VIII

'One must have a will that will not allow them to be at the will of others but must still take on that challenge.'

A line I originally dismissed has a hidden context. All I have to do is find out what it is.

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"Child, what exactly are you implying?" Freya said, her carefree demeanor all but gone.

"You know very well what I mean, do you not?" I purposely continued to speak in a condescending manner. I need Freya to give in. I don't want to waste my time speaking to someone persistent. This exchange should end quickly.

"Lady Freya, what do you suppose I do." The Boaz spoke up, not once did he tear his line of vision from me. Though, it wasn't a glare but more of a stare.

Freya responded in turn.

"First we mus-"

But I wasn't going to let her continue.

"Of course, I could be wrong. Or at least, not correct all the way. For one, I don't seem to recognize you all the time. It could be that you really aren't Syr, or it could mean -and this is most likely- that Syr is multiple people at once. Something along those lines at the very least. Tell me Freya, is what I'm stating true? Though, the chance of that theory being wrong is 50/50."

She didn't respond right away, instead, she turned her gaze from me to the wide, long window stationed directly in front of her. One can see most of the city from this angle.

One man stared at me, the other didn't even bother to acknowledge my existence.

"Tell me chil-, no, Ayanokoji Kiyotaka. What is your aim? Why do you think it right to waste my time with this utter nonsense?"

"Everything up till now has been nothing but nonsense. For a god to be a human, that's prosperous. For me, a human foreigner, to voice my accusations at the cities #1 Familia, that's even more nonsensical. Yet here we are Freya. So, tell me. When are you going to stop fooling around and start looking me in the eye?"

To ridicule and accuse Freya, god of war and beauty is something no one would do. No one but me. This is necessary. To break down this god and expose her very existence.

"What shall you do now? Do you really think this is a good idea? I thought more of you Ayanokoji."

"I can expose you, Freya. To your friends at the Hostess, to Ryuu who hold so dear, to everyone you know as Syr. Someone, anyone will be bound to believe me. After all, it's not impossible. You have many enemies after all. Any information is vital. I can jump off Babel through the window and scream to the public about this fact. I have at least some confidence that I would be able to do so."

"A-"

I interrupted her once again after my rant filled with truth and lies. But once again, I continued.

"Of course, you can kill me here and now. But if you did that, you'd miss out on an opportunity."

"And that would be." Freya replied, eyes narrowed down to nothing more than lines on her face.

"A chance for me to join your Familia."

!!??!!

Freya's eyes widened in surprise at my sudden proposal. On the other hand, Ottar's did the complete opposite. I'm sure he's wary of me now than ever before. After denying her initial offer, to want to join now may come across as insolent but there's a reason for everything. I'm sure Ottar has figured that out.

A peaceful life doesn't come without it's obstacles.

'One must have a will that will not allow them to be at the will of others, but must still take on that challenge.'

I know the meaning of that line. It has become clear.

To use what 'Ruthven' provides, one must join a Familia. To be at the will of others. That would be to be under the order of a god. And to not beckon to their command, that is what happens only after joins Familia.

The true reason why no one has been able to use the 'Ruthven' is that this tablet was constructed before god's arrival. At least, that's one of the reasons.

In other words, this is a farce. Well, at least some of it is.

The other reason why this tablet was never used was already stated in the book itself.

'No had what it took. Monsters were killing people. No one could have sacrificed their own in order to use that power.'

Meaning, one must 'sacrifice' someone. Something along those lines.

And of course, not one person in the old age was able to figure this out. They were tricked and fooled by the fairies. As for why, I can only guess.

The 'Ruthven' is still able to be used. But only after one joins a Familia. An utter waste. But, my objectives are still the same. I need strength. Relying on the power of Falna alone is not wise. It can take years, decades to level up. A normal human like me doesn't have that time.

Plus, I still want to explore the outside areas of the world. Beyond Orario. So while my true objective of finding the 'Ruthven' is gone, others have replaced it.

To sum this all up, I'm still going outside. And I need Freya's assistance to do so.

"What will your answer be, Freya?" I spoke again, breaking the silence that was caused by Freya's lack of an answer.

"Syr I am. But why do you want to join now."

"Call it a mutual benefit of sorts. I join as you wanted and you do something minor for me."

"And by minor you really mean?"

"By minor, I mean lending me transportation and some information. That's all."

Did she think I was lying when I said 'minor'?

"You wish to join my Familia. After just a few days you've changed your mind. Wonderful, truly wonderful. Who are you? What are you? I want to know. Though, I don't think you'll make it that easy, will you? Well then, what do you need specifically?"

"Hermes Familia. Where are they right now. I would like it if you searched for them. Any person belonging or related to them, I want to know."

"...Ottar."

"Yes, I'll get on that right away."

With that settled, Freya got up from her throne-like chair and came over to me near the entrance to the room. Standing 6 centimeters shorter than me, she looked me in the eye while being only a few inches away. So close that I can hear her inhale and exhale. Her face was blank, then it turned into a grin, which then turned into a genuine smile.

"You've got yourself a deal. Welcome to my Familia, Ayanokoji." She said while sticking out her right hand, looking for a handshake.

I grabbed her hand tightly and spoke.

"I didn't think you'd be this easy."

"Fufufu maybe it was only for this instance. Though, I'd allow you to make me easy someplace else.

She gave a giggle at that comment. I don't understand why though.

"Now strip."

"I'd rather not."

"....I need to apply my blessing. Don't take it the wrong way."

"Yes, but don't take my words the wrong way either. You spied on me as Syr even though my job at the Hostess was supposed to be repayment for attempting to end me, meaning you're in my debt right not. I'll only join after you complete what I've asked of you."

"Stubborn one aren't you. How will I know that you won't betray me?"

"I'll lend you something of mine right now. It's something I need so I'll be forced to come back here to take it back. I'm sure you can tell that I'm not lying."

She only nodded in response.

I reach back behind me and pulled out something from my back pocket. A small, rust-colored book.

"You can take this. Whether you look inside it or not doesn't matter to me." I said to her as I held out the book. She took it from me with her left hand.

"Also, I'd like to make one thing clear. Even after I've joined, everything I do will be of my own accord. I'd hope that you do not try to involve yourself with my matters unless I ask of you. After all, that peaceful life I wanted. I still want it. That has not changed."

After I stated my extra condition for joining, Freya closed her eyes and seemed to be in deep thought.

"Alright, I can do that. But, I'd like you to do something for me right now. It's not anything important, so don't worry about that."

"And that is?"

"Smile for me."

"...Huh?"

What is she talking about?

"You haven't smiled once since I've seen you. A face as handsome as yours needs to smile. So do it, smile for your goddess."

Smile. Well, it can't be all that hard. Yeah, I got this.

So I tried smiling.

.....And I failed.

I need to think of something happy. What makes me happy? Rocket punches? No. White Room? Not really.

Oh! I've got it.

Peaceful Life.

Let's try this again. I put up my lips and lowered my eyes. I tried to soften my gaze as best as I could. I wonder what my face looks like? I can see Freya's eyes widening. Am I that bad at smiling? This isn't good. But there isn't anything I can do.

(Image here)

"W-wha-how?" Freya stuttered as she looked at me.

"What do you mean 'how'?"

"I..uh-ahem." She cleared her throat as she diverted her gaze downwards toward our hands.

".....Well if that enough, I'll be going to the guild. Inform me when you finish gathering information on Hermes Familia's whereabouts."

"Of course. But I have one last request."

Another one.

"May I call you Kiyotaka?"

Seriously.

"Whatever you want."

It's time to leave. I try to turn around to exit the room when I realize something.

"Mind letting go of my hand?" I ask as she continues to grip my hand tightly. I could have pulled it back but I didn't want to hurt her.

"Huh? Ah yes." She says as she quickly let's go. How did she even forget when she was looking right at our hands? Gods are something else.

Without another word, I successfully turned around this time and stepped out of the room. As I walk into the corridor, I can see a girl with gray hair that covers her right eye through my peripheral vision. She glares at me with mass intensity. I ignore her presence as I pass by her and head to the elevator.

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"Fufufu that one is something else. And now he's in my Familia. If only my Bell could have boldness as great as his. But he's special in his own way I suppose."

A goddess with silver hair was squealing in delight at what just occurred. As she was, her immensely tall attendant, Level 7 Ottar made his appearance known as he entered the room.

"Goddess, he is-"

"Yes, I know Ottar.....He's dangerous. But that's what makes him attractive. ALl with a rotten soul as well fufufu."

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"It was faster than I thought it'd take. Here take this." Rose said as she handed me a piece of paper.

I was currently in guild headquarters. The amount of time I spent in Babel wasn't long. Maybe only an hour at most. So it came to my surprise that Rose, the werewolf receptionist, was waiting for me. It seems that the paperwork was completed quicker than she thought it'd take. Maybe because it was the dead of night and the employees wanted to go home. I can't blame them really.

"Sorry for being late." I told her as I placed the envelope in the pocket the book used to be in.

"It's find, Have a good night sir." She said. Her act of 'kind receptionist' was pretty bad I must say.

I nodded to her and took my leave. I stepped outside into the dimly lit streets of Orario. I headed back toward my home near the graveyard.

I can assume that Freya will have finished collecting the information by tomorrow night at the latest. I can't underestimate the #1 Familia's connections.

I walked on Adventurers Way in the dead of night.

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I was currently in Babel Tower, at the very top.

Without work today, I made preparations to leave the city. As for how I was getting out, Freya had prepared something for me. What I was here for was to listen to what information Freya gathered. Specifically on where Hermes Familia is at the moment.

It's been 1 day since my last visit with Freya.

"Well, you wanted to know where that sneaky Hermes and his Familia is right? Well, as far as I can tell, a group of adventurers affiliated with Hermes was sighted in the Far East." Freya said to me.

"They seem to be searching for something. As for what it is, Allen wasn't able to figure that out as time ran out." Ottar spoke as he stood behind Freya.

"Yes well, even my Allen isn't fast enough to run back and forth and gather information." Supposedly, this Allen ran to the Far East. As for why he didn't use a vehicle, it must be because his speed surpassed any moving vehicle of transportation. He was high ranking on the list of adventurers I had with me.

"Would that be sufficient, Kiyotaka?"

"Yes Thank you Freya."

I had all I needed. Now it was time to acquire the Ruthven for myself.

After saying my thanks, I left the room and traveled to the entrance of the city in which I'd pass through at any minute.

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END

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