"Ishtar is completely finished."
Miach had mixed feelings. He hadn’t expected that Ishtar really had ties to the Evilus.
"She brought this on herself. If she had just stayed away from those people, if she hadn’t reached out to the Evilus or gotten involved in human trafficking, would she be in this ss now?"
Hestia didn’t feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Ishtar’s downfall.
She knew the inside story. She knew this outco was set in motion by the deal between Bell and Loki.
But what truly led to Ishtar’s collapse was her own misdeeds. If she hadn’t gone so far, at most Loki could’ve declared war on her Familia. Bringing her down completely would’ve been almost impossible.
But Ishtar just couldn’t stay in her lane. She crossed too many lines.
So really, there was no one else to bla—everything that happened was the result of her own actions.
...
Miach and Takemikazuchi understood this all too well.
In Orario, the Evilus were like sewer rats—everyone wanted them gone. For Ishtar to actively associate with that filth? She was practically begging for disaster.
And then there was the trafficking.
Miach could tolerate it a bit more, but Takemikazuchi? Absolutely not.
Especially after learning that many of the children sold to the Ishtar Familia were from the Far East—and that so of his own Familia mbers even knew the abducted—Takemikazuchi had reached his limit.
"Ishtar brought this on herself. Of all things, she had to get involved with the Evilus and even stoop to that level."
"Being sent back to Tenkai is already rciful."
Given all she’d done, repatriation was the most lenient punishnt she could’ve received.
Still, Takemikazuchi knew that Ouranos wouldn’t have agreed to it lightly. Dionysus had a point—until now, the harshest punishnt for such gods had only been exile from Orario, not outright repatriation.
Hephaestus could understand how Takemikazuchi felt. Too many of the trafficked children were connected to him.
If this ti so many kids related to Takemikazuchi were rescued, what about last ti? Or the ti before that? Who knew how many had already been lost to Ishtar’s actions.
"This ti, Ishtar won’t get another chance. You can let go of your anger now, Takemikazuchi."
"Well, at least that’s sothing worth celebrating."
Takemikazuchi’s rage finally eased. Once Ishtar was gone, a lot of trouble would go with her.
"Anyway, I need to go."
"I want to et the children who ca from the Far East. After Ishtar’s deportation is finalized, I plan to take them in as part of my Familia."
Everyone understood his decision.
In the Far East, many children already regarded Takemikazuchi as their Familia God. And he, in turn, had a special affection for them.
Watching him walk away, the others couldn’t help but feel a little emotional.
"It looks like Takemikazuchi is going to be busy from now on."
Miach simply smiled and shook his head.
"Maybe he’s actually happier when he’s busy like this."
"After all, those kids from the Far East really do revere Takemikazuchi as their god. After sothing like this happened to them, all he wants now is to take care of the wounded children. At the very least, it’s his way of making up for not being able to protect them."
Miach could clearly see how much Takemikazuchi blad himself.
He truly cherished the children who believed in him, treating them as if they were his own—sothing that was obvious from how he looked after his Familia.
"Now that Ishtar has officially fallen, many of her children will get a chance to choose their Familia again. The gods of Orario are about to get busy."
"Hestia, what about you? Still not planning to take in any new Familia mbers?"
When Hestia was called out, she didn’t hesitate at all.
"Nope. I never planned to take on many mbers to begin with, and besides, my child is a bit special—he doesn’t really get along with other Adventurers."
Miach didn’t press the topic. Every Familia had at least one special case like that. And honestly, there was no need to worry about Hestia. Her child was far more promising than most people imagined.
As for the matter of not trusting other Adventurers... maybe there was a deeper story behind that.
"It’d be better to help your child get used to working with other Adventurers."
"Even if he doesn’t like it, you should take so steps to push him a bit. Not trusting others and not being good at working with them are two different things."
Of course, Hestia didn’t believe Bell had trouble dealing with other Adventurers.
Just the fact that her child had managed to persuade Hephaestus and Loki made it clear he wasn’t soone bad at handling people. But being able to interact...
’Doesn’t an he trusts them.’
"Excuse , you three."
Just as they were about to leave Babel Tower, a man wearing a hat with a single feather hurried over.
The mont they saw him, all three of them twitched—each to a different degree.
They knew all too well that being stopped by this guy was never a good sign.
"Hey, hey, hey! Don’t look at like I’m trash."
Hers looked exasperated. Was his reputation in Orario really that bad?
Miach didn’t know how to deal with Hers either. Or rather, he’d always been cautious of this unreliable man.
"You wander around doing nothing most of the ti, and when sothing does happen, you vanish. So how are we supposed to treat you?"
"You only ever act serious when sothing’s actually going on. But go ask around—how many people who’ve had you ’get involved’ actually want to see you?"
Miach’s words hit ho for both Hestia and Hephaestus.
That was exactly how they saw Hers.
Whenever sothing happened, the first person they suspected was Hers, and they were always stunned to find he really had a hand in it.
So whether sothing was happening or not, the last person they wanted to see was Hers.
Because whenever he showed up, trouble was never far behind.
And when he appeared with that serious expression...
That ant it was sothing big.
In that mont, Miach, Hestia, and Hephaestus all had the sa impulse—to run.
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