Daedalus Street was located in the southeastern section of Orario.
Since the gods had descended into Orario at different times, not every Familia possessed enough wealth to build an enormous headquarters like Twilight Manor in a city where land was worth a fortune.
As a result, Daedalus Street, where housing was considerably cheaper than the area surrounding the Guild, naturally became the preferred home of poor Familias and impoverished residents.
Despite technically being a residential district, however, the entire neighborhood seemed almost deliberately designed to make everyday life difficult.
The district was built across multiple levels, with countless stairways connecting the upper and lower sections in completely different directions.
Forget outsiders who had just arrived in Orario. Even locals who had lived here for years could still take a wrong turn and get lost.
Because of that, Daedalus Street had earned another nickname among Orario's residents.
The [Surface Dungeon].
That alone showed just how complicated the place was.
"No matter how many times Lily sees this place, it still looks ridiculous."
The Supporter named Liliruca Arde looked up at the countless ropes stretched above the streets like spiderwebs, many of them covered with clothes left out to dry.
"Well, this place was personally designed by Daedalus, the man known as the [Eccentric]."
Walking beside her, Shiro continued observing the streets that had become famous throughout Orario for their confusing layout.
Daedalus certainly deserved his reputation as a master architect.
The roads were even easier to get lost in than Shiro had expected. If Evilus really was hiding here, even mobilizing all of Loki Familia would probably not be enough to locate them quickly.
Since this mission was meant to investigate Evilus, Shiro's current appearance was far too recognizable in Orario.
After discussing it with Riveria, he had prepared two black cloaks to conceal both his and Lily's appearances.
"Shiro-sama..."
After they had followed the stair-filled pathways for some time, Lily suddenly moved closer and lightly tugged at the edge of his cloak.
"Doesn't it feel like people have been secretly watching us?"
She wanted to turn around and locate the source of the gazes, but feared that making such an obvious movement would alert whoever was watching. Instead, she lowered her voice and pretended they were merely chatting.
Hearing that, Shiro casually scanned their surroundings.
In the shadows beside the road and behind the curtains of nearby homes, several pairs of eyes were hiding in places most people would overlook, silently observing them.
Those gazes had followed the two of them ever since they entered Daedalus Street.
Only now had the emotions behind them become so intense that they could no longer be ignored.
"They're probably just curious about us. Don't worry too much."
Shiro pulled his hood slightly lower.
Compared with ordinary residents, most people who chose to live in Daedalus Street were not particularly wealthy. Neighbors saw one another constantly, so nearly everyone in the area was familiar with each other.
Two strangely dressed outsiders suddenly wandering into the neighborhood were naturally going to attract attention.
If Evilus really monitored Daedalus Street this openly, Ganesha Familia, who regularly patrolled Orario like city guards, would have caught them long ago.
"Y-yeah, that makes sense. If Evilus were literally everywhere, they wouldn't have survived this long without being wiped out."
Lily nodded in agreement.
However, judging from the way she occasionally glanced behind them and kept herself unusually close to Shiro, she was still deeply uneasy.
After all, anyone who knew they might soon come face-to-face with a group of remorseless killers would find it difficult to remain completely calm.
Seeing her nervous expression, Shiro's eyes filled with a little more approval.
She was clearly frightened, yet when he had asked whether she was willing to accompany him, she had forced herself to accept anyway.
So...
"Hm?"
Lily blinked her large brown eyes at the hand Shiro extended from beneath his cloak.
"Did Shiro-sama forget to bring some kind of item?"
The moment she finished speaking, she felt the hand wearing the unusual bracelet become enclosed by a warm palm.
"Eh... EHHH?!"
"This way, if something suddenly happens, I can immediately pull you behind me."
Shiro casually held her hand as they continued walking.
"So relax. As long as I'm alive, I won't let anything happen to you."
He then added with a joking tone, hoping to ease her nerves.
"If I somehow die anyway, remember to tell Loki to go up to Heaven and fish me back out. Maybe I can put on a live demonstration for the gods by changing species and resurrecting on the spot."
"The expressions on their faces would probably be incredible."
"Y-yes... I suppose this does make things safer..."
Lily quickly pulled her hat down with her free hand until it completely hid her face from Shiro.
As though trying to convince herself, she quietly muttered those words and then fell silent.
She no longer resisted, simply allowing Shiro to lead her by the hand as they continued searching through Daedalus Street.
...
"Tch. Nothing but signs and intersections. This place is way too confusing."
By the time noon had passed, the two of them looked less like investigators and more like tourists wandering around the neighborhood.
Aside from gaining a better understanding of how people in Daedalus Street lived their daily lives, they had found almost nothing useful.
"At this rate, I might not find what I'm looking for even by tonight."
Shiro clicked his tongue.
"It's a shame Alfia isn't here. She might've been able to take us directly to one of the places Evilus used back then."
"Looks like I might have to use that after all..."
Shiro began wondering whether he should resort to a small cheat.
The problem was that doing so carried the risk of another god noticing his existence.
"Shiro-sama, there's actually something Lily has wanted to ask."
Just as Shiro was hesitating, Lily suddenly looked up, seemingly trying to keep the atmosphere from becoming awkward.
"Why did you send Alfia-sama into the Dungeon and ask Lily to disguise herself as her instead?"
Lily had already learned about Alfia before they departed.
In fact, the main reason Shiro had brought Lily along today was because of one particular spell she possessed.
[Cinder Ella].
It was transformation magic capable of changing Lily into anyone with a body type reasonably close to her own.
She could alter her voice and appearance, change sex, and even imitate racial characteristics. With the help of enhancement items, she could transform into people whose physiques differed significantly from hers as well.
When it came to impersonating someone, there was almost nobody better suited for the task than Lily.
"You still remember my magic, right?"
"Yes."
Lily glanced at the bracelet on her wrist.
That bracelet itself was one of Shiro's magical creations, designed to temporarily amplify magic.
"Although Lily has to question Shiro-sama's sense of aesthetics."
She had personally watched Shiro transform a sticky, disgusting-looking lump into a blue bracelet.
If it had not looked considerably less revolting after becoming jewelry, there was no chance Lily would have worn something like that.
"Hah? Slimes have exceptional elasticity and toughness, and they can freely change shape."
Shiro immediately protested.
"It took me a lot of work to create something this convenient in both size and portability."
After grumbling for a moment, his tone changed.
"Strictly speaking, though, my magic is still only an unfinished product."
Lily looked at him curiously.
Shiro gave a self-deprecating smile.
"The things I create are even more primitive than monsters born from the Dungeon. They're basically tools people use at the dinner table."
"They don't even possess the most basic instincts. Every action they take depends entirely on the orders I give them."
Then his expression grew more thoughtful.
"And that creates one strange problem."
"Strange?"
"Yeah."
Shiro looked toward the maze-like streets ahead.
"My guess is that once this magic develops further, I should eventually be able to create intelligent life."
"If that's true, then before I obtained this magic, there's no reason the Dungeon, which still possessed the power I took from it, shouldn't have been capable of doing the same thing."
"The Dungeon can simultaneously create enormous numbers of monsters and send them to fight adventurers. When it comes to creating life, it should be far more advanced than I am right now."
Hearing that, Lily suddenly realized what he was implying.
Her breathing stopped for a moment.
"Could Alfia-sama have gone to..."
"Exactly."
Shiro nodded.
"At the moment, only someone like her, who can rival Level 9, is capable of doing this safely."
He narrowed his eyes.
"She went into the Dungeon to search for the 'finished products' that someone deliberately hid away."
…