"Besides, that elf is very strong."
Sasamori Aya leaned against the rough brick wall at the alley entrance, her long legs crossed.
"She deliberately suppressed her level when she sparred with me that day, and she only used an ordinary wooden sword."
"But the combat instincts she showed in battle, and her techniques for applying force, were definitely honed through intense fights to the death."
"Someone like that is no ordinary tavern waitress."
At this point, excitement flashed through Sasamori Aya's narrow eyes.
"She must have belonged to a Familia that pursued combat strength to an extreme."
"I just don't know why she's been reduced to carrying plates in a tavern now."
Hearing Sasamori Aya's assessment,
Onigawara Rin, Kikakujō Mary, and the others couldn't help exchanging glances.
After all,
for Sasamori Aya to give her such an assessment,
that elf lady's past really did become all the more intriguing.
At the same time,
inside an upscale clothing store called Velvet Iris, barely half a block from Haimo,
things were nowhere near as relaxed as they were out on the street.
"N-no, thank you! I really don't need this outfit!"
At the entrance to the narrow fitting room,
Syr clung desperately to the doorframe with both hands, her blue-gray eyes full of terror.
Her usual gentle demeanor, always wearing a composed smile and fond of toying with other people's feelings, had long since been driven away entirely.
"Please spare me!"
"I really just wanted to finish cleaning early and go back to help at the orphanage!"
She wanted to cry, but no tears came.
That morning, she had simply come to the Hostess of Fertility as usual to cover the early shift she had missed yesterday.
But she had only gotten halfway through cleaning
when Ryu Lion, who had been