" " "We're home!" " " Sona, Aika, and Koneko simultaneously shouted when they entered the mansion along with Yoruichi.
Kisuke, Kuroka, Medusa, and Hestia were already waiting while having some tea in the living room ever since they heard about the strange and sudden quest they received from a very suspicious individual.
When the four entered the living room, the first one to jump on them was Kuroka as she pounced on Koneko first, "Welcome back, nya~! Are you alright!? Did you get hurt anywhere!?" Kuroka inspected Koneko from head to toe and seeing that nothing was wrong with her nor with the other two, she sighed in relief.
"Kuroka-neesama... We're fine, but we're also tired." Koneko replied as she snuggled into Kuroka's arm.
Medusa went to the kitchen so that she could prepare some more tea and snacks for those who just came home.
"Uhmm, could you please tell me now what just happened?" Hestia asked after everyone finished their greetings.
Sona nodded and started telling everyone what exactly happened. The group already decided that they would tell everything that happened in this world to Hestia except for a few exceptions like the incident with the mutated Balor and the 50th Floor's Juggernaut.
Hestia kept her brows furrowed, her eyes closed, and nodding every now and then while listening to their story. But everyone who was watching had to stop themselves from laughing as it was painfully obvious that she didn't understand most of it despite acting like she already saw through Sona's story.
'I should ask Yoruichi to teach her how to do a poker face so that she wouldn't reveal everything with just her expression.' Kisuke thought as he contemplated the decision to let Hestia in on these secrets, "Ehem, have you noticed anything else?"
Although Kisuke was interested in Olivas's 'resurrection', he didn't have enough materials to investigate and draw a conclusion from it. But he could at least tell that these plant-type monsters, human-monster hybrid, and the mysterious 'her' belonged to the other 'player' in the Dungeon.
"Hmm... This Olivas called those suicide bombers as the remnant of Evilus. Aside from that, cages containing these Violas were also spotted in the pantry." Sona answered.
"Cages?"
"Yes. There were iron cages. The same as the ones used in the MonsterPhilia to contain monsters."
'The fact that these monsters appeared on the surface, then it means that someone is smuggling them in. But the only ones capable of doing this without other's detection is the Guild or the Ganesha Familia with the help of the Guild.' While thinking about this point, Kisuke received a signal from Yoruichi which wasn't noticed by anyone but him. "Then regarding the 'invitation' to the 59th floor by this so-called Revis, the Loki Familia will probably arrange an expedition to get to the bottom of this. What will you do?" But instead of facing towards her direction, Kisuke immediately continued their topic, 'She knows something, huh.' Kisuke thought.
Sona nodded, "I also thought that it would be the case." She looked to the other two before facing Kisuke again, "Can we go too?"
Kisuke smiled and immediately answered, "Sure~. But we first have to work out the schedule and discuss it with the Loki Familia. The Loki Familia would take at least a week to prepare for the expedition due to their recent loss of equipment and Riveria-san would be coming here every two days from now on."
"We'll work it out with Riveria-san." Sona happily replied.
Kisuke stood up, "Then I'll leave that to you. I'll go back to my lab first to finish my own preparation. It should be done after 4 days."
Sona knew that when Kisuke said his 'own' preparation, it's actually for everyone. She jumped in his arms and hugged him tightly, "Thank you for your hard work."
Patting her head, Kisuke replied, "It's a fun and interesting job, so I don't mind getting tired over it. Besides, now that my girls decided to write their own story, I have to do my best to support you from behind, of course without interfering too much."
"We'll never let you down." Sona softly muttered.
Kisuke smiled wryly and separated from Sona, "Sit down first. All of you too."
Everyone except for Yoruichi became confused, however, Sona still followed him and sat down on the couch with the rest.
"Now then, let me just say a few things." After feigning a cough and when everyone's attention was on him, Kisuke continued, "This may sound egoistic, but I won't pretend to not notice how you girls feel about me."
As he said this, Kisuke received some sneers, "Ehem... But this isn't about that." Then he put on a serious expression, "It's about how you think of this relationship. I know that you'd put your everything on the line so that you won't let the others down, but hear me out. Please don't ever think that this is all about us."
"Don't ever forget the 'you' in 'us'. The reason why I asked you to do anything you want, is so that 'you' could have a world outside of 'us'. If you limit 'yourself', then you'll only find a dead end in the future. No man's knowledge can go beyond his experience"
"Just chill and don't overthink things, after all, we'll be together forever." Kisuke, without waiting for them to respond, left the living room to continue his work. It would be better for them to just think about his words on their own.
Just as Kisuke was about to enter his laboratory, Hestia came running and followed him, "Hmm? Do you need something, Hestia-sama?"
Catching her breath, Hestia faced Kisuke, "Are you sure about this?"
"About what?"
"Letting them go and have their own experiences. It may sound good, but it doesn't always end well. Especially the 'forever' part. You could have just told them that 'you should experience life together'."
Kisuke only gave her a smile, "I don't know what you've seen in your life, Hestia-sama. What you saw may or may not happen to us, but regardless of that, I want everyone to experience what life truly has to offer without limiting themselves. Even if it means that we may go our own separate ways in the future, at least, we got to explore many things."
Kisuke then turned around and went on his way, but before he closed the door of the laboratory, he said, "Between beautiful lies and painful truths, I would always choose the latter any time of the day."
Hestia sighed, but she also couldn't help but smile at the thought of how different he is to others, "Different from other children who're confined in their thoughts and different from Gods who're confined in their own worlds... Whether this is a good or a bad thing, I look forward to the future~."
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Today in Dr. Freud's talkshow
Alexander: Today, author-san left me in awe, since I could never squeeze something like this out of my brain. That was some real deep shit. But, this is what makes this fan-fic so different from others. By the way, is this a milestone of the Hestia road?
28th00: FOR SHAME! We don't lewd Bestia! She's like Ophis! We pamper her, pat her and feed her! They're about the same size too, with the same interest in incredibly scandalous clothing...