"Keep it down in there — don't you dare break anything that belongs to Kami-sama!"
Lunor stood at the kitchen counter, a serrated bread knife in hand, in the middle of slicing a baguette.
Watching Anya move around the kitchen like she was one wrong step away from demolishing the whole room, Lunor felt a headache coming on. She rapped the flat of the bread knife against the cutting board twice and raised her voice in warning.
Just yesterday, Ryu had managed to blow up the magic stone stove in here. If this idiot cat caused another disaster today, Lunor had absolutely no doubt that Kami-sama would simply hand all of them straight back to Captain Shakti without a second thought.
"Aww, Lunor's no fun, nya."
Anya, the one being scolded, gave a sulky pout, her fluffy cat ears giving a little indignant twitch.
She let the warning slide off her without a second thought, and in the next moment had slipped across the kitchen floor to sidle up beside Ryu, who was standing at the sink, carefully washing lettuce.
Anya jabbed her elbow into Ryu's arm without the slightest hint of ceremony.
She leaned in close, dropping her voice, her vertical green pupils absolutely glittering with barely-contained gossip.
"Psst, psst — Ryu."
"I heard from Chloe that this afternoon you're taking Syr to have a secret rendezvous with Kami-sama… nya?"
SPLASH —!
The water from the tap shot violently sideways and drenched the front of Ryu's white apron.
"It is NOT a rendezvous! I'm taking Syr along to clear up a misunderstanding!"
Ryu's hands seized up all at once. Her fingers clenched so hard that the fresh green lettuce leaf she was holding nearly disintegrated in her grip.
She whipped her head around.
Her usually cool, composed face had gone red all the way down to the base of her neck.
Those delicately pointed elf ears of hers had flushed the same vivid crimson as overripe cherries, so deep it looked like they might actually bleed.
As an elf who had grown up deep in the forest, her sensibilities regarding chastity and the relationship between men and women were far more acute than those of an ordinary human.
A word like "rendezvous" — laden as it was with implications of intimacy and secrecy — hit her like a mallet square between the eyes.
"That kind of misleading word — please, absolutely never use it so carelessly again!"
Ryu bit down, drew a long, steadying breath.
She made a concentrated effort to calm her frantically hammering heart.
She dropped the lettuce leaf into the draining basket.
Her blue eyes, full of exasperation, locked onto the grinning Anya in front of her.
"And besides…"
"Why did you even follow us here, Anya?"
"Don't you have an early shift back at the tavern?"
There were only supposed to be three of them here — herself, Chloe, and Lunor.
What business did this idiot cat have barging in and making a scene?
"Obviously, I went and asked Mama Mia to let me off the early shift specially so I could come here, nya!"
Anya planted both hands on her hips with an air of absolute righteousness, chest puffed out, tail swishing happily behind her.
She wore the expression of someone who considered herself extremely clever and was waiting for the compliments to roll in.
"Besides, how could I possibly miss a scene this important, nya!"
"This is Ryu — the legendary Iron Wall herself — voluntarily making plans to go out with a man for the very first time, nya!"
"And anyway, with you all gone, I can't exactly work the early shift alone forever, so naturally I passed it off to the juniors — can't have us senior staff stuck doing all the hard labour, now can we, nya."
"Right, Chloe, nya!"
Anya snickered and turned to toss a conspiratorial look at Chloe, who was standing nearby slicing cured meat with a thin-bladed knife.
"Right, right, nya!"
Chloe didn't rebuke Anya in the slightest. Instead, she smiled and nodded along cheerfully.
She even found a moment to spare Ryu a sidelong glance that said, plain as day: just accept your fate.
Ever since word had got out that Ryu had essentially sold herself into service here as a maid of her own accord, the gossip inside the Hostess of Fertility had become completely unstoppable — all of it centred on how their normally stiff-and-proper elf colleague had apparently gone and caught feelings.
And to top it all off.
This very afternoon, Ryu was to act as go-between and drag Syr — who had always been oddly frightened of Kami-sama — along to meet him face-to-face.
A spectacle this rare came along perhaps once in a century.
How could they possibly restrain themselves from rushing over to snag the best front-row seats?
Listening to her two companions tease her without a shred of restraint, Ryu felt as though steam was about to start rising from the top of her head.
All she had originally wanted was to clear up the earlier misunderstanding as soon as possible.
And along the way, figure out why Syr had developed that strange, inexplicable dread of Kami-sama ever since he had appeared.
How had it become some kind of scandalous, clandestine rendezvous in the mouths of these idiots?
If her hands weren't still wet from washing the vegetables, she'd have drawn her wooden sword [Elf Starlight] right here and started swinging in this kitchen.
"You two, I swear—"
Ryu clenched her fists, on the verge of finally snapping.
From the corridor outside the kitchen came the sound of unhurried footsteps.
"Quite the commotion for first thing in the morning."
Haimer came around the corner of the staircase, wearing a loose, pure-white casual shirt.
His gaze swept over the cluster of girls creating chaos at the kitchen counter, then settled on Ryu — red-faced and looking completely at a loss for what to do with herself.
The moment his voice reached them, the noise inside the kitchen cut off abruptly.
Anya's tail went instantly rigid, as if someone had stepped on the very tip of it.
Lunor's bread knife froze in midair.
Chloe immediately wiped the entertained smile off her face and stood up straight.
Ryu, the moment she saw Haimer approaching, was seized by the sudden, mortifying thought that he might have overheard Anya yelling the word "rendezvous" just now — and felt her face go even redder, her fingers curling tightly into the hem of her apron.
"K-Kami-sama… good morning."
Ryu lowered her head and stammered out a greeting.
"Mm. Good morning."
Haimer pulled out the chair at the head of the dining table and sat down.
He turned to glance across the hall at the sofa area.
There, Aihara Enju and little Hiruko Kohina — both early risers — were draped over the back of the sofa, two small heads poking up, staring at the kitchen with undisguised curiosity.
Onigawara Rin and Kikakujou Mary were already dressed and seated at the table, whispering to each other, occasionally glancing toward Ryu and stifling laughter behind their hands.
This kind of warm, thoroughly human bustle.
To Haimer, it was precisely the kind of life this estate needed most.
This was how things ought to be.
No need to stay perpetually on edge. No need to live in trembling fear in some dark corner.
"Is breakfast nearly ready?"
Haimer asked idly, his gaze landing on Anya.
"By the way — you're one of the tavern employees as well, aren't you, miss?"
"Yes, yes I am, nya! My name is Anya! I'm here to help, nya!"
The moment Haimer addressed her, Anya snapped to attention, answering loudly, so flustered that even the cat ears on top of her head stood bolt upright with tension.
"No need to be so nervous."
Haimer reached out and picked up the water glass from the table, his tone easy and warm.
"Since you came to help, stay and eat with everyone."
Those words instantly unknotted every last bit of tension in Anya's body.
Her eyes lit up, and she immediately chirped a happy reply, spun around, and trotted off to help Lunor carry the dishes.
Before long.
A generous spread of breakfast covered the long table.
Toasted baguette slices, golden and crackling. Thin-cut cured meat sizzling in the pan. A fresh garden salad. And a steaming pot of thick soup.
Everyone began to take their seats.
Hestia shuffled out of the ground-floor guest room, her twin black pigtails a complete mess, mid-yawn.
The instant she laid eyes on the laden table, her own eyes snapped fully awake, and she shoved herself into the seat directly to Haimer's left.
She commenced aggressively piling cured meat onto her own plate.
As the resident freeloader goddess of this household, Hestia's iron grip on her prerogatives was never more plainly on display than at the dining table.
Ryu carried out the last dish — a fruit salad — and paused at the edge of the long table, her steps a little hesitant.
Driven by the insistent eye-signals from Lunor and Chloe, watched with suspicious wariness by Hestia, and observed with knowing, gossip-laden smiles by Onigawara Rin and the others, the composed young elf — cheeks burning — made herself shuffle awkwardly over to Haimer's side.
"Um…"
Ryu's voice came out quieter than usual, fingers twisting at the hem of her clothes.
"About… this afternoon. Meeting with Syr…"
She had absolutely no idea how to open the subject with a normal-sounding word.
And she was terrified that the word Anya had been screeching — "rendezvous" — might have already found its way into Haimer's ears and sparked some unnecessary misunderstanding.
Haimer looked up.
He regarded the elf girl, who was so nervous she could barely coordinate her own limbs.
"This afternoon, yes?"
"I'll be there on time, Miss Elf."
At those words, the string that had been pulled taut inside Ryu's chest suddenly, simply — went slack.
She let out a long, quiet breath.
A clear, unmistakable flicker of gratitude passed through those blue eyes.
"Yes."
"Thank you for the trouble."
Ryu gave a small, proper bow, then pulled out the chair beside Chloe, sat herself down neatly, lifted her bowl, and began sipping her soup in quiet, composed little sips.
Breakfast went on to the gentle clink of cutlery.
Afterward.
Onigawara Rin cleared the plates to one side, wiped her mouth, and looked across at the others.
"Kami-sama, we had a little discussion."
Onigawara Rin gestured at Aihara Enju and little Hiruko Kohina beside her — both taking in their new surroundings with wide curious eyes — as well as the Holy Emperor and Tendou Kisara, who were sitting with impeccable posture.
"We're not going to the Dungeon today."
"The new girls just arrived and haven't got any of their daily essentials sorted. Enju and Kohina are even wearing clothes that Hanasaka Warabi lent them on the spot."
At that, Hanasaka Warabi — who had been sitting in silence beside her — suddenly lifted her head sharply, her eyes conveying one very clear message: thank god, I can finally have my clothes back and put this indignity behind me.
"So we were thinking of taking them up to the North Main Street to browse around a bit — pick up some proper-fitting clothes and everyday things."
Onigawara Rin added.
And then.
All the girls looked over at Haimer with the collective energy of children waiting for a parent's approval.
"Of course."
Haimer nodded. The girls had just been dropped into an entirely new world — they genuinely needed time to get familiar with how this city worked.
"If anything catches your eye, just buy it. Don't worry about saving my money — the startup funds that Ganesha Familia sent over are more than enough to buy out half a street's worth of clothing."
"Long live Kami-sama!"
Aihara Enju was the first to cheer, leaping to her feet, the ribbon in her hair bouncing with her.
The thought of being able to walk openly in the sunlight of this new world and pick out things she actually liked made Aihara Enju's face flush hot with excitement.
And so.
As noon rolled around.
Ryu, Chloe, Lunor, and Anya made quick, efficient work of washing up the dishes and wiping the table clean.
"Then, Kami-sama — we'll head back to the tavern for now."
"This afternoon… we'll meet at the Vishen Café."
Ryu stood at the entrance and gave a bow toward Haimer.
Then, spurred on by Anya's impatient calls, she headed out through the front door with the other three, and they disappeared into the bustle of the street beyond.
Not long after.
Onigawara Rin led the group of girls — now changed into casual clothes — and pushed open the front door.
"Kami-sama, we're heading out!"
Aihara Enju was at the front of the pack, turning back to wave vigorously.
"Off you go."
Haimer gave a nod.
"Got it!"
Just before they stepped out, Amou Kirukiru paused and glanced back at Haimer — something unspoken behind her eyes — before Hanasaka Warabi grabbed her arm and physically hauled her out the door.
In an instant, the hall had emptied out by half.
Haimer turned.
He looked over at Hestia, who was still sitting on the sofa hugging a throw pillow, staring into space.
"They've all gone shopping. Aren't you going to join in?"
"No, no."
Hestia shook her head vigorously.
She pushed herself off the sofa and smoothed down her skirt.
"Actually, Haimer."
"I have something on this afternoon too — I need to go see Hephaestus."
"Oh?"
Haimer raised an eyebrow.
Now that was unexpected. This thoroughly eat-and-laze-about little deity was actually going out of her own initiative?
"What sort of scheme are you cooking up in that little head of yours now?"
"It is NOT a scheme!"
Hestia reacted as if she'd been stepped on, voice jumping up a full octave in protest.
"I'm going on legitimate business, I'll have you know!"
"Hmph! Fine, I'm not telling you anything more — I don't need you laughing at me!"
With that.
Hestia huffed, turned on her heel, and trotted out through the front door on her short little legs without looking back.
Thud.
The door swung shut.
One moment, the grand estate had been full of the clatter of pots and pans and the bright, overlapping chatter and laughter of girls.
And now.
Silence.
Only the tall grandfather clock in the corner kept up its patient rhythm — tick, tock, tick, tock.
Sunlight filtered down through the latticed skylight above the central courtyard, casting long columns of light across the floor, fine motes of dust turning slow, lazy circles inside them.
Haimer stood beside the dining table.
He looked out at the empty hall.
He walked over to the sofa and sat down, picking up the cup of black tea on the side table — still steaming — and taking a slow, measured sip.
The warm liquid slid quietly down his throat.
He let out a somewhat rueful twitch of his lips.
"They all cleared out that fast?"
This feeling — the abrupt emptiness of one moment everyone was here, and the next he was alone guarding this big, silent house — produced, strangely, an odd sense of displacement.
Haimer gave a wry pull at the corner of his mouth and set the teacup back on the side table.
"Well, then."
"After all, in their eyes, I've already turned into some ancient creature that's been alive for god knows how many years."
There was still some time before the appointment this afternoon.
Might as well make use of the gap and get a few things done.
With that thought, Haimer stood, scooped up the coat draped over the back of his chair, and stepped out through the front door.
And so.
「I am Ganesha.」
The headquarters of Ganesha Familia — known throughout the city as the Labyrinth City Gendarmerie.
"You said WHAT?!"
"You want to DEMOLISH the high-class residential district?!"
____
👻🔥Seek: Walnut-chan🔥👻
🔥 New history: Samsara Game: Starting in The Long Dark with My Waifus
Let's hit these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = 1 extra chapter for the public!