CHAPTER 47: 047 "CAVE

"Strange....."

A mutter filled with confusion gently stirred in a corner of the luxuriously opulent room, unheard by anyone.

Frey stood in front of the window, her beautiful eyes wide open, gazing at a corner of the city, filled with puzzlement.

She had seen the encounter between Reiger and Allen unfold.

Or rather, she had observed the process of their confrontation through some special means, almost as if "seeing" it herself.

This was a method only Frey could master, not even the other gods could manage it.

Thus, even though the place where Reiger and Allen fought was extremely distant from here, Frey could still "see" what had happened.

This was precisely why Frey was both shocked and doubtful.

"It’s the first time I’ve seen such a soul."

Frey’s beautiful brows were deeply furrowed.

The Beauty Goddess Freya possessed a very special pair of eyes.

They were known as ’Insight Eyes,’ capable of seeing the essence of the souls of the beings from the lower realms.

These eyes were natural, hence they did not fall under the category of forbidden Divine Power, but were merely a talent, a trait that had little use in Heaven.

However, in the lower realms, with such a pair of eyes, Frey could sense the potential of the beings there more keenly than any other deity.

By observing the souls of the children (the people of the lower realms), based on the brilliance of the souls, Frey could completely judge a person’s potential.

After all, heroes, those possessing a Hero’s Weapon, invariably have dazzlingly bright souls, far from the mediocrity of ordinary people.

In Heaven, Frey had been able to grasp the colors of the ascending souls (the deceased) earlier than any other god and collected her favorite ones as her own, embracing them into her fold.

Those "collectibles" are what the people of the lower realms call heroes.

Thus, the Freyja Clan had become one of the strongest clans in Eorzea, equal to the Loki Clan, and even surpassing the Loki Clan in some aspects, all because the chief deity of this clan could recruit children with extraordinary potential ahead of others, gradually strengthening the Freyja Clan step by step.

Frey was also extremely fond of children whose souls shone brightly, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that she loved such children deeply.

In light of this, after Reiger displayed his unusual potential, Frey had almost immediately set her sights on him.

But Reiger’s soul had made this Beauty Goddess, capable of seeing through the essence of every being from the lower realms, feel surprised and doubtful.

"It’s not the radiant glow, nor the unusual colors, but the ’shape’ that’s different?"

What the Beauty Goddess’s Insight Eyes saw was a soul unlike any she had encountered before.

Prior to this, the souls of the beings from the lower realms fell into Frey’s eyes either in different colors or shining with varying degrees of brightness.

Frey would choose whether to take them into her hands based on the display of these ’colors’ and ’brightness’ according to her own preferences.

Until now, Frey had seen the souls of various heroes exhibit both unique colors and brilliant luminance.

Some had unique colors.

Others shone with a splendid brilliance.

All of these were what Frey liked, what she cherished.

But Reiger was different.

In Frey’s Insight Eyes, Reiger’s soul neither had extraordinary colors nor any dazzling brightness, but was twisting like a vortex.

No, that wasn’t a vortex.

It was - a ’hole.’

A thing without color, without brilliance, completely obscure in essence, twisting and rotating like a black hole, as if capable of swallowing everything, fermenting, blending, and mixing inside - a ’hole.’

That ’hole’ seemed to be telling Frey, forget about seeing what "it" was nurturing inside, forget about casually judging "its" value, blocking Frey’s view entirely.

From that ’hole,’ what Frey could see or rather feel was only one kind of emotion.

It was a tenacity that refused any interference from outside elements.

It was a future that refused to be scrutinized or judged by others.

Was this the essence of Reiger’s soul?

Was he rejecting others’ reaches toward him, silently indicating to others that his future could only be decided by himself, chosen by his own will?

This indeed was a tenacity.

But then again.

If his future could easily be seen or observed by others, then that kind of future would already be fixed, confined within the scope of what others "saw" from that moment on.

Such a future, Reiger would not accept.

"How interesting."

After her initial shock, Frey became intrigued.

"Unwilling to be seen by me (a god), and unwilling to be judged by others (the mortals), constantly spinning in twisted persistence, what kind of being do you ultimately want to become?"

Suddenly, Frey was seized with a desire.

To see what was being nurtured inside that ’hole.’

"So that’s it, this is the unknown that we (the gods) have always been pursuing."

Frey laughed.

Her laughter was devastatingly beautiful,

Heart-stoppingly gorgeous.

"Looks like I’m really going to stir things up with Loki this time," Frey muttered, saying, "Even I feel a bit scared thinking about clashing with that Loki."

You must know, he had once stirred up an apocalypse in Heaven, deceived the gods with his tricks several times, leading them to slaughter each other, almost bringing about a true Twilight of the Gods.

Even Frey, thinking about turning against that Evil God, felt some apprehension.

"But, this is also a kind of pleasure."

"Take it slow."

"Anyway, I’m not in a hurry."

Frey laughed, turning to leave.

She still had to console the kitten that had been accidentally injured due to her mischief.

...

By now, night had completely fallen.

Reiger, covered in blood, entered the Twilight Hall under the uncertain gazes of the gatekeeping members.

He had intended to return to his room without drawing any attention.

Unfortunately, he did not succeed.

"Reiger?"

Accompanied by a voice of surprise, someone returned to the clan just after Reiger.

Reiger stopped in his tracks, feeling somewhat helpless.

"...What happened to you?"

There, a Swordswoman with dazzling golden hair fully armed from the outside arrived, meeting Reiger as he was about to enter the mansion. Seeing the blood on him, her transparent golden eyes filled with surprise and solemnity.

"Ais."

Despite his reluctance, Reiger turned around to face Ais.

"Did you go to the underground city?"

Reiger eyed Ais, who was fully armed, and asked.

"Yes," Ais nodded and said, "After you went out with the captain, I took a trip to the underground city."

The girl was still so diligent and ambitious, obviously spurred on quite a bit by Reiger.

"Then you should be careful," Reiger said with a slight smile, "If Revilia finds out, you’re in trouble."

At this, Ais involuntarily shrank her head.

The girl was most afraid of Revilia, who had always been by her side like a mother, always protecting her growth and taking care of her.

And Revilia often scolded her for not resting properly at home after her expeditions, diving into the underground city every other day, spending the whole day there.

Being ambitious and hardworking was good, but Ais’s level of ambition and diligence had far surpassed others, making people worry she might overwork herself to the point of collapse.

In some ways, Ais and Reiger were indeed similar.

Both were people who, in order to grow stronger as fast as possible, spared no effort and risked their lives for every little chance to grow.

Therefore, from how reckless Reiger usually was, one could imagine that Ais’s recklessness was just as bad, if not worse.

For this reason, Ais had already been a headache for the Headquarters Camp in the Loki Clan. Now with Reiger added, the amount of worry Revilia must be handling could easily be overwhelming.

Of course, there were some differences between Ais and Reiger.

Reiger knew his own limitations and yet steadfastly followed his own path, while Ais was a bit cowardly, a bit guilty, always afraid of being lectured by Revilia.

"Don’t change the subject," Ais stared at Reiger and said, "Are you injured?"

"...Sort of," Reiger pursed his lips and said, "It’s just a minor injury, it’s already healed."

Yes, an injury that could be healed with Spiritual Medicine should be considered minor.

"You’re lying," Ais unmercifully exposed Reiger’s lie, "Your complexion looks terrible, you clearly have serious injuries."

That was the giveaway.

Spiritual Medicine could stop the bleeding and heal injuries, but it could not easily cover up the pallor caused by significant blood loss.

Ais was concerned about precisely that.

She simply couldn’t figure out, with Reiger’s current strength, what kind of danger he must have encountered to suffer such serious injuries.

If it were just the usual venture into the underground city to kill monsters, it wouldn’t have resulted in this.

Unless, Reiger had ventured beyond the 37th level to the deeper levels, or encountered some abnormal situation.

But it was impossible to travel to and from the deeper levels below the 37th level within a day, and if an abnormal situation had occurred, it would have been reported to the guild and known by adventurers immediately, yet Ais had not heard any such news.

In conclusion...

"Did you have a fight with someone?" Ais whispered, "A strong enemy?"

Reiger fell silent.

This woman, who seemed cold and indifferent, was actually so smart?

Reiger could only nod and said, "Don’t tell anyone, I want to solve this myself."

"...Yes."

Ais fell silent for a while, then nodded in agreement.

However, from her hesitant gaze, Reiger could tell Ais was conflicted.

Though she appeared indifferent, the girl was somewhat unsophisticated and clearly did not know how to best handle the situation before her.

Seeing this, Reiger involuntarily reached out his hand and touched Ais’s head.

Ais froze, also involuntarily looking up at Reiger.

Meeting Ais’s eyes, Reiger smiled softly.

"Don’t worry, I’m someone who doesn’t like being at a disadvantage."

Upon hearing these words, Ais silently lowered her head.

Her face, obscured by her bangs, blushed slightly.