"Won't you wait a little first?"
Hearing this, Haimer gave a faint smile and asked casually.
"Won't you say goodbye to Mary before you go? She was awfully worried about you last night."
The instant Haimer said this. And yet. The moment she heard those two words, "Mary," Lefiya's whole body went rigid on the spot.
Visibly, a vivid flush of crimson came shooting up along her fair neck with a whoosh, dyeing that pair of pointed elven ears of hers a bright red.
Her whole self looked just like a fully-cooked shrimp freshly scooped out of the pot. After all. The moment she thought of last night—being caught in a happy pincer between Kikakujou Mary and Ais until she was drooling, and even fainting away in the bathing pool.
With that shameful display of hers last night having been witnessed, Lefiya now didn't have the courage to so much as glance at Kikakujou Mary, let alone say goodbye.
If she ran into her face to face, she would absolutely want to dig a hole and bury herself alive in it.
"N-no need!"
Lefiya hurriedly waved her hands, shaking her head like a rattle-drum. Her every emotion written plainly on her face.
It was just too hopeless.
Watching Lefiya beside her, who had already short-circuited completely, Riveria stood off to one side, the corner of her eye twitching helplessly.
This child—her talent for magic was indeed head and shoulders above the rest. But when it came to dealing with people, she was so hopeless it made one's head ache.
All one could say was, thank goodness.
The people she'd met along the way had all been good ones.
"Please forgive the spectacle, Lord Haimer." Riveria let out a sigh.
"This child still needs more seasoning. We won't impose any longer. Lord Loki and the others should still be waiting at the Twilight Manor for our report, so we'll be heading back now."
With that, Riveria reached out and grabbed Lefiya's arm, lest the girl, in her fluster, trip and fall flat on her face right there in Haimer's hall.
Seeing that Lefiya looked about ready to suffocate, Haimer had no intention of teasing her further.
"In that case, I won't keep you. Take care on the road."
Riveria nodded once more in courtesy, and, tugging along the still head-bowed, ostrich-impersonating Lefiya, turned and walked toward the gate of the estate.
Having seen the two off, Haimer drew back his gaze. Same as ever. From the direction of the kitchen came wave after wave of fragrant aromas.
Having finished making breakfast, Anya, Lunor, and Chloe came out carrying plates large and small.
Bacon and fried eggs, toast baked golden, steaming-hot thick vegetable soup.
Only, when Ryu came out last carrying a plate of sliced fruit, she was plainly somewhat distracted, head lowered the whole time, her gaze fixed dead-on at the floor.
Noticing this, Chloe's green cat-eyes narrowed slightly in an instant. Holding her plate, she couldn't help walking over and lightly nudging Ryu with her elbow.
"Hey, Ryu, how come you've been in this absent-minded daze ever since you came down from the second floor just now?"
Chloe lowered her voice, her tone full of gossipy flavor.
"Don't tell me you saw something you weren't supposed to see up on the second floor? Or—did you sneak a sniff of Lord Haimer's pillow up there?" "Pfft—cough cough cough!" Hearing this, Ryu nearly let the fruit plate slip from her hands.
"Wh-what nonsense are you spouting, Chloe?!"
Ryu glared at Chloe, flushed with angry embarrassment.
"I was just thinking about something! I did not see anything I wasn't supposed to see!"
Ryu defended herself with all her might, but some hazy imaginings from this morning truly had her heart still not settled even now.
Kami-sama, he... really...
"Nya-haha! Reacting this strongly—there's definitely something fishy going on, nya!"
Seeing a good show to watch, Anya immediately squeezed in too.
Her brown cat ears twitched excitedly, and the tail of the same color swished back and forth behind her.
"Ryu's definitely hit her mating season, nya! Mama Mia said when spring comes all animals get like this, nya!"
"It's autumn right now, you idiot!"
Hearing this, Lunor, off to the side, irritably picked up a piece of baked toast and stuffed it straight into Anya's mouth, plugging up whatever even more outrageous thing she might say next.
With her mouth plugged by the bread, Anya could only make "mmf mmf" sounds.
Compared with these two flighty types, Lunor was a good deal more level-headed.
After setting the serving plate in her hands down steadily on the dining table, she couldn't help turning her head to look at Ryu. "You okay? You really don't look so well—did you not sleep well last night?"
Seeing that Lunor wasn't joining in the teasing, Ryu felt a little relieved inside, and, avoiding the eyes of Chloe and Anya, did her best to make her tone return to a calm flatness.
"It's nothing, I just didn't rest well. Don't mind me."
Since Ryu was unwilling to say, Lunor tactfully didn't press any further, waving a hand to signal the other two not to keep butting in either.
"In that case, you two stop your wild guessing over here as well."
"Hurry up and tidy the table. Lady Hestia and the others will be coming down for breakfast soon."
Anya chewed and swallowed the bread; Chloe pursed her lips; and they each scattered off to set out the tableware.
Thinking back on what had happened this morning, Ryu couldn't help heaving a heavy sigh, lowering her head and setting the fruit plate right in the center of the table.
Before long, the sound of footsteps came from the stairway.
The other girls were waking up one after another.
"Morning, everyone."
After exchanging greetings with Ryu and the others, the girls all came downstairs and found seats around the dining table.
Meanwhile.
In the master bedroom on the second floor, Hestia likewise pushed open her door right on cue.
Because Haimer's household had gradually settled into a regular routine these past few days, Hestia could be said to have finally cultivated the good habit of early to bed, early to rise.
Atop a head of messy black hair, the white dress on her body slightly wrinkled, her signature blue ribbon hanging loose and slack across her chest. She rubbed her eyes, let out an enormous yawn, and made her way down the stairs.
Though she had no idea that Haimer hadn't slept in the master bedroom at all last night.
Still, just thinking about how she'd successfully commandeered the big bed of the master bedroom last night, Hestia felt her scheme had come off perfectly.
She had successfully moved into the master bedroom.
At last she could fend off Amou Kirukiru, that crazy girl who was always trying to raid the home base!
At this thought, the corners of Hestia's mouth lifted irrepressibly, and a wave of smug delight rose in her heart. Her steps even grew a few degrees lighter as she came down the stairs.
"Haimer-kun~ good morning~"
Hestia darted in a flash over to Haimer's side, pulled out a chair and sat down, and casually picked up a strip of bacon and tossed it into her mouth.
"Morning, everyone." Haimer, flipping through a book in his hands, answered offhandedly.
At this point, Kikakujou Mary settled into her seat by the table, her gaze sweeping a circle around the surroundings.
"Um..." Mary looked toward Haimer. "Kami-sama, where are Lady Riveria and Miss Lefiya?" "Oh, them—they headed back just now."
"Huh? They've already left?"
Mary's tone carried an obvious disappointment.
After all, she'd been thinking she could chat a bit more with Lefiya this morning and get a little closer.
Yesterday's interaction in the bathing pool had made her feel that this easily-flustered elf was unexpectedly adorable.
If she could win over their Familia...
"Enough, Mary, drop that expression."
Seeing Mary spacing out, Hanasaka Warabi, seated beside her, mercilessly switched into roast mode.
"It's not as if we aren't going to the Twilight Manor, the Loki Familia's base, later. Once we get over there, you'll have all the time in the world to chat with Lefiya."
Hanasaka Warabi said this while cutting up the fried egg on her plate.
Hearing this, Mary's eyes lit up again. "That's true!"
"Is it really that worth being so happy about?"
Seeing Mary's reaction, Hanasaka Warabi rolled her eyes, and tossed a small piece of fried egg over to Kyoubou. "But speaking of which."
Hanasaka Warabi raised her head, looking toward Haimer and Hestia.
"Today's the Denatus, right?" "Kami-sama, aren't you and Lady Hestia going to change into something a bit more formal?" Hanasaka Warabi asked, puzzled.
The instant these words came out, the atmosphere at the table changed at once.
Onigawara Rin, Tendou Kisara, and the others all paused mid-motion.
The girls' gazes converged in unison on Haimer, and Hestia turned her head to look at him too.
Lunor, Chloe, and Ryu, who were in the middle of carrying plates, also paused slightly upon hearing the two words "the Denatus."
After all, as former adventurers who had long knocked about in Orario, they of course knew well what the Denatus meant.
A meeting where the gods gathered together to decide adventurers' titles. Haimer nodded.
"The Denatus is indeed today, that's right."
"But it's still early. The Denatus is generally held at night—drinking and socializing, all the way until daytime the next day, before they formally begin settling adventurers' titles."
Hearing this, Hanasaka Warabi nodded as well.
Moreover, because Ryu and the others had been doing maid work in this estate these past few days, on top of their several earlier encounters, the relationship between them had already grown quite familiar.
Lunor and the others looked over the girls seated packed full around the dining table, and were well aware that this group of delicate-looking girls had, in fact, every one of them reached Lv.2.
Such a rate of leveling up was downright unheard of in Orario.
And so, Lunor couldn't help saying with a few notes of emotion in her tone.
"Come to think of it, you're all already at Lv.2 now, aren't you? That's a speed that breaks Orario's records."
"For such a remarkable feat, I really can't imagine what kind of dashing title the gods will give you all."
"Yeah, nya, speaking of which, it really is rather nostalgic, nya."
"Getting a title is the thing every adventurer looks forward to most, nya."
Chloe walked over too, her cat tail swaying gently.
"Exactly, exactly, nya!"
The moment Anya heard this topic, she set the empty tray in her hands at her waist, planted both hands on her hips, her face full of pride, and excitedly cut in.
"Speaking of which, the night I got my title back then, I was so worked up I couldn't sleep the whole night, nya!"
"At the time I was thinking, Kami-sama is definitely going to give me a super flashy, super cool name, nya!"
"It's just, the result, nya..."
"The title Kami-sama gave me wasn't as flashy as I'd imagined, nya."
Reaching this point, Anya's originally upright ears drooped down as well. This topic livened up the atmosphere at the table a little.
However. The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.
These words had successfully stirred Onigawara Rin's curiosity.
After all, having witnessed the strength Ryu displayed after crossing blades with Amou Kirukiru.
Coupled with the rumors about the waitresses of [The Hostess of Fertility] they could occasionally catch wind of in everyday life, Onigawara Rin and the others had long since guessed that Anya and the others were no ordinary serving girls.
But out of politeness, they had never asked too much.
Only, this time.
Watching Anya, Lunor, and Chloe so naturally discuss the titles that only adventurers possessed. "Speaking of which."
Onigawara Rin's gaze moved across Anya, Lunor, Chloe, and Ryu, and she couldn't help opening her mouth to ask.
"We knew before that you ladies were very impressive, but... from what you said just now... Miss Anya, all of you—you were once high-level adventurers too, weren't you?"
The moment these words came out.
The area around the table fell silent in an instant.
Even Anya, who had been muttering and grumbling, immediately shut her mouth.
The girls' gazes converged in unison on Lunor, Chloe, Anya, and Ryu.
Now, it was Lunor, Chloe, and Anya's turn to feel awkward. After all. Their past was something they had never once brought up with anyone.
Anya's eyes wandered.
Chloe's tail stopped swaying too, hanging stiffly behind her.
After two seconds of dead silence, Lunor scratched at her hair, somewhat at a loss.
"Well... we were, in the past."
"It's just that we don't go into the Dungeon anymore now; right now we're just ordinary serving girls at a tavern."
"As for anything else, we gave it up long ago." "Yeah, yeah, nya."
"We're just ordinary serving girls, nya."
Chloe nodded in agreement too: "For us, the past is nothing worth bringing up anymore. All that fighting and killing is just too exhausting for us, nya—being serving girls is a lot more relaxing, nya."
Lunor and Chloe tried to gloss the topic over lightly.
After all, their identities—whether the Black Cat or the Black Fist, or Anya, the little sister of the vice-captain of the [Freya Familia], or Ryu, who had just stepped out of the shadow of becoming unscrupulous in order to avenge her slain Familia comrades—all carried heavy pasts that were inconvenient to speak of to outsiders.
They bore far too many secrets that couldn't see the light of day.
All they wanted now was to live peaceful lives at The Hostess of Fertility tavern. And yet. This poorly-concealing tone was about as conspicuous as splashing ink onto white paper—anyone who heard it would feel something was up.
Watching the somewhat evasive reactions of the few, Onigawara Rin and the others grew all the more certain in their hearts that all four of them had extraordinary pasts.
The atmosphere looked about to slide into an awkward dead end.
Haimer, too, spoke up helplessly, casting out bait directly, crudely but extremely effectively shifting the topic.
"Speaking of which." "Since we're on the subject of titles."
"There's less than half a year left now, so why not give it some good thought—what kind of title do you all want for yourselves?"
"After all, though it's said the title is decided by the Denatus, in my case, that bunch will at least take my opinion into account to some degree."
Hearing these words.
The girls' attention was instantly pulled back.
After all, from what Miss Fels had mentioned, Onigawara Rin and the others were well aware of Haimer's fearsome reputation in the Heavens.
"Me!"
"I want to be called the Crimson Lotus Meteor! Doesn't it sound super awesome?!"
Aihara Enju was the first to raise her hand, her red eyes brimming with excitement.
"Kohina thinks that's so tacky."
Hiruko Kohina lay sprawled on the table, unable to resist sniping.
However. With Aihara Enju being the first to raise her hand.
Onigawara Rin and the others began discussing the titles they wanted in a noisy babble.
Anya, Lunor, and Chloe stood off to one side, quietly letting out a breath of relief, looking gratefully toward Haimer.
And it was just as the girls were arguing in an uproar.
"What kind of title does Amou want?"
Nomura Satori, who hadn't spoken much this whole time, couldn't help turning her head to look at Amou Kirukiru.
Amou Kirukiru, for her part, was unmoved. "I have no interest in those empty names."
"But if it's the god giving it, then I'd rather like to know—in Kami-sama's eyes, what exactly should I be called."
With that, Amou Kirukiru's gaze passed directly across the tabletop and nailed itself onto Haimer.
The moment these words came out.
The originally clamorous dining room fell silent in an instant. After all.
Who wouldn't want to know just what sort of image they held in Kami-sama's heart?
The eyes of Onigawara Rin, Mary, and the others narrowed in an instant, their sense of crisis flaring up once again. "Speaking of which." "Kohina wants a title given to Kohina by Kami-sama too."
Hiruko Kohina immediately followed up, staring at Haimer with blazing eyes.
"I want Kami-sama to decide mine too!" "Me too!" "Kami-sama, please!"
The girls' voices rose one after another, all of them looking expectantly at Haimer.
Watching the girls who had suddenly changed their tune, Haimer felt a wave of helplessness.
"You've really set me quite the difficult problem."
"But." "If you're all this expectant about it, then I suppose I can give it some thought."
"It's just that if the names I come up with don't satisfy you when the time comes, don't blame me." "We absolutely won't!" The girls said in unison.
Since they all put it that way. Haimer nodded in agreement as well.
"In that case, then look forward to it."
____
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