100 A new member to the Hestia Familia

This may very well be the only chapter this week so enjoy it...

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"...!"

'After a while, Haruhime calmed down as she laid her head on Silver's chest. And it was at this moment she realized what she was doing.'

'Her fox tail suddenly got up as she slowly got away from Silver, but when she turned her red face to the side, her tail continued to wiggle left and right, betraying her…'

'Silver noticed this and shook his head slightly, he gently grabbed her hand and said:'

"I know it's a lot to think about, and it isn't easy to change. But first things first, we need to leave this place... No isn't an option." He said as he chuckled at the end

'Haruhime smiled as his hair flew in the gentle wind...'

"Shall we go? There is a lot to do."

"Yes!"

'Silver led Haruhime out of the ruins, trying to lead her through easier paths since she had quite the difficulty following Silver.'

'It may sound surprising, but this was the most physical activity she had in years and perhaps all of her life.'

'Living a sheltered life since young, Haruhime's body was extremely frail, and if she didn't pay much attention, it would be pretty simple to twist her ankle while walking in this rubble.'

'Her mother did so before her, and her grandmother as well... Being frail may as well be within her blood.'

'As the daughter of the Sanjono Clan in the Far east.'

'However, even if she was having difficulty, Haruhime was also extremely happy as she felt she was experiencing her own adventure right now…'

'As they walked, Silver said:'

"From here on out it's going to be hard, I'm sure a lot will happen, but it isn't anything we can't manage."

"I understand... But I am ready, I won't back down anymore."

'Silver smiled, saying:'

"This may have been sudden, but I did a lot in these past two weeks since I first met you."

'As Silver said that, he helped Haruhime jump from a tall stone into the lower ground.'

'She felt embarrassed to be helped this much. But she didn't reject it.'

"I told you already how they attacked me first and how I infiltrated Ishtar's house to learn more about everything. But what I didn't tell you is what I planned to do…"

'Silver proceeded to tell a simplified version of his plans, but he cut out some of the gorier parts like incrimination.'

"In the end, Ishtar will probably think this was the work of another Familia and that will buy us some time."

"You are truly incredible…" Said Haruhime in a sad tone

'Seeing this Silver added:'

"There is no need to think too much, Ishtar won't just attack us, for her, I am not really a problem. I have this thought out already."

From the way I laid out things, they will think I was working with someone, they captured Haruhime and I fled.

Ishtar won't be able to stay still and she will immediately launch a brutal investigation on her own Familia until she finds out who was the traitor…

But there is none since I did everything on my own.

Even if she knew this, she wouldn't believe it, she is too prideful for that.

I already have it planned… To create instability within the Ishtar Familia itself…

Because there is one girl that isn't loyal to Ishtar at all… Her own Captain.

Phryne is a mad woman that only cares about herself, she is so delusional that she thinks she is the most beautiful girl alive surpassing even her own Goddess.

That makes my job way easier.

Even if Ishtar somehow proceeds with her plans and has things return to normal, she will have to launch investigations outside of her Familia to find me, Haruhime, and what happened to their operation, and that takes time as well.

The longer it passes the warier she will get as the deadlines for her plans will start to arrive and she will be forced to cut something… Will her pride allow her to do it though?

She probably planned for this day ever since she first met Haruhime, waiting for her forces to get stronger so she can do the ritual with Haruhime and eventually…

'Silver smiled mischievously.'

I don't think so, she'll never stop her plans unless she is completely crushed or feels threatened.

But I could be wrong and be surprised in the end...

'Silver eventually stopped at the edge of the ruins and said to Haruhime:'

"This place should be enough…"

"Hum?"

'Haruhime looked around but saw nothing but rubble and broken structures.'

/Crack…/

'The stone twisted as it transformed into a door. Silver opened it, revealing a room on the other side.'

'Haruhime was extremely impressed by such a novel sight, she couldn't help but think of the magic abilities the heroes in her books had.'

'She blushed in excitement as she asked:'

"Is this what you used before?…"

'She remembered how they escaped, the moment Phryne was about to hit Silver in the Dungeon, he teleported behind her and when she realized it, she was somewhere she didn't recognize.'

'At that time when Silver started to pull her, she followed him due to her servant instincts, but it didn't take her long to realize what was happening, and that was why she asked him to stop.'

'Haruhime had a lot of fun with Silver and that was why she didn't want anything to happen to him… She was simply too confused. And that was why she asked him to leave her behind.'

'But it didn't take a lot to figure out her sacrifice would do little to nothing, in fact, it would make things worse as Ishtar would just attack Silver again and this time, force Haruhime to use her spell on Phryne...'

'But Silver wasn't that type of person. He did things the way he wanted, so he forcefully saved her... No need to thank him, he is mainly an adventurer and a Hero for fun.'

Hearing Haruhime, Silver said:

"Yes, it's a neat ability to escape, although it makes me a bit tired to use it, it's not as much as when I just started as an adventurer." Said Silver as he got inside the door

I teleported a few times today and used this portal ability twice in the span of half an hour without drinking any potions... How much I grew... Still, I don't feel technically okay either...

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot…"

/CRACK!/

'Silver grabbed the collar on her neck and gently broke its lock by crushing it with his fingers, making it fall into pieces.'

"..."

'For the first time in many years, she felt her neck unusually light…'

'Haruhime grabbed his hand once more with a smile and stepped into a brand new world…

…

/Half an hour later…/

'Silver could be seen kneeling on the floor, there were two girls in front of him, and two more girls on the corner of the room hugging each other in fear.'

/BAM!/

"Can you repeat to me again what you did? S-I-L-V-E-R!" Said Hestia in an angry tone as she slapped the table next to her

"Sometimes I think if joining this Familia wasn't truly a good option…" Said Daphne as she looked at Silver and Hestia with a frown

The War game, his actions… He is always in the middle of some sort of troublesome situation…

"..."

'Poor Silver was currently being interrogated by both Hestia and Daphne, while Haruhime was crouching on the corner with Cassandra. They seemed to get along quite well…'

"I told you already… They attacked me first…" He said with a straight face

'Hestia interrupted him, saying:'

"I want to understand this fully, so I will go over everything really quickly."

"So, not only did you not report any of this to me, you formulated a plan that involved sabotaging most of a Familia's operations... Ishtar's..."

"And, in the end, you used yourself as bait in order to confront them, a bunch of Level 2's and 3's, and even a 5! AND, after that, you kidnaped a girl!?"

'Silver scratched the back of his head and thought:'

Should I tell her how I also planned on stealing most of her wealth in order to crash their economy?...

Better not to.

"You talk in a very ominous way, I didn't do much, nor it was as dangerous…"

'Hestia frowned.'

"You broke several laws at once!"

"Surprisingly enough, the only crime I did break was fighting within civilian grounds, because all of this falls within a Familia confrontation incident and the initiator is Ishtar, everything else is just a consequence of that." Silver replied instantaneously

"Even if she denies it, I have proof." Said Silver with a smug smile

"DON'T BE PROUD ABOUT IT!" Exclaimed Hestia

'Daphne then said:'

"Even so you…"

"Should I have shared this with you all? Look, I am not looking down on you, however, it is a sensitive time for everyone here, I didn't want to mess things as everything was going well, and…"

'But Hestia just grabbed his head and said with a conflicted expression:'

"Aren't we supposed to be a Familia? How can you keep doing all of these alone? At least trust me with hearing your words! Or is that too hard for you?"

'Silver looked at her expression and then towards Daphne's and Cassandra's before he apologized, bowing in the process.'

"... Sigh. Alright, that was my fault, I made you all worry."

Although I still think I choose the right option...

'Daphne let out a sigh. Haruhime smiled slightly, Cassandra smiled gently, and Hestia frowned as she exhaled some turbid air.'

"Really, you only cause trouble…"

"Correction, trouble came to me this time…"

"That's the problem!"

"Aren't you a God? Go ask the God of Luck and Fate! Perhaps she has an answer for this..."

"She's in heaven! And I am sure that she wouldn't give me an answer!..."

'They talked for a bit longer before Hestia asked:'

"So what is your plan now that she is here? I can't give my blessing to her nor can we hide her for long…"

'But Silver just said as he got up from the ground:'

"Hiding her presence is pretty simple, there are many tools that can obstruct a God from sensing the blessing of his children, so until we deal with Ishtar, she will be perfectly concealed."

'Silver took out a box, inside there was a blue bracelet.'

"Just wear these for now, it will be enough." He said with a smile as he put the bracelet on Haruhime's arm

This time I was thoroughly prepared.

"..."

Why does he have such a thing...

'Hestia's brows almost touched, showing how annoyed she was while Haruhime blushed a bit for receiving the "gift".'

"... Thank you... You are all doing so much for me yet I can only..."

'But Silver patted her head making Hestia snicker...'

'Daphne looked at the bracelet and asked:'

"Isn't that an illegal item? Blessing shroud or something?"

'But Silver looked at her and shrugged.'

"And?"

"..."

"Sigh, do as you wish, I don't even know why I asked…"

'Silver smiled, making Daphne even more pissed.'

'He sat back on his chair and said:'

"As for Ishtar herself…"

'His smiled disappeared as he said with a heavy tone:'

"If you want, I can collapse the Ishtar Familia right now."

Haruhime was my only priority, but she is here now so...

"?!"

"?!"

"?!"

'Everyone was stunned.'

"Wh-What do you mean Silver?"

"If we treat this as a War, it becomes simpler to understand."

'Silver raised his hand and lifted 3 fingers.'

"There are three things we need to consider."

"First, her personnel. I can easily deal with anyone apart from Phryne herself, I can slowly take down each and every one of them by using several distinct means."

'Hearing this, Haruhime opened her mouth to speak but Silver interrupted her and said:'

"I am not talking about harming them in such a way, there isn't a need to take it to such extremes, but more of making them incapable of operating, there are many ways to do that."

At least not for everyone, some on the other hand...

'Everyone nodded.'

"Second, information. The best way to make her stay in her place is to use her own enemies."

"Then it's just a question of how long it takes to properly disseminate this information… Then it's over for her, she'll be done in by her own enemies."

"That's... A bit scary..." Said Cassandra as she heard Silver

"And lastly, wealth, a Familia of her size cannot operate without funds, so if I take everything away, considering the way she operates, it will be like removing her hands and feet."

"Even if she knows that Haruhime is here, she won't be able to make a move at all unless she has decided in throwing everything she built over the years up into smoke."

"However, even if she wanted, that in itself would be hard for her to accomplish as I am sure she would be having more difficulty holding onto her own property due to the fierce competition in the district..."

'Hestia processed everything and said:'

"Sigh… I don't know how I should feel about stealing… To be honest, even if we consider what Ishtar did, she is still mostly a legal Familia…"

'But Silver scoffed at Hestia's words.'

"Your statement is only correct if you look at the surface, Ishtar did a lot of shady stuff over the years and ordered her Familia to do even worse things…"

"In fact, one of my plans includes divulging what I found to the Guild, but then again, I would be assuming I was the cause behind everything and this may cause problems eventually."

"Still, the people will..." Said Hestia with worry

"It is true that it will make a big impact on the lives of many people, especially the honest workers, however, unless Ishtar has completely gone mad, those honest workers won't be affected much by the Ishtar's Familia bankruptcy or their internal problems."

"Unless someone worse than them takes in the reigns after their downfall... But I find it hard."

'Hestia had to think but it was too much for her while Daphne said:'

"This seems too simple…"

"Because it is, I won this from the start."

My only problems were Haruhime and Freya… The rest is irrelevant to me.

It may be a bit cruel, but at least most of these Amazons will be able to live, in the original, most of them were killed by assassins after Ishtar was sent back to Heaven.

'Cassandra raised her hand and asked softly:'

"How are you going to… Steal her wealth?"

'Silver thought deeply for a moment before he looked at both Cassandra and Daphne.'

"I was planning on showing this one day, I just didn't expect it to come so soon... If you are still here with me despite what I said, then I will show you why you were right in choosing the Hestia Familia."

'Silver turned to the side and raised his left hand…'

/Crack!/

'The ground started to twist and turn, and eventually, a door appeared in the middle of the room. Silver opened the door amidst the surprised expressions of Cassandra and Daphne, showing what was on the other side.'

'The moment she saw what was on the other side, Daphne face-palmed as she understood why he was being so carefree.'

"I see it now… This is almost against the rules."

'She sat on her chair and she even let out a hollow laugh.'

'Silver smiled and said:'

"Rules?"

"..."

"Oi! Calm down Daphne!" Said Hestia as she shook her shoulders

"So what do you think? Is this a good plan?"

'But Daphne just said:'

"This is a terrible plan…"

"I'm glad you agree." Said Silver with a smile as he used telekinesis to move the gold and gems inside the vault to his room

'As to how he got to this place? In his 2 weeks of training, Silver explored every nook and cranny of her manor, making sure not to trigger any trap and he eventually found his way inside the vault, the rest is simple.'

'While Silver moved all of the treasures to the room, Hestia and the others talked with Haruhime.'

'Hestia was not in any way pleased with knowing how Silver came to know her in the red light district, the singular thought of Silver being in there already bothered her.'

'She also saw how the girl felt and how depressed she actually felt about herself, so the only thing she could do is…'

"Welcome to the Hestia Familia." She said as she hugged her gently

'Silver looked at them and smiled slightly.'

"..."

It's good that everything ended well. Regardless, this is only the start.

I need to get stronger and put Ishtar in her place, be it in a War game or in a more informal manner.

This money is just a part of her wealth, there is bound to be a lot of money hidden and stashed in safes and vaults within banks, but it's true she won't even be able to gather war supplies.

… I want to see what you will choose…

"Since this is going to take a while, how about I tell all of you what I've found in the records of the Familia?"

"I assure you, this is going to make you lose all feeling of pity instantly..." Silver said with a serious expression

I'll start with some of the more light things so as to not traumatize them...

And I'll stop if they can't take it.

…

/2 hours later…/

'Back at Ishtar's manor, Ishtar herself could be seen sitting on a throne in the middle of a grand hall.'

'Her face was devoid of emotions as she held a broken smoking pipe in her right hand, it had been a while, but she couldn't feel Haruhime's blessing anymore, no matter how hard she tried to focus.'

'It was complete silence in the room…'

"I will ask one last time, where is Haruhime?"

"..."

'But no one replied to her.'

"... ARG!"

/BAM!/

'She threw her broken smoking pipe on the ground in anger, the carpet started to burn but not one dared to move.'

"HOW THE FUCK DID IT BECOME LIKE THIS?!"

'She looked at each girl present in the room, but no one replied to her, and this made her even angrier.'

"Phryne, explain to me what happened!"

Phryne had an angry gaze as she pointed toward Aisha and said:

"It was all that bitch's fault, even after she got the power, she was still incapable of taking him down, and it messed out everyone's flow…"

"SHUT UP! I DIDN'T ASK THAT!"

'Phryne was shocked, but she scoffed and said:'

"You were tricked! That magic tool you bought did not stop him from fleeing! Worse, the moment I was about to go after him we were ambushed by someone!"

'Ishtar looked at Aisha and asked:'

"What about you, what is your excuse?"

'Aisha was sweating a little but she said:'

"It is true he escaped, and it's also true that we were ambushed by someone from the moment we decided to move."

"Because our fight caused significant damage to the Dungeon structure, the many bombs that detonated all around us were the final nail in the coffin of this mess."

"Because they collapsed most of the caves we were in, cutting many of our retreat paths... "

"There is a big chance they were acting together, but we can't say who…"

/BAM!/

'Angry and desperate, Ishtar grabbed the bottle of wine on the table next to her and threw it at Aisha's head.'

'It broke on her face but Aisha did not move, feeling the cold wine and hot blood flow down her face… Her expression was cold as she stared at the ground.'

'Ishtar then sat back on her throne to think, she started to bite her nails as she thought deeply.'

/BAM!/

'Someone suddenly entered the hall, disrupting her thoughts and making her screech in anger!'

"I TOLD YOU ALL TO NOT BARGE IN!"

'But the Amazon had a very pale face as she said:'

"It's an emergency! The Vault! It… Everything was stolen!"

/Silence/

'Ishtar's expression was one of disbelief, but after a few seconds it turned into anger as her expression twisted, and she screamed in anger and despair, pulling her hair as her makeup got undone.'

'Soon enough she would recover her sanity, and when that time came, she would vent on anyone she sets her eyes on…'

'It wasn't a pleasant day to be a member of the Ishtar Familia… But to be honest, was it ever?'

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Notes

See you all in a week!