The day after their strategy meeting.
"Wait!? You met her!?" Tsuna exclaimed, his eyes wide.
After dinner the previous night, Mikoto had ventured back into the Pleasure Quarter. Finally, she had managed to reunite with Haruhime.
"Yes… but she told me she didn't know anyone like me. She refused to even listen…" Mikoto said, her voice trembling slightly.
"W-Why…?"
"I don't know…"
Being outright rejected without a single explanation, especially after finally finding her, had taken a massive toll on Mikoto. She looked far more exhausted and defeated than she had the day before.
Could it be… because of their connection to the Evilus?
Tsuna figured Haruhime was intentionally pushing Mikoto away to prevent her from getting tangled up in the Ishtar Familia's dark dealings. But without concrete evidence of their ties to the Evilus, he couldn't carelessly voice his suspicions. Tsuna kept his mouth shut, unable to offer any comforting words.
Afterward, Mikoto and Bell headed to the Guild to figure out a way to save Haruhime. Because Tsuna had met directly with Ouranos upon arriving in Orario, the Guild staff always paid him too much attention. Unless it was an absolute emergency, he avoided going there, opting to stay behind at Hearth Manor instead. He spent the next hour in the underground training room with Reborn before returning to the living room.
"…What's going on?" Tsuna asked, stepping into the room.
"Did something happen?" Reborn added.
Bell and Mikoto had returned from the Guild and were now huddled around a single piece of paper with Hestia, Lili, and Welf. The atmosphere was incredibly serious. When Tsuna and Reborn spoke, everyone turned to face them.
"Actually, we got a Quest from the Albera Company," Hestia explained.
"Albera Company?" Tsuna tilted his head, unfamiliar with the name she had just dropped.
"They're a massive merchant company that supports a large chunk of Orario's economy," Lili elaborated. "It seems they issued this Quest to establish a business relationship with the Hestia Familia, now that we're famous after the War Game."
"What does that mean exactly?" Tsuna asked.
"The loot retrieved from Orario's Dungeon is so incredibly valuable that merchants across the continent would kill to get their hands on it. Because of that, merchants are desperate to build connections with prominent Familias. They issue Quests for the Familia to procure loot, and in return, the merchant company provides financial backing for their Dungeon explorations."
"Ah, a give-and-take relationship," Tsuna nodded. "So, what's the Quest?"
"We have to go to the Pantry on the 14th Floor and mine Quartz," Welf answered.
"The Pantry… That's the place monsters go when they're hungry, right?" Tsuna recalled.
During their recent expedition to the 59th Floor, Finn's group had taught Tsuna the basics of the Dungeon. Monsters were living creatures too, which meant they eventually grew hungry. When they did, they sustained themselves by consuming a liquid secreted from crystals found within the Dungeon. The area where this liquid pooled was known as the Pantry.
"Exactly," Lili confirmed. "By the way, the reward is 1,000,000 Valis."
"One million!? That much!?" Tsuna gaped at the astronomical sum.
"It's quite common for them to offer a reward that far exceeds the Quest's actual difficulty just to earn our future favor," Lili replied coolly, completely unfazed.
"So, are we taking it?" Reborn asked, eyeing the group.
"Of course!! You can never have too much money!!" Mikoto declared.
"Yes!! I completely agree!!" Bell declared, his eyes burning with determination.
For some reason, Bell and Mikoto were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about accepting the Quest.
"…I don't know why, but those two are completely fired up about this," Hestia sighed, crossing her arms. "Personally, I don't want to get involved in relationships driven purely by profit. But since I caused everyone trouble by secretly taking on debt, I figured it's fine if we just accept it as compensation for the Quest."
Though she was reluctant, her guilt over burdening her Familia with debt pushed her to give them the green light.
─────
Two days later. Tsuna and the others ventured into the Dungeon to complete the Albera Company's Quest.
"I still can't believe we can just solve this with money…" Tsuna muttered.
He had finally asked Bell and Mikoto why they were so fired up. Two days ago, just as they were heading to the Guild, they had run into Hermes. He had offered them advice regarding Haruhime, explaining a system called "Ransom"—a process where one could purchase a courtesan's freedom.
Learning that they needed a massive sum of 2 to 3 million Valis, Bell and Mikoto resolved to earn the money as quickly as possible. That was the real reason behind their sudden surge in motivation. They reported this to the rest of the group, and everyone agreed to help. Naturally, they omitted words like "courtesan" to keep Tsuna's innocence intact.
Hestia, however, was fully aware of the Ransom system. She made a deeply displeased face when she realized Bell was trying to buy a girl, but after learning about Mikoto's past, she gave her consent. She even went out of her way to report Haruhime's situation to the Takemikazuchi Familia.
Coming from a completely different world, Tsuna still felt a deep sense of revulsion toward the idea of buying a person. However, he believed resolving the situation peacefully was the best possible outcome, so he fully committed to helping them earn the funds.
"…Hey, Tsuna. Do you know what a Killing Stone is?" Mikoto asked suddenly.
"A Killing Stone?"
"I suppose you wouldn't know…"
"What brought this up all of a sudden?" Tsuna asked, looking back at her.
"Actually, Lord Hermes mentioned he also works as a courier on the side. He told us he recently delivered an item called a Killing Stone to the Ishtar Familia."
"Did something happen with this Killing Stone?"
"No, he just unilaterally told us that and left. I tried asking around, but no one seems to know what it is…"
"I see…"
Tsuna pondered why Hermes would intentionally drop that specific hint, but came up blank. Realizing it was pointless to dwell on it, he shifted his focus back to the Quest.
"…Stop," Tsuna commanded softly.
"What is it, Master Tsuna?" Lili asked, freezing in place.
"I hear monsters. And the sound of someone approaching."
Tsuna's Hyper Intuition picked up the subtle presence ahead of them on the narrow path. Exactly as he warned, a party of figures clad in black robes came sprinting toward them, dragging a massive horde of monsters in their wake.
"A Pass Parade…" Welf grimaced, recalling the bitter memories of the last time someone pulled that dirty trick on them.
"Let's fall back to the crossroad!!" Bell shouted.
Fighting in a tight, single-file corridor was suicide. Bell made the split-second decision to retreat to the wider intersection they had just passed. The group turned and sprinted back.
But the moment they reached the crossroad—
"Two directions!?"
They were ambushed by another Pass Parade from the sides. The unexpected pincer attack nearly caused Lili's mind to short-circuit. In the blink of an eye, they were completely surrounded by monsters, their escape routes completely cut off.
Realizing they were backed into a corner, Bell and the others gritted their teeth and drew their weapons, ready for a desperate final stand.
"Everyone, jump!!"
"""""!?"""""
Tsuna's voice sliced through the chaos. Startled but trusting him completely, Bell and the others kicked off the ground and leaped high into the air. Lili was caught off guard, but Bell grabbed her arm and hauled her up with him.
"Natsu."
Suspended in the air alongside his friends, Tsuna summoned Natsu from his ring. In a flash, he switched the attribute of his Dying Will Flame from Sky to Storm.
"GURURU… GAOOOOO!!"
Natsu unleashed a deafening roar. A massive wave of Storm Flames blanketed the ground below, washing over the swarming monsters. The Storm Flames' unique trait of Disintegration took immediate effect, reducing the entire horde to ash in a fraction of a second. Not a single piece of flesh remained.
The black-robed figures who had orchestrated the ambush stared in absolute, stunned silence.
"…Looks like we were set up," Tsuna said coldly, his eyes narrowing at the attackers.
----
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