"No! You don't need to hide from Evilus. They're the ones who should be afraid—you might ruin their plans."
Hermes caught on immediately. Something about this didn't add up. His sharp gaze fixed on Hephaestus.
"It's you who don't want to interfere with Evilus's plans!"
Hephaestus sighed helplessly. This was exactly why she preferred not to deal with Hermes—his mind moved too fast for comfort.
Hermes's thoughts spun rapidly as he studied her.
"You're trying to use Evilus to achieve something. That's why the goddesses connected to you have all disappeared for so long."
"You're avoiding trouble, but at the same time, you're giving Evilus the time they need to put their plans in motion."
"Hey, hey, hey! We're not as sinister as you make it sound. At most, we just don't go out of our way to stop them unless it's necessary."
Hephaestus quickly cut off Hermes's wild speculation. His overall deduction wasn't wrong, but the details were way off.
"Besides, it's not like we've gone soft on Evilus. It's just that conventional methods can't completely root them out."
"Root them out?"
Hermes's face twitched slightly. That word carried some weight.
"So... you already know who's behind Evilus?"
"Of course not."
Hephaestus smiled faintly as she denied it.
"You're only thinking that because you're overanalyzing again. We're just speculating that Evilus might still have another trump card—someone like 'City Destroyer Enyo.'"
"If he really is the one pulling the strings, does he truly believe Evilus would obediently follow his orders? We think not. 'Enyo' must have his own agenda—his own ace in the hole."
Hermes noticed how smoothly Hephaestus steered the topic away, which only confirmed his suspicions. But he couldn't deny her logic. Whoever 'Enyo' was, he wasn't simple.
The real question was whether Enyo was a child of the lower world or a god himself.
There was too little information about him.
And it was precisely that scarcity that made Hermes lean toward one conclusion—Enyo was a god.
To have existed for so many years and still remain more elusive than even Bell—no mortal could manage that.
If Enyo truly was a mortal, Hermes believed only Bell could match such an existence.
Which meant, more likely than not, Enyo was indeed a deity.
As for the "trump card" Hephaestus mentioned, Hermes had no doubt that Enyo possessed one.
"So, the reason we've been so cautious about going out lately is to guard against 'Enyo.'"
"Do you really need to be that careful?"
"We do. After all, our assumption is that 'Enyo' has never interfered with Evilus's operations. That probably means he's holding at least one Lv.6 card—maybe even a Lv.7."
That was a bold assumption.
Hermes looked exasperated at first, but then it clicked. This line of reasoning definitely hadn't come from Hephaestus or Hestia. The only person who would jump straight to assuming the enemy was Lv.6 or Lv.7 was Bell.
But as he thought it over, Hermes frowned.
'No… Hephaestus wouldn't have come to that conclusion just because Bell's paranoia flared up again.'
Though that had been his initial thought, Hephaestus's earlier reactions told him otherwise. Hermes was now convinced she and the others had already uncovered Enyo's true identity—and from that, deduced that his trump card was likely a Lv.6 or Lv.7.
'So my first instinct was right. Hephaestus and the others really do know who Enyo is.'
'Was it Bell who found out?'
'If it was Bell... that would make sense.'
If that were true, then the reason those four goddesses hadn't shown themselves for months finally made sense—they weren't hiding from Evilus at all.
They were hiding from Enyo.
Hephaestus stood up.
"I'll take responsibility for Artemis's matter in Hestia's place."
There was no need to say more. The issue involving Enyo was already far beyond their usual jurisdiction. Still, she wouldn't keep it entirely from the Guild—just Enyo's identity. Revealing that would interfere with Bell's actions.
"But Hermes, you now owe me a favor for Artemis."
"...I'll remember."
The topic had shifted, but Hermes had no intention of letting this commission fade away.
Before leaving, Hephaestus handed Fels a piece of parchment inscribed with Runes.
"What's this?"
"Bell asked me to give it to you. It's a communication talisman. If something comes up, you can contact him directly. I can't stay in the Familia all the time."
That surprised Fels. He hadn't expected Bell Cranel to leave behind a direct means of contact.
...
Glancing at Hermes, Fels quickly realized this was no coincidence. Bell had left it for emergencies.
"Just channel magic into it to speak. Bell won't usually respond, but whatever you say, he'll definitely hear it."
So, it was a one-way communicator.
Even so, Fels understood why Bell had made it.
On one hand, it helped him avoid unnecessary disturbances and filter out irrelevant chatter.
On the other, it allowed the Guild to reach him without involving the four goddesses directly.
That aligned perfectly with what Hephaestus had mentioned earlier.
"Alright then, I'll leave the rest to you. Tsubaki, we're going."
"Right!"
Hephaestus left the reception room with Tsubaki in tow.
"Fels, do you think what Hephaestus said was true?"
After putting away the talisman, Fels shook his head.
"Seventy percent true, thirty percent false. She revealed a lot, but the crucial parts are still hidden."
"About Enyo, right? So she really did... no, they all know who Enyo really is. The whole story about guarding against him was just a cover. They're keeping quiet because of Bell."
Hermes rested his chin in his hand, clearly frustrated. Not knowing the answer was torture—and while sometimes it was better not to spoil things, waiting to find out was agonizing.