"Ishtar, do you actually believe what he said? That Freya's children were injured by someone?"
After Shiro left, Thanatos looked at Ishtar, who had gradually fallen into thought, and asked somewhat hesitantly.
"Of course not."
Ishtar rolled her eyes at him.
She was beginning to suspect Thanatos genuinely saw her as some idiotic goddess who would lose all reason the moment she heard bad news about Freya Familia.
"Then why...?"
"Whether his information is true or not, I can confirm that a battle took place at that woman's headquarters."
Before Thanatos could finish his next question, Ishtar cut him off.
"As for whether she really refused a Guild mission, I only need to send someone to investigate. If even that part turns out to be true, then regardless of whether her important combat forces were actually injured, this is still the best opportunity I'll get to attack her."
Ishtar's reasoning was simple.
Whatever Freya Familia's current condition might be, the fact that a battle had taken place was undeniable.
And if there had been a battle, then there had inevitably been some degree of loss.
Originally, Ishtar had planned to attack when her own side was at its strongest, on the night of the full moon.
The information Shiro brought, however, had made her temporarily change her plans.
"Tch. Refusing a Guild mission even at the risk of offending them. As expected of—"
Halfway through his sentence, Thanatos suddenly noticed Ishtar's expression turning dangerous.
He forcibly swallowed the words "Orario's strongest Familia" and immediately changed direction.
"Now we just have to see how the Guild reacts. We might even get to watch Freya Familia receive a Mandatory Mission."
Refusing the Guild was not as simple as one side of a business transaction deciding not to sell something.
As Orario's governing organization, the Guild possessed far more authority than most Familias realized.
Besides posting quests for adventurers on the notice boards around the Exchange, the Guild could also issue a special type of assignment known as a [Mandatory Mission].
Just like adventurers, Orario's Familias were divided into ranks from A to I.
Once an exploration-type Familia reached a certain rank, the Guild could issue Mandatory Missions requiring them to conduct expeditions in the name of Orario's development.
They were also expected to produce actual results.
Reaching a floor no member of the Familia had ever reached before, discovering new minerals, mapping unexplored territory, or obtaining new information about a Monster Rex could all qualify as achievements.
In fact, several of Loki Familia's expeditions had only taken place after the Guild issued Mandatory Missions.
However, Loki Familia's rank was so high that the floors they were expected to explore were all in the extremely deep regions of the Dungeon.
For safety reasons, the Guild rarely pressured them too aggressively and usually waited until the Familia had made complete preparations before ordering them to depart.
Mandatory Missions could also be issued under another condition.
If the Guild judged a situation serious enough, it could assign unavoidable missions directly to individual Familias.
Compared with expedition requirements, that kind of Mandatory Mission depended much more heavily on subjective judgment.
That was exactly why Thanatos said,
"We might even get to see that little Boaz walking around the Dungeon with his usual sour face while escorting some random newcomer no one's ever heard of."
In front of Ishtar, he looked thoroughly delighted at the possibility.
Yes.
Anything from a massive expedition to escorting a single person could become the target of a Guild-issued Mandatory Mission.
Officially, such orders were only supposed to be issued when circumstances became serious enough.
But the people deciding how "serious" a situation was happened to be the Guild's upper management.
That was also why offending the Guild was generally a terrible idea.
If someone pushed them too far, they could accept the damage to their own credibility and assign that Familia a particularly dangerous Mandatory Mission.
That would benefit neither side.
Only after hearing Thanatos explain it that way did Ishtar's expression improve slightly.
"Speaking of which, does that mean that thing can—"
"No. Quite the opposite."
Ishtar's pale violet eyes immediately saw through what Thanatos was about to suggest.
"The deadline is moving forward, Thanatos."
"We don't have time to leisurely wait until the full moon anymore. I want to see that thing tomorrow."
Her tone left no room for negotiation.
"I'll also need to reserve two days to test how powerful it actually is."
"That's asking way too much of a god."
"Can't do it?"
"Fine, fine. I'll do it."
The moment Ishtar narrowed her eyes, clearly on the verge of getting angry, Thanatos raised both hands in surrender.
"I'll satisfy our esteemed investor."
"That's more like it."
Ishtar smiled in satisfaction.
"And while you're at it, pass along the message from that person calling himself Gaia to Enyo."
Without waiting for Thanatos to respond, Ishtar turned and disappeared into the depths of the labyrinth.
Only Thanatos's long sigh remained, echoing endlessly through the darkness.
...
"Shiro-sama, are we really just leaving like this?"
Back on Daedalus Street, Lily had removed her disguise and returned to her normal Pallum appearance.
Shiro stared at her.
"Don't tell me you're planning to go back for the labyrinth floor too?! We already did pretty well sneaking out all that Orichalcum while their attention was focused on Ishtar."
He waved a hand.
"Let them keep the Adamantite."
"That's not what Lily meant!"
Lily nearly broke down on the spot.
What did he mean, she wanted to steal the floor too?
She admitted she liked money a little.
Just a tiny bit.
But wasn't saving money the sensible thing to do in case something unexpected happened in the future?
They were adventurers.
Who knew what disaster tomorrow might bring?
If anything, Lily's habit of saving money was the normal one.
Shiro-sama and those Loki Familia executives who spent ridiculous amounts of Valis on strange weapons were the abnormal adventurers!
"Then should I return the Orichalcum too?"
"Absolutely not!"
The instant Shiro suggested giving back an amount of money Lily could not earn across several lifetimes, she shouted without thinking and practically threw herself onto him.
"Even if it belonged to Evilus, they earned it through illegal activities! Giving it back would only encourage them!"
Lily clung to him as the arguments poured out of her mouth one after another.
"If we handed the money to the Guild instead, the Guild would distribute rewards based on everyone's contribution to defeating Evilus!"
"So Shiro-sama and Lily are simply taking the compensation we deserve!"
"Even if we treat this like an adventurer quest, that would still be completely reasonable, so, so, so..."
Hanging from Shiro, Lily rattled off reason after reason why the Orichalcum absolutely did not need to be returned.
Compared with humans, Pallums were already naturally small.
The sight of tiny Lily desperately rambling while clinging to him looked almost exactly like a child pestering a parent to buy her a toy.
Combined with the tears appearing in the corners of her eyes from sheer desperation, the strange resemblance finally hit Shiro's sense of humor.
"Pfft..."
He burst out laughing.
The sound immediately interrupted Lily's frantic brainstorming.
She froze and slowly raised her head, staring blankly at Shiro's openly laughing face.
At the same time...
"A human and a Pallum? That's a pretty unusual pairing."
"Hey, do you think Braver would get jealous if he saw them?"
"Hard to say. He keeps saying he'll only marry a Pallum, but didn't he keep rejecting that girl from Astraea Familia a few years back?"
"Yeah. Who knows what kind of woman Braver actually likes?"
Similar comments drifted continuously into Lily's ears.
At first, she did not understand why everyone was talking about them.
Then she finally noticed their position.
To stop Lily from slipping and falling when she threw herself at him, Shiro had instinctively caught her around the waist with both hands.
From the outside, the two of them looked as though they were embracing each other affectionately.
A brilliant blush instantly spread across Lily's delicate face.
She opened her mouth, intending to say something through her embarrassment.
Unfortunately, the other person at the center of the gossip completely ignored everything around them.
Shiro was still laughing at whatever strange image had gotten into his head.
Worse...
He was still holding her in exactly the same position, showing absolutely no intention of letting go.
And so...
Lily took a deep breath.
Then—
"SHIRO-SAMA, YOU IDIOT!!!"
Her scream tore across the sky above Daedalus Street.
…