When Aether saw the words Frigg Familia written on his Guild Registry, a lot of things that had puzzled him in the past finally made sense.
For example: before this expedition, when he went to the Freya Familia's base, Folkvangr, to pick up equipment in person, the only person he saw the whole time was Ottar.
That night, it felt just like when a certain Canadian actor regretted doing Green Lantern and later played Deadpool, standing in front of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters only to find Colossus (clearly CGI'd) and no other X-Men, prompting a snarky jab about the studio's budget being too low to hire more cameos.
Anyway,
"So this was part of your plan all along, sis?"
Aether couldn't help himself. As much as he wanted to tease her, he was actually very satisfied with Freya's move.
After all, the Freya Familia, being the largest faction in Orario, had plenty of enemies both in the open and behind the scenes. Even if Freya herself didn't care about such petty clowns… Aether hated being constantly bogged down by trouble.
So, of course, having a smurf account always works wonders when it comes to handling annoying matters.
He glanced at Freya.
"But are you sure this identity of yours is safe enough?"
Seeing his concern,
"Don't worry. Even in Heaven, aside from Odin, no one knows the real relationship between the Queen of Heaven (Frigg) and the Goddess of Beauty (Freya)."
Freya smiled with absolute confidence.
"Besides, I'm not the only one like this. So no one would suspect me just because of this trait."
Aether nodded; it made sense. Heaven did have certain reclusive gods who had never met the others face-to-face.
Not to mention, Hestia herself had the alias Vesta.
And more outrageous still, according to Earth's mythology, the smith god Hephaestus was a man, married to the goddess Aphrodite. But in Danmachi's world, Hephaestus was female… and, well, she had even dated Aphrodite.
Yes, that red-haired, one-eyed elder sister figure who had been Hestia's meal ticket for months, back in Heaven, she had been Aphrodite's boyfriend.
Of course, the airheaded beauty that was Aphrodite had gone and cheated right in front of her spouse's eyes.
That night, Hephaestus snapped. Transforming into a goddess of wrath, she tied Aphrodite to the bed and made her go through this and that for a very long time.
Ever since, Aphrodite carried deep trauma: the moment she saw Hephaestus, she couldn't even straighten her back, stammering like "aba-aba" whenever she tried to speak.
"And in the original timeline here, when poor Welf learned about these heavenly tales, the guy, who prided himself as a man who never chills iron, broke down on the spot, bawling in Captain Olga's voice…."
So pitiful.
Ahem.
All in all, Aether had finally pieced together the messy-as-a-tangled-braid relationships between the gods here. Similar to Earth's myths, though with notable differences.
For example: the connection between the Goddess of Beauty Freya and the Queen of Heaven Frigg. Even Earth's Norse mythology had debates on whether they were the same deity.
And taking it a bit further, didn't that game, The God of War and His Illiterate Bald Dad, also set up something like this?
"So that means…"
Aether's face twisted oddly again.
"If Hestia really did end up with that red-eyed bunny boy, then… what does that make Zeus?"
I call you sister-in-law (granddaughter-in-law), you call me grandpa (little brother)? This family tree is broken.
At that moment,
"Hm? What are you brooding over?"
Freya knew he was overthinking again, but seeing his troubled face, she asked casually.
"Well, sis, let's say…"
Aether looked uncomfortable.
"…if someone's grandson fell in love with his own big sister, how would you count the family ranking?"
At first, Freya thought he was making some sly jab at her, ready to scold him for getting cheeky.
But after watching closely, she realized his gaze wasn't even on her. Clearly, he had another example in mind.
Besides, she'd never had a little brother. And Aether was still too young to have grandkids.
So,
"What nonsense is this? Some kind of Zeus story?"
Her instinctual reply.
Aether's lips twitched.
Guessed it in one. That's not female intuition anymore, that's Zeus-tier bullshit.
Of course, Aether knew mentioning this would give Freya something to chew on later. But unlike before, he didn't feel the need to hide it anymore.
He never liked the idea of fate. And if it did exist, it better be the kind that could change. Otherwise, this so-called reality was no better than a single-thread video game.
He had long stopped seeing the people here as NPCs. This was his life now. A life he intended to truly live.
So,
"Sis, where's our (Frigg Familia's) base?"
After all, he needed a home to live in.
"…There isn't one."
Seeing his stunned face, Freya smirked.
"A Familia starting from zero… that's common sense."
"Oh, and another thing."
Her eyes narrowed mischievously.
"You'd better not dip into Aether and Lumine's funds. Those are still the Freya Familia's property. If you steal, I'll gladly launch a War Game against you~."
Aether finally understood.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you, sis?"
"Ehehe~"
Freya didn't deny it, putting on a cheeky Syr face.
No doubt, she wasn't a pure chaos goddess, but if she could both help her little brother hide his identity and entertain herself harmlessly… why wouldn't she?
And besides,
"You're still only Level 1. Earning money and growing step by step… that's what makes it real, right?"
Yes, that had always been the plan.
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