~ (Third POV) ~
Somewhere in Orario Nort-West, where the Hephaestus Familia is living and building their shop, and where the goddess of forging is living, it had been weeks, and still, the hammer came from the goddess Hephaestus hammering, and each of the blacksmiths hearing the hammering noise knew the metal was not an ordinary metal.
Many of the blacksmiths would like to know what kind of weapon their goddess has been hammering for more than a week but have had no luck getting their answers because of their goddess's wishes not to be bothered by any single soul.
"*hoam* I am finally done... Hm, it's midnight already."
(CLANK!)
It has been more than a week since Hephaestus sealed herself in her workshop.
(clank!)
As the sound started to subside and, after a second, there was no hot metal being hammered, vice-captain Tsubaki was worried and gazed toward the door. Then the door started to open, and at the same time, the stifling air came out of the door, full of steam, and the smell of hot iron covered all over the room.
"Hephaestus-sama?"
Hephaestus is soaked with sweat, and below her eyes are darkened, a sign of the lack of sleep she had. Tsubaki just ran to her side and carried her goddess, who walked with her legs shaking.
"How is he?"
The first word came from the tired voice of the goddess of forging.
"He is okay. Right now, he was in the dungeon, probably doing his best to become much stronger."
"I see."
Her voice is weak, but still, there is a genuine feeling of relief in her voice, and her breathing has started to return to normal.
"Please take your well-deserved rest, Hephaestus-sama."
Tsubaki then carried the goddess toward the couch and put her body gently.
"I finally had the shape of his sword... I need a handle for that. I need to write a letter to someone."
The handle of the sword was one of the most important parts of the sword. Hephaestus must have had in her mind the perfect person to create the perfect handle for her, probably one of her greatest masterpieces.
"I will prepare everything; in the meantime, take a rest. A mistake will likely happen if my dear goddess writes a letter in such a state."
Too exhausted to argue, Hephaestus just accepts her children's proposal.
"I guess you were right and told Loki... I want to meet him if it is possible."
Without a second thought, Tsubaki already knows who she wants to meet.
"As your wish, Hephaestus-sama, should I... "
Hephaestus just fell asleep on the couch, Tsubaki sight, and went into her workshop to check everything in her workshop. The closer she was to the burning furnace with the fire raging with a tremendous amount of heat, the fire was hot enough that Tsubaki knew for sure that, for an average person, she doubted they could stay in this room for a few minutes.
"What is that?"
Inside the fire, there is a piece of metal that has already been hammered into the shape of a single blade. From her eyes, Tsubaki was sure that it was some kind of one-handed sword, but it was still burning. What was strange was that instead of being yellow and orange light, the hot metal emitted a purpled light, making it look like there was a light trying to escape from the blade.
As a blacksmith, Tsubaki's mind is racing with excitement and wonder. Tsubaki starts to imagine what kind of legendary sword will be born from those fiery wombs made of fire and hammered into shape by the goddess of forging Hephaestus.
"I wonder what kind of thought Hephaestus-sama had when hammering that blade... Who am I kidding? It must be love, hahaha."
Tsubaki never experienced such a feeling, however.
"*sigh* I hope that goddess Loki is not toying with my goddess because of this. I need a couple of words with that elf."
----
Orario at night is currently peaceful, while in the past there was always some kind of accident that could happen at any moment, which is why most average citizens never think twice before going out at this kind of time.
"Loki-sama, is it wise to walk on this road at midnight? We could get attacked at any moment."
Riveria, who traveled with her goddess through the dark alley, couldn't help but feel worried seeing how silent and lack of people were passing by.
"It's okay, Riveria. There is a small chance anything dangerous will happen, and Evilus's activity becomes more subdued after what happened that night. I am guessing that they are most likely building their strength."
"They just don't understand Oberon's ability fully. That is possibly the main reason why they are more cautious."
Finn and Riveria, working with Ganesha Familia, notice the change in the criminal rate, and the number of missing adventurers lately has decreased since that night.
"That is most likely. It makes me a bit worried knowing that their eyes are on Oberon, but I don't want to be worried too much; we had to make our way ahead of them. We can't bring a recruit to gather our strength, so I thought we should increase the training and dungeon exploration."
"Should we increase the training schedule for our members, Loki-sama?"
"Hmm, it should have been the best choice we had, but we had to compete with another Familia. Finn already predicted this, so he suggested we make a small expedition to find another hunting spot."
"Should we cancel the future deep-floor expedition?"
"No, we already made the pact with the guild, and because an influx of adventurers went into the dungeon, important material stars got scarcer, especially the material for important potions. *sigh* I need to deal with this problem with Freya."
Loki's worries are well founded because it was our responsibility as the most powerful Familia to gather many important materials, especially potions for other Familia and the guild.
"I will try to lower the risk of anything dangerous to our members."
"Do what you think is a good thing; however, make sure they are not collapsing from overwork... Put that aside, we had to put our minds on Rakia's problem."
"Will the goddess Phobos help her enemy? We only had bits and pieces of her position, not what was on her mind."
Oberon already said he had an inside spy who gathered any information he thought was needed about the manpower of the leader and many important things that were valuable for her father to plan. He did tell me he found there is a group called There is a small but noticeable dissatisfaction they felt toward Ares. something that Loki was currently planning to find or at least confirm herself.
"She already told me. To be frank, I don't care what happens to that kingdom led by dumbasses; I am only caring for Oberon. With my interference, at least the worst outcome could be ruled out."
"What is considered a bad outcome in Loki-sama's opinion?
"The possibility of him... Never mind, just know that it was the best for him; that's all you have to know."
After walking past through the alley, they arrive at one of the expensive inns in Orario, surrounded by tall walls made of metal and a guard that is most likely from Ganesha or another Familia hired because they are not wearing the same clothing as the Rakkia soldier she saw not long ago. At the front of the fancy door, a girl with dark hair, purple clothing, a skirt with iron chest armor, and a sword on her right wrist welcomed them.
"Loki-sama and Riveria-sama. The goddess Phobos is already expecting you both in her room."
Without a second glance and without introducing herself, she just guided them toward the goddess room. Riveria could sense a bit of distance in her just short gaze toward her; it may have to do with their nation's bad history. It seems the inn resident took their rest, and just a small number of staff walked around the inn, which was half the size of possibly Twilight Manor.
"Phobos-sama is waiting in her room."
She bowed and pointed at the door, and the guard started to open it. Inside, we both see a goddess with long, glossy black hair and silver flower accessories, and her hair stretches down to her wrist.
She is wearing a white skirt stretching to her knees, and there is a purple garment warped from her arm to her back like a cape. It was not the usual clothing she had ever seen, but the color she wore matched with her white skin and dark hair.
She saw two of us close, and after a second, she ordered her servant to close the door. The only ones left were me, Loki, and the goddess Phobos, whom Riveria was already being told about.
"I am grateful for accepting my request, Loki."
Her voice is exactly like a girl almost reaching adulthood, and her tone is like speaking with a noblewoman.
"I changed my mind, so don't make me regret my decision, Phobos."
"I will give you all the information you need."
Loki changes her behavior drastically with her gaze forward without any smile, her eyes half open.
"If I sense any lies, I will pull from this conversation."
"I understand. Please have a seat."
As we took our seats, I was a bit worried that anyone could hear our conversation, so I cast some Oberon magic, as he thought. Phobos was frightened for a moment, but Loki just gave her a glance that reassured her it was okay.
"It was just a barrier magic to make sure no one could eardrop our conversation."
"I see… It's okay, though most of the guards were my trusted children; they swore their loyalty to me, not to Ares. *inhale*, *exhale* You must be Riveria, right?"
Riveria just nodded in reply.
"I believe you already know that Rakia started to build up their army on your home border."
"No one could miss a large concentration of troop goddess Phobos."
Riveria tried to hide the truth about Oberon, who already had crucial information. Phobos seems to start to notice there is a bit of anger in her from someone alone. Phobos starts to look hesitant to continue, knowing that it could provoke her ager much more. Loki did notice that and started to sigh.
"Just start speaking and stop wasting my time."
"I- I understand… Ares will indeed attack the Elven Kingdom. You may think it was just the same as the past attack, where you all could repel easily, but this time will not be the case. Ares makes a deal that I don't know of that we manage to gather an absurd number of magic sword materials like Mithril, Nosteel, and the rarest of all Seiros."
Riveria was dumbfounded when she heard the material called Seiros on that list because Seiros could only be found in Ryumilua. If her father knew about this, Myriil should be punished for selling such material to the enemy, but with no advance, he sold it to them directly, so she couldn't make such an assumption.
"I know it because it was my children from my Familia who built that weapon."
Loki could hear the wrenching fist coming from her side. Riveria rarely showed any emotion, but she was a kind and caring person, even with the stoic face she had.
"That's new, and there is a question in my mind: why should I help you build the weapon to attack my children's home?"
"I-… I don't like war, not like Ares. I hate war, but Ares, I can't stop him after Zeus went into exile. I could only prolong the preparation so at least he could change his mind; however, I was sure a hundred percent he would follow through with his plan."
War is something that is not so rare to happen in Gekai, but Rakia is a different story because they are often involved in one. Most of the distasteful voices of their practice all blamed Ares, who ruled the nation. There is a king in Rakia, but the one who holds power is Ares.
"So, you don't want war, and yet you are helping build the weapon to do so. Hm, what kind of weapon are we talking about—a normal sword or something else?"
Phobos, who sat in front of them, gripped both hands together and continued.
"It was a magic weapon able to spit powerful fire magic... You both should know what he planned to do with those weapons."
Riveria's eyes widened, and her mind arrived at the most terrible conclusion: a magic sword with fire magic. She well understood that the border between Rakia and Elven was lush, with trees as far as the eye could see.
"He… He wants to burn down the forest to open the path."
"I see, that was the horrifying plan. By burning the forest, the royal guard had no chance to lay an ambush, and it would be catastrophic to the civilians. So, what have you done to stop that from happening?"
"In Rakkia, there is a tradition that any gods who want to have a lead god in Rakkia must do so in an arena where their children will have a duel. If I win, I could take Ares's place and stop the war from happening."
Loki was not so keen on politics, but he recently learned about the condition of Rakia, which was mostly provided by Oberon intelligence he gathered, and she knew that Phobos was popular among the average citizen and noble family, but not on the military side. Loki believes that Oberon could win those arena fights easily, but.
"Are you sure you can deal with the fallout?"
"With my current position, it was impossible, but with your help, it will become possible for me to take him down from the throne."
"If I had a question, goddess Phobos?"
"You may."
"I had so many questions, but I want to know the most important thing if you want this deal to continue... Rakia was in conflict with the Elven people for such a long time, so I want to know why you decided to stop God Ares now."
Riveria asked while standing, waiting for the goddess's answer.
"I don't know what kind of deal he made with this unknown entity and what reason they went to such lengths, and I am afraid of the ramifications of attacking a forest that I know has a spirit living in there. Ares didn't care about his people in his mind; they had already suffered enough under his leadership."
Not knowing that Riveria was satisfied with her answer. The elven princess then gazed toward her goddess and just nodded toward her before going back to her seat.
"*sigh* I understand. Phobos, I will find a suitable adventurer for you. How long will you stay in Orario?"
"I will leave in three days."
"That was more than enough, *thud*. Nghhh, now I will take my leave."
"Thank you, Loki and Princess Riveria. I am so grateful for your understanding."
Riveria just bowed her head for a second and entered the room.
"Phobos. Before I leave, I will warn you. If you tried to deceive or play with my kindness and Riveria, you will have my wrath."
Phobos, who stood, had her legs shaken by the pressure. her gaze close to the mother of wolves, protecting her children from any predator,
"However, if you are being truthful to yourself and toward me, I will make sure your struggle will be greatly rewarded."
Phobos put her hand on her mouth and tried to hold her tears and express her gratitude to the goddess Loki with only a bow.
----
~ (Oberon POV) ~
Night is above ground, so the same is true in the dungeon. I was awakened in my tent, but he was not the only one inside. It was not Orstrid; instead, Sera Rufus, a girl with red hair, slept blissfully.
"Zzzz…"
While Oberon gazes toward the princess, he remembers the night when they had an awkward conversation. Oberon did tell her about Artemis confessing her feelings and her prophecy of me being her fated lover. At first, Sera looked like she could pass out at any moment by the revelation, but when I said that I and Artemis did know about her feelings toward me, she started to blush a bit at that reaction, which was already a dead give-away for me; it was indeed true.
After those lengthy conversations, she changed completely as something clicked in her mind that I didn't know what it was, and when I asked if she was okay, she just said, 'I am okay now, and I am sorry to make you worried about it.' After she said that, her cheerful demeanor was back again, and when we finished our conversation, everyone had already fallen asleep. Only Orstrid kept watch over the camp.
"*sigh* I am the worst."
About how Sera was in my tent defenseless, I could see E cup size that to her thin white pajamas. If it were my old self, I just probably would have said, 'Itadakimasu'; however, I was already throwing that part of myself away because I knew already how it all would go for me.
("Orstrid, good morning.")
("Master, good morning. I was preparing the bat and food for us.")
("Thank you… I remember asking you to stay until I was awake. Did something happen?")
Sera did ask to sleep in my tent because she said the other tents were full. Of course, I am not sure she told the truth, but I was too tired physically and mentally, so I asked Orstrid to sleep right in the middle of us to keep our distance.
("I know Master will not do anything weird, and I just want to make sure when Master wakes up, food and a bath are prepared.")
("Please don't do that again. I just don't want anyone to see this and misunderstand… I don't want them to gaze at me like trash. It brings me back bad memories I hope to forget.")
It was an eventful night, but somehow, I felt so refreshed that anything like a weight on my shoulder was just gone. Once again stole a glance toward Sera before leaving the tent.
"What a nostalgic feeling."
I did hope that Eris, who from that day never tried to leave my side at my lowest time and showed her brutal love toward me at that time, would take me to another world to do the same, but if it did, goddess Ereshkigal would tell me when I was reincarnated.
As I left the tent, the light on the ceiling of the dungeon started to change; possibly the sign was close to 5-6 in the morning, and from the look of it, only me, Orstrid, who had first woken up; possibly they were all exhausted from the fight yesterday.
"This is your cloak and weapon; I already cleared them all from the stain."
"Thank you, Orstrid... I will headfirst to Rivira to meet Gareth. I will leave them under your care."
"As your command, master, please be safe."
The 15th floor was peaceful without a monster on the floor; it seemed everyone could take a stool without keeping themselves on alert, but I couldn't let my guard down since I knew that Evilus had already put their target on my back because of how many headaches that I had caused them.
'As long as I have more allies than enemies, it should not cause headaches for me. I should pay more attention to Rakkia. I can't take the same approach as Apophis; if I killed another god, they would think of me as a threat. The only choice I had was Phobos. The last time I remember, she was still in Orario.'
Oberon only had bits and pieces of Phobos, but he was sure she was not a bad goddess, at least according to Artemis and her spy inside Rakkia. Even though the regime changed, it was highly unlikely she had the Rakkia people's support, especially the military, because of the elven involved with such a coup.
I was not so strange with dealing with coups because I did help several nobles get into power for my advantage, but it always ended with him having a bad image among the people and the neighboring country, something he didn't have.
'I could change my appearance and hide my identity to approach goddess Phobos and see where that is going first before considering another option.'
After a short walk, I once again arrived at the small town of Rivira, and the guard welcomed him. I went directly toward Loki Familia, a small tavern right in the middle of the town.
"Oberon-sama?"
It was a familiar voice calling me. When I gazed toward the source, it was Alicia who carried a large bag with both of her hands.
"*sigh* You don't need to use formality. Alicia, and good morning. Need help?"
"I am sorry for my manners. No need to help Oberon; it's just a food ingredient for everyone's breakfast. It looked heavy, but it was lighter than you thought."
"I see. Is Gareth-san awake? I need to talk a bit about the 19th and 24th floors."
"Hm, sadly, he has not woken up yet."
"I see, then I will help you with the cooking while you wait, plus I want to hear what happened lately here."
"Thank you, Oberon."
Alicia then told me most of what happened in her days of assignment with Cynthia, Clarie, and Lola in Rivira, where, according to Alicia, because of the increasing number of adventurers who went to the dungeon, there was more of a need for power in the dungeon than on the surface. Thanks to that, she and others are getting closer to leveling up.
"Many of us know it was only a temporary peace, so we all worked hard to become as strong as we could be prepared for any future battle with Evilus."
"I am glad everyone worked as hard as they could; that means I do my best... Alicia, you came from Fanace Forest, right?"
"My hometown was cold. I remember that one time there was heavy snow falling in my village that almost buried the home, but we already got used to it and were able to survive in such conditions. I still remember vividly my mother cooking me her warm soup made of milk and a couple of vegetables."
Alicia smiled widely, probably recalling her childhood memories when she was still a child. Fanache Forest, or, as the people are well-known, the white ice forest, is the ice covering those villages where the most northern Elven village had endless snow that never went away.
I never visited those places, but I did read about them and heard stories from my mother about where the elf was born and raised in that village, which was most known for their resilience, and the main reason why many of them were recruited by Aunt Hyrmr as royal soldiers.
"I would love to visit that village. When I was still a child, my mother told me that your village had a hot spring."
"*giggle* if you did better not visit during the summer season because here many visitors come."
Alicia went silent for a moment, and her smile started to fade.
"Oberon-sama, is it true that soon there will be a war?"
'It's already spread well; it's obvious that many of the elven soldiers are sent to the border.'
"Sadly, it's true, but please ensure that most of the civilians have already evacuated. I believe strongly that everything will be fine with my father's order to secure the border; nothing bad will happen because I know my father will prioritize our people's safety above anything else."
"I am glad to hear that. Cynthia was worried when the news came because her home was close to Rakkia. I just hope someone can put that god Ares down. This is not the first time he has attacked our home."
Oberon can feel the anger in her voice, clearly pointing her hatred toward Ares, who is well known to love raging war for his entertainment. Ares is possibly the one mostly responsible for the growing hatred toward the gods and goddesses.
"I understand your anger, but don't let your anger consume your mind. It makes us look no different from those people."
"I just don't understand why. We never attacked them or provoked them, and yet he wants war with us. There is no other word fitter than 'Madness'."
"You are right, Alicia. It was indeed madness, but remember, the gods had no power to control us; instead, they gave us power, and in exchange, we did their bidding, so how could we put the blame squarely on the god Ares when his children are the ones who let this war happen? It's not that I tried to cover that god; I just know there must be something fundamentally wrong with the Rakkia Kingdom that I hope one day we could understand and fix."
Alicia was dumbfounded to hear my statement, and she started to think deeply once again about the word I uttered.
"I never thought of that. Is it possible it was the same with Evilus?"
"Maybe, but there are some that take pleasure in their god's demand, even though he or she knew it was wrong. That kind of person that we need to stop because when they lose them, they have no power to bring pain to others."
Alicia's mods start to change to her usual self always smiling at everyone she meets.
"It was amazing our age was not so far off, yet you had much wisdom like an elf has been living for a hundred years."
I just smiled wearily, knowing what she said was not false. We continued to peel the ingredients, and people started to gather in the dining hall. It was not the same number of members of Loki Familia as the first time I was here. Then a large man, none other than Gareth Landrock, as always, started smiling and waving his long brown beard.
"Gareth-san, good morning."
"Hm, morning. I have already decided who will help you. Alicia, you will help guide him once again. I believe you don't mind about it, right?"
"I understand. I will prepare everything."
'That pretty reassurance Alicia had experienced walked on that floor with it; nothing will catch us off guard.'
I mostly learned about the monster and the train from the book, but with the experience of Alicia in our party, it should have given us a chance to explore without anyone getting hurt, plus her combat ability was already above average for an adventurer.
"We would be under your care."
"We? How many are in your party?"
----
"Wha-…"
Alicia who yesterday had no chance to see Orstrid and Sera yesterday now sees Oberon party members and the first thing that catches her attention is all the girls at the same age as Oberon. Alicia then pulls Oberon's right ear like she wants to pull out Oberon's long ears.
(Grttt!)
"I don't want to believe that rumor, but this was in disputable evidence… You must explain."
"Agh! I- I had no choice. Th- goddess Artemis asked me herself. I- I had no choice… I am sorry Alicia."
Different from the human ears the elf ears are far more sensitive compared to the other race so the pain Oberon felt was far more painful when he had human ears. When Alicia stopped pulling my ears, I started cast healing magic it was almost like a dog just almost pulled his ear off.
"*sigh* I had to ask Riveria-sama to put some restraint on you."
"…. I do nothing- "
"Hmm, did you want to make an excuse?"
Alica spoke with such a chilling gaze that even I felt the chill on my bone and could only be silent. Orstrid, Sera, and others see Oberon's powerless being scolded by the elf with gold hair and a single sword on her wrist.
"Alicia?"
"Sera, Rethusa, and I am glad to meet you all again. Oberon, did not do anything strange toward you all right?"
Rethusa seems vivid seeing Oberon in such a condition and Orstrid looks reluctant to take a step closer to help her master.
"Nothing like that happened Alicia. There is a reason Artemis-sama trusts her children on his hand."
Artemis knows to never put her trust in any man. The virgin goddess Artemis who never trusted a man able to trust her children under his care had high trust in him. Argi then went to Oberon's side first and gave him a drink.
"*gulp* Thank you Argi… Alicia will join our party. With her help, I was certain we could explore the lower floor much safer."
Alicia still looks reluctant to accept that Oberon is surrounded by many girls who at the same age as him, but she starts to accept this unacceptable situation.
"Even if they trust you, I will keep a closer eye on you Oberon. It is for the sake of Riveria-sama and your people."
"I- I understand."