Chapter 17: Loki Familia

A great ball of reddish color that gave off a soft, warm feeling about the world hovered in the distance, almost hidden on the horizon. Birds flapped their wings freely across the slightly orange sky until they landed on the massive city walls.

It was a morning when the citizens of "Orario" began to wake up and open the windows of their homes to welcome a new dawn.

Some were going about their daily routines while others were lazily making their way to their places of work. Soon, the once silent streets began to fill with lively adventurers constantly chatting and discussing the hottest topics.

And as expected, among the most recent and popular topics, especially among the adventurers and goddesses, was that man who appeared a few days ago in the city "Orario."

At first, everyone believed that the words of the girls who saw him were lies or exaggerations; however, after seeing the boy walking around the city as if he was exploring every corner of "Orario," everyone could confirm that such previous words were valid. Indeed, the boy was so exaggeratedly beautiful that to say that he had a figure up to the epitome of perfection would not be at all wrong.

Moreover, a rumor was circulating that under those bandages were two pairs of beautiful eyes that could steal the souls of lucky mortals. It was also said that the boy was a nobleman from somewhere in this world, for the aura of royalty and mystery the boy radiated made him stand out like a sore thumb in the crowd.

The aura added to the boy's charm and made many girls encourage him with titles like "Golden God," "Immaculate God," or "Golden Prince."

These days, many approached the boy and wanted to start a conversation with him, perhaps, even some relationship... but failed miserably. Because no matter who came to the boy, he just waved and went on his way as if nothing had happened.

That made many girls feel strongly frustrated and want to tear their hair out of their heads.

While men, on the other hand, wanted to pluck their head hairs for an entirely different reason...

"Oi, oi! Have they got rotten brains or what?!"

One man had his fists clenched tightly, and fumes of fury escaped his swollen forehead. The man's hair and eyes were painted an ashen color; most striking were the pair of wolf ears decorating his head.

"Calm down, Bete. I know perfectly well how you feel, but take a little care of your image in public, will you?". A yellow-haired boy in front of the group turned his face away as he smiled wryly and shook his head from side to side.

Although anyone could mistake him for a child due to his small appearance, he was a man of the Pallum race who was in his thirties. Moreover, he was also the leader who led the "Loki Familia" group.

"Hmph, useless bunch!" Bete grumbled discontentedly towards the adventurers on the street as he shoved his hands into his pants pockets.

"Maa~ After hearing so much about that guy, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious." An Amazon with shoulder-length black hair smiled and put her two hands behind her head.

"I'm surprised you're showing interest in a man, Tiona." Another Amazon interrupted. Unlike the other one, who was her twin sister, this one had long black hair that reached her back and a blue earring dangling from her ears. Like her sister, and like all Amazons, she wore revealing clothing that barely concealed her essential parts.

"Now that you mention it! Tione, when do you plan to tell the Captain-?"

However, before Tiona could finish her cheerful words, Tione suddenly appeared in front of her and grabbed her head.

"Ugh-." Tiona's face was buried between her sister's two enormous breasts, smothering her.

"Y-yes, Captain, I was wondering if I could go out and buy my new equipment! That's what I meant." Tione didn't let her sister break free but squeezed her even tighter as she blushed deeply and stole a few glances at the Captain.

"Ugh, h-hey-."

"Huh? Tione, from what I remember, you already retired your new weapon yesterday; why do you need another one?" The pallum boy, Finn, cocked his head in confusion.

"A-ah, I didn't like the old one!"

"Puah! What's with these intimidating twin mountains?!" Tiona vigorously pushed her blushing sister, who was practically screaming with nervousness. Tiona's little chest was rising and falling with every breath of air she took.

"Hahh?! Don't look at me with those eyes, ironing board!". Tione found an excellent reason to escape the previous predicament, so without hesitation, she exploded at her sister.

"Hey, just because you have a pair of useless, overly unfair pair of boobs doesn't give you the right to call me that!".

An ominous, angry aura began to emanate from the group of sisters.

"You two, you're talking too loud and drawing too much attention to yourselves." Riveria, the emerald-haired, emerald-eyed woman, interrupted the boisterous Amazon sisters.

The two girls looked at each other one last time and, with a "hmph," averted their gaze; one looked and compared her small chest to the other women in the group, while the other stole a couple of glances at the captain.

"Ais, is something wrong? Don't think so hard to tell me if something is bothering you."

Riveria ignored the others and turned to the person furthest away from the group, Ais. Her words were only heard by the "Princess of the Sword."

Riveria had noticed that since a few moments ago, the disinterested gaze of the girl, who usually paid no attention to anything or anyone, was looking around as if she was searching for something.

Something really strange for Riveria.

"... For a few seconds, I felt like someone was watching us. But I think it's just my imagination." Ais expressed with her usual expression.

"Coming from you, I don't think that's the case." Riveria looked around; however, she couldn't find anything apart from the curious and excited looks of the adventurers.

Though she had a keen sense, perhaps second only to Ais, she couldn't pick up on anything unusual. But that didn't mean Ais' earlier words were entirely out of the question.

In the end, however, she shrugged. No one would have the guts to do anything to one of Orario's most powerful familias in broad daylight, let alone in the city.

"Anyway, Ais, did your sword maintenance do you any good?" Riveria looked at the light sword hanging from Ais' slender waist.

"It's all good... the worn edge shone again."

"Well, the smiths did their job well. As expected of the 'Hephaestus Familia.'" Riveria commented-

*Tinkling!

A small purple flash was suddenly launched towards the group. Or, more specifically, towards Ais' chest. However, whatever the object was, it met Ais' metal armor, and with a clink, the tiny thing bounced off and fell to the ground in front of Ais' feet.

It happened so fast that no one, not even Ais, had seen how or where the small object came from. But since she perceived no ill intent directed at them, she ignored the adventurers.

Bowing her head slightly, Ais bent down and took the object in her hand. The purple-colored thing turned out to be a magic core found inside the monsters outside and inside the labyrinth.

She inspected it for a moment and averted her gaze to the crowd.

"...Does this core belong to any of you?"

At Ais's question, holding up the magic core so the others could see it, the crowd quickly shook their heads. They feared the "Loki Familia" would take it as an offense! A simple magic core didn't deserve to be put in danger.

"Whoever you are, show yourself, and don't be a coward! You'd better give us a clear explanation!"

Bete roared like a typical schoolboy aggressor towards the adventurers for interrupting his ways; however, a dwarf carrying a giant shield and a suit of armor put his hands on the werewolf's shoulder.

"Stay out of it, old man."

"You can't calm down for even a few seconds, can you? Look at them; you're scaring them, hahaha!". The dwarf laughed good-naturedly and pointed his finger at the trembling adventurers slowly retreating.

Finn clapped his hands to get the group's attention.

"In any case, it looks like someone was trying to play a joke on us, so let's not read too much into it. Besides, we have a mission to accomplish in a limited amount of time."

Since it seemed to be something mild, everyone nodded their heads and started walking again while continuing their previous interrupted conversations.

"You can keep it. It looks like whoever threw it away didn't want it anyway." Riveria indicated as she walked alongside Ais.

Ais looked at the tiny purple stone and placed it inside the small leather pouch hanging from her waist. Ais and Riveria concluded that the look Ais had felt earlier was that of the one who had thrown the stone. It looked like that person was one of the many adventurers who wanted to confess their "love" to the famous "Princess of the Sword" only to chicken out at the last moment...

Soon after, the "Loki Familia" group, consisting of low and high-level adventurers, passed by the guild and entered the dungeon.