picked it up and began reading it out loud.

  “Abnormal Resistance and Hunter, huh? Those are common choices.”

  Abnormal Resistance raises your resistance towards poisons and the like, while Hunter increases your combat abilities when dealing with opponents you have dealt with before; both were common abilities that all High-Css Adventurers had.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, the Hecate Familia has a lot of High-Css Adventurers, right? Couldn’t you ask them?”

  “I have asked them, but…”

  I let out a sigh as I recalled the happenings of this morning.

  After my Level Up was discovered, the entire Familia was called in for a meeting to inform them about the news; it was fortunate that no one had left for the Dungeon yet.

  The entire manor shook with how loud everyone had been screaming at the revetion.

  “Holy shit! Seriously!?” Jirou cried out, “And I thought Kyumaru was the fastest in the Familia with his two year record! Guess he had officially been dethroned.”

  “It didn’t really matter that much to me.” Kyumaru shrugged his shoulders.

  “To reach Level 2 so quickly…” Jeanne noted in awe, “We might have another Sword Princess in our hands here.”

  “Congratutions, Dae!!” Tetra cheered, “Welcome to Level 2!! Ah, but I guess I won’t be your senior now…”

  “You’re amazing, Dae!!” Tris cpped her hands happily.

  “Heheh! It’s thanks to me that she was able to realize her destiny!” Hecate proudly procimed, “I can still remember the night the stars told me—”

  “Which Development Abilities did you get?”

  “Interrupted again!?”

  Ignoring our patron goddess’s outcry, I looked down at my status page and read out to them the Development Abilities I had been given.

  “Abnormal Resistance and Hunter are pretty common choices.” Jeanne noted, “As for which one is best…”

  “I think Hunter might be a good option.” Jirou suggested, “It increases your basic abilities when dealing with a familiar foe. It’s great for repeated dives into the Dungeon and allows you to dive into the lower floors quickly.”

  “Abnormal Resistance would be better in the long run, though.” Lisa noted, “The Middle Floors past Riveria have plenty of poisonous monsters, so having that early would help build it up.”

  “No, no, with how Dae does things, Hunter would be best for her. And her magic can already defend her from it, so getting Abnormal Resistance is kind of redundant.”

  “But Abnormal Resistance also works on curses! And it is better to act safe than brute force through everything!”

  “Okay, stop, stop! Both of you, stop!” Jeanne stopped them before it could blow up into a full blown argument, “Why are you making the decision for her!? This is her Level Up, not yours!”

  “Ah, that’s true.” Jirou turned to me, “So which do you pick? I strongly suggest Hunter—”

  “What did I just say!?” Our captain smmed her fist on his head hard.

  “Pick Abnormal Resistance!” Drake shouted, “You’ll have a better chance of surviving!!”

  “Drake, you too!?”

  The elf let out a sigh before turning to me, “Why don’t you ask your advisor for her opinion. Maybe she has some insight into this.”

  “The stars advised that you—”

  “Lady Hecate, stop it!!”

  “But the stars, Jeanne! The stars!”

  I let out a groan at the memory which I had reyed to Misha, an abridged version of it anyway.

  “Yikes.” She recoiled at the image I had described to her, “No wonder you decided to come here.”

  “So, what do you think, Misha? Which one should I pick?”

  “Hm, well, most Adventurers would choose Abnormal Resistance if they got it; it does increase the chance of surviving, after all.”

  Lisa had mentioned that before; and Abnormal Resistance did appear to be the safer option.

  “But for you, I believe Hunter would be the better choice.”

  “Eh?”

  Misha expined it to me, “Hunter gives an increase in combat abilities against monsters you have dealt with before; which means that it makes things easier to deal with the weaker monsters and allows you to focus more on tackling stronger monsters at lower floors.”

  Come to think of it, that’s true. If I didn’t have to waste effort dealing with the monsters on the higher floors, I could focus all my strength on dealing with the stronger monsters on the lower floors.

  “Dae, you wanted to get stronger quickly, didn't you? To do that, you have to go to lower floors quickly; and I believe the Hunter Development Ability would be perfect for that.”

  All her words made sense; compared to the safe Abnormal Resistance, the Hunter would be perfect for someone aiming to become a Hero.

  To be a Hero was to be someone strong, strong enough to protect and inspire; and to become strong, I need to fight stronger monsters, stronger than even that Irregur. And to fight them, I need to descend into the lower floors as quickly as I can.

  And to do that, I definitely need the Hunter Development Ability.

  “Thanks for your advice, Misha.”

  “D-Did it help?”

  “Yes, it did, greatly.” I told her with a smile.

  “Ah! That’s good! Then, if you ever need anymore, I’ll be here waiting!” Misha told me, “With the best advice I could offer!”

  “…I looked forward to that.”

  Maybe I should start coming to her for some more advice on being a Hero.

  “So you picked Hunter after all.”

  “Well, it was the better option.”

  “No! The stars had long predicted that you would choose it! It was thy destiny!”

  I rolled my eyes at the goddess’s overly dramatic speech of a sentence.

  “You bet it is! Aaaannnd, done! Welcome to the ranks of High-Css Adventurers!” Hecate grinned as she got off of me and I put back on my top.

  “Really?” I moved my fingers and rolled my shoulders, “I don’t feel any different.”

  “It’ll be apparent once you begin fighting, I can assure you.” She told me as she handed me my status page, “Also, good news! You got something extra along with it!”

  I skimmed through on my new status and was quite surprised with what I saw.

  {Dae}

  Lv: 1->2

  STR: E424 -> I000

  END: H119 -> I000

  AGI: E440 -> I000

  DEX: G220 -> I000

  MAG: D520 -> I000

  {Magic}

  [Electro]: Enchantment magic that imbues lightning.

  Strike, and break free;

  Electro!

  [Piercing Thunder]: Fire a piercing lightning bolt at the target. Can change to homing with second phase

  Lighting sprites, reach my target, (chase them down,) and pierce through it;

  Piercing Thunder!

  {Skills}

  [A Dreamers’ Duet]: One carries the dreams of two; doubles the experience gained per action.

  {Development Abilities}

  [Hunter]: I

  “I’ve got a skill!”

  “And a new magic.” Hecate helpfully added in, “A two for one! Aren’t you a lucky one?”

  “Dreamer’s Duet…”

  Carries the dreams of two; it must reflect my desire to carry Leos’s dreams. Seeing it taken form like this, I couldn’t be any more happy. But I am a little confused about its effect. Doubles experience gained per action?

  “You can think about what that skill means tomorrow.” My patron goddess told me, “For tonight, it is a night of celebration! Let’s go!”

  Without waiting for me to respond, she dragged me out of the room and down to the main hall where the rest of the Familia was waiting for us.

  To celebrate my Level Up, it was decided that the entire Familia would be having dinner at a well-known pub that Jirou frequents a lot; it’s called the Hostess of Fertility.

  When we arrived at the pub, the pce was packed with customers all merrily eating and drinking the night away; most of them looked to be male Adventurers by their roguish attire.

  “Hey, isn’t that the Hecate Familia?”

  “That infamous one…!?”

  “They don’t look all that menacing…”

  “Shh! They’ll hear you…!”

  “Look, it’s Bloody Bde… and even Orthus is with them…!”

  Poorly veiled whispers could be heard when we walked past the pub’s doors; wary gnces and gres of contempt were all directed towards us almost immediately.

  “Uwah… everyone’s looking at us with scary looking eyes…” Tris muttered to me, “Is our Familia that disliked…?”

  “I believe so…?”

  I’d heard that our Familia wasn’t exactly the most well-liked around, but I didn’t think we would draw such attention.

  “So, this is where you always drink away our money?”

  “For your info, I paid with my own money.”

  With how Jirou and Jeanne were arguing, it looked like they weren’t that bothered by the looks; was this a standard thing for them?

  “Welcome, nya!!” A cat person in a green waitress uniform greeted us, “Oh, Mr Jirou! Nyot alone this evening, nya?”

  “Not tonight, Anya.” Jirou told her, “I have my Familia with me. Are there any tables avaible for us?”

  “As a matter of fact, we do! Right this way, nya!”

  With a cheerful bounce in her step, she had us seated at a rge table before issuing to us the menu; the number of eyes staring or gring at us seemed to have lessened a bit, but it was beginning to bug me.

  “Don’t get too bothered by the stares, Dae.” Lisa assured me, “This is pretty common for High-Css Adventurers; a Level Up, and people will start looking at you differently.”

  “They seemed to hate us, though…” Tris pointed out.

  “More envious of us than hating us, to be perfectly honest.”

  Envy, huh? I guess I could see that to be the case.

  The struggle to raise one’s Level was already tough enough that only one in a hundred Adventurers would get it; and most if not all of us were Level 2 and higher.

  Such a Familia would definitely draw some ire from those that didn’t get one.

  “Just ignore them.” Garos said to me before handing me the menu, “Now then, any requests?”

  “Hm…” I skimmed through the selection before deciding, “The fried chicken tenders sounds nice.”

  “You heard her.”

  “Got it!”

  Jirou then called for the waitress, this time it was a bck haired cat person, and handed her our order; a feast worth of food which seemed to be a tad overkill.

  “It can’t be a celebration if you aren’t splunging a little!” Was his reasoning for doing so; Drake had some choice words on that logic.

  “Hiee…!”

  “What’s wrong, Garos?” Tris asked.

  “I think… my butt just got groped.” He muttered.

  “Huh? Who would grope a guy’s butt?” Tetra asked.

  “I think of a few…” Lisa mused.

  Her words got me a bit worried as I took another gnce around us to see if there were anyone with an ulterior motive towards us; only a handful were staring at us now, more out of curiosity than hatred or envy.

  Guess the novelty of our presence had begun to wear off; and it didn’t look like there were anyone that had any ill-intent towards us either.

  “Mm…”

  “Is something the matter, Lady Hecate?” I asked our patron goddess; she looked to be staring at something pretty intensely.

  “Oh, it’s nothing.” She said, “I was just wondering why there aren’t any waiters around.”

  Actually, now that I looked around more, I didn’t seem to see any waiters around, or any male staff in general. Were there only waitresses here in this pub?

  Another quick skim over the pub confirmed it; there were no waiters about, just cute and attractive waitresses taking orders and refilling drinks, if I didn’t include the big burly woman manning the bar counter.

  This must be the reasoning behind its name, Hostess of Fertility.

  “So that’s why Jirou likes coming here so much…”

  “Whoa, hold on there! It’s not what you think!”

  Jirou was quick to defend himself but the deadpan stares from Lisa and Jeanne was indication that they wouldn’t buy into any excuse he might come up with.

  “Wah… so Jirou is that kind of a guy…” Tris inches slightly away from him,

  “No, no! Wait a minute! That’s not why I—”

  “It’s fine, Jirou. We understand.” Garos assured him.

  “It’s not a sin to enjoy the company of women.” Kyumaru noted in agreement.

  “Though too much indulgence can be bad for you.” Drake added, “Even the sweetest of liquors can turn to the most bitter of poisons.”

  “I’m serious! This is a huge misunderstanding! I only came here for their great drinks!”

  He never got to convince us otherwise, even when our food had arrived.

  “Putting Jirou’s debauchery aside for a moment—”

  “It’s not like that!!”

  “—I like to propose a toast!” Jeanne raised her beer mug, “To Dae’s great feat, to her Level Up, and to our new record holder!!”

  “Cheers!!”

  “““CHEERS!!”””

  We all raised our respective mugs in response and toasted with her before diving into our food with gusto; Tetra’s mug was filled with grape juice instead of ale as she was still a minor.

  “This beer tastes great!” Garos noted in awe.

  “And the food ain’t half-bad either.” Jeanne noted, “Maybe what Jirou said wasn’t completely a lie.”

  “I am telling you; I only came here for the good drinks!!” Jirou groaned.

  “Oh, give me some of that!!” Tetra reached and nabbed a roasted chicken drumstick from across the table.

  “Hey, don’t do that!” Lisa scolded the young amazon, “That’s bad table manners!”

  I tore into the fried chicken tender on my fork with glee; it’s fvorful breading dancing on my tongue with each chew. Nothing against Garos, but his cooking couldn’t compare to the food here!

  “Hey, Dae. Do you have any pns for tomorrow?” Tris suddenly asked, “If not, I was thinking we could go shopping for a new attire for you.”

  “Mm… I was actually thinking of shopping for a new pair of gauntlets.”

  With both my gauntlets smashed to bits, I didn’t have any weapon to use in the Dungeon; I could go barehanded, but it’s not worth the risk of breaking my hands again. Drake would kill me for doing that.

  I’m a little low on cash at the moment, so I would probably get them in a bargain bin at one of the Hephaestus Familia shops; the pair I had been using was from there, so there shouldn’t be that much different in quality.

  “Now that you mentioned it, I do need to get a new weapon after—ah, but we could do that afterwards!” She insisted, “Now that you’re a Level 2, your outfit needs an overhaul!”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, really! It needs to scream ‘High Css Adventurer’!”

  I wasn’t sure if there was a need for my outfit to ‘scream’ that, but I doubt that would deter her from it.

  Tris was pretty insistent on this; and I did lost my jacket to the monster.

  Jirou suddenly snapped his fingers, “Oh, speaking of which, I just remembered; don’t we still have that Drop Item from yesterday?”

  “Oh yeah, I’ve completely forgotten about that.” Garos noted, “Guess with Dae injured and unconscious and all that, it completely slipped my mind.”

  “Drop Item?”

  “It was the Drop Item from that Irregur Infant Dragon you sin; its thick hide.” He expined, “Tris brought both it along with its magic stone back with her.”

  “Tris did that?”

  “After all the work you put into killing it, it would be a huge shame if someone else took them away.” She expined.

  “By the way, we have already cashed in the magic stone in your stead.” Drake stated, “And I made sure to deduct from it the cost of the potions we used on you.”

  “Ahahaha…” All I could respond to that was ugh.

  “Actually, why don’t you commission a pair of gauntlets be made from that Drop Item?” Jeanne suggested, “It came from an Irregur, so any armor made from it should be more durable than any you can get from a bargain sale.”

  “Hey, that's not a bad idea.” Jirou noted, “I’m sure Otto would accept it with a decent compensation; and with how much that magic stone was cashed for, I believe you have plenty.”

  “Huh…” I pondered for a moment before agreeing with him, “Sure, that sounds like a good idea.”

  “Great! We can go to him tomorrow—”

  “But we are definitely going shopping for a new attire afterwards, okay!!” Tris added rather vermontly, “I won’t take no for an answer!”

  “Okay, okay! We will!” I told her.

  “Ah Dae~~ I am sooooo gd I’d found you~~!”

  A tearful Hecate suddenly glomped me from behind, wrapping her arms around my neck as her flushed face pressed against my cheek.

  “L-Lady Hecate!?”

  “D-Did you know~? *hic* I freaked out w-when you ran away from *hic* me~” She sobbed, “I-I know that you *hic* would join my F-Familia, but s-seeing *hic* you sudden r-run away from me was—”

  “Hey! That’s my special-order Dwarf Fire Whiskey!!” Jirou cried out when he saw the half-empty bottle in the goddess’s hand, “That stuff is expensive! Give that back!”

  “No!! Finders Keep*hic*ers!!”

  “So, Lady Hecate is a crying drunk…” Tris noted.

  “I’m more concerned that she had somehow drank half a bottle of whiskey, let alone Dwarf Fire.” Drake noted in worry, “That stuff really burns if you drink it straight.”

  “Hehehe!! Hehahaha!!”

  Tetra suddenly burst into giggles and ughter to our confusion, which quickly turned to horror when we took notice of her flushed face.

  “The hell—who gave her alcohol!?” Drake cried out.

  “Ah, she took my mug by mistake.” Kyumaru noted.

  “Seriously!?”

  “Hand that over!”

  “No!! It’s mine now!”

  Jirou desperately reached over to his bottle which our patron goddess was keeping out of his reach much to his annoyance.

  “Hehahaha!!” Tetra kept on cackling without stopping much to Drake’s growing migraine.

  “Hah, and there goes our nice celebratory dinner…” Lisa sighed.

  Looking at the absolute chaos that our table had devolved to, I had to agree with her on that.

  …To be continued…

  Hey! I’m done with this!

  For anyone that noticed, yeah, I think I may have made Misha a bit OC compared to canon, which ironically wasn’t much. I mean, from what I’ve seen and read, she was basically an old friend of Eina’s and nothing much else.

  So I thought, ‘Let’s give her a little character growth here.’

  If it offends you in some way, I’m sorry for that.

  Not much else to say about this chapter, just that the dining scene was pretty hard to write for me; hopefully it was good enough.

  With that, I thank you all for reading this!