The Pleasure Quarter?
Raul had always wanted to go there, and that was hardly some great secret.
Anyone outside Loki Familia who was well-informed had probably heard as much too.
Sending Raul to the Pleasure Quarter to gather information really would not arouse much suspicion.
What Cid did not understand was why he had been chosen as well.
Finn had said it was because of his reputation—but was his reputation in that area really that bad?
Thinking of all the gossip surrounding him, Cid began to panic.
Could it be that, even in a world without tabloid magazines, fake news still spread this far?
Cid had always thought only a few bored gods bothered discussing that sort of thing.
No. He had to get to the bottom of this.
The people in that room probably would not answer him directly, so Cid decided to go question his good buddy first.
After Cid left, Riveria finally snapped under the teasing looks from Finn and Gareth.
"What are those looks supposed to mean? Wipe them off your faces!"
Yes, there were plenty of rumors outside about her relationship with Cid.
Even Level 1 adventurers who had never once interacted with the higher ranks could still speak about the two of them with remarkable confidence.
In everyone's eyes, Cid—just a Level 2—going into the deep floors of the Dungeon with Loki Familia every day was obviously strange.
And if you thought about it even a little, there was an extremely reasonable explanation—
Throwing himself into that kind of danger over and over again? Clearly he was doing it just to spend more time with his master, Riveria.
Because of his courage and fearlessness in love, Cid had even earned no shortage of praise.
One god who wished to remain unnamed—Hermes—had once commented:
"Openly pursuing your own teacher? That is stylish as hell!"
As for what Riveria herself thought...
She had already prepared herself mentally after realizing Cid supposedly had feelings for her.
But when she had to face the rumors in reality, her mental state still took a hit.
As an elven royal, this was truly the first time she had ever dealt with something like this.
"Pfft—cough, cough..."
Realizing he had laughed out loud, Finn immediately covered his mouth.
He was the captain of Loki Familia. No matter how funny something was, he was not supposed to laugh.
Unless he simply could not hold it in.
"What are you laughing at?"
Riveria glared at him in embarrassment and anger.
"I just thought of something happy."
"Pffhahaha!"
"And what are you laughing at?"
"I also thought of something happy."
Little Ais did not understand why Riveria was angry, nor did she understand why Finn was laughing.
She only felt sad.
Cid had promised her that in three days, he would prepare a special Goliath for her so she could continue building her great feat.
If Loki Familia really kept close watch on Goliath, then she would lose that chance.
No good. Cid was an adult, so he had to keep his promises.
Ais quietly made up her mind.
If Cid broke his promise, then from now on she would stop thinking of him as a hero like her father.
Cid went to find his good buddy Raul.
Aside from explaining the mission, there was one thing he absolutely had to ask.
But before he could open his mouth, Raul asked a question first.
"Cid, what happened to Alicia? I saw her sneaking off and crying. Don't tell me you rejected her confession?"
"Huh? A confession? No, nothing like that. Don't say weird things."
Cid was completely dumbfounded.
A confession? From Alicia to him?
He genuinely felt as though he had stopped understanding the language.
Was that the sort of thing that could even happen in reality?
Why would Raul jump to such an absurd conclusion?
"Then did you make her cry? That makes no sense either."
Raul really did not think Alicia was the sort of girl who cried easily.
Alicia, known as Pure Garden, was a very serious, very proper elf who deeply respected Lady Riveria.
Among the gods, she even had an unofficial nickname: "Loki Familia's disciplinary committee."
She held others to high standards, but she held herself to even higher ones. She was not the sort who broke down over trivial things.
If it was not because her confession had been rejected, then why would she be crying like that?
"You could say I made her cry, maybe? But there are reasons for that..."
Cid had just started to explain when Raul cut him off.
"No need to explain. You're a man, too—if you did something, you own up to it. Besides, you shouldn't be explaining it to me. Anyway, wasn't there something you wanted to ask me?"
Raul was good at reading the room. He could tell Cid had not come just to chat.
"I'm being framed here... Forget it. There is something important, but before that, I need to ask you something else. Raul, is my reputation really that bad outside?"
Cid had assumed everyone knew those rumors about him were nonsense.
He had been going on expeditions with Loki Familia the whole time—when exactly was he supposed to be hopping from girl to girl?
Even if outsiders did not know that, surely the people of Loki Familia did?
"Your reputation? Cid, hasn't your reputation always been excellent?"
Raul did not understand. He thought Cid was worrying that he was not qualified to succeed Captain Finn.
As far as Raul was concerned, ever since the Great Feud, and after everything Cid had accomplished while remaining humble despite his soaring fame, he had long since been recognized as worthy of becoming Orario's next commander.
It was not a matter of becoming commander first and earning recognition later.
Recognition came first—then came the right to be commander.
That alone proved his reputation was excellent.
"...That's not what I meant."
Cid felt his heart ache.
It had taken him more than half a year to finally understand what he had done wrong.
At first, he had assumed that in a city full of adventurers, every time he acted weak, people would naturally see him as a timid background extra.
But apparently, people used an entirely different standard when judging Orario's commander.
All the weakness he had displayed had somehow been interpreted as generosity.
He had even been praised for having the broad-mindedness expected of a true commander.
Every time he thought about that catastrophic misstep, Cid wanted to slap himself.
But now was not the time to dwell on that.
"I mean my reputation in private matters. Is it really that bad?"
Cid finally asked the real question.
"Well, buddy, I wouldn't say your private reputation is bad, exactly... it's just..."
Raul thought it over carefully.
In terms of private life, aside from being labeled too much of a womanizer, Cid had not really been accused of anything unforgivable.
He did have complicated ties with many women, but most of them made perfect sense.
Take Aki—no, Adi—of Ganesha Familia. Raul knew Cid had once saved her life.
That was the classic hero-saves-the-beauty situation.
The girls of Astraea Familia did not need explaining, especially their captain, the Red Justice Flower.
Officially, Cid and Alise were siblings.
In practice, though, they were closer to childhood friends.
Of course, what Raul still admired most was Cid's boldness in pursuing Lady Riveria.
Not even taking her fame into account, just the sheer audacity of openly desiring one's own teacher—it was the kind of move ordinary men did not even dare fantasize about.
And considering Alicia's reaction just now, plus a certain Gale from Astraea Familia...
Raul felt that Cid more than deserved the title Elf Killer.
All things considered, his personal life had only really earned him the label of womanizer.
If there was any real problem, it was the rumor that he had designs on goddesses too.
Looking at the two Familias Cid had belonged to, both of their patron deities were virgin goddesses.
And in neither Familia were there any other male adventurers.
Once he thought it through that way, Raul understood why Cid had asked.
As a member of Loki Familia, he knew enough about Cid's circumstances to judge his actions fairly.
But to outsiders who knew none of the details, Cid looked like the scandalous protagonist of some heroic romance novel—lustful, reckless, and audacious enough to challenge gods themselves.
That kind of reputation could not exactly be called good.
"Buddy, honestly, the other stuff is whatever. But we're still mortals, so when it comes to the gods... we ought to keep at least a little reverence in our hearts."
Raul offered the advice as tactfully as he could.
At this point, Cid's reputation could not really be salvaged anymore.
From Raul's point of view, aside from perhaps not having inappropriate thoughts about goddesses, Cid had not really done anything wrong.
The gods had lived far too long and seen too much. The kind of love they sought ought to be singular and absolute.
Raul did not think Cid could ever give a goddess the sort of love she truly wanted.
That was why, in his view, pursuing goddesses was the one thing Cid truly should not do.
Other than that, Raul was still firmly on Cid's side.
"You do know all those stories about me are just rumors, right?"
Cid was starting to panic for real.
If even the people of Loki Familia believed those stories, then he had absolutely no way to defend himself.
How was a background extra supposed to become the star of a gossip scandal?
"Rumors? Which ones are rumors?"
"All of them are rumors!"
"...Buddy, it's one thing to lie to me, but don't lie to yourself too."
....
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