CHAPTER 94: CHAPTER 094: WESTVIEW! S.W.O.R.D.! SLEEPOVER!

SWORD.

Its full name: Sentient World Observation and Response Department.

Its purpose is simple. If SHIELD handles conflicts on Earth and protects its safety, then SWORD deals with conflicts between Earth and alien civilizations, preventing alien invasions.

Of course, at present, this agency is practically useless. Its main operations take place off-world.

In fact, its first appearance was only in a deleted Thor animation, where someone pulled up SWORD’s investigation files on Thor, marked: "Referenced from the SWORD database."

So, SWORD has an extremely low profile. Fewer still are the agents who appear openly.

Lorien had even less interest in their existence.

...

The four of them arrived in Westview.

Wanda glanced around at the scenery—buildings, grasslands, people—and ended up quite liking it.

"It’s actually pretty nice here. Not many people, but everyone’s going about their own business."

Lorien nodded. Looked like Wanda had a thing for peaceful small towns. She liked the idea of a home with a farm, a garden, and a backyard.

Gwen, on the other hand, looked around and remarked,

"No tall buildings here—can’t swing on webs."

Lorien: ...

Well, that’s... a new way to look at it. You never disappoint.

Compared to Wanda and Gwen, Hela’s thoughts were far simpler. Where do we sleep? Where are we going next? Is there time? Is it my turn?

Ahem.

They strolled through the town for a while. There were no street hawkers or shopkeepers pulling them in—just locals living their daily lives.

"Where should we stay?" Lorien asked. "We’re only here for two days and one night anyway."

The three girls thought it over.

Wanda decided first, pointing in a direction.

"Let’s try over there. Feels nicer."

No one objected, so they headed that way.

Sure enough, just as Wanda thought, the scenery became more natural as they went. The plants looked healthier, the surroundings quieter. Clearly, this was the better residential area.

Lorien nodded.

"Let’s look around here."

They explored a bit before finding a decent empty house with a "For Rent" sign on the door. There weren’t many houses in the area, and all rentals were handled through one place.

Lorien got the place, and the four of them moved in.

He checked the beds first—one large, one small. Satisfied, he nodded.

"Now we have two options.

One: we all sleep together tonight.

Two: we all sleep together tonight.

Which one do you choose?"

Wanda and Gwen both rolled their eyes at him.

Wanda, without a word, started unpacking and cleaning. Gwen joined her.

Hela didn’t bother.

Lorien stopped them.

"Hey, we’re here to have fun, not do housework."

He snapped his fingers—snap!—and the room became spotless, not a speck of dust left.

Wanda and Gwen looked at the floor, which was cleaner than if someone had scrubbed it by hand, and set down their cleaning tools.

"Come on, let’s try the local food."

"Food?!" The moment Hela heard that, she was in. With food on the table, there was nothing to discuss.

They left their luggage, opened the door, and headed out together.

Bang—

They happened to meet the neighbor coming out at the same time.

Four people on Lorien’s side, one on hers—a Black woman with a fluffy afro, taller than Gwen but still looking young. Then again, Black people often looked younger than their age.

When she saw them, she quietly put away her phone, nodded politely, and said,

"Hi, I’m Geraldine, your neighbor."

Lorien nodded back and introduced himself. Gwen, Wanda, and Hela stayed silent, especially Wanda, who half-hid behind Lorien, not wanting to be recognized as the Scarlet Witch and ruin the trip.

After the introductions, Lorien picked up on Wanda’s thoughts and waved.

"I’ll get going."

Geraldine waved back.

"See you, have fun."

Once they parted, Wanda finally let go of Lorien’s arm and stepped out from behind him.

Lorien was smiling faintly.

Wanda noticed, reached out, and tapped him curiously.

"What’s wrong? You’ve been smiling."

Hearing this, Gwen looked over curiously.

Lorien smiled.

"Guess what? The person we just ran into is actually kind of a big deal."

"Huh?" x2

Wanda was the first to tense up.

"Is she here for us?" she asked.

"No way." Gwen shook her head. "We teleported here. There’s no way she could have tracked us."

"Who could possibly know where we’re going in advance?"

She wasn’t wrong.

It wasn’t like Lorien had been hiding in the bushes, waiting for someone.

So Lorien shook his head.

"You’re overthinking it, Wanda."

"Don’t forget—this little town has the Darkhold."

"Which means sorcerers keep getting lured here by planted rumors, only to mysteriously vanish."

"And she’s one of the agents investigating those disappearances."

Agent?!

At the word, Wanda frowned.

"Agents have plenty of intel. She must’ve recognized us."

"No wonder her expression barely changed, but her pupils contracted twice."

"So she really did recognize us."

Gwen thought back to it.

She realized Wanda was right—

That female agent’s face barely moved, but when she saw them, there was the slightest pause.

Normal people wouldn’t react like that.

She’d definitely noticed something.

Then Gwen remembered something else.

"Wait... wasn’t SHIELD disbanded? What agency is she with?"

"SWORD."

"SWORD?!" x2

Gwen and Wanda stared. What kind of agency was that? They’d never heard of it.

"Just some low-profile bureau. Mainly deals with aliens," Lorien said, waving it off.

By then, they’d arrived at a bakery. He led them inside.

"SWORD’s nothing to worry about. They already know you’re Spider-Woman, Gwen, and Wanda hasn’t officially left the Avengers. So they won’t stir up trouble—maybe just talk a bit."

Wanda exhaled in relief. That was fine. As long as they didn’t ruin the four of them’s little outing. A short conversation was inevitable. Everyone understood that.

The four stepped into the bakery. Surprisingly, the place looked great. The bread had a rich golden-brown crust—no supermarket-style cream or peanut bits. The menu was simple: whole wheat bread, with sides like jam, meat spread, and pickles.

Lorien glanced over it.

"You three pick. Buy plenty—I’ll just eat whatever you get."

Hela bounced over to the counter, pointing at the bread and jam.

"This one, this one, and this one."

The owner, pleased by her enthusiasm, moved to grab them—but Hela’s next words froze him.

"Actually, forget those. Give me one of everything else instead."

The owner blinked. Gwen and Wanda both turned to Hela.

It wasn’t that they couldn’t eat it all—it was just her way of saying it. What was with "this, this, and this... never mind, give me everything else"?

If Lorien had known she’d put it like that, he would’ve just ordered himself.

But since she was a kid, the owner naturally looked to the only man here for confirmation.

Lorien waved his hand casually.

"Go with what she said."

"Thank you very much for dining with us, sir, ladies," the owner said happily, rushing off to prepare the order and slice the bread.

They found seats—Gwen and Wanda sat across from Lorien and Hela. The outdoor seats were all wooden, with a railing you could lean on while enjoying the birds and flowers outside. The atmosphere was nothing like New York City.

Wanda took a deep breath.

"This place is really nice. I think I’m starting to like it here."

"What do you like about it?" Gwen asked curiously. "To me... it’s just okay."

Wanda glanced around, then tipped her chin toward the scenery.

"I like the natural atmosphere."

Gwen took it in, leaned back in her chair, and said,

"In a place like this, I’d be scared the wooden house would collapse if I stood on the roof."

Only then did Wanda realize—being here was like Gwen being nerfed. That was just sad.

Meanwhile, Hela was idly playing with Lorien’s large, warm hands. Lorien rubbed her head. He really preferred Hela like this—a little mischievous, a little demanding—far better than her ambitious, hard-to-handle mature self.

Hela pressed her head into his palm without caring if it messed up her hair, even turning her head to play against his hand.

But midway through, she stopped and looked outside. Lorien’s hand was still on her head, and he followed her gaze.

A slightly plump, goose-egg-faced middle-aged woman with brown hair in a purple-black coat was passing by the bakery. She glanced inside a few times—especially at Wanda—before walking off as if nothing happened.

Once she was gone, Hela turned back to Lorien and said,

"That fat woman has something against us. Let me kill her."

"Huh?" x2

Gwen and Wanda were still chatting when Hela’s sudden suggestion to kill someone startled them both. They turned to look at her at the same time.

Lorien smiled and smoothed Hela’s hair.

"Why do you want to kill her?"

"Because she really has malicious intentions toward us." Hela’s tone was serious as she looked at Lorien. "I’m the Goddess of Death. I can clearly sense that she has strong intrusive thoughts about both me and Wanda."

Oh...

Lorien gave her a look that said he understood. So Hela had this kind of ability too.

Hela went on to explain. "Back during the wars, I could feel Odin didn’t want me conquering and taking more spoils, so he tried to strip away my power. Of course, I rebelled, planning to get rid of him first... but then I was sealed away."

Oh...

Lorien made the same understanding face again.

So that’s how it was. There was more to the story than he thought. The chronicles had only said that Hela’s ambition was too great, and Odin sealed her away for the sake of Asgard. Turns out there was another side to it.

Thinking about it, it did make sense. Hela’s strength at the time depended entirely on Asgard’s territory. The larger Asgard grew, the stronger she became—strong enough to even surpass Odin. No wonder.

Wanda and Gwen stayed silent on the matter. It was, after all, someone else’s family business, and it had happened countless years ago. They didn’t know the details anyway.

Lorien glanced back, but the woman was already gone.

As for who she was, Lorien had a pretty good guess: Agatha Harkness, the dark magic sorceress. An old witch who used black magic to absorb the powers of others to slow her aging. She’d been alive for a very long time. She was the one who spread word of the Darkhold, luring other sorcerers in so she could assassinate them. A truly vile person—yet still weak.

Now that she was gone, Lorien couldn’t be bothered to send Hela after her, especially since the shop owner had just brought over the sliced bread.

"Kill her next time you see her, Hela."

Hearing that, Hela beamed and nodded.

"That’s fine. I just want her dead anyway."

For Hela, if someone dared to pry into her abilities, that was a death sentence.

Lorien agreed completely. You could want his body, but not his abilities. It was like love—you could deceive his feelings, but not his money. The "ammunition" of the body could be replenished, but once abilities were gone, they were gone for good. Feelings were the same—once lost, they were lost—but money? Once gone, it was truly gone.

If someone targeted his abilities, how could he not kill them?

The two were in complete agreement.

Wanda and Gwen exchanged a glance and nodded as well. Since Lorien had decided, they weren’t going to object.

"Woof woof"

Hela was already dipping bread into jam.

"Mm, not bad."

Seeing her satisfied, Lorien picked up a slice, dipped it in jam, and said, "Let’s eat. We still have the afternoon to enjoy ourselves, and we’ll deal with the real business tomorrow."

"Mm."

Everyone nodded and began eating.

...

Meanwhile, their Black female neighbor Geraldine had found another SWORD agent, Jimmy, in Westview.

Geraldine looked a bit nervous. "Scarlet Witch, Spider-Woman, and a girl from Asgard all appeared in Westview this afternoon! They’re staying with a man—and right now, they’re my neighbors!"

"What are they here for? Are they also investigating the disappearance of sorcerers? But what does that have to do with them?"

Truth be told, Geraldine was extremely tense. The three women she was reporting on were all incredibly powerful—none of them weak in the slightest. Especially the Scarlet Witch, who she figured could crush her from a distance without lifting a finger.

Across from her, Jimmy was equally uneasy. He had been a SHIELD agent before the organization disbanded, after which he joined SWORD. Now he was facing Avengers members.

It wasn’t guilt that bothered him—it was the knowledge that wherever the Avengers showed up unexpectedly, safety was never guaranteed.

Without hesitation, Jimmy pulled out his agent-issued phone.

"This needs to be reported to the captain. Let them handle it."

Geraldine agreed completely. When it came to superheroes of that level, you had to treat them with extreme caution and precision.