DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
Eventually, the Aislynn Familia sat down to join the Loki Familia. When they did, they each looked through the Hostess of Fertility's menu while the brown-haired cat-girl continued taking the Loki Familia's orders.
"So, you're the Familia Captain." Finn said, drawing Tatsuo's attention away from the menu in his hands. "I'm the Captain of the Loki Familia, Finn Deimne."
"Nice to meet you, Braver." Tatsuo replied with a smile and a nod. "I'm Soramoto Tatsuo."
"Ha! Just as expected of the captain!" Tione said enthusiastically while looking at Finn with hearts in her eyes. "Everyone, even newcomers to Orario know of the captain's greatness."
Used to Tione's overenthusiasm about Finn, the rest of the Loki Familia ignored her. Meanwhile, most of the members of the [Dimensional Chat], Violet, Aletia, Akatsuki, Sakura, Zelretch, and Momo were looking between Tione and Finn with strange expressions.
"Hey, do you think she's one of those shota-cons?" Akatsuki asked Sakura in a whisper.
"Looks like it." Sakura replied in a whisper of her own.
"Everyone has their own tastes." Zelretch said in a sagely tone. "It's not our place to judge."
Unfortunately, everyone at the table was a bonified superhuman. So, no matter how hard they tried to stay quiet, the members of the Loki Familia heard the whispered conversation between Akatsuki, Sakura, and Zelretch. Though, they all reacted in wildly different ways.
"Ahahahaha!" Gareth laughed from deep in his gut.
"Ahahahahaha~!" Loki laughed right along with Gareth.
"Heeheeheehee!" Tiona tried, and failed, to stifle her giggles.
Riveria wanted to laugh, as well. However, her upbringing as High Elf royalty kept her from doing so. Though, everyone sitting at the table could tell she was on the verge of failing. Even Bete snorted, hiding the laughter he almost let out, as well.
There were only three members of the Loki Familia who did not laugh. First was Ais. The only thing the blonde girl did was look at everyone with a clueless expression. Then, there was Finn, who smiled wryly. Because of his race, Pallum, which made him look like a human child, Finn had heard it all in the two years since the Hiryute twins joined the Familia.
In fact, because he knew about Amazoness customs, Finn was not all that surprised that after thoroughly defeating Tione when they first met, that she would be so infatuated with him. Unfortunately for the much younger Amazoness, Finn's ambition to revitalize his race meant he could never see her in a romantic light.
Lastly, there was Tione. And while she was not laughing like some of the others, she was not as docile as the others, either. Glaring at Akatsuki and Sakura, she looked as if she was ready to resort to violence for their insults against her beloved captain.
"You're being rude." Tatsuo said, cutting in before the Level 5 Amazoness lost her cool and Aislynn had to step in. "The Braver, Finn Deimne is a Pallum. He's much older than the two of you. So, knock it off."
Immediately, Akatsuki and Sakura lowered their heads with shame. Although Tatsuo, James, Alfonzo, and Elicia gave everyone a quick rundown about this world, they were not able to get into too much detail, mostly because even they did not know too many details. On top of that, their inherited memories did not touch on the Pallum race, either, for the simple reason that there were no Pallums living in the village they came from.
"Your captain is right." Tione said while trying to reel in her anger. Then, she pointed at Aletia as she continued. "Especially when you have a Pallum in your Familia, too."
*Smack!*
At that moment, the atmosphere around the table thickened as Finn face-palmed. AT the same time, Aletia, who was looking at the menu, slowly raised her head and turned towards Tione with an emotionless expression on her face.
"I. Am. Not. a. Pallum." Aletia said, pronouncing every word slowly and deliberately. "I am a vampire. I only look like this because my aging stopped when I was twelve."
Aletia's declaration caused the table to fall silent. Even the cat girl, Anya, stopped jotting down orders as she looked at the blonde vampire with confusion. And she was not the only one confused, as Tione, Tiona, Bete, Finn, and Gareth also wore similar expressions.
The only ones who were not confused were the members of the Aislynn Familia, Loki, and Riveria. The Aislynn Familia, having already known Aletia's origins, did not show any changes in expression. Loki, on the other hand, wore an expression that practically screamed, "Oh, that's why she felt different!" Riveria, on the other hand, wore an expression of profound shock.
*Bang!*
"What? That's impossible!" Riveria shouted as she slammed her hands onto the table. {Pic}
With Riveria's outburst, the silence around the table where the Aislynn and Loki Familias sat extended to cover the whole pub. However, no one at the table seemed to notice.
"The Elves wiped out the vampires almost three hundred years ago when they started a war to conquer the mainland after their... queen... disappeared..." Riveria said, starting out strong before her voice started to soften. "Wait, their queen's name was..."
"Aletia Galdea Vesperitio Avatari." Aletia said calmly. "That is, was, and always will be my name."
As she said that, Aletia looked at Tatsuo lovingly, remembering when she asked him to rename her after he freed her back in her world, yet he refused to, which helped her reconcile her past in the end.
Meanwhile, Riveria tensed when she heard that. Although she had not been born when this war took place, as she was only ninety-six years old, she was a member of the High Elven Royalty. And she had read about it in the Royal Family's archives. As for the reason she was so tense, she feared Aletia would want revenge for her people, even if a Level 1 had no way to do any harm to her, she did not want to be caught off guard if she attacked in rage.
"You really should calm down, Nine Hell." Aislynn said with an amused smirk on her face. "Do you really think Aletia could not recognize you as a High Elf when you met yesterday? Yet, she did not try to attack or even show any signs of hostility."
Riveria had actually noticed that. But because she did not realize Aletia was a vampire back then, she paid it no mind. But now that it was brought up again, she froze in place. Then, a slightly embarrassed flush colored her cheeks before she sat down awkwardly in her seat again.
"So... You were sealed?" Finn asked, breaking the awkward silence.
"I was." Aletia replied calmly. She then continued by answering Finn's probable next question. "I did not believe trying to rule the mainland was a good idea. So, I refused my minister's petitions to start the war. In retaliation, because they were unable to kill me, they sealed me away. As for how I'm here now, some of the mages from Altina found the place where I was sealed and released me. But because of the fact that I was able to use more than three magics, I was shunned. So, I left and ended up in the village where the others lived."
"Unable to kill you?" Gareth asked in a curious tone.
"I'll keep that to myself." Aletia replied with no inflection in her tone.
In response, Gareth nodded in understanding. Though, just like the others, it was clear he was still curious to know what she meant.
"Anya!" Mia shouted from behind the bar. "Instead of eavesdropping on their conversation, hurry up and take their orders!"
"Nya! Right away, Mama Mia!" The brown-haired cat girl, Anya, shouted in a panic as she returned to her job.
Mia's shout not only made Anya start doing her job seriously again. It also snapped everyone else in the pub out of their dazes. And before long, the usual din that could be heard in the Hostess of Fertility returned. Though, they were curious to know why a bunch of new Adventurers were invited to join the Loki Familia.
Eventually, Anya finished taking everyone's order, and the table returned to a much lighter topic of conversation.
"So, today was your first trip into the Dungeon, correct?" Finn asked Tatsuo with a smile. "So, how did it go? Are you confident that you can handle the life of an Adventurer."
"It was fine." Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "Made it to the Fourth Floor in two teams."
"For the Upper Floors, teams of three are the norm." Finn said, offering a bit of wisdom.
"Hmph! It's better for weaklings to stick together." Bete snorted disdainfully.
"You should get a muzzle for this bitch before someone puts him down for barking too loud." James said with a frown. "Or does he only bark at people he knows he can beat? In that case, I'd have even less respect for him than before."
"What did you say, you little bastard?" Bete snarled.
"Actually, my parents were happily married when I was conceived." James said while smiling obnoxiously.
"Bete, stop causing trouble." Riveria said sternly.
"Are you even paying attention, you old---" Bete began to bark back angrily. However, when he saw the expression on Riveria's face, he snapped his mouth shut.
"So, it is just with people he thinks he's stronger than." Tatsuo muttered. "Well, I guess that's normal. Anyone with any kind of survival instinct wouldn't usually start anything with someone they know will kick their ass."
"You and your friend don't' seem to have that level of survival instinct, Handsome." Tiona said with a wink.
"No, they do." Akatsuki said, replying to Tiona in Tatsuo's place. "But they also know when they can and can't, too."
"Huh?" Tiona intoned with a confused expression.
Instead of replying, Akatsuki, along with the rest of the members of the [Dimensional Chat] all turned to look at Aislynn. That caused the members of the Loki Familia to look at Aislynn, as well. However, none of them understood why they would call being near Aislynn a time when they could mouth off to whoever they want.
Seeing the confusion on her children's faces, Loki let out a sigh while smiling wryly.
"Listen up." Loki said, addressing the members of her Familia. "In most cases, Gods are no different than humans when we come to the Lower World. Though, we do still maintain a portion of our power. For example, a Goddess of Beauty will not lose their charm upon descending to the Lower World."
Immediately, goddesses such as Freya, Ishtar, and Aphrodite flashed past the minds of the members of the Loki Familia. And upon thinking about it, they realized that Loki was right.
"However, Aislynn, here, is a little different." Loki said while gesturing towards Aislynn. "You see, unlike the rest of us, this is not Aislynn's true form."
"Really?" Tiona asked with her eyes shining.
"If that's not her true form, then what is it?" Tione asked, just as interested as her younger sister.
The Hiryute sisters were not the only ones interested, as all of the members of the Loki Familia had their gazes locked on their goddess. Though, Bete was trying to act like he did not care.
"Well, do any of you know what her actual Divine Title is?" Loki asked, instead of answering the question directly.
"The Dragon God--- Oh…" Riveria said, an expression of realization flashing across her face before she could finish.
"Yes, people call her the Dragon God of Dreams." Loki said with a nod. "And that is quite literal. However, because it would be inconvenient for the city and its people, Aislynn was allowed to change her form to a human one before descending. And that form has been locked in for the whole time she's down here."
"I see." Finn said while lowering his head in contemplation.
"So, she's basically a dragon in human form?" Gareth asked.
"More or less." Loki replied. "But she's no ordinary dragon. In fact, if she really wanted to, she could take down the One-Eyed Black Dragon by herself."
Immediately, all the members of the Loki Familia froze as their eyes shot open wide while they stared at Aislynn. However, this incredulous atmosphere did not last long, as three young women, Chloe, Anya, and a third waitress, a young human woman looking to be in her early twenties with chin-length brown hair and eyes while wearing the Hostess of Fertility's uniform like the other two, arrived carrying large platters of food, bringing the conversation to a temporary end. {Pic}
"Your orders are ready, Nya!" Anya said cheerfully as she approached with the other two waitresses.
It did not take long for all the orders to be placed in front of each of the diners. Then, with a quick: "Enjoy your meal," the three waitresses left. Though, not before Anya checked to see who needed drink refills.
Then, after the waitresses left, the members of the Loki Familia went back to staring at Aislynn, who only smiled gracefully before looking down at her meal. Meanwhile, the members of the Aislynn Familia went straight to eating, not even trying to discuss any of the heavy topics from before.
"Hmph!" Bete snorted when he looked at the way the members of the Aislynn Familia ate. "Weaklings like you have probably never tasted food this good in your lives."
Hearing that, Loki, Riveria, and Ais looked at the werewolf with strange expressions. Meanwhile, the other members of the Loki Familia could only sigh in exasperation.
Yet, the members of the Aislynn Familia did not react much at all. The only thing they did was look at Bete with a mixture of pity and ridicule before going back to eating.
"What the hell kinda look is that?" Bete growled.
"*Sigh* What's that saying again?" Riveria asked as she picked up her fork and knife. "It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear dumb rather than open it and remove all doubts. And Bete, you clearly just exhibited the latter half of that saying."
"What are you talking about Old Hag?" Bete asked, his tone growing more irritated.
*Bang!*
Yet, instead of an answer, Bete only received a blow to the head when Riveria's staff appeared in her hand and swung down faster than even he could follow with his eyes or other senses.
"Ow! Damn it!" Bete hissed as he covered the spot where he was hit with his hands.
"Bete, Riveria is referring to the fact that Loki told us about how well two of the members from the Aislynn Familia cook." Finn said in a somewhat exasperated tone. "And if what she said was true, then, they do, in fact, eat food just as good, if not better, than this for every meal."
"Oh, right…" Bete said, sounding as if he just remembered that conversation.
"Excuse me!" Tatsuo called out while raising his hand.
Instead of Anya, Chloe, or the brunette human waitress from earlier, Lunoire Faust, this time, it was a sky blue-eyed, green -haired Elf who approached the table at Tatsuo's call.
"Yes, how can I help you?" The Elf waitress, Ryuu Lion, asked in a bland tone.
"Can I speak to either the manager or the chef?" Tatsuo asked calmly.
Hearing that, Ryuu originally suspected that Tatsuo intended to cause trouble. However, when she looked into the young man's eyes, she could not see any desires like that. So, she nodded at him slightly before turning around and returning to the bar/kitchen area.
Not long after that, Mia approached with heavy steps. Then, she crossed her arms in front of her chest while looking down at Tatsuo with an intimidating glare.
"What do you need, Kid?" Mia asked in a stern tone. "You got a problem with our food, or something?"
"Nope, not at all." Tatsuo replied with a smile. "But I wanted to give you some tips on how to make it better. If you and your chef are willing to hear them, that is."
Mia was taken aback when she heard that. Then, she turned to glance at the two goddesses sitting at the table. And although she did not know Aislynn very well, Loki and her Familia were frequent customers at her establishment. So, she trusted the red-haired Trickster God a fair amount.
So, when Mia saw Loki nod with a small amount of drool leaking from the corner of her lips, Mia was initially surprised. Then, she turned to Tatsuo with a smile.
"Sure." Mia replied. "But it's a bit too busy for that right now. So, how about this? You come over in the morning and talk with me and May, then we'll judge just how helpful your advice will be."
Instead of responding immediately, Tatsuo exchanged glances with Alfonzo. Then, after receiving a nod, Tatsuo returned his gaze to Mia.
"Sounds good… Well, only if the rest of the Familia can come and we can use our lessons as breakfast for them." Tatsuo suggested with a smile. "Naturally, we'll have breakfast prepared for your employees, too."
"Alright, and if you're as good as you seem to think you are, I won't even charge you for the ingredients." Mia replied, causing all the members of the Loki Familia to gasp in surprise, as Mia was known for ringing as much Valis out of everyone who walked into the pub as she could. A moment later, however, her gaze hardened. "But if you disappoint me, I'll be charging you double."
"Trust me, you won't be disappointed." Tatsuo replied with a confident smile.
"Tch!" Lucky bitches.' Loki muttered under her breath.
After the agreement was made, Mia returned to the bar and Tatsuo returned to his meal. Meanwhile, all those who had never tasted either Tatsuo's or Alfonzo's cooking looked at the two with curiosity while those who had, namely Loki, Riveria, and Ais, looked at them with a bit of longing. Though, in Riveria's case, that longing was accompanied by a heavy dose of embarrassment, as well.