Loud and bustling.

Those would be the words to describe the middle district of Firwood, an area where most of Firwood’s populace would gather. Adventurers commuting to either the hunter’s or mercenary’s guild for their next Quest, merchants and street chefs selling their wares at the town’s marketplace, artisans managing their workshops as the sounds of forges and looms echoed through the streets. The middle district was indisputably the heart of Firwood.

However, tonight it was eerily quiet. Even after the moon has risen and most daytime workers fall asleep, the nightlife of Firwood should still be active among the more nocturnal residents. However, the most active area in Firwood wasn’t in the middle district of the slums — the lower district — today, but the upper district, also known as the merchant’s district.

The reason why this district got its name was the concentration of rich merchants in the area. Like a haven for the rich and elite on Earth, this area was dedicated to merchants with developed networks who could even interact with nobles and do business with them. Nobles in the Greenveil duchy are known as merchants by other duchies, but even merchants require subordinates to coordinate areas beneath their station.

So, this was the area where these merchants would do business and live since it was located just outside the noble district’s gateway. Although there were reputable inns, Peolynca’s version of middle to high-class hotels, there weren’t many of them. The nightlife in this area was lacking, unlike the other commoner districts, and any nightly dealings would be kept quiet anyway. So, why was this the most active area tonight?

“Clothing! Clothing! Purchase clothing to support Lady Hestia! Purchase clothing to support ‘Aurora!’”

It was because this world’s second idol concert was being held in the merchant’s district plaza. This first and only idol of Peolynca was performing today.

“Ooh, this skirt is quite cute. Although, isn’t it a bit short? Hmm, but Lady Hestia’s name is on it. Mother. Father. What do you think?”

“This art is...new. Lady Hestia was already beautiful when she sang and danced, but this version of hers is different from normal art. Still, it looks well made and adorable. The seamstress must be excellent, wouldn’t you say, Dear?”

“Agreed, Dear. I heard a new seamstress at the tailor guild was gaining traction recently. She has been making mana clothing in exchange for wool and silk thread instead of money. I believe Lady Hestia’s seamstress must be her, as it would make sense for a foreign noble to bring their own retainers.”

This was Aurora’s plan to acquire funds. Saori, using the many wool threads she acquired, made the idol merchandise that was now being sold here at Hestia’s concert by the servants of House Helvas. These clothes would vary in appearance, as some had cute chibi versions of Hestia while others had her name and party’s name in stylized writing. Idol merchandise was there for a fan to support their idol while also showing people who they liked. Naturally, these clothes had to be adapted to the local fashion sense.

While the normal wage worker wouldn’t be able to afford them, merchants or rich individuals could. It was especially successful if these merchants had either young daughters or wives, who wouldn’t shy away from these vibrant colored clothes. As Saori accounted for this fact thanks to feedback from running Aurora’s restaurant, she didn’t tailor many in order to create an artificial scarcity, attracting young women who want to “stay in fashion.”

Commoners want to look and act like nobles. Whether it was on Earth or here on Peolynca, this fact remained true. “Clothing maketh the man.” As Hestia’s status and name have been spreading in the commoner district due to her music and priestly duties, no respectable merchant wouldn’t know about the “white-robed noble lady playing music on the streets” and how she was only charging 200 Davi for any healing services. Merchants knew her identity and were assessing her worth with the restaurant and concert. It also helped that the rumors spread by Ellaine and High Bishop Theodore were leaking, too.

Impressed by her singing and being able to entertain the raucous crowd of Firwood, the idol merchandise was soon sold out, whether because the buyers had become Hestia’s “followers” or purely due to fashion. Clothing supported by a noble was being sold to them, commoners, so no young women could resist. It also meant that those unable to buy anything were left disappointed and angry.

“W-What do you mean there is nothing left?! You must have planned the stock would be sold out in minutes! T-This can’t be!”

“Please, there must be a dress that you forgot in storage, right? Could I ask you to look for it? My father would surely repay you for your hard work.”

“This is outrageous! An artificial scarcity for something any respectable merchant would be able to predict would sell out in seconds is unbelievable! You should have expected this and made more!”

However, those complaints and pleas went into one ear and then out.

“Honored madams and Sirs.” Fitting to the theme of nobles delegating merchant jobs to commoner merchants, it wasn’t Barathan or Manuela who greeted the disgruntled customers, but a foxian by the name of Zeather.

This stall was owned by party Aurora after all, not House Helvas. Ellaine might have lent Hestia her servants to help her with the concert and stall, but it was Hestia who could choose who to manage it in her stead while she was singing. Zeather might have little experience in the clothing industry, but being able to manage a stall and sell goods is different from knowing how quality outfits are made. As Saori can guarantee the quality of her work, Zeather only needed to be there and sell.

This was part of the deal Saori made with Zeather so they could borrow the items needed to open restaurant “Aurora.” He would make his name more noticeable amongst other merchants, including the money he was making through the supply of Belzac herbs from Tasianna’s garden. Helping out with ordering ingredients, furniture, and helping out here for free was worth all of the benefits he was receiving.

The merchant who did business with Lady Hestia Atsuko.

“These clothes were made by Lady Hestia’s personal seamstresses. As she did not hire additional support, her small retinue had to create all this merchandise in time for this event. The reason for the low stock is because Lady Hestia values quality over quantity, unable to bring herself to sell anything that wouldn’t suit her own taste,” Zeather reasoned with the displeased merchants with a wide, professional smile. He was very much accustomed to unpleasant customers. “Lady Hestia wishes everybody could acquire a piece to remember her by, however, time was a constraint for her. This shortage wasn’t intentional, Zeather assures you, dear customers. Even with an exceptional seamstress, quality work requires time, no?”

The power of a merchant was their tongue — the ability to persuade with words. While the more influential merchants were able to speak their mind freely in front of a noble when it came to the economy — in moderation, of course — they had to stop once a good enough reason was given. Hestia was still a noble in their minds, and a very high-ranking one if the rumors were to be believed. A noble striving for quality instead of quantity wasn’t a flaw they could argue against.

While tonight’s avenue of nightly action was the upper district, the unusually quiet middle district also wasn’t completely silent. This was where the alchemy guild was located. Fortunately for the event today, the residents living around the area of the alchemy guild were bribed by Saori and High Bishop Theodore to spend time at Hestia’s concert until it was over, resulting in this lack of activity. For the working yeoman, a good amount of Davi for not sleeping for a while was well worth it, irresistible even.

So, that removed the non-participants for the raid on the alchemy guild. Without any worries about onlookers, the apprehension of Davison should result in no witnesses except the ones who were already involved in it. And to ensure that, two people were hired by Lord Sirius himself to make sure of that.

“Groohhh! Griack!”

“Gruuwack?!”

“Gale Steps.”

There was a lone figure in the streets, fending off multiple monsters at once. How did these monsters invade Firwood and from where? These monsters were the results of the alchemy guild implanting catalysts into monsters to strengthen them, in an effort to create new equipment for tamers and their tamed monsters. Coincidentally, these catalysts had the very same slime function as Tasianna’s, albeit at a lesser quality, to aid the monster’s regeneration.

The only problem was they were rampaging in a crazed frenzy.

“Honestly, what self-respecting tamer would give their companions something this broken? Defective junk.” The man cutting the monsters down was none other than the hunter’s guild master, Farron Nordor. Even after retirement, his blade was sharp and his movements efficient, unrelenting against a force a normal D rank party would suffer losses against.

Damn, that Gael! We are hunters, not mercenaries or assassins anymore. We do what the contract says, and our job is to eliminate any monster threats. You should know that, you drunkard.

Farron and his vice guild master Gael were the adventurers Lord Sirius hired as the “clean-up unit” to support Aurora. Their job was to prevent any resident from coming into the vicinity of the alchemy guild while the raid was active and, if the evidence from Amadeus Chezaic could be trusted, stop any monsters from fleeing into the town and cause chaos.

However, Gael, ignoring Farron, entered the alchemy guild’s building and began supporting Saori in her fight against the mercenaries of Yanderu Eluseuss. That left an annoyed Farron alone to deal with what they were actually hired for.

With his feathered swordspear, Farron cleaved through the monsters with ease. Blood splashed onto the cold pavement as more bodies piled up on the street. Eventually, Farron let out a sigh. His [Detection Sensor] wasn’t informing him of any more threats, which meant his job was done for now.

He wiped the blood off his weapon, looked in a direction, and waved while saying, “I’m done.” Men clad in black exited the shadows of the alley, they saluted to Farron — who winced — and immediately began cleaning up the streets. These were the subordinates of House Sirius, and they were doing what was needed to hide all the clues. Body removal and blood cleaning.

After they were done, they left without a trace. Farron then found a nearby bench and sat down, letting out another sigh. “…Hope Priscilla is enjoying herself. She looked so sad when I told her I had to leave…”

After fighting all those monsters, the family man Farron couldn’t help but think of his daughter. After witnessing Hestia’s first song with Priscilla, he had to leave the concert to fulfill his Quest. Although he knew it couldn’t be helped, Farron wished he was there, as experiencing something like “another world’s music” was sure to be a good memory for him and his daughter.

“Well...it is my duty as the guild master. Can’t get around it when the job description says that I’m needed to protect the town the guild is stationed in the case of a monster attack. Got myself into it, so I better fulfill my end of the deal,” Farron reasoned to quell his inner turmoil. As much as he wanted to complain, Farron was a professional. “A normal hunter doesn’t have any obligation to sacrifice their life for the guild or town, but the guild master does. Even after leaving the military, I still can’t get away from responsibilities.”

Farron, melancholic now, began caressing the feathers on his swordspear, looking at them wistfully like a veteran remembering the faces of his fallen army brothers. They were uneven, like scars on the weapon after experiencing many battles, but they were kept clean and pretty, alluding to the fact that Farron was keeping his weapon’s long, brown feathers in a good state. He made sure to clean any blood drops off of them before sheathing his weapon again with a deep sigh. He was done reminiscing about his past.

“The big fella would be disappointed if he saw me now. Not exactly the strong and proud master he came to know,” he said with a faint smile. That was when his thoughts drifted back to his daughter singing and dancing along to Hestia’s song, and also to another person he deeply cared for. “…Come to think of it, shouldn’t she be around? I wonder if she can come visit Priscilla, but I guess her job should be keeping her busy. Poor lass deserves less busy parents, honestly.”

It was a self-deprecating comment. As the guild master of the hunter’s guild, Farron was swarmed with documents of fulfilled Quests and potential work from nobles, meaning he had little time for leisure outside his work hours. Fortunately for him, his daughter decided to work as a chef for the tavern adjacent to the guild, so he wasn’t always alone.

Nevertheless, as a father, Farron wished he could spend more time with his daughter. He also wished his wife were here with him.

“Haaaa, whatever,” he said, before hearing and seeing something surprising in the direction of the concert. Loud explosions rang out in the sky and giant light flowers could be seen there, amazing Farron as he never witnessed a firework before. At first, he thought it was an attack on the town but he couldn’t sense any danger around, so he eventually calmed down although he kept his guard up.

But then another loud sound happened. This time from the alchemy guild’s building.

“Shite...should I help them out?” Farron pondered as he looked at the burning guild house, clutching his swordspear, ready to fight. However, he knew how to keep a cool head and instead looked at this party bracelet. “…But neither Saori nor Tasianna are looking like they are in danger, but…I can feel something is up. What the hell is Davison doing?”

Before the raid happened, Aurora already knew Farron would help them, so Hestia had him join the party so everybody could keep tabs on each other’s status. Gael was the only one who wasn’t part of the party since no one in Aurora knew he would participate.

Farron frowned as he was contemplating on what to do. The building was burning and the loud sound came from the collapsed 2nd floor, where Davison’s office was supposed to be. The building was in shambles; its previous more refined appearance built upon all the wealth and work the previous alchemy guild masters had accrued was gone. It was no longer a place of alchemy and ingenuity for catalysts, but a battlefield.

Farron sighed, “I promised Priscilla not to risk my health as much as possible...this damn curse is making it so hard to fight properly. My scars and age are catching up to me.” Farron clutched his chest, slowly breathing but he couldn’t help but wheeze and sigh deeply. The [Crystallized Lungs] curse turned his lungs hard and insufferable to live with, which Farron was only suppressing with medicinal potions and low physical work.

His fight with the monsters and his spars with Hestia wasn’t too taxing on his body, but he was afraid of battles where he could receive damage. As an A rank adventurer, Farron’s intuition was astute and he knew what he would be getting himself into wouldn’t be a cakewalk. He didn’t know why he was so worried about Davison, but this lingering bad feeling he had of him since the moment they met was gnawing on him.

Duty or family. That was his choice here.

“...Blind acceptance of your duty is a flaw.”

In the end, he decided to step aside, as he knew why he took up the mantle of the guild master of the hunter’s guild. His job as a hunter was to hunt monsters, nothing else. Instead, he did something else. Something that would actually help the raid.

Activating [Gale Steps] once again, Farron sprinted away towards the direction of the lights.