One of the Great Treasures of the Gods

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/Somewhere near the Guild after Silver left the Hostess…/

"... He... Already left? How come?" Silver asked with a frown as he looked at a shadowy figure in a dark alley

'Standing in the alley, arching over like a ghost staring from above, a dark mask stared down at Silver from above.'

"On the very same day he visited you during the Recruitment." Fels replied calmly as her cloak waved in the wind

"That's… Sigh, couldn't he have waited a little bit?" Silver complained as he scratched his head

'Knowing this, it meant his entire goal of going to Melen together with Hermes had now been washed down the drain.'

'And not only that, it had been almost a week since he left.'

He's going straight into enemy territory alone… Why is he so pressed for time?

Hermes doesn't act like that, did he figure out something that I didn't?

Why does he need so much time?

"Are you planning on following him tomorrow?"

"Obviously, I can't leave him alone after I promised to participate." Silver replied as he went into deep thought

It doesn't matter if I don't want to go, I'm already too deep in this to stay watching on the sidelines, I need to be up to date with all of these events and the enemy's movements.

There are people depending on me for that, people that can't protect themselves yet, and I have no intention of letting them get hurt.

If Ishtar wasn't enough to put me against Evilus, there is also Dix's entire situation.

I can't stand still and wait for them to come to me first, and it's a bit too risky to go directly to the center of their lair.

The members of Evilus are masters of Curses, and there are dozens of curses out there that can put me in a bad spot.

(N1)

Besides, there's no point in pushing them against a corner when I'm already aware of their plans, considering I do not possess the power to finish them all alone as of now.

So in the end, if I acted in a hurry, this would change the perspective of the issue as instead of this being something everyone would have to work together to solve, this becomes an issue I alone caused.

And if people died due to it, I would only be making myself a target for everyone's anger.

It wouldn't be pleasant to be hated.

To avoid such a situation from occurring, I just need to bide my time and grow.

The more I grow the more confident I'll become, but so will their strength.

Thus, the process of weakening them by cutting their roots one by one arises.

Adding to that, I've been in their sight for a long time, and it's already causing me anxiety that they haven't moved against me or Haruhime even once despite everything that happened.

It's as if they were actively avoiding me, and this isn't necessarily bad, but I wanted to know why, or at least keep my eyes open for when they begin moving.

That's why I wanted to participate in Melen's investigation, to see if I could get my hands on their subordinates and find out about anything.

This was a dangerous operation, there is even a certain chance that they were waiting for us there, and given how Evilus has a few confirmed Level 5 individuals... The situation wasn't looking good for the Hermes Familia.

That is why Fels contacted me to see if I would be willing to go, and if Fels approached me, it's pretty much safe to say Ouranos is a bit concerned about the situation.

So for Hermes to go there with just a handful of Level 4 adventures is a bit too reckless, it doesn't matter that they are an Elite Familia versed in getting out of shitty situations, they'll just be throwing themselves into a fire pit for no reason.

But with me there, even if another Level 6 appears, I can at least save everyone, though it may be hard to protect them if we're ambushed.

Nonetheless, now that Hermes left on his own, I can't quite ascertain their current state… 

This is getting to my head… Fine.

I'll be going to Melen tomorrow.

"... Just to be sure, did Hermes send any updates on his investigation?" Silver asked as he crossed his arms

If not, then I'll be going immediately.

"Thankfully, there's no need to worry as yesterday there was an update."

"God Hermes is currently investigating the Guild branch as he believes them to be suspicious, which is a shame, we've had high expectations of the current Branch Head we've sent there due to his past misconduct, but it seems we overestimated his capabilities."

"Of course, that is only true if his suspicions prove to be correct, things are often not entirely black and white, though it's likely he'll have to take some disciplinary actions regardless of the outcome."

"..."

The Guild Branch… 

If I'm not mistaken from my memories, as I may have to confirm this later, the smuggling was performed solely through the sewers despite the Guild's suspicions of there being other secret entrances.

There likely are other entrances, but since smuggling through land is extremely costly and slow, not to mention the risks of being spotted, Evilus likely dedicates their secret entrances to smuggling things inside of Orario rather than the contrary.

Things like provisions and simpler items like weapons and potions...

This also makes things harder to track as if one entrance gets exposed, they still have the others to rely on... Of course, they still smuggle everything from Melen through the same entrance, it would be redundant to use another.

But given the context of the situation, Hermes pinpointed that for them to supply themselves, that was the sole possibility.

As such, the Guild deployed sentries throughout the main sewer lines leading to Melen, but they've found little so far, which is understandable, the Guild's forces aren't that large and they aren't super elites either, while Orario's sewers are extremely extensive, almost the same size as some Dungeon Floors, so exploring them when the enemy's power is unknown is only putting their own agents at risk.

There are layers upon layers of sewers built over centuries, the Guild may not even have a full schematic of the place.

Adding to the fact that they're pretty well hidden and that Ishtar is now amidst the confirmed forces of Evilus, any agent being sent into the sewers has a pretty high chance of getting caught up in trouble and likely being eliminated.

Or worse, converted by Ishtar's Charm.

That was why Ouranos retracted everyone from the sewers.

This operation should be Hermes' way of saying that he's getting serious about getting his hands dirty.

Maybe too much even…

"Hum… From your gaze, I imagine you're thinking God Hermes' actions were reckless."

"I agree with the thought, but I don't think we should worry about him, he has definitely thought this through, so take your time and prepare well, he must be expecting this of you."

"... I hope you're right." Silver replied as he thought deeply as he put his hand on the wall

"I'll be taking my leave for now, there is much left for me to prepare."

"I'll be in Melen by tomorrow morning, and in case anything pops up during the night, you know where to find me, so you can send a message to Hermes saying that."

'Fels was the creator of the communication Orb, Occulus. Thus allowing for long-distance communication between the linked pair.'

'Silver had one but he rarely used it as he just threw it somewhere inside his own pocket space, much to Fels' distress.'

'Hermes was likely given one too to quicken communication between the Guild and his Familia, although Silver wouldn't be surprised if Hermes hadn't brought one.'

'He's the kind of guy that prefers to work on his own terms and not be distracted by others aside from his own Familia members, though that would depend on the situation he was working with.'

'Honestly, trying to put any tags on such a fickle God is nothing but a waste of one's effort and time.'

"Find you?... In your home I imagine?" Fels asked with an odd chuckle 

"Eh?... Ah.... Yes."

"I won't be going to the Dungeon anytime soon…" Silver replied awkwardly with a poker expression as he sighed

It seems my Reputation as a Dungeon Rat has gotten the better of me.

Though, honestly, I would exchange the Dungeon for all this mess I've been thrown into recently...

"Then I'll await for positive results… No… Or should I say, it would be best if the investigations came out as negative?" 

"Until we meet again." Fels said as she vanished into the darkness

"..."

'Although Fels left, Silver stood in the alley, thinking.'

I've got what I came here for.

Since Hermes left not long after meeting me… And he met me on the second day of recruitment… That was about six days ago, tomorrow morning will make it seven.

A week is a lot of time, and even if I consider they took their time to reach Melen and their preparations before and after they arrived, they would've been investigating Melen for at least three full days, more than enough time for someone as shrewd as Hermes to uncover anything he wants to, but also enough time for trouble to arise.

Even if I consider Hermes hid himself and left it to his children to search around the place, and that they also took their time to not draw attention…

Yeah, that's impossible, Hermes will never stand still unless he's thrown into house arrest.

So unless Hermes somehow avoided directly interacting with all three ruling forces, then there's no way he didn't find out everything he wanted to.

"Why would he go ahead of me?... Wait…"

Is it… A matter of trust?

Does he doubt me somewhat? How and why?

I don't remember ever doing anything that could've raised some flags of suspicion about me…

Is it the way I acted? Maybe he caught a glimpse of what I hide, even Hestia has, but she's considerably closer to me than him.

Gods are always tricky to deal with.

If he is under the impression I know a lot, then he definitely would suspect me for not sharing it, but neither would he make it so apparent that he's distrustful of me.

So what can it be?

Unless…

"Did he just leave on his own for no reason?" Silver asked himself as he scratched his head

It doesn't really make much sense given his personality but… It's not entirely impossible… Since he's Hermes.

Well… I'll find out about it once I'm there anyway.

'With a silent nod to himself, Silver walked onto the wall, vanishing within as he phased through it.'

…

/Later that day, deeper in the night, somewhere high above the ground…/

"Hum… No, I hate this." A gentle feminine voice echoed in a dark room

/Throw…/

"Hum… Maybe… No, this won't do either."

/Throw…/

"..."

What is she up to now?...

'High above the ground, at the top floors of Babel, Ottar stood motionless and silent in the corner of an elegant room as he stared at Freya with a "perplexed" expression.'

/Throw…/

/Throw…/

"Who chose these? They're all terrible." She said as she threw another pair of clothes down, forming another tall pile of discarded pieces

"Ottar." Freya asked from the side with a calm gaze, not even turning back to face her child

"Yes, my Goddess." He replied faithfully in his monotone

"Go to the third floor and buy me every swimsuit you find." She ordered with a sharp expression. There was no room for refusal

"Understood… But, all of them?" He asked momentarily as he raised his head after bowing

What is she planning now?

'These actions of hers weren't unknown to him, more than once had she had sudden outbursts of desire, doing strange things with great motivation.'

'And most if not all of those moments involved her leaving Orario, which he tended to try and stop her, for her own good of course.'

'One of the rare moments all members of the Freya Familia agreed with.'

'Yet, he said little, only nodding to her request.'

"Hum… Maybe not all, I'm getting a bit ahead of myself." Freya added as she crossed her arms beneath her chest

'She went to the side and grabbed a random swimsuit, the first one that came to her reach.'

"Just buy all that fits this size." 

"As you wish." He replied as he grabbed the small swimsuit without thinking much about it

'But something about its texture felt off, it easily fell into his hands... In fact, he felt very little material at all.'

'Usually, Ottar wouldn't dare spy on his Goddess personal matters, but this time, he grew a bit... Concerned? Curious mayhaps?'

'His emotions weren't that simple to describe.'

"... Ugh?!" 

This is…

'As he turned his gaze to the fabric on his hand, Ottar realized how it actually looked…'

'It was a very, very thin red swimsuit that could barely be called a string.'

'One of the three great creations of the Gods, alongside Plastic and another greatly debatable item... A swimsuit... Albeit a very 'unique' one.'

'For the third one some, most said it was Maid Outfits, others said it was rubber products, a few claimed a Familia to be such item... But when asked, the Gods would never answer, as they found pleasure in seeing their children debate on their behalf.'

'The truth was they themselves did not know.'

"..."

'Freya's swimsuit had a certain flowery scent to it, but that didn't come to the case, there was a more pressing matter to discuss…'

"Hum… Mn? Ottar? What are you doing standing there? Those swimsuits won't buy themselves." She said to him as she turned to face him 

'When she did so, she realized what Ottar was doing and it all came to her immediately, she wasn't a stupid girl after all.'

'So realizing her mistake, she said:'

"Ara, it seems I made a slight blunder, if you handle that to the cashiers they'll only frown at you, though that would be fun to see." She said with a melodic and sweet chuckle as she turned around 

Although they already have my sizes noted down, it was fun playing around with him like this~.

"Here, this one instead should do instead." She said as she gave Ottar, this time, an actual swimsuit that could be used to refer to a size

"..."

'For a moment, Ottar stood stunned as he thought about Freya using what she had just given him, but just as quickly as the thought came to him, it vanished as he left the room, shaking those thoughts out of his mind.'

'So he walked out, a single thought on his mind:'

'He would buy all of the swimsuits in Babel.'

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Notes

N1

There were several instances of such curses before in the Novel and Manga.

One of Ishtar's curse cards was in fact such a curse that can prevent people from using magic, a pretty strong curse but effective.