"So that means…"
Demeter's voice dropped in a way that was rare for her. A sharp glint flashed through those amber eyes.
"The one who hurt you was Ryuu Lion, wasn't it?"
Genichi lifted his gaze slightly and met the goddess's eyes.
In that look, beyond worry and lingering aftershock, there was now something unmistakable.
Anger.
Of course Demeter knew Ryuu Lion.
Or rather, in Orario there were few adventurers who didn't know the name "Gale."
A former ace of the Astraea Familia, the elf who, after her familia's destruction, had become a "vengeful wraith" and hunted Evilus alone.
Among Evilus, her name was a curse. In the deep Dungeon, it was like a ghost's sigh.
Even back when Astraea still existed, Demeter had gotten along with her fairly well.
The two goddesses would occasionally drink tea and chat, sharing a quiet, unspoken understanding.
Demeter still remembered the Justice Goddess with her gentle smile, remembered the pride and fondness in her expression whenever she spoke about her familia members.
So when news of the Astraea Familia's annihilation arrived, Demeter mourned for a long time.
Later, when Ryuu Lion began hunting Evilus on her own, Demeter learned of it. Though she never approached her openly, she'd helped more than once in secret. Anonymous information on Evilus movements. A portion of supplies from her own familia's haul, "accidentally misplaced" at a specific spot in the Dungeon.
She helped Ryuu Lion because she was Astraea's surviving child, because of the bond between goddesses that had lasted for years.
But Demeter had never imagined—
The person she'd helped in secret, the avenger she'd believed stood on the same side as her…
Had nearly killed her familia member with her own hands.
Nearly made Demeter lose Genichi for good.
The moment she thought back to pushing open the door and seeing that shocking pool of blood, to the boy lying in it with a face as pale as paper, to the way her heart had nearly stopped as she dropped to her knees beside him—
Demeter's hands clenched tight.
She wasn't a goddess who angered easily.
As an agricultural goddess, she was used to gentleness, patience, and waiting for flowers to bloom.
But now, an unfamiliar blaze of fury surged in her chest, scorching at her reason.
Ryuu Lion.
That name, in this instant, had turned into an enemy.
"Demeter."
Genichi's voice pulled her out of the churning thoughts.
She lowered her gaze to the boy in her arms, and found those pitch-black eyes watching her quietly.
In his look was something faint: a question, hesitation, the feeling of words held back.
He noticed.
The change in Demeter's eyes just now, the way her hands had tightened—those reactions went beyond what a patron goddess "should" feel for a single follower.
He remembered the suffocating hug when she rushed in. The sob caught in her shaking voice. The traces of an entire night spent at his bedside.
Was this really…
Just a normal relationship between a goddess and her familia member?
He parted his lips, wanting to ask.
But in the end, the questions that reached his mouth were swallowed back down, one by one.
He didn't know how to say it.
Didn't know what kind of answer he'd get if he asked.
And he knew even less how he'd face it if the answer matched the vague suspicion forming in his chest.
So he chose silence.
Maintain the status quo.
Right now, it was the safest choice.
"As for Ryuu Lion…"
Genichi withdrew his gaze, his voice returning to its usual calm.
"Don't interfere. I'll handle it myself."
Demeter's brows knit.
"But—"
"I'll handle it myself."
Genichi cut her off, calm but absolute.
Of course he wasn't going to let it go.
Nearly being killed by Ryuu Lion was a fact. Even if the fatal wound came from splinching as a side effect of Apparition, without that relentless pursuit, he never would have been forced into that kind of corner.
He would settle that score eventually.
Just not now.
What was he right now?
An adventurer who'd only just reached Lv. 2 a few days ago.
And what was Ryuu Lion?
A seasoned Lv. 4 elite, a killing machine forged by five years of revenge hunts.
Getting out alive this time had already been sheer luck, saved by a contingency that happened to be available at the perfect moment.
If it happened again, he didn't believe he'd walk away intact.
And more than that—
Behind Ryuu Lion stood Freya.
Orario's strongest, most willful, and most unfathomable beauty goddess.
In the original story, Freya's interest in Ryuu Lion was made perfectly clear.
Something Freya had set her eyes on, who dared touch it?
At least, not him. Not yet.
That wasn't cowardice. It was rationality.
Until he had enough power, he needed to keep his head down, build strength, and wait for timing.
Of course, he had no need to spell all of that out to Demeter.
It was enough that she understood: he would deal with it himself.
Demeter looked at him, amber eyes full of unwillingness.
"…But she almost killed you—"
"I know."
Genichi stayed calm.
"So I'll get that score back myself, once I'm strong enough."
He paused, then added, "Until then, it's better to keep things quiet."
Demeter held his gaze for a long time. In the end, she lost to that unshakable calm in his black eyes.
She let out a breath, released her hold on him, and stood.
"Fine. If you're saying it that firmly…"
She turned to the cabinet in the corner of the room and took out the parchment used to update a blessing.
When she returned to the bedside, the emotion on her face had already smoothed back into her usual gentleness.
"Then I'll update your blessing now, Genichi."
She sat behind him and placed her fingertips lightly against his back.
Even through the thin underclothes, she could feel the warmth of his body, and the firm lines of muscle shaped by constant fighting.
A moment later, something complicated flickered through those amber eyes.
"Genichi," she said softly. "Your status… changed a lot."
"Mm."
Genichi didn't look back. He answered with the same steady calm as always.
He could roughly guess what the numbers would look like.
That fight with Ryuu Lion had been brief, but growth carved out by pressure on the edge of death was nothing like ordinary monster grinding.
And on top of that, his climb up to the fifteenth floor, cutting down mid-level monsters along the way, had piled up a considerable amount of experience.
(End of Chapter)
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