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Nuh uh," Syr said, shaking her head. "She doesn't like talking about her time as an adventurer. I guess that's why she never asks anyone here about their time, either."
Godou found himself nodding in agreement. He'd heard from customers' rumor-mongering and from overhearing a few of the waitresses' conversations that almost everyone working here was high-Leveled. To his knowledge, only Syr and May were civilians. He also knew that not everyone had a clean history too, and Godou found his respect for Mama Mia grow another layer.
"Godou, are you perhaps considering joining Freya's Familia?" Lunoire suddenly asked.
Before he could even answer, Syr made a squeaky, alarmed gasp. "Godou, you can't do that! Lady Loki will be heartbroken!"
He rolled his eyes. "I'm not joining any Familia," he said, exasperated. "I like working here. I'd rather not quit."
"You don't have to quit," Lunoire said matter-of-factly. "I'm still a member of the Demeter Familia. Mama Mia, if I'm not wrong, is also still listed as being part of Freya's Familia."
"Huh?" Godou was quite confused. "But I don't see you going into the Dungeon."
Now Lunoire looked puzzled. "Why would I go into the Dungeon? The Demeter Familia is an agricultural Familia. We grow plants."
"But...then how did you get to Level Four?" Godou asked. To his knowledge, Leveling Up required a certain of extent of fighting.
Lunoire's expression faltered, revealing a mixture of guilt and something a little more sinister. "I...wasn't always in the Demeter Familia."
"Oh." Godou scratched his head sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry." He hesitated for a moment. "Wait, but I don't understand. How can you be in the Demeter Familia but work for the Hostess? Shouldn't you be helping Demeter with uh...the plants?" He was even more confused now. Weren't Familias organizations? What was the point of Lunoire being in one if she wasn't helping them out?
"I used to, for a short while." Lunoire let out a laugh, a smile back on her face. "But one thing led to another and I ended up working here. Now I act as a middleman between Lady Demeter and Mama Mia. The Hostess buys vegetables from our farm."
Godou forced himself to sit down. Since he had the time, he figured it was time that he actually understood how the whole Familia system worked. Loki had made it sound like all Familias were battle-hungry groups of adventurers that tackled the Dungeon on a daily basis, and his interactions with Ganesha's Familia had done nothing to contradict that image.
But this brief conversation with Lunoire, with Syr sitting at the side and looking confused, had been downright revolutionary to him.
"Lunoire, please teach me what exactly a Familia is
Godou sighed. He should've known better than to blindly accept Loki's explanation of a Familia.
For a start, not all Familia's were adventurer-based. While most people joined Familia's because they wanted a Falna, it didn't necessarily mean that all of them were going to become adventurers that killed monsters for a living. Even most Gods didn't want that.
"Lady Demeter's really nice," Lunoire had said. "She just really likes gardening and wanted to do it with humans. Well that and gossiping, I guess."
In exchange for a Falna and the ability to update it, humans joined a God's Familia and basically did whatever their Familias did, along with a small tax. In the case of Lady Demeter, it was something as simple as gardening and farming. But there existed all kinds of other Familias that ran businesses like apothecaries, blacksmiths, and even shadier ones like brothels. In their free time, if they wanted, they could go into the Dungeon and gain experience and try to Level Up, which would give them skills that could help them.
In light of this revelation, Godou was now seriously reconsidering his decision to avoid Familias as much as possible. He wondered if he could even receive a Falna. It didn't seem like something a Campione's body would be allowed to receive.
Maybe he should go in the kitchen and ask May for her thoughts. Surely the Cat-girl had her own opinions on Familias.
He suddenly stopped walking. He'd become fairly attuned to sensing magic after so many battles involving it, so the familiar sensation of a magical object sitting right next to him caused him to screech to a halt.
He walked this path everyday, and he was certain there hadn't been such a thing here yesterday.
Godou eyes immediately honed in on the thick, leather-bound book lying on the edge of the bar counter. His hand reached out to grab it, a tingle of energy running through his body the moment his fingers made contact.
Definitely magic.
"Modern Magic Even a Goblin Could Understand," he read the title out softly.
He flipped it open.
The surge of arcane energy that washed over him was immediately rejected by his magical-resistant body, and he snapped the book shut.
"Syr, Lunoire," he said loudly, causing the two waitresses to look over to him. He raised the book in the air. "Do either of you know why there's a random Grimoire lying around here?"
"We should sell it," Syr proposed, nodding her head sagely. "And split the profits."
"That's stealing," Godou said flatly, not missing a beat.
"Even if we want to return it, we don't know whose it is," Lunoire said. "But it's not wise to leave such a valuable object out in the open either."
Mama Mia, who had come back, looked at the book. "I'll give whoever lost it one week to come and take it back. If they don't want it, we're selling it."
"Yay!" Syr cheered happily. "So? Where should we hide it so no one can find it?"
Godou stared at her. In his time in the Hostess, he'd found himself doubting Syr's bubbly and somewhat-cute personality with every passing day. The way she seemed to ensnare rookie adventurers into patronizing the tavern certainly hadn't gone unnoticed by him either.
"It might be Freya's," he said. "She dropped by for a little bit just now. She's probably one of the few people in Orario who could afford walking around with one of these anyway."
"Freya, huh." Mama Mia brought her hand to her chin. "In that case, one of us should probably bring it back to her."
"I'll do it," Godou immediately said. This was a good chance for him to ask Freya about the Deeper Floors as well.
Mama Mia looked surprised. "Do you know where to find her?"
"I'm sure I can find out where the Freya Familia is located," he said, shrugging. Familia headquarters were available to the public.
Mama Mia s
hook her head. "She doesn't live with them. She stays in Babel. The very top floor."
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Want to read more?
The next 10+ chapters are already available on my Patreon!
By joining, you'll get:
📖 Early access to future chapters
🗳️ Polls to shape the story
🎁 Exclusive content for Patrons
🔥 Bonus scenes & content you won't find anywhere else
👀 Don't fall behind—others are already ahead!
👉 patreon.com/FanfictionTakashi
(If link doesn't show, just search on Google: FanfictionTakashi Patreon)