The five goddesses seated in their places had all gone stiff, especially after Hermes revealed the truth.
Loki hid the twitch at the corner of her mouth and lowered her voice as she muttered to Freya beside her.
"Do you think that guy's lost it?"
"While I agree with your assessment, Hermes is far more cunning than you give him credit for."
Freya had also broken into a cold sweat moments ago, but her mind moved quickly and she recovered almost immediately.
"We've been doing everything we can to separate Bell's identity from ours, and he can clearly see that. So Hermes is deliberately splitting Bell into two separate personas."
"That lunatic. Doesn't he realize how obvious that is?"
Loki didn't believe the gods were idiots. Afterward, they might start paying more attention to Bell—and that would definitely not be a good thing.
"Very obvious. But Hermes is the only one who could get away with something like that."
"Only he could… oh~"
Loki's slow reaction finally caught up.
Hermes had once been Zeus's closest companion, a drinking and troublemaking partner. The two of them would even sneak off to peep on goddesses and Genkai children. If any god knew Zeus best, it was Hermes.
And Hermes was a divine messenger with Ouranos's permission to leave Orario freely. He had the most eyes and ears outside the city and the strongest information network among the gods. Not to mention Zeus and Hera had only been exiled from Orario back then, not banished back to Tenkai.
If Hermes really had found Zeus and Hera outside, it wouldn't be surprising. He was the only god who could have access to such deep intel.
Although Hermes claimed he learned about Bell from Ouranos, none of the gods present were foolish enough to believe that. They all knew Ouranos was most likely just Hermes's excuse. He must have heard it directly from the gods involved.
In fact, it was more believable that Ouranos learned about Bell from Hermes.
Sure enough, one of the gods couldn't resist teasing him.
"Hermes, you're the messenger, yet you need Ouranos to tell you about Zeus and Hera? That's some poor intelligence work."
Hermes, shameless as always, didn't mind at all. Instead, he even looked helpless and wounded as he followed along.
"Exactly. Hera is one thing—I'm scared she'll kill me."
"But that old Zeus even kept it from me? He clearly doesn't see me as a friend."
"If Ouranos hadn't mentioned it, I'd still know nothing."
…You shameless bastard.
The god who had teased him couldn't help cursing internally.
Everyone knew Hermes was the one who held all the intel. Only a shameless man like him would pretend to be the one receiving information.
And everyone also understood why Hermes was doing this. It definitely had something to do with Zeus and Hera.
But they knew Hermes kept secrets better than anyone. If they didn't play along, he wouldn't reveal anything at all.
"Ahem, Hermes, how much do you actually know about that child?"
They hated giving Hermes the satisfaction—especially seeing that smug grin—but they couldn't ignore the fact that he held information they wanted.
As expected, Hermes's lips curved into an unmistakably pleased arc.
"Well~ I don't know much in detail, but that child's inherited bloodline is pretty outrageous."
"Outrageous?"
"Mm-hmm~ After all, the one once recognized throughout Orario as the 'Monster of Calamitous Talent' was that child's aunt."
After Hermes said this, the entire Denatus fell into a long, silent pause.
"Boom!?"
After a brief moment of shock, the gods all jumped to their feet, slamming their hands onto the table.
The nephew of 'Silence'? Damn it. Zeus and Hera left behind a trump card like this? The value of being a "Hero's Orphan" suddenly became very clear.
Back then, 'Silence' had been a terrifying figure who even dared clash head-on with the 'Empress.' She was known as a "Monster of Calamitous Talent."
And now this inexplicably appearing child actually shared blood with 'Silence'? There was no way they could ignore that.
"The child of Zeus and Hera was already shocking. But now 'Silence' is involved too?"
"Then this child…"
Every god's gaze instinctively locked onto the projection showing the child who was hiding his presence.
The value of this kid was likely far beyond anything they had imagined.
They didn't know his exact strength, but with a 'Silence' for an aunt, how weak could he possibly be?
"Hermes, you should know, right?"
Faced with so many eager, burning stares, Hermes looked helpless.
"Sorry, but that child is extremely cautious. Nothing like Zeus's carefree personality. At this point, probably only his Familia God knows his exact strength."
"However, based on a series of tests of my own, I'm certain the child is at least Level 4."
Level 4 wasn't low at all.
For most exploration-type familia, Level 4 was the core of their power.
And the gods noticed Hermes wasn't saying "Level 4"—he'd said "Level 4 or above." That nuance was significant.
Meaning this child's minimum was Level 4. If that was true, that was seriously exciting.
Unable to suppress their curiosity, one of the gods pressed on.
"Hermes, when did this child enter Orario? And how old is he now?"
That was indeed a key question.
With the child's age, the time since becoming an adventurer, and the fact that he was at least Level 4, they could determine whether he possessed a talent as inhuman as 'Silence.'
Facing all those hungry eyes, and intent on stirring the pot and severing all association with Bell, Hermes prepared to drop an even bigger bomb.
"That child… is about fourteen this year. As for when he arrived in Orario, it was just over half a year ago. Less than a year, to be exact."
That revelation exploded through the gods' assembly like a shockwave.
It was just too explosive.
...
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