Ryota darted forward in three quick steps and asked the adventurer who had just spoken:
"What did you say?"
"Freya Familia? I'm with Freya Familia?"
The adventurers, initially excited at seeing one of Orario's biggest celebrities walking toward them, suddenly looked confused by Ryota's reaction.
They exchanged glances. On every face was the same look of bafflement, as if they'd just been asked a completely nonsensical question.
The one in front scratched his head, hesitating for a few seconds before replying cautiously:
"Uh… s-senior… you've always been a member of Freya Familia, haven't you?"
"Isn't that… like, totally normal?"
Another chimed in:
"Yeah, you're the hero who led Freya Familia to victory against Loki Familia in the War Game!"
"We all thought you were going to be Lady Freya's second-in-command after that!"
Every word felt like it was reconstructing a past that Ryota had never lived through.
His expression darkened.
"…I fought for Freya in the War Game?"
"Are you serious?"
But the adventurers looked just as serious, their expressions tinged with hesitation and confusion, as if they couldn't understand why reality itself was being questioned.
"Senior… are you feeling okay?"
"Did you maybe overdo it in the Dungeon?"
Ryota was about to press further when—
Rinnegan Perception quietly activated.
An invisible ripple radiated from his mind. The world around him didn't change visually, but the "filter" over reality had clearly shifted.
In his sensory field, the mental energy inside the adventurers in front of him became clearly visible, like streams of glowing current.
This wasn't just the observation power of the Sharingan—it was layered with the Rinnegan's deep-read capabilities, capable of perceiving the very structure of the soul.
And there it was.
In each of their minds, Ryota saw a faint, misty thread of energy lingering just above their consciousness.
It wasn't their own aura. Nor was it divine Falna granted by a god.
It was some sort of subtle, flexible psychic influence—drifting gently along their cognitive pathways.
Thin and fine like a strand of silk, it quietly wrapped itself around their mental core.
Not brute-force mind control.
But more like ivy, softly and naturally reshaping their understanding of the world.
Ryota's pupils shrank.
One name surfaced in his mind, more familiar to him than any other:
The Goddess of Beauty—Freya.
In this world, Freya's charm was never just simple illusion or coercive mind control.
Her power didn't erase memories with brute force.
Instead, she used divinity as the catalyst and desire as the medium, subtly replacing your interpretation of your memories' meaning.
So you'd "remember" everything… but believe a different version was the truth.
She didn't change what happened. She didn't erase facts. She just tampered with the key part:
Who you believed did what. Who you believed it belonged to.
Everyone still remembered Ryota leading Loki Familia to victory in the War Game.
But now, all of Orario had begun to believe—
—"That was Freya Familia's victory."
—"Ryota belongs to Freya."
This wasn't hypnosis. It was a belief substitution.
A cognitive feedback loop, constructed through divine charm and the restructuring of mental architecture.
At the extreme, Freya could even rebuild a person's spiritual anchor—make them truly believe:
"I exist for Lady Freya."
That's why her Familia was filled with so many obsessive followers.
It wasn't mere admiration. It wasn't just aligning with self-interest.
They simply didn't realize their mental anchors had already been swapped.
In their hearts, they genuinely believed:
"The purpose of my existence is to serve Lady Freya."
A deeply guided, authentic illusion.
Until everyone in the city naturally, rationally, and unquestioningly accepted a false reality.
In the original story, Freya used this exact power of charm to make all of Orario take it for granted that Bell Cranel—the saintly silver-haired virgin—was a member of her Familia.
But now?
Now it was Ryota's turn.
In the entire world of DanMachi, only three goddesses and that non-existent saintly protagonist were immune to Freya's charm.
As for why Ryota hadn't fallen under her spell?
The answer was simple.
He didn't belong to this world.
His power system was Sharingan, Sage Jutsu Chakra, and Hashirama Cells.
Every single one of those was a foreign force, utterly outside the rules of the DanMachi universe.
So no matter how powerful Freya's charm was—even if it could erode an entire city and reshape everyone's cognition—it couldn't touch the spiritual core of someone who was a foreign element to this world.
More precisely, it couldn't affect him.
It was like two incompatible systems: one running the "DanMachi OS," and the other a "Naruto World Cheat Engine."
Ryota was a misplaced variable in the code.
Not rejected—just never listed in the logic tree in the first place.
And that's exactly why he could stand outside the storm and see the truth for what it was.
After the War Game ended, Freya had been decisively defeated 2-0.
But her only request had been to personally disband her Familia.
She didn't ask to return to the divine realm. She wasn't exiled from Orario.
At the time, everyone thought she was bowing out gracefully—preserving a shred of divine dignity.
But now, thinking back…
"So that's it…"
"She was already making her move back then."
Even if she lost the war. Even if her Familia was gone. Even if her faith crumbled.
As long as she remained in Orario, she could unleash her charm at any time.
Not to "form a new Familia," but to reshape those she fancied into her Familia members.
Ryota chuckled.
"So that's how it is."
"That crazy woman never planned on losing from the start."
"She just chose a different way… to take me."
Fwoosh—!
Space twisted like it had been torn open. Ryota's figure vanished instantly.
The adventurers he'd left behind stared blankly, question marks practically stamped on their faces.
"He… just disappeared?"
"Was that magic?"
"So that's the world of the strong? Even leaving the scene isn't normal!"
"..."
They all muttered in awe, marveling that they'd finally seen one of Orario's elites in person—completely unaware that their "memories" no longer belonged to the true version of the world.
…
The air shimmered faintly.
Fwoosh—!
Ryota appeared out of nowhere in a familiar forge room belonging to Hephaestus Familia.
He walked over and picked up a kunai lying in the corner, marked with the Flying Raijin technique.
To his eyes—or rather, throughout all of Orario—countless lines stretched invisibly through the space.
Narrowing his eyes, he ran a finger along the kunai's edge.
"She really did charm the whole damn city."
He smirked.
"I was actually planning to wait until the fusion was done… then unleash an [Infinite Tsukuyomi] and pull all of DanMachi into my world."
"But turns out that crazy woman beat me to it."
"What can I say…"
"Stupid method, but the goal's kinda the same."
"Shame this world's rules don't allow gods to be killed…"
"Otherwise I'd go carve a few lines across that pretty little canyon of hers."
His attitude toward Freya could be summed up in two words: absolute revulsion.
Not because he was some chaste, pure-hearted romantic hero who'd drop dead at divine contact.
Hell no. He'd transmigrated into the DanMachi world. What pure romance?
Of course it was harem all the way!
But only if he wanted it.
Someone like Freya…
One day she fancies you, she'll pour out her divine charm and go to any length to make you hers.
But the moment you lose that spark of divinity she sees?
She'd turn on a dime and go hunt the next shiny young thing.
Not to mention…
Freya's colorful reputation back in the heaven.
Just thinking about it made Ryota sick to his stomach.
Still, all grumbling aside, solving the current problem came first.
Ryota thought for a moment.
What if he went full-power now and stormed Freya's manor—the old base of her Familia?
It wasn't that he couldn't do it.
With Susanoo, Universal Pull, Flying Raijin…
Any one of those techniques could wreak catastrophic havoc on Orario.
But the question was—would that actually solve the problem?
"Killing Freya, or severing the source of the charm directly."
"Sounds satisfying."
"But if I make a move on her…"
"Ouranos—the one suppressing the Dungeon—won't stand by. Those heavenly gods might even band together and brand me a rule-breaker."
"Then I won't just be up against a god…"
"I'll be up against the entire divine hierarchy."
Ryota sneered.
"I'm proud, not stupid."
"A real powerhouse lives like a god within the system of power. Not some lunatic flipping the whole damn table."
Besides…
He glanced at the kunai in his hand.
"Killing her—does it even help my main quest progress?"
"No."
"The fusion won't accelerate. The mission won't complete. If anything, I might trigger a world-class 'Enemy of the Gods' status early."
"Nothing but downsides."
Ryota stretched lazily.
"That only leaves one path."
"Bit by bit, I'll dismantle her charm."
"Start with the smallest threads. Snip them one by one, until she can't touch a thing."
The moment he finished that thought, a familiar mechanical voice echoed in his ear:
[Ding—Main Branch Quest Triggered!]
[Awaken key individuals to their true understanding of your affiliation (0/3)]
[Current Status: Incomplete]
[Reward: Unknown]
The quest sounded simple enough, but Ryota quickly ran through it in his mind and realized:
"…It's the same logic as the earlier Orario exploration."
"It's not fixed on three specific people. Doesn't have to be three big names."
"Anyone with a real connection to me—if I can wake them from the charm and restore their true memory of me, that counts as one."
Almost instinctively, two faces appeared in Ryota's mind—clumsy elf Lefiya, and blonde girl Ais.
"Those two are a must. As for the third… maybe Ryuu Lion? Or—"
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the door, cutting off his thoughts.
Moments later, the heavy forge door creaked open.
Red-haired goddess Hephaestus walked in, but her expression was nothing like before.
"Freya sent someone here looking for you again."
Her tone was cold, distant. She slammed a bill down on the table with a "smack."
"Make sure you clean up when you leave."
"And don't forget to pay the usage fee."
Ryota twitched.
That was not how Hephaestus used to act.
Back when he first revealed his forging skills and mysterious development abilities, her ruby-red eye practically sparkled with excitement.
He'd mooched off who-knows-how-many rare forging materials here, and Hephaestus always helped him personally find the best furnace—even while shaking her head.
But now?
Polite tone. Clear distance. She even wanted him to pay a "facility fee" by the rules?
Ryota looked down at the invoice and shook his head lightly.
This "charm" business was turning into a mini-Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Even gods could have their attitude anchors toward people subtly altered.
He looked at Hephaestus's single visible red eye and smiled faintly.
The quest required three—but it never said only three.
"Then let's start with you, Lady Hephaestus."
"…Time to snip the first thread."