Is It Wrong to Explore the Dungeon Even Though I’m Overpowered? (Danmachi SI- WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 9: Fun at the Hostess

“Fufufu I can’t say I’m surprised that it only took you a few hours in the dungeon until you swooped in and heroically saved a young maiden in need of help and in the process also stole her heart.”

I did my best to ignore Lante’s words as I worked in the kitchen knowing she was just being her usual teasing self.

Miach and his Familia had left a while ago and we now found ourselves in the kitchen of Sweet Home where I was making food for everyone.

Lante and Rethusa who had not been home when we arrived due to running some errands, had gotten home a few minutes ago and had been immediately informed of what had occurred hence the reason Lante was laughing herself silly right now.

“By the way Hestia-sama, we managed to get a little lucky in the dungeon today so I was thinking we should spend some of it to fix up the church and turn it into a proper home.” I commented without looking back at the goddess.

“That sounds like a great idea Rein-kun but you should save up that money and buy yourself some armor. With the food this house provides, we don’t have to worry about that front and we can always fix up the church later.”

“I actually think we have enough money for both things honestly.” I revealed a little nervously already picturing their reaction at how much money we had managed to rake in the first day.

“Hmm, well you are pretty strong so I’m not too surprised that you managed to make a hefty sum even in the Upper Floors. How much did you and Est make Rein?” Artemis who was listening to our conversation chimed in curiously having a better idea of what I was capable of than anyone here due to her witnessing my battle with Antares.

“…Umm …00 valis.” I muttered quietly with my voice dropping to a whisper when I mentioned the amount.

Hestia not being able to hear what I said blinked and asked me again. “I’m sorry Rein-kun, can you repeat that?”

Letting out a sigh I spoke louder. “1,100,000 valis.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“WHAAAATT!?”

Wincing at the loud yell screamed by everyone but Rethusa and Est, I turned around and pulled a couple of heavy sacks from my Item Box and set them down in the table.

“I might have run into a Jack Bird and managed to kill it getting it’s egg.” I muttered looking off to the side while scratching my cheek with a nervous smile.

“…”

“…”

“Haah of course you did.” Hestia and Artemis muttered at the same time with a tired sigh as they looked at me with a fond exasperated look.

“Fufufu well it seems that our money problems are now over thanks to Rein~” Lante never one to miss an opportunity to tease me jumped in the conversation again.

Hestia suddenly perched up again a she thought what that actually meant for us and a smile slowly grew on her pretty face. “…We’re rich. WE’RE RICH! WOOOHOOO!” she yelled out before quickly getting to her feet and launching herself at me and hugging me around the neck and forcing my head down into her breasts.

We must have made for quite a comical sight due to our differences in height and Hestia looking more like a limpet than anything else.

“Let him go Hestia! While it is good that we no longer have to worry about money issues this is going to draw a lot of attention Rein’s way since he would have had to sell it at the Guild.” Artemis said sternly while trying in vain to get Hestia to release me.

“There’s no need to worry about that Artemis-sama. One of my abilities lets me convert any item or object into any currency in the world. And it is real currency, I already checked.” I dismissed her worries getting a blink from her as she processed what I said.

Unexpectedly Artemis just pouted up at me cutely and started poking my ribs with her long fingers causing me to squirm in place since I was ticklish there. “Mou Rein~ Baka!”

In the end we had all agreed that first thing tomorrow Hestia and Artemis would go out into the city and hire some workers to come work on the church. While we had enough money to buy a house now, we all decided it was best to stay for now and use the money to buy the property around the church so we could build our own home.

I had also managed to convince Hestia to quit her job since I would be supporting her and Artemis from now on which had gotten me another flying tackle, this time with the tiny goddess letting out a few tears of happiness.

Several hours later I was now heading to the Hostess of Fertility with Est as I went over the rewards thanks to the missions I had accepted on the way to the dungeon.

I had invited the other girls along as well of course but they had surprisingly refused, stating that they were meeting with Miach, Takemikazuchi and Dia to catch up. Rethusa and Lante had decided to accompany them acting and would be acting as bodyguards which put my mind at ease somewhat.

Anyways one mission had awarded me 120 credits plus a free Template Stacking I of any Danmachi character I had witnessed that I was saving for a later time. That mission was fairly easy to complete as the hardest objective was reaching the 10th floor and catching a Jack Bird which I had already done. That one was only a standard mission and was already completed.

The second mission I had taken was a Grand one with the time limit being 1 year and being restricted to tier 8 for the entire duration of it. It basically boiled down to leveling up and reaching the end of the dungeon. To my luck it also shared the jack bird objective which was already marked as completed and it had awarded me an additional 40 credits.

Earlier today I had also gotten the 120 capture credits for Hestia after the 24 hours had passed and had already spent them in buying Elemental Loom, Sticky Fingers, Don’t Stand So Close to Me, Sweet Home x2, Life’s a Beach and purchasing a new companion.

Since the Delayed Intensity was still in effect though, I would be receiving the perks along with my new companion until tomorrow around noon. That meant I would be having a slow day tomorrow and was probably not going to the dungeon as I didn’t want the girls to freak out when my new companion arrived.

Due to all the excitement, I hadn’t even gotten my Falna updated which I was looking forward to seeing as it would give me an idea on how long it would take me to level up.

Focusing back on the road I noticed that we had arrived at the Hostess and together with Est we made our way inside where we were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by Ryuu.

“Hello again Reinhard-san, Est-san. It’s good to see you again. Syr hasn’t stopped smiling ever since this afternoon and will be beyond happy that you actually kept to your word.” Ryuu greeted us with a calm look on her face almost showing no emotion but if you looked closely, you could spot the slight upturn of her lips.

“Hello to you as well Miss Ryuu. A promise is a promise and besides I also wanted to officially celebrate the formation of the Hestia Familia and our first trip to the dungeon.” I briefly explained to the beautiful elf getting an understanding nod from her.

“Just Ryuu is fine and you have my congratulations then and I wish you luck.”

With greetings out of the way, she led us towards a table towards the side of the bar.

“Thank you-” Just as we took a seat with Est naturally choosing the seat right next to me, we were interrupted by someone shouting my name across the pub and rapid footsteps quickly approaching.

“Reinhard! You really came! I’m so glad~ I’ve been waiting for you~”

Turning to the voice I was met with a pair of beautiful gray eyes with a hint of purple within. Gray hair framed a perfect face as she looked at me with eyes full of joy and a smile stretching across her face.

“That’s very kind of you Syr, thank you. I hope we didn’t keep you waiting too long.” I offered the girl a smile knowing even if her true self was a little crazy, I wanted to help her and have her as an ally instead of a future enemy I would have to eventually take down.

Now that I recall, I remember reading somewhere that the persona of Syr that she had crafted eventually became real. The only thing I had no clue about was how long did it take for Syr to become ‘Freya without makeup’.

Because as I stated earlier, if Freya actually embraced the current personality she was displaying here as Syr, then I had no doubt in my mind that my heart would waver and I would eventually fall in love with her.

“Fufufu don’t worry you didn’t, it was only a few hours. You can just make it up to me by ordering a lot of food tonight tehe~” Up to her usual tricks Syr immediately tried to guilt trip me with a cute smile on her face before finally focusing on Est and greeting her as well. “It’s nice to see you again too Est-san.”

I noticed almost immediately, probably because I was watching her closely, that her greeting to Est was a lot less cheerful and almost there as an afterthought even if her expression never changed.

“Mn.” Barely paying her attention, Est only nodded her head in greeting too busy looking over the menu that Ryuu had set down for us.

“That’s enough teasing Syr. What would you like to eat?” Ryuu once again coming to the rescue saved me from her coworker now standing patiently in front of us with a pen and notepad in her hand ready to take our order.

“Hmm since this is supposed to be a celebration how about you bring us your most popular dishes to start or anything you might recommend? I hope it won’t be too much trouble as some of us are rather gluttonous.” I pointed at Est who was slightly salivating now at all the different choices of food available.

“Ooh a celebration? Great~ I’ll be getting a good haul tonight hihi.” Miss Shameless as I would start calling her now in my head, just giggled happily even if she looked curious at what I meant.

“Haah at least don’t admit it out loud. Very well then, we will be back in a moment. We will bring refreshments in the meantime. Come along Syr you’re helping.” Ryuu bowed politely to us before dragging a slightly protesting Syr to the kitchen.

I spent the time until our food was ready chatting quietly with Est and at the same time recharging my soul with Est’s overall cuteness before I saw Ryuu and Syr return.

I was only slightly surprised that after putting down our food Ryuu and Syr sat down with us on the table with Syr sitting directly in front of me. Almost as one Est and I just stared at them curiously making Ryuu develop the slightest of blush at our stares. Syr on the other hand just smiled not bothered at all by our staring and focused all of her attention on me.

“Right ‘cough’ Mia, the owner, said we could take a break as long as you guys keep ordering more food. I hope you don’t mind.” I took a quick peek at Mia behind the counter who was already facing our direction and received an unrepentant grin in return and a nod in my direction before she went back to serving customers.

On the other hand, if Ryuu looked this cute with that slightly bashful expression on her face, then I couldn’t wait to start teasing her for real once we got to know each other better.

‘Huh? Do I enjoy teasing others?’ Blinking away such thoughts for later I responded.

“No worries the more the merrier as some say. It’s always a joy to share a meal between friends and comrades or at least future ones hopefully.” I smiled at both our guests and my smile only grew as they both nodded at me at my mention of becoming friends.

“So, what do you think of Orario so far Reinhard? Ryuu mentioned that today was your first trip down to the dungeon, right? How did that go for you? You weren’t hurt, were you?” Syr immediately started rambling off questions at me looking quite interested in hearing what I had to say.

And this right here just reinforced my decision for wanting to bring Freya to my side. For all her faults and her obsession with Bell, Freya did genuinely come to care deeply about Bell and that was enough reason for me to give her a chance.

“The city is a wonder really. Sometimes I find myself thinking that I wondered into one of the many story books that I’ve read or into one of my dreams.” My gaze turned wistful and reminiscent thinking about my childhood watching all those different anime by myself or reading the many manga and light novels that I could get my hands on.

If it were not for me possessing all of Reinhard’s memories, I was sure that I would have a hard time believing that this was my life now and not just one of my many wishful dreams that always ended too soon.

Noticing that Syr and Ryuu were looking at me with slight confusion at my sudden pause, I offered them a smile to reassure them before focusing again noticing as I did that Ryuu was also paying close attention to me now.

“As for the dungeon, it’s going rather well honestly. The monsters are not as strong as I first thought them to be and I just have to get used to their patterns. Luckily starting tomorrow, a new friend has offered to show me the ropes since I’m the only member of my Familia currently and I’m very thankful to them.” I revealed with a smile before pausing to take a bite out of the pasta I had been served quite enjoying the taste not commenting on how the smile on Syr’s face became a little strained when I mentioned a new friend.

“Right now, I’m mostly focused on raising enough funds to repair our home and making sure that I provide my Goddess a comfortable living style so she doesn’t have to work anymore.” Taking a sip of my drink I looked towards Est for a moment finding that she thankfully was eating by her own and was not demanding for me to feed her as I didn’t know how Syr would react if she saw that.

“And finally thank you for the concern but so far, I haven’t gotten hurt even once. I make sure to bring plenty of potions with me and take as many breaks as required and that will not be changing anytime soon when my friend joins.”

“I’m pleased you’re taking the initiative to party with someone you trust when you head down to the dungeon. The deeper you venture the more you will realize that there is only so much you can accomplish alone.” Ryuu nodded approvingly to me and even chipped in with some useful advice.

“Thanks a bunch for the advice Ryuu-san, I really appreciate it.” I closed my eyes and gave Ryuu a small bow along with a smile that I hoped conveyed my appreciation.

“M-Mn it’s no trouble.” When I reopened my eyes, it was to the sight of Ryuu looking bashfully away from me as Syr giggled teasingly at her by her side.

With the atmosphere much more relaxed now we continued to eat and pleasantly talk amongst ourselves with some of the other waitresses coming by on occasion to drop off more dishes for us to try.

During a pleasant conversation between me and Syr about places of interest throughout Orario that I wasn’t already privy to I felt a small hand shaking the sleeve of my shirt grabbing my attention. Already knowing the culprit, I turned to Est and saw her looking at me imploringly with a new dish in front of her.

“Reinhard, feed me.” Without saying anything else Est passed me a pair of chopsticks and opened her mouth cutely waiting for me to feed her.

‘Haah I knew this was coming.’

“Honestly Est, what am I going to do with you?” With an exasperated sigh I took the chopsticks off her hands already knowing Est wouldn’t take no for an answer and slowly fed her what looked like some kind mini fried shrimp.

“Mm mm good~” Looking at the vision of pure cuteness of Est eating in front of me, I didn’t hesitate to put my hand on her head and give her some head pats earning me a pleased hum in return.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed that that Syr was not able to hide her slightly twitching eyebrow as she closed her eyes with a forced smile on her face. Ryuu by her side did get slightly flushed watching our interaction but other than that I could see no other reaction from her.

Everything finally settled down a few minutes later when I fed Est the last of her shrimp and she mentioned she could feed herself from then on.

“Fufufu, I see you had no problem feeding your companion which means you have probably done it before now. My my how bold~ If I also asked to be fed like Est-san, would you do it Reinhard?” Syr, finally back to her cheerful self, looked at me with a teasing smile probably expecting me to get flustered.

Deciding to get back at her a little for all her teasing so far, I just calmly smiled at her and grabbed a piece of the food I was eating with my own chopsticks before extending my hand towards her. “Sure, no problem! Now say aah.”

As expected of the glass cannon, Syr instantly developed a full body blush as her eyes widened as far as they could go.

“W-Wha y- you i-indirec k-k-ki… huuuh?” Even the words out of her mouth came out all jumbled making it hard to understand what exactly she said.

Syr then looked at me again and seeing I was being serious and probably too embarrassed to come up with a proper response, opened her mouth silently allowing me to finally feed her.

“Hmhmhm so you also have a cute side. I also see that you’re the type that enjoys dishing it out but have zero defense when it comes to receiving it in return. It’s honestly adorable~” My teasing words just caused Syr to cutely pout and huff to the side with her arms crossed even if her demeanor was ruined by the small smile that refused to leave her face no doubt due to me complementing her.

‘Yeah, I definitely enjoy teasing others.’

“Ryyuuuu, Reinhard is being mean to me~ I demand you defend my honor and reputation!” Syr demanded of the elf playfully while pointing at me.

“You have my thanks. It’s a rare day indeed when someone is able to turn the tables on Syr.” To my surprise Ryuu was sporting a tiny smirk on her face as she joined in on the fun.

“Hmmph, bullies the both of you!” Syr went back to huffing as she turned her head away from both of us.

In response I just smiled and shook my head calling her cute again before resuming eating. Syr just flinched as if struck by my words as she went back to eating herself all the while cutely glaring at me the entire time.

I had forgotten how good it felt to just go out and socialize with those close to you. Something that I unfortunately hadn’t done very much in both of my past lives if I included Reinhard. I would have to make sure to bring the other girls out in the future so we could all enjoy a day out together.

With all the fun we were having, time flew quickly and before we knew it a few hours had gone by. I had noticed that the pub was getting more crowded the later it got so I decided it was best to leave and let Ryuu and Syr go back to helping the others.

I did notice though that as time passed, Syr’s eyes turned glassy as if she was drunk or something which was impossible since we didn’t order any alcoholic beverages. In addition to that it would take several tries to get her attention whenever either Ryuu or one of the other waitresses called out to her and even then, she would answer quickly before refocusing her attention back to me.

“Make sure to pay m-us a visit again, okay? Hopefully sooner rather than later.” Syr made it sound as if she was speaking to both of us but she never took her eyes off me the entire time making me guess she probably only meant it for me.

“Take care of yourselves Reinhard, Est. We’ll be seeing you another tim…” Ryu suddenly widened her eyes as she was interrupted from finishing when a drunk customer bumped into her causing the elf to lose her footing and stumble forward.

Without a second thought I took a step forward and grabbed the elf’s hand in mine before pulling her forward and away from the drunk man who half-heartedly apologized and continued walking. “Whoa easy there. Are you alright Ryuu-san?”

“I’m fine. Thank you for that.” Ryuu just calmly dismissed my worries with a wave of her hand while thanking me.

“Umm Ryuu? Reinhard? You guys can let go of each other’s hand now, you know?” Syr was looking down at our joined hands with a blank look on her face as she addressed us.

“O-oh right! Sorry about that Ryuu-san, I just acted on instinct. Crap and if I remember correctly elves don’t like physical contact. I’m truly sorry! I’ll make it up to you somehow, I promise.” I immediately released her hand and bowed my head to her.

Here I was trying to make a good impression on the beautiful elf only to fudge it up at the end.

“I-It’s alright Reinhard! R-Really! Like you said you only acted on instinct so I have no problem with it. You also don’t need to worry about making it up to me so don’t worry.” I raised my head and was treated to the sight of the beautiful elf looking to the side with a bashful expression on her red face.

“If you’re sure… At any rate I still feel bad so I’ll definitely make it up to you somehow.” With nothing more to say we all said our goodbyes with promises to come back again soon.

“Bye Reinhard~ Come back soon~”

As I was making my way down the street, I heard Syr shout from behind me so I turned my head and saw her waving at me with a huge smile on her face that only got bigger as I waved back.

‘I hope this personality of yours actually becomes real in the future Freya, I truly do.’