Prytaneum
Frying Pan
The table abruptly fell silent at Loki's words and all eyes focused on me. It wasn't limited just to our table, either; those at nearby tables must have heard the word because the conversations going on around us shifted, softening in some places and rising in others. Nothing major, of course; even from the mouth of a goddess, bar talk was bar talk and people were already questioning what they'd heard.
As for me, I just closed my eyes for a minute and did my best not to react. I thought I did a pretty good job, too, but then, I was feeling motivated. This…wasn't what I expected, admittedly, but it was familiar in its own way. After dealing with Hestia, Miach, and Hephaestus, I'd almost started to wonder, but having a god messing with me was like having solid ground beneath my feet again. Even if I hadn't expected it, it would be a lie to say I was all that surprised, either. As the words sank in and attention fell on me, the only thing I wondered about was her motive. Frankly, I had a decent idea of what Loki was doing, but why she was doing this I was less clear on.
But I could make some guesses. I didn't know much about the reason why, but I knew that he and Hestia didn't like each other much; this could have been a subtle way of striking out at her, drawing attention to us when we were clearly trying to avoid it. It could have been something similar to Bete's dislike of me, perhaps considering the way I'd asked for Aiz's help and 'made' her help me harvest magic stones an insult. Hell, as a goddess, she could have simply been curious—I knew more than a few gods who would consider their own amusement ample reason to mess around with my life.
Whatever the case, though, she was putting me on the spot in a position where I had no choice but to answer somehow. In this pace, with this many people watching, even silence would be considered a reply. Loki, meanwhile, was watching to see if I'd boast or lie or what. Complicating things was what Hestia had told me about lying to a god. I could try and mislead her with half-truths, aim to give her the wrong impression through carefully worded statements—but weaving a web of intrigue for no reason wasn't really my style. For one thing, I didn't have much faith in my ability to lie to her, especially without knowing what she knew about me, and for another…I was more of an unhelpful impertinence kind of guy.
So as I opened my eyes, I looked across the table to calmly meet Loki's gaze and then shrugged.
"Well, I guess that's true," I said. "But saying it that way is a bit troublesome for me, you know."
"Eheh," Loki laughed as if nothing was happening. "Sorry, sorry—I didn't think it was a secret or anything. I didn't remember your name when I heard about you, so I got a bit curious, but…I didn't think it would be an issue."
"It's not a secret or anything," I mused. "I just don't really like being made the center of attention, I guess. It wasn't anything special, anyway."
"I wouldn't say that," Loki began, opening one eye slightly to give me a look. Oddly enough, she reminded me of Athena on the many occasions she seemed to be plotting against me. "Personally, slaying a Minotaur seems like a pretty—"
"The fucking hell you're a Level 1!" Bete interrupted, standing and slamming his hands down on the table loudly. "Like hell anyone would believe a Level 1 could slay a Minotaur, much less a dozen!"
What a needlessly loud guy, I thought as I tried to hold back a sigh. If anyone in the bar hadn't known what we were talking about, they did now.
Feeling a bit petty, I turned to look at him for a moment before blinking.
"Oh, you were here too, Bete?" I asked as if I were surprised.
He growled, fingers tensing against the wood of the table as he did.
"Hey, hey, Bete," Loki said with what I was guessing was false urgency, waving at him. "That's a mean thing to say! Accusing another adventurer of lying about their level is a serious thing to do, you know!?"
"Let him do what he wants," I said, trying to pretend this was a particularly dull day in class and keep my tone uninterested. "But I guess I'll just go and say it—I'm a Level 1. As a goddess, you should be able to tell that I'm telling the truth with that, right? Well, if you don't, you could just ask the Guild. I actually had my Level confirmed just yesterday, in fact; you could ask my advisor, Eina Tulle, if you wanted to. She saw it for herself, after all."
"Mm," Loki hummed slowly, open eye turning back my way as Bete turned to watch her face. After a moment, he sat back down, looking away.
"Eina Tulle?" The green-haired elf that sat too the other side of Aiz asked. I saw a look pass between the two girls and figured this was some kind of attempt to change the subject. "Ah, that's right, I'd heard she was in town—but with everything that happened, there was never time to meet in person."
"You know her?" I asked, honestly surprised.
"Her mother and I left our homeland together," She stated, nodding in response. "I saw her a great deal when she was younger, but my duties in the Loki Familia eventually made things difficult. I wouldn't want to interrupt her while she's working, however…if possible, say hello to her for me. I'll try to make time to see her later."
"Will do," I said, nodding an affirmative. "Whatever she tells you about me, though, it's all a lie."
"Is that so?" She asked calmly. "Well, since she was a child, I've always been able to tell when she was lying. It shouldn't be an issue."
"Aw," I said. "Well, I'll just apologize in advanced, then. Somehow or another, I seem to cause her trouble every time I see her—she worries a lot about me, but I keep getting into trouble."
"Hm," She mused, looking at me askance. "Such as with Minotaurs, perhaps."
"In my defense," I said. "That actually wasn't my fault. If anything, I'd say it was your fault. I was just wandering around, minding my own business, and then suddenly I was being attacked."
"True," She admitted, sighing slightly. "I'll apologize the next time we meet. I should—"
"How?" Bete interrupted gruffly, voice changing even though he was still looking away. It would be a lie to say he didn't still sound annoyed at me, but it was lessened now and seemed…different. "To slay Minotaurs at Level 1 without receiving a scratch like that…how'd you do it?"
I looked at him for a moment, thought for a moment about just ignoring him to continue my conversation with Riveria—but then shrugged. Given that he'd seen the water I'd left behind, he already had enough information to probably put it together if he tried, anyway, so there wasn't much point in lying, and something in his tone sounded almost polite. You know, in a 'raised by wolves' kind of way.
"Like I said, it's nothing special. I just used magic, is all," I said. "Even if there's a difference in Level, you can overcome it with a strong enough spell. That should be anything weird for high-level adventurers, right?"
After I said the words, there were murmurs of surprise—but also of acceptance as people seemed to accept the truth of my words at face value. It wasn't really a lie, either; without the help of my powers, I doubted things would have gone anywhere near as well.
"Interesting," The elf—Riveria, I remembered now—said, valiantly trying to change the subject again. "You're a magic user, then? I wouldn't have guessed that."
"Well, I use magic and I use swords," I said, shrugging. "I can't really afford to rely on one or the other in the Dungeon."
"True," She said, sounding pleased. "That's a wise attitude, but it can be difficult for most to put it forth in practice. Personally, I—"
"Are you honestly trying to say you wiped them all out with magic?" Bete said, focusing on me and either ignoring or failing to notice the look of annoyance Riveria sent his way. "That they just stood there and waited for you finish casting spells like good little monsters?"
I chuckled slightly, shrugging a bit.
"I just heard the Minotaurs coming," I said. "They certainly made enough noise, after all. I had time to set things up in advanced, more or less."
"No, that's not it," Bete said. "You didn't slay all the Minotaurs and you didn't slay them all at the same time or in the same way, either. If you had simply eradicated them all with a single spell, that might make sense—but if you cast a spell and don't slay the enemy, any mage would be in a dangerous situation. Monsters will hardly just stand around and let you cast another and in the meantime, you'll be too busy dying to get a word off. There's something else."
Bete seemed like a pretty observant guy—or maybe he just got bonuses to being annoying, somehow. Either way, the interest of the table seemed to be back on me now.
I considered it for a moment and then just sighed with a shrug, shaking my head.
"It's nothing like that," I told him. "I just fought them while casting spells is all."
That seemed to surprise everyone as much, if not more, than anything that had been said previously.
"Are you saying that you used Concurrent Chanting?" Finn asked, speaking up again after falling silent to watch things proceed.
"I have no idea know what that means," I stated honestly.
"To put it simply, it's simply the ability to move or fight while casting magic," He clarified, making me shrug.
"Then I guess," I answered.
"It's dangerous, though," He continued. "Gathering and shaping that much power while distracted is like running through a river of fire while carrying a barrel of gunpowder in one hand."
"Oh," I said, shrugging again. "But it's not like just standing still in the middle of battle is safe either, right? I've never had any problem with it, though."
"I…see."
All of a sudden, everyone was looking at me like I was a freak of nature again and I couldn't help but sigh. Thinking about it for a moment, I shrugged and decided to just go for it—in for a penny or whatever.
"And besides," I said. "Aiz was there to see it, so I might as well say it—I didn't exactly get off without a scratch. I just healed all the damage I took."
"Aiz?" Finn asked as everyone turned her way, apparently to confirm. "Is that true?"
"…Yes," She murmured. It might have just been me, but she seemed upset by this whole conversation.
"You know healing magic as well?" Riveria asked, stubbornly trying to drag the conversation away from Minotaurs and back to magic. "It's useful, isn't it? Of all my spells, I can honestly say that the ability to heal people is the one I'm most thankful for."
"You can heal other people?" I asked, looking at her with interest. "That's really cool—I can only heal myself."
"Ah, I took things easy because I heard you were unharmed," Finn said, seeming embarrassed. "But it seems I've made a mistake. Were you badly injured, Percy?"
"Uh…badly injured is kind of relative since I heal so fast," I mused. "I had worse days, I've had better ones…I was fine after a few minutes, so nothing too bad, I guess?"
"I'm sorry," Finn said, bowing his head deeply. Beside him, even Loki's mood seemed to have gone down. "I shouldn't have taken things so lightly—on behalf of the Loki Familia, I would like to apologize. If possible, I'd like to compensate you for the trouble we caused."
"You really do sound a lot like Aiz," I said, bemused. The Loki Familia seemed to be a gathering place for all kinds, so I wasn't sure how to act; I'd intended to be rude to Loki, but I kept trying to act polite to the others. I wasn't sure what to do or say. "All it took to fix was some magic, so its fine—I don't even really pay attention to stuff like that anymore. Anyway, Aiz already helped me out more than enough, so why not just leave it be? Like I said, it's nothing."