Zephyr looked at Lili's lowered profile. Even though her hood obscured her expression, he could still tell from the slightly tensed lines of her shoulders—she was avoiding the topic.
He had just wanted to say something, when a girl with long gray hair, wearing a maid uniform, arrived in front of them carrying a full tray.
"Guests, here is the meal you ordered."
She placed the dishes from the tray onto the table: a grilled meat platter, thick soup, salad, cream stew, and so on.
When Syr's gaze briefly met Zephyr's, a look of distraction appeared in her eyes.
What kind of indescribable color was this exactly?
Syr had never seen it before so it was hard to evaluate.
She stood by the table with the tray in her hands, her gaze lingering on the black-haired boy.
His soul wasn't dazzlingly pure. It was mixed with colorful impurities: blood red, brass, purple, pink...
Those colors overlapped and covered the base, mottled intensely.
But there was no doubt that deep within the boy's soul, which wasn't particularly clean or white, something seemed to be burning. It wasn't a holy white light, nor was it a warm golden color. It was closer to some kind of stubborn flame that was being suppressed but refused to be extinguished.
Very special.
At the very least, among all the Adventurers Syr had seen in Orario, she had never seen anyone as special as Zephyr.
Rare!
Some souls were bright, some were murky, some were as plain as a glass of water, but the one before her was like an overturned palette.
Messy, yet it possessed an indescribable vitality.
But she quickly withdrew her gaze. She placed the last grilled meat platter from the tray onto the table.
"Guests, please enjoy your meal. If there is anything you need, feel free to ask for me. My name is Syr Flova. I am very happy to be of help."
"Thank you."
A perfect beauty.
This was probably the benefit of transmigrating into the DanMachi World. At least so far, all the women he had met were quite beautiful.
Facing her enthusiasm, Zephyr smiled and expressed his thanks.
Syr nodded slightly, then turned and left, quickly blending into the lively crowd of the restaurant to attend to guests at other tables.
After leaving the broken umbrella that was the Soma Familia, Zephyr realized that it wasn't raining outside at all. At least until now, in Orario, the people he had met were quite friendly.
Lefiya, Charles, Kate, Lili.
Even Soma, Loki, Shakti, and the waitress just now was quite nice. Perhaps this was the reason the restaurant was so popular.
But the bad news was...
Zephyr looked at the sumptuous meal in front of him.
The grilled meat platter looked good, the honey-glazed chicken legs had an enticing caramel color, and the cream soup was steaming. But to him, these things were just tools to fill his stomach.
After incorporating monster cuisine into his daily life, if it couldn't increase his stats, he felt like he was wasting his stomach's capacity.
After all, back at the Communal Dormitory, there was still an Infant Dragon waiting for him.
"You guys eat more."
Zephyr took a bottle of Divine Wine from Lili and poured himself a glass without asking Charles and the others what they thought.
He looked at the Divine Wine in his glass. The amber liquid glowed with a warm luster under the lights. There was an alcoholic scent, but all side effects were quickly digested by Gluttony. What it brought was only the subtle improvement of his stats by the Gourmet Cells.
It's just that I don't know how much my stats will increase after finishing these bottles of Divine Wine.
Compared to others who could eat with peace of mind, Lili looked gloomily at the sumptuous dishes in front of her, but most of her attention was focused on the glass of Divine Wine in front of Zephyr. As a member of the Soma Familia, she knew exactly how strong this stuff was.
After she confirmed that Zephyr's expression and eyes didn't change in the slightest after drinking it, she felt relieved and began to taste the food in front of her.
Noticing Zephyr drinking alone, Charles, who was eating grilled meat, looked up and asked with his mouth full, "Zephyr, is the food here not to your liking? I think it tastes pretty good."
Kate and Lefiya cast curious glances as well. They looked at the sumptuous meal in front of them. The taste was the same as before, no difference. But Zephyr's plate was empty.
"No. I want to save some room in my stomach to go back and cook for myself." Zephyr shook his head.
After all, Orario didn't have refrigeration for preservation. Since he had finally encountered an Infant Dragon, he definitely had to try to eat as much as possible before it spoiled. He might not be able to gain any more talents, but increasing his stats was definitely not a problem.
Most importantly, this time Loki helped with the status update, and his attributes were all A rank and B rank, but according to what she said, the limit of an Adventurer is S rank, so his current stats were clearly lacking in comparison.
Who could tolerate shortcomings in their stats?
Next, what he had to do was to raise his stats until they couldn't be raised any further, and only then proceed with leveling up.
Hearing this explanation, Charles
recalled that during this period, Zephyr had gone from being a complete rookie adventurer, who was somewhat embarrassed even when facing a Dungeon Lizard, to his current level—strength comparable to a Lv. 2 adventurer.
He gulped down a glass of ale and said, "It's one thing to have such talent but you're also this hardworking. How are others supposed to live? The thing I hate most in this life is a try-hard."
— — —
Loki looked at the Soma Familia residence in front of her. Compared to her own, there was definitely no comparison in terms of scale or architectural style. After all, that's just how small Familias are.
She looked at the brightly lit Familia residence ahead. The stone bricks on the outer wall were quite old. Only the pool of blood that hadn't been cleaned up on the gravel ground symbolized that the conflict that had happened not long ago.
God of Wine... I wonder what the wine brewed by Soma tastes like?
Loki stood at the entrance, rubbing her hands curiously.
In the years she had spent developing in Orario, other than beautiful girls, her favorite thing was drinking, but until now, she had never drunk Soma's wine. To be honest, Loki considered this her dereliction of duty.
However, I should be able to see him, right?
Tonight, entrusted by Lefiya, she helped Zephyr update his status. Actually, there was a safer method, which was using a Status Update Potion. It was actually quite simple for her Familia to obtain one but she didn't do that, so that she, this arrogant goddess, could personally go and apologize to the God of Wine, Soma.
Thinking of this, she knocked on the wooden door.
Knock, knock!
The one who came to open the door was a member of the Soma Familia. He was still holding half a bowl of unfinished dinner in his hand.
When he saw the person's face clearly, he was stunned.
Loki! The leader of Orario's top-ranked Familia!
.
The sudden visit caused him to stumble over his words when he asked, "Lo... Loki-sama?"
"Yeah."
Loki had no intention of teasing the other party. She narrowed her eyes with an easygoing smile. "I'm here to see your Familia's god, Soma. Where is he?"
"The Brewing Room."
"Could you please take me there?"
"No problem."
He placed the bowl on the ground and wiped his hands on his clothes. Since it was to find his own god, there was no reason to refuse.