Chapter 41 – Fire, Wine, and the Commander.

—Look at you guys…

The System's voice echoed in Diana's mind early in the afternoon, the interface floating in the corner of her vision with text lines of amused black gold.

—Ten gold coins stashed in the vault, a rival Candidate devoured, and a stone property of your own. How about a celebration party before you try conquering the Third Circle, my dear cheapskate?

Diana was in the inner courtyard of the Arcane Greed Faction Headquarters, adjusting the sleeves of her clean shirt.

"Celebrating victory milestones increases internal squad cohesion by twenty-five percent." Diana replied mentally, trying to maintain a technical posture. "It's a perfectly justifiable operational investment."

—Sure… 'operational investment'. The System mocked. —You just want to eat barbecue with your wolf girl and your squad, admit it.

"Shut up, trash can." Diana grumbled.

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The Bastion's inner courtyard had transformed into a full party setting.

Kael had set up a large iron fire pit in the center of the courtyard, fanning the elemental coal embers. Aurelia-Elysia had organized the wooden tables with pitchers of iced juice, crystal goblets, and bottles of aged mana wine. Rhea had prepared skewers of marinated infernal beast meat with aromatic herbs.

To purchase prime Manticore meat cuts, pitchers of wine, and sweets from the plaza, Diana had withdrawn two silver coins from the faction vault.

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[CELEBRATION PARTY EXPENSES]

- Prime Meat Cuts + Mana Wine + Sweets: -2 Silver Coins (200 Bronze).

[NEW ABSOLUTE POCKET BALANCE: 98 SILVER COINS (9,800 Bronze! / 9.8 GOLD COINS!)]

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Ninety-eight silver coins stored in the vault. Nearly ten whole gold coins.

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The smell of meat roasting on the embers filled the Bastion's flowered courtyard.

Diana sat on the stone bench beneath the shade of the purple-leaf willow. Rhea sat right beside her, glued to her left arm, using a small knife to carve the finest cuts of roasted meat off the skewers and feed them directly into Diana's mouth.

"Try this piece, Diana!" Rhea smiled, her amber eyes shining, bringing a tender piece of meat to her friend's mouth. "It turned out super juicy!"

Diana took the piece with her mouth, chewing slowly. "The temperature of the meat is appropriate. Good roasting technique."

On the other side of the campfire, Aurelia-Elysia took a sip of mana wine, observing the scene with an overtly mischievous smile.

"You know, Commander…" Aurelia-Elysia began, resting her chin on her hands, "…if you keep letting Rhea hand-feed you like that, the rest of the citadel is gonna think our official guild name should be Commander Diana's Harem."

Kael burst into a loud laugh, nearly choking on his piece of meat. "Worst part is it's true! We should change the gate sign! 'Arcane Harem Faction'!"

Diana froze with her juice glass halfway to her mouth.

Her face turned so absurdly red in half a second it looked ready to vent steam from her ears.

"W-WHAT?! THIS IS OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY MANAGEMENT!" Diana barked, her voice cracking in pure embarrassment. "Rhea has Agility 54! Her fingers are thirty percent faster at passing food at the table!"

—HAHAHAHAHA!

The System interface exploded in midair in black gold, flashing with laughing text.

—'THIRTY PERCENT FASTER'?! THAT IS THE FLIMSIEST EXCUSE IN THE HISTORY OF THE SEVEN CIRCLES OF HELL!

"SYSTEM, LEAVE ME ALONE!" Diana growled mentally, burying her face in her hands in shame.

Rhea turned equally red all the way to the tips of her wolf ears, but instead of pulling away, she hugged Diana's arm even tighter, giggling softly and hiding her face in her friend's Chestplate shoulder.

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Despite trying to act like a cold, distant leader focused purely on "utility calculations", Diana's actions throughout the night gave away just how much she cared for everyone at that table.

She had noticed Kael's right shoulder was slightly stiff after tanking 350 HP of damage against their rival Malakor, and threw a vial of elite magic arnica salve directly into the vanguard's lap.

"Rub that on your shoulder before bed, Kael." Diana said grouchily. "A tank with a locked shoulder reduces frontline efficiency by twenty percent."

"Thank you so much, Commander!" Kael smiled with sincerity, applying the salve.

She had also noticed Aurelia-Elysia drinking the wine too fast and pushed a plate of flaky puff pastries toward the priestess. "Eat this. Sugar stabilizes the stomach after alcoholic drinks."

"You complain a lot, Commander…" Aurelia-Elysia said sweetly, taking a pastry, "…but you look after us better than anyone in this world."

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As night fell, the Second Circle's sky draped itself in silver stars and purple mist.

The campfire in the center of the courtyard burned in calm embers, illuminating the Bastion's stone walls.

Kael raised his wooden mug high. "A toast! To our Commander Diana! To Rhea! To Aurelia-Elysia! And to the ten gold coins in the vault!"

"A toast!" Everyone responded together, clinking their mugs in midair.

The sound of wooden mugs clinking echoed across the new property's clean courtyard.

Diana took a sip of her iced juice, feeling the warmth of the fire, the aroma of roasted meat, and the easy laughter of the three members of her team.

—You know, Diana…

The System's voice whispered in her mind. This time, without mockery. A calm, ancient, genuinely satisfied voice.

—You aren't alone anymore. Not in the slightest.

Diana looked at her team.

Rhea had rested her head against her shoulder, sleeping a peaceful, well-fed sleep. Kael and Aurelia-Elysia chatted excitedly about the upcoming Level 20 dungeons near the fire.

Diana looked up at the stars in Hell's sky and smiled.

A calm, true, sweet, infinitely happy smile.

The lonely girl who had died beneath the iron on Earth now had a real family. And the Arcane Greed Faction was ready to conquer any Circle standing in its path.

Final Notes:

A more relaxing chapter, more comedy! Hhehehe.