"Selfish, petty… aren't you describing yourself, Freya?"
Just as Hermes was wondering how to steer the conversation away, a deliberately sultry voice cut in.
That voice was familiar too—it belonged to another goddess of beauty, though one who sat considerably lower on the divine food chain these days.
The goddess who ruled over the Pleasure Quarter—Ishtar.
Her bronze skin gleamed under the hall's light, her revealing outfit showing off a figure even more provocative than Freya's. But where Freya exuded an effortless allure, Ishtar's charm was far more blatant—borderline excessive.
And because of that, her sudden appearance immediately drew dozens of sidelong glances from other gods.
Eyes darted, lingered, and roamed without shame.
"Ishtar, your look today is rather… desperate," Freya remarked, her tone light but the words razor-sharp.
The air, which had just been filled with admiration, cracked instantly. Especially for Ishtar, who had been basking in those hungry gazes—
"That line fits you better!" she snapped. "And speaking of causing trouble—you really outdid yourself, pushing all of this onto Loki. What's the matter? You and Loki not on good terms lately?"
Ishtar wasn't a fool. The moment she heard Freya's earlier "hint," she realized who the silver goddess had been referring to.
So the second it clicked, she couldn't resist jumping in.
After all, nothing made her happier than stirring up trouble for Freya.
If she could twist things just right and drive a wedge between Freya and Loki? Oh, that would be delicious.
"Heh."
Freya only let out a small, amused laugh.
"Ishtar, you're really not cut out for scheming."
"I merely offered Hermes some friendly advice," she continued smoothly. "Everything I said earlier fits perfectly within the standard behaviors of us gods, don't you think?"
Self-indulgent. Petty. Acting without purpose, purely for amusement…
Hermes's lips twitched. Yeah. That really did fit the standard for gods.
But he still couldn't deny it—Freya's "example" earlier had been aimed squarely at Loki.
Especially considering the reports he'd been collecting lately—only Loki had both the power and temperament to pull something like that off.
Only the bored, capricious, small-minded Loki matched those criteria.
Sure, other gods could do it with the right tools, but none of them had the motivation. Eliminating those options left only one conclusion.
Loki.
Of course, Hermes wasn't about to say that out loud. Not unless he wanted to get dragged right back into the mess he was trying to escape.
"You… you…"
Ishtar's face flushed red, her finger trembling as she pointed at Freya, utterly incensed.
Freya, meanwhile, looked delighted—her silver eyes glimmering as she took in Ishtar's flustered rage.
"My, my, Ishtar," she purred. "Why are you so eager to bring Loki into this conversation?"
"Oh—right." She pretended to recall something. "I heard you and Loki haven't been getting along. In fact, didn't you recently send one of your own children to seduce one of Loki's? Did you happen to learn anything… interesting?"
Wait, what?!
The entire hall went still for half a heartbeat—then every god's head swiveled toward Ishtar, whose face was now crimson for a very different reason.
Everyone here remembered the last Divine Assembly, when Ishtar had mocked Loki quite openly. Rumor had it that she'd gotten her "intel" straight from one of Loki's own children.
And now? The implications were wild.
Ishtar, however, refused to answer, which only made the other gods turn expectantly toward Hermes.
"Well? You're the information broker here. You must know something," one of them prodded.
Hermes glanced toward Freya—only to be met with a knowing, almost teasing smile.
He could only laugh awkwardly. "There's… some truth to it."
"It's not exactly a secret. After the last Expedition, one of Loki's 'super rookies' paid a visit to the Pleasure Quarter. Spent the night there, actually. Then caused quite the scene at Ishtar's place the next morning—something about ransoming one of her girls' contracts."
Holy crap, that's insane!
Gasps and murmurs erupted instantly. Every god leaned forward, eyes gleaming with scandalous curiosity.
The tale of Loki's kid being duped by a prostitute had already been the biggest laugh of the season. Now this? A sequel?
And apparently, this time he'd even gone to Ishtar herself to pay a ransom?
That was chef's kiss levels of chaos.
But wait—if that was true, why hadn't Ishtar bragged about it?
Normally, she'd have been the first to spread a story that made Loki look bad. Yet today, she'd been oddly quiet—deflecting attention instead of throwing fuel on the fire.
Which could only mean one thing.
There was an even bigger bombshell behind all this.
The gods could practically feel their divine hearts pounding with anticipation. Some of them were already miming holding a giant melon, pretending to munch as they waited for the next juicy revelation.
"Come on, Ishtar," one god teased. "You're no fun keeping this to yourself!"
"Yeah! No wonder you tried to drag Freya into it."
"Don't be stingy—spill it!"
Ishtar's eye twitched. She wasn't stupid; she knew they were egging her on. But damn it, she was furious anyway.
Freya had been the one to redirect the topic toward Loki, and now she was getting painted as the instigator?
Fine. Two could play that game.
"Hmph! You want a story? I'll give you one."
"It's true the so-called 'super rookie' came to the Pleasure Quarter after the Expedition. He spent a night there, and later came to me asking to buy one of my girls' freedom."
"I didn't make it hard for him. I gave him a price—and allowed it."
"He didn't have enough money, though. So instead, he bought a house nearby in the commercial district for her to stay in until he could pay the full amount."
That alone was enough to make the crowd whistle and snicker—but they could tell she wasn't done yet.
"And," Ishtar added with a coy tilt of her lips, "I happened to hear something else about Loki's new recruit. Not that I go eavesdropping, of course. My children just tell me things."
"According to them… this newcomer can summon Puppets."
Her voice dropped, every syllable laced with intrigue.
"And those Puppets… have spatial abilities."
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You can read up to chapter 150 on patreon.com/NiaXD.