Shakti's voice was not loud, and could even be described as calm, but it wasn't the calm before the storm, but the storm itself.
The wind blew through the bushes, the leaves rustling.
Chloe already wanted to run.
Her body was taut, the muscles in her legs already tensed, preparing the Cat Person race's instinct—carved into her DNA—to flee at any moment.
However.
The Shakti that Chloe was facing.
—As the Captain of the [Ganesha Familia].
Was the very same Military Police Captain who, on that night, had chased her until she had no path to the heavens and no door to the earth, forcing her to drill into the sewers in the end.
Right now, standing beside Shakti was a tall God who, although wearing a comical elephant mask and looking like a circus mascot, exuded a majestic aura as immovable as a mountain.
—The Main God of the [Ganesha Familia].
—Ganesha!
In front of these two, Chloe was exceptionally aware that any of her petty schemes would appear pale and powerless.
Even if she ran, it might really be classified as absconding to avoid punishment, which would be an added crime.
Moreover, in front of her own Main God.
Shakti absolutely wouldn't leave them even a shred of face.
Taking a step forward.
Shakti's boots stepped forcefully on the flagstone path, letting out an exceptionally crisp "clack".
With just this single step.
That oppressive aura accumulated from holding a high position and maintaining the city's public order for years directly caused the air to become viscous, making Chloe and Lunor feel as if even their breathing had become difficult.
"If you don't give me a reasonable explanation."
"I have reason to suspect that you are plotting, or have already carried out, criminal activities targeting the residents of the high-class residential district in this area."
"According to the Orario Public Order Management Regulations, Article 13, Paragraph 2: Regarding the determination of illegal trespassing and the implementation of stalking and harassment against specific targets."
"I find it necessary to invite you to the Ganesha Familia's base for a cup of tea and a good chat."
Just as Shakti's words fell.
"Meowow—!"
Hearing this, Chloe immediately let out a miserable shriek in her heart.
It's over.
It's really over this time.
If they were caught and taken in.
If Mama Mia found out that they not only skipped their morning shift, but were also caught red-handed by the Military Police Captain for stalking Ryu over such a boring reason.
Even if Mama Mia ransomed them back then, she would absolutely hang them beneath the tavern's conspicuous signboard and beat them for three days and three nights!
Just thinking about it made Chloe feel a dull ache in her buttocks, as if they had already been beaten to a pulp.
It was simply more unbearable than killing her directly!
"If... I mean... if... we came out for a stroll... would you believe it, meow?"
Thinking of this, Chloe's eyes darted around evasively, not even daring to meet Shakti's eyes. She could only stare at the reflective spots on the other party's boots, lowering her head and stammering out.
"A stroll?"
As soon as these words came out, Shakti's voice immediately turned as cold as if it had fallen into ice shards, carrying a gaze that looked at her like an idiot.
"From the Hostess of Fertility tavern, strolling all the way to the wealthy district on the Northwest Main Street."
"Spanning across half of Orario."
"You call this a stroll?"
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Even Lunor was already despairing.
What a pig-like teammate.
A lie like this that even a three-year-old child wouldn't believe, aside from being able to fool that idiot Anya, who else would believe it!
This was simply an insult to the Military Police Captain's intelligence!
Thinking of this, Lunor had no choice but to try and look at Ryu, who was currently wearing a working maid uniform and standing at the main gate of a mansion.
Frantically transmitting distress signals with her eyes.
—'Help! Think of something! We are all colleagues, give a sister a hand!'
Ryu noticed the distress-seeking gaze Lunor cast over.
She wanted to explain.
She opened her mouth, trying to salvage this completely collapsed situation.
But what excuse could she make up?
"Could it be 'They came to deliver something I left behind'?"
The problem was that Ryu's lie, upon reaching her lips, was like a fishbone stuck in her throat; she couldn't spit it out no matter what.
After all.
Just thinking about her current situation.
Ryu herself wished she could find a hole and bury herself in it.
These clothes.
—A dark green dress with ruffles, a white apron, and a headdress with white lace trimming.
Although it was said to be the standard uniform of the Hostess of Fertility.
But right now.
She was standing in front of a high-class residence early in the morning.
Not only was she stalked all the way here by Chloe and Lunor, two guys who only knew how to cause trouble.
She was also caught right in the act by an old friend from her [Astraea Familia] days—Shakti.
This was simply a scene of social death!
Ryu felt as if she was undergoing a public execution!
The original reserve and pride she should have as an Elf had all shattered into a pile of dregs at this moment, unable to be pieced back together.
Ryu didn't even dare turn her head to meet Shakti's eyes, deeply afraid of seeing even a hint of goodwill in the other party's gaze.
Fortunately.
"Creak—"
The sound of the main gate being pushed open broke this suffocating awkwardness.
Instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"Ka-Kami-sama!"
Seeing Haimer appear.
Ryu's originally restless heart finally found an anchor point.
Although this anchor point.
—Was the very culprit who caused her to fall into such a desperate situation.
"Good morning... Kami-sama..."
"I am here to continue fulfilling our agreement..."
Seeing the person in charge, Ryu immediately acted as if she had grabbed onto a lifesaver, bringing her legs together and crossing her hands in front of her body, performing a standard ninety-degree bow, her movements as stiff as a robot.
"Mhm, morning."
Haimer nodded, considered as responding to Ryu, before his gaze skipped over her, looking at the others present.
"Although I don't mind people acting out some morning sitcom in front of my house."
"However..."
Haimer picked his ear, a trace of half-awake sluggishness on his face.
"Isn't it a bit too noisy this early in the morning?"
"If you wake up my Familia, their morning temper is quite troublesome."
"But since you're already here, what does it look like standing at the door?"
"Come on in, all of you."
Haimer turned sideways, making an inviting gesture.
Then.
Haimer's gaze circled over Chloe and Lunor.
"As for these two..."
"From the looks of it, they should be the Elf miss's friends, right?"
"Since you're the Elf miss's friends."
"You shouldn't mind helping the Elf miss share a bit of the workload, right?"
"Come inside together and help out."
"Eh?"
As soon as these words came out, Chloe and Lunor both froze at the same time, their faces full of bewilderment.
They were just here to join the fun and gather some gossip material on the side, right?
Why did they suddenly have to go inside to help out?
What kind of development was this?
However.
Immediately after.
Just as Haimer's words fell.
Chloe and Lunor keenly felt the temperature behind them plummet.
Noticing Shakti's gaze landing on them once again.
"Meow! Willing! A hundred times willing, meow!"
Meeting Shakti's gaze, Chloe almost instantly made her decision, nodding her head like a pestle pounding garlic.
Lunor also hastily stood up straight.
"That's good."
Haimer smiled slightly.
With this.
Since the main person involved had spoken, Shakti withdrew that gaze that could roast a person alive.
"Consider yourselves lucky."
Dropping a freezing evaluation.
Shakti stopped paying attention to these two buffoons.
Seeing this, Chloe had originally planned to take the opportunity to slip away in the other direction.
As long as she entered the gate, wouldn't finding a chance to jump the wall and run away be sweet?
But before she could even stretch her legs, Lunor grabbed her by the back collar, almost strangling her until her eyes rolled back.
"Ugh—!"
"I'm going to be strangled to death, meow!"
"Idiot!"
Lunor hurriedly lowered her voice, leaning in close to Chloe's still-twitching cat ear, speaking with extreme exasperation over her failure to meet expectations.
"That Kami-sama is helping us!"
"If you really leave, that would be disrespecting that Kami-sama, and also disrespecting the Ganesha Familia."
"Offending both sides, when the time comes we really will only be able to go catch mice in the sewers! Even Mama Mia won't be able to protect us!"
Hearing this, Chloe's tail immediately tucked even tighter, and she could only follow Lunor over with a bitter face, completely devoid of any temper.
...
Thus.
Syr took a day off.
Ryu wasn't there.
Chloe and Lunor weren't there.
Therefore, inside the [Hostess of Fertility] tavern.
"Anya-sama's breakfast time has arrived, meow!"
As the only morning shift member today, Anya energetically pushed open the kitchen doors.
What greeted her, was a completely empty tavern.
"Eh?"
In the entrance hall on the first floor of the mansion.
After taking their seats.
Although it was his first time here, Ganesha didn't dare to arbitrarily survey the surrounding furnishings with his eyes.
Because Haimer was sitting opposite him.
Shakti stood behind Ganesha, looking with a face full of helplessness at her Main God sitting up so rigidly.
As for Ryu, Chloe, and Lunor.
They were holding rags and brooms, starting to clean in every corner of the hall.
Although Ryu's window-wiping movements were standard, from her back which was visibly stiffer than yesterday, no matter how one looked at it, it exuded a feeling of utter discomfort.
At the same time.
On the second-floor corridor.
A row of heads poked out.
The just-awakened Onigawara Rin, Kikakujou Mary, Hanasaka Warabi, and Nomura Satori were rubbing their eyes, their hair still somewhat messy, leaning against the railing, curiously looking down, watching the big show on the first floor.
Especially upon seeing that, compared to yesterday, two more unlucky souls wearing the tavern's maid uniforms had suddenly appeared down there to clean.
Onigawara Rin, Kikakujou Mary, Hanasaka Warabi, and Nomura Satori couldn't help but put their heads together, whispering among themselves.
...
"Tea."
Inaba Tsukuyo, on the other hand, volunteered, like a delicate doll, quietly brewing tea and serving it.
Even though her eyes could not see.
Her movements flowed like water, without any stagnation, the stream of tea falling precisely into the cups without splashing a single drop.
Even when the teacup was set down, there was not a single excess sound, only the slight tactile sensation of porcelain meeting the tabletop.
This level of control made Ganesha, who was sitting opposite Haimer, unable to resist taking a few extra glances.
This was one of the newcomers who had caused a sensation?
—A blind person?
Ganesha looked at the cup of fragrant tea in front of him, then looked at Inaba Tsukuyo, who had her eyes closed and retreated quietly like a doll to stand behind Haimer.
Ultimately, he picked up the teacup, taking a light sip, using the teacup to conceal the flash of astonishment deep in his eyes.
"Speak."
"The people have come in."
"The tea has been drunk."
"Ganesha, stop dawdling like an old man."
Haimer didn't beat around the bush, cutting straight to the point.
"..."
Ganesha swallowed his saliva and set down the teacup.
Since the other party had already laid it all out, there was no need for him to keep hiding things either.
Although he liked to shout "I am Ganesha" to maintain his approachable image, this did not mean he was a fool.
On the contrary.
To be able to lead Orario's largest Familia, maintain this city's public order for so many years, and stand firmly amidst the complex political struggles of the Gods.
His mettle was also not to be underestimated.
"Regarding the matter from last time."
"Suddenly having Shakti stalk... ahem, guard you, was indeed my lack of foresight."
"Causing you trouble was my fault."
"So regarding the new compensation plan, I have now finalized it."
Having said that.
Ganesha pulled out a rolled-up parchment from his breast pocket and slowly pushed it in front of Haimer.
It bore the bright red seal of the Guild's certification.
Along with a string of zeros enough to make any adventurer present stop breathing.
"My Ganesha Familia is willing to compensate the Haimer Familia with 300 million Valis in startup funds!"
"Three hundred million?!"
In the corner.
Chloe, who was wiping a blue-and-white porcelain vase that looked very expensive.
Upon hearing this number, her hand trembled for a moment.
That originally steady vase directly slipped.
Fortunately, Lunor beside her had been keeping an eye on her and, with quick reflexes, grabbed the vase, even going along with the momentum to perform a cushioning action.
But Ganesha's words.
Equally caused Lunor's heart to leap in fright at this moment.
—Three hundred million Valis!
What was the background of this newly arrived God?
To actually be worthy of the Main God of the [Ganesha Familia] personally proposing such an astronomical compensation plan.
And to be so generous right off the bat?
One must know, the total annual income of many small Familias might not even reach a fraction of this number!
Before Chloe and Lunor could recover from their shock.
Ganesha's voice continued to ring out.
"Not only that."
"Secondly, the Ganesha Familia's private vault is open to you."
"Choose any ten items."
"Whether it's the core of a deep-floor monster, special ores that are priceless, or even those unique items excavated from ancient ruins, as long as you ask, I will absolutely not be stingy, just take them."
Every time Ganesha spoke, it was like adding a heavyweight counterweight to the scales.
This was truly considered generous.
After all, for a newly established Familia, Valis might still be earned, but such rare materials were strategic resources that could only be encountered by chance.
It meant powerful equipment, meant life-saving trump cards, meant opportunities to overtake others on the curve.
However.
Ganesha observed Haimer's reaction once again.
Seeing Haimer still maintaining an unmoved appearance.
Ganesha's tone became somewhat meaningful, throwing out what he considered his final bargaining chip.
"Furthermore..."
"In addition to the fact that the Haimer Familia was just established not long ago."
"Although there is potential, the Dungeon is no child's play; the perils of the Middle Floors are far beyond what the Upper Floors can compare to."
"The Ganesha Familia is willing to dispatch a veteran Lv.4 adventurer to convert to your name!"
"Although they might not be the most top-tier kind of genius, nor do they have any astonishing special skills."
"But they are an experienced, steady-natured, veteran adventurer!"
"They can help the Haimer Familia tide over the growth gap period, acting as a leading figure to ensure the safety of those children!"
An Lv.4 adventurer?
This time, even Ryu stopped her movements, looking over in this direction somewhat in disbelief.
After all.
In Orario, an Lv.4 adventurer was already considered a mainstay.
Many small and medium-sized Familias might not even have a Captain at Lv.4.
Directly gifting an Lv.4?
This was simply giving away a ready-made core fighting force!
And right now.
Whether it was the 300 million Valis in startup funds.
Choosing any ten treasures from the private vault.
Or directly gifting an Lv.4 veteran adventurer.
These three conditions, bringing out any single one of them was enough to make countless Gods go crazy.
They were all so heavy it was impossible to refuse.
However.
Money and materials, Haimer could accept; no one would complain about having too much money.
But trying to stuff a person into his place, thanks but no thanks.
"The first two items, I can accept."
"But this last item, even if my children look very immature right now and still need to be tempered."
"However, in my eyes, they have always possessed the ability to thrive on their own without needing to rely on others."
"They are just uncut jade that hasn't been carved yet."
"So I don't need your former subordinates, nor do I need outsiders."
Haimer set down the cup in his hand, letting out a soft sound, making his stance clear.
"And to be perfectly honest."
"Gods are all germaphobes."
Haimer looked up at those little heads poking out on the second floor.
"My germaphobia is my passion for watching the children I have taken a liking to and cherish grow up bit by bit, climbing all the way from Lv.1 to the apex."
"As for comfort, it is the express lane to death."
"Only the wild grass that can take root on its own in the storm. Only the eagle that can learn to fly on its own at the edge of the cliff."
Protection often comes at the cost of stifling possibilities.
If one stretches their gaze and projects it onto the evolutionary history of human civilization, they would discover a terrifying pattern upon deeper reflection.
No matter which resplendent civilization it is.
Its most glorious, most explosive period.
Is often the stage where its living environment is the harshest, its crises the deepest.
Humans at that time, walked on thin ice.
Every decision concerned the survival of the species.
It was precisely this Sword of Damocles constantly hanging over their heads.
That forced humanity to continuously break past their limits, igniting the spark, grinding stone tools, and establishing city-states.
—Born in sorrow, die in comfort.
The principle has always been universal.
It was even more realistic in this world.
An adventurer's level must achieve grand exploits that even the Gods would praise.
—This is the only channel to the next stage.
But what is a grand exploit?
The miracle of the weak defeating the strong, the resolve of finding life out of certain death, the monumental feat of carving out a bloody path single-handedly in the abyss of despair.
In other words.
Leveling up isn't just an increase in physical strength; it's the growth of both body, mind, and capacity.
Being repeatedly forged on the anvil of life and death until one can house a higher order of Divine Power.
Once there is reliance, once there is a way out.
Learning to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages for the sake of survival, learning to spin around in the safe zone, firmly locked within a comfort zone like a frog boiled in warm water,
That spark generated from the friction on the edge of life and death will extinguish.
The vessel of the soul will change as a result.
Causing many adventurers over long years to ultimately be completely nailed down to the tier of lower-class adventurers.
Because of this.
If God's Grace is the spark.
Then the adventurer's own will is the firewood.
Only those who dare to place themselves above the furnace of life and death, crazily roasting themselves with raging fire, have the possibility of burning through that barrier and seeing the scenery of the next level.
Therefore, when he brought Onigawara Rin, Kikakujou Mary, and the others across to this world, he had asked them for exactly that—the resolve to completely sever the past and bet their entire lives on the gambling table.
____
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