Chapter:81 - Is it wrong for a Godslayer to Have a harem goddesses

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Walking through Rivira, Godou could hardly believe that the town had been invaded by those plant-like monsters and set ablaze just a few weeks before.

There were still signs of it, if one knew what to look out for. Scratch marks here. Scorched wood there. They had passed a small graveyard in the corner of the settlement, but Godou chose not to look too closely at that.

The people around him carried on with their lives as if their homes had not been sacked by monsters just a few weeks prior. It seemed the Loki Familia was well-known here, and stall-owners and passers-by alike would wave to Loki with looks of admiration, all apparently undisturbed by the goddess' presence.

"Once you enter the Dungeon," she explained, when he had asked about it, "people stop caring about the Guild's Laws. As long as nobody gets hurt, that is. Plenty of black-market goods and unsavory stuff going on in this place. Many people like it here. It's far away from the prying eyes and strict rules of the Guild and Orario."

Godou could see that. He had only seen Rivira from afar the last time, what with the monster invasion and the subsequent Black Goliath dropping on him. It had looked quite imposing. The walls were tall—taller than most of the buildings within—and made from thick wooden pikes that were woven so tightly together he doubted even water could seep between them. Watchtowers, with archers standing inside them, stood proudly and vigilantly above the wall. The surrounding area of the village had been cleared of the dense forestry that covered the rest of the Floor. Instead, intimidating wooden spears jutted out from the ground at close and regular intervals. Anyone, or anything, that wanted to get into Rivira through any other means than her front gate would most likely impale themselves in the process.

But inside, the settlement told a different story. A warm one. Life here seemed simple. Adventurers laughed and mingled together. The buildings were haphazardly placed, and the roads unpaved and crooked, but it added to the rustic charm of the place.

Back in his old world, Godou had once stumbled into a village while exploring a dense jungle to track down a Heretic God. It had been secluded, small, and Godou had absolutely loved the two days he had spent there. The locals had been warm and welcoming, treating him like one of their own. Its isolation had kept out knowledge of Gods and Campiones, and they had seen him only as a weary traveler in need of assistance.

He had been tempted to stay there longer, but with a Heretic God on the loose, he knew every extra second he did would only put that tightly-knit, homely village in more danger.

Godou got the same vibe with the city of Rivira. It may have been a city founded by Adventurers, but its citizens did seem to live in their own little world, hidden from the politics and string-pulling that plagued Orario.

His reminiscing was interrupted by a small, high-pitched mass running into him.

"Oof!"

He looked down.

A little girl had fallen on her butt. She was no taller than his hip. She looked up and gave him a cheeky smile before apologizing. Godou wanted to ask if she was okay, but she dusted off her frilly dress and then got back on her feet to chase another boy who had been laughing at her.

"There are children here," he said, slightly in disbelief.

Loki, biting into a meat skewer gifted by a shopkeeper they had passed, shrugged. "There are children everywhere. Why should Rivira be any different?"

"We're in the Dungeon. There are monsters here. This place gets invaded all the time. It can't possibly be safe to raise a child here."

"No one said it was safe. But it is safer than many other places."

"But the monsters—"

"—Can be killed by the Adventurers who live here, or by the dozens that pass through every day."

He frowned.

Loki finished eating, expertly tossing the leftover stick into trashcan across the street. "You really have no idea what it's like beyond the walls of Orario, do you?"

"No."

"We may have stopped the hordes of monsters that spilled out of the Dungeon centuries ago, but that doesn't that there aren't pockets of them still roaming outside the walls of Orario. It's easy to forget, living in Orario, that Gods and Falna-blessed Adventurers are a rare breed. Most villages in the outskirts have nobody they can rely on in case monsters attack."

"Nobody? And the Gods and their Familias don't step in?"

"Sure they do," Loki said, and Godou relaxed his fingers, which had balled unconsciously into his palms, "I know of Familias that specialize in tracking down and eliminating stray monsters. But their numbers are few, and the monsters are so widely dispersed and well-hidden that hunting them all is an impossible task." Her expression turned sour. "It is also a thankless one."

"And why do you say that?"

"Because it just isn't worth the effort. They're mainly low-Levelled monsters, and you can go weeks without seeing one. No adventurer is ever going to become truly strong by hunting them. Sooner or later, once they've got enough experience, they almost always end up moving into Orario instead."

His lips twisted into a scowl. "So those villages…they're helpless if a monster attacks?"

"I don't know, to be honest. I'm sure most of them have a plan of some sort," Loki said, "but there's nothing we can do about it."

"Nothing?" he repeated, balling his fists once again, "that's not true! You could—"

"—three weeks," Loki stated, the thre

e fingers sticking out from her hand silencing him.

"What?"