"Then I'll head back first."
After horsing around with Tiona and Tione, Sawada Tsunayoshi tugged his hood lower, planning to slip away. His goal today was only to let the puppet make a public appearance—enough for people to realize there's a rookie in Loki Familia who's getting special cultivation.
"Hold it."
The one who stopped him wasn't Tiona or Tione, but Bete—who'd spent the last while failing to follow the conversation. Hearing so much new information and piecing together so many things, Bete suddenly felt like he'd fallen off the front line. How were there so many things he didn't know? Seizing the chance, he couldn't help pushing for more:
"You guys are hiding way too much from me. How did my intel get this out of date in just a few days?"
What do you think? Everyone's eyes said the same thing.
"Mm. Maybe it's not that your intel is outdated. The reason everyone's chosen to avoid telling you certain things… you should first know that your drinking manners aren't great. Kind of like Raul—with him, it's that he goes weird around women. He doesn't know a lot either."
"Tch…"
Alcohol ruins things. Bete almost slapped himself. After drinking he got excitable. And an excited wolf moves—a lot. Either he couldn't control his state, or he couldn't control his mouth. He'd had more than a few socially crippling mornings as a result.
"So, a lot of people actually knew all this already?"
"I wouldn't go that far. In the First Party, you're probably the only one who didn't. As for the Second Party, whether Raul knows or not doesn't really matter. But Lady Loki will probably loop him in."
"Hah? Didn't you just say it doesn't matter if he doesn't know?"
"Yeah, ordinarily it wouldn't. But Lady Loki wants to keep me hidden, which means we need a big mouth to 'accidentally' leak some things about me. So now it matters."
"Loki's not worried Raul will get played this time?"
Bete felt the tactic sounded exactly like Loki's style. Tsuna's information did need protection—if even one other god fixed their gaze on Tsuna, the familia would have a serious problem on their hands. But choosing Raul as a deliberate leak? Safe?
"On that point, I think Lady Loki's approach is actually pretty safe. Because if Raul screws this up, Lady Loki will cut off half of his future 'happiness.'"
"'Happiness'?"
Bete didn't get it at first. Neither did Finn or Gareth. Tsuna didn't explain—he just tilted his head down, pointed at a certain part of the male anatomy, and made a little 'chop' motion with his hand.
"Hss!!!"
The three men present all took a step back.
"Loki's… not pulling punches this time. Let's hope Raul doesn't drop the ball at the key moment. If he does, Loki will definitely make a move on him."
"Yeah. If that little fledgling learns he 'died' before he ever took flight, I bet Raul would do anything to avoid it."
Even Finn, strong as he was, wiped away cold sweat at the thought of that consequence. Gareth felt no man could endure such a price. If Raul failed, his latter half of life could go to hell. The sheer severity of it meant there could be no mistakes.
Too ruthless. Even Bete the werewolf felt Loki's method was a bit much. He couldn't imagine Raul's mood after hearing that consequence, but oddly, Bete felt relieved. Good thing my problem is just bad drinking manners.
Being a blabbermouth after drinking was the clearest sign of bad alcohol manners. Alcohol fogs the brain differently than beauty; once it hits, it's hard to control. Bete believed that's exactly why Loki didn't choose him for the 'leak.' After hearing the penalty, he felt like his bad drinking manners might've saved his life.
"Explanation over. Can I go now?"
"Wait. Everyone in the familia knows your ability, but not many know about the tools you make. Right now, the only ones who do are those two women with those super-defensive outfits. There must be more, right?"
"There are. For example, gravity bracelets for Tiona, Tione, and Ais. Simple idea—they add full-body load, so you're under heavier pressure even in daily life, which lets you earn more ability points."
A training artifact. Bete's eyes went wide. He suddenly turned to Riveria. He remembered one morning when Ais's scream echoed through the whole manor. Now he had a guess why Riveria had been so mad that morning.
"Riveria, Ais didn't get chewed out that morning because of… that, did she?"
Riveria sighed and nodded slightly.
"That useful, huh?"
"Of course it's useful!"
Before Bete could finish doubting, Tiona couldn't hold back.
"Tione and I can prove Tsuna's stuff works super well. Use it right and you can definitely push past your old limits."
So… you two pushed past yours? Bete immediately caught that hint. Ability scores were a secret to everyone; even inside a familia it wasn't proper to air them. But you could infer a lot from reactions.
And it clearly helped Ais, too—or she wouldn't have stayed quietly in the manor afterward. Bete slowly sorted through the situation. Anything that boosted ability scores was something no one could ignore. And since this one upped training intensity, he didn't want to fall behind.
"Rookie, let's talk when we reach the 18th floor."
"Fine by me. But no alcohol—Lady Loki's orders."
Tsuna didn't turn down the invitation to "talk." He knew perfectly well why Bete was asking. He also didn't mind getting along with him. Aside from his drinking manners, Bete wasn't the type you couldn't deal with. If the wolf could just drop the tsundere act, even better.
(End of Chapter)
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