"Efficient."
"It seems that everything Ouranos promised me last night has already been passed along to you."
At those words, Royman went stiff.
As the Guild's actual day-to-day administrator, he had of course already received his instructions directly from the god Ouranos.
And he understood perfectly well what those instructions meant.
To cede authority — to allow this god to intervene, in a very real and substantive way, in the Guild's hidden operations.
It was the equivalent of planting a new standard of power in the middle of this Labyrinth City. One that no one would be able to touch.
But Royman didn't dare hesitate for even a moment.
He nodded repeatedly, his thick jowls swaying with each bob of his head.
"Yes! Yes! Ouranos-sama has already given us his instructions!"
"The Guild, top to bottom, will carry out every directive from Haimer-sama to the letter — without the slightest omission!"
With that declaration, Royman had effectively rubber-stamped the whole affair — the formal establishment of Orario's largest Familia headquarters, and the vast transfer of influence behind it — in a manner that left nothing more to be said between them.
Haimer regarded Royman's thoroughly cowed expression with considerable satisfaction.
"Good."
"I'll have the internal expansion blueprints for the headquarters sent over to the Guild tomorrow morning."
"Tell whichever Familia is handling the construction that the primary building materials must be the finest, most durable stonework and mineral composites available. I don't want to encounter any problems with the structure down the line."
"As for the cost of the project —"
"The cost is nothing for you to worry about, my lord!"
Before Haimer could finish the sentence, Royman cut in at full volume, bowing even lower.
"All material costs and labor fees will be covered entirely by the Guild!"
"I understand my duty completely! I will personally oversee the construction on-site and ensure that not a single thing troubles you!"
Nearby, Shakti stood perfectly straight, arms folded across her chest.
She watched Royman's performance — a man who seemed to be auditioning for the role of doormat beneath Haimer's shoes — and gave a slow, resigned shake of her head.
As the captain of the Ganesha Familia, she was accustomed to direct action — combat, pursuit, arrest. Clean and uncomplicated.
This kind of naked power brokering conducted openly in the street made someone of her fighting-first disposition profoundly uncomfortable.
"Haimer-sama."
Shakti dropped her arms and looked at him.
"Now that your business with the Guild Master is concluded and the headquarters approval is no longer an issue —"
"My part in this is done."
"I'll head back to report in."
At her farewell, Haimer gave a slight nod.
"You've worked hard, Captain Shakti."
Haimer smiled, his tone as unhurried as ever.
"Once the headquarters is built, I'll have you over for dinner sometime — consider it a small thank-you for all your running around."
The corner of Shakti's mouth twitched.
She found herself involuntarily recalling that dinner a few days ago — the one billed as Haimer's treat, which had somehow ended with the Ganesha Familia footing the bill.
"You're far too kind. This is simply my duty."
Shakti had no desire to linger.
Leaving those words behind, she turned and set off at a brisk, practiced stride, disappearing swiftly into the dense flow of foot traffic along the street.
Haimer watched her go, then looked back at Royman, who was still bent at the waist.
"Lead the way."
A simple, concise order.
"Of course! Right this way, my lord!"
Royman immediately turned and started forward, ushering Haimer through the wide entrance of the Guild headquarters.
The two of them crossed the bustling ground-floor hall, weaving past the crowd of adventurers queuing to exchange Magic Stones and file expedition reports.
Royman led Haimer directly to a hidden door at the far end of the second floor — a door fitted with a magical lock, unremarkable unless you knew to look.
They pushed it open.
Beyond it lay a long staircase, spiraling downward into the dark.
Magic Stones set into the walls on either side gave off a faint, dim glow — just enough to see by.
This was the Guild's forbidden zone.
Anyone who entered without authorization would be eliminated on the spot by the Guild's own direct forces.
They walked for over ten minutes.
Deep beneath Orario.
Within a vast stone altar known as the Prayer Chamber.
Decades of thick torches jutted from the black walls on all sides, their orange flames dancing in the currents of air, throwing trembling light across the enormous stone throne at the chamber's center.
Ouranos sat upon that throne.
He was dressed in a heavy black robe, both hands folded atop his abdomen.
The great god who commanded the highest order of Orario kept his face entirely hidden within the deep shadow of his hood.
At the foot of the steps leading up to the throne.
Ganesha — wearing his distinctive red-and-gold elephant mask — was pacing back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back.
His heavy boots struck the stone floor with each pass, producing a rapid, restless thudding.
Ganesha's thickly muscled frame was coiled with tension.
"Ouranos."
Ganesha stopped abruptly and looked up.
The holes of his mask fixed themselves on the motionless old god seated above.
"Giving Haimer partial real authority over the Guild was already far outside the bounds of acceptable. And now you've actually let him know the Xenos exist — and you've arranged for him to meet them tonight?"
Ganesha's voice rang back and forth through the empty chamber, saturated with anxious bewilderment.
As the highest authority responsible for maintaining order in the Labyrinth City, Ganesha had long cooperated with Ouranos in secret — which meant he knew about the Xenos, and had likewise spent years concealing their existence, providing those monsters with the bare minimum of space to survive in.
So when he learned that Haimer now knew of them —
Ganesha was shaken to his core.
"Have you forgotten what he was like in the Heavens?"
Ganesha clenched both fists.
"In the Heavens, he held everything in contempt — and exploited it all through whatever means suited him!"
"What if, out of some perverse amusement we couldn't possibly fathom, he decides to incite the Xenos into open war against the adventurers on the surface?"
"Or worse — he uses those monsters to manufacture an even greater chaos."
"If it reaches that point and the situation spirals out of control, what becomes of Orario?"
Faced with Ganesha's rapid-fire barrage of questions.
Ouranos remained seated on his throne without moving.
Several seconds passed.
Then Ouranos let out a slow, heavy sigh.
His ancient voice filled the dark chamber with a weight that pressed down on everything in it.
"Ganesha."
"Your concerns are my concerns."
"But given the situation as it stands now — how much longer do you honestly think we can keep the Xenos' existence a secret?"
Ouranos returned the question.
"The captain of the Ikelos Familia — Dix."
"His smuggling operations are growing more frequent by the month. They use the hidden passages of the man-made labyrinth Knossos to conduct black market dealings on the eighteenth floor."
"And their raids to capture the Xenos have already reached a point of utter brazenness."
"The variables inside the Dungeon increase every day. Those monsters' range of movement grows wider with each passing week."
"Sooner or later, the Xenos will be discovered by adventurers on a large-scale expedition."
"When that day truly comes — what do you think will happen to Orario?"
Ouranos didn't wait for Ganesha's answer. He continued:
"The Loki Familia will immediately organize the highest-tier expedition force and call for the Xenos' complete extermination — no survivors."
"Freya will treat these speaking monsters as a hunting game put on for her personal amusement, and dispatch her finest to run them down."
"As for the ordinary citizens of Orario — their long-accumulated terror of monsters will send them into a panic, and from there into absolute, frenzied rejection."
Ouranos paused. His gaze cut through the shadows and landed squarely on Ganesha.
"When that moment comes — who would be capable of holding the situation together?"
"You?"
"Or me — confined to this underground altar, unable to leave because I must constantly channel my Divine Might to suppress the Dungeon?"
A brief silence fell over the altar.
Only the faint crackling of burning wood from the torches.
Behind his mask, Ganesha's breathing grew heavy.
And then.
Ouranos's voice rose again, echoing off the hard stone walls.
"Neither of us can stop what is coming."
"But we both know this."
"In the current state of the Lower World — the grave consequences of the Xenos being exposed pale in comparison to what we gods truly fear."
"What frightens us far more is the name Haimer carved out for himself through slaughter in the Heavens, and the ruthless, contemptuous nature he demonstrated there."
Ouranos slowed his speech.
"Among all the bitter lessons the gods spent countless aeons learning in the Heavens — beyond the pursuit of pleasure — there is one truth that stands above all others."
"That once blades are drawn —"
"The only one who profits is the God of Strife."
"No matter the cause, no matter the justification."
"For him, every conflict, every hostility, every spark of opposition — all of it feeds him invisibly, deepens his foundations, and makes him stronger."
"Once Haimer is involved —"
"Even the most defiant and unruly gods of the Heavens would pause before moving against him, weighing and re-weighing their options."
"All of them afraid that the attack they launch will only become the fuel that makes Haimer more undefeatable than before."
After hearing all of this from Ouranos.
Ganesha stood at the foot of the steps, the expression beneath his mask shifting into something deeply complex.
"I understand everything you've said."
Ganesha had grasped the full shape of Ouranos's thinking. He drew a long, slow breath and let the stale air out of his chest in a measured exhale.
"But what you're doing carries enormous risk."
"You're walking a tightrope," Ganesha said, his voice low and grave.
This was a gamble from start to finish.
The stakes were the safety of all of Orario's Lower World, and the very survival of every Xenos.
The winning condition: that Haimer truly had descended to the Lower World for nothing more than a quiet life building his Familia.
And that he bore the Xenos no malice.
If that were true, then this wicked god — with the fearsome reputation that made even the divine flinch — could serve as an umbrella over those hidden, lightless creatures. An umbrella that no god or Familia would dare to overturn.
So long as Haimer was willing to stand there.
Every god in the Lower World would think twice before crossing that line to move against the Xenos.
With that in place —
The crisis they had been dreading for so long would never come to pass.
However.
Just as the two great gods in the altar were sinking deep into their deliberations —
From a patch of shadow at the altar's edge where the torchlight couldn't reach, there came the faint rustle of fabric.
Fels — wrapped head to toe in a black robe and hood — stepped quietly out of the darkness.
Fels had been standing there all along, listening to every word the two gods had exchanged.
The right hand wearing her intricately patterned black gloves emerged from the wide sleeve of her robe.
"Ouranos-sama."
Fels's voice rose.
"That fearsome god has already passed through the Guild's hidden door under Royman's escort."
"He has entered the underground passage and is heading this way. He will arrive shortly."
Upon hearing those words —
"What?! He's already on his way down?!"
Ganesha spun around. The eyes of his mask locked onto Fels. He planted his feet and leapt backward in a single explosive motion — putting a considerable amount of space between himself and the entrance.
They had just been discussing how to leverage Haimer's fearsome reputation.
And now the man himself was about to walk through the door.
"Ahem!"
"Well — that being the case, since you've already arranged everything, Ouranos, you two can handle the conversation yourselves!"
"I have a mountain of things to deal with back at headquarters — patrol rosters still need scheduling!"
"I'll be taking my leave!"
With that thought decided, Ganesha made his exit at speed.
Ouranos, seated on high, had begun to raise one hand, lips parting slightly.
"Ganesha, you can leave through the —"
Ouranos had been about to direct him to the front passage.
But he never finished the sentence.
Ganesha's legs had already fired. He shot straight toward a narrow concealed passage on the side of the altar — the kind ordinarily used for storing odds and ends.
Whoosh.
He dove in headfirst without so much as a backward glance.
The sound of his retreating footsteps faded rapidly, and within the span of a blink he had vanished entirely.
Ouranos's half-raised hand froze in midair.
He opened his mouth, then closed it. He lowered his hand and let out a long sigh.
His expression was one of helpless resignation.
A little over ten seconds later.
The heavy stone door at the front of the altar was pushed open from the outside.
Haimer walked out of the dim corridor and into the chamber.
His leather shoes clicked against the stone floor.
Royman had brought him to the threshold and then, with admirable discretion, excused himself.
Haimer stepped into the altar.
His gaze swept the darkened chamber.
He looked at Ouranos sitting in silent composure on the stone throne, then glanced at Fels standing to one side, swathed in black robes.
Finally.
Haimer's eyes settled on the concealed side passage — from which the faint echo of retreating footsteps could still just be heard. A slight curve formed at the corner of his mouth, and he regarded it with calm amusement.
"The elephant just left, I take it?"
"He has always been that way — prone to worrying excessively about things."
Ouranos sat on his throne, held his silence for two seconds, and then gave a single nod.
"No matter."
"That isn't what I came here for."
"Are you ready?"
Haimer looked over Fels, wrapped from head to foot in her black robe.
Fels nodded.
"Ready to depart at any time."
"Then let's go."
"I am very much looking forward to seeing, with my own eyes, exactly what kind of creature a Xenos born from the Dungeon actually is."
---
Meanwhile.
Elsewhere.
The Residential District.
Haimer's estate.
The last light of the evening sun spilled across the wrought-iron gate.
Hestia — both arms laden with paper bags stuffed full of new clothing — lifted one foot in its small leather boot and kicked the iron gate open, then pushed through the oak front door.
"Come on, come on, everyone inside! We've been walking so long this divine body of mine is about to fall apart!"
Hestia complained as she set her bags down on the obsidian round table just inside the entrance hall.
Behind her, the Holy Emperor and Inaba Tsukuyo came in on either side, each holding one of Lili's hands.
Lili came to a stop right at the edge of the entryway threshold, both feet planted firmly in place.
She looked down at her own battered boots — caked in black mud — then at the thick wool carpet just beyond the threshold, and shrank back slightly.
"Um…"
Lili murmured softly, her chestnut eyes full of nervous unease.
"Lili is very dirty — there's mud all over her shoes. She'll ruin your expensive carpet…"
At that, Lili tried to pull her hand free from the Holy Emperor's grip. But the Holy Emperor held firm and did not let go.
"Don't worry about something so small."
The Holy Emperor reached out with her other hand and gently ruffled Lili's hair, which was still dusted with grime and ash. Her voice was soft.
"Clothes and carpets can be washed. What you need right now is to clean yourself up."
Tendou Kisara came in from behind, setting her own bag casually in the corner of the entryway.
The tools inside clinked and rattled against each other.
"Don't worry — your pack stays right here. Nobody is going to touch your things."
Tendou Kisara brushed the dust off her hands, turned, and walked toward the sofa in the inner hall.
"Mary, take out one set of the new toiletries and towels we bought earlier."
Inaba Tsukuyo had swapped out her wooden sandals and stepped onto the carpet, calling over to Kikakujou Mary, who was busy sorting through their purchases.
"We have extras — she can use those."
Kikakujou Mary nodded and rummaged through a wooden gift box, producing a thick, snow-white cotton bath towel and a small square bar of soap that carried the faint scent of flowers. She handed them to the Holy Emperor, who had walked over.
The Holy Emperor took the towel and soap, and led Lili by the hand down the corridor on the left side of the hall, toward the large bath at the far end.
Inside the bath.
Warm steam drifted through the air. A faint draft sounded from the exhaust vents at the top. The Magic Stone circulation-heating system maintained the entire room at a constant, comfortable temperature.
Lili's tattered and bloodstained red hooded top was peeled away, along with her leggings.
Her small, thin body was exposed under the bright light.
The fresh scrapes and bruises from earlier had been healed by the Holy Emperor's magic. But across her back, arms, and shins, there were still many older scars.
These were the marks left behind by years of scraping through the Dungeon, and by the violence dealt to her by fellow Familia members over a very long time.
The Holy Emperor looked at those scars.
Silently, she reached over and turned on the polished copper tap.
Warm water sprayed out from the showerhead in a steady flow.
"Let's rinse you off first. If the temperature is too hot or too cold, tell me, alright?"
The Holy Emperor took a damp cloth, lathered it with soap, and began wiping down Lili's back with slow, even strokes.
Lili stood beneath the warm water.
The flow washed through her hair, rinsing out the mud and grit, streaming down her cheeks.
This steady warmth, this constant comfort — and the feeling of someone gently washing her back — were things Lili had never once experienced in all her years of conscious memory.
At the Soma Familia's headquarters, her only option had been to wait until the dead of night, go out to the well in the courtyard, draw up a bucket of cold water, and give herself a rough scrub.
Lili still felt like she was in a daze.
About twenty minutes passed.
Neither of them spoke.
When she walked back out of the bath —
Lili had changed into new clothes.
Something Kikakujou Mary had picked up on a whim while they were on the shopping street — an oversized white button-down shirt and a plain pair of black shorts.
On Lili's tiny frame, barely over a hundred centimeters, the outfit looked absurdly large. The hem of the shirt swallowed the shorts entirely, and the sleeves had been rolled up several times at the cuffs.
The Holy Emperor held a dry towel and was patting at Lili's damp chestnut-brown hair.
In the main hall.
Hestia was sprawled belly-down on the wide leather sofa, both legs kicking lazily in the air, stuffing a pastry she had just bought into her mouth.
Hanasaka Warabi sat cross-legged on the carpet.
Kyoubou was stretched out flat on the floor, a low rumbling snore resonating from its nose.
The small bear was likewise still draped across Kyoubou's back, fast asleep.
The moment Lili walked in, she found herself making direct eye contact with Kyoubou, whose eyes had cracked open just the barest sliver.
Lili's steps faltered at once, and she pressed herself instinctively against the wall beside her.
"Don't be scared. Kyoubou is very well-behaved — as long as you don't attack it first, it won't bite."
Hanasaka Warabi noticed and raised a hand, giving Kyoubou's dense black fur two solid pats that produced a dull thudding sound.
Lili swallowed hard and carefully skirted around the great bear, making her way to the center of the hall and stopping beside the obsidian round table.
Onigawara Rin patted the chair next to her.
"Sit down."
Lili pulled the chair out and sat as she was told, both hands resting neatly on her knees.
"Honestly, even now I haven't quite figured out how the Soma Familia actually operates internally."
"The Guild's rules are written clearly enough — a Familia is a whole, and the principal god is supposed to protect their members."
"But today, the people who cornered you in that alley were going on about how you were the reason they'd been punished."
"They were trying to kill you. They treated you like you weren't even one of them."
"Would you like to tell us about it?"
Onigawara Rin didn't push. She simply asked.
At that question.
Lili's hands gripped the fabric of her shirt tightly against her knees.
She kept her head low, staring at the reflection of the lamplight in the round table's polished surface.
"In the Soma Familia, there's no such thing as comrades."
Lili's voice was a little rough.
"Soma-sama these days has no interest in anything beyond brewing divine wine."
"The Familia is completely controlled by the captain, Zanis."
"Every member… exists solely to earn more Valis to exchange for the divine wine Soma-sama brews…"
"Go on," said Onigawara Rin.
"I've heard that the divine wine the Soma Familia brews… once you drink it even once, you lose your mind completely and become a slave to it — is that true?"
"Yes…"
"Zanis uses that divine wine to compel everyone to push themselves to the limit in the Dungeon."
"For someone like me — a supporter at only Lv.1, with no combat ability — the only options are to hire out as a temporary support to other parties, pick up the loot others leave behind, or… scavenge valuables off dead adventurers and convert that into Valis."
"Because if the Valis you hand over each day isn't enough, you get beaten."
Lili let out everything she had kept buried and pressed down in her heart over all these years, all in one breath.
She had assumed that once they heard this, they would surely be disgusted by her.
But.
When she finished.
The hall fell quiet for a few seconds.
Inaba Tsukuyo stood nearby, her eyes softly closed, and asked a question.
"Given conditions that harsh —"
"Why haven't you simply left and transferred to another Familia?"
At that, Lili kept her head down and gave a small, bitter twist of her lips.
"Transferring requires the consent of your original principal god, and acceptance by a new one."
"But…"
"I'm only a supporter with no combat power, and a terrible reputation on top of that."
"So there isn't a single reputable Familia that would go to the trouble of taking me in."
"And Zanis won't release any tool that earns him money. If I wanted to leave, I'd have to pay an extortionate exit fee — and if I tried to slip away without paying ten million Valis, and they caught me again, what would happen to me would be far worse than what happened today…"
At that.
Tendou Kisara recognized this particular brand of exploitation all too well.
"Forcing lower-ranking members to hand over money through violence, then setting an astronomical exit fee to trap people inside."
"That's the most barefaced, bottom-of-the-barrel gangland extortion there is."
Inaba Tsukuyo continued.
"And do all the other members also have to pay ten million Valis to leave?"
"N-no… they don't."
"The exit fee for ordinary lower-ranked members is generally somewhere between one and two million Valis."
"Ten million… that's only demanded of me…"
"But why?" Onigawara Rin pressed, more puzzled than before.
"You're only a Lv.1 supporter — what possible reason could he have for demanding that much? And it's five times what everyone else pays!"
"Ten million Valis — a figure like that means he's trying to lock you inside the Soma Familia permanently."
____
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