"..."
Ryu spoke no more.
Her eyes were fixed dead on the spear tip that hovered less than a finger's width from her throat.
The silver blade glinted with a chilling light under the moon.
He only needed to push it gently forward.
That would be enough to easily pierce her throat, turning the "Gale" who once made the Dark Faction tremble in fear into nothing more than the dust of history.
"It's not over yet!"
Ryu let out a low shout.
The pride deep in her Elven bones was at work.
She did not want to admit that two years of endurance and hiding had resulted in such a pathetic regression.
In the next second.
Ryu moved without any warning.
Disregarding the threat at her throat, she charged toward Haimer.
The spear tip grazed her neck, drawing a streak of blood.
This was a fighting style that traded life for life!
Since she couldn't match him in technique.
Then she would gamble her life!
Although she had lost her daggers, the body of an Elf was a weapon in itself.
Her knuckles protruded, aiming straight for the soft ribs under Haimer's arm.
However.
Facing this near-crazed counterattack.
Haimer merely sighed helplessly.
"Too impetuous."
The instant his voice fell.
The long spear in Haimer's hand did not pull back to defend.
On the contrary.
He simply turned his body slightly sideways, letting Ryu's fist brush past the corner of his clothes, hitting nothing but air.
Immediately after.
His left hand shot out.
In that awkward moment when the force of her fist was spent and new strength had not yet generated.
He accurately clamped onto Ryu's wrist.
Then.
Following the momentum, he yanked her forward.
"?!"
Ryu felt an irresistible, massive force transmit through her, and her center of gravity was instantly lost.
Before she could react.
The world spun.
Bang!
A muffled sound.
Ryu's back slammed heavily against the stone wall.
Her hands.
They were already pinned firmly, held high above her head and pressed against the wall surface.
She couldn't move a muscle.
"Haa... haa..."
Violent gasping echoed in the narrow alley.
Ryu's sky-blue eyes were filled with unwillingness.
She had lost.
Lost thoroughly.
She didn't even have the qualification to make the opponent get serious.
From start to finish.
This God's breathing hadn't even skipped a beat.
"Have you calmed down now?"
Haimer lowered his head slightly, looking at the Elven girl he had pinned against the wall corner.
By the faint moonlight.
One could clearly see her cheeks flushing red under the hood due to the intense exertion, and the slightly trembling pointed ears beneath the short hair she had dyed green to avoid attention.
It had to be said.
Even while pinned to the wall.
This Elf was still as stubborn as a little lion.
Those eyes glared deathly at him, as if trying to bore two holes through his body.
"Kill me."
Ryu gritted her teeth and turned her head away.
Her skills were inferior.
She had nothing to say.
"Kill you?"
"I have no interest in taking the precious lives of children from the Lower World."
Having said that.
Haimer released the hand clamping Ryu's wrists.
As the restraint vanished.
"Uh..."
Ryu's body went limp, and she slid down along the stone wall, sitting collapsed at its base.
Haimer took a step back, looking down from above at this stubborn Elf.
"..."
Being stared at like this.
Ryu bit her lower lip tightly. The humiliation of being the defeated, mixed with the sense of powerlessness from being completely controlled just now.
It made her originally clear sky-blue eyes look somewhat dim at this moment.
If he wasn't going to kill her... then what was he going to do?
At this point, Ryu had already prepared for the worst.
As long as it didn't implicate the pub, didn't implicate Syr.
She would have no complaints.
"Since Miss Elf lost."
"Then let us proceed according to the agreement."
"Miss Elf needs to agree to one of my requests."
"But please rest assured."
"Gods keep their promises. Since I said I wouldn't cross the bottom line, I won't."
"Miss Elf also saw that house of mine."
"I just bought it."
"Relying on me alone to handle the dirty work there is definitely not feasible."
"And those children are warriors who will go to the Dungeon to fight, after all; I can't let them waste their energy on trivial matters."
"So, it just so happens that Miss Elf works as a maid at the [Hostess of Fertility] pub."
"From tomorrow on."
"Miss Elf should report to my Familia's residence in the morning."
"The task isn't heavy."
"Just help me sweep the courtyard, trim the flowers and plants, and tidy up the house while you're at it."
"Simply put."
"Just be a maid."
"Until I have a change of heart, at least."
Strictly speaking, Ryu hadn't been detected by the keen-eared Inaba Tsukuyo while tracking him and the others.
Because of this.
Haimer actually wanted Ryu to serve as a sparring partner for Inaba Tsukuyo and the others.
As for...
Making this clumsy Elf clean up?
Actually, that didn't hold much weight in Haimer's mind.
"This..."
Ryu's eyes went wide, her mouth opening slightly and failing to close for a long time.
Maid...?
Maid?!
Why was it this kind of request again?!
Two years ago.
It was Mama Mia who, using the excuse of the pub being smashed, issued a sky-high debt of 100 million Valis, forcing 「Black Cat」—Chloe Lolo and 「Black Fist」—Lunor Faust to work as maids in the shop to pay off the debt.
As a result.
The two of them still hadn't finished paying off the debt even now.
"You are unwilling?"
"Does Miss Elf believe that this request I've made violates Miss Elf's principles?"
"Then what is the matter with Miss Elf working as a maid at the [Hostess of Fertility] pub?"
"Or could it be, Miss Elf is a masochist?"
"Do you want me to use threats and inducements to force you before you agree?"
Haimer stroked his chin, looking thoughtfully at Ryu's pointed ears which were trembling slightly due to nervousness.
Ryu's body stiffened abruptly.
"..."
Ryu opened her mouth.
She wanted to refute.
But she found herself speechless.
This indeed did not violate her bottom line—he wasn't asking her to commit murder or arson, nor was he asking her to betray her faith.
He didn't even require her to convert to his Familia.
Just cleaning.
But!
What was with this sense of shame?
"I'll do it!"
Things being as they were.
Ryu hurriedly raised her head, her voice revealing a sense of resolve.
Hearing this.
Haimer sighed with a hint of disappointment.
"Alright then."
"Although I was quite looking forward to the alternative."
"But since Miss Elf has agreed."
"Then tomorrow morning, when the sun rises."
"Don't be late."
"I am a person who doesn't like waiting for others."
Having said that.
Haimer didn't spare another glance at this Elf who had completely lost her temper. He turned around directly, carrying that silver long spear, and walked toward the exit of the alley.
The sound of footsteps gradually faded in the alley.
Ryu remained sitting on the ground.
Watching that back figure slowly merging into the night colors, her heart was filled with mixed flavors.
Shame, relief, confusion, and a trace of indescribable frustration.
This God...
Possessing such despair-inducing martial arts, and clearly holding leverage over her.
Yet he only made such a near-childish request.
Do all those with powerful strength like this?
Not caring about other things?
Or could it be...
Is there some deeper conspiracy behind this?
Thinking of this.
Ryu couldn't help but clench her fists, her fingernails digging deep into her flesh.
"Please... wait a moment!"
Seeming to have prepared herself for something, Ryu raised her head and shouted at Haimer's back just as he was about to disappear around the corner.
Haimer paused his steps and turned his head slightly.
"Does Miss Elf have any other business?"
"No..."
"It's nothing."
In the end, Ryu still couldn't say that name.
Syr Flova.
That girl in the [Hostess of Fertility] who always wore a gentle smile, that clumsy girl who had picked up her heavily injured and dying self two years ago.
—The light she regarded as something she would protect with her life in this lifetime.
"..."
Seeing this, although Haimer knew Ryu probably wanted to talk about Syr, he didn't stay any longer.
His figure flickered, disappearing directly into the shadows of the corner.
Leaving only Ryu kneeling alone in the empty alley.
The night wind blew past.
Rolling up a few withered yellow leaves.
Ryu's tense shoulders finally slumped.
Regardless.
Tomorrow she had to find an opportunity to see if she could probe Syr's tone to see if she knew this black-haired God.
As for.
The other side.
Because dealing with this matter had caused quite a delay.
When Haimer returned to the residence.
Under the streetlamp not far down the street.
Tsubaki.
And behind her.
The figures of Amou Kirukiru, Inaba Tsukuyo, and the other girls had already appeared.
"Yo!"
"Haimer-sama!"
As soon as she saw Haimer returning, Tsubaki immediately raised a hand, waving and shouting.
"Did you go out for a moment just now?"
Haimer met them with a smile.
"That's right, just to digest dinner a bit."
"I didn't expect you all to be so quick."
"Hehe!"
"Of course!"
"It was just a few clothes and some odds and ends; it didn't take much effort."
"Besides."
"We figured we should finish moving early so these little monsters could rest sooner."
"After all, having tossed about all day, they're exhausted enough."
"Miss Tsubaki is right."
Haimer nodded gently to express his agreement, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something not far behind them.
There was a large wooden barrel.
On this wide street, a large wooden barrel already seemed exceptionally abrupt.
What was more fatal was.
From the top of that wooden barrel, two exceptionally conspicuous black twin-tails were actually poking out.
And what was ridiculous was.
Hestia inside the barrel seemed completely unaware of how clumsy her disguise was.
She was still moving forward.
Those two pigtails were bobbing up and down with the slight movements of the barrel.
...
Seeing this scene, even a God.
Felt a sense of deep powerlessness.
Haimer sighed, then shouted towards that wooden barrel.
"Come out."
"Hestia."
"..."
At this, the wooden barrel's movements halted abruptly.
Bang!
A light sound.
The lid on top was instantly popped off from the inside.
Hestia's puffy, angry little face poked out.
Her body was even stained with black soot she had rubbed against inside the barrel.
At this point.
Haimer was also helpless.
"Come inside and wash up together."
"Hestia-sama, you didn't follow us all the way here inside this wooden barrel, did you?"
Tsubaki also had a face full of helplessness.
"Hmph! So what if I did! Now it was Haimer who personally invited me!"
____
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