106 Time off
A bit late, but I was writing some other things.
In any case, here it is:
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/Sometime later, after Silver got up from his strange adventure in the Spirit land…/
'He checked to see if everything was ready, and once he confirmed it was, he made his way to the gates of the Manor.'
"Are you all ready?" Asked Silver with a smile towards the crowd in front of him
'They were all gathered in front of the Familia gates, waiting for Silver to lead the way.'
"YES!"
"YEAH!"
"I'm excited..." Replied the members of the Hestia Familia
'Even Cassandra and Daphne seemed a bit excited.'
'The triplets smiled in anticipation, the last time they went into one such festival was a long time ago...'
"But Silver, how did you get all of these tickets?" Asked Hestia on the side
'Everyone nodded, curious.'
"I bought them when they started selling them, how else was I supposed to get so many spots?" Said Silver to everyone
'Hestia was a bit surprised.'
"Yo-You know… I can pay for my own seat…" Said Nicc
'Everyone nodded once more, although a few seemed awkward.'
'It was true that many were actually very broke…'
"You know how much a ticket costs?" He asked Hestia
'She shook her head in denial.'
"Around 200 Valis, a better seat costs around 800, I bought 60 of such seats at once, and due to the Ganesha Families policy, that ended up being a bit pricier, but in total, it cost me less than 70K Valis. I can make 10 times that in a single day, so feel free to enjoy it for now." He said to everyone
"YAAY!" Exclaimed the people in cheers
'Silver smiled slightly, but his eyes turned towards Haruhime who was waiting by the side, coming here to say everyone goodbye.'
"..."
That is... Look at her... Sigh.
'Because of her condition, she assumed she wouldn't be coming, but that didn't make her depressed… Not that much at the very least.'
'But as he looked towards her, he decided on something, whispering in her ears using his Plasmids:'
*You'll be coming with us too, so get ready.*
"!"
His voice?! But from where?...
'This shocked her, she looked at Silver in confusion but she only saw his smile.'
'The prospect of going with them made her tail move from left to right slowly, but when she remembered her circumstances, she looked at the ground with a bit of guilt.'
*Don't worry, I have just the right thing to make you unrecognizable…* He whispered in her ears once more, making her tail point up from how sudden it was
'While she was distracted by how magical this event was, Silver said loudly:'
"Everyone! We'll be going now, but first…"
'Silver opened a pouch on his waist, sending coins flying across the air, their glimmer and golden sheen made everyone marvel at the sight.'
"I'll be giving each of you around 3K Valis. It's not much but if you get hungry, at least you'll have the means to buy a meal!"
"Consider it as your advance salary."
At least this way everyone will resolve things on their own instead of feeling embarrassed and asking me.
I know many of these people have no money or just lack it, but I want them to relax and enjoy this day, otherwise, there would be no point in it all.
And it doesn't help that I prohibited them from going to the Dungeon for close to a month… So I need to give them a bit of monetary help.
"Hm? Why are you all looking at me like that? Let's go!" He said with a smile as he turned around
"Ex-Excuse me!" Asked a girl behind him, it was a tiny Elf
"Hm? Oh yes, Ritol. Do you have any questions?"
"Ye-Yes!... Are we getting a salary?" She asked confused
"... Yes of course. Did I forget to mention that? " Said Silver in an awkward tone
"..."
'Everyone looked at him with awkward expressions.'
"Hum… Looks like I truly forgot… Doesn't matter, we can discuss this when we come back, now, we shall enjoy the festival!" Said Silver excitedly
"YEAHH!"
'Everyone walked out of the Manor with smiles and a lingering excitement on their face.'
'Not all of them were residents of Orario, and as such, these festivities were a first for them.'
'And for the ones who lived in Orario prior to joining in the Familia, they still felt excited since Ganesha's events were always interesting.'
'But as soon as they started to walk, Haruhime, Cassandra, Daphne, and Nicc all made their way to the front of the crowd where Silver led everyone together with Hestia.'
'Making sure the others weren't hearing, Daphne questioned:'
"Would you mind being more clear about what you said before?"
"About the salary?" Asked Silver
'She nodded.'
'Silver thought for a little while before he said:'
"I mean, normally, the Familia takes a small part of the gains from everyone so that we can run the place and prepare other things such as better items for everyone, right?"
Daphne nodded.
"Yes, you're right, and that is exactly why I am asking this of you. Each Familia does that in its own way and I wanted to know how ours would be done."
"Hum... To be honest, I have yet to think of a proper managing system for ourselves…" Said Silver in an awkward tone
I really forgot about this, and I do remember Rethusa discussing this with me...
"So how about a weekly quota? That seems quite fitting. As for the salary, I had thought of giving the Level 1 members between 50K to 100K Valis." Silver said towards Hestia
"Why are you looking at me?!"
"I mean, you are the Goddess, give me some help when your Captain needs it…"
"Urg… Whatever is fine…" She said as she pushed the work back onto him
"So we'll go with a weekly quota, I will think of the details later… "
'But Daphne wasn't going to let things end like this.'
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but despite me knowing you are doing this for us…"
"For the sake of the Familia as a whole, it isn't good for its economy if you give everyone such high salaries when they already keep most of the money from the Dungeon."
"And in the end, a large part of the Familia's monthly income will go back to us through the salary and other things."
"It may sound good, but we need to achieve a balance, and it's in no way bad for the Familia to get most of everything we make in the Dungeon."
"That was how it went for the Apollo Familia, and despite Apollo being the person he was, his Familia was extremely wealthy and everyone could get what they wanted without much trouble."
"We already provide everyone with free lodging, food, basic equipment, a contract with a pharmacy, a contract with the Hephaestus Familia, and other things, including training facilities and more, all of this should be deducted somehow since we need to keep all of this in good conditions."
"The idea you gave was indeed good, a weekly quota is good but I think that is also a bit bad, because everyone is different and teams are bound to act and hunt in the Dungeon in different ways, some are bound to make much more than others."
"And achieving a balance where everyone pays a fitting amount without making them feel as if they are being singled out is too difficult."
"If we raise the bar, some of the less capable groups are going to feel pressured, but if we keep it too low the better groups will simply find it too easy to do it and a gap will naturally appear in the Familia."
"Gaps are a common occurrence, but they should form more naturally and over time as people Level up… At least, if we are aiming at becoming a well reputable Familia."
Her meaning was clear to Silver.
"I think we should just go for percentages, and even if such a method is prone to people just lying, that in itself is very hard to happen when our Goddess is already capable of seeing through lies."
"My idea is to keep it at 45%. This ratio is almost half of Apollo's 80%, this gives us enough money to operate everything and have more to improve our own equipment and gear."
"We can then use that 5% to pay minor salaries based on contribution."
"As long as we keep the Familia mood stable and incentivize the people, everyone will feel happy." Said Daphne as she took a small breath to recover
"..."
"..."
"..."
/Clap clap clap…/
'Silver started to clap, prompting the confused Haruhime to clap as well. Cassandra joined in the fun and soon enough both Hestia and Nicc did the same.'
"Why are you all clapping?!" Daphne asked in embarrassment with a rare red face
"I mean, that was a marvelous explanation that made my opinion change rather easily… But albeit it being incredible, let's leave this conversation for later."
Her idea was pretty good, and to be honest, her experience in managing a Familia is much more extensive than mine...
She really is the perfect Vice-Captain. I need to find a way to put her in that position...a
For me, as long as the money flows it's alright, I don't have any plans of amassing large amounts of funds like Ishtar and Apollo, but I do plan of amassing a little in case of emergencies.
The rest will be used to do what Daphne said, distribute gear and equipment to our adventurers.
Over these 3 weeks, I bought a few more pieces of gear but it isn't enough for everyone.
We did invite someone who wishes to become a blacksmith but is too inexperienced and can at most help maintain the gear.
I'll run an inventory check and buy everything else we need later…
'While everyone thought, Silver turned his face to the side and said towards Haruhime:'
"With that out of the way… Let me give you some attention."
"! I am…"
"Stop right there, I am not insensible enough to leave you alone in the Manor, it would leave a bad taste in my mouth."
I have no plans of keeping Haruhime as a decoration in my Manor and only bring her out when she is needed.
She has to grow stronger, I will make it happen. One step at a time.
'Haruhime shook her head, but Silver said:'
"You also deserve to have fun."
"So don't worry, no one will be able to recognize you…"
'He approached her and touched her two fox ears, making her flinch.'
'Hestia and Nicc frowned at Silver's actions… But he ignored the two as he raised his left hand and snapped his fingers.'
/SNAP!/
"!"
'Haruhime started to change, her fur became a bit shorter and her tail longer… From blond to brown, Haruhime had become a brown-haired cat girl!'
"Perfect, just make sure to stay close to me else the effects will disappear."
I should have no problem maintaining this effect for the entire day, but it'll become taxing the further she is away from me...
"..."
"WOW!" Said Nicc
'Daphne and Cassandra were stunned while Hestia facepalmed, understanding that Siver managed to yet again cause a small commotion…'
'Nicc on the other hand, jumped around Haruhime excitedly, taking a look at her new but changed appearance.'
"Huh? The texture feels a bit off?" Said Nicc as she touched Haruhime's tail
"That's because it's only a visual illusion, I can't change her body to make her truly look and 'feel' like a catgirl, see it as if her appearance was painted over with a new one."
At least not now...
"The old one is still there, just hidden."
"Oh, I see… Still interesting…"
"..."
'Haruhime was silent and with a red face as she was touched and observed by the people around her.'
'She looked at her tail and felt a strange expression she never felt before, she couldn't describe the excitement and estrangement she felt…'
'Every day she felt as if she was learning new things, having her own adventure.'
'Sometimes, she felt as if this would all just end, but somehow, it never does…'
'And with a big smile on her face, she looked at Silver and said:'
"Thank you…"
'He smiled back at her and said:'
"You can count on me… Now, onwards…" He said as he continued to walk East
…
'On the way, it was inevitable, but Silver and the others attracted a lot of attention, and it was clear that rumors were already going around the place.'
'Silver didn't care much about them, but he wasn't sure about the others, and if he saw that any of them were feeling uncomfortable, he would make sure to correct those rumors…'
'Even if he has to use a bit of force…'
"Hey, I didn't ask you this before, but what event are we participating in today?" Asked Hestia
"Oh, that? Simple."
"Ganesha has a total of 4 events, one in the new year, simply called, Ganesha's new year celebration."
"Then, he has one event in the spring, it used to have an official name but it was changed due to people calling it something else, and that is Little Monsterphilia."
"During Summer everyone knows what happens, it's the actual Monsterphilia where Ganesha gathers monsters from all corners of the world and has them fight against worthy adventurers."
"And lastly, we have Ganesha's fall event, an event dedicated to the history and legacy of Orario, and an event dedicated to those who fell in the past."
"There's also the parties that happen, like the one reserved for the Gods before the Monsterphilia."
'Hestia and the others were pensive.'
"Ganesha does have a lot of events…" She said with an awkward tone
"There is a reason why Ganesha is one of the most popular gods, having the biggest Familia and also being one of the more trustworthy of the bunch, and even if you dig it up, you'll find absolutely no scandals about him, this is just how peerless his image is." Replied Silver
Ganesha is also very good at advertising himself...
...
/Somewhere far away.../
"HAHAHA! I AM GANESHA!!!!" GANESHA screamed in the middle of an arena
"We... We know..." Replied someone next to him
....
/Back to Silver.../
"And he isn't even trying, Ganesha is just… Ganesha." He said as he shrugged
'Haruhime was confused, but everyone else who knew Ganesha understood Silver.'
"I wanted to bring everyone so they could experience a bit of the monsters of the Dungeon and also to have a little fun."
"Ganesha's events are known to host a lot of interesting things besides just fighting in the Colosseum so we'll see about that as well."
"That is a nice idea, the biggest reason why low-level adventurers injure themselves in the Dungeon is due to being unprepared and overconfident."
"With their current capabilities, they should be more than prepared to explore the 1st to 4th floors, especially since our more experienced Level 1 adventurers are mixed within the groups, so they won't allow them to recklessly charge into the 5th and beyond floors without preparation." Said Daphne
'Silver nodded to her words. And Hestia said with a smile:'
"Thank you two for having the patience to guide them."
'Cassandra and Daphne smiled, shaking their heads in denial.'
"To be honest, I kind of like this situation…" Said Cassandra
"Between dealing with incompetent full-fledged adventurers and newbies willing to learn I prefer to deal with the latter." Said Daphne with a serious expression
'This made everyone smile slightly, and with a good mood Silver continued to lead everyone across the streets of Orario under the gazes of the people on the streets…'
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Notes
