Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?

"That woman is just... such a pain."

After returning to the Familia from the Tower of Babel, Loki held a brief internal meeting. She gave a quick rundown of what had happened at the Denatus and shared the plans for how to deal with the Evilus going forward. Then, she went straight back to her room.

Right now, Loki just felt mentally drained.

She had to worry about Finn and the others exploring unknown territory in the Dungeon, and now she had to deal with Freya trying to sneak her way in.

Flopping down onto the bed, Loki let out a sigh.

"That lust-crazed woman just doesn't quit."

She had always thought Freya was a bit obsessive, but she never expected her to go as far as using her Authority on her just to get information about that kid.

The very thought made Loki roll her eyes.

"No wonder that shorty and the kid are always so wary. Being stalked by someone like that would creep anyone out."

And now, she herself had become one of Freya's targets too.

'Ugh... this is exactly why I said you'd never outmaneuver the shorty.'

That kind of pursuit was enough to make anyone feel disgusted.

Even if she wasn't using brute force, being stared at constantly—who could enjoy that?

Maybe someone else would be over the moon. After all, it was Freya. Wouldn't most men be thrilled to catch her eye?

Too bad—the man she had her sights on this time definitely wouldn't be.

Loki shook her head and decided to set the whole Freya thing aside for now, stretching out fully on the bed.

"Should I even bother going over today?"

Honestly, there was no need.

From what happened that morning, it was clear Finn and the others had been shaken by the Black Dragon. They'd probably be spending today and tomorrow resting on the 39th floor, not rushing to press forward.

Looking around her own plain and unadorned room, Loki fell silent for a moment. Then she pushed herself up from the bed with both hands.

Without saying a word, she stepped through a spatial tunnel inside her room and emerged in her personal room within the Hestia Familia.

"Ahh~"

With a deep breath, spiritual energy began flowing into her body. It eased the tension that had been weighing her down.

"This is what life should feel like."

Sprawled out on the bed, Loki couldn't help but admit to herself—her own place really was plain. Nowhere near as cozy as that shorty's home.

The shorty's house was built using Spirit Trees. The entire space was infused with a special kind of energy, filled with a serene aura that screamed 'divine residence.'

Her own place, in contrast, reeked of money—flashy, gaudy, tasteless.

Loki scoffed at the Dwarf who built her "Twilight Manor." The guy seriously had no taste.

Of course, she understood that if they'd tried to build something like the shorty's home using those same kinds of materials, they'd probably have to sell the entire Familia and still wouldn't have enough to pull it off.

After all, Spirit Trees were incredibly rare and expensive. The Elves certainly weren't about to sell any living Spirit Trees—especially considering how few they had left.

"I'm not going back for the next two days."

There were still plenty of things to deal with at home, but Loki had decided to ignore them.

Most of her Familia's main combat force had gone off on the expedition. There weren't many people left behind, so leaving the work to Finn wasn't a problem.

In truth, Loki usually worked pretty hard. Even when the work was annoying, she didn't really slack off.

But right now was exactly the kind of time she wanted to slack off more than ever.

After all, Orario was far from stable lately. The conflict between Adventurers and Evilus was now completely out in the open. In times like this, playing it safe was never a bad idea.

More than anything, her mind was still with her children.

The challenge they were facing in the unknown was against a Spirit whose strength had already reached Level 8. Just thinking about it made her scalp go numb.

"That kid should be okay, right?"

"They're taking every bit of our fighting power to challenge an unknown frontier, and they want my children to cross levels and take on a Spirit…"

No matter how she looked at it, it just didn't seem realistic.

But Loki was also very sure—if they could overcome this almost impossible trial, then Finn and the others would definitely earn the kind of "Excelia" needed to break through their current level cap.

"Ais just reached Level 6. If she makes it through this and gets that Excelia, she probably won't rush into trying to hit Level 7, right?"

That was what really gave Loki a headache.

Even though Ais had been more attentive lately to the other children in the Familia who were weaker than her, deep down she still couldn't let go of her parents. Freeing them was still her top priority. So no one could say for sure whether she was thinking about pushing herself to gain power even faster.

"...I just hope Ais can keep a cool head when the time comes. Leveling up is important, yeah, but I want her to think more about long-term growth."

After all, Ais wasn't like that shorty's kid.

Loki was convinced that kid had some kind of ultra-special "rare skill." Otherwise, there was no way he'd have jumped to Level 4 in under half a year.

That kid had the kind of ability that could rack up "Status" crazy fast—but Ais didn't.

Even if she had incredible natural talent, outside of that she was still operating at a normal person's level. She hadn't reached the kind of insane potential that kid had.

With these thoughts weighing on her, Loki couldn't relax enough to sleep.

She couldn't even close her eyes.

Every time she tried, all she could see was the awful image of her children suffering in the unknown.

With a groan, she grabbed her hair and sat up in bed.

Frustrated, she left the room.

She didn't actually need to go check on them today. But still—she couldn't help herself.

As soon as she reached the stairs, she heard voices from the living room...

"...The info Loki-sama leaked is basically stuff anyone could've figured out at this point."

"With Loki-sama's personality, she's not the type to fall into the same trap twice."

Oh, you've got to be kidding me—Loki could only stare.

That was definitely that kid's voice. Was he analyzing her personality now?

And what were they even talking about just now? What did he mean, "leaked information"?

'Wait... are they talking about that lust-crazed woman?'

Loki smacked her own forehead.

'Gods, even that kid knows I've become the weak point?'

She'd been played by that woman today, and now both the shorty and that kid had caught on too. Loki suddenly felt like she didn't even have the face to walk into that room.