In that somewhat solemn atmosphere, the banquet came to a close. Bearing the order to find Eurysis, all the gods of the surface left Henelion’s castle.
And far away, there was a giant man who watched them until the very end.
His name was Amina.
Also called ‘Desire,’ he was the first being born into this world, excluding Chaos.
With his pure white eyes devoid of pupils, he gazed at the surface gods for quite a while, and once they all disappeared, he slowly vanished into the clouds.
* * *
Had it been almost seven years… Seianes, who had left the vicinity of his temple for the first time in a long while, couldn’t hide his discomfort.
Since he began raising Abrisius, he had made various excuses not to attend gatherings or banquets, refraining from going out as much as possible.
However, the reason he came out like this today was only one—because of the order from his father, Henelion.
“Why on earth… do I have to search for Eurysis?”
Seianes’s brow furrowed as he voiced a complaint uncharacteristic of him.
If Henelion’s messenger hadn’t come all the way to the temple to deliver the order, today he would have been leisurely together with Abrisius as usual.
Even Seianes couldn’t refuse Henelion’s order.
At least it was fortunate that the bird of the sky that came as messenger didn’t enter the greenhouse garden. If it had carelessly encountered Abrisius, it would have nearly become a troublesome situation.
“Because of Father’s order to find Eurysis, I even had to leave my child behind.”
He was worried about Abrisius, who would be alone due to this unplanned outing.
Very occasionally, he would briefly go out leaving Abrisius behind to run errands, but he had never left the child alone for such a long time like today.
“I shouldn’t leave a young child alone. I should have left behind at least one creature to look after Abrisius.”
He belatedly regretted hastily mobilizing all the deer to pull the carriage. Thinking of the child who had thrown a tantrum yesterday saying it wanted to go out, his anxiety didn’t fade—rather, it only grew.
“This won’t do… Let me go check if the child is doing well.”
It was just when Seianes, unable to shake off his anxiety, was about to turn the carriage back toward the temple. A friendly voice called out to him from behind, stopping him.
“Hey, long time no see!”
The identity of the voice was Kadiemos, the God of Hunting and Battle, as well as Seianes’s sibling.
“Have you been well? It’s been… about seven years since we met?”
“Ah, it’s been a while, Kadiemos.”
At the welcome face he was seeing after a long time, Seianes’s uncomfortable expression eased considerably. Naturally draping his arm over Seianes’s shoulder to show familiarity, Kadiemos didn’t hide his joy.
“What brings a guy who wouldn’t even come to banquets saying he wasn’t feeling well out here? Ah, did Father tell you to find Eurysis too?”
“That’s right. I wonder what wind suddenly blew. Compared to Father who’s so busy, does he think we have time to spare?”
Seianes, who didn’t know the detailed circumstances because he had refrained from interacting with other gods for seven years and hadn’t attended today’s banquet either, let out a sigh.
“…You really…”
Kadiemos looked at Seianes, who didn’t hide his uncomfortable expression for anyone to see, with exasperation.
It was absurd to see him living in seclusion for seven years, not attending banquets, and rambling complaints while knowing nothing by himself.
“You know things have been quiet on the underworld side lately, right? It seems like they’re planning something, so everyone’s worried.”
For his brother who knew nothing, Kadiemos briefly explained the current situation. At the word ‘underworld,’ Seianes, who suddenly thought of Abrisius, carefully asked.
“What do you mean they’re planning something?”
“Well, the guys in the underworld are being too quiet. Because of that, Father, who’s caught the anxiety bug, wants to hear Eurysis’s prophecy, so everyone’s frantically searching for her right now.”
Kadiemos grumbled that just thinking about how much their father, who only pretends not to be while trembling with anxiety alone, would hassle his children was annoying.
On the other hand, Seianes’s entire attention was focused on something more serious and troublesome than that.
‘Surely Abrisius isn’t involved in this, is he?’
If so, what should he do? Various problems he had avoided until now, starting with Abrisius’s origins, came creeping in.
‘It can’t be. What could they do with a young child? If they had any schemes, they would have done something seven years ago.’
For now, concerns about the underworld were postponed.
The bigger problem than that was Henelion finding out about Abrisius’s existence.
If Henelion, who found Eurysis, were to learn that an underworld child was on the surface, things would become too complicated to handle.
That Henelion would eliminate young Abrisius without batting an eye.
‘Ah… No. I have to do something before that.’
Confronted with the fact that he could lose Abrisius, Seianes’s heart sank. He had to do something—either meet Eurysis first, or hide the underworld aura from Abrisius.
“…Kadiemos, everyone received Father’s order, right?”
“Yeah, all the surface gods received Father’s order. It seems he wants to find Eurysis this way and know about the underworld situation and future matters.”
“Then… that includes the sea, the wind… the sun… everything has been summoned by Father right now.”
A matter in which all the gods of the surface were mobilized.
Even so, finding Eurysis wouldn’t be that easy.
To find her, who resided on a misty island like a floating rock that wasn’t attached to land and drifted aimlessly across the sea, it would take at least ten days.
‘Then I need to find her first before that.’
It wasn’t difficult.
The Goddess of the Sea, the God of the Sun, and other gods encompassing the sky and sea had a high probability of finding Eurysis first. However, Seianes had an advantage over them.
“Let’s meet again when we get the chance. I feel like I need to find Eurysis as quickly as possible.”
“What? Suddenly?”
Kadiemos tilted his head at Seianes’s suddenly changed attitude. Regardless, Seianes turned the carriage led by the herd of deer toward the sea surface.
Reaching the middle of the sea while accompanied by deer walking on water, Seianes bent down.
Then he put his hand into the seawater and let the soil and seeds containing the power of the earth within him flow into the water.
“Huu.”
The soil made based on the roots of the earth drifted aimlessly along the sea. Even though Eurysis lived on an island like a rock, its essence was something separated from the earth.
Through the small soil fragments containing the earth’s energy, he could find the aimlessly drifting island faster than others.
Not only that, the soil spread throughout the sea would disturb the life forms inhabiting it and interfere with other gods easily finding Eurysis’s land.
“…For now, this should be enough for the sea, right?”
However, he couldn’t easily rest assured with just this.
Seianes looked up at the sky, thinking of the sun and moon above, as well as other gods. By any means necessary, he had to find her before his father and other siblings.
After finding her and hearing her prophecy first, he would hide the prophecies referring to Abrisius.
“Even if it means doing that, I must protect the child.”
Looking at the soil fragments scattering here and there in the sea, Seianes drove the carriage. To deceive the eyes of the other gods in the sky, he had to move quickly.
“I want to see you soon, Abrisius.”
Thinking of the child who would be waiting in the greenhouse garden, Seianes smiled gently.
