238 Recruitment Ceremony II part 2

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/Around half an hour later…/

/Muttering…/

"... Okay…"

"With this... It's finished." Daphne said out loud as she crossed the last thing on her to-do list, putting it aside as she let out a relieved but tired sigh

'She looked around, seeing many girls sitting around or plopping on the ground, drinking water as they relaxed, still tired from all the work.'

"..."

'This sight caused her to remember the past when she was still part of Apollo's Familia.'

'They never performed recruitment days like this, instead, they were all personally chosen by Apollo whenever he saw someone interesting around.'

'That was how it went...'

Arg… Just how does the Loki Familia does this every year?

… Is this why they only do it once?

Not only them but all of those Familias?

We did seek help but...

/Step step step…/

'As she went into deep thought, another girl entered the main hall where Daphne and the other girls were currently sitting.'

'It was a small girl with chestnut hair and cat ears, wearing a shirt that was a mix of white and light blue, the colors being used as the main theme of the Familia…'

'They weren't fancy or anything, another way of representing what the Familia was aiming towards.'

(N1)1

"Hm? Lili, you're back." Daphne said as she looked at the newcomer

"..."

'But Lili didn't reply.'

/Poof.../

'Just like everyone, the first thing Lili did was plummet to a sofa and bury her head in the fluffiness of the stuffing before her body went still for a little while.'

"Siiiigh…"

"Oi, if you stay like that your hair will get all mumbled up."

"I don't care… Let me stay put… For a few minutes…" She said slowly without raising her head

/Pat pat.../

'A few girls approached her, patting her back as they gave her a small snack and a bottle of cold water.'

"Did you do it? Were there any problems?" Daphne asked as she also took a seat, letting her stiff shoulders rest a little

"As always… Adventurers are a rude bunch." Lili replied with some anguish in her tone as she took a proper seat next to the other girls who were now all paying attention to her

Perhaps I should've just grabbed my end of the cut and left that day...

'Converting Lili to the Hestia Familia was... Easy.'

'Silver just had Soma remove his blessing from her, it was actually rather simple, just go there and ask.'

'Soma was a much simpler man than most might think, however, that didn't mean he was a good guy.'

'Albeit, if one were to compare, if Hermes was a good guy, then Soma would be an angel.'

'He's just someone that wishes to make good wine, the problem was the lack of his will when dealing with anything else... Especially people.'

'But Silver cared little about that, he had no time to give him a lesson, so he only went there to have him remove his blessing from her back.'

'Although... Even if he didn't wish to change him... Someone else did...'

'Hestia, upon witnessing the state of his Familia... Kicked him in the face while screaming: "What do you think you're doing you drunkard?!?!".'

'Together with Lili's honest words and what she felt about him and the Familia, Soma has been quite silent ever since then...'

'There was no need to go over a long drama, with his abilities and influence, it was simple to deal with such problems on the fly.'

'He didn't know if the Soma Familia would change with this, but even if it did not, he wouldn't care, since right now, he had already finished all of his matters with them.'

'And that is how Lili was converted into the Hestia Familia.'

'Without many problems, Silver got a very capable commander and manager, the only thing he had to do now was to bloom her talents and train her into a state where she could be respected and carry herself as an adventurer, even if she were to never fight in the frontlines.'

'Overtime, he would push her into the position of an assistant so Daphne's work would decrease, but that was for the future once more.'

'With that out of the way, in these past few weeks, Lili had grown rather close to everyone, something she never thought possible.'

'To enjoy being in a Familia, surrounded by adventurers that once scorned her and humiliated her...'

'But the longer she stood with them all, the more she realized that her previous outlook of things was extremely narrow-minded.'

'No, she already knew, she just couldn't take it facing the truth, because she needed something to vent on.'

'Adventurers are people too, and not everyone is bad-intentioned, this was something she had to face now, and albeit it hurts facing what she left behind, she could now smile as she had people to help bandage her wounds.'

'She may have been unlucky in the past, but now she finally had a group where she belonged, and everyone was very keen on constantly remembering her of that.'

'So much so there wouldn't be a day where she wouldn't end up leaving a room blushing...'

'It had almost become a game for these girls, making poor Lili blush in embarrassment...'

'All members of the Hestia Familia were rather close to each other, some more than others, but that was normal.'

'That would be especially so since they would be increasing their size by a few times in the course of the next few days.'

'Lili was particularly close to the other Pallum girls who were somewhat used to the many prejudices people of their race had to face on a daily basis.'

'But that didn't mean her relation with others was anywhere bad...'

'Albeit she did find the red-haired Elf a bit weird and... Distasteful.'

"... What happened?" One of them asked as she ate a small sweet pudding she found on the fridge

'Midway through Lili's inner complaints of her workload, a girl holding a pudding sat next to her.'

'The girl didn't know who the pudding belonged to, as in the Hestia Familia, there were strict rules about the usage of the fridge...'

'But she needed a sugar injection to let go of this stress, so she grabbed the first thing that appeared in front of her and went on with it.'

'It was very tasty either way, so she was happy... For now.'

"What do you think? Not everyone was happy with the way things were handled." Lili replied as she rolled on the sofa, causing her hair to get messy

"And…? What did you do?"

"I told them to shut up and leave!"

/Chuckles…/

'The girls all laughed together, they seemed to expect this of her.'

'Even Daphne smiled a little because sometimes, that was indeed the simplest solution...'

'If only she could use this method to solve all of her problems...'

'Lili's job was simple.'

'While everyone was inside the Manor, working to finish the preparations, Lili worked outside.'

'Firstly, she made a rough estimation of how many applicants they would be having so they could prepare appropriately.'

'And after she relayed this to Daphne, she proceeded to give Lili her next task.'

'She was supposed to go outside and hand in tickets, which would then be used to call in people in an orderly manner once they were inside the Manor.'

'Even if there are people who are rude, no one in their right mind would go out of their way to cause trouble in the middle of the Hestia Familia home.'

'It was supposed to be an easy task, go outside, ask people to get in line, hand in the tickets and the rest would be done based on that.'

'Simple.'

'However… Problems always arise from the simplest of situations.'

'Be it people fighting to be on the front of the line or people just downright arguing with each other, Lili had a hard time having everyone calm down, especially considering her pitiful size as a member of the Pallum race.'

'In the end, she managed to do what she was told, handing in close to 1.3 thousand tickets given the number of her now thin booklet.'

'According to the pamphlets, they would be handing tickets every morning for the next 3 days, while also conducting interviews until all of the people with tickets had been processed.'

'Now that Daphne knew how many people to expect, they would be going at a rate of around 500 people per day, which was less than what they did in their first round of recruitment.'

'There was no need to rush things, they had all the time in the world to go through with their plans, but they couldn't remain still either and allow people to do as they wished.'

'They had a reputation to uphold, and people would conform to their rules, not the other way around.'

'That was why there was a time limit of 3 days, those who were unable to get a ticket could come tomorrow, and those who still failed to do so could also come on the day after.'

'After that, they will close their doors to all apart from those that possessed a ticket.'

'No re-dos, only one chance per candidate, any troublemaker would be dealt with in kind.'

'And they better pray it would be Daphne and not Silver...'

'This system would obviously create further issues such as people possibly selling tickets, but they would deal with those as they rose.'

'Aside from a few other miscellaneous things, that's about it.'

"How much longer until the ceremony…?" Cassandra asked from the side, finally saying something after watching everyone for the past half-hour

'Even after relaxing and considering herself as part of the Familia, Cassandra never really altered her way of speaking, always being silent and overall shy.'

'Her smiles became more frequent, but they were still rarer than Daphne's, they came and went like rare creatures in the night.'

'But compared to Daphne, she was much more approachable, it was only that her personality made her more of a secluded Owl than the Lince that is Daphne.'

"... About 10 minutes." Daphne replied as she stretched her neck

Time sure flies, I still can't believe it has only been a few months since that happened...

Despite being overworked, I feel better than before.

If only there was less work to do...

""...""

'Seeing everyone suddenly grow silent, Daphne took her chance to speak:'

"Alright, everyone, you all already know the drill, we practiced for it."

"Cassandra, do me a favor and go call the Goddess and the Captain, as for the rest, go take your positions…" She said as she got up from her seat

"Nothing much changes from when you all joined, you all still remember that, right?"

/Nod/

'They all nodded in succession, it was a memorable day for them after all.'

"... Let's rock!" Someone exclaimed on the side as she raised her hands to the air

"We'll show them what we can do!"

"It's time to show off!!"

"We must bend together to suppress all boys!" Someone exclaimed all of a sudden

""YEAH!""

/Chatter…/

""...""

'Seeing the girls revolt with their arms up, the triplets cowered on the corner, trying to remain invisible as they looked at each other with trembling eyes.'

'They could only pray that another boy joined, they had enough of being the target of all the "bullying" of these girls.'

'And this didn't come solely from their prayers, as they had already raised this issue not only to Daphne, but to Silver and Hestia as well...'

'They really needed someone to draw in the attention of these girls... Oops, to "diversify" the ratio a little...'

'Daphne on the other hand let out a sigh as she saw the girls rile up, taking a sip of her cold water as she let her gorgeous red hair fall on her shoulder.'

'Like always, the Hestia Familia was a tad too loud for her…'

'But it wasn't that bad... She preferred it that way.'

…

/Several minutes later…/

'Eventually, the gates of the Hearth Manor were opened and a crowd of people rushed inside in a disorderly... Orderly way.'

'Half a thousand people stood in the front gardens, almost like soldiers parading, all waiting for Hestia to speak.'

'This was because of the pressure they felt, as being in the presence of several Gods at once did impact them a little.'

'At least, instead of being rowdy, they tried to remain silent and not gossip much.'

'As for Hestia herself, her dress wasn't anything fancy, there was no need for that, even Loki didn't wear anything special whenever she recruited new blood.'

(Image?)2

'But she was Loki, who would complain or question her? It would be strange if she did wear anything different at all…'

'Considering her personality, it would be weird if she even attended the recruitment!... Okay, that's a bit much.'

'She would definitely attend, but more like a distant observer than anything.'

'Loki was very caring about her children, albeit in her own weird way.'

'Hestia's dress was more of a white blouse than a dress, it made her look jovial and relaxed, especially when her hair was released in the wind.'

'The entrance ceremony was quick and direct, she introduced herself and the people around her while also incentivizing both her current children and the people in front of her who would likely be joining them soon enough.'

'From the perspective of the people joining the Hestia Familia, seeing multiple Gods together was quite impressive.'

'It didn't matter if they were famous or not, it was just unusual to see them all together like that.'

'Miach and Takemikazuchi, two handsome Gods that made many girls blush…'

'Followed by Hestia herself, Leto, Artemis, Dia, and Demeter who appeared not that long ago to support her friend once more.'

'Hestia was very happy with the way things went, seeing several of her friends stand next to her as she stood there, proudly smiling.'

'It made her feel very accomplished, a strange feeling that's for sure.'

'Albeit she was very surprised nonetheless, as she didn't expect to see so many people here today.'

'She had invited every one of course, but Dia's appearance was a surprise, not that she was against it.'

'Learning how their children met was quite the surprise, albeit it made her frown a little.'

'Still, today wasn't the day to chew such rough subjects, it was a day that would build her's and many others' futures.'

'And she was glad to be surrounded by people she could trust.'

'Demeter also came to her a surprise, since she invited her to be here not for her help, but more for spiritual support.'

'As a Goddess with vastly more experience than her, she called her there to just exchange a few words and be done with it, her help came as a surprise, but a welcomed one.'

'Of course, this didn't mean everything went by smoothly…'

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Notes

N1 in case what I did before did not work:

In a sense, the anime can't really represent these changes very well, but even other Familias like Loki's and Freya's have such thematic clothes.

It's just that its hard to make several models for one character when there are 3 dozen being used in the same season.

So that is why we always see Ais wearing the same armor or dress, or Bete with his open coat, or the twins with their revealing clothes.

Even if it's in character for them to not have that many clothes to use, it's not like they only have that to wear.

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This is it for today, these chapters will have a lot of small interactions between everyone and a bit of exposition into things we don't usually see in ordinary chapters.

My biggest incentive for this Arc is the introduction of several strong members for the Familia and hopefully develop them into likable characters that will make more appearances as we go.

That's about it from me, peace!