Chapter 485

Chapter 492: Accidentally Hit a Sensitive Point? (Please Subscribe!)

In the evening, the night was deep.

Including The Bountiful Mistress tavern, most of the shops on the streets of Orario had already closed for the day.

It was now the usual time to sleep, and Hiel, as an external hire, returned to her residence.

Aniya, who lived in the tavern’s staff dormitory, and others also entered a peaceful slumber as per their routine.

Only Ryu was the exception, unusually tossing and turning, unable to find rest.

The moonlight and the glow from the magic stone lamps shone through the window into the room, causing the elven girl’s eyes to become vacant.

To be honest, even she herself didn’t know what she was fretting about right now.

She had long decided—no longer to help strangers with whom she had no connection, no longer to perform selfless acts without reward.

She only needed to lend a hand to those close to her, asking for nothing more beyond that.

But why… couldn’t she ignore what happened in the tavern today?

Her former self, once consumed by revenge and hatred, surely no longer had the qualification to uphold the justice of that Goddess.

Even worrying about these things might just be another form of hypocrisy.

Facing the emotions budding deep within her heart, Ryu almost hypnotized herself into drawing a conclusion.

But contrary to her expectations.

The “blessing” of the Goddess imprinted on her back still faintly emitted warmth, as if rejecting this point of view.

Closing her eyes, she could still vaguely see the smile of the Goddess who deeply loved her children, and the figures of her faction companions.

Among them, the words of her close friend who brought her into the faction were still vividly remembered.

“If you feel confused, there’s no need to overcomplicate things; just face yourself honestly!”

It was precisely these words that slowly pulled Ryu out of the shadow of revenge.

Now, when she was caught in doubt, the first thing that came to mind was still this sentence.

After a long while…

The elf sighed lightly and slowly got up from the bed.

Still nighttime, the moon looked down upon the city surrounded by majestic walls.

At this time not long after the new day began, Izay waited at the edge of a narrow alley where the sky had completely darkened, his gaze occasionally flickering towards the back door of The Bountiful Mistress tavern.

The reason he was here… needless to say, it was because of what happened in the tavern during the day.

That couple in the daytime were among the few people in Orario who still remembered the now-defunct [Astraea Familia].

Living in a city where change occurred rapidly, those who reminisced about the past were scarce. Most were adventurers, accustomed to discarding the past and looking forward.

Yet that couple could still mention the name of a dissolved familia and miss a Goddess who had already left Orario.

Izay could reasonably guess that in the past dark times, they were among the many ordinary people helped by the Astraea Familia.

Would Ryu, who now stands alone, still offer help to someone who might have been helped by her and her companions in the past?

This question had already been answered before Izay arrived at this narrow alley.

Sure enough… just as if confirming his guess, the back door of The Bountiful Mistress tavern quietly opened…

Dressed in a brown hooded cloak, paired with a knee-length skirt, Ryu, disguised as a flower-selling girl from the slums, tiptoed out of the tavern, not disturbing anyone in the process.

Just as she had closed the door and stepped into the alley, Ryu froze in place.

“Izay…!”

“Ryu, good evening, you finally came out~?”

“Good evening… No, how are you here!?”

“Of course, I’ve been waiting for you. If I must say, it’s because of what happened today.”

Ryu clearly seemed flustered by Izay’s sudden appearance, which Izay had anticipated, allowing him to enjoy the adorable expression of surprise on the young girl’s face.

And Izay’s response wasn’t just empty talk.

Although Thorn had a very noticeable flaw of being fond of gambling,

as a victim, he was merely a pitiful father trapped in the schemes of some powerful person.

Those who lured him into gambling definitely had a “big buyer” interested in his daughter behind them.

Using Thorn’s weakness for gambling was probably just one part of their plan.

If one plan failed, they could switch to another.

There would always be a chance to succeed.

Previously, Izay wouldn’t deliberately target these gray industries, because he alone couldn’t dismantle the entire chain of interests behind them, which might involve half of Orario, or even dozens or hundreds of surrounding countries.

But this time…

Since he encountered it, why not help out as a bonus, and along the way, get a chance to be alone with Ryu? What’s not to like?

After briefly explaining to Ryu the reason why he was here, the girl immediately looked at Izay with a complex gaze.

“Are you… guessing that I would secretly come out to investigate?”

“…Perhaps? Actually, I thought more about the fact that Ryu wouldn’t just sit idly by, so I came to take a chance~”

I believe you, sure, you were obviously waiting for me intentionally just now.

Ryu didn’t respond verbally, but her eyes conveyed such sentiments.

After a while, Ryu withdrew her gaze, feeling inexplicably uneasy.

Damn it… Izay might know her better than she knows herself…!

What she had agonized over for so long on the bed earlier…

The thoughts in her heart were unprecedentedly shaken at this moment.

This sudden shift in mindset confused Izay too.

No matter how much he tried, he couldn’t read minds. He could predict Ryu’s actions, but not what she was thinking inside.

To pull Ryu out of this solo state, Izay started waving his hand in front of her eyes.

“Ryu…? Ryu-chan~? Weren’t we supposed to rescue someone? Why are you spacing out?”

“Ryu, Ryu-chan!?” The elf girl widened her eyes in shock: “What’s such a shameful nickname? Take it back! No! Change it!!”

Seemingly having accidentally hit a sensitive point, Ryu, showing an unexpected and overly aggressive reaction, covered Izay’s mouth with her hand and dragged him semi-forcefully into the alley.

Caught in a state of shame, Ryu and Izay wrestled around quietly in the alley for a bit, eventually reappearing from an inconspicuous corner on the street.

Compared to before, the obvious redness on the elf girl’s face was evident. Lowering her head to hide her face made her all the more enticing.

Fortunately, the bustling atmosphere of the street might have given Ryu a chance to adjust. Soon, she calmed down from her blushing state, though she still kept her hood low to conceal her identity.

“What’s your plan next, Ryu?”

Walking past the dwarves and beastmen passed out drunk on the side of the road, Izay asked softly, audible only to the two of them.

Upon hearing this, Ryu shook her head: “No, I planned to check out the tavern Mr. Thorn mentioned first.”

Before the Thorn couple left the tavern in the daytime, Ryu had asked them about the location of his gambling.

Initially drinking at a restaurant nearby on the street, Mr. Thorn mentioned that while slightly tipsy, he was lured under the pretext of “gambling twice” to a tavern in the alley. He still remembered the location clearly.

After all, the abduction of Mr. Thorn’s daughter only happened this morning.

If Ryu and Izay could act quickly, the big buyer who spared no expense to cover their tracks of abducting girls wouldn’t even have had a chance to succeed yet.

And that’s why Ryu dressed up like this, looking like a neighbor’s little sister.

Using their relaxed vigilance and such disguises, Ryu was confident that she could easily obtain the intelligence she wanted!