7 Orario!

Chapter 7

Layer upon layer of a seemingly infinitely expanding labyrinth, a cauldron of vicious monsters...

It is a place where only adventurers with the determination to die would go.

A site haunted by wealth and fame, where various races gather for prosperity, and the place where gods entertain themselves!

-The Labyrinth City Orario!

"It's up ahead. Orario is almost in sight!" Said the aqua-blue-haired goddess who was walking on a grey-colored road that ran throughout most of the green wilderness.

She wore a white and pale blue outfit, long brown boots with a light brown design, a belt in which she kept a piece of white cloth and a dagger, gold bracelets, and various gold hair accessories.

She gently lifted her hair bangs and looked at the towering pillar of heaven!

The tower was located in the middle of the city, with its height soaring above the sky, almost penetrating the clouds.

"That's... Orario..."

Behind the goddess, Sirius, who was carrying a half-person-sized backpack, looked at the scene in front of him in utter amazement. He felt like a young person in his previous life who had just gone to the metropolis for the first time.

Although the steel city he had seen was much grander than the one in front of him.

But even so, when the magnificent city of Orario, which is surrounded by gigantic walls on all sides, appears in front of him, the visual impact is hard to describe.

After just watching from a distance, Sirius couldn't stop the excitement of wanting to enter the city as soon as possible.

This is the place he dreamed of entering ever since he was born into this world.

"Um, hah... we're finally here! I'm almost exhausted after walking so much..." Behind him, the half-elf Lante couldn't help stretching out her body. She highlighted the curves of her body and made a sound that can be easily misunderstood.

"Don't whine, why didn't I see you complain when we were hunting in the past?" Rethusa, who somehow appeared beside her, knocked the half-elf girl's little head in an angry tone. But there was still a hint of doting mixed in.

On their way, Lante has complained often, almost causing her ears to be deaf.

"Ahh, it hurts! How can you be so cruel, captain?" Lante screamed out in an exaggerated voice, making Rethusa beside to give her a deadpan expression.

"I didn't hurt you that much! You're exaggerating, Lante!" Rethusa complained.

"But you still hurt me, isn't that right?" Lante tried making an excuse.

"..." Rethusa gave her a helpless expression.

Is your head made up of glass? Is it so fragile?

Rethusa's expression almost collapsed. Therefore she turned her head to indicate that she didn't want to keep arguing.

In the front, Sirius, who was half a step behind the goddess Artemis, noticed the noises the two were making and couldn't help but turn back and couldn't help himself from comforting.

"Don't be sullen, Rethusa. After all, Lante is still young... As a child, she has a lot of rebellious mentalities. As an adult, we need to properly understand their thoughts after all~"

"Well, if you put it like this, that's true." Rethusa realized his intention and nodded in agreement.

But she wasn't sulking before, just feeling a bit depressed.

She was acting just like a mother who has done her best to guide her children. But, she is depressed because her child has grown up to be so disobedient.

It is different from anger. It's more like helplessness.

"Ah! Sirius!! Did you speak ill of me again? Believe it or not, I'm not done with you!!!"

Unlike Rethusa, who agreed with his statement, Lante jumped with anger after hearing him slandering herself again.

As we all know, children usually don't like being called one by others.

The reasons... who knows~

Anyway, they don't like being called a child...

Lante also has this characteristic. And for this reason, whenever Sirius used her age as an excuse to tease her for the past few days, she got angry and chased after him for quite some time.

"Hehe, don't you believe me? Then try to come and hit me?" After saying this, Sirius leaned close to the goddess and showed a mocking smile toward Lante.

It's a bit sad to say.

But the presence or absence of Falna makes a decisive difference in this world.

It is almost impossible for an ordinary person to beat an adventurer who possesses Falna. This is practically a common fact.

If the current Sirius fought with a seemingly little girl like Lante, he would be hanged and beaten instantly.

He knew this fact clearly, so whenever he made fun of Lante, he would always stay close to Artemis or Rethusa.

Because only these two people in the familia can suppress Lante to a certain extent.

"You!!!"

Sure enough, it worked. Lante, who originally wanted to go and give him a brutal beating, just raised her hands and caught sight of Artemis beside him.

Then, her arms froze in midair, seeming to tremble in excitement.

Or rather pissed off...

"Sirius, don't bully Lante too much. You say that she's a child, but you're the one acting like one these few days."

At that moment, Lady Goddess suddenly reached out and pushed Sirius away from her with a bright smile. Her emerald-like eyes glowed with joy.

"..."

After blinking for some time, Sirius, who was pushed back, looked at the smiling goddess with an innocent expression on his face.

After hearing what she said... How could he act like a child?

But after meeting the goddess's eyes that seemed able to penetrate his thoughts, his expression gradually became guilty.

Well... maybe there is a bit of childishness!

It has been more than half a month since Sirius, and Artemis's familia met.

After more than half a month of company, Sirius is finally about to reach Orario.

The team has now shrunk to four from the original twenty-two. Artemis familia consists of twenty members, excluding the goddess.

Because before heading to Orario, Artemis took her group back to the station of her familia and then set off afterward.

When they returned to the station, most members of the familia chose to stay there, and only the captain, Rethusa, and Lante tagged along with them to accompany the journey.

Unlike many gods' familia in Orario, the Artemis familia is mainly based outside of the city, in a town not too far away from Orario.

However, no one lives in the familia residence all year round.

After all, Artemis spends most of her time running around the world with her familia members.

As a hunting clan, they are always active outside of Orario, cleaning up the remnants of the monsters that once escaped from the underground dungeon and wreaked havoc on the ground.

Their Familia has a wide range of activities. Sometimes, they even accept a request from the guild and travel long distances before arriving at their destination.

...

Orario's southern gate,

The city gate is embedded in a large magnificent stone wall, with thick rock on both sides to highlight the tough defense of the wall. Opening a gap in the wall is enough for a carriage to pass through.

As the center of the world depicted in many adventurers' biography, countless people want to enter and exit the labyrinth city almost every day.

And at this moment, a long queue of pedestrians of various colors are standing in front of the city gate, waiting for their turn to check-in.

In front of the city gate, the guards stood by and checked everyone who entered the city.

They held a strange instrument in their hands to detect the traces of Falna amongst the people checking in.

Adventure's Falna is bestowed by the gods.

And the instrument in the guard's hands reacts to the divine blessing. As long as one accepts the grace of God, there is no way to avoid detection.

After all, not every God will take root in Orario. They are also many adventurers in other countries.

So, to maintain the peace and order of the city and prevent some adventurers with bad intentions from entering, this sort-of detection is essential.

...