The Familia's New Member

The second floor of the house.

The heavy curtains filtered the light, leaving the room dim, and the air was still.

Syr stood with her back to the stairs, facing the two goddesses.

Her gentle smile remained, but there wasn't a trace of warmth in her eyes—only a cold, clear gleam.

"The ten billion Valis Lord Thor owes," she said, her voice so steady it held not a ripple, "I'll repay. Double—twenty billion Valis, paid in full within two years."

She would repay the ten billion Valis twice over?

The enormous sum sounded almost weightless on her lips.

To her, using money to sever unnecessary ties was the best outcome.

Lord Thor didn't need these complications.

Her gaze shifted to Hestia. "I heard you've been looking for a Familia lately?"

Hestia nodded instinctively.

"There are quite a few children in my Familia with relatively pure souls," Syr said. "If any catch your eye, I can make the call and have them convert to your faith and become your followers."

Hestia was taken aback.

She was willing to let her pick children directly from one of the strongest Familias?

Was she really that generous?

"In exchange," Syr said, her voice suddenly turning cold as her gaze swept slowly across Hestia and Hephaestus. An invisible pressure seemed to weigh down the air. "I ask that you agree to one small request."

She stepped half a pace forward. Though slender, her figure seemed like an impassable wall before the two goddesses.

"From now on, please don't appear before Lord Thor again."

"And," she continued, each word clear and icy, "forget everything about my becoming a member of a Familia. You must not breathe a word of it to anyone."

The air grew still.

Syr's perfect smile never faded, yet it sent a bone-deep chill through Hestia.

This wasn't a negotiation. It was an ultimatum.

Hephaestus had watched in silence. Now she let out a deep, helpless sigh.

She understood Syr's wariness, but this wasn't what she wanted.

"Syr, please calm down first." After trying to soothe her, she continued, "My joining your side might not be a bad thing for you. It could even be... good news."

"Good news?" Syr frowned, unsure why Hephaestus would say that.

As far as she was concerned, the only good news would be for them to leave of their own accord.

Hephaestus took a deep breath and patiently explained, "Think about it calmly. If the gods learn that Lord Thor has the power to take gods into his Familia... what do you think will happen?"

Syr's cold gray eyes flickered.

What would happen?

She knew those "compatriots" in Heaven all too well.

They'd descended to the mortal world for a thousand years simply to relieve their eternal boredom.

If they caught the scent of such a "novel" "game"...

Those people would swarm in like flies to honey, throwing themselves at Lord Thor without restraint. They'd use every means at their disposal—flattery, scheming, even coercion—just to earn a scrap of his favor and become part of her Familia.

For Syr, that would be the beginning of endless unrest.

"So what?" Syr remained composed, but her words carried the resolve of bedrock. "I'll use every resource in the Freya Familia to keep any possible threat at bay. I'll protect Lord Thor."

Hephaestus let out a long sigh.

"I don't doubt that the Freya Familia is Orario's strongest spear and shield. But..."

A sharp glint flashed in her one eye.

"Can you withstand the united hostility of every Familia in Orario? When they realize this 'favor' is tempting enough to make them set aside their grudges and join forces, can you hold them off?"

Hephaestus laid bare the harshest truth.

"Think about it. If they joined forces to challenge you to a War Game, it would be bad enough. Worse, what if they managed to convince Loki to join them? Even if your Familia tripled in size, how much chance would you have of winning?"

A War Game was a special rule-bound contest held in Orario.

It existed to resolve disputes between gods and even between Familias.

In a War Game, one god's Familia faced another's. The winner could demand anything of the loser, so long as the terms had been agreed on before the game began.

Syr fell silent.

What Hephaestus had said was the truth.

No matter how strong her Familia was, it couldn't withstand the combined hostility of every other Familia.

And if that woman, Loki, learned the truth...

She would join in without hesitation. To the gods, the chance to grow was more enticing than any treasure.

Hephaestus seized the moment, softening her tone while making her words all the more persuasive.

"But what if we joined forces? The Freya Familia and my Hephaestus Familia. If the gods ever learn the truth and the situation spirals out of control, you and I will be the firmest of allies."

"When that happens, we can try to win Loki over—or at least keep her in check—and bring other powerful neutral Familias together. Then we'll face far less pressure from the remaining gods. We might even have room to maneuver."

She paused, then delivered her final and most devastating blow.

Hephaestus continued, "And I imagine you're currently struggling to figure out how to go into the Dungeon with Lord Thor, aren't you?"

Syr froze.

Hephaestus had struck a nerve.

Syr fell silent, while Hestia couldn't understand why her expression had suddenly changed.

Like a curious child, she asked, "Hephaestus, what do you mean?"

Hephaestus turned to her and explained.

"The Dungeon hates the gods. Lord Thor's entry has already triggered a monster rampage. If another god—Syr, for instance—or even more gods follow him inside, what kind of upheaval will it cause? No one can predict."

"Uranus suppresses the Dungeon. He might... be inclined to allow Syr inside so he can observe how the gods grow under Lord Thor's influence."

Hephaestus glanced at Syr.

"But he needs to answer to all the gods, and he needs guarantees. If the gods entering cause the Dungeon to spiral completely out of control, even threatening Orario itself, who will bear responsibility? Who will deal with the aftermath?"

Syr's heart sank a little.

That was precisely the biggest obstacle in her negotiations with Uranus over the past several days.

Her Familia was powerful, but it still carried too little weight to withstand the doubts of all Heaven.

Hephaestus's tone remained calm. "The Freya Familia alone might not carry enough weight as the sole guarantor. But..."

She gestured to herself, then to Hestia. "If my Familia joins in, and Hestia herself offers her divine status as a guarantee too, the chances of Uranus agreeing... will be much higher."

A guarantee...

The wealth and influence of the Hephaestus Familia, along with Hestia's status as a goddess...

A calculating look passed through the depths of Syr's gray eyes.

This really was the help she urgently needed.

Perhaps this could break through the obstacle with Uranus.

She slowly raised her eyes to Hestia, her gaze carrying a hint of scrutiny. "Hestia has to be part of it too?"

Hestia had no Familia to speak of.

No money, either.

Her only advantage might be the ample flesh on her chest that could make Lord Thor's heart stir.

She'd only be a hindrance...

"Hey! What kind of thing is that to say?" Hestia instantly bristled, her cheeks puffing up like she'd stuffed them with pinecones. "That's so unfair! How can you even think of leaving me out of something like this?"

Hephaestus let out a heavy, helpless sigh. "At this point... there really is no way to leave her out entirely."

She knew Hestia too well.

"Otherwise, given her personality, she might really threaten us with 'telling every other god' just to force her way in."

Syr looked at Hestia.

Hestia stiffened, then guiltily turned her head away. Her eyes darted around, and she even let out an off-key whistle without thinking.

Ugh... they'd guessed right!

She really had thought of doing that...

She could feel her cheeks growing warm.

Seeing Hestia's transparent attempt to deny it, Syr could only let out a faint, resigned sigh.

Fine...

"Hestia," Syr said, her voice returning to its usual gentleness, though it still carried an undeniable weight. "You must swear on your divine status that you'll never reveal anything you heard here tonight, especially anything about Lord Thor's Familia. Remember—anyone means anyone."

She stared into Hestia's eyes, afraid the silly twintail might get worked up and do something foolish that couldn't be undone.

To make absolutely sure, Syr's gray eyes glimmered as she dangled an irresistible prize, her voice soft as a whisper.

"Just think: if you successfully join Lord Thor's Familia now, you'll be one of its first and most important 'players.' In the future, even if Lord Thor really does welcome more gods into his Familia—for example... if he takes Loki under his wing..."

She paused deliberately, pleased to see Hestia's eyes light up at once.

"Then you'll be Loki's 'senior' in the Familia. She'll have no choice but to bow to you and respectfully call you 'Senior'!"

The scene she painted was like a honey-coated missile, hitting Hestia right in her absolute weak spot.

Hestia thrust out her chest and slapped a hand against it with a loud smack. Her twintails bounced, and her face filled with a resolve more serious than ever.

"Don't worry! I swear on my divine status! I'll take this secret to my grave... no, I'll keep it for all eternity! I won't tell a soul!"

Loki bowing to me... Hehe... Senior...

She could already picture that hateful woman on her knees before her, begging for mercy!

Meanwhile, downstairs in the living room.

Thor lifted her teacup and took a small sip of the warm tea, letting out a helpless sigh.

Those three... surely they didn't actually think the second floor of this house was soundproof?

Besides...

She really hoped they wouldn't treat her Blessing like some kind of video game where they could just "kill monsters and level up" at will.