They stepped into the church together, the old wooden door creaking softly as it swung inward.
The inside was quiet at first—sunlight filtering through the worn windows, dust drifting lazily in the air.
A few children were seated on the floor near the front, some drawing, others listening as Maria spoke to them in a calm and gentle tone.
"Syr?" one of the kids noticed first.
Before Maria could even finish her sentence, several heads snapped toward the entrance.
"Syr!"
"You're here again!"
"Did you bring snacks?!"
The moment they spotted the basket in her hands, it was over.
The kids jumped to their feet and rushed her all at once, surrounding her in a blur of small hands and excited voices.
Syr laughed softly, nearly losing her balance as she knelt down to keep the basket from tipping over.
"Easy, easy," she said as she showed them its contents.
"I brought enough for everyone, so no pushing."
Maria turned around, relief and fondness crossing her face when she saw who had come.
Haven't noticed it before but… isn't the security here… kind of lacking?
Kaelis's eyebrow raised slightly from behind.
"Oh my," Maria said as she got up and walked over. "Welcome back, Syr."
Her gaze then shifted slightly—past the silver-haired girl.
"…And you too," she added gently.
The children followed her line of sight.
They leaned around Syr, peeking from behind her apron.
"…Hey," one of them said slowly.
"That guy…"
"He came here before."
"The tall one!"
Recognition spread quickly.
"You twerps finally realize I'm here."
Kaelis stood there with his hand in his pockets, caught under several curious stares.
He then turned towards Maria.
"Been a while," he simply nodded.
The kids stared at him for another second, then one of them gasped.
"It's him! The one who brought Timmy!"
That did it.
A couple of the kids rushed over to him next, less chaotic than with Syr but just as eager, circling him like he might disappear if they looked away too long.
"You came back!"
"Are you staying?"
"Did you bring anything too?"
Kaelis blinked, clearly unprepared for the attention.
"…I have food… and games."
He lifted the bag of snacks he brought on the way along with some switches he had stashed away from his previous modern worlds.
That single word was all it took.
"Games?"
The kids' eyes lit up instantly.
"Games?!"
"What kind of games?!"
"Can we play?!"
"Is it like cards?!"
They didn't even wait for an answer.
The moment Kaelis lifted the bag, they swarmed him this time, tugging at his sleeves and peering into the opening of the bag.
None of them had any idea what the devices inside actually were.
But it didn't matter one bit.
The word games alone was enough to get them active.
"Hey—easy," Kaelis said, a bit amused now as he took a step back.
"At least finish what you were doing with your caretaker."
"Please!"
"She was about to finish anyway!"
"Yeah!"
From the side, Syr's cheeks puffed up slightly, watching the scene with exaggerated offense.
"Hm~?" she said, tilting her head.
"Here I was thinking I brought the main attraction… but it seems I've been completely upstaged."
A few of the kids looked back at her guiltily.
"S-Sorry, Syr…"
"You brought snacks though!"
Hearing them trying to console her, she laughed. "I suppose I can forgive that."
Kaelis shook his head, then sighed. "Alright, alright."
He removed the game consoles and gave the snacks to Maria before moving over to a long couch.
The kids instantly formed a loose circle around him.
He pulled out one of the devices—sleek and dark—and held it up.
The children leaned in.
"…What is it?" one of them, a short kid asked.
"Some kind of magic slate?" another guessed.
"Does it explode?"
"No," Kaelis said flatly. "Hopefully."
That earned him a few nervous laughs.
"It's a game console," he explained, keeping it simple. "From where I'm from. You play games on it."
He pressed a button, and the screen lit up.
Collective gasp.
"Ooooh—!"
"That thing's alive!"
"Is there a spirit inside?!"
Even Syr and Maria leaned in to get a good view on the item.
"…Sure. Let's go with that."
He sat down properly, crossing one leg as the kids shuffled closer, eyes glued to the glowing screen.
He handed out a couple more to the kids, which only added to the confusion.
"Why are there so many buttons?"
"What does this one do?"
"Can I press all of them?"
"Not yet," Kaelis said, intercepting a particularly enthusiastic finger. "I'll show you."
Syr watched from the side, basket now set aside, her expression curious as she observed the scene.
"You're surprisingly good with kids," she commented.
Kaelis didn't look up. "Theyre simply curious. It's easy to handle."
Kaelis showed them how things worked as they went, letting the kids press buttons, mess up, and figure things out on their own.
There were a lot of confused questions, a lot of yelling whenever something happened on the screen, and plenty of laughs to go around.
Time kind of just slipped by while they played, and by the time Kaelis looked up, the light coming through the windows had already started to change.
"Alrighty then." He got up from the couch.
"Hm? What's wrong Mr.?" A young chienthrope girl with yellow hair looked up from the game's screen.
"It's about time I head home." He told her.
It's been about six hours of nonstop gaming and outside has taken on an orange tint indicating the sun's about to fully disappear.
Even Syr has disappeared long before.
"Ahh! But I just chit my turn!" The young woman cried.
"You guys have been playing for sooo looong." He countered.
Maria then stepped in.
"Alright, that's enough for today!" she said firmly, though with a gentle smile.
"You've all had your fun. It's time to let your brains rest."
Fina pouted, glancing at Kaelis. "But… I just got my turn!"
"I know, Fina," Maria replied, kneeling to ruffle the girl's hair.
"But six hours is more than enough for everyone. You guys had plenty of time today already."
Everyone had been alternating the game between each other so everyone had a chance with it.
The kids slowly began putting the consoles back into Kaelis's bag, grumbling playfully but clearly enjoyed them.
"Are you going to come back again?" one of them asked.
Kaelis shrugged, a small smile tugging at his lips.
"Yeah. I'll come by again sometime soon. Don't worry."
The children nodded eagerly, some waving as they went off to help tidy up.
Maria walked kaelis to the door.
"Thank you again for today," she said warmly.
"They really enjoyed it, and… well, so did I."
Kaelis chuckled softly. "Glad to hear it. It was fun."
They reached the old wooden door together, and Maria held it open for him.
"Take care getting home," she said. "And don't stay away too long next time."
Kaelis gave a small nod, stepping outside. "I'll be back before you know it."
The warm glow of the setting sun cast long shadows across the quiet street as Kaelis began walking away, feeling the simple satisfaction of a day well-spent.
…
Meanwhile, while Kaelis was having a slow and steady walk back towards his home, the news about what happened in the Goibniu familia has already begun circulating further.
At 6pm sharp, it could be said that nearly every patron god in Orario—whether good or evil, had come into possession of the information.
Some found sealed letters blown onto their doorstep addressed to someone else.
Of course delivered by mistake, or so it seemed.
Others overheard it in passing: whispered conversations drifting through taverns, shops, or Guild halls, spoken just loudly enough to be impossible to ignore.
A few received casual remarks from their own children, who swore they'd only heard it from another familia, who had heard it from someone else entirely.
Rumors slipped into reports, folded into daily briefings like an afterthought.
Some even came packaged as jokes—laughing adventurers mentioning it offhand, never realizing which ears were listening at that specific moment.
There were messages left half-finished on notice boards, notes tucked between contracts, and secondhand retellings passed along.
Whoever did it clearly didn't want the ears to trace back to them.
No single source or either a clear starting point.
By the time anyone thought to ask where the information came from, it was already everywhere.
Spread thin enough that no one could trace it back without running into a dozen different answers.
Though it sounded unbelievable, most mortals brushed it off as just another exaggerated rumor—the kind Orario was always full of.
The gods, however, thought differently…
…They didn't dismiss it as coincidence or fantasy.
Because unlike mortals, the gods knew better.
They knew there was someone in Orario who specialized in exactly this sort of thing—spreading chaos wrapped in half-truths, and as the same name surfaced in their thoughts, more than a few of them sighed.
Hermes.
If the rumor was spread by anyone else, it would be brushed off by them as nothing more than farse, but one things for certain,
"Hermes' words are never a lie."
It might be exaggerated or half truth but never a 100% lie.
Deep inside the darkness of Orario, a certain figure, having just received a piece of the news, laughed.
"Goibniu? Bested by a human?"He let out a low, delighted laugh.
"Hahaha… how very interesting."His gaze sharpened.
"Valetta. Bring me everything you can find on this Kaelis."
"Yes, yes!"
—
"You think what the rumor said is true?"
In her office room, Hephaestus spoke sharply to the captain of her familia, Tsubaki Collbrande.
"…Considering who has been spreading the rumor, I'd say it's highly likely. Well for the most part…"
—
At the highest point of Orario, Inside the babel tower's peak, the epitome of sensuality sat seated on her throne.
'I'll have to push forward my plan a bit now. Tch!'
—
"Finn, what do you think?"
"Hm…If it's true. Then this person is either going to be protected or hunted down."
The top brass of the Loki familia sat in silence as they discussed the news and how it might affect them.
—
"Ouranos—"
"I know, Fels."
Ouranos closed his eyes. "Do not approach him yet."
"Observation only?"
"For now," Ouranos said quietly.
"Tread carefully."
—
Every god—and their familia tied to them—reacted differently to the news.
Some were intrigued, eyes gleaming at the thought of something new and unprecedented.
Others were irritated, offended even, that something outside their grasp had appeared without warning.
A few were simply curious, quietly filing the information away for later.
Yet alongside those reactions came a familiar, shared sentiment among the gods.
Once again, something interesting had surfaced in the Lower World.
Something unexpected.
Something that reminded them why they had descended in the first place.
Moments like this—unpredictable and full of possibility—were exactly what made their choice feel worthwhile all over again.
And beneath it all, beneath intrigue, irritation, and curiosity alike, one quiet conclusion echoed among them.
"I must have him."
Chapter 85 end.
————————————
I have no experience with so much scene change in one chapter so it might not be good.
I know the previous chapters were kinda boring but as I said, I like slow paced but the story is about to pick up.