Morning.
"Ah, I'm so sleepy. Looks like I didn't sleep well last night... I hope I don't have dark circles."
Alise sat up from her bed and rubbed her eyes hard. For some reason, her mind had been overflowing with thoughts during the night. She simply couldn't fall asleep.
And now she had woken up quite late. The others were probably already up, right?
"Mm-hmm, as expected of me. As expected of a super beautiful girl!"
After getting dressed, Alise stood in front of the mirror for quite a while before finally opening her door.
"Eh?"
But the moment she stepped outside, she saw Kaguya and Lyra opening their doors at the exact same time.
"So we're all in the same boat!"
By the time everyone arrived at Elise's door, it was Est who opened it.
"Est-chan, where did the captain go?"
There didn't seem to be anyone else in the room, so they simply asked the white-haired little girl directly.
"Mm..."
Perhaps it was just their imagination, but Alise seemed to detect a trace of lingering fear on Est's face.
"Sister was taken away by that Great Demon King last night... She didn't come back the whole night."
"Huh?"
For a moment, no one reacted. After a long pause, Lyra was the first to respond.
"The Great Demon King you're talking about... You don't mean Lady Astraea, do you?"
Est's relationship with Astraea was rather subtle. Because Astraea was their chief goddess, they were technically companions. Yet due to Elise, Est still held a faint hostility toward her.
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm!"
Est nodded her little head frantically and continued, "That Great Demon King became even scarier last night. She directly carried Sister off... and strange sounds kept coming from inside her lair!"
"Sister told me to go back to my room and sleep, so I came back first. I don't know how she is now."
"Well... no matter what, we're Lady Astraea's Familia. She's the goddess of justice. Even if it was punishment, it couldn't have been that excessive, right?"
"Est, let's go downstairs for breakfast first. We'll go look for Elise and Lady Astraea afterward."
Est nodded. She only had some opinions about Astraea. She got along well with the other members. Because she looked like a child, she was often taken care of.
"Hm? What's that smell? It smells amazing!"
Before they even went downstairs, a rich fragrance drifted up from below.
"You're all up? Then come down. Breakfast is ready." Elise's voice came from downstairs. "It's rare that everyone is here this time. Let's have breakfast together before we start training!"
The scene downstairs came into view.
Elise was carrying dishes out of the kitchen, while Astraea sat at the dining table waiting for everyone.
One plate of delicious-looking food after another was placed on the table. Though everything looked incredibly appetizing, no one's attention went to the food at first.
"I feel like the captain is a little different today?" Alise stared blankly at the scene before her.
"Violent Woman, you're not mistaken. Our monster captain really is different from before. It's like..." Kaguya was equally stunned. She had never seen Elise like this before. It felt like—
"A girl in love?"
In the end, Lyra said it out loud. It might not have been the correct answer, but Est's expression instantly became extremely vivid.
"Sister, you?!"
"Ah, Est." Seeing Est's expression, Elise walked over. "I'm really sorry for making you go back to your room alone last night. You even have dark circles now. You must not have slept well, right?"
Elise lightly tapped Est's forehead and let out a soft, sweet laugh. She truly looked like an innocent, radiant young girl. Compared to her usual self, the difference was like night and day.
"I specially made some porridge to relieve fatigue. Come and try it, everyone!"
"And Lady Astraea, you must have expended quite a bit of stamina last night. Eat more and replenish yourself!"
Although no one knew what had happened, the relationship between their captain and their goddess seemed even better than before.
And perhaps even more delicate...
Overall, though, it was definitely a good thing!
"But Captain, aren't you eating?" Alise asked knowingly as she looked at the table full of food.
"Me? No need." Elise gently wiped the corner of her mouth. "I'm already very full. I won't be eating breakfast. You can have it all."
"But in exchange... during training later, I won't go easy on you like before."
...
"You did it, didn't you?" Loki looked at Freya with ill intent written all over her face. "You've really got some nerve pulling something like this. Aren't you afraid of punishment from the Guild?"
Although the Guild itself wasn't particularly powerful, its backing was the founding god Uranus. Who knew what hidden trump cards they might have?
After hearing Loki's words, Freya looked over—and then she smiled.
"The Guild hasn't imposed any punishment on me, Loki."
"And what exactly did I do... Loki? I don't quite understand what you're referring to."
"What? No punishment?" Loki was shocked, and her mind immediately began racing.
"Oh come on! We're old friends. What's the point of pretending?" Loki stepped closer to Freya and nudged her with an elbow. "Explain it to me."
Freya shot Loki a glance before looking toward the area that Elise had reduced to ruins.
"Although I don't know who did this, I do know a bit of inside information. There's no harm in telling you, Loki."
"That big cake known as the Pleasure Quarter... everyone wants a slice. It's just that it was tightly controlled by Ishtar before, and no one had the ability to take it."
"I happen to have some connections within the Guild, so I stood on their side and helped them secure the largest share."
Elise's assistance was also part of it—but that detail absolutely could not be told to Loki.
A smile appeared on Freya's face. Though she did not finish her sentence, she was certain Loki already understood.
"You... don't tell me...?"
The moment Freya spoke, Loki understood why she had escaped punishment despite doing something so massive.
So that was it—she had traded everything in the Pleasure Quarter for it?
With Ishtar's downfall, the most likely person to take control of the Pleasure Quarter was Freya, the other goddess of beauty. The so-called Twin Beauties of Orario was no joke.
Loki had also entertained the idea of getting involved in the Pleasure Quarter's wealth. But if she did, she would probably be beaten half to death by the girls in her own Familia.
Although taking everything Ishtar left behind would have brought enormous gains, Freya did not care about that.
On the contrary, the Guild would certainly have imposed an astronomical fine on her Familia. With the strength of Freya Familia, no one could force them to pay valis—but once word spread, their reputation would suffer.
So Freya used the condition of helping the Guild obtain the majority of the Pleasure Quarter's wealth to waive that sky-high fine.
"Ah..." Loki was left speechless. It truly was a good method.
"That pig from the Guild is probably laughing in his dreams right now, huh?"