Adventurers were, by nature, an uncontrollable bunch.
Put dramatically, they lived with blood on the edge of the blade. Put more mildly, they simply refused to behave.
Add alcohol and the atmosphere around them, and a fight could break out at any moment.
As for the reason?
All it took was a conversation like this—
Adventurer A: "What are you looking at?"
Adventurer B: "Looking at you. Got a problem with that?"
That was why the cause never really mattered.
For outstanding adventurers, as long as they took a liking to each other—or didn't—they could start something with a single sentence.
That was exactly what was happening at Cid's table now.
"Who are you? What are you to Cid?" Alise demanded.
"I'm Cid's best friend! You're not allowed to bully him!" Anya shot back.
Before Cid even had time to explain anything, Anya and Alise locked eyes, took an instant dislike to each other, and started fighting.
Rather, Cid had no idea how he was supposed to explain any of this.
Why were they suddenly fighting?
And there was one thing he found highly, no, almost overwhelmingly difficult to understand.
"Why does this look like they're fighting over me?"
Cid's mind was a little scrambled. He needed a moment to sort out his thoughts.
Anya was the younger sister of Freya Familia's vice-captain, yet even with Alise having just reached Level 4, she still could not gain the upper hand against her.
The surrounding adventurers saw it happen, and not one of them tried to stop the fight. Instead, they started cheering.
"They're fighting? Hell yeah, now that's what I'm talking about!"
"Looks like they're fighting over that guy? Man, I'm jealous."
"Why are you going so easy? Scratch her face already!"
"Come on, kill the woman trying to steal your man!"
Iska had not intended to step in at first. After all, it was a fair one-on-one fight.
But the moment she heard the battle courtesans of Ishtar Familia joining in and egging them on, she could not hold back anymore.
"Hey, are you lot looking for a fight too?"
"Hah? Then let's fight! Who's scared of you?"
Among Amazons, Iska was rather well known, though not for good reasons.
As an Amazon with a name so similar to the goddess Ishtar, she had somehow not joined Ishtar Familia.
That alone was one thing.
But on top of that, despite being an Amazon, Iska loved dressing up and looking nice.
To powerful male adventurers, she was very popular.
And the thing Amazons liked most was precisely that type of strong male adventurer.
Yet Iska belonged to the Familia of a goddess of justice. Even when other Amazons gnashed their teeth and spread rumors, saying she was a pure-looking slut underneath it all, nobody believed them.
Iska herself had heard that other Amazons disliked her for it.
Over time, grudges had formed on both sides.
And now was the perfect time to settle them.
"They're fighting again! Yes, that's right, pull her hair!"
"Now this is what a victory feast should look like."
"I'm putting ten thousand valis on Iska."
"Why are you all just watching? Get in there! Iska clearly leveled up too!"
The battle courtesans were big on honor too, in their own way. The moment they saw Samira being overwhelmed, they all grabbed weapons and jumped in together.
Seeing her companion being ganged up on, Kaguya could not sit still either.
This was supposed to be a true one-on-one showdown on the top lane. Since when had it become a call-for-backup situation?
"Nize, Ryuu, let's go!"
"All right. We can't let Iska get bullied."
"W-what?"
Nize joined without hesitation, while Ryuu just stood there in confusion.
But Kaguya had already grabbed her and dragged her into the fray, leaving her no choice but to draw her wooden sword and start fighting too.
The battle escalated once more, and the cheering only grew louder.
"So, why exactly are they fighting?" Celty asked.
"Don't worry about it. Just pretend you didn't see anything, or we'll end up in trouble too," Maryuu replied.
"Cid, what's going on? This seems to have something to do with you," Lyra said.
"Don't ask me. I have no idea either," Cid answered.
Cid knew he might well be the root of all evil here, but even now he still had not figured out the actual reason.
He could understand the later part well enough, but how had Anya and Alise started fighting in the first place?
Why had Anya assumed he was being bullied?
After thinking it over and over, Cid could only reach one vague conclusion—
Adventurers really were just Like That.
In the end, little giant Mia emerged from the kitchen.
The moment she saw the wrecked tavern, she entered full berserker mode.
"You've all got a lot of nerve!"
She leaped into the melee, grabbed Alise with her left hand and Anya with her right, and in less than a second smashed both girls face-first into the ground.
At the same moment, the Ishtar side stopped fighting too, and the adventurers no longer dared cheer.
A Level 6 tavern owner was still a Level 6 tavern owner. Even the most lawless adventurers knew better than to push their luck with her.
But once a fight had started, the girls were no longer the ones who got to decide when it ended.
"So there are quite a lot of you involved, huh? Fine. Since you've all got so much energy, you can come help out!"
Mia swung her fists one after another, and in less than half a minute the entire brawl was over.
Only after Mia dragged the culprits away did the adventurers dare start applauding.
"Boss Mia really knows how to beat women!"
"So why did this happen again?"
Ryuu, now wearing a waitress outfit, let out a long, exhausted sigh.
She was an elf who could hardly even touch other people. How was she supposed to work as a server?
"Ask those two siblings, and that catgirl too. More importantly, why were they fighting in the first place?" Kaguya said with a dark expression.
She had already refused again and again.
But Mia had still forcefully stripped off her clothes and made her change into a waitress uniform.
This outfit did not suit her at all.
But against a Level 6 Mia, even if she had reached Level 4, she was still nowhere close to being a match.
After calming down, Kaguya had arrived at one clear conclusion:
Impulsiveness was the devil.
Right now, what she needed was a proper blame-distribution conference to determine who had summoned that devil.
"The reason for fighting isn't important. What matters is that I still look beautiful in this outfit!"
Alise grinned proudly.
Kaguya instantly felt a fresh surge of irritation and wanted to start another fight on the spot.
Then she remembered Mia's strength and forcibly suppressed the urge.
The world was such a wonderful place. Why was she the one getting so irritated? This was not good.
"Cid, is your sister really that close to you, meow?"
Now that she had calmed down, Anya was beginning to realize something was off.
"Yeah. She's always taken really good care of me," Cid said.
He looked at Anya with sympathy.
Because he had insisted on keeping up his extra act, Alise's reputation as a hopeless brother-complex case had already spread far and wide.
The fact that Anya had not known this made her seem like she had been living on Mars.
She must have been too busy and exhausted from waitress work to hear the gossip.
Mama Mia really was a merciless capitalist.
After hearing Cid's confirmation, Anya fell silent for a long while. When she finally looked up again, tears were shimmering in her eyes.
"It's not fair, meow! Kitty's brother already cut ties with kitty, meow! Why hasn't that happened to you, Cid, meow? Kitty wants to break off relations with you too, meow!"
At that moment, Anya missed Syr, who had taken the day off, more than ever.
Only Syr was her one true best friend.
At the entrance of The Benevolent Mistress, five Greek goddesses arrived together—Demeter, Astraea, Hestia, Artemis, and Hephaestus.
Seeing the chaos inside, Astraea could only smile helplessly.
"Orario is always this lively."
And her children were always just as full of energy.
The goddesses exchanged smiles, then walked into the tavern together.
"Nope. I can't join today. I've got something to do."
Loki had just arrived with her Familia when she spotted the five goddesses entering The Benevolent Mistress together.
Her face immediately turned green. Without offering even a single explanation, she turned tail and fled.
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it