Chapter 92: An Answer That Shocks the Two Goddesses of Beauty
After Shirou made his promise to prove that Heith's disappearance had nothing to do with the Ishtar Familia, Freya immediately toned down her originally tense attitude.
Although the two goddesses of Orario still showed hostility toward each other, as long as Shirou remained here, it seemed unlikely that a new conflict between them would break out so soon.
"Then, state your reasons, Shirou," Freya said with curiosity as she looked at him. "Why do you think Heith's disappearance has nothing to do with the Ishtar Familia?"
"Of course I can explain, but it's better if we talk while moving," Shirou said, looking like he intended to lead Ishtar and Freya somewhere.
The two goddesses exchanged a glance and, ultimately trusting Shirou, followed his steps.
"First, I want to make one thing clear," Shirou said, looking at Goddess Ishtar. "Ishtar, you should know that your Windmoon Street was built based on the foundation of Daedalus Street, right?"
"I know," Ishtar silently nodded at Shirou's words. "Before I established the Ishtar Familia and created today's Windmoon Street, Daedalus Street already existed. After all, it was a street personally founded by Daedalus himself a thousand years ago. I only carved out a portion of Daedalus Street to create my own territory."
"I thought so," Shirou nodded at Ishtar's answer. "In that case, you probably don't know that Daedalus Street is actually divided into two layers, upper and lower?"
"What?" Both Ishtar and Freya looked confused at Shirou's words.
The two goddesses clearly couldn't understand what Shirou meant and looked at him with puzzled eyes.
Not wasting time on their confusion, Shirou directly led them to Phryne's room and opened a secret passage hidden inside.
"What's this?" It was clearly the first time Ishtar had learned about this passage. "Did Phryne build this secret passage herself? No, how could she have built such a large tunnel alone?"
"And judging from the marks, this passage is very old—possibly even older than the Ishtar Familia itself," Freya quietly agreed.
"As you said, this secret passage couldn't have been created by Phryne, and it has little to do with the Ishtar Familia either," Shirou quietly explained. "In fact, this passage is part of Daedalus Street itself, built by Daedalus, the creator of Daedalus Street."
"A secret passage built by Daedalus himself? Why would he make such a thing?" Ishtar and Freya both clearly didn't understand the purpose of this passage.
When Shirou first discovered this passage, he also didn't understand its function.
He initially thought it was simply a road connecting Windmoon Street and Daedalus Street, but soon rejected that idea because Windmoon Street didn't even exist at the time the passage was built.
Daedalus certainly didn't create this passage with such a purpose.
"Well, let's continue," Shirou said as he picked up a torch and led Ishtar and Freya into the passage.
Trusting Shirou, the two goddesses did not hesitate and followed his lead.
After traveling inside the tunnel for some time, they soon saw Phryne's already decayed corpse.
"Phryne... so she really is dead." Ishtar's expression showed no tremor, clearly having expected this outcome long ago.
Moreover, she had no intention of avenging Phryne's death.
After all, since the opponent could kill a level 5 like Phryne, the current Ishtar Familia definitely had no chance of defeating such an existence.
"Did you kill her, Shirou?" Freya suddenly asked after examining the corpse, noticing Shirou showed no surprise.
"No, I've been here before," Shirou quickly shook his head. "Besides, I couldn't possibly defeat a level 5, right?"
"That's true," Ishtar nodded, not believing a level 2 adventurer like Shirou could be a match for a level 5 like Phryne.
Freya's expression, however, was very teasing.
She obviously didn't believe Shirou's power was limited to the apparent level 2.
The group continued forward, passing through the dark passage until they reached the other exit, which undoubtedly led to Daedalus Street.
"It really connects..." Ishtar was clearly the most surprised by this result. "Why on earth would Daedalus build such a secret passage?"
"The purpose of Daedalus making these passages was likely to hide from the gaze of the gods," Shirou answered Ishtar's question. "If my guess is right, the entire Daedalus Street was created by Daedalus himself to secretly carry out some kind of action hidden from the gods' watchful eyes."
"Secretly carry out some kind of action?"
Both Ishtar and Freya showed surprised expressions at Shirou's words.
Neither of them had expected that Daedalus Street held such secrets, which even the gods who had stayed in Orario for nearly a thousand years were completely unaware of.
"What exactly was Daedalus trying to do?" Freya, now curious, couldn't help but ask.
"I don't know yet. I have no answer at the moment," Shirou waved his hand. "But the Dark Faction definitely knows everything since they use Daedalus Street as their base."
"The Dark Faction..." The topic unexpectedly circled back to this.
Freya couldn't help but ask, "So what does all this have to do with Heith's disappearance? Even if Windmoon Street is part of Daedalus Street and there's a secret passage between them, that still doesn't prove the Ishtar Familia isn't involved in Heith's disappearance."
As Freya asked, Ishtar also glanced over, clearly sharing the same confusion in her heart.
"Don't rush," Shirou said confidently. "Before I reveal the final truth, I need to introduce this Daedalus Street to the two goddesses first. To be honest, almost no gods in all of Orario know anything about Daedalus Street."
"Actually, no gods know anything about Daedalus Street," Freya waved her hand dismissively. "Since it's full of the poor and criminals, not even a poor god like Hestia dares to approach this place."
Freya's disparagement of her own patron deity left Shirou unable to respond.
"In any case, the gods are all unaware of Daedalus Street's true nature, so I have to introduce this street to you first," Shirou cleared his throat and steered the topic back.
"First, although Daedalus Street is called a street, it is actually a district formed by countless intertwined streets. It covers nearly a tenth of Orario's area.
The roads are so complex that anyone entering is very likely to get lost and unable to find the right direction.
Therefore, to move normally within Daedalus Street, one must buy a tool called a 'Signpost.' The signpost can guide the user along the correct roads and point out the way to the exit."
As Shirou spoke, he led Ishtar and Freya through Daedalus Street.
Although this place was a haven for criminals, with two goddesses of beauty who possessed charm powers present, anyone nearby was immediately charmed and would not dare to harass them.
Thus, Shirou was able to move quite easily through Daedalus Street.
At first, he didn't use the signpost, relying only on his sense of direction to guide the two goddesses.
Unsurprisingly, they got lost.
Even Freya and Ishtar couldn't figure out where they were, confused by the complicated road conditions of Daedalus Street.
Then Shirou took out the signpost and, following its directions, led the two goddesses onward.
Soon, they successfully walked out of the maze-like Daedalus Street and arrived at the outside world.
"This is really..." Freya was at a loss for words for a moment. "Inside and outside of this street feel like two completely different worlds."
"Is the neighboring district of Windmoon Street really such a different world?"
Ishtar felt this more strongly.
She had always lived on Windmoon Street but had never once been to Daedalus Street next door.
She never imagined that this seemingly ordinary Daedalus Street was actually such an abnormal place. Even gods, without the road signs, would probably get completely lost inside Daedalus Street.
"So, what does this have to do with Heith's disappearance?" After reflecting for a moment, Freya looked toward Shirou. "You can't be telling me that Heith got lost in Daedalus Street and that's why she vanished out of thin air, right?"
"That's right, but only half of that sentence is correct." Shirou responded to Freya with a strange answer.
"Half correct?" Ishtar and Freya clearly did not understand what Shirou meant.
"Ishtar said before, right? That Windmoon Street was originally part of Daedalus Street. Windmoon Street was cut out from within Daedalus Street, so essentially, Windmoon Street is actually a component of Daedalus Street. That understanding is correct, isn't it?"
"That's right."
"Then, wouldn't the confusing, losing-property of Daedalus Street also apply to Windmoon Street?"
"..." Unexpectedly, Shirou said this, and both Ishtar and Freya fell silent for a moment.
Finally, Ishtar spoke first: "Impossible. If Windmoon Street caused people to get lost just like Daedalus Street, then the Ishtar Familia could never have established a base there, because guests wouldn't be able to find Windmoon Street at all, let alone interact with the Ishtar Familia."
"Indeed." Shirou nodded. "That was my initial thought too. But what if the lost-property of Windmoon Street is dependent on Daedalus Street? Or rather, controlled from the Daedalus Street side? Normally, people entering Windmoon Street wouldn't be affected by Daedalus Street, but if certain conditions are met, they could get trapped inside the lost domain of Daedalus Street."
"And because Daedalus Street, as a no-go zone, is shielded from the gods' surveillance eyes covering Orario, it explains why the disappearance of Heith wasn't detected by the Windmoon Street's surveillance."
"..." Although Shirou's statements were hypothetical and lacked clear evidence, both Ishtar and Freya inexplicably felt convinced by what he said.
However, Freya still seemed unconvinced and said, "If what you say is true, Shirou, that Heith was controlled by Windmoon Street's lost-property and ended up drifting into Daedalus Street, then why was the last message she sent back saying she was in Windmoon Street?"
"Heith sent a message back at the end?" Because it was the first time Freya brought up this information, even Shirou was a bit surprised.
Freya quietly explained, "My Familia has a method to transmit information across spaces, but the messages can only be very brief, just a few words.
Before Heith disappeared, the last information she sent back was simply one word—Windmoon Street."
"I see." Shirou finally understood why Freya was so certain that Heith was captured by the Ishtar Familia.
After all, even if Heith was sent to Windmoon Street on a mission, she could have been attacked by other Familias en route.
But if Heith clearly stated she was attacked in Windmoon Street, then whoever committed the crime must be the Ishtar Familia 100%.
"I have never met this person called Heith." Ishtar still maintained her previous position on this.
"Hmph, I don't care if you have met her or not, but if Heith was taken by your Familia, I will definitely make you return her to Tenkai!" Freya's attitude was extremely harsh, showing no mercy toward the Ishtar Familia.
Seeing the tension rise between the two goddesses again, Shirou quickly intervened.
"As for the last message Heith sent back, I might be able to explain why she thought she was captured in Windmoon Street."
"What?" Neither Ishtar nor Freya expected Shirou to say something like that, and both looked over.
Especially Freya, who frowned and said, "You mean Heith was mistaken about being in Windmoon Street? Are you doubting Heith's judgment?"
As an Lv.4 of Freya's Familia, Heith's abilities and mentality were unquestionable. Freya trusted her completely and did not think the last message she sent could be false.
Shirou immediately replied, "I'm not saying Heith's judgment was wrong, but that the place Heith was in might have been Windmoon Street—but not really Windmoon Street."
"Windmoon Street, but not Windmoon Street?" Both Ishtar and Freya were confused by Shirou's words.
"I guess it's easier to explain through action." Shirou sighed. "If I'm not mistaken, I can take you to the Windmoon Street where Heith was captured."
After saying this, Shirou wasted no time.
He set 'Windmoon Street' as the target location on his beacon and directly led the two goddesses through Daedalus Street.
As before, due to the extremely chaotic terrain of Daedalus Street, ordinary people would quickly lose their sense of direction while walking around. In the end, they could only rely on road signs as the sole guiding tool to confirm their location.
"Eh, wait..." After wandering an unknown number of times, and not knowing where they were, Ishtar suddenly opened her eyes wide and looked at the environment in disbelief.
Although she couldn't bring herself to believe what she was seeing, the bloody reality was laid before her eyes. She had arrived at Windmoon Street.
However, the real Windmoon Street should now be controlled by Freya's Familia, but on this Windmoon Street, there was no sign of any members from Freya's Familia at all.
"What is going on?"
Freya was also stunned, staring blankly at the street in front of her, which was exactly the same as her impression, unable to understand what was happening.
How could Orario have a second Windmoon Street?
Especially with such huge buildings—if this were real, wouldn't the upper floors of Babel Tower be able to see it at a glance?
Facing the shock of the two goddesses, Shirou pointed to the sky, pointing beyond the dazzling lights to the pitch-black night sky where nothing existed.
"Ishtar, Freya, do you remember if there was a moon in the sky tonight?"
"Moon?" Ishtar and Freya looked at the pitch-black sky and suddenly froze.
Then Ishtar said in disbelief, "No, where did the moon go tonight? And it's not just the moon—there's something about that sky that feels..."
"That's not the sky!" Freya judged before Ishtar did. "That's a wall, a shell! We're underground right now!"
"Exactly."
Shirou nodded at Freya's judgment. "Remember what I said before—that Daedalus Street is divided into upper and lower layers.
The upper layer is the Daedalus Street we all know.
But besides the surface Daedalus Street, there's another Daedalus Street underground.
Not just Daedalus Street—Windmoon Street, Apothecary Street, Commercial Street, and all the other streets exist here underground.
Except for Babel Tower, which is too huge to replicate, this place is almost like another Orario, an underground Orario!"
"Underground Orario?" Faced with the shock of the two goddesses, Shirou quietly explained:
"Heith and the other missing people likely got lost in Daedalus Street at night, and in the dark, ordinary people can't distinguish between underground and surface.
Especially since Windmoon Street itself is so brightly lit, it completely impairs one's judgment of their location. They would never think they had actually gone from the surface down underground.
That's why Heith mistakenly thought she was attacked in Windmoon Street, and sent that incorrect last message in her final moments."
Shirou's words revealed the full inside story of Heith's disappearance.
Although many details remain unclear and much is speculation, seeing this underground Windmoon Street in front of them, both Ishtar and Freya had to admit that Shirou's hypothesis was likely correct.
All of this was a trap deliberately set by the Dark Faction to make the two goddesses' Familias collide with each other!