Danmachi: The Multiverse Portal

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Commander James's warning reminded the women of an uncomfortable truth.

They were rivals.

Space Ereshkigal was the only one who looked away, avoiding the others' accusing stares. She had been the first to officially ask to work with the military, offering any help she could during their operations in this world.

Olga Marie Animusphere, Larva/Tiamat, Space Ishtar, Jeanne Alter, and Marie Alter all stared at the traitor.

Out of the six of them, Ereshkigal had been the first to hand in her application.

"Ahem... I suppose I could help, provided the terms are reasonable."

Marie Alter spoke calmly, stepping in before things got worse. She might have been the weakest fighter among the six Heroic Spirits, but her knowledge of curses and spiritual interference made her valuable. It would not be hard to find work for her.

"Good. We'll factor your abilities into the assessment." Commander James nodded. "Since you're volunteering, we can sponsor your application for residency in our world. Interested?"

"..." The room went still.

Olga Marie, Tiamat, Space Ishtar, and Jeanne Alter all looked up together.

"A RESIDENCY?"

Space Ishtar slowly turned to face Space Ereshkigal.

"You sold yourself out for that?" She looked completely shocked. "You're a Beast. Have some dignity. Isn't this a little cheap?"

Space Ereshkigal looked away.

"I want to get married."

No one spoke.

"I want a proper wedding," she said, her tone serious. "I don't want to arrive after everyone else, and if possible, I want the whole world to know."

She felt no shame about her choice. Her time as a Heroic Spirit was over, and as a Beast, she represented both Humanity's Evil and its Love. If she could choose the love she wanted most, why not take it?

"What do you want me to do, copy you and sneak around behind everyone's back?" Ereshkigal gave Space Ishtar a scornful look. "Besides, look at what happened to this world's Ishtar. She was rejected once and tried to destroy everything right away. How embarrassing. I'm stopping that problem before it starts!"

Jeanne Alter's eyes widened.

"Wait... That's genius."

She had never been good at complicated schemes or subtle social games, but that didn't mean she couldn't learn from someone else's successful strategy.

A legal residence.

Public recognition.

A proper position beside August.

This was a much better option than hiding and hoping he would notice her.

"I'm signing up." Jeanne Alter raised her hand right away. "I'll have to run somewhere anyway, so I might as well stay in August's world. I can't stay here forever—and sooner or later, the Counter Force will come after us."

She turned toward Tiamat.

"What about you, Lady Tiamat? Even if we don't go back to the Throne of Heroes after this Holy Grail War, they'll send other Heroic Spirits to bring us back. In your case, they might throw you into the Imaginary Number Sea again."

Jeanne Alter grinned.

"Why wait around for that? Run away with us."

Tiamat understood what she meant. She could remain in this world only because its timeline had already split from its original course. Once the Holy Grail War ended, the Counter Force might notice that she had escaped. If that happened, she could be sealed away all over again.

She had no plans to wait quietly for that fate.

"Then Mother will join too!!"

The idea of living with her child, without anyone separating them, was too tempting to turn down.

That left Olga Marie and Space Ishtar. Everyone looked at them.

"Well, if you're all going, I'm coming too." Space Ishtar shrugged with a smile.

Her feelings for August were not as strong as some of the others, but she was curious about his world. More importantly, if August helped her build a temple in a new universe, her power as a Goddess could grow more than ever before. She had no reason to refuse such a chance.

The united group of six had fallen apart with remarkable speed.

Now Olga Marie stood alone.

"You all changed sides far too quickly." She stared at them in disbelief.

"This is called recognizing a good opportunity," Jeanne Alter replied. "If you refuse now, you'll be the only one left out. And don't forget, you don't belong in this world either."

The other Heroic Spirits looked at Jeanne Alter, giving her silent encouragement to continue. She was the only one direct enough to push Olga without dragging things into another drawn-out argument.

Her words hit the mark. Olga Marie didn't belong in this timeline. If she stayed, she could disrupt the world even more and might even become one of the anomalies that the Counter Force wanted to erase.

"Fine."

Olga Marie weighed Jeanne Alter's warning against Space Ereshkigal's shamelessly practical plan, then let out a tired sigh. "If all of you are leaving, then I'll go with you."

Commander James looked around the room, feeling deeply satisfied.

All six had agreed.

He wasn't worried about how other countries would react when these women arrived. August controlled the way between universes, and bringing home six Divine-class fighters would make the nation much stronger.

Olga Marie alone made the deal worth it. Her knowledge of Magecraft, Chaldea, and many supernatural systems could lead to new areas of research.

The more talented people they brought back, the better.

As far as Commander James was concerned, his mission was done.

Would August eventually realize he had been thrown under the bus?

That was August's problem...

Commander James had already seen that the young man was unusually lucky with women. As long as August kept traveling, more would gather around him. One more wouldn't matter. Besides, each of these women was a valuable ally, and only a fool would risk angering a whole group of powerful friends just to protect one man's quiet love life.

They just needed to handle things the right way.

The six women knew exactly what the old commander was up to. He wanted to use August to bring them into his world and keep them there as extra fighting power for his country.

But they had the same idea. Commander James had just said it first.

Since both sides wanted the deal, no one saw a reason to hide it. Everyone got something out of it.

August was the only one who didn't know about the deal. He had left for a short trip, and by the time he came back, Commander James had already traded him away without any trouble.

Had August known, he probably would have beaten the old man black and blue.

"Worth it."

Commander James and the six Heroic Spirits shared satisfied looks.

A profitable deal was always a good deal. Who really cared who got sold?

...

Somewhere in another world, August stopped walking.

"Achoo! Achoo!" He rubbed his nose, not knowing that several people had just bargained away the rest of his life.

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