"What exactly are you doing to my child?"
The voice behind him sounded like a summons from the icy springs of the underworld itself. The instant Hermes heard it, he froze completely, not even daring to move.
"Elise, what exactly did Hermes just say to you?"
Since she clearly would not get an answer out of Hermes, Astraea decided she might as well ask Elise directly. After all, her own child would never lie to her.
The moment Hermes heard Astraea question Elise directly, he immediately began frantically making gestures at her. Since he was standing with his back to Astraea, only Elise could see what he was doing.
Unlike certain people, Hermes had actually spent some time learning about Elise beforehand. He knew she could perceive her surroundings through some special power and was not truly blind.
Watching Hermes' overwhelming survival instincts suddenly flare up, Elise could not help covering her mouth to suppress a laugh.
"It's like this, Lady Astraea. Lord Hermes was just discussing some important matters with me..."
Astraea narrowed her eyes.
Meanwhile, hope began shining inside Hermes' eyes.
As expected of a Saintess! Even if it meant standing against her own goddess, she would still save a god in distress!
"Lord Hermes invited me to spend the night with him. I was just about to ask for your opinion first!"
If the previous second had been heaven, then this moment was undoubtedly hell for Hermes.
"Is that really true, Hermes?"
The smile on Astraea's face became even brighter, but Hermes only felt himself drawing closer and closer to death.
"Astraea, listen to my explanation!"
Hermes hurriedly turned around to explain himself, but how could Astraea possibly let him go?
"Since you seem so eager for an all-night conversation, why don't you come spend the night with me instead?"
"N-No no no! The way you look right now doesn't seem like you want to talk at all! You clearly just want to kill me!"
"How could that be?"
Astraea picked up a small knife from the dining table while resting her other hand against her cheek.
"I genuinely want to spend the entire night talking with you."
"Aaaah! No! Astraea!"
Watching the troublesome male god who had been harassing her get dragged away by her own goddess, Elise finally relaxed completely.
First it had been Adi, and now Hermes. At this rate, Freya would probably show up next.
"Still, since I came here together with Lady Astraea, I have to face this eventually anyway."
Before long, Astraea returned after finishing her "conversation" with Hermes. As for what exactly had happened to that male god after speaking with her... no one knew.
"Elise, the banquet is about to begin. Let's head over together."
Among the gods attending the banquet, Astraea had arrived relatively early, so the gods had plenty of time to mingle beforehand.
Naturally, if there were gods who arrived early, there were also those who intentionally came right on time or even late. Most of them did it purely to show off. For example, Ishtar would definitely only appear after the banquet had already begun, solely to emphasize how "special" she was.
These gods really were childish.
...
The banquet officially began.
Countless gods wandered through the venue alongside their Familia members.
Although the host of this banquet was the Ganesha Familia, and Ganesha himself stood onstage loudly shouting his own name, none of the gods present paid him any attention. Everyone simply chatted among themselves with their own friends.
They had already shown him enough respect just by attending the banquet, yet during the banquet itself, they completely ignored him.
The relationships between gods truly were bizarre.
"Yo! Isn't this Astraea?"
A red-haired goddess speaking in a Kansai dialect approached with a grin on her face, proudly thrusting out a chest as flat as a steel plate. Behind her followed an elf woman wearing an utterly exhausted expression.
"Ever since the last Denatus, I've wanted to pay you a visit. But there was too much going on in my Familia, so I never had the chance. Nice finally seeing ya again."
This goddess was one half of Orario's twin powers, the patron deity of the Loki Familia.
And the elf following behind her was naturally one of the Loki Familia's executives, the famed Nine Hells, Riveria.
"So it's Loki. It really has been a while since we last met."
Seeing the newcomer, Astraea greeted her normally while Elise quietly turned her attention toward the goddess Loki.
Elise's first impression of her was:
So flat... Loki is seriously as flat as a cutting board.
And her second impression was:
People with permanently closed eyes are always monsters.
Although Loki usually acted like a clown in the lower world, anyone foolish enough to truly think of her as one would definitely suffer for it.
Moreover, Loki was a rather special deity to Elise. Aside from Hestia, Loki was probably the god she understood best.
After all, Bell's patron deity in the original story had been Hestia, so Hestia naturally became the first god most viewers learned about.
Then there was Sword Oratoria. As the patron deity of Ais, the designated heroine of the series, Loki received plenty of characterization in both the anime and novels.
Even among fanfiction protagonists, aside from Hestia, the Familia people joined most often was Loki's.
"So this is your child?"
Loki opened her perpetually narrowed eyes slightly and stared directly at Elise, instantly placing a considerable amount of pressure on her.
What exactly was this goddess planning?
"Hehehe! She really is a fine girl. The Saintess of Scales sure is huge!"
The seemingly serious Loki instantly reverted back into her ridiculous self. Her gaze fixated shamelessly on a certain particularly prominent part of Elise's body while drool dripped from the corner of her mouth.
Both hands twitched in the air as if she were resisting the urge to grab hold of those soft, overflowing mounds right in front of her.
She looked exactly like a pervert.
No...
She really was one.
In the original story, the gender ratio within the Loki Familia was heavily skewed, and Loki herself constantly harassed the girls in her Familia...
In fact, the thing she did most often was outright sexual harassment.
"Elise-tan, wanna come have some fun with me?"
Before Elise could answer, however, Riveria immediately smacked Loki hard on the head.
"This is a banquet venue. Stop harassing someone else's Familia member, Loki."
"Before we came here, you promised me you wouldn't cause trouble. Otherwise, next time the one accompanying you will be Gareth instead."
"Alright alright, I got it already!"
Seeing this, Astraea smiled.
"You really do have a close relationship with your Familia, Loki."
Astraea had clearly noticed that when Riveria addressed Loki, she neither called her a god nor added any respectful honorific. That kind of relationship was genuinely enviable.
Astraea herself had once told Elise she could address her the same way, but Elise had refused. No matter which god it was, she always maintained at least a minimum level of respect.
But just then, a disturbance erupted near the entrance, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
A silver-haired goddess entered the banquet hall surrounded by countless other gods.
Freya had arrived.
The very instant she stepped into the hall, Freya immediately locked onto Elise's location and began walking straight toward them.
"Why, if it isn't Astraea and Loki. What are you all talking about? Let me join in too."