Plans to Lockup

After explaining that there would be more sustainable work coming from the production of the vehicles for Takemikazuchi and Miach's Familias like gathering raw materials and preparing acids for material processing, the two Gods left with light feet.

Although they were all in for the adventures of their children, if there was a much safer way to earn an income, they'd gladly take it. Besides, Takemikazuchi and his children came to Orario in search of someone important to them.

"So, what's the plan?", asked Loki.

"I'll leave everything to Sona-chan.", replied Kisuke as he drank his tea.

Loki furrowed her brows slightly and asked, "What about you?"

"I'll be going out of view for some time. I need to focus my attention and resources on certain projects that need to be done as soon as possible.", Kisuke then looked towards Hestia before continuing, "With that said, Hestia-sama. Take the former Apollo Familia mansion as our new base since I'll be closing the shop and locking up the underground facility."

Hestia's eyes widened in surprise and asked, "With just you in there?"

"Yep. Some things I'm going to try would be volatile and may cause some destruction, so I can't have Claire and the others stay there, otherwise, I won't be able to put my full attention and focus on what I want."

"But..."

Kisuke, however, didn't allow Hestia to finish her words, "My schedule was already pushed far behind and I want to get a few things done. Aside from that, although they could go out, I can't have Claire always staying in such a place. It isn't healthy for a child to never go outside. It would be better for her to see other people aside from us and interact with them."

For all the reasons he had, this was the main one. Since Claire was finally able to get away from her cage-like world, Kisuke intended for her to explore this one at her own pace. After making friends with Ophis and the others, the silent trauma that she had from before should have weakened and she'd finally be able to talk properly with other people this time.

By then, she should have eradicated her fear of people and would start to grow up brightly.

Kisuke was actually thanking Apollo for creating a situation like this, where he could immediately establish his Familia with a firm foundation in Orario.

It was also about time that he left the management of the Familia to Sona, making her the main decision-maker for the team. With enough time and experience, even without Kisuke, Yoruichi or Serafall, she'd be able to lead everyone, and maybe even save him from a predicament if that were to come about.

"How about the negotiations? Are you going to lock yourself up after that?", asked Loki.

"No. I'll be initiating my plans as soon as I can. Sona-chan will be the one who'll take over my position and duties. Even without me, she would do a wonderful job. And even if things get difficult, her older sister is there to support her along with everyone. Though please keep in mind that I'll explicitly ask her only to lend her knowledge and experience."

Loki immediately caught on to that and asked for clarification, "In other words, she won't be using her strength unless things get really dangerous?"

"Correct. Only if the situation is way beyond the girl's capabilities, only then would Serafall be allowed to help directly with force.", replied Kisuke.

"Even if it means not achieving their goal?", asked Hestia in a small voice.

"Yes.", answered Kisuke with a serious expression, "As Deities, you should be aware that, if a child could depend on an unconditional power at any time, things are going to get rough. It'll only breed disaster and stagnation, making them unable to escape the grip of convenience and losing the reason to strive for more."

The two Goddesses became silent but both of them agreed.

"I see, this is also one of your reasons to hide at this timing.", muttered Loki.

"Yep~ With all the eyes on us, things will inevitably become rough, so this is a good chance for growth~! Who knows? Your children might even clash with our girls."

Loki grinned and asked, "Then is it fine if I were to ask them not to hold back?"

Kisuke grinned back and answered, "That would be great~ And please do tell them that we won't interfere with Sona-chan's decisions nor do anything if they're against it."

"I'll do just that. I don't want my children to hesitate on their beliefs because they've come to fear you."

Hestia could only sigh between the two of them.

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After the celebration of their victory that night, Kisuke announced his plans. No one went against it, because they knew the importance of his creations and projects. They also thought that it would be good for Claire, if they were to live on the surface instead of the stuffy underground place where you could always hear groans of pain and raging profanities.

"Would that also mean that our training would stop?", asked Koneko.

"For the most part, yes. But you'll have to keep your daily routine of sparring. This time, without using any lethal moves or weapons. I'll also be leaving my dummies, but with toned-down mechanics."

"How should we contact you if needed?", asked Aika.

"For now, it'll only be Sera-tan who'll be able to contact me. It'll be up to her if I need to be contacted." This also meant that they couldn't contact Kisuke at all, as there should be no situation where Serafall couldn't handle it herself. And the moment Serafall uses her power, Kisuke would immediately feel it and, assuming that something troublesome has happened, stop his activities to come out.

Sona and Medusa understood this but didn't say anything. With that realization, Sona knew that she couldn't expect any help from him nor from her sister and realized the former's intentions, 'I won't betray your trust and expectations.', she thought to herself and started arranging the information inside her head to plan for the future.

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The next day, everyone, except for Kisuke, first went to the Guild to claim all of their earnings. On their way, they would catch everyone's attention and many of the looks were full of hate. However, they couldn't see the hateful figure of the man wearing a bucket hat who made them bet for the Apollo Familia's 'easy win'.

When they reached the Guild, Sona first passed Kisuke's message of returning the money of all non-Adventurers and Level 1s. Kisuke understood that almost everyone would see the game from yesterday as a riskless bet and that those who were struggling might gamble their everything for various reasons, be it for their sick family member or some other reason that could've made them choose to gamble their lifeline.

Although they didn't care if the Adventurers were to hate them, they couldn't have the normal citizens hate them for winning, too. It would be unreasonable for them to hate the Hestia Familia, but it was in people's nature to hate something they didn't like, regardless of reasons.

Strong Adventurers, on the other hand, could fend for themselves and they'd gladly take their money. Besides, the majority of the money they got from the bets was from these strong Adventurers, so it wasn't much of a loss for them.

"He doesn't strike me as a charitable man. I'm surprised he didn't take it all.", was Sophie's first words after hearing it, "Though I'm really thankful for this. It's really hard to see those devastated faces from people who gambled their everything so that they could finally help their families."

Koneko wanted to say that he wasn't doing that for the people, but for the girls to have not bad time with the citizens, however, Aika stopped her.