By late afternoon, a single piece of news sent ripples through the labyrinth city.
"What? Soma's decided to overhaul his Familia? The current captain's already in the Guild's custody—embezzlement?"
"Tsk, tsk… that brat is greedy enough. God-wine that costs millions of valis and the punk had the guts to water it down. Bold, I'll give him that."
"Huh? So you knew?"
"Who doesn't? That kid's notorious for that stunt."
"How did shut-in Soma suddenly get this idea?"
On the outside, Soma had always presented as a tech-obsessed shut-in who ignored his image. For years he'd left his Familia on autopilot; now he was suddenly purging the atmosphere inside? The whiplash was real.
"It is abrupt."
"From what I know of him, without outside pressure he'd stay in that brewing room and never come out."
"So who met Soma today?"
The gods traded looks—blank faces all around. They had nothing in common with that hermit; meaningful conversation was unlikely.
With no answer in sight, eyes drifted toward Hermes, sipping wine to one side. The little crowd naturally edged his way.
"Hermes, got anything?"
Hermes pointed at himself, wide-eyed. They all nodded. He sighed, helpless.
"Sure, I deal in information—but I don't get my hands on every piece."
"Soma's a gloomy sort who prefers to lock himself in to brew. He doesn't even show up to the divine assemblies. How would I know who met him today?"
"Still, once I heard what happened over there, I dug a little. Occupational hazard."
As soon as the news broke that Soma had moved on his captain, Hermes set people sniffing around. The trail didn't show whether Soma met anyone—only what the Familia looked like around the time.
"After noon, Soma left his place and went to the Guild. Then the Ganesha Familia moved—escorted Soma's captain to the Guild."
"Given that, he's clearly cutting the captain loose for good."
"And the rest is what reached our ears."
"Before that, there was no sign of disturbance inside the Soma Familia. So if he did meet someone, it wasn't by any official route."
"To slip past the watchers over there, the visitor must be capable."
"Lv.2, maybe even Lv.3—both are possible."
"Of course, there's the item angle."
"But among the items we know, none actually erase a person's presence."
Hermes laid out two paths: a skilled infiltration, or a convenient tool.
"The only thing we can't pin down is the motive."
"Exactly."
Purpose—the word gave every god a headache. What motive would drive someone to speak with Soma alone—and get him to reverse years of neglect, dump his captain, and take the reins himself? That purpose seemed key, but it was the very thing no one could fathom.
"Can't fathom it? Then drop the 'purpose' entirely."
The lilting, sultry voice floated in as Hermes finished. The moment they heard it, they knew its owner. Countless admiring gazes tilted toward her.
Silver hair spilled down her back. A white dress traced a goddess's elegance and perfect form. Simply standing there, she became the city's axis of attention.
Among those stares, Hermes remained the most clear-headed.
"Lady Freya—are you saying there was no purpose to meeting Soma at all?"
"If you can't understand why someone went to see Soma, then assume there was no purpose."
"That god is capricious and petty. Maybe they went for a small matter—or on a whim."
That sounded an awful lot like you already know who it was.
Hermes thought it, but didn't say it. Instead, he followed her frame: capricious, petty, prone to impulsive spectacles—and, crucially, capable of a private audience with Soma.
He ran the list in his head, and his nerves began to twitch.
There was such a god.
Able, suspicious, and fitting.
Loki.
Her children were strong; she herself was willful; and, on a whim, she often did outrageous things.
Hermes glanced around. At any divine assembly, that flash of red hair was usually easy to spot—but he hadn't seen it in some time.
"Loki's a terrifyingly likely suspect."
"And yet… she's also the least likely to have met Soma."
Recently he'd had his own kids watch the Loki Familia. If anything moved there, he'd know first.
And they reported Loki hadn't left home.
Which meant the problem required deeper thought.
"That rumor from the Extraordinary Mouth—about a puppet with space-type ability—might be true after all."
"If it really was Loki's child taking her to Soma, you won't get answers out of Soma."
"We still don't have the child's full profile—but space ability can be tentatively confirmed."
Even so, Hermes didn't act like a man who'd solved anything. Freya's "hint" was a pitfall; handle it wrong, and he'd end up offending Loki badly.
(End of Chapter)
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