But the instant she said it.
Ryu realized exactly what she had just said.
Damn it all!
What on earth had just come out of her mouth?!
Under normal circumstances, that kind of vulgar, utterly graceless word — the sort that drunken dwarves or rough-edged adventurers threw around at the Hostess of Fertility after one too many — would make her reflexively wrinkle her nose. She would feel as though her ears had been dirtied just by hearing it.
And yet. That word had just come flying out of her own mouth.
And what was worse.
She had said it in front of a god.
This was a catastrophe.
"Ugh——!"
The moment the word replayed itself in her mind, Ryu's cheeks flushed to the colour of an overripe tomato — visibly, undeniably, in real time — and that stunning crimson spread all the way to the very tips of her long, pointed elven ears.
Both hands flew up to claw at her face, fingers twisting together, breath coming in ragged gulps, chest heaving violently.
Those sky-blue eyes of hers were open about as wide as they could physically go.
After all, she had come here with every intention of putting on this pure-white dress and offering a sincere, heartfelt apology to clear up the misunderstanding with this god.
And yet the misunderstanding hadn't even been resolved yet. She had gone and smashed up someone's shop. She had shown this completely mortifying side of herself.
And now, to top it all off, she had personally said that word — out loud — directly to a god's face.
This was an absolute, total, unmitigated disaster.
Somebody, please.
If there were a sharp short sword anywhere nearby, she would genuinely rather run herself through with it than stand here and face this humiliation.
"There's no need to be so tense, Miss Elf."
Watching Ryu's reaction dissolve into even greater flustered helplessness, Haimer did not press his advantage. He had no intention of twisting the knife further with words when she had already collapsed into complete disarray. He knew exactly where to stop.
"Through all the time we have spent together, I have come to trust Miss Elf's character."
"Which is precisely why I have no wish to see Miss Elf driving herself to the point of working herself to the bone, day and night, over an accidental repair bill."
"Furthermore, since Miss Elf has already agreed to come to my base every morning and help with cleaning, that constitutes an arrangement between us. A kind of contract."
"As the other party to that contract, please consider the repair costs simply as something I have advanced on your behalf."
"We have a great deal of time ahead of us. Miss Elf has more than enough opportunity to repay it gradually through your work. There is absolutely no need to carry any great burden over it."
With that, Haimer raised one hand slightly, pressing his palm gently downward, gesturing for Ryu to relax.
Hearing those words, the flush had not fully faded from Ryu's face — but the frantic alarm in her eyes had visibly, measurably receded.
Because, after all — after these past few days spent in his company, she had formed a preliminary impression of Haimer.
She had always assumed, up until now, that all gods except for Astria-sama were beings of lofty remove who had descended to the Lower World for nothing more than their own amusement and pleasure.
But after spending this time with this particular god, his generosity and his genuine warmth had caught her completely off guard.
She really did want to properly introduce this god to Astria-sama someday.
That thought drifting through her mind, Ryu pressed her lips lightly together and gave the tiniest of nods — almost imperceptible.
She let out a single quiet sound from her nose — a low, muffled hum — and accepted the arrangement.
…..
"Very well."
And with that, having confirmed that Ryu's emotions had at last stabilised somewhat, Haimer turned around and brought his gaze back to the nervous shop assistant still standing behind the counter.
"My apologies for taking up your time."
"Regarding the damages to the shop, I would ask you to please tally up the total at your convenience."
"Once you have calculated the precise amount in Valis, please send the invoice directly to the Guild — and hand it to Miss Eina Tulle at the counter."
"Inform her that it is an expense under the Haimer Familia account."
"She will see to it properly."
At that, Haimer gave a small, light shake of his head.
"Come to think of it, her dedication to her work is really quite excessive. This kind of tedious invoice-tallying is precisely the sort of task I can assign to her."
"It will give her the satisfaction of knowing she has genuinely helped me with something — and keep her from wearing herself out at the Guild chasing down every scrap of Dungeon intelligence that may or may not lead anywhere."
"Very well."
Hearing Haimer's instructions, the shop assistant who had been rigid with anxiety finally let out a long breath of relief.
She didn't know what the Guild's Eina Tulle looked like in person. But with the Guild itself acting as intermediary and guarantor — and with the other party having so readily provided the name of the person responsible — there was no chance that substantial repair bill was going anywhere.
Reassured, the shop assistant nodded repeatedly and hurriedly produced a sheepskin ledger, snatching up a quill and beginning to scratch figures across it.
Ryu stood to one side and watched quietly as Haimer sorted through all of this with methodical calm.
She was keenly aware that the sum involved was no small amount.
After all, even just the high-end pure-white dress she was currently wearing as a fitting — if it had to be compensated at full retail price — would swallow up the better part of an entire year's worth of hard-earned savings.
To say nothing of the load-bearing wall with its spider-web of cracks, or the shattered wooden clothes racks strewn across the floor.
Thinking this, Ryu pressed her lips together, her conscience simply unable to let it rest. She drew a deep breath, brought her feet together, turned toward Haimer, bent at the waist, and bowed — a deep, correct, formal bow.
"I will do everything in my power to repay this debt to Kami-sama through my labour."
"Yes. I believe you." Haimer gave a single nod.
And with that, the chaos that had erupted from a simple change of clothes — the smashing, the destruction, the entire sorry spectacle — had, more or less, finally drawn to a close.
During the time Haimer had spent settling the invoice, Chloe and Lunor had also finally finished delivering Anya's punishment.
Anya had been thrashed to the point where she couldn't even groan anymore.
Only then did the two of them shake out their hands and haul themselves, panting, back to their feet.
Chloe brushed the dust off her uniform, then turned around and swept a quick gaze around the hall.
The clothes racks on the floor were in complete disarray. Several of the fitting room curtains had been left hanging open.
Her green pupils contracted slightly.
"…Where's Syr?"
Chloe's tail behind her went still. She glanced around in puzzled confusion.
Lunor quickly turned her head as well, scanning the area behind the counter and the corner where the door had fallen.
"She was definitely hiding behind that rack just a moment ago — how did she vanish?"
"Syr!"
Hearing that Syr had suddenly disappeared, Ryu, who had only just begun to rise from her bow, immediately went rigid and whirled around in a panic, eyes darting across the hall in every direction — searching for that familiar head of blue-grey hair. Finding nothing, a flash of undisguised urgency crossed her gaze.
Just as Ryu's anxiety was spiking.
Creak——
A faint scraping of wood came from the passageway at the back of the shop.
The small wooden door leading out to the rear alley had been pushed open.
Every pair of eyes in the room snapped toward the sound at once.
A figure slipped carefully through the gap in the door.
Blue-grey hair gathered into a simple ponytail.
Soft, delicate features.
When she took in the wreckage across the floor, and then Haimer and Ryu and the others standing in the middle of it, the girl's shoulders gave a visible flinch, and a haze of startled distress washed rapidly across those blue-grey eyes.
Both hands clutched the hem of her apron. Even her footsteps became hesitant.
The very picture of an ordinary girl who had been badly frightened.
That face was exactly as it had always been.
Even the look of alarmed confusion in her eyes — the panic of someone who had just been caught off guard by violence — was performed with complete and utter convincingness.
She took small, careful steps out of the shadow and into the light of the hall, every movement perfectly consistent with an ordinary young woman shaken by the rough scene that had just played out.
"I… I'm here."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"Oh, so you ran out to the back just now, Syr — nya!"
Chloe let out a breath of relief.
Ryu moved even faster — she immediately strode forward, reached out and took hold of Syr's wrist, and looked her over carefully from head to toe. Only once she had confirmed there were no injuries did she finally exhale.
"I'm sorry, Syr. I lost control of myself back there and frightened you."
"It… it's fine, Ryu. I'm alright." Syr replied quietly — and then, over Ryu's shoulder, she cast a slightly shrinking glance at Haimer, who was standing in the centre of the hall.
Haimer stood where he was, his dark eyes resting on the girl who had just stepped in from the back door with the same quiet, even expression as always.
He had no intention whatsoever of exposing her.
Because, after all — in Haimer's field of perception, no illusion could hide.
Even simply standing there, that sovereign understanding of the fundamental nature of all things allowed him to see, the very instant his eyes landed on this girl, the currents of magical energy flowing beneath her surface.
It was a spell that altered one's appearance and presence.
The blue-grey-haired girl now standing before Ryu, receiving Ryu's fussing concern, was not Freya.
It was someone using a transformation magic — specifically:
—[Freya Familia], Lv.2
— "Goddess's Handmaiden": Helen.
CHARACTER
Affiliation: Freya Familia / Race: Human / Occupation: Goddess's Attendant / Deepest Floor Reached: 28F
Weapon: "Rabbit-Killer Knife" / Cursed Tool: "Reverse-Kick of the Rabbit Hunt"
Funds: 14,006,000 Valis
STATUS Lv.2
Strength: H122 / Endurance: H194 / Dexterity: G227 / Agility: H180 / Magic: S998 / Divine Artifact: —
Magic: "Vana Seiðr" / "Thea Karta — False Divine Charter"
Skill: "Vanatis Skjúr — Glamour Ashlight" / "Hel Rune"
A flawless disguise.
Haimer found it quite interesting.
Because Helen's transformation magic was extraordinarily refined — refined enough to deceive a great many of the gods of Orario, provided they were not looking carefully.
But the magical circulation pathways threading through her, and the utterly distinct colour of the soul within — those were perfectly apparent.
Which made the picture clear.
Freya had pulled a substitution trick.
She must have sensed in advance that he would be coming, slipped away, and sent her stand-in to take the stage in her place.
This hide-and-seek game was entirely in keeping with that woman's characteristic taste for mischief.
Still, with the real one absent, Haimer couldn't be bothered to puncture the facade.
With that thought, Haimer kept that same mild expression and met Helen's eyes — those eyes that carried just the faintest trace of probing caution — and gave a small, composed nod. A wordless acknowledgment of a first meeting.
Letting Freya keep this false identity in reserve would, after all, prove useful in any number of situations down the line.
Besides, he had already obtained the magic he had come for.
There was just one small complication.
The sharp-eared little creature lurking outside the shop around the corner had almost certainly caught the scene of the switcheroo playing out inside as well.
That thought settling in his mind, Haimer glanced toward the street outside — without any change in expression.
At that same moment, outside the Velvet Iris, around the corner of the street.
Hestia was still wriggling furiously, trying to wrench herself free from Onigawara Rin and Kikakujou Mary's grip on either side of her.
"Let go of me! You two turncoats!"
Those blue eyes of hers were fixed in a fierce glare at the clothing shop across the way.
"Haimer — that guy just said 'caught my eye,' didn't he!"
"Do you two have any idea what that means?!"
"That shameless, flirtatious elf in there put on something indecent! She's trying to seduce Haimer!"
Hestia's feet scrabbled against the ground. The blue ribbons tied around her arms swung wildly with each thrash, and the magnificent twin peaks on her chest heaved dramatically up and down.
"What do you mean 'turncoats'? We're Haimer-sama's people — of course we're on his side!"
"And besides — Hestia-sama!"
Onigawara Rin clung with all her might to Hestia's left arm. Even as her own compact frame — built through years of daily sword work — was dragged sliding forward several steps, she refused to loosen her grip.
"There was clearly a crashing sound inside just now — something getting smashed."
"Kami-sama obviously went in there to deal with some kind of dispute!"
"If it were that kind of… that kind of thing, how could it possibly sound like someone was tearing down a wall?!"
Rin kept hauling backward, doing her best to talk some sense into this little loli goddess who had clearly plunged headlong into a severe crisis of jealousy.
"That's right, Rin's absolutely correct." Kikakujou Mary, pulling on Hestia's right arm from the other side, was also damp with exertion, her usually pretty face glistening with sweat.
She hadn't expected this.
When a goddess threw a tantrum, the sheer stubborn strength was extraordinary. Even a Lv.2 adventurer had to strain to manage it.
"And the elf is the kind of person with a very rigid personality — there's absolutely no way she would do anything like that in a clothing shop in broad daylight."
"Most likely something unexpected happened, and Kami-sama just said a casual compliment out of politeness to ease the atmosphere."
Rin hurried to explain.
"Personally, I'm fairly certain something extremely interesting went on in there." Amou Kirukiru, however, was leaning against the wall, long legs crossed at the ankle, watching the three of them tangled together with great amusement — not lifting a finger to help pull anyone apart, wearing the expression of someone who had front-row seats to excellent entertainment.
"There's no need to worry, Hestia-sama."
At that point, Inaba Tsukuyo, who had been standing with her eyes closed, listening intently all along, finally spoke and cut through Hestia's struggle.
"I can hear Kami-sama instructing the shop assistant to send the invoice to the Guild, and the elf's voice offering a very formal apology."
"Kami-sama really is just dealing with the damage they caused — the wall and the broken items. Nothing improper has happened."
Hearing Inaba Tsukuyo's words, much of the frantic fight went out of Hestia all at once.
She stopped kicking. She let Onigawara Rin and Kikakujou Mary pull her back behind the corner of the wall.
"It's really just that?"
Still a little suspicious, Hestia leaned out and peered at the clothing shop once more.
The distance was a bit far, but she could just about make out Haimer standing in the centre of the hall, talking to the shop assistants.
It really did look like nothing out of line was happening.
But.
In that moment, memories of Haimer's various romantic escapades from back in the Heavens came flooding back one after another.
A tide of anxiety rose in Hestia's chest. She felt an urgent conviction that she needed to keep a close eye on things — to make absolutely sure Haimer didn't descend to the Lower World only to set off down that same old path of chasing after every skirt in sight, going further and further until there was no coming back.
After all, that was exactly how Haimer had gotten led astray back in those days.
With that thought in mind, Hestia puffed out her cheeks and, unable to help herself, let her gaze drift to the group of young girls Haimer had gathered into his Familia.
---
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