Orario.
- "So, this is the new goddess and her Familia?"
- "Yes. And rumor has it that these two with her are only level one, but they managed to provoke Loki Familia and even stand up to them."
- "But there's at least a level four! How did they manage to do that if they're only level one?"
- "No one knows, and there are many gods watching them right now, trying to solve this mystery."
Listening to all this, my eyebrow twitched in annoyance and a sense of deja vu as I spoon-fed Tia and a satisfied Morgan stood nearby sipping her wine.
We were now at the Banquet of the Gods, organized by Ganesa, one of Orario's wealthiest gods. Tia had gotten an invitation and she didn't want to turn down a bunch of delicious food. I went because I didn't want to leave her alone, and Morgan just followed me.
The banquet was held at Ganesa Familia residence, and it looked very lavish. Just like the demons with their enclosures, to make a long story short. Many gods of varying degrees of divinity were present, and I even managed to hear a couple of familiar names. The organizer himself, Ganesa, was an odd-looking man with tanned skin, a muscular body, and a red-and-yellow mask on his face. He was a bit like Gil in temperament, that is, bright, loud, and caring about people, but not as arrogant.
At first, I thought that Familia members were not allowed in here, only gods, but we were let in quite calmly, though with a warning not to cause trouble or take on too much, i.e. nothing unexpected.
I sighed tiredly.
It had only been a day since that skirmish organized by Morgan, and the gods were already actively discussing it. However, it was nothing new, because they had come down to this world because they were bored, and something like this would certainly attract their attention. The reason for Morgan's prank, though...
- "Did you have to make a fuss?" I asked the Fairy Queen, "I understand that you were interested in one girl, but why would you do that?"
- "The status of a third-rate Familia does not suit us, we are above it, husband. What about the girl? I felt a kind of kinship with her, just like there." she said calmly, to which I raised an eyebrow.
- "A fairy?"
- "No, I'd say elemental, and only partially." Morgan explained.
Spirits are an extension of the planet itself. They can take many forms, fairy, pixie, or elemental, but the essence is the same. Each of them has a strong connection to the world and nature, but for some reason there are almost none here. At least not right now. I suppose Morgan's interest is understandable, but I'd prefer to sit tight for now. Also, she never answered the question.
At some point, we were joined by someone we already knew. And a rather pleasant one, I must say.
- "Good evening, Lady Hestia." I greeted her.
- "Hello, I'm glad to meet you here," she said cheerfully, and hugged Tia, who smiled good-naturedly, "I heard you had a fight with Loki Familia. You weren't hurt?"
- "That's a big word for it," Morgan grinned, "If we did have a 'fight,' they…"
- "It's okay, we just talked and managed to come to an understanding," I said, covering her mouth, to which she rolled her eyes, "By the way, Lady Hestia, how is your child? I heard he ran into a minotaur."
- "Yes, and he was saved by that wench," she said with a grimace on her face, and then she grew sad and began to fill her plate, "Sometimes I don't know what to do with him. Bell's been putting himself in too much danger lately, and it's been making my heart uneasy."
On the one hand I don't care about his life, but on the other hand he belongs to Hestia Familia, who helped us when we first arrived in the city. She was a reliable source of information and immersed us in the local life. And Hestia is generally pleasant, for that matter.
- "Hmm..." I mumbled thoughtfully, "Maybe he should find a group. There's less chance of getting hurt that way."
- "Well... groups are usually made up of members of only one Familia, and I don't think they'd take him, since he's still level one. And it's dangerous. You never know what kind of people are in a group," she murmured, and then a couple seconds later she had an amazing idea, and Hestia looked at me, "Maybe you and Morgan could take him in. He'd be a burden, just to have someone watching over him."
I rubbed my temples and Morgan frowned.
- "We're level one too, Lady Hestia. The issue isn't that he'll be a burden, it's efficiency. I'm used to acting alone."
- "Please! I have no one else to turn to!" Hestia asked with her palms folded in front of her, to which I sighed tiredly.
- "Only for the first time, and then our debt to you will be repaid."
- "Anything! Thank you very much!" She exclaimed happily and turned to Tia, "You have such good children, Tiamat!"
- "Ahhhh~" Tia sang out and smiled.
Hestia also likes Tia a lot, since she is basically the goddess of the Familia. Let's see what comes out of this, and what this boy is all about.
- "You don't mind if we join the conversation, do you?" A female voice was heard, and we turned our heads to see who it was.
Three goddesses dressed in evening gowns appeared before us. The first was a tall woman with red wavy hair and scarlet eyes, but one of them was covered by a patch. The second was the one whose voice we heard, and had red hair a tone lighter than the first, the same color red eyes.
But the last one with silver long hair and violet eyes... it was her gaze that I could feel from the Tower of Babel, and now she was looking at me like prey, which Morgan did not take well.
- "I suggest you remove that gaze, goddess of lust. This man is busy." Standing in front of me, she said.
- "Oh? She's onto you, Freya." laughed boyishly at the second goddess.
- "I don't see the problem, Loki. It's okay to protect your man," she replied and looked at Morgan, "But every man will be charmed by me in one way or another, little fairy, even him."
At the mention of Morgan's race, the three goddesses stared at the Fairy Queen in surprise, and I just wanted to leave.
- "Fairy? It's been a long time since I've seen them. A long time." said the last goddess.
- "How amusing," Morgan smirked, "If what you say is true, these men definitely had bad taste. After all, you're pretty middle…"
- "Calm down, please. Not now," I interrupted and put my hand on Morgan's shoulder, "Romani Archaman, captain of the Tiamat Familia, and Morgan le Fay, also a member of the Tiamat Familia, goddess of Life and Beginnings. And you, ladies?"
- "Hestia, would you introduce us?" Ignoring Morgan, but remembering her words exactly, Freya addressed her.
- "Uh-huh," Hestia nodded and introduced them in the order I was considering, "This is Hephy, my best friend and goddess of the forge. This flatlander is Loki, the goddess of deception, and this is Freya, the goddess of beauty."
I raised an eyebrow.
Loki and Hephaestus are women in this world? Pretty interesting... Although, no, not interesting. Too many similar precedents in the Nasuverse, so it's nothing new.
- "Who did you call 'flatlander', shorty!" Loki was outraged and bumped foreheads with Hestia.
- "You, flatlander!" Hestia declared.
- "They get along quite well, don't they?" Freya laughed, covering her mouth with her hand.
- "And so, they do every time," Hephaestus shook her head, "Anyway, nice to meet you, Tiamat."
- "Aaaaaa~" Tia sang out and shook her hand.
- "And the rumors were right, you really are nice." Loki said and after stopping fighting with Hestia, she walked closer to Tia.
- "Hey! She's my friend, not yours!" Hestia possessively hugged Beast II and showed her tongue to Loki.
- "Tiamat doesn't seem to mind," Loki smiled mockingly, pointing at a pleased Tia, and then turned to me, "Romani, right? I heard from my children about your antics. Since I doubt Tiamat is in the loop, can you tell me why Morgan decided to bring it to their attention?"
Oh, she's got the hunch, too, huh? Well, pity her.
- "I apologize, Lady Loki, but this is an internal Familia matter." I said calmly, not giving her a chance to continue her interrogation.
- "Well, I tried." Loki shrugged her shoulders.
- "What an interesting relationship you have with Tiamat, Romani," Freya suddenly spoke up, "It's as if she doesn't run the Familia, but you do. I would even call you two a couple."
As soon as the last word was out of her mouth, the goddesses looked at me and Tia to see the reaction, but my expression didn't change in any way.
- "As far as I know, there's no problem with that," I said calmly, to which Hestia blushed, Hephaestus grinned, Loki laughed, Morgan smirked, and Tia hugged me affectionately at my side. Freya, on the other hand, showed no visible reaction, "Or is there still a reaction?"
- "No, it's a common thing," Freya replied good-naturedly, but I could sense a certain envy coming from her. "I see I've made a bad first impression, and I hope I can dispel it in the future. For now, if you'll excuse me."
And with that, she left the group, accompanied by our stares. Of all the reactions to this, Morgan's was the most satisfied, I'd say.
- "I should probably get going, too. I should get back to work. I'll see you later." said Hephaestus and headed for the exit.
- "Wait for me, Hephy!" Hestia shouted, and then quickly said goodbye to us and followed her.
- "I only came here for the runt," Loki shrugged, "So I'll see you soon."
And so, after a short time, we were alone again. Tia went back to her food, Morgan to her wine, and I began to think about what had happened tonight.
I suppose it turned out pretty well, a couple of new acquaintances and all that. However, I can only hope that Morgan doesn't decide to deal with Freya. The queen of the fairies is not known for her restraint and is unlikely to resort to force, but provoking her with a couple of caustic comments? She might as well. Well, we'll just have to wait and see, as they say. Uh-huh, uh-huh.
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