The informations Riveria brought are.
First: None of the other gods seem to know that someone caused this to me—they all believe I suddenly fell ill. Only the culprit knows the truth, but Loki hasn't discovered who that is yet.
The culprit is lying and pretending to know nothing. (Of course)
But that much is obvious.
But... how did she find out that all the gods think the same? There are so many gods. It doesn't make sense that she could have investigated every one of them in such a short time.
Well, it has been years. This information probably spread among them whe I fell into my deep sleep: that I simply got sick and that's all there is to it.
Maybe the god who caused this to me is the one who spread that information in the first place.
'That's a good lead.'
Second: None of the other gods have shown any signs of knowing about my return.
It's not particularly useful for identifying the culprit, but it's reassuring—it lowers the risk of other gods trying to stir up trouble. So, still a good piece of information.
And the third: The one most likely to be the culprit… is Freya.
But Riveria didn't bring any convincing evidence to support this claim. How did Loki come to that conclusion? Did she investigate Freya in recent days? Because she didn't share any results of such an investigation.
She was direct: Freya is likely the one responsible.
Freya has always been an extremely powerful and influential goddess—even back in my glory days.
I had interacted with her before, though we were never close.
But one memory stuck with me: the day I met her face to face, and she stared at me in a deeply unsettling way. Her gaze was intense, almost painful. It felt like she was looking straight into my soul.
'Thinking about it now… could it be possible?'
I never did anything to provoke her wrath. I never caused trouble for her or her Familia, and yet…
I always felt a faint sense of hostility from her.
'Hmm… it's just Loki's guess, but thinking about it, it could really be Freya.'
Still, I can't jump to conclusions.
"Loki said Freya has always been jealous of you," Riveria added.
"Freya? Jealous of me? That's ridiculous."
That Freya? She'd never be jealous of anyone.
"Loki didn't go into detail, but she claimed Freya envied your influence—your power over the world. She was jealous of how respected you were. You were on a level above hers."
"Even so… I can't picture Freya feeling jealous of me. It's strange."
I can't take something like that seriously.
"Are you sure Loki didn't just make that up?"
"No. She said it was common knowledge among the gods. But Freya wasn't the only one. Many gods were envious of your power—of how you could shape the world with your will."
"That's a massive exaggeration. And if many gods were jealous, why accuse Freya specifically?"
"Because Freya is the most powerful god still living among mortals. She's the only one capable of doing something like this to you."
That... does make some sense. Still...
"Well, it makes some sense."
"My Queen." Riveria stepped closer and gently placed a hand on my head. "I'm sorry—for doubting you earlier. I just… I can't see a bright future. I'm going back to Orario, to return to Loki's side. I'll support her in finding more information for you."
"…"
"And when we find the one responsible, I'll be by your side when you remove them from this world."
"And after that?"
"What do you mean?"
"By then, I'll have rebuilt this village. Will you come back?"
"…" Riveria took her hand from my head and smiled. "I'll think about it."
####
I left the tree with Riveria and Serie, and we headed to Serie's house. Riveria hadn't eaten anything, so she was going to have a meal with us. As soon as we stepped inside, Riveria met Lyuu for the first time.
The moment she saw her, she asked, "Who's this?"
So I explained what had happened.
"The tree created a new elf?" Riveria's eyes widened in shock—she was clearly surprised.
"Yes. Lyuu was recently created."
"Lyuu? You chose that name?"
"Was it that obvious?"
"You've never been good at naming things. I still remember when you named that bird Jolie."
"Jolie isn't a bad name for a bird."
"…" Riveria smiled and then walked up to Lyuu. "Hello, my name is Riveria. It's a pleasure to meet you, Lyuu." She knelt down in front of Lyuu, who was sitting on the living room sofa.
Lyuu was reading a book I had written. She lowered the book and looked into Riveria's eyes.
"It's a pleasure to meet you too."
"Oh, she's so polite."
"Of course she is. I'm the one teaching her!" Serie snapped.
"No need to get angry. Speaking of which, we haven't really talked much, have we?" Riveria said to Serie.
"There's nothing for us to talk about."
"What's wrong? Still upset about the past?"
Oh? They've got unresolved history? I didn't know that.
"How about I make us something to eat? You two can talk while I cook."
"You know how to cook?" Riveria asked.
"She hasn't cooked once since she woke up," Serie said.
"I do know how to cook," I replied.
Then I walked into the kitchen, and both Serie and Riveria followed.
"I'll stay right here. I don't want the house to catch fire."
"Get out of here! I like cooking alone!"
I'm sure it'll be fine!
####
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Next Chapters: Chapter 28 - Happy to have prepared good food. / Chapter 29 - Heiter and Fern. / Chapter 30 - Nine More Elves. / Chapter 31 - Bloody Night.