Chapter 4 - The Dungeon City Of Orario!

A/N: It seems our favourite slime Rimuru won! 7-0, quite a big gap.

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"My eyes…" I muttered with my arm raised to protect my eyes from the sun. The area was quite desolate with a dark sky and charred ground. Next to me were Sora, Shiro, and Rimuru.

We decided on Rimuru being the guard. Rimuru had the skill predation, great sage, and he was overall a jack of all trades.

We got teleported in front of what seems to be Orario, with a long line of people waiting to enter the city. Rimuru transformed into his Human form and lined up with us to enter the city.

I was wearing a comfortable hoodie with a knee-high skirt. It was something quick I grabbed from the wardrobe before joining the quest.

"Hey, I think there will be a fee for entering Orario. Does anyone have an idea where we can get some money?" I asked everyone.

"We should probably find out what the currency system is for this place," Sora replied and began digging through the dirt.

"What are you doing…?" I looked at Sora with a confused expression. Before Shiro could reply to Sora, the latter jumped into the air and shouted.

"Yes! I found a coin; this must be the currency!" Everyone in the line looked at Sora with a weirded-out tired gaze before going back to their business.

"Now, we just need to find enough coins to get us all in!" Sora said as he began digging through the dirt again. Rimuru walked over to Sora and grabbed the coin, consuming it.

"Oi, did you just absorb the coin-?!" Before Sora could finish his sentence, Rimuru spread money all over the ground with his fingers like salt on a piece of steak.

"Oh my gah!" Sora and Shiro cupped their cheeks with their hands with an awed expression. I expected Rimuru to make money from the start but seeing it still made me slightly shocked.

What about inflation? Well, it should be fine if we only make small amounts. Why does this sound so ominous?

We chatted with each other whilst we waited for our turn in the line, mostly talking about our experiences in life and sharing information. Shiro and Sora were professionals in playing kingdom-building simulators; they were Kings of humanity. Rimuru was gaining experience as a lord from his goblin village, and I worked with several companies under my dad.

As we were finishing our chat on exploiting foreign countries using anime, a guard called us up. We followed the guard towards a table.

"Please provide your ID and 200 Valis."

"We have no IDs because this is our first time."

"Then, you need to pay 1,000 Valis and touch that ball over there to enter. Get an ID at the guild when you go in."

Rimuru paid up 4,000 Valis to the guard and touched a crystal ball, which glowed a faint green. We followed Rimuru, and soon enough, we were in Orario!

"Great! Now, we need to find the Hestia Familia. I'm not sure what a Familia is, but the name Hestia should be the Goddess of the Hearth. I heard she was quite famous."

Rimuru said, looking at the bustling streets and the stalls to the side of it.

We tried out a few Familias to see whether they were the Hestia Familia. All of them kicked us out the moment we entered, saying we were too weak looking to join X Familia. We didn't have the chance to say we were searching for the Hestia Familia.

I didn't tell everyone about the location of the Hestia Familia because it would be very suspicious. If only I could bring the Danmachi manga from my past life...

"Man… I'm so hungry after getting kicked out of so many Familias." Sora's stomach rumbled along with everyone elses' stomach.

As we walked, I noticed a certain apple stand with a twin-tailed, black-haired Goddess. I asked everyone if they wanted an apple, and they said yes.

"How much is one apple?" Sora asked the Goddess, who happens to be Hestia.

"10 Valis per apple!" Rimuru took out 40 Valis and handed it to Hestia, who gave me back 4 apples. Rimuru chucked the apples to me and everyone else.

"We're looking to join a Familia; do you know where we can find a list of them?" Rimuru asked.

"Oh! How about my Familia?" Hestia perked up with a bright smile. Rimuru was about to reject her, but I interrupted him with my nervous stuttering.

"W-w-what is your… Familia?" Hestia's mood dropped a little as she muttered, "My name is Hestia…"

Rimuru, Sora and Shiro turned and looked at me as if I was a psychic. Sora immediately dropped to the ground in a dogeza position and shouted, "Please accept us into your Familia!"

Everyone followed along since we didn't want to fail the mission. We were quite desperate after wandering Orario looking for the Hestia Familia for 3 hours. I was on the verge of giving up and walking straight to the church Hestia and Bell lived in.

"E-eh? You don't need to bow down! I will accept you! I will accept you!" Hestia waved her hands in confusion.

After some talking, we followed Hestia to the abandoned church. Rimuru and Sora wanted to say something, but they immediately decided against it. It was very bizarre to see such a well-known Goddess live in such a place after all.

We entered the basement and sat down on the couch as Hestia sat on the bed.

"Before we begin, are you sure you want to join my Familia?" Hestia asked.

"Absolutely/Yes!" We all replied at the same time. Hestia gave us a bright smile as she called each of us up for our Falna. Rimuru, Sora and Shiro were quite puzzled about the concept of Falnas, so Hestia had to explain it.

"Falnas are blessings that we Gods and Goddesses give to those in our Familia. It allows Familia members to gather Excelia to grow in strength and defeat stronger monsters in the dungeon."

Rimuru, Sora and Shiro nodded at Hestia's explanation and asked a few more questions. Whilst Hestia was explaining how the world worked, my eyes wandered around the room. It was a small and cramped place, definitely not enough for all of us to live here.

I should probably get a skill whilst Hestia is explaining…

I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the shop for good skill. One skill caught my eye in particular.

[Name: Power Experience

Effect: Increases the rate of learning, gaining skills, levelling up, cultivation, etc. By 2-10x for 30 seconds with a 2-hour cooldown. The cooldown can decrease, and the effect can increase as it levels up through usage.

Cost: 800CP]

I immediately bought the skill and watched as my CP balance dropped down to 0.

"What is that?" Hestia asked, pointing at the phone in my hand.

"It's a magical tool… for communication." Rimuru immediately replied. I immediately realised something from what Rimuru said. Instead of speaking, I can just type my messages out on my phone!

"I see! Well, let's get your Falnas now. Who's up first?" Hestia nodded and jumped up.