Chapter 90: The White Night Desperado!
"Oh my~ Are you in the middle of dinner?"
Just as the Loki Familia's atmosphere was gradually becoming lively, a frivolous voice came from the distance.
A handsome man with blond hair and golden eyes arrived at the Loki Familia's campsite.
He wore a traveler's hat and a short-sleeved belted tunic.
Behind him followed a large group of people.
Among them, Torajirou Shiro only recognized the members of the Hermes Familia who had once fought alongside him.
"Bell! Are you okay?!"
A girl with twin tails, a youthful face, and a very full chest rushed out from the crowd and loudly called Bell's name.
"Eh?! Goddess-sama!"
Bell was extremely surprised by his goddess's arrival.
After all, gods had long since been forbidden by the Guild from entering the Dungeon.
Clearly, she had secretly run in.
"Huh? Isn't that goddess the one Tiona bumped into on the street before?"
Tione muttered as she looked at the goddess's familiar face.
"This isn't a convenient place to talk. Let's discuss things inside the tent, Hermes-sama."
As the captain, Finn first signaled for the members not to make too much noise.
Then he invited the handsome man at the front of the group.
"It would be a little troublesome if we were discovered, wouldn't it? In that case, I'll gladly accept~"
After having the Familia executives follow, Finn brought Hermes into the tent he used for meetings.
"Sorry for coming uninvited. Still, to think the ones who saved Bell were actually your Loki Familia."
Although Hermes said he was sorry, he showed no awareness of being an uninvited guest at all.
He pulled over a chair and naturally sat down.
Finn looked at the god who had been brought into the tent and spoke.
"Allow me to confirm something. God Hermes, the reason you came to the Dungeon was to rescue the adventurer Bell Cranel, who may have been stranded here. Is that correct?"
This was not a friendly question.
It was to confirm whether the Loki Familia needed to arrest Hermes.
Finn's alias in Orario was [Braver].
He had personally asked Loki for that alias.
In order to restore the Pallum race, he had to become their representative.
The alias [Braver] had given Finn honor, but at the same time, it had placed an invisible shackle on him.
His actions had to be worthy of the name [Braver].
Hermes had broken the Guild's rules by entering the Dungeon without permission.
If he could not provide a reasonable explanation, Orario's [Braver] would have to arrest him.
"Don't be so serious, [Braver]. Look, this is Hestia's official commission."
Under everyone's gaze, Hermes maintained his gentle smile and took out a piece of parchment from his clothes.
It had the Guild's certification mark on it.
It also stated that as long as Bell was rescued, the Hestia Familia would need to pay the Hermes Familia a reward of 400,000 Valis.
After Hermes took out the commission, the atmosphere inside the tent visibly relaxed.
Ais also took the chance to nod at her former comrade, Asfi, as a greeting.
"Although I'm very curious why all of you are staying on the 18th Floor, I'll explain our request first."
Hermes began negotiating with the Loki Familia's captain as the representative of his group.
"I'd like to ask you to allow us to temporarily stay in your camp."
"If possible, I'd also like your group to let ours travel with you when you return to Orario. Any extra expenses our Familia causes along the way will be covered by us."
"So you want to return to the surface safely?"
"I'm glad you understand. To be honest, although Asfi is Level 4, the Goliath above us is giving us quite a headache."
The fact that Asfi was Level 4 was already known among the Loki Familia executives, so Hermes no longer hid it.
"To protect two powerless gods like Hestia and me, our Familia used up a pile of magic items just to get here."
Hermes sighed dramatically.
"And you know how expensive the inns in Rivira are. We're completely broke now and can't even guarantee our own safety on the way back."
He ignored Asfi behind him, who was practically saying, "If you knew that, then you shouldn't have come from the start!"
Hermes continued speaking.
"But who told our Familia to promise Hephaestus that we'd bring Welf back safely? So I can only shamelessly come and beg you for help. What do you think?"
Cunning.
That was Shiro's first impression of Hermes.
This man kept saying he felt sorry, yet he used the Hephaestus Familia, who were allies of the Loki Familia, to guilt-trip them.
On top of that, he had specifically mentioned Finn's alias, [Braver], at the start.
From the very beginning, Hermes had been planning to latch onto the Loki Familia.
Noticing Shiro's gaze, Hermes turned his head and looked at him.
The corners of his mouth rose slightly.
"Stop with the meaningless scheming. As long as you don't cause extra trouble on our side, the Loki Familia won't abandon you."
Finn gave a bitter smile and accepted the request.
Since things had already been said to this extent, he had never had many choices to begin with.
"Then I really must thank you."
After that, Finn and Hermes began discussing tent arrangements.
Once the discussion ended, Hermes took the initiative to approach Shiro, who was preparing to leave.
"So you're the Loki Familia's [White Night Desperado], huh? Nice to meet you. I've wanted to meet you for a long time."
His tone was as frivolous as ever.
"White Night Desperado? Are you talking about me?"
Shiro did not remember when he had gained such a strange title.
He was indeed a Desperado, but what was the "White Night" part supposed to mean?
"Oh, I almost forgot. The Denatus was held while your Familia was away on the expedition."
Hermes smiled.
"That's the alias the gods gave you."
On the fifth day after the Loki Familia set out on their expedition, the Denatus, held once every two months in Orario, took place.
After a round of joking around, the gods decided the titles of the adventurers who had leveled up.
The alias of the Loki Familia's newly advanced adventurer, Torajirou Shiro, was decided as [White Night Desperado].
"Loki thinks very highly of you. She specially got you this exaggerated alias."
Hermes looked Shiro up and down.
"But you really are amazing, young man. You shot from Level 1 to Level 4 in just two months. The gods are all wondering if Loki cheated with divine power, though they don't dare say that to her face."
He narrowed his eyes, trying to see something from Shiro.
White night was a special phenomenon where dusk and dawn connected.
This title represented a monster-like powerful person born at the boundary between Orario's dark age and its dawn.
There was no doubt that Shiro deserved such an exaggerated alias.
His leveling speed was simply too strange.
Going from Level 1 to Level 4 in two months.
And that was only the data from before their expedition.
Meanwhile, the legacy Zeus had left behind for Orario, the one Hermes held expectations for, had only reached Level 2 in one month.
In Hermes's understanding, aside from the gods cheating, only one possibility remained.
An ancient hero.
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