DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Dungeon, Fifth Floor.
While Tatsuo watched the girl in the hooded cloak, Sakura followed his line of sight, her eyes landing on the girl, as well.
"Is there something special about that girl?" Sakura asked quietly enough that only Tatsuo could hear her, despite the fact that the corridor had fallen completely silent with the Ishtar Familia's arrival.
"Maybe." Tatsuo replied, just as quietly. "We'll talk about it when we get home."
Sakura nodded in response before returning her attention to Aisha at the front of the Ishtar Familia crowd.
"This has nothing to do with you, Ankusha." The man at the head of the Apollo Familia group said, his aggressive tone clearly masking the apprehension he was feeling at the moment.
"You'd be right in most cases." Aisha replied with a grin. "But I kinda like the guy you guys are threatening. So, I'm making it my business."
Reaching that point, Aisha turned to look at Tatsuo. Then, she winked as her smile turned seductive. In response, Tatsuo only rolled his eyes in clear disinterest.
"Besides, you're actually lucky I showed up." Aisha said, after giggling at Tatsuo's reaction. "Because if you all had actually attacked, I'm pretty sure you'd be the ones dying here."
"Ha! You must be out of---" The man said in an amused tone.
"[Void Dragon's Roar]." Tatsuo chanted as he raised his hands in a trumpet shape and placed them in front of his mouth while looking at the wall next to the stairway.
In the next instant, a magic circle flared into existence at the end of Tatsuo's hands. Then, he breathed through the space between his hands, and a beam of midnight purple spatial magic power was fired at the wall, piercing through the War Shadow creeping behind the Apollo Familia, and the wall it was standing in front of.
With that, the rest of the man's cutting retort was caught in his throat. At the same time, all the members of the Apollo Familia tightened the grips on their weapons. However, when they realized that no one on their side had been attacked, they all turned towards the place where the [Void Dragon's Roar] struck.
When all the lines of sight focused on the area Tatsuo attacked, they only saw three things. First, there was a puddle of shadow dripping down the wall before it turned into a pile of black ash. Second, a small magic stone fell along the same trajectory as the dripping shadow before softly clinking against the floor. And third, a hole in the wall with shattered pieces falling out of it. And the most surprising thing about those three things was the third.
It was not the fact that there was a hole in the wall that surprised the members of both the Apollo and Ishtar Familias. Any Adventurer over Level 2 was strong enough to damage the walls of the Dungeon. In fact, that was what they did whenever they wanted some time to rest when in the Dungeon. Because the Dungeon prioritized repairing itself over spawning new monsters.
No, the thing that surprised them the most was how the wall was broken. The hole in the wall looked as if it had been shattered like a glass pane. And from what these Adventurers knew, solid stone walls did not shatter like that no matter how hard you hit them.
"So, what were you saying?" Aisha asked with a cheeky grin that hid the surprise she was feeling. "I must be out of my what?"
The man Aisha was talking to, the leader of the Adventurers from the Apollo Familia, could not find his words immediately. Because, at the moment, he was unable to speak at all. Then, after a while, he finally managed to wet his throat by swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
"Nothing," the man said while smiling in a way that was uglier than crying. "I wasn't saying anything. In fact, we weren't here for anything, either. We were just about to head back to the surface, that's all."
"I see," Aisha said while nodding her head. "Well then, you should be on your way. You know, since you were heading back to the surface anyway."
Nodding quickly, the man turned around and signaled for the other members of the Apollo Familia to do the same. But that was the moment when they realized the Amazoness who had been mouthing off earlier was still being held up by a shadow tendril wrapped around her neck.
"Let her go, Sakura-Chan," Tatsuo said calmly. "I really don't wanna deal with the hassle at the moment."
Hearing Tatsuo's order, Sakura nodded softly. Then, she manipulated the shadow to let go of the Amazoness, causing her to fall to the floor on her butt while greedily sucking in large mouthfuls of air. After that, two other members of the Apollo Familia quickly scooped her up, and the whole group hurried up the stairs to the Fourth Floor.
"*Sigh* Although we really didn't need your help, I guess I should thank you, Ankusha." Tatsuo said after he could no longer hear the Apollo Familia's footsteps.
"If you want to thank me, you can treat me to dinner," Aisha said as she sashayed towards Tatsuo.
However, before Aisha could get too close, Sakura's shadows rose in front of her, stopping the Level 3 Amazoness in her tracks.
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to take him all for myself," Aisha said with a smile. She then continued after licking her lips while looking at Sakura. "In fact, I'm perfectly fine with sharing."
Sakura did not respond, only staring at Aisha with a blank gaze. Aisha, on the other hand, after being unable to get a rise from Sakura, clicked her tongue before returning her gaze to Tatsuo.
"*Sigh* You're no fun." Aisha muttered quietly. A moment later, her voice returned to a normal volume, and she spoke to Tatsuo again. "Anyway, I knew you could handle that group of losers with no issue. But what would you do if there was a Level 2 or even the Level 3 captain, Phoebus Apollo, among their ranks."
"I would have managed," Tatsuo replied with a shrug. "I might not have been able to beat them, but no one would have been able to stop us from leaving, either."
Aisha narrowed her eyes at that. At the same time, she carefully studied Tatsuo's expression. Although the statement sounded arrogant as hell, Aisha did not feel that Tatsuo was being arrogant… not completely, at least. Instead, what she saw was confidence. Confidence that stemmed from the fact that Tatsuo knew something that she did not.
Even worse, the little smirk on Tatsuo's face let Aisha know that he had noticed her little epiphany, and he had no intention of letting her in on the secret.
"Seriously, no fun at all," Aisha said with a charming pout. "Anyway, there's always a chance you might come across something that your Familia can't handle. So, why don't we meet up some time and discuss cooperation between our Familias in CLOSE detail some time."
"I might consider bringing that proposal to Lady Aislynn if that frog-faced man eater wasn't your Familia Captain," Tatsuo said with a shrug. "But I've only been in Orario for a little under three weeks and I've already heard what kinda stuff she tends to do to guys. Especially ones as good-looking as me. Oh, and if I have to hear her talk about how beautiful she is, I might get myself killed because I won't be able to react to her attack while I'm throwing up all over myself."
Immediately upon hearing that, every member of the Ishtar Familia froze with their eyes widened in surprise. All of them knew about Phryne's over-inflated ego. They all knew exactly what she did to people who insulted her as ugly. So, to hear a Level 1 say something like that was utterly and completely shocking.
However, the silence that fell over the group did not last long. Because the person among the members of the Ishtar Familia they least expected to make a sound in this situation could not help giggling at Tatsuo's statement before quickly bringing her hands up to cover her own mouth.
Aisha looked back and saw the girl in the hooded cloak frantically trying to stifle her giggles with her hands. Yet, instead of berating her, she smiled softly, the first genuine smile she had shown in the Aislynn Familia's presence. Unfortunately, it disappeared as quickly as it came.
"Well, I guess I can't blame you for thinking that way," Aisha said with a shrug as she turned back to gaze at Tatsuo. "Still, the offer is open. And I'm sure our goddess, Lady Ishtar, would love to meet you as well. And when she does, I'm sure she'd be willing to help the Aislynn Familia with just about anything they might need."
"I'll pass," Tatsuo replied with another shrug. "Besides, I'm sure that anything the Ishtar Familia can do, the Loki Familia can do better."
"Are you sure about that?" Aisha asked while leaning forward, intentionally drawing attention to her rather sizable assets. "I'm pretty sure there's at least one thing they wouldn't be willing to help you with."
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"Oh, I'm sure there would be some willing participants." Tatsuo replied with a cocky smile. "I mean, have you seen me? *Hiss*"
Before Tatsuo could finish, Sakura quietly reached out and pinched his waist, causing him to suck in a sharp breath of air. Though, it was mostly to satisfy Sakura, as she was not nearly strong enough to cause him any real measure of pain.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop," Tatsuo said while turning to look at Sakura with a wry smile. Then, he turned to look at Aisha again before continuing. "Anyway, it's about time for us to head back. Thanks for the help, but we're gonna head home."
"Are you sure you don't want to have dinner with me tonight?" Aisha asked as she leaned a little further forward.
"No, I'm good." Tatsuo replied.
Then, without another word, he turned around and started walking towards the path leading up to the Fourth Floor with Sakura following closely behind him. Meanwhile, Aisha straightened her back and watched the two leave.
"Will Lady Ishtar be okay with this?" Another Amazoness asked after walking to Aisha's side.
"Probably not," Aisha replied while shrugging her shoulders. "But she also told us not to antagonize the Aislynn Familia. So, she probably won't have much to say. Let's just head back to the surface and report to Lady Ishtar. We'll let her decide what to do next."
Hearing that, the other Amazonesses nodded in agreement. Then, they followed Aisha as she, too, headed up the passage to the Fourth Floor.
Meanwhile, the cloaked girl also followed the Amazonesses up toward the surface. However, she could not help thinking about Tatsuo while she walked.
'Strange… Why doesn't that boy give me the same feeling as every other man I've ever met?' the cloaked girl asked herself. 'He doesn't make me feel scared or uncomfortable at all. In fact, I feel really comfortable in his presence. I don't understand what's happening.'
DanMachi Universe, Lower World, Orario.
Along the way back to the surface, Tatsuo and Sakura met up with the other two teams. Then, after leaving the Dungeon, they headed to the Pantheon to turn in their gains for the day. Naturally, they went to Rose, their Familia's advisor, to do so.
In a private room, Rose was looking at all the magic stones and drop items the Aislynn Familia presented for exchange. And while most of it did not raise any ripples in her heart, when she saw the magic stones of the three War Shadows, she could not keep her eyebrows from twitching.
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"What's wrong, Fannett-San?" Sakura asked after a few seconds passed with Rose shifting her gaze between the drops, Tatsuo, and herself.
"You... You went to..." Rose said, not sure how she actually wanted to start this conversation/reprimand. A moment later, after taking a deep breath, she pointed at three of the magic stones in front of Tatsuo and Sakura. "These... These are War Shadow magic stones, correct?"
"That's right." Tatsuo replied with a nod and a smile.
"And although rare, War Shadows only start appearing on the Fifth Floor," Rose continued in an exasperated tone.
Sakura did not reply verbally. However, her nod made it clear that she was following the conversation.
"And how long have the two of you been Adventurers?" Rose asked as her eyes narrowed.
"About three weeks...?" Tatsuo replied while counting on his fingers. "Actually, today should be the sixteenth day. So, less than three weeks, I guess."
Rose found her left eyebrow twitching furiously. The fact that the other members of the Aislynn Familia, namely James, Alfonzo, Elicia, Violet, Aletia, Akatsuki, Zelretch, and Momo, were trying their best to stifle bouts of laughter only made the twitching that much worse.
"And I told you that going past the Fourth Floor should not happen until you have G-Rank Attributes, at the very least, correct?" Rose asked after taking a deep breath to get her irritation under control.
"That's correct, as well," Tatsuo replied with a nod while Sakura nodded along next to him.
"Then... Why!? Am I seeing magic stones from War Shadows in the items you placed on this desk?" Rose asked, her volume fluctuating along with her fluctuating emotions while she fanned her arms at the pile of magic stones and drop items Tatsuo and Sakura deposited on the desk in front of her.
"Because we have G-Rank stats?" Tatsuo asked while tilting his head innocently.
Rose had a lot of things she wanted to say when she heard that. For example, how could a pair of Adventurers raise their Attributes to G-Rank inside a month? There were several other questions along the same vein that she wanted to ask. However, instead of asking any of them, she chose to ask a question from a different direction instead.
"And you didn't think to tell me that earlier?" Rose asked angrily, her raised voice causing her wolf ears to twitch in agitation.
Before responding, Tatsuo and Sakura, both with smiles on their faces, exchanged glances. Then, they looked at Rose together, and in perfect unison, they said,
"Because you didn't ask."
In an instant, every emotion on Rose's face, anger, irritation, shock, disbelief... They all vanished completely, leaving Rose's expression without a hint of emotion. Then, without a word, she packed up all the magic stones the three teams brought back, turned towards the door, and left to process the payment.
"Well, that went better than expected," Tatsuo said with a smile. "I really thought she was gonna start throwing stuff at us for messing with her like that. *Sigh* She really deserves a raise for such professionalism."