After a brief moment of shock, Finn did his best to hold back his laughter.
He knew it was hard—but it was a promise.
Unfortunately, the way he "held it in" made him look like Lee Sang-hyeok: the kind of face that looks like it's holding it in, but is actually barely containing it.
Even more infuriating than laughing outright.
"If you want to laugh, just laugh," Riveria sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead, choosing resignation.
"Pff—HAHAHAHAHAHA! Cough, cough… But honestly, it's not that big a deal. That just means the young man has courage. Did he confess to you directly?"
Finn spoke with a perfectly serious expression, making Riveria want to punch him.
"No. He was just… too obvious. Aina might have noticed too."
Riveria reviewed everything that had happened today.
For a moment, she wondered if she'd overthought it—if it was just self-awareness running wild, making her assume a young man would like her.
But even after calmly replaying it from an objective, neutral angle…
She still felt Cid had intentions toward her.
It definitely wasn't her being delusional.
"Is that really a problem? If it were me—if I met a girl I truly liked—even if I were already past fifty, I'd still pursue her."
Putting himself in that position, Finn decided he absolutely wouldn't care about a small issue like age.
"I appreciate you trying to empathize, but my skin is thinner than yours—and the situation isn't the same."
Riveria shook her head repeatedly.
In this matter, she could not use Finn as a reference.
This was the man who, before joining Loki Familia, had formally warned his goddess Loki not to interfere with his plans to build a harem.
In that department, Finn's face was basically a wall of industrial-strength adhesive.
"Fair. If a young man can't control his emotions and pursues you loudly, you really would have a hard time. I get it."
"But it's still a shame. Someone that talented can't join Loki Familia… I'll repay this favor privately."
Finn did at least show understanding.
If Cid truly pursued her with fiery enthusiasm, people would probably call him a brave, pure-hearted romantic warrior.
But Riveria would inevitably get branded with the "older woman preying on a young man" label.
Young people who didn't understand boundaries might not realize how hard that would be for her.
…Though maybe that "difficulty" wasn't completely impossible to overcome.
"Riveria," Finn said after thinking it through, "you've still got far more years ahead of you than that young man. I don't think you need to care."
"Gods have lived for hundreds of millions of years, and some of them still chase love bravely, don't they?"
The more Finn considered it, the more he felt this might actually be a good thing.
Riveria had carried too much for the Familia's growth—she hadn't thought about herself in a long time.
Being responsible was good, but she shouldn't neglect her own life because of it.
And there were, in fact, examples of gods—beings with absurd lifespans—falling in love with humans.
A love that crossed the ages, sincere and true.
At worst… Apollo's case was "debatable."
"How could my situation be compared to a god's? And if you hadn't laughed earlier, your words might've been slightly more persuasive."
Riveria was still stuck on that.
Even if she'd allowed it—if even Finn couldn't hold it in, what would everyone else's reaction be?
"Riveria, don't you long for love?"
"It doesn't have to be that righteous boy—but right now you're acting like you're afraid of gossip. The Riveria I know isn't that timid."
"..."
Seeing Riveria fall silent in thought, Finn didn't push further.
But he did have a bold idea—
Maybe he could teach the young man a thing or two in this area.
He wasn't being modest. When it came to being popular, Finn was confident.
Even calling him a "love saint" didn't feel undeserved.
And if the young man was to his taste… maybe playing matchmaker wasn't out of the question.
"Riveria," Finn asked, "that righteous boy's name is Cid, right? What kind of personality does he have?"
"…I can't really say. He looks a lot like Raul."
"Only looks like him? Sounds like a very interesting young man."
Finn's anticipation grew.
At the Hearth of the Stars, Cid climbed in through the window into his own room, and within a second swapped out of "Shadow" and back into background-character mode.
That was the beauty of slime gear—so light and convenient it even spared him the hassle of undressing.
Cid came back precisely at mealtime because he couldn't accept what had happened.
Not long after he entered his room, there was a knock at the door.
"Cid! Come eat!"
"Coming, sis."
The moment he stepped out, Alise hooked an arm around him and hauled him away.
"Cid, why have you been performing so well lately? When I don't keep an eye on you, you rack up achievements one after another—do you have a problem with your big sister or something?"
Alise was delighted. Ten years of effort finally felt worth it.
"How could you say that? I only learned magic thanks to you, sis."
Cid said it with a forced smile, his heart bleeding.
Because while that Hellfire Supreme Ultra-Explosive Wave Cannon was cool—
Coolness came with a price.
Trading for one overpowering spell meant that most of his background-character secret arts were basically unusable going forward.
This was a catastrophic loss.
"Huh… If he could awaken a spell like that, it means he had talent in the first place. Could it be you spoiled him too much before?"
Kaguya hadn't expected Cid to cause such a massive disturbance.
Helping Riveria find the Dark Faction's base didn't surprise her—Cid had always been good at that kind of thing.
But the raw power of the magic he awakened was completely outside her expectations.
"How is that 'spoiling'?! Magic is dangerous!"
As Alise said that, she recalled her own childhood.
When she first awakened magic and couldn't control it, she nearly burned Lady Astraea.
And since Cid's talent in other areas was ordinary, she'd assumed his magic talent was ordinary too.
So how could this be her fault?
"…Isn't that exactly what spoiling is?"
Lyra sat down, muttering as if quietly.
What adventurer is that timid? Getting magic should be something to celebrate.
Just because you once messed up doesn't mean you should keep your little brother away from dangerous but powerful magic—if that's not spoiling, what is?
"…So it really is my fault?"
With everyone denying her choices one after another, Alise started to doubt herself.
"Admit it—it's your fault, you idiot! If Cid has talent like this, he should've gone to another Familia long ago and stood on his own!"
Kaguya showed zero mercy.
Only now did she realize it: Cid did have talent. He'd just been delayed by Alise.
Being a big sister like that? Honestly, she was asking to be yelled at.
"…Okay…"
Alise deflated, pouting.
She didn't like it at all, but she couldn't find a rebuttal.
She didn't rebut them—but two people desperately wanted to rebut them for her.
Cid: I'm fine being "delayed," okay?!
Ryu: Why is it that now that Cid has talent, everyone wants him to leave anyway?!
Meanwhile, Valletta returned in defeat.
She saw the devastation at the base, and then the bad news began pouring in.
"Report! The equipment warehouse has been blown up!"
"Report! Over half the monsters we were breeding are dead or severely injured!"
"Report! The Dis Sisters are missing!"
One item after another made the atmosphere around Valletta more explosive—
Just one spark away from detonating.
"Report! The strike that destroyed the warehouse appears to have been a powerful spell!"
Hearing that, Valletta laughed in pure fury.
"Riveria… I swear I will kill you!"
....
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