Well, look who found out what Vanadis is!
The main building that the whole festival seems to be built around, that is. Vanadis Academy.
Honestly, probably should have seen it coming, considering Rose put it next to Valhalla, which is also an academy, for some reason?
I really ought to ask Rose about the Einherjar at some point, now that I'm thinking about that whole…thing.
Because if I recall correctly, I know Valkyries serve not only as battle maidens but also as psychopomps, and I explicitly remember that Rose was also made fun of because she couldn't find any souls of 'heroes' to bring over, along with her general workaholic attitude.
But then, I also know the Valkyrie in general had problems there, because the modern era doesn't produce many of that sort.
Ah, well, there's no point in going off on a whole tangent about them. They aren't relevant, clearly, or else I'd have heard about them by now.
I'll just assume Odin's having a more direct involvement with them made his patheticness rub off on them, and leave it at that.
Anyhow, Vanadis, this is where Rose told me to meet up with her and Freya, so of course I came along.
After a quick pitstop to pick something up, something that's now sitting in a little bag hanging around my arm.
I'll get to that later.
Shockingly enough, the front doors were open, so I just kind of walked on inside.
To add to that, I'm sort of- how should I put this?- underwhelmed by the whole place?
Vanadis gives me far more proper school and academy vibes than, say, Valhalla, which, even though it had way too much gold in my opinion, was far more grand and felt like a place where supernatural warrior maidens would actually go to learn and train to fight.
That's probably the one thing I'll ever give to the old cot; his academy is mildly interesting to look at.
Until you're blinded by all the golden statues of his bald head.
Meanwhile, far more function over form here; it doesn't quite remind me of Kuoh, but I imagine it's closer to a Northern European school in layout and appearance.
For some? I'm sure they love it, like Rose, for instance; I can see her preferring this place over Odin's easily, and not just because Odin is a hack.
But for me? Eh. Could use more magic and pizazz to hold my attention.
Fortunately, all this boring, more mundane decor has its upsides, like allowing me to focus my senses on something far more interesting.
Like Rose, who's clearly right next to someone whose presence screams divinity.
She actually told me which classroom and on which floor to meet them in, but even without those instructions, I'd be able to find them easily.
Ah, so that's Freya, huh?
I can tell she's containing herself, but even then, I can feel the sheer weight behind her cloistered presence.
My hand twitches, as though grasping for a sword.
Even suppressed, I know she's stronger than Uzume. She gives me a similar feeling or weight to Inari, but with an edge like one of the war gods in my mother's court.
Damn shame I haven't seen Odin again since I really polished up my sensing ability. I would love to see how he stacks up.
I banish the thought with a sigh as I reach the classroom, my hand falling upon the door handle.
With a small amount of effort, I steel my resolve against challenging this new goddess to a duel purely for funsies, before opening up the door.
"I hope I'm not late for class-"
I stop, right in the doorway.
Rose stood there, leaning back partially against the front desk, in a dark orange one-piece dress barely going down past her thighs, with a fluffy light pink jacket over it, likely for the cold, though I doubt she really needs it, with a pair of dress shoes matching her dress to complete the set.
That alone? Screw what I got in this bag here, I'd pound her over the damn desk right now.
She perks up as soon as I enter, gives me a look, blushes, then glances over at Freya, and blushes more.
Understandable, considering what the fuck.
Right, so, Goddess? Of course, she's divinely beautiful. As a Goddess of Love, that wasn't going to be in question. Pink hair, shaded lighter than that of a cotton candy head, and far longer to boot, easily going a bit past her waist, and curled like ribbons, with blue eyes that shone even without a sun to fill them…
"Ah, you must be Lord Kusanagi," Freya positively purrs, not sultry, but sweetly, which is somehow even more of a turn-on, "Rose here was just telling me all about you, and I must admit, beyond business, I've been curious to meet you myself." She giggles lightly, a hand coming up to her mouth, "Especially since you've taken little Schwe under your wing after the whole ordeal in Valhalla."
Now, all of that? Perfectly fine. I can handle all that without starting a potential diplomatic incident via words alone.
No, what I can't handle, despite my literally unlimited willpower, is what this Goddess is wearing.
A simple, pure white dress. It looks like a one-piece, similar to Rose's, except hers flows all the way down to nearly her ankles.
On the back.
Yeah, at the front, it stops right at her thigh line. For no particular reason, I'm sure.
You know what else also definitely isn't there for no particular reason?
"Um," Freya smiles, her hands coming up behind her back as she bats her eyelashes, "is something the matter, Lord Kusanagi?"
Rose slowly covered her face with her hands, letting out a nearly silent whimper.
The dress shows off, I'd say, about 75% of her cleavage. If not 80%.
Now, I thought I knew big tits, from Suzaku, Yasaka, and Kuroka, hell, even Rose has a pretty amazing chest.
Hah. Hahaha.
I think Freya's tits are legitimately bigger than my head.
And she's around Rose's fucking height!
She's shorter than Yasaka, with tits bigger than hers!
I can't. I actually legitimately fucking can't anymore.
Ah, wait.
First things first, I need to delete Danmachi Freya from my memory.
There. Done.
Accomplished in less than a second. Easy.
Now.
Somehow, someway, I found out how to work my vocal cords again.
"I am so sorry for your back," I say, absolutely sincerely.
Rose lets out a cry of both embarrassment and frustration and covers her face entirely.
Freya, meanwhile, simply tilts her head. "Oh? I appreciate the thought, Lord Kusanagi," she nods, giving me a sweet smile, "but I assure you, I have no back problems. The magic around here is quite astounding, as I'm sure Rose has shown you~!"
Rose nearly falls over, only managing to stop herself by uncovering her face and almost slamming her hands down onto the desk.
Her face now nearly matches her dress; she huffs and heaves a breath several times and looks between the two of us, like she's worried something might happen.
Turns out, she has every right to be, just not for the reason I suspected.
At the same time, both my hand and Freya's find themselves patting Rose on the head, one after the other.
"There, there~..." Freya hummed, sincerely trying to be comforting.
"It'll be okay~!" I coo out, far more teasing.
This, unfortunately, has the opposite of its intended effect.
Rose freezes for a second, her glance between us only grows faster, before her pupils dilate, her breath quickens, and she throws her hands out, "IknewthiswasamistakeI'llsee youattheinnbyeeeeeee!"
I could barely catch her words before a Norse magic circle took shape beneath her, and in a spiral of light, she was gone.
Freya blinks at this before pulling her hand back to her mouth and going, "Oh my…"
"Ah, been a little while since she's gotten that embarrassed…" I muse, rubbing the back of my head.
"Embarrassed? That poor girl…" Freya gave a light huff, a small frown settling on her face, "She has no reason to be such, considering how talented she is, but considering what I heard she was subjected to while under that Odin…well. I suppose it's no surprise."
I take Rose's former place, leaning against the front desk, "Hah, please, don't get me started on that old geezer…" I state, crossing my arms and frowning right back, "Seriously, I could go on for way too long about him. It'd hold you up, and I'm sure you couldn't have that."
Freya gave a soft hum at that, her smile quickly returning, "Your consideration is rather kind, but you are wrong in that assumption…I do have time right now; it's just that all of us Vanir already know all that is wrong with him."
Huh. Vanir?
Ah, right. The Norse Gods are technically split into two distinct subgroups, so to speak.
Aesir, the Norse Gods who follow war and power, and the Vanir, who follow cultivation and fertility.
As all subgroups of gods are known to do, they waged war against one another at some point before uniting in the end.
Well, I say uniting, but if I recall my myths correctly, it's more like the Vanir were subjugated by the Aesir and became a subgroup of them instead.
Even though it ended in more of a draw?
Admittedly, I'm not sure of the exact details there myself.
Now, I do have a potential first-hand source for all that junk, right here in front of me…
And ain't that a wild thought to legitimately have and not be called crazy?
But, perhaps another time, even if she says she has time right now, I doubt I was called here to discuss history, as fascinating as that would be.
Though, while I have her here…
I lean forward just a tad, the question slipping from my lips with an eager ease, "Is it that his wife left him or something? Because, seriously, I haven't heard anything about Frigg at all, and I didn't wanna ask Rose for…obvious reasons."
The girl gets intense when it comes to Odin, for all the right reasons.
At that, Freya's smile doesn't strain or anything; no, it sharpens: "Ah, I understand your interest, Lord Kusanagi, but I'd truly rather not say, if that's alright?"
I blink at that.
You know, sometimes, Frigg and Freya are conflated as the same Goddess, aren't they?
My gaze leaves her eyes for a second, seeing the veritable landscape that is her chest and cleavage, before returning to her eyes.
Her smile grows just a touch wider.
Huh. I think I get it now.
Good luck trying to find a single woman in all of existence that comes even slightly close to matching that, you old fuck.
I shake my head. "No problem at all, Lady Freya. I apologize if I overstepped."
She shakes her head back in turn, raising a hand as she does, "Oh, you did no such thing, Lord Kusanagi; don't worry." With a wave of her hand, she moves on, "There's time for more idle conversation later, but if you'll allow me to get to the most pressing matter?"
Now, at that, my gaze sharpens. Right, serious time. What could this be about? That Valkyrie squad that got their memories axed? Those remnants of an evil dragon's presence that were found?
I nod, so she continues…by bowing.
As deep as she could go.
Holy me, what that does to her chest.
"I believe I mentioned it earlier," she began sincerely, "but from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for looking after my little Schwe-chan…"
I think I could shove my whole arm between her cleavage, and it'd just vanish in there.
Alright, yeah, I can't take this.
Coughing once and taking a steadying breath, I managed to pull my gaze away. "Please, Lady Freya, raise your head; it truly isn't such a big deal…"
The Goddess does so, but with a slightly raised eyebrow, "Hmm? But I assure you, Lord Kusanagi, it is to me. Did I do the bow wrong? That's how it works in the East, yes? To show the utmost respect and thankfulness?"
Haha. Yeah. You might be showing a bit too much respect there.
"The bow was fine; that's not really…" I trail off before I can properly explain, so Freya goes on, putting a finger to her chin.
"Hmm, perhaps I should do what I looked up called the 'dogeza' instead?" She inquired.
I thought about her in that position, kneeling before me, and my brain short-circuited for a second.
"No. No." I emphasized, nearly in a panic, "Please. Don't. I got it, I got it."
Freya tilted her head at that, looking legitimately concerned at that, "Did I do something wrong? My apologies, Lord Kusanagi…"
Holy fuck, this woman is dangerous. I don't think she's naive or innocent, per se; she's just so completely and utterly kind that it hurts my soul.
I'm also getting motherly vibes from her, just from how caring she seems to be on top of that.
Which makes sense in some respect, but it both makes me want to protect her at the same time as I want to let Nori Junior do all the talking.
What a wild mix. I never could have seen this coming.
…I must never let Uzume meet this Goddess; she would corrupt her, and I would be forced to end her once and for all for such an act.
I wave her off with a sigh and give her a tired smile, "No, it's nothing, Lady Freya. You have nothing to apologize for." I rub the bridge of my nose. "But I still don't think you need to thank me so much for looking after Schwe; it wasn't that big a deal on my end."
After a moment, I add, with a smirk, "And besides, in the grand scheme of things, I didn't do that much. Mostly just bullied her and such, heh."
At that, Freya's smile returns in force, "On the contrary, you've done more than you know. Considering how my little Schwe-chan is, she needs a little 'bullying' to get moving from time to time, and considering you were the main contributing factor in pushing her to come back here…" she shakes her head, "No, you did more than you could know, I think. At least let me make you aware of that."
"Ah, well…" I let out a huff and just gave in, "If you say so, Lady Freya."
"I don't just say so." She reaches out and boops me on my nose, nearly causing me to jump, "I know so, Lord Kusanagi~!"
Ah, damn, now she's adding cute to the mix too!? The Hel am I supposed to do here, eh?
I couldn't help but chuckle at that: "Of course you do, Lady Freya."
"Mhmm~! Now!" She clasps her hands together, "I simply must ask: have you been enjoying your time at the festival? And was the selection of shops from the East varied enough to your liking?"
Huh, somehow, I have a feeling I will be here for a little while…
Yet, I can't exactly say that I mind that all that much.
Maybe it's the Goddess of Love coming out of her more at the moment, which makes her so kind and caring, but I can't say I dislike it.
Not at all.
In fact, if anything, I'm more disappointed she doesn't show up over Odin!
Seriously, screw that guy, give me enormous titty mamma Freya here!
I say that, and I'm not even into that kind of thing, but like, for Freya?
I would legitimately consider it.
Now, I'm still not entirely sure of her strength, but maybe when whatever inevitably goes down at this festival happens, I'll get to see her in action then?
It wouldn't shock me if she switches up when things get serious and her home or people she cares about are threatened.
I could definitely see it.
I nod my head at her words, "Yes to both, though, adding to that, I actually felt there were a bit too many Eastern-related shops, especially when it came to food."
"Ah? That was mostly intentional!" She addresses, holding a finger up, "See, Eastern cuisine has been a surprisingly big hit, especially around these parts. The demand for them was fairly high, even over local foodstuffs!"
Ah, yes, the draugr meat.
As I said before, completely understandable.
Though maybe I ought to ask her about that? I never did get a clear answer on what that was; that old guy just kept denying it!