"Open up! Open up!"
"!?"
Hermes had just drifted off when a flurry of banging jolted him awake. His face twisted in irritation from being roused by the noise.
"Who the hell is making such a racket outside someone else's Familia in the middle of the night?"
Dressed in a full-body onesie, Hermes climbed out of bed, opened the window, and looked out toward the entrance of the Familia.
Because the residence was huge—especially the annex—he had to lean halfway out of the window just to spot the person pounding both fists on the iron gate.
"...Not her again!"
The moment he saw who it was, Hermes completely gave up on the idea of getting back at them later.
With a miserable expression, he slinked back into his room.
Outside, the yelling continued.
"Knock Knock Knock!"
"Hermes! Get out here and open this damn door!"
All Hermes wanted to do was bury himself under his blanket.
Was it too much to ask? Things had finally calmed down, and he was enjoying a rare few days of peace at home—yet that flat-chested troublemaker Loki had to show up and start something again.
Sure, he figured she probably had something serious to discuss. But honestly, he had no interest in dealing with her right now. He just wanted to enjoy his quiet little break in peace.
Still, Loki's relentless pounding on the iron gate of the Hermes Familia didn't go unnoticed by Asfi, the captain.
It was the middle of the night. No one could sleep through that kind of noise.
So, after throwing on something simple, Asfi quickly headed out and opened the gate to let Loki-sama in.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, Loki-sama."
She sounded polite but uneasy. Asfi had come as fast as she could, but she was pretty sure Loki had been waiting out there for quite a while.
The moment she looked up, she saw Loki's pitch-black scowl.
"Ah, it's not about you. But that bastard who was supposed to open the door? He's in for it!"
"I saw him poke his head out of the room earlier. And then he didn't even come to open the door for me. Hmph. Just you wait, Hermes."
Asfi discreetly wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and offered a silent prayer for Hermes.
'I hope you can survive Loki-sama's wrath, Hermes-sama.'
After her brief prayer, Asfi couldn't help but grow curious about Loki's sudden visit.
"Loki-sama, please come in."
"Hehehe, Hermes, I've come for you~"
The moment she stepped through the gate, Loki's face twisted into a bizarre expression. That sinister grin alone was enough to make Asfi break out in a cold sweat.
As Loki walked into the Hermes Familia, Hermes—still hiding inside—felt a strong wave of malice wash over him.
As a god, he knew exactly what that kind of intent meant.
'I'm screwed.'
The sense of being marked by Loki, of imminent divine punishment, only grew stronger.
As the sound of footsteps outside his door got closer, Hermes gulped and carefully crept up to the door, pressing his back against it, hoping to prevent it from being kicked in.
"Bang!"
Hermes almost got launched from the impact but braced himself just in time.
"Yo, Hermes, I'm here~"
Sweat beaded on his forehead. There was so much malice dripping from Loki's voice, it practically echoed through the door.
"Hurry up and let me in~"
That voice had an unusual softness to it—rare for Loki—but Hermes could only imagine the twisted smile she must have been wearing as she said it.
"Loki, calm down."
"I'm calm."
"Bang!"
This time, Hermes couldn't hold out. A massive force kicked the door straight open, sending him flying.
The iron door caved in, a dent left behind from the impact.
And there, standing outside with her leg still raised, was Loki.
She narrowed her eyes and looked down at the crumpled Hermes on the floor, a wide smile spreading across her face.
"Hehehe, Hermes, let's talk about why you didn't open the door for me."
"No, please, noooo!"
...
Thirty minutes later, a pale, twitching heap lay sprawled across the floor. Loki sat nearby on the bed, looking completely refreshed.
"Ah~ finally got that all out of my system. That pent-up stress is gone."
The pale heap stirred slightly, and when it lifted its head, it looked like some kind of strange creature with heavy black eye shadow—like a panda, but far less cute.
"...Loki, could you not use me as your stress relief?"
Hermes, beaten and shaking, felt like Loki might actually deport him back to Tenkai.
After pulling himself together and using divine power to patch up his injuries, he finally stood up.
"Why is it always the middle of the night when you show up?"
"Tch! You think I want to be out here?"
Thinking back to the comfort of her own room in Hestia's place, Loki truly didn't want to deal with this kind of hassle if she could avoid it.
But she was the kind of god who just couldn't turn away after seeing something like that.
"Tonight, while I was grabbing a late-night snack at Hestia's, I happened to run into a distress call from the Xenos."
"A distress call? The Evilus are still daring to act at this hour?"
"Well... I think they're just small fry connected to the Evilus. Bell-kun thinks so too. But since he mentioned that 'Arachnia' got captured, there's a chance the Evilus are trying to expand their forces. So I figured, it's not unreasonable to link the two events."
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Hermes wasn't surprised by the suspicion. In fact, he thought it was pretty likely.
After all, the Evilus had their own factions, full of all kinds of people—good, bad, and flat-out crazy.
If they were planning to build up their forces because of 'Arachnia's' capture, it wouldn't be surprising.
"So Bell-kun didn't want to deal with it, so they dumped it on you?"
"Not quite. That kid said the ones going after the Xenos have some kind of deal with the Evilus—and they're all hiding out in the Dungeon. Maybe they've got clues we can use to find the rest of them."
"!?"
Hermes immediately snapped to attention.
That possibility was very real.