“Oh, you came?!” Syr excitedly shouted as she crossed the tavern, approaching Light head on. Her hands reached for Light’s, csping it between her own in a warm embrace.

  “I said I would.” Light rolled her eyes at the overly familiar gesture. Before her departure on the day she confronted Goddess Freya, the Goddess had given her two orders. One was to keep Syr’s true identity a secret, something Light had no intention of revealing anyway, so she quickly agreed. The other was to stop by sometime, a much more troubling request as it would only strengthen the connection between her and this troublesome Goddess.

  Syr beamed at Light’s small eye roll, finding it rather cute. Despite seeming distant, she could tell Light actually enjoyed the physical contact between them.

  “You did, didn't you? Now come on in. I will serve you personally today since it is not busy.”

  Syr dragged Light toward the corner, leading her to an isoted table tucked away from the main area. Coincidentally, it was the exact same table as st time.

  The moment Light took her seat, Syr sat across from her, naturally drawn to the rippling aura of her soul. Over the past month since she had first seen her, Light’s deep purple soul had begun to change subtly, its shade shifting toward a warm golden hue, the colour of the divine.

  Snapping her focus back to the woman before her, Syr met Light’s gaze with a warm smile. “I heard you have been busy this past week.”

  “Busy?” Light tilted her head slightly, confused. The st week had not been much different from the one before. She entered the dungeon for a few hours, returned to her dorm, pyed a few hours of Final Fantasy XIII, and then entered her domain for further training.

  A rather ckluster lifestyle, but what could she do? She had no foundation in combat to build upon, so for now, she had to create one as quickly as possible. Now that she thought about it, her life was kind of sad. She had been reborn into a fictional world, yet she had not befriended a single person from the original story.

  The closest she had come was whatever this retionship with Freya was and the fact that she essentially considered Goddess Loki her boss.

  Also, she had not even exchanged a single word with her favourite character, Ryuu Lion. With that thought in mind, she scanned the tavern and quickly spotted the half-elven beauty. Ryuu was serving a customer with her usual stoic demeanour.

  Syr squinted and followed Light’s gaze, raising an eyebrow at whom she was looking at. As she observed Ryuu’s static deep purple soul, the exact same shade as Light’s had once been, she could not help but nod in understanding. It made sense that Light would be drawn to someone who was also suffering. Perhaps on some instinctive level, she could tell that Ryuu was much like herself.

  Unbeknownst to Syr’s thoughts, Light was temped to go over and introduce herself but decided against it. What will be will be.

  Finally, Syr continued with their previous conversation, “Aren’t you behind those new potion stores quickly multiplying around the city? You also became the benefactor of several orphanages I visit regurly. If that’s not busy, what else could it be?”

  Light physically grimaced. “I thought Goddess Loki was going to hide my involvement…”

  Although no verbal agreement had been made between them, Light assumed that was the Goddess's intention. Apparently, she had overlooked such a detail. Perhaps Goddess Loki was doing this to strengthen her reputation for one reason or another.

  “Oh, she is,” Syr answered with a smile. “Thank you for revealing my hunch to be true. I knew it was too much of a coincidence, you joining Loki’s Familia and within a month they take rge strides into the pharmacy field which they previously had no interest in.”

  Taken aback from falling into Goddess Freya’s ploy, Light could only shake her head in defeat. She had carelessly assumed that Goddess Freya would have the means to uncover such information, so when it was thrown in her face, she thought nothing of it.

  In hindsight, maybe consuming the elixir right in front of Goddess Freya wasn’t exactly a smart decision. Obviously, she had little choice after the brawl, but of course someone like Freya would be able to put one and one together.

  Before Light could reply, Syr continued, “With all that said, you should be careful going forward. Currently no one else of note is aware of your existence, but your moves are leaving quite a few people of some importance under pressure.” She emphasised the word "some" condescendingly, showing her ck of care for those who saw themselves as influential.

  “The Dian Cecht Familia, right?” Light asked, tapping the table with her index finger. Although she did not appreciate being maniputed by Freya, what could she do now? It was better to be cautious moving forward than to dwell on spilled milk.

  “So you are aware, that’s good. From what I’ve heard, their profits have dropped by nearly 70% with that number growing every day. That money-hungry fossil has been cursing Loki all day, apparently.” Syr answered, clearly finding the thought amusing.

  “That high?” Light asked, visibly shocked. She knew her business would affect them greatly, as they had essentially monopolised healing magic in this city. So naturally, selling potions that could repce the necessity of visiting them would shake their bottom line.

  Never mind that healing magic did not work on illnesses. On top of being much cheaper, Light’s potions had an overwhelming advantage.

  However, to hear that in less than a week she had not only cut their profits in half but caused even greater damage, it was hard to believe. This world was not like the modern world she knew. Advertising here came down to word of mouth or the Guild putting out an article. Even visual marketing like billboards weren't common practice in this world.

  As the Guild had not done so, that could only mean her business was climbing just from its own merit.

  Despite all this, Light was not feeling even the slightest bit of guilt. Dian Cecht’s monopoly on the healing industry was a net negative for this city. Their astronomically high prices had resulted in the deaths of many who could not afford their services. Not to mention the amount of debt he had driven even Gods into.

  Kind gods like Miach had no choice but to choose between forsaking their children or bankrupting their entire familia, all because of Dian Cecht’s greed.

  Rather than feel bad about a greedy, money-hungry individual who leveraged the fragility of mortal lives for personal gain, hearing he was having a hard time actually made Light smile instead. Now that she thought about it, if she pnned to go further into the dungeon, she would need to form her own party sooner or ter.

  Obviously, the main expeditions would be done with the whole Familia, but with her current abilities, she did not even qualify to enter Loki Familia’s second team. So before that, forming her own group would make things a lot more convenient. From the top of her head, two names for teammates immediately came to mind. Airmid Teasanare and Sanjouno Haruhime.

  Two beautiful women whose specialised abilities eclipsed their low levels. Teasanare was the captain of the Dian Cecht Familia and one of the top three healers in the city despite being level two, while Haruhime had the ability to temporarily boost someone’s level instantly. After reading a grimoire, she could even cast this levelling boost on a whole party.

  Imagining Haruhime in the Loki Familia, Light’s pulse began to race. Instead of using her ability to allow people to just about fight above their level, if she instead used it for those who sat at the top of adventuring like a soon-to-be level seven Finn, Riveria and Gareth, and level six Ais, Bete, Tione and Tiona, she could flip the plot on its head instantly.

  All this at level one too. Even Light did not have the ability to do so as things stood.

  With the Dian Cecht Familia struggling, would it be possible to poach Airmid Teasanare? Maybe not now, but ter, if their financial situation continued to worsen. Perhaps he would even be willing to sell his prized horse.

  “Couldn’t I just team up with Bell too?” Light quickly shook her head, forgetting for a brief moment that Bell had been repced with someone like her from Earth. “The system said they are following the plot, so it is only a matter of time before they recruit Haruhime.”

  Despite knowing it would cause problems with this other worlder, Light found the idea of just rolling over for them even more disgusting.

  Why should she be the one to compromise?

  What God-given right did this other person have to all of Bell’s accomplishments and women?

  “If I did recruit those two, I would need two more who could fight close quarters to even the bance. Ryuu would be my first choice, but she is already level four. What about her… Banshee…”

  “Am I boring you?” Syr broke Light’s thoughts, bringing her back to reality. She had forgotten where she was, mumbling to herself inaudibly to those around her.

  Looking up, Light saw Syr’s expression, which was a mix between unamused and exasperated, and smiled warily. “Sorry about that, I was just pnning my future.”

  “Oh, am I in it?” Syr leaned forward, her flirtatious tone hanging in the air between them.

  Light flinched, but not for the reason one would think. In this one moment, Goddess Freya’s actions were so much like Yuri’s it was scary.

  Not seeing the reaction she expected, Syr could not help but frown. She had flirted with Kings, Queens, Gods, Goddesses, Saints, Saintesses, and everything in between. However, this may be the first time her flirting had evoked a sense of fear in someone. She did not know what had scared Light momentarily, but no one would feel good seeing such a thing.

  Fortunately, before she could air her grievances, Light wiped her expression and smiled pyfully. “I think I may have to disappoint you on that one.”

  “And why is that?” Syr pointedly asked, her tone much colder than before.

  “Well, I pn to eventually establish a harem of beautiful women for myself. For some reason, I do not think you would be willing to join someone else’s harem.”

  Light was not too sure where Freya’s thoughts would align in the sense of being in a harem, but her instincts told her that someone as possessive as Freya would not share willingly. That said, in canon, she did agree to let Ryuu carry Bell’s children, meaning she was not completely against sharing. However, that offer was probably made because of her close ties with Ryuu herself.

  Freya was momentarily taken aback but quickly regained her composure. It was not too shocking that Light’s ambitions would fall in that direction. Getting a good look at the stunningly beautiful woman across from her, her delicate features filled with vitality, the way she subtly smiled, capable of making many hearts race, she definitely had the ability to ensnare many maidens’ affections.

  Then there was the fact that polygamy was not too uncommon in this world. Across the globe, many cultures still practised it, and some only permitted those in power to do so. With that thought, Freya began specuting about the woman before her. Light had purposely expressed “beautiful women,” openly outlining her preferences. Her bearing and how well spoken she was, nothing like the illiterate masses, made it clear that she had a decent education.

  Finally, things began to fall into pce. If Light was a princess from some distant kingdom, one who refused to marry any man, there was a strong possibility she would be disowned for failing to continue her bloodline, thus neglecting her royal duties. If her entire family had turned their backs on her as well, that would also expin the colour of her soul.

  Feeling confident in her conjecture, Freya, filled with satisfaction, smiled knowingly, confusing Light, who sat across from her. If this were an anime, question marks would no doubt be floating above her head right now.

  “Does this mean she agrees with me or not?” Light thought, unaware of the embellished backstory forming in the goddess’s head.

  Afterwards, Light had a drink and something to eat, with Syr keeping her company throughout her stay. Despite knowing how dangerous Freya could be, Light strangely felt comfortable. Whether it was Freya’s countless years of experience allowing her to disarm any worries or simply the pleasant change of pace that came with letting her guard down and enjoying herself, she could not tell.

  Eventually, Light left the Hostess of Fertility, satisfied.

  However, as she walked down the street, someone grabbed her arm. Repressing thoughts about how familiar this scene was, Light felt the firm grip, but before she could turn around, a jolt ran through her.

  It was like a surge of—well, “Lightning?”