At Royman's sudden outburst, everyone turned towards him. Royman's figure shrank especially from the sharp gazes of the two goddesses present, sweat pouring down his face as he gulped nervously.
"I-I mean. I wanted to say, why don't we calm down and then talk? I-In fact, I think I have the perfect solution for this situation."
That seemed to have grabbed their attention, as both Freya and Loki raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so, Royman?" said Freya in a calm voice.
"Y-Yes, if you would give me a chance to explain."
"So, he says, Loki. What do you think?"
Loki crossed her arms. "Sure, if he is that confident, then I would like to hear it."
Royman guided both the goddesses to the sofa and took a seat himself. Finn and I stood behind Loki, just as Freya Familia members stood behind her.
Royman hesitated, but started speaking when he saw Hedin glare at him for wasting his goddess's time.
"Actually, the Guild is going to announce a tournament soon, which will be open for all. And I think that will be a good opportunity for both your familias to settle the score without excessive bloodshed," he said.
"A tournament? Quite a convenient timing, wouldn't you say?" Loki put her doubts forward. Freya didn't miss the chance to throw a jab at Loki.
"My, Loki… surely you are not getting cold feet already?"
Loki's eyebrow twitched instantly. "Cold feet? From you?"
Freya tilted her head slightly, silver hair sliding over her shoulder. "You sounded rather doubtful for someone so confident moments ago. I simply assumed you were worried about how the results might reflect on your children."
Loki snorted loudly, leaning back against the sofa with a grin that showed too many teeth.
"Oi, don't lump me together with a weak-kneed goddess like you. If there's a fight, my children will win. Simple as that."
Freya smiled pleasantly. "How reassuring. I was beginning to think you intended to bark louder than you bite."
A vein bulged on Loki's forehead. "Haah? Wanna say that again, Freya?"
"Gladly." Freya's smile sharpened ever so slightly. "Though perhaps you should save that spirit for the tournament instead."
"Lady Loki, Lady Freya!" Royman hurriedly cut in before the atmosphere worsened again. "T-The Guild truly was already planning this beforehand! The School District's return has brought unprecedented attention to Orario, so we intended to hold a large-scale event regardless. This incident merely… accelerated the event. …but what do you think, Lady Loki? Lady Freya?"
Both goddesses exchanged a look, Loki grinned while Freya smiled softly.
"Bring it on!" Loki declared confidently.
"Very well. I shall see whose children shone the brightest on the stage." Freya placed her chin on her hand as she spoke.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
"A tournament?! Really?!" exclaimed Tiona, her chair toppling as she stood up with a start.
"Yes, a tournament. Also, pick up your chair," I replied.
I was sitting in the dining hall along with Tiona, Tione, Raul, and Aki. As displayed by her blind enthusiasm, Tiona was really excited for the upcoming event.
"Though there are still weeks before it begins and is announced by the Guild officially," I said.
Aki crossed her arms as she spoke. "And what kind of tournament is it? Will we be fighting with other familias?"
"The details aren't clear yet, but I think it will be more along the lines of individual battles, rather than one Familia versus another Familia, as that would end up as a war game, not something the Guild is too keen about," I replied.
Raul groaned. "That's going to be messy…"
"That's an understatement. A lot of people are going to use this as a chance to settle some scores." Tione added, looking toward the rest, who followed her gaze as they too stared at me.
Tiona suddenly blinked. "You mean all the elves are going to target Arin?"
Silence fell over the table for a second.
Then—
"Ah."
"Ah…"
"...You're screwed," Raul concluded sympathetically.
"I don't think there are many people who can beat me."
"Yes," Aki replied calmly. "But there are significantly more people capable of making your life annoying."
That…was unfortunately true.
I already remembered the way Hedin looked at me.
No, not just him.
Even Hogni.
And if those two were already like that, then the rest of the elven community probably wasn't going to stay quiet either.
Damn those fanatics!
Tione smirked slightly. "Actually, now that I think about it, this might become a bigger event than Royman expected."
"Hm?"
"Think about it," she said. "The School District is here. The gods are bored. Freya Familia and Loki Familia already have tension. And then there's the whole 'A man dating the High Elf princess while four-timing' thing."
"Can you not make it sound like I committed a crime?"
"For elves, you practically did," Raul muttered.
Tiona burst into laughter while I buried my face in my hands.
Why is my life like this?
Just as I was questioning my fate, the dining hall door suddenly opened. Riveria stepped inside.
And the moment she did, everyone at the table went completely silent.
…Ah.
Right.
She looked at all of us calmly before her emerald eyes landed on me.
"…Why did everyone stop talking?" she asked.
No one answered immediately.
Tione looked away.
Raul suddenly became interested in his food that had gotten cold.
Tiona looked like she was about to explode from holding in laughter.
Aki quietly lowered her gaze.
Riveria narrowed her eyes slightly. "…What happened?"
All eyes slowly turned toward me. I sighed.
"It was nothing important, really," I said, as she took a seat beside me, though I seemed to have forgotten a chaotic element called Tiona, as she happily started yapping.
"Riveria, you know a tournament is going to happen soon, right?"
"Oh, yes, Loki just filled me in on the details."
"Yes, so we were talking about how Arin is going to get targeted by all the elves in the upcoming tournament."
Hearing her words, the temperature around Riveria seemed to have dropped.
Tione immediately intervened. "To be fair, most of them are probably just overly protective fanatics."
"Extremely overly protective," Aki corrected.
Riveria's emerald eyes slowly shifted toward me.
"…Does this bother you?"
I shrugged lightly. "I mean, it sounds annoying, but not enough to really bother me."
That pressure eased slightly. For a second there, it genuinely felt like Riveria was about to march outside and start hunting elves.
Tiona grinned mischievously. "Though honestly, I kinda want to see it now."
"See what?" I asked cautiously.
"All the elves trying to challenge Arin!"
"…Please don't say things that make my future sound miserable."
"It'll be entertaining!"
"For you." I continued, "Though I don't think it will be a free-for-all type of battle, but a more organized one."
Riveria quietly walked over before sitting beside me.
"…If someone causes you trouble because of me," she spoke calmly, "then I shall deal with them."
Without thinking much about it, I reached over and gently held her hand under the table.
Riveria blinked once in surprise before her expression softened faintly.
"It's fine," I told her. "I can handle a few angry elves."
"…There will likely be more than a few."
"…Can you please stop making it sound worse?"