Danmachi: A Despicable Stranger

Chapter 79: Good Brothers Hurt Each Other

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"Lord... Loki-sama... Riveria-sama..."

Perhaps because he had just done something questionable, Raul felt an uneasy tension when facing the two of them.

"Hey, Raul, I have a question for you. Where's Izzy?"

Seeing his guilty demeanor, Loki immediately sensed something was off, especially with Izzy nowhere in sight. Her brows furrowed slightly as she waited for an answer.

Riveria, standing beside her, also turned her attention toward Raul, her calm gaze steady but piercing.

"This is because..."

Raul averted his eyes, guilt written all over his face as he subconsciously prepared to give a truthful answer.

But then, he thought back to Izzy's merciless betrayal—how his so-called friend had sold him out without hesitation.

As the saying goes: patience brings peace; taking a step back only fuels anger.

Raul couldn't escape this universal truth.

Another saying struck him too: Aren't best friends meant to be sold out? Why hesitate?

Suddenly, Raul's thoughts crystallized with clarity.

"Lord Loki," he began, his expression solemn but tinged with frustration, "Izzy was stopped by an unknown goddess. I ran back to inform you right away!"

It was a lie.

But not entirely a lie.

Having seen Izzy in action, Raul decided to take a page from his book—twist the truth ever so slightly to suit his needs.

Sure, he had returned in guilt. Sure, he had planned to confess. But not to talk about Izzy—he just wanted to protect himself and avoid a terrifying punishment.

"Huh? Are you saying Izzy ran off with another goddess???"

Loki's voice rose, her disbelief echoing through the corridor.

"Well, here's what happened..."

Raul, careful to conceal his and Izzy's original intentions, recounted a version of events that painted himself in a slightly better light.

He knew the truth would come out eventually, and that he'd be reprimanded no matter what.

But!

As Izzy himself had reasoned earlier, it was just a scolding—nothing too severe.

Still, if he could drag Izzy down with him, wouldn't that be satisfying?

Come on, isn't this what brothers are for? To throw each other under the bus?

Who's afraid of whom? Who's outsmarting whom?

Raul smiled inwardly. I can take the hit, Izzy. But you're not getting off easy either.

When he finally finished his embellished tale, Loki regarded him with suspicion.

Divine intuition.

Loki had a knack for sniffing out deceit, and she knew Raul wasn't telling the whole story.

Though both were gods, the way Artemis trusted Izzy's calm and logical explanations was vastly different from how Loki handled Raul's guilty blabbering.

"What do you think, Riveria?" Loki asked.

"Half-truths," the royal elf replied, her discerning gaze unwavering.

"Yeah... that's what I thought too," Loki muttered, rubbing her chin.

Raul's story wasn't completely fabricated, but it was clear he was holding something back.

"Forget it for now," Loki declared suddenly, brushing the matter aside. "Let's go see which god dares to be so arrogant as to try and steal one of my children! Riveria, let's go!"

Deciding to let Raul off the hook temporarily, Loki strode out of the mansion, ignoring his relieved sigh as she left with Riveria in tow.

"Speaking of which," Loki said, her tone now lighter, "blue-haired goddesses are pretty rare. What do you think, Riveria?"

Her casual question carried an undertone of curiosity as she glanced at the elf beside her. (Raul, in his panic, hadn't even caught the goddess's name.)

"Have you guessed who it might be?" Riveria asked, her tone flat.

"Um... not really," Loki admitted, scratching her head sheepishly.

"And how do you plan to find them?"

"Eh, I dunno... just let fate guide us?" Loki replied with an awkward laugh.

Riveria's eye twitched, her patience wearing thin.

"If you can't find them," she said sternly, "just buy the wine and head back. Izzy will return on his own eventually."

After spending so many days with Izzy, Riveria still has some confidence in him.

Izzy is not the kind of person who would be fooled and betray his clan.

"Okay...let's go to West Street and buy some wine first!"

A certain god who seems very unreliable is on the move...

"call..."

It's over now.

Looking at the two people leaving, Raul burst into tears.

It is true that it is good to cause trouble for Izzy, but the price is a bit high... It seems that I can't hide the fact that I instigated Izzy to go to red light district. Woohoo...

But if Raul were given another chance, he would still choose to do so.

Because the relationship between the blue-haired goddess and Izzy seems to be more than just an ordinary acquaintance, there is something fishy!

As best friends, if Raul doesn't hurt each other back, can they still be considered best friends?

Izzy, I hope you are okay.

...

The location is at the Hostess of Fertility.

The store was still doing booming business, and all the seats were filled with customers.

Between the seats near the windows, a group of girls gathered.

Among them, Izzy, as a green spot among hundreds of flowers, becomes particularly conspicuous.

Many gazes like piercing needles were cast at him.

In a part of the crowded store, there was a commotion of different purposes.

"A blond-haired, blue-eyed human. With that appearance... there's no doubt about it, he's that Alyward."

"Just a little brat?"

"he created a new world record for the fastest "upgrade", surpassing that sword lady by eleven months, and they are all from Loki's Familia."

"I heard that he really reached the fifteenth floor of the "Strengthen Type", all by himself."

"It's just a "Strengthen species", what's there to shout about?"

"Can you?"

"Hehe, no."

Many people care about Izzy's achievements, but now more people care about the fact that he is surrounded by a group of girls.

There is also a goddess among them! And it is so close!!!

Envy makes them ugly, jealousy makes them unrecognizable...

"You've become a big star all of a sudden, Izzy."

Sitting at the same table, Rethusa, who hadn't been seen for a while, smiled at Izzy in a friendly manner.

"No, it's just a temporary fever, it will subside soon."

Izzy smiled. To be honest, he didn't care at all about the opinions of irrelevant strangers.

There may be some people who truly admire him, but there are more of them who are just sour grapes.

Not worth mentioning.

"Mr. Izzy... isn't he from Loki's Familia? How did he get involved with the goddess Artemis? And it seems that they have a good relationship, Ryuu, what do you think?"

Still wearing the tavern uniform, Syr took some time out of her busy schedule to slack off, looking at Ryuu who was a little absent-minded beside her with a smile.

"Mr. Izzy's relationship with other goddesses has nothing to do with me. Syr, don't keep talking about this..."

Ryuu looked away awkwardly.

She always felt that Syr was taking the opportunity to tease her intentionally or unintentionally, and she couldn't fall into her trap.

"Hey...but Ryuu, your eyes never left that place, huh?"

"I will ignore you if you continue like this! Syr."

"..."

Even a little girl said such angry words, and you still say you don't care?