A month had passed since the expedition set out.
In other words, it had been about a month since I started staying with the Loki Familia.
If I were to list everything that had happened in that time...
First, I'd grown closer to the Loki Familia.
"Here, eat this before you get started."
"My, what a diligent young man you are."
"Ais, come and eat some too."
Maybe it was because of my youthful appearance, but the others tended to treat me like some sort of grandchild, which was a bit awkward... Still, most of the people who hadn't left for the expedition were quite elderly, so perhaps it was only natural.
The situation wasn't much different for other Familias. Those that had joined the expedition—with a few exceptions—had been forced to leave only a skeleton crew behind, leaving their homes practically empty.
Even so, an "expedition" didn't mean it was composed solely of top-tier adventurers. The most critical factor in such a venture was logistics; for a large-scale operation expected to last months, lower-ranked adventurers to transport supplies were not a luxury, but a necessity.
The ones who suffered the most were the Egyptians... but that was their own doing, so I could only hope they'd manage to hold on.
As for the Loki Familia, it seemed they had secured the safety of their home by hiring me. While my primary duty was protecting Ais, I was more than willing to step in if things ever got rough.
At first, there was an air of wariness, but after a month of rubbing shoulders, everyone had become quite friendly. A few still looked at me with disdain, but they were just passing faces in the long run, so there was no point wasting my energy on them.
Since arriving at the Loki Familia, my daily routine consisted of either training with Ais or exploring the Dungeon.
Especially the Dungeon. Perhaps because she couldn't join the expedition, Ais had been spending even more time descending into the depths.
If that were all, it would be fine, but that occasional look of impatience on her face... it really put me on edge.
There was a heavy atmosphere surrounding Ais, like the oppressive calm before a storm.
"Potato Balls~ Freshly fried Potato Balls here~!"
"Potato Balls?!"
Tap-tap-tap.
...Or maybe not?
I felt like I might have imagined it, but regardless, that was the state of things.
The second thing... though I'm not sure if I should even call it an "incident."
"What is it?"
"Ah, no... nothing..."
Surprisingly, Arphia hadn't joined the expedition.
I hadn't realized it until one day, while snacking on Potato Balls, I spotted her strolling through the streets.
When I asked why she hadn't participated, she told me,
"My constitution is frail, so I cannot take part in the subjugation of the highly toxic Behemoth."
That was unexpected. She looked like the kind of person a blade wouldn't even scratch, let alone poison... and yet she possessed a "frail" attribute.
Is this what the gods call "gap moe"? There was certainly a gap, but I wasn't feeling any of the "moe."
Aside from Arphia, the Zeus and Hera Familias still had quite a few capable fighters left behind—people who would be considered second or even third-string.
I heard they were the minimum force required to maintain city security... but at a glance, they were easily on the level of an A-rank Familia from my era. As expected of the legends...
Ah, speaking of those who stayed, Materia and Cranel were still around too. I already knew Materia was frail, so that made sense, but why had Cranel stayed? From what I gathered, he was at least Level 4.
In fact, I had run into Arphia while I was on my way to stop Materia and Cranel from meeting. She had turned right back around the moment she spotted me, though.
"Extra! Extra!"
Anyway, that covers the second point... and as for the third piece of news...
"The expedition! They've successfully subjugated the Behemoth!"
The news arrived that the expedition had safely succeeded in taking down the Behemoth.
*
The King of the Earth, Behemoth.
A monster that stood as one of the pillars of the Three Great Quests—the ultimate ambition of humanity. It was also the first monster ever subjugated by the Zeus and Hera Familias in the distant past.
Following the course of history, the beast met the same end as the one I remembered. However...
Zero deaths, huh...
While there were a significant number of casualties, there were astonishingly zero fatalities. Apparently, this was possible because the late addition of Egyptian forces increased the number of combat units.
Not only that, but the subjugation itself was completed nearly twice as fast as in my memory. Normally, such an expedition would have taken two months...
"Well, if it had been before the Harvest Festival, it probably would've taken that long."
According to the reports, they had timed the expedition to intersect with Behemoth's migration route at the earliest possible moment, which allowed for such speed.
Originally, they might have played it safe and prepared more thoroughly, but in an adventurer's expedition, a single Level 7 combatant is more reliable than any amount of preparation.
Unlike in the Dungeon, they weren't competing for limited resources, making this outcome almost inevitable...
Ah, my head hurts...
Still, things have changed far too much...
The headaches that had been increasing lately struck me again.
When did these headaches start...
I felt like I'd been experiencing them sporadically for a while now.
Thinking back, it seemed to start around the time Finn told me the expedition had been moved up. The pain hadn't let up since then.
Why is the future changing so easily? No, it's probably because of me...
"Haa, I don't even know anymore..."
"Don't know what?"
"Wah?!"
What was the point of dwelling on it if it only made my head throb more? Just as I let out a sigh and decided to stop thinking, a youthful voice reached my ears.
It startled me. I must have been so deep in thought that I didn't even notice her presence.
...Even so, is it normal not to notice her? Or is Ais just that incredible?
"Ais..."
"Kyah."
"...Ais, who taught you to make sounds like that? No, don't tell me. I think I already know."
"?"
Lately, Ais had been making strange noises quite often. Most of it was Loki's doing.
Seriously, why does that goddess keep stuffing weird things into a child's head?
Ais learning them was a problem, but what could a child possibly understand? As expected, the goddess Loki was the real culprit.
"Did Loki tell you that men like it when you do that?"
"The word choice of an innocent child is actually kind of terrifying."
If someone without context heard that, they'd probably view me as a symbol of sin, second only to those with monster fetishes.
As expected of Loki. Over the past month, I've realized every single day that the rumors of her being a scoundrel second only to Grandpa were no exaggeration.
Ais looked slightly dissatisfied, but she didn't say anything. She had finally realized that if things went south, it was Loki's fault.
This little girl will probably perform a "sword dance" for her patron goddess later today. I'll have to keep an eye on her and intervene before she commits the sin of deicide.
"So, what brings you here all of a sudden?"
There were usually only two reasons Ais approached me like this: training or the Dungeon.
Well, occasionally she'd mention wanting Potato Balls. But since there's a limit on how many she can have when she's with me, she usually just sneaks off to eat them in secret.
It was probably the Dungeon. Ais preferred the Dungeon over surface training.
Training on the surface was too easy to let one's guard down. That was why Ais ignored everyone and spent every waking moment in the Dungeon, honing her skills.
Still, she'd started telling me before she left lately, so that was an improvement...
"How do I Rank Up?"
"...Eh?"
Today's Ais was... somehow different.
At a glance, she looked the same as always... but something was off.
Like a child who had just woken from a nightmare... how should I put it...
Yes, to put it simply.
"Tell me."
She had the expression of a child desperately searching for her parents.