Chương 284: It’s Not a “Siege Battle” After All? 

Putting aside Renjiro's own… unspoken, secretly mischievous thoughts, Syr (Frigg) and Soma had already collected all the slips of paper with proposals and were ready to draw lots. 

The god responsible for the drawing… well, since Hermes, the neutral god (lol), wasn't in Orario, someone else had to do it. 

"Alright, alright, hurry up." 

Sitting at the side, Renjiro watched the whole absurd scene unfold, his expression increasingly strange. 

Does there always have to be some ridiculous side show for this every time? 

He suddenly felt that the elephant-headed god in this fantasy world might get along well with the giant floral god creatures in the Marvel cinematic universe. 

"I am Ganesha~" 

"I am Groot!" 

Let them loop endlessly somewhere else. 

Anyway, back to business. 

"Hmm~" 

Ganesha, apparently inspired by a short trip to Rome and the local customs there, swaggered to the central round table and suddenly shoved his muscular right arm into the lottery box. 

Renjiro: All he's doing is drawing a lot, why does it have to be so dramatic… 

I really don't want to comment anymore. 

His mouth twitched. 

Honestly, if it weren't for his sister usually restraining herself from sighing, he'd really want to give Ganesha a look of affectionate exasperation. 

Then… 

"Hide-and-seek!" 

"What?" 

Ganesha's deep, booming voice announced the lottery result, almost breaking Renjiro's ability to maintain his facial composure. 

Wait… you're playing Genshin too? 

I mean… this is a War Game, right? Hide-and-seek? How does that even remotely fit? At the very least, consider the literal meaning of the word "war," please. This is completely skewed to the suffix; not very appropriate. 

"Uh, wait a minute." 

Renjiro's eyes narrowed, and suddenly an idea for a different kind of play sparked in his mind. 

He (?) then wore a mischievous grin that said: I've got a trick up my sleeve. 

Seeing this expression, Loki, sitting next to "Freya," felt a subtle prickling danger crawl up her spine. 

This wanton goddess is about to cause trouble again. 

She was clever enough not to doubt Freya's true identity. 

Whether it was because she wasn't observing closely or because someone had a natural talent for this… who knows. 

Meanwhile, in the hall… 

"Uh, shall we redraw?" 

Syr, at the central position, hadn't expected this outcome, and her voice carried an awkward hesitation. 

As for Soma… 

"I have no objections." 

No argument there—he just wanted this War Game to be settled by sheer power, so he could safely hand the guild leader position to the cat-person bartender from another world. 

Of course, even if something unexpected happened during the War Game, he would still remove Zanis from her post. 

No one could stop him and that bartender from creating new brews together in the future… no one. 

Really, poor Zanis—though a scoundrel and a bit dim—had her fate already decided by her main god before the battle even began. Let's spare her a microsecond of pity. 

Suddenly… 

"What's wrong with that?" 

Freya, fingers interlaced beneath her chin, interjected without warning. 

"Occasionally having a War Game in a more relaxed atmosphere isn't bad at all." 

"Huh?" 

The sun must have risen from the west today. 

For the first time, Syr's face showed genuine shock. 

The last time this mischievous little goddess (god) made that expression… okay, it was in the original future timeline when a certain rabbit boy rejected her confession, and her emotional state completely exploded. 

Sorry, Syr.jpg 

But now… 

"Well, technically, we agreed to let the lottery decide the War Game's event, so breaking that promise could tarnish a god's reputation." 

"We can't let the kids think we're untrustworthy… right?" 

Renjiro, masquerading as the supreme familia god, was gleefully fanning the flames. 

Syr was utterly caught off guard. 

She kept signaling him anxiously, as if silently saying: Don't stir up trouble! 

To this… 

Renjiro raised an eyebrow, mimicking a face Syr knew all too well. 

…The heavens truly have their cycles. Now the goddess finally understands the inner frustration of those moments. 

But he couldn't act out just yet. 

After all… 

"Freya-sama is right." 

"Hide-and-seek could actually be fun~" 

"Gods mustn't break promises!" 

"By the way, who came up with this awful idea?" 

Look around—the other gods were already in full sycophantic mode. 

Except for one goddess… 

"Uh, haha… ha-ha." 

She scratched her head awkwardly. 

Her upper body was impressively well-endowed, her low twin tails swaying. 

No need to guess—this is definitely the one who wrote the 'hide-and-seek' slip. 

Currently, the Frigg familia had zero members present… Hestia. 

"I feel a bit guilty." 

Sitting beside Artemis, a blue-ribboned goddess shrank her neck slightly. 

Artemis tilted her head at her friend, silently expressing you've got to be kidding me. 

"I just didn't want any of the Lower World kids to get hurt. Who knew Ganesha would randomly draw my suggestion?" 

Artemis didn't respond. 

She knew this sort of idea was very much Hestia's style. 

But… 

"Why do Soma and Frigg's expressions look so… anxious?" 

"Are they worried their kids might lose?" 

"Or…" 

Artemis instinctively looked at "Freya." 

Not wrong—she was half right. 

Still… 

This is the first time I've seen a War Game pre-meeting atmosphere this bizarre. 

This "War Game" event was now, inexplicably, set. 

Hide-and-seek. 

Thanks to the blue-ribboned goddess, and Renjiro's own antics, the strangest War Game in history officially entered its preparation phase. 

Meanwhile… 

Bell, guided by Lili, had arrived at the guild headquarters to start registering as an official adventurer. 

The young boy, dreaming of being a hero, was only just beginning his journey. 

….. 

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