A chill morning lay over the city of labyrinths. All-night taverns hadn't quite finished closing; the last drunks were only just spilling out, and shutters on breakfast stalls were only just lifting. The streets were still hushed and thinly peopled.
Into those streets marched a column just back from the dungeon.
It was a sizable procession—enough to draw every nearby gaze.
"Is that the Loki Familia?"
"Mm. You can tell from the three in the lead."
The three pillars of the Loki Familia were known to every citizen and adventurer in Orario.
"Wait—aren't those ones from the Astraea Familia?"
Someone finally noticed the outliers in the flowing column—the colors that belonged to Astraea.
"'Crimson Justice Flower' and 'Yamato Gentian'—it really is them. Why are they returning in Loki's line?"
"Eh? Loki Familia set out on an expedition. No way they're back this fast."
"Right."
Loki Familia didn't wrap an expedition so lightly. Everyone knew their usual target depth: down to Floor 50.
For most familias, Floor 50 was far too deep. With every level down, the next floor grew broader and broader.
Even with plotted bearings toward the fifties, it wasn't a trip you completed in under a week.
On both sides of the avenue, people felt that something about Loki's formation was… off.
A strange sense of mismatch—as if something was missing.
"The supplies. Didn't Loki Familia haul a mountain of gear when they headed down the other day? Where is it?"
Right—of course.
Now they saw it. The procession felt incomplete because the wagon train was gone. All that matériel couldn't have been burned through in a handful of days. So where had it gone?
Eyes tracked the column to its tail—nothing. No supply carts at all.
Odd. Very odd.
"Tsk, tsk… So their altered supply list really did mean they knew something ahead of time."
Leaning against the second-floor rail of a tavern, Hermes watched the column slip out of sight.
"Lord Hermes, per our look-ins—Lady Loki went to the Guild the night before last, and she had someone invite Lady Astraea as well," Asfi reported at his side.
"Heh. So Loki went to make trouble at the Guild. No wonder she didn't bring the supplies back—she means to stick the bill on them. As for Astraea's children… it does seem the dungeon's recent 'anomalies' are the real thing."
With what he had, Hermes could already sketch the outlines of Loki's play.
"Have Astraea and Loki been in touch lately?"
"No. Not once."
"Then that's the strange part. It wasn't Astraea going to Loki—Loki went to Astraea."
Were they close?
Hermes almost laughed at the thought. Astraea stood for justice, fairness, order; Loki fit none of those labels—and often acted their mirror opposite.
They'd hardly socialized in the past. So why the sudden link?
"Your take, Asfi?"
Asfi pushed her glasses up, thought a moment, and offered her hypothesis.
"Lady Astraea and Lady Loki aren't on especially good terms. Under normal circumstances, Astraea would politely refuse such an invitation. But two nights ago she accepted at once—and she still hasn't left Loki's estate.
"I believe something in the dungeon made it impossible for her to refuse. And I suspect only an incident involving Astraea's own familia could push her that far."
Hermes tipped the brim of his round hat down, smile widening.
"So the question is the dungeon."
Asfi merely nodded.
"No—not just what happened down there, but how Loki learned about it so fast," Hermes said, turning his eyes on his captain.
After a pause, Asfi shook her head.
"Lord Hermes, no one from the Loki Familia has been running messages in and out of the dungeon lately."
Hermes nodded slightly and looked toward the Loki manor.
"In that case, it's stranger still."
"How did Loki pass information so quickly—fast enough to know what happened below and link up with Astraea in time?"
"Asfi, take a team to Rivira today. I want the latest word on anything unusual in the dungeon. A broad picture will do."
"Understood."
At the gates of Twilight Manor, two goddesses waited—Loki and Astraea.
Footfalls carried to their ears from far off. Astraea couldn't help but peer down the road.
Her keen eyes quickly found the vivid red hair near the van. But the smile on Alise's face, seen at that distance, was nowhere to be found.
As Astraea's gaze found her, Alise lifted her head.
"Alise…"
Alise stopped mid-stride. She broke from the line, sprinting straight for Astraea.
"Lady Astraea!"
Like a child, Alise flung herself into her goddess's arms, tears breaking free the instant she touched that embrace.
"Lady Astraea—this is all my fault…"
She had led the party into the enemy's trap and plunged her familia into crisis. They'd suffered their greatest wounds—and in the end, it had taken Astraea's self-sacrifice to win back the futures they had lost.
The thought of her own uselessness crushed her with guilt, and the tears wouldn't stop.
Astraea said nothing. She only stroked Alise's hair and soothed her, gentle hand steadying a shaking heart.
None of this was Alise's fault.
It was the Dark Faction. All of it.
(End of Chapter)
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