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

"I've cut ties with that idiot."

"No way! You only have one sibling as family, right? I didn't steal you away from that girl with malicious intent."

"…………I see."

Hearing the God say this, Allen hesitated for a moment before reluctantly nodding.

Freya smiled and drank the wine in one gulp, as if to say: What a troublesome child.

Like the bright moon floating in the night sky, the goddess's silver hair shone with brilliance.

*

"Ah, you're finally back, meow!?"

As soon as I stepped into the store, the voice of the cat-girl Anya flew over.

As the sunlight pierced through the city walls and began to illuminate the city, Seele, dressed in her tavern uniform, smiled at the assembled staff.

"Everyone, I'm back."

"Meow~, you've been lazy and haven't been at the shop for so long, you've accumulated a ton of work, meow!? Starting today, I'm making you work like a slave, meow!"

"Koro, so you've also been lazy, and you'll have to be punished."

"Hey—, you haven't come back yet! We were a little worried. Where have you been?"

"I'm sorry, Lunova. But it's a secret."

Kroy and Ryu's voices came from the side, and Seele raised a finger to Lunova.

Seeing the city girl's happy smile, "Hoo—" came another similar sound.

"...Meow? Seele, something happened between you and that guy, meow?"

"what?"

"Meow! I'm in such a good mood, I look like a girl in love~"

The cat-girl wagged her thin tail and advanced step by step, as if to say, "Don't even think about escaping my gaze, Chloe."

Seele pressed her slightly flushed cheeks with her hand and couldn't help but smile wryly.

As she was dodging the lewd and wicked questions from the shop assistants, the dwarf shopkeeper, Mia, emerged from the room behind the counter.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes...it's all right now."

Seele looked up at Mia with her pale gray eyes. "Then let's get to work." Mia snorted and turned her back to her.

"You're not allowed to slack off either!" Mia shouted, and the shop assistants began preparing to open the shop again.

Seele left their side and couldn't help but smile. When it was time to open the shop, she hung the "Open" sign on the door.

"—Alright, welcome to 'The Abundant Mistress'."

The city girl greeted the customers who came into the store with a smile.

Volume 8, Chapter 6: A Certain Goddess's Love Song

"What exactly is going on now!?"

Bang! A fist slammed onto the table set up inside the tent.

The male god pounded his fist and gauntlet on the table—Ares, shaking his brilliant golden hair, shouted loudly to his subordinates who were cowering around him.

"I mean, the soldiers were captured by the adventurers of Orario. Of the 30,000 soldiers, nearly 10,000 became prisoners of war."

"I know that!? I'm asking how things got like this, Marius!?"

"Because the adventurers of Orario are as powerful as demons and monsters."

Facing the enraged Ares, the lieutenant standing beside him—the human named Marius—sighed and gave a simple answer.

This is the chief officer in the Ares Family camp.

In stark contrast to the Orario Familia alliance, the Kingdom's military headquarters, located near the "Seoll Forest," is holding a military conference.

The meeting didn't really have much content; it was just that Ares, the chief god, roared angrily when he heard that his side had been utterly defeated.

"With the captured soldiers and the wounded added, the front lines could no longer be maintained. Sure enough, the military budget had been completely drained by corrupt merchants..."

"Damn it!? Orario eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!?"

Seeing Ares roaring, Marius sighed. He was different from the others around him. He dared to remonstrate with the Lord God and was a rare and precious person.

Unlike the main god whose mane shimmered like a lion's, Marius had honey-gold hair. His physique was well-proportioned and muscular, and at 180 centimeters tall, he was perfectly suited to be described as a handsome young man or nobleman. He was only twenty, quite young. If it weren't for the weariness etched on his face, his appearance, combined with his armor, would undoubtedly have made him a majestic and imposing knight-errant.

After being repeatedly defeated by Orario, the God of War lost face—seeing the main god become stubborn in order to avenge his long-standing grudge, he sighed again.

"Alright, the war can't go on like this. Let's go back, Ares. You've learned your lesson this time, so don't invade Orario again."

"Gurgle... Marius! You're incredibly arrogant and rude!? Your father, Mardin, always listens to me!"

"—It's because you, the Supreme God, listen to everything you say that my father is called the Foolish King, you bastard!?"

"What kind of tone is that?! If that's the case, I'll definitely strip you of your right to the throne!"

"Suit yourself, I'll give it back if you want! Then I can leave the country, join my dream Orario, and become an adventurer, whatever!"

"No, I won't allow it!!"

"What exactly do you want?!"

"Prince!? Prince!?!" Seeing the young adjutant's face turn red and he lose his temper, the people around him quickly stepped forward to stop him.

The young deputy leader of the Ares clan, the kingdom's first prince, who served as an adjutant in order to gain experience and accompanied the Lord God, had a severely distorted handsome face that attracted the opposite sex, and started bickering with the Lord God, which was a common occurrence in the faction.

This prince, so outstanding that one might suspect his queen of infidelity, is still venting his hard work and anger on the reckless god of the land.

"Really! ... In any case, Galon and his men failed in their mission to persuade Welf Crozzo, and the guild has just demanded a ransom from us. We've lost our last hope, and there's no point in continuing this protracted war."

"Ugh...!"

Ares groaned when he saw Marius's cold green eyes, which had finally calmed down.

He was right. Since they couldn't obtain the final trump card of the battle plan, "Krozzo's Demon Sword," there was no point in continuing the war. Ares's wishful thinking of using Welf's power to form a Demon Sword Force and launch a pincer attack with the rest of the army was nothing but a pipe dream.

Marius, who had never believed the operation would succeed from the start, and the officers who were determined to retreat, all looked at Ares, the god of war, exposed to their gaze... Driven by the sole thought of "not wanting to lose," he suddenly opened his crimson eyes wide.

"Since things have come to this—I will personally storm Orario!!"

"Huh!?"

"Since you useless lot can't do it, I'll go and steal the 'Sword of Crozzo'!! With that 'demon sword,' we can reclaim our past glory...!"

"You're trying to kidnap Welf Crozo!? That guy's a Level 2!? If you challenge him, you'll definitely get a one-hit kill!!"

"Don't say 'instant kill'!? I'm not trying to kidnap the Crozo family brat! It's his goddess—the goddess Hestia!!"

When they heard Ares threaten to kidnap the goddess, Marius and the other officers widened their eyes.

"You'll all say you can't offend the goddess and dare not capture that dwarf goddess, right?! In that case, I'll personally go and capture her, demanding Orario exchange Welf Crozzo for the goddess hostage! Hahahaha! You have to admire my cleverness!?"

"Your words are absolutely awful!? Seriously, how exactly do you plan to invade the city—"

"Yes, that's how it should have been done from the beginning! If the king... no, the supreme god doesn't personally lead the charge, how can the soldiers follow! Marius, prepare my horse!? To avoid being discovered by that hateful Freya and the others, I must set off under cover of night!?"

"That's enough! That foolish god...!"

Upon hearing the barbarian king, who always kept his word, give his order, the young adjutant, his expression twisted with rage, also ran out to catch up with the blond god who had emerged from the tent.

Based on the personal opinion of the supreme deity, the kingdom's final operation was thus launched.

On the battlefield where the outcome was already decided, the Orario army completely underestimated their opponent and was completely unprepared. No one expected that this reckless and foolish surprise attack would be carried out so decisively against Orario.

*

The city walls remain peaceful today.

Outside the city, a war that seemed to be lasting longer than ever was still raging with the Kingdom's army, and the dawn illuminated the blue sky.

Listening to the birds chirping, I jogged over and called out to the person walking down the headquarters corridor.

"Miss Haruhime."

A black maid outfit from behind, and a thick, golden tail that sways gently from her waist.

Miss Chunji, the fox spirit, turned to look at me, her arms full of clothes.

"Good morning, Lord Bell."

Her pitiful appearance blossomed into a beautiful smile, and Miss Chunji's fox ears bounced up and down as she greeted me with a good morning.

It wasn't breakfast time yet, but the enticing aroma wafting from the kitchen was already tantalizing. Before heading to the dungeon, Miss Haruhime would finish her maid duties first. Right now, she was carrying the clothes of all the members of her [Familia], washed in clean water, and heading to hang them out to dry.

"Good morning," I greeted her in return, and walked over to her as she walked ahead.

"Is it alright? I'll help too."

"No, no need! This is my job, how could I trouble Lord Bell..."

"It's alright, please let me help you."

I reached out and snatched half of the pile of clothes from the cage. Miss Haruhime, who was holding things in both hands, was of course unable to resist.

Although Miss Haruhime also has [ability points], so many clothes soaked with water waiting to be hung up must be very heavy. She looked quite alarmed, and I replied with a wry smile, "It's really okay," and the two of us started hanging the clothes up together.

In the courtyard of the mansion facing the long corridor, we hung clotheslines between the walls to dry our clothes in this space where the warm sunlight would shine in at noon.

I handed over the clothes of Shinji, Lily, Mikoto, and Haruhime to her, and I took care of my and Welf's. Given the nature of the "Familia" living under the same roof regardless of gender or race, although it was unavoidable, I tried my best not to look at the clothes Haruhime and the others had hung on the clothesline. Haruhime, blushing, wouldn't hang her underwear there.

I was also affected by her, and my cheeks turned red. In order to break the awkward atmosphere, I started talking to her.

"Um, Miss Haruhime, have you settled into life here?"

"I'm getting used to it. Fortunately, Goddess Hestia, Lady Lily, Lady Welf, and Lord Fate have all taken good care of me."

Miss Haruhime smiled at me carefree and said, "Of course, so is Lord Bell."

That was no longer the illusory smile from the red-light district, but a comfortable smile basking in the warm sunshine.

I couldn't help but squint, thinking: It's so wonderful to see her real smile.

"However... I'm clumsy and always cause trouble for everyone... even now, troubling you all like this, Lord Bell..."

Suddenly, Miss Chunji looked worried and distressed.

"Miss Haruhime, that's not what I meant... and everyone else too..."

"No, this is all I can do for you all. I must do more and work harder..."

Miss Haruhime interrupted me, gazing apologetically at the courtyard lawn. She touched her black maid outfit, her thick tail drooping dejectedly.

Although Miss Haruhime said that, I think she has already tried her best.

She did laundry, cooked, cleaned, and explored dungeons. She was busy with household chores at headquarters, and then went to the dungeon to help us as a supporter and sorcerer. The latter, in particular, must have been a significant burden and pressure for her, as she wasn't used to exploration.

After hanging up the washed clothes, I sat face to face with Miss Haruhime, scratched my head, and then said...

"Um, Miss Haruhime... I don't think I should force myself."

"what?"

"When I first joined the [Family], I didn't want to trouble the gods, so I devoted myself to doing housework..."

When the Hestia Familia was first established, it consisted of just me and the deity.

Back then, I had to explore dungeons every day to earn money, and then do housework when I returned to headquarters. Just like Miss Haruhime now, I was barely doing two jobs, which of course ruined my health and caused trouble for the gods.

When the environment changes drastically, the body sometimes can't keep up unexpectedly, even if one has received blessings or ability points. After hearing my experience, Miss Haruhime looked surprised.

"Well, so... how should I put it?"

If it were Mr. Sakura or Mr. Finn, they would surely be able to offer concrete suggestions as the leader. I thought to myself, feeling utterly pathetic... while trying my best to put my thoughts into words.

"...We hope you won't push yourself too hard and will try to get our help... We'd be happier if you did..."

I let my face get hotter and hotter, and then I laughed.

Feeling like I couldn't wrap things up properly, I scratched my cheek.

Upon hearing my words, Miss Haruhime opened her eyes wide and pressed her full breasts against her maid outfit.

It was as if her heart had melted, her eyes were wet... and then her cheeks slowly turned cherry blossom pink.

"Then... can we borrow Lord Bell's power right now?"