"Oh, pish-posh," Rime said, chuckling as she dismissively flapped her hand as she stepped over towards Akari, her long dress flowing as if water as she walked, her steps leaving footprints of frost each time she stepped. "Are you telling me I can't visit my lovely fiancée? Especially when I hear tell that she'll be visiting my place of work?" Rime continued, lightly poking Akari's nose as she continued to speak, in a teasing tone. "Besides, you don't have to worry, your cute little fluffy tail, my dear. I got Lux's permission to come by when you were selected to be the guardian for this generation's Saintess."

"Y-you...? You what? You did?" Akari stammered, a flustered look on her face, at a loss for words. She shuffled at this, unsure of what to say as Rime continued to boop her nose, almost playfully. As this went on, Meredith stood there, a nearly confused look on her face.

While Meredith was aware that both Akari and Rime were in a relationship, the game did not go into details about the extent of the relationship. Even thinking back on her memories as the Saintess before remembering her past life, she only had vague recollections that Rime and Akari had met a few years before she met with the two of them. Nor was she aware that Rime had known Lux Æterna. At least, close enough not to call one of the oldest deities of the world by her full title.

"You... know Lady Æterna?" Meredith would find herself speaking, almost absentmindedly, long before her brain caught up enough to realize she had said it aloud, and not in her head. The only clue that she had indeed spoken aloud was, of course, that Rime had turned to face her instead of booping Akari's nose once again.

"Of course, I know Lux, you silly human." Rime would then say, after a few moments of awkward silence. "Who wouldn't know the Primals? Especially if one is to be crowned an Epitath." She would add, chuckling softly as she spoke, slowly shaking her head as she did so. "But yes, I know Lux. The eight of us meet every fifty years, for the Landsmeet anyway, so it'd be hard not to know her."

Meredith would nod at this, remembering her training as a priestess before being selected as Lux Æterna's latest Saintess. The last Landmeet had taken place roughly 47 years prior, meaning the next would be in 3 years. Meredith, with her memories as a member of this world, understood that the previous one had taken place a few months earlier than scheduled, due to the rise of a new Elemental god. The latest Ignis Gratia, the god of fire, had taken place in a burning event that caused the majority of the mountainous Western Continent to become inhospitable lava fields.

"I... see...." Meredith would say, nodding once again as she looked around the room, unsure of what to say as Rime went back to booping Akari's nose, much to the annoyance of the wolf. "May I ask what you came here for, Lady Hoarfost?" Meredith would then say, as she moved to help Akari up, who had yet to stand since tripping on the bench. It wasn't often that a god would visit another's sanctuary, after all, so she figured the shift in conversation would be beneficial. "I don't think you would take such a trip, just to visit Akari as you said..."

Rime would frown as she looked up at Meredith, a look of annoyance on her face. A glance at the status screen by her head would indeed confirm that Meredith's words had annoyed her. "I see you're still too clever for your own good," she would say, a clear tone of annoyance in her voice. "While, yes... I did pop in mostly to see my fluffy fiance..."

"H-hey!"

"... it is true, as well, that I came here for official business." Rime would continue, her arms having wrapped around Akari's head, as if to frame her face, as she patted the top of Akari's head. "A dungeon near one of my temples, used to train newbies, seems to have deviated."

"Deviated?" Meredith said softly, a confused look on her face as she looked at Rime. "But, low-level dungeons shouldn't.... They can't, right?" 

Deviation. It was a mechanic in the game that encouraged players to farm mid-tier dungeons, as each time they were entered, they had a chance to Deviate into a higher-tiered dungeon. This meant that players would be able to farm materials they otherwise would be unable to acquire. However, it was commonly understood that so-called 'tutorial dungeons' were unable to deviate. These low-tiered dungeons were seen as 'safe dungeons' where new adventurers would be able to gain experience in dungeon delving. A part of the reason was that they showed no sign of being able to deviate.

"Yes, they shouldn't." Rime would reply, still patting Akari's head. "But, after sending in the latest group into the dungeon, we lost contact with them approximately a week ago. My church sent in a rescue squad of A-ranks, in the hopes of finding out what happened two days ago." Rime would continue, frowning as she spoke. "We lost contact with them, as well. But, not before sending out info, that spider webs were found to have grown across the entire dungeon."

"Spider webs?" Akari would question, speaking up finally, as Meredith looked at Rime Hoarforst, a confused look on her face. "How would a spider get to any of your dungeons? Aren't they in the sea?"