"Go and answer the door."
As Haimer's voice fell,
"Yes, Lord Haimer." Lily nodded and trotted over to that heavy solid-wood front door.
"Creeeak——" The door hinge turned. Sunlight spilled in through the widening crack of the pushed-open door, into the entryway.
Outside the door stood a tall woman.
Her shoulder-length blue short hair was groomed immaculately, and a pair of black-framed glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.
She wore a well-tailored white coat, beneath which was lightweight leather armor convenient for combat, and several finely crafted little pouches hung at her waist—at a glance, clearly the practical sort, always ready to respond to any sudden situation.
Asfi lowered her head, looking at the Pallum girl who had opened the door. Her gaze lingered for half a second on that somewhat worn-out hooded shirt, and a flicker of complexity passed through her eyes—such attire was quite a rarity in a high-class residential district.
"Pardon the intrusion." Asfi pushed up the black-framed glasses on her nose, her voice crisp and composed. "I am the captain of the Hermes Familia, Asfi Al Andromeda." "By Lord Hermes's command, I have come specially to call upon Lord Haimer."
With that, Asfi's gaze then went past Lily, looking toward the interior of the hall.
Lily, of course, recognized this famous figure of Orario.
Though she knew Asfi was an upright person, still... the moment she thought of how the one Asfi served was the notoriously unreliable, big-talking god Hermes,
Lily couldn't help but feel uneasy inwardly. She just didn't dare take matters into her own hands, so she turned to look back at Haimer, who was seated on the sofa.
"Let her in, Lily." Haimer nodded.
Receiving the instruction, Lily immediately pulled the heavy solid-wood door wide open, clearing a path broad enough to pass through, and unconsciously puffed out her little chest.
Even though her height gave her no advantage at all, she couldn't afford to lose in sheer presence.
After all, she now represented the face of the [Haimer Familia].
Asfi gave Lily a slight nod of acknowledgment, by way of expressing her thanks, and stepped into this mansion—rumored to make even the [Ganesha Familia] keep its distance.
Passing through the entryway, she walked into the hall.
In the center of the hall,
Haimer sat on the sofa, one leg crossed over the other, a cup of black tea in hand, quietly watching Asfi.
Deep within the mansion, beside a massive Roman column,
because Rei and the others knew an outsider had come, they were doing their best to conceal themselves.
But even so, Asfi still noticed them at first glance.
Sure enough. The rumors were all true.
Asfi's thoughts churned rapidly.
She had only recently returned to Orario from a mission outside, and had already heard of this major event that had lately occurred in the city.
The newly arrived god Haimer had openly brought monsters born in the Dungeon up to the surface, and had brazenly taken them in as Familia members, keeping them in his own mansion without the slightest concealment.
But the rumors had only told her that the [Haimer Familia] sheltered monsters.
Good grief. They had only told her that the [Haimer Familia] sheltered monsters.
They hadn't told her that the two sides—who by all rights should be mortal enemies—could actually coexist in one room this harmoniously!
As a captain who often handled all manner of thorny affairs for Hermes and had dealt with gods of every stripe and walk of life in Orario, Asfi considered herself experienced and well-informed.
Precisely because of that,
Asfi simply could not imagine how a god who had descended to Orario less than half a year ago could cow everyone into such utter silence.
Even her own patron deity, normally afraid of nothing in heaven or earth, would tremble with fear when facing him.
"Welcome, Miss Asfi."
"Hermes's efficiency is a bit faster than I expected."
"Don't keep standing—have a seat." Haimer tilted his chin slightly, pointing to the single-seat sofa across from him. "Lily, go pour a cup of tea."
"Yes." Hearing this, Lily immediately understood that Kami-sama wanted her to stay clear of the conversation that was about to follow. She hurriedly answered, turned, and trotted off toward the kitchen.
Asfi, for her part, steadied herself, gathered her composure, and walked up to the sofa.
"Lord Haimer, good day."
"My apologies for troubling you to receive me personally."
Asfi sat down with elegant poise and inclined her head slightly toward Haimer.
"It's no trouble at all."
"After all, it's your patron deity who owes me something."
Catching the meaning in Haimer's words, Asfi held out the white envelope in both hands and laid it flat on the obsidian tea table.
At the envelope's seal, a clear emblem was branded in red wax.
——A winged traveler's hat, the mark of the [Hermes Familia].
"Lord Haimer," Asfi began, her voice crisp, "because Lord Hermes has caught a slight chill today and is feeling unwell, he is unable to come and visit in person, so he has specially ordered me to deliver this to you."
"Caught a cold?"
Haimer leaned back against the sofa, his gaze resting on the red wax seal stamped on the surface of that white envelope.
The seal was pressed with the design of a winged traveler's hat.
He didn't immediately reach for the letter; instead he raised an eyebrow and looked at Asfi with great interest.
"It's true that, in the Lower World, gods possess bodies no different from those of mortals."
"But merely drinking a few mugs of ale at a tavern last night and catching a bit of the night wind, and then being bedridden this very morning—that constitution is a touch too frail, wouldn't you say?"
Faced with Haimer's questioning, Asfi sat on the single-seat sofa across from him, her legs pressed together.
"After Lord Hermes left the tavern last night, on his way back to the base, his pace was somewhat hurried, and he inadvertently fell into a sewer shaft that was under construction."
"By the time he was fished out, Lord Hermes had already been soaking in the filthy water for nearly half an hour."
"After returning to the Traveler's Home, he came down with a high fever. The apothecary has already made a diagnosis—it is indeed a severe chill."
Asfi spoke with both hands folded atop her lap.
"I see."
"If that's the case, then how unfortunate indeed."
Having heard her out, Haimer remained unconvinced.
"Last night at [The Hostess of Fertility], when I tracked him down, he had the look of someone sitting on pins and needles, in a rush to leave."
"And today, just so coincidentally, he fell into a sewer shaft, and just happened to soak there for a full half hour before anyone found him, and finally, right on cue, came down with a high fever."
"An excuse not even a three-year-old would believe—and yet you, Miss Asfi, wield it so smoothly, with such a straight face."
Hearing these words from Haimer,
Asfi's expression turned complicated. She lowered her head slightly, weighing her words, trying to salvage a little face for her patron deity.
"Lord Haimer..."
"It's true that Lord Hermes's conduct is often unexpected..."
"But what Lord Hermes has promised you will absolutely not go wrong."
Asfi picked up the thread of Haimer's words.
"But the things Lord Hermes has promised have never gone wrong. The contents of the letter—he stayed up late personally compiling and verifying them after returning last night, without the slightest error."
"Let's hope so."
Having heard her out, Haimer finally set down his teacup, reached out, and picked up that letter.
He tore open the seal.
From inside, he drew out a sheet of parchment folded into a neat square.
Its texture was somewhat coarse, evidently torn off on the spot from some sort of record book.
Haimer unfolded it.
On the parchment was a string of place names and coordinates written in black ink, along with route markings.
The handwriting was scrawled, with traces of smudging and corrections.
It seemed the writer really had been straining to reconstruct accurate information from distant memory.
Haimer gave the words on it a cursory glance.
His gaze swept across line after line of the contents.
Speaking of searching for Zeus,
it wasn't actually some passing whim that had seized Haimer on impulse.
Concerning Zeus.
In the memories of all the residents of Orario—
—there was a chapter about the most tragic era in Orario's history.
The two great Familias that had once stood at the very pinnacle of the whole world.
——The [Zeus Familia] and the [Hera Familia].
Possessing monster-class combat strength at Lv.8 and Lv.9, fifteen years ago, at the very height of their power,
the two great Familias, after making thorough preparations, took on the labyrinth city Orario's publicly announced "Three Great Adventurer Quests."
After subjugating the "Sovereign of the Land," Behemoth, and the "Overlord of the Sea," Leviathan, they were defeated by the final Black Dragon——the One-Eyed Dragon, and were annihilated to the last.
Having lost their main fighting forces, the factions' strength greatly waned. Then,
the two great Familias, their vitality gravely sapped, were jointly set upon by Loki and Freya—whom they had long kept pinned beneath them—and were utterly driven out of Orario.
And so the events that followed came to pass.
As for Zeus, his whereabouts remained unknown.
However, as a transmigrator, Haimer happened to remember that Zeus had taken a child and gone into seclusion in a remote village outside Orario.
As for that child——it was none other than Bell Cranel.
With the blood of members of the [Zeus Familia] and [Hera Familia] flowing through his veins, he could be counted as the last ember left in this world by the old era.
As the destined child of fate on this world's originally fixed trajectory,
when he would later chance to encounter Ais, it would also trigger 『Single-Minded Yearning』.
It was just that, for now, it remained unclear
whether this world had changed at all because of his own appearance.
Still, speaking of Bell Cranel,
Haimer actually had no intention of recruiting him into his own Familia.
After all,
Bell didn't suit him.
The template of the traditional, righteous-path hero was utterly at odds with his own way of doing things; recruiting him would only make Haimer feel awkward.
But his descent to the Lower World was not truly to play some game of Familia house with this bunch of gods.
He had his own purpose.
As a competent chess player, he naturally had to bring every piece of value on the board into the scope of his consideration.
Not recruiting did not mean leaving them be.
Bell or Zeus, both were certain variables.
Before his ultimate goal was achieved, any bargaining chip that might possibly help attain that goal could never be lightly let go.
At this thought, Haimer tucked the parchment into the pocket of his shirt.
"Give my thanks to Hermes for me."
Haimer raised his head and looked at Asfi.
"By the way, Miss Asfi, could I trouble you to pass along a message for me?"
Hearing this, Asfi immediately straightened her posture.
"Please speak, Lord Haimer. I will convey it without missing a single word."
"Tell him."
"I consider myself a person of fairly good temper—it's just that, in certain respects, I lack patience."
"So I can understand his not coming this time; I'll just take it as him being unwilling to be seen associating with me by the other gods."
"But." "There's a limit to everything."
"If I ever catch him playing his little tricks again,"
"last night's sewer shaft"
"will no longer be his final resting place."
"!!!" "...I understand, Lord Haimer..."
"I will bring your words to Lord Hermes..."
Having heard this, Asfi knew her task was complete, so she swallowed, smoothed out the white coat on her body, and stood up.
"In that case, I won't disturb your rest any longer. I'll take my leave first."
Asfi gave Haimer a slight bow, performed a parting courtesy, and then turned to prepare to leave.
Only, in the very instant Asfi turned to head toward the door,
the corner of her eye still couldn't help sweeping across the depths of the mansion.
After all, the Siren, the harpy, the spider-woman, and the Hellhound were truly conspicuous.
These monsters,
now able to remain peacefully in the hall of this surface mansion,
with all of the Familia still able to maintain tacit acceptance of it—
this was truly a terrifying signal.
At this thought, Asfi did not dare take another look. She withdrew her gaze, quickened her steps, passed through the entryway, pushed open the door, and walked out of this mansion.
Only when the sunlight fell on her face again, and she heard the sound of carriages rolling over the flagstone road in the street, did she finally let out a long breath.
As for the hall,
with Asfi's departure, once the door was closed again,
Haimer leaned back against the sofa, raised a hand, and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Now that the intelligence on Zeus had been obtained,
the bargaining chips in his hands grew more and more.
As long as he negotiated with Ouranos,
and bound the Xenos to him,
he could resolve the matter of leaving the city at any time.
He could set out to go meet that old fellow whenever he wished.
But, before that,
he still had many matters to deal with.
The construction of the new base had already been put on the agenda.
On the Guild's side, though Royman Mardeel was fairly efficient in handling things, and there were also the design blueprints finalized by Hephaestus and the other gods,
still, more important than that was how to settle those children who were soon to come over from the G-404 World.
Even their common-sense knowledge of normal social life was virtually zero. If they wanted to go on living in this world, they would need not only vast amounts of supplies, weapons, equipment, and medical reserves, but most importantly of all, dedicated teachers as well.
With the current Familia members,
faced with such a huge population base,
the manpower still seemed stretched thin.
Moreover, the housing of the Xenos likewise needed to proceed in parallel. Although he had brought a few of those Xenos from the Dungeon up as exemplars,
the number of Xenos was likewise not to be underestimated.
Thus, all sorts of complicated affairs surfaced in Haimer's mind.
So much so that Haimer suddenly realized that, whether in the Heavens or the Lower World, he belonged to the type who simply could not sit idle.
And it was just at this moment
that, from the direction of the second-floor staircase, came a string of dragging footsteps, along with some indistinct mumbling.
"Pat... pat..." Haimer raised his head helplessly.
And he saw Hestia, who had just finished catching up on sleep, with a head of messy long hair, her left hand clutching the wooden banister of the staircase, her right hand ceaselessly rubbing her bleary, sleepy eyes, coming down one halting step at a time. She walked into the hall, let out a great big yawn, and didn't forget to add a line.
"Were you all just talking bad about me a moment ago?" "How could we!"
"Hestia-sama!"
"Fei reveres you the most of all!" Hestia.jpg
Author's note: peeking out.jpg — Is anyone curious about the protagonist's purpose in the Lower World?!
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