War Game.
When two familias found themselves locked in an irreconcilable conflict, the matter would be settled through a War Game.
The victorious side would claim everything that belonged to the defeated.
As for the gods of the defeated familia, some were sent back to Heaven, while others weren't—though most of the latter were simply expelled from Orario and forced to live as ordinary people.
While they'd lose the thrill of life in Orario, compared to the mind-numbing tedium of Heaven, even an ordinary mortal existence wasn't so bad.
The winning side took full control of everything the losing side possessed—their assets, their members, their headquarters, and all their wealth.
Just as Loki had said, as the victor, Alice could choose to take in all the members of the Apollo Familia, or she could refuse and simply disband them.
However, since Alice wasn't a deity, even if she wanted to take them in, no one in Orario would recognize the existence of an 'Alice Familia.'
So, when Alice told Eina that she didn't want the Apollo Familia members, even Hyakinthos's expression eased considerably.
That meant they were free to join other familias.
Of course, Hyakinthos probably wouldn't join another god's familia. In Alice's illusion, even Apollo had undergone a change.
Though Alice had blocked Hyakinthos's memories, the experiences he'd lived through in that illusion hadn't vanished after he returned to reality.
In fact, compared to Apollo, Hyakinthos's time in the illusion had left a much deeper impression on him.
Hyakinthos could say with absolute certainty that the less-than-an-hour he'd spent in Alice's illusion had been the happiest experience of his life.
Originally, his feelings toward Alice had been pure hatred.
But in the end, Apollo's transformation and his own experiences in the illusion left Hyakinthos unsure how he should regard Alice now.
As the defeated captain of the Apollo Familia, he had every reason to resent her—but the victor was king, the loser a bandit. He had no right to seek revenge, because in theory, he now belonged to Alice.
But now, since Alice didn't want him, he regained the right to hate her.
Hyakinthos couldn't help but find it bitterly ironic.
In the past, he could have ambushed Alice right in the street—and if he'd been strong enough, killing her outright would have been no issue.
Even if he were punished, it would've just been a matter of paying a fine.
But now, he needed her permission just to hate her.
Sitting on the sofa in the Loki Familia's common room, Hyakinthos watched Alice discussing matters with Eina, his expression complicated.
"What about Apollo's estate, Alice? Do you want it?" Eina held a small notebook listing all the Apollo Familia's assets.
"Hmm… Apollo Familia's headquarters." Alice furrowed her brow.
To be honest, Alice quite liked the mansion that served as Apollo's home. It was beautiful and imposing.
Gensokyo had its Scarlet Devil Mansion.
The Apollo Familia's mansion wasn't much inferior to that.
And she liked the architectural style, too.
But there was one problem.
Alice wasn't like the vampire of the Scarlet Devil Mansion—she didn't have a perfect, flawless maid. Though she could always have her dolls handle the cleaning; cleaning-type dolls were cheap to make, after all.
The dolls could take care of the cleaning, no problem. But there was another issue.
The location of Apollo's estate was just too far away.
The entrance to Orario's underground dungeon was at the city's center.
If you divided Orario into quadrants, the Loki Familia was on the far left, and Alice's home was somewhere between the lower and left sections.
But the Apollo Familia? They were way out on the far right.
If she moved into the Apollo estate, visiting her friends would mean trekking halfway across the city.
Seeing Alice's conflicted expression, Eina smiled slightly.
"If you're not sure how to handle it, let's set it aside for now. Look at the rest—compared to the mansion, Apollo's treasure vault has quite a lot of items."
As she spoke, Eina flipped a page in her notebook. Alice could see densely packed text.
A quick glance made her head spin.
"Um, Eina…" Alice said, "Let's just sell Apollo's estate. As for the items in the Apollo Familia's vault, they can all be moved to my house."
"Huh?" Eina, who had been about to explain the Apollo Familia's assets to Alice, was taken aback.
"But the number of collectibles in the Apollo Familia's vault is really quite large. Your little shop might not be able to hold everything."
The Apollo Familia's strength was, after all, mid-tier in Orario.
Financially, they were even better off than the Loki Familia.
Their treasure vault was extremely well-stocked. Eina had gone to inventory the vault that morning and knew exactly how much was in there.
Alice's small shop truly couldn't hold it all—and even if it could, there'd be no space left to move around in her home.
"Also, Alice, you might have the wrong idea about the Apollo Familia's treasure vault," Eina explained. "It's mostly filled with useless artworks. There might be some pieces you like, but the ones you don't will probably far outnumber them."
"Is that so…" Alice frowned. "Then just sell it all. I'm still pretty short on funds."
"Unfortunately, since most are artworks, they won't be easy to sell unless we find specific buyers." Eina shook her head.
"How about this," she suggested. "No matter how much I describe them, you won't be seeing the actual items. If you go take a look yourself, you can decide what to keep and what to discard."
"Hmm…" Alice thought it over, then nodded reluctantly. "Alright. Can we go now?"
"Of course. It works out—the Apollo Familia members are there now, packing their personal belongings. We can just give them instructions."
"Okay, let's go then."
With that, Alice stood up, ready to leave with Eina.
Watching Alice move, Loki blinked in surprise.
"Huh? What about my comics? Alice, where are my comics!"
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