บท 137: CH. 140: A Quest

The next day, I showered, threw a pair of trousers and a tunic on, replaced the comfy bed with a creaky wooden bed, gobbled down the aura suppressing capsule, and then dined on the sizzled meat with Nao, threw 850 valis at the middle-aged man, and finally squeezed through the inn's door.

An abrupt tickle rushed through my chest.

"Come pick us up!" Saya's desperate voice echoed inside my head.

'What happened? Where are you guys?'

"Umm… an incredibly wide street filled with mercenaries kind of people."

That seemed like the street near the dungeon.

"Got it. I will be there soon."

"Hurry… or I will kill someone."

Typical adventurers trying to pick up girls. Grayfia being the cool maid is bound to attract a fuck ton of flies.

I tore through the streets with Nao, arriving at our destination in seconds. The crowd gathered near the dungeon entrance told me of Saya's position.

I shoved the adventurers aside and went to the center of the commotion. As I expected, a bunch of adventurers were trying to invite Grayfia and Saya to their party. Both had changed into simple clothes, which still couldn't hide their charm.

"Asahi!" Saya jumped at me.

"My Lo—"

I shushed Grayfia. "Where is Leme?"

Grayfia sidestepped. Leme, who was leaning against Grayfia, sank to the ground.

This woman...

I raised her in my arms and strode through the split crowd. As the girls trailed me, people murmured things like, "Who the fuck is he?" "Why are those women following him?" "It's unfair" "Gigolo bastard."

Amidst those voices, a high-pitched female voice froze me.

"What's the commotion here?!"

This voice… Oh shit.

"It's Captain Alise of the Astraea Familia," someone whispered.

"Fuck," cursing under my breath, I made a beeline for the nearest street. If she saw us, we would be held here for at least an hour. Saya and Leme needed a quick nap after I forced them to stay in the wilderness last night.

After walking for several minutes, we found ourselves before the stone statue of a goddess. The area around us was paved with stones of various colors and decorated with vibrant plants and flowers.

"This is the beauty of a medieval world…" Saya praised. "I am glad to be the first to see this place."

"I am also here, don't ignore me!" Nao tried to gain Saya's attention, but the tsundere, basking in the glory of being first, refused to look at her.

I made sure that the narcissistic woman wasn't around and sighed. This square looked similar to the one where Hestia invited Bell for the date.

(It is Amor Square.)

I opened the list given by Misha and memorized the route to a nearby inn.

A few moments later, as we were about to reach the inn called Ymir's Inn, a pair of piercing eyes bored into my back. The intensity prompted me to whirl around. A tall handsome man stood out in the crowd with his short wavy scarlet hair. His lips twisted into a wide grin as his eyes leered at me.

The brown-haired young man on his side equally garnered my attention with his neutral expression.

Apollo, the bisexual god?

(Yes, my love…)

Shit, I can't believe I met these douchebags so early…

I turned away from him and spat on the ground before dragging all the girls with me to the inn.

—x—x—x—

Saya and Leme jumped on the bed as soon as we entered the only extra-large room in the Ymir's inn. I threw the girls off and changed the bed with a better one.

"Go ahead."

Saya rubbed her butt and glaring at me, she slipped inside the blanket. Leme stood before me silently, her lips revealing a gentle smile.

I sighed and pecked her forehead. "Good night."

She giggled and joined Leme. I turned to my maid still standing with her hands on her lap.

"What about you?"

"I can go a week without sleep."

"Of course, you can, you devil hag." I grabbed the scruff of her neck and hurled her on the bed. She gracefully landed on the bed and blinked her eyes.

"Shut the fuck up and sleep."

"Y-Yes, My Lord."

Nao patted my back. "Asahi-kun got it hard."

"What do we do now?"

"I don't know…"

"Do you miss Aiko?" I narrowed my eyes at her. She averted her gaze and sighed.

"A bit."

I miss Nee-san and the twins… Yuriko, Rika, my bodyguard, and adorable maid Rini too. I should bring them here sometime, or send them to the little Yotsuba miss. A large mansion would allow the girls to sneak in here at night. Freya might notice me if I keep sneaking out of the city like this. However, suddenly buying a house as a level 1 would be akin to begging 'Investigate me please' to the top familias. Though today's incident will turn many heads in our direction anyway.

We have to moderately climb the dungeon with Nao and Saya's magic and my magic daggers covering the doubts for our growth. With Astraea Familia around, I doubt any familia will resort to open violence like the incident with Bell and Apollo in season 2.

"Nao, let's travel to that other world."

"So sudden?!"

'Klyscha, can you keep an eye on these sweet buns?'

(One tab easy!)

I connected to Saeko's telepathy link.

'Saeko, can you hear me?'

"Asahi-kun!"

'Leave everything and head to the portal with everyone now!'

"Understood!"

They will take about ten to twelve hours at the very least.

I locked the door from the outside and stored the key in my ring. Since we need to exit the city to fly, let's take a quest somewhere near the forest as an excuse.

We made our way to the Guild and squeezed into the crowd. The liveliness was miles above yesterday. After a bit of exploring, we found the bulletin board with pieces of paper pinned all over it. There were requests like 'Orc Hide x30', 'Infant Dragon Scales x5' written on the left side with the rewards, client signatures, and the Familia emblems on the right side.

It didn't take long to find an interesting one.

Quest

Client: Miach Familia

Reward: Ten healing potions

Content: Recruiting battle-party members to help in retrieving monster eggs in the Seolo Forest

Miach Familia… the Familia led by a dog-ear waifu with a silver arm. What was her name again? Naaza…

(Naaza Erisuis.)

'Yeah, her. Her arm will still be fine, right?'

(Yep.)

As I reached out to the quest paper, a snow-white hand brushed against mine.

"I-I-I am sorry!"

I gazed down at the elf frantically waving her hands. Her golden yellow hair ponytail swung sideways as tears welled up in her bright blue eyes. A maroon cape draped over a white shirt and a pink corset dress below gave her a youthful, scholar-like aura.

Her companion was none other than Loli Ais, who pushed the elf's back. "Lefiya, fightto!" The cheerful words were accompanied by a little smile on her doll face.

"A-Ais, it was my mistake."

I plopped my hand on her little head and gave a few rubs. Her face turned crimson as she shut her eyes.

"It's nothing. Do you also want this quest?"

"Yes, I-I wanted to visit the Seolo forest on my d-day off."

Should I reject her?

Her tearing eyes softened my heart.

I hung the quest paper in her face. "There was no mention of the number of adventurers required. Let's go and ask their Familia."

"T-T-Thank you!" her stutters reminded me of Saya when I first met her.

[Lefiya Viridis: Affection +5]

She accepted it like that? Girl, where is your awareness? What if I was a rapist who dragged women to the forest?

Confused, I searched everywhere in the guild lobby but couldn't feel any strong presence other than Ais. They came here on their own… Loki, the trickster goddess, allowed her beloved Ais out here alone? Lefiya doesn't count since she will probably be level 2 or 3 at this time.

I shook my head.

With two new girls by my side, we moved out of the guild and searched Blue Pharmacy, the base of Miach Familia. Ais and Lefiya were completely clueless about its whereabouts, so I had to ask around. After struggling a bit, we arrived at a shop in a backstreet. The door opened, and an old man stumbled out, a teenage girl with long flowing brown-hair waved her hand behind him. The two doglike ears on her head twitched from side to side.

Cute...