Character Details
Meanwhile.
In the corridor of the Twilight Manor, with its thick, plush carpeting.
"Wahhh! Let me go, let me go!"
The shrill, miserable shriek rattled even the wall sconces lining the hallway.
"Haimer! You bastard! You're obstructing a deity's free will here!"
"This is my turf! Inside there are dozens of adorable, dainty girls! That flower-fragrant skin! That damp, glistening hair!"
"Why are you stripping me of my right to look at my own children?!"
Loki bawled at the top of her lungs, her voice loud enough to be heard several floors away.
And yet.
No matter how she thrashed and flailed with all four limbs.
The arm Haimer had clamped onto her collar might as well have been rooted in place—it didn't budge an inch.
His steps were perfectly even; he didn't so much as glance at the Loki dangling and struggling for dear life from his hand.
Haimer dragged Loki along by the back of her collar.
He really had no choice.
This girl had been exactly like this back in the Heavens, and now that she was in the Lower World standing right in front of him, she couldn't even be bothered to keep up appearances anymore.
"If you keep drooling like that, I think I'll just swap tonight's dinner for roast deity instead."
Haimer tilted his head and shot her a cold, sweeping glance. His gaze was placid.
And the moment she heard those two words—"roast deity"—Loki's kicking legs froze stiff in midair.
She swallowed hard, instantly recalling the terror of being dominated by this guy back in the Heavens. The range of her struggling shrank rapidly, until at last she could only hang from Haimer's hand like a dried salted fish, still grumbling resentfully under her breath.
"Tyrant... a blockhead who doesn't understand the slightest bit of fun..."
Haimer couldn't be bothered to deal with Loki's muttering and simply carried her straight out through the front gate of the Twilight Manor.
...
The setting sun dyed the flagstone road of Northwest Avenue a golden yellow.
On the way to the estate in the upscale residential district.
Haimer's pace was unhurried.
Loki, meanwhile, walked beside him rubbing the neck that had been chafed sore, her mouth still not taking a break.
"Come to think of it, why do I absolutely have to tag along with you to pick up those monsters in your Familia and go eat dinner together?!"
"We're deities, you know—sitting at the same table to eat with a bunch of monsters that crawled up out of the Dungeon? If word of this got out, where would that leave my, Loki's, dignity?"
Haimer didn't reply right away.
After all, Loki still had no idea what the real situation with the Xenos was.
In the eyes of her and deities like Ganesha, the reason those monsters were so docile was entirely because, in the plaza at Babel Tower, he'd used some kind of terrifying divine brainwashing Technique to control them.
"Don't tell me you're actually going to bring those monsters to The Hostess of Fertility?"
Seeing that Haimer wasn't speaking, Loki leaned in a little closer, her brows knitting together.
"And besides, going to a place like that—can they even stomach surface food? Don't have them go berserk and start gnawing on the tables in the tavern."
"That's nothing for you to worry about."
"Of course they can stomach it."
"Miss Rei, for instance, loves desserts—ever since she tried fruit pie a while back, she's never stopped going on about it."
"Miss Fei, on the other hand, has taken quite a liking to fried potato balls, though she prefers things baked nice and crispy."
Hearing Haimer casually rattle off a few names.
The more Loki listened, the more she suddenly stopped in her tracks, frozen on the spot, blinking her eyes.
"Hold on a second."
Her face full of confusion, Loki hurried to catch up and tugged on Haimer's sleeve.
"Who's Rei? And who's this Fei?"
"Miss Rei is that Siren, and Miss Fei is, of course, that Harpy."
Haimer answered quickly. But upon getting that answer.
Loki was left utterly clicking her tongue in astonishment.
"No way—Haimer, you're serious?"
Loki's mouth dropped wide open, and she couldn't help looking Haimer up and down all over again, as if staring at a stranger she didn't recognize.
"You actually treat them as people?"
"You... you even gave them names?"
"You've gone so far as to memorize what a few monsters like to eat?"
Faced with Loki's flustered, startled reaction.
Haimer simply looked at her, at a loss for words.
"So even now, you still haven't caught on?"
Having said that.
Haimer came to a stop.
Seeing this, Loki also realized something was off. She turned her head, glancing left and right, and only after confirming that the passersby—who'd given them a wide berth out of fear of Haimer—couldn't overhear.
Did she finally lower her stance, sidle over cautiously, and reach out to hook an arm around Haimer's shoulder.
"Hey."
Loki dropped her voice, staring fixedly at the side of Haimer's face.
"Haimer, tell me the truth."
"Don't tell me—you really didn't do anything to those monsters?"
As she asked this, Loki kept her eyes locked tightly on Haimer's, trying to find the faintest flaw within them.
After all, she'd actually felt something was off back at the Babel Tower plaza.
What kind of brainwashing Technique could make monsters' very eyes turn into those of frightened little girls?
And so, as she asked this question, even Loki's breathing slowed.
After all, if Haimer had used his divine authority to brainwash and remake the monsters, then the matter would still fall within the bounds of "the might of the gods" that she could comprehend; but if it wasn't that...
...
"Or do you really think I've got the spare time to go brainwashing a few Dungeon monsters?"
In response to Loki's question.
Haimer looked at Loki, and then.
Gave a slight nod.
"Hsss!!!"
At that.
Loki sharply sucked in a breath, and the hand resting on Haimer's shoulder snapped back as if electrocuted.
No mind control.
Which is to say...
"Then... then those monsters, you mean to say...?"
Loki stammered, her mind feeling as though it had been struck by a thunderbolt.
After all, if Haimer hadn't brainwashed them.
Then that meant those monsters—possessing minds and even preferences—had been naturally born and nurtured by the Dungeon itself.
This was terrifying news, enough to overturn the entire understanding of the Lower World! Once this news was confirmed, the whole of Orario's system of hatred toward monsters, the very meaning of adventurers' existence, and even the rules of the gods' game in the Lower World would all suffer an unprecedented shock.
"This sort of thing, there's no need to come asking me."
"When the time comes, go ask Ouranos—he'll naturally tell you all of it."
"Or you can go find Ganesha; either way, he knows it all a good deal earlier than you do."
Haimer had no intention of giving Loki a history lesson about the Xenos out here on the main street. He decisively cut off Loki's line of questioning, punted the ball away cleanly and crisply, and kept walking forward without so much as a backward glance.
Loki stood rooted in place, taking several seconds to recover. Only then did she give her cheeks a hard rub, snap back to her senses, and finally, gritting her teeth, quickly fall back into step behind him.
"These guys..."
"Hey! Don't walk so fast! You suddenly drop a bombshell this huge on me and then just leave it at that?"
The whole way, Loki was practically tearing at her ears and scratching her cheeks, her mind reduced to a tangled bowl of mush.
And so, walking like that the entire way, they arrived at the upscale residential district.
The front gate of Haimer's new estate was shut tight.
Haimer took out a key and pushed the door open.
The hall was filled at that moment with the aroma of baking bread.
Lili, wearing an apron that was obviously a size too big, was standing on a small stool, laboriously wiping down that round obsidian table.
As if to prove the resolve she'd made upon joining the Familia, she worked with especially brisk, nimble hands.
Hearing the door open, Lili hurriedly hopped down from the stool, and when she turned to see that it was Haimer, an ingratiating smile instantly spread across her little face.
"Lord Haimer! You're back!"
She hurried forward to greet him.
Then, her gaze swept over the red-haired, rakishly dressed woman behind Haimer, and recognizing her as the Loki she'd seen that night at the Soma Familia's brewery, she promptly bent over respectfully.
"Lord Loki."
"Oh ho, if it isn't that little Pallum supporter—you've cleaned up pretty nicely."
Since Lili had already become a member of Haimer's Familia, Loki tossed out a perfunctory remark, but her attention was clearly not on Lili in the slightest.
Those narrow, squinting eyes of hers were warily scanning all around, trying to spot the so-called monsters with minds somewhere in the hall.
"Where are the others?"
Haimer took a look around and casually asked.
"Lady Hestia is resting in her room on the second floor..." Lili reported honestly.
"As for Miss Rei and Miss Fei and the others..."
Before Lili could finish her sentence.
"Lord Haimer is back!"
Accompanied by a crisp, pleasant voice, Rei the golden-winged Siren, along with Fei the red-haired Harpy with feathered wings, came walking in, chatting and laughing.
Following behind them were Rania, the spider-woman who moved somewhat clumsily on her eight legs, and Aruru, the one-horned rabbit sitting atop a Hellhound's back, gnawing on a carrot she clutched in her arms.
This scene.
Gave the Loki standing in the center of the hall a real fright.
After all, seeing them from far away over in the plaza earlier was one thing.
But this group of monsters, the kind you'd only ever encounter in the Dungeon, strolling over chatting like this—that was another thing entirely.
"Lord Haimer!"
Spotting Haimer, Fei immediately flapped her wings in excitement and flew over.
But just as she was about to dive straight into Haimer's embrace, she abruptly halted in midair.
Precisely because she'd seen the Loki standing beside Haimer.
It wasn't just Fei.
The smile that had been on Rei's face stiffened slightly.
Rania, too, took up a defensive posture.
And Aruru was so frightened she even dropped the carrot in her hands.
They were monsters.
They knew better than anyone the deep-rooted views that the adventurers and gods on the surface held toward them.
Apart from Haimer and the goddess Hestia who lived in this estate, they harbored fear toward any unfamiliar deity.
"Stand back a little..."
Rei spread her golden wings, shielding Rania and Fei behind her.
Were these really the same monsters that, down in the Dungeon, were savage to the core and would tear into living people on sight?
Watching this group of monsters actually show her such a startled look, as if they'd run into a natural predator.
Loki, too, clicked her tongue, momentarily at a loss for how to react.
"No need to be nervous."
Haimer raised a hand and looked reassuringly toward Rei and the others, who were braced as if facing a powerful enemy.
"This one's just here to mooch a meal—pay her no mind."
"As for the matter concerning you all, this one already learned about it on the way here."
Haimer pinned Loki's character down in a flat tone.
Hearing Haimer say this.
Fei and Rei exchanged a glance, and although the wariness deep in their eyes hadn't fully faded, the tension in their bodies clearly eased somewhat.
After all, their long time together had already made them acknowledge one thing beyond all doubt: as long as Lord Haimer said it was fine, then it was definitely fine.
"Hey hey! Who's mooching a meal?! I'm on your side too, you know!"
Upon hearing that, Loki protested with some indignation.
That said.
Loki's gaze nonetheless remained firmly nailed on Rei and the others, and this kind of probing, scrutinizing stare made the Xenos extremely uncomfortable.
And it was right at this moment.
A "pitter-patter" of slippers padding across the wooden floor came from the stairway on the second floor.
When Hestia reached the first floor and her gaze passed over Haimer to make out the red-haired woman standing beside him.
The yawn she'd been halfway through caught and lodged right in her throat.
"Loki?!"
Hestia's drowsiness was swept clean away in an instant.
"What's a flat-chested woman like you doing barging into my home?!"
"Hah?"
Loki had still been marveling over the existence of rational monsters, but the moment she heard that "flat-chested woman," a vein instantly bulged on her forehead.
She whipped her head around and glared at Hestia without the slightest courtesy.
"Hey shortstack, did you not brush your teeth after waking up? Your mouth reeks! I'm a guest Haimer personally brought back here!"
Loki planted both hands on her hips and fired right back without showing any mercy.
"Pah! A guest? You? You're absolutely just shamelessly tagging along after Haimer!"
Hestia charged over in a few strides, planted herself right in front of Loki, and waved a hand at her.
"Get out! Get out! You're not welcome here! Hurry up and leave!"
"Why you little shortstack."
Loki rolled up her sleeves, all set to do battle through three hundred rounds with this archnemesis.
But just then, the corner of her eye happened to sweep across Rei and Fei and the others standing off to the side.
A thought slammed into Loki's brain.
She immediately narrowed her eyes and stared at Hestia.
"Wait a sec... shortstack..."
Loki stretched out a hand and pointed at Rei and Fei and the others standing off to the side.
"You live in Haimer's estate, spending all day every day together with these monsters..."
"Don't tell me—you knew all along that these monsters have minds?!"
Loki's tone carried a powerful note of disbelief.
After all, she was Haimer's sworn buddy from the Heavens, the patron goddess of the Loki Familia, one of the leading figures among Orario's top-tier powers—
And yet this world-shattering piece of classified intel, she'd somehow learned of it later than this shortstack who did nothing all day but eat and sleep?!
This was the greatest insult imaginable to her!
Faced with Loki's expression of shock mixed with frustrated grievance.
Hestia first blanked for a moment, then immediately caught on to what Loki was talking about.
At once she folded both arms across her chest, deliberately thrusting out her already enviable curves to an even more exaggerated degree, and tugged a contemptuous, sneering smirk to the corner of her mouth.
"Heh heh, what's this?"
"Don't tell me you, Loki, who struts around out there all day priding yourself on being a supreme genius, only found out about this today?"
Hestia peered down at Loki from on high, her tone dripping with mockery.
"Oh dear, oh dear, how pitiful."
Hestia covered her mouth with the back of her hand and let out an exaggerated "oh ho ho ho" laugh.
"I, for one, have already eaten meals together with Rei and the others ages ago, and Fei even tells me stories about the Dungeon."
"And yet certain someones who fancy themselves the patron deity of a great faction don't even have this much insight—truly enough to make one laugh their teeth out."
"You——!!"
That remark struck the landmine with pinpoint precision.
Loki was so furious she stamped her feet, rolling up her sleeves and charging straight over.
"You stumpy little wax gourd, good for nothing but growing two useless lumps of fat! What's there to be so smug about?! It's just that Haimer kept everything hidden from me!"
"Who are you calling a stumpy wax gourd?! Still better than you, a flat board who can't even tell her own front from her back!"
Hestia gave no ground, slamming head-on into her.
At that.
The two goddesses, whose combined ages amounted to who-knows-how-many hundreds of millions of years, went right back to grappling with each other without any regard for their image.
Yanking hair, pinching cheeks, and spewing trash talk at each other with not a shred of divine dignity to it.
Off to the side, Lili stood there holding her rag, dumbstruck.
Rei and Fei and the others exchanged blank looks too, the wariness on their faces unknowingly melting away for the most part, replaced by sheer bewilderment.
So this is how the gods up on the surface usually communicate with each other...?
Watching the two foolish goddesses rolling around on the floor in a tangled heap, Haimer, standing off to the side, couldn't help drawing in a deep breath and reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose.
"Are you done making a racket?"
Haimer couldn't be bothered to keep watching the two clowns perform, and turned his head toward Lili beside him.
"Right, Lili, go upstairs and change into some cleaner clothes."
"We'll be heading out for dinner shortly."
Hearing those words—"heading out for dinner."
Fei's and Aruru's eyes immediately lit up.
After all, to be able to openly and proudly accompany Lord Haimer to a surface restaurant and sample its delicacies.
"Yes! Lord Haimer! Lili will be ready right away!"
Upon hearing this, Lili's eyes lit up too. She immediately tossed the rag aside and dashed off toward the second floor as fast as her short little legs could carry her.
"Oh, and one more thing."
Haimer turned his head toward Hestia and Loki, who were still scuffling.
"Since we're going out for a group dinner tonight, you two had better remember to rein it in."
"If I catch you making fools of yourselves like this again, and on top of that smashing Mama Mia's table..."
Haimer narrowed his eyes and smiled.
"There'll be no need to wait until tomorrow—tonight I'll strip the two of you bare and hang you out on either side of my bedroom bed to air in the wind!"
"Eep!!! Absolutely not that, anything but that!"
____
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🔥 New history: COTE: Counterattack System
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