After that, we ran all over Orario searching for Toki. But in the end, we couldn't find him, and before we knew it, night had completely fallen.
"He's nowhere to be found…" Lulune from the Hermes Familia muttered with a gloomy expression. Even with her dog-like Sianthrop nose, she couldn't catch Toki's scent. Apparently, some nasty Molbul bags were thrown into the sewers earlier, ruining her sense of smell.
"If he really wanted to hide, I'm not sure any of us could find him…"
Asfi sighed as she spoke.
I told her the information I'd gotten earlier from the Hestia Familia's Absolute✝Shadow, that Toki had been in the entertainment district searching for the head deity, and she looked tense, a vein throbbing on her forehead.
"Hermes-sama… at a time like this…"
It seems the male gods' faction often faces this kind of trouble. My condolences.
"What do you mean by that?"
Riveria responded to Asfi's words. Not sure if they could find him… What exactly did she mean?
"He's always been an expert at hiding. Sometimes he disappears into blind spots where humans don't look. Other times, he blends right into crowds… If you think about it logically, just searching aimlessly won't work."
Asfi's gaze grew distant, as if recalling something.
"He blends into crowds… so even if we increase the search party, "
"Probably won't help much. At most, a few more people."
The more people they add, the harder it gets to find him… Toki really can do anything.
"Hey, hey, something I've been wondering about."
While we were thinking about how to find Toki, Tiona suddenly brought up this topic:
"What did your boyfriend do before becoming an adventurer?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I heard he got his 'Blessing' only a few months ago, but he can already do so many things. I'm curious what he was doing before that."
…That's true. I've known Toki for three years, and he was capable of all sorts of things even then. I want to know where it all began.
"Toki's past, huh… Actually, I don't really know either. Asfi, tell us."
Lulune, who's in the same faction as him, chimed in. It seemed Asfi knew more.
"Well… I suppose it's alright to share. Six years ago, Hermes-sama and I found him collapsed in an alley."
…That was quite a heavy start.
"For three years after that, he traveled the world with Hermes-sama and me."
"Um, can I ask a question?"
I finally asked something that had been on my mind.
"What is it?"
"Why didn't Toki have a 'Blessing' back then?"
According to Asfi, he met Hermes six years ago, but only recently received the Blessing. Why wasn't it granted immediately?
"He had committed some sin before we found him. I was told by Hermes-sama that withholding the Blessing was a punishment for that."
A sin… What kind of sin could it have been?
"Nowadays, he can do anything, but at first, he was really difficult. Lacking common sense, quiet, in a way… pure."
Her expression softened with nostalgia.
"…I can relate."
Riveria seemed to empathize with Asfi's story.
"I've trained Ais, Lefiya, and many others here, so I've seen this kind of thing often."
"He's still a handful, though."
"Absolutely."
…Hearing it so plainly makes me feel a little conflicted.
"Ais is especially tough sometimes."
"Being the 'Sword Princess' isn't so bad. Mine, probably because of Hermes-sama's influence, occasionally acts like a god chasing after fun…"
For some reason, Riveria and Asfi talking about raising children felt like two mothers chatting.
"Asfi and Nine Hell feel like moms."
"Absolutely not moms."
"If not moms, then sisters."
Lulune said this, and both of them immediately contradicted her.
"Honestly. Why do you all call me mom or mama?"
Asfi nodded repeatedly at Riveria's complaint. I realized those two surprisingly get along well in some ways.
"We got sidetracked. After finishing as Hermes-sama's attendants, he was assigned to mundane Familia chores. But since he could already do so much, it wasn't enough for him… When he came back next, he was running a shop."
"That's the 'Lost Child of the Abyss'…"
"Yes. By interacting with many people, he grew a lot as a human being."
Asfi laughed, saying she never would have imagined this when they first found him.
"This got long, but that's all I know about his past."
"So, basically, his strength came from being Hermes-sama's attendant?"
"Partly, yes. But he already had many of the skills before that."
Toki doesn't like talking about his past, so I was glad to hear something, even if the key details remained a mystery.
"By the way… who exactly are you people?"
Suddenly, Asfi's expression tightened as she fixed her gaze on a corner of the room. There stood a group cloaked entirely in black robes.
Tension swept through everyone present.
"Oh my, you noticed us. Since when?"
A man's voice came from the center of the group, responding to Asfi's question.
"Since we started talking about Toki. At that moment, I sensed your presence falter."
"Was it because I couldn't help but listen when I heard his name...? I guess it's true you shouldn't do things you're not used to."
Asfi spoke politely, but her dagger was already drawn and she was in a combat stance.
"Why didn't you tell us, Asfi!?" Lulune blurted out, hurriedly raising her weapon.
"I didn't want to interrupt the conversation. You were in a good mood, and they showed no intention of attacking."
…Asfi must be really exhausted. She's helped us again this time; I should send her something as thanks.
"Let me ask again, who exactly are you?"
"Well... you could say we are your predecessors."
"What do you mean?"
"Toki's foster parents."
At those words, Asfi twitched but her face grew even more serious.
"So, assuming you really are Toki's foster parents, what business do you have sneaking into our Familia without permission?"
"No, it's because this child wanted to see you, so we're accompanying him."
The man spoke, and a figure from behind him stepped forward, pulling back the hood of his robe to reveal his face.
"Eh!?"
"Wh-what!?"
We gasped in shock, because the figure was T-o-k-i.
He smoothly extended his right arm to the side, and a dagger appeared in his hand.
Then... without hesitation, he lunged forward.
Everyone froze in surprise.
Amid the chaos, Asfi intercepted Toki's attack. Frowning, he immediately conjured a dagger in his left hand and slashed at her.
Asfi twisted her body to evade and counterattacked with her dagger.
The two clashed fiercely, locked in an evenly matched duel. The suddenness of it left everyone else struggling to keep up.
They broke apart, keeping their daggers ready. Asfi glared at the man in the robe.
"You look very similar, but who exactly are you?"
Asfi's words deepened the confusion. Similar? So he wasn't really Toki?
"What do you mean?"
The robed man returned the question.
"Exactly as I said. He certainly looks like Toki, but that one over there is someone else."
"On what grounds?"
Asfi's tone left no room for doubt, prompting the man to ask further.
"It's the way he holds his knife."
The man tilted his head at Asfi's answer.
"Toki always conjures or materializes his knives with a regular grip. But that one's holding his knife reverse-handed from the start."
That was true. The 'Toki' before us held his dagger in a reverse grip. Watching the fight, he hadn't switched his hold even once, it must have been that way from the beginning.
"More importantly, it's impossible that he and I are evenly matched. In a one-on-one fight, Toki is stronger."
Come to think of it, Toki can hold his own against the Guild Leader and Riveria-sama. So it seemed odd that he couldn't defeat Asfi, a second-tier adventurer.
"I see... so Toki has that kind of habit. I guess we were lacking in our investigation."
"Have you accepted that? Now then, how about you answer our questions?"
Asfi pressed her dagger forward toward the robed man, who nodded.
Then, surprisingly, he snapped his fingers. At once, the others behind him all threw off their robes.
"What the!?"
Every one of them was T-o-k-i.
==========
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