Alise and Kaguya made their way to their Familia home right after the meeting. But Alise was not in a good mood.
"Why do I have to talk to the alcoholic?! I don't even know where she lives! How would I even communicate with her?!"
"Well, you said she frequents bars? So, maybe scout out the bars?" Kaguya suggested.
"Do you know how many bars are in Orario?! It would be impossible to locate her that way!"
As Alise continued to complain, they neared their Familia home only to see a large crowd in front of the gates. They quickened their pace and pushed through the crowd. Alise spotted some of her comrades gathered around something. "What's going on? Was there an attack?" She asked.
Lyra, the pink haired pallum was the first to speak. "Well, umm, see for yourself..." Her comrades parted and Alise laid her eyes upon a shocking scene. What looked to be a member of the guild tied up but in a very provocative and lewd manner, as well as blindfolded and had a ball gag in her mouth and finally childish, poor-quality drawings were on her face. "What is this?! A pervert?!" Alise yelled out, who would be so shameful as to do this in broad daylight and in front of the home of the goddess of justice? They're just asking to be arrested.
Ryuu came close to Alise and handed her a note. "This note was found on her when we found her a few minutes ago"
Alise began to read the letter, and with each word, her blood pressure increased. Kaguya looked over Alise's shoulder to also read the letter.
[Hello! I found this mischievous little creature spying on your meeting with the other major Familias. They were up to no good, as they are actually a member of Evilus! A very shocking turn of events, I know. I discovered this criminal spying on the meeting as I too was spying on the meeting. Since I Merlin, the Mage of Flowers, am an honest, upright, and integral individual who upholds the values of justice, I had to stop this criminal from giving this information to Evilus! You can thank me by praising me and spreading word of my amazing accomplishments! As well as removing all my fines and erasing my criminal record that the guild currently has on me]
[PS. For you, captain of the Astrea Familia who has been ordered by Finn, to find me and convince me to join your noble cause! ... Good luck finding me! Hehe!]
Alise felt a great urge to punch Merlin once she finds her.
"Oh, as expected of Merlin, to be so skilled in Shibari" Kaguya said after learning who caused this scene.
"What's Shibari?" Alise asked, she never heard the word before but judging by how it was pronounced, she somewhat guessed that it originated in the Far East. Kaguya answered her by simply pointing at the tied up Evilus member. "It's a certain rope tying technique used on people during... intense moments..."
Alise processed her words for a few moments before her face lit up with a bright red. Now she wanted to punch Merlin even more.
...
...
Late at night, inside one of Orario's many bars.
"Teacher? Why are we in a bar?"
"We are waiting for someone to find us, and because the drinks here are great! The same can't be said for the food"
"HEY!" The chef yelled from the kitchen.
"Who are we waiting for teacher?"
"A certain dumb red head, who may or may not have tried to arrest me in the past for allegedly blowing up a bar" Merlin responded and began drinking her beer until the mug was empty, then calling the waitress for another.
"But you did blow up a bar, teacher"
"Allegedly! Now eat your soup and stop asking questions that could get me thrown in jail again!" Even though she said that she could always just escape. It wouldn't be her first time, and throughout her time in this world, she has found that there is no cell that could hold her. Except for that time in the Far East where Merlin escaped so often that she made a goddess of justice start crying. Merlin felt bad and willingly put herself in jail to serve her 2-month sentence so that the goddess would stop crying.
They enjoyed their meal until the door to the bar swung open with a bang. The loud noise caught the attention of the entire bar who looked over and saw the famous captain of the Astrea familia, whose eyes swept across the bar until she saw Merlin.
Merlin felt immense bloodlust but ignored it and continued drinking her dwarven fire wine. Alise stormed over and stood next to Merlin's table. "You finally found me! Your three hours earlier than expected!"
Alise responded by grabbing Merlin's mug, sitting down at a open seat and downing the drink in one go. Once finished, she slammed the mug on the table and let out a sigh of satisfaction. "This tastes terrible! What even is this?!"
"Dwarven fire wine! I must say you are a very good drinker, we should be drinking buddies! I can always use more!"
"No!" Alise responded sternly.
"Come on"
"No"
"Please?"
"No"
"Oh, well, you'll eventually agree one day!"
Then Ryuu entered the bar, visibly tired after running around, following Alise as she went through every bar, her speed and efficiency so quick that she left Ryuu in the dust.
"Ah, Lion, sorry about leaving you behind..." Alise said with awkwardness and scratched the back of her head, not having an excuse she could make.
"It's alright captain..." Ryuu was out of breath, but she did her best to hide it. She grabbed a spare chair from another table and sat down.
"So, what would you two like to discuss?" Merlin asked, she already knew what they wanted but it was a good way to start a conversation.
"I'm sure you already know since you were SPYING on us" Alise held back the urge to scold Merlin and throw her behind bars.
"Hehe!"
"Anyway, can we go somewhere private to discuss things?" Alise and Ryuu were ready to get up, but Merlin signaled them to stay. She materialized her staff and cast a quick barrier spell around the table. The both of them were shocked by her magic and Ais was just eating her fifth bowl of soup and drinking grape juice that Merlin ordered for her.
"With this barrier no one can hear or see what we are discussing! And don't worry I already informed the owner that I would be using this spell"
Alise and Ryuu looked at one another before nodding. Alise began speaking and was very straightforward. "Merlin, we would like for you to support us in attacking an Evilus base"
Alise was ready to convince Merlin and explain more but... "I accept!"
She was surprised that Merlin accepted so easily. "Really? Just like that?"
"Yep, I was planning on attacking these bases with or without the guild. It would serve as good training for my student!" Merlin gestured to Ais. Alise and Ryuu looked over to Ais whose face could barely be seen behind a large stack of dishes. Where did these dishes come from when Ais was just on her fifth bowl? Only Merlin knows the answer, not even Ais knows as she was too focused on eating what was in front of her.
"Isn't she a bit too young?"
"Nope! She strives to be a hero, the greatest that ages of past and future will ever see!" Merlin did a dramatic pose and Ais nodded while chewing her steak.
"Oh, okay. Can we take this conversation to my Familia home so that we can discuss with the others about what we are going to do?"
"Oh my, inviting me to your home on the first date? How bold of you!"
"It's not like that and you know it!"
Merlin was going to have fun teasing this girl, maybe even the other members of Astrea Familia and even Astrea herself. It has been a while since she last messed with a god.