Thinking along those lines, Hers suddenly felt it was highly plausible.
It had already been confird that Evilus had been hiding in the Dungeon all this ti, but the exact location of their hideout still hadn’t been uncovered. Of course, that wasn’t surprising—the Dungeon’s sheer scale went far beyond anyone’s imagination.
Trying to find a hidden hideout tucked away sowhere in such a vast expanse was incredibly difficult.
But if the targets that Evilus and the Xenos were watching happened to be hiding in similar kinds of spaces, then by identifying one of those locations, it might be possible to deduce where Evilus was hiding. That would significantly cut down on the ti and effort needed to track them down.
"Yeah, it’s definitely a strong possibility."
"I’ve thought from the start that there’s no way those guys could’ve openly dug out a hideout inside the Dungeon. A project of that scale couldn’t be hidden so easily. If they were using a space that had already been excavated by another Familia—then repurposed through so sort of deal or cooperation—that’d make a lot more sense."
Hers had long been puzzled by how Evilus managed to dig out a pit in the Dungeon in the first place.
A project like that simply couldn’t go unnoticed.
After all, we’re talking about large-scale construction inside the Dungeon. Would the Dungeon even allow that?
Only the safe floors had relatively little reaction. On other floors, the mont the Dungeon detected signs of excavation, it would imdiately start repairing the damage. Normally, it would be nearly impossible to construct any kind of hideout in there.
And with digging on that scale, it was hard to believe that none of the Adventurers entering the Dungeon each day would notice.
If even one Adventurer caught on, there was a chance the news could spread all over Orario. There was no way Evilus could keep that kind of operation completely secret. So it’s highly likely that they weren’t the ones who did the digging in the first place.
"Asfi."
Asfi stepped through the door and bowed.
"Go investigate if there are any Familias currently conducting open construction in the Dungeon."
"Right away."
Hers rested his chin on his hand. By now, he was almost certain that the Evilus base had likely been built by repurposing secret excavation projects carried out by other Familias.
The ones being watched by the Xenos were linked to Evilus through so kind of deal—and they’d been hiding in the Dungeon the whole ti. It was hard not to see a connection between the two.
"Sothing as blatant as large-scale construction in the Dungeon would definitely be logged in the Guild’s records. And this kind of activity didn’t just start in recent years—it’s likely been ongoing for a very long ti."
"Still, those Familias would fall within the Guild’s monitoring scope. If we dig deep enough, we should be able to uncover so clues."
Hers already had so suspicions. After all, there were very few people with the ability to do sothing like this without drawing the attention of Adventurers.
Shaking off those thoughts, Hers turned to Loki.
"You’re this angry because of the Xenos?"
"...Hers, what are you trying to say?"
"No hidden aning behind it."
Seeing the icy glint in Loki’s eyes, Hers felt a chill run down his spine and shut his mouth quickly—definitely not the ti to speak further.
"I just thought you’d normally pretend not to notice things like this. Who would’ve guessed you’d take the initiative this ti?"
"Hmph, I just don’t think there’s that big a difference between the Xenos and the children of Genkai."
Loki didn’t bother addressing the comnt Hers had almost made. Among the gods, there were surely others who shared her views.
"Let’s stick to business."
Hers gave a slight shake of his head—he didn’t want to dig too deeply into that topic either.
"Asfi has already gone to investigate which individuals previously conducted excavation in the Dungeon."
"I do recall a few nas myself, but I’m not exactly sure who they were."
"People from within the Guild?"
Loki went straight to the heart of the matter.
"Yeah, I think there’s a direct connection to the Guild. If my guess is right, it might also tie into Daedalus."
Hers’ remark jogged Loki’s mory—she did rember that na, and not as soone ordinary.
"The craftsman who built the Tower of Babel? I rember he was one of the few people Ouranos accepted into his Familia, wasn’t he?" She recalled that Daedalus had been brought into the Guild because of his exceptional talent for construction, helping design and build Orario. His legacy included the city itself, and the Tower of Babel at its center.
"But I thought he was just a mortal. Even Ouranos couldn’t extend the lifespan of his own Familia mber, right?"
"Not even Ouranos. No god could."
Gods in Genkai couldn’t grant extended life—there simply weren’t any ans to do that here.
"And Daedalus really did die. He wasn’t killed—just passed away from old age."
"He was buried as a founding figure of Orario and received a proper funeral. But since the gods weren’t notified, only a few key mbers of the Guild attended."
Hers could confirm that Daedalus hadn’t shown any signs of becoming sothing inhuman. Until the end, he remained a mber of the Guild, with no signs of transforming into a monster or extending his life unnaturally.
"Which ans, the person manipulating things in the Dungeon is likely a descendant of Daedalus."
"Most likely."
Hers gave a slight nod in response to Loki’s question.
"Also, Daedalus was the chief architect of Orario. It’s not impossible there are hidden passages in the city, like the ones Ishtar used back then."
Loki frowned—she hadn’t expected Daedalus’s story to tie into those underground spaces Ishtar once utilized.
"Daedalus designed those as well?"
Hers didn’t have an answer. He just shrugged helplessly and let the question drop.
"Who knows. But when Ishtar was captured, they discovered many empty chambers in that underground space. They didn’t look newly built—it seed like they’d been there for ages."
"Also, if I rember right, Daedalus continued so work in the Dungeon even in the period leading up to when he beca bedridden. But after his death, all of that ca to a halt."
"Does the Guild have records of that work?"
"No idea. That’s why I asked Asfi to look into it."
...
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