Chapter 5-

Pierrot and the Fool

Traversing through the dungeon was a lot different compared to Tartarus.

In Tartarus, time did not pass like normal. During the Dark Hour, that single hour could feel like an eternity. Within Tartarus, the 25th hour and it's the clocks would always stay firmly locked into place, at least until they left the confines of the tower. Hunger and thirst were not an issue during the Dark Hour; the only thing that stopped someone from continuing their climb to the top of the tower was simply their mental fortitude.

It was only a question of how long somebody could last, before the mental strain broke them.

In the dungeon, time passed as it normally would. An hour spent inside the dungeon meant an hour of time had passed in the outside world. A few more hours and the thirst would begin to set in, and then came the hunger pangs. And as more time passed, the physical fatigue would begin to eat away at one's energy and the weariness would start to slowly creep in. All of these human limitations made traversing through the dungeon's floors take a good deal longer than it would've take in Tartarus.

Eighteen floors, towards the safe zone that housed the adventurer town of Rivira.

That was the most Minato had managed to accomplish thus far, within one lion-drive without stopping for rest. The floors in the dungeon were without a doubt, much larger than the floors on Tartarus. Even clearing through one single floor in the dungeon, due to its sheer size and never ending waves of monsters, took a good deal longer than it did when compared to its Dark Hour counterpart.

Then there was also the fact that time needed to be taken to harvest the monster crystals from the corpses.

The monsters in the early floors of the dungeon were weak enough where he could cut through most of them without having to rely on his spells or Personas. The ones that proved tenacious enough to not fall to his blade were then given a swift death from his magic. The cheap short-sword that he had purchased from Goibniu's store served him well enough in that regard. In spite of all of the monsters that had been slain with it, and all of the dried blood that was now stuck to its edge, the sword was still serviceable; definitely a weapon that was worth the money.

As he finally made his way towards the end of the 18th floor, the adventurer town of Rivira was finally within in sight. After the long walk, he couldn't help but wish for there to be an easier way to move around the dungeon. Tartarus at the very least had teleporters that allowed for easier access to the later floors, once someone had gone through the trouble of activating them anyway.

He supposed that at the very least, all of the cardiovascular activity helped improve his stamina if anything.

As he made his way into the town, a couple of curious eyes looked towards his direction for a brief moment before returning to their activities. Minato had never been to the town before, but it was common knowledge for adventurers that the 18th floor was a safe zone that was home to the adventurer town of Rivira. During the first few days, he had mainly stuck to the entry-level floors of the dungeon, spending his time getting familiar with the monsters and the layout of the area.

It was not until today that he had decided to set forth deeper into the dungeon.

While the sword at his hip was still serviceable in spite of the beating it had been given, at the pace he was going, it was not going to last for much longer. He would need a weapon of much higher quality in the near future, and he had seen the prices of higher-class weapons in the stores throughout the city. They could cost over millions quite easily, so money definitely seemed like it would be a continuous problem.

Money was just as much of a necessity in this world as it was in his own.

When he stepped down the stairs into the only bar in Rivira, he saw a good number of eyes briefly dart towards his direction before returning back to whatever they had been doing, evidently having decided that he wasn't a threat. The 'Golden Cellar Bar' wasn't much to look at, but then again, most of the town had been in shambles to begin with, so he shouldn't have been too surprised.

Minato found himself a cozy seat in the corner of the room and ordered a simple bowl of soup. He wasn't expecting much in terms of taste, but at this point, he simply needed something to quell the growling in his stomach. When his soup had finally arrived, it came in a modest bowl that had definitely seen better days. At the very least, the meal was warm, even if it didn't look the most appetizing thing in the world.

"Eh? Arisato-kun?"

He glanced up from his soup towards the source of an overly familiar voice and was greeted with the sight of a dark-haired, tanned skin girl giving him a wave as she walked over towards his table. A happy-go-lucky smile was on her face as a large broadsword hung behind her back, bouncing all the way as she slowly skipped to a halt.

"Hey, it is you! You remember me, right?"

He quickly racked through his brain as he tried to match a name with the familiar face in front of him.

"… Tiona Hiryute?"

"Yep!" The girl happily nodded, "You remembered!"

Minato had been introduced to most of the Loki Familia earlier in the week, though he hadn't spoken to many of them, since he had spent most of his time exploring the dungeon. He believed that Tiona Hiryute and her sister had been a part of the group that had found him on the 51st floor, if what Finn had told him was true. And judging from her rather loud greeting, she was the more enthusiastic one out of the two amazon sisters.

"So, you've been heading into the dungeon all this time?" Tiona curiously asked, as she took a seat at his table, "I've been wondering where you've been, I don't think I've seen you around at all."

He simply shrugged before he went back to drinking his soup.

"Hey, so what do you think of the dungeon so far?" The girl asked as she put her elbows on the table. "It's not the same as fighting on the surface, is it?"

He finished what remained of his soup before putting the spoon down.

Other than Loki, and whoever had been in the room at the time when he had explained his rather unique circumstances, nobody else knew about his actual background. Everyone else in the Familia had been given the same spiel that Loki had given the guild; the fake backstory that she had created for him was a clever ploy to maintain a low-profile. Well, aside from the fact that the goddess had decided to register him as a level five, of all things. But, he supposed that it was a necessary evil, since it wouldn't exactly be normal for a low level 'adventurer' to be delving into the depths of the dungeon as he had been lately.

"You're right," He eventually dryly replied, "The air is a lot staler than what I am used to."

Tiona Hiryute let out a small chuckle.

"We are deep underground Arisato-kun."

He supposed that she made a fair point.

"So, how deep have you've gotten so far?" Tiona questioned as she drummed her fingers along the wooden table in a catchy rhythm.

"… You ask a lot of questions."

She pouted in response.

"Hey! I wouldn't be if you were actually around to begin with. You're the newest member of our Familia and nobody even knows a single thing about you!" Tiona crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "Now that I think about it, I don't think I've seen you hold a single conversation with anyone other than Loki-sama yet!"

He couldn't deny that, so he didn't.

Minato had spent most of his time venturing into the dungeon after all. He simply didn't have the time or the energy to bother with socializing with the other members of his Familia. He had a clear goal in mind, and would not stop working towards that goal until he reached it, or died trying. In a way, the Loki Familia were simply coworkers of his, he would respect them and do his part, but there wasn't much of a point in getting overly familiar with them.

Not when he was going to leave in the end anyway.

"This is the deepest that I've gone." He eventually replied, when it became apparent that the girl wasn't going to leave him alone. "I've been spending my time getting familiar with the early floors."

"Hmm…" The girl mused, "Say, are you planning to go any deeper today then?"

He slowly gave a nod in response, unsure of what the girl was planning.

"Great! I need to head down to the 20th floor as well, so let's make a party together!" She grinned, "I want to see what our newest member can do anyway."

He raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you need to go to the 20th floor?"

"I need to finish a quest so I can get my Urga fixed." She casually explained, pulling out a crumpled piece of paper from her pocket. "See, the only thing left that I need is a rare monster drop on the 20th floor." She pointed at a name on the list.

"Your… Urga?"

"Yep!" She happily nodded, before her eyes lit up in realization. "Oh, wait. You haven't seen my Urga yet, huh?

He slowly shook his head at that.

"Right… It did kinda get destroyed back when we found you on the 51st floor." She said, before pulling out her broadsword from behind her back, easily holding it up with one hand. "This kind of looks like Urga, but not really…? She trailed off, before grinning once again, "Oh, I know! I'll show you Urga once I get her all fixed up at Goibniu's shop!"

"Alright then…?" He hesitantly replied, "So, I'm going to assume that Urga is a sword…?"

"You'll find out once she's all fixed up." Tiona winked. "Alright, that's enough resting for now." She said as she jumped to her feet, "Let's get going already!"

If he remembered correctly, he had never said that he agreed to form a party with her. Although, with the way that the shorter girl had all but grabbed him along by the collar of his shirt, it seemed that he didn't have much of a choice in the matter…

He never was good when it came to dealing with her type…

As Tiona Hiryute seemingly all but skipped ahead of him, the large broadsword tied to her back bouncing up and down all the while, he couldn't help but think that she did not match the image that most people would have expected when it came to first-class adventurers. Of course, that quickly changed when she waved her broadsword around about as easily as one would've waved a twig in the air. Tiona Hiryute might've just appeared to look like a harmless little girl, but when she kicked a Minotaur three times her size into a nearby wall, that illusion quickly shattered.

For such a small person to possess such monstrous strength, it was almost cartoonish.

It was becoming quite obvious to him that the monsters that resided in these floors were little more than cannon-fodder for her and the destruction that she left behind in her wake. She bulldozed through everything in her path with a happy-go-lucky smile on her face, as if she were playing a game rather than fighting against monsters that had no other desire other than to end her life. Eventually, even the monsters themselves began realize that their efforts were futile. A good deal of them wisely chose to run away rather than continue trying to attack the apex predator that was in the form of a little girl rampaging through their home.

Even so, those that did choose to run away did not manage to make it very far before they were struck in the back with streaking bolts of electricity.

"That's the first time I've seen no chant magic up close," Tiona whistled as she hefted her broadsword over her shoulder, "I bet Lefiya-chan would be impressed."

He simply let out a hum in response at the familiar name.

If he recalled correctly, Lefiya was the elf that always seemed to follow Riveria around. According to Finn, she had also been the one to heal his injuries when they had found him. As he kneeled down next to the mangled corpse of a Bugbear, he made a mental note that he still needed to thank her for that.

Pulling out a small dagger by his side, he cut into the body and began to dig around for the monster crystal inside.

It took him a while to get used to the feeling of digging through corpses for monster crystals. Shadows didn't leave behind bodies so, the act of harvesting crystals in itself was something new for him. In the beginning, he was quite slow at it, but over time and with some more practice, the task itself became little more than second-nature for him.

Tiona didn't even bother with harvesting the monster crystals, simply stating that the drops on these floors weren't worth the effort spent in digging them out without the help of a supporter. He was fine with that; it simply meant that there would be more crystals for him, and in turn, more Valis. It didn't take him too long to gather up most of the monster crystals anyway, and soon enough, he found himself with a pouch almost half-full with the valuable trading commodity.

Getting from the 18th floor to the 20th floor was pretty simple in itself, although most of that could be attributed to the one-man wrecking crew that happily skipped by his side. The layout of the floors themselves had long since switched from being dry underground caverns to a fully-fledged forest biome. If it were not for the enclosed ceiling above him, Minato would've thought he was in some random jungle on the surface rather than deep underground in the dungeon.

A loud buzzing soon caught his attention and a swarm of hornets flew his way. Judging from their large size and coloring, he believed that they were known as Deadly Hornets. Tiona dashed forward with her broadsword and batted them out of the air, as if she were simply using a fly swatter against a couple of fruit flies rather than fighting a swarm of killer hornets. The ones that were quick enough to dodge out of the way soon reformed their formation and began to dive straight at her with their stingers poised to strike.

Maragi.

A pillar of flame erupted from the ground and engulfed the remaining hornets before they had a chance to attack. Their wings were the first to catch fire, burning away until nothing but ash and dust were left in its place. The rest of their bodies soon fell to the ground in a flaming heap as the fire continued to eat away at them, leaving behind only burned husks in its wake.

Although when the smell of sulfur and death reached his nostrils, he instantly regretted choosing to use a fire spell.

"Ah, lucky~" Tiona happily hummed as she casually dug through a monster's corpse, "I found the drop I was looking for. Quest complete!"

Judging from how the lithe amazon seemed to be so unaffected from digging through burnt corpses, the smell probably wasn't much of an issue for her. Either that, or she had simply gotten used to it, and he wasn't quite sure what to feel about that if that were the case. He simply left the charred ones to the amazon as he went to work harvesting the monsters crystals from the hornets that Tiona had brought down.

"You know, I was expecting this take a lot longer." The amazon mused as she twirled her sword in one hand. "Maybe we should do more quests together if you're this lucky when it comes to rare drops!" She grinned.

He simply shrugged.

"I don't mind."

And he really didn't, since exploring the dungeon with someone as strong as Tiona Hiryute saved a lot of time when it came to clearing through multiple floors at once. Having someone else help with the never ending swarm of monsters allowed him to save a good deal of extra energy as well. It was also nice to have someone watch his back, even if it did feel a bit strange.

After all, he had grown used to having Aigis fill that role.

"Hey, so are you going to keep exploring?" Tiona asked, as she stretched her arms over her head. "I'm going to head back to the surface and turn in this quest, if you want to come with."

Minato reached into his pocket and pulled out a simple pocket watch that he had recently purchased. It was getting quite late, and he hadn't brought the right supplies with him to stay the night inside of the dungeon. He supposed that there wasn't much of a point anyway, since his pouch was already brimming with monster crystals.

"I'll go back with you, Hiryute-san."

The amazon made a face.

"Eck… 'Hiryute-san' sounds so stiff. Just call me Tiona, alright?" She smiled. "And I'll call you… Blue-kun!"

"A nickname?" He dryly asked.

"Yep! In honor of our new budding friendship!" The girl cheered, baring her hands in the air. "Hooray!"

Minato wasn't quite sure exactly how to respond to that show of exuberance, so he didn't even try. Instead, he simply stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked ahead.

Perhaps her monstrous strength was relative to the levels of optimism she exuded.

That would explain a lot of things.

"Ah! Hey, wait for me Blue-kun!" Tiona called out as she ran up to him with a small pout on her face. "Trying to act all cold and mysterious doesn't make you look cool you know."

Minato simply let out a sigh.

When he finally made it back to the Twilight Manor, his pouch jingled by his side the entire way. The monster crystals that he had farmed up earlier were all but gone, having been replaced with a nice sack of Valis, courtesy of the Guild exchange. Tiona had decided to stop by the Hostess of Fertility before returning home, so they soon went their separate ways, much to the displeasure of the amazon. She had tried to talk him into going with her, but he had adamantly refused.

It wasn't as if he disliked the girl, her seemingly boundless amount of energy simply wore him out.

Minato enjoyed having friends and being in SEES, but he was still an introvert by nature. There were times where he simply preferred to be alone rather than have company, even if that company was in good conscious. Companionship was good, but just like being alone, too much of one or the other was distinctly not good.

Having a good balance was best after all.

As he walked up one of the Twilight Manor's many cascades of stairs, he returned the greetings from his fellow Familia members with a simple nod of his head. When he finally made it to his room, he pulled open the door and soon found himself staring at a certain red-haired goddess sitting on top of his desk.

"Yo~" Loki saluted while smirking, "Took ya long enough Minato-kun."

Minato then did what any other sensible person would've done in his situation. He slammed the door shut, promptly spun around in a one-eighty, and walked away. He had come to learn during their short time together that whenever Loki made that face, it would only lead to a troublesome situation, in one way or another.

It was something that he had no interest in taking part of.

"Minato-kuuuunnn!" Loki cried out as she barged out of the room, crocodile tears and all. "How could you just close the door on me like that?!"

He had to stop himself from nearly falling down the stairs when Loki had all but tackled him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Waaaaaaa, you're so mean Minato-kun!"

He could already feel a headache beginning to come on.

"You don't even want to hear out your poor little Goddess!"

The yelling only made it worse.

With a sigh, he pulled Loki's arms off his waist and turned around to face the would-be Goddess. The last thing that he wanted to do was to cause a scene, and with Loki's yelling, people were bound to come sooner or later. He'd been doing his best as of late to maintain a low-profile, keeping his interactions with the others at a bare minimum, and that was a status quo that he wanted to keep.

He'd rather just bite the bullet than have to deal with that crowd again.

"… What do you want?"

Loki simply grinned.

"I want you to come to the monster carnival with me."

He blinked.

"Why…?"

"Because it'll be fun!"

Minato narrowed his eyes.

"What?" Loki smirked, "I'm being serious here Minato-kun. Come on and take a day off from the dungeon with me~"

He wanted to refuse, but he knew that if he did, Loki would just keep pestering him until he finally cracked. Loki was as tenacious as they came, and when she wanted something, she wouldn't let up until she got what she wanted. Although if she really did need him to do something, it wasn't as if she didn't have the leverage to get him to comply; so he could at least appreciate the fact that she had given him a choice in the matter.

A semblance of a choice anyway.

"… Fine." He eventually relented.

"Yay!" Loki cheered, before she leaped towards him once again.

Only this time, he stepped out of the way and simply watched with mild curiosity as Loki flew past him, before tumbling down the stairs in a heap. She ended up screaming the entire time as she rolled down the stairwell and crashed into a nearby wall with a loud groan. At times like these, Minato wasn't sure if Loki played up the comedy routine just to catch people off guard, or if she simply enjoyed playing the part of the jester.

"Ugh…" Loki groaned from the bottom of the stairwell, "You're so mean Minato-kun…"

Either way, he couldn't help but roll his eyes at her antics.

Were all the gods like this?

Goibniu brought his hammer down onto his anvil in a practiced motion.

It was a simple movement that he had been doing for centuries on end. All of his life, he had brought his hammer down onto the anvil. And he would continue to do so, for all the rest of his immortal life. While all the other Gods played their little war games with their Familias, he spent his time in the forge.

He forged weapons. He forged armors. He didn't care about the dungeon or about expanding his Familia. The few members that were in his Familia all shared a similar mindset. They were smiths and their lives were dedicated to the forge.

Goibniu was a god, he was an immortal, but before any of that, Goibniu was a blacksmith.

As he raised his hammer in the air once more, the ringing bell at his door gave him pause. He had not been expecting customers today. The monster carnival was today and most of the people living in the city attended the event. Most of the stores in the city were closed for the carnival, even that Hephaestus and her legion of workshops.

Goibniu put down his hammer and craned his neck in order to see who would come visit his store during the monster carnival. It was a familiar face, a blue-haired lad that had first stopped by his store a good week ago. He could still remember the event quite vividly, when the lad had approached one of his blacksmiths.

"What is the cheapest sword that you have?"

He was fresh blood.

A new adventurer in an occupation that did not treat rookies kindly. Goibniu wasn't expecting to see the lad again, much less so soon. He had assumed that the lad would've quit or died by now, like all of the other overconfident rookies that did not prepare for the dungeon properly. A fresh adventurer with no armor and nothing but a cheap short-sword did not usually stay in the adventuring business for long.

Goibniu couldn't help but be surprised when the lad walked towards the back of the room, where his personal forge was, and tossed a large pouch his way.

He caught it with ease and could feel the familiar weight of coin inside. How the lad had managed to go from being flat out broke to having a pouch that held a good ten million coin or more, in less than a week was beyond him. Most would've had questions, but that wasn't any of his business, he was a smith and if the lad had the coin, he would forge.

"What do you need made, lad?"

"A short-sword. One that won't easily break."

Goibniu gave a gruff nod.

The god was no stranger to swords. He had crafted thousands of swords, swords designed for the masses as well as swords specifically made to suit it's wielder. Goibniu took a good look at the lad's stature before deciding on what materials to use. He stood up and walked over towards his desk, where an old scraggly notebook laid.

"Tell me how you want this sword to be made," Goibniu grunted out, as he flipped open his notebook, "The more details you can give me, the more I can tailor the blade to suit your needs."

The lad seemed to give the idea some thought.

"I need a sword that won't melt when dipped in corrosive liquid," The lad simply replied, "The design doesn't matter; just make sure it's durable and light."

Goibniu simply jotted it down into his notebook. It wasn't his place to question why the lad needed a weapon that wouldn't melt. Or why the Sword Princess had stopped by earlier with the same concerns. That Hephaestus might've questioned her customer's motives before agreeing to forge such a weapon, but he didn't care about any of that.

Goibniu was simply a blacksmith, and he would do what he had always done.

Goibniu would bring his hammer down onto his anvil.

Minato walked down the streets of Orario with a noticeably lighter leather pouch at his side. All of the money that he had been saving had been spent at Goibniu's store, but a week's worth of time was a small price to pay for a reliable weapon. He no longer had Aroundight after all, and relying on cheap swords would probably just get him killed sooner or later.

A good set of armor would come next, since his school uniform wasn't exactly usable anymore. In spite of the Kevlar that had been woven into it, courtesy of the Kirijo Corporation, the outfit was in little more than tatters now. The dragon and the caterpillars on the 51st floor had definitely done a number on the uniform, to say the least.

After a couple more minutes of walking, he eventually found himself standing in front of a simple café that Loki told him to meet her at. As he opened the door and stepped inside, he could immediately sense that something was very wrong. There was a familiar sense of magic in the air, one that eerily felt like the remnants of a Marin Karin spell.

And judging from the charmed looks that every other customer in the café was leveling towards a hooded woman in the corner of the room, it wasn't hard to figure out who was the cause of it. It probably shouldn't have come as a surprise to him that Loki was also seated at the same table as the hooded woman. His blonde-haired stalker, Ais Wallenstein, was also present at the strange little meeting, standing guard next to Loki. The blonde had a surprised look on her face when she saw him.

He mumbled a Makarakarn spell under his breath as he approached the table.

Minato had fallen victim to a charm spell in the past and had no wish for that to happen again. He could almost still feel Yukari's hand imprint on his face from that whole fiasco at the hotel against the Lovers Arcana Shadow. It was an annoying, and honestly embarrassing situation that he had no intention of repeating.

"Ah, Minato-kun you made it!" Loki waved from her seat. "We got here a little early so we decided to head inside in the meantime. Oh, and this is Freya," Loki pointed out, "I just need to finish wrapping things up with her first."

He simply gave a curt nod to the hooded woman when their eyes met.

It was quite apparent to him that Freya was a Goddess, since she exuded the same divine aura about her that Loki did. Unlike Loki however, she had a beauty about her that would've made her stand out even without her divinity. Freya's eyes narrowed for the briefest moment and her shoulders stiffened, before her face returned to a neutral expression as she averted her eyes. He wasn't exactly sure what to make of the exchange, so he simply remained silent.

"So, Loki… He's your newest member that's gotten everyone in an uproar?" Freya curtly asked, as she looked outside the window. "Why did you decide to bring him with you here… Along with the Sword Princess?"

Loki simply shrugged.

"Well you know; we're just here to have some fun together at the carnival. But anyway, enough beating around the bush. Let's just get to the point already." Loki's eyes narrowed as she leaned forward on the table and sneered. "What's up with your strange movements lately, Freya? Spit it out, you wouldn't want any trouble between us, right?"

Freya simply gave a slight smile, her face never straying away from the window.

"There's a boy. One that had a color I've never seen before," She said as she began to twirl around one of her long locks of hair, "It was so beautiful and clear…"

"Of course it's a guy," Loki rolled her eyes, "I should've expected that. So, whose Familia is—"

Freya abruptly stood up.

"I'm sorry, but something urgent has come up," Freya briskly interrupted, "Let's meet again at a later time Loki."

Before Loki could question her any further, Freya had already left the table in a hurry. Minato couldn't help but notice that she had avoided looking at him the entire time, even going as far as clutching her hood closer to her face as she brushed passed him. Her behavior seemed quite strange, but he simply chalked it up as an odd quirk of hers, since nobody else had commented about it.

"… What was that about?" Loki asked, breaking the silence. "Well, whatever. I got what I came here for, so let's go have some fun now!"

Loki stood up and pumped her fist in the air.

"Yeah, let's go! Onwards!"

He couldn't help but sigh as Loki dragged him by the arm and marched forward. Ais Wallenstein seemed to have similar feelings as she was pulled along by their Goddesses' other hand. People stared, and he wasn't sure if it was because of how silly they must've looked, or if it was simply because Ais Wallenstein was the Sword Princess. He was pretty surprised to hear about her reputation as one of the strongest adventurers in the city.

It simply made him curious about why she would need to get even stronger when she was already so powerful.

"A barrier…?" Ais softly asked, as their eyes met. "A magic barrier?"

He simply shrugged in response, or at least attempted to, with Loki still dragging him by the arm.

"I'm not a fan of charm magic."

"It's not magic," Loki interrupted, "That's just how her sleazy divinity affects mortals. Oh hey, isn't that a Jagamarukun stand? You like those don't you, Ais-chan?"

Ais didn't answer and instead broke away from Loki's grip in a hurry, running straight towards the little food stall with a quickness that probably would've caught Finn by surprise.

"Ah! Wait Ais-chan!" Loki called out before she dashed after the blonde, "Wait for me Ais-channnn! I want Ais-chan to feed me Jagamarukunnnn!"

Minato simply watched as Loki chased after Ais and leaped at her. He couldn't help but flinch when Ais slapped the goddess hard enough into the ground to leave a dent on the dirt. That was a comedy routine that he had no interest in being sucked into, so he simply stood off in the distance and watched. That goddess's shenanigans were worse than Junpei's.

Loki tried to wave him over, but he just sighed before looking towards the direction of the crowds.

A lot of people had gathered for the monster carnival. While he never did like crowds, they weren't too bad when he wasn't the center of attention. It was quite easy to simply blend into the environment when he wasn't the main focus after all. A familiar mess of white hair caught his eye in the crowd, and he soon found himself staring into the eyes of one Bell Cranel.

The boy gave a grin and a wave in response.

"Hey, Arisato-san!" Bell happily greeted as he squeezed past the crowds, "Are you here for the monster carnival?"

He simply gave a shrug in response.

"Something like that."

"Wow, really?" Bell asked with a raised eyebrow, "You don't seem like the type to go to events like these."

"I didn't have much of a choice," He dryly replied, "And you?"

"I was going to head into the dungeon actually, but a friend asked me help her out with something," Bell explained, "Oh yeah, have you seen a girl with grey-hair around here? Her name is Syr and I need to return her purse to her."

He shook his head at that.

"Sorry, I haven't seen anyone like that."

"Oh well, that's fine. I'm sure that she's around here somewhere." Bell grinned, not missing a beat. "How about you Arisato-san? Were you able to register with the Guild?"

He nodded in response.

"Oh, congrats on officially becoming an adventurer then!" Bell happily congratulated, "Whose Familia did you join?"

As he was about to answer, a loud shrill voice interrupted him.

"Heeeeeeeyyyyy Minato-kunnnnn!" Loki whined as she crashed into him and grabbed on in a vice-like grip. It took a good deal effort on his part to simply not fall over. "You're supposed to be having fun with us, not other people! Come on Ais-chan, tell him!"

Ais Wallenstein only had a look in her eyes that screamed, 'I deal with this every day'. He simply let out a sigh in response as he attempted to pry Loki off his waist. The Sword Princess seemed as if she were about to say something, before she locked eyes with Bell Cranel, who had been watching the whole exchange the entire time with wide eyes.

Minato couldn't help but wonder why Bell's face had become a bright red.

"It's you…" Ais murmured as she stared at the white-haired boy.

"… Eek…"

Minato raised an eyebrow.

"AHHHHHHH!" Bell suddenly screamed, before he all but bolted away into the crowd with a speed that would've made an Olympic sprinter seethe with jealously.

Minato could only blink in response.

"He ran away again…" Ais eventually mumbled, a downtrodden expression on her normally stoic face. "Why…?"

"Again?" He found himself asking out of curiosity, "Would you care to elaborate?"

"I eviscerated a Minotaur in front of him." Ais simply replied, as if casually speaking about the weather. "He ran away afterwards…"

Minato found himself blinking once more in response.

"… Maybe he's afraid of you?"

Judging from the way the Sword Princess hung her head low in response; that seemed to have been the wrong answer to give. He couldn't help but feel a bit responsible for the sad aura that seemed to radiate from her body. In the short time he had known the girl, he had never seen her display as much emotion as she had done just now.

It made him feel a bit guilty about his words.

"… Do you want me to ask him?" He offered.

Ais slowly lifted her head and gave a slight nod.

"Hey now…" Loki slowly began; a grim look on her face. "D-don't tell me my cute little Ais-chan… Has a b-boy that she's interested in!?"

The red-haired goddess began to fervently shake her head.

"NOOOO! I won't have it!" Loki cried out as she jumped at the Sword Princess with tears in her eyes. "I won't allow a boy to take my Ais-chan from meeeee!

Minato couldn't help but flinch when Ais sent the goddess flying into a nearby wall with a swift backhand. Whether or not the red-haired goddess simply enjoyed playing the fool, or if it was all just an act, he still wasn't sure. But at the very least, he had to give Loki credit for her tenacity.

It was a wonder how she hadn't been hospitalized yet.

Loki's definition of fun mostly involved walking around the city visiting different food stands before the monster carnival started. The Sword Princess at the very least seemed to have gotten over the incident with Bell Cranel. All of the sweets that she had purchased from the various different food stands probably helped in that regard.

Minato wasn't sure what the history was between Bell Cranel and Ais Wallenstein, but he had a feeling that it was more than likely just a misunderstanding on somebody's part. After all, the Sword Princess wasn't exactly the most socially attuned individual out there, and that was saying something, coming from someone like himself.

"Hmm… Looks like its starting soon," Loki said, as she squinted into the distance, "Come on, I know a shortcut we can take so we won't be late."

Loki then squeezed past a crowd of people into an alleyway. He shared a brief look with Ais before simply shrugging and trailing after the red-haired goddess. The Sword Princess followed, not too far behind. When they finally made their way through the back-alley, Minato couldn't help but notice the sudden influx of armed adventurers moving about in a hurry.

"Huh…?" Loki mused, while she eyed her surroundings. "What's up with this atmosphere...?"

As they got closer to the colosseum that would hold the monster carnival, he could see that along with the armed adventurers, there were a good number of Guild employees outside directing traffic. People were being filed away from the colosseum and towards the direction of the Guild.

"Hey, you!" Loki called out, as she made her way towards one of the Guild receptionists, "Something going on here that I should know about?"

When the Guild receptionist turned around, he could see that it was a familiar face. It was the same half-elf that had stopped him from entering the dungeon his first time around. The long lecture that she had given him at the time still remained fresh in his memory. If he recalled correctly, her name was Eina Tulle.

"Oh! Loki-sama!" Eina cried out in surprise. "The Sword Princess as well... What perfect timing. Please, I implore for your assistance!" The half-elf earnestly requested as she lowered her head. "Some of the monsters that were captured for the monster carnival have escaped from their cages. The Ganesha Familia is trying their best to protect the civilians, but I'm afraid that it's not a situation that they can handle alone."

"Mmm… Well alright, I suppose that it'll be a good way to get some favor from Ganesha." Loki smirked, "Ais-chan, can you take of the monsters?"

Ais simply gave a curt nod before she jumped on top of a rooftop and dashed away.

Minato frowned when he realized that he hadn't brought his sword with him today. He didn't expect that he would've needed a weapon in the middle of a celebratory event like this, so he had simply left his sword in his room. At the very least, he always made sure to carry his Evoker with him, so he could rely on his Personas if things got rough enough.

As he was about to follow after the Sword Princess, he felt a tug on the back of his coat.

"Let Ais-chan handle the monsters Minato-kun." Loki said before she let go, "I'm going to need you to help me with something else."

He was about to protest, but when he saw the dangerous smile on Loki's face, he held his tongue. The jester routine and the affable trickster were all but gone, and what now remained in their place was a god that reminded him more of the Loki from the legends that he knew. There wasn't much of a point in arguing when she had made up her mind like that.

"Follow me Minato-kun." Loki ordered as she walked ahead, "I want to check something out and I'm going to need an escort, just in case things get too dicey."

Loki wandered off in a hurry while he tailed her from behind. He could see that the red-haired goddess was making her way towards the colosseum, brushing past the crowds that were being herded away from said building all the while. The entrance to the colosseum was one large archway that stretched on until it reached the central platform in the middle of the large structure.

Rows and rows of seats covered over most of the different sections inside, almost like a massive movie theater with the center floor being the screen.

They made their way onto the main hallway before Loki made a sharp turn, cutting into another entrance to the side that led to another small corridor. It was obvious that the red-haired goddess knew her way around the place. After a few more tight turns into a number of different corridors, Loki finally stopped in front of a simple wooden door.

When Loki opened the door and they stepped inside, he could see that it was the room in which the Ganesha Familia housed their captured monsters for the carnival. Two rows of cages were lined up on either side of the room from beginning to end. A couple of the cages on each side were open, no doubt belonging to the monsters that were now running amok in the city.

Although what really caught his eye were the bodies of what appeared to be the Ganesha Familia's adventurers lined up against the side of the wall.

"Out cold…" Loki muttered as she knelt down next to one of the adventurers. "And judging from the stupid look on his face…"

"Charm magic." He murmured, "The very same kind from the café…"

Loki chuckled.

"Now I wonder…" She mused, a devious smirk on her face. "Just what exactly is that idiotic ero-goddess planning now?"

Loki stood up and put her hands behind her head.

"Any ideas, Minato-kun?"

He gave the question some thought.

"Perhaps she wanted to create a diversion?"

"That's what I was thinking," Loki agreed, "But what's her goal? What's she trying to accomplish with all of this?"

Minato simply shrugged in response.

He didn't have enough information to form a conclusion. In his mind, the only logical thing that releasing monsters into the city could accomplish would be to cause a diversion. Of course, there were always those people out there that simply wanted chaos for the sake of chaos. Who was to truly say what an immortal goddess's motives were, other than herself?

Although, if there were one thing that he could say for certain, it was that charm magic always lead to troublesome situations in one way or another.

Author's Notes- Not much to say here, other than thanks for all the reviews. I realize that my writing doesn't exactly follow a set schedule when it comes to updates, so I appreciate everyone that's stuck around over the years.