Hermes

"Long time no see, little brother Falan."

"..." Honestly, we all looked equally young, yet I was always called little brother.

Well, that was the terrifying thing about long-lived races. If anything, I was getting the better end of it, wasn't I?

"Yes, it's been a long time, Lord Hermes."

"What brings you to see me today?" As he spoke, Hermes quietly raised the coffee cup in his hand and drained it in one gulp.

Three black lines appeared across Falan's face. You were the one who issued the quest, and you were asking why I had time to come see you?

Incidentally, this world's cultural development was rather strange. Much of its equipment was still at a medieval level, yet its dietary habits were not particularly different from those of the modern world Falan knew. Apparently, the gods had brought them here.

"The quest." With a dark expression, Falan answered simply.

"The quest? Let me think~ Was it the escort mission outside the city? Or..."

"The quest to investigate World's End."

"Oh, if I remember correctly, my requirement was for entire familias to participate?"

"The quest you posted at the Adventurer Guild didn't say that."

"..." As though avoiding the matter, Hermes silently pulled down the brim of his hat.

"..." Sure enough, Hermes was a terribly unreliable god. Was he playing ostrich?

Then Hermes spoke again. "That was my mistake. May I ask why you accepted this quest?"

"Do you want the superficial answer or the real one?"

"If possible, tell me both. I have plenty of time right now."

"The superficial answer is that I've been leveling up too quickly. Like last time, I leveled up with an SS average across all my attributes. On top of that, I acquired the rare development ability 'Darkness,' and during the last expedition, I obtained a Spirit Weapon. Is that enough?"

"Cough, cough, cough~" Hermes suddenly choked, since that was rather too much information at once.

Leveling up too quickly was not really a big deal. There were plenty of adventurers who took a month to rise from Level 2 to Level 3. Two months was neither especially long nor especially short. The issue lay in the three pieces of information that followed.

Like last time? That meant Falan had averaged SS across all attributes in both level-ups? Though he was only Level 3 now, his overall stats were already on par with most Level 4 adventurers?

Of course, that alone was still manageable. Once some familias had developed to a certain point, they squeezed their members' attributes to the limit before allowing them to level up. That method of raising adventurers was uncommon in Orario, but not unusual.

The real issue was the rare development ability, 'Darkness,' and the actual reason Hermes had choked...

"A Spirit Weapon? How could one still exist in this era?"

"But one really does." Falan silently took the bound, still-sealed Spirit Weapon from his Backpack.

It was a short staff barely twenty centimeters long. Just from its appearance and the feeling of holding it, one could sense its unusual nature.

Looking at the Spirit Weapon staff, Hermes could not help narrowing his eyes. It truly was a Spirit Weapon.

The identity of spirits was difficult to explain, yet easy enough to understand. Spirits were essentially the avatars of the gods. For example, Zeus corresponded to Jupiter. This had been over a thousand years ago, when the gods had found it difficult to descend upon this world.

To protect the people of this world, the gods had created this special method of protection.

After the gods descended, those so-called spirits vanished one by one. What remained were the descendants of the first-generation spirits.

Everyone knew that, with Zeus's personality, how could he possibly not leave behind a few descendants?

The Spirit staff Falan had produced genuinely surprised Hermes.

"Are you sure that's only the superficial reason?"

"More or less. The real reason is that Orario is too boring. Every day, there's nothing to do except kill monsters and level up. Besides, people have been watching me rather closely lately. I want to go outside and get some air."

"As expected of you, little brother Falan. If it were someone else, going to World's End to research how to unseal the Spirit staff would probably be the most important reason. Yet your reason is boredom." How interesting... It was rare to find such an interesting subject of observation.

"..." So World's End had information on unsealing the Spirit staff?

"Hermes, I can't be bothered to say much more. Are you accepting the quest or not?"

"With a strong person acknowledged by a spirit like you, naturally there's no reason to refuse." After all, you were currently the subject I was most interested in observing. It would be best if you came to me of your own accord and wanted to undertake the quest together.

"Then, Hermes, I'll temporarily count as outside support for your familia. When will you be able to gather familias willing to accept the quest?"

"Uh..." Hermes fell silent at those words. His connections among the gods were broad, but for such a troublesome matter, there were probably few gods willing to let their familias take the risk. After all, what sort of abnormalities existed at World's End?

Everything was still unknown. Sending their familias under such circumstances would almost certainly lead to only one outcome: failure.

"We'll see. If no familia is willing to participate, I'll have no choice but to ask some friends for help myself."

"All right. I have to say, Hermes, you really have a lot of friends..."

"That's just how it is. Merchants need to make lots of friends. Little brother Falan, aren't you one of my friends too?"

"You're obviously a bad friend... All right, since we're done talking, I'll head out first. I need to transport some supplies. This is my first quest with you, after all. Who knows how long we'll be gone? Could it take years?"

"That's possible. Who knows what has happened at World's End? You might even remain there forever."

"..." I became an adventurer to survive in the first place. Why did being an adventurer feel so dangerous now...

At the Adventurer Guild, a blue-haired goddess carrying a longbow entered with her familia.

"Welcome, Lady Artemis."

"I heard Hermes, on behalf of the Guild, issued a quest concerning World's End?"

"Yes, Lady Artemis. Would you like to see it?"

"Please let me take a look." The blue-haired goddess accepted the quest posting and turned through its pages one by one.

At last, she found the quest and quietly said, "An abnormality has appeared at World's End?"

"It truly was an unforgettable era..." Artemis murmured, softly enough that only she could hear.

"I'll take this quest. Please notify Hermes later."

"Yes, Lady Artemis. Please wait in the reception room for now."