"I ran into Hedin from Lady Freya's Familia on the street. His expression looked terrible. Did something happen?"
As soon as one god raised the question, the others immediately picked up the topic.
"The White Demon Staff, right? I saw him too. That expression looked like he was about to kill someone, hahaha!"
"They're probably dealing with the dark factions, aren't they? I also saw the Black Demon Sword patrolling the streets. He stopped anyone who looked suspicious to question them. Though I couldn't understand a word he was saying, hahaha!"
"Lady Freya, what's going on?"
The question was directed straight at Freya, and all the gods turned to look at her.
Freya herself paid little attention to their gazes. Instead, she glanced briefly at Loki. After meeting her eyes for a moment, she finally spoke.
"Yes. I instructed Hedin to do it."
"The dark factions have been getting rather unsightly lately, so I had Hedin take some people and clean them up a bit..."
Freya's tone was calm and indifferent, as if it were a trivial matter. Yet she had successfully shifted the direction of the conversation.
Aside from Loki, who appeared thoughtful, the other gods followed along with Freya's explanation.
It was common knowledge that gods could see through the lies of mortals. However, gods could not see through the lies of other gods.
Freya had lied, but no one knew—except Loki. Among the gods, the only one capable of seeing through lies was probably Loki.
But Loki would not expose Freya. Though they were rivals, they were also a sort of unconventional allies.
Besides, the Loki Familia was also dealing with the dark factions. In a roundabout way, this even benefited them. Loki was pleased enough—why would she expose Freya?
Still...
What is that love-crazed woman plotting? This doesn't seem like her usual self. Or is she planning something big?
Loki might not expose her, but that didn't mean she wasn't suspicious.
Freya taking the initiative to deal with the dark factions? There was definitely something fishy about that.
But this was the Gods' Banquet. She would question Freya privately later.
"The dark factions really have been too arrogant lately."
"Quite a few people have been attacked recently. It's probably their doing."
"Yeah, it was about time someone dealt with them. But I didn't expect Lady Freya to take action personally."
"If this keeps up, what if one day we get taken out by those dark faction guys?"
"Why don't we find a chance to arrest them all?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Do you even know where they're hiding? How would we find them?"
No matter how much the gods discussed the dark factions, they always ran into the same unsolvable problem.
They could not locate the dark factions' base of operations.
Even if they occasionally discovered one or two hideouts, those were likely already abandoned. The people had long since fled.
"So everyone, be careful when going out. Best to bring a bodyguard along, just in case you get attacked."
"Otherwise, we won't see you at the next Banquet, hahaha!"
"Alright, alright. That topic ends here."
In the end, Loki spoke up to halt the discussion.
"Honestly, how did we drift so far off-topic? We're at the Banquet, you know!"
"If we keep going like this, we won't have time for the next segment."
Upon hearing Loki's words, most of the gods fell silent. They all knew what the next segment was—and just how entertaining it would be.
Some gods had not even spoken during the first segment, simply waiting for this very moment.
Standing on the stage, Loki looked left and right. After confirming that most of the gods' attention was focused on her, she slowly raised her hand. A rather malicious grin appeared on her face—at least in the eyes of certain gods.
"And now, the Title Conference!"
The moment Loki's words fell, the atmosphere in the hall underwent a dramatic transformation.
Some gods burst into cheers, their excitement surging. Others went pale and sat stiffly in their seats, as if awaiting judgment.
"You've all received the documents, right? Then let's begin!"
"Let's see. First up, an adventurer from Tot's Familia—little Kelly!"
As Loki read out the adventurer's name, a desperate plea from a god followed immediately.
"Please, I beg you, don't give her some strange title!"
Hearing Tot's plea, several gods exchanged glances before replying in unison.
"We refuse!"
And so began the naming of that adventurer.
This was the so-called Title Conference.
The gods certainly had the ability to come up with good names. But that didn't mean they were obligated to give you one.
After all, the gods had descended to the lower world for entertainment. And what could be more entertaining than this?
"Yahoo! Kelly Draidy of Tot's Familia—her title shall be Scrap Collector!"
"Nooo!"
Amid the god's wail of despair, Kelly's title was finalized.
In truth, most of the titles at the Conference were chosen carelessly by bored gods.
They didn't care whether the title suited the child. They picked names simply to amuse themselves.
Whenever they saw a god mourning over their child's newly assigned title, their hearts filled with delight.
That was why the gods never tired of coming up with bizarre names.
One by one, children of the lower world were given their titles. Each time the final declaration was made, the patron deity of some Familia would cry out in anguish.
Thus, at the Title Conference, the powerful factions trampled the weaker Familias over and over again.
And most importantly, those weaker Familias had no way to resist.
If you were weak, you endured the beating.
The number of sacrifices...
Continued to rise.
However, as time passed, such strange titles became less frequent. Members of the city's mid-tier Familias began appearing on the list.
When a god whose Familia had a Level 3 member casually proposed a title, it was approved without issue.
After all, in present-day Orario, the highest Level was only Level 6. Level 3 already counted as mid-tier strength. No god reckless enough to value their life lightly would randomly assign them an insulting nickname.
This also demonstrated that the stronger a Familia was, the greater its patron deity's voice at the Banquet.
Until, at a certain moment, a special name appeared on the page. The gods instantly grew alert.
"Oh? It's only now that Astraea's child comes up?"
"Hey, hey! This has to be fake, right?"
"How could someone reach Level 2 in just two months?"
"And her Great Feat was... soloing a Floor Boss? Is that even something a human can accomplish?"
"Astraea, you didn't cheat, did you?"