But for the Freya Familia, the Loki Familia, and the Astraea Familia, who knew the Demeter Familia's situation and had long since tasted the sweetness of the "Monster Hunter Special," things were far from that simple.
Orario's Fifth District.
Folkvangr, the Hall of the Silver Moon.
Heith crossed the training grounds where a "Baptism" was underway, her face blank, and was just about to step through the manor's main gate...
"Gah...!"
Ottar's figure blinked to Hogni's side like a phantom, a heavy fist-and-elbow strike slamming square into his skull. The poor elf's eyes bulged, his face contorted, and he went spinning off like a top with its string cut...
"Clack."
He rolled right up to Heith's feet and came to a stop.
"H-Heith!"
"Save me!"
Heith: "..."
The girl halted, slowly lowered her head, and stared with hollow eyes at the Hogni before her, blood leaking from every orifice, his skull all but split open. Silence held for several seconds.
In the end, she couldn't stand to watch any longer, and through gritted teeth she raised a hand and cast a 『Zeo Gullveig』 on this chuunibyou elf. Then she lifted her foot and stepped straight over him, completely ignoring the way he was still moaning and retching blood, gave a soft "hmph," and walked into the manor without looking back.
She strode quickly past the goddess's prayer hall, through the long corridor decorated with scrolls of abundance, her pink twin-tails swaying gently at her sides. The familia members she passed greeted her, but she had scarcely a moment to respond. What kept surfacing in her mind was Iri and Lydia's performance at the Treatment Center, and that vial of iridescent "Wild Mixture"...
"Bang...!"
The door to a certain office was shoved violently open.
"Mr. Hedin! I have important intel!"
The figure behind the desk paused, then slowly lifted his gaze.
"...?"
Seeing it was Heith, he swallowed back the reproach already on the tip of his tongue. Still, as a stiff-necked elf whose work had been interrupted, Hedin kept his face cold and pushed up his glasses out of habit:
"Heith. If I recall correctly, your work focus lately was supposed to be at the Dian Cecht Familia Treatment Center?"
That cold face might have been enough to set Van, Lona, or Ilde on edge, but on Heith it had some small effect, just not much.
She clomped over to the desk in her little leather boots, leaned forward, planted both hands on the surface, and stared down the old elf behind it in an almost overbearing pose:
"None of that matters. What matters is... over at the Demeter Familia, they've developed something else, called the 'Wild Mixture.'"
Before she had even finished, Hedin's gaze turned suddenly sharp. Light glinted off his lenses, and his voice dropped low:
"What does it do?"
Heith recalled the state Lydia had been in:
"What I can confirm for now is that it has an invigorating effect on the spirit. If I saw correctly... Miss Lydia was already in a state of Mind Down at the time, but less than half a minute after taking the potion, she recovered. And she said..."
She paused, mimicking the tone from back then:
"'The power's surging up.'"
"The power... surging up?"
"And also... invigorating the spirit?"
The first thing Hedin thought was... the description of this 'Wild Mixture,' the more he listened, the more something seemed off?
Why did this effect sound oddly similar to the descriptions of those little support trinkets from the Pleasure Quarter?
Hedin's blank face twitched ever so slightly:
"Heith, well done. This time there's no way we can let the Loki Familia get ahead of us."
"As for the elixir's effect..."
"The capabilities of those few in the Demeter Familia aren't to be underestimated. After all, you and I both know full well what the 'Monster Hunter Special' can do."
As he spoke, he glanced at the Magic Stone clock on the desk, rose and came around from behind it, and took his cloak down from the rack to drape over himself.
"The Loki Familia have probably caught wind of it by now too."
"Better safe than sorry."
"We're going to pay them a visit right now."
...
The Eighth District, Twilight Manor.
"Hedin's side... has probably gotten the news as well."
"Better safe than sorry."
"Riveria, let's make a trip over there right now."
Finn likewise threw on his cloak, and the two of them, he and the royal elf, left the captain's office on the top floor of the tower one behind the other.
Before long, the pair walked briskly out of the headquarters carrying lanterns.
"Huh? Has something urgent come up for the captain and Lady Riveria? They're leaving in such a hurry..."
"Don't tell me Evilus has stirred up trouble again?"
"Hey, hey, shut that jinxing mouth of yours! We just got through Christmas and New Year's, can't I get a few days of peace?"
Just then, the dwarf Gareth, having finished a patrol nearby, came back leading Raul, Aki, and the other newcomers.
"Hold on, what did you two boys just say?"
"Finn and Riveria went out?"
"Ah, yes, old man Gareth... the captain and Lady Riveria left in a real hurry."
Gareth stroked his beard and nodded thoughtfully:
"That sly little Pallum, no telling what he's caught a whiff of now..."
"Never mind, I'll find out soon enough once they're back."
His tone shifted, and he gave a stern instruction:
"You lot stand your watch and stay alert. Anything happens, signal at once!"
"Yes!"
Raul and Aki, following behind him, exchanged a glance, a trace of worry hidden in both their eyes.
'Please don't let anything else go wrong...'
'I just want a few days of proper rest... damn it!'
...
"Maryuu, what did you say!?"
"That guy Leon developed something new again? And this time it's not even a dish, it's an elixir?"
The Astraea Familia headquarters, the Stardust Garden.
The Half-Day Saint, Maryuu Reage, fresh back from the Dian Cecht Familia Treatment Center, passed this news along to the goddess Astraea and her companions the moment she returned.
Sure enough, as the first to experience the "Monster Hunter Special's" marvelous effects and the first to taste its rewards, Alise, Kaguya, and the others reacted to news of Leon's new product far more strongly than the other two familias.
After all, compared to those two "behemoths," a precious item like this, one that could boost strength and improve survival rates in the Dungeon, was something a small, elite-focused familia like Astraea's needed far more urgently.
"Lady Astraea!"
Alise clung to the goddess's arm, fidgeting against her side in her impatience.
"Say something..."
The goddess gave a faint smile, her gaze sweeping over everyone, taking in the anticipation in each pair of eyes.
She nodded gracefully and spoke in a soft, gentle tone:
"Alise, Kaguya, the two of you go make a trip over there right now."
...
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