Paul was standing guard at the entrance to the city in a bored mood, eagerly awaiting the end of his shift. Not only was it hot as usual in the desert, but the guards had to stand at the entrance all day with little to no visitors approaching the city due to its location. Though they did get the occasional traveler, but nowhere near the amount that other places such as Furhen received, to the point that lines forming outside the city walls were a daily occurrence. The city itself was essentially just a stopping point for the seafood trade from the coastal city of Erisen, that was also the home of the Dagon race who were protected from enslavement due to their usefulness in collecting seafood.
"Hey, time to switch." Paul suddenly jumped in excitement as he realized he was done with his guard work for the day, meaning he could now go and drink cool alcohol to his hearts content for the rest of the day. Before he could leave however his replacement suddenly said,
"Wait what's that?" Paul looked back curiously but only saw a small group of people walking towards the city gates, he was about to admonish the replacement until he saw him going pop eyed at the group, prompting Paul to take another look before he started gawking as well. With a crimson haired woman in the lead, there were several goddess tier beautiful women walking at a casual pace towards the gate, with the majority of them dressed in some form of skimpy clothing due to the heat of the desert. Even as the group approached however none of the guards watching seemed to notice the two men that accompanied them, until a voice interrupted their fantasies of what they would like to do to each of them by saying,
"You know, if I were a petty man I would've probably killed most of you by now and you probably wouldn't have even noticed would you?" This drew the guards attention away from the women as any form of threat towards them was a serious offense, until they saw that the one who said it was a man completely covered with muscle and clad in an oppressive atmosphere with another man right next to him that had white hair and who had a sharp look in his eyes. This immediately put the guards on edge as their senses returned, as anyone who managed to travel the desert on foot and look as if they had just taken a leisurely stroll, especially when escorting a group of women, was not someone to mess with. Paul however stepped forward and tried to say professionally,
"Welcome to the desert city of Ankaji, what business might you have?" Alex smirked and flashed his status plate while replying,
"Well at least one of you is pretending to be professional, we intend to stay the night to rest and collect provisions before moving on to challenging the Grand Gruen Volcano labyrinth." Though the guards didn't like his words they instead focused on the latter half of his sentence, that he was going to challenge the labyrinth that the desert was infamous for. The Grand Gruen Volcano was one of the few great labyrinths was was well know through the continent, but it was frequented far less than the Orcus Great Labyrinth due to the fact that very few, if any, challengers left it alive. Paul however just nodded and said,
"Very well then, just keep your nose clean while you're here." Alex nodded and led everyone through the gate as they also flashed their status plates to the guards while the girls smirked at them. The guards however were thinking instead about how when Alex and Hajime didn't come back from the labyrinth the girls would most likely need a shoulder to cry on, as to them it was impossible that the two guys would risk so many good looking women in such a dangerous place. Not knowing they were planning to do just that, the guards continued their delusions for several more minutes until their captain appeared and told them off for slacking on the job, and Paul for not leaving when his shift was up. Meanwhile the group was walking down the streets of Ankaji while drawing yet more looks from the by-passers, prompting Shizuku to ask,
"Is this normal?" To which all the girls that had been traveling with Alex naturally answered,
"It's pretty normal."
"I just got used to it."
"I've learned to just filter them out~Nya."
"... It does seem like it..."
"This is nothing like Furhen though?"
Shizuku was dumbfounded at the answers she got while the rest of the girls just acted as if it was something normal. She shook her head at just how abnormal this group group was, in several aspects, and tried to simply go with the flow. They continued making their way through the city, as everyone pointed out the different sights and new things to each other. Alex had to admit the city itself was amazing once you were inside it, from the outside they could simply see the large stone walls that surrounded the entire area and the dome-like energy covering it as a barrier protected the city from any aerial threats. The inside however was filled with many lively citizens as they traded and talked to each other, with canals running up and down seemingly every space possible while people also used small boats to travel from one place to another. Unlike the cruel and dry desert outside the walls however, there was also many places that had been converted into gardens that added to the experience.
"I'm going to go look at some of the shops!" Rias said suddenly as she led the rest of the girls to go shopping, the only one staying behind being Grayfia as she dutifully attended her lord. Neither Alex nor Hajime were worried about them since they should be more than capable to take care of any problems they encountered, instead Alex looked around the city and almost frowned at the situation. From what he recalled Ankaji was supposed to be suffering due to poisoning of the oasis that fueled the entire city around this time, instead there was no noticeable sign of anything being out of the ordinary, he had even sent Myuu to Asora with Millicas and Kunou to keep them away from it. He quickly reasoned that since they used zenith to get here so swiftly that they must have arrived shortly before the symptoms started appearing in the first victims, and was somewhat torn on what to do next. He eventually decided to wait until after they cleared the next labyrinth to address it since it would be too suspicious if he knew about a tragedy before it even happened, even as the "Goddess's Champion".
Putting the matter out of his mind, Alex then spent some time asking directions around the city until he found the best inn available, and made the reservations for their group while also sending a message to the girls about where to find it. He was in his room discussing any last minute supplies they needed with Hajime and Grayfia, when suddenly there was a knock on the door with a voice saying,
"Room service!" Recognizing the voice Alex smiled, and said,
"Come in." The door then opened and the breathtaking view of all of the girls filed in while dressed in dancers outfits with veils on their faces. As if it was arranged beforehand, Kuroka and Rias immediately strutted up to Alex seductively before both sat on his lap with Kuroka saying,
"We heard there was a naughty lord here that just so loved the company of equally naughty dancers~Nyan." Though it was obvious things wouldn't go too far since Hajime was seated across from him, Alex couldn't help but admit he did like the act the girls were doing, while Grayfia's eye twitched at the side and Shizuku(who wasn't changed) face palmed at the door, trying hard not to look at Kaori who was trying to mimic them with Hajime. Soon Grayfia reined in the situation by seizing both Rias and Kuroka's ears and dragged them away while saying,
"I swear the things the two of you do in the middle of the day, do you have no sense of propriety anymore?" While Grayfia lectured the two of them Alex laughed lightly before explaining their plans,
"We're planning to spend the rest of the day gathering the rest of what we'd need while also exploring the city a bit. We'll be leaving fairly early in the morning though, so try not to stay out too late." While everyone else seriously listened to Alex's words in order to not end up like Rias and Kuroka, Grayfia walked back over and said,
"I have a bit of pleasant news, both of these girls have volunteered to give up their free time in order to acquire the rest of our provisions for us. Now everyone else may be able to spend their time leisurely for the rest of the day." Taking Grayfia's words as the cue to disperse, Anne and Shia immediately sank Alex's arms in softness as they seized his arms and escorted him out the door, while Kaori immediately did the same with Hajime as she led him out for a date. Yue paired up with Tio to explore the city, while Rias and Kuroka dejectedly went to finish up their new list of errands, and Shizuku decided to walk around by herself in order to not interfere with her friends date. This left Grayfia alone in the room, who decided that it was a good chance for to take the rest of the day off and she promptly changed into more casual yet stylish clothes to walk around the city in.
After leaving the inn Shizuku made sure no one was watching her before she slipped into the crowd and stealthily made her way back to the shop where the rest of the girls purchased their dancer outfits earlier. Though she rejected buying one earlier, after watching the way the others acted and the "results" they had, she thought she might buy one as well to increase her feminine appeal even though she didn't have anyone to show it off for. As she walked into the store the lady that ran it immediately recognized her and walked over while saying,
"Greetings, did you change your mind? I did think it was a shame someone as beautiful as you didn't want to try one of the same outfits as your friends." After Shizuku shyly admitted she wanted to try on a dancers outfit the lady eagerly led her to the area they were located, before being summoned to help another customer. Nervously, Shizuku started looking over the various outfits and veils that were available with her face getting progressively redder as she pictured herself wearing such an outfit. After picking one out she turned to pay and leave, only to bump into another customer who was looking through the same outfits she was.
"I'm sorry!" Shizuku said while bowing slightly as she was so engrossed in what she was doing and her embarrassment that she didn't notice the person right next to her, only to hear,
"Shizuku?" It was at this point that she looked up and looked at the person she bumped into, only to stall for a second before recognizing her.
"Grayfia?" As the two cool beauties realized that they were buying the same thing secretly an unspoken understanding not to speak of this passed between them, leading to a strange form of comradeship. After paying Grayfia even went so far as to store Shizuku's clothes into her personal space to help her avoid having to show the others later. They then spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city together while getting to know each other better since Grayfia wasn't in her maid persona.
***
Late that night the Duke of Ankaji, Lanzwi Feuward Zangen, was about to call it a night after spending his day dealing with the never ending official matters that came with his position.
"Is that all?" He asked his attendant tiredly as it was already approaching midnight. Sadly his attendant shook his head and answered,
"There's still several matters that need your attention my lord, including an urgent message from the city's healers." Duke Lanzwi frowned at the still sealed letter and said,
"I'll read it tomorrow, it's most likely another plea for more finances anyways with the threat of open war looming. I wish they'd understand that there's several things that need an increase in funds in times like these anyways, plus there's the current matter with Erisen to think about." The attendant bowed slightly respectfully and left the message on the desk where it awaited his lords attention first thing the following morning.