Chapter 20

Goro never liked to look at Setsuko as she disrobed, so he just told her to be waiting in their bedroom for him to come up. She already knew how she should be when he got there - laying on the bed on her belly, her tits pressed into the mattress to make them as hidden as possible.

When he got up there, that was exactly how she was arranged. Her naked body was plastered down against the bed, and he just removed his clothes quietly, letting her simmer in desire - however disgusting her tits may have been, she was as horny as an Amazon - before finally clambering up behind her. Once he was there, he grabbed her rump in either hand, and stuffed his cock into her with a single, sharp stroke, making her gasp in pleasure as he forced his way into her wet, warm pussy.

He just let his fingers sink into her ass cheeks as he started to pump away, but there was a certain lingering annoyance at her, for making him look stupid in front of other people, for her daughter running away, for all that - so he brought one hand down on her ass cheek, making her let out a whimper of a noise of complaint. "What was that?" He asked her, his voice sharp. "Do you have a problem with me, Setsuko?"

"N-no," she said, hurriedly shaking her head. "S-sorry, I was just surprised." He spanked her ass again, his cock throbbing inside her as she just tensed in response to the sharp strike, her cunt squeezing down on his dick even as she restrained her voice.

"Why should you be surprised? You fucked up. You let your daughter run away, let her get married to some strange man, and now I have been humiliated in front of the gods because of you. You're lucky that I consider marriage serious business, or I'd kick you to the curb like the worthless, fat-titted, used-up old whore you are." She let out a piteous whimper at that, and he placed one hand on her back, in between her shoulder blades, forcing her to remain in that position as he accelerated his pace.

"Sorry, Goro," she whimpered out into the pillow. "I'm sorry that my body is so disgusting, with, these gross tits, I'm sorry that I'm not as pretty as I used to be, I'm so sorry," she said, getting more desperate in her whimpering. He gave her ass another sharp swat, half because her blubbering was annoying him, half because he just liked the way her pussy tightened on his dick when he did so.

"You shouldn't be apologizing for these tits of yours, they're not really your fault. They're Noriko's fault. You should be apologizing for her. For her running off. For her calling me names, in front of the familia Captain and my goddess, because you didn't raise her right, you dumb fucking cunt," he told her, pounding harder at her pussy. She let out a little whimper and then came on his cock, squirting her lemon-lime juices all over the bed, her pussy spasming and gripping his dick. For a moment, he let his cock rest inside her, just using her cunt like his personal onahole, before he started to pound away again. "All of it is your fault, you know. I'm a Level Five, I'm a fucking top member of a major familia, but I've got you around my neck, dragging me down," he explained to her. Her stats were still G-rank, sixteen years after she'd gotten pregnant with Noriko and joined the familia - the only explanation was her.

She panted as she recovered, then started to speak. "Yes, sorry, Goro, sorry for being so pathetic."

"I trusted you to raise our daughter right, but did you?" She shook her head, at least accepting that what she'd done was wrong. He gave her a spanking. "I thought, this is something where it doesn't matter what Level you are, so Setsuko can do it. But I was wrong, Setsuko. You couldn't do it. Our daughter ran away with some random man from another familia. More than that, she didn't tell any of us where she went, which made me look stupid, didn't it?" Setsuko nodded beneath him, her pussy gently caressing his cock as she drew closer to another orgasm. He pushed down on her back, shifting her angle to let him get deeper inside her without having to see her fat tits; she made the tiniest whimper of complaint at the force of the movement, but she didn't actually do anything to stop him. "All because you couldn't raise her right."

"Yes... sorry Goro. I'm such a bad mother and a bad wife. I tried so hard but I'm just, I'm just stupid, like you always say, I try to be good but I'm too dumb." At those words, he intensified his pace inside her. "I'm so lucky that you even have, have sex with a disgusting girl like me, when you could have any woman you wanted..." His cock just rammed away, fucking and pounding.

"Believe me, I want to," he told her. "But it wouldn't look good if a married father went to a fucking whorehouse, now would it?" Setsuko shook her head rapidly. "And I'm a Level Five, so somebody would notice. That's why I have to use you." She nodded, and actually started to wiggle her ass back against him - a few seconds later, she came, her pussy squeezing around his dick, tightening around it hard. "Fuck, you horny little bitch," he growled out, intensifying his pace inside her. He leaned down over her, so close she could feel his breath on her ear. "If you ever cheat on me, I'll kill you. People won't even blame me. I'll kill whatever man you fuck, too."

"I won't, I won't," she sputtered out, desperate to speak even as she was coming. Her fingers clawed at the bed sheets beneath her, as if that would let her brain recover enough to speak properly. "I won't, I won't," she obediently declared, and it was to that - the simple, truthful knowledge, that Setsuko would never, ever cheat on him - that he came inside her.

Once he was done, he laid down on the bed on his back. Setsuko quietly shifted her body, rolling so that her back faced towards him, and then quietly wormed her way off the bed so he didn't have to see her fat tits. He just closed his eyes to minimize the risk that he'd see those disgusting things, letting her put on her sarashi; eventually, she crawled into bed next to him.

* * *

Goro's eyes surveyed the crowd once again, looking for any hint of the man who had stolen his daughter from him. He had been out wandering Orario many times for exactly this purpose, and eventually wound up simply watching over the Dungeon's entrance, occasionally speaking to one of his customers when they would recognize him and want to talk about this or that. He didn't see Drake. He hadn't even seen the dark-skinned girl that was apparently still alive. The other three - the redhead, the scarred girl, and his own daughter - weren't as easy to pick out of a crowd. He had thought he'd seen one of them, here and there, but it had been mistaken identities in every case thus far.

He was left with the possibility that the little bitch had chosen to simply hide, rather than going into the Dungeon. Was he disguising himself somehow, keeping his identity a secret as he entered?

Goro considered the alternative route, of simply finding the appropriate region of the Dungeon and listening for the dark-skinned girl's weapon. It had been quite distinct and loud - presumably, fired to try to attract the attention of Bete. He even had wandered the Dungeon one night, idly crushing whatever monsters appropriate for a Level One or Two came close before moving on without concern, but he hadn't seen the faintest sign of that bastard.

He was becoming frustrated, but so far as his goddess was concerned, this was just a regrettable reality. She wouldn't do a damn thing about that conniving little bitch stealing his own daughter from him. All because he'd somehow tricked her into being so terrified of him that he wouldn't come back... he glowered as he looked out at the crowd. He was going to follow that little bitch into the Dungeon the next time he saw him, and rip his head right off his shoulders. He just had to find him, first.

* * *

Erza stared down the Goliath yet again, her breath heavy as her gaze fell on the awesome beast. She needed to face great battles to become capable of leveling up, and she needed to level up in order to be capable of protecting her friend Noriko. She would not allow her own weakness to cost her friends their freedom and safety! Already, they had been forced to abandon training in the Dungeon for fear that Goro would kill them there. She knew that even now, he might be watching over the exit-

The Goliath's monstrous arm clawed through the air where she had been a scant moment before, and she spun, her sword digging into its fingers and popping one of them off, earning a hideous scream as black blood spilled forth from the wound. "I am sorry for disrespecting you," she declared, as her feet slid back across the ground. "I should give you my full attention!" She lunged forward, a sword in either hand, and the creature scarcely managed to bring up a hand to bat her aside - but she managed to dig one blade into said hand, twisting around in a circular motion and then leaping off the back of the hand, firing herself like a bullet directly at the creature's throat. She managed to dig her blades into its neck a moment later, and it fell down with a heavy thump against the Dungeon floor.

She let out a long sigh as she stood above the corpse. The Dungeon had not summoned any further reinforcements for the Goliath, unlike her first battle with such a beast, so she had hardly needed the aid of Ryu. She Requipped into a different pair of swords and began to cut into the dead flesh to part it from the creature's titanic heart, which was incredibly valuable. "I am sorry to force you along for no cause, Ryu," she said, turning her gaze over to the elf girl.

"Do not worry. I do not wish for you to perish here, so I am glad to accompany you."

Erza hefted up the massive crystalline heart, loading it onto her shoulder. "You are a true friend, Ryu," she said. Her thoughts went to the titanic object on her shoulder, the 'magic stone' of the beast in question. "I cannot in good faith keep the earnings from this to myself," she said, raising her free hand to her chest. "Please, allow me to split them with you."

"The Guild has blacklisted me. I appreciate the thought, but if you helped me like that, it would only cause you trouble."

"Then I will accept this trouble, for the sake of my friend!" She was here in the first place to try to Level Up so that she could stand toe-to-toe against Goro, to protect her friends and husband from the wrath of Goro Iwakari! The money was hardly her concern. She reached out for Ryu's hand, clasping it in hers tightly as she stared into the other girl's eyes. Ryu simply blinked as she stared up at her. "Do you truly have nothing that you need money for? At the very least, you could go buy some nice new clothes! That always is an enjoyable way for me to spend money after my adventures," Erza declared. Cassandra and Noriko did not like clothes shopping, but The Prettiest Princess did, and perhaps Ryu would too!

There was a tingle of a smile in the corner of Ryu's mouth, suggesting that she liked buying clothes as well. "Perhaps you can buy me some clothing with your money, then," she suggested.

In other words, she still wouldn't take the money. "Very well, if that is truly your desire. But keep in mind that if you ever have cause, I will be there for you, Ryu, whether it be for money or for fighting." Her hand squeezed tightly on Ryu's, then released.

Ryu idly looked at her own hand for just a moment, before following Erza and heading back up and out of the Dungeon.

* * *

Noriko watched quietly as Ais Wallenstein trained. She was a swift warrior, lunging around the field and striking at the dummies in rapid succession. She was Level Five, like Noriko's father, and Noriko could tell conclusively that there was no chance that she could defeat Ais Wallenstein in a fight.

Noriko had thought that she was now going to have an easy life, because a handsome powerful man had brought her to this world to be the head wife of his harem, taking her away from all the concerns of her normal life, as was a common story genre. However, this was clearly one of the 'deconstruction style' isekais, wherein the heroine discovers that life is not so easy as she expected that it would be. She did not like this. She wished it had been the normal kind of isekai story, where everything was wonderful and there was lots of sexy fun and no danger whatsoever.

According to what Drake had told her, by now the other Noriko, who was still in Kurogaya, had apparently met a boy named Nanashi Kusakabe, who was a rich heir and fucked her as well as eighteen other women over the first fifty days of the school year. He was a reincarnator. It sounded like a very nice story. She loved Drake, however, not that boy she had never met. Drake also loved her, thus choosing her to be the head wife of his harem.

She just wished that they had gone to another world, such as Drake's world, where there were not any supernatural elements whatsoever, and technology advanced at an approximately 28% faster pace, as their years were shorter but their history took place over the same timespan.

However, she could not change this. Therefore, she had to become stronger, so that she could protect herself from her father, who was an angry, abusive piece of shit who she hated. Apparently Drake was a writer, which explained how he could come up with such an appropriate and fitting turn of phrase.

"Ais-san," she said, and Ais paused her movements, turning to her. "I would like to ask if you would train with me, as I have been told that you are very good at training, and we can train on the grounds of the Twilight Manor, where my father cannot see me or hurt me."

Ais simply nodded. "Okay."

"I normally use a crossbow and small knife, since I am a supporter. However, I believe these weapons would be ineffective for a fight with my father, as I do not see any high Level adventurers using or producing them."

"...a knife is fine," Ais said. Noriko nodded, rising from her seat position and producing her knife. According to everyone, this knife could not hurt Ais under virtually any conceivable circumstance, due to her being much higher Level than Noriko, and the knife being ordinary steel. Further, the knife was frequently used for cutting into the flesh of dead monsters, and therefore had a relatively dull edge. "Are you ready?"

Noriko nodded, and Ais rushed forward towards her at superhuman speed with her training sword. Noriko brought up both arms to block it, and the sword stopped suddenly just before the attack could hit her. It gently tapped against her forearms.

"You can't block like that. The sword would cut off your arms and head. Use the knife to block," she explained, stepping back for a moment before repeating the same assault, a forward rush with a heavy, superhuman swing crashing down towards her. Noriko brought up the knife with both hands, trying to position it between the sword and herself, letting out a noise of pain as the sword drove into her fingers and hurt severely, making her drop the knife. "You have to move the knife, or I can just move my sword," Ais told her.

Noriko did not like the pain of having a sword smash into her fingers, but she also did not like the feeling of powerlessness that came from her father being very strong and her being very weak, which was a much more powerful negative feeling, so she picked up the knife again.

She discovered, over the next hour, that training was much more painful and exhausting than it was typically portrayed as in isekai stories. She wished she had a cheat ability instead of having to work, but she did not, so she had to work.

* * *

Aisha had taken to keeping a close eye on Haruhime, since her regular client had graduated to the rank of record-holder and broken through to Level Two in a matter of a few months. Amazons were naturally inclined to feast on only the strongest of men, and someone such as him was a... tempting offer for any woman. But Haruhime seemed to genuinely like him, enjoying his company.

If Aisha was to speak honestly, she would be unsure if the two were even actually sleeping together. When some other client would take up Haruhime's time, there would still be the vomit and the nausea and the lightheadedness and the quiet sobbing as Aisha held her and comforted her - but with Drake, she showed no signs of any distaste after he had left. She wondered if perhaps it was some star-crossed romance, or the man simply enjoyed her company for the entirely mundane reasons.

She saw another Amazon, one she didn't immediately recognize, step into Haruhime's quarters - it was about the time that Haruhime would normally meet with Drake, so she figured that the woman in question was there to bother Haruhime or Drake. She certainly didn't want to ruin one of the few things Haruhime had left to her, so she strode up to the door and opened it with confidence.

Instead of the woman, though, there was Drake, sitting down in front of the tea that Haruhime had been preparing for him. Aisha paused in the doorway, glancing around.

"Aisha?" Haruhime asked, her voice soft.

Drake turned around to look at her, a certain appraising lust in his gaze as his eyes ran across her bare skin. She could certainly understand the temptation her sisters in the Ishtar familia felt, to try to take this man away from Haruhime. He was handsome, strong, and one of the quickest leveling individuals in Orario, matched only by two women who were apparently his wives. He also showed no signs of distaste for the profession of prostitution, speaking with courtesy and respect to all members of the familia he spoke to, which even among the familia's clients was a rarity.

But no. Drake was taken by Haruhime. She didn't want to steal him away from her, the one little light left in her life. "I'm sorry; I thought I saw one of the Amazons come in here and was worried about them bothering you."

Drake smiled at that, which was a bit unusual. While many men could accept help from a higher Level woman, relatively few appreciated it - though she had enjoyed her time with the few who actually did. "Thank you for your concern," Drake said, "but we're fine. Nobody's entered this room except me."

"Good. I'll leave you two alone, then," she said, giving a brief nod and smile before closing the sliding door. She decided to sit cross-legged in front of the door, just in case the Amazon in question came back.

They didn't, although Lena did. She was one of the younger members of the familia, at just fifteen, and had yet to start participating in this side of the familia's operations. Her dark hair was in a cascade, messily arranged along her back, and she had a slim petite physique. The Ishtar familia leaned on the old model of teaching a child of sex: wait until they have questions and answer them. Lena had gotten to a shockingly old age without starting to ask any, and Aisha was beginning to become concerned.

"Is the record-holder in there with Haruhime?" Lena asked in a whisper, glancing at the door.

"He is," Aisha said. "Don't bother them."

"Oh man... can I listen, Aisha?"

Aisha considered, then sighed and nodded in acceptance. "Just remain quiet. You shouldn't bother Haruhime."

"Don't worry, I won't!" She agreed before pressing her ear up against the door. Aisha watched her warily. The excitable young girl might do something stupid, after all, but she did remain still as she listened, blinking - then after a few minutes, she spoke up. "I think something bad's happening," she whispered to Aisha. "Listen."

Aisha frowned, but pressed her ear against the door. It would probably just be the sounds of sex, and she could explain as much to Lena, and-

"...Erza can probably cut your collar off with one of her blades. If Phryne shows up - Erza's as strong as a Level Four, with your magic she might be able to beat her."

He's planning to run off with her! Aisha's heart caught in her chest. There was no way he could get away with it, Ishtar wouldn't let it go... no, but he was a member of the Loki familia, she might be forced to. If he knew about Haruhime's magic, there was a good chance he knew about Ishtar's plans. Maybe that was the real reason he was here?

"I appreciate the kindness you show me with every meeting, goshujinsama. It is unnecessary to endanger yourself with such schemes."

"It is necessary. You're in danger, every day that you stay here, you fall more into danger." The emotion in his words sounded real to her, sincere. "I- some things have happened in my own life recently, that have made me think about how I need to take more active measures. I might not be around forever to save you, Haruhime, much as I want to be. So please, just agree and come with me."

"He's trying to steal Haruhime!" Lena declared, suddenly snapping to her feet, scimitar in hand, yanking the door open to see Haruhime and Drake sitting, drinking tea. Aisha rose as well. "So that's how come you-" she was interrupted as Drake's teacup collided directly with her face, making her sputter and jerk. A moment later, Lena's scimitar simply sailed right out of her hands, passing Drake and slamming into the far wall - it wasn't thrown, more like he had yanked it away, despite not touching it.

He moved fast and shockingly decisively against the Level Two Lena, who was obviously more used to fighting stupid monsters than clever men. He also showed some exotic Skill she'd never seen before, grabbing and throwing items without laying a finger on them, and Lena was forced back before something particularly heavy - a book? - collided with her head and sent her sprawling onto her butt, knocked momentarily unconscious.

Aisha had watched the whole thing in silence. Her scimitar was in her hand, but her heart was being pulled in two directions. On the one hand, she wanted Haruhime to live a happy life - on the other hand, hiding this from her goddess would not end well for her. Perhaps not even for Haruhime herself, or Drake. Erza was not an adventurer whose name she knew, which meant she wasn't one of the most prominent members of the Loki familia, or one of his wives who had Leveled Up. The claim that she was 'as strong as' a Level Four was not the same as a claim that she was a Level Four, and...

She couldn't risk it. Couldn't risk Haruhime suffering for her own weaknesses. "You can't be allowed to take Haruhime away from here," she said, stepping into the room with a tightening grip on her scimitar.

"Aisha, please," Haruhime said, her soft voice just about breaking her heart, and Drake stared at her, a certain desperation like a wild dog in his eyes. There was a single pregnant moment in which she moved to point her sword at him.

"I'm sorry, Haruhime. This man isn't the savior you might have hoped for. Leave, now, and do not come back. I will kill you if you do, for Haruhime's sake."

Drake hesitated a few seconds, swallowed, and stood up straight. It was the pose of a man steeling himself, but not for battle - perhaps he had some clever line prepared to convince her that she should let him be. "I really do want to help Haruhime escape from here," he told her, in the most blatant, unbelievable lie she had ever heard.

Her heart soured on him instantly. She had liked him well enough, had an idiotic hope that perhaps he and Haruhime could be together somehow. Now she realized that was truly worse than idiocy. This man was only feigning bravery; he was a deceiver at heart, Level Two or no, telling Haruhime sweet nothings to convince her of the sincerity of his feelings. Haruhime was just someone he was using, pretending that he wanted to protect her to convince the whore to love him. Perhaps it was even a game to him. She lowered her scimitar. "No you don't," she spat. "If Haruhime ever wants to see you again, then I suppose you can return - but get out of here, now." She felt the temptation to simply cut his throat right then and there, as he moved to pass her by, but she resisted it. That wouldn't mend whatever wounds loving a man like that had placed in Haruhime's heart.

Haruhime looked at the mess of her room, created by the brief fight between Lena and Drake. She let out a quiet sigh. "It is alright, Aisha. I can clean my room myself. And... no man could ever truly love a woman like me anyway. Thank you for your concern."

Aisha grit her teeth at those words, but set about helping Haruhime to fix up her room anyway.

* * *

I simply flopped into my bed in the Twilight Manor. Nobody else was there, leaving me alone to marinate in my own failure. I felt like shit on multiple levels.

One was that I had, in all honesty, hit on the idea of finally stealing Haruhime away from her familia because I was trying to think of some way to get the last three points I needed to summon Rei. If I stole her away, maybe the next time she told me that she loved me it would be sincere - hell, maybe even as I started to actualize it. I did genuinely like Haruhime and want her to be happy and safe, obviously, but the last push was the fear of Goro and need for that little extra sliver of supernatural power.

The other half was that, because I'd been confronted by an angry Level Three, threatened into leaving Haruhime alone... I had to use Avoiding the Truth Technique, right in front of her. It was a pretty powerful Skill, making it so that even though I said something true, everyone listening would believe it was false. It even worked on gods, judging by how I'd tricked Loki about it. When I used it, I always thought about what implication the listener was made to walk away with, what "truth" they gleaned from the "lie," so my "lies" were meant to be plausible as lies, with certain implications as truths - which, in this case, had been that I "definitely intended" to save Haruhime. It was one thing for Aisha, but for Haruhime to hear that I had only been pretending... I wasn't sure that I had made the right decision to use it. I just inwardly resolved that I absolutely had to save her from the Ishtar familia.

The thought did come to mind that I had finally managed to figure out how to use the same strings of fate that I could walk on, to grab things, throw them around, and all that. It made me snort that something so awful had just happened and I was thinking of the upsides.

I really had to make things up to Haruhime. I just had no idea how.

Loki opened the door wide with an unhesitating swing, sending it banging against the wall. "You've got a visitor, Mr. Popular," she said.

"Who?" I asked, half-pulling myself up off the bed. Her tongue pressed against her cheek and I could see her visually take note that I was currently alone in my room. "We can fuck later. Who?"

"Wow, like I'm thinking about that. Somebody's got a real big head," Loki said, huffing and raising her chin up into the air. "Anyway, it's some Amazon. I didn't catch her name, but she really wants to see you."

"Is it Phryne?" I asked, standing up from the bed at last, trying to stretch out the emotional pain of that... entire event.

Loki scoffed at that. "As if I wouldn't tell Phryne to fuck off before letting her meet you. What if she ruins you?"

I... had no idea whether to take that as evidence that Phryne was a rapist or not. Her reputation apparently extended past the Ishtar familia, at least. "Okay. I'll go see who it is," I said.

My best guess would have been Aisha, but as I exited the manor, it quickly became clear that it wasn't her. The girl was bouncing on her feet as I approached the gates, and I recognized her as the girl I knocked out with a metal box that had been in Haruhime's room. I had, admittedly, been fighting rather desperately and pathetically against her since I hadn't had most of my equipment (and didn't really want to kill her, besides), but apparently the supernal skill of a Sidereal had been enough to make up for it. Or maybe I was of a higher Level, but she hadn't seemed that slow.

"There you are!" She said. She started to stretch one arm through the gate for me, almost desperately manic. The gate guard looked particularly unimpressed. "Drake Holt, Drake Holt," she said, wiggling against the gate as if she was hoping she could phase through it. "Aisha said that I should give up on you, that you're a bad person, but I don't believe that! You were talking about-"

"Please don't talk about that," I interrupted, before the excitable Amazon could mess things up.

"Okay!" She agreed immediately, pulling her hand back. "I'm Lena! Lena Tully!" She declared. "And I'm here, because I've fallen completely head over heels in love with you, Drake Holt, the Happy Ending!"

I couldn't help but notice that my remaining budget suddenly spiked from 17 points to 23 points. All those attempts to get a sincere love confession from Loki and Haruhime, and I get it from beating up an Amazon and having her fall in love with me as a consequence, instead. I smiled at that ridiculous realization, actually letting out an awkward laugh. "I'm very happy to hear that. You don't know how happy." Lena smiled brightly at that. Once somebody confessed their love, I could technically break their heart and I wouldn't lose the points, but... I didn't need to do that. And Julia had mentioned Lena as being the easiest girl to satisfy in this universe. "You do know that I'm married to four women, right?"

"Yep!" She agreed.

"And from another familia, obviously." She nodded rapidly. "And, uhh, what Aisha presumably told you..."

"I'm sure it's not true!" Lena declared. "But I thought I wasn't supposed to talk about it?"

"I have a magic power," I said, pulling out a coin as I spoke, making her eyes glitter. "Heads, we'll be a good match, tails, we'll be bad."

"Ooo! I'm sure our love is destined, though, so it'll definitely be heads!" I was pretty sure it would be too - so I flipped the coin, holding my hand out to catch it. It was heads. "Wow! Amazing!"

The guard snorted. "He can obviously manipulate the coin toss," he said, rolling his eyes. "Don't you feel bad about tricking girls into relationships?"

"No, not really," I replied, not caring about his opinion at all. "How do people normally handle inter-familia marriages?"

"You get married," he said with a shrug. "Both the gods have to sign off. You don't even know this chick's name."

"It's Lena!" Lena declared with gusto, trying to reach in past the gate to smack or grab the guard - he just took a step or two back. "And he does know it, because I said it earlier!"

"If she wants to marry me, who am I to say no?" I said, smiling a bit as the guard's annoyance got even greater. "I have to keep a low profile right now, Lena," thanks to Goro, "so I can't do anything with you. Why don't you head home? I'll visit you later."

"Alright!" Lena said, bouncing on her feet. "Ooo! Is this what you pay for at the Ishtar familia house?"

"Yes," the guard said.

"Wow! This is way easier than making money in the Dungeon," Lena declared with an unbridled confidence. She clapped her hands together. "Okay! I'll see you again soon, Drake Holt, the Happy Ending!" As she headed to depart, I heard her muttering under her breath: "Lena Holt. Lena Holt. Leeena Hoo~oolt. Lenaholt."

The guard just gave me an annoyed look as I headed back inside.