"Rayleigh, thank you so much. And Hephaestus too. To be honest, I'm almost unable to keep the Crozzo family under control anymore. They're already planning to bypass me and report Welf's existence directly to Ares."
Even as a goddess, Phobos looked exhausted.
Her eyes seemed to have dimmed considerably.
Worry filled her voice as she said, "Once Ares learns that Crozzo Magic Swords have returned to the world, he will definitely use them for war immediately, causing even more conflict and chaos in the Lower World."
"That child... Welf resists forging Magic Swords. Putting Ares aside for the moment, the others will not allow him to waste such precious talent. In the end, they may even come up with inhumane methods to threaten him."
As she spoke, imagining such a scene, Phobos clasped her hands tightly together.
In that moment, she looked less like a goddess and more like a helpless woman.
And in truth, that was exactly what she was.
Having lost her Familia, she had even lost the reverence people once held for her.
As long as Ares did not use his divine power, no matter how absurd or unreasonable his actions were, they would still be considered "acceptable" in this kingdom.
Even Orario could not completely restrict the thoughts and actions of gods.
Just like when Apollo Familia attacked Hestia Familia in order to force Bell Cranell to join them—even though people had been seriously injured, as long as no one died, the Guild's handling of the matter would not have any substantial effect.
Nor could they forcibly suppress it.
Even Ganesha Familia could only maintain order.
They could not violently stop Apollo Familia, because Apollo Familia was not part of Evilus.
It was like the difference between a civil matter and a criminal matter. A
pollo Familia had understood that boundary very well.
And outside Orario, there was not even a management organization like the Guild.
That was why Ares's authority had swollen to such an extent.
Although Ares was a musclehead, if he truly obtained Crozzo Magic Swords, it would become an extremely terrifying situation.
Outside the city, including Rakia Kingdom, very few people could reach the level of upper-class adventurers.
Among Rakia Kingdom's one hundred thousand soldiers, those who had reached Level 2 or above could be counted on one hand.
The main reason was that the outside world did not have the Dungeon.
The monsters born from the Dungeon possessed strength far beyond that of surface monsters.
On the surface, threats comparable to middle-floor monsters were rare.
Even the appearance of a single Minotaur would cause a commotion and require the deployment of a knight order, or even an army, to deal with.
In such an environment, gaining the Excelia and great feats necessary to level up was extremely slow.
That was why Orario was the "center of the world."
Because of the existence of the Dungeon, the gods, and the Guild, all of them together formed the Labyrinth City, attracting countless adventurers who sought fame and glory.
For that same reason, the city also restricted high-level adventurers, preventing them from leaving, so as to stop the outflow of elite combat power.
"I understand the situation. In that case, we should leave as soon as possible."
"Mm. But Ares keeps very strict watch over us subordinate gods. Leaving probably won't be that easy... Ah! Right, how did you get in here?"
Rayleigh looked at the startled goddess and thought that although this goddess looked fairly intelligent, her reaction speed was unexpectedly slow.
She was only wondering about that now?
Just then, the carriage jolted slightly.
In that instant, Rayleigh witnessed something that left him utterly stunned.
"..."
That sway.
That amplitude.
That aftershock.
It made no sound, yet through the sheer process of movement alone, it allowed one's eyes to experience an indescribable sense of weight and softness.
Aight.
He took back what he had said earlier.
This was not the body type of an intelligent person!
At the very least, with that much capacity, it had to be taking up a lot of CPU and memory.
The result was that her brain occasionally displayed symptoms of natural airheadedness.
Rayleigh held his breath, suppressed the cold gasp he had nearly drawn in, and slowly exhaled, hiding the shock he felt inside.
Judging purely by visible scale, even in Orario, where goddesses gathered in abundance, perhaps only the goddess of the harvest, Demeter, could put up a fight against her!
"I used magic that can conceal my form."
"Eh? Invisibility magic?"
No wonder.
There were clearly so many people outside, yet this boy had managed to enter the carriage.
Even Phobos, who had been sitting inside the carriage, had not noticed that someone was right in front of her.
If he had that kind of ability, then perhaps they really could escape.
Phobos suddenly gained a little confidence in Rayleigh.
...
The carriage soon arrived at Phobos's residence.
She stepped down from the carriage.
A young man who looked to be around twenty years old was standing there, as though he had been waiting for a long time.
The moment he saw Phobos, his face lit up with joy and he walked forward.
"Welcome back, Lady Goddess."
"Ah, thank you for waiting here especially for me, Cleiston."
"Not at all. I simply wanted to see you as soon as possible after being separated from you for half a day, Lady Goddess."
"..."
Phobos's smile became somewhat strained.
Her gaze occasionally shifted behind her, as though she wanted to confirm something.
As for the young man in front of her, his name was Cleiston.
He was a member of Ares Familia, a Level 2.
He served as a squadron commander in Rakia Kingdom's knight order, with the authority to command one hundred and fifty knights and six hundred soldiers.
Ares had entrusted him with an important duty.
Namely, monitoring the subordinate gods.
Cleiston was young and full of ambition.
The first time he saw Phobos, his heart had been captured by her beauty, a beauty that did not belong to the Lower World.
From that moment onward, he had always longed to receive the favor of a goddess like the heroes in ancient tales, to experience a world-shaking romance between human and god!
More importantly, he wanted the goddess to become infatuated with him.
He wanted her to be so enchanted by him that she lost herself completely.
In stories, the heroine would often give everything she had for the protagonist, no matter the cost.
He hoped that he, too, could be treated that way.
What Cleiston did not know was that Phobos had long since seen through the intent in his gaze, which could not have been any more obvious.
And in daily life, Phobos did everything she could to avoid being alone with him.
Although she did not think he had the courage to truly offend a god, as long as she shared the same space with him, Phobos felt uncomfortable all over.
She tried not to look at this unpleasant man and walked directly toward her residence.
It was a noble's mansion.
Though whose mansion it had originally been, she did not know.
Now, its purpose was to serve as Phobos's cage.
Because the movements of subordinate gods had to be followed by watchers whenever they went out, Phobos spent most of her time alone in her room, avoiding Cleiston as much as possible and rarely coming out.
She returned to her room, closed the door, sat down by the bed and after letting out a sigh, fell backward.
Her long golden hair spread across the bed, looking even finer than the silk sheets beneath her.
She pressed the back of her hand against her forehead and narrowed her eyes slightly.
After her long eyelashes trembled twice, her breathing gradually evened out, and before long, she had fallen asleep.
Seeing how exhausted she was, Rayleigh covered her with a thin blanket before temporarily taking his leave.
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