Chapter 241: Recruitment Ceremony II Part 5
This chapter is mostly narration, so I'm sorry for those who dislike walls of text.
I tried to reduce it as much as possible, but without expanding this Arc too much with more POVs, I just tried to compress everything and release it at once.
That's about it, enjoy.
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/Time passed, and the moon overtook the sun… Again and again…/
'As Silver woke up from his peaceful dream where he did nothing but fish, the second day of the recruitment started as a crowd of people once again formed in front of the gates of the Hearth Manor.'
'Like the first day, the Hestia Familia continued to conduct their daily examinations without any change while Lili, this time assisted by others, handed a few more tickets for those that were unable to participate yesterday.'
'This raised the total number of applicants from around 1.3 thousand to around 1.8 thousand, a massive decrease compared to before, but expected considering there weren't many that failed to appear on time on the first day.'
'Like before, Artemis and Leto helped them greatly in making the process smoother and faster, something Hestia would be grateful for many months if not years to come.'
'This favor would also be something that would come back to bite her, but that was a story for another time...'
'Although, unfortunately, Demeter was a busy Goddess, not being able to stay put for too long, as such, she was unable to participate in the subsequent recruitment days.'
'This was due to the fact Fall had pretty much just started, so it was important that she, as the Goddess of the biggest farming Familia of Orario, was next to her children as they planted the crops that would feed Orario through Winter.'
'Still, it wasn't like the Hestia Familia had no other help… As on this day, they were visited by two very unusual Gods…'
'A certain blond-haired mischievous God, Hermes himself, made a quick appearance in their home to discuss something with Silver, he didn't stay for long though, leaving even before Hestia learned of his visit.'
'And albeit no one knew for certain what they talked about, they didn't really think much about it.'
'Hestia would later bother Silver about it though, only for him to avoid the topic smoothly.'
'Hestia would obviously frown at this, but she allowed him to slip by "unpunished".'
'Later that day, Silver would give her a reward for this benevolence...'
'Thankfully, this was done in the Old Church, otherwise, all of the girls in the Hearth Manor would've been unable to sleep that night...'
'With that, in a paradoxical way, Hestia woke up with 200% energy and motivation, perfectly doing her job during the recruitment of the third day, much to the other Goddesses' confusion and suspicion.'
'They obviously played cards all night long don't misunderstand.'
'Apart from this event, the other visit came in the form of a small Goddess with dark hair and a bright personality akin to the sun…'
'A hyperactive Goddess from overseas that loved to run around and make others laugh.'
'Kichijoten, the Goddess that helped Silver experience what it meant to be charmed!'
'Albeit they haven't talked much since that day, she and her children had visited the Familia more than once, and in a sense, some of the girls were more acquainted with them than even Silver himself.'
'Albeit Kijo would often say he was avoiding her with a pout, the truth was much simpler, as it was just that in those times, Silver wasn't at home.'
'But as planned by her 'overflowing' intellect, on that day, they met again…'
'It was safe to say Silver got quite overworked from running after her for a few hours.'
'She was like a child, but more prudent, although, if that was better or not he couldn't tell.'
'What he could say was that if you took your eyes off her for even a moment, she would seemingly vanish.'
'There was one interesting thing that happened during her stay though… A certain… Rivalry between her and Hestia…'
'Although that was more one-sided than anything…'
'And all of this issue sprouted from... Jealousy.'
'As ever since they first met, Kijo had shown great fondness for Silver, from the way she talked to the way she interacted with him, such as how she liked to sit on his lap whenever she felt the need to without a care for who was around her.'
'Of course, this didn't bode well for Hestia and a certain blue-haired Goddess…'
'Thankfully, the recruitment had already been finished by the time Kijo and some of her children had come to visit, so no outsiders bore witness to Hestia running around her while screaming around…'
'Silver also got somewhat upset on this day because after the Recruitment was over, he could only cry in distress as he learned someone had raided his sweets on the fridge he shared with Hestia.'
'It wasn't shared very often since it was taken as a hidden rule, but the Hestia Familia had strict codes of conduct as to the usage of the fridges in particular.'
'In order to make sure the funds for food weren't abused, Silver had one storage area repurposed to store solely food.'
'In there, food for everyone was stored and people could eat whatever they wished from there without a care, such every morning whenever breakfast was made, the girls could go there to grab eggs and other ingredients for their own use, even if they wished to play around and make a cake in the afternoon, it was all allowed as long as they replenished the materials later on.'
'On that note, people were also tasked with buying more food whenever something was shown to be on the low end of things.'
'People could do this by being tasked or out of their own volition, and for that they had a community fund where people could grab the money and buy things with it, but everything had to be recorded.'
'It was easy to track considering there were only 40 members, albeit that might have to be reconsidered now that many more would join, but that was something for the future.'
'Knowing that they had a single storage to all, it was important to share that they also had a side Kitchen where several magical fridges were located.'
'These were meant for a few people to store their own food or whatever they bought that needed to be kept refrigerated.'
'Each Fridge was meant for a small group, normally their own Squad in an attempt to make them closer...'
'They even had their names on it so no one would mistake who each fridge belonged to…'
'People were also allowed to buy their own if they were interested as magic fridges were powered by magic stones so they could be moved to their own rooms if they wished, with Silver himself having helped many girls move furniture around whenever they bought something, one of the reasons everyone had good impressions of him.'
'Despite some of the things he did...'
'In any case, somehow, someone opened HIS fridge and ate ALL of his sweets as he was distracted due to the first and second days of the recruitment.'
'Above all, they somehow managed to not eat any of Hestia's sweets...'
'Obviously, his first suspect was his Goddess, but she pleaded innocence after a relentless tickling torture that lasted no more than half a minute.'
'As such, he continued, questioning every girl in his own methods...'
'Some were quick to reply, such as Daphne who just replied with a straight no, and Cassandra who shook her head earnestly... He didn't really suspect them to begin with.'
'The triplets didn't even know a third of the names of the sweets that were devoured, making Silver feel guilty as he thought them to be rather pitiful...'
'He promised to buy them some sweets after the recruitment was over.'
'They didn't know where that had come from but they welcomed it earnestly with large smiles!'
'Still, it didn't take long for Silver to find out who it was, as he caught the little thief walking around holding a half-empty plate of orange cake, his favorite and the one he bought after waiting half an hour in a cake shop a few Districts away…'
'What he did then is better not shared…'
'And that was it for the second day.'
...
'On the third day, things continued as normal without any changes, the same process from before had been repeated, and the number of candidates rose from 1.8 to 2 thousand, the expected number of applicants, even though that number would likely rise by 300 or a bit more in the following days.'
'Like before, they were once again visited by a few Gods.'
'Two goddesses with red hair appeared, each with their own agendas...'
'As planned a few days before, Hephaestus visited the Familia with her cynical gaze and serious aura...'
'She took this chance to continue her conversation with Silver, telling him old stories she remembered, some from heaven, others from the mortal plane...'
'Officially, she was there to check a few things related to their contract, but in truth, she was just there to say hi and collapse on the couch as she drank tea.'
'Or in other words, relax.'
'Hephaestus didn't have many friends, even within her own Familia, so such moments were unusually rare.'
'That was why she treasured these moments, despite not showing it that often.'
'Many people misunderstood her, or perhaps they did understand her as she is indeed a girl that preferred to stay away from many meaningless relationships.'
'Either way, she enjoyed her stay, talked with Silver about the items he commissioned, such as the possibility of making a matching pair of boots for his unique gloves, and left as she had a lot to do back home.'
'As usual, she was a woman full of work left to finish.'
'Silver felt a little regretful, as he had planned on showing her his progress with his own Magical Weapon, Magic Sword MK4, but ended up losing the opportunity to show it to her.'
'His design had massively changed due to the many books he had read and the knowledge passed down from Hephaestus, and it was even possible to say he had skipped MK4 and gone to MK5 or 6, but considering he never even finished those, he just called it MK4.'
'He wanted to finish this project as doing so would mean leaving his own little mark in the world in a way that wasn't just being known as someone that was good at murdering monsters.'
'Although he did not care at how such things ended up being recorded, he indeed liked to make things, it was what led him to where he was after all...'
'Even if his desires led him in a different direction.'
'Still, as he saw her leave the Manor he felt it was for the better, as next time he had the chance, he might be able to show her a complete product instead of a half-assed creation.'
'... Although, from her perspective, aren't all works half-assed?'
'Well, she isn't that strict… She was actually very soft.' Silver thought to himself as he looked at her walk down the street
'The second God that visited them on that day was surprisingly enough, Loki!'
'She came alone and with her usual grin on her face, much to Hestia's annoyance.'
'She kept provoking her all the way through her stay, and Silver almost thought she had been there just to mess with her.'
'It wasn't unusual for Loki to go around town bothering others when she was bored… Seeking interesting things to watch.'
'And wasn't the recruitment day of her arch-nemesis a good place to cause trouble?'
'But this time, she had a serious goal in mind.'
'She wanted to talk with Silver in private and ask him something, albeit she refused to elaborate on the why.'
'This clearly pissed off Hestia, who didn't allow it even till the end.'
'But eventually, when Hestia wasn't looking, Loki pulled Silver's collar:'
"... Hey big guy, once you have the time, pass by the Twilight Manor, I have something to ask ya." She said in a sweet tone as she whispered lightly
"Between you and me, so don't bring the milkers with you, kay?" She asked with a smirk as she pushed him away
"..."
'As she let him go, as he looked at her expression and smile, Silver pondered over her reasons.'
'Because he couldn't tell when she was being serious from when she was joking around.'
'Though, the truth was, it was much easier to assume Loki was constantly joking rather than trying to pull out the truths from the exaggerations and innuendos hidden between her words.'
'If figuring out a woman's intent was hard, Loki was that but cubed.'
"What a weird way of inviting someone over." Silver joked as well as he shook his head
"Oho? Is that how it sounded to you? Well…"
'She turned around with a small teasing smile, not opening her eyes as always.'
"I'll be waiting for you~ Hihi..." She said as she left in a weirdly melodic tone, not even waiting for Hestia to be back to say her goodbyes to her
'In a sense, Silver was relieved she did so, Hestia was already past her tolerance zone after being played around by her for a few minutes.'
'Both of them really couldn't stay in the same room for long.'
I'm glad she left just as abruptly as she came… But…
What did she come here for, in the first place?
'Silver knew he could just go to her to figure that one out, but he couldn't proceed without putting some thought into it at the very least.'
There aren't that many things I've been doing that impacted the Loki Familia in any substantial way.
The fall of the Ishtar Familia and the fluctuation of the prices of things is something she could use to cuss at me, but she wouldn't waste her time on that...
Unless they want to ask me again about my abilities, but I already told them enough last time.
There are a few things though… As we do share some work environments…
Around now, they might be planning another Expedition, it's been a few weeks since their last one already, so she could be here to invite me to go with them.
I wouldn't mind, in fact, I would accept it.
For many reasons.
If possible, I would like to be present if they were to arrive on the 59th floor, but that may be hard.
Expectations are that I'll reach there before them...
Aside from that… Could it be she has started to sniff something out?
It is true many things have been happening in the dark, and Loki isn't someone to just listen to the Guild's excuses.
She's someone who seeks her own answers, so she might've dug around a bit, especially after Ishtar vanished.
No, she definitely did, just like what she did with Aetos...
If she learned something regarding Ishtar, it wouldn't be difficult for her to put her sights on me to see what I know.
Hermes did visit me yesterday to talk about a few things, and considering he didn't mention her yet, it must mean Loki has yet to resort to Hermes for information.
Because doing so would be revealing what she is doing, and Loki isn't someone to give away information for free like that.
She'll only approach others in these situations when she's ready to either coerce something from them or propose something else…
Albeit most of the time, it's the former.
If she believes them to be allies as well...
Lastly, the only thing I can think about is the Xenos.
However, despite meeting with them frequently to train, they have not mentioned anything about meeting other adventurers in the past few weeks.
Well, had it been that I'm sure I would've been notified long ago, and had Loki figured out my connection with them I'm sure she would've been a bit more… "Direct".
So I can't tell for certain if there's any connection in this.
Either way, I don't have much time right now so I'll have to visit her once the Recruitment ends.
It'll be a nice last visit before my trip outside of Orario.
"I'm a bit sad she didn't bring the others with her though…"
I've had the urge to punch Bete for once, show him how much I've grown…
But they pretty much vanished.
All Executives of the Loki Familia have been kind of low-key in these past few weeks as if they were on an expedition.
Perhaps what Loki wants to talk with me has to do with that?
Hum... It's certainly nothing extreme, nor should it be a request of any sort…
Because, don't they have many other people to rely on if shit hits the gutter? Though, if it really that I would be honored… And a bit worried too.
Regardless, the truth will be revealed eventually...
"WHERE IS THAT CRICKET BAT?!" Hestia exclaimed from deep in the Manor, rushing to his current position with something in her hand
"..."
I'll think about those later, for now…
I have to calm down a goddess raging flame.
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Notes
So... I jumped the first 3 days, now I'll just jump the second phase and then jump to the grand welcoming ceremony for the new recruits, showing some of their Stats and why they are meaningful to the story.
These last few chaps have been quite wordy, so I wanted to end this soon.
At most 3 more chapters on this Arc before we start the next one.
Peace.
PS: I'll be trying to add some images for Kichijoten down here.
In case you have any characters that you would like made as well, just hit me up, but for now, I'll be eating something so it may take a while until they appear.
That's all from me, until Sunday!
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