Mistake

"Fiuu, I don't think he's crazy enough to let loose here."

Running as fast as he could toward one of Orario's many busy streets, Mark doubted Bete would try to do anything there, but he still breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he hadn't followed.

"So… can you free me now?"

"Ops."

It was only when he heard Zoe's voice that he realized he was still holding her by the wrist, quickly releasing her.

'Now that I think about it, I don't even know why I dragged her away.' - He thought confused.

"Could you explain to me why I was dragged away?" -Zoe rightly asked.

"Long and complicated story about an unnerved werewolf, an overly eccentric Amazon and me just having fun. But moving on to you, it looks like you spent a sleepless night."

As Mark pointed out, Zoe had heavy bags under her eyes.

"Long night yesterday."

Few words, but Mark could feel the tiredness behind them.

"Then I think it's better that I leave."

Seeing a chance to leave, Mark tried to walk away, but Zoe called out to him.

"Wait a moment."

"?" -Mark turned around confused.

"Don't you think it's wrong to leave like this? First, you drag me away without a word, and second, I'm pretty sure I helped you earlier." -She said, putting weight behind each point listed.

"...I admit you're right, what can I do for you?"

Mark had to admit that he had been quite rude to her and seeing that people's attention was starting to focus on them, he wanted to resolve the situation quickly.

"I have an idea." -Seeing Zoe's mysterious smile, Mark began to wonder if he was wrong to accept so easily.

(Some time later.)

"In total, that's 2500 valis."

"You're joking I hope. Look at the state of some of these herbs, you can't give them the full price, and tell me, isn't the price of these a little too much above the market price?"

"...2300, last offer."

"I would say 1800 is ideal."

"Hah?! Can you tell me what I would gain from this?!"

In one of the various shops that sold alchemy items, Zoe and the seller were negotiating the price of the goods, but the seller seemed to be speechless by the girl's shameless offer.

'Here we go again.' - Thought Mark finding the scene entertaining.

It was already the fifth shop they had visited and each time Zoe managed to get the best price, infuriating the sellers, and it seemed that this would be the fifth victim that day.

"Seriously speaking, these herbs here are actually in great condition and worth their price, but the rest I'd say have lost half of the value." - Carefully analyzed Zoe.

"B-but 1800 is seriously not possible." - Stammered the seller, seeing that the girl in front of him knew the market prices of each herb.

"1700 then?" -Zoe said innocently.

"It's even less than before!" - Shouted the seller in exasperation.

"Don't worry, I was just kidding, but let me tell you something."

Seeing Zoe waving him over, the salesman approached warily.

"Do you know the person behind me?" - Asked Zoe pointing to Mark who was standing with a serious expression.

"...Lost Prince of the Loki Familia." - Guessed the seller.

"Exact. As you know he is one of the most famous figures at the moment and I was hired by him to prepare potions for him. Now, don't you think the Loki Familia would be offended if you sold goods at full price to one of their most valuable members?" Zoe asked him seriously.

"2100." - Said the seller in a cold sweat, especially feeling Mark's gaze on him.

"1900."

"Please, with 1900 valis, I earn almost nothing!" -Begged the seller, but Zoe didn't seem to care.

"Come on, don't say it like that, let's just say you earn little." - She said smiling, using up the last ounce of patience of the seller.

"All right! Take these herbs and go away!"

"It was a pleasure doing business with you." - Zoe said cheerfully taking the goods and leaving with Mark.

"And don't come back bird of ill omen, you're banned from the shop!" - Shouted the seller from the door as they went away.

"Have you seriously used me again to get a discount?" - Asked Mark without words once they went out.

"It worked four times, I thought the fifth would work too." - She said carefree.

"Yes, but now you are banned from five shops…"

"To be honest, merchants don't look kindly on me."

"I can imagine, but do you seriously know the market price of each herb? I don't think it's that simple as a thing." - Asked Mark.

"Professional secret." - Zoe said mysteriously.

In fact, she didn't know exactly the prices, but thanks to her ability to read minds, she didn't have this problem. Obviously, she had tried not to abuse this ability of her, but there were times when it proved extremely useful.

"So are we even now?"

"We're even. What are you going to do now?" - Zoe asked him.

Thinking about it for a moment, Mark didn't know what to do. He had originally planned to work out a bit, but following Zoe around had taken longer than expected.

"Mmm, actually I need some potions."

"Already?" - Zoe said surprised. It hadn't been long since the last time she had sold them to him and they weren't few.

Mark understood Zoe's surprise, but because of the events at Knossos, he'd lost most of them.

"To be honest, I don't know how many I have left, I haven't had much time to prepare them, is that okay?"

"Better than nothing." -Mark said with a shrug.

Mark asked her if it was possible to have them the same day, since the next day he would start checking the red light district. Besides, having nothing to do, he didn't mind going in person. Obviously, Zoe had to give her permission, but the latter didn't seem to have a problem and they started heading toward the Hestia Familia residence.

The two walked quietly, exchanging several words. From what Zoe had told him, the reason she was trying to save money was that she was preparing for her next alchemy exam and the tuition fee was way beyond what she could afford at the time.

The two continued to talk without any awkward silence. They could be defined as a sort of friends after spending a week together in the dungeon, increasing the understanding they had towards each other.

Being nearby, the duo soon arrived at the Hestia Familia residence, but as soon as they entered the gates, Mark could hear the sound of hammering coming from a small building located in the courtyard and could guess who was at work.

"Looks like Welf is getting busy." - Commented Mark.

"Yeah, and I indeed appreciate his passion, but when I'm making delicate potions, he has to warn me when he's about to hammer, or like this morning, I risk losing materials worth tens of thousands of valis due to the sudden noise." -Even though she was smiling, Mark could feel the chill behind every word.

"Oh? If it's not Mark, how's it going?"

"Everything is fine... what did you do to your eye instead?"

As Zoe and Mark talked in the courtyard, Welf seemed to have overheard them, and he came out of the building where he was working. He cheerily greeted Mark, but as Mark pointed out, in addition to looking tired, Welf had a visible black eye.

"This… I fell…"

Mark could swear Welf had looked at Zoe before responding frantically.

"Oh, Welf you have to be more careful. Anyway, since I have to go get

Mark some potions, why won't you let him sit inside? I bet Bell will be happy to see him."

"Y-Yes you're right." -Welf said stammering.

After giving him a momentary smile, Zoe entered the villa and only then did Welf breathe a sigh of relief.

"Mark, I'll give you some advice. Don't let her cute looks fool you, once she's angry she has no mercy for anyone." -Welf said trembling.

Mark opened his mouth briefly but closed it quickly. When he thought about it carefully, Zoe might seem relatively docile but when she fought, she didn't hesitate to fire her spells, especially when she felt challenged.

With a dejected air, Welf accompanied Mark inside and after passing several corridors, they arrived at the central hall, where Bell, Lili, and Yamato were studying some papers on the large table, while Hestia was not present.

"We have a visitor."

The three were surprised by his presence but greeted him happily anyway.

"Nice to see you, but you don't look so well."

As Mark could see, they all looked tired.

"Heavy night." - They said in chorus, starting to pique Mark's curiosity about what had happened.

"I hope I didn't disturb you then."

"Nonono, nothing like that. We were just studying the 19th to 24th floors." Bell said quickly.

"Oh, the Large Tree Labyrinth. An area with problematic terrain, but compared to the next floors, it is paradise."

"Right, Mr. Mark went on an expedition to the depths of the dungeon together with his Familia." -Lili said remembering.

"One question Mark, how are the floors starting at the Lower Floors?" - Bell asked full of curiosity about the adventure.

Together with Eina, he had begun to study the dungeon, but the one described in a book was different from the one told by someone who had lived it in person.

Mark briefly recounted how he experienced the exploration. He told of the beauty of the Water City (from the 25th to 27th floor) with the huge waterfall that seemed to fall into the void and the difficulty of facing monsters in water areas. He also explained that from that point, it had become almost impossible for him to fight and that much preparation and a strong group were needed to explore such areas.

"I can't wait to be able to explore such places." -Bell said jealously, making the others smile.

"I brought tea."

As they chatted quietly, someone entered the room making Mark turn around.

'A maid?'

Besides being surprised by the presence of a maid, Mark could once again confirm that the world he lived in had serious problems with balancing beauty. The girl had long golden hair, green eyes, and tail and ears of the renard race, moreover, she had a graceful bearing, which combined with her delicate face, it was difficult not to define her as a beauty.

"You are..." -Mark asked.

"She is Haruhime, a new member of the Familia." - Zoe said as soon as she arrived.

"Uh, I wanted to do the introductions." - Bell said despondently.

"My pleasure, Mark Tormeto." -Said Mark with a nod of his head, since the girl was still holding the tray, but even after a few seconds, there was no answer.

"Haruhime, are you okay?" - Zoe asked waving her hand in front of Haruhime, but it was still stuck staring at Mark.

'Wait, her aura is familiar.'

Although it was difficult to explain, Mark could also distinguish people by their aura, because even if similar, each aura had a particular characteristic. For example, Haruhime's one moved gently and he was sure he's seen something similar in the past.

[Host is right, this girl has the same aura as the hooded figure in Melen]

"!" -Now he understood why it was so familiar.

"We have already met in Melen, haven't we?" -When he asked, the others looked at him confused, while Haruhime's tail and ears perked up seeing that she was recognized.

"What are you talking about?" - Lili asked.

"I should be the one asking the questions, I didn't expect you to take a former member of the Ishtar Familia."

At Mark's words, silence fell in the room, but there was one thing he didn't understand. He had read about the various members of the Ishtar Familia but hadn't seen anyone like her on the list.

"W-What are you saying Mark, w-why would a member of the Ishtar Familia come to us?" -Bell said stammering.

"I-Indeed! Haruhime-dono is an old acquaintance of mine!" -Yamato shouted hurriedly.

The others also dynamically joined in to convince him that Haruhime had no connection to the Ishtar Familia, causing the cogs in Mark's head to start spinning.

'They say they did something last night and coincidentally that same night the Ishtar Familia collapsed. Also by chance, the only unregistered member of the Ishtar Familia joined them. Finally, the reason the Freya Familia attacked, was that the goddess Ishtar took something important from her, which I assume was Bell…'

The more he connected the dots, the crazier his idea became, but there was an actual connection between them.

"Mine may seem like a crazy question, but do you happen to have anything to do with what happened in the red light district?"

"..."

Their silence was louder than any statement.

(Soon after.)

"You guys are crazy." - Mark said without words after hearing the whole story.

The story began years earlier in the Far East, a large island detached from the continent. There the young Haruhime, who at the time was part of a local noble family, and the members of the Takemikazuchi Familia, then small, quickly made friends, however, that happy time did not last long. A few years later, Haruhime was framed for a crime she didn't commit and was banished by the head of the family, who sold her to a merchant.

From there, Haruhime's life was a succession of misfortunes. The carriage that the merchant was driving was attacked by monsters and the latter didn't hesitate to run away leaving Haruhime there, but the girl still managed to save herself, but it didn't end there. Later, she was captured by bandits and sold to a brothel in Orario and after she attracted the interest of the goddess Ishtar, she joined her Familia.

And now the part about the last days.

Apparently, Yamato found her friend who had been lost for years working in a brothel and wanted to help her, but in doing so she was discovered by the others who joined her. Initially, they wanted to buy her, but the goddess Ishtar didn't want to leave her and from there, various clashes began between the two Familias, which ended the night before, in which the goddess Ishtar wanted to sacrifice Haruhime in a ritual to empower the members of her Familia.

"Sorry for the rudeness I showed earlier Mark-sama." -Haruhime said with a polite bow.

"Forget it, it's normal that you were surprised, but more than anything, I'm sorry for your bad luck."

"Maybe for the past, but I've found the place I can call home." -She said with a happy smile, slightly embarrassing the others.

'It's so huh.' - Mark thought, wondering when he too will be able to experience something similar.

"So Mark-dono, would it be possible to keep it a secret?" -Yamato asked with a pleading air.

If word got out, a lot of trouble would arise and they would see that Haruhime had entered the city illegally.

"Don't worry about that, my mouth is closed. Anyway, I think it's time I to go, and thanks for the potions Zoe." -Said Mark seeing that it was already dark outside.

"Not at all, I'm slightly embarrassed by the quantity."

In fact, Zoe only brought three potions of healing and one of pain resistance, both of which were grade E.

Mark was getting ready to be ushered out by Zoe when he wanted to be sure of one thing.

"Haruhime, have you ever seen the goddess Ishtar holding a silver spherical object, which has the symbol of an eye on it?"

"...! I think so. It was a few months ago, but I caught a glimpse of the item you mentioned."

"Do you know where she could keep it?"

"Give me a second."

Everyone's attention focused on her as she began to write quickly on a sheet and then handed it to Mark.

"I've written how to get to various places and secret rooms where she may have put it, sadly I don't know anything else." - She said apologetically.

"This is already a lot." -Said Mark thanking her.

"What is the object you are looking for?" - Lili asked curiously.

"Trust me, the less you know the better. Let's just say Ishtar made a lot of stupid decisions."

With that ambiguous answer, he left everyone with unresolved curiosity and walked to the exit of the residence with Zoe.

"So... nothing to say?" - She asked with an intriguing smile once they got out.

"What?" - Mark said confused.

"Come on, I'm talking about Haruhime."

"So?"

"Didn't you notice? Your gaze wandered over her constantly." - Zoe said amused.

'Really?' -Mark thought without words.

[I'd say about every two to four seconds.]

"Whatever you are imagining is not so."

"Ehhh, so why were you staring at her?" - Zoe asked not believing him.

"Haaa, she looks like someone I know." - He said with heavy air.

The color of her eyes, hair, and hairstyle was identical to Selene's, for that reason, he tended to look at her subconsciously.

"I doubt there is anyone like her, pretty, polite, and beautiful too. I think you'd be good together." - Zoe said trying to persuade him.

Even though Zoe hadn't known Mark for a long time, she had noticed one thing and that was that Mark didn't seem to care much about what was happening around him, but that day was different. She had first noticed Mark showing interest in someone, so Zoe had an idea.

If she helped Mark get closer to Haruhime, she hoped their trust would increase, making it easier to ask for his help with her memories. But what she didn't know, was that she was touching a sensitive point of Mark.

"Zoe, stop it."

'…Ah, I made a mistake.' -Thought Zoe looking at Mark.

Mark at that moment was looking at her with extreme annoyance and it was easy to understand from his tone of voice and his expression that she had touched on a topic she shouldn't have.

"Sorry." - Zoe said in a low voice.

"…Sorry if I raised my voice, have a good night."

With that uncomfortable atmosphere, the two parted ways after exchanging those words.

(Later.)

"Haaa, she had to bring up such a topic." - Mark spoke to himself, as he quickly crossed the city, jumping from one building to another.

[The host should focus on the goal he has set at the moment.]

"You are right too." -Answered Mark, stopping on a roof of a building.

In front of him lay the red light district and just as he had heard, it looked like a miniature city, with walls surrounding the entire area. But his gaze was on the rubble of a huge building that stood in the center.

The decision Mark made was dangerous. He had decided to explore the areas indicated by Haruhime by himself mainly for two reasons. The first was that it was closer to the red quarter than the base of the Loki Familia and the second was the time. He wasn't sure how much the Evilus and the goddess Ishtar communicated; therefore, if they already knew the location of the key, his Familia was at a disadvantage.

'They cannot have that key.'

As long as the Evilus remained active, expeditions were practically impossible and his growth would decrease accordingly. Luckily he used to bring his own equipment, but there was a problem.

"If I'm seen here, my reputation will collapse."

Initially, he believed that the whole area had been destroyed, but it seemed that the damage was concentrated only in the inner area, where the Ishtar Familia resided. Instead, the outdoor area was mostly untouched, with various pink lights decorating the area and bustling with the activity of people wanting to have some fun at the various brothels or casinos.

Lifting the hood he had attached to his armor, he walked towards his objective, the former residence of the Ishtar Familia.