About half an hour or so later.
The fitting-room curtain was yanked open with a swish.
"Ta-da! Absolutely perfect!"
Demeter clapped her hands together, standing beside the fitting-room curtain, her whole face wearing a satisfied "this is what you call professional" expression as she looked at Hestia, whom she'd forcibly shoved out in front of the mirror.
Hearing the commotion, Haimer raised his head.
He saw that Hestia had already changed out of the white dress she'd been wearing all this while.
In its place was a strapless evening gown interwoven in deep blue and pure white.
The choice of color scheme echoed her black twintails and blue eyes perfectly.
The hem was made of some special material that reflected light, so that as she moved it seemed as though starlight was shimmering across it.
The strapless design of the bodice was extremely bold, not only perfectly supporting her ample bust but also adorned along the edges with fine, scattered pearls.
The signature blue ribbon at her neck had been cleverly woven into a knot by Demeter, draping between her collarbones to become the finishing touch of brightness.
Hestia, who was normally always loud and petty over every little thing—at this very moment, with her mouth shut and just standing there, actually radiated, from the inside out, a noble aura befitting a goddess of the Heavens...
"H-how... how do I look?"
Hestia pinched the hem of the gown with both hands, her cheeks flushed burning red.
She turned a half-circle awkwardly in front of Haimer, her gaze wavering, anxiously craving approval yet afraid of hearing criticism.
"Now you finally look something like a goddess."
"What do you mean 'look something like'?! Can't you ever say something nice, you jerk!"
At Haimer's words, the goddess aura Hestia had just been projecting shattered in an instant.
She stamped her foot indignantly, her twintails swishing back and forth behind her head.
But when she noticed that Haimer's gaze did linger on her, and that he'd genuinely admired her for a moment,
the small mouth Hestia had been pouting nonetheless couldn't help curling up secretly at the corners.
"This one does look quite nice. We'll take it, then."
With that, Haimer rose from the soft couch and walked straight to the shop's front counter.
The shop clerk, who'd been hiding behind the counter all this while, now had no choice but to grit her teeth and step forward.
Trembling, she took out a thick ledger to check the item number, then, flustered, tapped out a few figures on an abacus and haltingly announced a number.
"Lord Haimer, this gown is the work of our shop's master craftsman, using silk spun by deep-sea luminous shellfish. It comes to... three hundred and twenty thousand Valis in total."
The moment the clerk haltingly announced that number—
Three hundred and twenty thousand Valis?!!!!
Hearing the clerk suddenly quote a sky-high figure that nearly made her faint on the spot,
Hestia gasped in a breath of cold air, her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed to her knees right there before the mirror.
She'd never seen so much money in her whole life! Even if she had to pay it back, she couldn't manage it in a lifetime!
But—just as Haimer was about to pull out his coin pouch to pay,
a soft hand suddenly reached over from the side and gently pressed down on the back of Haimer's hand.
"Let me be the one to pay for this dress."
Demeter had walked over to the counter at some point and, quite naturally, laid her hand over Haimer's, halting his motion.
"And what are you up to?"
Unsolicited courtesy means either treachery or theft.
All the more so when it was paying Hestia's bill—the whole thing reeked of something fishy through and through.
Faced with Haimer's calm scrutiny,
Demeter, smiling, deliberately leaned her body forward.
With this forward lean, her already eye-catching, all-but-bursting-out ample bosom pressed, faintly and teasingly, against the outer side of Haimer's arm.
That startling softness would have made any male god of weak will quicken his heartbeat on the spot, unable to so much as walk.
"Come now, does an old friend really need a reason to want to treat you, for once?"
Demeter, smiling, tilted her head up slightly, looking into Haimer's eyes at close range, a hint of coquettish petulance in her tone.
"Back in the Heavens, you fended off who-knows-how-many pesterings from those annoying nuisances for me, sparing me no end of trouble."
"Since we're both in the Lower World now, and it's so rare to run into each other today—"
"these mere few hundred thousand Valis—just take them as a little reunion gift."
"And besides, seeing Hestia dressed up so beautifully makes me happy too."
A faint, flickering ripple of light welled in Demeter's moist eyes as she stared fixedly at Haimer.
As for this brazen little gesture that practically wrote 'seduction' across her face,
Haimer paid the blatant little ploy no heed, withdrawing his hand and breaking the deliberately manufactured ambiguity.
"Since someone finds their money burning a hole in their pocket and is eager to play the sucker footing the bill, then naturally I've no reason to refuse. I'll accept this dress on her behalf."
Haimer turned his head and signaled with his eyes for the still-dazed clerk to step away for a moment.
"However." Haimer turned his gaze back, settling it once more on Demeter.
"You've laid quite a lot of groundwork."
"You must have something else you want to say to me at a time like this, don't you?"
"After all, you've never been the type to squander money so casually just for the sake of catching up."
"Oh my."
Seen through so bluntly by Haimer, Demeter shot him a captivating, charming sidelong glance and lightly patted her own chest.
"Could you not so easily expose a lady's reserve with that icy-cold tone of yours?"
Still—though she voiced complaints,
Demeter nonetheless turned her head afterward, glanced at Hestia preening in front of the mirror, and the teasing look on her face gradually faded, her expression turning somewhat serious.
Biting her full lower lip, she leaned in close to Haimer's ear.
"The truth is... it's about my Familia."
Demeter lowered her voice so that only the two of them could hear.
"Lately, the children in my Familia have repeatedly run into some strange attacks. Several of them were mysteriously assaulted on the road while transporting supplies, and seriously wounded."
"The perpetrator's methods were extremely clean and neat, leaving no trace of struggle anywhere along the way."
"And when the children woke up, they couldn't remember a thing about what had happened—as if they'd simply dozed off by the roadside."
At this point, Demeter's tender eyes turned sharp.
"Someone capable of robbing a person of consciousness in an instant, who also has an enormous demand for that specific batch of goods we lost..."
"I suspect it's that person—wanting to brew divine wine—who deliberately did this."
Though Demeter didn't name names,
the clue she let slip about brewing divine wine made it obvious.
Anyone would know which gods of wine there are in Orario.
Soma. Dionysus.
And Haimer knew especially well who the person Demeter spoke of was.
It was none other than Dionysus—the gentle and refined good deity, patron god of the [Dionysus Familia]—in Orario.
Character Details 28
Of course, the good-deity guise Dionysus had assumed after descending to the Lower World had deceived even his own Familia.
But in reality, Dionysus was the mastermind behind a covert faction, scheming in secret to use divine wine to control the Lower World and mass-produce monsters to destroy Orario.
After all, before he crossed over, Haimer had been familiar with the storylines of the [Demeter Familia] and the [Dionysus Familia].
On top of that, having become a deity, his memory was eternal.
And back in the Heavens, Dionysus had once served as his brewer.
As a result, Haimer understood Dionysus's character exceptionally well.
—As far back as the Heavens, Dionysus had been especially fond of the inhabitants of the Lower World.
So fond, in fact, that he took pleasure in the agonized, despairing wails of the Lower World's inhabitants.
Thus, regarding Ouranos—who descended a thousand years ago and not only brought God's Grace to the mortals of the Lower World, but also forged the 『Secret Pact』 to seal the earth, ceaselessly suppressing the Dungeon with divine prayer to maintain order—
this alone made Dionysus loathe Ouranos to the bone.
Demeter's agricultural Familia controlled vast stores of grain, and Dionysus's production of divine wine required massive material support.
Dionysus attacking the defenseless Demeter was something he absolutely could not avoid.
"So you think it's Dionysus?"
At Haimer's counter-question, Demeter bit her lip, nodded lightly, and a trace of worry surfaced on her lovely face.
"That's right."
"My children are all honest, hardworking farmers; they'd never offend anyone."
"And the goods they were transporting were just ordinary crops, too."
"Although Soma likewise brews divine wine, the captain of his Familia wouldn't dare lay a hand on my children."
"So apart from him, I really can't think of anyone else."
"But the trouble is, I don't have a shred of concrete evidence to report him to the Guild."
"You know how it is—that lot at the Guild only recognize ironclad proof. Without catching the culprit red-handed, the Guild can only go through the motions and smooth it over."
"And I'm also afraid it would invite Dionysus's retaliation."
"So, you want me to step in?"
Haimer raised an eyebrow.
"You should know that with your standing as the goddess of agriculture in Orario, the moment you cut off the grain supply, even Loki and Freya would get a headache. You could perfectly well go pressure him yourself—why come to me to borrow a blade?"
Faced with Haimer's further probing, Demeter gave a bitter, helpless smile.
"Haimer, stop mocking me."
"My children, up against such vicious thugs, have no power to resist at all."
"Even if I really did threaten to cut off the grain, given Dionysus's character, if he were pushed to desperation and resorted to lethal means, my Familia simply couldn't bear that kind of terrible loss."
"Besides—"
"seeing as he once served as your brewer back in the Heavens..."
Demeter gazed at Haimer with burning eyes.
"If you're willing to step in, your word would be far more effective than anything I could do."
With that, Demeter's fingers traced gentle circles on the back of Haimer's hand, continuing to convey her plea for help.
Meanwhile, Hestia—pretending to straighten her gown in front of the mirror—had her ears pricked up like antennae.
She stared at the mirror, but was really watching the scene reflected in it.
Watching Demeter all but press the better half of her body into Haimer's embrace, even clasping his hand, Hestia ground her teeth until they creaked.
That ample bosom. That mature charm.
Demeter was absolutely making excuses to get close to Haimer!
"That shameless woman!"
Hestia was furious inside.
Had she not known that Haimer seemed to be discussing something important with her, she'd have absolutely charged over right now and bitten down on Demeter's infuriating chest!
At the same time, having heard out this request, Haimer didn't answer right away, weighing the pros and cons of it.
Although the [Demeter Familia], being a commercial-type Familia, had no top-tier combat power, its say over the livelihood of Orario was immense.
Her vote of approval could often sway which side a large portion of Orario's neutral Familias took.
For establishing order in the Lower World and sweeping aside those disobedient scumbags, this was a fine move for him.
As for Dionysus—
come to think of it, he did indeed have a matter to discuss with him.
At this thought, after a brief pause, Haimer spoke.
"Merchants value equivalent exchange—all the more so for a deal between you and me."
"Having me step in and confront Dionysus—that's fine."
"But since I'm willing to help resolve your Familia's troubles, what do you intend to pay as this hefty protection fee?"
"What is it you want?"
Demeter asked, seeming to have long been prepared to be fleeced.
"Very simple." Haimer extended a single slender finger.
"From now on, whether at tomorrow's Divine Assembly or in any future resolution of the Divine Assembly—"
"whenever I make a request, or move to make a decision—"
"you, and your vast agricultural faction, must unconditionally stand on my side and cast your votes in favor."
The condition could not be called anything but heavy.
Once she agreed, no matter how big a mess Haimer stirred up afterward, she, Demeter, would never be free of involvement.
Hearing this, a flicker of worry crossed Demeter's eyes.
But the problem was, if she refused—
sooner or later, for the sake of his divine wine, Dionysus would use the innocent children of her Familia as bargaining chips for blackmail.
After all, the enormous raw-material gap in brewing divine wine meant the other party could never bypass her farms.
Being thoroughly targeted was only a matter of time.
"Haimer..."
Demeter stared at Haimer and couldn't help voicing a thought she'd kept buried in her heart.
"Are you... planning once again to seize the controlling voice over the Divine Assembly's resolutions?"
"Is that not a good thing?" Haimer countered.
"In any case, those who fancy themselves good people are unwilling to dirty their own hands dealing with those gutter rats."
"There's no harm in letting me go on setting a new tune for this city."
"Besides—" Haimer cast Demeter a glance.
"Back when the Heavens enjoyed a rare period of stable order without strife, didn't you rather like those days too?"
"Like them, I did." Demeter gave a wry chuckle at this.
"It's just that if you really mean to make such a huge commotion in the Lower World,"
"then I'm afraid that, starting tomorrow night, quite a few deities in Orario will be losing sleep for several nights running."
"Which is exactly why I wanted to hear what you, Demeter, think."
"What else can I do?" Demeter said helplessly.
"As long as you're willing to protect me and my children,"
"this deal—I can agree to it."
"Then... do we have a deal?"
"Deal." Haimer nodded, settling the matter with a single word.
"At tomorrow's Divine Assembly, I'll personally go have a chat with Dionysus."
Receiving this promise, Demeter let out a long breath of relief.
Then she turned her head toward Hestia, who'd been standing in front of the mirror all this while.
Her gaze caught the expression reflected in the mirror on Hestia's face that plainly read "I'm going to bite you to death."
Demeter found it rather funny, and also somewhat exasperating.
"Well then..."
"I won't disturb your alone time with Hestia any longer."
"Also—"
"When the time comes, once your new base in the Outer Ring—the one that can hold over a thousand people—is fully completed,"
"I'll bring freshly picked fruits and melons and pay you a personal visit, to thank you properly."
Since the matter was now settled,
Demeter found it inappropriate to linger further, so after flashing Haimer a most charming smile, she fished a crystal-stone card representing her identity out of the small bag she carried and handed it to the shopgirl, who had already packed up the gown.
Once the payment was done,
Demeter waved at Hestia, who was still hurling invisible daggers at her with her eyes from in front of the mirror.
To the soft clicking of high heels, her full, graceful figure soon strode daintily out the doors of [Starweave], her receding back vanishing into the bustling midday crowds on the street.
Haimer watched Demeter depart, then turned helplessly toward Hestia, who'd long since puffed up with anger like a blowfish.
"Who's gone and provoked you now?"
"What was Demeter just saying to you?"
"Just catching up."
"Let's go."
____
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