Chapter 58 - Peak Tournament and Freya Complications (POV Hasana, third person perspective)
The next morning, Hasana woke up earlier than usual.
Earlier than a rooster.
The sun had just appeared on the eastern horizon, painting Orario's sky with golden-orange gradients.
The morning air was still fresh and cool, but Hasana's mind was already filled with all the plans he had to execute today.
After yesterday's incident with Kaen and Zagan, he couldn't sleep soundly.
He kept thinking about this increasingly complicated situation.
On one hand, he felt disappointed with Kaen's brutal actions that nearly killed someone.
But on the other hand, something about this case felt off to him.
I've already investigated Kaen and the Hestia familia too.
Goddess Hestia's confident attitude and her insistence that Kaen wasn't guilty made him start doubting his own judgment.
Goddess Hestia wasn't the type of goddess who was stupid or easily fooled.
She was the goddess of family and hearth, someone with incredibly strong intuition about people's character.
If Goddess Hestia was so sure...
maybe there was something he didn't know about this case.
With that thought, Hasana decided to meet with God Ganesha.
As the patron god of the familia running this prison, Ganesha had the authority to review cases that seemed problematic.
And maybe, with his more objective perspective, he could help see this situation from a different angle.
Either way, gods had way more experience because of their basically unlimited lifespans.
Hasana hurried toward the main administrative office of the Ganesha familia.
A magnificent building with architecture that combined classic Orario style with exotic touches from the underworld.
Tall marble pillars stretched upward, decorated with intricate and detailed elephant carvings.
Looking at the Ganesha familia's elephant headquarters, Hasana sighed.
The Ganesha familia had almost gone bankrupt because of this construction.
When he reached the upper floor of the building, he saw God Ganesha's office door was open.
But what surprised him a bit was the presence of two other figures inside the room.
Shakti Varma, the Ganesha familia captain, was standing near the large window holding a document.
The short blue-haired woman looked serious as she read whatever was in her hands.
Meanwhile, beside her, Ilta Farna, the familia's vice-captain, was sitting on the sofa chewing something that looked like a biscuit.
"Oh, Hasana!" God Ganesha exclaimed when he saw him at the doorway.
"Come in, come in! What perfect timing!"
God Ganesha looked extremely enthusiastic this morning.
His eyes sparkled with unusual excitement, and he kept moving around in his chair like he couldn't sit still.
That was usually a sign that he'd just gotten something interesting.
"Good morning, God Ganesha. Captain Shakti, Vice-Captain Ilta," Hasana greeted with a polite bow.
"Morning, Hasana," Shakti replied without looking up from the document in her hands.
"Hi~" Ilta waved while smiling, her lips still full of biscuit crumbs.
"Sit down, sit down!" Ganesha pointed to an empty chair in front of his desk.
"I was just about to tell Shakti and Ilta this great news. Perfect timing that you're here, so you can hear it directly!"
Hasana sat down, curious.
"Great news?"
"Yes! Do you know what I've been doing outside Orario these past few days?"
Hasana shook his head.
He'd noticed that Ganesha was often absent from the office lately.
It made him curious, though he'd heard God Ganesha had gotten orders from the guild.
"I went around to neighboring cities to spread the word about..." Ganesha paused for dramatic effect, "THE FIRST GREAT TOURNAMENT IN ORARIO!"
His voice was so loud and enthusiastic that Shakti actually looked up from her document, while Ilta almost choked on her biscuit.
Hasana fell silent.
Figureshe is Ganesha, after all.
He didn't even bother bringing his captain or vice-captain when he decided to stroll outside Orario.
"Tournament?" Hasana raised an eyebrow, surprised.
Clearly very surprised.
"So sudden?"
"Sudden?" Ganesha laughed loudly.
"No, no! This has been planned by the Guild! They suddenly called me a few days ago and discussed this big project. And you know what? They trusted me to organize everything!"
Hasana felt like the guild was basically using Ganesha to handle everything.
While the guild waited for results, the costs for this tournament definitely weren't small.
Ganesha's eyes sparkled with pride.
He was clearly honored to be trusted by the Guild with such a big project.
"When will this tournament take place?" Hasana asked.
Trying to hold back the sour feeling in his heart, he knew his peaceful days were about to end.
"One month from now!" Ganesha answered enthusiastically.
"One month?!" Hasana was shocked.
Isn't this basically asking us to work overtime without pay?
"Isn't the Annual Ganesha Festival also happening next month?"
Ganesha's face suddenly changed.
His enthusiastic expression disappeared, replaced with a funny blank look.
He fell silent, his mouth slightly open, as if he'd just realized something very important.
The room became quiet.
Shakti put down her document and stared at her god with an indescribable expression.
Ilta stopped chewing and also stared at Ganesha with a confused look.
"Um..." Ganesha finally spoke in an uncertain tone.
"Is it... too late to change it?"
SMACK!
Hasana slapped his own forehead in a very dramatic gesture.
Shakti let out a long sigh while shaking her head, while Ilta could only laugh softly, clearly amused.
"Ganesha-sama..." Shakti said in a patient tone like she was talking to a small child.
"The annual Monster Festival has been planned for a year. Invitations have already been sent out. Preparations have been running for months..."
I even wanted to add something like: the arena floor has been swept multiple times every few hours for several months.
Which consumed a considerable budget.
"Ah! But!" Ganesha suddenly jumped up from his chair with renewed enthusiasm.
"Even though the timing overlaps, we can do them together! Tournament and Monster Festival! It'll be an even more spectacular event!"
Hasana wanted to curse, you're happy but we're not!
Running two major events at the same time, isn't this asking us to work our asses off? He even wondered if he'd still be able to sleep.
But what can you do...
Hasana could only shake his head slowly.
So typically Ganesha... enthusiastic first, think about consequences later.
"But why did the Guild suddenly propose this tournament idea?" Hasana asked.
He was clearly confused, this was too sudden.
Like a storm coming out of nowhere.
"I mean, is there a specific reason?"
Ganesha's expression suddenly became more serious.
The enthusiasm on his face faded, replaced with deep concern.
"That's..." he sat back down slowly.
"As you all know, we're currently in the final generation."
"Final generation?" Ilta asked too, her biscuit already forgotten.
Ganesha nodded slowly.
"However, there are still no signs of a true hero emerging. Even though the Loki familia and Freya familia have some very strong people, they're still not enough to face the real threat."
The room's atmosphere became more serious.
Shakti put down her document completely and gave her full attention to her god's explanation.
"The Black Dragon that destroyed the Zeus and Hera familias is still sealed in Dragon Valley," Ganesha continued with an increasingly grim tone.
"But we don't know when it'll break free from that seal. What's certain is it won't be much longer. And if there's no hero capable of defeating it when it appears... humanity will be wiped out."
Silence filled the room.
Everyone knew about the legend of the Black Dragon that defeated the two strongest familias in Orario's history.
But hearing it spoken directly by a god made it feel more real and terrifying.
"But fortunately," Ganesha continued with a slightly brighter tone.
"Two weeks ago there was a commotion in Orario where someone allegedly cleared the first floor of the dungeon completely. This caused many beginner adventurers to lose income and triggered intense competition among them."
"Oh, I remember that incident," Shakti said.
"Lots of adventurers staged protests at the Guild because all the monsters on the first floor disappeared."
"Exactly! And from the data the Guild provided, that incident actually brought positive results. Many adventurers who previously only passively sought income on the first floor are now starting to dare explore floors one through three. They've become more motivated to develop."
Hasana was starting to understand.
"So the Guild sees this as an opportunity?"
"Exactly!" Ganesha was enthusiastic again. "And finally, the 'Peak Tournament' was born! With this tournament, it's hoped that competition among beginner adventurers will become even more intense. They'll be motivated to become stronger because their names will appear on the official ranking list."
"So these past few days I've been busy going outside Orario to spread the word in several nearby cities," he continued. "Hoping many young adventurers will come to Orario to compete."
Ilta raised her hand.
"What are the tournament rules?"
Hasana was curious too, he wanted to join if he could.
Who wouldn't want their name to become famous in Orario?
Isn't that the goal of almost every adventurer?
Fame and getting dozens of women.
"Very simple!" Ganesha answered enthusiastically.
"Adventurers who've received a god's blessing can participate, and ordinary people can too. But with the condition that for those who've already received a god's blessing, they must have received it less than two months ago."
"With so many young adventurers coming, there's a good chance there's a potential hero among them," Ganesha added.
"And this tournament is also expected to encourage familias to accept new members."
Shakti nodded in understanding.
"Usually familias in Orario tend to only accept graduates from the School District."
"Exactly! With this, the Guild hopes Orario won't be too dependent on the School District. After all, there are many hidden talents among ordinary people that might not be discovered. With this tournament, it's hoped many familias will open their eyes to new potentials."
Ganesha paused, then continued with a proud tone.
"Even the Freya familia, who are very selective in choosing members, volunteered to be involved in this project!"
"Wow, Ganesha-sama is so amazing!" Hasana praised with a slightly exaggerated tone, making Ganesha smile widely and puff out his chest proudly.
Hasana was clearly flattering.
"Hahaha! Of course! I'm an extraordinary god!"
Yes, very extraordinary.
Seeing God Ganesha getting carried away by the praise.
Hasana saw this as the perfect opportunity to discuss his main purpose for coming here.
"Speaking of potential heroes," Hasana said slowly, "I might have found someone... though I'm not completely sure."
Shakti was immediately interested.
"Really? Who?"
"This is about one of the prisoners in jail," Hasana began explaining.
"His name is Kaen. He seems to have been mistakenly accused of being a rapist."
"Mistakenly?" Ilta was curious too.
"At first I believed the accusations too," Hasana admitted.
"But Goddess Hestia's attitude made me change my mind."
"Goddess Hestia?" Ganesha raised an eyebrow.
After all, Ganesha came from Tenkai, so he definitely knew Goddess Hestia.
"Yes. Kaen is the first child of the Hestia familia. And the way Goddess Hestia defended that kid... as a goddess, honestly I feel Hestia can't possibly be stupid. If she's so sure that Kaen isn't guilty, then there must be a misunderstanding."
Hasana took a breath before continuing to the more shocking part.
"And yesterday, Kaen managed to defeat Zagan to near death."
"ZAGAN?!" Ilta almost jumped from her seat.
"That Zagan? The one with tons of fighting experience?"
She knew Ilta had fought Zagan before, and though Ilta won in the end, Zagan definitely had rich combat experience.
Hasana nodded.
"It's very difficult for a beginner to win against Zagan. Especially..." he paused.
"The report states Kaen hasn't even been blessed by a god for a full month."
Ganesha, who had been relaxed, suddenly became very serious.
His eyes stared at Hasana intently.
"Not even a month?" he asked to confirm.
"Correct. And he could defeat someone like Zagan."
Ganesha was quiet for quite a while, then suddenly exclaimed enthusiastically.
"Sounds like he really is a hero! Even if maybe not a true hero, he'll definitely become someone very strong in the future!"
Without hesitation, he continued, "I agree to help free him!"
"Wait," Hasana raised his hand.
"Isn't it too easy to believe? What if Kaen really did try to rape someone? Shouldn't you check his case first?"
Ganesha laughed casually.
"Isn't there a saying that 'heroes like women'? That's natural!"
Hasana sweatdropped seeing his god's weird logic.
But he still agreed, in his opinion true heroes liked many women.
Honestly, he felt Syr was being too dramatic, her face wasn't as beautiful as an elf's.
But she acted like that...
If she knew Kaen was the hero of this generation, would she regret it?
For some reason, he felt happy imagining Syr's regretful face, making it hard for Hasana to hold back a smile.
Hasana secretly disliked Syr a bit, for a simple reason.
He wanted to get support from a hero!
What about women?
Being the hero's first friend.
"Moreover," Ganesha continued with a relaxed expression.
"You said yourself that Hestia insists Kaen isn't guilty. If that's the case, it must be true. How could Hestia be that stupid? She should know her own child's character best. So I don't need to investigate further."
"Alright, I'll help free him!"
Right when Ganesha looked very happy with his decision, Hasana provided information that immediately made the atmosphere turn cold.
"The girl who was allegedly the victim in that misunderstanding is Syr," Hasana said quietly. "A waitress at the Hostess of Fertility owned by Mama Mia, who used to be the captain of the Freya familia."
"In other words, the Hostess of Fertility is under the protection of the Freya familia."
The room suddenly became very quiet.
Ganesha, who had been enthusiastic, now fell silent with an unreadable expression.
Shakti and Ilta exchanged worried glances.
Is it impossible to befriend someone who's said to become the hero of this era?
"Freya familia..." Ganesha mumbled quietly.
"We can't just free Kaen carelessly," Hasana reminded. "If the Freya familia gets offended because they feel we're dismissing their 'victim'..."
Everyone in that room knew how terrifying the consequences of making the Freya familia angry could be.
They weren't a familia you could mess with.
Competition there was said to be very brutal.
If Goddess Freya wasn't happy and challenged the Ganesha familia, the Freya familia members wouldn't hesitate to attack.
Ganesha was quiet for a very long time.
His face showed an intense thinking process, weighing various possibilities and consequences of every action he might take.
Finally, after a silence that felt like hours, he spoke in a serious tone rarely heard from him.
"It seems... I need to meet Freya and ask if she's involved in this case.
" He raised his head and looked at Hasana. "If she's involved, this will become very bad. I just hope she's not directly involved."
But in their hearts, they all knew: when it came to the Freya familia, very rarely was anything 'simple'.
Hopefully Goddess Freya doesn't want to make everything complicated.