At this moment, Riezel had already decisively left Yuukaku.
He called over Raul—who, for reasons unknown, had been tangled up at the entrance by a group of scantily clad amazonesses and was wailing at the top of his lungs—and together they withdrew from the Entertainment District and returned to Twilight Manor.
However, the moment they came back, Riezel was blocked at the entrance by a massive group of women.
"So you finally came back, Riezel."
"Hmph, if you’d been any later, we might’ve gone to the Entertainment District to drag you back ourselves, y’know?"
Standing at the gate with their arms crossed like guardian statues, blocking Riezel’s path, were the twin amazoness sisters.
At some point, the sisters had returned from shopping and now stood squarely in front of Riezel.
Raul, who was standing at Riezel’s side, had already turned pale and started trembling.
"Mr. Riezel..."
Lefiya hid behind the others, her large eyes brimming with tears as she looked at Riezel, making her look exactly like a timid, delicate wife who had discovered her husband fooling around outside, yet could do nothing but stay home alone, gazing at the moon and quietly sobbing.
"..."
Even Ais, who had stayed shut in her room all day yesterday, appeared as well, looking at Riezel with a rare expression of conflicted emotions, her face filled with hesitation, as if she had many things she wanted to say but did not know how to begin.
Of course, those present were not limited to just these four, as many of the familia’s female members were also there, especially the second strings led by Alicia and Narvi.
Elfy stood beside Lefiya, holding her hand as if trying to support her.
Anakitty calmly leaned against the wall, looking as though she did not care much about what was happening, but the constantly swaying tail behind her betrayed her true feelings.
And finally—
"You’ve really got some nerve, kid."
"Guhahaha! Going to the Entertainment District—even I was shocked, lad."
"...Looks like it’s necessary to re-educate you, Riezel."
Finn wore a wry smile, Gareth laughed loudly, while Riveria, her face icy cold, was also present.
"Hahaha, looks like you’ve reached that age, brat! Guess I’ll have to look at you in a new light!"
Even a certain unserious, unreliable, and utterly shameless goddess showed up, standing there cackling with schadenfreude, making people want nothing more than to punch her square in the face.
"You people seriously have nothing to do."
Only Bete, though present, looked as if he had been dragged here by force, as indicated by how his face was filled with irritation and disinterest, as if he genuinely found this whole thing pointless.
If not for the goddess and the familia’s top members being present, he probably would have left already.
"You all are...?"
Seeing nearly the entire familia gathered before him, Riezel was genuinely stunned.
As for Raul, he was so frightened that he nearly dropped to his knees on the spot to start kowtowing and begging for mercy. Thankfully, Cruz saved his life by quietly dragging him aside and pulling him out of the eye of the storm.
"Heh, wanna know why we were waiting for you here?" Tiona said, looking inexplicably smug. "The news that you went to the Entertainment District spread through the manor a long time ago, so the moment we got back, we found out. It wasn’t just me and Tione who were shocked—Ais froze on the spot. As for Lefiya, she nearly fainted right in front of us."
As she spoke, she cracked her knuckles, wearing a violent expression like a delinquent big sis as she walked up to Riezel.
"Okay, spill it. What exactly did you do in the Entertainment District?"
As Tione questioned him, everyone present focused their gazes on Riezel.
Especially Ais and Lefiya—the two of them even held their breath, listening with complete concentration.
"I... We—"
"Shut up."
Raul, who had been dragged aside by Cruz, mustered his courage to say something, but was mercilessly suppressed by Anakitty, making even Riezel begin to feel like he might have actually done something wrong.
A few moments of silence later, after coming to his senses, Riezel let out a bitter laugh.
"Didn’t I already say this?" Riezel said with a helpless sigh. "I just went there to learn a magic spell, that’s all."
He had clearly explained this openly in front of everyone before, so why was he being put on trial like this now?
Was his word really that untrustworthy?
Riezel began to question his entire existence.
However, reality proved that it was not that his words were untrustworthy, but rather, at moments like this, anything a man said would sound extremely untrustworthy.
"Even if you said that, that’s the Entertainment District, y’know? A guy goes there, and you’re saying you come back without doing anything at all?"
Tiona reasoned, prompting the women beside her to nod in agreement.
In response, Riezel pointed straight at Raul.
"Isn’t there a guy right here who used to go to the Entertainment District every day, and all he ever dared to do was hold a woman’s hand?"
Riezel’s words made several female and male members alike burst out laughing.
"Hey, you all!" Raul shouted in frustration.
"Honestly, Mr. Raul not daring to do anything sounds normal..." Lefiya, still standing behind the group, quietly added. "But Mr. Riezel is different, right?"
Hearing this, the women nodded repeatedly.
Needless to say, the unspoken meaning was clear: Raul was, at most, a coward with desire but no courage, while Riezel was not.
Just recalling the battle during the expedition on the 50th Floor was enough for the female members to understand how bold, daring, and manly their monster rookie truly was.
"Sorry for being someone who doesn’t dare do anything, okay?!"
Raul was nearly reduced to tears.
Despite being the senior, he felt like a complete failure as a man, utterly defeated by Riezel.
He felt utterly withered.
"I really didn’t do anything. I only learned a magic spell!" Riezel, both amused and exasperated, grabbed a certain goddess who was enjoying the spectacle far too much and dragged her forward. "Ask this one. Did I lie just now?"
Everyone immediately turned their eyes to Loki.
Children (those of the Lower World) could not lie in front of their parents (the gods), so everyone wanted to know what Loki would say.
"Hehehe..."
Loki, the evil goddess who embodied deception and control, wore a sly grin, clearly itching to stir up trouble, but she was suddenly met with a sword pressed against her neck by the golden-haired, golden-eyed swordswoman who had remained silent until now.
"Speak."
Ais spoke expressionlessly, her words short and completely flat, causing the goddess’s grin to freeze instantly as she reflexively raised her hands, cold sweat dripping down.
"I’ll talk, I’ll talk!" Loki very wisely backed down and said repeatedly. "Yeah, this brat was pretty honest. He didn’t lie."
A god’s testimony was ultimately extremely effective.
Once Loki confirmed that Riezel had not lied, the atmosphere immediately relaxed by several degrees.
"I-I knew Mr. Riezel wasn’t that kind of person!"
Lefiya burst into tears of relief, so happy that she even cried.
"Haa..."
Ais also let out a breath she did not realize she had been holding, while feeling confused about why she felt this way in the first place.
"Looks like the misunderstanding’s been cleared up."
"Hahaha, I told you this lad didn’t seem like the type to mess around in the Entertainment District."
"But that said, places like that—avoid them if you can."
Finn and Gareth both smiled, while Riveria softened her expression but still offered a stern reminder.
"What, so it really was nothing?"
"Boring."
Tiona and Tione, on the other hand, looked disappointed, as if they had failed to get the chance to properly deal with Riezel, making his eyes twitch uneasily.
With everyone chiming in one after another, the judgment formation against Riezel was finally dismantled.
In this situation, Bete suddenly spoke up.
"So you went to a dump like that—what kind of magic did you actually learn?"
Bete’s question made everyone react at once.
"Mr. Riezel said it was a magic spell more incredible than any other."
"And even more incredible than Miss Ais’s, Lefiya’s, and Lady Riveria’s magic, right?"
Alicia and Elfy spoke in succession, prompting immediate reactions from Ais, Lefiya, and Riveria, all of whom had been mentioned by name.
"More incredible than my wind..." Ais murmured softly, her voice trailing off.
"Is it really that powerful?" Lefiya questioned, her curiosity clearly stirred.
"I’m interested as well," Riveria said, expressing the same sentiment.
Under these circumstances, Finn smiled slightly and turned his attention to Riezel.
"Would it be convenient to demonstrate it, Riezel?"
Faced with the familia captain’s request, Riezel had only one possible answer.
"No problem," Riezel replied casually before a meaningful smile appeared on his face. "Just don’t get scared later, alright?"
Hearing that, everyone grew even more curious.
Just what kind of magic could earn such high praise from Riezel?
The answer would soon be revealed.
===
Twilight Manor, Courtyard.
Surrounded by nearly all of the familia members, Riezel stepped into the center of the courtyard.
"Ais..." Riezel said calmly, turning his head toward the silent golden-haired girl. "Be my target, please."
Ais paused for a brief moment, then nodded and stepped forward, stopping directly opposite Riezel.
"Well then, I’ll begin."
Under the curious gazes of everyone present, Riezel unfolded a magic circle and began to chant.
"Grow."
Riezel’s faint chanting echoed through Twilight Manor, like a clear song carried beneath the moonlight.
"That power and that vessel. Breadth of wealth and breadth of wishes. Until the bell tolls, bring forth glory and illusion."
"Grow."
"Confine divine offerings within this body. This golden light bestowed from above. Into the hammer and into the ground, may it bestow good fortune upon you."
"Grow."
Riezel raised his hand, causing particles of light to drift from the magic circle, forming a mist-like nebula that gathered above Ais’s head.
"Uchide no Kozuchi."
In the next instant, the nebula poured down, and a layer of golden light appeared over Ais, surrounding her with countless particles of light.
Ais stood there without moving, allowing Riezel to cast the magic on her, and after a short while, a trace of emotion finally appeared on her usually unchanged, beautiful face.
"This is...?"
Ais looked at her own hands, her face filled with disbelief.
Seeing her reaction, everyone’s curiosity grew even stronger.
===
[A bonus Chapter for every 500 Power Stones.]
[Support me and read next Chapters early at: /VALRRR]