Night in Orario

"Nice to meet you, Chloe-san." Ash greeted and slightly lowered his head.

"Likewise Nya~. Now then, with the pleasantries out of the way, follow me Nya!~"

Chloe invited and gestured her hand before turning inside the pub, leading them to one of the two vacant tables at a corner.

"So, what can I get for the three of you?" Arriving at their table and after taking a seat, Chloe asked.

"I'll have a steak and a glass of ale!"

"Make that two, please."

"I'll have the fresh vegetable salad, spaghetti, and a glass of mead, Chloe-san."

"Umu, umu. Is there anything else Nya~?" Chloe nodded and made a mental note on each of their orders.

And when she saw them shake their heads, she said, "Okay then. I'll be right back Nya~"

Chloe did a slight bow to them and went away but didn't take too long and came back in just a few minutes.

With her, came another bubbly cat person with brown hair, eyes, and tail, wearing the same waitress uniform, carrying a tray of drinks.

And after a brief introduction and chitchat that was quickly followed by another awkwardness when Ash pulled down his scarf slightly downward,-

the trio, somehow, got to enjoy their meal despite a brief awkwardness before bidding each other 'Goodbye' and parted ways.

---

[8:30 PM]

Just several hours had gone by after the trio parted and went on their own ways. Raul and Lefiya towards their Familia Mansion, while Ash was on a quest of his own...

"Haaa~ Can someone tell me why each and every inn in this city is full!?"

He muttered exasperatedly while treading in the dark streets with barely any illumination of the southeastern part of Orario.

He had been on the streets and visited all of the inns, known and unknown for quite a while now, and still wasn't able to find a place to settle down for the night.

He had even been around the edges of Orario just to try his luck but still got nothing.

Heck, he even thought of going to the red-light district when he accidentally passed by previously just so he could find a place for the time being but decided against it.

Who knew how Erethel would take it and might end up nuking the whole place just because he did when he could go home and sleep in the arms of his wife.

But while walking around aimlessly, he suddenly heard his wife's words and giggling...

'Fufufu~ and what are you moping around for? Come home then and let's cuddle.'

'Oh, hey Hun... yeah~ I was actually planning to do that after I find a place. You know, a cover to avoid any unwanted attention and stuff.' Ash said to her.

'You don't really need to do that. But hey, it's up to you. I'll wait for you here~' Erethel said with her usual playful tone.

'Yeah, let's have fun later...' Ash said while smiling.

'Oh~ I can't wait. Thinking about the 'fun' we'll be having makes my heart beat wildly already~... Would you like Alfia to join us?~ Fufufu~'

Upon hearing her words, he was speechless and could only shake his head while a thin smile appeared on his face...

'...Honestly, you and your shenanigans...'

'Fufufu~ anyway... See you in a bit, dear~'

'Alright...'

"Well, I'm too tired to continue. I'll just find a place tomorrow. Now, I guess I'll find a secluded alley or somewhere no one could see me and teleport back home..."

Ash muttered to himself after the brief conversation he just had with his wife.

Finally making a decision and taking a turn around a couple of blocks around the corner, he found himself in a cramped but wide residential area.

"Hmm... this should be the slums, I guess."

A few words came out of his mouth and quickly recognized the place where he was after seeing the poor architecture of the houses and its dull ambiance.

'This place seems... weird.' he thought feeling something was not right as soon as he stepped foot in the area.

He specifically didn't know what or who was causing it but he just had that eerie feeling that made him uncomfortable.

However, he ended up shrugging it off and threw the thought at the back of his mind.

Not halting his steps and finding a narrow and dark passageway around the corner, he was about to tell 'Wise' to open a portal to home but...

"Hey, you there! Stop!"

A sudden crisp and feminine yell came from behind him which prompted him to abruptly stop his steps and turned towards where the yell came from.

And as soon as he did, he saw three young ladies with each of their own unique appearances hurrying towards him.

Each of them was holding torches on each of their hand while the other hand was gripping their weapons, ready to strike at any moment.

From how they walk, their pace, and their cautiousness, Ash could feel and see that they were a bit uneasy while looking at him.

'Run the appraisal on all three of them...' he said to 'Wise' in his thought while seeing them getting closer and closer to him...

[*Appraising...

Name: ???

Level: 3

Age: 18

Race: Pallum

Job: Adventurer*]

[*Appraising...

Name: ???

Level: 4

Age: 19

Race: Human

Job: Adventurer*]

[*Appraising...

Name: ???

Level: 3

Age: 15

Race: Human

Job: Adventurer*]

'Hmm... they're fairly powerful. They even have a level four.' Ash thought inwardly as soon as the appraisal was done.

'What could they possibly be doing here? Patrolling?' He continued to think while he was finally approached by them, face to face.

"Uh... Hello there. Is there anything I can do for you ladies?" he greeted in a polite tone and asked while eyeing the three of them.

Although, for a moment, they didn't respond and had not even said a single word but just stared at him.

But not a moment longer, after a brief silence, the pink short-haired baby-faced charming lady was the first to speak and stepped forward whom Ash recognized as a Pallum.

She was wearing a black spaghetti strap tank top underneath a white sort-of off-shoulder shirt with buttons;

A brown leather belt on her hip with a maroon/white-colored cloth akin to a skirt attached to it over the black short tights, revealing her smooth and slender thighs.

"We're from the Astraea and Ganesha Familia. Who are you? and what are you doing here?" she introduced briefly and asked with a hint of aggressiveness in her tone.

Ash was speechless and didn't respond right away. His brows just frowned for a moment due to her aggressiveness.

Although he wasn't upset by her tone and how she asked him, he couldn't say that it was a pleasant start to their conversation either. In the end, he only sighed and was about to speak but...

*Clap!* *Clap!*

"Ma~ ma~ you didn't have to be that blunt and aggressive you know, Lyra..."

The long black-haired beautiful and elegant looking woman, about 167 cm tall, wearing a traditional kimono suddenly clapped her hands and spoke in a lax tone while smiling,-

easily dispersing the uneasy atmosphere between the four of them.

"Humph! It's not wrong to be too careful you know. Who knows, he might be a member of Evilus..." the pink-haired Pallum huffed and said to the black-haired lady.

"Ah- ahaha... Still, Lyra-san. It would be proper for us to introduce ourselves first before we ask questions, right?"

"Ardi is right, Lyra. We should introduce ourselves first." the kimono beauty nodded at the last woman whose name was Ardi, acknowledging her words.

She then turned her eyes towards Ash while wearing a thin smile on her lips and did an elegant bow before introducing herself...

"Nice to meet you, Stranger-san. I'm Gojouno Kaguya, a level four from the Astraea Familia..."

She then turned towards the Pallum pinky who was looking sideways while crossing her arms...

"This one here is Lyra. A level three, also from the Astraea Familia. And last but not the least-"

Before the kimono beauty who's now identified as Gojouno Kaguya could introduce the last female...

"Hello! I'm Ardi Varma. A level three from the Ganesha Familia."

Ardi, the short slate-blue colored hair cheerfully introduced herself to Ash with a wide smile.

With the uneasy atmosphere dissipated and after a brief introduction, Ash finally knew the identity of the three ladies before him and introduced himself politely as well...

"Nice to meet the three of you. My name's Ash Alfheim. I'm the sole member of a Familia outside Orario and currently a level three..."

Ash also did a bow and introduced himself formally as a show of courtesy before seemingly pulling something behind him...

"I just arrived here today from Melen. Here are my identifications." he proceeded while stretching out his hand along with the proof of his identity.

"I see..."

Kaguya said while still having a bit of suspicion clearly written on her face. Ardi and Lyra on the other hand were taking their time checking and validating his papers and ID.

Seeing no issues with his papers and ID, and after handing the identifications back to him, Lyra suddenly asked...

"And why are you covering your face with a scarf?"