"Then why did you come here?"
After hearing Freya's explanation, Loki looked puzzled. "Since you've already made a deal with the Guild, shouldn't you be sitting at the top of the tower watching the show at a time like this?"
"Why bother coming down personally?"
Loki knew that this lovestruck goddess was usually only interested in beautiful souls, but now...
She sized Freya up from head to toe, feeling that something about her seemed different.
"..."
Freya did not answer. She merely turned her gaze away and looked into the distance.
Why hasn't she come yet?
Didn't she say she would come take a look today?
Yes, Freya had originally had no intention of coming here at all. She truly had no interest in Ishtar's belongings. She had only come because she had accidentally heard that Elise would be coming to have a look.
But...
Why hadn't Elise arrived yet?
Her plan had fallen through.
Last night, Freya had used her Charm on Elise. Even if Elise could resist it, there was no way she would be completely unaffected—unless...
Astraea?
That shouldn't be possible, right?
Astraea was, after all, a pure goddess. Back in Heaven, there had never been any sign of her having such inclinations.
Moreover, Elise was her child—her Familia member. It was more likely that Astraea had helped Elise suppress the effects of the Charm...
"Sigh."
Freya let out a soft sigh. For a while, she would probably have to lower her head in front of Astraea. She might even be extorted for compensation. But none of that mattered.
Through this incident involving Ishtar Familia's attack, Freya had successfully tested many of Elise's hidden cards. In the future, when she made her move against Elise, she would have greater confidence.
"If that's how it is, then I won't ask any further."
Hearing Freya's sigh, Loki shrugged helplessly. Whether she knew the full story or not didn't really matter. She would simply be more wary of Freya from now on.
"But honestly, your recent changes have been pretty drastic, Freya."
For once, Loki did not call her a lovestruck fool. She remembered the matter Finn had asked her to look into not long ago—sounding out Freya Familia's intentions.
It had to be said that in the past, Freya Familia had mostly engaged in ruthless internal competition, raising their members like venomous insects in a jar. Yet recently, they had begun patrolling outside, contributing to Orario's security.
Such a shift was impossible not to question. What exactly was Freya planning?
Freya's change in temperament...
The destruction of Ishtar Familia...
Her attitude at the banquet...
Patrols, order, justice...
All of these threads connected in Loki's mind, forming a single line that ultimately pointed to one conclusion.
"Elise Holiness."
She had already suspected it during the banquet. Now she was simply more certain.
"Everything you've done—it's all for that child from Astraea Familia, isn't it?"
Loki grinned. She had no direct evidence, but once every impossibility was ruled out, whatever remained—no matter how absurd—had to be the truth.
"You might not act as lovestruck as before, but you're still coveting someone else's child, Freya!"
In that regard, Freya was exactly the same as always. She hadn't changed at all.
"Doing all this just to win that child's favor... This is truly interesting."
"I have a feeling Orario is going to become even more entertaining in the future. Hahaha!"
Laughing, Loki turned and left. Having obtained her answer, she seemed thoroughly satisfied, even somewhat eager to see how things would unfold for Freya.
"I won't see you off, Loki."
Freya remained where she was, still waiting.
She could never have guessed that her Charm would instead push Astraea and Elise's relationship even further.
...
"Have you heard?"
Once again, in that familiar dark place, a strange voice echoed through the space.
"Ishtar Familia has already been destroyed. According to inside information, it was apparently the Saintess of Scales who did it. Well? Isn't that amusing?"
A white-haired man let out an extremely shrill laugh.
"I thought Ishtar was supposed to be formidable. Turns out she couldn't even deal with a Level 2. What a joke!"
"If we made a move, wouldn't we be able to take that woman down in minutes?"
"Don't get overconfident."
A woman's voice suddenly rang out, carrying a chilling coldness.
"If she could eliminate Ishtar Familia on her own, then she clearly has some ability. However..."
"The fact that there were no recorded deaths in the Pleasure Quarter—that was something even I didn't expect... Hahaha!"
Upon mentioning this, the woman clutched her head and burst into laughter.
"Should I say it's worthy of a Familia of justice? They can't even bring themselves to kill someone? Hahaha!"
"So? Do you need me to send people again this time?" The white-haired man's face twisted into a manic grin.
But the woman responded with obvious disdain.
"Ha? Rely on those idiots again?"
"Have you forgotten what happened on the thirtieth floor last time?"
Previously, Evilus had organized an ambush against Elise, placing blast stones on the thirtieth floor of the Dungeon, intending to blow that saintess to pieces.
But afterward, they never received any news from those men. Only when they sent someone to investigate did they piece together what had happened.
Those fools probably hadn't even encountered Elise.
Judging by the bloodstains at the scene and the blast pattern of the stones, they had likely triggered the explosion by accident while setting them up, attracting monsters in the process.
In the end, they had all died beneath the claws of those monsters.
When the woman saw the aftermath back then, she had been utterly speechless. How had she ended up raising such incompetent subordinates?
"So, Olivas, this time the two of us will personally take action. We won't let that naive saintess escape again like in those previous accidents."
The woman slowly rose from the ground and walked over to the man called Olivas.
"Are you serious, Valetta? The two of us leading the operation personally? What, are you planning to capture that saintess alive and sell her off? Hahaha!"
Hearing Olivas' words, the woman named Valetta curled her lips into a grin.
"Isn't that obvious?"
"How could I possibly let those who protect Orario die so easily?"
"Wouldn't that be letting them off too lightly?"
"What I want is to humiliate and torment them. After all, wounds to the spirit hurt far more than wounds to the body."
Without Elise knowing, another plan targeting her had already begun to move in the shadows.
If she really did know...
Elise: So scary, I'm trembling! (teehee :p)