The situation ended more easily than I'd expected.
'...Or was it not easy?'
In truth, for something that ended "easily," I'd sacrificed quite a lot. Mostly my arm, my leg, my organs, and various other things...
But when I thought about how Arphia had looked ready to go all the way to divine slaughter, maybe it really had ended easily...?
'I don't really know either.'
I'd been through so many brutal things that this no longer felt like much more than a light injury. I couldn't tell whether I was insane or the world was.
Anyway, the situation had somehow been brought to a close. Thank goodness. I'd started to wonder if Orario was really about to go under like this.
But if I thought about it, maybe this wasn't such a strange outcome after all. Orario hadn't been destroyed in the first place. If this was one of the flows of the original story, then my interference might have been nothing but a lot of pointless suffering.
That thought made me feel a little wronged, but Arphia's mood was far from normal, so I had no intention of opening my mouth unnecessarily.
"Um..."
...I had no intention of opening my mouth, but.
"Why am I like this?"
"..."
I'd finally gathered the courage to speak, but no answer came back.
Hmm. This is awkward. How long am I supposed to stay like this?
I was currently in Hera Familia's room—more precisely, in Arphia's room—being used as Arphia's hugging pillow.
Well, up to that point it was pretty normal. But there were two things that were different from usual.
First, my body was in no condition to joke about. I'd used potions like water to fix the external wounds, but that didn't mean I was healed. My condition was close to the worst possible, and right now I was being treated like a patient.
Second...
"That hurts."
Arphia's touch hurt.
If it just hurt, I'd complain about it, but her hands were carrying a twisted mix of affection and resentment, so it was hard to say anything.
Her left hand held affection, her right hand resentment, and she fussed over my body with both. Was this what they called a dual-handed punishment?
"Fussing over me" sounded a little strange, but her touch was less clingy than it was investigative.
I wondered what she was trying to confirm. The way she pinched my cheeks, ruffled my hair, and seemed intent on checking even my pores made me feel strangely off-balance, but if this helped her mood settle, then it was certainly cheap at the price.
...Somehow it made me feel like a prostitute selling my body to make a living, which was a weird feeling.
"You perverted bitch. Your little sister got pregnant, and now you're planning to get pregnant too?"
"...What is it."
"What is it? You crazy bitch, after pulling that stunt, you're asking what is it?"
Hera burst in through the door and immediately snapped at Arphia. Fortunately, my suffering hadn't been in vain, because Arphia's voice, now a little calmer, was the same as always aside from a trace of irritation.
Phew. Thank goodness. The voice from earlier had really been terrifying. I never wanted to hear it again if I could help it.
"Get out, you bastard. I've got something to say to him."
"..."
Normally Arphia would have snapped back with a few words, but for once she quietly stepped aside without saying much. Hera seemed surprised too, her eyes twitching, but she didn't say anything either.
I couldn't say I'd spent a long time with them, but I had spent a good amount of time with them, and that was enough to know how much Arphia loved Meteria—and I couldn't even begin to imagine how Meteria's pregnancy must have struck her.
"That may not be the only reason."
"...I didn't say anything."
"Just saying."
Tch. The words of gods are always full of things I can't quite understand, and the fact that I can't ignore them makes it even more exhausting.
Hera was making the same complicated expression Arphia had worn. Come to think of it, Hera had poured just as much love—if not more—into Meteria. It made sense that her feelings wouldn't be light either.
That was why her being this calm was surprising. I'd expected her to tear everything down rather than look this depressed.
"What's with that look?"
"Ah, no."
...Well, if it's good, it's good. Yeah.
"...Tch. Are you really that clueless, or are you pretending not to know?"
"Uh..."
"...No, forget it. What am I even saying."
Hera let out a long sigh, then bowed her head toward me... huh?
"H-Hera-sama. Why are you suddenly doing this?"
"Shut up. It's not like I want to be doing this either."
Then why are you doing it?!
"First, I'll thank you. If it hadn't been for you, that crazy bitch probably would've been impossible to stop."
"A-at least that seems like an exaggeration, doesn't it?"
Even so, it was hard to imagine the famed Zeus Familia being wiped out by Arphia alone. I admitted Arphia was exceptional even among Level 7s, but there were monsters over there, weren't there?
And the other Level 7 adventurers were by no means weak either. Well, saying Level 7 was "weak" would be strange in itself, but I meant strong even among their own rank.
At the very least, there were plenty who were comparable to me now, or stronger. So it was hard to believe the others wouldn't have been able to stop her if I could.
As if reading my thoughts, Hera gave me a dumbfounded look and said,
"It was because it was you that she stopped. You were the only one who could have stopped her."
"...That's hard to believe when I looked like a mess."
Before I'd been treated, I'd looked so bad that even the veterans of the Zeus Familia would've been shocked.
"Ahem... Well, anyway, enough thanks. That's not the main point."
Was she ignoring me? I didn't really mind.
More importantly, the main point... I'd expected she'd come for a reason, but nothing came to mind.
"You want to join the expedition?"
"...Yes. Is there a problem?"
"No problem. I just came to ask why you suddenly wanted to join."
So that was it. Considering Hera was the one at the center of the expedition, it made sense that she'd want to avoid unnecessary personnel.
Even now, she cherished her children deeply. I could understand wanting to eliminate any unstable factor as quickly as possible.
But...
'Is that really all there is to it...?'
For some reason, my instincts were screaming that it wasn't.
I didn't think Hera had come just to ask for my intentions.
It wasn't hostility. It wasn't suspicion or wariness either.
How should I put it? The identity of that gaze was...
'Ah, right.'
I remembered.
That look. It was similar to Arphia's from just a moment ago.
'Like she's confirming something...'
Inspection. If I had to put it into words, that was the clearest expression.
Hera was inspecting me right now.
'...Why?'
Why was she inspecting me?
'Did I do something strange?'
Sure, it could have been to gauge my intentions after I said I wanted to join the expedition, but my instincts insisted that wasn't it.
In fact, it almost felt like that wasn't even on her mind.
Then why was Hera looking at me like this?
'Could it be... Xenos?'
The thought that flashed through my mind was quickly denied. Arphia's report should already have made their identities clear, so it didn't make sense for Hera to be worrying about the Xenos now.
Besides, Hera's gaze was focused entirely on me. That meant she had business with me personally...
"We're grateful that you've offered to join the expedition."
"But..."
Hera narrowed her eyes and said,
"Were you always only capable of that much?"
"...Huh?"
"As far as I know, you seemed to have reached a level where you could at least stand against Arphia."
My heart lurched at those words.
And at the same time, I realized what Hera was doubting.
'Come to think of it...'
The day after I arrived in this timeline, she had definitely been there when that sudden uprising(?) happened.
Compared to how I looked then and how I looked now, it made sense that she'd suspect something.
"Arphia was stronger than she was back then."
It was understandable for her to doubt me, but I wasn't without an excuse.
In reality, Arphia then and Arphia now were impossible to compare. Besides, I'd just come out of the Dungeon, so I had the excuse of being exhausted too.
But my opponent was a god. If she pressed even a little deeper here, I'd never be able to fool her.
"I see..."
I'd expected her to dig deeper, but surprisingly, Hera didn't ask me anything else beyond that.
I was a little puzzled, but if there was anyone who couldn't afford to be exposed, it was me. For now, it was best to ride this flow.
"Oh, Hera. So you finally came out."
"Zeus..."
When our conversation ended and I stepped out of the room, Zeus—bound and looking like a complete wreck—greeted Hera.
There was no need to ask why he looked like that. If anything, the fact that he still hadn't been sent back only made me realize Arphia's patience had increased.
"You're not as angry as I expected."
"How could I be?"
The result was right in front of her. As a goddess of the household, Hera could never curse the birth of a child, even if she might bless it. Half of that child might be the offspring of a detestable man, but the other half was the child of a beloved familia member.
And besides.
'They're alike...'
Not just in appearance or personality, but in atmosphere. So pure white that it remained untouched by filth, or rather, could even stain filth white in return.
She could easily imagine how hard such a life would be for a child who didn't even know the faces of their parents, so Hera had no choice but to swallow the anger she felt toward the child who would stand at the beginning of that hardship.
"Then why did that Cranel bastard—"
"Shut up. Don't say that name."
Separately, she had definitely taken revenge on that piece of trash. But that was that, and this was this.
"Tch. Well, whatever. At least he's alive."
"Even so, I have no intention of starting a war at a time like this."
If Hera's favorite was Meteria, Zeus's favorite was Cranel. And Zeus, though he acted otherwise, was also a god who cherished his familia. No matter how much of a reckless bastard Cranel had been, killing him would make war unavoidable.
"...Can we really call this only our responsibility?"
"What? Are you going to say something like 'love makes it legal' or something?"
"No, that's not it..."
There was no way that coward had actually gone through with it. There was clearly a result, but for some reason, the only thing I could picture was him sniffling at night, like a woman who'd been assaulted.
Still, he had a Level, and no matter how useless the man was, maybe he could at least handle the lead-up to the night. Yeah, this was probably our fault after all.
Zeus forced himself to accept that and looked at Hera. Though she was sullen, Zeus didn't miss the darkness hidden within her.
"What happened?"
"...Nothing much."
Since he wasn't certain, he didn't press the matter. Zeus had no intention of digging further either, so he changed the subject.
"Let's go in winter after all."
"You're saying that again?"
Hera, having grasped his meaning from their earlier conversation, glared at Zeus.
But Zeus, who should have been trembling under that look, was wearing an unusually serious expression, which made Hera take a step back.
"...Why?"
"Because of the cycle."
Hera knew exactly what kind of cycle he meant. She let out a sigh and grumbled,
"The children will suffer."
"And that proves they can save others. Heroes are, by nature, those who save people, and saving people always comes with hardship."
"I don't deny the desire to create heroes, but can't you at least be certain about one thing?"
Zeus's way of thinking was the basic mindset common to all gods.
But familia were family, and Hera was the goddess of the household.
"It would be nice if you valued our children more than some complete stranger."
It might have been wrong for a god to say such a thing, but in Hera's heart, the value of life was not equal.
What mattered most to her was her family.
"Of course I want my kids to live well and eat well too! But you know this too, Hera, don't you? This is not a choice, it's a necessity."
"..."
Hera couldn't say anything. It was, after all, the most reasonable argument.
Regrettably, the world needed heroes, and heroes needed hardship and trials.
And the ones closest to heroes were their own children. It was a reality so proud and so painful that even gods could do nothing about it.
"Don't worry so much. I've made preparations in my own way."
At least Zeus's confidence was one of the few things that gave her peace of mind. He wouldn't want his own child to die a meaningless death either.
In a situation like this, his confidence was proof that he had made corresponding preparations.
"I called in Ouranos and Baldur, and even one of my brothers. The preparations are solid. Besides..."
There was also an unexpected variable.
Zeus had a certain conviction.
No matter what the outcome, at the end of this Three Great Quest, something would happen that he could never have imagined.
And at the center of it would be a rabbit.
With a grin, Zeus's lips curled upward.
He looked like a boy waiting eagerly for a present, utterly unfit for his age.
Seeing that, Hera couldn't bring herself to voice the unease that was steadily building inside her.
Because she had a feeling the sight he was anticipating might not be a story anyone could laugh at.
With neither of their thoughts reaching the other, time passed all too mercilessly.
The second expedition of the Three Great Quests began.
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