Kapitel 81: The Pieces...
In the three days that had passed since the War Game had taken place, the world was taken by a stir as the new superpower emerged from the backstreets of Orario. As quick as one of the most lavish manors ever seen on the map of Orario had grown out of what amounted to little more than a cubbyhole in the city's wall, so grew the reputation and legend of the Ptah Familia.
So quickly had they risen to the top of Orario, it was not just Orario that was taken aback by their might. The attraction of the War Game had drawn in people from all over the world, mainly merchants who had wished to use the hype of the games to sell their merchandise while also trying to gain an insight into the economic canvas of the heart of the world.
It was through the exchange of letters between merchant hands in and out of the city that the rest of world in just those three days came to know of the upstart Familia that had knocked aside the previous superpowers and stood at the top of the world. Of course, different nations had also planted their own stooges and spies within the web of Orario's populace to keep an eye on what was going on in the city.
Orario was a gem after all, and if any king or emperor could ever control it, they would be the rulers of the world. The problem was overcoming the fighting force within the city. Just one of the top Familia were enough to decimate a kingdom. Throw an army of a hundred thousand against the Freya Familia and they would emerge from the battle unbothered and unscathed at best, and irritated at worst.
But to hear of a new Familia, just one member of which was enough to wipe out the Freya Familia over and over, killing them time and time again without effort, was a worrying development for many. For this alone, the Ptah Familia were now considered a monster entity among monsters. Because if just one member was enough to single-handedly destroy an S Rank Familia and put them to death over and over again with no clear sign of exhaustion on them, what could they do to the rest of the world?
Only the Mad Ruler of the Warlord kingdom of Rakia found any sort of glee in this piece of news, and Ares looked more forwards than ever to his next siege, if only to see these powerhouses himself.
Of course, there was also their handiwork that was still to be found all over the place. The giant diamond sword that Zuri had conjured and left in the earth near Melen had indeed started to become an attraction all of its own. As ships came in from the west, they could see the towering monolith from their decks and masts, shining brightly from the sunlight, as if a star had settled on the beach. The Poseidon Familia had been commissioned to be on standby while the branch head of the Guild in Melen, Rubato Ryan, ordered for barriers to be built around the sword, fully intending on making it a tourist attraction for Melen.
The Guild knew that people would come from all over the world just to have a look at this thing, and the money that was going to pour in from the tourist's pockets would be overwhelming and overflowing to say the least. Guildmaster Royman had yet another thing to be gleeful about, and much to thank Stephen Hewer for. The fat elf was more glad than anything that he'd kept a close eye on the boy because Steve was turning out to be so much more than what he thought he'd be. Already money was started to flow because of the boy's achievements and the Ptah Familia had not yet even opened up their own business.
Steve himself wanted to keep Royman close. He knew of course just how much the pompous elf wanted to exploit him for his own gain but Steve 'was' the son of a very shrewd businessman and businesswoman. His parents had married not out of love but just for the convenience of business, and he himself was not a child born of love but a guarantee that the empire his parents were creating was to continue and not just collapse after their time on the Earth expired. As such, Steve had attended many parties and gatherings and met with all kinds of people.
He knew how to handle people like Royman and with a convenient ally like Zuri who had already figured out all the loopholes in the Labyrinth City's laws (amidst daring and steamy escapades in the Manor's library with Riveria as Steve was aware through a camera he'd installed), Steve was well equipped to play the Guildmaster at his own game.
And Steve was no honourable hero; he knew how to play dirty as well. Which was why he'd had no problem sending a copy of their 'business plan' directly to Royman. The fat elf was more than happy to put his seal of content on the papers, not knowing what he'd just sanctioned for the Ptah Familia because he'd not seen through the wordings.
This was still a medieval world and Steve was from the 21st century. These backwards bums had no chance against him. Thanks to Royman's short-sightedness, he could put questionable things on the market and Royman would not be able to do much about it as he would look like a fool for going back on things when he'd approved of them in the first place.
Then of course was the Accords. The famous contract that was rolling around on the tongues of the citizens of the city, famous for binding together the most powerful, wealthiest and influential Familia in the city, figuratively under the banner of the Ptah Familia since they were clearly the ones that directed it and benefitted most. Steve had underestimated just how much traction the alliance would gain in the city, and he'd found the desk in his office swamped with requests from different Familia to be a part of the arrangement as well.
But of course, the Accords were now closed to everyone else save for some. Steve had personally visited Hestia to deliver her guarantees as well. Unfortunately Bell had been in the Dungeon at the time but Steve was pleased to know that the boy had ended up with the itty bitty goddess. Hestia, as expected, refused anything like monetary support, but only requested that when the time came and she could pay for it, that his Familia would equip hers with special gear.
Of course he could not just hand stuff out to anyone and he had to set a standard even amongst allies. So he'd said that he would not be fulfilling commissions like that until she'd gathered a certain amount of members and that at the very least one member (preferably Bell) was level 3 or above. While Hestia appeared deflated at that news, she was apparently a reasonable person after all, not just childish and grovelling.
The reason Steve had done this though was because he was hoping that Bell would also get the Hestia Knife at some point. Members of the Crafter's Accords did not just have to deal with the Ptah Familia but also exchange with another to ensure a proper flow of goods withing the League. It was a roundabout way of doing things and tedious for sure, but perfect for when Steve decided to open up a gate to another world. The League would move as one unit into the unknown. But that was a matter to revisit at a later point.
Among other things at his desk were also requests to join the Ptah Familia. Outside the gates of the Manor on the first day after the War Game, there had been a crowd of people, hundreds upon hundreds of people from other Familia or aspiring adventurers who'd wanted to join them. The crowd that had gathered outside of the Hearth Mansion to join the Hestia Familia after Bell's War Game in canon had absolutely nothing on the masses that had crowded 6th street and the South. Even the Freya Familia back in Folkvangr had been angered because their peace was disturbed.
The Ganesha Familia, being Orario's police force and all, had intervened on their behalf and cleared the area of these people. It also helped that Ganesha himself had taken post in the South Gate just so that he could be near his 'uncle' to be called upon whenever for situations like these. While it irritated Ptah, Steve saw merit since it also gave them a bit of an eye, even if distant, on who was entering the city. Not that he believed it really mattered at the moment, but with Evilus working and scheming in the background like he knew they were, you couldn't be sure.
Speaking of the Ganesha Familia, opinions were mixed amongst them about the Ptah Familia on whether they should welcome them as good friends at their patron's behest or if they should just be plain annoyed. It all reasoned to the fact that there was giant lizard sleeping in their colosseum that was showing no signs of moving anytime soon. Godzilla didn't wake up for even a second since he'd laid down there and it was making things difficult for the Ganesha Familia to patch their arena up.
To alleviate their burdens a little, Steve had picked up the next instalment which he was still owed for his time in the Dungeon and had donated it to the monster specialists to help them out. The rubble had already been cleared but Godzilla's dorsal plates had blocked up pretty much three fourths of the entrances into the arena and the Ganesha Familia could not conduct their own taming rituals completely inside. On the plus side, actual taming was much easier.
When they brought monsters into the colosseum, the sight of Godzilla would make the monsters cower and become much more obedient and compliant. Nevertheless, Steve had sent Noor to help out with their monster problems as a gesture of good faith and proof that they really did want to make things work. It did seem to do the trick, though Shakti needed a good bit of convincing. The woman had a scary temperament and the showdown he'd pulled in the War Game did not seem to deter her one bit from giving him an earful.
Plus, it seemed that the Ganesha Familia were warming up a little to the titan as well. The previous day had some of Ganesha's adventurers walk over Godzilla's body and cleaning his scales a bit from the muck and dirt. Of course, given his size, they only got so much done but as they discovered, he was quite a nice surface to sleep on. A few people had camped out on his body during the night and had found the experience really toasty.
...
Then there was the other piece of news that was making rounds in the city, one that had gotten people excited. For in the tsunami that was the Ptah Familia's influence that came crashing down on the city, this one development stood like a strong pillar against the avalanche that was Steve's fame. It had also done a little to tame the people who were roused into nervousness by their sudden jump to ultimate power in the city.
Ottar had levelled up.
Much to Steve's pleasure of course, for the Boaz had met his expectations. It also served to stroke Steve's ego a little bit, since just surviving an encounter with him was apparently a good enough achievement to warrant a level-up. But yes, the Freya Familia had now gained its very first level 8 and the King had already been sighted in the Dungeon a couple of times since, no doubt trying to get used to his new power.
To the common people who didn't really bother to use their heads properly found this as some form of assurance since there were still a good deal of many fans of Freya's lot left in the city. Ottar becoming level 8 made him a level higher than half of the Ptah Familia executives. Those with their head in the game though knew that it didn't really make a difference. Zuri who was supposed to be the weakest member of Ptah's executives could still handle Ottar without breaking a sweat.
...
The four girls the Ptah Familia had taken in were also settling in as well as Steve had hoped. They were slowly getting used to the new dynamics of the Ptah Familia household. At first they were a little overwhelmed by the fact they were out of their respective troublesome ordeals that they'd been through in their previous Familia. Seeing how chill Steve and his gang were made their heads spin a little.
Aisha was the quickest to get settled in. After being fed a glass of milk, the charm Ishtar had put her under was completely dispelled. Steve took note of this special and overpowered item in their hands, so he'd moved their cows away to an undisclosed location until further testing could be done. But the Amazon got used to her new lifestyle. On the first day she was back in the Dungeon killing monsters and reaping the spoils. When she came back, she outright challenged Kai to a rematch, to which the blonde graciously accepted. Of course, it doesn't need to be said who won the bout but Kai did seem to make a new friend.
Haruhime was not as fast to acclimate. Relieved she was no longer a prisoner waiting for an inevitable death where even her afterlife was to be robbed from her because her soul would be stored inside a magical stone, she was still a bit frightened and nervous. The Manor's overwhelming size had intimidated her a little. So for now she was sleeping in what was really a small storage room at the moment.
They'd almost had a nasty accident there because she'd been about to open the door where Ptah kept his statues. If such a timid girl like her had done so, she might as well have died from the shock.
After giving Ptah a smack round the ear for storing his stuff in their part of the mansion when he was just supposed to confine his work to the old grotto space, Steve had personally sorted out her new living space to get the girl to warm up to him, spending an afternoon completely catering to her needs and encouraging her to direct to him how she wanted her room. After that, he'd taken her by the hand and led her to their library. Knowing her love of books, he'd taken her to the section where they kept all the stories. Haruhime changed almost instantly and buried herself amongst the pages, becoming much warmer with him. She changed back to herself when she came out of the library but it was in a much more improved manner. As long as they were making progress, Steve was okay.
In the week before the War Game, Zuri had dragged Steve over to the city library to teach him about law and in that time, he'd seized the opportunity to memorise the titles of as many books as he could, especially those pertaining to history and fictions. Then using the weird quirk that happened every time he put down a bookshelf block, he replicated all those books in their personal library while also filling the shelves with fictions from his own world, as many as he could remember.
Little did people now that there was a secret section of the library only he knew the entry to, where he stored manga and other...materials for him to read whenever he had some alone time. It seemed there truly were no restrictions on some things he could do.
Daphne and Cassandra were still a bit tense but Makena's motherly care softened them up a little and though they didn't interact with Steve much, he was happy as they'd already taken the first steps to normalcy. He noted that they frequented the female baths a lot. The unisex bath was soon to be complete for him and his friends as their insistence. Those members of their Familia who wanted to be in gender restricted quarters could bathe there, and people who were more free spirited like his Minecrafter friends could go to the unisex baths.
...
Perhaps Steve had underestimated just how free his friends could be. Whatever he'd coded into them while they were NPCs had certainly remained, but upon the game becoming a reality, gaps were filled with strange bits of history between him and the other players. For instance, they seemed to have hundreds of years of experience living with him, full of memories and heartful moments that really built their character. Now he would normally write that off as just code...except that as the days went past and he spent more time with them...he realized that memories started to fill into his head...memories that were not his own.
After all, much of their history was supposed to be with 'him' so to speak, so perhaps the universe was filling his head with memories as a means of patching up the grey areas where things didn't make sense. But the memories were so vivid and his old personality was being buried so far deep now, he began to wonder if he really was just reincarnated as his game avatar...or if he had actually usurped the body the real Minecraft Steve. After all, if Oomori's writings could come to life in some alternate reality, then couldn't his made up game roleplay also come to life too? It was a mystery of a mystery and the trouble was that it was one he needed to deal with all on his own. He'd told Ptah of Earth's history of Egypt, but he doubted the little god's reaction to him saying that he and his reality had once been nothing more than an anime on screen for him would be a good reaction.
But coming back to the subject, his friends were very easily comfortable and familiar with each other, having supposed to have lived together for easily over a hundred years. Which was why it came as a surprise to the newcomers when they'd come out of their rooms on the second day which was a hot one and found that Ari, Makena, Efe and Alex were walking about the Manor without an inch of clothing in them, stark naked as the day they were born. And none of the girls were embarrassed at all about it, even when Zuri and Sunny or Steve were in the room with them.
Steve and Ptah had been taken aback by it the first time it happened before the War Game, though the former hid his reaction well. Ptah was barely bothered more than a moment before just grumbling something about 'kids' and just walking away to do his own business. Steve in the meantime had tried to sort the situation out, fearing for their reputation as a Familia but they had protested on account of them having 'known' one another for so long and the futile point of putting up barriers now. So the situation had been resolved by Steve telling them that they could do this only as long as they were alone in the Manor. If they had guests over, then they couldn't walk around naked. And if anymore male members were to join the Familia, then they would have to be more conservative and restrict this nonchalance to the executive quarters.
They'd built the executive quarters for the Minecrafters only where they could bask in the privacy of their powers, while other members of the Familia were forbidden from entering. The executive quarters was accessible from all their rooms via special corridors and Minecrafter tricks that only a player would be privy to and something that would just go amiss by a normal person. It was a place that the players could hang out in freely and recount their times together while socialising.
After the four new girls had been spooked by the girls' nakedness, Steve had ordered them to just restrict it to the executive quarters for now. He himself also followed this rule so why shouldn't they? He was perfectly fine with being seen by the other players, something that came from the personality that the universe was superimposing upon him, but that was only in the bathing areas for now. They'd decided to also create a private bathing area for the players after having spent some time in the executive quarters, which Sunny had gotten down to right away. It would be finished by the time evening came around.
Steve being the ever dutiful boyfriend/husband had informed his lovers about this predicament though to prevent misunderstandings in the future. Once again the girls were touched by his thoughtfulness and didn't have a problem with things...though Steve noticed Tiona making eye contact with Alex for some reason. He couldn't figure out why but he knew that Alex had given the two a bit of a hiding as a 'test' sometime earlier. But after that had been resolved, it wasn't a surprise to find Alex in her birthday suit while sitting on the couch in the executive quarters doing what she did, be it reading a book or snacking.
As a matter of fact, a whole lot was coming out about his friends, from the gaps in their characters that the universe filled in for him, especially Alex. He now realized why the others were so scared of Alex. Her methods of discipline were quite questionable now that he became aware of them and to put it simply, beneath that cool beauty and calm façade...
...Alex was a pervert.
It was then he remembered he was in a harem tagged universe with heavy elements of Ecchi in it even though the anime didn't have the tag. It then all made sense to him why Alex was behaving the way she was.
...
Another piece of interesting news had also surfaced. Phryne Jamil had completely disappeared, just vanished into thin air. The Ishtar Familia were a bit tight lipped on the subject but strong suspicion was going around that she was simply dead. In fact, the possibility of that was very high as besides her obvious and distinguishable appearance, a level 5 could not just suddenly lie low. If she was dead, it would explain why his commands had been ineffective because there was no target to kill.
The question was, who had killed her?
---
Steve put down his quill and just sighed as he stretched. The last of the documents on his table had been dealt with. They never did tell you about the enormous amounts of paperwork you'd get as captain. Steve had been warned by Finn, and advised to just leave it to his vice-captain if he didn't feel like doing the paperwork. But Steve felt responsible as everything that was happening so far was as a result of his vision. It only made sense that he be the one to step up to do the hard work and not just dump it on Alex.
And besides, now that he knew Alex's habits, he was not comfortable about the idea of a naked girl in his office doing the paperwork. That was a corny beginning to the anime of that H genre if he knew one. And he was a faithful man.
But now that this was over, he had more work to do today. Because the three days had passed and the Craftsmen's League had to now reconvene at the top of Babel Tower where Steve had now decided would be the first meeting and the best point of privacy since what was about to be discussed was going to be very sensitive and a lot of high profile people were going to be there. An example of which being that Fels had come by and asked to attend this meeting but in secrecy so that he still maintained his position as Ouranos's outstretched yet discreet hand in the matters.
In Steve's hand right now was the key to the apartment at the top of Babel which had been delivered by a runner from Folkvangr. Ptah wasn't fond of heights anyway, so the apartment had Steve's name written on it. He now sat in the throne above Orario. The place had been refurbished to his liking and was ready for him to...not necessarily move in but he would be sure to install an immersive portal inside so he could come and go between the tower and the Manor as he pleased. It would be especially important for what was to be discussed at the meeting today, what with the executives of all the Familia in the Craftsmen's League being there.
Today, Steve was going to build bridges between two worlds.
Genkai...and Minecraft.
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