Gods how I hated midgets...
The five Gulliver brothers were all Pallums at level Five with them all even being quintuplets. And they were ornery little shits because they hated Finn Deime for taking the spotlight as the leading Pallum of Orario.
Hell, other than Ottar who was just a silent dude who only spoke when he had to, no one cared for or really even liked any of Freya's high-level adventurers as they were all completely assholes as they seemed to abandon all their social grace to devote themselves entirely to being a simp for Freya.
Thats why everyone loved the Loki Familia so much, they were all a cast of characters and except for Bete Loga, you could easily just sit down with any of the Loki Familia executives and just enjoy lunch with them as they were rather relaxed people and friendly if you weren't harming their interests.
But this... Midget was irritating me, to say the least with his attitude.
"For someone with such a big head, you would think that your head would bobble around when you walk up the stairs." The Gulliver brother wearing a mask snarked.
"With how fucking short you are, I am surprised you don't need a kick stool to climb the stairs for adults." I deadpanned and I could all but feel his flash of wrath aimed at me for basically calling him a racial slur by remarking about his height.
But as we reached the top of the stairs, I wanted to groan at who was sitting in an ornate chair in front of a highly decorated wooden door. A woman with light red hair down up in twin tails and wearing a more low-cut and well-decorated nurse outfit. "Heith Velvet. I hope you have been well." I greeted her with a smile as I put on a more natural smile as Heith's face twisted at the sight of me before smoothing over as she looked to the Gulliver brother.
"Alfrigg. Did Lady Freya summon him?" She asked bluntly ignoring me and I heard the man snort in response, but I was more focused on how Heath's eyes looked dull and fucked up. Her voice was beyond dull and more like she was a machine.
"No. But you know Lady Freya told us to bring him and the white-haired one in if they visited." Alfrigg said before swiping his hand aside. "Now move aside doll." He ordered and Heath blinked before nodding as she moved aside and honestly, that dull stare was starting to freak me out.
'Was that soul stuff Seshat told me about her even worse than she guessed?' I thought as Seshat's words about the red-haired healer's soul being a twisted-up knot due to Freya's charm were underestimated and instead her soul was falling apart or something.
Either way, Heath moved out of the way from standing guard in front of the door and Alfrigg the eldest of the Gulliver brothers knocked on the door and then a moment a later a bell beside the door gently jingled five times in a row as Freya obviously pulled a string or something so she wouldn't have to shout to come in.
"Don't do anything stupid as Ottar is just down the hall and before you can even climb out of a window you will be dead!" Alfrigg warned me fiercely as he glared at me before he glanced at the bell that was inlaid above the door and blended in with the dark wood of the door making me realize that the five rings of the bell were meant to be a code from her, to only allow me into the room.
For a moment I feared that Freya would attempt to fry my brain with her charm before I shook that thought away as that wasn't in her style at all for her targets of interest.
The door silently swung open at Heath pushing the door and I walked into the highly posh room and saw a beautiful decent-sized bed and a large couch positioned in front of the large open glass doors that led out onto a balcony. But my gaze was drawn to the form lounging on the couch and I saw that she was wearing a scandalous outfit that was her almost torn-looking body glove outfit that was black and red with the edges of the outfit being red.
"Lady Freya." I greeted while focusing more on her face as I realized her exposed skin was a bit too distracting. Sure, Freya was trouble-making, but no one would ever deny her status as one of the purely most beautiful women in the world and I was still a red-blooded male, so my gaze wandered a bit.
"Jake Barriss, Record Breaker, Summoner of Calamities, Captain of the rising Seshat Familia... You have already earned an interesting number of names in so little time, that even with my own interest in your path I cannot seem to catch up with them Hehe." Freya daintily giggled as she crossed a leg over the other as I strode to one of the seats arrayed next to the couch and sat down in it.
"Oh, you could have just sat beside me?" Freya pouted and I smiled wryly at Freya's pout that made me pity her a bit but thankfully with my Terrarian Logic, I didn't have to worry about her charm.
"Lady Freya, have your adventures had any time to go down to the Dragon Vase to get the ores I asked for?" I asked trying to get straight to business and at that, Freya clicked her tongue in annoyance not necessarily at me but at her own situation apparently that she began to explain as she swirled her wine glass.
Freya eventually sighed before she threw me an apologetic smile and my heart sank as I realized I was going to have to make a trip to get those 'Hell' themed resources on my own. Or more specifically I was going to have to travel outside of Orario to that nearby volcano so I could get the materials I needed from within it.
I had no way to survive getting to the Dragon Vase on the fifty-ninth floor of the Dungeon as the monsters were too numerous and strong for me to push that deep even if I cheated and tunneled. I would still get killed by the army of dragons that filled the dragon vase even if I tunneled outside the dungeon and down to its floor. "Jake, I apologize but with Loki's Familia down doing their own expedition that had already been pushed back, and with Evilus raising their head up again to cause trouble, my Familia cannot delve down to the depths of the dungeon to retrieve those ores as they are all needed to protect Orario," Freya explained gently and I nodded in understanding.
Sure, it was inconvenient but super terrorists were more important than my desire for some super-heated materials. It just meant I needed to get my own at the volcano that even Asfi Al Andromeda, the captain of the Hermes Familia went to get the materials needed to make her bombs that almost her entire fighting style revolved around.
"Then I apologize for my intrusion I will-" Before I could stand up Freya coughed raising an eyebrow as she looked at me with an unreadable emotion as she stared into my eyes and I likewise met her lavender eyes.
"Jake. Why don't you share lunch with me." She offered smiling softly with true welcoming care in her voice as she continued. "I would like to have some words with you. I would adore hearing about your adventures and how you came to be so... Strong and with such a vibrant soul to match." She finished huskily and I smiled wryly as her lavender eyes almost pinned me to the couch while I considered if I could teleport home and get Bell and the rest of the girls out of Orario before Freya can lose her shit at me ghosting her.
But then I just mentally shrugged as to what could go wrong with just having lunch.