Once Freya called Tammuz to the Divine Council, the outcome of the judgment was already decided.
In front of all the gods, Tammuz revealed everything Ishtar had done over the years, her dealings and cooperation with Evilus, along with all the crimes she had committed. He held nothing back.
In fact, he even embellished quite a few details, looking as though he had been completely opposed to Ishtar all along!
At that point, even Guild Head Royman had no way to argue.
Evilus was the enemy of all Orario. Cooperating with them meant standing against every Familia in the city. Since the Guild's highest priority was maintaining Orario's stability, it had to give its strongest possible support to any action taken against them.
Ryoji's name was completely cleared.
He had gone from a suspected god-killer to a city hero overnight.
The male gods were moved to tears, while the goddesses cheered happily.
When the Guild released the morning paper the next day, Ryoji's reputation would be pristine, and none of the proposed punishments would apply to him.
Loki, however, remained extremely wary.
She didn't think this was necessarily a good thing.
Freya's appearance had been little more than a finishing touch. Ryoji had never been likely to receive a severe punishment in the first place.
Yet Freya had deliberately come to the Divine Council and brought Tammuz forward just to clear Ryoji's name.
Combined with what had happened during the Naming Ceremony, Loki couldn't help but be suspicious.
The Goddess who could charm practically anyone had set her sights on her Familia!
...
"That's basically what happened."
Loki spread her hands and explained everything from start to finish.
"Damn that Goddess of Beauty! She really has her eyes on Ryoji!" Tiona was furious. "I knew it! He's just too amazing. There's no way he could ever hide his brilliance!"
Everyone nearly fell over.
She wasn't wrong, but this really wasn't the time to say it.
In an unnoticed corner, Ais clenched her fists.
She quietly pressed a hand against her chest.
For some reason, the same fear she had felt when she heard Ryoji had fallen into Ishtar's hands rose within her once more.
"Don't worry. At least Freya won't openly make a move against our Familia." Finn comforted the few who were shaken. "It's not as though something like this has never happened before, but Goddess Freya has always shown some restraint."
That was true.
Freya had a particular obsession with souls. Once she took an interest in someone's soul, she would use every means available to bring them under her control.
Quite a few members of Loki Familia had souls that attracted her attention.
Yet Freya had never gone too far.
"The real problem is the key." Finn's expression became serious, a troubled look appearing in his eyes. "From what we know, there's almost no doubt that Ishtar's key is now in Freya's hands. But getting her to hand it over is another matter entirely."
Freya was an extremely shrewd goddess. To obtain the key from her, they would have to offer something valuable enough to catch her interest.
Everyone fell quiet at those words.
Loki Familia and Freya Familia were competitors, after all. Getting an opposing goddess to hand over something they desperately needed was never going to be easy.
Ryoji, however, was quietly excited.
'The key is in Freya's hands?'
'That's great news! I can just go convince her myself!'
"I have an idea!" Loki suddenly raised her hand, a sly, fox-like smile appearing on her face. "Leave this to me. I'll take care of everything properly!"
She looked so confident that everyone was taken aback.
"Well… Loki may look unreliable, but she does have her moments."
"Yeah. When she actually gets serious, she can be trusted. Even if she doesn't look it."
"Then we'll leave it to you, even if you do seem a little unreliable."
"The 'unreliable' part was unnecessary!" Loki shouted angrily.
Ryoji nodded silently.
If he went himself, getting the key probably wouldn't be difficult. The problem would be explaining how he had obtained it afterward.
If Loki could handle that part, he might as well let her take care of it.
...
The next day.
It had been nearly a month since Ryoji returned to the DanMachi world.
The morning sky was clear, and the newspapers distributed by the Guild quickly spread throughout Orario.
As expected, they portrayed Ryoji as the hero who had exposed Ishtar's conspiracy.
The Guild still didn't dare reveal the truth about Evilus to the public, as doing so would cause widespread panic. Instead, the papers simply reported that Ishtar had been plotting to overthrow Orario.
The news left countless people beating their chests and crying bitter tears.
"Ryoji, come out with me!"
After breakfast, Ryoji was just about to head to the Dungeon to level up when Loki quietly called him over.
Well, when the Chief God gave an order, he couldn't exactly refuse.
Without attracting anyone's attention, in fact, Loki was being extremely discreet, she left the manor with only Ryoji accompanying her.
Ryoji had no idea what she was planning. Were they going to meet another ally? He silently wondered.
"Listen carefully. We're going to a teahouse on the southeastern street. I've arranged to meet someone there."
As they walked, Loki deliberately slowed down half a step so she could walk beside him, quietly passing along further instructions.
"When you come face-to-face with them, don't ask anything. Just use your charm immediately!"
"Huh?"
"Did you hear me?"
"I heard you…"
"Then everything will be fine!" Loki nodded with satisfaction.
The trump card she had been preparing for so long finally had a chance to be used! She was extremely excited.
Ryoji, however, was thoroughly baffled.
'Use charm the moment we meet? Who the hell are we meeting? Is this some unforgivable supervillain? Had they murdered her parents or something?'
The two entered the southeastern district, turned into a quiet alley, and stopped in front of a teahouse.
"We're here to meet a guest. We have a reservation." Loki waved away the approaching server and headed upstairs.
"Why do all the servers here look so dazed?" Ryoji looked around.
He was surprised to discover that every server, male and female alike, looked completely absent-minded. None of them seemed to be paying attention to their work.
Even the manager was like that.
Loki, however, acted as though this were perfectly normal and wasn't bothered at all.
When they reached the second floor, things became even stranger.
A server standing at the end of the hallway had her mouth hanging open, staring blankly toward one particular private room.
There were quite a few people on the second floor, yet the entire place was eerily silent.
'This feels familiar…'
Ryoji found the scene strangely recognizable. Wasn't this exactly what happened whenever he went outside without his hood?
'Hm? This scent… could it be?'
As they approached one of the private rooms, a subtle fragrance reached Ryoji's nose.
It was incredibly familiar, far too familiar. He had smelled it countless times when their bodies had been pressed together.
At that moment, a cold sweat broke out across Ryoji's body.
"Aiya, sorry! We're a little late!" Loki opened the wooden door and walked inside with a polite smile. "You're not angry, are you, Freya?"
'Loki!'
''I fucking hate you!''
Ryoji completely lost it in his head.
Inside the room was none other than the hooded figure of the Goddess of Beauty.
'So this was your plan to get Freya to hand over the key?'
'You meant using me?!'
(End of Chapter)
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