Underside of Orario - Aisha/Imp (Patreon)

Omake: Underside of Orario – Aisha/Imp

Omake: Underside of Orario – Aisha/Imp

“Has anyone seen Aisha?” Asfi asked as she entered the living room of the Traveler’s Inn, and the Familia members near her looked at the blue-haired woman in confusion.

“Seen who, captain?” Lulune asked, looking over her shoulder at the highest Leveled member of the Familia.

“Never mind,” Asfi sighed. “What about Lord Hermes?”

“Uh, I think he’s out,” Keaks said, thinking it over.

“Of course he is,” Asfi muttered, feeling a headache building. “And since I’m here… that means I have a feeling who exactly is watching him.”

The Hermes Familia members looked at each other, looks of bewilderment on their faces. Some, like Meryl and Falgar, gained pensive expressions, like they’d forgotten something but were trying to remember whatever it was. But the rest were clueless.

Asfi turned away, muttering oaths of vengeance against the two most troublesome people she knew. Which was saying something, seeing as one of them had only been a member for less than a year.

One of the rules in the Hermes Familia was that their god was never to go anywhere unescorted, otherwise he’d get into trouble. Sadly, this duty tended to fall on Asfi’s shoulders as most of the other adventurers couldn’t help but indulge Lord Hermes and his whims.

She didn’t blame them, it was hard to say ‘no’ to a god after all, especially the one who updates your Falna, but would it kill them to at least try a little harder to curb the God of Messenger’s mischievous habits?

As the captain walked towards the entrance of the Familia’s manor, intent on going out to look for the two missing troublemakers, she paused, sensing movement near her.

“Aisha kick!” a young voice cried out, and Asfi sighed as she deftly stepped aside, evading the attack.

“Hello, Aisha,” Asfi said, giving the newest Hermes Familia member a disappointed look.

“Damn, almost gotcha!” Aisha Laborn said, clicking her tongue in disappoint as she rolled across the floor and jumped to her feet after missing the attack.

“Hardly,” Asfi replied dryly. “Maybe don’t announce your attacks next time?”

“It works on everyone else!” Aisha pouted. She then pointed an accusing finger at the glasses wearing adventurer. “You’re just a cheater!”

Asfi sighed again. It was like putting up with Lydia all over again.

“I’m not cheating.” It was true. The only people who could perceive Aisha when she was using her bizarre power, her Skill that wasn’t a Skill, were the gods of Orario and, as it turned out, anyone with the Mystery Developmental Ability.

Aisha – or Imp as she demanded to be called at times despite only being Level 1 – had the makings of a truly deadly assassin and thief. Being able to go unnoticed by anyone – adventurer or monster alike – meant she could deliver terror and chaos to the city in a way unseen since the Darkest Days.

‘Thank the gods that all she does is play jokes on people with this ability of hers,’ Asfi thought to herself. And honestly, besides having a bit of a case of kleptomania, getting into a prank war with Loki, and messing with the Amazons of the Entertainment District – especially the one who shared her name – Aisha was a relatively well-behaved member of the eccentric Hermes Familia.

‘At least when she’s not enabling Lord Hermes, that is,’ the captain sighed, before turning around with all the speed of a Level 4 and grabbing said god’s ear as he tried to sneak past her.

“Ow! Owww! Asfi, please!” he whimpered.

“Nice try, but you’ve used Aisha as a distraction before. I won’t fall for the same trick twice,” Asfi declared.

“Dang. Guess we’ll have to try harder next time,” Aisha said, snapping her fingers.

“No. Don’t try harder,” Asfi demanded.

“Sure, sure, boss, I hear ya loud and clear,” Aisha replied, winking at her, and Asfi felt her blood pressure rise.

“Anyways, I’m off to chill with my sister from another mister and plan a heist,” Aisha declared, skipping out of the Traveler’s Inn, before pausing. “Uh, and if you hear anything about a thief in the Twilight Manor stealing all of Loki’s snacks, it wasn’t me!”

She then ran off before Asfi could call out to her, and after a moment ran a hand over her face before glaring at Lord Hermes.

“What did you two do?” she asked.

“Asfi, I’m hurt that you think I’d do anything-!” he began to protest, but she simply twisted his ear a little and he whimpered. “We just looked around the marketplace for rumors and gossip! That’s all!”

“I see. And did you hear anything interesting?” Asfi inquired, letting Hermes go.

“Well, the baker is definitely having an affair with the butcher’s wife, and Mnemosyne still has a gambling problem, but nothing out of the ordinary,” Hermes replied. “Oh, and I heard Hestia finally got a child. So that’s nice.”

He then smiled at her. “So, what’s new with you? I assume there’s a reason you were looking for Aisha and myself?”

“We received a job request from the Guild,” Asfi said. “They want somebody to collect a package from an adventurer who’ll be waiting in Rivira. But they’re requesting us to be… discreet.”

“Hm. And I take it you want to send Aisha?” Hermes inquired.

“Monsters can’t detect her when she uses her Skill, and frankly, I’m suspicious about the request,” Asfi admitted. “She’s a problem child, but Aisha can see through people’s intentions better than anyone I’ve met.”

“Send Lulune down there with her as an added layer of protection,” Hermes said after thinking it over. “It’s not a bad idea to see if Aisha can handle a long mission. And as you said, her power makes her absolutely perfect for a stealth mission.”

“There’s more,” Asfi said. “The request came through… unusual channels. A robed figure approached Lulune in secret and passed the message to her. And it bore Ouranos’s seal.”

“Oh, my,” Hermes muttered, gaining a glint of intrigue in his eyes. “How curious. I wonder what he wants from us?”

Before he could ask any more questions, Aisha suddenly poked her head back through the doorway.

“Quick question! Can a heist still be a heist if I’m kidnapping somebody?” Aisha asked as she looked at Asfi and Hermes.

The god gained a wide grin and looked like he was on the verge of bursting into laughter while Asfi felt a headache coming on.

‘It’s only been a few months since she joined, and yet I’ve already gained more grey hairs from her antics than in the entire time I’ve been a captain!’ Asfi thought to herself in disbelief.

“No kidnapping people!” she shouted at the dark-skinned girl who giggled.

“No kidnapping? Did I say that? I meant I was gonna ‘steal people.’ Yeah. That’s the ticket. Completely different!” Aisha said before running away. She did not get far as Asfi ran after her immediately afterwards, the captain shouting angrily.

Hermes just laughed. “Never a dull moment around here!” he declared happily.

“Do not encourage her, Lord Hermes!” Asfi yelled back at him.

“Eh, what’s the worst that could happen?” Hermes asked with a shrug. Seriously, how much harm could a single Level 1 girl do?

A few hours later, Hermes would come to regret tempting the Fates, those cock-blocking hags, as he stared with slack-jawed horror at the renard and Amazon his impish Familia member had brought back with her at the end of the day.

“…and so then she exploded after I stabbed her eight times in the chest,” Aisha said, twirling a knife in her hands. “Would have been nice to know you guys exploded into pillars of energy when you died. Then I wouldn’t have lost my favorite shanking knife! Had to steal a new one from that toad bitch afterwards.”

She then shrugged. “So, yeah, after that I had to cut a few more bitches before they got the message. Froggy is probably dead, too. Maybe. She was bleeding a lot when we left her. Anyways, they can stay, right? Please? They can bunk in my room! Sleepover!”

Asfi let out a strangled groan as the two former Ishtar Familia members shot her sympathetic looks.

And yes, ‘former’ was the right word for it, because the absolutely ridiculous girl had gone and stabbed the goddess Ishtar to death! And, from Aisha’s words, the Familia’s Level 5 captain was also dead, too!

“Why?” Hermes whined pitifully. “Why did this happen?”

“Yeah, I didn’t expect the rescue mission to go quite so badly, either,” Aisha admitted. “But hey, now there’s one less problem in the city and a lot of innocent people are free! Win-win!”

Hermes slumped, wondering what he’d done to deserve this.

111 &&& 111
Aisha "Imp" Laborn
Level 1
Power - H 111
Endurance - H 105
Dexterity - F 330
Agility - E 420
Magic - E 436
Skill:
Damnatio Memoriae - Erase all evidence of oneself from the minds and awareness of others, including scent, taste, and touch. Only Gods or mortals with the power of Mystery can recall the existence of the Skill's user when it is active. (SHARD)

111 &&& 111

Author's Note: Happy Valentine's Day, folk! Enjoy a special non-canon 'what if?' omake about everyone's favorite Imp in Orario!