Store in Danmachi: 48

Title: Baby, Hips Don’t Lie

She is NOT a pervert; God be her witness. There is nothing wrong with waking up early, bathing, and dressing up. Well, up to her undergarments, at least. Why does she wake up earlier than usual? Why does she spend an inordinate time mulling over the garments that would not peek out of her modest Guild Uniform?

*Knock-knock*

Eina’s hand stills as she hears a distinctive baritone voice slipping past her door.

“You up?”

The brunette’s mind works mysteriously, as she cannot notice the odd quality of his voice, her happy smirk widening in response. She glances over herself in the mirror, a little embarrassed but primarily proud at how she looks in her cyan underwear, before she covers herself with a green stall.

Again, she is not a pervert. She did not eventually time her morning routine around Jackal’s arrival to always find herself in her underwear when he came knocking to deliver Bentos for Rose, Misha, and herself. All this is merely a happy coincidence mystically occurring daily.

“Coming,” Eina controls her tone to not give away an indication of her happiness at his arrival, her stall covering her in a manner that positively leaves a swathe of her pale elven cleavage open for his eyes alone since his build covers the front of her house neatly.

Oh, how her mother would appall at these ‘coincidences.’ Then again, did she not settle down with her father and have two children—Her and her younger sister? They certainly did not emerge from elven rituals of sainthood, did they? No.

The half-elf twists the knob of her door only to meet with a less-than enthused Jackal without Lili beside him, Anya fitted snugly in his vest coat, and Loid on his other side.

Her bespectacled green eyes instantly rise to meet his distant, bothered gold-red hues as she finds him NOT staring down her ‘accidentally’ exposed cleavage. Actually, he doesn’t look at her one bit, making her grip around her stall tighten unconsciously.

“Is something the matter?” She cuts right to the chase in a professional tone—a tone she adopts to make personal matters easier to divulge by the other party—because something is clearly bothering him.

And she is right.

Eina doesn’t know whether she should feel mortified by the cause of his troubled heart or relieved he is open about it enough to speak of it.

---

*Thuck*

Eina stamps another receipt before looking up with not the slightest curl of her usual professional smile, “Your receipt for the Magic Stones.” The adventurer across her isn’t one of the consulting parties of the guild, as many rookie adventurers are encouraged to become. But the cat-kin adventurer clearly knows her enough to voice out.

“Is something the matter, Eina-san?” The half-elf looks up from the counter before shaking her head calmly. The brunette cat-boy’s ears perk slightly as two Guild employees enter Pantheon from a likely audit, whispering to themselves animatedly, “I can’t believe Ishtar Familia would ever see the day.”

“Better yet, I can’t believe it’s Jackal! Son of a gun really did it! It makes me wonder if it’s all because of working silently for all those years. Wasn’t there an issue with him and Ishtar’s Captain?”

“Former Captain,” corrects the first employee as they walk past the counter. The red-haired wolf beside Eina performs her duties calmly while the pink-haired human on the right casts a worried glance in Eina’s direction.

“The Butcher?” notes the blonde cat-boy curiously. “I didn’t know something happened. Say, Eina-san, I heard you two are friends. Do you know something?”

“Hiss!” Misha hisses animatedly, “Buck off! Can’t you see we’re busy?”

The adventurer blinks before looking around. The early morning starts slow for the Guild, but it’s only a window of a few minutes. The number of adventurers will snowball in time. Misha’s voice and the adventurer’s questioning fall on Eina’s deaf ears as things seem to grow worst for her when the employees sitting behind the corners, documenting various proposals and other materials, start discussing things in whispers.

“Didn’t Rose and Eina go out with him? Truly, I can imagine Jackal snapping after performing with such records. No sane man can work as efficiently as him. But I expected more from Eina and Rose,” derides a hume bunny of short stature.

The Guild isn’t a close-knit community. If it were, Jackal would have prepared a bento for every employee. Low-tier politics of aspiring employees who wish to make it beyond the average cut of the daily labors of a Guild Employee riddle the Guild. Being one of the most stellar, albeit robotic employee means Jackal earned quite a few undeserved rivalries.

Why undeserved?—because said rivalries were only one-sided!

And such menial politics will make use of any ‘weakness’ to cast shade on others.

“Hoh?” Smirks the Hume Bunny’s deskmate, a brown-haired catgirl, “So much for earning the next bonus. I hear Jackal’s earned some friction from the higher-ups. If I were Eina or Rose, I’d come out making a statement I have no relationship with that bloke.”

While Eina’s modestly pointed ears and Rose’s furry ears twitch in response, Misha is the only one to respond to these words with a scowl on her face as she stares at the bento box peeking out from under her counter’s desk.

“Eina, they-”

Whatever Misha wants to say, she holds it back, seeing the desolate look on the usually cheery half-elf. The pinkette whips her head in Rose’s direction with a pleading look. But the werewolf silently works to sort the various denomination of Valis in her counter—again, likely to busy herself.

Misha sinks into the uncomfortable silence around her, broken constantly by odd whispers. The Central City of Gekai Loves a good show. And Jackal serviced two such sources of entertainment back-to-back. But it comes with strains upon his personal life, something Jackal is already aware of at great length due to understanding what those around him desire to a certain extent—or so he thought.

Eina looks at her bento above the counter.

“Hmm. I’m actually a little annoyed with Jackal. That man should be more aware! Did he not know his actions would put dear Eina and Rose so many problems?” A human employee slithers into the Hume Bunny and Catgirl’s conversation. Rose twitches at the voice, strange annoyance bubbling in her yellow eyes. Again, she isn’t one to express herself animatedly, but she isn’t devoid of emotions. The redhead is aware of the speaker—a coworker who pursued her once. They went out on a date, but nothing came of it, becoming nothing more than one of Rose’s many cold nights.

But that wasn’t the end.

It was as if the man took personal offense in her lack of expression, actively trying to limit her in the guild as if she’d denied him of something rightfully his during the date—what that ‘something’ is, she’ll never know.

“Heh? Isn’t that right?” The catgirl clambers on, “I’d never want such a thoughtless boyfriend, no matter how strong he is!”

“It will pass,” Rose whispers to herself, calmly closing her eyes to reorient her emotions.

As she chants—It will pass. Bad times usually do.

But it isn’t just bad times, this once.

Is it really a bad time?

If yes, then for who?

Eina recalls his expression as he relayed the message building in his stomach for a while, not glancing at her form even once.

She believes he did nothing wrong from a selfish point of view.

How many adventurers die daily?

A lot.

But it changes things when it is someone like Jackal who is executing others publicly.

The thought just leaves a distaste in her mouth. Is it so hard to imagine Eina does not want someone she likes to be a murderer? Whether he liked it or not is not the topic of discussion here. He was clear this morning—these are the consequences of his actions. He chose this path, and from what he claims, he will continue chasing this path.

The path of power.

It’s as if something will catch him if he doesn’t.

But deep down, Eina couldn’t help but also take comfort in his actions because he didn’t hide a single fact. He didn’t just go there to die or make a fatal statement. He did all this to protect the people he has come to care about the only way he knows how.

Can she or Rose condemn this kind of resolution? Can she condemn a man who would face a Level 5 captain with the strength close to a Level 3 Amazoness using some strange magic and unique skills?

No.

But she wants to.

Oh, Gods! She does! There are so many things that could have gone wrong!

Eina’s eyes widen briefly.

Right! So many things could have gone wrong!

‘He isn’t the same anymore.’ They already discussed this on their first date—Jackal, Rose, and herself. How could she have missed this?

Eina grasps her bento and takes to the exit in a hurry.

“E-Eina?” Misha squeaks in shock, “Where are you going? Our shift just began!”

The half-elf turns back to glance at Misha with a pair of watery eyes bordering on tears, “I should have known! He needs an advisor! I quit!”

Misha, and every other Employee in the view, find their jaws dropping at the swift departure of the Half-elf. Misha hears slight rustling from the nearby counter, seeing Rose packing Eina’s stuff and her own as the pinkette questions, “Rose-san! You cannot—”

“I’m not quitting—” Rose looks up, her words making others calm as the three chatting employees wipe the sweat off their foreheads because they might have to answer to their team supervisor as to why one of their stellar employees just up and quit on them—until Rose opened her mouth again.

“—Until I find a good job. Which should happen in a few hours since I know a great store.”

Rose saunters away with that as Misha stares, slack-jawed.

“Oh, heck! I’m cute as a button! Jackal-san won’t leave another of her junior for job-hunting!” Misha picks her bento before chasing Rose out of the Pantheon right before showing the three employees her new nail work resting on the tip of her middle finger.

---

Jackal runs his fingers through his hair for the umpteenth time, his other hand stroking the pink-furred Anya for he realizes her true worth—a therapy kitten! The notion is as twisted as his fucking mind to commit the stupidest kind of blunder after last night’s achievements. He tried to pet Loid, hoping for a therapy ninja husky instead, but the darn furball was inclined to leave his clutches as soon as possible this once to enjoy the sight of training adventurers, leaving Anya in the lurch.

“Fuck! Why did I have to open my fucking mouth!” He groans aloud, happily so. The Loki Familia had visited him early morning right after Shakti’s short visit. Before that, Jackal was happy to explain the situation to Miach and Naaza. He truly expected some sort of dressing down. Miach is a good friend to have, whose kind personality is the stuff of myths in this city, as opposed to Jackal’s bloodied rumors. But to his surprise, Miach offered him a bedroom to rest if he needed an out of his house for a while. On the other hand, Naaza obliged his weak explanation with a rather expressive nod. Or did he imagine her purple orbs turning every bit hazy as she admitted with her ears folding over her head when she said: “I’m glad you are safe.”

That can’t be true. Naaza’s tone sounded a lot wobblier than usual. But why? Jackal was all too confident in his plans without forgetting the rule of exceptions. But it was still a massive breakthrough in his mood after delivering food to Eina. Oh, and of course—Naaza levied a tax of six more bento than usual for making her feel worried. But Jackal declined their further kindness of restarting the business.

No, that would come after Jackal has Olal’s head in his hand. He merely won a battle yesterday. Olal has the massive force of Orario’s underbelly, which Jackal only momentarily shook. More than enough dealing with such a side in his mortal world allowed him to understand this strange battle was far from over. And he would ask for fucking sure why Olal wanted to target him with such passion.

His mood brightened further when he’d been peppered with kisses by a Maria who practically leaped on him with a hug that made Lili envious of her motherless activities! Oh, and the sight of blushing Mikoto, Chigusa, Ouka, Asuka, and two other poor sods of Take’s Familia was a sight, too. Then came the veritable hill of food, the usual. After all, he was the Bento Daddy before Orario’s Butcher! He didn’t enter the store again. He didn’t get the time to, to be exact, when bombarded with a borderline curious Hermes begging to know of the unknown Ally, who took care of Phryne.

Of course, Jackal was above such childish acts that Deities like Hermes adopt. And quite happy with himself, Jackal felt his mood rise another notch after shoveling a well-deserved knuckle into the Deity’s face. This act met him with a distant nod from Perseus. Oh, Asfi did not ‘look’ distant. She was distant, as in, she was standing on the second floor, her lips curled in a slight smirk, as she regarded the usually eager Deity with a sardonic glint carefully tucked under her bespectacled eyes.

And before he could open the store, Shakti sauntered down the streets of Daedalus to claim Jackal had been fined. Another Familia member could have reported the Guild’s penalty system since the stores he’d wrecked in Entertainment District still fell under the individual business category. But the Guild made no din about the eleven corpses. Again, another Familia member could have reported all this, but Shakti came personally for two reasons.

First was restarting the usual trading. And second, to inquire about the strange magic he’d used.

First was her usual duty, and the latter was her personal curiosity. And that begged the question—What was she doing in the Entertainment District?—prompting Hermes to point out Shakti is a woman of class, and apparently, classy women can be nasty.

Oh yeah, this earned him a slap.

Shakti calmly evaded the topic, skirting her reasons to her privacy but noted again the last question was more of a personal curiosity due to non-elemental magic being the stuff of rarity.

Jackal, sadly, had to deny her on both accounts.

He didn’t plan to release his stuff again. He’d let the market simmer for a while. He didn’t hold ire against others for the momentary isolation of his business—It’s business. But he did want to jack up his reputation before releasing the goods to finally shut other businesses up. But he also knew he needed money after his last expenditure. He’d truly reached deep into his reserves.

But his cheating of the market by giving stuff to Blue Pharmacy allowed him to hoard thousands of his products!

He can earn at any moment.

And with that, Shakti left—neither surprised nor disappointed. And this time, with a bento box of her own. Maybe she felt compelled after seeing his recent demonstration, or was it the gaggle of concerned individuals around him that served to skew Shakti’s favor in his opinion—she did not know.

It is possible she took a Bento because she hadn’t eaten for a while. And seeing Takemikazuchi’s Familia dining on their lunch boxes early morning worked her appetite wondrously.

Anyway, she will be sure of her future action after tasting the meal for herself—apparently, Jackal has made similar strides in cooking as he has in getting more powerful.

As usual, Lili took to training. Maybe she knew not to question him any more. But Jackal believed she wasn’t one to give things up so easily—not if her demand to enter the Dungeon with Takemikazuchi Familia was anything to go by.

He’d just dock her non-existent salary.

The most surprising was only Nine Sweetness approaching for her lowers to collect their share of Bentos. She was quite open about revealing her presence during Jackal’s kill streak along with a few other members of her Familia for the price of completing a few quests in the Dungeon without bothering him for a while—Loki included.

Jackal knew Riveria’s concern stemmed from her remote worry for his well-being. But if she was truly worried for him, she wouldn’t have cut off his meeting with the ‘Dog’ Princess, the Amazoness Twins, and the fumbling apprentice of his—much less the only fuck he has in his life at the moment. And from there Jackal noticed a distinct level of caution in her mannerism. It’s like she wanted to appear more distant than usual.

And with that, he was left alone.

With his thoughts—constantly reminded by his fucking sense of sentiment!

“Why the fuck did I say that?” He slammed his head beside Anya, but the usually jumpy kitten isn’t scared one bit. Instead, she meows in contentment as Jackal continues to scratch her neck and back.

Ah, the bliss of being a therapy pet.

Yet, Jackal also had to force down another groan.

Almost everyone made a subtle inquiry about his partner in crime if not for curiosity then to better prepare for the hidden element.

---

Her lone crimson eye crinkles at the clumsily moaning woman mauling a long body pillow in nothing but a pair of rather feminine cream hotpants as opposed to the top-tier blacksmith’s usually traditional but belly-revealing outfit. It certainly did not help the word ‘juicy’ in Koine is written across the blacksmith’s only wardrobe, covering a factually juicy posterior.

“I said wake up!” Hephaestus does all but snarl in a godless manner as her lone eye spews a flame of divine annoyance. Yet her captain only seems to enjoy her voice as she coos and clenches her pillow harder, her right thigh sliding over the long pillow in a manner of ‘that’ satisfying stretch one strives to achieve every morning.

“WAKE. UP.!”

“Geez, can’t a woman sleep in peace?” Tsubaki moans childishly, her hand slipping under her pillow to grab a black eyepatch as she rubs her left eye, hidden by her messy hair, wrapping her eyepatch onto it. Still yawning with no intention of covering her mouth, she stretches her arms wide as her breasts curl up slightly before she starts scratching her belly.

Tsubaki’s lone right eye meets Hephaestus’ lone left eye.

“Did you drink, too?” Tsubaki inclines her head, feeling a little more intelligent after her short but fruitful partnership with the deceptively sharp Jackal as she deduces. “You kind of look like shit.”

Oh, Hephaestus seethes despite considering herself calm and reasonable.

Negotiating with mortals? It’s fine.

Working on the new metals herself to test their nature? Hey, it’s a boon for a bored girl!

Having to taste someone’s swimmer pasted over food? At least Loki didn’t outright poison her!

Having to divert her attention to create more focused manuals for the orphanage to select future familia members? Why not.

“But this?” Hephaestus seethes hotter than the divine flames she’s worked with over the years— including the first flame of Hearth! “What madness gripped you to all but announcing a war against the Ishtar Familia?”

“Ah, you found it?” Tsubaki doesn’t even attempt to lie. After all, the half-dwarf never took a shine to deception. Instead, she adopts a toothy grin. “I did what you should have the moment someone took a shot at you!” The sleepy captain, nay, possibly her mortal best friend, quips with a chiding tone. “I’ll tell you what we earn!” Tsubaki’s drunken breath assails Hephaestus’ mortal senses as the woman tithers, “I get ten 12-packers of Soma’s finest in due time. And you get a shot at seeing the Butcher, hopefully topless, pounding away on lone metals with such unholy roughness you’d go green with envy!”

Hephaestus stills as she stares at the woman.

“Jackal asked you out because he wanted your aid with Ishtar’s Captain, right?”

“Yep.”

“And you agreed?”

“His plan felt airtight.”

Hephaestus starts massaging her head, “And you get Soma’s wine, and?”

“And he promised to give blacksmithing a shot,” Tsubaki sniffs proudly, acting as if she’s accomplished a great achievement.

“Did you consider demanding a greater discount for our deal?” Hephaestus points out. “For him to beguile you in such nature shows all I need to understand his true—”

“Woah, woah, those aren’t the reasons I accepted Jackal’s plan,” Tsubaki cuts as she tilts her head with a rather fond smile. “The plan could be damned for all I care, and I’ll do it again.”

Hephaestus blinks, her lips parting in shock as her captain drawls. “You see, he said something very foolish!” Her lone right eye glints with a fascinated light. “He had the galls to say—Trust me—to a complete stranger after proposing what could be his most sophisticate suicide!”

The crimson-haired Goddess stills in shock… and fond memories as she understands what Tsubaki seems to be getting at.

“Only a fool would ask a stranger to trust them on such a presumptuous basis,” the Goddess’ shoulders slump as she shakes her head at her unruly Captain.

“And a better friend would turn the foolish promises into truth,” Tsubaki snickers, her index finger brushing across her left eyepatch.

Silence falls in Tsubaki’s spartan bedroom with a lone stand for her most prized sword—currently.

“Where did you buy this pair of shorts?” Hephaestus’ crimson eye follows Tsubaki’s frame before seeing the edges of the shorts tighten around the half-dwarf’s smooth and plump thighs.

“These?” Tsubaki looks down in surprise. “From crippling Phryne, watching Jackal kill her and decimate more than half the spectators with some magic, to celebrating a well-deserved reward I’ll have in short installments, I have little memory of where I found this little number.”

She reaches down to tug the elastic of the pair of shorts around her slender waist. “Huh, comfy.”

She muses and looks at Hephaestus, “Do you want this? I can buy another one.”

“No, thanks,” Hephaestus rolls her lone eye, feeling a little uncomfortable at her inability to scold her captain with a bellyful of indignance since the girl brought some sickly sweet emotions into the argument—the galls of some daughters! So, the flame-headed Goddess chooses to deride Tsubaki’s choice in clothes as every modest mother would.

“I would die of shame if seen wearing a pair of shorts with the word ‘juicy’ curving across my butt.”

But Tsubaki continues to remain the woman of low inhibitions and lower mannerisms as she grins widely. “Hey, I remember now! I thought of you when I bought this!”

So, Hephaestus reasons for the reasonable Goddess she is—

‘I must find someone else to vent on or not. A few bottles of alcohol should calm the nerves.’ She discreetly glances at Tsubaki. ‘Or make worse mistakes.’

And as she leaves Tsubaki’s quarter with apparent ease, she cannot help but imagine the sounds of clanging hammer and metal in a hot and arid forge, a positively muscular figure in one, dirtied, almost rag of a blacksmith’s apron—pounding away at a bright red metal until it folds oh so neatly under his ministrations despite the danger of working the forge in the nude.

He would turn around and say—

‘Ugh,’ Heph groans. ‘Snap out of it!’

She berates herself internally for falling so easily under Tsubaki’s temptations.

‘Juicy, my ass!’ She snarks, not knowing the truth hidden in her annoyance.

***

Alternate Title: Eina is Most Definitely NOT(is) a Pervert!; Eina’s Horni Morning Schedule; Grim News; A Grim Morning; Gut-Wrenching; Emotional Outburst; New Employees?; Guild Losing More Men; Misha Really Do Be Cute; The Bento Cult; Conversion of Food; Jackal’s Day; Homie Miach To The Rescue; Is It Wrong To Tempt a Cute Chienthrope With More Food?; Maria’s Got Kisses; The Motherless Yandere Beside Jackal; A Deep Hug; Jackal Earning Browny Points With Everyone; Asfi *Insert Nodding Meme*; A Good Ol’ Punch and Slap; Shakti’s First Hint of Conversion; Riveria Noticing the Dangers of Bento Daddy; Jackal’s Damn Mouth!; Denied of a Good Spinner!; Jackal’s Therapy Pussy; Hephaestus May No Longer Be Calm and Reasonable; Juicy AF!; Tsubaki Got Her Priorities; Daddy Blacksmith Jackal in the Process; Stoking Imagination as One Stokes a Forge; The Distant Promise of Jackal Pounding That Sweet, Sweet—; Hephaestus’ Ass Do Be Juicy