"Didn't I already tell you?"
"Who would believe that?"
Ryoji rolled his eyes.
Did she really think he believed this was some kind of surprise?
Because all he saw was a huge scare.
"Tch. Your attitude is really pissing me off!"
Freya deliberately looked annoyed and raised the red gem in her hand.
"I originally planned to give this to you as a surprise. If you don't want it, I'll just destroy it!"
She tightened her grip on the gem and made as if to smash it.
"Wait!"
Ryoji's eyes sharpened. He immediately reached out and grabbed her slender wrist.
"What did you say? You were going to give this to me as a surprise?"
"Otherwise?" Freya glared at him, clearly angry.
"Oh…" Ryoji patted his chest, visibly relieved. "I thought the surprise you were talking about was revealing everything to Loki. You scared the hell out of me!"
"Seriously. Did you have to make things this complicated? If you'd just left the key with Ishtar Familia, wouldn't I have gotten it by now?"
"Hehe. So this is my fault?" Freya crossed her arms and sneered. "Do you think I can see the future? How was I supposed to know you'd go to Ishtar Familia three days later?"
'Eh.'
She had a point.
Freya had ordered Tammuz to steal the key three days before Ryoji went to Ishtar Familia.
She simply hadn't gotten the chance to tell Ryoji about it before he went charging into Ishtar's territory and came back empty-handed.
"So you planned from the beginning to steal the key and give it to me?"
"Of course. Haven't you been training yourself to death these past few days?"
Freya assumed he was doing it to prepare for revenge against Evilus.
If that was the case, she could help him too.
So she had deliberately ordered Tammuz to act, sacrificing one of her most valuable spies to steal the key.
Who could have known that Ryoji would go to Ishtar Familia three days later and actually kill Ishtar?
Freya had been left with no choice but to bring Tammuz to the Divine Council and clear Ryoji's name.
Then Loki invited her here.
Anyone could figure out that Loki wanted the key Freya was holding.
And now Ryoji had actually mistaken her surprise for something else.
How infuriating!
"I was wrong!"
Ryoji glanced at the wooden door to make sure no one outside could see inside.
He immediately wrapped his arms around Freya's waist and pulled her into his embrace.
"All right, it's all my fault. I misunderstood you. My brain stopped working for a moment. You're the magnanimous one, so please don't hold it against me. Don't be angry…"
To be honest, Ryoji had never been particularly experienced at comforting women.
Yet somehow, it came naturally to him now.
"Remember, you owe me another favor," Freya said softly.
She merely tilted her head up and left a lipstick mark on his collarbone.
Then she lifted her chin proudly, stuffed the red gem into his arms, and turned to leave the teahouse.
"Let's go, Ottar."
"Yes."
Not long afterward, Freya and Ottar disappeared down the street.
"Wow! You actually got it?"
Loki sneaked back into the room and was astonished when she saw the red gem in Ryoji's arms.
Then her eyes landed on Ryoji's neck.
Her expression gradually became suggestive.
"Hehehe. So, how was Freya's scent?"
She looked like she had already figured everything out.
"Sigh. I made this sacrifice for the sake of our Familia!"
Ryoji discreetly wiped the lipstick mark from his collarbone and put on an expression of unbearable suffering.
"Oh, give me a break! Charm doesn't work on you anyway. Freya just gave you an advantage for nothing. Don't act like you're suffering after getting all the benefits!" Loki rolled her eyes.
Freya had possessed charm for countless years and had naturally developed a certain resistance to it.
But that resistance was by no means an impenetrable shield.
After being exposed to Ryoji's charm again and again over a long period of time, even that resistance would eventually collapse, leaving her completely unable to resist him.
Freya probably understood this herself.
Yet she didn't resist.
Instead, she willingly indulged in it, as though she were savoring the most intoxicating poison in the world.
Sooner or later, she would become completely addicted.
In this respect, Loki was actually even worse.
Freya had only gradually begun to fall for Ryoji after being exposed to his charm countless times.
Loki, on the other hand, had merely been caught in its aftereffects a few times before her resolve started to crumble.
"Let's go home! Let's go home!" Loki snatched the red gem and shouted excitedly. "With this key, we can finally begin our revenge against Evilus! Everyone is going to be thrilled!"
The two began their journey back.
"Oh, right. Whatever you do, don't tell Finn and the others about what happened today. Otherwise, the girls in our Familia will beat us to death!"
Just imagining the girls going on a rampage made Loki shudder.
"I know." Ryoji nodded without the slightest sincerity. "By the way, Freya also gave me a condition. She wants me to visit her Familia more often from now on."
"Seriously?" Loki froze. "That woman really has fallen for you?"
"Absolutely!" Ryoji nodded solemnly.
"Tch. You really got the best deal!" Loki looked incredibly jealous.
Who exactly was she jealous of?
Perhaps she was jealous that Ryoji had won Freya's favor. After all, Loki was essentially an old-man goddess at heart, so she was probably quite envious of Freya's body.
Or perhaps she was jealous of Freya for getting the chance to be intimate with Ryoji, since she had always regretted being rejected by him herself.
Which one it was, however, remained a mystery.
"But I keep owing people more and more favors…" Ryoji looked up toward the highest level of the Tower of Babel, growing increasingly gloomy. "Favors are the hardest debts to repay. How am I ever going to pay back all these favors?"
...
The red gem was eventually handed over to Finn.
After obtaining the key, Finn and the others seemed like completely different people.
If they had previously been crouching beasts waiting for their chance, now they were wolves baring their fangs.
Everyone was holding back their anger, waiting for the day they could finally unleash it.
Ryoji, meanwhile, continued to immerse himself in leveling.
At Folkvangr, the headquarters of Freya Familia...
'BOOM!'
The Boaz's top expert swung a greatsword nearly as tall as a person, bringing it crashing down on Ryoji with tremendous force.
The attack was both fierce and flexible, combining speed and power with almost no openings.
The moment the sword descended, it produced a powerful sonic boom. Its attack power was enough to cleave through a wall made of super-hard metal.
'Bang!'
Ryoji held his sword horizontally before him.
In an instant, he mobilized every muscle in his body, transforming his entire form into something as soft and yielding as flowing water.
Using a technique similar to Tai Chi, he redirected and absorbed the force of the attack.
The ground instantly cracked like a spiderweb and sank more than a foot.
Both of Ryoji's feet were driven deep into the earth.
Yet his stance remained completely intact.
"Incredible!"
"Is that guy really only Level 5?"
"He didn't even take a single step back against Ottar's full-power strike?!"
The black and white Elves and the four Pallums watching nearby were filled with astonishment.
It was simply unbelievable.
Ottar was one of the only two Level 7s still existing in the world!
The gap between a Level 7 and a Level 5 was enormous, practically several times greater in strength.
Yet he couldn't even knock down a Level 5 with a full-power attack?
It was enough to make the others wonder whether all those years they had spent as Level 5s and Level 6s had been completely wasted.
'Damn, going home really keeps me busy. Only two chapters today, sorry.'
(End of Chapter)
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