A night passed.
After Evan and Cecil got up and ate breakfast, the two of them said goodbye to the goddess and went out together—but not to the Dungeon.
They were going to work.
The Astraea Familia's financial situation was terrible right now!!
Otherwise they wouldn't be renting a place in Daedalus Street.
Of course, there was another reason too: the goddess didn't want news of her return to Orario to spread. Aside from a few gods she was close with, no one in Orario currently knew the Astraea Familia had come back.
Even when Evan and Cecil registered with the Guild as adventurers, they did so only in name—listed under other gods' Familias.
So living in the slums, where all kinds of people mixed together, also helped them stay hidden.
But the biggest reason was simple:
They were broke.
Orario was insanely expensive!!
And it was also because the Astraea Familia had never had much savings to begin with. Back in Solingen, Evan, the girl, and the goddess had lived on the edge of the forest outside the city. They'd built a small house themselves by chopping wood. They grew food in their own field, picked fruit in the forest, hunted, fished…
They could supply themselves with almost everything.
But in Orario, that was impossible.
Everything cost money.
Even being an adventurer cost money.
Daily wear and tear on weapons and armor, potions to restore stamina and heal wounds, all kinds of tools and items—
Evan's Healing Gourd skill did save them some potion costs, but it wasn't like he could stop carrying supplies entirely.
The gourd could only be used three times.
He couldn't just use it up and then come back, could he?
Adventuring income was good, sure, but the expenses were huge too. At best, they could barely keep their budget balanced…
And that was only because Cecil could repair their equipment for free.
He'd heard that even a top-tier Familia like Loki's could end up financially strained by expedition costs—forced to farm deep floors just to earn money.
Sheesh.
Being an adventurer was expensive.
As for why Cecil—who was a blacksmith—didn't just forge gear and sell it to make money…
An unknown smith couldn't sell equipment at good prices.
And besides, she wasn't part of a famous smithing Familia like Hephaistos or Goibniu.
Setting up a roadside stall wasn't worth it.
Honestly, working part-time was better.
…
"Welcome! One order of wasabi-flavored fried potato balls—thirty valis."
Evan's job was running a fried potato ball stand on North Main Street in the mornings.
As Orario's national snack, fried potato balls were genuinely delicious—deep-fried potatoes coated in various sauces. With food like that, it'd be hard to make it taste bad.
Plus, Orario's potatoes were grown outside the city by the Demeter Familia. As the goddess of agriculture and abundance, the crops and fruit she cultivated were fragrant, sweet, and richly flavorful—far better than ordinary produce.
While Evan worked, he also put his "initiative" to full use.
Just in the last two days, he'd launched a brand-new item he'd developed himself—
Creamy mashed potatoes topped with a runny fried egg, plus sauce, and you could also add sausage, bacon, onions, and more.
He called it: "Egg-Wrapped Tater Mash."
With that—
Two servings of fried potato balls plus one fried egg and some toppings could sell for 180 valis.
He was basically printing money!!
"Delicious!"
A beautiful elf girl with long golden hair tied into a huge ponytail held her lunchbox and scooped up steaming fried egg and mashed potatoes—mixed with mayonnaise—into her mouth.
Instantly, her face lit up with pure bliss.
"It's so good!!"
"Huh?! Lefiya, is it really that good?"
"It really is! You should all get one too!"
"Then I'll take one—extra egg, extra sausage—and for sauce… cilantro sauce!"
"I want one too."
"Me too, me too!"
"Lefiya, you're still eating—why are you ordering another one?!"
"Hehe…"
The energetic girls and boys in front of him were noisy as anything.
They wore red-and-white uniforms that made it obvious at a glance—they were young students from the School District.
The "School District," Evan had heard about from Cecil.
It was a massive ship standing out on the sea—
No, calling it a "ship" wasn't quite right.
In some sense, it was closer to a moving city.
Children from all over the world studied there, learning all kinds of knowledge—and also learning how to fight.
The vessel circled the continent, and every three years it returned to the port city of Melen not far outside Orario, docking there for a period of time.
During that period, the students came into Orario for "exchange learning."
Some of them would join Orario's Guild after graduation, or stay on the School District as teachers and researchers.
But a significant number would join Orario's Familias and become their backbone.
And clearly, the students in front of him were heading for the Dungeon.
"Let's go!"
The leader—a boaz boy—was so solidly built it was ridiculous. He carried a huge axe, his muscles sharply outlined beneath his tight uniform. If not for his youthful face, no one would've believed he was still basically a student.
In just a few bites, he wiped out two portions of Egg-Wrapped Tater Mash.
Then, still not satisfied, he bought out all the remaining fried potato balls, planning to use them as travel rations.
A lot of adventurers did the same. Fried potato balls weren't great once cold, but they were filling and high-energy—perfectly good food if you weren't going on a deep-floor expedition and were only working the mid-to-lower floors.
Thanks to those students, Evan could clock out early today.
"Thanks for your business—please come again!"
Wearing a perfect professional smile, he saw them off, stuffed a fistful of valis into his pocket, and began packing up.
And soon after, Cecil arrived—bringing him lunch and coming to pick him up.
The cute blue-haired girl drove a horse cart.
It was loaded with basket after basket of produce, and meat stored in a cold box.
Cecil's job was helping the Demeter Familia deliver goods to shops around the city—including Evan's fried potato ball stall, as well as taverns and restaurants.
And at the same time, she brought him a bento prepared by Goddess Demeter.
"Today it's fried eggplant and chicken curry… nice… Goddess Demeter really can cook~"
"What do you mean by that?!"
"I'm not saying your cooking is bad! And I'm not saying that about Goddess Astraea either!"
Why was she so sensitive?
"Hmph!"
Watching Cecil puff out her chubby cheeks and turn her head away, Evan could only feel like it made the meal taste even better.
Goddess Demeter and Goddess Astraea were very close. Demeter also took good care of Evan and Cecil.
He'd heard that when Astraea left Orario back then, she'd received Demeter's help.
Before long, Evan finished eating the bento atop the cart.
Then he skillfully put back on the armor Cecil had stayed up late repairing for him.
Next, of course, he was going to the Dungeon.
Alone.
Cecil was a blacksmith, and already Lv. 2, with the developmental ability [Blacksmithing]. There was no real need for her to keep leveling.
Most blacksmiths were like that.
The Hephaistos Familia did have some "combat smiths," but they were mainly logistics—following Familias on deep-floor expeditions, repairing weapons and armor along the way.
Very few actually fought on the front lines.
And besides, Cecil had her own things to do.
Not just part-time work—but also the "promise" she'd made with Goddess Astraea when she joined the Familia…
…
-------
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