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"How's that possible? Orario may be huge, but more than half the population are just regular folks. And even among the adventurers, most are Level 1. True high-level adventurers are rare. Those low-level guys can barely earn enough to survive. They can't grind monsters the way we do." Alex explained patiently to Artoria.
"So if adventurers want to make money, they have to go into the Dungeon?" Artoria asked again.
"Not necessarily. There are tons of lifestyle familias here. For example, Demeter's familia works in agriculture, Soma's focuses on brewing, Guberniu handles construction and forging, Miach deals with medical work, and so on." Alex continued without complaint.
"I see," Artoria nodded.
The more he explained, the clearer the world's structure became to her.
Alex stored a whole crate of gold coins into Unlimited Blade Works, then took Merlin and the others out of the Guild, heading north.
"We're not going home?" Merlin noticed the direction and asked curiously.
"No need to rush back. We've been fighting in the Dungeon all day, so it's time to treat ourselves. Dinner's on me." Alex grinned.
The mention of a feast instantly perked up both Merlin and Artoria.
Orario was massive, its layout shaped around Babel Tower with eight main roads branching outward, dividing the entire city into eight zones.
Those zones branched again into countless small streets and districts, forming a web-like maze of passages.
The Guild sat on the West Main Street, where most shops catered to adventurers. Naturally, adventurers gathered there, earning it the nickname "Adventurer Street."
North Street was a long walk from there.
As Alex's group moved along the road, the bustle of Orario's nightlife washed over them.
Magic stone lamps glowed on both sides of the streets, lighting the entire city in warm brilliance.
Taverns overflowed with adventurers, both inside and spilling out the doors. They drank, ate, swapped stories of the day's Dungeon battles, and laughed without restraint.
When they reached North Street, Alex found a nice restaurant and ordered plenty of food.
With Artoria the Black Hole present, ordering extra wasn't optional.
Thanks to the gods' existence, Orario's development in all sorts of fields was surprisingly advanced.
Magic stone technology rivaled modern science—magic stone elevators, magic stone lamps, and more.
Food was no exception. With many deities of cuisine around, Orario boasted an absurd variety of dishes, including ones Alex had assumed didn't exist in this world at all.
He'd expected medieval grub, yet here he was eating dishes he recognized from modern life.
After the meal, the four finally headed back to the church.
It was already past eight. Roxy's second squad had returned earlier.
Hestia immediately complained the moment she saw them coming in late. "You're so slow! Everyone's been waiting for you to eat!"
Alex scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Sorry… we already ate outside."
"What?"
Everyone froze, then erupted in anger.
We waited here for you to come back for dinner and you just… ate out?
Hestia puffed up angrily. "A-Che-kun, where did you even get the money?"
"Traded magic stones at the Guild." He reached into Unlimited Blade Works and pulled out a full crate of gold.
The entire group went silent.
"Whoa! Where did you get this much money?" Hestia grabbed a handful of coins, eyes sparkling.
"I told you—sold the monster drops and magic stones."
Hestia finally remembered. Their familia was new, yes, but their strength was anything but ordinary.
Especially Merlin and the other two Servants—easily comparable to Level 5 adventurers.
And their Noble Phantasms? Those could match Level 6 firepower.
With that much power, earning this amount in a day wasn't surprising.
"This is amazing! At this rate, we'll have enough to move into a big house soon!" Hestia cheered.
Roxy asked curiously, "How come you ran into so many monsters? We barely met any today."
Alex thought for a moment. "Probably because of my development ability."
Everyone suddenly remembered—his development ability was Luck.
Yotsuya Miko grumbled, "Can we talk later? I'm starving!"
Hestia agreed right away. "Right, right, let's eat first."
Seeing that everyone was digging in, Alex quietly stepped outside.
Squeezing in with so many people was uncomfortable anyway.
He sat on the church steps and opened the chat group.
The chat was lively as always.
Misaka Mikoto had earned a ton of points in her last mission. Combined with her previous balance, she now had over 800 points.
She spent 500 of them on a complete Lightning-Style Ninjutsu Manual.
Even without chakra, studying the techniques still strengthened her electric abilities.
Right now, she was in the group asking Tsunade questions, and Tsunade was seriously teaching her.
Seeing that, Alex suddenly remembered—the last time Shinobu Kochou and Kurumi Tokisaki joined the group, a new feature unlocked: the Marketplace.
He hadn't actually checked it yet.
He opened the group functions and tapped Marketplace.
Twelve options appeared immediately.
Fate, Fairy Tail, Naruto, Hitman, Corpse, Index, Ghost-Seeing, Danmachi, Jobless, God-Slaying, Demon Slayer, Date A Live.
These clearly represented the worlds of the twelve members.
He tapped Fate.
The page shifted, revealing countless items—neatly categorized.
The first row was Magic: the Five True Magics of the Nasuverse.
Below that were rows of magecraft.
Then came engravings, familiars, Noble Phantasms, and more.
Alex's heartbeat quickened as he tapped Noble Phantasms.
Sure enough, every Heroic Spirit's Noble Phantasm was listed.
Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon supposedly held prototypes of all weapons, but only weapon-type ones. Unique Noble Phantasms born from personal legends—like Heracles' Twelve Labors—weren't included.
But the Marketplace had them all. Even Twelve Labors.
He backed out and checked the Fairy Tail and Naruto tabs.
Same deal. Each tab sold everything from that world.
Alex was speechless.
This group was downright terrifying.
As long as you had points, you could buy anything from these twelve worlds.
And if new members joined, new worlds would be added.
He checked his own balance: 220 points.
Barely enough to buy anything.
Looks like I can't just focus on training. I need to earn more points too, he thought.
Why grind through training when a cheat system exists?
Humans are naturally lazy. Alex was no exception.
If not for laziness, modern technology wouldn't exist.
Soon, Hestia and the others finished dinner and started dividing chores.
The basement was too small to house everyone.
So Hestia decided they'd clean the church above it and live there for now.
The place was coated in layers of dust from years of neglect, and several rows of broken pews cluttered the hall.
Everyone pitched in. Alex helped carry the benches out.
Roxy summoned wind magic to sweep out all the dust, followed by water magic to rinse the place clean, then fire magic to dry it.
With everyone working together, the once-ruined church looked like new in under half an hour.
Now they could easily fit more than a dozen people.
As the only man in the group, it wasn't convenient for Alex to stay with them.
Hestia actually wanted him to stay in the basement with her, but… Sakura and Illya were down there too.
She simply let Alex stay at an inn.
Orario, as the center of the Danmachi world and a gathering place for the gods, was full of outsiders every single day.
So of course it had plenty of inns, all doing great business.
Alex chatted with the girls for a while, and by the time it was past ten at night, he finally left the church.
He headed to the biggest inn on North Street and booked their best single room.
The spacious, bright room and the giant two-meter-wide bed looked a whole lot better than squeezing into a cot back at the church.
After washing up, he lay down and fell asleep almost immediately.
Around midnight, someone knocked on his door.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
Alex's eyes opened, pulling him out of sleep.
He got up, opened the door, and found a dark-skinned girl standing outside.
Judging by her complexion, she was probably from the Amazon tribe.
She was attractive, looked to be in her twenties, with a very curvy figure and very little clothing.
Her outfit was basically a three-piece bikini that barely covered the essentials, topped with a sheer, transparent veil that revealed more than it hid.
When Alex opened the door, she brightened and asked, "Sir, would you like a massage?"
Alex blinked. Had he just run into… special services?
The thought made him ask, "Is this massage… legitimate?"
The girl giggled, her expression turning sultry. "Sir, do you want the legitimate kind, or the not-so-legitimate kind?"
Alex swallowed, heat crawling up his neck.
Ever since he'd crossed into this world, he hadn't had any hands-on experience at all. Add a teenage body reinforced by divine flame and spending every day surrounded by girls, and he'd been holding back for way too long.
Eventually, he couldn't help asking, "You offer… the not-legitimate kind?"
Hearing that, the girl practically threw herself into his arms. "Of course. It just costs a little more."
A soft, sweet scent filled his nose.
But he snapped out of it fast, pushing her away with a hint of disgust.
Someone like her was probably a professional free-ride bus, and he had no interest in boarding.
The girl stared at him, baffled. He'd looked ready to devour her a second ago. Why the sudden rejection?
Alex gave her a once-over, then said, "Just the regular massage."
Disappointment instantly washed over her face.
Still, she followed him inside.
She told him to take off his clothes and lie on the bed.
He did.
She climbed onto the bed as well, settling onto his lower back. Her hands were soft, slim, surprisingly strong as she started working along his muscles.
After a full day of fighting monsters in the dungeon, the pressure of her hands felt heavenly.
For a moment, it was like every muscle in his body melted.
Fatigue faded bit by bit.
"Sir, is the pressure alright?" she asked while working.
"Yeah, perfect," Alex replied.
She smiled, pulled out a small bottle, poured a clear, sticky liquid onto her palms, and kept massaging with renewed effort.
She went from head to toe, hitting almost every spot.
Alex relaxed so much he drifted right back to sleep.
Two hours later, she woke him.
"Sir, your time's up. Would you like to extend the session?" she asked, smiling brightly.
Alex sat up, feeling light from head to toe.
"No need. How much is it?"
"Eight thousand valis," she said cheerfully.
"Not bad. Come again tomorrow night," Alex said, handing her eighty-five hundred, the extra as a tip.
"Of course," she said, grinning from ear to ear as she took the money.
She cleaned up a bit and left the room.
Alex was covered in that mystery oil she'd used, feeling sticky all over, so he showered again before returning to bed.
When he woke up the next morning, it was already seven-thirty.
He was stunned. His martial arts-trained internal clock had actually failed him.
Back in the Nasuverse, he always woke automatically around four-thirty or five.
But the very first morning in Orario, he overslept.
Was it because of last night's massage?
"..."
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