Watching Fron bowing obsequiously and Gareth laughing boisterously, Ais tilted her head again, her eyes full of question marks as she stared at the man, completely puzzled.
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"Ahem, don't ask about that. Ais, in the village I came from, this is called respecting the elderly and caring for the young, never forgetting guests and travelers. "
Respecting the elderly and caring for the young, never forgetting guests and travelers?
Ais murmured the phrase, finding it awkward and strange to pronounce, but for some reason, an indescribable feeling told her it wasn't something harmful to her.
And since it was something Fron had taught her, her complete trust in him made the girl nod solemnly.
After this brief interlude, the two chatted for a bit longer, then parted ways.
Ais, who had just returned, needed to take a shower and get a good night's sleep to relieve her exhaustion...
...
Returning to his own room, Fron picked up the pile of equipment and weapons in the corner and went straight into the workshop.
An increase in level represented a full enhancement of combat power.
During this period of battles, he had accumulated quite a lot of experience and inspiration, and taking advantage of this chance to level up, he planned to further refine his craft.
Inside the magical workshop, all four walls were sealed, with only a single entrance and exit, a place completely isolated from the outside world.
What he didn't know was that the incident involving the Loki Familia in the harbor town of Melen had caused quite a stir among the upper ranks of the Guild.
After a brief discussion, they immediately issued a public announcement.
The announcement stated: the cause of the battle and violent conflict between the harbor town of Melen and the [Loki Familia] was the [Kali Familia]. There was no mention of the [Ishtar Familia], pushing all the blame entirely onto the [Kali Familia].
Ultimately, the guild's upper management decided to take internal disciplinary action against certain responsible divisions and branches.
As for the newly sighted Violas, which many people had witnessed, they explained it away as a coincidence , it just happened to appear and rampage at that time.
However, the common folk who had experienced the Monster Pheria grew suspicious.
From Fron's battle with the Violas in the underground sewers, where his magic almost broke through the ground causing tremors, to Ais, the twin sisters, Lefiya, and others fighting the same monster in Daedalus Street, everything seemed interconnected by invisible threads.
The more intelligent Familia Gods had already gathered in taverns to discuss the matter.
Especially those Familias that had been caught up in the vortex.
[Hermes Familia] residence.
Inside Hermes's office, things appeared a little messy.
From the slightly yellowed old map of the continent to the creaky wooden floorboards, everything was filled with a sense of age.
The solid wood desk, worn by time, had one corner stacked with books recording the customs and stories of the continent.
A quill rested in an ink bottle, tiny ink spots dotting the parchment.
But the handsome god had no mood to care about such trivialities.
Holding the newly issued guild announcement in both hands, his brows furrowed deeply.
"The Violas appeared in Melen by coincidence? What do you think, Asfi~?"
The short-haired girl with water-blue hair calmly adjusted her silver-rimmed glasses, her intelligent eyes seeming to pierce through the truth as she replied steadily.
"I think there are some inconvenient truths the public mustn't know. Revealing them would be unfavorable to Orario, so the guild likely handled it this way for stability. However... it's also possible someone interfered, tampered with the situation."
Hermes's fingers rhythmically tapped the desk as he leaned back, crossing one leg over the other, squinting toward the window.
"Hiding part of the truth, huh? Then... besides the Ishtar Familia we know about from the intelligence reports, could there be other major Familias in Orario involved? Don't tell me it's Loki up to her tricks again?"
The image of a certain old friend flashed through his mind, and Hermes gave a bitter smile.
In truth, his guesses were almost entirely correct, nearly at the truth.
Even within the [Loki Familia], not even the executives knew that after helping Fron achieve sublimation, Loki had gone alone to the guild headquarters' underground prayer chamber to personally speak with Ouranos.
The subsequent chain of events was born from that encounter. The truth behind the Violas incident involved the god Njord.
The guild wanted to punish Njord, but they couldn't ignore the other culprit, and that's where things got complicated.
Since the Njord Familia wasn't an exploration-type Familia, where did they get such a large amount of magic stones to produce the powdered magic stone dust used to control the Violas? That, of course, led to the local branch of the Adventurers' Guild.
The harbor town of Melen was actually under dual control, half managed by the guild's branch.
Fishing, aside from import and export, was the town's lifeline industry.
Ever since they began using powdered magic stones, the death rate among fishermen during expeditions had dropped dramatically, causing the fishing industry to flourish year after year.
The sea's calm and safety were thanks to this "magic stone powder."
But if the supply were cut off, the consequences would be obvious, it would endanger not only profits but also the sailors' lives.
Thus, Njord Familia and the guild branch's executives struck a deal: you guarantee the prosperity of the fishing industry and sailors' safety, and I secretly profit from smuggling. This partnership had lasted for many years.
Now that the matter had been exposed, those involved included Njord, a commerce-oriented god comparable to Demeter, and, of course, the guild's local management.
Whether it was the Violas, the god Njord, or the complicity of the guild officials and current town mayor...
And most damning of all: guild officials had taken the chance to profit from smuggling, an absolute taboo for the guild.
If the full truth were made public, the repercussions would be catastrophic.
Setting aside Orario itself, the harbor town of Melen would be utterly destroyed, its foundations wiped out overnight, and other hidden forces would certainly exploit the chaos, turning against Orario en masse.
[T/N: Right, if you expose the guild's dirty secrets, the town will be wiped out overnight. Hahahaha]
Such an outcome would bring countless accusations upon the guild, destabilizing the city's very operations, something neither the guild nor Loki wished to see.
Thus, after negotiation, they decided to pin all the blame on the outsider [Kali Familia], thereby minimizing the fallout.
Through Loki and Ouranos' mediation, this conclusion satisfied both sides.
Although both Loki's care for her friend and the guild's desire to contain the damage led to a mutually acceptable result, one unavoidable issue remained before them.
What exactly was the enemy's purpose in orchestrating all of this?
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T/N: First bonus chapter for crossing 300 power stones; will post the second bonus chapter later~