"Good! Then let's celebrate Bete's successful step up to Level 5! Let the banquet begin!"
"Oh!!!"
As Loki's voice fell, the whole hall caught fire with excitement. Holding her glass, Loki hopped down from the dais. Her gaze swept the crowd and instantly found Tsunayoshi—right as Tiona and Tione were huddled up beside him.
"I'm up there hyping the room, and he's down here flirting."
She set her glass on their table and plopped into the seat across from the three of them. "This is Bete's promotion party, and you three went and made your own little island."
On the way over she'd already noticed no one around was paying this table any mind. She knew exactly why—Tsunayoshi was masking presence again.
"It's not an island," Tsunayoshi shook his head. "Just limited presence suppression."
"I'm not about to carve out an 'Independent' space at a banquet like this," he added. "It's just a habit. Today's about Bete, so better to stay low-key."
He exhaled. "And honestly, I'm wiped. Hiding a little makes it easier to breathe. Riveria dragged me out first thing this morning for testing. After that she hauled me into the 'Training Space' for Dying Will Flames practice."
"She wants more refined control of Mist and Rain," he explained. "For that, she asked for monsters with stronger olfactory response. I spent the afternoon coaching and sparring on the side."
Riveria's requirements for monsters were very strict. To sync Mist and Rain, she was painstaking—using illusion to tamper with scent so even smell-sensitive foes could be corralled. Today's grind was heavy, but the progress was obvious.
"I'm guessing Riveria got spurred on by Tiona, Tione—and Bete," Tsunayoshi said.
"Really?" Tiona, Tione, and Loki all glanced toward the central table where Riveria sat with Gareth and Finn. Dressed in white and emerald, she radiated poise; even lifting a glass, her grace didn't waver. A delicate flush tinted her cheeks, softening her usual cool into something more womanly.
"She's definitely had more than usual," Tione murmured, spotting the color in Riveria's face at once.
"Mm. She wouldn't blush from just a ceremonial drink," Loki nodded. "She's had more than normal tonight. Not just the mood—she's genuinely happy."
"Looks like she's riding a high," Tiona grinned.
"She earned it," Loki allowed. "Honestly, who in our familia isn't putting the work in now…"
Loki's thought snagged on a face. Raul. The corner of her mouth twitched.
"…Correction. Aside from Raul, who isn't putting the work in?"
"Raul isn't working hard?" Tsunayoshi blinked. He remembered Raul as one of the most diligent adventurers of all—four straight years, four straight level-ups. That pace isn't for the untalented or the lazy.
How did someone like that become the poster boy for slacking?
Loki sighed. "Lately he's always out. This is prime growth time, and he's letting it slip through his fingers."
"Always out…" The three traded a look. They all understood what had Raul running: the elf courtesan he kept outside.
"That guy wouldn't, would he?" Tione frowned. She didn't care about Raul's personal choices—but Raul's shift started after Tsunayoshi arrived, and she worried how that might blow back on him.
"Right now the 'Training Space' and 'Challenge Space' are opportunities for everyone," she went on. "Who wouldn't kill for access to what we've got? Toss these conditions outside and a crowd of gods and adventurers would camp the door, waiting to latch on."
"And that woman is already a closed matter," Tione added. "Ishtar isn't taking her back. Does Raul really need to run over there every day?"
To Tione, that choice—especially now—was beyond foolish.
Then a bigger concern hit her. "Loki, with Raul running around like that day after day… could he accidentally leak anything about Tsunayoshi?"
"!?"
Tione's sudden point rang every alarm bell in Loki's head.
"That's absolutely possible."
Whatever pity Loki had for Raul's lost momentum vanished. If he kept slipping, he could spill a thread of Tsunayoshi's situation—and the moment that thread got pulled, every god in Orario would set their sights on him.
"Looks like we need to take measures."
She didn't know what Raul was thinking. But she did know one thing: if he couldn't answer for himself, she'd answer for him.
A Raul who'd lost his drive was now a potential risk to Tsunayoshi's secrecy. That made him a problem.
Loki turned. One glance was enough to pick out Raul in the crowd, a little absent-minded amid the laughter and clinking cups.
"Tsunayoshi," she said quietly, "once the banquet ends—bring him in. Let's seal off the dangerous possibilities first."
No matter how it turned out, Loki wouldn't gamble on the chance Raul wouldn't talk. They would control the variable after the party—and then investigate everything clinging to him, one thread at a time.
(End of Chapter)
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