That's it, that's the flavor!
In a daze, it felt as if they had arrived in a completely brand-new world.
Having walked through that long sewer area from before, they defeated a fellow that looked hideous to the extreme, something called the [Gaping Dragon].
If that so-called Undead Burg from earlier was merely dirty and messy, permeated everywhere with a dull, deathly atmosphere...
Then.
The place before their eyes, called [Blighttown], was simply far more straightforward. It made Riveria and the young girls understand instantly what 'filth' and 'nausea' truly meant.
It was disgusting, purely disgusting!
The air was filled with a thick, dark green hue, and that foul stench pounced on their faces, condensing as if it were a physical substance.
All around them were simple plank roads constructed purely from crude wooden boards and tree branches. There was absolutely no aesthetic or logic to speak of; they just intermittently extended toward the darkness below.
Among them, all sorts of filth were piled up.
Flesh and blood, internal organs, dung pellets... and even more sticky things that they didn't even know the nature of.
The Elf girl, who possessed a certain degree of mysophobia, almost threw up the moment she saw this scene.
If they weren't adventurers...
Most ordinary girls, upon seeing the scene before them, wouldn't have the courage to walk in at all. No, no, no, even adventurers would—
If they hadn't confirmed that they were in a dream, probably no one would be curious about what on earth was going on inside.
"Gulp."
She swallowed a small mouthful of saliva.
Riveria turned her head, looking at the young girls beside her at this moment, and silently nodded to express her inner thoughts right now.
'Go!'
She could clearly feel it too; this was merely the appetizer. There were even more 'significant' things waiting for them inside!
And as adventurers, since they were curious about all the unknown, how could they stop and not move forward?
Even in this place that was no longer just 'scary', but purely 'disgusting'.
Thus.
Borrowing the dim light of the fire.
Those fragmented whisperings that came from the darkness in the distance from time to time first entered the 'vision' of the girls.
What kind of monster is it?!
But right now, after they started to advance, Riveria and the others discovered that the most headache-inducing thing was actually not the monsters, but the plank road beneath their feet.
It was even narrower, and irregular. It wasn't even a straight path, but messy and completely without barriers. If one wasn't careful, they might fall into the darkness beside them.
Immediately following that, humanoid monsters rushed out from the dark.
Different from those slow-moving dry corpses from before, these were fellows wrapped all over in cloth strips, holding large clubs, obese and bloated. While howling and emitting strange sounds, they attacked everyone accompanied by a foul stench!
At the same time.
From the darkness, very fragmented sounds of breaking air also came. That was the sound of blowdarts!
Almost inaudible, tiny fluorescent green lights flashed and passed in the darkness, flying toward everyone at extreme speed.
"The cup is the shield, the floating chalice of breaking evil!"
Lefiya was still very experienced.
When she discovered the surrounding environment was this kind of pitch-black place, she had already anticipated that there would definitely be ranged magic beasts launching sneak attacks!
She immediately opened a magical barrier, blocking those incomparably tiny blowdarts.
And on the other side.
Although the pouncing big fat monsters looked quite terrifying visually, as long as one overcame that, naturally they were no match for Ais, Ryuu, and Tiona.
And as they went deeper.
Even crazier withered dry corpses, holding wooden sticks and with bodies already festering and turning into a deep red color, appeared once again. It was just that their movements were swifter.
They would even hold half of a human corpse, waving it around while launching attacks at everyone;
There were also big fatties like the ones just now, who actually held up huge dung pellets and threw them at everyone;
There were also giant mosquitoes that always emitted a "buzzing" sound in the dark, dancing around everywhere;
Clearly, they were all monsters.
The degree of disgustingness of these guys simply broadened the girls' horizons.
But even so!
Up to this point, it was still fine. In the current squad, apart from Heith and Cecil, the others were all First-Class Adventurers. They wouldn't go so far as to be 'defeated' merely by the filthy appearance of the monsters.
Until, somewhat suddenly.
As they continued to go deeper, Tiona, who was still walking at the very front, noticed something unusual.
In the darkness, there seemed to be lanterns floating.
'It's a new monster!'
Everyone concentrated their attention, because in this kind of place, as long as it was a new monster, it definitely wasn't some simple fellow!
And as its figure slowly drifted out from the darkness.
That posture, which was hard for people to understand, finally appeared before everyone's eyes.
What a distorted existence!
It was dressed in rags, hunchbacked, and looked overall like a tall, thin humanoid elder. However, the head part had completely mutated into a swollen insect cocoon, which was also a lantern-like luminous body.
Flames burned within its interior, revealing an orange light from the inside out.
Upon it, eyeballs of varying sizes were also bulging. Just one glance made people unable to understand why such a guy would exist.
Too bizarre, right?!
Immediately after.
The girls saw the opponent suddenly rush over!
An incomparably distant and ethereal shout rang beside their ears. Accompanied by a trance, unknowingly, Riveria discovered that it had actually passed through the vanguards, Ais and Tiona, and arrived directly in front of her.
Subsequently, it used those withered, pitch-black hands to grab her.
'The fire is approaching.'
The raging fire pulsing beneath that skin replaced everything before her eyes. Burning, burning, burning, never ceasing.
In her trance, Riveria could only hear the sound of her own heart beating.
She felt as if her soul was being drawn out.
From far away, the voices of Ais and Tiona also came—
'This guy, attacks have no effect on it!'
'Magic doesn't work either.'
'Is it invincible?'
'Wait...'
'There are more over there, they're coming again!'
'Don't make a sound—'
Her vision went black. When she woke up again, Riveria found that she was standing in front of a certain burning bonfire.
Did she just die?
Dying, and then resurrecting at a bonfire; this was actually reasonable.
It was just too strange!
Recalling that monster just now, Riveria had a deep sense of absurdity.
That guy... was simply not a monster of this world, right?!
Although it wouldn't be strange for any kind of guy to appear in this world that was about to be destroyed before her eyes, in a place full of filth, it was obviously out of place with the other monsters.
She had already realized something.
And when Riveria looked around and discovered that the bonfire point before her was completely unfamiliar, and that she seemed to have been resurrected in a place she didn't know at all.
She realized even more that something was wrong.
Leaving aside where this was.
The thick dark green mist permeating the air made her feel her stamina draining rapidly just by standing there. Accompanied by dizziness and an uncontrollable nausea coming from her body, this was obviously a symptom of poisoning.
Subconsciously wanting to reach for a bottle of antidote, she found there were none at all!
Fortunately, Riveria herself knew healing magic.
Enduring the swelling and stinging sensation coming from inside her throat, the Elf woman barely finished chanting the magic.
"[Fil Eldis]."
As a pale green glow enveloped her body, only then did the woman feel a bit better.
Subsequently.
Continuing to look at this darkness, and by the faint light of torches hanging on the walls—which were sticky on the side, unknown if they were melting or covered in a thick layer of 'grease'—Riveria saw the deep green, incomparably dirty muddy 'swamp' not far away on the other side.
"..."
This is a sea of dung, right.
Even as a veteran adventurer, Riveria still instinctively felt unwell at this moment.
Mainly because this was simply too scalp-numbing!
Right now, there was only one path forward. Walking along the wooden plank road in front of the bonfire, she soon arrived at a circular platform that wasn't very large.
In the firelight.
Riveria could see a huge 'monster' waiting for her there.
She was being spawn-camped; this was the woman's first thought.
It had a dreamlike humanoid shape. A layer of thin white mist was draped over the surface of its body, like a cape, or perhaps a wedding dress. It was beautiful to an incredible degree. Under the firelight, one could see that between that incomparably slender body and limbs, it was wearing silver-white armor.
Bending its body.
Overall, it presented a beast-like appearance with all four limbs on the ground. Holding a snake-shaped longsword burning with flames, it just stood there quietly in the distance, waiting for her.
[Dancer of the Boreal Valley].
The name that suddenly appeared made Riveria realize what the previous sense of absurdity was all about.
This guy.
Is also a monster that shouldn't exist here, right?!
It was even more out of place with the sea of dung beside it. So, starting from just now, everything was a setup—
Suddenly understanding something.
Riveria realized that from encountering that weird fire old man who 'instantly killed' her, to resurrecting at this bonfire point where she didn't know the location, and to being 'spawn-camped' by this BOSS before her eyes.
Everything was designed!
It was Isagi!
She thought of the instigator immediately. After all, this wasn't the first time he had done this kind of thing!
Suddenly arranging some powerful monsters for her or something.
Especially.
Ten minutes later, when Riveria didn't know which nth time she appeared from the bonfire point again to challenge this 'Dancer' blocking the door.
Her Highness the Princess's thought of wanting to grab the boy and ruthlessly 'discipline' him simply reached its peak!
'Too bad!'
'How can a person be so bad!!'
'I must discipline him properly!!!'
One night passed.
With the young girls each having their own 'fortuitous encounters', when Isagi woke up in the morning and looked at the flushed pretty faces before his eyes, he thought to himself that he didn't seem to have made 'any noise' last night.
Early in the morning, why was it so noisy?
The Moon Goddess Artemis, who had just woken up, obviously hadn't realized what had happened yet.
But at this moment.
The Goddess of Beauty Aphrodite, who had finished 'investigating' the situation, ran back, having also woken up and come out wearing pajamas, slightly narrowed those incomparably beautiful deep purple gem-like eyes.
"It's love~"
The Goddess in charge of love said with absolute certainty.
"Without a doubt, this is full of love~"
"?"
_______________________________
Interlude 04: Senpai and the Goddess, Just Keep Pretending! (Everyday Side Story)
Looking at Ryuu-senpai, whose shyness was rapidly surfacing before his eyes, Isagi felt—for some reason—a lingering sense that he was playing a prank. This was especially true since Astrea was also present.
The Goddess was "sleeping" very soundly.
Perhaps she hadn't discovered the presence of the two of them, but this only caused the Elf girl to hold her breath, daring not to exhale loudly for fear of making even the slightest sound that might wake her.
But in this current situation, how could she possibly not want to make a sound?
So, she could only endure it.
Gradually, she curled up her soft, burning body, covering her mouth with her small hand. She trembled there, minding her own state, emitting extremely tiny, stifled humming sounds.
This made Isagi feel even "worse."
Tsk.
But it wasn't his fault either. The fact that things turned into this situation before his eyes... obviously, the two Goddesses and Ryuu-senpai had brought this upon themselves.
The spring night was cold and clear.
On an ordinary night after returning from an adventure, Isagi left the City and headed toward the Demeter Familia's farm outside the walls.
Naturally, the Goddesses had asked him to come over. Astrea had already been somewhat "unable to let loose" back at the Familia headquarters, and now with Artemis and Aphrodite moving in, she felt even more embarrassed.
Therefore, he usually always ran over to Demeter's place. It was convenient this way; no matter what happened, they wouldn't disturb anyone else.
It was quite a daily routine of a night.
Whether for himself, the Goddesses, or Ryuu-senpai, this was the case.
Hmm... the Elf girl was here too. At this moment, inside Demeter's farm, it should be her and the two Goddesses.
Speaking of which, it was still a bit "strange."
Ever since he returned from leaving the City last time, Goddess Astrea seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief. She wore a face full of "I knew it would be like this" expressions, and even appeared much more relaxed.
But due to various psychological reasons...
Even on a night like this, where both Ryuu-senpai and Goddess Astrea were waiting for him at the farm outside the City, they would run off to different rooms, pretending not to know about each other.
[Because it's very shy].
This was something the Goddess and the young girl had admitted themselves.
For the Goddess of Justice, to be with the "child" she had once spent day and night with, watching each other amidst the bedsheets... and then... doing that sort of thing... was simply something the Goddess found impossible to accept!!
Ryuu was the same.
In contrast, Goddess Demeter was extremely inclusive regarding this, even saying things like "Mama is fine with anything~," which made Isagi feel a bit "terrified."
So, the current situation was actually quite simple.
Isagi, walking on the road to the farm at this moment, was merely thinking of "teasing" Ryuu-senpai and the Goddess of Justice tonight.
Still implementing the philosophy of resting properly when it's time to rest, Isagi already had quite a few thoughts in his mind...
Under the moonlit night.
The massive City behind him drifted further away.
The dirt road in the fields was fairly easy to walk on. Occasionally, Magic Stone lamps hung between the trees on the side, emitting an orange-yellow glow to illuminate the path ahead.
Gradually, the sounds of cicadas and frogs could be heard—signals of the approaching summer.
The lights emitting from the civilian houses in the distant fields were like myriad stars, falling into this long night.
Before long, he arrived in front of the farm he knew better than anything.
Passing through the small path enclosed by fences and entering the courtyard, he found the house mostly pitch black. He didn't know if the Goddesses were pretending to be asleep or doing something else.
Isagi took out his key, opened the door, and entered the house, locking the door behind him.
The lights in the hallway were not turned on.
He only borrowed the warm light coming from the living room at the far end to dispel some of the darkness.
Isagi saw her.
Goddess Demeter was sleeping on the sofa, just as always.
The room was very warm, with some charcoal fire still burning in the fireplace. This was because the spring night still held a bit of a chill, especially for the Goddesses who wore only thin nightgowns.
Isagi took off his coat and walked into the inner part of the house just like that. Moving extremely gently, without making a single sound, he arrived in front of Goddess Demeter.
The beautiful woman was truly asleep.
The faint, sweet scent of fruit and alcohol radiating from her soft, beautiful face—flushed with a rosy hue—indicated she had drunk quite a bit just now.
Actually, this was the daily routine of this motherly Goddess.
Working in the fields during the day, managing the food production and supply for the Familia; then returning home at night, once she was free, she would have a few drinks by herself and then fall asleep in a daze.
Simple and unadorned.
That beige, seemingly old and ordinary fine-cloth nightgown was being squeezed. One side had slipped off her shoulder, while the other was completely "swallowed" by her white, tender soft flesh, sinking into the depths where one couldn't see clearly at all.
The Goddess's honey-like, long, curly orange hair was also scattered amidst the large expanse of cherry-pink tenderness, like a thin blanket, giving one the illusion of wanting to lift it open.
In short.
Just one glance told him that holding her would be very soft. And in reality, it was indeed so—even far softer than one could imagine.
But Isagi didn't do that immediately.
According to his understanding, since Goddess Demeter was sleeping in the living room right now, it meant that Goddess Astrea and Ryuu-senpai must have each gone back to their rooms to sleep as well.
So this was actually a "silent explanation."
Next.
He could carry her to the Goddess of Justice's side, or he could go to the Elf girl's side. Or he could even go to a certain room first, then another room—anything was fine.
Demeter saying "Mama is fine with anything" was really not a joke!
The mature beauty only played for keeps!!
Of course, the night was still long, and there were no plans for tomorrow; he could likely rest here all day, so there was no need to rush anything.
Thinking this.
Also to avoid any accidents with the subsequent "plans"!
Isagi silently and very skillfully took a blanket from the cabinet nearby. While covering the beautiful woman on the sofa, he squeezed in himself.
Wu!
It was indeed very crowded, and very hot. The slight chill that had existed outside just moments ago seemed to have vanished into the nine heavens.
The temperature of skin, the temperature of the charcoal fire, the temperature of the air, plus the inner...
Different sultry breaths interwoven together became sticky, like a quagmire. Such a very direct "tactile sensation" would naturally make one feel a certain abnormality.
The Goddess was also human; naturally, she reacted immediately.
Even in her sleep.
By the tiny glow of the fire in the hearth, Isagi could see Demeter's enchanting face looking as if cheese or butter had melted, accompanied by an even more intoxicating, sweet fragrance.
He didn't know if she was still asleep or if she had already woken up.
Without even opening her eyes, her entire person went into action. Incomparably skillfully, and all at once, she made Isagi feel the sofa become even more crowded.
And a bit heavy.
The dry heat would make one feel quite uncomfortable, but Demeter seemed to actually like such "discomfort."
Instead, she pressed even closer. Fortunately, Isagi was used to it. He had even completely figured out the Goddess's body language at this moment, knowing how to make the response she wanted most within this "crowded" sofa with the smallest range of body movement.
The charcoal fire in the fireplace was dancing.
The flame, covered in a halo of deep blue, continued to sway back and forth, like a flickering candle.
As the roasting continued, even the hardest charcoal would gradually melt away.
Let alone a Goddess who was already excessively soft.
Not long after, Isagi no longer felt the sofa was crowded, because this was a process of gradually seizing control. But this was still just the beginning, until—
A long, long time passed.
The charcoal fire had burned out.
In the originally bright fireplace, only a pile of silvery-white ash remained. The night colors and chill returned, and although the living room was still the same living room, it seemed as if the world had completely changed.
Isagi got up.
Pulling the dazed and confused Goddess, he left the living room and began to walk upstairs.
The farmhouse was very, very large.
There were three floors in total, with at least dozens of rooms upstairs—just like the large Familias of Loki and Freya. The Demeter Familia's bases, whether inside or outside the City, were built on the premise that they might house dozens or hundreds of Familia adventurers when they were first established.
It was just that, unlike other Familias.
The Agricultural Deity's Familia members were mostly farmers, or business people with small businesses in the City, so naturally, they all had their own places to live.
Especially as this had developed continuously over a thousand years.
Many of the farmers in the entirety of Orario had been Familia members for generations; of course, it wasn't to the point where they didn't even have their own houses.
That was why the Goddess lived alone in such a large farm, always appearing very lonely.
Barefoot.
Stepping on the thick, aged stairs, he soon reached the second floor, in front of Demeter's divine chamber.
Although the beautiful Goddess usually liked to sleep on the living room sofa, she naturally had a bedroom. However, right now it should be "occupied" by Astrea!
Isagi pushed the door open and entered, as skillful as ever.
What greeted him was a darkness so heavy it was impenetrable. The Goddess of Justice had not only closed the windows but also drawn the curtains, making the entire room somewhat "airtight."
She just liked it this way.
It seemed she was afraid that Ryuu-senpai would hear any sounds she made. Usually, she would very naturally pretend as if nothing had happened, which actually gave off an inexplicably cute feeling.
Although he could see almost nothing clearly, neither Isagi nor Demeter needed "eyesight" when walking into the room.
Even if they couldn't see much of the pitch-black outlines.
They could still arrive at the bedside with extreme precision. Subsequently, Demeter, who was already exhausted, acted as if she could finally rest. Unable to persist any longer, she went limp and collapsed directly onto the bed.
She even made a small vibrating sound.
From this, Isagi surmised that Goddess Astrea shouldn't be asleep right now. He didn't know if she had just been woken up or had been awake for a long time.
At this moment, the Goddess of Justice lay in the bed, clearly pretending to be asleep, motionless and not making a single sound.
She didn't react at all to him and Demeter right now.
Very good. It was about what Isagi expected. Goddess Astrea was just quite a passive fellow at times like this. Could this be considered a gap moe in a certain sense?
While Isagi pondered.
Very simply, he found a strip of cloth in the room and used it to blindfold Astrea.
"?"
In the darkness.
He could clearly feel the Goddess's confusion.
But he ignored her. Anyway, when he finished doing this and left the room again, she was still there pretending to sleep, without any actual reaction—this was also within Isagi's expectations.
So.
When he ran up to the upper floor and carried back Ryuu-senpai—who had intentionally not slept on the same floor as the Goddesses—from her room.
Isagi could feel even more acutely the slender, delicate, and soft body of the Goddess trembling slightly in the dark due to nervousness.
Having gained quite a bit of experience, compared to the clumsy Elf girl who was currently dazed in his arms and didn't know what was about to happen...
The Goddess had clearly prepared herself mentally quite a bit.
As the bedroom door was completely shut.
Everything fell into a heavy darkness. At this moment, vision had become thoroughly "useless."
Because no matter what, one truly couldn't see anything.
Isagi, the Goddesses, and Ryuu-senpai as well—
Astrea, lying in the bed, first felt a somewhat sultry, sweet aura.
That was brought by the lazy beauty who had already fallen asleep again.
She was very familiar with Demeter's aura, so the Goddess of Justice didn't feel much about it. Instead, she was a little excited, her heart urgently waiting for something.
But this waiting.
As the boy's fingertips moved around her long hair and eyes, gently blindfolding her with the cloth strip...
Astrea had already realized something was "bad"!
But at this very moment, as if completely handled by Isagi, she couldn't possibly make any sound, nor could she take the initiative to do anything.
Astrea was always very passive at these times, so she simply continued to pretend to sleep!
Continuing.
She finally heard the sound of the boy's returning footsteps, which seemed to be mixed with sticky murmurings she was somewhat familiar with.
The "bad premonition" in her heart reached its peak at this moment.
And soon, when she discovered the bed becoming more crowded, while Isagi had absolutely no time to pay attention to her—or rather, his focus wasn't on her side at all—the Goddess of Justice thoroughly confirmed what the situation in the room was.
"!!!"
She absolutely dared not face it!
Even for a moment.
She felt that Isagi blindfolding her was truly the best thing ever.
Then just pretend... not to...
At this very moment, she didn't even have the strength to turn her head or turn her back. Astrea even felt for a moment that she was being spineless (it was just that she didn't want Ryuu to see her spineless appearance, so she had always...).
And on the other side.
Isagi didn't know if Ryuu-senpai was still asleep or had already woken up.
The Elf girl soon seemed to have "burned out."
At first, he could clearly feel her reserve, but she seemed to quickly realize that resistance was of no use. The result was that she revealed an appearance of complete abandon.
She was exactly the same as usual.
Isagi could even inexplicably feel that this fellow seemed to have become even more excited. She even somewhat proactively began to scoot toward the Goddess beside her, slowly and just like in the past.
It was just that.
It had changed from Demeter in the past to Astrea.
"..."
Goddess Astrea didn't look scared at all; instead, she responded very naturally.
Very quickly, the situation became chaotic, even giving Isagi the illusion that it had spun out of control for a moment. Fortunately, the initiative had always been with him. So, facing the pilot of the "boat," sailing constantly upstream, they finally arrived at the place he wanted to go.
Sultry, enchanting, sweating like rain.
Even though the fireplace in the room wasn't lit, it felt even hotter than in the living room earlier.
Probably because it was airtight.
Isagi couldn't be bothered to open the windows or anything.
Thus.
In this room that had completely lost light and time—there was simply no way to know what time it was right now—until a few rays of bright golden light scattered in from the edges and corners of the heavy curtains.
Only then did Isagi fall into a deep sleep.
He completely didn't know how long had passed since he arrived at the farm.
In short.
When Isagi got out of bed again and discovered that the "night" had long passed, and a new day and a new evening had already been welcomed.
Goddess Astrea and Ryuu-senpai resumed their usual appearance, as if nothing had happened.
But the fact was clearly not so.
Something had quietly and thoroughly changed without anyone realizing it.
____
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