Carrousing with a Maid

Bell had been spending the last few days Dungeon Diving, doing his level best to spend as much time in the dungeon as possible, working away at earning as much money as possible, slowly working towards getting the pair of them a nice place to live, or at least some repairs to the church they lived in.

Still, he did have one diversion that he made on the regular. Every day he went to the Hostess of Fertility to see Ryuu. The retired adventurer had been nothing but patient with him, listening to his exploits, his descriptions of the battles he fought with the many varied species of Monster that dwelled within the upper few levels of the Dungeon, and she seemed to have no problems with offering him guidance or advice on how he could improve himself. And then every time, just as he left to head into the Dungeon, she would give him a kiss before she sent him on his way.

It was... nice. That was the only way he could think to describe it. Being with Ryuu, someone he could just talk to without any worries or expectations, and just showed him affection so casually, while assuring him it was something she was providing him exclusively. It was nice. It was almost like he was spending time with another person like Hestia, only unlike his goddess Ryuu had much the same perspective on things that he did, only honed with the vast experience of someone who had spent long enough in the Dungeon to earn her retirement. Hestia was incredible, but the restrictions the gods placed on themselves meant they could never enter the dungeon and experience the trials that Adventurers faced, while their immortality and omnipotence while in the Heavens made them detached from mortal affairs.

Ryuu was just someone he felt like he could spend time with without any worries, and from what he saw of her, the feeling appeared to be mutual.

But that morning he arrived to the Inn, only to find Ryuu not there, and a silver haired human girl was in her place. "Umm, hello?" he offered as he walked towards her, inquisitively staring into the insides of the shop looking for any sign of his elven friend. "Where's Ryuu?"

"Hmm." The girl vocalised as she stopped what she was doing, taking down a few chairs from atop the tables where they had been left the night before, and turned around to face him. Her eyes were a light grey colour, almost silver like her hair which kept tied into a small ponytail like knot. She was wearing a white blouse and a light green knee length skirt, with an apron over the top of it, much like Ryuu did. Maybe that was the uniform of the Inn? He'd never actually been here during business hours he realised, so he wasn't really in a position to know.

"I'm looking for Ryuu, she's usually here?"

"Ryuu? Oh she's not opening up the shop this morning. She won't be here until this afternoon. It would probably be best for you to come back this evening just before the evening rush." The girl was quite cheerful as she replied. "But why ever are you looking for her? You've not got a crush on her do you?" The girl seemed to teleport across the space in between them, leaning into his chest and staring into his eyes with her own wide and sparkling with mischief.

"No no no!" He tried to assure her, waving his arms around erratically on either side to try and ward the woman away, and achieving absolutely nothing. "Its just we spend time together in the mornings talking and she gives me a kis-" Bell suddenly realised what he was saying and slammed his jaw shut with a loud clacking of teeth. It was far too late.

"Oh my!" The girl said, pulling back and hiding her mouth behind one hand while she lightly tittered. "So Ryuu finally decided to give one of her admirers a chance did she?"

"I'm not one of her admirers!"

"Oh. So you don't think she's beautiful?"

"Of course not! Wait, I mean she is, but I don't like her because of that-. I mean" The girl had flustered him badly, and now he was utterly failing to get his words into any sort of order, his mouth running faster than his brain could keep up. The girl just laughed. It was a light and tinkling thing, and quite soothing to the ear, but it was still not at all what he wanted to be hearing at his own expense.

"Well then, Mr Adventurer Sir, if you don't want Ryuu to hear that you think she isn't beautiful, I think you better come by this evening, and buy a nice big meal." It was perhaps the weakest threat in all the world, but to Bell it was a truly horrifying one. On the one hand he could have the girl tell Ryuu all about this entirely too embarrassing encounter, but on the other, he really couldn't afford to be splashing cash around by eating out at fancy places like this. Well compared to meals of bread and potato puffs anything seemed fancy, but this was a proper maid café! They were quality, which meant they would have high prices too.

"I- I can't... I mean." He tried to talk his way out of the situation, but whenever he went to start the girl's eyes just flashed mischievously and he was immediately scared into submission. Finally he broke. "Okay." He replied, hanging his head in shame.

"Yay!" She literally jumped for joy, giving him a big hug, before doing a little dance on the spot. "I'm going to make so much money tonight! Mama Mia will love it!" She pulled back and looked up at him with a kind smile on her face as if she hadn't just blackmailed him into spending today's earnings on food. "It has been very nice to meet you Mr Adventurer."

"Yeah." He said lamely. "You can call me Bell by the way. Bell Cranel." He offered up his hand to her. Maybe if he appeased her she wouldn't milk his poor wallet anymore.

"Syr Flova." Replied the Demoness in human skin, her kind smile beaming up at him.

True to his word, that evening Bell found himself back at the Hostess of Fertility, the entire day's earnings in his pocket, and a sinking feeling in his chest as he surveyed the menu, and more specifically the prices of everything on it. Still, he had made a promise, even if it was under duress. And he did still need to see Ryuu.

And so it was that Bell reluctantly made his way inside the busy tavern. He tried to not stop and stare at the truly ridiculous number of powerful adventurers that made up the Inn's patrons, each of them still kitted out in their equipment, coming here straight from the Dungeon and Guild so they could get some food and **** into them to finish off the day. It was a little awe inspiring at seeing so many powerful people in the same place. Sure there were Level 1s like he was, but he recognised some of the various people around the room as being higher ranked, level 2s, 3s, even a few level 4s over in one corner.

He swiftly made his way straight over to the bar, taking a seat on a bar stool that was unoccupied and far from anyone else, on the short side of the L shaped bar and with his back to the wall. He got comfortable and waited for the large woman behind the bar to turn to him. That was another thing that he noticed while looking around. There were very few people here alone, instead tables were occupied by groups of adventurers, probably parties celebrating another successful day of working together in the dungeon.

The whole place felt truly alive, with not a frown in sight. The many very pretty .waitresses flitted from table to table with huge smiles and the many male patrons were happy of the attention even if it was professional. The food being served came in huge helpings, and seemed to be amazing by the responses to it

It took a minute, and he was thankful for the time to get some air into his lungs, but the barwoman did eventually turn around to speak to him and hear what he wanted. "You're new here." She commented after looking him over. She was quite the stout dwarfess, and kept herself busy by cleaning a large mug even while she talked to him.

"Yeah. I was invited." He said, willing to give her a little bit of small talk before ordering. He seemed to be the only person not being attended in the entire bar, so she had the time to talk right now.

"Oh. Who was that by? I'm always happy for some free promotion around the city."

"One of the waitresses here. Syr Flova." He explained.

"Ah. So you're Syr's guest are ya? I hear you're gonna be here all night, so make sure to give a holler if you need anything, I'll keep the food coming, you just keep ordering."

"Who said I'm going all out? That's news to me!"

"I did of course." A cheerful voice spoke from behind him, and he almost jumped out of his skin turning to see the form of Syr stood behind him. "I had to tell Mama Mia all about how you came around before breakfast, looking in on the Inn, trying to see if there was anyone in. Probably not had any food that morning I told her, and might not have lunch later. So he'd need lots of food to make up for it"

"That's a rather dirty game you're playing." He replied, though there was no real bite to his words. More just exasperation.

"Oh it's just a joke. I wanted a bit of fun that's all. Just take your time. I'll explain to Mama Mia, and you can talk to Ryuu once she's finished her shift in the Kitchen." With that she walked away, getting back to her work. With nothing to do and his stomach calling for something to fill it, he ordered some sort of pasta dish and a small mug of ale, just enough to wash his meal down with, not anywhere close to actually getting him at all close to drunk.

He was halfway through it when Ryuu finally emerged from a door on the far side of the bar, and with a word to Mama Mia made her way around to talk to him. She slid up onto the stool next to him and untied her apron, laying it on the bar's top while she sat across from him. Bell was not ignorant of the fact that a number of sets of lustful eyes followed her even on that short journey.

"Hello Mr Cranel. Syr told me you came looking for me this morning." She bowed a little to him atop her stool. "I apologise for not letting you know ahead of time that I wouldn't be there. It was my own fault for not doing so."

"It's fine." He replied with a smile. He looked around a bit more. "This is a nice place. I never imagined it would be this popular." His eyes drifted from waitress to waitress for a few seconds before turning back to Ryuu.

"Mama Mia was an adventurer herself a long time ago. She got permission from her God to retire from the dungeon and set up shop here. So she knows a lot about what Adventurers are looking for. And people appreciate quality."

"Is that true?" He marvelled. His respect for the woman behind the counter definitely grew at that news.

"Indeed it is. Her God allows her to run the bar as she likes. That means Mama Mia only hires women as I see you noticed." Bell blushed at being caught in his ogling. "She doesn't brook argument on that point, but she is also more than willing to hire questionable women with nowhere else to go. She's saved quite a few souls from bad fates with the honest work she offers."

"Does that include...?" He let the question hang, painfully aware that he was prying into Ryuu's privacy with that question.

"It does. Without her, I doubt I would be alive." Yeah, that Dwarfess was currently high on his list of idols right now. "But that is all not what you came for is it? You came because you wanted your kiss." She said it as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Just at that exact moment, the doors to the tavern swung open to let in yet another group of strong adventurers, with a mix of many different races. But Bell only sees one of them. A body so delicate and feminine that it looks like it would break under the lightest touch. Flowing blonde hair that is so shiny that it could be woven out of pure gold. A walk so smooth and graceful that it looks like the floor hesitates to touch her. She doesn't walk across the ground, she glides.

A pair of big golden eyes, so clear and beautiful.

A wave of mutterings runs through the bar as the many patrons react to such a powerful and famous group steps in. Many whispered exclamations of awe echo in the voices, even a few are brave enough to whistle at the female members of the group as they move through the crowd.

Bell couldn't restrain his gasp as Aiz Wallenstein walked into the bar, and follows the group she was with over to a large empty table, that had obviously been reserved for them this entire time.