"I see."
That was all Ouranos said.
His voice echoed off the marble walls of the Guild's highest chamber — not raised, not surprised. But those who had served long enough could tell: this was the kind of silence that preceded storms.
Ganesha folded his arms, frowning. "You're telling me that Freya invited an unregistered adventurer — no, a completely unbound outsider — to her personal residence… and then asked to court her?"
The assistant beside him, Royman Mardeel, coughed awkwardly.
"Politely," he added. "According to our source, it was a tea invitation. Very… civil."
"Since when has Freya been civil?" muttered Hermes, lounging sideways on a railing high above. "She usually just collects things she wants."
Ouranos turned to him. "And yet she did not. Why?"
"Because she couldn't," said a soft voice.
From the shadows, Fels stepped forward. Their robes rustled, eyes glinting beneath the hood.
"She couldn't move against this Tsukihana woman. She sensed something she couldn't control."
Ouranos stood slowly.
"When Freya hesitates, it is not out of fear. It is calculation."
He turned to face the long, star-lit map of Orario embedded in the floor. The grid shimmered faintly, each quadrant indicating familia activity.
But one point glowed subtly on its own — a location without affiliation.
"Watch that one closely," Ouranos said. "She may not be one of us. But she is in the city."
🕯️ Back in the Hestia Familia Home
Tsukihana sat cross-legged on the floor, idly scratching the back of her ear with one long, claw-tipped finger. Her tails lay draped lazily around her like discarded silk banners. A freshly steeped pot of foxberry tea sat beside her.
"I still think going to Freya's place alone was insane," Hestia muttered, half-hiding her face in a pillow on the couch. "She collects lovers like trading cards."
"I was not added to her deck," Tsukihana said, sipping her tea. "She tried. She was charming. But in the end… she feared me too much to act."
"She flirted with you!"
"She flirts with everyone," Tsukihana said mildly. "Even her mirror, I suspect."
Welf cleared his throat. "You didn't, like… accept her offer, right?"
"I accepted the tea. I rejected the collar."
Bell blinked. "Collar?"
Lili groaned. "It's a metaphor, Bell."
Tsukihana sipped again, amused. "Only partly."
Mikoto, who had been silent for most of the evening, suddenly spoke.
"I felt it," she said. "That night. When you left. Something… woke up. Not just in the city. In the Dungeon."
The room fell quiet.
Even Hestia sat up.
"What do you mean?" Bell asked.
"The next day," Mikoto said, "when I went to Level 10 with Welf, the monsters were different. Smarter. Quieter. Like they were listening."
Tsukihana nodded slowly.
"They're remembering."
"Remembering what?" Bell asked.
Tsukihana didn't answer right away. Her gaze drifted toward the window — toward the Dungeon's black tower rising at the center of the city.
"Me," she said at last. "They're remembering me."
🌑 Elsewhere, in the City
A child ran through an alleyway.
She had no shoes, a torn hood, and wide, glowing green eyes.
Behind her, three adventurers stalked slowly. Low-tier, drunk. Cowards emboldened by numbers.
"C'mon, little brat," one said. "You ran into our loot split. That's gotta cost you something."
The girl slipped. Fell.
One of them laughed.
Then stopped laughing.
The alley darkened. The streetlights dimmed.
A low growl echoed from the shadows.
Something soft padded against stone.
The men turned.
A fox.
Nine tails.
Glowing.
Silent.
And smiling.
Later, no bodies were found.
Only torn boots, a shattered knife, and claw marks burned into stone.
The girl? She woke in the Hestia home, warm and fed.
She never spoke of what she saw.
But she kept a single silver hair tied to her wrist forever after.
🍃 The Next Morning
The city buzzed.
Rumors spread like wildfire.
A silver-haired woman with nine tails had been seen walking alone past Ganesha's coliseum. Someone swore they saw Ottar himself bow to her once in passing. Another said she entered the Guild and left with nothing more than a cup of coffee.
Inside the Dungeon, more whispers rose.
Not from mortals.
From monsters.
Some of them no longer charged.
Some… waited.
And when Tsukihana entered the Dungeon again that morning with Bell at her side, something changed.
The Dungeon paused.
For a heartbeat.
Then continued.
But slower.
Watching.
🌀 Inside the Dungeon — Floor 15
"Tsuki-san?" Bell called out, slicing through a fangtooth hound. "You're awfully quiet today."
"I'm listening," she said.
"To what?"
She turned, slashing her fan in an arc that severed two goblins mid-leap without looking.
"To the heartbeat."
Bell tilted his head. "The what?"
Tsukihana crouched beside a wall.
Laid her hand against the stone.
It was warm.
"The Dungeon breathes," she murmured. "It dreams."
Bell knelt beside her. "Is that… good?"
She didn't answer.
Because in that moment, the stone pulsed beneath her palm.
Like a soft, slow heartbeat.
And she whispered, almost lovingly,
"I'm here.
Do you remember me?"
The walls did not speak.
But the next corridor held no monsters.
Only silence.
And breath.
🏛️ Meanwhile — Loki Familia War Room
"Who the hell is this fox woman?!" Loki roared, slamming her hand on the table. "Freya's not saying squat, Ouranos is pretending to be a statue again, and all I get from Hermes is that she drinks tea and stares at people until they get religious!"
Riveria looked up from her scrying orb.
"She's strong," she said simply.
Finn nodded. "More than that. She's old. You can feel it."
Bete growled. "You saying she's some kind of immortal?"
"She's something the gods didn't plan for," Gareth rumbled. "And that makes her dangerous."
Loki glared out the window at the city skyline.
"Get eyes on her. I want every movement tracked. If she even looks at one of my brats funny, I want to know."
And in her mind, she added silently:
"Please don't make me fight you, vixen.
We're running out of room to hide our mistakes."
🕯️ That Night — Tsukihana's Room
She stood alone before her mirror.
Nine tails unfurled gently behind her, glowing soft in the dark.
She brushed her hair in silence.
Paused.
Then whispered, "You see me now, don't you?"
The mirror did not answer.
But her reflection smiled back anyway.
In the corner of the room, Hestia watched quietly from the cracked door, clutching her necklace.
"She's not like us," she whispered. "She's older. Wiser. Wilder."
She closed the door softly.
"But I hope she stays anyway."
📜 End of Chapter 9