"Unaffected."
Soma had seen countless children fall under the god-wine's sway, but this was the first time he'd seen a child of Loki's react only to the high proof and the burn—nothing more.
He glanced at Loki again.
The flush rising on her cheeks said enough: even Loki had been touched by the wine's bewitchment.
So why was Loki affected while her child wasn't? He truly couldn't understand.
But Loki's point was already crystal clear.
"I guided him."
Soma held his ground.
"No—you never gave your children even a shred of guidance."
Loki denied him flatly, without the slightest courtesy.
"If you had guided them, the moment you noticed your children becoming drunk on your god-wine, you should have stepped in."
"Your children didn't know what your god-wine meant for them. You did no investigation at all, and handed it out as a reward."
"Trusting you, they drank without thinking."
"And when they were intoxicated, why did you do nothing?"
Soma's gaze slid aside under Loki's questioning. He spoke his honest thought, almost reflexively.
"They should wake up on their own."
"If they can do it on their own… what do they need a god for?"
That single line left Soma speechless.
"Maybe they could wake by themselves—but they still need a god's help."
"If you had intervened, perhaps things wouldn't be this chaotic. Perhaps after the first indulgence, they could have broken free quickly."
"But what did you do?"
"No guidance, no admonition—just the notion that sobering up should be their problem alone."
Loki's words were plain and cruel, stabbing straight into Soma's chest.
"…"
Those simple, blunt words drew Soma into silence.
This time, though, he unexpectedly began to reflect.
Perhaps Loki was right. When he first saw those symptoms in his children, he should have intervened—offered admonition, offered direction—instead of only watching while the children who once worked hard for the Familia's sake were poisoned by the wine.
Watching him fall silent, Loki felt the shut-in wasn't hopeless—merely stubborn, a single-track mind that stopped turning once it latched onto something.
"Well then, shut-in—do you still think your children are 'worthless'?"
"If so, hand that child over. The one you don't want—I'll take."
Soma's brows knit slightly.
That phrase "worthless" suddenly felt premature to withdraw. Instinctively, he glanced at Loki's child again. The boy had tasted the god-wine and remained unaffected, enough to make Soma wonder if the child lacked a sense of taste.
Even then, the god-wine's stimulation should still act on a Lower World child.
With one counterexample before him, Soma began to doubt his old conclusions.
"'Worthless'? They haven't done anything to make me take those words back."
"I still see them wallowing in god-wine. Your child resisting it doesn't mean everyone can."
Loki pouted and let the topic drop.
"In that case, give me your child."
"…I refuse."
Unlike his earlier indifference, this time Soma chose to refuse.
That reaction drew Loki's interest back to him.
"Are you playing me? If you think they're worthless, why can't I take one?"
"I said they haven't earned a retraction yet. I need to confirm."
"Confirm? In your current state? Your Familia is a mess, and you don't even hold the reins. On what basis are you 'confirming' anything?"
As ever, Loki went for the jugular.
Soma was the god of the Familia, but he did not hold control. The real power inside belonged to the Soma Familia's captain—and that same captain was the source of the chaos.
Soma recalled the scene years ago: that child drinking god-wine and sinking into bliss, and an unpleasantness flickered through his heart.
He had guided that child—but the one who made her drink wasn't him. It was someone else.
At the time, he concluded that even the child he'd guided couldn't resist god-wine—and from that moment he gave up on Lower World children.
But Loki's sudden words sparked a new thought.
"If I guide them—might that child develop the will to resist the wine?"
For the first time, Soma found something besides brewing that stirred his interest.
With an unexpected case before him, he wanted to see whether those children had "value"—whether they could make him take back "worthless."
Because of that sudden idea, Soma felt a surge of resolve to reclaim management of his Familia.
He answered Loki with a single, simple line:
"The Familia is mine."
Whether he managed it or not, it was his. The captain was merely an administrator—one whose authority he could revoke at any time.
"Mm-hmm. Then let me see how you 'do better.'"
Hearing him say that, Loki understood something inside the shut-in had shifted.
"Looks like I can't take that child today."
"She'll stay here for now. When you decide she's 'worthless,' come talk to me. I'll take her then."
"Tsunayoshi, we're leaving."
"Mm."
Sawada Tsunayoshi made no comment. The rabbit pulled him and Loki back into the pocket space, and the puppet vanished.
Left alone in the room, Soma stared at the spot where Loki and her child had disappeared, said nothing, and then turned on his heel.
He needed to visit the Guild—to discuss the matter of stripping and reassigning his Familia's captaincy.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[Thank You For Your Support!]