In the afternoon, Loki was summoned to the Guild to meet Ouranos.
With her hands in her pockets, Loki walked into Ouranos's prayer room wearing a broad grin.
But someone unexpected was already inside.
"Tsk! I knew you'd get called over."
The moment Loki saw that face, she curled her lip. Of course Ouranos would drag this guy in for the discussion.
Which meant the matter they'd talked about in yesterday's internal meeting might really be coming true.
"Loki, do you resent me that much just by looking at me?"
"Not resentment. But whenever I see you in this kind of setting, it feels like things are about to get troublesome."
Loki closed one eye and stared at Hermes with the other, as if looking at a walking troublemaker.
'Am I really that disliked?'
Hermes's expression stiffened. He rubbed his face helplessly, feeling like he'd been hit with bad luck lately—running into all kinds of misfortune.
"Loki."
Ouranos cut off their exchange, forcing his way into the conversation.
"Yes, yes… So, what did you call me here for, Ouranos?"
Seeing he wasn't in the mood for jokes, Loki didn't try to derail the conversation like usual. She went straight to the purpose behind the summons.
"The surface explosion from two days ago had a major impact on Orario. It caused panic not only among the civilians, but even the gods were stirred emotionally. These past days, every single familia has entered a state of full alert."
Loki's eyelid twitched. She knew it had caused problems, just not that the entire city's gods and familias had been affected.
Full mobilization. That was a serious situation.
"Tsk. Those rats really caused a lot of trouble."
Loki couldn't help complaining.
"Ahem, Loki, don't forget Bell shares responsibility in this."
Hermes lightly cleared his throat beside her, reminding her of the other instigator.
"He disguised himself as someone from Ganesha's side and leaked certain confidential matters. That completely blew up public opinion in Orario."
"Please, do you not understand why that kid spread that information?"
Loki almost snapped in irritation.
Hermes nodded awkwardly.
Even Ouranos didn't refute it.
Bell's reason for spreading the information was simple. After receiving the news, both Ouranos and Hermes weighed the pros and cons and arrived at the same conclusion.
So neither of them blamed Bell. In the end, what he did still stabilized Orario.
"If you know that, then don't pin the blame on a child."
Loki still redirected responsibility away from Bell at the crucial moment.
"You called me here to deal with Orario's full-scale mobilization, right?"
"If you already have a solution, don't hold it in. Hurry up and say it."
She wasn't in the mood for small talk today and went straight to the point.
Hermes had arrived long before she did, so he had definitely discussed everything with Ouranos. The two old foxes had no doubt already come up with a plan. Calling her here "for discussion" was just for show.
Seeing Loki's straightforward attitude, Hermes confirmed she was in a decent mood and began explaining what he and Ouranos had settled on.
"Since the current situation stems from Evilus, Ouranos and I believe the solution must also be found through Evilus."
"Loki, before we continue—has the 'Joker' who's supposed to appear in three days shown up yet?"
Hermes paused before asking this seemingly unrelated question.
"Hm? You haven't been watching my Loki Familia?"
Hearing that explosive line, Hermes suddenly felt Loki had a serious misunderstanding about him.
"Even though I work in intelligence, I really didn't assign anyone to spy on your children. Besides, something that obvious would expose me instantly. Do I look like I'm asking to be beaten up?"
"Haven't you gone looking for a beating plenty of times already?"
Loki gave him an odd look, as if this guy hadn't spent his life stirring trouble.
"..."
Hermes lost the ability to speak for a moment, then forcibly shifted topics.
"Now isn't the time for that."
"These days I've been keeping watch on the familias preparing for war. Asfi and I have been taking turns every day. I simply haven't had the energy to do anything else."
"So, Loki… did the 'Joker' you locked onto two days ago make a move? Can you tell me in advance?"
Loki glanced at the eager look on Hermes's face, snorted lightly, and still spoke the name.
"Dionysus."
"!?"
The name made Hermes jolt upright.
"It's him… I didn't think it would be him…"
This answer went a bit beyond Hermes's expectations. Even if he had suspected Dionysus, he never imagined Dionysus was actually "Enyo."
"But he does hate Evilus. If I remember correctly, all his children were killed by the Violas."
Loki shook her head with disinterest.
"That's why I asked—just what are you doing in your job? That bastard's children were all swapped. The ones who died were actually the children of the poverty goddess, Penia."
"Hmph! Just remembering how that guy once came crying to me about it pisses me off."
The more she thought about it, the quicker Loki's temper rose.
If she hadn't mellowed out lately, she would have stormed straight to Dionysus the moment she learned the truth.
Hermes was also stunned for a moment after hearing it. He hadn't expected Dionysus to go this far just for this move.
"My relationship with Dionysus wasn't bad, but I never imagined he'd been hiding in the shadows doing things like this."
"But I've observed him. His mental state was far more stable than those maniacs. He shouldn't be capable of something like this."
Hermes found himself completely thrown off by Dionysus's true identity.
He had watched Dionysus before and felt he understood him, yet he had never noticed this unstable side of him.
Loki wasn't surprised Hermes had failed to see it.
"According to shorty, she already knew back in Tenkai that Dionysus's mind was unstable. He often fell into Wrath and bouts of mania."
"Back in the heavens, when the gods had to choose twelve high-ranking gods among themselves—remember that?"
Hermes nodded slightly at Loki's reminder. He had been one of the twelve chosen.
"Even though we come from different places, I don't know much about your side. But shorty told me that Dionysus also competed for that position. It's just that none of your gods cast their vote for him. In the end, she was the one who noticed his instability, so the divine seat was given up to Dionysus."
Hermes drew in a sharp breath. This was the first he'd ever heard of it.
He hadn't realized that Dionysus's issues had already surfaced back in the heavens—only that no one paid much attention to them at the time.
...
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