Misunderstanding

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/FWOOSH/

/DASH!/

/CRUNK!/

'As the door opened, all members of the Hermes Familia sprung into action.'

'On the back, several of them were positioned into a formation, protecting the supporters and mages who also got into a stance, preparing to assist their teammates if a conflict were to arise.'

'On the middle of the room, archers and shield users rose side by side, one protecting the other, covering each other's back, shield firm on the ground, bow pulled and ready.'

'Meanwhile, on the door, Falgar and another Human rose to the positions, both wielding a long sword and heavy shields.'

'Being both strong Level 3 adventurers, together they could stop most Level 4 threats, especially with their entire team together.'

'Behind those two, a group of five adventurers stood side by side, they were all Level 3 as well.'

'When in coordination with everyone side by side and under the leadership of their Captain and her alchemical items, the Hermes Familia could even take on Level 5 threats and even other Monster Rexes, though taking down other adventurers may prove complicated.'

'One thing is to defend oneself and another is to pursue a fleeing target, much less one with intelligence comparable to theirs.'

'Nevertheless, their entire setup took less than 2 seconds to take form, they were really efficient and precise with it.'

'Many years of experiences under the nonsensical ideas of their God.'

/SPLASH!/

'The moment everything was set, or better put, while everyone moved into position, Lulune rushed to the door, throwing several things at the newcomer, all precisely aimed at key points of his body.'

'A mix of multiple types of bottles containing several debilitating substances such as oils and irritating concoctions to limit his senses and potentially decrease his power.'

'Her precision came from her enhanced senses as a Cheinthrope, and as someone with the talent of a Mapper, she keenly estimated the newcomer's height and weight based on the strength of his footsteps and knocks, which allowed her to not only know those, but also to identify if the person in question was a man or a woman.'

'Though in the end, they would have to take a closer look at the individual to truly confirm that, because in Orario, you never knew if the muscular back you saw on the road belonged to a strong boars male or a "feminine" Dwarf…'

/CRACK!/

/SPLASH!/

"NOW!" Falgar exclaimed as a bottle of black ink fell onto the newcomer's face, covering it completely

"HAHU!" Said the other shield bearer next to him as they dashed forward, slamming their shields against the target

(Image?)

/THUD!/

/THROW!/

'In one swoop, after his partner slammed his shield against his opponent's body, sending him crashing against the sides of the door, Falgar held him by his shirt, pulling him with great strength as he threw him in the middle of the five Level 3 adventurers behind him where they all quickly moved, binding him from head to toe with ropes as they bagged his face with a sac.'

'Meanwhile, Falgar's partner stood over the door, making sure there were no other intruders as he quickly closed it to avoid any further exposition.'

/Clack.../

'And like that, within a few seconds, the Hermes Familia apprehended the intruder while minimizing all exposition!'

'A great display of professionalism and coordination, they had obviously done this more than once and it had never failed them.'

"Phew..." Lulune said as she wiped sweat from her forehead

This... Went quite well.

'Lulune wasn't the only one surprised.'

'This had been one of their smoothest takedowns, the intruder didn't even say anything nor resist, definitely not a first since there were times Falgar's dash knocked them out instantly, but definitely rare nonetheless.'

"..."

'Falgar gazed at his companions and they all nodded, quickly moving to key spots around the room and onto the second floor to ensure they weren't being watched and to keep guard in case anyone came to either investigate or as reinforcement.'

'There were times normal civilians would hear the noises of conflict and check things out… It would be very awkward if they opened the door to see several armed adventurers holding a hostage down…'

'So to avoid that from happening again, they perfected their methods to what everyone witnessed today.'

/CRUNK!/

"What's all the ruckus?" Hermes exclaimed as he got downstairs 

What are these racks doing now... Hum?

That is… ?!?!?!?!?!

'His gaze immediately fell onto the person with the sack on his head, and his expression immediately went super pale as his breath escaped his lungs.'

'He felt as if he could see a pair of silvery eyes watching him from beyond the cloth, causing him to sweat profoundly as his body stiffened.'

"Stay back Hermes-Sama, this guy just tried to get inside without using the secret code, we'll be performing a simple interrogation now." Falgar replied as he raised his left hand to tell Hermes to stand back

"B-B-But F-Falgar-Kun, d-don't you think this is a bit… E-Excessive?..." Hermes said as he stutered

I forgot about this... I didn't tell him the secret code!!!

Oh no... Oh no no... 

I'm out of here...

"Not at all, the chances of anyone stumbling upon our residence given the time is low, even if did happen, we'll apologize and handle the aftermath smoothly as per usual." Falgar said as he turned his back to Hermes

"I-I-I see… Then, I'll leave you all to it…" Hermes said as he turned around, his body trembling

I have to get out of here!

"Hermes-Sama, could you stay for a while so we can confirm the veracity of his words?" Lulune asked as she approached him from the side

"... Y-Yes, of course." Hermes said with a straight and confident face

'But inside…'

LU-LULUNE-CHANNNN! You've just dug my grave with that!!1

It's over...

'While Hermes died on the inside, the others prepared to take out the sac from the person's head.'

/PULL!/

'In one quick motion, Falgar pulled the sack, revealing the face of the intruder, one covered from head to toe in black ink.'

"Now, tell us who you... Hum? His face seems a bit familiar." Lulune said as she took a deep gaze at Silver

'And as her eyes met his, her fur stood on its ends...'

"Is something wrong?" Falgar asked as he kept holding Silver in place

"F-F-Falgar, I-I think..."

""...""

/SILENCE…/

'The silence was deafening.'

"W-What is happening Lulune?" Falgar asked as he tried to take a peek at Silver's face

'The same happened to those further away, and the moment they saw his eyes, they all stiffened up as well.'

"... Yelp, looks like the cat's out of the bag." Silver said as he got up from the ground, smirking slightly as ink and oil dripped from his hair 

"You guys sure are energetic, I haven't felt this beaten down in a while, this is worse than coming out of the Dungeon after being swarmed by Minotaurs." He joked as he passed his right hand across his face, cleaning it of some Oil

""...""

'No one said anything.'

"S-Silver-Kun! W-What a surprise… Hahaha..." Hermes said as he smiled

His face... It's over.

I'm sorry Asfi, I'm going to Heaven first...

"Let's cut the chase shall we?" 

"Why didn't you tell me there was a hidden keyword?" Silver asked as he looked straight at Hermes, bending his back so he could dry the oil and ink out of his hair

I played a bit with them, but this is a bit uncomfortable.

"Eh… You see..."

'Why didn't you evade it all?!' Hermes thought in desperation as he didn't have the courage to ask it out loud

"You don't need to tell me you forgot, it's on your face." Silver said as he shook his head with a light chuckle

"Ah… E-Excuse me… H-Here…" Someone said on the side

'It was the elven girl that was previously trying to stop Keaks' and Pock's fight, she was holding a small white cloth in her hand, likely to help Silver wipe off the stains from his face.'

"Oh? How kind, thank you, but that won't be necessary." He replied as he raised his right hand against his face

/Wash…/

'Immediately after, a thin curtain of water enveloped his body, covering every nook and cranny before it vanished, revealing a cleaner Silver.'

"Done." He said with a smug smile as he let his hair flow around

"Woah... Now that's a handy magic, why can't you do something like that?" The small Pallum girl whispered to her brother as she touched his ribs with her elbow

"Shut up, now's not the time Pot! Besides, I could say the same!"

/Whispers.../

'They weren't the only ones talking about it, nonetheless, Silver heard it all.'

"... I apologize for what I just did." Falgar said on the side as he bowed his head, closing his eyes in shame as his tail went to the ground

"Don't be, I was the one that just went on with it, you were just doing it to protect everyone, that I can understand." Silver laughed as he looked at Falgar

"At least you didn't punch me, it was a rather clean execution, you have my approval if that amounts to anything. I did not resist exactly because it would only cause things to go down worse, a little bit of dirt is nothing compared to a bad start is it?"

"... Alright." Falgar replied as he exhaled in relief

This isn't a bad start for you?

"Anyhow… It's not every time I see your Familia gathered like this." Silver said as he looked around

There are at least a dozen people in this room but I barely recognize half… Way less than that.

I know Hermes collects information from neighboring countries as well, some of them are likely such agents that came back recently from their own missions.

Traveling to such countries likely takes months, adding up the time spent on their missions themselves... It's impressive most of them are even Level 3, how do they even have the time to train?

I wonder how many of them are still out there…

"Nice to meet you all, old and new, hope you're all doing okay."

"I'm Mellios Silver, Captain of the Hestia Familia." He said with a large smile as he looked at them

'As he said that, those that were keeping watch around them let out small sighs of relief as they approached the main group again.'

"... I don't think there's many people here that don't know that." The blond Pallum boy said with a shrug from the side as he weighted down his money bag

"There's only one guy crazy enough to proclaim War Games left and right after all." His sister replied with a shrug of her own

"You two! Don't be rude!" A tall muscular girl said as she put her hands on her hips with a frustrated gaze

(Image?)

...

'Following that, several of the members of the Hermes Familia nodded at him or greeted him in their own ways, though not many words were exchanged in the process.'

"Haha…"

"Well, it's a pleasure meeting you all, I honestly didn't expect to meet you all in such a particular way..."

"Though I'm partially at fault for creating this tense scenario."

"I imagine you've all already been informed, but I'll be assisting you all in this investigation… If there's anything left for me to do that is." Silver said as he turned to Hermes

"Cough… Don't look at me like that…" Hermes said as he scratched the sides of his head

"You shouldn't have left early then… Even if you did, you should've sent an update about where you were. Had I not seen you walking on the street who knows how long it would've taken for me to meet you all? I could've even interfered with your investigation."

"Or worse..."

"..."

Ugh... His eyes... P-Please stop...

I feel like fire's about to burst from them!

"But that's the past, now…" 

/Creak…/

Wait... Oh no...

/Lick…/

"My, I've been waiting for this moment for ages." 

/Shivers…/

'While Silver was occupied talking with the members of the Hermes Familia, he heard a familiar voice come from the back door, causing some of the boys to shiver.'

"..."

'There, a woman with a stupidly seductive body and thin clothes to complement that stood, taking slow steps as she entered the room, swaying her hips from side to side as a thin and almost translucent veil danced between her pristine legs.'

'With long smooth black hair and tanned skin, it was a woman with a strong heart, muscles, and lust, licking her lips in delight at the sight in front of her.'

'The Amazon that had vanished, Aisha Belka!'

...

/A few minutes later.../

/Chatter!/

"... Urg..."

What's all this ruckus about?

/Chatter!/

'Not long after taking a quick shower, Asfi went down the stairs as she heard loud voices coming from the first floor.'

'She didn't know what was happening but she heard Aisha's voice, and from that, she immediately frowned, thinking she was causing trouble again.'

'Ever since she joined over a month ago, she caused a lot of trouble due to her perverted antics.'

'The problem wasn't her personality itself but how she displayed that to others.'

'From the day she joined them, she immediately fought against Falgar, pushing him to the brink of death due to the difference in their strength.'

'And once she was done with him she tried to have sex with him because she liked his eyes... Of course, the weakened Falgar was unable to resist the strength of a horny Level 4 Amazon, but thankfully, everyone was present that day, so they managed to stop Aisha from taking Falgar somewhere he wouldn't be able to forget..'

'Thankfully, her lust only went to him since she didn't quite like the other boys, either calling Pock small like a puppy, Golmeth boring like a brick, Jose a balding old man, and so on.'

'Her taste in man was as picky as Asfi's tiredness...'

'However, there was one more man in the Familia that attracted Aisha... Their second Level 4 adventurer...'

'Though this didn't extend to him, their sole Level 4 male adventurer, the Ex-Captain of the Tityos Familia, Vultus.'

'He defeated Aisha easily in combat and ever since then her advances became mild yet provocative, albeit Vultus remained stoic and adamant, much to Asfi's relief.'

'If things became too heated, the atmosphere in the Familia may take a turn for the worst, and even though each member of the Familia took care of their own business, Aisha was simply too overbearing.'

'Nonetheless, despite her lustful behavior so far, she was only attracted to them due to their strength, personality, and the fact they were her type, every other male got the cold shoulder.'

'And Asfi herself couldn't tell if they preferred it that way or if they hated it... Maybe it was a bit of both due to their pride.'

'Of course, don't expect her failures to stop her at all, if anything, it only made her even more lustfully, as during their investigation, Aisha slept with 3 men.'

'Though in a sense, that was considered tame... Very tame.'

'And according to her own words "... Just some Muscular Fisherman, they were rather good with their Rods~."... Much to Asfi's frustration.'

'Even then, her behavior proved beneficial because they got key information on a few individuals, allowing their operation to flow more smoothly.'

'It caused her a headache just thinking about it.'

"Urg... I want to rest..." She said as she adjusted her glasses

/Creak.../

'Asfi opened the door to the first floor, taking a step inside.'

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Notes

Next chapter starts the next Arc, Melen's investigation, the last Arc before leaving Orario.

Peace!