On this day, Elise did something rather rare—she did not enter the Dungeon. Instead, she decided to take a proper look at the city of Orario.
"When I first arrived two days ago, I didn't really pay attention to the city at all. I just rushed straight into the Dungeon. But now..."
Only after witnessing the darkness of Orario had Elise decided to truly walk through the city.
By the way, in order to deepen the bond between Est and Astraea, she had deliberately left the goddess and the spirit together. Nothing should go wrong... right?
As for Elise, she strolled alone through the streets of Orario.
"Compared to the anime and manga, the difference is huge. So this is what they call the dark age..."
Standing atop a relatively tall building, Elise surveyed the scenery around her.
After taking care of Grandma Norn earlier, she had left directly. It was now nearing evening.
"So this is what Orario looks like at night?"
Although the entire city still glittered with lights, the vast majority of them came from the direction of the Pleasure Quarter. Other areas were illuminated only by scattered fragments of light.
"Those people really are energetic... They just earned their valis, and they're already handing it back over..."
With her perception, Elise could easily see everything happening within the Pleasure Quarter.
On the streets, countless Amazons were soliciting customers. There were also members of other races, but Amazons were the overwhelming majority.
She could even see clearly into the rooms surrounding the district.
No matter the posture, no matter the movements, nothing escaped her sight.
"Sigh... they're really going all out."
"Though compared to modern people, they're still lacking just a tiny bit."
"At least they have their own style. I won't comment too much..."
"Maybe I'll just... appreciate it a little?"
"Mm. Just a little."
It was Elise's first time witnessing this kind of otherworldly spectacle.
Though she had traveled to different worlds before, there had been far fewer races—and... watching small animals do that sort of thing wasn't very interesting. Human proportions were much more suitable.
"If I want to become a saintess, things like this will probably have nothing to do with me, whether as a man or a woman..."
"Still, normal physiological reactions are unavoidable. I'll need to be careful. If someone ever slips something unfriendly into my food, that would be troublesome..."
The Pleasure Quarter could be considered an Amazon gathering ground. The vast majority of Amazons appeared here.
And Amazons were generally strong-willed, preferring to take the dominant position in battle. After searching through the entire district, Elise finally found something that would be considered relatively normal by modern standards.
Thus, Elise watched her "movie" while contemplating her future path.
Her path for dealing with the Evilus factions.
"With me as a newcomer who just arrived in Orario, there's no way I can command the entire city yet, right?"
"Even if my strength barely qualifies, I'm still lacking in too many other aspects."
In this city, if one wished to stand at the top, three things were required.
Strength.
Reputation.
Connections.
Among them, strength was the most important.
No matter what your Familia possessed, if you lacked the critical element of strength, everything else was empty talk. No one would take your words seriously.
And strength did not merely refer to combat power. Level was equally crucial.
Although Elise could fight against first-class adventurers—those at Level 5—her own Level had not yet reached that stage.
Moreover, her ability caps were higher than average. Leveling up would require even more time.
Even feats were a problem. The higher her future Level became, the harder it would be to ascend further. The requirements for great feats were simply too extreme.
If she ever wanted to go from Level 9 to Level 10, would she have to slay the Black Dragon?
Next, Elise needed reputation.
In other words—a good name.
She had already been preparing for that even before coming to Orario.
Saving a kingdom in crisis. Eliminating monsters within ancient ruins. All of these were groundwork for building reputation.
Just imagine—if a Familia with a poor reputation were to rule all of Orario, what kind of environment would the city fall into?
Elise didn't know for certain, but it surely wouldn't be pleasant.
Take, for example, the future Freya Familia. They possessed a Level 7 and several Level 6 and Level 5 adventurers. Yet when ordinary people heard their name, the first thing that came to mind was "respect"—the kind of respect that kept one at a distance.
This had much to do with their goddess Freya's style. Though their fame was immense, it was not necessarily positive.
In contrast, the Loki Familia was united from top to bottom. Though minor frictions occasionally occurred, they were insignificant.
Moreover, their captain Finn sought fame for the revival of the Pallum race. He intentionally acted in ways that built reputation, and as a result, the Familia's name was widely praised.
That was something worth learning from.
Lastly, there were connections.
In Orario, connections were relatively easier to obtain.
As long as you possessed strength and reputation, connections would naturally follow.
In other words, be strong—and be reasonably approachable—and that would suffice.
Someone like Finn, who was both powerful and easy to talk to, was truly rare in Orario.
If Elise wished to grow to that level, it seemed she still had a long road ahead.
Those were roughly all of Elise's thoughts for now. In the future, there would likely be many more matters requiring her attention—but since they belonged to the future, she would deal with them when the time came.
Coincidentally, her "movie" was also nearing its end. After all, those adventurers still had work tomorrow. Even in the Pleasure Quarter, one could not linger too late.
Otherwise, there would be no valis left to return next time.
"You've been following me all day. I must say, I'm rather impressed that you managed to endure until now."
"What? Still not planning to make a move?"
Elise rose from the ground and looked toward the corner behind her.
Within the shadows of that corner, something dark seemed to be shifting.
Slowly, several figures stepped out.
All of them wore jet-black outfits and black masks.
From the outside, their appearances were impossible to discern—but Elise could tell.
These were the same group from earlier. Ever since she left the Guild, they had been trailing her from a distance, watching.
"I'm a little curious. What exactly are you planning to do?"
"Don't tell me..."
Elise tilted her head playfully and pointed toward the direction of the Pleasure Quarter.
"You're planning to do those kinds of things to me?"