Two days had passed since the incident involving Ishtar Familia.
During those two days, Ryoji hadn't gone anywhere. He quietly stayed at Twilight Manor, waiting for the Guild's judgment.
His reputation as the God Slayer had already spread throughout Orario.
Newspapers had reported that Ishtar had died at his hands, and now practically everyone was talking about him. Some admired his courage, while others condemned him for showing such disrespect toward a god.
The people of the Lower Realm had a deep-rooted reverence for the gods. No matter how popular Ryoji became, that fact wasn't going to change.
Ryoji himself didn't care what people outside thought of him. Instead, he was completely absorbed in leveling up.
"Practice swordsmanship."
Ais came looking for him during his morning training.
At the time, Tiona was still asleep.
"Practice swordsmanship."
After breakfast, Ais put down her bowl and repeated the same thing.
Tiona, who was sitting right there, was completely confused.
"Practice swordsmanship."
That evening, after coming out of the bath with her long hair still wet, Ais came looking for him again.
Tiona, currently clinging to Ryoji's arm, stared at Ais in disbelief.
"Wait, don't you have anything else to do all day?" Ryoji was genuinely puzzled.
'You're an Executive, after all. Everyone else is searching for the key, and you spend the entire day coming to me for sword practice. Is that really appropriate?'
"I have things to do…" Ais paused.
She lowered her head and thought for a while, as if trying to figure out what she was supposed to be doing. Then she tentatively asked:
"Practice swordsmanship?"
"…"
'I see. She meant that the thing she had to do was practice swordsmanship.'
"Fine, fine. Let's practice." Ryoji gave her a strange look.
She was still a Level 6, after all, and training with Ais could help him increase his Ability values.
"Why?! Weren't we supposed to go out and have fun?" Tiona shook Ryoji's left arm pitifully.
"Who said we were? You know I can't leave the Familia for the next few days!" Ryoji rolled his eyes.
Ais's gaze moved from his left arm and settled on his right.
"Loki is back!" Suddenly, an excited shout came from the entrance.
"She finally came back?" Ryoji's expression sharpened.
Ais and Tiona also reacted immediately.
Loki's return meant the Guild's judgment had finally been handed down.
Only a few minutes later, every Executive except Bete had gathered in Finn's office at the North Tower.
"Puhaha! I'm finally alive again!"
Loki sat cross-legged on Finn's desk, hugging a bottle of liquor. She kept muttering things like "my precious" while looking deeply moved.
"Damn Royman! That bastard kept us there for two whole days and two nights! It was only Ishtar who died. Was all that really necessary?"
Loki was practically covered in black resentment, her grievances seeming ready to break through the roof.
"But judging from your expression, the result shouldn't have been too bad?" Finn smiled as he looked at her relaxed posture.
"From the result alone, that's true. But 'only' from the result." Loki stopped complaining and scratched her messy crimson hair. "How should I put it…? They called an emergency Divine Council this time. The gods nearly tore each other apart arguing. We got something out of it, but there are problems too."
According to Loki, almost all the male gods supported locking Ryoji in prison.
There was a simple reason for that: most of those male gods were repeat customers of Ishtar.
According to them, whenever they went looking for a little fun, they had somehow lost their way and ended up wandering into Ishtar's temple with their legs seemingly acting on their own. Every time they left, they regretted it terribly.
But the ridiculous part was how long they wanted Ryoji imprisoned.
"Three days!"
"One day! No more!"
"One hour! If you delay his level-up, can you afford to compensate him?!"
"Why not lock him up in my Familia instead… 'slurp!'"
The gods had all sorts of opinions.
Yet not a single male god demanded that Ryoji be imprisoned for more than a week.
"Why does that sound so ridiculous?" Tione looked bewildered.
"It makes perfect sense." Loki shook her head with a laugh. "Ishtar going back has already cut down their entertainment considerably. They can't exactly reduce it even further, can they?"
Those gods were incredibly excited about Ryoji's potential. Every one of them wanted to see how long it would take him to reach Level 6, Level 7, and even Level 9.
If he were locked away for decades or centuries, wouldn't they lose all that entertainment?
What a waste that would be!
"So that's how it is. It really does fit the gods' personalities." Riveria smiled, clearly amused.
"And the goddesses were even funnier…" Loki doubled over laughing. "'Bullshit! He should be acquitted!' 'No! They should give him a city-wide commendation!' 'So what if Ishtar died? How could she possibly be more important than Li-bao?!'"
They practically had the words ''Li-bao, Mommy loves you!'' written across their faces.
Ishtar meant absolutely nothing to them.
The gods argued for two days and two nights over one question: Should Ryoji be imprisoned for a few days, or should he receive a city-wide commendation?
Guild Head Royman nearly went insane listening to them.
But he eventually understood the situation: the gods had no intention of severely punishing Ryoji. The harshest punishment they were considering was only two days in prison.
There was no point in continuing the argument.
"Guild Head, allow me to say a few words."
At the very end of the Divine Council, Goddess Freya finally arrived.
The moment she took her seat, she gained the floor amid the male gods' eager flattery and the goddesses' jealous glares.
"I have evidence proving that Ishtar was cooperating with the remnants of Evilus."
Freya's words immediately shocked Loki.
"But Freya-sama, Lady Loki has already mentioned this. It's true that Ishtar-sama was connected to Kali-sama, but there is no direct evidence proving that either of them was cooperating with the remnants of Evilus." Guild Head Royman looked troubled.
That was indeed a major problem.
The claim that Ishtar Familia had allied with Evilus was ultimately only Loki Familia's word. They had no conclusive evidence.
At most, they could prove that Ishtar had helped Kali Familia secretly enter Orario. They couldn't prove that Ishtar had been plotting anything sinister. For all they knew, Loki Familia could have fabricated a crime in order to protect their own Familia.
"No. My evidence is flawless." Freya snapped her fingers.
A muscular man then walked into the meeting hall.
Loki nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Tammuz!"
"Isn't he Ishtar's Vice-Captain? How is he with Freya?!"
The gods erupted into an uproar.
Loki was particularly shocked. So after betraying Ishtar, Tammuz had gone over to Freya?
No. Wait a moment.
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense.
Tammuz must have been affected by Ishtar's charm. Yet despite that, he had still betrayed her.
There could only be one explanation: he had been subjected to a charm stronger than Ishtar's.
And in all of Orario, there was only one person capable of making Tammuz betray Ishtar like that, the Goddess of Beauty, Freya!
"So that means…" Loki's eyes suddenly turned sharp. "The key to Knossos, the artificial labyrinth, must be in Freya's hands!"
As if on cue, Freya turned toward Loki and gave her a meaningful look.
(End of Chapter)
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