Dragon Ball: Saiyan's Gourmet Journey

Chapter 797 The Gale Murder Case
When Broly woke up the next day, he suddenly remembered where he had seen Astraea's eyes before.

Those were the looks that some of his wives' mothers would occasionally give him when they first met, scrutinizing whether he could bring happiness to their daughters.

However, although he sensed the meaning behind Astraea's gaze, Broly did not react in any way.

He continued with his daily routine, doing morning exercises with Ais and the others, then going to Freya's Familia to train Ota and the others, having morning tea with Freya, and finally returning to the Hearth Hall to play with the little dragon girl Winnie.

As for the preparations for resurrecting the girl Adi, he, who only provided the resurrection magic, couldn't help at all.

Instead of wasting time in the magic lab, why not do something productive, like increasing the happiness level of the person you meet?

"Hey, Ryu, are you going to the dungeon?"

"Ah."

“But Miss Adi’s remains can be restored to the point where she can be resurrected in three or four days.”

“I know, but the giant Goliath is about to appear soon, as is the two-headed dragon Amphispina.”

The elf wanted to make up the shortfall in the friend's resurrection fee as soon as possible, so he planned to go down into the dungeon to hunt down the two floor masters that were about to be reborn by the labyrinth.

The two-headed dragon Amphispina is alright; that floor master is hard to encounter and deal with. But as for the giant Goliath, if you arrive too late, he might be taken care of by some high-level adventurer teams.

"Then I'll go with you?"

"No need, Winnie needs you to be with her more."

"Then take the rabbit and ox talisman with you."

When Broly offered her a pendant inlaid with two talismans, Ryu did not refuse.

"I'll be back in three days at most."

He accepted the boy's kindness, greeted his own god, and then left the Hearth Hall.

"Ryu is a child with severe mysophobia. Before I left Orario, she rarely accepted things from people who weren't close to her."

"Mr. Broly, you handed her something, and she accepted it without hesitation. It seems your relationship with that child is quite special, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is indeed extraordinary."

“I haven’t been by that child’s side all these years, so I don’t know about her situation. Would you mind telling me about it?”

Astraea suggested a private conversation, and Broly did not refuse, but all he could say was what he had heard from Seele.

As for his side, there's not much to say. After all, he was just instructing the Elf Swordsmanship, and then Ryu suddenly requested to stay at the Hearth House.

Broly's relationship with Ryu was rather uneventful until he started helping her and trying to revive her friend. Only then did Broly notice a change in the elves' attitude towards him, from initial wariness to gradually opening up and treating him as a friend and one of their own.

"So, that's how that child has been all these years..."

Astraea sighed, noting that Ryu had actually mentioned her experiences over the years to her.

But in order not to worry her, he skipped a lot of things.

For example, the fact that he almost died in an alley after taking revenge is something that he would never talk about.

Astraea could only tell from Ryu's bowed head and apologetic demeanor that he had given up on himself.

“Mr. Broly, thank you very much for helping Ryu get back on his feet.”

Astraea bowed to the boy in thanks.

"This is not my achievement alone. The one who truly helped Ryu was Seele."

Before he came into this world, the person who saved Ryu was Seele, played by Freya.

Freya had asked him to keep Seele's situation a secret that morning, so it wasn't easy to explain it to the goddess of justice in front of him.

"Whether it's you, Miss Seele, or anyone else who has helped Ryu, I am very grateful."

Um, Mr. Broly, is there anything I can help you with?
As the guardian deity of Ryuna's children, I want to express my gratitude as much as possible.

Astraea asked.

"Uh……"

Broly pondered, his gaze sweeping over Astraea before him. This goddess of justice had orange-brown hair, beneath which lay a delicate and beautiful oval face. She was tall yet voluptuous, and this goddess wanted to do something to express her gratitude…

"In that case, please tell me, Lady Astrea, what kind of person Ryu used to be."

Rather than having the dignified and beautiful goddess in front of him do other things, Broly wanted to find out about Ryu's more distant past, such as when she was a member of the Familia and before she was blinded by hatred.

"Well, it's really hard to say what you're asking, because that child is also growing up, and she's constantly changing."

However, if you don't mind listening to my long-winded explanation, I can tell you everything about that child's past that I know so well.

"Of course I don't mind."

Broly immediately invited Astraea to the rest pavilion in the backyard, where the fox-girl came over and served them tea.

Not far away, Little Dragon Girl Winnie was squatting by the flower bushes, observing the butterflies resting on the flowers.

"When Liu first arrived in Orario, she was only 11 years old. She had a severe case of mysophobia. Because she hated the arrogance of her fellow elves, she left her race and tribe alone and came to Orario."

Because she was an adorable elf, she was targeted by a group of human traffickers as soon as she arrived. She was later rescued by my child, Alisha, the former leader of my familia. I found that her soul was pure enough, so I invited her to join my familia.

Ryu, this child, also leans towards justice. She chose to join, and she was extremely talented. In just one year, she rose from Lv.1 to Lv.2. Like the Sword Maiden who now lives here with you, she was a rising star among the Orario adventurers at that time.

At this point, Astraea paused slightly, then subtly asked, "Mr. Broly and Miss Ais seem to know each other quite well. What is your relationship?"

"Ais, she is the one I met."

"Huh?"

"Just like Ryu, and of course, Lord Hestia, Lord Hephaestus..."

Broly rattled off a list of gods and people to Astraea, as if reciting a menu.

The goddess of justice's eyes and mouth widened in surprise.

My own child, who has a phobia of mental purity, has now found a harem king in plain sight as his love interest.
This is something that even ordinary elves would find hard to accept. What kind of changes has that child, Ryu, undergone over the years?

"Lady Astraea, what's wrong?"

"Ah, no, it's nothing, cough cough, let's continue talking about Ryu..."

The goddess of justice covered up her embarrassment with a cough, and then told Broly some interesting stories about Ryu's past in the Familia, which made Broly understand Ryu even more.

Of course, Astraea also inquired about the wing skills. Broly hesitated only slightly before choosing to tell the goddess about the actual skills.

After listening, Astraea seemed hesitant to speak.

Finally, she sighed.

"Mr. Broly, can I ask you for a favor?"

"what?"

"I hope you won't mistreat that child, Ryu, in the future."

"Yes, Lady Astraea, even if you hadn't said anything, I would have done it anyway. I would have made Ryu happy."

As soon as Broly finished speaking, Little Dragon Girl Winnie ran over with her hands clasped together: "Broly, look! I caught a big butterfly!"

Astrea fell silent as she watched the little dragon girl clinging to the Saiyan boy's lap. In this world, the label of "monster lover" was not a positive one.

. . . .

Time flies, and three days have passed in the blink of an eye. The restoration work on the girl Adi's mutilated remains has come to an end.

But the elf, who promised to return within three days at the latest, did not return from the dungeon labyrinth by dawn on the fourth day.

“Brother Broly, Miss Ryu was probably delayed by something. She has updated her stats and has the help of the charm pendant, so she definitely can’t be in danger.”

When Lily Luca said this, she wasn't really confident, after all, Rurion was planning to solo the floor master.

“I’ll go down and look for her. If I find her, I’ll bring her back. If I don’t find her, I’ll go to the upper district every other day and contact you with the communication crystal to see if we’ve missed each other.”

Broly made the decision to go into the dungeon to find the elves, refusing to go with others, mainly because he could go into the dungeon alone more quickly.

The Saiyan boy, traveling light, went to the underground city. He skillfully took shortcuts down the floors and arrived at the 18th floor of the safe maze in just one hour.

I originally intended to ask around about Ryu here, but I found that Rivera Town seems to have lost many adventurers.

"You know, people are all out chasing after murderers."

Broly was somewhat surprised: "Are there strange people and man-eating plants here again?"

"This time it had nothing to do with monsters; it was done by adventurers from outside the region. I heard it was Gale, who had a bounty on his head from the guild."

Broly: "???"

“Explain in detail.”

"Ha, why should I give you information for free..."

Before he could finish speaking, the man stopped and took the contract from the Saiyan boy.

After carefully examining the four zeros above, their attitude became noticeably more enthusiastic.

"Hey, the dead man was a local resident around here. The other man was one of Boss Modo's henchmen. I heard he was ambushed by Gale while on patrol last night. Gale severed his tendons and slit his throat. It was a really gruesome thing. His patrol partner witnessed it all and only managed to avoid being discovered by the thug by hiding in the bushes..."

Do you know why Gale killed someone?

"That's hard to say. After all, before he disappeared, he committed numerous murders, killed many people, was blacklisted by the guild, and had a bounty on his head in the black market. He suddenly reappeared and killed some people. Who knows why he killed them? Maybe it was just a whim."

"Alright, do you know where Gale went?"

"The lower level area, right? Boss Modo led his men there to hunt them down. But calling it a hunt is more like chasing after the 80 million bounty on the other side. So many people hunting down a level 4 adventurer is much easier than hunting down a floor boss. Hey, where are they?"

The shop owner, who was stroking his chin and speaking with his eyes closed, discovered that the customer who had asked him for information had vanished when he opened his eyes.

Peeking out onto the street, he saw the Saiyan boy running away at breakneck speed: "Running so fast, are you worried about not getting a share of the 80 million bounty?" He turned his head back and flicked the guild contract in his hand: "Compared to risking danger to chase after Gale, selling information is definitely a more lucrative and safer business."

. . . .

"Don't let her get away! Find that bastard Gale! How dare she kill our companion in Rivera Town! We'll make sure she knows that there are no cowards among the adventurers of Rivera Town! Even if she's a higher level than us, she'll pay the price in blood!"

In the 25-story labyrinth, a group of adventurers spread out a search net. The leader, Mordo, the boss of Rivera Town, was directing the adventurers who participated in the battle against Gale to conduct a search and capture operation.

When Broly chased them to the 27th floor, the group happened to block Ryu's path, but they were facing off against the elves.

"I killed that person, but so what?"
That guy has connections with the dark faction, he deserves to die.

Get out of my way, or I'll kill you all!

"With so many of us, do you think we'd be afraid of just one person like you?"

Everyone, bring out your most treasured possessions.

All consumable items will be reimbursed with her bounty money afterwards!

The arrows were wiped clean of deadly poison, and the magic sword was sealed away from powerful offensive spells...

The group of Lv.3 veterans in Rivera Town, who have been able to roam the dungeon for a long time, all have their own trump cards.

If the opposing Gale thinks that because he is a level higher than them, he can easily defeat so many of them, then he will definitely suffer a great loss and suffer a major setback.

Liu Liang pressed her hand on the wooden sword at her waist and scanned the group of people surrounding her. The person she was looking for was not among them.

Before her ability stats were updated, she might have found this group of people troublesome, but now that her ability stats have been updated and she still has the charm pendant Broly lent her around her neck, she no longer takes this group of people seriously.

However, Ryu had no intention of killing innocent adventurers, but if the group on the other side persisted, she wouldn't be so ruthless.

"Modo, wait a minute."

Just as the situation was becoming increasingly tense, and it seemed that a fierce battle was about to unfold, a call to halt the fighting came from afar.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a figure leap and bound through the water vein cave, then fly over like an arrow.

"Mr. Broly, are you here to help us?"

Upon seeing that it was a Saiyan boy, Modo's brows immediately relaxed. Because of the man-eating flower incident a while ago, this street boss of Rivera Town had some dealings with Broly and could be considered an acquaintance with him.

"I'm here to help, but it might not be what you're thinking. Well, this Gale you're chasing is actually the person I'm meeting."

Broly's words made Mordo's face darken.

He thought the reinforcements were coming, but it turned out to be reinforcements from the other side.

"But she killed my men."

"There may be a misunderstanding here."

"She admitted it all; she's the one who killed him."

Broly turned to look at Ryu, who instinctively looked away and explained again, "That person is connected to the Dark Faction..."

That's what she said.

"Even if you have connections with the dark faction, the guy you killed was still one of my men."

If you have any problems, you can tell me, and I will handle the other party myself.

"You just brutally murdered someone without saying a word, how is that possible?"

"I did that so that..."

If Broly weren't here, Ryu definitely wouldn't want to explain further; she would only want to find the enemy who wiped out her entire clan.

But if the Saiyan boy were here, Ryu would still want to make it sound a little more reasonable for him to interrogate others.

"Modo, I think I need to reiterate to you that she is the one I met, and she will become my woman in the future."

However, Broly's words interrupted her explanation.

"You tyrant of lust, you don't mean to make me just give up on investigating the inexplicable killing of my men, do you?"

In fact, Modo was already considering retreating. Hayate alone would be fine, but now with Broly single-handedly taking down two members of the Familia, even though he had more people, he didn't think he had a chance of winning.

As the leader of Rivera, he couldn't back down just because someone showed up and said, "This is my woman."

In any case, I have to stand firm here first, and then say something like "for the sake of our acquaintance" later, and then find a way to back down.

"The total amount of these signed contracts is 82 million Faris."

"Huh?"

"Modo, I'm giving you two choices:"

First, take the signed receipt I gave you and leave.

Second, if you dare to say another word and try to touch my girl, I'll kill you all.

Modo: "..."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. Broly, we'll be going now."

The one-eyed strong man quickly stepped forward and tightly gripped the signed contract in the boy's hand.

"Hey, Boss Modo, aren't we going to avenge A-Rang?"

After he returned to the crowd with the signed receipt, someone asked him a question.

"Clap~"

The person who asked the question was slapped on the back of the head.

What followed was a barrage of curses from Motorola.

"Get revenge for your mother! Haven't you heard that he has connections with those dark factions?"
Miss Gale killed him; that's called upholding justice and eliminating evil.

"Since you're so eager to avenge them, tell me, are you a member of a dark faction?"

Ryu: "..."

She felt that her methods were cruel and dishonorable, but now that others have taken the money, they've simply given it the name of justice.

"Modo is someone I know, and I want to try my best to avoid a conflict between you."

Broly came over and briefly explained his decision to give money.

"By the way, Ryu, what made you kill him?"

He only asked at this point.

"You know nothing, yet you're already on my side?"

The elf looked at her speechlessly.

“I’ve heard Lady Astrea talk about justice these past few days. I don’t know what justice is for others, but my justice is my wife, and you, whom I met. I understand that very well. So, even if you have your reasons for killing someone, I will stand by your side.”

Before establishing any interaction, Broly might choose to help a stranger or an acquaintance.

However, once a connection is established, if a conflict arises between a romantically involved target and a casual acquaintance, then naturally one will side with their own interests regardless of the facts.

Of course, conflicts should be avoided if possible, just like how we're settling things with money right now.

"Ryu, can you tell me why you killed him? If needed, I can help you kill him."

Chaos, the boy's statement was far from righteous, and the elf's ears gradually turned red.

"I've discovered the trail of the enemy who betrayed my clan and killed my comrades..."

She avoided Broly's gaze, but explained her reason for killing him: to force him to reveal the whereabouts of her former enemy.

"Hey, didn't you already complete all your revenge two years ago?"

Broly was somewhat surprised.

"Perhaps one of the few who slipped through the net back then..."

"Modo."

"Hey, Mr. Broly, what can I do for you?"

The town leader of Rivera, who was about to leave, was stopped and jogged over, rubbing his hands together.

"Who were your men who were killed on your side most closely associated with?"

Broly has already given over 80 million Faris, so now he's asking the other party about it with such confidence.

"Ah, well, that guy only joined my side in the last two years."

Well, the people who are relatively close to him are probably…

Modo turned around and looked at the group of people he had brought.

"Strange, where are Tucker and his gang?"

"Rumble..."

Just then, a series of explosions came from afar.

Ripples spread across the lake, and the ground shook violently.

"That money-grubbing guy, Modo, just because someone gave him money, he wagged his tail like a dog and gave up on dealing with Gale. Where is his dignity as the boss of Rivera Town?"

The cat-human youth who secretly led his men away muttered curses under his breath.

"Execute Plan Two: Detonate the Flame Stones we've placed along the way!"

(End of this chapter)