"Dionysus really played that hand well."
Freya didn't seem particularly angry about Dionysus's other identity—after all, she wasn't the one being toyed with.
"Hmph, he certainly pulled that off skillfully."
Loki, the one who'd been deceived, wore a faint, cold smile. Her displeasure toward Dionysus's trickery was obvious.
"That guy really knows how to act. Never noticed it before."
It wasn't an exaggeration.
In the past, Loki and Dionysus hadn't been close, and she didn't know much about him. After his Familia member's death, he'd been shrouded in grief, so Loki never suspected him of anything.
But who could've known Dionysus was hiding so deeply?
To advance, he'd been secretly moving pieces behind the scenes—going so far as to use Divine Wine to have his own Familia member converted under another god's name.
"Bell, who exactly did Dionysus set up?"
"I'm not sure. I haven't studied divine script systematically, so I can't read what was written on those followers' backs. But I did see Dionysus take out some blood he'd prepared beforehand."
"I see… so the conversion was done through Dionysus's own hands?"
A conversion ritual using another god's blood is theoretically possible.
Though divine blood is difficult to preserve, it's not entirely impossible.
As long as the deity in question has no active will, their blood can be kept for use in other gods' data updates or conversions—though the process becomes far more complicated.
At the same time, this kind of act also means that one god has been quietly sent back to the Tenkai.
"Dionysus… what a clever move."
To pull off something like that without any of the gods noticing—this wasn't a simple trick, but a brilliant feat of deception.
Even Loki, now aware of it, couldn't help but be impressed by Dionysus's cunning.
"He faked his own Familia member's death… did that guy really do it just to give himself a reason to get involved?"
"I believe so."
Though it was hard to accept, Bell still confirmed Loki's suspicion.
"Dionysus must be the mastermind behind everything. He's been scheming all along, trying to drag the lower world back into chaos."
"I don't know the exact reason, but I doubt it's anything that would matter to ordinary people like us."
"...Well, I can't argue with that."
Bell's words were a bit sharp, but Loki agreed that Dionysus's motives were likely meaningless to the children of the Genkai.
If Dionysus could even send a god back to the Tenkai, then his heart was no different from those lunatics in Evilus.
And what did the thoughts of such madmen have to do with the ordinary children of the lower world?
Clearly, only the madmen of Genkai could truly understand what a god driven insane was trying to say.
"Ah~ It's already over?"
Freya couldn't help but sigh.
She had taken this opportunity mainly to spend some time with Bell—more interaction would help ease the unfamiliarity between them and lay the groundwork for future encounters.
But the show had ended far too soon.
Worse yet, the spectacle itself left her feeling somewhat disgusted.
As for Dionysus's situation, Freya didn't particularly care.
Whether he planned to do something harmful to Orario or not was irrelevant to her, as long as he didn't interfere with her own affairs.
"Freya-sama, quite a lot has happened today."
Hearing Freya's remark, Bell couldn't help but remind her.
"The Ganesha Familia interfering with the Grand Casino, the casino's internal gray dealings, and even that Dionysus god's incident."
"I'm not talking about those unrelated matters."
Freya paid no attention to those surface issues. Aside from one incident involving her own child, the rest had little to do with her.
Her gaze locked firmly onto Bell.
"I'm talking about your matters."
Did she really have to be that direct?
Bell's eyelid twitched a few times. He clearly understood Freya's implication, but he hadn't expected her to say it outright like that...
"The 'Lust' within my body is one of the 'Seven Deadly Sins' you're trying to gather. Even if it can't quite be called an Authority, its nature is likely nearly identical to the one I possess."
"You wouldn't want to be missing one of them, would you?"
Freya's lips curved into a playful, teasing smile.
When it came to Bell, sometimes profit was far more effective than anything else.
If Bell intended to collect all the "Seven Deadly Sins," then the "Lust" within her body was one of the essential pieces.
And that made it one of the best bargaining chips she had.
"Freya-sama, isn't it a bit early to be talking about terms?"
Bell wasn't in a hurry to gather all the "Seven Deadly Sins." After all, once negotiations began, he would be the one at a disadvantage.
"With other children, I might delay such talks for a while—but not with you."
Freya-sama knew Bell's personality well, which was why she understood she had to seize the moment now.
"If I don't take the chance, the next time you come to see me might be months—or even a year or two—from now, right?"
Uh...
A trace of embarrassment flickered across Bell's face. To be honest, Freya's guess was completely right—that's exactly what he would have done.
He wasn't necessarily a procrastinator, but he knew that sometimes it was better to postpone things. Maybe if he delayed long enough, the situation would eventually resolve itself.
Besides, he wasn't in any rush to collect all the "Seven Deadly Sins."
He knew perfectly well how difficult that task would be.
If possible, he really would prefer to put off dealing with Freya's matter.
Maybe if he waited a few years, it wouldn't even be a problem anymore.
However, Freya wasn't giving him that choice. She made it clear she intended to settle things here and now.
"Did I guess right?"
Seeing the look on Bell's face, Freya knew her assumption had been spot-on.