Chapter 4-
Trickery is the Game
Bell Cranel sat across the table from him with a curious look on his face.
When Minato had woken up to the sound of someone opening the gate of the abandoned church, he wasn't quite sure what to expect. Finding out that the abandoned building wasn't really abandoned after all and being offered a place to stay for the night had definitely taken him by surprise. A hidden trapdoor next to the altar and a long winding staircase that led to a surprisingly well-kept living room was not exactly what he had in mind either.
"Ah… Would you like something to drink?" Bell asked, a small smile on his face, "Or maybe something to eat?"
He shook his head.
"Well, I know it's not much, but please feel free to make yourself at home." Bell said warmly, an earnest smile on his face, "I'd introduce you to my Goddess, but she isn't going to be back for a couple of days."
He let out a soft hum.
"You are an adventurer then?"
"Yeah!" Bell happily nodded, "I'm a member of the Hestia Familia. Oh, I'm just a beginner though."
"I see."
He had a feeling that Bell was an adventurer, judging from his equipment. It wasn't surprising to hear that he was still a novice either, judging from how young he looked. If he had to guess, he'd say that Bell was a good two or three years younger than he was. He wasn't sure how to feel about kids being allowed to become adventurers, but then again, Ken had done a good job in showing everyone at SEES that he could pull his own weight even as an elementary school student.
It wasn't his world anyway, so it wasn't his place to say.
"Are you an adventurer too, Arisato-san?"
He supposed that he basically could be considered to be one, given that he was a frequent explorer of Tartarus.
"You could say that."
Bell raised a curious eyebrow at that.
"I'm not registered with the Guild," He amended, seeing the boy's confusion.
"Not registered…?" Bell repeated, before his eyes lit up in realization, "Oh! Is that why you don't have a place to stay? You just arrived in Orario to register as an adventurer with the Guild, right?"
Minato only nodded in response.
He had come to learn over time that it was better to let people fill in the blanks themselves. Especially when it came to lies, as it led to far fewer questions that way. He wasn't the most talkative individual to begin with anyway, so this was usually the best option for him.
"Then I guess that makes you a rookie like me," Bell grinned, "Have you been to the Guild house yet?"
He simply nodded once again.
"I've checked it out."
"Oh, have you met Eina-san then?" Bell asked curiously.
"Eina-san?" Minato questioned in return, "I'm assuming that she is one of the receptionists?"
"Yeah! She's my Guild advisor," Bell replied with a smile, "She has brown hair and wears glasses. Oh, and she's an elf."
A brown-haired elf that wore glasses?
Why did that sound oddly familiar? Then he remembered the receptionist that had stopped him from entering the dungeon. And the lecture. The ridiculously long and stern lecture that he had been given about the dangers of trying to enter the dungeon without a Falna and without proper equipment.
"Oh..." He couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Her."
Bell raised an eyebrow.
"Do you know Eina-san?"
"You could say that we've met," He muttered.
Bell gave a hesitant smile.
"Oh... Well, I know that she can be a little strict at times, but she's really nice once you get to know her!"
He didn't doubt that.
The woman had simply been doing her job. A job that involved granting people access to a place that could potentially lead to their untimely demise. He couldn't blame her for the ridiculously long lecture, not when it involved the dangers that the dungeon held. After all, nobody wants to feel responsible for letting someone go and get themselves killed.
The conversation soon died out and an awkward silence hung in the air.
Bell began to fidget with his fingers, probably trying to think of a way to reignite the conversation. From what he had observed; personality types like Bell did not feel comfortable sitting in silence. He could see that they were different in that regard, where Bell seemed to be a rather social person and… Well, he wasn't exactly what people would call a social butterfly.
A yawn threatened to escape before he quickly stifled it with his hand.
"A-ah, well it is getting kind of late," Bell said, rubbing the back of his head. "Maybe we should go to sleep for the night?"
He simply nodded in gratitude. It had been a long day and his weariness had finally started to get to him. Not to mention the fact that he had fallen asleep earlier only to suddenly be woken up.
"The guest room's right over there," Bell pointed out, "Oh, and the bathroom is right next door."
He gave a nod in acknowledgment as he made his way towards the direction that white-haired boy was pointing at.
"Oh, and Arisato-san?"
He looked over his shoulder.
"Good night," Bell said with an earnest smile.
He simply replied with another nod of his head.
Sleep had come easily for him, and the next morning had arrived a little too soon for his liking. But then again, he never had been much of a morning person, to begin with. Bell Cranel had already been up and about, preparing his equipment for another trip into the dungeon by the time he had managed to roll out of his bed.
The boy had invited him to for breakfast at a pub that was simply known as the Hostess of Fertility. When he had mentioned that he did not have the money to pay for it, the boy simply brushed him off and told him not to worry about it. It was at this point that he had come to learn that Bell Cranel was simply a very kind-hearted individual.
Perhaps even too kind for his own good.
The Hostess of Fertility was a lively place that was packed with all kinds of different people. Apparently, the pub was one of the more well-known pubs in the city and was one of the more popular ones as well. What had stood out aside from the quality of the meal, were the employees, who all happened to be attractive females, judging from the stares they got from the male customers.
The uniform reminded him of a maid outfit, and he couldn't help but think that one of the main reasons for the popularity of the pub happened to be related to the uniforms. Evidently, the lure of maid cafes even extended to the far reaches of different worlds altogether. Junpei would've loved it here. Bell Cranel seemed to be friends with a good number of the employees here, which didn't really surprise him, given the nature of Bell's personality.
Bell Cranel was the type of person that could get along with anyone.
The breakfast at the Hostess of Fertility had been a hearty one. It had been a while since he had a meal of that quality. He would have to make sure to return the favor once he made some money; of course, as expected, the white-haired boy had simply told him not to worry about it. They parted ways not too long after, with Bell headed back towards the dungeon and he towards the direction of Twilight Manor.
While the Tower of Babel could easily be considered the largest and the most imposing building in town, Twilight Manor was not far behind in that regard. Aside from the tower itself, most of the other buildings in town paled in comparison to the massive structure that was known as the Twilight Manor. With the Loki Familia widely considered to be the most powerful Familia in Orario, it shouldn't be much of a surprise for them to own such a massive castle near the edge of the city.
As he stood in front of the manor's massive gates, he couldn't help but feel a familiar gaze on him. Craning his neck towards one of the castle's massive towers, he could see a pair of familiar golden irises staring back at him from atop of the tower's highest window. The look on her face was as expressionless as ever.
The gates soon opened and he was greeted with an armed adventurer who he assumed was acting as the guard.
"State your business."
"I am here to see your Goddess."
A brief nod and a signal to wait were all that he received before the gates slowly closed. He wasn't sure why the Loki Familia felt that it was needed to have all of this security, but he supposed that being known as the most powerful Familia in the city came with its own host of problems. Eventually, after a good five minutes, the gates soon opened once more, and this time a familiar face was there to greet him.
The small figure of Finn Deimne stood impassively in front of him.
"I wasn't expecting you to come back so soon."
Minato was surprised that the Pallum had even been expecting him to return at all.
"Is that a bad thing?"
Finn simply smiled as he shook his head.
"On the contrary, I think it's a great thing. Although…" Finn paused, brushing his thumb over his lips, "Well, it doesn't really matter. Follow me, let's talk in my office."
The Pallum motioned for him to follow before walking away. He obliged and trailed behind the shorter man as they made their way through the Loki Familia's imposing castle. There were corridors upon corridors that would later lead to an almost never-ending flight of stairs before finally stopping in front of a massive wooden door.
The inside of the office was as eye-catching as he expected it to be. Everything about the room seemed to scream out high-class quality. He hadn't seen much of the castle from his first time here, but from what he had seen, everything looked to be of the highest quality, and Finn's office appeared to be no different.
Finn sat across from him, hands clasped together over the table.
"So, I'm going to guess that you decided to take up Loki-sama on her offer?"
He simply gave a curt nod in response.
"Hmm…" Finn mumbled as he put a hand towards his chin, "Well, you're going to have to wait a bit before you can be properly instated into the Familia. Loki-sama is currently attending a banquet and won't be back until tomorrow."
He raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He could recall that Bell Cranel's goddess had also been away, perhaps most of the gods and goddesses of the city were attending the banquet? Either way, that put a bit of a damper on his plans, and he couldn't help but regret not taking up Loki on her offer sooner. Time wasted waiting could've been time spent looking for clues in the dungeon.
"You're welcome to stay here until Loki-sama returns." The Pallum offered, "We have more than enough extra space to accommodate you."
"That… Would be helpful." Minato eventually replied, "Thank you."
"I can have someone show you around the castle later today," Finn helpfully supplied, "Although for now, I have a request for you."
He simply gave a nod once more, prompting the Pallum to continue.
"As you already know, from our earlier introduction, I am the captain of the Loki Familia," Finn casually began, "It's my job to make sure I have a good feel of everyone's combat strength under my command."
He had a feeling that he knew where the Pallum was heading with this.
"Since you're going to be a part of our Familia soon," Finn continued, "I'd like to have the chance to get a good read on your strength."
"… And how would you do that?"
The Pallum simply smiled.
"I would suggest a spar."
"I assume that this isn't something that you regularly do," Minato dryly remarked.
"You're right about that," Finn nodded in agreement, "But I also don't regularly get people that can survive a battle against the Cadmus without a Falna."
Minato couldn't help but concede to the fact that the shorter man had a point there.
"That, and the adventurer spirit in me is curious as well," Finn continued with a light-hearted smirk on his face, "Come on, humor me why don't you?"
He let out a sigh in response.
"Let me guess, you want to have this spar right now."
Finn only chuckled.
"Are you a mind-reader as well Arisato-san?"
They stood face to face against one another in the middle of a courtyard within the Loki Familia grounds. As one would have expected from such an impressive castle, the courtyard wasn't much different. Smooth verdant lawns covered over most of the area with an uneven flagstone path cutting through the middle. A few tall oak trees stood overhead, each casting their own looming shadows into the grass.
A small crowd had started to form, other members from the Loki Familia that had come down to check out the commotion most likely. He recognized a couple of faces in the crowd from his brief stay with the Loki Familia. Although a certain blonde-haired stalker was the only one that he could really pick out specifically.
"Hey, hey! He's going to fight the captain!"
"No way, who's that guy?"
"Haven't we seen him around before?"
"Hah, who does he think he is? Challenging the Braver to a match."
The crowd had begun to grow and along with them, all the extra chatter and noise. Minato never liked crowds to begin with, so being in the center of attention of one was not something that he particularly enjoyed. Finn on the other hand didn't even seem to notice the gathering crowd, and instead simply gave him a bemused smile before tossing a sword his way.
He caught the weapon by its hilt, deftly twirling it around until the edge faced the Pallum.
"You prefer to use swords right?" Finn asked, twirling around his own spear, "How's the feel on that one? I tried to pick one out that was similar in size to the one you were using before."
While the sword in his hand was definitely of high quality, it wasn't Aroundight; that was for sure. But then again, Aroundight had been a reward from Elizabeth for completing one of her requests, so it probably wasn't fair to compare it to a normal sword. It was a pity that Aroundight had been broken in the battle against the dragon in the dungeon.
Elizabeth would've probably been sad to hear about that.
"I'll make do with it."
"If you say so." Finn replied with a shrug, "So, as for the rules of the spar. It's until first blood or someone yields, agreed?"
He simply nodded in response.
"Oh, and feel free to use magic if you want, although do keep in mind that we have a bit of an audience now." Finn said as he brought his spear up into a combat stance, "You can come at me whenever you wish."
Minato didn't move from his spot; and instead, watched Finn curiously. At first glance, the Pallum's stance was quite relaxed for a combat stance, but upon further inspection, he could tell that Finn did not leave any openings for him to exploit. Since Finn was the captain of the Loki Familia, it wouldn't be too far off to expect that the pint-sized individual was a lot stronger than his diminutive size would've suggested.
It didn't come as too much of a surprise to him that Finn had opted to use a spear. With how small the Pallum was, he would need a weapon that could extend his range in combat. A spear was the perfect weapon for that. While spears were good at keeping enemies at bay, their weaknesses showed quite clearly when one managed to get into the teeth of a spear wielder. He was quite familiar with fighting against spear users, having helped with training Ken in the past.
And then, without a word, Minato lunged forward.
As he had expected, Finn responded with a thrust of his spear as soon as he had stepped into the Pallum's range. Sidestepping out of the way, he planted one foot down deep into the grass and pushed off. As he was about to thrust his sword forward, he felt a sudden chill run up his spine before he ducked just in time as the back-end shaft of Finn's spear flew overhead. He rolled forward into the ground before jumping away from the Pallum, creating some distance.
"Oh? You've got some good instincts there Arisato-san."
Another attack from behind, right as he dodged the first one? He probably should've expected someone of Finn's stature to display a good amount of nimbleness. That was usually how battles went after all, the smaller the opponent, the quicker they were. A miscalculation on his part for not accounting for the Pallum's nimble nature.
He wouldn't have the time to plan out his next moves as Finn rushed forward with a variety of thrusts from his spear. Counterattacking was out of the question, as Finn never allowed him to step within range again with a constant barrage of thrusts. Although even if the Pallum had messed up and allowed him to close the gap, it took everything out of him to simply evade the ferocity of Finn's attacks.
"You're not going to use your magic?"
The fact that Finn felt comfortable enough to speak while in the middle of heated combat spoke volumes about the difference in skill that he was now growing all the more aware of. It was becoming quite clear to him now that in a one-on-one duel, Finn outclassed him quite easily. Minato wasn't the type to give up though, that simply wasn't in his nature.
Dodging another thrust that almost clipped him in the cheek, he jumped backward in order to create some more space. Naturally, Finn moved forward in retaliation to press the assault. At the rate the battle was going, he was never going to be able to get within range for a counterattack unless Finn allowed him to.
And sooner or later, Finn's spear was going to hit its mark.
He could only think of one way to get through Finn's guard and get into range for a counterattack. He jumped backward once again, and as expected, Finn followed suit by moving forward as well. As Finn began to move back into range for another spear thrust, he threw his sword at the Pallum. As stupid as the idea was, it did its job in catching the Pallum off guard and forced him to stop his attack in order to knock the sword out of the way.
In that small window of time, he charged into the Pallum and grabbed at the shorter man's spear. Gripping onto the spear as tightly as possible, he tried to push Finn back. Gritting his teeth, he pushed as hard as he could in an effort to force the Pallum flat onto his back. While Finn might've had the advantage in speed, now that he had the Pallum in a position where speed wasn't a factor, he—
Thud.
… What?
Within a blink of the eye, he very suddenly found himself staring up into the sky where a good number of clouds and an almost too bright sun stared back. When the prickly sensation of grass could be felt along his ears and the backside of his head, he realized that he was the one lying flat on the ground as Finn held the pointed tip of the spear against his neck.
It seemed that he had lost.
"… I yield."
"That was a good idea Arisato-san." The Pallum earnestly said, before lifting the spear away from his neck, "You're good at thinking on your feet and that'll serve you well in the dungeon, but you didn't account for the possibility that I was physically stronger than you."
He blinked as Finn held a hand out towards him.
He blinked once again before he narrowed his eyes and grabbed Finn's hand. The Pallum pulled him to his feet as easily as he had dropped him to the ground a moment ago. How was it possible that someone with such a small frame had that much power? Speed he could understand, given how little Finn probably weighed, but strength?
He supposed that was the power of a Falna.
"You did really well though," Finn complimented, before pulling him close enough for a whisper, "It's hard to believe that you don't even have a Falna."
"Is your adventurer's spirit satisfied now?" He dryly asked.
Finn gave an amused smirk.
"On the contrary, it's even more curious than before. I'll leave you alone for now though. Come on, let's head back to my office, we'll talk more there, away from the crowd."
He was thankful to the Pallum for that, not wanting to be standing in the middle of the crowd for any longer. As he trailed after the Familia captain, he could see the various facial expressions coming from the crowd of people. Some were surprised, others impressed, and a tanned skin woman that was not shy about wearing an outfit that exposed certain assets leveled a glare at him with enough ferocity that he couldn't help but wonder what he did to warrant such a look.
It was a good thing that he wasn't staying around to find out.
Compared to before, he could feel a good deal of extra eyes on him now as he followed behind the Familia captain, no doubt curious people from the crowd that had gathered around earlier to watch the match. Finn seemed to pay no mind to the stares, it seemed as the Pallum was used to the attention. That probably shouldn't have surprised him, given that Finn was the captain of one of the most powerful Familias in the city.
The attention that they were receiving now was probably nothing compared to what Finn was used to on a daily basis.
When they had made it back to Finn's office, Minato was surprised to see another familiar face. There, sitting perched neatly on top of Finn's desk was the Goddess Loki herself. The Goddess wore an all too friendly smirk on her face as she put down the scroll that was in her hands and gingerly hopped off the table.
"You're back already Loki-sama?" Finn asked, a curious expression on his face, "I thought that the banquet doesn't end until tomorrow."
"It doesn't, but I got bored." Loki casually replied, "Ganesha's antics are funny at first, but they get repetitive after a while."
Loki twirled her hands behind her back as she grinned.
"You know, I had a feeling that I should've come back early." Loki mused, before clearing her throat – her grin widening. "Well, Arisato-kun. Any particular reason for your visit?"
He was pretty sure that the Goddess knew exactly why he was here, but he'd humor her little charade.
"I would like to join the Loki Familia."
The smug grin on her face almost made him wish that he hadn't.
If he were to be honest, Minato had expected an act like receiving the blessing of a goddess to require some kind of religious ritual of some sort. Probably in a room of some sacred area like a temple or a church along with a lot of prayers. Instead, he was simply lying shirtless on his stomach in Loki's room on top of her bed.
It was rather anti-climactic, to say the least.
"You ready, Arisato-kun?" Loki casually asked as she twirled a knife around her hand.
"Yes."
The goddess simply gave a brief nod before she walked over towards the bed. The creaking of the bed-frame signaled that Loki had begun, and just like before, he could feel the familiar wet sensation of blood being traced across his back. It wasn't as unnerving as the first time, but he could still feel that cold tingle zip across his spine like an electric current.
It took a conscious effort to stop his muscles from going rigid in response.
As the minutes continued to pass by, he began to wonder just exactly how long this process was going to take.
"Well. This is awkward." Loki impassively stated, "Can't say I've had this happen to me before, but then again… You are a bit of a strange case."
He blinked at that, before slowly getting up.
"What do you mean?"
"Your body rejected my blessing," Loki replied with a shrug, "Can't say I know why, but I probably shouldn't be surprised about it, considering that you're from another world and all."
He blinked again before his eyes widened in realization.
"… How did you know?"
Loki smirked.
"You can't lie to a God Arisato-kun, or in your case, hide the truth," She grinned, amusement evident in her eyes, "That part wasn't too hard to figure out anyway, once I put together some of the missing pieces of the puzzle."
"Are people like me…" He paused, as he thought about how to phrase the question, "… From other worlds… Has something like this happened before?"
"I can't say that it has, at least not to my knowledge." The goddess replied, brushing a couple of fingers over her chin thoughtfully, "I can say that it's definitely possible though, with a powerful enough god's Arcanum."
He furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar term.
"Arcanum?"
"Ah, it's the term we use to refer to our powers as. We aren't allowed to use our powers in the lower world, unless you wanted a one-way trip back to heaven that is." Loki nonchalantly explained, as if discussing the weather, "Don't bother asking me if I know who dragged you here though. I already asked around at the banquet if any gods had been sent back recently, and there haven't been any."
He frowned as his mind tried to digest all of the new information.
He had always thought that the reasoning as to why he had been sent here had rested on his side of the world. It had never really occurred to him that someone on this side could've been the one responsible for his new world-hopping adventure. The only question he had now was, why?
He glanced over at Loki, who was staring at him with a bemused expression on her face.
"Is it possible for a god to send me back then?" He eventually asked.
Loki snorted.
"Yeah, but good luck with trying to find someone that would willingly sign themselves a one-way trip back to heaven just to help a stranger out."
She was right about that.
"… What would it take for a god to agree to that then?"
Loki regarded him with an unreadable expression on her face.
"Who knows? Everyone's different." She eventually replied, "But, I'll tell you what. I'll make you a deal Arisato-kun." Loki grinned, flashing her teeth, "Clear the dungeon under my banner and I'll send you back myself."
Clear… The dungeon?
Clearing the dungeon was all that it took to return home?
That… He couldn't help but feel a bit happy about that. He had begun to lose hope in finding any way back home. He knew that clearing the dungeon wasn't an easy task by any means, but it gave him an answer to the question that had been hounding him for the last couple of days. And while it might not have been an easy task, it was a possible one.
That was all he needed to reignite the hope within him.
A possibility.
But… There was still one problem.
"How would I clear the dungeon if I'm not allowed entry without a Falna?"
Loki's grin grew wider.
"Well, that's easy Arisato-kun. I'll just give you one."
He frowned.
"I thought you couldn't."
"Yeah, I can't. Not a real one anyway." She amended, the amusement still evident in her eyes, "But it's not like you actually need a Falna. If you could hold your own against Finn-kun, then you can hold your own against just about everybody."
He wouldn't say that, for it was quite apparent to him that Finn hadn't been taking him seriously. The Pallum had him beat quite soundly, at least when it came to a one-on-one duel without his Personas. The outcome of the match would've probably been a different story had he chosen to rely on them though.
Probably.
"I'll take care of the details and get you properly instated into my Familia with the Guild," Loki said as she held out her hand, "So, have we got ourselves a deal, Arisato-kun?"
He stared at the outstretched hand of the goddess in front of him.
Most people would've probably called him a fool were he to make a deal with a God that had the reputation of Loki's. But this wasn't his world, and this Loki wasn't the same Loki in the myths from his world. She might've been out for her own gain, but wasn't he the same way? He wanted a way back home and she wanted to strengthen her Familia.
"Well?" Loki asked, her hand still waiting, "What's the matter?"
It's just…" He paused to consider his words. "You're being awfully reasonable about this whole other world business."
"Of course, I'm a Goddess Arisato-kun." She deadpanned, "You don't think I've seen stranger things before?"
He supposed that she had a point about that.
"... It's a deal then."
He clasped the hand in front of him in a firm grip.
Loki only smirked in response.
Finn Deimne took a sip from his drink.
The last two days had passed by in a bit of a blur, mostly due to the massive amount of paperwork that he had been slumped with recently. All of the commotion from the news that the Loki Familia had recently added a new level-five adventurer into their ranks left him with little time to do much else. Taking care of guild documents, letters from other Familias, and a whole bunch of other nonsense that fell under his responsibility as the Familia captain proved to be a more difficult task to overcome than a floor boss did.
Finn took a glance over towards his right to see that his goddess seemed to be faring no better.
"Ugh… Can we take a break Finn-kun?" Loki groaned, throwing her face into the desk, "I'm totally bored out of mind."
"The paperwork would only pile up then," Finn reprimanded while signing another document, "We need to get everything finished before the monster carnival."
"Can't you get Riveria to help you instead?"
"She already helped out yesterday," He calmly replied as he dipped his quill into his ink-pot, "And she's training with Lefiya right now anyway."
Loki flinched backward.
"W-what about Gareth then?"
"He's busy taking care of our weapon logistics with the blacksmiths," He answered while stamping a letter, "You know that paperwork isn't Gareth's forte anyway."
"B-but, but…" Loki whimpered, "NOOO! I don't wanna do any more paperwork!" She cried as she started flailing, kicking out her legs from underneath the desk all the while.
Finn sighed.
"You knew it was coming when you registered him as a level five with the Guild."
"Yeah, but I didn't think it would be this bad." Loki grumbled, "I thought that you would be able to take care of it."
"I would've handled it myself, but we're in a bit of time crunch with the monster carnival coming up," He gave her an apologetic smile, "It probably wasn't the best time to spring something like this on the Guild."
Loki simply sighed as well, before returning to her own pile of paperwork.
Finn had expected the paperwork to be bad when Loki had made her move with the Guild. First-class adventurers weren't exactly common, so when one suddenly popped up out of the blue, within the Loki Familia no less, there was going to be pandemonium. Finn knew that Minato Arisato was not able to receive Loki's blessing for one unexplainable reason or another. But, the boy was strong enough in his own right, that he wouldn't even need a Falna to survive in the dungeon.
When Loki had asked him what level would he have gauged Minato Arisato's strength to be at, he wasn't sure what her intent was. When she had shown him the paperwork along with the cover story that she had fabricated, he understood. Loki wanted everyone to believe that Minato Arisato was simply another adventurer. One who's old God had simply agreed to a conversion into the Loki Familia.
An eccentric old God that kept to himself in the mountains to the great north.
"I'm curious Loki-sama." Finn began, putting down his quill, "How did you get Janus-sama to agree to play along with your ploy?"
"That old coot owes me from a bet a while back." Loki casually explained as she toyed with her chair, "I figured that it was a good a time as any to cash out on that bet."
Finn simply nodded.
"I've heard that Janus-sama can be a bit…"
"Crazy?" She interrupted, "Yeah, the old coots short a few marbles. He's damn good at poker though. If Ouranos actually does bother to send somebody way out there to check, Janus will match the alibi I gave him." Loki smirked, "Nobody will suspect a thing~"
Finn only hummed as he went through another Guild document.
"So, how did you decide on the numbers on his Status Loki-sama?"
"Eh, I threw some dice against the wall and picked out some random number combinations."
Finn nearly choked on his own spit.
"What?" Loki asked with a shrug, "It's not like it matters Finn-kun. It's not as if anyone's going to see his non-existent Falna."
"Still though… Dice?"
She simply shrugged once more.
"Eh, it doesn't really matter. You're the one that said he's probably around a level five in terms of combat power anyway, so as long as he's seen as a level five by the Guild, the actual numbers won't really matter."
"I suppose that you're right about that…" Finn forced a smile, "It won't really hold up against any scrutiny though."
"It won't." Loki agreed, "But if anyone wants to test me," She flashed a dangerous grin, "Then they're welcome to come and try."
Finn only nodded in response as he returned to his paperwork.
There wasn't much of a point in speaking on the matter any further. When Loki had made up her mind, nobody was going to change her decision. That was how she had always led, and to her credit, it produced results. The Loki Familia was one of the strongest Familias in Orario for good reason.
"Hey Finn-kun, so how do you feel about our newest member so far?"
Finn stopped writing as he thought about the question.
"He reminds me of Ais," He eventually settled on, "Of when Ais first started as an adventurer."
Loki let out a low hum.
"Yeah, I can see that." She agreed with a nod, "As soon as I got him registered, he took off straight into the dungeon. Geez, now that I think about it, he hasn't done anything else at all other than eat, sleep, and running back into the dungeon." Loki scratched the back of her head, "He's just as obsessed about the dungeon as Ais."
Finn only gave a small smile.
"Yes, but he has his reasons though, Loki-sama."
"Still, it's not healthy…" Loki trailed off, a thoughtful look in her eyes. "You know what, I'm going to make him go to the monster carnival with me. I'll take Ais with me too, before she dives back into the dungeon headfirst again."
"Yes well… We still have to finish up the paperwork first."
Loki's face fell.
"Ugh…"
Author's Notes- It's good to see some familiar names stop by to drop a review. I'm glad to see that some old readers are still here, as well as some new ones. There might be some mistakes here, but I wanted to get this chapter out before midnight, since I have work tomorrow. Just let me know if there are any errors I need to correct and I'll get to it when I have some time on the weekend. Enjoy.