"I'll bet ten thousand Valis that he'll first use the investigation as an excuse to slip away from Asfi's watch, wander through the entire Pleasure Quarter, and only then remember what we actually sent him there to do."
After Hermes left, Loki looked through the window at his retreating figure humming happily down the street and clicked her tongue.
"You know Hermes's personality as well as I do."
Dionysus gave an awkward smile.
"He didn't become like this overnight. It's just..."
Only after Hermes disappeared completely from sight did Dionysus quickly suppress his smile.
His expression turned serious.
"This might sound somewhat unpleasant, but Loki..."
"You should be careful around Hermes."
"Hah?"
Loki raised an eyebrow.
"Why bring that up all of a sudden?"
"Everyone knows that weakling definitely isn't as simple as he pretends to be."
"You've probably noticed something already."
"Besides actively cooperating with us, Hermes has been constantly visiting the Guild over the last two days."
"You mean..."
"I suspect Hermes is cooperating with us while also maintaining contact with Ouranos."
"..."
Dionysus failed to notice that Loki's expression became slightly awkward the moment he mentioned Ouranos.
He picked up the wine glass on the table, drained the red wine inside, and continued.
"Hermes claimed he approached us because children from his Familia were harmed and he wanted revenge."
"I don't believe he was lying about that."
"But I'm certain he's hiding part of the truth."
"And I believe whatever he's hiding is connected to Ouranos."
"You know..."
Loki hesitated.
"Is it possible Hermes was simply asking the Guild for help?"
"If that were the case, then regardless of whether the Guild agreed to assist him, Hermes could have mentioned it while exchanging information with us."
Dionysus shook his head.
"That would at least stop us from wasting time investigating the same place later."
"Besides..."
"I've always felt the Guild is hiding something from us."
"Haven't you ever wondered about it?"
"The [Zeus Familia] and [Hera Familia] once dominated Orario."
"Yet just because their children were annihilated, they were expelled from the city so easily?"
"That was Freya and me..."
"I'm sorry, that wasn't what I meant."
Dionysus quickly corrected himself.
"I mean, don't you think driving them out back then was too easy?"
"You think the Guild secretly participated in that too?"
Since Dionysus seemed determined to point the investigation toward the Guild, Loki simply followed his line of thought and put on a surprised expression.
"Even if their main forces were wiped out, Zeus Familia and Hera Familia dominated Orario for many years."
"Considering everything those two Familias contributed while standing at the top, the Guild shouldn't have simply watched while you and Freya drove them away."
Dionysus paused.
"And do you remember the Dungeon monster outbreak a few days ago?"
Only a few days earlier—A sudden abnormality had occurred inside the Dungeon.
The number of monsters being spawned multiplied dramatically.
Events like this were not particularly frequent—But they were hardly unheard of either.
Normally, something like that should not have attracted Dionysus's attention.
However—The monsters produced during this abnormal incident were completely different.
"Of course I remember!"
Loki slammed both hands onto the round table.
"Who knows what the hell made the Dungeon lose its mind?!"
"So many high-level monsters appeared all at once!"
"Even the Jack Birds on the first floor produced Level 2 enhanced variants!"
"Finn and the others are still inside the Dungeon keeping watch in case more monsters suddenly come out!"
She gritted her teeth.
"Damn it!"
"Because of that, I didn't even get time to properly admire Ais-tan and the others in swimsuits!"
"If I catch whoever caused this mess, they'd better be ready!"
Loki pounded the table hard enough to make it rattle.
If the Guild had not suddenly sent someone to inform her about an abnormal situation inside the Dungeon—She would not be sitting here drinking and holding meetings with Dionysus right now.
They had finally settled the incident in Melen.
Couldn't she at least have spent a few more days admiring cute girls in swimsuits before returning to Orario?!
The feeling of being thrown from heaven straight into hell made a chilling light emerge from Loki's narrowed eyes.
A faint murderous aura spread around her.
"Don't tell me you think Hermes caused this?!"
"I'll go kill him right now!"
Loki immediately made as if to stand.
Dionysus had no doubt that if Loki actually found Hermes right now—The two gods might genuinely fight until one of them was sent back to Heaven.
To prevent the most ridiculous divine repatriation incident in Orario's history—He hurriedly stopped her.
"No."
"Judging from Hermes's behavior over the past two days, this matter probably has nothing to do with him."
"However..."
"I keep feeling that he'll use this opportunity to do something."
"Hah?"
"Instinct?"
Loki stared at him.
"Since when did you start believing in something the Moirai themselves abandoned thousands of years ago?"
"I hope I'm merely worrying too much."
Dionysus sighed.
"Still, even if I am, there's no harm in being cautious around Hermes during the investigation."
"Even if he does nothing more than behave exactly as he usually does, that alone is enough to give you headaches, isn't it?"
"That's true."
Loki immediately agreed.
Thus—Having found strange common ground regarding Hermes, and after obtaining Loki's repeated assurances that she would remain cautious, the exhausted god finally relaxed.
He left the tavern with the guard standing behind him.
Once Dionysus was gone—Loki also prepared to return to Twilight Manor.
She had just finished paying at the counter when—
"Yo, Loki."
"And Gareth."
"Long time no see."
"Although from your perspective, I guess I've only been gone for a little over a week."
Shiro stood waiting outside the tavern entrance.
"Holy crap..."
Loki's eyes widened.
"What the hell happened to you?"
Instead of showing any joy at seeing him again—She stared at Shiro as though she had seen a ghost.
And the reason was simple.
His current appearance.
Shiro himself looked mostly fine.
Aside from dust and traces of blood staining his hair and exposed skin, he did not appear seriously injured.
His clothes, however—Were a complete disaster.
His casual outfit was riddled with holes of every size.
Several edges were visibly scorched.
Blood and dirt had completely covered the fabric's original color, making it almost impossible to tell what the clothes had once looked like.
Calling them clothes was being generous.
"Rags" would have been far more accurate.
"Ah..."
Shiro raised one arm and stared at the half-strip of cloth still hanging from it.
"It's a little complicated."
His expression twisted slightly as he waved the gray strip dangling from his sleeve.
"Let's go back to Twilight Manor first."
However—
For reasons she could not explain, seeing Shiro looking like he had just crawled out of the Dungeon caused an ominous feeling to rise inside Loki's chest.
…