The earthquake soon stopped, but it was soon followed by roars of the monsters from the Dungeon which was heard even on the surface. Due to this sudden occurrence, the Guild immediately issued an emergency response that evacuated all normal people from the vicinity of the Tower of Babel.
The Adventurers within the Dungeon also came rushing out due to this strange event and although none of them were attacked or came across a monster party, the Guild still called out to the Loki, Freya and Ganesha Familias to surround and scout the Dungeon.
"This is really strange... It's not that long ago when the monsters started rampaging and now it's happening again? Did the Dungeon go through some unknown changes?" Shakti asked herself while running with her response team.
On the way, she saw Allen Fromel and the Gulliver Brothers rushing through the crowd on her right side while Bete Loga, Ais Wallenstein, Tiona, and Tione Hiryute came rushing in from her left side as all of them arrived at the entrance of the Dungeon.
But as soon as they arrived, the cry of the monsters stopped and everything went quiet inside of the Dungeon. With these three Familias in the lead, they would investigate and guard the Dungeon for a whole day without discovering anything.
On the Hearth Manor's side, the moment the monster's cry stopped, the girls looked around, only to discover the changes in the little Dragon girl now called Tanis, with Ophis making a satisfied face while Kisuke was smirking while looking at them.
"W-what just happened?" asked Irina.
Kisuke stood up and said, "Nothing major~ Just Ophis-chan making a new friend~"
"If the Dungeon shakes every time someone makes a friend, then the world would end!" Hestia retorted.
But Kisuke just shook her off and said, "Well, no matter. It'll be up to you what to do with her since I'll be leaving again soon."
With a deep frown, Hestia asked, "Where are you going this time and what are you going to do?"
"There are some developments on Yoruichi and Kuroka's side so they asked me to come."
"Can't take it easy, huh," Artemis commented with a wry smile.
"There's just that much that needs to be done. Though after this, let's hang out again and play somewhere~"
"Then that's a promise!" Hestia smiled widely.
Koneko suddenly appeared at his side before tugging his shirt and asking, "Kisuke-senpai. Are you going to leave right away?"
Patting her head, Kisuke answered, "Not right away. I still have to check on Medusa's condition so I'll stay for dinner."
"Then I'll prepare the dinner for tonight," Akeno proposed.
"I'll help you out~!" Irina added.
Grabbing Claire, Ophis and Tanis, Serafall put forward, "We're going to take a long nice bath~!" Before leaving the room with the kids.
Sona looked around for a moment before deciding, "Looks like those who are free can do some investigation regarding Tanis. Let's split up and gather some information. There are bound to be some sort of rumors regarding the talking monsters. Be careful, though. We know some Adventurers are targeting Tanis and we might have come under their radar after this encounter, so steer clear from suspicious individuals for now."
"I can transform into a cat so I can investigate suspicious places," Koneko said as she raised her hand.
"I can't do anything complicated so I'll just loiter around the Guild," Aika added.
Sona nodded and said, "I'll use illusion magic to gather information from intel hubs disguised as pubs," she then looked towards Hestia and Artemis, "What about you, Hestia-sama, Artemis-sama?"
Hestia and Artemis looked at each other before the former said, "Guess I'll go ask Hephaestus about it?"
"If that's the case, then I'll arrange a meeting with Miach and Takemikazuchi. Maybe they know something?"
"Alright. Let's leave now so we can return for dinner later. Don't be late."
.
.
.
While walking through the streets, going towards the underground hideout, Kisuke asked Medusa, "How are you feeling these days?"
"I'm fine, but the strange feeling that I can't describe still hasn't disappeared. It used to be occasional bursts of this feeling, but after I took the medicine that you sent, it became a constant thing. Can you tell me what's this?"
"Those medicines aren't cures nor are they there to alleviate your symptoms. In the first place, you don't have any illnesses that need to be cured. I gave you these things to stabilize you after diagnosing your condition. But for further detail, I'll leave it out for now until we're done. I have a surprise prepared for you, but if the conditions are right, there are multiple ones, so look forward to it."
Medusa was curious and confused but decided not to ask any further, "Okay. Just please be gentle."
Kisuke's mouth twitched and said, "Don't make it sound like I'm about to do something rough to you."
Chuckling, Medusa continued, "I don't mind if you do, though. And by the way, this offer is only available for you~"
After spending her time with everyone, Medusa had become bolder and bolder. A change that made Kisuke feel complicated, 'I will certainly miss that shy bookworm.'
In the end, Kisuke chose to not reply, making Medusa a bit disappointed. Nevertheless, she already expected this so she didn't mind it very much. She already noticed that the first step with Kisuke is always hard and even became harder as the number of women who had already crossed the line with him increased. Even then, she won't be giving up anytime soon, not for several eons, at least.
Arriving at their destination, Kisuke's laboratory, Kisuke asked Medusa to enter the pod in front of her after taking off all of her clothing.
Medusa quietly followed his instructions. She didn't even have the time to blush as she saw the seriousness of Kisuke's expression, concluding that this operation is of paramount importance.
Before closing the pod, Kisuke added, "Medusa. No matter what happens, please trust me and don't resist."
In response, Medusa smiled gently at him, "This life could be said yours. If I couldn't trust you, then I could trust no one."
With a wry smile, Kisuke retorted, "Your life is yours and no one else's. The same with your decisions, it should be yours and only yours."
Covering her mouth and giggling, Medusa replied, "I knew you would say that, so please let me say this. Please take care of me... If possible, forever."
"If you intended to hang out with me for that long, then I couldn't possibly refuse someone like you. With that said, I'll ask you to take care of me in the future too, and maybe some other people."
Medusa was stunned for a moment before gleefully smiling, "That's the best I could hope for."
Nothing else was needed to say for now so Kisuke closed the pod and started the operation to return her to her physical body.
With her new body, the promised bright future also awaited the pseudo Goddess that was wronged for several millennia for being in a certain type of situation which she had no control over.
Author's Note:
H-hello everyone~!
It's has been a while... Really a while...
Well, I do have a good reason, though.
I caught the very bad cough that locked me in a medical facility that lasted for a few weeks, if you know what I mean.
I manage to stay alive, thankfully, and had fully recovered (except for some minor discomforts here and there).
I should have been able to post even way before this, but after I got out, my family decided to move... due to reasons... mainly human-to-human interactions... And I've been very busy until now.
Anyway, that didn't mean I didn't do anything. Although not much, I managed to write a few chapters.
For now, I'll be slowly posting them throughout a day or two.
I think there are around 17-18 chapters in the queue so please look forward to it~!