Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?

"What!?"

"Declaration of war!?"

At that moment, Apollo, the god of the Apollo Familia, was in complete shock.

After all, how could he not be when he suddenly heard that the Loki Familia had declared war on his own?

Apollo stared blankly at Finn for a long time, struggling to process it.

"Am I the one who's lost it? Or has Loki gone mad?"

"You sure you got that right? Maybe she meant to declare war on Freya and took a wrong turn to my place?"

No matter how he looked at it, Apollo couldn't think of any deep grudge between him and Loki.

Sure, he had his eye on a few of Loki's children—they fit right into his tastes—but the gap in power was so obvious he'd already given up on that idea.

Let his kids go head-to-head with Loki's?

Please, his skull wasn't made of iron. He wasn't suicidal.

All Apollo could do now was hope Finn would nod and say it was all a mistake. But that was just wishful thinking.

Unfortunately, Finn shook his head.

"Apollo-sama, Loki made it very clear—she's targeting the Apollo Familia."

That answer left Apollo completely deflated.

"Why!?"

"What grudge do I have with her? I usually go out of my way to avoid her! Why is she coming after me!?"

Apollo was utterly baffled.

He and Loki had barely interacted. Why would she suddenly decide to pick a fight with him?

Watching Apollo clutch his head in despair, Finn's mouth twitched slightly, though he hadn't come empty-handed.

"Apollo-sama, our goddess took a liking to two of your children."

What the hell!?

Apollo was floored. He really hadn't expected Loki to go so far as to steal people from under his nose. That was even bolder than anything he'd done!

Granted, he'd pulled similar stunts before, but even he wouldn't march into another Familia's territory and tell their god to their face, "I'm taking your people."

Even if he did, he'd at least make up some excuse to smooth things over.

And even with that, he'd always thought he was already pushing the limits of shamelessness—but Loki had just outdone him.

She actually sent her captain to tell him, openly and directly, "I'm taking your people."

"And all your Familia's property."

"Pfft!"

Apollo almost spat blood on the spot. He was this close to getting kicked straight back up to Tenkai.

He had already thought Loki's move was shameless enough, but this? This was next-level shameless.

Not only did she want his people—she wanted to clean out his vault too.

Apollo took a deep breath, but right then, he nearly ground his back teeth to dust.

"Is there even a limit to her shamelessness!?"

"Her Familia's way bigger than mine, and she's got three Lv.6s. Don't tell me she's running out of money?"

"Taking my people is bad enough, but now she wants my cash too?"

"Why not just kill me and get it over with!?"

Hearing the sorrow and rage in Apollo's voice, Finn couldn't help but sympathize.

Truthfully, there was no real grudge between Apollo Familia and Loki Familia. Launching a sudden attack like this was indeed underhanded.

But there was no choice. A special girl who was vital to the survival of their Familia was inside Apollo's ranks. Even if it meant playing dirty, they had to make a move.

And Apollo's final outburst? That was just word-for-word what Loki had said to him earlier.

"Then, Apollo-sama, are you refusing?"

"...!?"

Apollo hesitated just as the words were about to leave his mouth.

Faced with this kind of blatant robbery, his instinct was to reject it outright—but would that even help?

He glanced at Finn and asked reflexively, "If I refuse... Loki wouldn't really come after me, would she?"

"Of course not."

Finn shook his head with righteous conviction, and that eased Apollo's heart a little.

"But Orario's been pretty unstable lately. Ishtar was deported by Ouranos for working with the Evilus."

"If..."

Finn paused mid-sentence, then gave Apollo a casual glance before continuing.

"If another Familia is found to have ties to the Evilus, the situation in Orario will get even worse."

"Loki mentioned wanting to investigate and wipe out the remnants of the Evilus."

...Damn it!

Apollo's just-relaxed nerves instantly tensed again.

Investigate? Wipe out? Wasn't that aimed directly at him?

This was a threat.

It was definitely a threat!

And when he thought of the Ishtar Familia being wiped out, and Ishtar herself being deported without even the courtesy of an official expulsion, Apollo couldn't help but get nervous.

'Loki, that crazy woman, wouldn't go that far... right?'

'It's just two children, right? Just a little money, right? She wouldn't actually try to get me thrown out, would she?'

But the more he tried to convince himself, the less confident he felt.

Back in Tenkai, Loki had been ruthless to the other gods. Sure, no one really died since they were all divine, but aside from not killing anyone, she'd done practically everything else.

If you were asking whether that lunatic would have the nerve to wipe out his entire Familia? Apollo was sure she absolutely would. In fact, even if he had nothing to do with the Evilus, she'd probably find a way to pin it on him anyway.

If it came to that, he'd become the second Ishtar.

Just imagining being sent back to that dull, dead-boring Tenkai made Apollo's expression twist in protest.

He'd finally gotten to enjoy the thrilling, vibrant life of the Genkai—why would he want to go back?

Give up all the cute children of the lower world? Give up the chance to meet even more adorable ones? Absolutely not!

Who in their right mind would want to return to the boring monotony of Tenkai?

If he wanted to avoid being deported, then compromising with Loki was his only option.

And that made Apollo feel like he'd just swallowed crap.

But what choice did he have?

His Familia couldn't hope to stand up to Loki's.

He had no choice but to give in.

"Which two children?"

Only Apollo himself knew how much it hurt to say those words.

He had affection for every one of his children, and if Loki picked his absolute favorites, wouldn't that be the end of him?

"Daphne Lauros and Cassandra Ilion."

Apollo repeated the names silently in his mind, and his mood lightened slightly.

'Hah... Daphne's a bit of a shame, but Cassandra's manageable.'

Daphne was the Familia's lead tactician and had clearly demonstrated real command talent—not to mention her personal strength wasn't bad either.

Cassandra, in contrast, was more mediocre. She was a support-type, someone who stayed in the backline. Even though she had healing magic, she wasn't irreplaceable.

Of course, Apollo remembered both girls vividly.

They were completely his type. The problem was, he hadn't gotten to "taste" either of them yet.

Not for lack of desire—the first was outright hostile toward him, and the second was always being protected by the first, leaving him no chance at all.

Still, from Apollo's perspective, this was a lucky break. Losing these two was better than losing others.

He did feel it was a pity to give up on Daphne's potential, though. Training another one like her wouldn't be easy.

But that was still a cheaper price than getting deported to Tenkai.

The only thing truly painful was having to give up all his wealth.

"...Those two, I can accept."

"But this won't happen again, will it?"

Once was more than enough for Apollo.

To that, Finn gave a clear answer.

"Please rest assured, Apollo-sama. Our goodness only intends to do this once."

Fine. As miserable as it was, compared to being deported, Apollo decided he could endure it.