Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

Welf had arranged various forging tools, including hammers, pliers, and anvils, throughout the workshop. The weapons he had forged so far (leftovers) were displayed in the basement, along with the refined metal (ingots) he had bought with his meager savings. He had effortlessly carried all these large, heavy items, including the weapons, into the workshop by himself—thanks to his physical abilities.

Finally, Welf picked up the hammer that the goddess (Hephaestus) had given him and smiled.

"Starting from here... I'm going to give it my all again."

He stood in the center of the workshop, his enthusiasm renewed.

The young master blacksmith looked around his forge once more and gripped his crimson hammer tightly.

"Even excluding warehouses and the like, there are still more than twenty empty rooms left, as well as basements and attics..."

Lily walked around the mansion, holding a floor plan and a map of the headquarters in both hands.

She would open the door of each room she found and take a look, noting down the interior decoration and any precautions.

The more she inspected... or rather, the more she confirmed the layout of the mansion, the more troubled she became.

"Hmm, this house is too big for us."

The headquarters, built of high-quality stone, has three floors and is spacious enough to accommodate everyone, with a front yard and a backyard, all surrounded by iron railings. This residence was originally intended for the Apollo Familia—a group of over a hundred members—to put it bluntly, it was completely inadequate for the Hestia Familia, which only numbered five even including the chief deity.

"It's really difficult for just the few of us to clean and inspect the whole house... Why don't we just hire someone, perhaps a maid?"

"I don't really want to spend more money..." Lily muttered, sounding annoyed.

Ask for help to keep them in a state of being without a familiar, or to temporarily assign them to the faction as non-combat personnel—temporary members who are not granted "favors"—to remain affiliated with the faction. This is a common tactic used by commercial [familias] to secure their shop staff.

Hestia, who is a chief god (celestial being) but works for the forging faction (Hephaestus's Familia), also belongs to this category. The faction that recruits manpower can thus contribute to the city's workforce—of course, according to common sense, these manpower must be placed in places far away from the faction's confidential intelligence.

If one were a professional butler, the earnings would be comparable to those of a guild employee or a junior adventurer. Orario prides itself on its urban industries, such as producing magic stone products, but women cannot pursue these professions. It seems better to recruit these women who are always looking for work and have low salary expectations as helpers—thinking this, Lily suddenly stopped what she was doing.

"...Lord Bell will be fickle, that won't do."

Lily couldn't help but worry, thinking of Belle, who often blushed whenever she saw a man. Her uncompromising sense of crisis kicked in, and she decided that even older maids couldn't be trusted.

The image of a city girl (Seele) with a fresh smile appeared in Lily's mind, and she shook her head vigorously from side to side.

"But, um—but..."

Lily stopped in the corridor on the first floor of the mansion. The entire courtyard, lush and green, must have been well cared for, and came into view. She weighed her current situation against her girlish heart, feeling deeply troubled.

In short, the team members were excited about the new environment at headquarters.

■

"Wow, it's so grand..."

As I continued to work on the move, I looked up at the house and couldn't help but feel a deep sense of emotion.

The renovated exterior walls reflected the sunlight, and perhaps it was just my imagination, but they seemed to shimmer. Putting aside my excitement about the new home, perhaps I was just viewing it with a biased perspective.

(...I hope that not only the headquarters, but also our [Family] can continue to grow larger and larger.)

I kept seeing Lily and the others bustling around headquarters, and I muttered to myself.

I smiled naturally and said, "Hey!" as I picked up the things I was moving again.

"You...get it over with...!"

"No...no...!!"

"Um?"

Just as I was walking along the outer wall of the mansion, intending to go around to the backyard.

I saw two girls arguing on the roadside outside the headquarters.

No, it was less of an argument and more of a struggle... one was clinging tightly to the iron railings surrounding the headquarters, while the other was tugging at her clothes, trying to pull her away from the fence. The former was practically crying and screaming like a child throwing a tantrum, while the latter seemed barely concealing his agitation, as if he were about to explode in anger.

"Wait, aren't they... Miss Cassandra and Miss Daphne?"

Seeing the familiar long and short hair, and their contrasting personalities, I recognized them as the girls I had fought in the war game—former female members of the Apollo Familia.

Pretending not to see it... that's just not right.

"Ah... [Rookie]."

I put down the wooden crate and ran over, and Miss Daphne was the first to notice me.

Miss Cassandra, whose clothes she was pulling, also turned her distinctive triangular eyes toward me.

"Um...this..."

I really wanted to ask them what was wrong... but I just couldn't bring myself to say it.

I feel guilty because I think about how happy I am to have taken away their safe haven (headquarters).

Perhaps sensing my timid mood, Miss Daphne shrugged.

"You guys won, so you don't need to feel guilty. Besides, we were the ones who issued the challenge first."

Miss Daphne spoke casually, as if she didn't care at all.

I felt much relieved that she said that, but... seeing that I still couldn't shake off my guilt, Miss Daphne gave me a wry smile and said, "It's really okay."

"We were essentially forced into joining, so I think this turn of events might be a blessing in disguise. I've decided that this time I must find a good 'familiar' to join."

"Woo-woo!" Miss Cassandra clung to the iron railing, while Miss Daphne tugged at her clothes and casually told me about her recent situation.

She said she and Miss Cassandra are currently considering what to do in the future. She mentioned that because she is a high-ranking adventurer, other factions are eager to recruit her, but the chief gods of those factions are all strange, and she doesn't want to join them.

As for the higher-ranking factions, they wouldn't actively recruit talent, so they couldn't be overly ambitious, but they also didn't want to actively solicit members. Miss Daphne continued, saying that she was currently looking for a "familia" with a normal divine mind and noble divine status to join her.

So she wasn't blaming me, and the other members shouldn't blame me either. On the contrary, I had won against them, so I should hold my head high... After she said so much, I finally changed my mind.

We smiled at each other, separated by iron railings.

"So, uh—what are you doing here...?"

Finally back to the main topic, Miss Daphne sighed, tossing her short hair.

She looked down at Miss Cassandra, who was clinging tightly to the iron railing.

"This girl seems to have lost her usual pillow."

"Pillow?"

"Yes, I just told her to buy a new one..."

"First, I absolutely need that pillow—I can't sleep without it..."

This was the first time Miss Cassandra spoke.

With tears in her eyes, she turned back to look at Miss Daphne, who had grabbed her arm.

Uh—that is to say…

"Miss Cassandra forgot her pillow in this house, didn't she?"

When renovating the mansion, the things that the Apollo Familia forgot to take should have been sorted out. Did you see the pillow?

I tried asking, and Miss Cassandra blushed through the iron bars and timidly spoke:

"Um, I don't remember, but... my 'precognitive dream' told me the pillow is here..."

"Eh?"

Dreaming...?

"I'm telling you! Stop saying such stupid things!!"

"Please, believe me~~~~"

Miss Cassandra insisted that she had a "prophetic dream" that told her the pillow was right there. Miss Daphne scolded her.

I think I understand now. In other words, Miss Cassandra suddenly said something out of the blue, wanting to visit the headquarters of other factions, so Miss Daphne stopped her and told her not to embarrass herself like that.

She didn't believe Miss Cassandra's utterly "dreaming" at all and seemed quite angry.

Well, okay, actually I don't really believe in "precognitive dreams" or anything like that, but...

Seeing Miss Cassandra pleading with tears in her eyes, I felt really sorry for her.

"Uh, well, I'll go look for it then."

“Huh?”

"Find the pillow." Upon hearing this, Miss Daphne and Miss Cassandra both stopped what they were doing.

Miss Daphne looked stunned, while Miss Cassandra stood there, tears still in her eyes.

"Are you... serious? It's just a dream, a dream! It's just this girl's fantasy!"

"Delusion...delusion...hmm—but you just feel like you're here, right?"

I shifted my gaze from the flustered Miss Daphne to Miss Cassandra, who, after a moment of stunned silence, nodded several times. Since she was so certain, I accepted the task of finding the pillow.

I asked her where the specific location was, and she quickly told me about her dream.

"W-Will you believe me...?"

Finally, at the very end, Miss Cassandra asked me this question with trepidation.

I couldn't help but smile wryly.

"It's alright, I believe in you, I will definitely find it."

Miss Cassandra looked at me with teary eyes, as if she were deeply moved.

Seeing her moist eyes, I thought to myself, "Is this a bit much?" Sweating, I said, "I'll be right back," and left their side. Although I heard Miss Daphne calling me back, I waved and told her it was fine.

I don't think Miss Daphne needs to be so stubborn.

Since you dreamed about it, Miss Cassandra should have some recollection of it, right?

...However, it is true that she felt a strong sense of disbelief about the contents of the "precognitive dream," similar to "magic power."

(Speaking of which... my back feels a little hot?)

The [ability values] etched on his back seemed to heat up slightly.

I ran my finger over the hot spot to confirm.

"……"Lucky"?"

I had a vague feeling that the place my finger touched was near the development ability section.

Remembering the hieroglyph I had seen written on my back through the mirror, I tilted my head in confusion.

In search of a pillow, I ran into the mansion.

"Is this it?"

"—This is it!!"

Not long after I ran into the mansion.

Having successfully found the pillow, I rushed back, and Miss Cassandra cheered.

She took the pale pink pillow I offered her and hugged it tightly. Seeing her close her eyes and smile happily, I couldn't help but feel happy too. By the way, the pillow really was like the one in her dream, somehow hidden in a crack in the pillar that wasn't easily visible.

Miss Cassandra rubbed her cheek against the pillow like a puppy, while Miss Daphne beside her said, "We really found it..." with an expression of disbelief.

"Um! Thank you so much! Really, thank you so much for believing in me...!!"

"No, no! It's nothing, you don't need to thank me so much..."

Miss Cassandra kept bowing her head to thank me while hugging the pillow, which made me smile a little awkwardly. Her excessive reaction made me lean back slightly.

I walked out of headquarters and stood face to face with them on the roadside where they were standing. Several minutes had passed. Miss Cassandra bowed her head to thank me several times in front of me, and finally buried half of her face in the pillow she was holding to her chest.

Then her cheeks flushed slightly, and she looked up at me.

The inexplicably enthusiastic gaze startled me, making me feel embarrassed, and I reflexively blushed.

Miss Cassandra moved closer to Miss Daphne, whose gaze remained suspicious.

She hugged her pillow tightly and whispered to Miss Daphne.

"Huh... are you serious? You've really decided to do this?"

"Uh-huh……!"

Miss Daphne confirmed in surprise, while Miss Cassandra nodded repeatedly, blushing.

I was left standing aside watching the two talk. After a while, Miss Daphne sighed and turned to me.

"[Rookie], we're off now...see you later."