Chapter 191

Chapter 192: Could it be that someone took some strange pills today?

Inside the room.

Izay found himself deep in thought.

Suddenly being asked if he had any wishes he wanted to fulfill…he wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

If he only considered his needs, it seemed like he didn’t lack anything at the moment?

Whether it was resources or knowledge, he could obtain them all through his current connections.

As for the desire to grow stronger, that required his own training and time accumulation—it wasn’t something Fels could help him with.

‘I can’t think of what to ask for right now?’

Realizing this situation, Izay couldn’t help but chuckle slightly, almost laughing out loud.

“So, what are you thinking, Ize Alward?”

On the other side of the crystal, Fels, seeing him ponder for a while, asked again.

“Hmm…I haven’t decided yet…” Izay answered honestly.

“—?”

“I don’t seem to need anything special at the moment, so I can’t think of anything right now.”

“…”

Fels fell silent.

He hadn’t expected that someone would give such an answer when faced with the promise of the Guild’s main god.

And then, after thinking for a moment, Izay spoke up again, suggesting, “How about we put this opportunity aside for now? I’ll talk to you once I’ve made up my mind?”

This was at least a free chance to get a promise from the Guild’s main god, and rejecting it outright would be too wasteful. Keeping it for future needs would surely be a great deal!

“This…” On the other side of the crystal, Fels hesitated.

Ultimately, unable to make a decision, he turned his gaze toward the majestic old deity on the altar and sought the deity’s opinion.

“That’s what he said, Uranus, what do you think?”

Fels’ position was just below the steps of the altar, and all the communication they had through the eye crystal had been heard by Uranus.

On the massive divine seat of the altar, the old deity remained as calm and composed as ever, showing no expression.

In response to Fels’ question, he closed his eyes as if in deep thought.

“A not overly excessive request… acceptable.”

Uranus’ response carried a double meaning, which both Fels and Izay could pick up on.

In reality, Uranus knew that since Izay had helped resolve the problem of the Scorpion monster Andarius, all he needed to do was agree to a reasonable request as a reward, making this trade highly profitable.

The scorpion in ancient times was a calamity that could threaten the safety of the lower realms, its habit of draining the life force of all things even more threatening than a black dragon.

At least there were no stories of black dragons destroying countries one day and another region the next…

But the scorpion would!

So overall, Uranus was still coming out ahead.

After all, what Uranus hoped for was the safety of the lower realms.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t sit like a statue on this altar every day, praying to the dungeon and preventing monsters from escaping and causing harm to the surface.

With the main discussion regarding the reward concluded, Fels didn’t waste more of his time and quickly ended the call.

“The final result of the reward discussion is this. What should we do with the Guild, Uranus?”

“With Loyman…just give Izay another commission fee as a cover. You know how to hide it.”

“Alright, I understand.”

After a brief exchange of a few more words, the dark space gradually returned to silence, leaving only the sound of torches crackling on the altar.

…………

At the Guild Headquarters, inside the staff office.

Eina was chatting with her human friend Missia during their free time.

Not long after, she was approached by her beastkin supervisor while taking a break.

“Zul.”

“Supervisor, what’s wrong?”

The tea-haired half-elf blinked, not understanding why her beastkin supervisor had come to her.

She hadn’t been slacking off during work hours, she had finished her tasks with her friend before taking a break to chat.

And in front of her, the canine humanoid male, who wore glasses just like Eina, had an inexplicable…or rather, puzzled expression as he explained his purpose.

“You submitted a feedback report on an adventurer’s quest earlier, and there’s a reply. This is the result from higher-ups. Find time to go to the finance department to prepare the reward, and when Mr. Alward comes here next time, give him the reward.”

“…!?”

Upon hearing her supervisor’s instructions, Eina was stunned on the spot.

“—?” Her companion Missia also had a similar expression.

Just over half an hour ago, Eina had submitted the feedback report for Izay’s Great Sea Tree quest to her supervisor, and she had never expected the result to come back so quickly.

Typically, in cases where “rewards are discussed in detail after the completion of an adventure quest,” the Guild’s upper management would carefully filter them before issuing results.

The rewards might be generous, but it usually took longer.

Normally, it should take two to three days for the results to come out.

And now…less than an hour?

‘—Did the Guild’s higher-ups take some strange pills today?’

‘—Or maybe the priority level of ancient monsters is higher?’

Eina barely managed to hold her slipping glasses as she started daydreaming wildly.

However, while she thought about it in her mind,

on the surface, she still seriously accepted the document from her supervisor.

Upon opening it, Eina immediately froze.

“Two hundred million Valis as quest rewards, plus a mysterious reward from the Guild”

???

A question mark appeared above the half-elf’s head.

Putting aside the generous reward just below the “Top Three Adventurer Quests,” what was this “mysterious reward from the Guild”?

She had never heard of such a thing in all her years at the Guild.

How was she supposed to prepare for this?

“Su-su… Supervisor? This…”

“You don’t have to say anything, I know what you’re going to ask. I don’t know what that mysterious reward is either, but I was told it will be given to Mr. Alward. You don’t need to worry about that, just go to the finance department to collect the money.”

“…Okay, alright.”

The beastkin supervisor had anticipated Eina’s reaction and provided explanations beforehand.

Though full of doubts, Eina could only reluctantly agree.

After all, work had priority now, so she could only suppress her curiosity for now.

Anyway…she’d ask Izay afterward~

…………

Twilight Manor, Bathhouse.

Time gradually approached noon.

The group who had just returned from the dungeon and dove into the faction’s bathhouse suddenly heard an interesting piece of news from their companions.

“Everyone’s saying that Ize came back after completing his quest! Should we visit his room later?”

“The Amazon sister directly threw down her clothes, standing under the showerhead with strong hot water.

“Why bother specially visiting Ize when it’s almost dinner time…”

Compared to the quick-moving Tiona, Refia slowly removed her clothes while muttering.

“Although I feel Refia has some personal feelings, what she said is correct. We’ll be together during dinner anyway, no need to specially look for him. Ais, you think so too, right?”

That was Tione. She completely ignored the little elf’s “I didn’t,” and tossed the topic to Ais.

Removing her leggings and underwear from her legs, Ais went to the shower area listening to their conversation. Her golden eyes blinked, then nodded lightly, “Hmm.”

Chapter 193: Are you really going to claim there’s nothing between you and Artemis?

In the bathroom, four streams of water splashed for a while before stopping.

There was no intention to soak in the stone-built bathtub due to time constraints.

After merely washing away the sweat and some traces left from battle, the four left the bathroom together.

“Oh~! It’s been two months since Ize went on a business trip. I’m going to find him for gifts!”

“Generally speaking, people don’t prepare such things when they return from completing a quest, right?”

“Don’t run so fast, Tiona. Be careful not to bump into anyone!”

“…”

Several rectangular dining tables were set up in the large dining hall.

After taking a bath, Ais and others first returned to their rooms to place their change of clothes, then came here for lunch.

Currently, the large dining hall was quite lively due to Ize’s return.

Even though the members didn’t know what happened in the Great Sea Tree, it didn’t stop them from welcoming their companion back from a distant journey.

What was originally supposed to be a rather ordinary lunch gradually turned into a drinking party due to Ize’s return.

Somehow, everyone spontaneously raised their glasses and got hyped up without Ize even realizing the situation.

But…it kinda felt like Loki (the drunkard) vibe!

Maybe that’s what happens when you have a certain kind of main deity, you end up with a corresponding faction.

Ize still remembered that he used to not drink alcohol when he first joined.

But now…

Without changing expression, he silently gulped down a glass, looking somewhat complicated.

At this moment, a familiar scent suddenly entered his nostrils. Turning his head, he saw the blonde girl quietly sitting beside him with food in hand.

Coincidentally, she looked over as well, their gazes meeting…Ais gently blinked, “Welcome back, Ize.”

“Yeah, I’m back.” Ize smiled in response.

“What? The vibe of an old married couple?” nearby, Tione couldn’t resist throwing in a comment.

“Old! Old married couple!? No way! Stop it! Stop it! …Miss Ais can’t be like this!”

Upon hearing Tione’s words, Refia, who had just placed her plate down, couldn’t sit still. With her hands covering her cheeks, she didn’t know what she was imagining, reacting quite intensely.

“—?”

He was just greeting Ais, why was the yuri elf reacting so strongly?

Ize glanced at the elf girl lost in wild imagination and interrupted her slightly out of pity, “What are you thinking about, Refia? We’re just greeting each other normally.”

“Hmm.” Ais lightly agreed, indicating that Ize was right.

“Eh? Eh—!? No! I wasn’t thinking about such things!”

This drew Tiona’s attention as well, “Such things!?”

“Not! Not! I didn’t!!” Refia desperately waved her hands, becoming more suspicious the more she tried to cover it up.

When Amazon sisters’ skeptical and teasing expressions were almost unbearable, “Bang!” Ize slapped the table and spoke with an authoritative tone.

“No need to explain anymore, Refia! It’s because you’re wearing yellow-tinted glasses, so everything you see turns yellow! Your thoughts aren’t pure!”

“Eh!? Eh eh eh eh eh eh!?”

Boom—

It seemed as if everyone around saw a giant lightning bolt strike the top of Refia’s head, causing the elf girl to freeze entirely.

Feeling her young heart severely impacted, Refia could already imagine her “faction death” future, momentarily losing the ability to think.

If described hard, she became “aba aba～” on the spot.

“Pfft~ I never realized Refia could be so amusing!” At this point, Tiona finally burst into laughter.

Unable to hold back, Tione covered her face, saying “Same here,” then laughed loudly with her sister.

Because the little elf’s reaction was too entertaining, even Ais couldn’t help but curl her lips upward, her golden eyes slightly lowering with amusement.

‘Apologies, Refia, knowing that people’s happiness is often built upon others’ pain… Amen.’

Fake-crossing himself, Ize secretly rejoiced in his heart.

…………

The reunion with the girls passed joyfully, after finishing lunch, Ize headed to Loki’s Divine Room.

“You little guy, you silently took down the ancient monster ‘Andarius.’ This trip to the Great Sea Tree must have earned enough ‘Greatness’ experience points for your next level-up, right?”

Sitting on his bed, Loki, while manipulating the divine script on Ize’s back, smiled and spoke.

“Phew, after all, it’s an ancient monster. Providing enough ‘Greatness’ experience points for a level-up is definitely more than sufficient. My basic ability values might need more training, considering most of the time these past two months was spent traveling.”

“And what about the remaining part of the time?” For some reason, Loki grinned mischievously.

“The remaining part of the time…recovering from injuries.”

Actually, the rest of the time was spent cultivating feelings with Artemis.

You know, using injuries as an excuse was really useful.

Not only did it allow him to enjoy Artemis’ meticulous care, but it could also be used to fool Loki.

But could he tell Loki this?

Obviously not. This falls under private information, something even the main deity shouldn’t know.

“Don’t you have high-level healing magic?” Loki still wasn’t giving up, trying to dig something out from his words.

“After exhausting all my means against Andarius, how am I supposed to use magic with ‘mental exhaustion’?”

However, in response to her deliberately phrased questions, Ize’s answers were watertight.

“Alright, I’ll take that.”

Extremely subtly, Loki clicked her tongue.

To be honest, her intuition had always been spot-on, rarely making mistakes since the heavenly realm.

Although she felt something had happened between Ize and Artemis.

But judging by the looks of it, there was no way to pry it out of him, so she reluctantly gave up continuing her inquiries for now, harboring a bit of resentment.

“Here, your latest ability values are out.”

[Adventurer Name]: Ize Alward

[Level]: Lv.3 (Upgrade conditions met)

[Ability Values]: Strength: D555→SS1280 | Durability: D532→SS1221 | Agility: C654→SSS1399 | Speed: C678→SSS1427 | Magic Power: SS1024→SSS1999

[Development Abilities]: “Mystery F” “Dark Star F” “Luck H” “Morning Star I”

Aside from a significant increase in ability values, the development abilities “Dark Star” and “Luck” each rose by one level.

“Mystery” and “Morning Star” probably weren’t used as much, hence they didn’t improve.

[Magic] showed no changes, but [Skills] increased.

…………

『Moonlight Ode』

· Moon’s Blessing

· Can resonate with “Moonlight Energy”

· Hunt’s Blessing

· Entering combat state greatly enhances agility and speed

On the surface, this is the skill effect added this time.

Next to Ize, Loki, who accompanied him in reviewing this skill effect, widened her crimson divine eyes.

“Good grief!!!”

“Ize, you still dare to say you and Artemis are innocent!?”

“Dare to look at this skill! And say it again!?”