“Come to think of it, is it really all right for me to be with you like this?”
“Hm...?”
I spoke to Lady Riveria while watching Ais as she munched away on Potato Balls.
“Even if Lord Loki vouched for me, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m suspicious. Is it really all right for you to let Ais travel with someone like me?”
On the day I visited the Loki Familia, it was implicitly proven that I wasn’t an enemy. But that didn’t mean I’d been judged safe.
I was, at best, a strange outsider who had suddenly appeared. Worse, my power was far beyond that of an ordinary adventurer. Wasn’t it too reckless to let me accompany someone like Ais, who was only Level 1?
“Hm. It’s a little awkward to say this to your face, but you aren't wrong. Loki said it was fine, but even with a god’s intuition, one cannot trust blindly. And since Ais is still a child, she requires extra caution.”
Lady Riveria hesitated for a moment before voicing her honest feelings. I supposed this kind of unvarnished transparency was her own way of showing sincerity.
“But that doesn’t mean I intend to control that girl’s life. If I dwelt on every single 'what-if,' I’d never have been able to become an adventurer.”
“Even so...”
“Well, of course, I suspect there’s a bit of selfishness mixed in. Loki seems to be planning to either bring you into our Familia, or at least steer you in a useful direction if that fails.”
“Me, into the Loki Familia?”
It was surprising, and yet not surprising at all. In the original timeline, after I reached Level 2, I’d received quite a few invitations from other Familias.
Most of that was because I’d become a Record Holder, though. Before that, thinking about how every god except my own goddess had shut the door in my face made for a rather strange feeling.
A god's intuition is usually correct. It isn’t common for them to flip their attitude so drastically. Thinking about it that way, maybe I’d had a rather rare experience.
“From what I hear, she believes your level is quite high. And since she mentioned your character isn’t bad, Finn seemed to be considering the idea positively as well.”
“Well, that’s... should I say thank you, or what...?”
A Familia, huh... As someone who once admired them, it was certainly an honorable offer, but...
“Unfortunately, I have no intention of converting...”
It was an honorable offer, but that didn’t mean I would accept it.
I wanted to remain part of the Hestia Familia until the moment I died.
“Hm. Loki probably suspected that would be the case. Finn likely only viewed it as a welcome if you happened to come, not something he actually expected.”
“...I see.”
Oh no, had I been getting ahead of myself? That was embarrassing.
“Still, Ais seems to be quite attached to you. So if possible, I’d appreciate it if you’d look after her.”
“Ah, ahaha.”
At that, I had nothing to say, so I awkwardly scratched my head with my one hand.
Lady Riveria gave me a slight sidelong glance, then...
“...And I don’t exactly think poorly of you either.”
She muttered that in a very small voice.
*
“I’m back.”
“We’re home.”
“Oh my. Welcome back!”
“Welcome home.”
Returning to the Loki Familia, Riveria and Ais were greeted by Loki and Finn.
“Well now, the two of you are together. Were you waiting for us?”
Riveria looked a little surprised to see Finn and Loki waiting together.
The captain, Finn, and their goddess, Loki, were both among the busiest people in the Familia. For those two—no, for one man and one goddess—to be waiting to welcome her like this was unusual.
“We were waiting. We had a little matter to discuss.”
“I was waiting too! I wanted to try something like a 'newlywed three-way' for once!”
“A newlywed three-way?”
Ais tilted her head at the unfamiliar term. Riveria’s head throbbed at the goddess's usual nonsense. She didn’t know what this so-called 'newlywed three-way' was, but it was surely some trivial divine amusement.
“Trivial?! A newlywed three-way is pure romance!”
“So what is it?”
“A newlywed three-way means me and Ais eating, bathing, and doing heh-heh things together!”
“[Tempest]”
“Gyaaaah?!”
So it really was nonsense. Riveria sighed and ignored the subordinate who was trying to murder their deity, then turned toward the Pallum hero.
“So, putting Loki aside, why were you waiting for me too, Finn?”
“Haha, to be exact, I was waiting for Ais more than for you, Riveria.”
At those unexpected words, Riveria’s brow furrowed.
“For Ais?”
It was a little late for her to be back, but not especially late compared to usual.
And even knowing that I was with this Vesta person, he’d still been waiting for Ais...
“...You wouldn’t be worrying for no reason. Did something happen?”
“It’s not that something happened... maybe it’s more accurate to say something might happen?”
“...?”
Riveria’s face filled with confusion at the cryptic answer.
Finn silently turned his gaze away and watched the noisy play between the goddess and her child.
“But Ais, you seem to be in a good mood today. Did you eat something tasty?”
“Yes.”
“That’s unfair! What did you eat to make Ais so happy? I’ll buy it for you too, so tell me!”
“Red Bean Cream Flavor Potato Balls.”
“...Are those really tasty?”
“...Blasphemy. Die.”
“I’m the goddess here?!”
Watching the banter between the child and the goddess, Finn laughed in good spirits. But soon a shadow fell over his face.
“What is it? Tell me what the problem is.”
“It’s Evilus. They’ve been unusually quiet lately.”
“Isn’t it good if they’re quiet?”
Evilus having quiet periods was nothing new. Of course, there had been a few times when that was followed by major incidents, but they were always suppressed in the end thanks to the Zeus and Hera Familias.
“Yes, that’s true. Normally, that would be the case. Normally.”
“So you’re saying it’s different now?”
“Not now. Later.”
Finn turned his head and looked out the window. Beyond it, the towering home of the Hera Familia could be seen.
“The Three Great Quests are about to begin. Zeus Familia and Hera Familia, of course, but plenty of first-class adventurers from other Familias will be called away too. Our Familia won’t be an exception. I hear the people from Egypt were also taken after losing in the last conflict.”
“I see. But what does that...”
“What if there are guys who invade Orario on that day?”
“...!”
“What if Evilus strikes the moment Orario’s main force has been pulled away? Of course the Guild isn’t stupid, so they’ll leave some adventurers behind, but there’s no doubt they won’t be at full strength. Since it’s the moment humanity’s long-cherished wish is about to be fulfilled, they’ll focus all their power on the quest.”
The Zeus and Hera Familias didn’t know. An overwhelmingly strong person can sometimes fail to understand the position of the weak.
Except for the Pallum hero, who had been weak from birth.
“To them, Evilus may be nothing but small fry, but not to the majority. If Evilus were to launch an invasion while most of the manpower was gone, it would be nothing short of a disaster.”
“Th-then what about asking the Guild to strike Evilus first...?”
“Impossible. They wouldn’t do something so foolish as to cut their strength at a time like this. Evilus pops up out of nowhere in the Dungeon, and no one knows where they’re hiding.”
“Then leaving some of the main force behind...”
“And do the Three Great Quests with a few of the main fighters missing?”
“...”
There was no way that would be possible. Riveria bit her lip as she realized the truth.
“Ais will stay in Orario that day. She’s not at the level to get involved in something like this yet. Naturally, Evilus will be aiming for that moment.”
Evilus wouldn’t attack Orario while the Three Great Quests were underway. If they did, they’d end up in a full-scale battle with the adventurers returning from the quests.
The reason they’d survived until now wasn’t simply because they hid well, but because they never crossed the line and never touched the reverse scale of the Zeus and Hera Familias.
If it became a true all-out war, they’d be wiped out in an instant.
However, kidnapping one girl who had entered the Dungeon would be a different matter.
“They’re strangely fixated on Ais. The reason... well, I have a rough idea.”
“Ais’s bloodline... perhaps.”
“I don’t know how much they know. Maybe there’s another reason. But that isn’t what matters right now.”
Finn turned his head again and looked at Loki and Ais.
Ais was kicking Loki’s leg, and Loki was laughing happily even as she flailed helplessly.
Seeing Ais’s emotions becoming richer lately brought a faint smile to Finn’s lips as well.
But that smile soon changed into a troubled expression.
“At that time, we won’t be able to protect Ais. And we can’t exactly take her along on the quest either.”
“Leaving her with Noir and the others...?”
“That’d be difficult, right? They can’t look after Ais alone. In fact, they’ll be busy enough with their own duties, so it would be a problem to make them care for Ais too.”
By experience alone, Noir, Dain, and Bara were all seniors to them.
But precisely because of that, they would have to lead the Familia in their absence, so they couldn’t be tasked with watching Ais.
“So, Riveria.”
“Speak.”
“That man Vesta. How much can you trust him, in your opinion?”
*
At that moment, in the basement of the church...
“I have descended.”
While I was in the middle of eating the Potato Balls I’d brought with me, I saw an elderly god suddenly appear and choked so badly I kept coughing.
A sturdy body and the face of a kindly old man.
And yet there was a divinity that could not be hidden by that alone. I knew this old god’s name.
“You unpleasant fellow. What kind of nonsense is it to cough in the face of a god?”
“Th-there...”
I couldn’t get the words out in my sudden panic.
No, why is Grandpa here...?
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