245 Blessings

Sorry for the delay, today was my Birthday so I took a little bit of a time off to enjoy the day, here's the chap.

Peace!

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/Around two hours later…/

"I'll be visiting again soon!" Kichijoten exclaimed as she left through the front gates, excited as ever

"Phew..."

Her children were behind her, tired and helpless looks on their faces as they exhaled, but they weren't unhappy.

"Be free to do so, though I won't promise to be here." Silver replied with a chuckle

"Then it won't be fun!"

"Well, then you'll have to send a letter."

"But that breaks the surprise!"

"..."

Guess there's no satisfying answer for her...

'After filling their bellies with food and drinks, the ceremony finally came to an end.'

'Some of the guests stayed until the end like Take, who loved the food, definitely not because he was poor… Despite the complaints of his children who were embarrassed by his antics.'

'Others left early like Miach who was buried up to his neck in commissions, even Naaza wanted to leave as she needed rest, cleaning up after Miach wasn't easy and it left her drained.'

'But they all agreed that they had a good time.'

'During the party, Silver had the opportunity to talk with many.'

'He thanked Take for training him in Martial Arts, and that he hoped for both of their Familias to grow close to each other.'

'Although there was still much to learn until he became a Martial Master, Silver could already see the difference practicing them made as a form of both mental and physical exercises.'

'He thanked Miach for tolerating his 'stupid' ideas and making them reality, telling him he still had many left in his sketches.'

'The idea of studying his body was one Silver left at the back of his head ever since he awakened his powers, but the thought of actually pursuing it crossed his mind only once before he scratched it away.'

'The infrastructure necessary to even start and the time it would take to achieve meaningful progress which may result in completely inconclusive or just useless Data was too much for him to bear.'

'But maybe through Alchemy, he could induce something to happen, something bigger beyond his previous achievements.'

'And even if not, there were many Alchemical products he could create with the help of a God.'

'He talked with Artemis about his plans to leave Orario for a while and if she would be willing to go with him, even if just for a few days…'

'And against his expectations, she accepted almost immediately, and he suspected that had to do with the words of her Captain… Though he could not confirm if that was the case.'

'Whatever she had been feeding Artemis these past few months has slowly turned her into a rather understandable girl who was willing to put some time into herself rather than protecting others all the time.'

'Artemis never neglected herself, she just never saw the point in caring for herself with anything other than proper manners in mind... But now... Things were different.'

'Artemis was as busy of a woman as Hephaestus was, so Silver did not expect much from that department, especially given her just nature of protecting the weak, pass time and relaxing on a field trip doesn't quite fulfill those agendas, on the contrary, it makes her sound uncaring even.'

'As hypocritical as that may sound.'

'Though of course, only through the eyes of someone that does not know her, or someone that is too self-centered.'

'And although they would still have to plan a bit more, Silver was thankful she would participate.'

'He did not know how long he would stay outside, but his list of things to do shouldn't take over a week to be completed even if he takes his sweet time doing them.'

'Not counting travel time, though it would have to be seen if they would teleport around or if they would try to enjoy the road.'

'And not counting any side trips... Who knew what would pop up while on the road? Maybe he would decide to travel very far and see how the world outside looked like.'

'From the extreme Northern Mountains to the Country of Amazons on the SouthEast, there was much to visit...'

'Regardless, they would have to teleport one way or another otherwise their trip would take forever.

'As for Leto and Dia, this time, he focused his attention on their children.'

'He learned of the progress of Leto's children and congratulated them all for the speedy growth while also learning more about the Goddesses in the process, something he did not mind in the slightest.'

'Talking and learning more about pretty women that weren't egocentric wasn't that bad at all.'

'Because it was rather pleasurable to talk with someone that knew how to actually do so, regardless of their appearance, it was just a bonus that they were eye candies.'

'It was a bit awkward that due to his height, he was always looking down on others, but that was mostly a small detail.'

'Leto's Captain said she would catch up to him, only to cause all others to promise that as well, breaking her emotional moment...'

'Silver believed she had the potential to do so since reaching Level 4 within a year wasn't an impossibility... And since he didn't know how long he would remain as a Level 4 as well.'

'His training was bearing fruit, but there was still much to accomplish, his body could be pushed to greater heights, he knew it, he just had to go out there and bleed a little... Break a few bones... Lose a limb or two again...'

'The stronger they got, the more reliable partners they would have, and Silver would use as many resources as needed to have that come into being.'

'If it'll take a few years for his own Familia to acquire some Level 4 adventurers, then it would be wise to grom some Level 3 adventurers on the outside.'

'As for his greatest partner, the dumb Elf eating in the corner, he was currently talking with an Amazon girl with quite the enthusiasm.'

'Loiju had never been awkward with his words, on the contrary, he was rather good at it.'

'The problem was his previous antics, most of which he had outgrown.'

'Gambling... His money problems... His grumbling personality... And his attitude towards work.'

'Having put all of that away made him quite attractive since now he wasn't the gloomy Elf sitting behind the Guild counter but the confident Elf male with a rather charming appearance.'

'But to accomplish his full potential, they would have to train his demeanor a little, and remove those eyebags too.'

'If only he realized he was being hit on by the Amazon... Though honestly, she was terrible at it too, watching it from afar made Silver chuckle...'

'He took a few photos of the occasion in secret, he would use them to their full extent in the future to annoy them both.'

'But alas, for now, he'll leave them to figure out things for themselves.'

...

'The ceremony itself lasted only an hour, enough to give people time to drink, eat, and get to know each other, but once it was over, Silver rose to the stage and called its end with a closing speech.'

'With that, the people dispersed, with the Guests leaving after exchanging their farewells, and everyone else departing to the Manor, the boys first because they were fewer in number.'

'There were only eleven boys that joined them, one of them was a Level 2 adventurer, a Hunter from outside of Orario, having decided to join the Hestia Familia due to his desire to improve his Archery Skills.'

'Previously a member of a small Familia that had recently disbanded due to its God's desire to travel the world, he who could not abandon his home stayed, parting away with the people he once called family, and still will if they ever meet again.'

'Five were already Level 1 adventurers, joining for similar reasons the previous Executives did, problems with their original Familias or maybe a desire to pursue greater things, but nothing extreme.'

'There were many Familias that took simpler positions regarding the world, not all were like Leto, Artemis, Hermes, and the like, they instead lived life day by day, and to many, that wasn't enough.'

'The rest were aspiring boys that wished to grow.'

(More on them over time, they'll be recurrent characters like the Triplets)

'Transfering the blessing to them all was pretty fast, they just gathered all of the boys in one room and had them in a line, they would then lift their shirts and Hestia would inscribe her blessing on their backs with a droplet of her blood.'

'Following that, she would transcribe the Divine hieroglyphs into the common language so others could read it.'

'Once that was done, the updated Statuses were all handed to Silver who inspected it all to understand the level of the guys that joined.'

'Of course, all of them saw their own Statuses, some of them even had Skills right off the bat! And two of them showed potential for being Mages.'

'Nothing could go wrong with this extremely simple scenario, it would be hard for problems to even rise…'

"..."

'Yet, there was Silver, with his arms crossed, observing the boys with a solemn gaze almost like a statue, he was silently warning them, no chit-chat with the Goddess.'

'For the boys, he was mostly doing his job as the Captain by staying near Hestia while also trying to avoid problematic relationships from budding too early, this was done in other Familias as well since their members would normally try not to romance their patron, though of course, Gods were like people and they could fall in love with whoever they wanted...'

'But she knew the truth.'

'Silver was being cautious, and not of danger...'

'She found it cute, especially when he denied it when she was done, she had found something to tease him about fiercely as it was something she didn't know about him.'

'It seemed he was much more conscious of her than she had ever imagined… And she liked it.'

'Though it did make her pout a little because that might come from concern and a bit of jealousy, yet it also implied that he did not put much trust in her…'

'And on that note, she did not exactly know how Silver felt.'

'Lastly, she also took this opportunity to update the Status of the Triplets who had grown immensely.'

'They were still far from Level 2, but Hestia actually believed that if they were given another half year, they may reach the next stage, being on par with the growth speed shown by other Top Class adventurers.'

'Though, what Rank they would achieve amidst them after that would depend on how much their Stats grew in that timeframe.'

'To achieve a Status of B or A, or maybe even S... How high was their potential?'

'Now… The girls were a tad more complicated.'

'With close to a hundred girls joining, there was no room aside from the Main Hall and the Party Hall that could encompass all of them at the same time, at least in an orderly way.'

'And Silver couldn't have them do the update in the central garden, it was simply too exposed to many windows, and even if he prevented any boys from peeking, he could not prevent the girls from getting anxious, they may even get estranged and stressed from taking out their shirts amidst themselves, much less if they thought they were being spied on…'

'But, like before, they were already prepared for this.'

'With a snap of his fingers, Silver raised the makeshift room in the garden, four long dark cloths were raised to form a room, and all of the girls, including the forty-nine girls that joined before gathered within.'

'Silver expected mayhem to ensue, but he underestimated their orderliness.'

'All girls stood in line without problem, meanwhile, the previous members of the Hestia Familia stood as guards, preventing any boys from intruding.'

'Though that was hardly necessary.'

'Of the 15 boys, the triplets were uninterested in these matters as of now, mayhaps because puberty hormones had yet to catch up to them or merely because they weren't really interested in it…'

'Silver could watch them from afar if he was interested, though doing so would only be digging a grave for himself, as later down the line Hestia would eventually learn about it from conversing with him.'

'Everything that it would take would be one single Question… And he if lied, she would know, if he told the truth, he was dead.'

'As for the other eleven boys that just joined, there were only three that seemed somewhat interested in peeking, not that the others were gay, they definitely wanted to see, but as society requires, they just turned a blind eye to what was happening around them.'

'Even then, it was not like all girls inside were to their eyes... After all, there were some 20-year-old beauties that's for sure, but there were also children growing...'

'And even if it was somewhat more acceptable for younger girls to pursue older boys, the preference was still for the age gap to not be... Daunting.'

'They wouldn't risk their lives to see a 13-year-old girl... Even if she looked 16.'

'They very much preferred to see the Vice Captain Daphne because sheesh...'

'Still, those three would not dare to cause trouble, not on the first day.'

'They had just been blessed, meaning they were now stuck with them for an entire year, why would they cause trouble for trying to sneak in a closed room with 150 girls surrounded by close to ten Level 2 adventurers and a Goddess?'

'Yeah, not really a smart choice…'

'To top it all off… Silver had been assigned as a guard as well, if the coffin had already been closed before, it was now buried 100 feet under, there was no way they could dig it up now.'

"..."

'There was only problem though, Silver could not comprehend why they would assign him such a role, but there he was, sitting on a chair outside of the cloth room with a tired expression.'

'Behind him, dozens of beauties took off their bras as they received their blessings, yet he was told to sit outside in the sun like a guard dog.'

'He was 100% sure this was a form of revenge from all the Executives and his Goddess…'

'But fine, he said, I'll play along, he thought.'

'And he wouldn't fall into their trap, since he knew Hestia would try to dig up something from him when this was over.'

'So he sat down and relaxed before erecting a barrier around the cloth, almost sleeping as the peaceful sounds of nature washed over his ears…'

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Notes

A little bit of an exposition together with a conclusive ending to the previous Event.

Hope you had fun, until next chap!