As for the other side.
"Tsukuyo, that rumor you heard... it should be the passage the [Ikelos Familia] uses to smuggle Xenos."
"From the tangled structure of Daedalus Street, it runs steadily downward, skirting the official entrance the Guild set up beneath Babel Tower, and leads straight to a specific region of the Dungeon."
"It's a colossal undertaking. Those rats who can't stand the light call it the [Artificial Labyrinth Knossos]."
Hearing that name, Tsukuyo tilted her head slightly.
"Kami-sama, now that we know where the passage is, do you need Tsukuyo to go clear the place out and take stock of it?"
Haimer only shook his head. "No need to tip our hand."
"Dix has probably already burrowed inside by now."
"That's the tortoise shell they've spent decades building."
"Forcing our way in would cost us time and effort. Better to wait until they poke their heads out on their own, chasing those desires that can't bear the light."
"I see."
Tsukuyo nodded, a thoughtful look on her face.
Just as she was wondering how exactly Lord Haimer had come to know of this matter—
"Knock, knock, knock."
Beyond the hall, the oak double doors facing the street suddenly gave off a few raps.
Narukami Koharu, still drenched in blood and about to shed her clothes for a bath, turned her head in that instant. With a flick of her wrist, her thumb was already braced against the guard of her blade.
"Don't tense up. Go wash all that blood off yourself." Seeing this, Haimer waved a hand to stop Koharu, then turned and walked toward the door.
The oak door was pulled open.
The amber glow of the streetlamps outside spilled into the entryway.
There stood—
waiting at the threshold, unmistakably, the buxom, graceful presiding deity of the agricultural faction [Demeter Familia], dressed in a long green gown patterned with tiny flowers: Demeter herself.
Behind her stood two more goddesses, dressed rather plainly and looking a little stiff. And at Demeter's skirt in particular—
there also trailed a little girl in coarse hemp cloth, clutching a few newspapers tightly in her hands, hiding behind the side of Demeter's skirt. The moment she saw Haimer open the door, the little girl timidly shrank her head back, daring to let only half an eye peek out fearfully.
Haimer took a good look.
It was precisely the newspaper-selling girl who had been bullied on the street by the Acro Familia that day, then rescued by his own girls.
"Oh my, Haimer, I've finally caught you."
"This afternoon I brought these children along and knocked a full three times, and came up empty every time."
"Ever since you became a Constable, you really are terribly busy."
Seeing the door open, Demeter wore a beaming smile too, stepping forward naturally to draw close in front of Haimer.
"There's been a lot of business to handle. Come in and sit."
Haimer turned his body slightly aside, clearing a path.
Demeter nodded and made to lead the two goddesses behind her inside. But—
the moment she crossed the threshold, one of the goddesses couldn't wait, quickening her steps and bowing straight at the waist to Haimer.
"Lord Haimer..."
"Truly, truly, thank you so much—your children saved my child yesterday!"
"This child came home and told me. If it hadn't been for you and the children of your Familia..."
"This bitter grievance—we small Familias have swallowed it for who knows how many years!"
Her impassioned words made the atmosphere in the foyer feel a touch overheated.
Still, Haimer gestured toward the sofas in the hall, his tone gentle.
"It was nothing more than a Constable's duty. Don't just stand there, all of you. Sit."
In the hall.
By now Narukami Koharu had, as instructed, carried that black blade through the side corridor toward the great bath deep in the residence to wash.
Lili, seeing guests had arrived, said nothing at all and briskly laid out a set of exquisite white porcelain tea ware on the tea table, pouring each of them a cup of black tea still curling with steam.
As she poured, Lili spared the newspaper girl an extra glance or two.
It seemed that in the other's timid manner she saw the self who had once struggled bitterly within the [Soma Familia]. So Lili carefully handed her a cup as well.
"Today really was a great earthquake."
Demeter lifted her black tea, took a small sip, and looked at Haimer with a warm smile.
"All of Orario is talking now about whether the Apollo Familia will really be struck from the rolls for good."
"I wonder how Haimer plans to bring this matter to a complete close?"
"The case of the Apollo Familia is already sealed. As for how Hyacinthus is dealt with, when the formal trial takes place tomorrow, you'll be the one to pass judgment personally, with your children at your side. He's lost a hand and a leg, but as a Lv.3 adventurer he won't die easily—his life can still be kept under Ganesha's hold."
Demeter nodded. "Mm, I know that much. Ganesha's side already sent someone to inform me. I'll be sure to bring my people over on time tomorrow."
The topic sank into idle chatter between Haimer and Demeter.
To keep things from stalling, Haimer thought for a moment and turned his head to the other two goddesses.
"Forgive my asking, but how have you two been getting on lately?"
"This child sells newspapers at the street corner from early morning every day—how much can she earn in a day? And how many mouths are still left in your Familia to feed?"
The newspaper goddess, thus asked, tightened her fingers on the hem of her skirt, plain embarrassment flickering across her face. After all, confessing one's poverty in the Lower World to another deity does cost a god a bit of face. Still, she bit her lip and told the truth.
"Counting me, my Familia is seven people in all."
"Selling newspapers brings in only six or seven hundred Valis a day. I usually do odd jobs for the shops, and this child sometimes picks up a bit of scrap. Tallying it all up, our income barely scrapes together enough. Life's tight, but we just manage to get by."
"After all, the children of my Familia are still quite young. They can't enter the Dungeon."
The other goddess added as well.
"We're a little better off. Counting me, there are four of us."
"We take on laundry and mending work in the North District. We don't go into the Dungeon, but we can make four or five thousand Valis a day, so at least we won't starve."
The radiance of that towering tree called Orario, dazzling and brilliant, ultimately shines only at the very top.
The tiny Familias scattered at the fringes, without strength, could still only scavenge scraps from the cracks in the mud like ants.
These overlooked resources and manpower could be gathered up and coordinated under one hand... The thought spun a quick circle through Haimer's mind, but he didn't voice it.
After all, the business on Ishtar's side was pressing right now, and the framework of the new castle was still under construction. There was no need to draw up grand promises just yet. So this plan merely ran once through Haimer's mind and was set aside, unspoken for the moment.
"As long as people are still here, there'll always be a turn for the better." Haimer offered a simple word of comfort.
After the span of a cup of tea.
Seeing that Inaba Tsukuyo and Lili had been standing quietly to one side all this while, Demeter—as the presiding deity of a great commercial faction—had a mind exquisitely sharp.
She understood, of course, that having just cleaned out so many nests today, Haimer surely had a whole pile of internal Familia matters to coordinate within this residence. And so, tactful as ever, Demeter set down her teacup and rose.
"Come to think of it, the hour is late. We won't intrude any longer tonight."
With that, she reached out and drew up the two goddesses beside her, who still looked a little dazed.
"When your new outer-ring headquarters is finished a few days from now, we'll be sure to prepare a proper gift and come pay a visit to celebrate in style!"
"Take care."
Haimer stood and saw them all the way to the wrought-iron gate of the courtyard himself.
Only when they reached the gate—
the newspaper girl, who had been cowering all along, suddenly turned around beyond the gate, flushed red, and bowed deeply to Haimer.
"Th-thank you, Lord Haimer!"
With that—as if she'd used up every ounce of her courage—the little girl at once flushed crimson and hurried after Demeter, who was smiling behind a covering hand.
They walked off into the night.
Watching those figures recede into the distance, Haimer let out a breath and pulled the outer wrought-iron gate shut with a casual hand.
Then, as he returned to the hall, he caught sight of Narukami Koharu at the far end of the long corridor leading to the great bath, striding out boldly, barefoot, her wet golden neck-length bob dripping.
She'd changed into a clean set of white martial-arts underrobes that Lili had set out for her in advance in the changing basket. But—
since the garment was far too large, draped over Koharu it looked especially loose and empty.
Narukami Koharu, for her part, paid no mind to any of that, wiping the water droplets from her hair with a towel, her whole manner casual.
"All clean?"
"All clean, Kami-sama."
"In that case—" "then come up to the second floor with me."
"It's time we took a look at your skill feedback."
At those words, Narukami Koharu's eyes lit up at once, and she flung the towel in her hand onto the sofa.
After following him up to the master bedroom on the second floor, before Haimer even gave the order, Koharu crossed both arms even more crisply.
She grabbed the hem of the white underrobe and flipped it straight up, yanking it over her head and tossing it carelessly onto the dark red woolen carpet in the center of the master bedroom.
The girl was decently developed.
It was only that her back carried but a thin layer of muscle, looking somewhat slight. Beyond that—
unlike the tender skin of an ordinary girl, across Koharu's back one could see several faint white old scars.
Then—
without the slightest coyness, Koharu climbed onto the soft, large bed and lay chest and belly flat against its surface.
Her hands were tucked idly beneath her chin, her neck tilted up at a comfortable angle.
"Go on, God." Koharu turned her head a little, looking at Haimer.
"Mm."
At this, Haimer nodded and stepped closer. Sitting down at the edge of the bed, he drew a special blank sheet of parchment from the drawer of the nightstand.
He took out a silver needle. After a light prick to the tip of one finger—
the next second, a single drop of Divine Blood, faintly threaded with a dark gleam, fell with precision onto the very center of Koharu's back.
From that drop of blood, a great mass of sacred script spread outward, careening wildly across the whole of Koharu's back and interweaving into an intricate pattern of the utmost complexity.
It was the Grace mark representing the [Haimer Familia], being reconstructed.
Accompanied by a faint rasping sound, Haimer laid the parchment over it with a casual hand.
"Riiip—"
The parchment was peeled away.
Haimer cast his gaze down at the parchment in his hand—
and saw the explosive gains brought about by Koharu's exploits today!
[Name]: Narukami Koharu
[Race]: Human
[Level]: Lv.1
[Stats]: Strength: SS 1088, Endurance: SS 1097, Dexterity: SS 1094, Agility: SS 1099, Magic: I0
Over the span of a single afternoon—
from the gates of the [Apollo Familia] to every den of Evilus along Daedalus Street—
those who died under Koharu's black blade included several dozen Lv.1 bottom-tier cannon fodder, as well as no small number of Lv.2 adventurers.
And more than that: a head-on, over-level kill of the Lv.3 captain of the [Nemea Familia].
Slaying a high-level adventurer by leaping straight across two whole levels—
combined with those two outrageous skills of her own:
—『Slay for the Sake of Slaying』: the fiercer the killing intent, the more massively boosted the acquisition speed of all stats and proficiency.
—『Slay Because of Slaying』: when the target's tier equals or exceeds one's own, directly extract from the vanquished to gain permanent stat growth.
Apart from the Magic column, which hadn't budged in the slightest—
the four base stats of Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Agility had all shot up to the ceiling of SS!
Such a terrifying gift.
It had to be said—
she was, after all, worthy of being the strongest the Sword Demon Clan had ever produced: the clan blessed with dynamic vision keen enough to easily see through Amou Kirukiru's hand-blade, and proud of reflexes at the speed of spinal reflex itself.
The youngest head of the Narukami House—Narukami Koharu.
[Manga watermark: Narukami Koharu, Episode 9 — one of the two wielders, too much for love yet bound by time, a special affection; possessed of features far removed from a Japanese person, a golden-haired short bob, the unattainable one, at the pinnacle of the number-holders, a girl — manga1001.com]
"See for yourself." Haimer, in approval, held the parchment out in front of Koharu.
She studied it for a few seconds.
Though Tsukuyo had told her the common knowledge of Orario's adventurers, Koharu was newly arrived and clearly hadn't yet grasped just how appalling this row of numbers truly was.
"Want to ascend?"
At this, Haimer spoke up of his own accord.
"You killed a Lv.3 adventurer single-handedly. The great feat is plainly more than sufficient."
"If you ascend now, your strength will undergo an all-around qualitative transformation at once."
"Of course, Tsukuyo should have told you—above SS there's still SSS, which can break the limits of mortals."
"But as your God, I won't force the choice on you. Everything is yours to decide."
Hearing Haimer's words, Koharu didn't answer straight away.
Instead she rolled over on the bed, shifting from lying prone to lying faceup toward the ceiling.
One hand slipped out lazily and folded back to pillow the back of her own head.
"No rush."
With her other hand Koharu held the parchment, staring at the numbers above her, and bared her shark teeth in a grin.
"Hacking people down all afternoon felt great, sure."
"But I heard from Tsukuyo that this city is the center of this world."
"I really want to get a look at just how strong this world's powerhouses are first."
"Then I'll come back to you, God, to ascend."
"What do you think?" Koharu tilted her head aside, looking at Haimer.
Haimer felt no surprise at all. "Of course."
"Since you want to see powerhouses—"
"then tomorrow, as it happens, I can take you to wander around a great Familia."
"Oh? In that case, I'll be looking forward to tomorrow, then."
And with that.
It was evening.
The rosy clouds outside the residence were gradually swallowed whole by the night as the setting sun sank, and the curtain of darkness began to rule all of Orario.
Amid a set of somewhat weary footsteps, the door of Haimer's residence was pushed open.
"Oh my, I'm dead tired—!"
Before the person even came into view, Hestia's complaint had already drifted into the hall ahead of her.
____
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