Over the past few days, the citizens of Orario had been greeted with nothing but ash-grey skies.
The gloomy weather reflected their hearts, serving as a constant reminder of the horrors they faced daily.
However, today was different.
The citizens awoke to clear blue skies, dotted with only a few wisps of white clouds.
The Bahamut familia was up early, eagerly rushing through their morning routines.
The sweet scent of fresh baking bread wafted through the backyard, as some members busied themselves in the kitchen.
"Hurry up, slowpokes! We're going to be late with how slowly you all are moving!" Eleni declared excitedly, shoving her breakfast into her mouth.
"What's got you so excited today?" Clair asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Don't tell me you've forgotten?" Eleni said, eyes wide.
"O…of course not," Clair replied, her voice trailing off as she struggled to recall.
"Sigh, we're going to be feeding the poor today," Eleni reminded her.
"Oh," Clair muttered, finally recalling last night's meeting.
"Remind me again why feeding the poor with our hard-earned supplies is good for us," Michalis interjected as he entered the room.
"To bring some light to this gloomy city!" Eleni declared, her smile brightening the room.
"Ugh, who the hell are you and what have you done with the real Eleni? Did Alise-san inject you with her weird disease or something?" Michalis asked, clearly perplexed by Eleni's sudden cheerfulness.
"Mouuu! You don't have to say such mean things." Eleni pouted, looking out the window.
"Look outside, what do you see?" she asked.
"Uh… the sun?" Michalis hesitantly answered, even more bewildered.
"What happened to her?" Vasiliki whispered to Clair, having just entered the room.
"I don't know," Clair replied, equally confused.
"Hmm, it has indeed been a few days since we last saw the sun. That must mean today is an extremely good day. We are going to be the sun for those in need," Eleni proclaimed.
"Ugh, this is bad. I think she spent too much time with Alise-san yesterday," Vasiliki said.
Vasiliki and Eleni had been paired for patrol the previous day and had coincidentally run into Alise, spending the entire day together.
"I see, that makes sense," Nikolaos, who had been quietly eating in a corner, chimed in.
Just then, Draco, Dimitra, and Bahamut strode into the room.
"Morning, everyone!" Draco greeted.
The others responded, their eyes fixed on the large tray of oddly-shaped bread in his hands.
"These are just some failed product. Feel free to have some while you listen," Draco said, placing the tray on the dining table.
Everyone quickly grabbed some of the deformed bread, eager to hear what their captain had to say.
"As you may recall from last night's meeting, the goddess festival that was meant to be held two days ago was canceled." Draco paused, allowing them time to remember.
The goddess festival was an annual celebration of good harvests, never before canceled. However, due to the recent activities of the evilus, it was deemed unsafe to host this year.
"Several good gods and citizens were disappointed by this, so a soup kitchen is being organized today to uplift the city. Our job is to help with security and stuff those poor riffraff's fat with our precious food, enough to last them a few days," Draco continued, his tone laced with mild irritation.
"Now, I need you all to be ready in 10 minutes. Anyone late will not have dinner tonight," he announced before turning to leave.
"Fufufufu, you kids eat slowly. He's just a bit touchy from the news this morning," Bahamut said, following after Draco.
Draco felt unusually irritated and paranoid on this particular day for various reasons.
He had received troubling news from Shakuti early in the morning regarding a strange mage woman who had disrupted Ganesha's familia mission.
Consulting his future knowledge notebook—which had become increasingly inaccurate—he identified the mage as Alfia, a member of the fallen Hera familia.
Recalling the factory incident a few days ago, Draco could also identify one of the perpetrators: Zald, an executive of the fallen Zeus familia.
This raised a concerning question—who was the person with Zald? The information had indicated a spear was involved, but based on his notebook, neither Zald nor Alfia wielded one. This suggested the presence of another individual with strength comparable to Zald and Alfia on the evilus side.
Draco now speculated that the evilus had at least three adventurers at around level 7 minimum, and no one knew if there were more.
He felt acutely aware of his own inadequate strength, which only heightened his irritation.
To make matters worse, the soup kitchen event was being organized on such short notice, felt like an open invitation for the evilus to attack.
What if one of those level 7s decided to attack? Who could possibly stop them?
Draco struggled with his unease but knew he couldn't back out now, having already made a promise.
'Sigh, calm down, Draco. Today is a sunny day. Help will come from the Loki and maybe the Freya familia too. Nothing too bad should happen. Besides, Bahamut is coming with us; she's way stronger than I am,' he thought, attempting to soothe his mind.
After quickly packaging the remaining baked sweet bread as a contribution to the soup kitchen event, Draco gathered his familia and headed to the venue.
............….
Upon arriving at the venue, the Bahamut familia immediately split up.
Draco and Bahamut headed for the designated kitchen area, while the others went around, performing other duties.
The soup kitchen was set up on the main street in the northern part of the city and was being run by volunteers.
Delectable yet inexpensive meals—such as wine-drizzled gruel, oatmeal, vegetable soups, and, of course, sweet soft bread—were being served.
The savoury scents breathed new life into the surrounding streets, and the road was packed with those in need, eagerly waiting to be fed.
"Today is such a happy day!" Alise beamed, her infectious smile lifting the spirits of those around her.
"Everyone, let's quickly get to work! Pitch in wherever you can!" Alise announced, upon their arrival at the venue.
"Ugh, I am not great with charity work," Lyra groaned, wandering over to the lines of people.
"I'm far too shy to deal with these riffraff's," Kaguya said, heading toward the partitioned kitchen area.
All the other Astraea familia members quickly split up, finding tasks to do, except for Ryuu.
"I guess you're with me, Ryuu," Alise said, pulling the confused elf along with her.
"Alise-san, over here!" a voice called from the distance.
"Oh my, if it isn't my cute little friend!" Alise exclaimed, recognizing Eleni.
"Morning, Alise-san! Morning, Ryuu-san!" Eleni greeted, her enthusiasm palpable.
Eleni had grown quite close to Alise after spending the previous day together.
Their fighting styles were similar, and although their personalities didn't completely align, they managed to click.
"Morning, Eleni-chan!" Alise replied warmly.
"Do you want to try some? Draco-nii made it," Eleni offered, presenting some sweet bread that she had snuck from breakfast.
"This is amazing! I didn't know that meanie could cook!" Alise praised.
"Hmm, good," Ryuu nodded in agreement.
"I'm sure Draco-nii will be glad to hear that from you pretty Onee-sans," Eleni said, her eyes sparkling.
"Hahaha! I can't imagine that happening, but it would be nice if he recognized our beauty!" Alise replied playfully.
"Well, enough about that grumpy guy. Let's go turn those poor starving people into fat little piggy'!" Alise laughed, pulling Ryuu and Eleni along the main northern street to begin their charitable work.
"Language" Ryuu managed to scream, unable to resist her flow.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen…
"Oh, Kaguya, you're here! I didn't know you knew how to cook," Draco commented as he spotted her.
"I can't," Kaguya replied bluntly.
"Then why are you here?" Draco asked, genuinely curious.
"I don't know how to deal with poor people," Kaguya replied, crossing her arms.
"Hmmm," Draco hummed, nodding in agreement.
Giving away things for free to strangers wasn't in his draconic nature, which was why he had chosen a role that allowed him to stay behind the scenes.
"By the way, why do you never address me with 'san' or 'sama'? I'm pretty sure I'm older than you by a few years," Kaguya asked, raising an eyebrow.
Draco stared at her for a few seconds before stepping closer, standing right beside her.
Kaguya was initially perplexed, but as she stood next to him, she realized what he was insinuating.
Kaguya's gaze immediately morphed into a deep scowl at his action.
While she wasn't short, standing next to Draco made her look noticeably smaller.
"If you understand what this means, then go take care of the dishes, Kaguya-kun," Draco said with a condescending smirk.
'You bastard,' Kaguya internally cursed.
The term 'kun' was traditionally used by seniors to refer to juniors.
Kaguya wanted to retaliate, but with so many eyes on her, she had no choice but to smile while heading off to do the dishes.