After her talk with Lili at the Hostess of Fertility, Ais walked back towards the Twilight Mansion with a satisfied smile on her face. She had gotten information and helped Lili at the same time. Speaking of her new friend, Ais' smile turned into a frown. Soma Familia was repulsive. From a God who did not care to a Captain who wanted to line up his own pocket by enslaving all the other members to the divine taste of the wine, both were equally disgusting.

She decided she needed to report this to Riveria. She might have promised to leave the internal matter of the Familia to Lili, but Zanis Lustra was suspicious. One did not gather money just for the sake of having money. He must be doing it for some purpose, which warranted a report to Finn.

Entering the Twilight Mansion, Ais was greeted by some of the members. She greeted them back with a polite smile. All of them were older than her, so she wasn't close to them. In fact, she felt a camaraderie with Lili more than with her fellow Familia members. It probably was because they were of similar age.

Speaking of Lili, after Ais had rest yesterday, it seemed that Lili got her status updated because she now carried her own weight inside the Dungeon. Don't get her wrong, it wasn't like Lili was some damsel that she needed to save all the time. But her reckless fighting style wasn't supported by her strength at all. After her status update, it seemed like she applied her technique flawlessly, and they quickly destroyed anything in their path.

Fifteen minutes later, Ais finished cleaning herself and went to Riveria's room. It was close to dinner time, and Ais did not want to waste time. She knocked on the door.

"Riveria? It's Ais."

"Come in."

After hearing Riveria's permission, Ais opened the door and entered.

"Riveria," Ais approached her, who was reading a book on her desk. "I've talked with Lili."

"Lili? Ah, your friend. That's right. I've never got her name. What's her full name? She's from Soma Familia if I recall you telling me."

Ais nodded. "Liliruca Arde, a Pallum. But that's not important. Hear this, Riveria. Soma Familia right now is in chaos. God Soma does not care about any of his children because they lost their minds to Soma's wine. Because of that, a member used an opportunity to rise up as the new captain and made everyone drink the wine under the pretense of celebration, including the six years old Lili. It was fortunate that she did not lose her mind. The other member became desperate to get more of the wine and resorted to anything to get it. I think that's why Soma Familia came out in droves, as you said yesterday. The situation was horrible. And the new captain, the one who made everyone an addict, imposed a rule; you need to pay to get your status updated. This is where I want you to take note, as I'm sure he's not extorting his Familia just to gain wealth.

"Lili is trying to fix them and asked me to not interfere. However, I suspect the captain, Zanis Lustra, is using his accumulated wealth for something. Whether it is something illegal or not, I can't really say. Finn did say he suspects Soma Familia has a dealing under the table with Evilus, so this point stuck out to me."

Riveria took a pen and wrote some things as she heard her report.

"Correction. Finn didn't say anything about Soma Familia and Evilus. He just said that it's strange that they really came out now of all times. But your suspicion isn't without base either, considering your former occupation as a Queen. I'd assume the nobles under your rule had some secrets they'd like you to not know," Riveria said as she adjusted some things in her notes.

Ais nodded. "It was tiresome dealing with them."

"Thank you, Ais. Enjoy your dinner. I shall speak with Finn about this."

Ais bowed and left the room before going straight to the dining room.

Sitting in his office, Finn was deep in thought. The papers in front of him contained information about Evilus' movement. Several merchants entered Orario without reporting the correct amount of items brought in. Usually, he would just let them because merchants are always like that. But this time, it was different. They made sure to misreport different amounts of the items for each merchant wagon, but they entered Orario every three days.

It, along with his thumb tingling, meant that his suspicion was likely correct. However, the worst part about this was rooting the Evilus' base inside Orario. The merchants undoubtedly didn't know anything and were only being paid to smuggle the stuff in. He had done this several times before, and they couldn't interrogate the merchants each time because there was no proof of their connection to Evilus. At most, they paid a fine for the misreport and were let go.

Finn sighed. Life was easier when your Goddess did not want to be the top dog of Orario. Exiling Zeus and Hera Familia was a mistake for which he had to be responsible. Otherwise, the city would suffer, and he wasn't cruel enough to let things be. Even though it cut his time, he had to lead because the city couldn't rely on Freya Familia. Well, they could rely on the Gulliver Brothers, at least. As for the rest? No.

To this day, he still thinks that Loki was persuaded by Freya instead of the opposite. But maybe that was his bias speaking. Loki always wanted things to be easier for her, even though it would be a pain for others.

His musings were interrupted when he heard a knock.

"Come in," he gave his permission.

Riveria entered the room with a tray of food. "Good Evening, Finn. I brought you dinner."

Finn gave a smile. "Thank you, Riveria."

In the past, Riveria's pride would never allow her to do that, but Finn guessed the Elven Princess grew up. He assumed that being in close proximity to two old souls would do that to you.

"I see you're still busy going over the documents," Riveria's eyes flicked to the long stack of documents on his table. Putting down the tray on the free space, she then continued. "I hope you don't mind if I give you insider information about Soma Familia from Ais."

"From Ais?" Admittedly, Finn did not hover over the seven years old. Mostly because she was a reincarnate and did not need coddle, and they didn't really get introduced in their past life. If anything, she was closer to Gareth and Riveria than him.

He saw Riveria nod. "For the past few days, Ais has been going down to the Dungeon with a member of Soma Familia. After I relayed to her your suspicion about Soma Familia's movement yesterday, Ais had the initiative to ask about them to her friend, and she got the answers."

Ais had friends outside the Familia? He knew he let her be free, but he didn't expect to hear about Ais having friends when she couldn't really connect with the rest of the Familia. Sure, they adored her, and she respected them, but nothing you would call a friendship.

The surprise on his face must be evident because Riveria smiled. "I was surprised too. Her name is Liliruca Arde, and she's around her age."

"...Arde?" That name was familiar. When he first entered Orario with Loki Familia, Finn made sure to know the name of every Pallum and be on cordial terms with all of them. Unfortunately, not all Pallums appreciated his effort to show the worth of their race. There was no outright opposition, but he did not just hear about the Pallums talking behind his back just once or twice.

He did not mind them. He was very disappointed at what the Pallums as a race had become, even in the Labyrinth City of Orario. Filo Arde was one such Pallum. When Finn entered Orario, the Pallum looked at him with envy and resentment, which never disappeared even years after. He never knew Filo had a daughter.

Curses. The matter with Evilus took his attention away from many things. Maybe he needed to take a break.

"Yes, Liliruca Arde. Is there something?" Riveria inquired.

"I knew her father, Filo Arde. I believe he passed away a few years ago. It just dawned on me that Evilus takes my attention away from many things," Finn admitted with a sigh.

"We all noticed," Riveria said with a smile. "I think you can rub it on Loki's face that her decision was wrong now, considering how busy you are cleaning up Evilus."

"At least I'll spare her the embarrassment," Finn chuckled. "Please continue, Riveria."

"Right, so basically, their captain took advantage of the whole Familia. They were given a cup of Soma wine and lost their minds. The recent movements are because they wanted to get more of the wine," Riveria then frowned before she continued. "The most deplorable thing was that the captain set a fee for members who wanted to update their status."

Finn also frowned after hearing that. "He's dooming his own Familia in the long run for a short-term gain. No, I can guess that he doesn't care for any of them. What about the God, Soma?"

"Ais said he doesn't care about any of his Familia members, which is why the captain can have such free reign," Riveria revealed.

"...That's sad," Finn remarked. Loki might not have been the best Goddess, in his opinion; the title went to Astraea. But even so, Loki cared for each of her children. Here was an example of a deity who did not care for anyone. It did not make his blood boil in anger. Such occurrence, while rare, was expected from the fickle Gods. It did, however, make him pity everyone in Soma Familia. "Does Ais wants us to intervene?"

Riveria shook her head. "No. Instead, Ais argued that the captain, Zanis Lustra, might be involved with Evilus. Considering he extorted money, that money has to go somewhere, as Ais concluded."

"It might be true..." Finn nodded. This Zanis Lustra sounded suspicious. The Guild could not hand him any punishment for his actions because it was internal Familia matters. And yet, Ais was most likely correct. The money had to go somewhere. However...

"What about you, Riveria? What's your conclusion from this?"

"Ais' suspicions would hold merit five years from now. Zanis Lustra's reign is still fresh. He might deal with Evilus, but it would be insignificant in the short-term."

"Exactly my thought. I think Ais sells Zanis Lustra as this mastermind to make us move against him, helping her friend in the process," Finn smiled. The reincarnation of Queen Ariadne was not to be underestimated.

He saw Riveria nod and ask him. "So, your decision?"

"We do nothing against Soma Familia," Finn declared.

Riveria accepted his decision with an "Understood."

Sorry, Ais. He weighed his option and decided to let them be free for now. Maybe in the future, if they became a grave enough threat, Loki Familia would deal with them. But for now? It wasn't worth it. That said, he would be interested in meeting with this Liliruca Arde. He never expected Filo Arde's daughter to have enough fire in her to go to the Dungeon and keep up with Ais.

"Riveria. Tell Ais that I'd like to meet this Liliruca Arde. As a fellow Pallum, I would like to give her my support. And I would also express my condolence for her father's passing." It had been several years since he last interacted with the Pallums in Orario, not in his capacity as Loki Familia's captain. Not counting the other Knight of Fianna's reincarnation, of course. They had their monthly gathering to keep up on the news and shared fun times.

Riveria nodded. "Finally, I can tell the Gulliver Brothers and Lyra that you're taking a break," she said with a smile.

Finn laughed. His former comrades always treated him like he was still a bratty teen. Well, except for Alfrigg and Dvalinn because those two knew his Finn phase and respected him. But Grer, Berling, and Lyra? No chance. Still, he was delighted to be able to meet them again. He would rather be called snot-nosed Dim by Lyra for the rest of his life rather than lose her again.

Finn: We do nothing.
Also Finn after he met Lili: I'm going to end that man's career.

I want to expand to Finn more this time because this is one of the things that annoyed me in canon. He wants to be the light but doing it his way meant that other Pallums would just deify him again after he passed away. This Finn had experienced being deified even if it's under his sister's name, so he chose to embrace his people. Instead of being the light that guided them, he walked together with them. When he first settled in Orario with his Familia, Finn approached every single Pallum and asked them to fight together with him to prove to the world that Pallums were not weak. He continuely do this every time he heard of a new Pallum settling in Orario, including to Lili's father. Not all of them accept him and some do. And he would've fared much better if it's not for Loki and Freya ousting Zeus and Hera, making him focusing fully on rooting Evilus out of the city.

Still, this makes a funny thing when you consider that if Finn didn't care enough about other Pallums, like in canon, then he would completely miss being interested in Lili's existence, just like in canon. What do you think?