After reaching a decision, Kisuke opened his eyes and looked towards Freya with a smile, "Well, please forget it. It's nothing significant or interesting~."
Then for the first time ever since he stepped into this world, Kisuke used his soul-scrying eyes on a Deity.
As Kisuke went through her 'avatar', Kisuke didn't see her soul, but instead, a shell made out of Freya's soul's power, covering the true owner of the body, 'As expected. But 'twisting the fate of a mortal', huh. These Deities sure have strange abilities. If not for Ophis-chan, I wouldn't have noticed it without being given a clue.'
Although nothing of note changed in Kisuke's exterior and no one had noticed what he did, his target, 'Freya' had her eyes widened in shock and shuddered, not knowing where the creepy feeling came from. She inevitably closed her arms and unconsciously tried to cover herself and tried to stop her body from shaking.
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Today was a busy night for the employees of the Hostess of Fertility, Syr was happily serving the customers, especially Bell, who had come here tonight. However, when she was bringing empty plates back to the kitchen, her eyes widened in shock and her body started to uncontrollably shudder.
As a result, the plates she was holding dropped, creating a ruckus. Ryuu immediately went beside her and asked in worry, "Syr, what happened? Are you alright?"
However, Syr didn't respond and Ryuu could see confusion within her eyes as she blankly stared at the scattered plates on the floor, "Syr?"
Only after Ryuu's second call, was Syr finally able to react. Syr faced her with a wry smile and replied, "...I'm fine. I just tripped on my feet."
But Ryuu didn't buy any of that for a second, "If you're feeling unwell, you should rest."
"I'm fine."
From the counter, both of them heard Mia's voice, "Syr, rest up. Go take some fresh air outside."
"B-but..."
Ignoring her, Mia continued, "Ryuu, cover for her."
Ryuu nodded and answered, "Understood."
Since there was no convincing them, Syr accepted it, "Alright. I'll rest up for a bit. Thanks, Ryuu."
"Just go on your way. We'll be fine here."
After some small farewells, Syr exited the pub through the back and immediately made her way towards the Tower of Babel, 'What's happened back there? What was that feeling?'
As soon as she'd arranged her thoughts, she immediately willed 'Freya' to return, 'Was it not a wise decision to not to see him myself?'
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Back at the gathering, Ottar and the rest immediately noticed that something was amiss with Freya and asked, "Freya-sama, what's wrong?"
Freya's expression returned to normal and smiled, "It's nothing. Well then, I'll take my leave. Enjoy your evening. Until next time." She then walked away with a wave and Ottar followed closely behind.
After she left, Hestia approached Kisuke and whispered, "Did you do something?"
Kisuke, however, made a confused expression, "Should have I done something?"
"N-no... Don't cause a ruckus here."
Hermes, meanwhile, became suspicious regarding Freya's weird reaction and creased his brows, 'What happened? I know Freya wouldn't make a face like that without any good reason,' his sights then landed on Kisuke, 'Did he do something? But knowing Freya, she would have confronted him..., even if she's a fake one.'
While Freya left in an awkward fashion, the newcomer immediately broke that atmosphere, "Not even here for two seconds, and that vixen's already showing me up..."
Hestia turned towards the source of the familiar voice, "Loki?"
In a white suit, Loki 'greeted' Hestia, "Yo! Chibi! I see that ya learned how to wear a dress. You're acting so grown-up I could bust a gut!"
However, Hestia wasn't affected and snickered at her, "Just when did you get here? You're not the type to sneak around."
"Shut up! Two floppin' boobies stole my entrance, got that!?"
As usual, from the very moment they saw each other, they started arguing. One could say that they really got along very well.
While they were busy with each other, Kisuke approached Loki's companion, Ais.
"Good evening, Wallenstein-san~ You look absolutely gorgeous today~!"
Suddenly being complimented on a type of attire that she wore for the first time in her life, Ais was taken aback and became strangely embarrassed, resulting in her blushing fiercely, "...Thank you."
But before Kisuke could speak further, he felt a movement behind him and stepped to the side to dodge a hand chop aimed at his head, "You damned shady hat! Stop flirting with my Ais-tan!"
Of course, Kisuke immediately denied her accusation, "You misunderstand me, Loki-sama. It's a gentleman's obligation to compliment a lady~! Besides, I wasn't lying, was I?"
Despite that, Loki growled at him to defend her precious child from his poisonous claws, "I don't care! Don't use your gigolo skills on my Ais-tan!"
Due to the commotion they were causing, they attracted others' attention yet again, but this time, they couldn't turn away due to the individuals involved, "H-hey... Look, it seems that the Gigolo Master is making a move on the Sword Princess!"
"What!? Even the Sword Princess!? Does he have a death wish or something?"
"Kukuku~! I can't wait to see Loki stomp that kid!"
"You idiot! Look closely! Loki seems to be... desperately protecting the Sword Princess?"
"Hmmm... Wait... What!? What does this mean!?"
"C-could he perhaps have a chance?"
That question from one Deity raised even more ruckus from the surroundings and various groups started talking about the topic until someone raised Riveria's name and discussed her suspicious relationship with the Hestia Familia's Captain.
At this point, not just jealousy but also a bit of admiration came emanating from both male Deities and their children. Though their resentment hadn't changed at all.
Meanwhile, Loki and Kisuke could only stare at each other with stiff expressions.
After a few seconds of awkward silence between them, Kisuke finally spoke up, "This isn't what I had in mind."
"Then you clearly underestimated how infamous you are. Damn you... You can take Riveria, but I won't allow you to take Ais-tan!"
"I'm not taking anyone!"
"Looks like he's even worse than you... by a lot.", whispered Hermes to Takemikazuchi.
"Stop implying that I'm a womanizer."
At that point, both of them noticed that Freya and Ottar left for good. They thought that they'd stay for a few more moments but it seemed that they were wrong.
Kisuke had also noticed this as he had been taking note of their movements, but this wasn´t the one that caught his attention. It was actually a familiar person who had just arrived in a hidden corner of Apollo's mansion, 'Syr?... Hmm... Looks like I shook the hornet's nest too strongly. I didn't think that she'd come over here. I wonder if I should confront her?'
Loki noticed that Kisuke had lost track of their conversation and started thinking about something else. Being curious, she asked, "What's up? Planning something nasty yet again?"
Ever since Kisuke revealed his true abilities to her Familia, Loki already guessed that he was the one behind the nightmare that she'd been experiencing. She also guessed that he was one of those who proclaimed themselves as the 'Crimson Apocalypse Thieving Group.'
She wanted to ask him about it and their goal that night, until a certain possibility crossed her mind. As it was at the same time as the 'nightmare' happened, the ridiculous thought of them wreaking havoc throughout the whole city because Kisuke didn't like his Alias came to her.
She wanted to brush that possibility off, but after seeing the connection and timing, she became scared and chose not to say anything regarding that. After all, she was the one who approved of his Alias.
"Nah, I just thought of something." Kisuke then turned to Hestia and said, "Hestia-sama, I'll be exiting for a moment to do something. I'll be back later."
"What are you going to do?"
"Sort out some things."