Danmachi - Infinite Mana System! - Chapter 153 - Visitants.

[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
Third Person POV
Orario.

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The day dawned in silence as the morning sun emerged on the horizon, first illuminating the great walls of Orario along with the Tower of Babel, which stood tall above them.

As the sun climbed higher in the sky, Orario began to wake under the light of dawn. Despite the peaceful start, from above, the destruction where the city's slums once stood was still visible. In that area, several tents were being set up by the Guild for the homeless, while those displaced were to be relocated to other parts of the city in the coming days.

At the Hestia Familia headquarters, Lucius was already awake, walking into the living room while stretching. Some of the other family members were beginning to leave their rooms. With sleepy steps, he sat quietly on the sofa, closing his eyes for a moment, trying to shake off the exhaustion of the past few days.

"Good morning," a soft voice greeted him. It was Haruhime, approaching dressed as a maid, with a mop in hand.

"Good morning," Lucius murmured, still with his eyes closed.

"Would you like me to prepare some coffee for you?" Haruhime asked hesitantly.

Lucius gave a small smile before responding. "No, you don't need to. I already asked Riekling to prepare it. He’ll make it for everyone."

Haruhime nodded, but Lucius opened his eyes and looked at her. "You know you don’t have to work like this around the mansion. Riekling cleans everything. So don’t worry about this kind of thing." She really didn’t need to act this way.

"But..." she began to reply before being interrupted, despite her desire to be helpful to the family.

"You don’t need to worry about that. Focus on training and getting stronger. At least while I’m here, I’ll try to keep Riekling around when I’m away too," Lucius said. Haruhime nodded at his request in the end.

"Come, sit beside me. I’ll wait for the others to wake up," he said, pointing to the spot next to him. He knew the bathroom was already occupied as everyone woke up, while others were beginning to come downstairs, still drowsy.

Haruhime reluctantly sat down beside him. After a moment of silence, she started, "You know..."

Lucius glanced at her. "What is it?"

"I heard some people outside when I passed near the gate to take out the trash," she hesitated. "They were saying you weren’t a hero but rather a villain of Orario." She had woken earlier than everyone and had done some chores.

Lucius gave a lazy smile, showing little interest. "Well, I guess I don’t need to worry about what those people think," he replied nonchalantly.

"Let me finish," Haruhime interrupted him before continuing. "Even if they consider you a villain, I still see you as a hero," she admitted.

She looked at him, her green eyes fixed on his, showing the sincerity behind her words. Across the room, some of the other family members, like Lily and Mikoto, who had just arrived, raised their eyebrows, catching on to the conversation.

Lucius stayed silent for a moment before shrugging. "Don’t worry about it," he said. "I don’t consider myself a hero. Honestly, I don’t want to be one. I don’t like that kind of attention because people always expect good things. I’m a flawed person," he concluded, closing his eyes again, letting the conversation linger in the air.

"That’s not true! You’re the one who defeated the monster under everyone’s eyes!" Yamato argued, but Lucius shook his head.

"But I was also the one who brought it," Lucius replied.

It wasn’t surprising to imagine that triggering that explosion with the power of the unknown god of this world—just as it had happened on the first floor of Rivira when he reached level 2—had caused the dungeon outbreak. He had used that self-destructive move to defeat Evilus under pressure, and it triggered the dungeon’s reaction. It was clear he was the main culprit. He could understand why people were angry with him, even though they didn’t know he alone had caused that abnormal juggernaut.

"But even so, Lucius, you are..." Lily tried to argue, but Lucius interrupted at that moment, trying to end this melancholic conversation.

"That I am: a genius, rich, powerful, and handsome," he declared, putting words into Lily's mouth, leaving the three girls speechless.

At that moment, Riekling appeared. "Master Lucius, Mistress Haruhime, Mistress Mikoto, and Mistress Lily, good morning! Breakfast is ready!" he announced.

"Let’s go," Lucius said, disappearing immediately, not waiting for any responses to his last words.

Thus, everyone headed to the kitchen. Other members of the familia began to appear, filling all the chairs as Riekling served coffee to everyone. The atmosphere was calm, with occasional conversations here and there. In the middle of breakfast, the doorbell rang.

Riekling vanished for a moment and reappeared shortly after. "Master Lucius, the goddess Hephaestus is at the gate along with some members of her familia. They wish to see you," he informed.

"Please, bring them inside," Hestia responded. Riekling nodded, disappearing and returning soon after to announce that they were already entering.

After finishing breakfast, the familia went to the entrance to welcome the guests while Riekling stayed behind to clean the table.

"Well, it seems everyone is doing well," Hephaestus remarked as she entered, observing all the familia members gathered together.

It was obvious that the gods would visit as soon as they learned of the Hestia Familia's return from the dungeon. Rumors must have already spread throughout the city by now.

Riekling started reappearing to inform them that more gods were arriving, such as Miach and Takemikazuchi. Then one arrival caught Lucius's attention more than the others as the gathering continued.

Once again, Riekling appeared, addressing Lucius. "Master Lucius, another god is at the gate. This time, it’s the goddess Loki. And, Mistress Riveria and several other members of her familia are with her," he announced again, managing not to sound repetitive.

It was clear they were there for Lucius. Excusing himself from everyone, he went to the gate to receive them. As always, Loki immediately started making a scene with Hestia in front of the other gods as soon as she entered. Tired of it, Lucius simply took everyone and disappeared from the spot, heading straight to the office he had set up in the mansion.

"Alright, let’s get straight to the point. After all, we need to address my absence from Orario," he said in a straightforward tone.

"So, you’re still continuing with the project? You know what we were going to say... since we’re sending you the money this week!" Loki asked with a sharp look, opening her eyes seriously.

Lucius nodded. "Yes. As you can see, I wasn’t exiled from Orario, and I’ll be returning soon. I want to start executing the project immediately. Therefore, we’ll begin with the demolition of Heimdall’s mansion this week. Hephaestus will handle the demolition and construction, working with the god responsible for materials, Goibniu," he explained.

The others nodded in agreement as the meeting moved on to the practical details of the plan.

"Alright, if you’re still moving forward with the project, we’re still on board. We just hope it yields returns," Finn said, casting a not-so-friendly look at Lucius. It seemed some remnants of resentment from the previous battle lingered, but Lucius didn’t mind, already anticipating that things wouldn’t be easy to handle.

"Yes, don’t worry about that. I don’t know the mission yet, but with my woman here, we’ll handle it easily," Lucius replied, pointing to Riveria, who only sighed, trying to maintain her composure.

"Hey, who are you calling ‘woman’? Damn, worse is, it’s true... Mom..." Loki muttered, almost on the verge of tears as her daughter was swept away by a man from another familia.

"Anyway, let’s keep discussing this. Even if I’m away from Orario, I can still make requests and maintain correspondence. So, I’ll continue with the project, sending all the details and reviewing the reports as I receive them," Lucius explained. Loki and her familia nodded in agreement in the end.

Thus, Lucius accompanied them to the outside. While Loki, Finn, and Gareth walked ahead, Lucius stayed behind to speak with Riveria in the courtyard.

"Is everything alright with you?" Riveria asked, looking at him closely for the first time since the trial.

"Yes, I’m fine. Things went smoothly. It was easy to retrieve my familia from the dungeon, and now I’ve finally been able to rest a bit. So, I’m fine," Lucius replied sincerely.

"I hope so. You know that people..." Riveria began to say but was quickly interrupted by Lucius.

"Yes, I know. People are speaking ill of me. Don’t worry about that, at least not when it comes to me. Anyway, now I have a gigantic debt to pay. I’m looking forward to asking Ouranos if that part of the city can become mine," Lucius said, breaking into a smile.

"Is that true? You’ll have an entire part of Orario to yourself?" Riveria asked, surprised.

"Exactly. What could I do with it? That’s a good question..." Lucius mused aloud, debating with himself, but then shook his head. "I’ll leave that for later when I return. In any case, it would have a direct entrance to the 18th floor, since it’s in that part of the city, just for me. Doesn’t that sound cool?"

Lucius paused for a moment, observing Riveria’s silent and surprised expression. He knew she wouldn’t mention this conversation to her familia, something that would undoubtedly frustrate Finn.

"Well, anyway, I’ll be waiting for the Guild to contact us about the mission. We can plan something for tomorrow since today we’re swamped with visitors. You know how curious people are, especially the gods," Lucius concluded, and Riveria nodded.

"Alright. We’ll talk tomorrow," Riveria replied before beginning to walk away to rejoin her familia. Lucius watched her leave, then returned inside the mansion, where he had brief conversations with other gods and members of his familia, who expressed concerns or commented on his punishment outside Orario.

Lucius also had a private discussion with Hephaestus, during which they talked about the project involving runes and the construction of the magical tower she would also be investing in.

Afterward, the gods started departing. They weren’t visited by Demeter, Aphrodite, or Artemis that day. However, it was only at the end of the day, after all the visitors had left, that a Guild official approached with a letter. The letter contained an invitation for a direct meeting with Ouranos.

"Well, it seems I’m finally going to deal with my mission. I’m off," Lucius said, changing clothes in an instant into his Mage King cloak. Since the meeting was scheduled for that night, he simply left the mansion, flying away.

Ouranos didn’t seem inclined to wait, and so Lucius departed the mansion, heading directly to the meeting.