"Astraea Familia?"
Jeanne's eyes lit up. She settled her tab with the vendor, hugged a paper bag brimming with oranges, and joined Leon against the wall at the roadside.
A crowd was already surging toward the commotion, eager for a show. She watched them gather and asked, "The Familia that serves Astraea, the goddess who governs the stars, order, and justice?"
Leon peeled an orange as he answered. "That's them. Citizens call Astraea Familia the 'Wings of Justice.' They're a major force in keeping order around the city."
"So their role is similar to Ganesha Familia's military police and the Guild staff?" Jeanne pressed.
Not the easiest question. Leon chewed it over for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "Well... how to put it. Ganesha Familia, under Ganesha, God of the Masses, aren't just Adventurers. They hold an official appointment as the city's military police."
"Think of them as the formal law enforcement arm that works hand-in-hand with the Guild."
"Astraea Familia is different. They maintain order more... voluntarily. Semi-official, semi-volunteer, maybe? Could be some kind of partnership arrangement." He paused, then added a disclaimer. "That's all personal speculation. The actual details are above my pay grade."
Even as he said it, a thought nagged at the back of his mind: given the relationship between the Guild and Astraea Familia behind the scenes, did the Guild actually pay them? Some kind of salary, a stipend, anything?
If they truly received nothing and did all of this on principle alone, he'd respect them from the bottom of his heart.
Thankless, unpaid work like that? He knew himself well enough to admit he'd never manage it.
But then he thought about the will of the Goddess of Justice, and shook his head.
Wait, why am I even thinking about this? He caught himself and scoffed inwardly. I've got a mountain of my own problems. Since when does a small fry like me have the bandwidth to worry about other people's business? Get a grip.
Jeanne's gaze lingered on the Astraea Familia members handling the disturbance in the distance. Something complicated flickered across her face.
No expectation of reward...
Leon caught the look from the corner of his eye and understood immediately.
She'd been exactly like that once, hadn't she? And her reward had been the stake.
He had the good sense not to say it.
"Leon," Jeanne murmured, pressing her lips together. "If it were you... what would you do?"
He didn't hesitate for even a second. Hesitation would have been an insult to himself. "In the adult world, ideals take a back seat. Self-interest drives."
The girl fell silent. Memories flickered through her mind like pages turning. She grew thoughtful.
He was right. You couldn't afford to be naive.
Before acting, you had to weigh every angle, especially when other people's interests were at stake.
Seeing that she'd turned inward, Leon let the silence stand.
He turned to the vendor instead.
"These oranges are great. Never had them before. New variety?"
"Good taste, young man!" The vendor beamed. "These are Holly Oranges, a brand-new cultivar Lady Demeter just finished developing. Small-batch release this year! Want another bag? At the rate they're selling, next month's price won't be this friendly!"
Holly Oranges?
The corner of Leon's mouth curled upward, entirely on its own.
"Sure. One more bag."
"That'll be 850 Valis."
"Thanks."
...
Not far off, the Astraea Familia members had already defused the scuffle. A shouting match that nearly turned ugly dissolved into nothing under their mediation.
Jeanne, though, had lost her appetite for browsing.
"Done looking around?" Leon asked.
"Mm."
"All right. Let's get to business, then."
Reality, however, hit Leon like a truck almost immediately.
Inside the Demeter Familia shop:
"What?! A five-kilo bag of rice costs 5,000 Valis?!" Leon stared at the price tag, jaw slack. "It was 2,000 less than a month ago!"
His brain short-circuited.
The clerk was someone he knew. The man offered an apologetic look. "Sorry, Leon. Lady Demeter didn't set these prices. It's the market. You know what I mean, right?"
"..."
Leon's eyes swept the other tags on the shelves. His eyelid twitched. Every single variety of new-harvest rice was above 3,000. The cheapest old-stock grain sat at 2,000. What the hell was going on?
Then he thought about Evilus and their recent operations, and a chill ran down his spine.
Are the sharp ones catching wind of something? Or is some well-connected merchant hoarding supply to jack up prices?
The pieces clicked. Leon's expression hardened. This world was never short on people who could read the room. If he didn't have his own cheat system, he'd have been blindsided too.
He looked at the absurd prices one more time and sighed.
No point haggling. He gritted his teeth, dropped 200,000 Valis on two fifty-kilo sacks of rice and two sacks of flour.
After that, they stocked up on meat, eggs, dairy, vegetables, fruit, spices, and butter before shouldering their haul for the trek home.
With this much stockpiled, the two of them could last a good while even without resupplying.
"The price increases are... staggering." Even Jeanne, hardly the type to obsess over numbers, couldn't hide her shock.
"Demeter Familia products. Premium quality, every time. Best rice and flour you can get, taste and nutrition both top of the line." Leon shifted the sack on his shoulder, mouth twitching. The memory of handing over that payment still stung. "Just... the markup is brutal."
But as a man who took his food seriously, he told himself: Worth it.
...
"Finally home." They set everything down in the courtyard, then dropped into the stone chairs by the table to drink water and recover.
One outing. Nearly a million Valis, gone.
After leaving the Free Market, they'd hit the tailor and the Blue Pharmacy. At the tailor, Leon had Jeanne fitted for casual clothes, training gear, and a battle outfit. At the Blue Pharmacy, they restocked the potions they'd burned through. On the way back, a stop at the TOOL general store rounded things out with a full Adventurer exploration kit and a new pack.
All told, the day had gutted the better part of Leon's savings.
But the spending was sound. Once the two of them started running the Dungeon as a team, their earning potential would grow exponentially.
The money hadn't vanished. It had just taken a different form.
...
A full day of errands. Their bodies held up fine, but mentally, they were spent. The planned dinner out would have to wait.
A simple meal at home, and then the two of them collapsed in the living room, Leon on the floor, Jeanne on the sofa, soaking in the quiet of early evening.
"I love the sound of summer rain as background noise," Leon mused, staring at the ceiling, "but without a fire crackling in the hearth, the atmosphere's missing something."
"Hm? You like rainy days and fireplaces?" Jeanne opened her eyes.
"Absolutely. Every autumn, I start counting the days until the first snow, just so I have a proper excuse to light the fireplace." He nodded as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
Jeanne lay on her side, cheek propped on one hand, stray wisps of golden hair framing her face. A warm smile played on her lips as their eyes met. "I wouldn't have guessed you had such a childish side." After spending this much time together, the Leon she knew was steady and mature. But now...
"Childish, huh." Something sharper crept into Leon's gaze as it traveled over her, deliberate and unhurried. "Then let me show you something a bit more grown-up. Why don't you try on that battle outfit we picked up today? See if the fit's right. We should check the tailor's work while we're at it."
"..."
Jeanne was trusting, but she wasn't stupid. She saw right through him.
He wanted to see her in the battle outfit. That was it. All the rest was just dressing it up in practical excuses.
The realization sent a flush of warmth creeping across her cheeks. "A b-battle outfit isn't exactly something worth looking at..."
"Jeanne..." Leon drew her name out, long and coaxing.
"...You're impossible." A soft sigh, barely louder than a whisper. "Fine... I'll do it."
=-=-=-=-=-=
Note: Don't worry, I'll do more mass releases. I just need a little time!