Chapter 28 - Problems

While the group made their way in the upper floors, the situation in the surface was different.

In a room of the Twilight Manor, there was a God with black hair and black eyes in a dress typical of the Far East waiting for Loki to receive him. He was with his own familia members, Ouka, captain of the familia, Chigusa and Mikoto.

After 20 minutes, Loki arrived with a 'smile' on her face.

"Oh, Takemikazuchi, what brought you here?"

Hearing these words directed at him, Takemikazuchi stood up from his chair, bowing to Loki.

"My familia members caused problems for yours and I wanted to apologize for their behavior"

She looked at him with a fierce expression as she said

"Tell me the details"

Sitting on the chair again, Takemikazuchi told Loki about the matter.

"My familia members were on the 16th floor fighting against a large Monster Party of Almiraj and Lygerfang. Having trouble to fight them, they chose to run away from the monsters but, in their way, they saw a werewolf that was fighting against a group of Minotaurs. Their decision to run away remained unchanged but, in their way, they were stopped by Ethan and the Sword Princess. My members asked them to save the one they have abandoned. I wanted to apologize for the troubles and compensate the two.."

Having doubts about it, Loki asked

"Who is the Captain of your familia?"

"I am the Captain, Loki-sama"

The 'proud' expression on Ouka's face pissed her off a great deal but, without showing it on her face, she replied

"Tell me about the werewolf, can you describe him?"

Ouka tried to remember the face of the werewolf and, without much hesitation, he replied

"he had grey coloured hair, along with amber eyes, as well as a sleek tail, he had a blue tattoo on the left side of his face..that's all I remember Loki-sama"

Repressing the urge to laugh, Loki thought

'Interesting! Who would have thought of such an outcome'

With a smile, Loki said

"It's a member of my familia, his name is Bete"

"He's a Level 5, but that doesn't change the fact you managed to trouble three of my members. Obviously I will make you pay for this".

With this, Ouka wanted to say they were all strong people so it wasn't right to ask for compensation but, he was stopped by his God that, with a bow, replied

"You are right, this doesn't change anything. I will pay for the mistake of my familia members"

Ouka wasn't convinced by the response of his God, but the moment he tried to say something, an overwhelming Aura struck him, bringing him to his knees in the aftermath.

With another fierce expression, Loki added

"Don't disrespect Gods, mortal."

Without adding anything more, Loki made her Aura return in her body while a mischievous smile formed on her face

"We will talk about compensations at a later date. Now go, I need to take care of other things"

Hearing this, Takemikazuchi looked at his own familia member before he returned his gaze on Loki.

"I will do as you say"

Without uttering another word, the Takemikazuchi familia left the Twilight Manor.

---

Now in the upper floors, the group was fighting against a group of goblins before they finally saw the 1st floor entrance.

Exiting the Dungeon, Bete, Ais and Ethan made their way through the city. Bete was pissed off by the fact the two seemed to always be in close distance but, without having it showed on his face, Bete continued to walk towards the Twilight Manor.

At a certain point, Bete heard Ethan talking with Ais. The fact he was a werewolf wasn't just for show and, the moment Ethan started to talk, Bete was trying to hide the fact he was listening to the conversation.

"I need to take care of other things, I will see you later, Ais. Can you inform Loki I'll be back in the evening?"

Hearing this, Ais nodded her head while saying

"Be careful.."

With a smile on his face, Ethan made a nod of his own before Bete saw him heading towards the Guild. Deciding to use this opportunity for himself, Bete went near Ais but, the moment he was in a 'close distance' with her, he saw her make distance between them.

'That weakling..'

---

Ethan, remembered he actually forgot about the fact he said to Lili they would be in the Dungeon together but, before going to her and made up for his mistake, he wanted to inform Eina about the situation.

After 10 minutes, he was at the Guild entrance and, the moment he entered, Eina locked eyes with him. He went near her with hurried steps and, before he could say something, Eina brought her hand on her forehead, saying

"Mouu, you had to warn me you returned. I thought something happened in the last two days.."

Hearing the surprising calm response of Eina, he replied

"I'm sorry but many things have happened. I would like to talk to you about the Dungeon"

Bringing him to a private room, Eina sat on a sofa while Ethan sat on the opposite one

Eina started to think about what he wanted to tell her but, after Ethan told her the whole story, she was left speechless.

"H-H-Hobgoblins in the 9th floor!? a D-Dragon in the 15th floor?"

Her shouting brought the attention of the people in the guild but, with a fast move, Ethan brought a hand on Eina's mouth. The action made Eina blush but, this actually calmed her down.

Seeing the now calm expression on Eina's face, He took his hand away from her mouth, saying

"Are you okay?"

With the blush that didn't dissipate on her face, she replied

"Y-Y-Yes I'm ok now... T-T-Thanks!!"

Bringing her hands on her face, she didn't want to look at Ethan but, understanding the conversation was serious, she tried to not think about his action.

"If variants are spawning without a limit in the Dungeon the situation can become problematic.. I will talk with the Guild Section Leader Rehmer-san, and I will inform you about the situation.."

Hearing these words, Ethan replied with a smile on his face

"Yes, Thank you Eina"

"I-I will see you again, Ethan!"

Nodding his head, he left the room and headed towards the exit of the Guild. As soon as he left the room, The crowd of people looked at him, whispering

"Look! He is the new adventurer of the Loki Familia! I saw him leaving the Twilight Manor with the Sword Princess!"

"Huh? Are you serious? He doesn't seem that powerful! Should we give him a lesson?"

"Are you the king of Bakas? He was with our Sword Princess, you saw him too!"

"You... This time I won't forgive this affront. Come here you son of a b*tch!"

With this, Ethan finally exited the Guild and headed towards the abandoned Church. After 30 minutes he saw the church and, with a guilty smile, he entered it.

Seeing Lili on the sofa, he said

"Lili, I'm sorry, I had problems.."

Hearing the familiar voice, Lili immediately got up from the sofa, shouting

"Where were you! I waited for you..."

Before she could finish, Ethan continued

"A lot of things happened and I couldn't come to you in time.."

Understanding the situation was serious, Lili nodded her head before her goddess exited from her room, running towards Ethan with a smile on her face.

"Ethaaaaan~"

Seeing Hestia jumping towards him, he opened his arms, taking Hestia with relative ease. rubbing her cheeks with his, she added

"I'm happy you came"

Her words made his heart melt before he replied with a smile on his own

"I'm happy to see you, Hestia, the same for you, Lili"

At this display, Lili went towards him, hugging his body without saying anything. After their moment together ended, Ethan said

"It's the best if you enter the Dungeon at a later date, Lili"

His words made Lili look at him with a determined expression

"I want to be with you Ethan-sama!"

He wanted to say he couldn't protect her if things got bad with some Variants but, knowing her personality, he said

"There is a problem with the monsters. Monster Parties are spawning too frequently and, if we encounter one, I can't be sure I'll be able to protect you, so can you do this for me and wait for some days?"

At this, Lili replied with a conflicted look on her face

"I.. I will do as Ethan-sama says.."

Hestia, decided to ask some information on her own

"Do you know about possible reasons?"

Ethan thought about what to say and replied

"I don't know.."

Understanding Ethan didn't have an answer, she decided to put the matter for another time.

"Do you want to stay with me a bit?"

At her words, he wanted to say he had to return to the Twilight Manor but, after thinking about it for a moment, he decided it was a good way to relax..

"Yes, I will stay with you until evening"

Lili, decided to interrupt their discussion, saying

"I will stay with Ethan-sama too!"

Hestia, looked at Lili before she replied to her shout

"I want to be alone with you, Ethan"

Knowing where this discussion would end, Ethan had a smile on his face.

"You perverted goddess! I know what you w-w-want to do with Ethan-sama!"

Hearing her words brought a blush on her face while she replied

"It's not what you think! W-We aren't lovers!"

Ethan, seeing they were going to argue, said with a hint of teasing

"Lili has a point, lovers share a bed.."

His words made Hestia blush hard while saying

"S-So we are.."

her actions made Ethan laugh while saying

"You don't need to think that hard about it. If you have feelings for me you can tell me.."

Understanding the situation was going to be awkward, Lili interrupted the conversation

"W-Well! Isn't it better to go on a d-date for now?"

Hearing this, Ethan thought with a smile on his face

'My life will never be boring again..'

He replied

"Hestia, do you want to go on a date with me?"

At his words, Lili felt jealous of her goddess while Hestia had a blush on her face.

"Y-Yes"

Lili, seeing the blush on her face, added

"I will gladly go on a date with you, Ethan-sama!"

Hearing this, Ethan wanted to say he didn't ask her to go on a date but, without saying anything about it, he said

"I will go on a date with you after the situation with the Dungeon is resolved, okay?"

With this, the three made their way on the bed and, even if the situation was awkward, Ethan felt all the stress he had previously dissipate.

'I'm really lucky to have people who care about me..'

---

(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things like the [Twin's Digimon], but I advise you to read the story further before seeing them otherwise you'll get spoilers!)

(Alternate Titles: "Ethan, casually saying 'If you have feelings for me, you can tell me'", "Loki will drain the resources of Takemikazuchi soon", "Ais, teammateszoning Bete whenever she can")