บท 216: Time to relax
Chappy, a bit late, but it's here nonetheless.
Enjoy.
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/Tremble…/
"Hm?... An Earthquake?"
'Somewhere in Orario, Daphne and the other group leaders made their way across the busy streets when they suddenly felt vibrations on the ground.'
"Where is it coming from?" Cassandra asked as she held onto a street lamp
'They moved their heads around until one of them pointed at the distance.'
"There! Look, there's smoke in the sky…"
"What?"
'Daphne turned her eyes to look, and her expression twisted as she saw it.'
'It was much worse than she thought, the sky was slowly covered with black smoke, and it was likely from a pretty strong fire...'
That direction… The Entertainment district?
'She felt something stir in her stomach.'
Hopefully, it isn't what I'm thinking…
'Gulping dry, one of them, a red-haired Elf voiced her own theory...'
"Isn't that the entertainment district? Do you think the Captain…"
"Hey! Isn't it bad to put the blame on him just like that?!" One of the girls complained as she pinched the girl's waist
"OUCH! I didn't say that! Ouch...! I'm just… Hey!"
"... Everyone, it doesn't matter, whatever it is, it's too far away and it has nothing to do with us." Daphne interjected before things took a bad turn
"We are almost there, let us move, we need to finish this first."
Although I'm sure we'll be hearing about it later.
""...""
'They all nodded in silence.'
…
/Around an hour later/
/Clink!/
'As the gates of the Soma Familia closed, Daphne and the others left the premises of their home with different emotions and expressions.'
"That was… Awful." Fernin, the red-haired Elf said as she cringed
"They were certainly… Unusual, their expressions were pale as if they hadn't seen the sun in a while, a few even looked lethargic." Igva said as she turned around momentarily
"It doesn't help that they... Treat us like that." A blond Human girl said as she took a sneaky side glance at the Manor
'There, some of the members of the Soma Familia gazed at them from afar, waiting for them to leave.'
'They also didn't realize, but on the second floor behind some curtains, a man with long hair stared at them from the dark before returning to whatever he was doing previously.'
"There was also that strong stench of alcohol… Well, I expected that much from a wine-making Familia but… It seemed a bit excessive."
"It's as if they were all alcoholics..."
/Silence…/
"Let's just… Leave this place." Daphne said as she shook her head
Everything has been resolved, we got our things, and compensation.
We even got the satisfaction as the others… Punished the ones that did all of this.
I expected things to go like this in a sense, but meeting with the Soma Familia personally has left a bitter taste in my mouth.
As if there was something missing… Something left for me to do.
Yet… It's best to just let go of these emotions, we have nothing else to discuss with them.
We did what we had to do, that's all there is to it.
/Step step…/
'Daphne and the others eventually left, leaving a heavy feeling in the hearts of these cheerful girls.'
'To relieve their tense minds, Daphne led them to an ice cream shop, and that seemed to help a little as by the time they arrived in the Manor, they were laughing and cheering a bit.'
'The girls decided to have a slight vacation from the Dungeon, a day or two without fighting monsters ought to ease their stiffness.'
'And like that, the Soma Familia trouble ended… Or so it seemed.'
…
/Back at the Manor…/
"... Alright, see you later Cassandra."
"You should rest a little too Daphne, your eyes say it all..."
"I would like to, but things keep piling up... Anyway, thank you for coming with me to fix this mess..."
"Don't speak like that! We're a Familia, this is little, we should help each other whenever possible, especially against such... People."
'Cassandra turned around, smiling slightly.'
"I promised to help Phevia study today, so I'll be taking my leave."
"See you later Daphne..."
"See ya..."
/Clack.../
"Urg... Stiff... Is it that obvious?" Daphne complained as she touched her face before turning around and walking to her bed...
/Thud!/
"Haaa…"
'Daphne allowed herself to fall onto it, letting out a tired sigh as she brushed her face against her fluffy pillow.'
Why do I feel like this?
'Turning around to stare at the ceiling, she tried to think about everything she did today.'
Was it those people?
'Having seen the Soma Familia and their condition, no matter how much she tried to ignore it, she couldn't take their dull expressions out of her mind.'
'It was the faces of those that had already lost their sense of self... Like mindless zombies.'
"Sigh, as if having myself buried in the paperwork wasn't enough..."
I can't worry about others... At least not the ones outside my own Familia.
'In the end, she decided to just give up the rest of her day, it seemed she wouldn't be able to do anything like that.'
'A good shower followed by a trip to the city to do whatever was exactly what she needed to lift her mood…'
"Phew..."
'Just when she started to relax.'
"Judging by your face, I imagine your trip to the Soma Familia left quite the impression on you." Someone said on the side in a light tone
"Not surprising, given that..."
"AHHH?!"
'Daphne immediately jumped as she screamed, frightened by the sudden appearance of the intruder.'
/POOF!/
'Her sudden jump was rather comical as one of her pillows was thrown into the air in a rather cartoonish way, landing perfectly atop the newcomer's head.'
"Wow, it seems I gave you quite the scare." Silver replied apologetically as he scratched his head, grabbing the pillow as he threw it back at her lightly
"... Huh?"
'Holding onto a pillow like a shield, Daphne looked at Silver with a baffled expression.'
"You… I mean, Captain… When did you… I…"
'She didn't know where to begin, and her confusion was rather amusing to him.'
"Well... I don't live in the Dungeon, and I have to return from time to time." Silver said with a smile as he tapped on the chair
"And I... I've been here from the very start, you know… I wanted to talk with you."
"After learning that you took all of our strongest warriors and left for who knows where I can't help but say that I got quite worried."
"Though I guess I should worry more about your lack of attention..."
"..."
He was here from the start?... How embarrassing...
'It took her a few moments to process what was going on...'
"Oh… Oh no…"
So he…
"Yup, I know everything." Silver replied with a slight smile as he looked at her
"..."
It's over…
'Silver smiled, almost chuckling.'
"Why the gloomy look? I'm not going to scold you… At least not for what you think."
/Crack…/
'Sitting in his chair with a menacing aura, he cracked his knuckles.'
"You should've beaten those guys a bit harder, make them remember what it feels to mess with us, imprint that into their faces, literally and figuratively."
"..."
/Exhale…/
'Daphne dropped her head as she let out a sigh, even smiling slightly.'
'Yup, this was the exact reason why she didn't want to involve him in this…'
'It felt, quite refreshing.'
/Creak.../
'Finally calming down, she started to get up...'
/Step…/
'But before she could react, Silver approached her and had her sit on her bed again by pushing her shoulders down.'
"Look, you need to rest a little, your face says it all."
"... I want to, but Someone has to do all of the paper…"
"I'll do it." Silver said with a straight face as he interrupted her
"?!... Who are you?" She asked with a surprised gaze
'Silver eyelids twitched.'
"Am I really that irresponsible to you?"
"Do I need to take my list out?" She said with a smile as she pointed at her drawer
"L-List... Please don't…"
Does she really have one?
I'm not that and okay... I take periodic care of the paperwork...
/Chuckles…/
'It seemed he did the impossible and managed to make Daphne chuckle, even if momentarily.'
…
"Jokes aside, let me do the rest of the paperwork, take a day or two for a rest, go outside, and bring Cassandra with you too, she's been training her magic every day, and she needs some time off to get some steam out of her system."
"I tried to have her rest, but she won't listen, her head always seems elsewhere..."
It's probably her dreams, because of them, she must feel compelled to train constantly in order to avert falling victim to her predictions.
"I'll… Do so... The papers are in the Office, as always."
'Daphne went into deep thought as she continued to speak leisurely:'
"We need to finish the preparations for the recruitment day, and have everything ready before we advertise it."
"We're already late and the longer we take the more impact we lose…"
"Noted."
The recruitment... This time it's going to be big.
All of Orario knows about us now, and by now, the news should've already covered the neighboring nations.
I don't expect people to move all the way here just to partake in the test, but who knows...
There are many families that live in those small nations, and many promising warriors too, I'm sure that, if they have someone to send, they'll consider us at least once.
If there were 400 people last time, then this time... The number might be a bit bigger... Into the 5 digits...
It'll be a pain I'm sure of it.
"We also need to complete all of the transactions regarding the properties we acquired in the past few months…"
"..."
I almost forgot about those.
'One of Silver's wishes was that the Hestia Familia could become slightly self-sufficient, as they don't discriminate against their members' passions, instead, they incentivize it.'
'Apollo's manor was just so big, and it could only fit so many things at once without them being forced to make severe modifications to it.'
'It would be very bad for its aesthetics if they were to deforest its gardens to build workshops and the like for their members.'
'Especially dorms.'
'So, why build one when you can buy it?'
'Buying a shop or an empty house before repurposing it to a private workshop is pretty simple, the problem is that Silver wants it to be close by.'
'Ever since they stabilized, Silver showered the Familia with money, and one of his biggest purchases so far was pretty much all of the buildings in the street leading to the gates of their Manor.'
'The Loki Familia has a pretty similar layout, albeit those workshops aren't that famous as they live under the shadow of what the Loki Familia is famous for...'
'Silver planned to change the nearby land into a series of workshops and warehouses where they could store and produce things for them, such as basic potions and gear.'
'They would still commission a lot from other Familias, but they already had people that wanted to pursue alchemy and smithing, so why not give them a place where they could shine?'
'Whatever they made would then be used by the Familia while also serving as practice for them, it was a good tradeoff, at least one he felt necessary to do.'
'But of course, if only it could be so simple…'
'In essence, the previous residents of those homes weren't exactly… Cooperative.'
'Some sold their land for what it was worth, others required… "Convincing".'
'All of this had to be handled by Daphne alone, all the while doing her previous activities as an adventurer…'
'The Hestia Familia was severely understaffed, they needed an accountant, manager, and the like ASAP, it was to no surprise she was so tired despite not being in the Familia for long.'
"Are there any left yet to buy? I thought giving them money was enough…" Silver said with a grumpy expression as he crossed his arms
Buying those properties was a bit difficult on my budget, at the time, I didn't have much, but it was necessary to hit while the iron was hot, so a big portion of my expenses was dedicated to that.
It was part of the... Familia expenses.
"To some… Yes, to the majority… No."
"A few wanted more, others tried to make excuses as to how more valuable their land was, and so on… Trying to profit more under our expenses."
"And I wasn't going to accept it just like that... The money you... We earned, shouldn't be spent so frivolously."
'Silver nodded, if she wanted to, she could've bought them for whatever price their owners wanted, but she didn't, increasing her workload as she tried to negotiate, this wasn't something he was aware of, at least, not completely.'
'Once again, he fell short of being a helping hand.'
"I can tell, quite tiresome."
I'll use this chance to fix some of my mistakes and manage this Familia for a while.
"In total, to buy the entire street… At least this section of it, the estimations are of at least 70 Million…" Daphne said awkwardly
"... What?"
'Silver was extremely surprised... Not because the price was low, but because the price was damn expensive!'
Greedy merchants, their shops are at most worth 1-2 million Valis in this section of the city, yet they haven't accepted it?
It's not like we need their stock and equipment, we only need the space.
A good house would be about 800 thousand, even in this area... Is it because of our rise to power? Did the price of land increase due to that?
Even if we inflate it, this entire street would at most cost 60 Million Valis, yet the expected total price is 70 Million?... That's the price of top-class gear... Sigh...
I can understand the unwillingness of the people that lived here for many years, those deserve some time to think and consider... Time to... Convince them.
But even then…
It seems it was about time for me to step in and give them a… "Final push".
'Silver's expression turned dark.'
"In any case, leave these boring topics to me, if I have any questions, I'll just come back… In the meantime, enjoy your free time." He said with a smile
A few days will be enough, I'll get myself up to date with the internal problems of the Familia as I fix my eyesight, it's about what I wanted.
Even if I wanted to go back to the Dungeon, I should also spend some time with the girls...
I'll train the triplets and the others, bring Haruhime to the Dungeon... Perhaps find a group for her...
Oh... What about Nicc? Before the War game, she said something had happened and she hasn't contacted us since...
Well, she did visit a few times, but she always left not long after, is she avoiding me?
Did I piss her off again?
'Silver went into deep thought while Daphne tried to come up with a reply.'
"I... Alright."
/Nods…/
'But being swept away by his momentum, she just ended up accepting.'
If you are so keen on doing things, why didn't you act like a proper Captain from the start…
He's still better then... Forget it.
"But, it seems there is one more thing for us to discuss… Isn't that right?"
"..."
'Daphne bit her lips, there was no escape from this.'
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