Is it wrong to try to meet someone in a dungeon?

Driven by his intense emotions, Chanis swung his sword wildly and repeatedly.

Faced with the increasingly powerful flurry of enemy swords, Welf, wielding his greatsword with agility, steadily defended himself.

Perhaps due to the superiority of weapon type and performance, Chanis launched more attacks. Seeing his opponent's smirk as he attempted to subdue him with strength and speed, Welf narrowed his eyes.

"No wonder high-level adventurers dare to act so arrogantly."

In an instant, Welf's waist, shoulders, and arms were poised to strike.

As if unleashing his own power, the broadsword flashed past. With perfectly executed movements, he deflected Chanis's brute-force attack, and with a swing of his broadsword, sent the one-handed sword flying into the air.

“——”

Time has frozen in Chanis.

Welf, who calls himself a "skilled blacksmith," is not unaware of the weaknesses of relying on high [ability values] in a tough fighting style that doesn't combine martial arts and tactics.

Facing an unnaturally stiff opponent, the black kimono fluttered and swayed with a clattering sound.

Time seemed to slow down, and Chanis's face began to twitch. At that moment, Welf kicked his opponent hard in the chest with his left foot.

Then, a rotation.

He turned the hilt of the knife in his right hand, so that the blunt back of the blade was facing forward.

"Hone your skills. Your weapon is crying."

The next instant, Welf mustered all his strength and slashed at his opponent's face, who was wearing glasses.

"Ugh—!?"

The large sword, slashing diagonally to the right, along with his glasses, sank into Chanis's cheek.

He let out a scream as he was being smashed, his body flying through the air and crashing heavily against the wall.

Zanis's body rolled to the ground, motionless. The thick back of the blade had become a blunt hammer on his face, leaving a deep, slanted groove, and his glasses were shattered into pieces.

Facing an enemy who rolled his eyes and remained completely silent, Welf said "Okay" and slung his greatsword over his shoulder.

"You really went ahead with it... that makes me feel a little better."

"...Chandra-sama?"

Just as Lily witnessed Welf's victory and the inability of Chanis to fight any longer, Chandra of the Soma Familia came to her side.

The indifferent dwarf simply flipped Zanis's body over and put on exquisite metal (mithril) handcuffs that even a high-level adventurer would find difficult to break with his bare hands.

"This guy even took the 'divine wine' and resold it for profit without permission. There's reason to put him in jail."

"So……"

"Anyway, I'll tidy up first. We'll leave the rest to the Supreme God to decide... He might listen to what we've said now."

When Chandra controlled the Familia under the false name of the Supreme God, anyone who resisted was purged. However, there should be a way to prevent his de facto dictatorship in the future. Chandra remarked this after witnessing Soma displaying the power of the Supreme God.

Their supreme deity, still on the balcony, looked at the now-messy interior—no, he kept watching Lily.

"Are you alright, Miss Supporter?"

"The goddess Hestia..."

Not long after, Hestia led them to the room on the top floor.

After quickly offering a few words of comfort and thanks to Lily, she raised her head and approached Somo.

"I want to discuss with you the matter of Miss Supporter... Lilyluka Erd's transfer of her Familia status."

"..."

On the balcony, Hestia stared intently up at the silent Soma.

"Her withdrawal fee from the clan will be secured by this dagger."

"H-Hestia, the goddess! That's her!?"

"It's okay. I've already spoken to Bell."

Upon seeing the "Blade of Hestia" that she had taken out, Lily screamed, but Hestia stopped her.

"This dagger is an extremely expensive weapon. If we lose the war game, you should sell it for money."

"..."

"But if we win, we'll get compensation... no, I should say I'll definitely make Apollo and the others hand it over. Then I'll use that money to redeem the dagger."

Hestia explained to him that regardless of whether they won or lost the war game, Soma would receive a large sum of money as a refund for leaving the group.

Soma took the Blade of Hestia, stared at the [ΗΦαιστΟS] mark engraved on the scabbard, and then looked up.

"That way your faction won't lose face. Please ask her to leave the group."

Hestia calmly stated her request.

With Welf, Fate, and Chandra watching from the sidelines, Somo, who remained silent, looked at Lily.

Soma and she, covered in wounds, locked eyes, and finally seemed to find an answer.

He turned to Hestia, nodded, and said, "I understand."

●

Only Hestia, Somo, and Lily changed locations and went to another room on the second floor of the management tower.

There were no windows in the room, and the doors were tightly shut, leaving no possibility of leaking confidential information. In the dimly lit room, they were preparing to carry out the ritual.

Lily, sitting in the chair, took off her shirt to reveal her back, which was engraved with [ability values]. Then, Soma cut a wound on his finger and dripped divine blood (ichor) onto the engraving formed by [hieroglyph].

Then his fingers traced a specific movement on Lily's back, and the entire imprint instantly emitted a faint glow. Finally, the [Ability Value] began to flicker.

Hestia immediately dripped her divine blood onto it. From the point where the blood fell, large ripples spread out; the color and shape of the rows of words gradually faded. Finally, Hestia drew a symbol representing the name of the chief god (herself) and the true name of her contract partner (Lily), and left a mark to conclude the ritual.

"Conversion".

The ceremony of leaving the previous [family] and transferring to another faction to renew the contract.

With the emitted light, the text, resembling an inscription, finally transformed into an engraving representing the [Hestia Familia].

At that very moment, Lily became a member of Hestia's Familia.

"Goddess Hestia... is this really a good idea? To bring Lily into your [Family], you've taken Lord Bell's cherished dagger..."

"It's alright. As long as we win the war game, everything will be resolved satisfactorily. To win, we need your strength. That's beyond question."

After the ceremony, a relieved Lily got dressed and anxiously asked Hestia about the collateral (the dagger). Hestia, on the other hand, puffed out her chest and declared confidently, "As long as we win, that's all that matters."

"We're out of time. Let's go."

“Okay, okay…”

Lily couldn't help but steal a few glances at Somo, while Hestia pushed her out of the room with both hands, urging her to leave.

"...Hess...Tia?"

"You didn't call me by the wrong name. What is it?"

After letting Lily leave the room, Soma, who was meeting the goddess (Hestia) for the first time, called her name with some hesitation.

She was called back as she was leaving and stayed in the room with Soma.

"...Is that girl truly a member of the clan I bestowed my 'blessing' upon?"

Faced with the girl's resolute gaze, which seemed to lack any memory of her former self, as if she had become a completely different person, Soma expressed his doubts and confusion.

Hestia, turning back, answered him in a slightly annoyed tone:

"That's right, she's a member of your clan whom you inexplicably disappointed in, abandoned, and neglected. She's a little girl who became stronger thanks to you twisting her mind."

Hestia told him, "She was abandoned by you, suffered a lot, and forced herself to become stronger."

With her blue eyes gleaming and her expression fierce, Hestia glared at the silent Somo.

"I want you to think carefully about what that child's change represents."

Finally, with this sentence as the ending, Hestia truly left the room.

Only the bewildered male god was left in the room.

In the room where there was no one else but himself, Soma stood there in deep thought, and did not leave for a long time.

□

Hestia and her companions reunited with Welf, Naza, and Mikoto, and left the Soma Familia's wine cellar.

Including Mih, who was waiting outside in case of emergency, more than ten people were running together on the road.

"I'm sorry to have troubled you all... Thank you everyone."

"Yeah, it's okay..."

"Please don't take it to heart, Miss Lily."

"Yeah... It's so good to see you again."

Hearing Lily say this, Nazha, Ming, and even Qiancao, whose eyes were covered by her bangs, all smiled.

Right beside them, Welf, carrying a large sword, and Sakura, a burly man with an axe on his shoulder, were talking.

"Did you bring that steel cable?"

"No, I just saw it in the tower and took it."

Just as everyone was celebrating their success in getting Lily back and the atmosphere was harmonious...

Lily spoke to Hestia, who was running beside her:

"But, Goddess Hestia, Lily still feels that it's not good for Lily to be the only one to join the War Game..."

In contrast to the puzzled Lily, Hestia, facing ahead, spoke as she ran:

"no."

Hestia shook her head, and Mich, who was next to her, continued:

"It's not just you."

Lily, unaware of what was going on, looked up at Mihe, who was smiling, while beside her, someone gave her a look of resignation.

□ Welf looked at Lily and the others and couldn't help but smile.

Soon after, the group arrived at the crossroads.

"See you another day, Xiaolizi."

"...Goddess Hestia, we also take our leave."

Welf headed to the right-hand road, while Sakura, Chigusa, and Mikoto ran to the left-hand road.

As Mihe, Nazha, and Lily stood in the middle of the fork in the road watching their retreating figures, a sudden gust of wind blew by.

Hestia pressed down on her tied-up, jet-black hair with one hand.

Looking up at the blue sky where the wind direction has changed.

●

"Mmm..."

Takemikazuchi was groaning.

This is an old communal housing complex built facing a narrow street. In the faction's headquarters (family headquarters) where he and his six fellow members live a simple life, he paces back and forth in his room with his arms crossed.

"War Game... I really want to help Hestia..."

The guild had already officially announced the war game, including the siege format, and he knew the entire competition method clearly.

For the sake of his friends, Takemikazuchi really wants to send reinforcements, but he is worried at the moment.

Simply put, they are hesitant about whether to have their members "convert" to join the Hestia Familia.

"Mih won't do. That guy only has one member in his familia. If we send away such a precious member, the familia will go bankrupt..."

A faction that loses all its members ceases to be a "familia" and faces annihilation. Depending on the circumstances, it may have to relinquish all accumulated credit and reputation, and even assets such as its residence (headquarters).

Muttering to himself, Takemikazuchi's thoughts kept circling back to the same spot.

"But even if we were to change our family's registration, only Sakura and Mikoto would be able to deal with Apollo and his ilk. That would be too much of a burden for Chigusa and the others..."

He recalled Chigusa, who was still Lv.1, and the other three members of the group, as well as Sakura and Mikoto, who were high-level adventurers.