"Istar-sama, this is the income for this month~"
"Mm~ not bad~"
Looking at the long string of zeros on the report, Istar's expression became extremely pleased.
In Orario, the Pleasure Quarter was an absolute money pit. Every single day, countless men came here to "spend."
Moreover, the women of the Istar Familia were all battle courtesans.
During the day they fought monsters in the Dungeon, and at night they "fought" men. Under such circumstances, the monthly profit of the Istar Familia was an astronomical figure.
As the goddess of the Familia, every member had to hand over a portion of their income to her. Even that small portion alone added up to a massive fortune.
Not only that, the Pleasure Quarter also paid a certain amount of valis to the Guild every month.
Behind the scenes, Istar also had ties with the Dark Faction, secretly funding them as well.
One could say that whether in the "dark" or the "light," Istar had connections everywhere. All of it was for the sake of dragging down the goddess she envied and pushing her off her divine pedestal.
But ironically, in the face of absolute power, all of that was still fragile.
Tap tap tap—
The sound of hurried footsteps rang out, causing Istar's previously pleasant expression to darken slightly.
"Istar-sama, something terrible has happened!"
An Amazon woman rushed in and reported in panic.
"Why are you panicking? What could possibly happen?"
"It's true! Something really happened!"
"Be quiet."
With Istar's sharp shout, the Amazon instantly shut her mouth.
The entire hall fell into silence.
Seeing this, Istar nodded in satisfaction. She wasn't dead yet—what could possibly go wrong?
"Alright, speak. What happened?"
Only then did Istar look at her and ask casually.
"Istar-sama… the Freya Familia has declared war on us and has already submitted a request for a War Game!"
After saying this, the Amazon immediately fell silent and stepped back.
Sure enough, the news shocked Istar.
Although she was jealous of Freya and dreamed day and night of pulling her down into the mud, she also knew how powerful Freya and the Freya Familia were. They weren't opponents that could be defeated with mere anger.
That was why she had established the Istar Familia and gathered most of the Amazons in Orario under her banner.
"What exactly is going on? Why would that bitch Freya suddenly declare war on us?!"
Now Istar could no longer remain calm.
If a War Game really started, the Istar Familia would definitely not be a match for the Freya Familia.
She had finally obtained a trump card, and before she could even put her plan into action, everything was about to be ruined?
The calm, confident Istar from before was gone. The Freya Familia had many Level 6 adventurers, while she only had a single Level 5, and that one often disobeyed her orders.
"Tell me—what exactly happened?!"
At this moment, Istar looked like a venomous serpent, her gaze landing directly on the unlucky messenger.
"Last night… Afuya and the others were chased by a group of Killer Ants in the Dungeon. In the end, they used Monster Lure to set up a trap for someone from the Freya Familia."
"Monster Lure? Someone from Freya Familia?"
"Yes. It was Cao Ye, the person who caused a huge stir recently. It's said he's a pretty boy kept by Goddess Freya. Because of him, Goddess Freya became furious and went to the Guild early this morning to submit the War Game application."
"A pretty boy kept by that bitch Freya?"
Istar's teeth clenched.
You people really have guts.
Even I wouldn't casually provoke Freya—I could only secretly accumulate strength. Yet you idiots went and caused such a disaster for me.
"Where is Afuya?"
"She was captured alive and is now imprisoned by the Freya Familia."
Well… that meant silencing her was impossible.
The Freya Familia wasn't a place ordinary people could infiltrate.
Now Istar had no idea what to do. When luck turned bad, even drinking cold water could choke you.
"Immediately contact the Guild. Tell them there's something suspicious about this incident—this must be Freya's conspiracy."
"Istar-sama… the Guild has already met Afuya and the others. They've all confessed."
Pfft—
Istar nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
You spineless fool! I haven't even appeared yet and you've already confessed everything!
Although she paid the Guild a lot of money every year, when something this serious happened, the Guild wouldn't risk offending Freya for her sake.
"B-But… Goddess Freya said that if we provide compensation, she might cancel the War Game."
"Hm? Compensation? How much does she want?"
Istar asked with a pained expression. She didn't even need to think—Freya would definitely demand a huge price.
"Two billion valis… and Haruhime."
"What did you say? And who else?!"
"H-Haruhime…"
Haruhime was no secret within the Istar Familia.
Most people knew what the poor little fox's future fate would be, and it made them sigh with pity.
Because of that, many members treated her kindly whenever they could, offering at least a bit of goodwill to the unfortunate fox girl.
"Freya wants Haruhime?! Damn it! How does she even know about Haruhime?"
"Th-that…"
No one could answer that question, and no one dared to.
There was no such thing as a perfect secret in this world. Besides, Haruhime's existence within the Istar Familia wasn't exactly hidden.
No one could be sure if someone had accidentally leaked the information.
"It might be Afuya. Since she was captured by Freya, she might have revealed Haruhime's existence to save her life."
At this moment, a man beside Istar spoke.
He was Istar's man—more precisely, her male plaything.
After all, the Istar Familia was filled entirely with women and courtesans. Men held almost no status.
"Hm? That makes sense. It must have been that woman Afuya."
At that moment, Afuya—locked inside the dungeon of the Freya Familia—was very unfairly saddled with this blame.
But she had no idea what was happening outside, and even if she knew, she could do nothing about it.
The situation had already been set in stone.
Istar's mind was in chaos.
Two billion valis wasn't a big problem—if she gritted her teeth, she could still pay it.
But Haruhime was different.
She was the trump card in Istar's plan to destroy Freya.
If she handed Haruhime over now… then all the planning she had done for so long would be completely ruined.
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