Chapter 113: Job Interviews, Office Flirting, and Urban Planning (Just a Normal Day)

"Next."

Arielle’s voice cracked across the hall, cold and without the slightest hesitation, and the woman who had barely finished introducing herself froze.

"B-But why? I’m a rank-A fire mage, I told you! You won’t find another one like me in all of Evangel!"

She kept pleading her case, this pretty woman with crimson hair and eyes of the same color, which caught the light like two rubies. Her mage’s outfit did very little to hide her generous curves.

When no answer came from the two women sitting across from her, she turned to Frelja, the other rank S.

"You! You tell her! My offensive magic could be useful to you!"

"You know... when Arielle says no, it’s no. Even for me..."

"Tch... You’ll regret humiliating me like this!" she snapped, turning on her heel.

She was the last in a long line that had formed that morning, after Frelja and Arielle, the two rank-S adventurers, had announced that they were looking for other adventurers to form a party and head for the invader’s dungeon.

Every single one of them had been turned down, exactly like her just now.

Each of them had been rejected for their own reasons. Some were far too weird, which drew a mutter from Frelja along the lines of "no way... I already put up with that all the time...". Others, like the woman who had just left, had been rejected purely on looks by a maid who was a little too jealous of attractive figures and wanted nothing of the sort anywhere near her mistress.

There had been plenty of other reasons too.

That was how the line had dwindled over the hours until nobody was left, without the party accepting a single new member.

Frelja leaned back in her chair and looked around the hall.

The mood had changed since the morning. Most of the parties had left and only a handful of tables were still occupied. Someone was making their way between the benches with a bucket and a mop, while the carpenters’ hammers kept echoing from the east wing.

"So... what do we do now?" she asked Arielle.

"I suppose we simply wait, my lady..."

"I told you to call me Frelja here, Arielle!"

"Aaah! Sorry, my lady!"

"You’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?!"

Arielle laughed softly behind her armor before adding:

"A little, yes..."

Frelja couldn’t help giving her shoulder a push with the flat of her hand, a gesture that meant "quit teasing me," before going on.

"Maybe we were too picky?"

"As far as I’m concerned, none of them deserved to join our party anyway."

"Sure, but if we go by your standards, Arielle, is there anyone in this world who’s even worthy of coming near me?"

Arielle didn’t take that one up and changed the subject right away.

"By the way, aren’t you surprised by your so-called rank S?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah... now that you mention it, how did that happen?"

Arielle smiled under her helm, for a reason Frelja didn’t catch at the time.

"It’s because the orb detects a person’s mana and their strongest affinity. And since you’re connected to your core..."

"Aaaaah! So that explains it!"

I got so caught up in the moment that I didn’t even think about it, I really need to be more careful and stop getting carried away by everything!

Frelja nodded, pleased to finally have her answer, and settled comfortably back into her chair.

She stayed like that for a brief moment.

Wait.

She slowly turned her head toward Arielle.

Wait, wait, wait... don’t tell me she brought that up on purpose to change the subject and I fell for it like a little kid?!

"You!"

Frelja shoved Arielle’s shoulder once again, and Arielle burst out laughing at the top of her lungs, head thrown back and a hand pressed to her stomach.

She knows me so well that she can play me however she likes!

"I’m never forgiving you for this, Arielle!"

While the two women bickered, or flirted, hard to say which, in full view of the few tables still occupied, a voice spoke up right beside them.

"E-Excuse me...?"

Frelja was still annoyed at having been led around by the nose. She turned toward the young woman who had spoken, then toward the two young men with her.

"You’re in!"

"Huh?"

She slapped her hand on the table as she stood up, dragged the three of them along with her, and left Arielle behind.

"Come on, come on, no more wasting time, let’s go!"

And that was how their party came together for this new adventure.

On the way out of the guild, Frelja had an arm around the three youngsters’ shoulders like a slightly shady mob boss, pulling them along in her wake.

"So, Jin, Arthur, and Zoyra, right?"

They nodded shyly, still a little stunned by the turn of events.

"I’m Frelja. And the scary woman behind us," she whispered, "is Arielle. Be careful around her, she’s a real demon."

"I can hear you."

"Anyway! Nice to meet you~ Let’s get to know each other on the road~!"

And so the party headed for the city gates.

Evangel was bursting with life, nothing like the first time she had visited. The city was rebuilding bit by bit, other, far more ambitious projects were underway at the same time, and a dense crowd filled the streets through all of it.

It all started with the dungeon, which drew heroes and adventurers who came to explore it and take on the quests tied to it. Adventurers meant needs: weapons, armor, potions, supplies, a bed for the night and a mug of ale when they got back. Needs meant merchants, who came from all over the continent hoping to make their fortune. Merchants meant goods, which meant caravans, warehouses, inns, and workers to keep everything running.

Every coin that changed hands in the city left its share of tax behind. That tax ended up in Evangel’s coffers and paid for rebuilding and improving the city, which drew even more people in.

That was how Evangel had become the most sought-after city on the entire continent, and it owed that to Belzebuth.

They crossed the central square, skirting the hole left by the final raid. It was under construction too, but no one was trying to fill it in. They were building a grand stone staircase down into the depths.

Kyiara, with Aria’s help, had begun a complete overhaul of Evangel’s underworld. The goal wasn’t only to repair what the raid had destroyed but to rethink everything from the foundations up. What had always been hidden beneath the city would become a place open to the public, one that could draw visitors from everywhere.

And that was where the problem lay, the one Freya had spotted from the very start. People from the criminal world were far too attached to being illegal. They had grown so used to it that they took a certain pride in it, and many of them couldn’t even imagine making a living without hiding from the guard and greasing palms.

Freya, for her part, found the whole thing utterly ridiculous.

What was the point of doing something illegally when it could perfectly well be made legal? Wasn’t that just plain stupid?

To make it happen, they had readjusted everything and given everything a new name.

They had started with the black market, which would become an industrial district while still remaining a market. Swords, axes, spears, and armor would be forged there. Magic tools, mana lamps, artifacts, and enchanted scrolls would be crafted there, potions distilled and mana stones cut. Everything that came out of the workshops would be sold right there on site, without a single middleman.

Next came the gaming district, which would simply be renamed and improved. The underground arena would become a Colosseum, with stands open to everyone, fights announced in advance, and regulated betting. The smoky gambling dens would make way for a real casino, with card tables, dice, roulette wheels, and private lounges for those who wanted to play for higher stakes.

The same went for the pleasure district, which would stay what it was but offer new, far gentler services. There would be relaxation lounges where people could simply rest in peace and quiet, masseuses who could work out the knots in adventurers’ muscles after days spent in the dungeon, and even thermal baths, with hot pools, cold plunges, and steam rooms.

And that was only part of the plans Freya had for the underworld.

The black market would still exist, of course, but it would be far more discreet and reserved for a hand-picked elite. They would come there for rare items, information, or services that couldn’t decently be offered in broad daylight. As for the illegal junk that used to be sold there, it brought in almost nothing compared to the risks. People earned a few coins at the cost of a life spent running from the guard, with prison at the end of the road, or worse.

It was just completely stupid!

Meanwhile, Evangel’s public face was changing too.

It hadn’t taken long for everything to center on this place. Even the Church of Gaïra had begun building a main temple, and it was keeping the White Saint’s garments to turn them into a relic.

To think my clothes are becoming a holy relic while I’m still alive~

As for Paydragon, the crown had raised him to the rank of marquis and granted him Baron Frarken’s lands, along with a few others nearby.

Of course, the crown hadn’t really had a choice. He was the city’s hero, recognized as such by the people and the gods alike, and the crown couldn’t stand against that, or at least it wasn’t worth the trouble. So it had settled for congratulating him and playing the friendly part by making him lord of those lands.

On top of rewarding Paydragon, the gesture also calmed the people’s resentment toward the nobility, which had grown after Baron Frarken made a pact with a demon.

And that’s exactly what I was going for when I set all of this up.

While Freya was lost in thought and the rest of the party was getting acquainted with Arielle, they finally passed through the city gates.

She turned back toward Evangel, happy with everything she had just seen of her lands.

And this is only the very beginning of its growth!

Then she turned the other way and saw the stalls.

They were set up all around the gate, and every one of them bore the same logo on a white cloth: two orange wings on a white background. It was on the stalls, on the clothes of the people working there, on absolutely everything around them.

There were people everywhere. Whole parties stopped in front of the stalls and left carrying bags, others chatted while comparing what they had just bought, and still others haggled loudly while their companions waited off to the side, sitting on their packs. A few were studying a map spread out on a barrel, one finger resting on it, while a vendor leaned over their shoulders to point something out.

"This way, adventurers! Over here!"

A woman dressed in the same colors was calling out to them from one of the stalls, waving her arm broadly.

Frelja walked over to her, just as everyone else leaving the city was doing at the other stalls.

"Good day to you, and welcome, adventurers! If you’re heading out through this gate, I take it you’re also bound for that demonic calamity’s dungeon, am I right?"

She placed a hand over her heart.

"Then thank you. Thank you for protecting the helpless people that we are. It takes real courage to do what you do, and believe me, everyone here knows it."

Then she pulled a stack of papers out from under her counter.

"And that is exactly why we at Paydragon Enterprise are offering you a whole range of support~!"