"I brought the magic stones."
"Ooh, thanks as always, Betchi!"
In the great chamber where Ouranos resided, the heretics who lived in the shadows of that darkness brought in their daily provisions and offered their apologies.
"I'm sorry. Because I acted so carelessly..."
"Huh?! N-no, no! It's not Betchi's fault!"
"It didn't seem like they were targeting us in the first place."
"He's right."
At the heretics' words, the old god added his own support.
"Lord Ouranos..."
"This may even be for the best. If something like this had happened when you weren't here, that would have been a real disaster."
Even with the deity's encouragement, my expression refused to brighten.
I understood what he was trying to say, but people's hearts don't always follow what they want to think. Even if it wasn't my fault, I couldn't help feeling as if it were my responsibility.
No, wasn't it actually my responsibility? If I had properly brought it to an end back then, none of this would have happened...
"Hmph, what a gloomy one you are."
"Fels..."
"Do you think you're responsible for everything in this world? If so, that's your arrogance."
"...You're right."
It was a painful thing to hear, but that was why it struck deepest. It was ridiculous to keep fretting over what was already past.
It would be more reasonable to think about what came next.
"Is there anything else troubling you? If the amount isn't enough, I can bring more."
"No, no! In fact, there's so much food it's almost a problem."
"Yes, Fels turned out to be surprisingly good at cooking."
"I, too, once dreamed of being a fresh young bride. Well, it all went to hell because of that damned god."
Heh heh heh, the anger surging up from the depths of his gut was plain in his voice.
The darkness is deep... at this rate, he really might turn into Evilus. Evilus Fels... just imagining it was horrifying, and yet somehow it fit him too well. Maybe because of the way he looked.
"So, any other reports?"
While I was giving Fels a strange look, the deity's question reached me.
"Yes. We searched the artificial labyrinth thoroughly, but there were no signs of anyone else passing through."
"Hmm. Still, it would be best to be cautious to the very end. Those who hide are formidable indeed."
I agreed with Lord Ouranos. Even if they had the artificial labyrinth as a hidden card, these were beings who had evaded the eyes of Zeus Familia and Hera Familia.
There was no way they would leave traces so easily. We had to proceed carefully until we could be certain it was safe.
If things went wrong and the heretics' existence were exposed at this point...
How dreadful.
There was a time for everything. The time for these people to appear to the world was not now.
For the moment, they had to keep their heads down.
"You've done well for now. Continue to do so for the time being."
"Yes, sir."
His words were indifferent, yet the feeling behind them was far from indifferent.
He may look stern, but in truth he was nothing like that.
I wonder if he noticed?
Did he guess how I would end?
He probably had. Lady Hera had noticed too, so there was no way someone of even higher standing like Lord Ouranos wouldn't.
Still, the fact that he said nothing meant he had reached a different conclusion from Lady Hera. In that case, there was no need for me to say anything unnecessary.
I quickly left before I heard anything strange. Thanks to hurrying, I ended up with more free time than expected.
There was still some time before sunset... too early to eat dinner, too late to head back into the Dungeon.
Should I go see Ais? I considered it for a moment, then gave up. Since she had been the one attacked in the ambush, Ais was currently staying inside Loki Familia. Even if I went to find her, well... she probably wouldn't be in any danger, but who knew whether she might grow tired of being confined. There was no need to provoke her for no reason.
In that case...
"..."
I thought about heading up to the city wall, then turned my steps away. I didn't really feel like going there, but something else came to mind even more strongly.
Come to think of it, since I fell here, I hadn't visited that place once. The place I had once set as my destination no longer existed now, but there was still meaning in going there.
"It hasn't changed at all."
Strictly speaking, it had changed, but it was so vast that the changes were hard to notice.
The First Cemetery. The place where the graves of heroes gathered.
I set foot there once more, in the same place I had first come to after entering Orario.
"..."
At this point in time, none of my acquaintances were buried here. Even so, why was it that when I looked at this place, what welled up in me was not the admiration or grandeur I had first felt, but sorrow and pain?
Perhaps even if they were not here, they existed in my heart.
"...Haa."
A sigh slipped out. I wanted to lessen, even a little, the emotions that had settled in my chest.
But contrary to my expectations, the feelings inside me did not change at all, still pressing heavily on my heart.
Was it anger? No, it was different.
Was I sad? That didn't seem quite right either.
It was simply vaguely painful... and agonizing. A feeling more painful than any wound, more dreadful than any illness.
It was an eternal scar and a curse. A horrible curse from which I could never escape, not even at the moment of death.
-Bell Cranel.
Perhaps the reason I had been thinking like this so much lately was because of that conversation.
That day, I had no answer to what Lady Hera said.
People say silence is consent. Then had I agreed with Lady Hera's words? No, before that, how much had Lady Hera already known?
Even now, I still had no answer to that question. More than anything, the expression I had seen on Lady Hera's face that day was not something that could be easily dismissed.
I had to give an answer. I knew that. And yet I was still standing here, unable to choose anything.
I thought I was prepared, but was that just my mistake? Or maybe, in truth, I had wanted someone to stop me like this. Maybe I never wanted to do it at all.
My head hurt. Moments of choice always tormented me. If only there had been no choices at all, it would have been easier.
"Did you feel this way too?"
Unlike the other statues lined up here, the statue of the greatest hero in the world stood alone at the center of this cemetery.
I muttered that in front of the statue of the Mercenary King, Albert. Naturally, there was no answer. If there had been one, that would have been even more frightening.
The statue remained exactly as I had seen it before, standing alone and lofty. No matter how time changed, this hero would stand here until the very end.
Suddenly, that figure looked terribly lonely. How had this person been able to stand alone like this? I had it so hard.
It was this hard.
"Hoo..."
I didn't bother stopping the sigh that escaped me. It became a white breath, drifting up in soft little puffs before being swept away helplessly by a sudden blade of wind.
"...Let's go."
I had come here to clear my head, but I felt even worse now. Taking my eyes off the hero's statue, I turned around.
"..."
Before leaving, I glanced sideways toward a certain direction. With the sight of the still-empty graves in my memory, I fully left the cemetery behind.
How long had I walked after that?
"L-Lord God. This is still a bit..."
"Tch, you idiot! What man would pass up an opportunity like this!"
What is that?
I was left speechless by the absurd scene.
The public bathhouse located in the south of the city. A place visited by many women and goddesses from small Familia that could not afford baths in their own homes, or who came to share a bath with other Familia because of personal connections.
On that outer wall, a symbol of male prohibition, two suspicious men beyond belief... or rather, one man and one male god were plotting together.
If it had ended there, I would have reported them to Ganesha Familia or subdued them myself... Unfortunately, those two men were people I knew.
Truly unfortunate.
"Listen well, Cranel. Peeping is a man's romance!"
"L-Lord God...!"
"Ro-ro-ro-ro-mance!"
"Lord God!"
The hesitant man was moved by the old god's words, threw away his hesitation, and began climbing the outer wall of the public bathhouse to peek inside.
Not to be outdone, the old god also began climbing the wall. He even pulled out what looked like an assassin's tool from the East, I had no choice but to hold my head in my hands at the sight of him scaling the wall with it.
What a shame. That such people were the ones I knew.
"What are you doing?"
"Eek! Hera, this is, um... Wait, you're not Hera?"
"M-Meteria... no. You startled me."
Their reaction was ridiculous too. Setting aside the fact that they relaxed when they saw me, didn't the fact that they were startled by someone approaching mean they knew they were doing something wrong?
And yet they kept going without stopping. To be honest, I didn't exactly hate that kind of determination.
If it weren't peeping.
"This is the women's bathhouse."
"Of course. Why else would I be doing this, if not to peek into the men's bathhouse?"
...What was I supposed to say to that?
Even though they were clearly in the wrong, they were so brazen that for a moment I almost wondered if I was the one making a fuss over nothing.
The old man stared at me boldly, as if to say what was I talking about, as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
Was I the one harassing an innocent person and doing something pointless?
There was no way that was true.
I had paused for a moment, but no matter how I thought about it, I wasn't the one in the wrong.
On the contrary, what gave this old fossil the right to be so shameless?
"Hmph. This is why foolish, ignorant brats are no good. There are women waiting for me over there with not a thread on, and you expect me to just walk past that? Cut it off, boy."
"I'll tell Lady Hera exactly that."
"I'm sorry! Please spare my life!!"
The old man apologized to me with a perfect full prostration that seemed to surpass even the god's. Did being of higher status mean you got better at full prostrations? That was what Vesta thought with a somewhat distant look.
"Teehee! Please let it slide just this once, rehu! If Hera finds out, I'm definitely dead, decha!"
I didn't want to see such a pitiful old man.
More importantly, if he was this scared, why not just stop peeping?
"That's the same as telling me not to breathe."
"...The world would probably be better off if you didn't breathe."
"What was that, punk?"
Ah, I said what I really meant without thinking.
It was absurd, but this was just how the old man was, so I decided to let it go. Honestly, I even felt a little nostalgic.
Well, maybe because it was so ridiculous, the heavy feeling in my chest had vanished completely. Thinking about that, I figured I might as well let this one go too.
"Fine, so just stop alrea—"
"Oh, right. Hey, why don't you watch with us? As the saying goes, when three people split the heavens, two can't compare to three when it comes to savoring the view—kuh?!"
Before I knew it, my fist had already smashed into his jaw.
Honestly, I thought it was unavoidable.
Anyone would do the same if they saw not a shred of remorse.
Besides, thinking about it, this probably wasn't the first time something like this had happened. I didn't think the old man would change his ways just because I hit him.
So I decided to seek professional help.
"Follow me."
"Y-yes, sir..."
With the collapsed old man slung over my shoulder, I said that.
The one answering so timidly was... haaa, should I even call him Father? Honestly, I didn't really want to.
Leaving behind the feeling of my insides slowly rotting away, I headed for Hera Familia.
It was time for a beating.