88 Chapter 88: Untying Knots

Despite my [Pure Heart], I couldn't delay about the things I'd known in my ninth iteration. Artemis would definitely notice something wrong if I kept doing so, and that'll make me guilty.

It is also a question of her trust… and I am not the one to do such a thing.

In short, things would become complicated if I held back from talking about the girls in that iteration.

Since I couldn't recall a fight—something that'll be significant enough to vent emotions on monsters—it could only mean that it didn't go wrong.

…I think.

Nobody said anything after her remarks about Hephaestus-sama.

"I know her well… Hephaestus."

"..?"

"Do you remember her situation in Tenkai? She asked me to hide it from you… but it's better to tell you now."

Something asked by Hephaestus-sama to remain hidden..?

"She didn't simply remain closed doors or evaded by the gods… She didn't have any friends and interactions outside of Hestia."

I thought even shut-ins would have a select number of friends. If she lived like that for thousands of years…

"..."

I know what Artemis is pertaining to.

"It is better here in Gekai since we could restrain our Arcanum. That included it." She said. "But the number of people who remained after seeing that could be counted on one hand."

This possibility should've come into my mind. When she revealed her secret that day…

…

Before the dungeon dive—every night—it became a norm to talk with Hephaestus-sama. It is mainly about the matters we are currently facing such as Evilus, but there were also many times where we talked about mundane things.

Right now, the topic of discussion has shifted to the magicians of my world.

"Coats… It is not difficult to imagine such a thing, but they do contrast this world's mages."

"Yeah. It started as a trend during the renaissance era, though everyone stuck with it as it seemed more practical… and cool."

I fully admit in having the same broken sense of fashion.

"Nobu-kun in a robe…"

Her words suddenly made me remember something. My mouth twitched as some painful memories popped up.

There was a time when my childish side took over. Upon donning the magicians' uniform for the first time, I thought it was very cool. Fighting bad guys with clothing akin to those secret service felt cool.

"Hm..?"

Hephaestus-sama seemingly noticed that pause.

"Did you perhaps do what I am thinking?"

"...I was a child back then. Doing embarrassing things is excusable."

I began to regret why I led everything to this topic. With chuunibyou, magicians in black coats, and cosplay pointed to this exact thing—my childhood memories.

Backed with her calm smile, she stopped teasing me about that matter.

"Regarding secrets… Aren't you curious about something?"

I could tell how the atmosphere turned into a serious one.

"Is this about your eyepatch? I am interested, yes, but Hephaestus-sama should be the one who decides to show it to me."

"...Just as I expected."

Without a word, she stopped leaning on her desk and placed both of her hands on the back of her head. I realized what she was about to do.

The moment it went undone, I saw another manifestation of her myth. Hephaestus, the god of smithing, is known to have an unbearable face—an honest yet pitiful man who kept being ignored by his wife.

Some portions of it remained true in Gekai. One such thing is the patch of dead black skin surrounding her right eye. It is a hideous sight for most people.

Of course, I am not a part of them.

"Hm. I see."

"..?"

For a moment, it became awkward. It is quite difficult to let out my thoughts at this moment.

"It is something akin to cursed body parts in my world. It is completely possible to help Hephaestus-sama to remove it. That is something you find unpleasant, isn't it?"

"...Ah."

She kept her composed look, but she couldn't conceal the shock on her eyes.

"Did Hephaestus-sama think I would be bothered by such things?"

"No."

Her direct response surprised me a bit.

"Sigh… You're right. I just thought it'd be bad to keep it a secret. I got too ahead of myself." 

"Even with that… I believe Hephaestus-sama is beautiful." 

I met her gaze as I explained.

"Out of all the gods in Tenkai, you are definitely one of the best."

…

After that…

We parted normally. But now, thinking of the words I left made it sound like something out of a slice-of-life manga..!

"You must have realized something by now."

"...Yes." I replied. "Artemis…"

I couldn't actualize the words I am about to say. I am aware of the place I am diving on after revealing the matter regarding… this.

While I was caught in a dilemma, Artemis took the initiative to come closer and hug me from the back of my neck.

"Orion. I trust you."

Three words.

That was all, yet it felt vastly comforting.

Without waiting for her to make a move, I made the initiative.

*****

"..."

Nobu was in a daze. The things they were doing bordered on contradicting Artemis' authority, yet she didn't mind it. She didn't mind the kisses and handholding despite her 'chastite' authority.

He was concerned at first that she would feel uncomfortable, but that went to smoke when she herself took the initiative. From handholding to kissing, these were new experiences to him. Of course, they haven't come close on doing the  real thing.

Even so, Galahad hadn't done any of these actions before.

If any of the twelve Round Table knights saw this, they would've thrown a celebratory party. Galahad having a girlfriend would be a total shock to those who knew him before.

'I like it…'

Every time he gets closer with her, a sense of fulfillment washes over him. It is akin to an addictive drug—but in this case, it is not harmful.

"...Hey."

Nobu was sent back to reality. His increased processing speed stopped mulling over those moments.

When he turned around, he saw a white-haired werewolf. The latter's gaze turned into a surprise as he realized Nobu's identity.

"You… Since when—?"

"Greetings, Bete-san."

Unsurprisingly, things became quite stiff between them. Bete suffered a beat-down and a reality check from him, after all.

"You're fine?"

"Yes. I woke up a few hours ago."

Bete briefly scanned his current appearance. He is far different from what he could recall. The boy became taller over the span when he fell asleep. He also possessed a sort of unworldly air around him—that akin to a dedicated knight.

"...I will open it."

"..?"

Confused by Bete's actions, Nobu looked at Bete who led him inside Twilight Manor. He didn't have the same snarky attitude from before. Nevertheless, he didn't forget to thank him.

"It's no big deal."

"...alright."

When Bete left, he came across many Loki Familia adventurers. Although, they are not that many due to how they went on an expedition a week ago. He didn't find any familiar faces.

After a while, he came across one.

"...Sirius?"

"Greetings, Loki-sama."

The redhead goddess was silent due to the surprise she felt. For once, she never believed Hephaestus' and Artemis' announcement regarding him falling into a coma due to a mistake in his magic experiment.

Although, Riveria was unable to find anything that could be of help. That was why Sirius' trend slowly died over the past six months. Though, Loki somehow felt that it would begin to rise once more.

"Your timing is terrible."

"The expedition, no?" He replied. "Only Bete-san was left?"

"It's a punishment~!"

'A punishment?'

Loki's look towards him changed.

"Let's say he was beaten up for saying something he shouldn't."

Knowing Loki Familia, Nobu thought it might be something related to their internal matters.

"Anyways, you came here for the girls, right? They all went from the forty-fifth up to the forty-seventh floor."

"Finn-san prepared for a long expedition, I see."

"Part of it was also caused by you." Loki said. "You are so outstanding that you sent everyone in a frenzy to become stronger!"

At first, it was only Aiz and Tiona. Then there's Lefiya and Riveria who saw his attainments in magic. However, the final straw was Nobu defeating a level seven cursed spirit on his own.

It was something shocking—a scene straight out of a fairy tale. Everyone felt a spark—longing—within their hearts upon hearing of it. 

Finn, in particular, is the most affected by it.

"This was Finn's plan which everyone agreed to." Loki shrugged. "I could tell it'll be chaotic once they return."

A glint passed on the goddess' eyes as she recalled something.

"Since you already have Artemis, you won't have any intentions with my girls anymore… right?!"

"I didn't have such a thing to begin with. Aiz-san, Tiona-san, Lefiya-san, and the others are my friends."

Inwardly, Nobu scrolled through his memories to verify if they did have something to do with him. Much to his surprise…

…several of them did.

'Just what did my future self experience..?'

It seems like wrapping around his future memories would take a while.

*****

This was quite the day. I had to visit everyone whom I knew to let them know of my situation. Since I am feeling well and the aftermath of the cheat usage was long gone, I could do this.

It would be a shame to my level five status if I couldn't do this.

I strolled to the stairs leading to the basement. The symmetrical cuts in it indicated it was built quite recently. 

Under the Hephaestus Familia home, there lies a high-end multi-purpose room. It has a mix of white and black steel plates that aesthetically enhanced the basement. The one who manages it is none other than Miku.

{Welcome back, goshujin-sama.}

"Hello. It's been a long time."

{It is exactly 194 days, 12 hours, 56 minutes, and 43 seconds since you entered a comatose state. In total, there had been fourteen notable events judged by the conditions mentioned by you.}

A hologram appeared in front of me. The entire room is filled with something similar to Knossos' control room orb. Although, they are located all over the room which made it possible for—

"{What would you like to hear first?}"

—Miku to manifest in her full body form.

After that, a list popped up.

[12/28/1014 — Ishtar Familia Raid]

[02/10/1015 — Complete Extermination of Evilus]

[02/29/1015 — Discovery of The Demi-spirit Leader]

…

From Hephaestus, Artemis, and Loki Familia's expeditions up to the Ishtar Familia Raid which I completely missed are all recorded here. 

In the modern age, processing information at extremely high and efficient speeds defines the winner; more so when Gekai is lagging in terms of technology.

I selected one of them before being greeted by a well-detailed report.

[Ishtar Familia Raid]

[Overview: At exactly 3:14 PM, the joint familia accused the Ishtar Familia of cooperating with Evilus. A series of evidence was taken out to prove their statements. The said accusation was witnessed by hundreds of adventurers in the red-light district. In the end, a fight broke out on the two sides. Ishtar was sent back to Tenkai while her remaining familia members suffered varying charges. The operation was a complete success with the help of Hermes Familia.]

[Specific Details]

…

I see.

It is just as usual.

Miku had been a huge help in organizing my research findings into a proper paper. Then, I could read it and understand more of it. 

I became preoccupied with the written reports. It served as the knowledge that filled my gaps when I was in a coma.

After reading everything, I gave a new task to Miku.

"If we would fight a Demon on the scale of the Ancient Dragon, what would be our chances of winning?"

"{According to the current data gathered, there is 5.62% chances of winning as of now.}"

"Add a potential level nine on par with the best grade one sorcerers. Modify their current levels to…"

Basing off my dream, I adjusted the perimeters in which she predicted everything. That included the forces which I saw. It included the portion of their powers I saw.

"Now, what would be their chances of winning?"

"{Without any outside intervention, it is 36.71%.}"

"{If the ability of "Bell Cranell" is successfully launched, it increases to 60.2%.}"

"{If a Magister from our world arrives and intervenes in the battle, it would reach 77.54%.}"

I know this kind of computation is inaccurate due to the lack of information regarding Bell Cranell and the others, but it is still a good basis for a rough estimation.

"I see. Can you come up with a plan to increase Gekai's current fighting forces?"

"{Affirmative. Drawing several possible plans…}"

Knowing I caused the Black Dragon to be absurdly powerful, I am more than willing to take the responsibility of making them stronger.

As such, I thought of this operation.

"{Complete. There are a total of 159 ways of increasing Gekai's fighting force with the given resources.}"

"Select only the ones for the ones closest to me."

"{Filter complete.}"

"{there are a total of 14 possibilities found.}"

"{Creating a suitable training plan…}"

"{Complete.}"

It is time to catch up with Filvis, Ein, and Lili's lessons.