Danmachi- Hell’s Forge

Vows and charade

None of them even bothered to ask Hermes what he saw as the god had sworn on his arcaenum to keep it to his self and that was no low promise. The closest equivalent to such an oath I knew of was a permanent binding vow using cursed energy. Binding vows were something I was avoiding heavily at the moment for the simple fact that they made me uncomfortable. See the way they work was via three primary configurations, restriction, oath and trade. Restriction type vows as the name implied put on a restriction to a person and in exchange they gained heightened power for however long the restriction lasted.-

Permanent restrictions or the harsher restrictions were the more power you got from them, an equal balance of buffs and debuffs if you will. The second configuration of binding vows, Oaths, were more one sided in nature as it was basically making a promise with actual penalties if you fail to keep it. These are typically used to verify truths or keep things private but also could more or less turn whoever used it into indentured slaves until they fulfil the promise they made. Naturally this type of vow also gives a boost in power to the one who used it but it's negligible most of the time.-

Finally was the trade type binding vows that were more or less just an exchange of benefits between two or more parties like a sale. The catch here was that weaseling out of your end of a deal in this regard was not an easy thing and ALWAYS ended badly for you if you did it. When a god swore upon their arcaenum like Hermes did it was almost the same as setting up an oath type binding vow with serious consequences if they broke it.-

The only real difference besides the energy type used to accomplish it was that the god that made the oath got no boost for doing so, it was all downsides and no upsides besides reinforcing trust in them. Hermes worded his oath in just such a way that he would only be able to share what he found from reading our falnas if and only if he found something wrong, which he didn't. Obviously both Bells and my falnas were insane but all entirely possible within the normal rules of the falna.-

This meant that asking Hermes about our private information was not even a real option unless Hermes felt that he got more than he risked by revealing the information. 

"It must be a skill right!? Tell us what it is!"

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"Are you single!?"

"You can join my familia if you want to!"

"Our children should delve together!" 

"Can I order a bone figure!?"

All this and more as the gods and goddesses fervently surrounded our three person familia after the investigation was over. It was fucking irritating me to no end and I was getting more and more tempted to bust out my flames to get all these people to back the hell off. They all scattered however when a single soft, sensual almost but commanding voice spoke up.

"How uncouth, as gods should we not show more decorum in front of these mortals?~" the voice caused all the gods and goddesses to stiffen before parting to reveal the owner of it.

A single goddess with long silver hair like silk that had perfect proportions with pale flawless skin and deep violet eyes that twinkled with an enchanting light. Her smooth beautiful face held a casual smile. Her outfit was a simple black dress that hugged her proportions enticingly but covered everything it was supposed to though showed most of her left leg when she walked due to the open from mid thigh to the bottom of it.

I grinned when I saw her soul however "A pleasure to make your acquaintance miss...?" I said knowing that she was likely stepping in to help us out.

"Freya, the pleasure is all mine Mr. Drake. The bone figure that Ottar purchased from Hestia is one of my most prized possessions." she said still casually smiling.

"Oh no, it looks likes she's charmed another one." a quiet murmur was spoken by a god somewhere and many of the gods had a helpless expression after hearing it.

I ignored that however as it wasn't even remotely true "Ah yes I remember that day quite well, admittedly I was rather concerned when she told me about it. Your familia doesn't have the best reputation you understand." I said with a chuckle but it was like a gun went off as all the gods and goddesses had horrified expressions as it was an open secret that you DON'T badmouth Freya or her familia publicly.-

I of course knew this but I also knew Freya or rather I suppose I should say I knew Syr, her secret identity. The woman I knew wasn't opposed to criticism so long as you weren't being malicious about it and at this moment I wasn't, I merely stated a fact that I doubted she didn't know.

She sighed in a way that made her seem the victim "Most of those rumors are grossly exaggerated I can assure you though I appreciate your candor in this matter." she said sounding sincere.

No one else seemed to notice it but Hestia had a confused look from next to me as she watched this interaction between Freya and myself. I could understand why too as I was clearly not charmed like the other gods believed. In fact I doubted that that innate ability of all beauty goddesses would even work on me to begin with and may instead just give me a boost in cursed energy. Lust, obsession and greed to possess are all things that fall under sins and as it happens I just so happen to have a skill that pretty much negates those things on me due to it's nature.-

Hestia knew this too which was why she was looking confused about the fact that I was acting like a polite person which I definitely am not. I wasn't abrasive or anything like that but I definitely didn't bother with troublesome stuff like manners. The answer to her unspoken question was that I was playing the part of a charmed individual if one who wasn't reduced to a jabbering mess. The reason for this charade was to try and get these other gods not to get any funny ideas out of fear that Freya would strike back against them.-

So long as these gods and goddesses think Freya is interested in me or Bell they would try and keep their distance. I may be wrong but I was pretty sure that this was Freya's reason for stepping in to begin with. 

"It's fine. An interesting little tid bit you should know is that that bone figure was actually the very first I ever crafted. Those collectors would likely pay a high prize to own such a thing." I said with a chuckle.

"Truly? In that case it's much more precious than I thought and I'll definitely keep it for myself." she said with a interested look.