Decision
... What should we do now...?"
After the news of what happened reached their ears, the Loki Familia as a whole felt as if an enormous mountain was weighing on them. It was so big and overwhelming, none of them could hope to bear its weight, even their own God could do nothing about it...
"Who did we provoke…?"
Such whispers were a common sight throughout the mansion as the Loki Familia struggled to come to terms with the destruction caused by a single enemy, Ryuu, who was completely unknown to them. The Guild had not revealed any information about Ryuu or which Familia he belonged to, leaving the Loki Familia at a significant disadvantage.
If they did not apologize, they knew they would be faced with serious limitations and may even have to disband within a few days. The power dynamic had shifted, and Ryuu held the entire Familia in the palm of his hand. It was a difficult and uncertain time for the Loki Familia as they tried to find a way forward.
The request in Ryuu's letter seemed straightforward and easy to grant to the members of the Loki Familia, which is why they all looked at Finn, the strategist and captain of their Familia, with cold gazes. In their minds, they were screaming at him to accept the request and not try to use them in any schemes. If he did not, they threatened to change sides and beg for forgiveness from Ais Wallenstein on their own.
Reputation and honor meant little in the face of doom, and the lower ranked members of the Familia saw themselves as disposable in the grand scheme of things. They would rather ask Ryuu for benefits, knowing that he had the power to provide them. The Apocalypse was looming, and they were desperate to find any way to survive it.
Attached to the letter, Ryuu added insult to the injury to prove his shamelessness further. After his conversation with Misha Flott regarding his 'registration' as an Adventurer ended, much to her horror as she found out Ryuu was still level 0, he merely took out another piece of paper.
Such an action was enough to make all the adventurers left there to do business with the Guild even more dumbfounded.
'T-There's more!?'
Their eyes went almost out of their sockets, if Ryuu managed to not only have all the Familias in Orario of his side in the span of a day, then what else did he do...?
Though all of them were overthinking too much. In fact, after Ryuu attached the second letter on the notice board, he didn't comment on it this time as there was no need. Instead, he directly left the building with calm steps, as if all the commotion he caused in the entire city was not his business at all.
"... The Ganesha Familia gained 100 High-level monsters from him!?"
The list attached to Ryuu's letter was a detailed account of what each Familia that participated had received. While this information was not exactly a secret, Ryuu's bold use of it in his plans left some of the more cunning adventurers speechless. They couldn't help but wonder what else Ryuu was capable of doing in their humble city. Would they wake up to find half the city gone the next day?
These thoughts terrified them as they swore vows on their souls to never dare to provoke Ryuu, knowing even a thousand lives would not be enough to face the repercussions of crossing him as an enemy!
That endless list proved its worth now as the Loki Familia members were ready to throw themselves at Ryuu should the higher ups not deal with this accordingly....
The only ones still considering what to do, were the so-called higher-ups that still held their Familia somewhat dear.
"... Monster"
Finn Deimne, the Captain of the Loki Familia, spoke with bitterness as he realized that all the paths he had designed had been ruthlessly cut down before he could even come up with a proper plan. In his mind, he knew he could never do what Ryuu had done in just one day.
No matter what, the request had to be accepted as it involved every Familia in Orario. If they were able to withstand the consequences and not disband, they wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. Finn could only smile with resignation, knowing that there was nothing he could do to change the current circumstances.
"Do we really...have no other choice?"
Riveria was shocked by how a simple conflict between Bete and an adventurer had escalated to this point.
She unconsciously glanced at the golden-haired woman in the room that was clenching her hands until blood came out of her palms.
"I...will apologize."
As everyone turned their attention to Ais, Lefiya, the only level 3 adventurer in the room, became flustered. She had tried to cheer up Ais all day, but it had been to no avail. Instead, Ais had looked at her once or twice before, telling her there was no need to feel bad for her.
"N-No! You should not! Y-You could never make a mistake, I'm sure of it. That person is the suspicious one. Ais-san could never make a mistake about such a thing!" Lefiya said with determination, stuttering slightly as she affirmed Ais's innocence.
But it was too late. The captain of the Familia had made his decision.
"Indeed, please do that. I'm sorry we have to resort to this"
He said, signaling the end of the discussion.
Finn held personally no hard feelings against Ryuu. The reason was clear. The man didn't look for trouble himself. Instead, it was always the Loki Familia members who provoked him first, so why would he pin the blame on him? It was obviously their fault...
Ais nodded at Finn's words.
While Ryuu planned his moves, Ais couldn't stop thinking about her single exchange with Ryuu. Although the aura was familiar, the brief glimpse of his dragon scale was enough for her to understand that he was not actually the One-Eyed Black Dragon.
This realization made Ais incredibly sad, as she had been about to kill an innocent person. If Ryuu hadn't come up with such a terrifying plan, Ais would still have properly apologized to him. In fact, she couldn't blame him for seeking revenge against someone who had tried to kill him as soon as they met. It was only natural to want to defend oneself in such a situation…
While the conversation was taking place, Bete was thrown out of the meeting room for barking at them to teach Ryuu a lesson and constantly shouting insults that were too unpleasant for anyone to listen to. Meanwhile, Loki was in another room, smashing every object in sight in her frustration at being defeated by a mortal in a single day. The fact that she, a proud Goddess, had underestimated Ryuu was something she would forever regret. The shock and anger were so great that even her divinity, which was one of the strongest in Heaven, was showing signs of uncertainty.
This meant that Loki was doubting herself on such a scale, even her divinity wouldn't be spared. If she didn't resolve the situation quickly, she would be forced to return to Heaven. It's worth noting that Ryuu couldn't have predicted this outcome, as his understanding of [Divinity] was almost non-existent as it was not the kind of information a God could share with a mortal…
While the matter with the Loki Familia was almost resolved, the man almost everyone in the city was now terrified of, was leisurely strolling in the city as he gathered some additional information here and there before returning home...
'I guess I need a Familia now.'
He made sure to mention to the several highest-level Familias how he still didn't have a Familia and, as expected, most of them directly offered their entire support in case he chose to join them.
Ryuu had garnered a lot of attention and influence in the city in a short amount of time, and it was clear that any Familia he joined would benefit greatly from his presence. The prospect of endless wealth, support, and a rise in rankings was tempting to any Familia, and many of them would likely offer him a high position.
Despite his immense power and influence in the city, Ryuu did not let it go to his head. He remained composed and always calculated his actions with extreme care, knowing that one mistake could lead to his downfall.
He wore a hood during his stroll through the city to avoid being recognized and have many people stare at him in fear, which was meaningless for him now...
His thoughts were interrupted, though, as someone bumped into him before falling to the ground.
"Ouch... Hey! You! Why are you not paying attention where you walk!?"
She was right, he was indeed not paying that much attention to the road, however, could she truly pin the blame on him when she was walking with her head facing the floor...?
He wondered, slightly amused by the thought of her terrified face, should he just reveal who he was...
'... Mmh?'
His thoughts were interrupted as he took a look at the woman who bumped on him.
'... A Goddess?'
How could he not recognize signs of divinity after encountering hundreds of different Gods and Goddesses? Of course, that was not the problem. What he was truly concerned about was that he did not know who she was.
In fact, in his 'long' conversation with Hermes, Ryuu asked details about every single God Hermes knew, which is another reason why his plans could be executed so well, as he knew what each God or Goddess would need. However...a description of someone like her was not present in his mind, yet Ryuu would never mistake such an overbearing pressure.... Heck, it was even stronger than most Gods he met!
With a storm of thoughts once again brewing in his mind, preparing himself a nice plan to force Hermes to fork out any single detail he conveniently missed, Ryuu smiled apologetically as he offered a hand to help her out....
"Pardon me for my negligence... May I know who you are?"
Asking Hermes is of course better, but who can tell Ryuu he's telling the truth? He will conveniently say he encountered a Goddess with her features, and if Hermes dares to tell him a lie, their little contract will instantly fall to his advantage...
While his 'benevolence' was another act of his, the 'Goddess' in question had no idea about all this. Since she finally met a kind-hearted person, she took her chance. The unknown Goddess grasped his hand with a pitiful expression as she uttered
"... Are you perhaps in need of a Familia?"