Halfway through her sentence, Amid silently exchanged glances with the girls from the Astraea Familia standing before her, and an eerie silence fell.
Loki: So good!
Though sunlight streamed outside and crowds flowed through the streets, the reception area inside the Pure White Hospital was so quiet it felt as if a spell had frozen the air.
Amid looked over the girls before her—
The human woman with deep blue hair and an outrageously curvaceous figure: Maryu Reaz.
The Amazoness who, despite being a member of the Astraea Familia, had the most girlish air of them all: Iska Brat.
The petite dwarf vanguard, Aster Knox.
And the blonde elf in a mask, Ryu Lion, with whom Amid had only exchanged a few words.
Oh, right. The Astraea Familia had come to buy potions for their expedition half a month ago, after the attack on the charity food distribution in the North District had been dealt with.
Judging by the timing, they should indeed have finished their expedition and returned to the surface by now.
But perhaps her life was ending right along with it...
Recalling the words that had just slipped out of her mouth, Amid felt the blood rush to her face.
She didn't need a mirror to know that her face had to be redder than blood.
At that moment, Amid wished more than anything that she could simply faint.
But her body refused to obey her. It stubbornly stayed conscious, and she couldn't move at all—not even turn around or crouch down.
Maryu, whose big-sisterly air was every bit as striking as her figure, immediately saw how mortified Amid was. She smiled faintly and turned to the other members of her Familia.
"I need to talk things over with Amid. Why don't you go see if there's anything else you need to buy? The Dian Cecht Familia sells more than just potions. They have plenty of other good things, too. You can buy yourselves a little something as a reward for making it through a tough expedition."
Seeing Amid's beet-red face and dazed eyes, the girls of the Astraea Familia couldn't help feeling tender affection for the little girl, who was even younger than the youngest member of their Familia.
She still slept with a stuffed toy at night? No matter how serious she seemed, she really was still just a little girl. After exchanging their thoughts with glances, the girls stifled their smiles and dispersed to different parts of the store.
"Amid, it's all right. There's nothing strange about liking to hold something when you sleep."
The voice was leisurely, yet possessed an incredible power to soothe the heart. In short, it was the very embodiment of maternal warmth.
Even Amid, whose soul felt as if shame were about to scorch it out of existence, couldn't help being soothed by that voice. She managed to come back to her senses.
Huh? They only thought I liked hugging stuffed toys?
"R-really? They won't laugh at me...?"
Still dazed, Amid looked toward the voice and saw that Maryu had somehow already come around the counter and was standing beside her.
Even when Amid tilted her head back, it was difficult to see Maryu's face. All she could make out was her flowing deep blue hair.
The difference in their height wasn't the only reason. The older woman had been granted the title of Starry Mother by the gods for possessing a rare, wide-area healing magic, and her figure matched her presence...
No!
It was far beyond anything considered normal!
Of all the busts Amid had ever seen, Maryu's definitely ranked in the top three!
Especially from Amid's current position, looking up from below. Those full breasts, straining against her clothes and forming a heavy curve under the pull of gravity, seemed like two mountains about to descend from the heavens, dominating her vision!
Staring blankly at those breasts, Amid instinctively lowered her head—and her gaze fell unobstructed on her own toes.
The overwhelming blow of knowing that she couldn't compete with such a woman's charms wiped away her embarrassment and humiliation in an instant.
Even with their age difference, Amid had no confidence she could ever catch up to Maryu once she grew up.
All right. She really didn't have time to be embarrassed now.
Maryu failed to notice how drastically her junior's mood had changed in the space of a few seconds.
She found a chair and sat down, rolling her sore shoulders. Then she cupped her ample chest in both hands, lifted it, and set it down on the table with a plop.
Like a bag full of cheese, it squashed into a plump, patty-like shape against the tabletop.
"Mmm, that feels good~~"
As Amid watched with eyes nearly as lifeless as a dead fish's, Maryu wore a blissful expression of relief. Then a thoughtful look entered her eyes.
"Ryu and Noin are good girls. Why would they laugh at you, Amid? Besides, they probably don't have the time for something like that right now. Almost everyone stayed up all night yesterday..."
Before Maryu's eyes, the image of a silver-haired swordswoman fighting the Goliath alone flickered into view.
We thought she was some senior adventurer, and then she suddenly told us she was a rookie who had just received her Falna?
How could that be possible? Give us a break!
Under normal circumstances, if someone had told them that a person who had just received her Falna could take on a floor boss alone, the girls of the Astraea Familia would have dismissed it as some ridiculous tavern rumor.
But perhaps because that scene had shaken them all so badly yesterday, almost everyone wanted to rush over to the Loki Familia and demand an explanation.
The previous night, if Lyra, the Familia's steadiest mage, and the goddess Astraea hadn't stopped them, things probably would have gotten out of hand.
Even so, Maryu was sure that most of them had gone without sleep.
She could tell from how almost everyone had been yawning that morning... Though Ryu didn't seem affected at all. She was so full of energy that she looked as if she'd slept wonderfully, which had surprised Maryu a little.
Maryu knew why Noin, who was usually so steady, had suddenly been so enthusiastic toward that swordsman Sifir yesterday.
As the Familia's third vanguard, Noin didn't have any outstanding abilities, unlike Kaguya, who excelled at swordplay, or Ryu, who was skilled at attacking with Concurrent Casting magic.
Put kindly, she was dependable. Put less kindly, she was plain—ordinary in every way.
Though she connected the vanguard and rear guard and was an indispensable part of keeping the party together, surely Noin still hoped to one day charge across the battlefield and cut down enemies with her sword.
Perhaps she'd been so stirred because she saw in that silver-haired swordsman the figure she herself could never become.
Kaguya, Alise, Niz, and Iska were a little better, but Maryu knew they must be just as stirred up.
And sure enough, first thing in the morning, they'd urged the goddess Astraea to visit the Loki Familia and find out what had happened.
That left Maryu to take a group and handle the materials they'd brought back from the expedition.
Only Ryu—the least mature member of the Familia, and a vanguard like Noin—seemed unaffected. She'd even refused to go to the Loki Familia, which was beyond Maryu's expectations.
She wondered how their conversation was going.
Maryu's thoughts drifted northward without her realizing it.
At that moment, inside Twilight Manor—
"I don't care, I don't care! I'm kicking this beast who defiled Ais out of the Familia! I don't care who tries to stop me! I don't want to conquer Orario! I don't want Freya to wash my feet and massage my legs! I want him gone! I want him out of my sight!!"
Watching Loki roll back and forth on the floor like a Hard-Shelled Rat, shaking the Divine Chamber with every movement, Riveria looked helplessly at Finn.
"Hey! Hurry up and think of something!"
Finn licked his right thumb and smiled calmly, as if everything were under control.
"Don't worry. This will be resolved soon."
"Resolved? How?"
As soon as Riveria finished speaking, the voices of other members rang out from the corridor.
"Miss Riveria! Captain! The Astraea Familia says they're here to visit the Loki Familia!"
The Justice Familia?
Riveria and Finn exchanged glances.
Ten minutes later, in the reception room.
"Oh, there was nothing I could do. The goddess Loki is as elegant and dazzling as a pearl shining in the night! I was walking down the street when that boy came over and clung to my leg, crying and begging to join my Familia. He even said that if I didn't accept him, he'd jump off the city wall and kill himself!"
Riveria: I want to improve, too!
"So, what exactly happened? Could you explain it clearly? Don't just sit there sighing to yourself, okay?"
Watching Maryu rest her chin on her chest, frowning in thought one moment and shaking her head with a sigh the next, Amid couldn't help questioning her with dead-fish eyes.
Though they belonged to different Familias and were separated by enough years to span two generations, Amid and Maryu actually got along well.
Compared with adventurers who fought with weapons, healers were quite rare in the city, to the point that they'd formed a little community of their own.
When Amid had first joined her Familia, one of her seniors had taken her to meet several healer friends. That was when she'd first met Maryu.
After spending time together and keeping in touch, they'd grown close enough to tease each other.
For example, Amid's belief that "instead of treating people's wounds, we should just beat up everyone who causes them" had been inspired by Maryu.
The Starry Mother had grown up in an orphanage and witnessed the Dark Faction's brutal massacre of the city.
Whenever she spoke of the Dark Faction, her smile vanished, and even the light in her eyes went out.
One glimpse of her darker side was the fact that, as a healer, Maryu chose to wield a morningstar instead of a staff!
But when Maryu came back to herself, she only gave Amid an apologetic smile.
"Sorry, it's a secret belonging to another Familia, so I really can't tell you. But if they don't want to keep it hidden, I expect you'll find out soon enough."
The Guild would probably reveal the news that members of the Loki Familia had defeated the Goliath. But if the other Familia wanted to conceal the truth, there were plenty of ways to manipulate the details of the story.
They didn't have to lie. They only had to leave out part of the truth.
For example, "a rookie at Level 1 defeated the Goliath alone" and "the Nine Hell and a rookie from her Familia defeated the Goliath together" were both true, but they gave people entirely different impressions.
After all, other than the Astraea Familia, there hadn't been anyone else at the scene to confirm whether the Loki Familia's account was true.
The goddess Astraea had said yesterday that once the Loki Familia submitted their report, they could simply back up the story they told.
During the upheaval caused by the Dark Faction, medium- and large-sized Familias had an unspoken understanding when it came to protecting promising rookies.
Rookie?
Wasn't she strong enough to crush me with a single finger?
Rookies these days were getting more and more terrifying.
Watching Maryu drift into her own thoughts again, Amid wanted to snap at her: If you're not going to tell me, could you stop thinking about it in front of me?
You're leaving me hanging. It's so frustrating!
Riddlers, get out of Orario!
So, while they were selling the expedition materials, Amid wore a deeply sour expression and used her feminine instincts to push the prices down hard.
Before leaving, Maryu bought some medicinal herbs from Amid to help keep her body in good condition.
They were called herbs, but they weren't much different from ordinary ingredients. Plenty of Orario's residents used them to stew meat.
After all, "medicinal herbs" were just ingredients that didn't taste good. You could probably find a whole pile of them at any random farmer's house in the countryside.
In contrast, finding that kind of low-grade stuff at the Pure White Hospital had taken Amid a fair bit of time.
"Everyone came back from a difficult expedition yesterday, but hardly anyone slept all night. They really don't take care of themselves at all... If they don't get some proper rest today, they'll have me to answer to!"
The girls of the Astraea Familia looked frightened as the healer's dark aura spread around her, yet none dared speak.
Only Ryu remained composed. Her sky-blue eyes held a hint of pride and amusement.
"Maryu, I shouldn't need any, right? I got a good night's rest."
"Mm, Ryu got plenty of rest. That's wonderful!"
"Uh, it's not really something I need praise for..."
As Amid watched the girls of the Astraea Familia leave, she happened to catch the blonde elf habitually lifting her scarf and gently wiping her face with it.
"...Hmm?"
For some reason, that gesture caught Amid's attention.
Why did it feel so familiar?
Before you continue