Over at the Hermes Familia's spot, the blond god was doubled over laughing, completely ignoring the nearly freezing glare the girl behind him was leveling at his back.
Asfi Al Andromeda pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose, a cold glint flashing across the lenses, her tone flat but every word a dagger to the heart.
"Heh, Lord Hermes, have you perhaps forgotten that you're a deeply sinful god yourself?"
"Take Captain Lidith Caverna, for instance, who still pines for you to this very day…"
"..."
Hermes's laughter cut off in an instant. He was about to weasel his way out of it when he felt several gazes, cold and sharp as arrows, stab into him from behind.
He stiffly raised his head, only to meet Demeter's not-quite-a-smile.
"Demeter, let me make my excuses…!"
"Hermes, seeing you laugh so happily, well, that puts my mind at ease."
Demeter turned with a sweet smile to the familia members beside her and softly gave her instructions:
"For the foreseeable future, let's give our dear Lord Hermes a taste of subsisting on air. You understand my meaning?"
"Y-yes, yes, yes! For the foreseeable future, not a single shop we own or partner with will sell Lord Hermes so much as one grain of food!"
At that, Hermes's eyes went round, his face twisting in an instant.
"Demeter! Nooo!!!"
"Forgive me!"
That piteous shriek made the crowd of idle gods who'd been waiting around for a good show all shrink their necks back at once, then quickly shove their own familias in front of them to block Demeter's line of sight, while they themselves played the part of innocent bystanders and struck up conversation with the gods they knew.
"Lovely weather today."
"Sure is."
"If the snow came down a little heavier it'd really feel like the season!"
"Right, right!"
…
The Goddess of Beauty, Freya, elegantly and slowly withdrew her gaze and let out a scornful little laugh.
"Idiot."
With that, she went on without so much as turning her head.
"Ottar, remember to remind the children of the familia to keep their distance from that fool Hermes."
Receiving his goddess's order, the young Boaz pressed a hand to his chest and bowed.
"As you wish, Lady Freya."
On another side.
Loki was grinning just as widely, nudging Riveria, whose expression kept shifting, with an elbow.
"I've been alive for hundreds of millions of years, and only today did I find out Hermes has this much of a gift for comedy! No wonder that old geezer Zeus loves him so much! Hehehe!"
Riveria: "..."
You'd better mean "love" the wholesome way, and not the other way.
…
The gazes that had originally been fixed on the Demeter Familia's "killing ground" abruptly shifted with Hermes's shrill scream.
The blond god had successfully made himself, in the most conspicuous way imaginable, the instant focus of the whole crowd of onlookers.
As for this philandering god's nature, the gods who hailed from the divine realm alongside him knew it all too well. They merely spared him a faint glance before withdrawing their eyes with blank faces, as if long since used to it.
Astraea wore a gown brimming with a pure, holy air that perfectly displayed her shapely figure. The gentle, graceful smile remained on her stunning face. Her gaze drifted to Leon, surrounded by a crowd of women and goddesses, his smile gone rigid, and then she looked meaningfully at Kaguya beside her, whose delicate hand gripped her sword sheath, knuckles white.
"Kaguya, it seems the scenery around this Mr. Leon is far more… tangled and complicated than we'd imagined."
"If you want to count yourself among it, you'll have to work twice as hard!"
With that, Astraea even gave a wink, drawing soft laughter from the children around her.
Alise affectionately hugged Kaguya's arm, nuzzling against her cheek.
"Hehe, the competition's pretty fierce, but our Kaguya-chan's got looks, strength, and grace, plus she's a daughter of a distinguished noble house from the Far East. With perfect credentials like that, she won't lose to anyone."
Kaguya bit down lightly on her lip, her face livid, her slender frame trembling faintly with suppressed fury.
"That bastard!"
"Scumbag! Shameless! Despicable!"
Beside her, Ryuu's little face was icy cold, her eyes brimming with killing intent.
"Trash like that, who tramples on people's sincere feelings, deserves to be cut a thousand times and ground into mincemeat!"
Everyone turned in unison to stare at Ryuu in horror. Is that the kind of thing a crazy elf like you should be saying out loud? Terrifying!
"Hey, hey, hey, Ryuu! Your killing intent's leaking out, rein it in!"
"My apologies."
"...Your apology doesn't carry a shred of sincerity."
Everyone: "..."
…
"Demeter really is something. How did even she end up tangled in it? I just don't understand her."
On another side, Artemis withdrew her gaze with a solemn expression, took on the airs of a disciplinary committee chief, and earnestly lectured the girls of her familia:
"Did you all see that? This is what comes of drowning in romance. Set aside whether that fickle male lead can ultimately come out on top in this war between women. Just the cruel process of all this passionate love, don't you find it heartbreaking? What a waste… how many pure, sincere hearts get trampled so coldly!"
"Sigh, look at them, truly pitiful…"
Rethusa watched her own peerlessly beautiful, chaste goddess, looking like she wanted to say something and kept swallowing it back, until in the end all the words she might have spoken dissolved into one long sigh.
"Hm? Rethusa, is there something you'd like to say?"
"Uh… no."
"Good, that's a dear."
Only then did Artemis nod with satisfaction, and in a summing-up tone she declared gravely:
"With this cautionary example before you, now you understand why I'm so strict with you all, don't you?"
The members of the Artemis Familia exchanged helpless looks, the same lament rising in all their hearts at once:
Yes, yes, yes, Lady Artemis, you're absolutely right about everything, romance and love are all heresy! Only by staying single for hundreds of millions of years like you can one preserve their purity forever!
…
Over on the Demeter Familia's side.
After a whole round of persuasion, not even sparing the masterful art of the time-management expert or the secret, unteachable techniques for balancing relationships with women, very nearly talking himself hoarse, Leon finally managed to bring the temperature of this "killing ground" back down.
He drew out the handkerchief carrying Rose's faint fragrance, wiped his temple, and let out a long breath.
Then he shot Rose and Jeanne a knowing look, composed himself, raised a confident smile, and extended an invitation to Demeter and Persephone:
"Two beautiful ladies, once the opening ceremony's over, shall we take a stroll together?"
"Orario hasn't held a celebration this lively in a long while, not since all that turmoil. What do you two say?"
Under the knowing looks of the women behind him, Leon watched the two beauties with a "composed smile" and waited for their reply.
Demeter glanced at the blank-faced Jeanne and the others behind Leon, then smiled charmingly and nodded her assent.
"Sure! Now that I think about it, it's been almost a year since I last went for a walk with you, hasn't it? It actually makes me look forward to it."
Persephone, beside her, merely pushed her glasses up lightly and gave an almost imperceptible nod.
For two people who had already "communicated deeply," their feelings for each other went without saying.
Leon knew better than anyone that beneath Persephone's icy, severe surface, her true nature was the exact opposite: passionate and uninhibited! That contrast, combined with that intensity of hers, had nearly been too much for even a veteran like Leon the first time around. He'd come dangerously close to being disarmed in under fifteen minutes!
Just as Leon successfully secured his invitation to tour the festival with the two ladies, the clock tower's mighty bell suddenly tore across the city's vast sky, ringing out to the heavens!
"Hellooo!!!"
"Everyone, thanks for waiting!!!"
"Welcome to the Christmas Festival, brought to you with all our love by the Orario Guild!"