Thinking along those lines, Hermes suddenly felt it was highly plausible.
It had already been confirmed that Evilus had been hiding in the Dungeon all this time, but the exact location of their hideout still hadn't been uncovered. Of course, that wasn't surprising—the Dungeon's sheer scale went far beyond anyone's imagination.
Trying to find a hidden hideout tucked away somewhere in such a vast expanse was incredibly difficult.
But if the targets that Evilus and the Xenos were watching happened to be hiding in similar kinds of spaces, then by identifying one of those locations, it might be possible to deduce where Evilus was hiding. That would significantly cut down on the time and effort needed to track them down.
"Yeah, it's definitely a strong possibility."
"I've thought from the start that there's no way those guys could've openly dug out a hideout inside the Dungeon. A project of that scale couldn't be hidden so easily. If they were using a space that had already been excavated by another Familia—then repurposed through some sort of deal or cooperation—that'd make a lot more sense."
Hermes had long been puzzled by how Evilus managed to dig out a pit in the Dungeon in the first place.
A project like that simply couldn't go unnoticed.
After all, we're talking about large-scale construction inside the Dungeon. Would the Dungeon even allow that?
Only the safe floors had relatively little reaction. On other floors, the moment the Dungeon detected signs of excavation, it would immediately start repairing the damage. Normally, it would be nearly impossible to construct any kind of hideout in there.
And with digging on that scale, it was hard to believe that none of the Adventurers entering the Dungeon each day would notice.
If even one Adventurer caught on, there was a chance the news could spread all over Orario. There was no way Evilus could keep that kind of operation completely secret. So it's highly likely that they weren't the ones who did the digging in the first place.
"Asfi."
Asfi stepped through the door and bowed.
"Go investigate if there are any Familias currently conducting open construction in the Dungeon."
"Right away."
Hermes rested his chin on his hand. By now, he was almost certain that the Evilus base had likely been built by repurposing secret excavation projects carried out by other Familias.
The ones being watched by the Xenos were linked to Evilus through some kind of deal—and they'd been hiding in the Dungeon the whole time. It was hard not to see a connection between the two.
"Something as blatant as large-scale construction in the Dungeon would definitely be logged in the Guild's records. And this kind of activity didn't just start in recent years—it's likely been ongoing for a very long time."
"Still, those Familias would fall within the Guild's monitoring scope. If we dig deep enough, we should be able to uncover some clues."
Hermes already had some suspicions. After all, there were very few people with the ability to do something like this without drawing the attention of Adventurers.
Shaking off those thoughts, Hermes turned to Loki.
"You're this angry because of the Xenos?"
"...Hermes, what are you trying to say?"
"No hidden meaning behind it."
Seeing the icy glint in Loki's eyes, Hermes felt a chill run down his spine and shut his mouth quickly—definitely not the time to speak further.
"I just thought you'd normally pretend not to notice things like this. Who would've guessed you'd take the initiative this time?"
"Hmph, I just don't think there's that big a difference between the Xenos and the children of Genkai."
Loki didn't bother addressing the comment Hermes had almost made. Among the gods, there were surely others who shared her views.
"Let's stick to business."
Hermes gave a slight shake of his head—he didn't want to dig too deeply into that topic either.
"Asfi has already gone to investigate which individuals previously conducted excavation in the Dungeon."
"I do recall a few names myself, but I'm not exactly sure who they were."
"People from within the Guild?"
Loki went straight to the heart of the matter.
"Yeah, I think there's a direct connection to the Guild. If my guess is right, it might also tie into Daedalus."
Hermes' remark jogged Loki's memory—she did remember that name, and not as someone ordinary.
"The craftsman who built the Tower of Babel? I remember he was one of the few people Ouranos accepted into his Familia, wasn't he?" She recalled that Daedalus had been brought into the Guild because of his exceptional talent for construction, helping design and build Orario. His legacy included the city itself, and the Tower of Babel at its center.
"But I thought he was just a mortal. Even Ouranos couldn't extend the lifespan of his own Familia member, right?"
"Not even Ouranos. No god could."
Gods in Genkai couldn't grant extended life—there simply weren't any means to do that here.
"And Daedalus really did die. He wasn't killed—just passed away from old age."
"He was buried as a founding figure of Orario and received a proper funeral. But since the gods weren't notified, only a few key members of the Guild attended."
Hermes could confirm that Daedalus hadn't shown any signs of becoming something inhuman. Until the end, he remained a member of the Guild, with no signs of transforming into a monster or extending his life unnaturally.
"Which means, the person manipulating things in the Dungeon is likely a descendant of Daedalus."
"Most likely."
Hermes gave a slight nod in response to Loki's question.
"Also, Daedalus was the chief architect of Orario. It's not impossible there are hidden passages in the city, like the ones Ishtar used back then."
Loki frowned—she hadn't expected Daedalus's story to tie into those underground spaces Ishtar once utilized.
"Daedalus designed those as well?"
Hermes didn't have an answer. He just shrugged helplessly and let the question drop.
"Who knows. But when Ishtar was captured, they discovered many empty chambers in that underground space. They didn't look newly built—it seemed like they'd been there for ages."
"Also, if I remember right, Daedalus continued some work in the Dungeon even in the period leading up to when he became bedridden. But after his death, all of that came to a halt."
"Does the Guild have records of that work?"
"No idea. That's why I asked Asfi to look into it."
...
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