Chapter 41: You Didn't Seal Your Arcanum?
Anyone with even a shred of knowledge knew that Hera was a Goddess. Now that Loki was accusing him of using a Goddess as a cover identity, Yumesaki genuinely felt a mix of annoyance and the sudden urge to laugh.
This woman... Was she playing games with him?
Loki, however, seemed to have her own entirely self-contained theory, "Exactly because you are a male God, you could easily be an alter ego used by Hera! Because that way, you can easily trick the Gods here in Orario. Too bad for you, you can't fool me—ouch!"
"I am not fooling you."
Yumesaki unhappily brought his hand down, rapping Loki right on the head.
The strike made Loki yelp in pain.
Standing behind her, Ais and Riveria watched the scene unfold and exchanged a glance, both seeing a deep sense of helplessness in each other's eyes.
If this had been any other adventurer bold enough to offend Loki like this, they would have stepped forward without a second thought to teach the offender a lesson.
But right now, the one giving Loki a piece of his mind was another God.
They simply didn't have the standing to meddle in a squabble between deities.
More importantly, it was painfully clear that Loki had started this whole thing herself. Letting her taste a bit of suffering wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Because of that, the two women stood exactly where they were, not moving a single inch.
"With physical strength like this... I actually believe you aren't Hera now," Loki said, rubbing her head.
Yumesaki blinked, momentarily stunned, and couldn't help but comment, "Do you judge people strictly by how hard they hit?"
Loki shook her head and replied, "Of course not, it's just..."
"It's just what?"
"It's just that back in the Upper World, I pulled way too many pranks, so I got beaten up by that crowd more than a few times. Especially Hera. She didn't just hit me once or twice, so my body memorized the exact amount of force she uses a long time ago."
Loki spoke with an odd sense of pride, "The force you just used to hit me and the force Hera uses are completely different. Therefore, I conclude that you are definitely not Hera."
Yumesaki was at a loss for words, "That doesn't sound like something to be proud of. Why do you look so accomplished?"
Even Ais and Riveria behind her subtly took a step backward, wearing thoroughly embarrassed expressions, as if trying to signal that they didn't know her.
Fortunately, Loki didn't notice this at all. Instead, she stared at Yumesaki with pure curiosity.
"Just who are you anyway? The strength from your blow doesn't match the identity profile of any God in my memory. You aren't Hera, and you aren't Zeus either."
"Don't tell me you really are someone from Evilus hiding under a disguise?"
Hearing this, Yumesaki couldn't help but roll his eyes, "You're overthinking things. I don't have a single shred of a connection to the Evilus crowd."
"Are you sure?" Loki pressed on, "But I feel like the aura you give off is very similar to them. You're supposed to be a God of Death, aren't you?"
Yumesaki didn't argue against that point, because he truly was a God of Death.
Upon hearing that Yumesaki was a God of Death, both Ais and Riveria, who were standing behind Loki, instantly grew tense and guarded.
After all, a God of Death was never considered a benevolent deity. At the very least, within the Labyrinth City of Orario, very few people would ever willingly join a Familia belonging to a God of Death.
Deities of that nature were practically grouped with Evilus right from the start.
Seeing the cautious looks on their faces, which made him feel like he was being eyed like a thief, Yumesaki was nearly driven to laughter by the absurdity.
"What's wrong with a God of Death? Did a God of Death eat the rice from your household? You act as if a God of Death can't possibly be a good person. I happen to be a kind-hearted God of Death."
Loki couldn't restrain herself and burst out laughing, "Do you even hear what you're saying? You're actually claiming to be a kind-hearted God of Death. Is there even such a thing as a kind-hearted God of Death?"
"Why shouldn't there be?"
Yumesaki argued back with perfect justification, "At the very least, a God of Death is entirely fair. It doesn't matter if you are a king, a general, a minister, an ordinary citizen, or an adventurer—when your time is up, you will absolutely die."
Loki noticed that Ais and Riveria seemed slightly swayed, looking as though they were actually being convinced by Yumesaki's logic. She immediately chimed in, "Hey, hey, hey, don't you go twisting concepts around on me. The thing that's fair is Death itself, not the God of Death."
"Death is perfectly fair to everyone, but the same can't always be said for a God of Death."
Seeing Loki sporting an expression that clearly suggested she had ulterior motives, Yumesaki let out a quiet sigh, losing all interest in continuing the debate with her.
Instead, he said, "Just spit it out. What do you actually want? Are you really just trying to cause trouble for me for the sake of it?"
"Not at all. I'm purely curious. Are you actually Hades, Anubis, or someone else? Or could it be that you're Yama?"
To clarify, the name Yama coming from Loki's mouth didn't refer to the King Yama of Eastern mythology.
Rather, it referred to the God of Death and Judge of the Deceased from Indian mythology... Yama.
Orario didn't have Gods from Eastern mythology, but it did have deities from Indian mythology.
Rudra, who had been mentioned before, was one such representative.
"I am none of them," Yumesaki said, shaking his head.
"Really?" Looking at Loki's expression, she didn't seem to buy Yumesaki's answer at all.
Yumesaki simply smiled, completely unfazed by her skepticism. Since she chose not to believe him, then so be it. Yumesaki was under no obligation to answer her questions anyway.
However, judging by Loki's behavior, she didn't seem to realize that he was a God from an entirely different world.
She merely assumed he was using a fake identity to cover for one of the known Gods, which was undoubtedly a good thing.
At the very least, he hadn't been exposed yet.
Then again, when it came to things like alternate worlds, as long as Yumesaki didn't explicitly mention it himself, generally no one would ever consider the possibility from that angle.
After all, to the residents of this local world, that kind of concept was far too detached from common sense to believe.
As long as someone was sane, they basically wouldn't believe in the existence of other worlds.
Unless, of course, they were presented with undeniable proof.
Granted, there were bound to be a few highly intelligent individuals who might deduce something along those lines, but that would require a truly brilliant God.
But was Loki that kind of God?
Clearly not.
Loki might be incredibly famous when it came to mischief and trickery, but if anyone were to claim she was some sort of intellectual genius, that would undoubtedly be a stretch.
She simply wasn't that type of profound thinker.
On the other hand, seeing Yumesaki adamantly refusing to expose his true identity, Loki didn't find it strange. Instead, she took it as the natural course of action.
The other party was acting completely suspicious, concealing his identity to slip into the Labyrinth City of Orario. He was obviously plotting something massive, so naturally, he wouldn't expose himself so easily.
"Since you're so unwilling to talk, then forget it."
Loki clicked her tongue, waving her hand dismissively as she lost interest, and proceeded to lead Ais and Riveria away.
Yumesaki watched the departing figures of the group, gave his head a gentle shake, and resumed his casual stroll through Orario.
Meanwhile, the moment Loki and her companions turned down another street, she abruptly halted her steps.
"Loki?" Ais asked, seeing her stop so suddenly, unable to resist calling out in a soft voice.
Riveria couldn't help but sigh, asking, "What exactly are you trying to do this time?"
Her intuition told her that Loki was highly likely trying to stir up trouble again.
"What do you mean, what am I trying to do? Don't you think that God of Death is incredibly strange?" Loki shot back.
Riveria countered, "Does that have anything to do with us?"
"Of course it does! My intuition tells me that man's origins are deeply mysterious. He definitely harbors ill intentions and might even pose a massive threat to the Labyrinth City of Orario."
"As the God of the Loki Familia, I naturally cannot allow that kind of thing to happen."
Hearing those words, Riveria couldn't prevent her eyes from rolling. In her memory, Loki was a God who practically feared the world wouldn't fall into chaos.
If she weren't, she wouldn't have earned such a massive reputation as the Trickster God back in the Upper World.
Therefore, Riveria didn't believe a single word of Loki's claim about doing this for the sake of Orario.
"What do you actually want us to do?"
"Didn't I already say it? To protect Orario, I need to figure out his true background. The two of you go and tail him right now, and see what exactly that guy is up to." Loki said after a brief moment of thought.
"Huh? You're telling the two of us to go spy on a God?"
Riveria fought back the overwhelming urge to slap Loki right across the face, "Do you even listen to the things you say?"
"Relax, there won't be any issues. As long as a God descends to the Lower World, they are absolutely required to seal their Arcanum. You two already know this, right? What difference is there between a God without Arcanum and an ordinary human?"
"With the strength the two of you possess, it's virtually impossible for him to notice you."
"Besides, he's a God of Death. If we don't keep a close eye on him, what if he triggers a disaster in Orario? You wouldn't want to see that kind of thing happen either, right?"
Ais and Riveria looked at each other and couldn't help but nod in agreement.
A God attempting to stir up trouble in the Labyrinth City of Orario would indeed be highly problematic, not to mention that this specific deity was a God of Death.
The natural aversion human beings had toward death meant they harbored no good impressions of a God of Death whatsoever.
Even elves, despite their long lifespans, would ultimately face death in the end.
Consequently, everyone naturally detested death and even strongly rejected the Gods associated with it.
Keeping an eye on him for a short while to prevent him from causing trouble didn't seem completely unreasonable.
Thus, Riveria and Ais ultimately gave in to Loki's request and went to tail Yumesaki.
After parting ways with Loki, the two women retraced their steps along the original street and very quickly caught up to Yumesaki.
However, they didn't keep watch from up close. Instead, they hid atop a rooftop situated quite a distance away.
Their distance from Yumesaki was roughly about one kilometer.
For ordinary people, such a distance would be incredibly far—so far that they wouldn't even be able to tell if a person was male or female.
But for a Level 5 like Ais and a Level 6 like Riveria, this distance was practically nothing.
They could easily see the flight path of a mosquito over a kilometer away with absolute clarity.
Let alone tracking a single grown person.
High-level adventurers were just that extraordinary.
However, what the two of them completely failed to anticipate was that as they secretly observed Yumesaki, right beneath their very eyes, Yumesaki suddenly vanished into thin air.
In a mere fraction of a second, he was completely gone from sight.
Both of them were instantly startled.
At the exact same time, a voice sounded from right behind them, "Are the two of you looking for me?"
Riveria and Ais were thoroughly shocked. As they spun around, their hands instinctively flew to draw their respective weapons.
But the moment they saw that it was Yumesaki standing right behind them, they couldn't help but let out gasps of utter surprise.
"It's you."
"You... You didn't actually seal your Arcanum?!"
This was absolutely terrifying, genuinely terrifying!
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
70 Power Stone = 1 Bonus Chapter (Up to 5 bonus chapters per week).
Read ahead and support the story on Patreon: patreon.com/FaaanzKun
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —