However, due to some overly money-consuming hobbies, Raul couldn't buy too many weapons.
On the contrary, Ana, who had always been thrifty and accustomed to saving money, decisively chose to gamble at that time.
She trusted Raul's judgment. This man had many flaws, but as a mortal, he possessed extremely keen judgment, especially in discovering geniuses.
And more importantly, Ana believed in that Emiya she had only met once.
"Then congratulations, Senior Ana," Emiya sincerely offered his congratulations.
Seeing that the boy was not displeased by her making money off his works, Ana let out a sigh of relief.
As for Emiya's thoughts, they were very simple. He knew that the practice works he created, though of decent quality, weren't particularly valuable. There were many master smiths in the city who could also forge weapons of such quality.
For adventurers who truly needed sharp swords, they could naturally find suitable weapons to buy, rather than spending a high price on those overpriced collectibles.
And those wealthy merchants with money to burn, who specifically collected weapons for a name, Emiya didn't mind letting Ana earn their money.
He felt that in this way, once Ana had more funds, she could instead use that money to upgrade equipment, purchase higher-quality elixirs or magic swords, which was a good thing.
Ana had always been somewhat worried that profiting from Emiya's works might provoke the boy's displeasure.
At Raul's strong persuasion back then, she had made this decision in a moment of heat, only realizing afterward that such behavior seemed somewhat inappropriate.
If Emiya thought she was too utilitarian and even became dissatisfied with her because of it, that would be terrible.
Seeing that Emiya didn't mind, the girl immediately relaxed a lot, and her slender cat tail swayed gently a few times.
Ana continued, "Raul really has good eyes. From the beginning, he thought you were a genius and especially valued your potential."
She said this to leave Emiya with a better impression of her longtime friend Raul.
If someday Raul also managed to level up to Lv.5, maybe he could successfully commission Emiya to forge a sword for him. Though considering Raul's financial situation, paying the bill of the Hephaestus Familia might be a bit difficult.
"However, Raul's eye for people isn't always accurate," Ana chuckled, "Before, in our Familia's bet on 'who will be the next First-Class Adventurer', he put money on me, and lost."
The amount wasn't large, only 10,000 valis, the upper limit set by the Familia. If too much money were involved, the nature of it would change.
The elf younger sisters all took out 10,000 valis each to support their Alicia onee-san.
After Ais leveled up, the ones with the best chance to be promoted in the Loki Familia were Ana, Alicia, and Raul.
Most people believed Ana had the advantage, and Raul was her most steadfast supporter.
In the end, however, Alicia was the one to level up first, and the elf younger sisters who believed in her won.
When Ana mentioned this topic, although her tone was deliberately casual, the emotion in her eyes revealed that this matter wasn't entirely unimportant to her.
She had a good relationship with Alicia and was genuinely happy her friend had been promoted.
But as an adventurer, especially with so many people optimistic about her, not being the first to ascend still left her feeling a tinge of unwillingness.
Although Ana knew that the friendly companions of the Loki Familia wouldn't blame her for it, and Raul had smiled and encouraged her, telling her she would catch up soon. Still, the more her friends were like that, the greater the pressure Ana felt in her heart.
She paused for a moment, seemingly thinking, and then suddenly brought up a topic, "Speaking of which, both Alicia and [Gale] leveled up after adventuring with you."
Ana smiled gently, her tone carrying a trace of curiosity and playfulness.
"Emiya-kun," She hesitated slightly, then, as if compelled by a mysterious impulse, extended an invitation, "Next time, want to go on an adventure with me?"
However, at that moment, the sleeping Riveria suddenly let out a low groan of struggle, as if caught in a nightmare.
The previously relaxed atmosphere immediately paused.
In the end, it was Emiya holding her hand that finally calmed Riveria down.
As for the catgirl's half-joking invitation, it seemed to drift away with the wind.
———
"Eh yo~ Isn't this our dear Savior himself? You actually remember to come back~"
"Savior sir, how's life in Loki Familia? Surrounded by beautiful elves, embraced left and right. Must be a great experience~"
The moment Emiya returned to the [Hostess of Fertility] tavern, he was met with Syr's sharp-tongued mockery.
In response, Emiya replied with a light chuckle. Syr's poisonous tongue, he only found it endearing and cute.
Besides, this time it really was his fault: going all the way to the distant [Great Tree Sea], the round trip took nearly two months. Finally returning to Orario, going to report at Hephaestus Familia's base first was only natural; Syr could understand that.
But unexpectedly, just going to deliver a gift, he encountered an unexpected incident, and then was "detained" by Loki Familia for the following seven days. This part made the girl rather unhappy.
Fortunately within misfortune, during his "detainment" by Loki Familia, Emiya still remembered to request leave from [Braver] Finn, and returned on the first day to the [Hostess of Fertility] tavern to report his safety.
Otherwise, Syr would've likely been even angrier, and the matter wouldn't have ended so easily.
What Emiya didn't know was, at that time the [White Fairy's Magic Wand] had already been mobilizing a force, preparing to attack Loki Familia. Fortunately he returned just in time and prevented a war that nearly broke out.
Even so, the girl's little emotions were obviously not so easy to calm. She crossed her arms, puffing her cheeks slightly, "Hmph, your room has already been cleared out, turned into our storage room. Also, everyone agreed, from now on no one's talking to you."
"I'm really sorry, Syr," Emiya could only apologize sincerely and helplessly.
However, just then, a warm chestnut-colored shadow burst from behind the curtain and crashed into Emiya's chest.
"Waaah, Shirou, I missed you so much nya—"
It had to be said, the impact was no joke. If Emiya hadn't just ascended to Lv.3, he might've been knocked over on the spot.
Let's just say, it's no wonder this girl had a title like [Chariot's Fragment].
"Cat wants to eat the grilled fish Shirou makes, wants it so bad, and of course, cat also missed Shirou so much," Anya shouted from the heart.
"Hey, what are you guys doing? Didn't we say to hold Anya down?"
"That dumb cat's so strong, who could hold her down!"
"Ahhh, Anya actually dared to sneak out. Wait, Haruhime ran off too… Whatever, I'm going too—", Catgirl chef May was the second to charge forward.
Let's just say, when it came to discipline, catgirls were never to be trusted.
And due to the catgirls' bad example, the other waitresses couldn't resist either and also ran up.
They surrounded Emiya, concernedly asking about his health and situation. Some girls were curious about his adventures during this time outside, others noticed that Emiya seemed to have grown taller.
One werewolf girl couldn't help poking his skin with a finger, exclaiming, "Wow, Shirou, your skin is so nice now, pale like moonlight."
And among the servers, there was even a foxgirl secretly using her nimble tail to wrap around Emiya's body.
Of course, many people mentioned that what they missed the most was still Emiya's staff meals.
As for the useless elf, she had already been "purged" internally by Syr and the others.
Because of her elf race and past comradeship with Loki Familia, Ryuu had recently been allowed to come and go freely at the Twilight Manor, able to see Emiya anytime, and even enjoy his cooking there. This special treatment stirred public outrage.
"Hey, hey!", Syr stomped her little foot anxiously, "Didn't everyone agree not to talk to Shirou for at least one day…"
Initially, everyone agreed to ignore Emiya for three days, but someone soon felt it was unbearable, so it was changed to one day.
And in the end, they couldn't even last one minute.
Syr called out helplessly, "If you forgive him this easily, what if he flirts again next time outside."
However, the other waitresses completely ignored her, and instead squeezed closer to the boy, almost pushing the human girl who stood next to him at first out of the way.
"Honestly, I don't care anymore," Syr reached out and grabbed Emiya's arm.
She rested her head on the boy's shoulder, and in a voice only she could hear, said, "Thank you… for saving our world, my 'hero'…"
"And, Shirou, welcome home."
Emiya pushed open the room door in the annex. The so-called storage room Syr claimed had replaced his room, was exactly the same as when he left. Not only that, every corner of the room had been cleaned spotlessly.
The only difference was the small mountain of dozens of paper cranes stacked on his desk.
The boy stood by the window, feeling the warmth of the sun. He took a deep, long breath in.
Emiya walked to the storage cabinet and skillfully took out his usual spatula and kitchen knife.
"Today, I need to work extra hard," He murmured softly, and couldn't help the smile that curled at the corners of his mouth.
Today, for the [Hostess of Fertility] tavern, it could be called an unprecedented grand feast.
Not because the scene was extravagant or the dishes luxurious, but because of the cooking lineup.
Head chefs were Emiya and the goddess Demeter, assistants were catgirl chef May and Mama Mia.
Such a lineup couldn't be described as anything less than extravagant.
Thanks to Ryuu, goddess Demeter had also built good relations with the tavern girls. Though Ryuu had switched jobs from server to goddess's bodyguard, she still often returned to the tavern.
In fact, she and goddess Demeter lived in the flower shop next to the tavern. With a single power jump, she could leap straight into Emiya's room through the window, at that distance.
So, goddess Demeter was also among those who prayed for Emiya and Ryuu, and even the binding of the [Holy Sword] involved her part.
At the reunion, goddess Demeter even winked at Emiya deliberately.
Many members of Demeter Familia were invited as well, such as their captain Persephone. She was a fairly well-known adventurer in the city, at Level 2, and said to have unique rare magic and skills.
Today, boss Mia rarely relaxed the rules and allowed the girls to drink a little, so the tavern atmosphere was livelier than usual.
After two glasses of wine, Anya's cheeks flushed slightly, and with a trace of drunkenness, she raised her glass and shouted loudly, "To our Shirou and Ryuu! Celebrate their victory and return! Cheers!"
"""CHEERS!"""
The girls responded one after another, raised their glasses, and in a sea of lively cheers, everyone pushed Emiya to the center of the tavern, making him the center of attention.
Ryuu, who had been with Lunoire and Chloe, was also pushed out at this time, blushing as she accepted everyone's praise.
As mentioned before, today's feast, whether in terms of ingredients or presentation, might not be luxurious, but what was rare was the heart put into it by the head chef.
Emiya spent the whole afternoon preparing each girl's favorite dish in the tavern. After living here for so long, he had long since learned the girls' tastes.
"Shirou, really okay?", Anya's eyes sparkled as she looked at a plate full of small fish, "Letting cat eat so many small fish at once, without even needing to eat vegetables. Feels like I could die of happiness nya!"
Today's feast didn't care about nutrition balance. Just focused on letting the girls gain the greatest satisfaction through food.
Chloe glanced disdainfully at Anya, "Cats who like small river fish have no taste and are doomed to a failed cat life. Only sea fish, especially deep-sea bluefin tuna, are the most delicious nya~"
The two catgirls started their daily quarrel as usual. Emiya and Syr watched them with smiles, unable to hold back their laughter.
Fellow catgirl May spoke leisurely, "For cats, still prefer roasted pigeon…"
"By the way, useless elf, don't you usually not like drinking milk? What's with you today?", Lunoire, chewing on a crispy-on-the-outside, tender-on-the-inside roasted pork hock, looked at Ryuu curiously.
Not long after the banquet started, Ryuu had already finished the salad and cake Emiya had specially made for her, and then started chugging a big bottle of thick, high-fat milk.
Usually, she disliked such rich dairy drinks the most. At most she'd drink light milk.
"Because…", Ryuu paused slightly, "Alicia loved drinking milk, so… I'll drink too."
She spoke words that didn't quite make logical sense, then poured more milk into her mouth.
While drinking milk, she didn't forget to stuff another piece of papaya sweet cake into her mouth.
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