(Bell POV)
With Bete being taken care of, I quickly left the arena. Currently, I had one main objective which was now to find Hermes. Everything else would be taken care of naturally. The events of the Fall of Finn and the disappearance of Bete would spiral into even more chaos.
People are already in a panic from the explosives earlier, and without Loki familia's assistance, it's going to be very difficult to calm people down. Ganesha familia would have to shoulder the burden of everything but they won't be able to stop it now.
What the world will need, is a hero to show up and save everyone.
In the streets, people still seemed to be after me. I made sure not to be followed and made my way all the way back home. As I was about to open the door, I felt killing intent behind me, a strong one at that.
I ducked immediately and grabbed the attacker by the shirt and slammed them down to the ground before putting a knife against their neck.
Only then did I see who the attacker was.
"What are you doing, Mikoto?"
"Where did you put Haruhime?!"
"Huh? I didn't do anything to her."
"Liar! I know you did something, you set this whole thing up as it is now, and you have Haruhime for some other reason! Tell me-"
Before she could finish, I knocked her out before placing her on the front porch.
The dark sky then started to rain.
"Maybe going in right now is a bad idea..." I muttered to myself as I dashed off.
I decided to stay in an abandoned building to get my thoughts together when all of a sudden someone walked in.
Their whole body was covered in black, and they seemed to have no hostile intent.
They handed over a note, then quickly left.
"...It's gotta be Hermes."
I opened the note quickly, and read what it said.
I HAVE HARUHIME WITH ME CURRENTLY. COME TO MY FAMILIA'S BASE TO RECEIVE HER. -HERMES
"Tch."
I clicked my tongue and got up, both my knives at the ready and headed out again. Hermes familia's base was right next to the guild, so I had to be very careful when entering.
After around 10 minutes of waiting for the perfect opportunity, I finally ran in.
The reception room was full of empty chairs, and the receptionist seemed to be expecting me.
"Please come this way," She said as she led me to another room.
In this other room, was Hermes with Asfi at his side.
"Nice to see you, Bell."
"Shut it. What do you want?"
"Right to the matter at hand, nice."
He then handed me a document as I sat on the couch opposite them.
"Seriously?" I said as I looked up from the paper "You want me to sign away my life in a near slave contract to keep me safe from the guild?"
"Of course. Naturally, you don't really think you can just go back to normal after what you did right?"
"I didn't do anything."
"Bullshit, here."
He then slid photos, of me leaving stores with the materials necessary to build a bomb.
"Was it Asfi? You got a hell of an assistant. She's cute too."
He smiled as he replied "Of course it was Asfi. No one else could sneak up on you so soundly. However, it is strange that you would call her cute, do you have a crush on my familia member? I get that she's cute but you already got a whole harem. Leave some for the rest of us, yea?"
"..."
I surveyed Asfi, and afterward, I continued talking.
"So, if I were to refuse this?"
"Simple. I would call the guild while Asfi would stall for time."
"This kinda sucks ya know. I don't have any good options."
"That is the situation you got yourself in." Hermes smiled back
"However, this is meaningless. Who are you?" I asked as I looked directly at 'Hermes'
"What do you mean? Has your brain fried up so considerably that you can't even recognize that person you hate most?"
"You didn't make any mistakes, however, Asfi did," as I turned to her, her eyes widened "Asfi would have been red as a tomato being called cute by Hermes, yet she showed no reaction once so ever. Plus, Hermes would never want me in his familia, he just wants me humbled."
"...So, assuming that you are right, who do you think I am?"
"Clearly someone who is in need of familia members, but also someone who had a close relationship with Hermes. My answer is...Zeus."
His eyes widened, then he smiled as he took off his hat and the magic disguising him disappeared.
However, when that happened I was the one most surprised.
"...What."
"Don't recognize your old man?"
The man before me was my grandpa. The one who raised me my whole life and who died right before I came to Orario. Killed by the One-Eyed Black Dragon.
According to Freya, Hermes and Zeus were on good terms, so it made the most sense for this person to be Zeus. Freya had also said they were both smart. So then...Am I wrong, or am I still right?
"I didn't realize I raised such a pussy, so I came back to give you a good humbling in Hermes place."
"What are you talking about?"
"We're gonna play a game of waiting, both of us are forced to stay in this room without either of us leaving. The one who leaves first will be held back by Asfi, and the guild will be called. Naturally, there is no benefit here. If one of us gets caught, so does the other. Meaning that the winner just gets bragging right over the other."
"Then you're saying..."
"That's right. I'm taking you back home, Bell. Now, let's chat about the times I missed out on." Zeus or, I guess Gramps spoke with a smile of sheer confidence, like he always did.
There was no winner here, only losers.
However, I had no qualms about playing a game of waiting. After all, I was confident in having many outs in this situation. I could just stop playing and run when the chance comes, or maybe someone will get rid of all the guards, attempting to try to get me, and I can leave like that. The possibilities were endless.
"I'll play your shitty game. Let's talk then."
I replied back with a confident smile of my own.
(Ais POV)
"Have we still not found him yet?" I asked one of my subordinates.
"No Ma'am. Bell is currently missing."
"Give me places he normally goes to or people he's in contact with."
I wanted Finn to do this since he would be best suited for detective work like this, but right now his mental state was nearly gone. He just stares into space, his eyes blinking every once in a while but other than that he's just...There.
Bete is also missing as well, but we have a separate team working to find him. I tried my best to focus on my task and mine alone.
(Mikoto POV)
I woke up to find out I was on the porch, I felt really tired but I got to my feet anyway.
"Mikoto, would you like a chance to see Haruhime again?"
The voice came from right in front of me. He had orange hair and a hat with a quill in it. It was Hermes.
"W-What-"
"I know where Bell took Haruhime. I'd be willing to take you to her if you do something for me."
"And that is?" I asked, as I seriously considered his offer.
"I want to get back at Bell, so I want his familia to disappear one by one. Of course, I don't want you to kill them, but just take them to where Haruhime is. A good chance to get some payback."
"You seriously think he cares about us?"
"Of course he does. He doesn't show it, but without you guys, he would be so deep into his idea of Ais, that he may have actually gone insane. So what do you say, do you accept?"
He held his hand to my, offering a handshake. This was like making a deal with the devil, however...
"...I accept."