章 63: Is it wrong to recruit some help?
A small cafe in the middle of Orario's commercial district. One that had miraculously avoided damage except for a few tables that had been left outside and broken when the monster invasion happened.
Said tables had since been replaced by the work of trainees from the Hephaestus Familia, making it seem like nothing had happened.
And here, a meeting between two long-time friends was occurring.
Well, 'friends' in the loosest sense of the word.
Loki sipped on a mug of ale and glared at the woman sitting across from her. "Care to explain what you've been up to, Freya?"
Freya sipped on a glass of lemonade and smiled. "My. I thought we were here to catch up, Loki. If you were going to interrogate me, I would have worn different attire."
Loki clicked her tongue and then kicked up her legs, leaning back in her chair. "Fine. Let's chat a bit first then." She took a long drink from her mug and said, "How have you been, 'Friend?'"
Freya set her glass of lemonade down and then adjusted the blouse she was wearing.
Nothing too fancy. Just a plain white blouse, a light blue skirt, straw hat, and boots.
Since she was a mother now, she couldn't walk around wearing her usual outfits, after all.
Especially since her Bell was finally showing her some affection instead of keeping her away.
It wouldn't be good for him to get the impression that she was unfaithful.
...Although Freya had to admit that it felt a bit restricting walking around with a full outfit like this instead of her usual attire.
She kind of missed the feel of wind and sunshine against her skin.
Ah, but she had to answer Loki.
Freya smiled and said, "I've simply been enjoying being a mother and a stay-at-home wife."
"Uh-huh." Loki nodded, clearly not buying it. "Being a mother to that spirit who looks suspiciously like you and that Bell guy the shrimp adores?"
Freya smiled. "Is it wrong to wish for a simple family life?"
"Coming from the woman famed for her scheming to collect the souls of various heroes since practically the dawn of time, you'll have to excuse me for not believing you." Loki took another long swig from her mug and then let out a frustrated sigh.
Freya sipped on her glass of lemonade and said, "And how have you been, Loki? Any progress on that half-elf or sword princess of yours?"
Loki let out another sigh and said, "As if. Lefiya has been going around with that Filvis woman from Dio's Familia and Ais has been running herself into the ground from training ever since that Bell guy turned her down."
"Mm." Freya nodded and said, "Understandable. It must be heartbreaking to be rejected by someone as incredible as my Bell."
Loki gave Freya a weird look and said, "Are you drunk on some of Soma's newest experiments or something? You've been weird for the past month or so already."
Freya smiled and said, "I don't know what to tell you, Loki." She looked into her glass and stared at her reflection.
A soft and warm smile that came naturally to her instead of the carefully refined one she had to put on. Her usual sharp and smooth features distorted just a bit from the wrinkles around her eyes when she had that warm smile...
Freya chuckled and then took a sip from her lemonade. "If I'm drunk on anything, then it's love, Loki."
"...Again, you're the last person I'd believe saying that, Freya."
Freya shrugged and said, "It is what it is. Life takes unexpected turns at times... Which is why us gods descended in the first place, is it not?"
"Yeah. Gods like me." Loki crossed her arms and said, "But we both know that's not why you chose to descend."
Freya smiled.
Loki let out a sigh and said, "Okay. Fine. Say I believe you about this love mumbojumbo and wanting to be a parent." She leaned forward and opened her eyes wide, staring at Freya's face. "Do you know anything about what happened in the Entertainment District last night?"
"Hm?" Freya tilted her head and said, "Something happened?" She paused and said, "Did a disgruntled adventurer finally deal a blow to Ishtar? Or maybe her fellow collaborator decided to tie up loose ends?"
That was convenient.
Freya had already been planning to have Allen and a few of her more zealous adventurers wreak havoc to pay Ishtar back for causing her so much trouble. But she had planned to do that in a month or two after the incident had calmed down.
Loki stared at Freya for a while longer and then closed her eyes. "So you really don't know, huh? Dammit. Then who the hell did it?"
Freya sipped on her lemonade and said, "I'm afraid I don't know, Loki. And believe me, I would love to congratulate the one who gave a slap to that lewd woman's face."
"More like a bomb."
Freya blinked. "Pardon?"
Loki pulled her legs off the table and then leaned forward. "You heard me." Loki opened her eyes and stared at Freya with a serious expression. "Nobody knows who did it, but rumor has it that Ishtar took a bomb to the face. It looks like it might be Greek Fire or something too since the burn isn't healing at all. Not only that, but all the elites in the Ishtar Familia are suddenly popping up at other Familia and trying to join them."
Freya paused and said, "...Come again?" She frowned and said, "I was under the impression that Ishtar kept a tight grip on her toys... tighter than the leash I used to put on my little heroes in the past."
Loki raised an eyebrow. "Used to?"
"Used to. I plan to let my heroes go in the near future, you see... But in any case." Freya frowned and said, "Ishtar would never allow that. Even if they broke free of her charm, those adventurers would never be able to receive a falna from another god."
Loki nodded. "Right. And that's the weird part." She frowned and said, "Apparently, their Falna was erased."
Freya blinked. "...Erased?"
"Yeah." Loki took a long swig from her mug and said, "Erased, gone, poof. Nothing left, as if they were fresh adventurers. And from the rumor mill, all of them are back at level one with zeroed out stats."
Freya paused.
That was impossible.
While she was aware of a few esoteric items and magical artifacts that could seal or update Falna form another god, to *erase* a Falna...
That was to deny a god's authority. To erase the divinity within a god's blood coursing through the vein of their adventurers and-
Wait.
...Come to think of it, there *was* an individual who she knew that could perform such a feat.
After all, he managed to not only erase the charm she emitted but repurposed it to use back on her.
Freya chuckled.
Loki frowned and said, "What's so funny?"
Freya let out a wide smile and said, "What person wouldn't find it funny for that lewd woman to be dealt such a blow?"
Loki paused and then chuckled. "Well. I guess that's pretty funny... Especially since whoever did it cleared out all the casinos in the entertainment district too."
Yes. That little tidbit confirmed it was definitely her Bell's doing.
He had been worried about their finances recently and had been wracking his mind on how to resolve it.
Of course, Freya said he didn't need to worry considering what was hers was his.
But being the responsible family man that she fell in love with, he said that he would resolve it somehow.
And what better way to do it than by cleaning out the coffers from Ishtar?
Not only did that weaken a future opponent, it also gave them a tidy sum to help plan for their future.
'My, my. You keep surprising me, Bell. At this rate, I might just drown in my love for you...'
Loki sighed and then grabbed her mug of ale. After that, she stared at Freya and said, "...You really don't know anything about what's been going on, Freya? Even with the Ganesha Familia?"
Freya shook her head and said, "I sincerely do not, Loki." She put on a warm smile and said, "As I have said, I have been preoccupied doing my best as a new mother and wife." She paused and then said, "Ah. Wife to be."
It would still take a bit of time for that to be formalized.
After all, it wouldn't do to steal a march on Tia. Moreover, Freya still had quite a few affairs to settle before she could make her relationship with Bell official.
Hm. Perhaps she should have a discussion with Ottar and Zald?
If Bell was capable of marching into Ishtar's territory and dealing that whor- horrendous woman a blow, then it shouldn't be long off before he could stand against Freya's admirers.
Oh! Perhaps a War Game? One with herself on the line as a prize for a pretext to join the Hestia Familia... Yes. That would work. They would need to enact a little play before then, but...
"...Ya. Freya!"
Freya blinked and then realized that Loki had been calling out to her. She smiled and said, "My apologies, Loki. I was preoccupied with my thoughts for a moment."
Loki sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I dunno what you're on these days, but I guess it's clear that you're not up to anything sinister at least." She took a long swig from her mug and then said, "But damn. What the hell is going on in Orario then?"
Freya tilted her head and said, "What exactly is going on? I may not know the details, but I may be able to hazard a guess as to the motives and themes."
Loki looked at Freya for a bit, thinking. And then she said, "Well. I suppose it helps everyone if it gets sorted out." She sighed and drained her mug of ale before saying, "You see, around the time of the monster invasion here, there was a murder in Rivira. One of Ganesha's kids." She set her mug to the side and frowned. "My kids are on an expedition to look into it with some of Dionysus' kids, but it's hard since mutant strains of monsters keep showing up in the dungeon."
Freya paused and said, "...Tell me more about these mutant strains of monsters."
xxx
So I managed to delay the conversation after I got back until the morning. And then I managed to delay the conversation until noon by saying that the traumatized girls needed proper rest and relaxation, and that Fina, Bella, and Pyrrha could help with that by playing with them and being kids.
But I couldn't delay the conversation forever.
Noon, at the Hestia Familia home. Our home. And specifically, at the dining room at our home.
Sitting at the head of the table, I took a look around the room to analyze the situation.
Welf had bailed, saying he was going to keep an eye on the kids.
Tia was seated across from me, arms crossed and clearly upset.
Thankfully, not angry. Just more irritated and annoyed, as well as exasperated.
Artemis was sitting next to Tia, offering moral support. She also looked a bit amused by the situation... probably because she felt it was similar to how I saved her.
I didn't think it was that funny, but it was good to see someone was enjoying this.
On my right were the girls I had rescued, seated on a bunch of chairs that I made for them.
That blonde fox girl sat in the front of that group, keeping a thoughtful eye on me.
On my left, there was Ryuu and that Japanese-looking girl who was apparently named Yamato Mikoto and a member of the Takemikazuchi Familia.
All the people related to yesterday's affairs had gathered now... minus Welf. But that guy was more of a liability in a situation like this, so that was for the better.
The problem was how I was going to explain all of this away.
You see, it made perfect sense in my head. After all, I was clearly the main character here and was bound to get wrapped up in troublesome events.
Because of that, I went ahead to use my meta knowledge to go nip a few plot threads in the bud ahead of time. Well, at least a few plot threads that I felt might be brewing in the background.
That was why I headed to the red light district.
After all, that place had Ishtar, the bitter rival of my obsessed goddess Freya, and it was the only place untouched from the recent invasion.
If this was a game, that was the next obvious place to go check for story triggers.
Well, other than the dungeon. But Dungeon-chan still had it out for me, so I wanted to prep a proper party before heading there.
Anyway, it made perfect sense. To me at least.
...The problem came with explaining it to everyone else.
Apparently, Ryuu had been stopped by a Mother and Father when heading back into town after her mission. They begged her to rescue their daughter who had been taken as collateral by Terry Cervantes, and Ryuu, being the just person she was, decided to help.
At the same time, Yamato Mikoto heard that one of her friends from the far east, that blonde fox girl who had been sticking to me in the VIP room, had been sold off to a brothel in the entertainment district.
Apparently, Terry Cervantes caught wind of it though and bought that blonde fox girl for himself just a bit before he met me.
In short, it looked like I actually went to just go pick up women.
Of course, for good reasons, but... well, hard to explain reasons since the timing was really too impeccable.
One of the downsides of being an MC apparently. All the timing lines up super conveniently with everything.
So.
To explain this...
Tia frowned and said, "Well, Bell? I'm waiting for your explanation."
Ryuu nodded as well and said, "Yes. I would also like to know why you were in such a place, Bell."
I nodded and said, "Three reasons." I held up one finger and said, "First, money. Since being an adventurer is expensive, and since we're getting more mouths to feed soon, me and Welf took a trip down to the entertainment district to win some cash."
Tia's frown deepened, but then she nodded and said, "...Okay. It's safer than going into the dungeon, I guess. But that doesn't explain them." She pointed to the women and said, "I know I said that it would be nice if the Hestia Familia grew a bit, but this wasn't what I was talking about, Bell."
"Of course." I nodded and said, "I wouldn't do that. Instead... reason two." I stuck up a second finger and said, "Cutting out the legs from our enemies."
Tia blinked and then said, "...What?"
"As you know, Tia. We've recently become very important people. Not only that, but since we're tied up close to Freya, Ishtar is inevitably going to come after us. So." I laced my fingers together and leaned forward in my chair. "We did a preemptive strike. Take out her funding, take out her source of funding, take out her face... Well, the face to show up in public at least. And conveniently enough, it so happened that there were other bad guys running around. Which brings me to reason three."
I straightened and stuck up three fingers. "Finding out who the bad guys are." I frowned and said, "It was by chance... Well, intuition too, but it turned out that the bad guys there had somehow gotten a bit of Fina's flames. Stuff happened, and since it was convenient, I happened to free all the girls as well. And since Ryuu was back and free to take care of things, I sent them all to our house. Plus, some more friends around for the girls isn't a bad thing, right?"
Tia was quiet.
Ryuu sighed and facepalmed.
The blonde fox girl's eyes sparkled.
A few of the other girls, like a girl with brown hair and... cow ears? Plus cow horns?
Huh.
Anyway, they looked at me with wide-eyed admiration.
Miss Yamato shook her head.
Artemis smiled.
And then after a bit, Tia finally spoke up.
"Bell."
"...Yes, Wifey?"
"You're grounded."
"...Yes, Wifey."
Well. I tried.
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