Chapter 44: Confronting the Main Goddess Loki
With Shirou completely resolving the labyrinth's tenth-floor solitary king, the chaos caused by the Soma Familia was thoroughly brought to an end, especially since Shirou had cleverly turned the tables on them.
However, the deaths of the Soma Familia members did not mean the incident was entirely over.
After witnessing the madness of the Soma Familia members, Shirou had deeply realized that only by completely destroying the Soma Divine Wine — the root of all this — could problems like the Soma Familia's arise no more.
Therefore, right after things ended, Shirou decisively asked Lili: "Is the Soma Divine Wine made within the Soma Familia?"
"Yes, of course. Why do you ask?" Lili was still in a state of survival shock and answered Shirou's question instinctively.
But the moment after answering, she realized something and exclaimed in surprise: "Wait, do you mean you want to destroy the divine Wine made by the God Soma?"
Lili was obviously a smart person. Not only had she analyzed from Shirou's combat ability that he might be the rumored Sword Demon, but she also realized from his words that Shirou might be planning to destroy the Soma Divine Wine.
She hurriedly denied it: "Impossible, that kind of thing can't be done! Even if you are the rumored Sword Demon, there's no way you could oppose Lord Soma!"
"First, I'm not necessarily the Sword Demon you mentioned. Secondly, why can't I oppose Soma?" Shirou urgently wanted information about the god Soma, so naturally he had to get more details from Lili, a member of the Soma Familia.
This was also why Shirou had allowed Lili to live before.
He judged from her behavior that she might be the only one in the Soma Familia who hadn't been completely brainwashed by the divine Wine.
In response to Shirou's question, Lili seemed somewhat afraid and was reluctant to pass on information about the god Soma to outsiders.
But recalling Shirou's feat of killing the labyrinth's solitary king and the merciless coldness in his eyes when looking at her, she dared not lie and quietly spoke:
"The Soma god's divine Wine has an enormous influence. This influence is not only within the Soma Familia but even among gods, it has an unimaginable audience of divine Wine consumers."
"You mean that gods who want to drink the divine Wine are controlled by Soma?"
"Controlled is too strong a word. As gods, they wouldn't go completely mad just to drink the Wine like mortals would," Lili explained bit by bit. "For gods, the divine Wine is at most a pastime, but that's enough. Gods who are bored in the lower world desire entertainment the most, and they're willing to pay anything for it. So, if someone tries to attack Lord Soma, the other gods definitely won't stand by and watch. Even the Loki Familia, a group on that level, would fight to protect the divine Wine."
"The Loki Familia, huh..." Hearing that name, even Shirou realized the gravity of the situation.
He wasn't necessarily afraid of fighting the Loki Familia, but if he really had to battle the entire Loki Familia, it would definitely turn into a long, drawn-out war.
Although Shirou felt he'd most likely win in the end, if that happened, no one would be there to protect Bell and Hestia.
Moreover, the enemy wouldn't necessarily be limited to the Loki Familia.
If more clans got involved, even Shirou might fall into a hard fight, and even if victorious, it would contradict the original goal of destroying the divine Wine.
"Looks like the divine Wine problem can't be solved through battle," Shirou finally judged.
This was also something he had considered before — that fighting a god and using force to solve the problem would be extremely difficult.
This limited the means he could use.
However, Shirou still had some confidence that he could resolve the Soma Divine Wine problem.
But he needed some preparation.
"Anyway, let's go back to the surface first," Shirou said, glancing at Bell and Lili, who were still shaken by the terrifying labyrinth king, and called them to move towards the surface.
Although Bell and Lili were still confused, their bodies had not suffered serious harm.
The two quickly followed Shirou out of the tenth underground floor and headed toward the surface.
During the journey, Lili remained obedient.
This was inevitable — anyone who saw a person single-handedly kill a Maze Lone King and witnessed such an overwhelming battle would feel utter despair and submission.
Even if Shirou didn't admit it, Lili strongly believed Shirou was most likely the rumored Sword Demon who emerged from underground.
According to rumors about the Sword Demon, not only could he kill the tenth-floor labyrinth king, but he could also single-handedly defeat the kings of the 30th or 40th floors.
Facing such a terrifying existence beyond human description, if Lili dared to be careless, it would be tantamount to courting death.
Now, the only thing she could do was to pray that her usefulness wouldn't run out too quickly and that Shirou would allow her to live.
.
.
.
After handing the magic stones to the guild and returning to the Hestia Familia,
Bell finally felt completely at ease and collapsed exhausted onto the sofa in the room.
Shirou understood the chaos Bell had endured and didn't pay it too much mind, so he actively went to look for his own goddess — Hestia.
"Shirou, Bell, you're back!" Hestia happily greeted them, but upon seeing Lili beside Shirou, the goddess's face showed confusion. "Who is this?"
"She is a child of the Soma Familia, named Liliruca Erde," Shirou quietly explained.
"Just call me Lili," she said.
Lili behaved very obediently in front of Shirou, and whether or not this was an act, at least on the surface, it seemed sincere.
"A child of the Soma Familia?" Hearing this name, Hestia was startled and then observed Lili quietly, murmuring, "This kid isn't some thief or bandit, is she? You caught her, Shirou?"
"Uh, exactly that," Shirou sighed and couldn't help but feel the stereotype people had about the Soma Familia was entirely accurate.
That Familia truly was composed of complete villains.
Learning Lili's identity — especially knowing she was the one who took Bell's weapon — Hestia naturally didn't treat her kindly. While not beating or scolding her, she gave Lili no face at all.
Lili knew her identity and had no dissatisfaction. She was just grateful that Shirou still allowed her to live.
"All right, that's the situation. I have something to discuss with you, Hestia," Shirou said.
"Something?" Hestia asked.
"Can you take me to see the god Soma?"
"You want to meet Soma?" Hestia hesitated for a few seconds but finally shook her head helplessly. "Sorry, I probably can't take you to see Soma. It's not because I lack the ability —
Soma is just too eccentric. He's almost always immersed in brewing Wine. Even if this world were to be destroyed, I doubt he would meet with outsiders."
"Is that so?" Shirou was surprised that Soma was such a reclusive god. He continued, "Then how does the Soma Familia's affairs get managed? Gods still have to grant blessings, right?"
"Lili knows this!" Lili, desperate to survive, tried to show her value. "Though the Soma Familia belongs to Lord Soma, he actually does no management at all.
He delegates all work to the Familia leader — Zanis Lustra. Zanis is also responsible for the divine Wine sales strategy."
"I see, so Zanis is Soma's right hand?"
"Exactly," Lili nodded hard.
Having obtained such crucial information, Shirou felt more confident about taking down the Soma Familia, but he still needed more preparation.
He therefore warned Bell and Hestia to watch Lili carefully so she wouldn't escape, then quickly left the Familia and went to two places.
The first was the Hostess of Fertility, where he talked to the tavern manager, Mia, about borrowing the tavern's space.
Although Mia's first reaction was refusal and she had no intention of lending the tavern, seeing Shirou's sincere attitude and his earnest desire to use the space, she quietly nodded.
However, she put forward a condition: Shirou would need to work as a cook at the tavern at least once every half month, with his salary paid as usual.
Shirou naturally agreed to this condition, which was barely a condition at all.
After finishing the discussion with the Hostess of Fertility, Shirou went to his second destination — the Loki Familia.
After asking passersby for directions, Shirou was surprised by the imposing Loki Familia stronghold.
Unlike the shabby basement of the Hestia Familia, the Loki Familia base was a huge villa, almost a castle.
The courtyard alone was as large as a giant football field, not to mention the massive building standing at its center.
"I want to see Goddess Loki. Can I come in?" Shirou asked the guards at the entrance.
The two guards, a man and a woman, were extremely wary when they saw Shirou, especially since he wanted to meet their Familia's Main god.
They immediately refused.
"Go back. Lady Loki isn't someone you can see just because you want to."
"..." Shirou had anticipated being turned away.
He was confident that if he revealed the intelligence he had, Loki would definitely help him, but if he couldn't even meet Loki, nothing could be discussed.
What to do now?
Try to break in?
Shirou wasn't afraid of the Loki Familia. He was confident he could overturn the whole Familia alone.
But since he was here to ask Loki for help, using violence might upset Loki and make her unwilling to cooperate.
Without the help of a chief god like Loki, Shirou's plan to destroy the divine Wine would be very difficult to carry out.
Just as Shirou was hesitating and feeling stuck, an unexpected figure appeared.
"You're… Emiya?" Shirou turned his head and was surprised to see two women standing behind him: one with green hair, the other a blonde girl.
Thanks to previous contact at the tavern, Shirou recognized the green-haired elf as Loki Familia's vice leader, Riveria, and the blonde girl was undoubtedly the sword princess Ais.
"What are you doing here?" Riveria was clearly very alert and hostile upon seeing Shirou.
But Ais, appearing expressionless, had already silently moved beside Shirou and slowly said, "Are you looking for me?"
Faced with Ais's strangely expectant expression, Shirou honestly replied, "Sorry, I came to see Goddess Loki today. I have something to discuss."
"Looking for Lady Loki?" Both Riveria and Ais were surprised.
Riveria naturally wanted to refuse and reject such a request.
But Ais quietly said, "Fine, I'll take you in."
"Hey, Ais, do you know what you're doing?" Riveria was stern and wouldn't allow Ais to just bring someone from another Familia in.
Ais firmly responded, "According to the previous bet between Lady Loki and Emiya, Emiya will likely join our Familia. So letting him in as a future comrade shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Uh…" Riveria had no rebuttal to that unassailable reason.
Thanks to Ais's help, Shirou officially entered the Loki Familia.
"Thank you, Miss Ais," Shirou expressed his gratitude.
"No problem," Ais said quietly, "If you want to repay me, then make me that dish you made before."
"Sure, no problem," Shirou smiled.
Ais bringing Shirou into the Loki Familia immediately caught everyone's attention, from the leader Finn to the lowest Familia members, who all came out to see what was going on.
"I want to see Goddess Loki," Shirou openly stated his purpose.
His words were met with suspicion, especially from Beta, a Beastmen who was already at odds with Shirou and was eager to fight him.
Before chaos could erupt, the red-haired woman Loki walked out of her room, shaking a bottle of Wine and smiling, "You really have guts to barge into the Familia alone to see me, Emiya Shirou. Fine, I allow you in."
Facing the Main Goddess Loki's attitude, no matter how many objections the Loki Familia members had, they couldn't voice them and could only watch Shirou enter Loki's room.