Dragon Ball: Saiyan's Gourmet Journey

Chapter 720 Are you saying that my mischief as the villain is just part of your dating play?
Exclamations rose and fell, and the originally dense crowd in the square quickly dispersed after the plant-type monster appeared.

Adventurers in Orario occasionally fight each other in the streets, and many Orario residents have developed the habit of taking refuge in case of emergency.

However, some people still couldn't get away in time and were caught in the sudden incident. For example, during the spontaneous evacuation of the crowd, some people were knocked down by others around them, and a child and her mother were separated from each other.

Perhaps the child's cries for her mother attracted the attention of the plant-type monster, for the monster swung its thick vine whip toward the little girl who had not been able to escape in time.

"No!"

The mother, who was trying to rush back against the flow of people to hug her daughter, screamed in agony, but her face showed a look of despair.

Just as the tragedy was about to happen, a figure in light green rushed towards the girl like a gust of wind, stepping through the crowd.

"Bang~"

The elf lady, born into the Astrea Familia, reacted instinctively to someone in need of help, her thoughts racing faster than her mind.

Ryu Ryo took immediate action, grabbing the girl and carrying her away before she was completely maimed.

. . . .

"It's normal for monsters to run rampant in the city during a monster festival. Let them run wild! Let the blood and sorrow of the innocent make this festival even grander and more real!"

On a tower not far away, an unknown god, his face hidden under a hood, watched the commotion unfolding in the square and prepared to reveal a smug smile.

However, the smile froze after the elf intervened in time to save the little girl who should have been the first victim.

"The Gale of the Astrea Familia?"
Damn it, that self-proclaimed righteous clan is really persistent. Even though Astraea has already left Orario, they still manage to reappear and annoy me!

The god beneath the hood recognized Ryu Rong's identity, and his tone was full of hatred for meddlesome, righteous people who ruined his enjoyment.

"However, what can you do with only Lv.4 strength? Those giant carnivorous flowers are derivatives of fallen fairy spirits, and their strength is even greater than some monsters in the deep zone."

The unknown god's lips curled up again, but the smug smile didn't last before it froze once more.

"Wait, why are the Loki Familia adventurers there too?!"

They released monsters in an attempt to destroy the monster festival, but the monsters they released ended up running into two members of the top-tier adventurers from the elite faction.

This made the god hidden under the hood a little upset, feeling like he had encountered bad luck today because he hadn't checked the almanac before going out.

Fortunately, the Loki Familia members who encountered the giant man-eating plant did not seem to be carrying any weapons, and it appeared that they would not be able to deal with the monsters they had released for the time being.

"Well, enough chaos to significantly diminish the intended effect of the monster festival is sufficient..."

Before he could finish speaking, the giant carnivorous plant in the square was smashed to pieces.

. . . .

"Ais, let's go too!"

Rewinding to the beginning, after Ryu Liang rushed out to save people, Tiona also spoke to the swordswoman beside her.

"Ah."

Ais nodded in response and followed along with the Amazon girl beside her.

Upon approaching, the two, along with Ryu, began battling several giant carnivorous plants that had appeared in the square.

However, due to the lack of weapons and the difficulty in breaking through the monster's defenses, the three quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.

While they are not incapable of dealing with them, it will still take some effort to defeat these monsters.

Seeing this, Lefia decided to help.

Just as she was preparing to cast a spell with her bare hands to provide magical support for the battlefield, one of the giant carnivorous plants that was originally fighting with Ais and the other two had its aggro target redirected.

"Lefia, stop the magic! These guys, like the new monsters we encountered in the Deep Zone, can detect our magical reactions!"

Tiona noticed the situation and quickly called out to remind them.

Don't panic, there's still time. Continue channeling your magic; just cast a spell before the enemy is defeated and eliminate them first.

However, the elven girl showed no sign of stopping her magic. After training, she had developed the ability to independently assess the situation and would not interrupt her spellcasting due to fear of approaching monsters. More importantly...

[At this moment, I want to show Miss Ais how much I've grown these past few days!]

The elven girl thought to herself.

Lefia's judgment of her spellcasting speed and the speed at which the monsters were approaching was correct. Her only mistake was that she did not anticipate that the giant man-eating flower that the pupa was heading towards her actually had ranged attack capabilities.

The enormous plant mass, with its petals open at the top and its giant mouth wide open, spewed out black seeds as an attack.

The black seeds don't have a very strong attack, but when they hit an object, they turn into tiny vines that resemble a net, enveloping the object they spit out.

Lefia dodged several seeds, but was still hit by a black one. Her body was bound by vines that spread from the seed, and her magic chanting was interrupted.

"what……"

This sudden turn of events caused the elven girl to let out a panicked cry. Just when Lefia thought she was going to be in big trouble and pay a huge price for her insistence, Broly stepped past her and took the initiative to meet the oncoming plant-type monster.

The giant carnivorous plant lunged at him, but he dodged to the side, and the sword light that gathered at his fingertips struck the plant's body, tearing its tough body to shreds.

After dealing with one man-eating flower, the Saiyan boy continued his momentum, stepping on the still-erect man-eating flower before launching himself like a cannonball towards the other man-eating flowers that were fighting with Ais and the other two.

In no time at all, he eliminated the plant-type monster that was causing a disturbance in the square with his bare hands.

"Hey, tearing monsters apart with your bare hands, Broly, you're even more ferocious than my sister!?"

The sight of the Saiyan boy defeating the monster surprised Tiona.

She had assumed the boy was a skilled swordsman, but he was now revealing his berserker side.

Such a contrast is rather stark.

"This refers to the sword, a technique that combines fist and sword skills, not brute force to tear it apart."

Broly offered an explanation.

The giant carnivorous plant's skin is extremely tough to the touch. With its current stats of nearly 5 seconds, it can only be broken through by using its hands as a sword without a weapon.

So, although it looks like brute force is used to tear the monster apart, it is actually a skillful technique. The monster's skin is cut open with a highly penetrating fingertip sword before its interior is destroyed.

"Well, no matter how it was resolved, the fact that these guys were taken care of without any casualties is a great thing."

Tiona wasn't one to scrutinize things. After looking at the damage to the square and finding that only a few unlucky people had been injured and no one had died, she smiled and said...

“Hmm,” Ais nodded, but still raised her question: “But why are monsters here?”

"Could it be that some of the monsters brought out of the dungeon by the Ganesha Familia have escaped?"

Hestia and Seele then approached and mentioned a possibility.

"I don't know, we'll probably have to wait for the guild to conduct a follow-up investigation."

When the guild was mentioned, Ryu's expression became somewhat unnatural.

This is because her true identity, 'Swift Wind,' is still on the guild's bounty list.

If they are discovered, they will likely face the bounty hunters' pursuit again.

"Miss Elf, thank you so much for saving my daughter. If it weren't for you..."

The rescued little girl's mother came over to express her gratitude, and her gesture of wanting to know her name to repay the favor made the elf both happy and troubled.

After the giant carnivorous plant was destroyed, the seeds it released also dissipated. Lefia was helped up by Broly, who had walked back, and looked somewhat disappointed.

[I clearly wanted to show off, but I ended up letting everyone down...]

"Lefia, are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?"

Broly noticed that her expression was off and her happiness level had dropped, so he asked her about it with concern.

"Ah, I'm fine. Thank you very much, Mr. Broly."

The boy reached out his hand, seemingly to check if she was injured, which quickly brought Lefia back to her senses. The elven girl thanked the boy for his help.

A blush rose on her pointed ears, and she raised her hand to stop the boy's outstretched hand, refusing his attempt to examine her body.

"But you don't look well. Shouldn't you have your health checked?"

Broly was still somewhat uneasy.

"No, no need. I look pale, it's not because of my injury."

Lefia quickly explained, "What's the reason?"

Broly pressed for an answer.

"That's because I wasn't helpful this time, and I even held everyone back..."

"Well, this time it's not your fault, Lefia. It's because those monsters are too sensitive to magic and will actively target people who use magic."

Tiona came over and offered a word of comfort to the elven girl.

"If it doesn't work this time, there's always next time. We'll try harder next time."

Ais also offered the girl a word of comfort.

The entire process, from the sudden appearance of the monsters causing chaos to their eventual defeat and the end of the chaos, lasts no more than two minutes.

The Ganesha Familia members, responsible for maintaining order and security during the monster festival, arrived at this time.

It's understandable that these people arrived late; there were simply too many places to look after, which caused the members of the Ganesha Familia to be quite scattered.

The giant carnivorous plant that appeared here was clearly no ordinary monster. Ganesha members, who were responsible for maintaining order in the square and whose adventurers were probably not even Lv.2, immediately ran to seek help from higher-level adventurers within their clan. This choice cannot be considered a mistake.

But one thing is certain: if Broly and the others hadn't been there, there would have been many casualties in the square.

"Thank you very much!"

Shakti Farma, the leader of the Ganesha Familia who was present, thanked the Sword Maiden.

"I didn't help much. It was Miss Ryu who saved the people, and Mr. Broly who dealt with the monsters."

Ais didn't take credit, but pointed to the other two who played important roles and said.

【Ryū...】

Shatik looked in the direction the swordswoman was pointing and saw an old friend.

"Thank you so much."

Shalltek met Ryu's gaze, but as one of the few who knew about the elves, he pretended not to recognize her and thanked her and Broly.

"Our Ganesha clan will investigate this matter thoroughly and provide an explanation."

As Shatik said this, he gestured with his eyes for Liu to leave quickly.

If the guild members arrive and someone recognizes her, things will get a bit complicated.

Liu understood, walked over to the boy who had invited her on the date, and whispered, "Mr. Broly, I'm a little tired and want to go home first."

"Aren't you going to buy souvenirs?"

Broly looked at her.

"Businesses here probably won't be able to resume operations for the time being."

Ryusei looked at the sparsely populated square. Although there were many people cheering for the boy's defeat of the plant-type monster, the stalls and vendors in the square would probably not be able to resume doing business for a while.

"In that case, at least keep this as a souvenir."

Broly thought for a moment, then took out the magic stone that had been dropped by the plant-type monster he had just defeated and handed it to Ryurion.

Liu: “…”

It's quite rare to use magic stones as souvenirs. Given the nature of magic stone energy in this world, it's equivalent to giving someone a barrel of crude oil as a souvenir in the normal world.

"You mentioned upholding justice this morning. Although we don't know where those monsters came from, we did uphold justice together, didn't we? And this is the spoils of upholding justice. It should be considered a memento."

“Mr. Broly, you’re a bit strange, but you’re right…”

Ryu accepted the magic stone, bowed, and took his leave.

“Mr. Broly, I’m going back with Ryu.”

Seele followed behind the elf lady and also took a magic stone.

[Liu Liang, happiness level increased...]

Broly didn't know what was wrong with him, but since the elf's happiness level had increased because of the souvenir, he considered it a good thing and didn't care much.

However, what's bothering him now is that he doesn't have enough magic stones to distribute: "Why don't we get more of those monsters?"

An eight-person date would require seven magic stones excluding him, but there were only five plant-type monsters that appeared earlier.

"Ah, Broly, Lily and I don't need any souvenirs. You can give them to Miss Ais and the others."

Upon hearing this, Hestia quickly explained that the date souvenir was meant to enhance others' impression of the date, and enhancing that impression would help Broly meet other girls.

As for her and Lilyluka, they don't need dating keepsakes.

After all, they've been eating, sleeping, and living together, so why would they need any date souvenirs to deepen their impressions and feelings for each other?

And so, Ais and Lefia, along with Tiona who wasn't part of Broly's encounter, each received a peculiar magic stone dropped by a giant carnivorous plant as a souvenir of their date.

"We don't think there'll be much left to see at the Monster Festival, so we're planning to head back to our clan. What about you, Miss Ais?"

Hestia asked.

“Then we should also…” Just as Tiona and Lefia were about to say that they wanted to go back to their own clan, they heard Ais ask, “Lady Hestia, may I go back to your clan’s territory with you?”

"Uh, that's not a problem."

Hestia agreed.

"Ais, are you planning to go to the Hestia Familia's base and continue training in swordsmanship with Broly?"

Tiona asked curiously.

"It's not to practice swordsmanship, but to stay overnight there."

Ais shook her head.

"Eh?!"

Upon hearing this, both the Amazonian girl and the elf girl looked over in surprise.

“Riviria said that going straight back to the family camp after the date is not a perfect date. The perfect date is to take a change of clothes and stay overnight at Mr. Broly’s family camp, and then go back tomorrow.”

The swordswoman girl began to explain earnestly.

Tiona and Lefia: "???"

Is it proper to stay overnight at someone else's clan's residence after a date?

Regardless of whether it's proper or not, Ais intends to follow the correct dating process as Riveria taught her.

"Oh, well, I'll go over there too."

Lefia couldn't bear to let Miss Ais stay overnight at someone else's clan's residence, so the elf girl quickly offered to stay overnight as well.

"Would it be alright if one more person went, Lady Hestia?"

Loli Goddess: "..."

Is this a freebie for a team?
She naturally had no reason to stop this kind of freebie.

The Lolita goddess looked at the last Amazon girl and asked, "Miss Theona, would you like to come along too?"

"Uh……"

Tiona scratched her cheek.

"Then I'll come along too, but I need to go back to my clan to get my change of clothes for tonight."

"Please help me with this too."

"Refia said quickly."

The decision to have the three Loki Familia girls stay overnight at the Hestia Familia was thus happily made.

What Broly saw as a sudden monster giving him a date souvenir actually began to unfold after he returned to his clan's base.

(End of this chapter)