Chapter 36 : A Big Loss

Twelve hours earlier.

Ishtar gathered all the adventurers who were assigned to kidnap Kazuma at their home. Their home name is Belit Babili—meaning "Godly Brothel of the Mistress." Although the Ishtar Familia was technically an exploration-type familia, they also operated a brothel business. In fact, they owned so many that nearly half of the brothels in the entertainment district belonged to Ishtar Familia.

"I am very disappointed in all of you!"

All the adventurers assigned to kidnap Kazuma lowered their heads, not daring to meet Ishtar's gaze directly. These adventurers were all Amazonesses with high levels and prominent positions within the familia.

"Phryne, it's been over two weeks since I ordered you to kidnap Kazuma. And yet, you still haven't done it?"

"I-Istar-sama, there's a reason for that," Phryne replied, a bit nervously.

"Hooo… then explain it to me."

"For the past two weeks, Aqua Familia hasn't entered the dungeon at all. Even worse, they haven't left Twilight Manor during that time."

For the past two weeks, Phryne had divided the Amazoness group into two teams. The first team, consisting of those at level 3 and above, waited in front of the dungeon to intercept Aqua Familia's arrival. Meanwhile, the level 2 Amazonesses stayed near Twilight Manor, ready to alert the dungeon team if Aqua Familia set out. But unfortunately, they had wasted two full weeks on this effort.

"That's right, Ishtar-sama. We've been stationed in front of the dungeon and around Twilight Manor for the past two weeks, waiting for him. The guild even started to get suspicious of our activities."

During these two weeks, Aqua Familia hadn't left Twilight Manor at all—or at least not in any usual way. Each night, Kazuma and Megumin would secretly leave Twilight Manor to practice explosion magic, but there was no way for the Ishtar Familia to know this, as the two traveled back and forth using teleportation magic.

"You're all full of excuses. In that case, sneak into Twilight Manor and kidnap that man!"

"But Ishtar-sama, if we're discovered by the guild, it'll endanger our entire plan. Besides, this is no different than declaring war on Aqua Familia. The guild won't let us get away with it,"

Aisha spoke up, sharing her opinion. She was somewhat opposed to Ishtar's idea, not out of fear, but because she was worried her comrades would face punishment from the guild for such a reckless plan.

In Orario, large-scale conflicts between familias are generally forbidden. However, this doesn't stop various familias from clashing with one another. Adventurers tend to have rough, battle-hungry personalities, and forbidding them from fighting is as difficult as asking an alcoholic to stop drinking.

Especially if the familias who are in conflict are powerful and influential familia, the guild has limited means to stop them. The harshest punishment they can impose is a fine or a temporary ban on dungeon entry. However, the guild can't permanently ban a major familia from the dungeon, as they still need the strength of these familias to keep dungeon monsters under control.

"I don't care. they're just a small, weak familia. Look at their war game against Loki Familia. They only resorted to such cheap tricks because they're weak."

"But… still," Aisha tried to protest.

"Aisha, just be quiet. If you're too scared, you don't need to come!"

Phryne interrupted Aisha before she could continue. She was irritated by Aisha's caution, viewing it as cowardice—even though, truthfully, Phryne never liked Aisha from the start.

"Ishtar-sama, does this mean we're allowed to attack Aqua Familia without worrying about the consequences?"

"Yeah, Phryne, do as you please. But if you can manage it without causing a scene, then do that!"

"Understood, Ishtar-sama. Leave it to me."

After receiving her orders, Phryne turned her gaze from Ishtar to the adventurers standing before her.

"Listen up, all of you! I don't need weak adventurers. Gather every available level 4 adventurer and have them report to me!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

The adventurers quickly obeyed Phryne's command, hurrying off to locate any level 4 adventurer around the entertainment district. It didn't take long before the level 4 adventurers of Ishtar Familia assembled in front of her.

Surprisingly, there weren't many level 4 adventurers in the Ishtar Familia. Their numbers could still be counted with two hand. Although almost all of Ishtar Familia's members were Amazonesses, their focus on the brothel business meant their overall strength was much lower compared to major familias like Freya Familia and Loki Familia, which focused solely on the individual strength of their adventurers.

Most of the Amazonesses in Ishtar Familia only reached level 3, with only a handful advancing to levels 4 or 5. The familia was considered a major one solely because of its strong influence in the entertainment district.

...

It was already midnight.

Phryne, along with the five other level 4 adventurers, began making their way toward Twilight Manor quietly. Phryne believed that six people would be enough to sneak into Twilight Manor and abduct Kazuma without being detected. Even if a fight broke out, she was confident that she could defeat Aqua Familia with the adventurers she led.

"Hmph, just as I expected from a small familia, they don't have any guards at all."

The group led by Phryne finally arrived at Twilight Manor after carefully making their way from the entertainment district. The six of them easily infiltrated Aqua Familia's base from the rear without raising any alarms.

"Eh? What's this? Are there a bunch of human babies buried in the ground?"

After walking for a few more steps, they came across a garden that looks so lively that it no longer seemed fitting to call it a garden. It would be more accurate to call it an orphanage, as there were a lot of Tranquility Girls that looks like baby human here.

The six of them approached the Tranquility Girls who were playing with one another. As they got closer, they noticed clearly that what they were seeing weren't human babies at all.

"Wait… these aren't human babies, these are plant monsters!"

One of the adventurers quickly realized that each of the baby-like figures buried in the ground had a small sprout growing from the top of their heads.

"Tch, it seems Aqua Familia isn't just an ordinary familia. They're boldly raising plant monsters in a place like this. Let's hurry up and kidnap Kazuma. If you run into any other members of the familia, don't hesitate to kill them."

Phryne didn't want to delay their plan any longer just because of these plant monsters. She immediately ordered the adventurers she led to move out. But before they could take a single step, the Tranquility Girls spoke up.

"We're not monsters."

"Sister, let's play!"

"Sister, let's be friends!"

The Tranquility Girls, who naturally had a two-faced nature, acted like cute and helpless babies.

"Kyaaa, they're so cute!"

"What is this? I feel like my motherly instincts are kicking in."

"I just want to protect them."

The adventurers from Ishtar Familia approached the Tranquility Girls with a blank expressions, as if they were hypnotized by Tranquility Girls.

"Ooiiii... what are you doing? They're monsters!"

Phryne shouted, noticing the strange behavior of her comrades and trying to stop them, but it was no use.

"Tch, useless,"

Phryne muttered, then snapped.

"In that case…."

Phryne couldn't allow her comrades to be controlled like this by the monsters. She clenched her fist and threw it at one of the nearby Tranquility Girls.

"Beautiful sister over there, do you want to kill me?"

But her hand stopped just before it touched the Tranquility Girl's face. Seeing the pitiful expression on the Tranquility Girl's face made Phryne feel something very uncomfortable in her heart. She felt that killing the monster in front of her was something terribly wrong.

"Sister, am I a monster?"

"Ugh..."

"Even if I am a monster, would you still want to be my friend?"

"..."

Phryne could only remain silent, unable to answer the questions from the Tranquility Girls. Her fist, which was originally filled with the intent to kill, slowly loosened and lost its strength.

"Sister, you can kill me. But I hope that after I'm reborn as a human, I'll be your friend in my next life."

"Uwaaaah... there's no way I can kill you!"

Phryne suddenly burst into tears, overwhelmed by an immense feeling of guilt. She threw herself forward and embraced the Tranquility Girls, along with the other adventurers. The six adventurers from Ishtar Familia forgot their original mission and sat quietly beside the Tranquility Girls.

The Tranquility Girls, in turn, caused them to lose consciousness, slowly draining their life energy until they were on the verge of death. Just as the adventurers were nearing the brink of death, the Tranquility Girls revealed their true faces.

"HAHAHAHAHA... I'LL SEND YOU GUYS TO HELL!!!"

"HOW DARE YOU TRY TO HARM AQUA-SAMA!"

"YOU WILL DIE IN EXCRUCIATING PAIN!"

Despite their innocent appearance, the Tranquility Girls had a very cruel nature. They deceived the adventurers, making them feel guilty for wanting to kill them, then slowly drained the adventurers' life energy until they died. But before the adventurers passed away, they had a nasty habit of revealing their true faces to those who realized they were about to die. They did this because they took pleasure in destroying the morale of those adventurers.

"AAAAAAAAH!!!"

"HELP!!!"

"PLEASE, HELP ME!!!"

At that moment, Ishtar Familia lost their six strongest adventurers.

…..

"AAAAAAH!!!"

Ishtar, who had been waiting for Phryne's success along with the other members of her familia, suddenly stood from her throne and screamed loudly.

"Ishtar-sama, what's wrong?"

Aisha asked Ishtar.

"They failed, they're all dead!"

Ishtar clutched her head with both hands. Her expression was filled with panic and doubt. As a goddess, she could feel that the six adventurers she had sent to Twilight Manor were dead. The Falna she had granted them had disappeared. It was clear—when a Falna granted by a god or goddess vanishes, it can only mean one thing, the adventurers had died.

"Impossible!!"

"Ishtar-sama, is this for real?"

"Aqua Familia only has 3 adventurers, and their strongest adventurer is only level 2!"

One by one, the adventurers of Ishtar Familia showed their shock. Although deep down, they knew that what Ishtar said was true, they still couldn't believe that their strongest adventurers had died just like that.

"Tch, I can't accept this."

Ishtar clenched her hands so tightly that they bled. She couldn't accept the reality that her six strongest adventurers had died all at once.

"What should we do, Ishtar-sama?"

Aisha took the initiative to ask Ishtar. She was very worried that Ishtar would act recklessly again and cause more of her familia members to die, just like what had happened earlier.

"Continue with the plan. I still want you to capture Kazuma. Stay around Twilight Manor, and kidnap any member of Aqua Familia who leaves the manor. We'll use them as leverage to force Kazuma to surrender himself!"

Losing her six strongest adventurers was a devastating blow to Ishtar. It would significantly affect her plan to confront Freya.

Even worse, Ishtar couldn't allow the news of this failure to spread throughout Orario. If it did, it would reveal that they had been planning to attack Aqua Familia. Furthermore, the reputation of Ishtar Familia would suffer greatly, as it would be known that their adventurers had died trying to attack a weak familia.

The only thing Ishtar could do now was hide the news of the deaths of her six strongest adventurers. Because if the news spread, other familias who have grudges against Ishtar Familia would seize the opportunity to attack them. That's why Ishtar was so angry now, unable to control her emotions. She decided to target not just Kazuma, but the entire Aqua Familia.

(To Be Continued)