"They're kids, after all."
"They ought to have a little personality."
"If they're too docile, they won't survive here. Only people who aren't to be messed with can live long and live well in this man-eating Labyrinth City."
"As long as you don't find it a bother, Mama Mia."
"A bother?"
Mia snorted, folding her thick arms across her chest and pushing the muscles there into a high bulge.
"As long as they have the money to pay, I don't care if they tear the place down."
"Of course."
"That's provided they pay double in damages."
Mia's mercenary yet utterly forthright declaration made Haimo laugh despite himself.
That was Mia.
That was the [Hostess of Fertility].
Rough and direct, yet possessed of a unique charm.
Just then.
Enju Aihara, who had been standing beside Hanabishi Warabi, curious about everything around her, suddenly moved.
Whoosh-
In the blink of an eye.
She had darted out of the crowd.
She leaped straight onto a tall stool in front of the bar.
Then.
Gripping the edge of the solid bar with both hands, she strained up onto her tiptoes and leaned her upper body over it.
There wasn't a trace of fear on her tender little face.
Only boundless curiosity.
There she was.
Her big eyes were fixed on Mia's bare arm and its clearly defined muscles.
Her mouth formed an O.
"Um..."
"This auntie..."
"You're so strong!"
"Your arms are even thicker than Fierce Man's thighs!"
Enju Aihara's clear, childish voice rang out around the bar, which had grown a little quieter.
Her words were perfectly clear, and she even turned around, pointing at the thigh of the black bear lying obediently on the floor behind them, then at Mia's arm.
She made an extremely straightforward comparison.
"Pfft-!!!"
At a nearby table.