The strength of a familia… well, you might think you could tell by looking at their headquarters, but honestly? You really can't.
Sure, the Loki Familia is one of Orario's top two—the other being the Freya Familia—and widely considered their equal in power.
But the number of members in Loki's Familia isn't actually that large—just around one or two hundred people. Their headquarters is more than enough to accommodate everyone.
So, the Loki Familia's home base is actually a pretty nice-looking estate.
If you're just going by the size of the headquarters and number of members, then the Ganesha Familia would undoubtedly be number one in Orario. But when it comes to actual strength, Loki and Freya's familias still come out on top.
Compared to the Freya Familia, the Loki Familia excels more in team combat. That's why the Freya Familia—whose members are stronger individually—live in Babel.
The Loki Familia, on the other hand, has its own estate where all its members can reside. Of course, if anyone prefers not to live at headquarters, that's fine too—the Familia doesn't restrict anyone's freedom. Living outside is perfectly allowed.
But when Alice arrived at the entrance of the Loki Familia's estate, she was… a little surprised, to say the least.
'Quite intimidating,' Alice thought, tilting her head slightly as she eyed the two adventurer guards stationed at the gate. 'But… how am I supposed to get in?'
The idea of having to talk to these guards made her nervous.
"Hey, kid! Quit blocking the way!"
"Eek!" A rough voice sounded from behind Alice, startling her so badly that Shanghai and Hourai, who she'd been holding in her arms, immediately flew out.
Shanghai raised her tiny knight's lance.
Hourai lifted both her small hands, a delicate magic circle appearing in front of her as a magic bullet began to form.
Alice quickly turned around and saw a white-furred werewolf adventurer standing not far behind her.
Shanghai and Hourai's aggressive stance seemed to irritate the werewolf even more.
"Hah? You—planning to start something at the Loki Familia's doorstep?"
Bete had just come back after dropping off his boots for maintenance at Hephaestus's place.
On his return, he spotted a blonde girl standing in front of the familia's gate, just loitering around without a clear purpose. The moment he spoke up, two weird dolls popped out and took on a hostile stance.
Thanks to his wolf-like instincts, Bete sensed a faint trace of danger from those two dolls. He could tell this girl was around Level 2 to Level 3—most likely fresh into Level 3.
"So, which familia sent you? If you're here to pick a fight with the Loki Familia, someone as weak as you isn't nearly enough. Scram before you get yourself killed, and send someone stronger next time."
Bete was arrogant and looked down on weaklings, but he wouldn't actually attack them.
In his eyes, Alice was just a mage with some strange puppet magic and decent—but not impressive—strength. Compared to him, she was still far inferior.
So, he simply closed his eyes, brushed past her, and headed inside.
Seeing the werewolf about to leave,
Alice quickly snapped back to attention.
"Um! Excuse me, wait a moment!"
"Tch." Bete turned around, scowling. "What? You got something else to say?"
"W-well, actually, I'm here to join the Loki Familia. I spoke with Lady Loki yesterday, and she said I should come today."
Alice spoke softly. Talking to strangers still made her a little nervous.
After all, Alice had suddenly appeared in Orario out of nowhere. The knowledge in her mind was just that—knowledge, not her own memories.
So, in a way, Alice was really less than a year old. She couldn't help feeling scared around strangers.
That's why Shanghai and Hourai remained on high alert, poised to protect her—and still in attack mode.
Meanwhile, Bete seemed increasingly annoyed by her words, his frown deepening.
"You little brat, do you even know what you're saying?"
Bete's expression turned cold. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and started storming toward her.
"I might not have Riveria's judgment or Finn's analytical skills, but my instincts are sharper than any of theirs."
"What kind of familia would just let a Level 3 adventurer walk away?"
"So you saying you wanna join the Loki Familia—you're messing with me, aren't you? You've gotta be messing with me! Hah?!"
Seeing the male werewolf charging aggressively toward her,
Alice panicked instantly. Even if it was a god, even if it was a woman—if anyone got too close, Alice would get nervous.
Let alone a male werewolf like this.
"Um, c-can we talk properly…?" Alice didn't understand why he'd suddenly gotten so angry, but it was clear he wasn't being friendly.
"You—which Familia are you from?! You think you can just waltz into the Loki Familia's home and mess around? Don't think just 'cause you've got a face Loki likes, you can do whatever you want!"
Bete strode right up to Alice and reached out toward her.
"Start talking! Which Familia are you with? I'm gonna have a nice chat with your god!"
In Alice's eyes, the werewolf's sharp claws kept getting closer… and closer… She could feel the intense anger radiating from him.
The pressure was overwhelming.
Her heart was racing.
Until finally—
"Don't come near me!"
"Shanghai! Hourai!!"
At Alice's command, Shanghai and Hourai instantly appeared in front of her, blocking Bete's hand.
Suddenly, Bete's wolf ears twitched.
He leaped backward swiftly, landing in a crouch as he stared silently at his palm, his face darkening.
A small cut on his hand was slowly welling up with blood.
In that split second, Shanghai had charged forward with her miniature lance, striking his palm. The move was so sudden Bete hadn't even registered it.
Neither Bete nor Alice had expected it—calling out Shanghai and Hourai had been purely instinctual for Alice.
Now that Bete had backed off, Alice relaxed slightly—and immediately realized what she'd just done. She began bowing repeatedly in apology.
"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I-I just really don't like it when aggressive strangers get too close to me! I didn't mean to do that, I'm truly sorry!"
Even as Alice apologized, for some reason, Bete only felt more provoked.
"That skill or magic of yours… pretty interesting, huh." A smirk tugged at Bete's lips, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes. "And you actually dared to make a move right at the Loki Familia's gate. You've got some nerve. I can't just let this slide as a misunderstanding and send you back to your familia now."
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 3 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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