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"I believe myself to be a kind man, a righteous man, a man who does good- so did Hitler… so am I really doing good or am I just making up excuses?" - Author's ramblings
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The next day, Ryuta woke up in one of the refurbished rooms, on a new bed but the pillows were-
"Hestia-sama?"
He raised his head, eyes opened wide in shock as his eyes were blocked-
"Hum-hum! Goodmorning Ryuta-kun! Did you enjoy mommy's lap pillow?"
Although he couldn't see her face, Ryuta could feel the smug air around Hestia.
Quickly he activated his spells and found all the new members sleeping soundly in their rooms.
Breathing out a sigh of relief, Ryuta relaxed before snuggling into the not so thick thighs that his head was lying on.
"Ah! Wake up already!"
His actions caused Hestia to panic as she quickly pushed him off, playing along, Ryuta flew away crashing into the stone walls causing a loud-
*THUD*
Panicked, Hestia rushed to Ryuta who lay limply on the ground. She pulled him up and as she did, the weight of Ryuta's body mysteriously increased as his body fell forward, his face unintentionally doing the one thing Bell-last name Cranel is well known for- (๑>•̀๑)
*plop*
Ryuta's face fell softly in between the two soft mounds and as they did his hands suddenly came to life as he hugged Hestia locking her in place.
Flustered the shocked Goddess tried to pry Ryuta away but his words made her stop-
"Sorry Hestia-sama, let me stay like this for a few moments"
She could feel a hint of sincerity and a certain desire within Ryuta, one that made relent as she hugged Ryuta's head, giving him a gentle pat.
The two stayed in such a position for some time until-
"Uhm… Hestia-sama?"
The familiar voice of Edward called out from the door, Ryuta had long sensed the appearance of the young man as well as the five women. But he saw nothing wrong with what he was doing, in fact, he felt that it was normal…
But, as he heard him call out to Hestia, Ryuta snapped back as he calmly released his embrace which Hestia responded to.
The two shamelessly returned to normal, nothing weird, nothing perverted, the two were calm as they led the members to the church's main hall. In contrast, the six members of the Hestia familia had different thoughts running through their heads.
The five women were going through a variety of complex emotions while Edward was calmly seething.
He tried to look away but he couldn't help but sneak glances at Hestia's chest from time to time. He felt both a feeling of jealousy and awkwardness as he stared at Ryuta's face and sneaked peaks at Hestia's chest.
The air between Hestia and Ryuta back in the room was not the kind that occurred between man and woman- it was different… Edward can't really put his finger on it but it was something similar to Bell and Hestia's relationship but… different- somewhat…
'Doesn't really matter, he really went and motorboated this early and in front of everyone… well, he did visit the entertainment district in less than a week of staying in Orario, that shows what kind of character he is… fucking Gyaru-o!'
When Edward thought about it, he found Ryuta oddly similar to those dark skinned, blonde men in certain off brand anime and manga, famous in a genre that starts with N- to Edward, Ryuta acted like one of those characters and that thought just pissed him off.
Any respect he developed for Ryuta was shoved down the drain the moment he saw Ryuta "motorboating".
Unaware of this, Ryuta did not really mind Edward getting jealous of him. He found the feeling of jealousy growing within Edward something that could fuel his potential.
Staring at Edward, Ryuta recalled the reputation he had.
'I guess all it took was for him to see someone "drown" in the things he "thirsts" for'
Ryuta thought as he proceeded to start the morning meeting of the Familia. It was not something that they had established yet but since the six members followed him and Hestia to the main hall of the church, he might as well start it now.
"Starting today, we will have consistent morning meetings- well until it becomes unmanageable. Anyway, about the recent happenings. I wish to tell you about our familia's current status…"
Ryuta began to explain the deals he had made, from the initial investment he got from Hephaestus to the long term deals he had made with the Loki familia. He also informed them of the potential enemy they had in the Freya Familia, this belief stemming from the attack he experienced.
Although he did not know any of the members of the Freya familia, the encounter last night, the words exchanged and all the people watching him, made Ryuta quickly realize the kind of trouble he got them in.
He did not know how or when, but- the fact that he was ambushed proved that he was being watched by the Freya familia.
"Starting today, avoid the Hostess of Fertility, especially the woman named Syr Flova- these is her image-"
Ryuta used a spell to project his memories, what appeared before the five women and Edward was the image of Syr Flova, a short grey haired girl with an innocent look on her face.
"Don't get fooled by her weak and innocent act, while I was talking with the Loki Familia, she forced the Goddess Loki to reveal information about our deal, information that should have remained secret. Moreover, sometime during the night, she excused herself and vanished from the dining area and it did not take long after that for the number of people watching me to suddenly increase."
At this point, one of the new female members, a half-elf with long silver hair raised her hand and asked-
"Is she a member of the Freya familia?"
Ryuta's earlier explanation of being enemies with the Freya Familia, it was quite easy to see the connection.
"I'm not sure, but the people who attacked me, a cat person named Allen, a Dark skinned elf named Hogni, a light skinned elf named Hedin and a huge boar man named Ottar, as well as four hob-pallums, their strength was not something that a weak or regular familia should have. Moreover, the Loki familia and Loki herself- their actions were proof enough that the people who targeted me were not "dark forces"-"
Ryuta explained his reasoning, to which Edward raised his hand. Ryuta stopped talking as he let Edward give his thoughts on the matter.
"I mean, How did you know their names if you are unfamiliar with the Freya familia? I mean, anyone who lived a month in Orario would know of those names. In fact, the four pallums you talked about should be the Gulliver brothers but- I don't think the Freya familia would so-"
"Stupid?"
Ryuta knew what Edward was going to ask, he gave him and the five women a smile as he could see that they all had the same question in their minds.
"I know it sounds far-fetched, why would the Freya familia attack us? Why would they target me? And most importantly, how did I survive?"
He voiced out all the questions his comrades all had, he scanned their expressions and knew that he had hit the mark.
"First, I don't know why they would attack us- well me, second, I have a LOT of tricks, you girls saw me deal with the Ishtar familia members right?"
Ryuta smiled at the five women who nodded in unison but at that moment-
"YOU DID WHAT?!"
Edward exclaimed, first he was shocked at the Freya familia thing but when he thought about it, Freya taking notice of Ryuta was normal.
The dudes a fucking beast, why wouldn't she get interested in him? But- the Ishtar Familia?
Edward felt a chill run down his spine as he panicked upon hearing that name.
Freya and her familia were one thing, at least that Familia was not going to rush at them unless they insult Freya. But the Ishtar familia? That's a hornets nest, while the Freya familia was a sleeping dragon, where one needs to have enough strength to actually cause it to wake up-
The Ishtar familia was a hornets nest that needed only a light poke for a swarm of angry hornets to rush at you!
Ryuta could see panic in Edward's face, but he did not show any fear, instead he smiled as he said-
"So you see, with all things said and done, we can't really spend time lollygagging around, as such, starting today, we'll be going on an extreme training regime!"
Edward was still malding, his mind racing at the panic of having to worry about the Ishtar familia but the moment he heard Ryuta say "training" he quickly bolted away.
*BANG*
Unfortunately, as he tried to push open the doors, he crashed into them causing a loud bang.
"Sorry bud, training includes you"
Ryuta smiled as mysteriously appeared behind Edward, a dark smile on his face as he proceeded to tie him up and drag him towards the Guild.
It took the five women just a few minutes to get ready, as they were preparing, Ryuta added more spells to the Bounded Field.
"So I have to stay here until you're back?"
Hestia asked as she watched Ryuta increase the "defenses". She even saw him create a few suits of armor whose eye sockets glowed with blue light as they "came to life".
[Insert Guardian Here]
Beside her, Edward watched in utter disbelief, still bound, he could only stared wide eyed as he muttered-
"Damn cheat, he even made an Artorias automaton…"
Ryuta turned to Hestia, his eyes showing deep worry as he answered in an apologetic tone-
"Sorry Hestia-sama, but with the current state of things… leaving any of our current members would not really help. These automatons are capable of contending with at least level 3 adventurers… at least, those that have strength equal to those I defeated before. I've also added more defensive formations which would allow you to hide your presence completely, at least within this boun- barrier."
Ryuta explained, Hestia could see through his words and knew that Ryuta was truly worried for her. As such, she did not resist as she decided to accept his protection.
"Fine, but remember… you should all come back safely"
Hearing her warm words, Ryuta smiled as he answered-
"I promise."
After this short exchange, the five women all finished their preparations while Ryuta took a few more minutes to add a few more spells to the bounded field- just in case.
Interestingly enough, the bounded field had a near unlimited source of energy-
Unlike in the Nasuverse where he had to rely on his own strength or the power of land, this bounded field sourced its power from Hestia.
Although he didn't like to admit it, the bounded field was something that even his own reality marble could not contend with.
But this made Ryuta calm his own mind, with full knowledge that Hestia would be fine so long as she remained within the Bounded Field.
Yet, despite calming his mind he could still see Hestia's desire to go out and do something for her Familia as such-
'I promise, I'll deal with this matter as quickly as I can'
What the Hestia familia lacked was strength, he saw the potential power a small group could have as such, Ryuta decided to quickly employ the cheat codes he had been theorizing.
He wanted to take it slow but-
'Desperate times call for desperate measures'
Finishing the final spell, Ryuta then turned to his comrades.
"Are you ready?"