Besides those, Orario had several other famous festivals: the Holy Night Festival, the Monster Festival, Great Deed Day, the Divine Moon Festival, and more.
Judging by the busy members of the Ganesha Familia all around him, Xien had a fair idea which one was about to take place.
The Monster Festival.
A holiday spearheaded by the Great God Ouranos, meant to gradually ease relations between monsters and the humanoid races.
Its main purpose, it seemed, was to prepare the way for the Xenos to one day be accepted.
Xien had not expected it to be held at a time like this.
But then again, on second thought, it actually made sense. With morale at such a low point, if the city could get through a festival safely, people's spirits would surely improve.
As he walked, the conversations around him carried a distinctly lighter mood.
"So they're holding that again this year."
"The Monster Festival, right..."
"Does that thing even mean anything?"
"It's just bread and circuses... completely pointless."
"The Ganesha Familia really has it rough too. The Guild shoves this responsibility onto them every year, and they have to wag their tails for the public."
"That just means you don't get it. They're Lord Ganesha's people, after all. Hah!"
In no time at all, the entire area had grown noisy with chatter. Passing the memorial plaza before Guild Headquarters, streams of people flowed left and right before his eyes.
Orario had eight great avenues.
These eight major roads spread outward from the center of the city in all directions, reaching all the way to the outer wall, dividing the city up like a cake cut into eight equal slices.
People distinguished them by direction—North Avenue, Southeast Avenue, and so on.
The one he stood upon now was Northwest Avenue. Since it faced the Guild Headquarters, most of the people here were adventurers.
Anyone who wanted to explore the Dungeon in Orario had to deal with the Guild—whether for procedures, information, or support—so every adventurer came here regularly. No exceptions.
Naturally, that meant the avenue was lined with businesses catering specifically to them.
A casual glance in either direction showed weapon shops and taverns everywhere. Even the dim side alleys branching off the main road were packed with suspicious-looking item shops, inns, and other establishments aimed at adventurers.
At last, he arrived at the designated location.
It was a residence owned by the Guild.
Following the instructions in the letter, Xien retrieved a key hidden in the flowerbed nearby and unlocked the door.
Inside, in the most conspicuous place in the room, sat something that looked like a cloth sack.
A storage pouch. And a high-end one, by the look of it.
These things were rare—or rather, valuable.
Its function was simple: storage.
But it could hold far more than its outward size should allow, a magical item whose effect felt less like genuine spatial creation and more like spatial folding.
Strangely, this world's development in time-space magic was almost nonexistent. He had hardly seen even the most basic teleportation spells.
He reached into the pouch and pulled out several items.
A few books, and a letter.
When he opened the letter, its contents confirmed his suspicion. The storage pouch had been prepared to make transporting supplies easier for him, while the books were the reward for helping Mia—material on magic.
At that point, Xien finally understood exactly who had been maintaining this line of contact with him.
Fels.
Ouranos's personal retainer. A sage from the nation of magic. The creator of the Philosopher's Stone that allowed mortals to achieve immortality. A grand master of magic. And, at present, a skeleton with endless life.
The books in his hand seemed to have been compiled personally by that very man.
On the Principles of Magic, The Sage's Book...
So this was an attempt to groom him as a successor?
Honestly... not bad.
Xien rubbed his chin. Since it didn't seem harmful to him, there was no reason to refuse free rewards. He stored them away properly, planning to study them when he had time.
"Lord Ganesha, all preparations are complete."
Wearing combat gear, Captain Shakti came to report to her god.
"Well done. Then let us begin. And why? Because I am Ganesha!"
Shakti's expression did not change. This was normal for her god. If there ever came a day when he didn't act like this, that would be the real problem.
Even so, she still tried to rein him in. They had no time for theatrics right now.
"Please take this seriously, Lord Ganesha. This year's Monster Festival is crucial to the entire city. We absolutely cannot afford any mistakes."
"Hahaha! There will be no problem! And why? Because I am Ganesha!"
Shakti pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Forget it. Just focus on your speech. Leave everything else to us."
The report had been delivered, and the work assignments were finished. At a time like this, she had no desire to waste any more energy on her god. What mattered now was ensuring the safety of every zone.
"Asterius," she called to her vice-captain, "relay the order. All members are to heighten vigilance. Coordinate with the Loki Familia and Astraea Familia members who came to assist us and make sure every critical point is secured. We cannot allow even the slightest mistake."
"Yes, Captain."
At the Amphitheatrum, the circular arena in eastern Orario, the main event of the day—the Monster Festival—finally began beneath the eyes of a vast crowd.
On the arena floor, amidst thunderous cheers, the heated spectacle unfolded.
Dust billowed everywhere as a monster newly released from its chains charged straight ahead.
A lone woman with chestnut-brown short hair dancing in the wind narrowly avoided the body slam of the giant boar-type monster, the Battle Boar, whose body measured over two mel tall.
In an instant, the crowd erupted.
The roar of tens of thousands swept through the stands in wave after wave.
Wrapped in the feverish atmosphere, the beast capable of shattering rock with its charge—true brute-force incarnate—was deftly evaded by a beast tamer of the Ganesha Familia. Every near miss sent the audience into another frenzy of gasps and exhilarated cheers.
To someone from the outside, it might have looked almost like bullfighting.
The woman, dressed in flamboyant costume, wielded a whip and cape as she crossed paths again and again with the raging monster.
Her task in this festival was not to kill it, but to tame it.
The sight of someone gambling with her life to subdue a murderous creature filled the spectators with awe, tension, and excitement. Unpredictable developments kept their palms sweating and their eyes fixed on the arena.
The monsters' roars, the commentator's voice booming through magic amplification devices, and the crowd's constant shouts all blended together.
The temperature of the event kept climbing.
Outside the arena, the festive mood spread just as strongly.
Since it was a rare celebration, Artemis and her group, having just turned in their mission report at the Guild, decided to take the chance to stroll around and rest a bit.
The bustling atmosphere eased Artemis's worries a little.
It seemed Astraea and the others had done their job well. Before arriving, she had feared the city would be in far worse condition.
She had learned about the dissolution of the two great familias before even reaching Orario, thanks to the Hermes Familia, who kept regular contact with them.
One reason they had rushed back at full speed was to help her friend Astraea as soon as possible.
But from the look of things, the situation seemed relatively stable. Patrol members from the Ganesha Familia and Astraea Familia could be seen everywhere, and even the Loki Familia seemed to be out in force for some reason.
In that case, there was no reason to rush any further. Her own members were exhausted too. Better to let them disperse and rest for a while. If something happened, they would know what to do.
Just as Artemis was about to head toward Adventurer's Street to buy a few things, she spotted a familiar figure.
"Astraea? Why are you here?"
Yes—her friend, the very one she had intended to visit later, was standing by the roadside.
And what she was doing looked like...
selling snacks? No—handing out samples?
"Oh, Artemis. Would you like some? Fresh fruit."
Caught completely off guard by how naturally the invitation came, Artemis instinctively accepted.
"Oh. Sure, I'll have some... wait, no. Why are you here doing something like this?"
Hearing that, Astraea placed a finger to her chin and tilted her head in thought, utterly adorable in the process. Artemis felt her eyelid twitch.
"Well, the children are all working hard too, aren't they? As their goddess, I can't exactly fall behind. So I found something I could do. And this shop happened to be short-handed..."
"I see. That really does sound like you..."
"You all did well, though," Artemis added. "To restore the city to this state so quickly, as though nothing had happened. I heard people mentioning your familia all along the way."
"That's because everyone worked hard..."
"Lady Astraea, so this is where you were."
A familiar voice cut in just as the two goddesses were talking comfortably.
At the sound of that voice, Astraea turned around in delight.
It was Xien.
Without the slightest hesitation, she pulled him into an embrace from behind, resting her chin on top of his head, taking a deep breath, and looking positively blissful.
"Ah, Xien. I didn't expect you to come this way..."
"I could say the same. I just picked up the items for the Guild commission and was on my way here to buy a few things. I didn't expect to find you working at a stall."
Only then did he notice Artemis standing nearby.
Blue hair. Peerless beauty. A practical adventurer's outfit.
His guess formed at once, but he still asked politely.
"And this would be...?"
"Oh, right, you haven't met. This is my friend Artemis. She and her familia just returned from an external mission."
"I see. Greetings, Lady Artemis. I'm Xien, a member of Astraea Familia. It's a pleasure to meet you."
Artemis fell silent.
She looked at the boy in front of her, then at her friend, and abruptly felt as if Astraea had become a stranger.
Had Astraea betrayed her somehow?
How could she secretly recruit a male member without telling her?
Hadn't they agreed they would both keep pure, all-female familias?
And why was she being so physically affectionate with him?
This was nothing like Astraea.
Had someone replaced her?
"Astraea... what exactly is going on here...?"
Before she could demand an explanation—
An explosion erupted without warning.
Boom—!
Xien spun toward the sound at once.
That direction—
It was the underground holding area where the Ganesha Familia kept the captured monsters.
Then the deafening clamor spread everywhere: people screaming, monsters roaring...
"Th-there are monsters! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
The street descended into chaos.
Then, almost as quickly, the entire avenue fell silent as people scattered and dove for cover with the instinctive reflex born of long familiarity.
From the direction of the road leading away from the arena, several monsters of different types came charging straight at them.
They breathed savagely, their muscles coiling and rippling as they sprang toward the civilians who had failed to escape in time.
"Lord Ganesha! Lord Ganesha! This is bad! Really bad!"
Inside the sweltering arena, events were already moving.
The Monster Festival was still in progress. A beast tamer had just leapt onto the back of a long-necked draconic monster, and the audience's excitement was reaching its peak.
"—Let me tell you, I am Ganesha!"
"No, we know that already! This is not the time for an introduction!"
At the uppermost tier of the arena, from a position overlooking the whole venue, Ganesha was observing the festival when a familia member came running in.
At the sight of him, Ganesha struck an absurd pose as though proudly presenting the elephant mask on his face.
The exhausted subordinate nearly burst into tears.
"Monsters have escaped! There was an explosion from somewhere, and every last one of the captured monsters got loose! The cages are empty!"
"...Oh. That does seem rather bad."
"That's why I said it was bad!"
The subordinate's shout was practically spitting with panic.
He quickly explained the rest: the guards underground had been beaten down—or killed—and from the circumstances it appeared outsiders had caused the disturbance.
After listening with a serious expression—or as serious as one could look while wearing that elephant mask—Ganesha asked in a low voice:
"How many escaped?"
"N-nine. Including monsters strong enough that even skilled adventurers would struggle to deal with them... and besides those, there were also upper-floor monsters that weren't even part of the captured stock. We don't know where they came from."
Ganesha did not flinch.
He gave a single grunt beneath the mask.
Then the great god spoke.
....
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