Prytaneum
Caramelize
"By the way…" I murmured, looking over my shoulder and up at the man following behind us, something I wasn't used to doing much since I'd come to Orario. "Who are you again?"
Aiz looked at me as if she wanted to either answer or chastise me for not knowing, but wasn't sure how to put the feelings into words.
"I apologize," The larger man said, leaning forward in what I assumed was a slight bow when you were seven feet tall. "I have not introduced myself. My name is Ottar."
"Ah," I said, thinking the name was familiar from somewhere but not recalling where. Ever since what seemed like I'd gotten to Orario, I'd been bombarded by the names of people, places, and things I didn't recognize, so I'd sort of given up trying to remember it all. He seemed like a pretty important person, though, so I filed it away and then held out a hand for him to shake. "Hi Ottar. My name is Percy."
Ottar took my hand in his own and it was like shaking hands with a bear—my entire hand could almost fit into the palm of his, it was ridiculous. Even so, despite the fact that I'd been a little worried he'd just crush my bones to powder or something, he grasped and shook my hand very gently.
"It's a pleasure to meet you," He greeted. "I have heard a great deal about you in recent times. You must have worked very hard to achieve what you did, Percy. You should be proud."
I ducked my head slightly, still left embarrassed and uncertain by the praise.
"Things just turned out the way they did, somehow or other," I said. "I was just lucky enough to survive. Uh…would I be right in assuming you're the head of Lady Freya's Familia."
"Currently, that is the case," He replied, nodding slightly. "And you are the captain of Lady Hestia's Familia, correct?"
"I suppose," I replied with a nod. "Until recently, it was just me though, so I'm not sure how much that really means in my case."
"Though it may be presumptuous of me, I believe I am your senior as an adventurer and a captain," He said. "Should you need any assistance in either, perhaps I might be able to give you some advice. Regardless, as both adventurers and captains, it is my hope that we get along."
"Um…sure," I replied. "Me, too."
Mm…it would be a lie to say I didn't find the man suspicious, but I was always unsure of how to deal with polite and friendly suspicious people. It happened to me so rarely, so maybe it's just a lack of experience, but…
"…Ottar," Aiz said, finally speaking up even though it seemed like something had been bothering her for a while. "You…also Leveled Up by defeating a Floor Boss, correct…?"
Ottar regarded her for a moment before his left boar ear twitched, seeming to understand.
"That is not quite the case," He replied. "Truthfully, I at most half-killed Balor on the forty-ninth floor; I fought him alongside several members of my Familia."
Balor? The name was vaguely familiar from Eina's talk about Floor Bosses, simply because there were so few known, she'd covered pretty much all of them. If I remembered correctly, Balor was the fourth floor boss, so following the pattern of Floor Bosses being two levels stronger than the rest of their floor and each boss being approximately a Level stronger than the one before, that made Balor a…Level 7?
Note to self, don't fight Ottar.
"Mm," Aiz murmured to herself, frowning slightly. "That is…"
I waited a few seconds for her to finish and, when she didn't, looked around with a frown. Honestly, when I'd walked away, I hadn't had any real destination in mind besides 'away,' so I'd really just wandered. Avoiding the massive center space that seemed to be serving as a dancefloor, we'd ended up walking around the periphery, near the tables that were serving food. All of it looked high-end and delicious, but, for one thing, I was inherently nervous about eating food served by potential enemies, and for another, I still didn't know what any of it was. I was quietly waiting for either Aiz or Ottar to start eating and then follow their lead, but neither seemed to have much interest in any of the food, either.
Damn…maybe I should have eaten something on the way.
Beyond that, and despite the fact that I'd just used it as an excuse, I really kind of did want someone to show me around. Hestia had told me what she could, but she wasn't much more familiar with Orario's high-society than I was, even if she knew most of the gods from her time in Heaven; she'd been in town longer than I had, but only by a few months. Welf and Lili knew the Status Quo better just from experiencing it, but Welf had been a low-level Smith until recently and Lili's experience mainly consisted of people treating her like shit. Beyond having some idea of who was good and who was bad, I really know nothing about the gods here, which was worrying.
The thing was…standing between two first-class adventurers, I felt suddenly awkward about asking probing questions, simply because I didn't know anything. It was like in Elementary School, when the teacher was asking questions about some book everyone in the world had read, except me. If it was just Ottar or just Aiz, it might not have been so bad, but both of them was a bit…
Before I could muster up the courage to get things over with and embarrass myself, however, someone walked over to interrupt. Or perhaps I should say stalked over, like a predator.
"Why, hello," The goddess Ishtar said, giving the three of us dazzling smiles. Her brown skin looked exotic and alluring, what with a dress that showed pretty much all of it, and the purple color of her hair simply made her stand out all the more so. She was stunningly attractive and obviously knew it, because she walked with a self-assured confidence that simply added to it, in its own way. She was almost as attractive as Freya, and even that might have been a matter of opinion on my part. "I haven't seen you around here, but you look familiar. Ah, you must be the new Record Holder, no?"
I said nothing, for fear that I'd stumble over my words like an idiot. Despite it being pretty damn obvious, it took me a minute to realize she was talking to me, because I was looking away, as was Aiz. Ottar stood calm and still like a statue, not saying a word—but somehow, I got the feeling that he was displeased.
"What was your Alias again?" Ishtar mused, reaching out to lay a hand on my arm—the same arm, I noticed, as Freya, and in about the same spot. "The Hound of the Goddess, was it? Such a cute name; it makes you sound like a pet. But I wonder who you belong to?"
There was an implication there that was pretty insulting and yet still made me swallow and I took a moment before answering.
"I don't belong to anyone," I said softly. "But if I did, I suppose I'd belong to Lady Hestia."
Ishtar laughed, the sound delighted and amused and beautiful—something you felt or experienced, rather than heard. It took an effort of will not to rock on my feet.
"How amusing," She said. "Perhaps we should discuss that sometime, you and I. I think we could be friends."
I didn't swallow again, but it was a near thing.
Idiot, I wanted to scold myself. Even though I'd been warned, again and again and again, I'd underestimated just how staggeringly attractive Freya and Ishtar were. My friends had kept me from telling them anything major for fear that someone like Ishtar might charm it out of them, but it had seem extreme to me, something that had gotten ridiculous. I'd all but started to brush it off.
I guess I'd forgotten just how scary Aphrodite could be or I hadn't thought they'd measure up. I should know better by now.
There might have been good reasons to go along with Ishtar's words. I'd come her to both gather information and figure out who my enemies were and, potentially, what they were up to. A chance to speak with the bad guy meant a chance for the bad guy to start on monologue or, at the very least, get mouthy, and Ishtar seemed like the type of woman who didn't need much to get going. The thing was, all of a sudden, letting her talk seemed like a horrible idea. I could lie and try and play along, but I wasn't sure any lie I said now would remain a lie, especially if things got…
No, even trying to interrogate her seemed abruptly risky. If we had a conversation and she started lying to me, I wasn't sure that on some level, I wouldn't start believing her, if she couldn't convince me she was innocent and someone else was guilty. The was the downside, I suppose, of staying near someone who could seduce a saint. The smart thing to do now would be to flatly refuse and then run away.
Except I couldn't quite get out the words—until all of a sudden, still looking away, I saw Miach enter the ballroom, Naaza by his side. Miach, who had warned me about Ishtar, who'd told me oof someone in her Familia he'd tried to help, but who she'd subdued. I remember what I'd been told of the red light district, of the implications, of the fact that people like Lili had nearly been sold there, and I started to get mad all over again. It wasn't much, but it was enough.
"Sorry. But I don't think that's possible," I said, mustering my will and managing to look towards the goddess and meet her eyes. Every part of my body protested the decision, some more than others, but goddamn it, I was the captain of this ship.
"Oh?" Ishtar asked, smile abruptly turning sharp. "And why is that?"
Can't lie, I thought. Couldn't lie to a god to begin with, but I was having a hard time lying at all to her; the only thing keeping me focused was a small undercurrent of anger. So instead, I just told the truth.
"Because you disgust me," I said. "So we can't be friends."