Danmachi - Infinite Mana System! - Chapter 149 - Lucius' Trial 03.

[Chapter Size: 2000 Words.]
Third Person POV
Orario.

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“Lucius Drakenar... despite your intentions, the city has been thrown into turmoil due to the consequences of your actions...” Ouranos began, while everyone waited.

“...” Lucius remained silent as Ouranos continued.

“But as we already know, you fought against a force we’ve been trying to eradicate for a long time... the extermination of Evilus. We can confirm this with the gods who were killed; except for Dionysus, no other family linked to the organization survived. We can say that Orario is finally free from the clutches of these terrorists.” Ouranos stated his thoughts, weighing the actions in Lucius’s favor.

“But didn’t he destroy many homes and residences? There are people living on the streets because of this... that’s more harm than benefit!” Another person exclaimed.

“But no one died! My son took everyone trapped in the slums out to make sure no one got hurt and only launched the attack after everyone was safe, even if he went overboard!” This time, it was Hestia who stood up, exclaiming to all the gods wanting to punish Lucius.

“But he brought that monster! And you still haven’t given much detail about it, Ouranos!!” Other gods directly questioned the patron god, who nodded in acknowledgment of their concerns.

“We’ll discuss the Juggernaut later. This information hasn’t been disclosed due to the dangers it could bring; after all, the Juggernaut only appears when the dungeon is damaged, and adventurers could exploit this to attack other groups.” He spoke as everyone nodded, satisfied that he would provide more details later. “Now, let’s continue.”

“Regarding the man known as the Wizard King... he’s quite a notable person, indeed, but are you sure we should keep him in Orario?” Someone questioned.

“That’s true... ever since I started hearing about him, he’s always involved in some commotion. No, he’s always behind the biggest commotions in the city!” Another commented, while some murmured in agreement.

“That’s true...” Hephaestus was the one to speak this time. “When I first met him, he was ready to fight one of my children in the middle of one of my shops...” She surprised everyone nearby, as they expected her to side with Hestia, but her words didn’t start well.

“Hephaestus... what are you doing?!” Hestia seemed on the verge of tears, feeling betrayed.

But Hephaestus ignored her and continued. “However... sometime later, I noticed one of my children had met him and seemed much more motivated. I was surprised when he said his intention was to forge some swords for Lucius Drakenar, and ever since then, I’ve always heard of Lucius. My captain encountered him in the deep floors, and Lucius didn’t attack them like a lunatic, as I thought he would after our first meeting.” She spoke while Lucius frowned at being called a lunatic; he still remembered meeting that damned dwarf shortly after joining Hestia’s family.

“The last time I met him... we were negotiating a new weapon for him, but we also discussed something that could change the dynamics of how adventurers handle raids, for the better. He has a revolutionary project in mind involving runes, and it will transform Orario.” She declared. It was a secret contract between them, and he hadn’t expected her to reveal anything about the project, but he realized she did it to help him, and now he didn’t mind revealing his rune projects, as he was one of the strongest in Orario.

Some gods began to gossip upon hearing this, wondering what it could be, but Hephaestus sat down without answering any questions, leaving an air of valuable information.

“Hephaestus!” Hestia cried this time, but with joy, as her friend had testified in favor of her son.

“Hey, Soma! You were attacked by him! Aren’t you going to say anything?!” Someone questioned the god Soma, who remained silent. He had been tortured by Lord Sith, whom everyone now knew was Lucius, but he just looked over and shook his head. Being a passive god, he didn’t want more trouble, even though a mortal had done that to him. Besides, without Dionysus, he could sell his wine much more, as the other god was his direct competitor, and now, without his factory in the mansion and accused of crimes...

"He launched an attack against Ishtar and now she’s in the heavens!" someone spoke up.

"Ishtar committed a serious crime, you must remember that. In any case, she also kidnapped Bell Cranel from Hestia’s family; it was an honorable attack," another god defended Lucius, despite the wizard not knowing that god.

"You all know! Many months ago, my daughter got trapped in the intermediate floors... When the news reached me, I thought she was dead, but I saw that her falna hadn’t disappeared. So, I went after her with my daughters... To my surprise, Lucius had saved her and brought her to Rivira, keeping her safe. I’ll always be in debt to him!" Aphrodite exclaimed, winking at Lucius.

"I trust Lucius, and almost all of his actions are justifiable. He’s a sweetheart, not the monster people are saying!" Demeter exclaimed.

"Lucius is a good boy. He’s not bad and is one of the greatest heroes of Orario! He’s always been a good customer," Miach said.

"Yes... Lucius is a warrior who follows his heart. He may go overboard, but he saved Orario from a catastrophe," Takemikazuchi added beside him.

"..." Lucius said nothing but nodded to all those supporting him.

The next person to rise hadn’t spoken until now, and Lucius couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow, curious about what this woman would say. "I was outside Orario on a mission to hunt a millennial monster. And as soon as I got close, I encountered Lucius Drakenar," she began.

"Artemis?!" Hestia exclaimed, surprised that her son met her friend.

The blue-haired goddess continued, "He told me I couldn’t continue and we got into a conflict, during which he trapped me in a blue sphere with his magic. He went on alone with the elven princess. I admit I was furious, and as soon as I freed myself, I went after him. However, I came across the beast I was searching for, and to my surprise, everything Lucius Drakenar warned me about happened..." she said, while all the gods listened intently.

Sighing slightly, she continued, "I was immature... now I can see that... When I realized it, all of my divinity was being drained by the creature... and if it weren’t for Lucius Drakenar and his companion... the world would have had a beast with my divinity, one that would have started hunting others..." She spoke, leaving everyone stunned by this information that no one except Ouranos knew, as it was to him that Lucius reported the mission.

"This is true... Lucius researched missions outside Orario and managed to find crucial information about the creature, that it could absorb the gods' divinities... He faced some difficulties but managed to remove from this world yet another beast that could have been considered a fourth calamity if it had grown stronger by consuming other gods..." Ouranos spoke on Lucius’s behalf.

Another moment of murmurs spread as people discussed things they had no prior knowledge of.

"That is why I, Artemis... apologize to you. You are a true hero, to me and to my entire family, regardless of what happened yesterday," Artemis surprised everyone as she left her bench in the front row and knelt before Lucius in gratitude.

"Hey, stop that. Go back to your seat... It was no big deal," Lucius, despite having been annoyed with the goddess at the time, couldn’t stand someone kneeling before him, and exclaimed, hoping she would return to her seat, which she did.

"Lucius may have gone a little overboard... but one thing is undeniable," Hermes said, standing up this time. "Orario needs heroes, the world needs heroes, and Lucius has proven to be one like we haven’t seen in a long time!" he said, while some gods agreed.

"My name is Ganesha! Despite the romance between Lucius and my captain, I believe he is a good lad!" Ganesha exclaimed.

‘Romance?’ Lucius didn’t understand; he had a lot going on with Shakti, but nothing he could call a romance.

"Lucius!" Loki, who had been silent, suddenly exclaimed, grabbing everyone’s attention. She also knew about Artemis’s mission after receiving information from Riveria.

"Listen up, everyone, this bastard is a damn mommy thief!" she pointed at Lucius with her finger, causing him to raise an eyebrow while the other gods were left stunned by this statement, not understanding what she meant.

"This guy stole Mama, now he has access to those round things that I’ve been cultivating for so many years to touch, but never succeeded, and then this bastard comes and steals her. Damn it! Scoundrel! Thief!" She began cursing Lucius with everything she had.

"Stop cursing my son, you flat-chested woman!" Hestia stood up and insulted Loki in return.

"Quiet, chibi. Let me finish!" Loki spoke with an authoritative tone.

"..." Despite not liking the way Loki talked about Riveria's chest, Lucius waited for her to finish.

"Still! If something bad happens to him, Mama would be sad. Besides, we have a new project that could revolutionize Orario as well, and I’m funding it as a partner with a lot of money, so I don’t want to lose him either. So, I and the Loki familia will stand with the Hestia familia!" She declared, leaving everyone stunned by the support from Orario's second most powerful familia. Combined with Hephaestus, Lucius now had considerable strategic backing, making people turn their eyes to Freya, the only super-familia that hadn’t declared a side yet, despite her previous playful encounters with Lucius.

"Well... I’m very interested in the projects he might build in Orario, so it would be a shame if he were no longer part of this city. After all, he has made the city much more interesting since he started drawing attention..." Freya commented with a smile.

"Besides... he’s not just anyone... but the heir to a great empire." She threw another wrench into the conversation, making Lucius widen his eyes.

"I am not an heir to anything!" he exclaimed in anger, surprising everyone with the way he exploded.

Freya wasn’t offended by this and maintained a sweet smile, having anticipated that Lucius would react this way. Meanwhile, all the gods began another heated discussion after Freya’s revelation, trying to figure out which empire he might belong to. There weren’t many in this world, so it shouldn’t be hard, but no one could find out.

"..." For the second time, Lucius was on the verge of losing control, nearly unleashing his magic as he desperately didn’t want to be associated with that family. Hestia seemed nervous, not responding to anyone’s questions, not even Hephaestus’s, because she knew how much Lucius despised his past and she could understand why.

"Now, I’ll state the guild’s position," Ouranos interrupted the chaos caused by Freya’s declaration, and everyone fell silent.

"Lucius has undertaken extremely dangerous missions directly for me, preventing catastrophes and finally eradicating Evilus from Orario for good. Moreover... he has confirmed that he would purchase the entire destroyed area in the slums." He declared, surprising not only Lucius but the entire audience.

"I bought it...?" Lucius murmured.

"Lucius made an agreement with the guild. Therefore, we support Lucius and the Hestia familia as innocent of their accusations. However, he will have to leave Orario on a mission as punishment for the damages caused to the citizens. Thus, we will open a vote to decide whether this sentence is appropriate or not," Ouranos said. The Xenos would be a matter for later; what he wanted was for Lucius to leave Orario for a while to let things cool down. Besides, Lucius didn’t know, but Ouranos would co-finance the destroyed area with Lucius. He would pay it off over time, but that would be an agreement for later.

The gods’ plaques were raised, and given the projects, though vague, the testimonies of the gods, along with the mutual support from Loki, Freya, Hephaestus, and the guild itself, the result was not surprising: the majority voted for Lucius to be acquitted.