Chapter 269: A Headache of a Choice

"Xenos... I didn't expect it to turn out like this."

Finn remained stunned for quite a while before finally coming back to his senses. At the same time, he understood why Loki had let out a sigh of relief when Ais wasn't around.

"Loki, even I didn't catch on to what was going on with the Xenos right away. Do you think Ais would accept this?"

"Mm... I really don't know."

Loki scratched her head in frustration. She was clearly at a loss over how to handle the Ais situation.

After all, Ais's parents had been killed by the Black Dragon. That alone had left her with a deep-seated hatred for monsters—especially dragons. Her hostility was so intense she wouldn't hesitate to draw her sword the moment she saw one.

"Ouranos and Ganesha have both decided to support the Xenos being classified as a type of demi-human. That had nothing to do with me at first, but because of the Ishtar situation, I got dragged in too. Now there's no backing out."

"Classifying the Xenos as demi-humans? That's a lofty goal. Maybe too lofty, even for Ouranos."

"Well, even if you say that, there's not much I can do about it."

Finn agreed that Ouranos-sama's dream was difficult to realize—but under the circumstances, they didn't have much of a choice.

It was understandable for Loki to feel helpless. After all, this wasn't a problem anyone could solve easily.

Faced with all this, Finn couldn't help thinking of Bell-kun—the one who had deduced all of this.

"Loki, did Bell-kun mention any ideas on how to handle this?"

Loki's expression suddenly turned strange.

That told Finn everything he needed to know. Bell-kun had clearly thought of a solution—but whatever it was, Loki didn't seem thrilled about it.

"That kid... yeah, he gave an answer. But it's the kind of answer nobody could accept—not even Ouranos."

"Why not?"

"Because he said that if he disguised himself as Evilus and brought half of Orario to ruin, then when the city was on the brink of collapse, the Xenos could step in and prove their strength. In order to survive, the people would have no choice but to accept the Xenos."

That was brutal.

Just hearing it was enough for Finn to understand why the plan would never work.

Wiping out half of Orario? That was going way too far. But even so, Finn grasped the core of Bell-kun's thinking.

"Create a crisis big enough that people, out of sheer desperation, are forced to accept the Xenos. If things really got that bad... maybe Orario's citizens would accept them."

"But once the crisis is over? That kind of acceptance would be temporary at best."

It was a plan with a point—but the cost was far too high, and the results wouldn't last.

"I didn't think Bell-kun would come up with such a radical idea."

...That's because that kid doesn't care. He's never cared whether Orario lives or dies. The only thing that matters to him is his own goal.

"Honestly, I think anyone could see he said that on purpose. What he really wanted was to send a message—'as long as you don't involve Hestia, I won't go that far. But if you do, I might just burn everything down.'"

Finn didn't see a problem with that. All it meant was that, to Bell-kun, Hestia was more important than the entire city.

"I doubt anyone would try to lay a hand on Hestia. And knowing Bell-kun, he's probably made his preparations already."

"Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing."

Loki moved on from the topic with a calm nod.

"Contact with the Xenos is unavoidable. When the time comes, we should meet them, at least briefly, just to establish some understanding."

"But let's not bring Ais."

"Agreed."

Finn completely supported the idea of keeping Ais away. If she lost control, things could spiral out of hand very quickly.

"Finn, I've never met the Xenos myself, but according to what Ouranos told me, they're constantly hunted by other monsters in the Dungeon. Because they have reason and intelligence, they always hide in the safe zones."

"I'm not trying to defend them out of bias, but there's a reason Ouranos and Ganesha chose to support them."

Finn understood Loki's point, so he reassured her.

"Don't worry. I'm not against the idea."

"If Ouranos-sama and Ganesha-sama have chosen to support them, then they must have recognized the value of the Xenos. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone so far to help."

"Rather than risk offending Ouranos-sama and Ganesha-sama, building a relationship with the Xenos is clearly the wiser move."

Loki trusted that Finn could handle it—and so, she didn't say anything more.

"Right, why haven't Ais and Riveria come back yet?"

Finn let out a sigh as soon as Ais came to mind.

"That woman upset Ais—it triggered one of her old episodes."

"Again?"

"Yeah. But after hearing what you said just now, I think it's not just that. Ais probably guessed there's some connection between that woman and the Spirit. That realization must've made her feel even more urgent—more desperate to push forward."

"When Ais gets like that, she won't listen to anyone. Even if I told her no, she'd find a way to sneak into the Dungeon anyway."

That impulsiveness was her biggest flaw—but Ais wasn't exactly easy to handle to begin with. Getting her to change was nearly impossible.

So Finn had long since given up on that front.

"Riveria's with her. Even if something happens, she should at least be able to bring Ais back alive."

"And even if things get really bad—say, she loses an arm or a leg—we still have ways to deal with it."

In the past, Finn would've never said something like that. But now that they had those rune stones? Even serious injuries like lost limbs could be healed. It meant they could take more risks in battle than ever before.

"The only problem is that Bell-kun sells those rune stones at a pretty steep price. Even our Familia has to be careful with how we use them."

...No, honestly, he was underselling it. That price was a bargain.

Loki did her best to keep a straight face, suppressing the unease that flickered across it.

Things like authorities... the fewer people who knew, the better.