All they needed to board the ship was to speak briefly to the person serving as the gatekeeper on the harbor side.
Climbing the gangway, which extended like a drawbridge from the control layer at the bottom of the ship, they set foot onto the School District.
“Welcome, Goddess Loki and Ms. Lefiya Viridis. I am Alisa Ragast. I shall be your guide.”
—Alisa.
Lefiya was visibly surprised to see the human girl, an old friend, waiting for them. Her trademark glasses and dark hair were worn up at the back of her head. She undoubtedly noticed Lefiya’s gaze but maintained her professional smile.
“…I am grateful for the warm welcome. Please, lead the way.”
Seeing her performing the role of an official representative for the school so thoroughly, Lefiya also did her best to act as an official representative of Loki Familia.
But her patron goddess didn’t care about any of that.
“Ohhh! I remember you, Alisa! You’re the cute little glasses girl who was always with Lefiya! Do you remember me?!”
“Of course. It is perhaps inappropriate to say to a deity, but it is nice to see that you have not changed, Goddess Loki. This way, if you please. God Balder is waiting in the principal’s office.”
Alisa deftly dealt with the ever-indelicate Loki as she led them into the ship.
“That smooth student council president is the same as before! It’s always nice seein’ personalities we don’t have at home!”
Loki acted like she always did, and Lefiya, pinching the goddess’s hip to silence her, followed close behind.
Unlike the residential and academic layers, there were naked pipes and bare metal walls here, as well as the smell of lubricant and experimental drugs that seemed to give off the scent of lemons.
The core of the School District housed Hringhorni’s control centers and the compounding, alchemy, and mystery departments’ experimental laboratories. The utilitarian appearance of the control layer was familiar to every student, new or old, and Lefiya found it nostalgic.
The students who had cheered them from above did not come all the way down just to squeal some more, but the crew and mages who they passed in the hallways all watched with interest.
Lefiya had been a model student when she still attended school here, but she was never treated like this. It was strange, but returning to her alma mater reinforced how different her position was now.
With Alisa leading the way, they quickly passed through the control and residential layers and reached the academic layer.
Bathed in the warm sunlight and the attention of the students milling about outdoors, they finally reached the bridge—Breithablik.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Hello, Lefiya. It’s been three years, hasn’t it?”
In the large sacred chambers at the top of the tower, she was greeted by her beautiful former patron god, who offered her a gentle smile.
“Hello, Lord Balder. It is an honor to meet again this way.”
“There’s no need to be so formal, Lefiya. There is no one here but us. Please, speak with me as you did before.”
When they’d first met, Lefiya believed Balder was the epitome of what a god should be. That was just how wise, tranquil, beautiful, and above all, divine the god before her was.
His eyelids were always closed, and he always seemed to have that gentle smile on his lips.
His long blond hair was even more golden than Aiz’s, and he was particularly slender even among gods. But he was also tall, closer to 180 celches than 170. He wore sacred vestments with long sleeves, his chest bare from his right shoulder to where the sleeve hung on his arm. His smooth, milky skin could inspire envy in even a goddess.
If she were to speak without worrying about possibly being misunderstood, Lefiya would say that she did not know anyone godlier than him. He was the living embodiment of what a god must have been to the people of the mortal realm in ancient times.
That was God Balder in a nutshell.
“Lefiya obviously thinks you’re gross. That’s why she’s keeping it formal, dumdum. Should’ve noticed sooner, greenhorn! She’s forgotten all about the past, and now we’re spending every day madly in love!”
“You are the same as ever, Loki.”
Because he was a god of light, he had the worst possible chemistry with Loki, a goddess who had mastered every form of mischief and was the very personification of recklessness and casting off all inhibitions.
Or more accurately, Loki decided to be hostile, rather one-sidedly.
They had known each other since their time back in the heavens, and Loki had apparently tried to kill him simply because “that smug smile of his always pissed me off.” As it so happened, with the help of some mistletoe in the heavens and his brother Hodur, he successfully foiled her plot, laughing all the while.
✦ ✦ ✦
