Danmachi : Start With Terraria Calamity Mod! Chapter 16 16 : Miss Eina’s Huge Favor

Night was approaching.

Replacing the glow of sunset, a hazy full moon appeared faintly in the deep blue twilight.

Having finished a day of exploration and returned safely from the Dungeon, adventurers laughed loudly inside taverns, making the streets lively and bright.

For adventurers who lived with death at the edge of a blade, the atmosphere of a tavern was enough to loosen nerves stretched taut.

To numb themselves with alcohol and let the day fade away as their consciousness grew hazy was an ordinary routine for many adventurers.

The whole stretch of street east of the Dungeon entrance was filled with tavern signs and lights.

Beast-girl waitresses with swaying furry ears and tails, dressed in revealing outfits, called out to custors.

And Amazon warriors wearing even less could be seen everywhere, drawing countless eyes.

Inside the tavern bearing the sign "Hostess of Fertility," the half-elf girl and the human boy finally found a place to sit.

"You really do know how to pick a place."

Eina was still wearing her Guild uniform, but since she was already off work, her posture was much more relaxed as she looked around.

When she saw the busy figure of a catgirl maid in the distance, she shot Drake a aningful look.

From that glance, Drake could clearly read the teasing implication of, 'So this is the kind of place you like, huh?'

"I just co here often to buy food, so I'm familiar with it."

Drake shrugged and raised a hand to call over a passing silver-haired maid.

"Syr, two of today's recomnded set als, plus two chilled apple juices."

"Oh my… so it's Drake!"

Hearing the custor's voice, the silver-haired maid walked over in surprise and greeted him with practiced familiarity.

"How unusual—two als today. Ah… so you brought a female friend with you."

For so reason, Syr put a bit more emphasis than necessary on the words female friend.

Yet the smile on her face remained just as gentle and kind as ever, making her impossible to read.

Syr Flova, the poster girl and maid of the tavern Hostess of Fertility.

Thanks to her lovely appearance and warm, approachable personality, she enjoyed trendous popularity even among a staff of elven and catgirl maids.

Though Syr was clearly curious about the half-elf sitting across from Drake, she still obeyed the rules of a maid and didn't waste ti lingering over it.

Very soon, she returned with two steaming als, fragrant with the sll of fresh food.

"Another reason I chose this place is that the decor is cleaner, and there aren't any rowdy drunks here."

Drake lowered his voice in explanation, while glancing out of the corner of his eye toward the sturdy figure stationed behind the bar.

The owner of this tavern was a high-level adventurer with Level 6 strength, a dwarven warrior woman known as the Little Giant.

Although she had already retired, her power was more than enough to make any drunken troublemaker think twice.

"All right, I didn't expect you to have thought things through this much."

Eina gently swirled the apple juice in her wooden cup, clearly implying sothing else.

"Since you know this place so well, do you bring girls here often?"

"Hmm…"

After a mont's thought, Drake answered with a strange expression.

"I'd say I have a lot of experience feeding small animals!"

Eina: ?????

"Ahem, back to the point."

Drake coughed lightly and steered the conversation back on track.

"What were the appraisal results for those two potions?"

In this world, appraisal required specialized magic.

It wasn't like Drake's ability, where he could get all the information at a glance.

So by the ti the appraisal office finished examining the items, Eina's workday had already ended.

Since he'd dragged her into this for his own reasons, Drake had naturally treated her to dinner in return.

"They're both very standard, high-quality potions. Selling them shouldn't be a problem."

Eina took out the two potions that had already been appraised and set them on the table.

"The healing potion's market price is around 1,000 valis."

"The mana potion can sell for 8,000 valis or more…"

"If a large Familia happens to be preparing for an expedition soon, it might even rise to 10,000 valis!"

"Hm?"

After hearing the prices, Drake imdiately noticed sothing strange.

"Why is the healing potion, the one that can save lives, so much cheaper than the mana potion?"

If it were only two or three tis cheaper, that would be one thing.

But from what Eina was saying, the market price difference was almost tenfold!

"Isn't it normal for mana potions to be more expensive than healing potions?"

Eina sounded completely matter-of-fact, as though this was common sense in Orario.

"The ingredients used to make mana potions are rarer than those for healing potions. They only co from the deeper parts of the middle floors and below."

"Also, mana potions are extrely important to mage-type adventurers."

"During an expedition, having enough mana might be enough to turn the entire battle around."

"So in that sense, mana potions are even more important than healing potions."

"It seems your alchemist friend didn't tell you any of this."

"Ah… so that's how it is."

Drake nodded as if he understood, but inwardly he couldn't help grumbling.

In his case, the prices of the two potions were practically reversed—in the shop, a Lesser Healing Potion cost 3 silver, while a Lesser Mana Potion cost only 1 silver!

"If I want to sell these potions, do I have any channels?" Drake's question made Eina look troubled.

"Ordinarily, Familias capable of making potions and elixirs already have their own reputations and business networks."

"If you don't have a store, then the only option is basically to sell them from a roadside stall like a fried potato-ball vendor."

Drake imdiately shook his head.

"I don't have that much ti."

"I need to prepare for the Molten Festival over the next two days."

"Molten Festival…"

Eina looked thoughtful, as though sothing had clicked into place.

"So that's why you were buying iron ore."

"Yeah. I want to gain Goddess Hephaestus recognition at the festival."

Of course, those iron ores had nothing to do with the equipnt he was actually planning to showcase there.

But for now, letting Eina think that was fine.

"I see… honestly, I don't know what I'm supposed to do with you."

The half-elf girl let out a sigh, as if making up her mind about sothing.

"Just focus on preparing for the Molten Festival."

"I'll help you with selling the potions and buying the iron ore."

Drake's face lit up with joy. Just as he was about to thank her, a slender pale finger pressed lightly to his lips.

"There's no need to thank . I'm your adventure advisor, after all."

Eina's pretty face was full of warmth, a rosy flush spreading across her features and giving her an unexpectedly alluring look.

"So now you owe a favor. Don't forget to pay it back!"

"Th-that's… only natural."

Drake glanced at the wooden cup that Eina had already emptied and felt puzzled.

That wasn't right.

There wasn't any alcohol in the apple juice!

'Could it be that Miss Eina was the kind of person who got drunk just from slling alcohol?'