98. Guild Master, Stop!
98. Guild Master, Stop!
What kind of god was Athena?
One of the great Twelve Olympians of Olympus.
The only daughter, with no brothers, of Zeus and Metis, and the eldest daughter of Zeus.
The goddess of justice and knowledge, wisdom, intellect, reason, peace, war, tactics, strategy, military law, force, pottery, cooking, civilization, crafts, art, scholarship, skill, inspiration, law, industry, and the goddess of warriors and heroes with a strong sense of justice, honor, and glory.
And the Athena Guild, which served this goddess, was expected to be 'wise' wherever they went.
Those who never showed an opening easily to anyone and resolved things through dialogue rather than violence.
They never revealed their emotions first, and the head of this group, commonly said to be tightly bound by elitism──
"Nice to meet you, Chrono-gun."
".........."
─how could he be so consistently the same?
A strangely crisp smile.
A friendly-looking face.
Beneath it, eyes that sized people up and a heart as cold as ice that couldn't read the slightest emotion.
And the words that came out at the end were...
"I'll be direct, but you must withdraw from your party with our child."
"Yes...?"
...A clear refusal.
****************
The story was simple.
The account Minerva had given me the previous day.
When I sent money to it, the transaction details flew straight to the Guild Master, Minerva's father.
Only then did he check what had happened, and upon confirming that I had cleared missions rapid-fire with her, the Guild Master
was deeply impressed by how we handled missions with an overwhelming gap compared to other interns.
"And that's exactly why dad doesn't like it."
The missions my party with Minerva handled had already been completed far beyond what was necessary.
Seeing the money that came into the account on top of that, the party she was with appeared to be a more responsible leader than Minerva, and that was why he wanted to pull her away from me even more...
'...what kind of bullshit is that'
Was I just imagining that it didn't make sense?
The Guild Master turned to look at Minerva, still wearing his crisp smile.
"Minerva, it seems you worked hard on the homework dad gave you. Although you're still a little lacking at the academy, seeing you improve step by step makes dad truly happy."
"Father...."
"But, Minerva."
His voice dropped slightly.
The soft voice became a little rough.
Hard and sharp, in a tone like a spear blade.
"More than anyone, dad hates trash that takes leaning on others for granted."
"........Yes."
"I can understand if it's once. If it's the first time, you might not be able to gauge the situation yet. No, the fact that you can't gauge the opponent's skill is a problem in itself, but you're still inexperienced, so dad sees that as a possibility."
However, Minerva
"If it happens twice, it no longer looks like a 'mistake' but 'intent.'"
"....I'm sorry."
"I want you to grow."
"I'll keep it in mind."
Minerva bowed her head.
The Guild Master continued to scold Minerva.
Honestly, I wasn't even sure if there were grounds to scold her, but I knew perfectly well what this act was for.
"...My apologies, I ended up focusing too much on my daughter."
"..........."
That man
wasn't doing that because of Minerva.
"I will return all the money deposited into the account. A daughter of the Athena Guild can't receive money for serving her guild, after all."
The subtle pressure and wariness.
At the same time, the money he handed over openly signaling 'take this and get lost.'
"However, I would like you to keep some distance from my daughter from now on."
".......Hm"
At this point, I couldn't help but know, even if I didn't want to.
That all the performances up until now
had been put on entirely for me to see.
'To make me scared, feel burdened, and step back'
If I took one step further here and said Minerva wasn't at fault, I'd be dismissed with it being a family matter between parent and child.
So it couldn't be helped.
By now, anyone who knows the drill probably knows that the moment I take one step back here──the NTR event begins, right?
"I'm sorry about what you said, but...."
And so, prep work was needed.
Prep work I'd handled before coming here, work that was absolutely necessary.
"I've already accepted a mission. Could we possibly just finish that one mission and then disband the party?"
"What...?"
The Siren Event.
I had pre-registered the mission request before coming here.
"I could just go back as the Guild Master says... but I can't exactly back out of a mission I've already accepted."
"I will handle that part at my discretion. So you don't need to worry about that."
Of course, a mission could be cancelled according to the Guild Master's wishes, but
"The mission record is automatically linked to the academy as well. No matter how much the Guild Master cancels it at his own judgment, the history itself doesn't disappear..."
".........."
A piercing glare.
A look that said 'keep blabbing,' but I answered with a bright smile.
"I'll disband the party as soon as this mission ends. Ah, and I'll gratefully accept the money!"
".....Hoo"
The Guild Master let out a short breath.
Then, shooting Minerva a sharp look, he said
"Finish it as quickly as possible and return."
"....Yes."
...
..
.
"What were you thinking, doing that?"
"What did I do."
As soon as we came out of the Guild Master's office, Minerva glared at me.
"Both your way of speaking and your actions.... You weren't your usual self, Chrono."
"What's my usual self."
"The usual Chrono... at least knew how to read the room."
"Thanks for thinking highly of me."
Reading the room and watching someone you know turn into an idiot are two different things.
"What...?"
"Ah, did you not know?"
A different reaction from what I expected.
I thought she knew but couldn't help it, and would take up the position of a tragic female knight going 'Keut... kill me!', but she seemed more naive than I thought.
"Listen carefully, Minerva."
You──are being gaslit right now.
"....Whaat?"
"You really have no awareness, huh."
Come to think of it, judging by the atmosphere the two of them showed, it seemed to have been going on for a long time.
"Think about it with common sense. The missions you and I handled, frankly, wouldn't they be TOP among the interns this quarter?"
"That's... true, but...."
"Then normally you'd praise it, who scolds you for teaming up with someone competent?"
"That's, obviously because he wants me to grow──"
"──If he wanted you to grow, he should at least say something like 'learn from someone who's good,' but he just told you to stay away without a single word like that?"
"Th...at is....."
And on top of that, there's that thing from the start.
"Why is he returning the money to me."
"That's.... because I'm from the Athena Guild──"
"──Do your guild members all serve without taking money?"
Say something that makes sense.
"...I'll become the Guild Master of this guild someday──"
"──So are you the Guild Master right now?"
I said say something that makes sense.
"...It's better to raise one's reputation early──"
"──Did you not consider that's not reputation, but being a total pushover?"
Not everything that comes out of your mouth qualifies as speech, you know?
"And as I said earlier, you're being gaslit right now. In a situation where you should be angry and annoyed, why are you so desperate to shield your father you can't stand it?"
"Don't insult my father!"
"Yeah, your father runs the guild so well."
"Pardon? Eh, yes...."
"Your father is the peak of child education."
"..........."
"Your father is a master of rolled omelets."
"...Are you being sarcastic?"
You just figured that out now?
I let out a small scoff and led Minerva outside.
"Ah, I'm not done talking yet! What was that attitude in the first place! That's not an attitude to have in front of the Guild Master!"
"That's exactly why I could bring you out. If I'd been completely polite, it would have ended with no way around it."
"No... what does that...!"
This part was information I'd figured out through N playthroughs:
'That person is weak against Mars'
The original Protagonist had tried to approach politely, exactly as Minerva had said earlier, and got outright rejected and kicked out.
But if you brought Mars along, Mars would half-forcefully drag her out, and he'd show himself reluctantly giving permission.
Put another way, only when he couldn't handle it rationally and it wouldn't become a big problem,
the Athena Guild Master had a gimmick where he'd let an NTR event pass.
'But normally this is unreasonable....'
It was absolutely impossible in the 1st playthrough.
It was only possible if you moved to the 2nd or 3rd playthrough and carried over affection levels, so it was a relief I somehow resolved it myself.
"...Chrono, you're preposterous."
"I know."
"...Do you really know?"
"Honestly I don't know."
"......Would it be okay if I hit you just once?"
"It's not okay, so don't."
The conversation flowed oddly.
Before I knew it, we arrived at my desired destination, and I opened the door and went inside.
"This place is....?"
"Your guitar string snapped."
We entered an instrument shop.
Looking at the strings needed for an electric guitar, I roughly grabbed the most expensive one among them.
"I'll pay for this."
"Wait... this one's expensive!"
"It's cheaper than the money your father gave me."
"No......"
I tossed the paid-for guitar string to Minerva.
"This'll do, right?"
"...Chrono."
"Ah, and from now on, I'll manage your money."
"Whaat?"
This is, what's it called.
A slightly belated realization, but
'The reason the original Protagonist earns and spends money on his own'
It wasn't really a big deal.
In Yuno's case, she gave him economic control and told him to do as he pleased.
Mars didn't want to use her head and delegated full authority.
Merk had set up a separate storage under her room's bed.
──In Minerva's case, since all her spending records were reported to her father, she delegated it to the original Protagonist.
'I forgot about that....'
...Honestly, isn't this worth forgetting?
Who remembers every single one of these settings one by one?
I looked at a dumbfounded Minerva and said.
"If you use your card, all the records go to your father. You wouldn't like that."
"That's.... no, but...."
"I'll just pay in cold hard cash without any of that, so don't worry. Whether you buy guitar strings, an amp, or a dildo for masturbation, I won't care."
"I don't buy things like that!"
"Who said anything."
From what I remembered, there was an event after they'd slept together once where she'd secretly tried to buy adult goods.
Anyway, it's better for your well-being not to meddle in a maiden's secrets.
"Thanks... thank you, Chrono."
"Sure."
Minerva clutched the guitar string tightly in her hand.
At the same time, a window appeared before my eyes.
[Mission]
[Our Child, Honestly, Isn't She Cute?─Success]
Reward: An Extremely Good Olive Tree on the Head
Additional Reward: Athena's Affection +3
'...Goddess?'
Something strange was mixed in there.
[Goddess Athena: Rather than simply expressing that I am happy, I thought it would be better to inform you of the exact numerical value, so I tried it. Men go crazy for these numerical things, don't they?]
'............'
As expected.
This goddess is a little strange.
Looking normal on the outside, but feeling a bit rotten on the inside.
Sure enough, Sure enough, as expected.
'It's like they say, who else but a Greek god....'
This scent of Greek not filling the nose.
Athena was also a goddess from 'that household'.
As a side note
"Anyway, I guess this is it now?"
"....No. There's still one thing left."
"Huh?"
What.
What was left.
I looked at Minerva
"The fact that Mai is taking the form of a little girl, is that because of Chrono's taste?"
"....Is that topic still ongoing?"
"They say a Servant Demon often reflects a lot of the master's psychology..."
".........."
The urge to teach Minerva a lesson directly with my body welled up.
[Goddess Athena: Are you going to do it?]
'No, I'm not.'
So just hold back a little.
You little Greek goddess.