"That love-struck woman really doesn't leave herself any way out."
Loki let out a sigh, clearly exasperated, then looked at Hermes like he was some poor unfortunate soul.
"No wonder Ouranos dragged you out to be sacrificed."
"...Loki, could you not use words like 'sacrifice'? That sends chills down my spine."
Just hearing that word made Hermes feel cold all over. He quickly interrupted her.
"Isn't your current situation basically a sacrifice anyway?"
Loki didn't care whether her phrasing was harsh or not. From her point of view, Hermes really was just a scapegoat tossed out by Ouranos.
"Even if that shorty doesn't kill you outright, you're definitely going to be second only to that love-struck woman on her blacklist."
"As for the love-struck woman herself—if you don't explain things properly to that shorty, do you really think she'll let you off easy? If she just clubs you from behind, that's already going easy on you."
Of course, Loki didn't outright say that Freya would just give him a beating, but Hermes understood the implication. Since they were on the same side, she might stop at a sneak attack. But if they weren't? It wouldn't just be a beating—it could very well be an assassination.
Hermes had never underestimated Freya. The way she decisively switched sides for Bell showed just how ruthless she could be.
If she was willing to be that ruthless to herself for the sake of her goal, then she'd be even harsher toward anyone who got in her way.
"Tsk, tsk. No wonder you came running to me so early in the morning."
Any irritation Loki felt about being sought out was gone. At this point, she was just enjoying the show.
Hermes looked thoroughly bitter. Honestly, he hadn't wanted to ask Loki for help either—but he had no way of accessing the Hestia Familia.
The "Outside World" wasn't a place you could just stroll into.
That space had been created by Bell precisely to keep others out. Even gods couldn't enter the "Outside World" unless allowed.
Because gods weren't supposed to possess the power to leave the world.
With the Hestia Familia based in the "Outside World", any god who wanted in had to go through the proper channels. Otherwise, even using divine power would be useless.
"Why didn't you go to Hephaestus? She's closer to that shorty, right?"
"I wanted to, but most of her children went on that expedition with yours. And Hephaestus herself publicly announced she won't be with her Familia for a while. So where exactly am I supposed to find her?"
"...Good point."
Loki finally remembered. Because of the Evilus situation and the expedition, both she and Hephaestus had been lying low in Orario. She couldn't be sure if Evilus would try to cause trouble while her Familia was spread thin.
Before, this kind of thing was uncertain—but now? The situation had changed. Anything was possible.
In fact, after seeing the Magic Stones from the Spirit side and hearing that kid's speculation about their origin, Loki was convinced—that bastard definitely had it in him to pull something like this.
"Forget it, just wait here for now. I need to go take care of things at home first. We've got to start preparing for Finn and the others' welcome celebration."
"Alright..."
Hermes didn't have any better options anyway. After all, the only ones with access to Hestia were Loki and Hephaestus.
Loki didn't bother paying attention to Hermes still standing in her room. She walked out directly to handle the banquet preparations.
"Line!"
"Yes, I'm here, Loki-sama."
Line had been staying at home the whole time. Other than her usual cleaning duties, she was always ready to follow Loki-sama's orders.
"Line, go tell the others to start getting ready for a celebration banquet."
"Eh? But Loki-sama, we haven't received any message from the Dungeon yet."
Line was sure no messenger had delivered any word from the Dungeon. Normally, news would be sent up first, and once the return date of the expedition team was confirmed, preparations would begin.
But she had been monitoring the messengers closely, so she was certain no news had come from below.
"Don't worry about that. Just start getting things ready."
"I understand."
Even though she had a lot of questions, Line knew better than to ask when Loki-sama wasn't in the mood to explain.
"Wait—one more thing. Prepare a larger spread this time. I'm inviting Hephaestus and Hestia too. This banquet needs to be more formal than usual."
Loki stopped Line just as she was about to leave. Considering that both Hephaestus and that shorty had joined the expedition, it only made sense to include them in the celebration.
Since it would involve three Familias, the scale of the banquet needed to match.
"Understood."
Line blinked in surprise. She hadn't expected Loki-sama to host such a grand event this time, but she quickly took note and rushed off to begin preparations—ingredients, decorations, the works.
Loki didn't have to worry about the rest.
They had clear records of everyone who went on the expedition, so all they needed to do was prepare the proper amount.
Her children weren't so clueless that she had to micromanage every detail.
Once the banquet arrangements were done, Loki turned and went back to her room.
She glanced at Hermes, who was still quietly standing there.
"Alright. Time to enjoy your little drama."
Hermes could only respond with a bitter smile.
"The expedition's finally over. Bell-kun's finally coming back."
Hestia couldn't even remember the last time she'd fallen asleep holding Bell. Just when she thought they'd finally reached a happy ending, they had to be separated for the expedition. She'd been holding it in all this time.
"Yeah. But Orario's been pretty unstable lately. There's probably more trouble waiting."
"Ugh... those Evilus again."
Hephaestus's reminder snapped Hestia back to reality—those Evilus were still around.
Even before the expedition began, those guys had already thrown Orario into chaos.
Now they'd been officially declared enemies of the city. It was obvious a brutal retaliation was coming.
Just thinking about Bell having to face them again made Hestia puff up her cheeks in frustration.
"Hephaestus, how much do you know about the 'City Destroyer'?"
"There's a lot of talk about who that might be, but most of it's just speculation with no real proof."
Hephaestus didn't have much of an impression of that god who had faked both name and title.
The gods were always playing roles. As long as no one exposed themselves, the one hiding as 'Enyo' wouldn't show up—and that meant there wouldn't be any detailed intel, either.