Dragon Ball: Saiyan's Gourmet Journey

Chapter 680 Intelligence Investigation Concluded, Hermes' Discount Proposal

"Mr. Bert, you're back. Did you manage to avoid any trouble?"

"No, the Minotaur who escaped have all been dealt with."

Back with the clan, when confronted with the question from the superhuman Raul, the werewolf Bert waved his hand and answered.

"Miss Ais, did you encounter something good on your way to chase after the escaped Minotaur?"

The blonde elf girl with a single ponytail looked at the approaching swordswoman and asked her question with some curiosity.

"Why do you say that?"

Ais tilted her head and looked at her fellow elf companions.

"Because you look so happy, which is quite rare for Miss Ais who doesn't usually show much expression."

"Oh my, Rafia, do you always pay this much attention to Ais?"

The girl with the tablet leaned over and jokingly said something.

"Ah, it's just that Miss Ais always takes care of me, so..."

The lively elf girl, Lefia, explained the situation with some panic.

"Hey, didn't I take care of you? That's really hurtful to hear."

"Ugh, that's not what I meant..."

"Alright, Tiona, stop teasing Lefia. Anyone with eyes can see that this child likes Ais, not to mention that she was saved by Ais when she came back this time."

"That's right, just like a knight rescuing a princess!"

"Woo~"

The lively elf girl lowered her head, her ears turning red from the comments made by the two Amazon sisters beside her.

"It's not a good thing at all. On the contrary, Ais lost to someone in the upper district."

When the arrogant werewolf Bert saw what was happening, he came over and helped the amused elf girl out of the predicament.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Upon hearing this, all the Loki Familia members around looked over, and Riveria, the vice-captain of the Loki Familia, even came over to ask about the situation.

"This is a complicated matter, so let Ais explain it to you herself."

Faced with the elf's questioning gaze, Ais calmly explained what had happened on the fifth floor.

"That's how it is. He was a master swordsman, and his swordsmanship made me admit defeat wholeheartedly."

The only swordsmanship Ais could think of that could rival that boy's was probably her father's, which she remembered from a distant time.

Therefore, when she said this, there was not much disappointment on her face. On the contrary, she felt a faint sense of nostalgia because she remembered watching her father practice swordsmanship when she was a child.

"Lady Riveria, is Miss Ais alright?"

Lefia was a little worried, and looking at the retreating figure of the swordswoman, she asked the royal elf next to her.

"Yes, Ais is fine."

"Ah, but you're still so happy even after losing the sword fight, does that mean everything's alright?"

“Lefia, you don’t understand. Ais is happy because she has seen a path for herself to continue to grow stronger.”

Grace walked over and said something.

"One or two failures are nothing. As long as each failure shows us the way forward, then those failures will become the foundation for our success."

Finn also said.

"The only problem is that the person who showed Ais the way forward is a child of the Hestia, a deity whose relationship with our chief god Loki is not good."

The relationship between the main deity often affects the relationship between the subordinate members. So, it sounds a bit unreliable to ask a deity with whom one has a bad relationship for advice on swordsmanship or the like.

"Well, given how much Loki dotes on Ais, if he knew this would help Ais, he probably wouldn't care if he lost face."

The leader of the little tribe rubbed his chin and said.

"But I estimate that he would ask Ais to rub his breasts a hundred times as compensation, and given Ais's serious, strong-willed, and ambitious personality, she would most likely agree."

Nine Demon Princesses were having a bit of a headache with their own god.

"Well, putting Loki aside for now, what kind of reaction Hestia will have, and whether she will be willing to let her own Familia teach Ais (a member of the rival Familia) swordsmanship, is also a question."

Grace said, and the other two people next to her nodded.

"Forget it, let's discuss Ais's matter after we've completed the guild's investigation."

Lefia was somewhat confused, but through the conversation between the captain and the others, the elven girl came to understand one thing:

The girl he admires, the swordswoman Ais Wallenstein, may not find it so easy to ask others for swordsmanship advice.

I need to help!

Thinking of how Ais had taken care of her, Lefia said this to herself.

But she doesn't know exactly how to do it yet.

. . . .

Meanwhile, Broly had already left the dungeon with Lily and Bell.

“Miss Eina, if you are free this afternoon, we would like to invite you to dinner.”

"I still have work to do this afternoon. By the way, what's going on? Why do you suddenly want to treat me to dinner?"

"Bell defeated a Minotaur in the dungeon today, and he wants to thank you for teaching him about the monsters in the dungeon."

Broly put it succinctly.

"Hey, Mr. Broly, did you take people to the middle level again, or did you go to the fifteenth floor of the maze?"

Upon hearing this, Eina showed no joy on her face; instead, she put on a stern expression and asked seriously.

"No, Miss Eina, we didn't go to the fifteenth floor."

Bell quickly interjected.

"How could you possibly encounter the Minotaur, which only appears on the fifteenth floor and below, if you didn't go to the fifteenth floor?"

The half-elf lady clearly didn't believe it.

"It was Loki's Familia that drove the Minotaur up..."

Lily Luca explained the situation.

"I see."

After the matter was explained clearly, the half-elf's serious expression softened.

"Congratulations on your victory over the Minotaur, but there's no need for a dinner party."

Teaching you about dungeon monsters is simply what I, as a dungeon exploration consultant, should do.

The half-elf lady politely declined the three men's invitation to dinner, refusing to take credit for herself.

"How about I give you a gift instead of a meal?"

Bell asked.

"If it's not a very expensive gift."

The half-elf smiled and answered the white-haired boy's question.

. . . . .

The three of them came out of the Tower of Babel. Since they weren't going to the underground city that afternoon, they planned to find Hestia and go out for a big meal together.

"Broly, you've come at the right time. Our investigation has yielded results."

Upon arriving at the French fritter shop, the Lolita Goddess, after seeing the three of them, said...

"Hestia, is this the child of your clan? He is indeed a promising young man!"

A young man dressed in Far Eastern style passed by and said something to Hestia.

"Of course."

The loli goddess responded with a smile and then introduced the young man to everyone.

"This is Takemikazuchi, a good friend of mine in the Celestial Realm, and also my coworker at the potato ball shop where I currently work, although he works at a different branch."

"Greetings, Lord Takemikazuchi."

"Hello to you too."

After a brief greeting, Kenjiro hurriedly left because he had to deliver ingredients for fried potato balls to a branch store.

"What?! Bell has defeated the Minotaur?!"

Hestia, upon hearing that Bel had defeated the Minotaur, happily asked the bear-woman shopkeeper for leave.

They went out with Broly and the other two, found a restaurant with a good number of customers, and had a proper celebration for the white-haired boy.

"We're going to retrieve some intelligence from a commissioned investigation later, so we don't need so many people to go together. You've been fighting in the dungeon for a long time this morning, why don't you go back and rest?"

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content, Hestia said.

"I'd like to buy Miss Eina a thank-you gift."

Bell said he was the first to leave the team.

"What about Lily?"

"We're going to get information about the Soma Familia, right? Lily can come along too."

The little girl said she wanted to go with her. "Aren't you tired?"

"a bit tired."

"Then let's go back and rest."

Hestia offered her kind advice.

In response, Lily Luca looked at the boy beside her and said, "Brother Broly must be tired too. Why don't we go back and rest together, take a shower together, and take a nap in the same bed?"

“Oh no, that won’t do. Broly has to come with me.”

"Lord Hestia can handle gathering intelligence on her own, right? There's no need to make Broly, who's been working hard all morning supporting me and Bell, continue to come along, isn't there?"

The little girl glanced sideways as she spoke, clearly having seen through everything.

How much time does it take to gather intelligence? Lady Hestia clearly wants to have a legitimate date with Broly after she finishes gathering the intelligence.

Just like two days ago, even though he could have gone to the Hermes Familia on his own, he insisted on having Broly come along.

That night, when they were sleeping in the same bed, Lily Luca found out that the two of them had gone shopping.

Although he did pick out clothes for her, the little girl still felt a little jealous. This time, she didn't want to fall behind and give the goddess a chance to sneak away alone with the boy.

The same applies to Hestia. Although she has accepted the fact that she will have to share her son with others in the future, it does not mean that she is willing to let others be alone with her son.

"Then let's go together."

"Let's go together!"

. . . .

"No, Hestia, what's going on with you?"

When Hermes saw the goddess Lolita again, he saw her and another little girl, each holding the hand of a member of their kin.

Although there were no intimate gestures like hugging or cuddling, the atmosphere alone was enough for this seasoned womanizer to sense that they were competing to hold hands with the boy.

It's not unusual for a boy to be liked by a goddess, but it's quite rare for a virgin goddess to be liked by one, let alone Hestia, a virgin goddess, who seems to be competing with another girl.

"This is all the intelligence we have gathered."

Hermes was inwardly amazed, but outwardly remained calm as he placed several thick stacks of intelligence on the table.

"Based on our research, we have divided the members of the Soma Kinkaku into powerful and weak members according to their position in the Soma Kinkaku's ecosystem."

The powerful members of the Soma Familia are mostly exploiters, while the weaker members are mostly the exploited, or exploiters who exploit the weaker ones.

As for this category, it includes members who, both subjectively and objectively, do not exploit others. This includes powerful members of the Soma Familia who dislike exploiting others and earn money honestly through their own means, as well as those who are objectively too weak to exploit those weaker than themselves.

The Hermes family, true to their intelligence work, categorized the intelligence they gathered in a clear and meticulous manner.

"So, how much do we need to pay for this investigation?"

The thick stack of intelligence papers made Hestia swallow hard, and she couldn't help but ask.

"Not much. After deducting the deposit you've already paid, just give me another 5.9 million Faris."

Hermes answered with a smile
“So expensive!”

"It's not expensive at all. This is already a friendly price. I mobilized most of my kids in Orario and got them all to work so that we could do background checks on almost the entire Soma Familia in such a short time."

"Okay, Broly, pay the bill."

Hestia didn't haggle; she simply told the boy to pay and then glanced sideways at the dwarf girl.

"Lily, you'd better see clearly just how much my Broly has sacrificed for you!"

"Of course, Lily will never forget Brother Broly's kindness, and she has vowed to repay him with her whole life and as much as possible."

"Yes, I will love Broly even more deeply than Lord Hestia."

The little girl answered without hesitation.

"There's no need for that. You just need to pay attention to the fact that Broly actually prefers to be alone with me, this god. Just be a little perceptive!"

Hestia was implying something.

"Lord Hestia is joking. Broly clearly prefers to be alone with Lily, just like this morning, he was by Lily's side."

"That's going down into an underground city!"

"I don't care about that."

Hermes: "..."

Okay, let's not even look at the atmosphere anymore, this is just fair and square competition between females.

At this moment, he also made a similar lament to Hephaestus: This mortal realm is so easy for gods to change!

"Wait, I have a suggestion."

Hermes raised his hand to stop the boy as he pulled out the guild card to pay.

"what?"

The loli goddess, who was bickering with Lily Luca, looked over and heard what the other party said next.

"If Hestia, you are willing to let me observe this battle between your clan and the Soma clan, then I can give you a discount on this commission fee."

"Hey, you wouldn't be thinking of betraying our information, would you?"

Hestia immediately became alert.

"Haha, how could that be? I just enjoy watching the excitement. I'm personally interested in the conflicts between you and the Soma Familia, and how you resolve them."

How much of a discount?

"Up to half price, depending on how close you're willing to let me observe your strategy for dealing with the Soma Familia."

"Okay, but you have to promise to keep this a secret and not to sell our clan's information everywhere."

Hestia put forward conditions.

“Deal.” Hermes nodded, then asked, “How much of this information are you willing to let me know?”

"Tell them everything."

"Hey, Hestia, do you really trust me that much?"

“It’s not that I trust you, it’s just that I feel you must have investigated things thoroughly in private, if you’re really interested in our affairs with the Soma Familia.”

Hermes: "..."

Hestia's intuition was truly accurate.

Aside from not knowing what specific plans Hestia and the others had to deal with the Soma Familia, he himself was unaware of their specific intentions.

Everything else has been investigated and understood.

"Then let me hear your plans, you God of Sacred Fire!"

Hermes crossed his arms, appearing ready to listen attentively.

Hestia didn't hide anything and mentioned the plan to change the commander that they had discussed three days ago.

【No, you guys really want to stage a coup within the Soma Familia?】

[Also, selling the defeated fighters to the assassin leader of the Ishtar Familia is a bit ruthless!]

Hermes' expression was somewhat subtle.

"This is our plan."

After listening to Hestia's plan, he raised his hand after a while and said, "I have some questions I'd like to ask."

"what?"

"You plan to publicly defeat the current leader of the Soma Familia at the Divine Wine Banquet held by the Soma Familia every so often."

If it were your child who did it, I could understand his ability to do it, but your plan was for Miss Lily Luca to be the one to cause it, right?

"Yes, a new order is often built on the ruins of a destroyed old order. By eliminating the former leader, Lily can establish the authority of the new leader."

Broly nodded.

"So, here's the question: why are you so confident that Miss Lily Luca can defeat the wine keeper?"

Hermes had investigated the source of the conflict, and according to the information he had, Lilyluka was not one of the powerful members of the Soma Familia, even though she was blessed by the gods.

"I personally provided Lily with professional training, hired craftsmen from the Hephaestus Familia to create a powerful set of equipment specifically for her, and if necessary, I will weaken the opponent."

For example, on the day before the feast of divine wine, there could be a minor incident where the leader of the wine-guarding group is attacked and injured.

If that doesn't work, then I will intervene, but that would diminish the authority of the new generation replacing the old.

Upon hearing this, Hermes was taken aback for a moment before clapping his hands: "I see. Now it's easier to understand why you are so confident."

There was a pause.

"However, I have a small suggestion regarding your plan to deal with the Soma Familia. Would you like to hear it?"

"Hey, Hermes, are you, a neutral god, planning to join us in fighting the Soma Familia?"

Hestia asked out of curiosity.

"No, no, no, this is not joining. I am still a neutral god and do not intervene in any struggles."

However, as a spectator who enjoys watching the drama unfold, I'd like to offer some advice to you and your clan members, though I'm not sure if it's good or bad.

Whether or not you listen is entirely up to your own judgment; it's your own business.

Hestia felt like Hermes was making a pointless argument, but she still said, "Alright, tell me your suggestion."

(End of this chapter)