The lively, bustling breakfast time soon came to an end.
Once the dining table had been cleared and the dishes washed clean, the four of them—Ryu, Chloe, Lunor, and Anya—found it was time to head to the tavern for their early shift. After bidding farewell to Haimer and the others, they walked out through the wrought-iron gate of the upscale estate.
On the early-morning street, the sunlight was just right, the breeze gentle and mild. Anya stretched out in a great, lazy yawn, her cat tail swishing contentedly behind her. "Nyahoo—we're finally done with the work."
"Honestly, even though Kami-sama's estate is huge, coming over to do a bit of work every morning feels pretty fulfilling, nya."
"You haven't done a single bit of hard work since the moment you got here."
Chloe mercilessly called her out.
The three of them chatted on and off in a desultory way.
Only Ryu, who walked at the very back, kept her head bowed the whole time, holding her silence.
What was especially eye-catching was the way she kept her head lowered, seemingly lost in thought about who-knew-what, those sky-blue eyes of hers brimming with complicated emotions.
As for the reason, it must be told.
When Ryu had been leaving the estate and passing through the living room.
She hadn't been able to resist stealing a sidelong glance at that blind, silver-haired girl named Inaba Tsukuyo.
At that moment, the girl had been tilting her head slightly, facing in Haimer's direction.
Even though Haimer wasn't actually looking at her, the corners of the girl's lips still carried a sweet, bashful smile—one impossible to conceal no matter how she tried, as though it had been dipped in honey.
It was the kind that came from being utterly immersed in happiness.
In Ryu's eyes, it was an expression only a girl who had fallen deep in love—or rather, one who had received some immense satisfaction—would ever reveal.
Add to that the sight, this very morning, of Haimer walking out of that room…
A lone man and woman, through a long, long night.
Even without putting her brain to it, even guessing with her toes, anyone could guess what unspeakable things had happened inside. "But… that's impossible, ahh…"
Ryu shook her head frantically in her heart.
Ever since that earlier misunderstanding had been cleared up, Haimer's gentle, magnanimous broad-mindedness had long ago made Ryu apply a perfect filter over him in her heart.
But now, that filter had cracked with a "crack," splitting open into an enormous fissure.
How could Kami-sama… how could he do that sort of… that sort of shameless thing to his own follower!?
What's more, that girl looked so frail and delicate!?
But still…
What if she had misunderstood again?
Last time, she'd been just as single-mindedly convinced that Haimer was a villain harboring ill intentions toward Syr, and in the end it had nearly led to a terrible mistake.
This time, what if Haimer had only gone in to tuck her under the covers, or to tell her a bedtime story?
"What kind of god comes out of a lady's bedroom first thing in the morning just from telling a story!"
"In fact, Kami-sama is surely just like all the other gods!"
"In all the world, only Lady Astraea is perfect!"
At this moment, it was as though two little figures were locked in a frenzied brawl inside Ryu's heart—one holding aloft Astraea's banner of justice and furiously denouncing Haimer as a sanctimonious scumbag, the other urging her to believe in Haimer's character.
When they passed a corner along North Avenue.
The pressure brought on by this immense sense of inner rupture finally became more than Ryu could bear.
With that, Ryu's legs went weak, and she simply crouched down in the corner of the flagstone road, clutching her head in both hands and burying her face deep into her knees, her whole being radiating a gloom so thick it seemed mushrooms might soon sprout from her. "?"
Anya, walking up ahead, heard the commotion, turned around, and was instantly stunned.
"Ryu? What's wrong, nya? Did you get up too early these past few mornings, not sleep well, and come down with something, nya?"
Chloe stopped in her tracks too, a flicker of confusion crossing her green cat-eyes, and circled once around Ryu, who was crouched on the ground.
"Something's off about this state—this isn't a lack of sleep at all, this is clearly some kind of massive psychological trauma, nya."
Lunor let out a sigh, stepped forward, and grabbed Ryu by the collar, yanking her up off the ground like pulling a radish.
"Hey! Snap out of it! Stop playing the self-shut-in mushroom over here!"
Lunor hauled Ryu up by the collar.
"Seriously, ever since you came down from cleaning the second floor this morning, you've had this look like you've seen a ghost the whole time—you didn't say a word at the table either, and now you're crouching in the middle of the street. What on earth is going on?"
"I… I'm fine."
Ryu's eyes wandered evasively as she tried to wriggle free of Lunor's hand.
As an innocent maiden with the lofty, pure integrity of an elf, how could she possibly speak aloud such a sordid suspicion as "Kami-sama seems to have spent the night in a young girl's bedchamber"?
That would be far too rude, and far too crude.
"You call that fine?"
Lunor was so exasperated she laughed, let go of her hand, and crossed her arms over her chest.
"We've worked together for a good while now, haven't we? You think I don't know how much water sloshes around in that head of yours?" "You're thinking again that Kami-sama did something that doesn't match that standard of justice in your heart, your filter shattered all over the floor, and now you're over here sulking at yourself, aren't you?"
Struck right where it hurt, Ryu's body went stiff, and she pressed her lips tight without offering a rebuttal.
"Listen here, you…"
Seeing this, Lunor pressed a hand to her forehead, suddenly feeling a bit of a headache too.
"You're just so pig-headed. No matter what you saw, or what you guessed, since you've got no certainty in your heart right now and you're scared of stirring up another mix-up and misunderstanding Kami-sama like last time…" "In that case, the next time you go in to clean, why don't you just go ask Kami-sama directly, to his face, and get it all cleared up?"
Lunor's tone was quite rough, but it hit the nail right on the head.
"Do you think asking directly is too impolite? Or do you think it's somehow more polite to guess wildly here on your own, paint someone as a complete scumbag, and then drive yourself crazy over it?"
"That's not what I meant…" she protested feebly.
"Then dredge up some of that old fierce streak you used to have!"
Lunor gripped Ryu's collar even harder.
"Stop piling on so many inner mind-dramas for yourself. When you run into something you don't understand, go and ask. Worst case you get scolded a sentence or two—that's still better than you sitting here clammed up like a sealed gourd, isn't it!"
And indeed, rather than letting that radiant image she'd worked so hard to build come crashing down here, it really was better to go and seek out the truth directly.
Even if the truth turned out to be truly unbearable to look at, it would still beat this kind of self-torment.
"S-sorry… I made you all worry…"
Ryu was gradually coming to realize this too, and her once-vacant gaze finally refocused once more.
She drew in a deep breath.
Lunor was right. Blindly harboring suspicions would only lead to greater misunderstanding. She had to go and confirm it herself. "Now that's more like it, nya!"
"Come on, let's go, let's go—if we don't hurry, Mama Mia's going to throw a fit, nya!" Anya urged from up front, swishing her tail.
…At the same time.
Inside the hall of Haimer's estate.
Sunlight poured into the hall through the tall floor-to-ceiling windows. Haimer and Hestia had already changed into the formal attire for that evening's Denatus.
Haimer wore the long, black-blend formal outfit that Loki had bought for him at a high-end clothing store the other day. The garment had no superfluous ornamentation whatsoever; relying solely on its well-tailored fabric, it set off his upright frame to look all the more tall and slender.
The dominant black tone suppressed the casual air Haimer usually carried, adding a few measures of the profundity befitting a god.
It had to be said—Loki really did have a keen eye. Meanwhile.
Hestia, for her part, was wearing the starlight evening gown that Demeter had personally helped pick out when they'd run into each other the previous night.
The deep-blue satin was dotted with fine, glittering silver reflective material, so that as she moved it was as if she had draped an entire night sky across her body.
In particular, that overly impressive bust of hers was lifted by the gown's waistline, lending her a measure of a goddess's nobility compared to that somewhat plain white one-piece dress she usually wore.
"Haimer-kun! What do you think of this outfit? Don't I look super elegant!"
Hestia spun a circle in front of Haimer, her two black twin-tails swaying along with the motion, her face full of expectation as she fished for praise.
"Very nice."
Haimer glanced at her and gave a nod.
"At tonight's Denatus, you should be quite dazzling." "Hehe~"
Hearing these words from Haimer, Hestia immediately broke into a pleased, silly grin.
However, Haimer's gaze soon shifted away from Hestia, falling upon Lili, who stood at the edge of the hall, and the few figures huddled behind her looking somewhat ill-at-ease—the songstress-bird Rei, along with Fei, Aruru, and the other Xenos.
After all.
Since Amou Kirukiru, Onigawara Rin, and the others still had to go on training at Loki's Twilight Manor.
And since tonight's Denatus banquet usually lasted until the following day's daylight, he and Hestia definitely wouldn't be coming back.
This vast estate would, all at once, be left with just the few of them.
Without him around, they would surely feel more or less uneasy in their hearts.
So Haimer took the initiative to speak.
"Come to think of it, neither Hestia nor I will be home tonight." "Lili, and you too, Rei—why don't you all head over to Loki's Twilight Manor together this morning? It just so happens Rin and the others are training over there as well, so you'll have someone to rely on."
Hearing this, before Lili could even get a word in, Rei and the others hiding behind her glanced at one another.
Clear hesitation showed on each of their faces.
After all.
—The [Loki Familia].
Even the Xenos had heard a fair bit about them all along.
One of the largest and strongest Familia in Orario.
And as an exploration-type Familia, the [Loki Familia] was also the Familia that had killed the most monsters, bar none—
"Kami-sama…"
"We'd rather just stay here."
Rei's golden wings folded in front of her, her head drooping low, her voice carrying obvious worry. "After all… we're monsters." "If we just brazenly move in and stay at Lord Loki's Familia… and were spotted by other adventurers, it might bring a bad influence on Loki Familia…"
When Rei finished saying all this.
The single-horned rabbit Aruru simply ducked behind Rei outright, not daring to so much as poke her head out.
Watching them in this state, Haimer's gaze gradually grew profound as well.
Because at this moment.
Haimer had glimpsed another side of the Xenos' inner hearts.
Humans fear monsters.
But how could it be that monsters do not, in turn, fear humans?
They were a group that most yearned to be accepted by the surface dwellers, who longed for sunlight, who longed to coexist with humans.
Yet when they truly had the chance to step out through this door and make contact with other people, they were instead the first to begin worrying.
Because they feared causing trouble, feared the loathing gazes of others.
This was not good.
Because if this mindset went unchanged, then even with his help, they would never be able to truly integrate into this world.
It was like a person crippled by an inferiority complex—only when he himself worked up the courage could he take that first step.
—An inferiority complex was, precisely, the common affliction of all the Xenos.
From the very moment of their birth, they had been branded with the name of monsters, driven off by humans, hunted by adventurers, able only to eke out a miserable existence in the dark Dungeon, relying on devouring the Magic Stones of their own kind to exchange for the ability to survive.
It was not only Rei and her companions.
The stone dragon Grosse, currently in the depths of the Dungeon and at first distrustful of humans, was likewise plagued by an inferiority complex.
The end point of an inferiority complex, if not self-destruction, was rage utterly devoid of reason.
Now, although they had come to see the light of day, had even gained the protection of a god and moved into this spacious, bright estate—
that dread of human society, along with that denial of their own identity, still pierced deep into their hearts like an invisible poison thorn, keeping them in a perpetual panic of fearing loss and gain.
Moreover.
Haimer also noticed that Lili was likewise lowering her head.
After all, although she was a surface dweller, she was a Pallum, and having suffered no end of oppression in the [Soma Familia], she ought to have a deep, firsthand understanding of this kind of inferiority felt by those at the bottom of society.
Rei, Fei, and Aruru all silently lowered their heads.
Seeing this, Haimer finally could not help but speak up.
"Miss Rei."
"Do you know what a barrier is?"
Hearing this, Rei was taken aback for a moment, lifting her head with some bewilderment, a trace of being at a loss in her golden eyes.
Seeing that Rei didn't know how to answer, Haimer continued.
"A barrier is like a great mountain in a person's heart."
"The more you think it tall, the more you think it impossible to surmount, the more that great mountain will simply go on standing there, blocking you firmly on the outside."
"But a person's two hands are capable of moving mountains."
"And so, as I see it, the great mountain in a person's heart can likewise be moved aside."
"Only, if it is the great mountain in another person's heart that you wish to move aside, the first thing you must do is, in fact, to first move aside the great mountain in your own heart."
Haimer reached out his hand.
Under Rei's somewhat alarmed gaze.
Haimer's warm palm gently took hold of the edge of Rei's gold-and-blue wing.
Through the feathers, Rei could clearly feel the warmth transmitted from that hand. Toasty and warm.
"There's a saying that puts it well."
"Yesterday has already turned to ash, and tomorrow is yet unknowable, but today, the flame in the palm of your hand is still burning."
"Don't be afraid of scalding others—just let it keep burning."
"Please believe in me, Miss Rei."
"Since I have brought you to the surface, I will most certainly fight to win you the happiness of living beneath the sunlight."
Gazing at her own inhuman face reflected in Haimer's profound eyes. "Thump!" "Thump!" "Thump!"
Rei stared blankly at Haimer, feeling as though she had been struck by lightning.
The heart that had been tucked away within her chest, in this instant, began pounding wildly like a frenzied drum, beating so violently it seemed about to leap out.
The sound of her heartbeat was so loud that even she herself found it inconceivable.
Even though reason was frantically reminding her that Reed had said there existed an unbridgeable chasm between monsters and gods—
that this was merely Kami-sama's impartial care extended to all alike, and his faithfulness to a promise.
But on a morning like this, to have her wings gently lifted up like this by a god possessed of such terrifying charm, and to hear such words spoken—
for a Rei who was experiencing the first awakening of love and was utterly unprepared, the destructive power was simply too immense!
The words Reed had spoken earlier were, in this instant, forgotten in a flash.
"Surely, even Reed, upon hearing these words from Kami-sama, would have his heart skip a beat too?"
____
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