Chapter 137: Everyone Agreed Except Me?
As if he had seen Ethan's dissatisfaction, Hermes then revealed something else.
"By the way, Freya has already agreed to this commission."
"The goddess agreed?"
Ethan froze for a moment, somewhat unable to believe it.
They had only just crossed that intimate line, and she was already tired of him?
Was she trying to send him off?
The moment that thought appeared, Ethan immediately crushed it.
Looking at Hermes, whose face was full of "smiles," Ethan had a guess in his heart.
In the original story, behind the protagonist Bell, there were two "directors."
One of them was Hermes.
In order to make Bell grow into the next-generation "hero," he gave Bell trial after trial and tempering after tempering, making him grow stronger step by step.
The other was Freya.
Without exaggeration, Freya was absolutely Bell's greatest "benefactor."
Whether it was the "Minotaur incident" or the later "Xenos incident," Freya had played a huge role behind the scenes.
The former allowed Bell to break free from the shadow of the "Minotaur," completely step out of it, and grow significantly.
The latter happened when Bell was about to be condemned by thousands.
Freya had the members of her Familia block the Loki Familia, creating a stage that belonged solely to Bell.
Through his battle with the "Minotaur girl," Bell successfully escaped the fate of almost bearing a terrible stigma.
And it was also during that incident that Hermes admitted he was inferior to Freya.
His "arrangement" had been arranged by Freya's "plan."
This incident was probably something Freya wanted to use to see Ethan's ability and strength.
After all, although she had always indulged Ethan and had even crossed that line with him, that did not mean Freya had truly fallen for him.
At most, it meant she cared about him a little bit more.
"Since the goddess has already agreed, I guess I can't refuse this commission."
Everyone had agreed.
In the end, only he himself had been left out.
How wonderful~~~
"Mm-hmm. If I had known, I would have mentioned Freya's name from the very beginning. As expected of someone from the Freya Familia, your 'loyalty' to your goddess is beyond doubt."
Ethan glanced sideways at Hermes.
This guy was definitely doing it on purpose.
Hearing Hermes's words from the side, Hestia immediately looked at him with dissatisfaction.
However, when she turned her gaze back to Ethan, a trace of regret flashed through her eyes.
In the end, she had missed her chance.
This outstanding child was already Freya's child.
"Then, God Hermes, could you tell me what exactly this commission is?"
"Of course…"
After that, Hermes explained everything.
It turned out that some time ago, the Guild had received information that something had happened in the Great Tree Sea, one of the three great mysterious regions of the world, alongside the Dungeon.
An abnormal situation had suddenly occurred within the Great Tree Sea.
The number of monsters had skyrocketed, and the increase was far from small.
The Great Tree Sea was a place where ancient monsters that had once reached the surface lived, back when the Dungeon had not yet been "restricted" by the Tower of Babel in ancient times.
Those ancient monsters had been sealed in the far southern part of the continent.
Because of that, the ancient ruins in that area had become "labyrinths" one after another.
The Great Tree Sea covered an extremely vast area.
Its interior was complicated and tangled, making it very easy to get lost.
In the end, the Guild had issued a mission to the Artemis Familia, asking them to go investigate.
No one had expected that this investigation would directly result in the complete annihilation of the entire Artemis Familia.
Even the main goddess Artemis herself had also…
Now that something had happened, it naturally needed to be resolved.
That was why they had come to Ethan.
However, after digesting all of this, Ethan discovered that it was basically identical to the original plot.
Hermes was definitely hiding some things, but that no longer mattered.
What Ethan wanted to know was why, in all of vast Orario, they had come to him.
It was not like he was some protagonist.
"I only have one question."
"Go ahead."
"Why me?"
Once again, Ethan asked that question.
This was something he had to know.
In the original story, the reason this commission fell onto Bell was because he picked up the divine artifact "Orion."
Because of that, he had been chosen.
But what about Ethan?
He had done nothing.
So how had he somehow become the person responsible for carrying out this commission?
"There's no helping it. Who told Ouranos to 'value' you so much?"
Hermes also seemed somewhat puzzled.
However, he trusted the great god's judgment.
Likewise, he also acknowledged Freya's eye for people.
Someone viewed favorably by both of them definitely had extraordinary potential.
All right.
Ethan understood.
This was probably related to that earlier feeling of being "watched."
He could already confirm that the previous battle had definitely been "broadcast live."
Now, that great god Ouranos had probably also noticed him.
"When do we leave?"
"Now! Immediately! Right away!"
When it came to the serious matter, Hermes also became more proper.
"We're leaving right now?"
Ethan was also a little stunned.
Was it that urgent?
"There's no helping it. Time waits for no one."
Hermes also felt a little frustrated.
He had only just returned to Orario not long ago, yet he had immediately been assigned a mission.
Naturally, he was not in a very good mood either.
And this time, he would be going alone.
His most considerate captain would not be accompanying him.
"So this had already been decided from the beginning, but just now you still kept talking in riddles."
"Haha. It's getting late, so let's go."
When Ethan brought up what had happened earlier, Hermes directly laughed it off, clearly intending to brush it aside.
Looking at this god, Ethan felt speechless.
No matter how he looked at him, this guy seemed unreliable.
"Um…"
"Hm?"
Ethan looked toward Hestia, who had suddenly spoken.
Although he could no longer become a member of this legal loli goddess's Familia, there was still no harm in building a good relationship with her.
"Please take care of Artemis's matter!"
"I understand."
Looking at Hestia's serious expression, Ethan smiled.
…
"Freya-sama, are you truly going to let Ethan go to the Great Tree Sea? Those are ancient monsters. He is only Lv.3. Can he really defeat something like that?"
At the top of Babel, Ottar stood beside Freya and asked with some confusion.
"If one does not experience 'adventure,' one cannot become an 'adventurer.' Likewise, without experiencing 'calamity,' he cannot become a 'hero.'"
Freya's gaze burned brightly.
It was as if she could already see Ethan in the future, shining brilliantly as a hero.
She held enormous expectations for him.
…
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