“Alright, girls. We’ve got around half an hour until the Loki Familia will arrive. They reserved seven tables for ten, so let’s make sure to get everything ready on time. Go, go, go!”
With a joyful, gentle smile and far more enthusiasm than most people usually felt for their work, a human girl was encouraging her co-workers. She had light gray hair, which she kept tied up in a short ponytail and enchanting eyes of the same colour. Her waitress-uniform consisted of a very simple knee-length green one-piece dress, over which she wore a white apron. Brown boots and black stockings rounded out her outfit. Anybody would have thought of her as just a regular tavern-employee, were it not for her unusually good looks and charming aura. As to why she performed the job that she did, that was anyone’s guess.
Her name was Syr Flova, and just like Ryuu, she was working at the Hostess of Fertility, a very popular inn in Orario. She had earned the recognition of all of her co-workers, basically putting her in charge of them. To make sure that they would have everything in order once this evening’s big client arrived, she had the other four girls scurrying around and double-checking the respective tables to verify that they were perfectly A-okay.
Keeping as silent as usual, Ryuu, who was clad in the same uniform, nodded. She approached one of the tables and started to wipe it clean with practiced movements, albeit a bit distractedly.
‘So today is the day... I will have to ask Lady Riveria about whether that suspicious fellow is indeed a part of her familia.’
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t inquire about another familia’s business, but as Isaac had intruded upon her friends’ gravesite, that had crossed the line. She only needed to make sure to ask the noble High Elf in relative secret, as she didn’t intend to blow the issue out of proportion. If she hinted at her intentions in passing, she should be able to make Riveria realize that she wanted to talk to her in private.
As for the possibility that Isaac could be a part of the group that would come here today, she had acknowledged it, but she didn’t want it to come to pass. Why was that? If she didn’t ensure that she would meet the man on her own terms, with the best preparations in place, she felt like she would only be playfully teased and led around the nose without being capable of retaliating…
“Are you really sure that you’re okay?”
A worried voice interrupted her thoughts. By the time she managed to focus on her surroundings again, Ryuu was greeted by the sight of a slightly anxious Syr staring directly into her eyes, observing her up close and personal from about ten centimeters away. Flustered at having been caught this off-guard, the stoic Elf blushed slightly and stumbled a step backwards, before regaining her balance and clearing her throat.
“I’ve told you multiple times already. I’m fine.”
Ever since she had returned to their shared bedroom here at the Hostess of Fertility, all of her fellow co-workers - her friends - had noticed that she was unusually on edge, almost like back during the days where she had yet to fully settle in. For Syr to spot such a change wasn’t anything unusual, as she was extremely perceptive - often almost scarily so. Lunoire, Chloe and May also were decently observant, so Ryuu hadn’t been surprised by them growing slightly suspicious. But what had truly taken her aback was that Anya, that seemingly dense and klutzy cat girl, had started to show her a lot of concern and even offered to let her have a portion of her own meal on multiple occasions.
It had warmed her heart a great deal to see them all like this. Still, no matter how uneasy they were, this wasn’t that huge of a deal. She didn’t need to bother them and could just figure it out by herself. While, yes, she had been quite unsettled by that strange encounter, it wasn’t anything that she couldn’t deal with on her own. However… the mistakes she had started to make during her work hours had become increasingly frequent. Just like right now, where she had just mindlessly been scrubbing clean the exact same spot on the table for a couple of minutes… Maybe rather than saying that she had been making mistakes, it would be more accurate to state that she had been spacing out a lot.
“... alright. But make sure to tell me if you need anything, okay? I’ll always be here to help.”
With a helpless smile on her face, Syr decided to refocus on her own duties. Just like that, with everyone but Ryuu having to take care of a far bigger share of today’s work than they should have had to, the minutes flew by.
The Hostess of Fertility was usually open for business multiple times per day. They offered their services around lunchtime and into the late afternoon, then they were closed for a short few hours to allow a break for the employees, until about 7 p.m. in the evening, when they started to accept customers yet again. For their special occasion, their celebration, the Loki Familia had already informed them about their intentions in the morning before their business hours had even begun and paid a premium to reserve all of these tables. The inn never lacked customers, so denying such a request wouldn’t make them lose any money at all - but no wise businesswoman would say no to earning a little extra.
“Ahaha, we’re finally here! Let’s wine and dine like kings tonight, my kids!!”
Before they had even entered the building, a certain goddess’ rambunctious shout announced the arrival of the Loki Familia, causing Ryuu to involuntarily tense up. She had to consciously keep her strength in check, else she would have shattered the wooden tray that she was holding in her slightly trembling hands. Admittedly, she was nervous. If she found out that that Isaac person was indeed a part of this familia, that would be for the best. But still, there would be a lot of unanswered questions remaining.
“Please follow me to your tables~”
As she hadn’t expected her friend to be of any use right now anyway, Syr was the one that came forward to welcome the huge number of people entering the tavern. From a moment to the next, the previously calm building was filled with laughter and good-natured conversations. Just with a quick glance, the girl could already wager a guess at the smaller groups that this bigger one would undoubtedly separate into, causing her to nod to herself.
‘Looks like we won’t be needing to prepare an additional table.’
After making sure of this, Syr paid attention to the Loki Familia’s lead group, which contained all of the various Executives and their goddess. As she did so, she suddenly noticed a new face. It belonged to a young man that stood taller than most of the crowd and was surprisingly handsome. He had a certain otherworldly charm to him. For some reason, Syr felt like he had been repressing his presence somehow. She hadn’t been able to perceive him until her eyes had passed over the Sword Princess - only then had this person, who was walking hand in hand with the most sought-after girl in town, come into view.
‘Strange, how did this happen...?’
While she was still wondering about what had just occurred, the unfamiliar young man had noticed her gaze and turned his head to stare back at her, directly into her eyes.
CLATTER.
The still absentminded Ryuu was startled awake by the sound of a tray falling to the ground. Hurriedly, she looked in the direction that the noise had come from, only to see her otherwise calm and calculated friend Syr standing still, her face slightly pale. Her strength had momentarily waned, leading to her losing her grip on her tray. In all of their time together, she had never seen her like this.
“Syr! What’s wrong!?”
Afraid that something had happened, Ryuu quickly dashed to her side and grabbed her hands, intending to calm her down. She didn’t really care about the various glances that were shot their way, in part due to Syr’s blunder, which undoubtedly attracted a bit of attention, but mostly because of her intimate actions.
After a few moments of silence, Ryuu finally felt her friend gripping her hands in return. The expression on the kind girl’s face had returned to normal. If she hadn’t seen her so out of it just seconds prior, she never would have suspected anything.
“I honestly don’t know, but I’m fine now. Thanks for worrying about me.”
With an apologetic smile, she shook herself free and picked up the tray, before facing the Loki Familia’s lead group again.
“I apologize. I didn’t feel well for a moment there.”
The blonde Pallum at the front of the group waved his hand diplomatically, as if to let bygones be bygones, and smiled encouragingly. He wouldn’t pry into what had just happened, as it was none of his business.
“No need to worry.”
As the group was led to their table, they passed by Ryuu and the voice of a cheerful Amazoness reached her ears.
Stolen story; please report.
“Is it just me, or did that girl freak out when she saw you?”
The mention of her best friend was enough to catch her attention, so even though it wasn’t exactly polite to do so, she proceeded to listen to the conversation more carefully. Thankfully, she had a good excuse to stay close to the group, as she would need to take their orders shortly anyway. Because of this, she finally heard that familiar voice - the one that had somewhat haunted her these past few days.
“She did, and I don’t exactly know why. I should probably feel bad for saying this, but it was an amusing sight.”
‘It’s him!’
Like a hawk zeroing in on its prey, Ryuu turned her head with a sudden jerk, staring directly at this man that she had simultaneously wanted and not wanted to meet again. She had searched the other groups of the Loki Familia for his face when they entered, as she had automatically assumed that he wouldn’t be a part of the inner circle. Because of this oversight, this misguided assumption, she had failed to take note of him until now.
Of course, as she had gazed into the abyss, he returned her gaze. With a playful smile, Isaac nodded at her while taking a seat at his group’s assigned table.
“See? I told you we’d meet again shortly, Ryuu.”
Before the Elven waitress had a chance to say anything, a cold but gentle voice interjected with surprise.
“Oh, you two know each other?”
As she was wondering about when Isaac would have even had a chance to encounter this old acquaintance of hers, Riveria raised an eyebrow and took a closer look at the people in question. Ryuu sported an almost constipated, obviously angry look, while Isaac couldn’t wipe that darn cheeky grin off his face. Even a blind person would be able to tell that these two had some kind of history.
‘What has he done this time!?’
Feeling like she would pop a vein any second now, Riveria took a deep breath and glared warningly at the young man from across the table.
“Explain yourself.”
Although he had expected her to react in such a manner, Isaac still felt a little bit awkward about the situation and embarrassedly scratched his cheek. Why did she always have to assume the worst? Wasn’t he an upstanding model familia member? A deep breath later, he sat up straight, his eyes now completely serious.
“I ran into her while mapping the entirety of the 18th floor. It was also on a certain anniversary. I believe I don’t have to tell you anything aside from this information. It was honestly just horrible timing.”
Obviously, he didn’t mention that he had happily teased the mostly expressionless Elf, as that wouldn’t gain him any brownie points with the mother hen. Additionally, she also fell into the same category of people, so if he had teased one of them in the past, wasn’t it likely that he would do so to the other as well? It would be a miracle for him to get away scot-free, as Riveria would surely want to warn him a little in advance.
His words more than sufficed to make the elegant High Elf understand exactly what had happened. As she was aware of his ability to teleport, she didn’t wonder about how he had made his way to a distant floor like that and only clutched her forehead while releasing a heavy, long sigh.
“... how great. Thanks.”
The sarcasm in her voice was as clear as day. Wasn’t it amazing to get more work piled on one’s shoulders during a period of time when one had expected to be able to rest? It took the overworked High Elf a few moments to calm herself sufficiently and to decide on what to do next, then she rose from her seat.
“You all go ahead and order without me. I will take the usual. Give me a couple of minutes to deal with this.”
After having said her piece, Riveria motioned at Ryuu to follow her. The two distanced themselves from everyone else, arriving at one of the more secluded rooms of the inn. It wasn’t the first time that the two had needed to interact in private, so the rest of the staff didn’t think of their behaviour as anything unusual. In any case, should Riveria want to enter any place in this city, then only the man known as the ‘King’ could bar her passage.
Once they were finally alone, Ryuu couldn’t hold back anymore and, while clearly still displeased at Isaac’s attitude, uttered one of her questions.
“Who is that man?”
Another sigh and a brief period of wondering about where exactly she had gone wrong in life later, Riveria responded.
“He is the newest member of the Loki Familia, Isaac Blackshaw. He has been with us for a little bit over a month now.”
Slightly relieved that he truly wasn’t an enemy, Ryuu nodded and muttered to herself. At the same time, her eyes had also widened in shock, as the short time that Isaac had been with his familia indicated just how fast he had to have grown.
“So he didn’t lie to me.”
Only when the young Elf stopped being lost in thought did Riveria continue speaking, this time with an apologetic expression on her face. Over the years, she had become quite adept at cleaning up others’ messes.
“Let me apologize on his behalf. It sounds like the circumstances of your meeting were very… suboptimal.”
Upon seeing this person that she respected from the bottom of her heart - Riveria - lower her head slightly, Ryuu began to panic a little and hurriedly waved her hands.
“There is no need for you to go this far, Lady Riveria! It was, ultimately, only a minor matter!”
She had to assure the sorry High Elf multiple times that she wouldn’t take what had happened to heart, only then did Ryuu finally recall that she still had other questions that she wanted to ask.
“He knew about many things that shouldn’t be public knowledge. Did you tell him about me or the matters of the Astraea Familia? And was he a part of the expedition party?”
“I did not. I have no idea how he could have come across that information. But I have noticed that he often seems to be aware of things that he shouldn’t have any clue about. As for your latter question, yes, he was. Before you ask… him being in a different part of the dungeon during that time is confidential. I hope you understand.”
Even though the two could be considered to be friends, were it not for their huge age gap and the reverence that Ryuu felt for Riveria, not all secrets could be shared between them. This was only natural, as one always had to look out for their own first and foremost. They might be close, but they weren’t a part of the same tight-knit group. Thankfully, neither of the two would take such matters to heart.
‘If even Lady Riveria hasn’t figured out how he knows about these things, then how am I supposed to find out? Do I really have to ask him directly…?’
Without her being aware of it, an unhappy frown stole itself on Ryuu’s face. She really didn’t want to spend too much time with that man, as their previous encounter had left a bad taste in her mouth. Still, if she ever truly wanted to find out the truth, then there was only one way, and that was to hear it from the horse’s mouth.
Seeing her in such obvious distress, Riveria could already guess that this whole mess was far from over. Her old friend was sure to make further contact with the troublemaker that she felt responsible for. In a way, it felt like two of her kids had gotten into an argument and one of them felt it hard to get along with the other afterwards. In any case, the best she could do was to try to clear up any misunderstandings that Ryuu might have about Isaac’s character.
“He may be good at annoying people when he wants to, but he isn’t a bad person. In fact, I would say that he is quite reliable. I would have never given the relationship between him and Ais my blessing otherwise. So if you have some things that you need to clear up, just be frank with him. He might behave in a playful and teasing way, but he wouldn’t lie to you. That much, I can guarantee.”
Only rarely had Ryuu heard Riveria praise anyone this extensively, so she was taken aback. For her to speak up for Isaac to such a degree meant that the two of them had to get along exceptionally well. And someone that Lady Riveria was on such friendly terms with couldn’t be a bad person - she was far too observant and experienced to fall for these kinds of schemes, at least in the young Elf’s eyes. As for what exactly had spooked Syr so much earlier, she would try to figure out by asking the girl in question later tonight.
The previous words had alleviated her worries somewhat, so Ryuu’s face returned to its mostly expressionless state. As she nodded, she showed a small and reserved, but thankful smile.
“Alright, I will keep that in mind. Thank you for your guidance, Lady Riveria.”
The two’s conversation had already taken long enough, so they made their way back to the table. When they returned, they saw that the drinks had already arrived, while a mouth-watering scent had begun to waft over from the direction of the kitchen. The other waitresses were expertly making their way from table to table, taking orders and placing down trays full of various alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Quite a few regular customers aside from the Loki Familia had already filled up the rest of the place. While it wasn’t packed to the brim, it looked to be yet another successful evening for their establishment.
This time, Ryuu managed to stay more composed and decided to take a closer look at Isaac again. But when she glanced in his direction, the situation he was in left her a little baffled.
To his left was Ais, who happily leaned against his shoulder while sipping on her drink. All of the jealous gazes sent her beloved’s way by some of the customers and even a certain werewolf sitting at the same table didn’t even register in her mind. She was happy just to be next to him. To his right sat Tiona, who repeatedly pulled on his arm in excitement and tried to be as seductive as possible, despite her lack of ‘goods’. And finally, to Ais’ left sat Lefiya, who glared at the unashamed Amazoness enviously, as she had wanted to sit next to her teacher as well. The center of all these people’s attention, Isaac, sported a helpless and slightly annoyed smile.
Time and time again, he unsuccessfully tried to shake off the clingy Tiona, but although his stats had doubled, Tiona had ranked up to Level 6 as well. The gap between them had widened. Only when Ais intervened and separated the two with a wave of her hand did he finally get a brief period of rest.
‘Serves you right.’
The corners of Ryuu’s mouth curled up slightly. While most men would probably enjoy the attention of so many beauties, she wasn’t visually impaired. It was plain to see that he felt troubled instead. This apparent mindset of his slightly improved her opinion of the man. Still, because he had made her so flustered and panicked previously, she felt that it was only fair for him to have to endure these advances.
Before she could feel smug for too long, though, her current state of just motionlessly standing around had caught Isaac’s attention and what she felt to be an ominous smile played across his lips. A feeling in between a cold shiver running down her spine and embarrassment overcame her, making her hurry off towards the kitchen in an effort to alleviate it. She needed to perform her waitress duties anyway, so this was her best chance of distancing herself for now.