Chapter 30: The Completely Different Color of Her Soul in the Girl's Eyes! (Please Keep Reading) (Patreon)

"They didn't give you any trouble tonight, did they?"

"No."

"They just asked about my progress lately, but I could tell... their patience is running thin. After all, in two more days—"

"Zanis is about to hand out the divine wine."

Faced with Rozz's concerned questions, Lili didn't hide anything — she told him everything that had happened tonight.

Handling an Adventurer like Enwan Kovo, whose head had been turned by greed—

that was something she was good at. Naturally, her stalling tactic was to promise she'd steal the Adventurer's weapon by the day after tomorrow, no matter what.

Still,

compared to all that, Lili was more curious about why this guy had suddenly asked her out. She looked up, her eyes wary.

"So the reason you asked me out tonight..."

"?"

"To eat."

Rozz felt like she was giving him a strange look, but he didn't think much of it, and followed the route he remembered toward the restaurant.

Hostess of Fertility.

He had a deep impression of this restaurant — not just because of Loki and Hestia, but because the food really was good.

"I'm not planning to dive into the Dungeon tomorrow."

"I need to find a god... to give me some special training in Adventurer combat. Just wanted to tell you ahead of time, so you're not left waiting around for me."

"...Oh."

After hearing the reason, the Supporter girl felt an inexplicable hollowness settle in. She nodded slightly, her tone a little subdued.

Lili had never once doubted that this guy would bail on her at a critical moment.

But when every day had been filled to the brim with exploration plans, and she was suddenly told tomorrow would be free — how could she even describe that feeling?

At a loss.

Like a lone bird soaring over the ocean, finally finding a solitary island to land on, only to be told it wasn't accepting visitors right now.

"..."

"Having you around this whole time has really made Dungeon exploration a lot easier. So I thought I'd treat you to a meal, as thanks."

Rozz answered honestly.

Out of habit, he reached out and ruffled the girl's fluffy hair. "If you really feel like you've got nothing to do, you can come find me, too."

"I'm sure that god won't mind."

"Okay."

"If you're with me, those Adventurers probably won't give you trouble either."

—

Hostess of Fertility.

The restaurant sat on Orario's West Main Street. Thanks to Orario's Adventurers, the nighttime atmosphere here was lively as far as the eye could see.

And this was exactly where Rozz was headed.

The moment he arrived, he saw the waitstaff bustling about inside, dressed in leaf-green maid uniforms with white aprons.

So the maid outfits part, he'd gotten right.

According to Hestia's explanation, when gods came down to Orario, they brought not only the Falna, but their own aesthetic tastes as well.

"Welcome~"

"Mister Adventurer, is there anything I can help you with?"

Hearing himself addressed, Rozz turned toward the voice and saw a maid waitress walking over.

Syr Flova.jpg

The girl really was beautiful.

Her long gray hair was tied up in a high ponytail, her delicate features like something perfectly crafted, her smile carrying a natural touch of playfulness.

Like the kind of big sister next door.

This was Rozz's first time seeing this gray-haired girl. He didn't think much of it, and asked curiously, "Is there any room in the restaurant?"

"..."

"There is..."

The gray-haired girl's gaze swept over Rozz, then over Lili beside him, then across the restaurant, quickly settling on a spot.

She gave a light laugh and nodded. "What should I call you, Mister Adventurer?"

"Hm?"

Noticing the black-haired boy's confused look, Syr Flova's smile bloomed even brighter. "Because you look... rather unfamiliar to me."

"It feels like this is your first time at our restaurant."

"To be precise, it's not really my first time. I came here a few days ago with the god from my Familia, and the food was pretty good."

"So I figured I'd come have a meal."

Rozz didn't think he was so charming that every pretty girl would strike up a conversation with him — he simply took it as the waitress doing her job.

He shrugged, his tone casual. "Rozz."

"Mister Rozz!"

"Nice to meet you. You can call me Syr Flova." After leading Rozz and Lili to an open seat at the bar,

she skillfully handed over the menu. "What would you like to eat?"

"Let me see."

When it came to food,

as long as the portions were big and filling and the taste was decent, that was enough for him. Rozz's eyes skimmed roughly over the menu and settled on his choices.

Chicken stew noodles, roast pork chops.

After ordering, he handed the choice over to Lili. "Order whatever you want. We've made a bit of money from exploring these past few days."

"..."

Even with that said, when it actually came time to order, the girl kept it modest — a main dish paired with a vegetable salad, keeping things healthy.

"Thanks, I'll just have this."

"One moment, please."

Standing beside them, Syr's smile never faded. After writing down the order, she was about to head to the kitchen.

Except,

when the gray-haired girl's eyes met Rozz's, something rare flickered through Syr's bright eyes — a moment of blankness.

But quickly—

she buried that flash of surprise deep inside, careful not to show too much interest, lest he notice anything off.

Mostly because it was the evening rush, and the restaurant really was packed — even with all the waitstaff working nonstop, they could barely keep up.

But,

even while attending to other customers, Syr's gaze kept drifting, unconsciously, toward the boy's figure at the bar.

What kind of... indescribable color was this, exactly?

It wasn't a light pure enough to dazzle. Rather, it was like something tossed into a dye vat and washed over and over, inevitably stained with other colors.

Pink, symbolizing desire, and a touch of deep purple carrying an unpredictable nature — these colors clung to the surface of his soul.

Badly mottled.

But without a doubt, deep within that soul of his — not particularly pure — something seemed to be burning fiercely.

Hard to put into words.

It was closer to some stubborn red flame, one that refused to go out even when suppressed, endlessly radiating warmth to everything around it.

Very unusual...

At the very least, among all the Adventurers Syr had seen across Orario, she'd never come across anyone as unusual as Rozz. Never once.

Incredibly rare!

After all, souls came in many colors — murky, muddy ones symbolizing the base vileness that colored most Adventurers. But this one before her...

was like a palette knocked over into a chaotic mess, yet somehow possessed an indescribable vividness!

"Ehehe~"

Even though Rozz didn't quite meet Syr's — well, the "Goddess of Beauty" Freya's — impossibly high standards for an ideal partner,

something new and fresh inevitably piqued her curiosity.

Especially—

when the translucent light-screen of the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan appeared above Rozz's head, Freya's curiosity was completely set ablaze.

"Hm?!"