Chapter 18: Hostess of Fertility (2)
Despite his initial feelings, Bete was thoroughly enjoying the experience. He got to know a lot of their Familia members better and learned some interesting information about Orario. Some information just couldn't be learned from a book. For example, niche facts or common sense that had to be gained through direct participation.
For instance, the importance of the card game known as Karpach. Bete learned this from one of the Familia members, Anton. Anton was the black haired member who scolded the drunk Loki earlier on; he was also their resident Karpach fanatic who knew everything there was to know about the game.
Karpach was apparently a popular card game, not just in Orario but throughout the world. It was made up of characters, locations, equipment, and all kinds of stuff that were famous enough to be recognized, memorialized in card form. Legends of old like Bellerophon or Heracles were mixed with modern Adventurers such as Ottar or the Gulliver Brothers.
Even monsters were in there. From goblins to minotaurs and kobolds to spartoi, various monsters were showcased in many different decks. God cards also existed, though they were a different category with generally supportive effects — similar to reality.
Bete also learned that it was seen as a badge of honor to be put on a Karpach card. Finn, Riveria, and Gareth were all featured in the 'Loki Familia' bundle, and apparently, the headquarters of the Karpach Organization was located right in Orario. Since the standard of strength was much higher in the dungeon city, there were many more famous names that could be put in Karpach cards. The organization followed rising stars and popular names to see which would debut in their newest releases. There was even a newspaper segment every week about it.
The different kinds of cards mixed to create an addicting game that was played across the lands. Anton claimed that it was as universal as Koine, the common language. Some people took it to a whole new level, collecting legendary cards and selling each one for hundreds, thousands, even millions of valis. Others played Karpach competitively, similarly winning a hefty profit through various tournaments. Anton told Bete that the most recent Karpach Grand Championships were held in Altena with the prize pool being more than 100,000,000 valis.
When the Werewolf heard that, his jaw practically dropped to the floor.
'Why am I wasting my time on the dungeon, risking my life?! I could just become a Karpach champion and buy a bunch of magic swords and items to avenge my clan. Who needs a Falna? Or I can just hire an army of mages.'
'Maybe in an alternate timeline...'
When Bete expressed his thoughts, Anton scolded him loudly.
"Don't look down on the masterful craft of Karpach! Do you think it's that easy to master this game?! Karpach is a monumental shard of historical legacy, spanning before the era of the descent of the Gods themselves! These rules were and are continuously created and amended by a council of highly revered Karpach grand masters who have each built their own names through dozens of championship victories! Balancing hundreds and thousands of card effects and developing a fully functional system so that not one card can be too overpowered! This delicate, delicious, incredible card game is not to be trifled with!"
"I-I'm sorry? I just wanted to try..."
At those word, the anger immediately died down and Anton's eyes sparkled with interest.
"Oh, that's perfectly fine. Of course, any newcomer would be fascinated with Karpach, it being the sole perfect game in existence. Here, I'll give you a few cards I have spares of. Consider it my gift for joining the Familia. Maybe one day, you can challenge me to a true duel!"
"???"
The seemingly bipolar man kindly smiled and offered up a box stacked with long, tightly packed rows of Karpach cards. Based on the weathered covers and musty paper scent, it was evident that Anton had been doing this for a long time. He gingerly selected a few of them out of the first row and spread them out on the table.
However, after careful examination of the designs...
'!'
Bete felt a slight tingling in the back of his memory. In fact, he vaguely remembered seeing a few of these familiar objects in his clan.
Yes, a few years ago, after raiding another caravan, Bete's father brought home a collection of strange-looking cards depicting unfamiliar figures. They didn't seem magical nor useful. Furthermore, because the tribe avoided trading with merchants, there wasn't much point in keeping them even if they were worth a lot of valis.
Not knowing any better, the elders and his father simply decided to dispose of them, burning them in a fire. No one else in the clan mentioned the event afterwards, and that was that.
'Probably best not to mention that...'
Bete could only imagine the fury Anton would burst into if he told him that their tribe once nonchalantly destroyed a few dozen Karpach cards because they didn't know what they were.
The man would have probably lopped off Bete's own head in a fiendish craze and then rushed off to slaughter the tribe of Karpach heretics, if only they weren't already destroyed.
Fortunately, the oblivious card collector was too busy showing off his precious cards.
"Check out my collection, kiddo. This is my pride and joy! I've traveled around the world, collecting and trading cards for years. The profits I get from adventuring goes straight to buying new packs," he proudly boasted.
". . . Interesting."
He wasn't sure if poor financial management skills were something to brag about.
If Orario was indeed filled with people like Anton, Bete could more-or-less understand how the average Adventurer functioned. Then again, there wasn't much Adventurers needed to purchase after the necessities such as armor, weapons, and items. It was expected that most of them spent the rest of the earnings on their own pleasure whether that was drinking at a pub or hobbies. After all, what else would Adventurers save up for? A house? Who needed one when they could buy women and booze? Prudence was an incomprehensible and unnecessary concept for the average Adventurer who had no clue if their death would arrive tomorrow or after decades.
On the table, he could identify a mix of item cards and character cards. Although Bete wasn't too knowledgeable on famous people and items, a few caught his eyes. Namely three cards respectively depicting a familiar metal staff, an adult Werewolf with gray hair similar to his, and an armored woman adorned with flowing, crimson hair and a cheery smile.
"I put out an assortment of different cards so you can see the different kinds," Anton explained.
"This one's a field card, for example. Solingen. It's a smithing city far east of here. Its effect is increasing the attack power of character cards that use swords. Pretty neat."
He swapped it for another one.
"And this here is an equipment card, one of the rarer ones. You can tell what it is, right?"
Bete squinted. The current card was the silver staff that tugged at his memory.
"I want to say I've seen it before..."
"Well of course you have! It's 'Magna Alfs', Riveria-san's personal magic staff!"
The Werewolf's eyes shot open in recognition.
"That's it!"
He unconsciously rubbed the back of his head, feeling a phantom pain from the last time he was whacked with the staff. No wonder it looked so familiar. He was sure there was still an imprint left there.
"No wonder I remembered it. That thing's sight is permanently knocked into my brain."
"Heh, hopefully not too harshly. Anyways, let's move on to the character cards. They're more interesting in my opinion."
Anton slid the first card towards Bete.
"This one's a common character card called the 'Ganesha Guard' card. It's pretty typical to draw this out of a card pack. I have a bunch of these."
The man swept his dirty blonde hair back a little while Bete inspected the contents. The card Anton held up didn't look all too special to him either. It showed a man in loose, orange robes pointing a spear at the camera.
"Ganesha?"
Anton paused, a bit of confusion in his eyes from Bete's questioning tone.
"Ah! Right, I forgot you were unfamiliar with Orario. To give you a simple summary, The Ganesha Familia acts as the military police around here with the Astraea Familia. They guard important locations and the Orario gates. In fact, you've probably seen them around."
"Oh, so that's who they were."
Bete recalled the numerous guards wearing loose-fitting robes standing by the entrances to the city.
"And the Astraea Familia? Who are they?"
"They do similar acts as the Ganesha Familia; Keepers of peace and justice. While they're fewer in number, they're quite strong when they work together and specialize in combating criminals. You probably haven't seen them around because of their limited members. Their home is southwest of here if you're curious. And also…"
Anton took a second to survey their surroundings, then leaned in closer.
"They're quite the lookers, if you know what I mean. They're one of those only-women Familia like the Artemis Familia."
Anton wore a lecherous grin as he picked up one of the cards Bete was interested in — the red haired swordsman.
"She's their Captain — Alise Lovell. While she's only Level 3, she's plenty strong. Enough to match some Level 4s or 5s using her skills and unique magic. Best part, the others are just as pretty as her. Recently, they've got a rare Elf beauty—"
"Oi! I heard that!" a female voice called out behind Anton, making him jump.
Sitting at a table full of other Elves, a curly blonde Elf that Bete now knew as Alicia wore an indignant look on her face, jabbing her finger towards Anton in an accusatory manner.
"M-my bad, Alicia."
The card fanatic turned back after a few awkward seconds of silence, then whispered to Bete when he was sure the Elf wasn't eavesdropping.
"Yeah, Elves stick rather close around here. Bunch'a high-and-mighty type. Make sure not to insult their pride. And those long ears aren't just for show, as you can see," the man explained even more quietly than before.
Bete was all-too familiar with prideful girls. Werewolf women were just as, if not even more stubborn than the men.
"Besides the basics, I'm sure you'll come to learn most of these people and Familia as you get used to Orario. It's a natural process for everyone."
The man scratched his head.
"But honestly, I thought you would be the most interested in this. I specifically brought it out because I thought you would find it cool."
Anton was pointing to shiny card that was distinctly different from the rest — the last of the three cards that initially caught Bete's attention. Now that he had a better look, he noticed the card had a reflective border and a glossy sheen under the protective cover.
"The Werewolf Hero, Yulis! It's a special edition card that I barely procured after more than a dozen rounds of bidding at an underground auction house. There's only a limited amount of these in circulation."
It was a rather ancient picture of a gray-maned Werewolf wearing tribal-esque clothes with royal blue war paint tattooed around his right eye and arms. His weapon was apparent on his left hand — three long blades stretching from the back of his fist that resembled a beast's claws.
"Doesn't it look like you?" Anton suggested.
Indeed, it was almost freaky how similar they looked. Had Bete aged a decade or two, they could pass for brothers or doppelgangers.
"Nope. I think you're just racist."
"What?! N-no I'm not, I swear!"
Bete amusedly watched the Loki Familia member flail around for a little more, trying to urgently explain that he wasn't a raging xenophobe.
"Pfft. Relax, I was just kidding. We do look similar."
Anton calmed down immediately, his eyes narrowing and flustered arms coming down to his sides.
". . . You're kind of a twerp, y'know that? Is this how you treat your elders?"
"Respect is earned, not given," Bete bluntly replied, quoting a saying his father frequently used.
Anton sighed, palming his face with mixed bemusement and annoyance.
"When are we going to have some good-natured recruits around here? Each one gets more and more irritating."
Along with his complaint, he slowly flipped through the rest of the cards. They were mostly common cards picked to be shown as a general example.
"This one's a Kobold. You'll see those in the dungeon quite soon. This field card's called Monster Pantry. This one's a Landform Club. Oh, that woman there is the Captain of the Hermes Familia, Lydia Caverna. She's a sly one... just like their God."
As Anton continued his explanations, Bete got the gist of how the cards were generally supposed to look, how to read the stats, the descriptions and everything else.
He also realized that, regardless of his interest in actually playing the game, these Karpach cards were a perfect opportunity to fill up his rather lacking knowledge on important figures. Just from this little interaction, he had more than doubled his information on Orario's notable figures. And like any good fighter, he knew that information was key.
"It's really interesting. You mind if we do it a few times a week? It'll help build my fundamentals and Karpach experience," Bete asked, adding the last part more to convince Anton than anything.
"Of course, of course! As your senior, It's basically my duty to teach you these things. Even more so as a Karpach veteran."
"Thanks."
But in the middle of a grateful nod, Bete noticed an unfamiliar card that was partially hidden under the discarded Ganesha Guard card.
"Wait, what's that one? You didn't show it to me, right?"
Bete was jutting his chin towards the obscured card that was nothing as flashy as the previous one. If anything, it looked even older than the Werewolf Hero card with a blurry drawing and worn edges.
"Huh? Oh, that one! Must have slipped out. It's one of my oldest cards. More of an antique than a usable card since it's been out-meta'd after the train of new cards that came afterwards. Still, his story's pretty famous outside of Orario as well. I'm surprised you don't know him."
"?"
"Dungeon Oratoria? The Hero Albert? Never heard of him?"
"No, never. But to be fair, I was never too knowledgeable on— ?!"
Bete's stomach suddenly lurched, threatening to throw up the recently consumed honey-grilled pork it was in the middle of digesting. His head flooded with a flurry of emotions that didn't belong to him. Chills of deep hatred. Regret. Guilt. Self-loathing. And there was only one other being that lived inside of him as far as he knew.
'Blackie?' he anxiously prodded. 'What's happening?'
The longer he didn't respond, the deeper Anton's eyebrows furrowed in concern.
'. . . Nothing.' the voice muttered in an even gruffer tone than usual.
'Nothing? You seriously expect me to believe that?'
'. . .'
Blackie didn't say another word, and Bete could tell he had nothing more to say.
'Great! Not only is he annoying, but he's now also moody and angsty — the complete package!'
"Hey... are you alright?"
"Huh. Oh, yeah. Must have dozed off for a sec. Anyway, thanks for all of this. I'll keep in touch."
With no other way to force Blackie to explain his sudden emotional rollercoaster, Bete left the Karpach enthusiast on good terms, but only after promising to practice a few games in his free time.
Other than Anton, the Werewolf also met a few other interesting people. Klein, an experienced Raccoon scout. Gloria, a trained Bull magic archer. Sasha, a blonde Elven mage from Wishe Forest. Alicia, the Elf from before who used both magic and a short sword. Those were just a few of the many personalities that Bete got to meet.
Each one was at least Level 2 and was quite experienced with the dungeon thanks to the group expeditions. Indeed, the Loki Familia expeditions allowed their Low Class Adventurers to gain experience at floors much deeper than they could handle on their own. This in turn would strengthen said Adventurers on floors they could handle.
Yet it was also only now that Bete realized...
'More than half of them are objectively good-looking women! This isn't a harem fairy tale with a hero to sweep them all off their feet! There's no way this Familia composition is a coincidence!'
The answer was quite simple – running around the pub while yelling like a maniac, in fact.
"Nya ha ha! Let me grab those puppies!"
"KYAAAAA!"
Loki was now drunk enough to activate her 'pervy old man' phase. The shameless, redhead deity chased the female members around the tables with twitching fingers, eager for a victim to grope. The most susceptible ones were the members with generous bosoms.
Bete had to give her credit. Even with countless blue-purple bruises and a swollen eye, the Goddess was nothing but persistent in her endeavors.
He sighed.
"What did I expect from Loki?" he muttered. "Of course she's gonna fill her Familia with women to harass."
Now sitting at a relatively empty table, the Werewolf took a long sip out of his mug with a satisfied expression and eyes closed in relish. The refreshingly fruity cider was truly to die for. Of course, this being the Hostess of Fertility, he could not go for more than 30 seconds without a disturbance.
"Hi! Are you the new recruit, nya?" a cheery voice greeted.
Bete opened a single eye, resisting the urge to sigh once more. Just from the first few words, he could already tell whoever this person was would be a hassle.
In front of him was one of the waitresses — a catgirl donning a sly smile with a sharp canine gleaming even in the dim lighting. Her curly brown hair was messily trimmed short, the bangs framing her caramel-golden eyes.
She stuck out her hand in a friendly manner.
"The name's Anya Fromel, nya! I'm a waitress here, if you couldn't tell."
". . . Bete Loga."
"I know that nya! I heard your Captain introducing your name earlier."
"Okay?"
He wasn't quite sure how to react to the girl so far. If he had to describe her in one word, the first impression Bete got from the catgirl was... 'fake'.
"?"
Anya stared back at him curiously, batting her eyelids.
Yup. He was sure of it. Her glinting, golden eyes poorly hid the waitress' gloomy, soulless self. Beyond just his instincts, his nose smelled past her lavender perfume and detected the lonely, depressing scent.
Furthermore, her expression was even more doll-like than Ais's in his opinion. At least the blonde girl didn't try to hide anything. That was just her natural face. However, this catgirl's false smile did nothing to stop the scent of somber misery from wafting around her empty silhouette. Of course, most people expected masks to look cold and emotionless, but only the best masks resembled real people.
'It's a good mask, I'll give her that.'
"So? How are you enjoying the food so far?" Anya nosily asked, pressing her face closer to his plate by leaning over the table.
Bete awkwardly backed off, unsure how to react to such a conflicting personality. He kind of understood how Ais felt when she had to deal with Marco. The stare was quite unnerving.
"Uh... Compliments to the chef?"
Anya tilted her head.
"You're a funny guy, nya."
'I didn't think anything I said was funny?'
Swish, swish
Without his consent, the catgirl fully pushed herself up on to the table and lounged about like a real house cat, stretching her arms wide in front of her and swinging her fuzzy, brown tail in his face. For a moment, he was simply stunned by her forward action combined with the white stripes at the end of her tail contrasting with the brown. The wavy motion of the long appendage made the pattern hypnotically dance, his eyes unconsciously following the movement while she stretched.
"Mmm fu fu fu fu fu~"
'What a weird noise to make while stretching...'
"Oi. You made fun of me in your head, didn't you?" Anya sharply guessed.
Whap!
Before he could even reply, she dexterously smacked his face with her tail, not that it hurt in the slightest. If anything, the softness of her appendage tickled his nose.
"Heh, that'll teach you, nya!"
The waitress' tail waved around playfully.
Bete sat in silence, left blinking and befuddled by this older girl who was succeeding in her increasingly confusing ploys.
"What? Don't tell me that hurt, nya?"
With surprising dexterity, Anya reached towards his face and gently pressed the soft pads of her fingers against the cheek that had just been hit, slowly tracing them down to his chin.
In pure shock at the sudden touch, he simply froze in place. Bete could feel her feline eyes scrutinizing his features — the gaze methodically tracing up his pointy canines, across his sharp nose, piercing through his racing pupils, and lastly, landing on the only part of him that was moving at the moment: his spasming ears.
"Hmm..."
Once her eyes locked on the new target, they seemed to bend into crescent slits while her smile sneakily widened.
"H-hey! Stop that!"
Anya giggled and backed off, simultaneously sticking her tongue out teasingly.
"Neeeh~ Did this onee-san make your heart race?"
"Fuck off!" Bete shouted, waving his fork angrily. "You're the last person in the world I would call an onee-san!"
"Aww, you're making onee-san sad."
He clenched his fists and didn't bother humoring her with a verbal response. He would just go back to eating his—
Poke—
"Hey. Hey. Are you mad?"
The veins on his fists visibly popped out, the blood within them angry and hot.
Poke—
"Heeeey~ Anything left inside of this head?"
". . ."
"Manager, a refund please!" she complained, cupping her hands around her mouth playfully. "My fluffy toy is defective!"
Ssssssp...
Bete breathed in, his lungs trembling with exertion. Only god knew how he managed to stop himself from manhandling her annoyingly sly face and shoving it through the table.
"So an Adventurer, hm? Why did you want to be one, nya?"
Bete broke out of his stupor and stared at the strange waitress for a long moment. Still, he reasoned that the question wasn't out of the ordinary. He would try anything to make her leave at this point.
"The usual reasons. Valis. Fame. Survival."
His main motivation went a little deeper than that but there was no reason to divulge such information to a random person he just met. Besides, his answer wasn't exactly wrong.
"Hmm. Is that really it, nya?" she perceptively pressed.
"Pretty much. Isn't that why most of us are here?"
Anya shrugged.
"I guess. But what would I know, nya? I'm just a waitress."
"In Orario of all places," Bete noted. "How did that happen? Job interview? Friends with the owner?"
"Hehe, something like that, nya."
"So you knew Mia?"
"You could say that, nya."
"Huh. And you've worked here for how long?"
"Some time now, nya..."
". . ."
Bete squinted a little. He really couldn't place this girl. At first, he thought she was the average fake, cheerful, chatty girl with past trauma. That wasn't exactly uncommon. But now she wasn't even sticking to that role. Something like that? You could say that? With her vague answers, it was as if Anya didn't want to talk to him... but she was the one who approached him! Did she really have nothing better to do? And what was up with her, 'nya'? Sure she was a catgirl, but Bete didn't end his sentences with 'arf!' or 'woof!' or 'awooo~'. That would be ridiculous! … Right?
He looked off to the side, searching for the large Dwarven owner who could hopefully resolve this nuisance. Unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen. Bete assumed Mia was in the back, doing something. Maybe that was the reason Anya decided to approach him in the first place. Looking around, the other waitresses also seemed less on-task than when Mia was present, talking amongst each other and moving in a more languid manner.
"What do you want?" he bluntly asked. It was late, and he was tired. Bete couldn't spare the mental capacity to deal with this girl.
Anya placed a finger against her sharp chin, wearing an uncharacteristically serious, pensive look for a good few seconds. And then she opened her mouth:
"I don't know. Ehe."
"Whaddya mean, 'Ehe'!"
"Ehe is ehe, nya!"
"That doesn't make any goddamn sense!"
"Oh! I just remembered!"
"What?"
". . . I just forgot again."
Clench—
Bete's face was covered in a dark shadow as he roughly grabbed the girl by her collar. It was almost funny to see the shorter Werewolf lift up a girl 4 years older than himself.
"You little... you really like toying with people, don't you?"
Anya scratched her head, looking away with an innocent look. She didn't seem at all bothered by his threatening action.
"Ehh~ What do you mean?"
"Sigh..."
Bete closed his eyes, resting his unused palm over his face, veins bulging over his clenched fist.
"If you have nothing else to say, just leave."
He let go of her clothes, sitting back down.
". . . Why did you choose to be an Adventurer, nya?"
Bete frowned, his irritation only increasing at the repetitive question.
"I told you, I wanted—"
"No."
He was cut short by a prompt interruption from the catgirl waitress. To his shock, there wasn't a hint of her silly look. No smile. Just her gloomy eyes boring holes into his soul.
'Is this... her real self?'
"That's not your reason, nya. Why did you really want to come to Orario?"
.
.
.
______________________________________________
I've been a little swamped for the past few weeks so my bad for not posting.
Anyway, thank you for reading!
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
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