144 What will you do?

Hey everyone, here is today's chapter on time like most of the time.

I'll likely be posting a side chapter soon since I started writing more.

Anyway, we're approaching the next milestone for the Volume, and once that happens, be ready for that final arc.

See you all later.

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/A few more minutes of walking around later.../

'After finishing his business with Miach, they left the shop, making their way across Orario until Silver noticed Hestia looking at a sweets shop.'

"Are you hungry?"

"Eh? Not quite, those sweets just look so… Yummy." She said as she gazed at a red strawberry cake

'That reddish strawberry at the top was beckoning her...'

"Do you want to bring a few cakes back?" Silver asked with a small smile

"Can we?" She asked with puppy eyes

'Silver smiled, saying "Of course, we can, why are you even asking me?" as he walked to the shop.'

"Well… You're the one with the money…" She replied awkwardly

'He let out a small sigh as he shook his head.'

"... I'll give you some allowance from now on."

This can't go on, if she can't even buy such minor things when she wants then I've failed as the Captain of this Familia.

'But she refused, saying proudly:'

"I'll go back to work, don't worry about that!"

'Silver nodded, genuinely happy for her.'

"That's great, but I'll still give you some allowance."

"Huh?"

What about my hard work to become independent?!

'Silver entered on the shop with Hestia, and after selecting several sweets, she left the shop as she waited for him to settle things.'

/Whispers… Hime… Whispers…/

"Hm?"

'Hestia turned her face to the side, looking at a pair of girls wearing an unusual piece of clothing talking with a Demi-Human…'

'Their clothing was indeed very odd, a purple kimono with a wine-colored cloth to tie it at their waists.'

(Image?)

'The two girls were very pretty with deep black hair, their features were unlike those commonly seen in these parts, and they were very young as well, Hestia thought they to be around 15 to 16 at most.'

'But with that, it didn't take much for Hestia to figure out where they had come from.'

'These two girls were from the far east, and the very reason why Hestia could determine that was that in Heaven, she knew several Gods that wore clothes just like them.'

'And just back home she had a child that just so happened to have come from there… The Far East, an island nation at the edge of the Continent.'

It brings back some memories…

But did they just say what I think they did?

Haruhime?...

Well, although we kept her story from the others members of the Familia, it doesn't change the fact she came from the far East…

'Hestia shook her head.'

Just because she's from there that doesn't mean anything…

"I'm imagining things, there's no way they know Haruhime."

'Hestia yawned, turning her head to face the shop where she saw Silver paying up for several cakes…'

"Ex-Excuse me, Revered Goddess…" Someone said faintly behind her

"Wh…?!"

'She turned around, and to her utmost surprise, she saw the two girls from the Far east staring right at her.'

'One of them had long hair and dark purple eyes, while the other had short black hair that blocked her green eyes, giving her a timid look.'

'Coupled with her small size, she looked like someone that needed to be protected...'

(Image)

"If you don't mind, can we take a little bit of your time?" Asked the one with long hair

"O-Of course not." Hestia said awkwardly

Oh crap… Did they hear me?

Oh no… Silver told me to keep Haruhime a secret at all costs else trouble would come…

What to do…

'Hearing her reply, the two smiled brightly before going directly to the point:'

"We heard you mention a name… Haruhime… Would you perhaps know of a lady called, Sanjouno Haruhime?" She asked quickly

'One of them took out a piece of paper, raising it so Hestia could see...'

"She should look like this... Pardon the old and rough sketch, she should be considerably older..."

"Ehh…"

No way!

I'm… I'm sorry Silver…

'Hestia bit her lips, frustrated with herself.'

"I uh… The name sounds a bit familiar…" Hestia said as she looked away in shame

Perhaps if I believe hard enough, it won't be the same person...

"Is that so! She has blond hair, and she… She is very refined and…"

'The girl with long hair grabbed Hestia's hand and started to say a long list of characteristics, in a very excited tone while the one with short hair nodded quickly.'

"..."

They're 100% talking about Haruhime…

"And she's a Renard!" She proclaimed with a smile

"..."

'She felt her knees go weak all of the sudden.'

Once again, I talked too much…

'While Hestia had an inner conflict trying to figure out a way to deal with this situation…'

"Yes, we know her." Silver said from behind Hestia

"You do?! You heard them Chigusa! They do!" The girl with long black hair talked excitedly as she turned around

'But while they did that, Silver looked at Hestia who was quietly looking at the ground like a guilty kid.'

'He rolled his eyes and whispered to her:'

"Don't mind it, this was bound to happen eventually, instead, roll with me for a bit."

"Eh?"

What is he talking about?

'Hestia became confused, her shame making a complete change within the moment she realized Silver wasn't upset.'

"Please! We're…"

'But before she could continue, Silver intervened and said:'

"I know, but here is not the place, if you don't mind, can you lead us to Takemikazuchi first?" Silver replied with a serious expression

/Silence…/

'The two girls were stunned, not expecting the name of their God to come out of his mouth this suddenly… Did he know him? But if that's the case, how?!'

'Hestia was also just as equally as surprised, she didn't expect the name of her friend in heaven to come out of Silver's mouth.'

'Could it be that… These two girls were actually Takemikazuchi's children?'

'She thought to herself, what a small world…'

'Chigusa raised her head to stare at Silver, she had a stunned expression, disbelief plastered on her face.'

"How do you…"

"Long story, one I'm not comfortable with sharing right here, so please if you want to hear it, lead me to Takemikazuchi."

Saying this name out loud more than once tires me…

"I…"

'The two girls looked at each other before nodding slightly, but it was clear that they were now wary of both Silver and Hestia.'

'Silver let out a small sigh, saying with a small smile:'

"Well then, ladies first."

/Pinch…/

'Hestia lightly pinched his waist, it seemed she wanted to say or ask something, and Silver knew very well what it was, but now wasn't the time for that.'

'To be honest, despite him not showing it, he was indeed slightly upset, after all, Hestia put Haruhime's and her Familia's safety at risk all due to a slip of tongue.'

'Would she have done the same were anyone to mention her? Or was this a special circumstance created due to her nostalgia? Silver didn't know.'

'He only knew that this couldn't happen again no matter what, this was why he decided to go with them, because now that they knew Haruhime was a thing, they had become a risk, not only for themselves but for him as well.'

'So with a small smile and hands full of cakes and sweets, he followed the two of them around Orario…'

…

/Over half an hour later…/

'They were led towards the NorthEast section of the city, towards an old housing complex that had been almost entirely rented by their Familia.'

'The housing complex had a strange architecture, but Silver recognized it as the one used in the far east, and this must've been the reason why this place was chosen to be their Familia home.'

'Of course, not without their own struggles… Their Familia had to work severely to pay up the rent, and this place was very far from the center of the city…'

'It had a high stone wall surrounding the entire place made of wood and stone, and if it wasn't for the wood's bad state, Silver would've rated this place higher.'

(Image?)

'But all of this was counterbalanced by its privacy and space.'

"This is it, we're currently using this place as a temporary home… We call it… Temporary Residence Townhouse for the lack of a better name." Said the girl with long black hair

'On the way she introduced herself, she was called Yamato Mikoto, while the other one was called Hitachi Chigusa, and they were both members of the Takemikazuhi Familia, a Familia that has recently moved to Orario with the objective of sending money back to their homeland.'

'And put recent at that, all of their members were Level 1, but they weren't newbies as even back home, they honed their martial arts every day.'

'Silver found it odd that they were low Level as finding a challenge that could Level up someone once wasn't hard at all, but he linked that to the more peaceful nature of the Far East, or they were simply given a blessing recently.'

"It's a nice place, miss Chigusa." Silver said as he looked around

'Due to their culture, calling them by their second name is the most appropriate thing to do.'

'Only the closest of the closest will call them by their first name, people like the close Family and such, not even they call themselves by a first name basis regularly.'

'Silver did not mind at all, whatever people wanted themselves to be called, he would use it as long as they had some respect for him as well.'

…

'Inside, Silver and Hestia saw a long stone path going over a small pound and leading towards a wooden house very reminiscent of traditional Japanese culture…'

'Although Japan doesn't mean anything in this place…'

/Huff!/

'They didn't even take a few steps inside, but they heard the sounds of someone training.'

'Quick breaths followed by kicks and punches...'

"I'll go call Takemikazuchi-Sama." Mikoto said as she walked inside the home

'Once she was disappeared from their gaze, the other girl turned to them and said in a low tone:'

"P-Please…"

'Silver and Hestia followed her inside, but before Chigusa could say anything, Silver said:'

"Hestia, make sure to take out your slippers."

"Huh? Why?"

"It's courtesy in their culture, see those slippers on the side? I imagine they are for the guests."

"Ohhh! How… Interesting. Guest slippers… You see something new every day…" She said amazed

"..."

'Chigusa on the other hand stood there like a block of ice, confused as to how this man knew so much about their culture, a place several months on foot away…'

'Eventually, she woke up from her delusions and guided the two of them towards a small room with a single table and a few pillows on the ground.'

'Silver sat onto one without problem, but Hestia had a lot of difficulty sitting on it…'

'So after a while, having difficulties staying still, she complained:'

"Urg… My legs are getting numb…"

"Why don't you sit on that chair over there?" Silver asked as he point at a chair behind them

"..."

There was a chair?... I feel bad for doing that though...

'Hestia eventually sat on the chair, but she felt awkward being so far away from the main table, so she dragged her chair closer yet she still felt out of place...'

'Everyone was going to sit on the ground but she was there, on a chair...'

/Step step step…/

'Eventually, a man came running from the hallway…'

'It was a sweaty Takemikazuchi, wearing a basic white Kimono, he had a towel on his hands, wiping his face along the way with it.'

'The first thing he said once he got inside the room was to ask:'

"Hestia?"

"H-hi Take…" She replied awkwardly

It's truly Take... But what is he doing all the way here...

And why is Silver so calm? Did he know he was here already?

Hum... Ah. He did read the book of Familias a few times, so he might've known that already...

But to recognize the two of them at a glance...

"Do you two know each other?" Mikoto asked as she looked at Takemikazuchi

If that's so... I was extremely rude previously!

"Yes we do, our regions in Heaven were close by, so we often met." He said with a small smile

'But he became serious soon after, looking at Silver.'

"I didn't expect this to be connected to you… The rookie that has caused quite the commotion not so long ago."

"Rookie?" Mikoto asked

'She took a closer look at Silver and she suddenly realized!'

"You are!"

I was so focused on overthinking that I didn't even notice…

'Silver got up from the ground, saying:'

"Yes, I am."

It still feels odd to be recognized for those things.

"Sorry for meeting the two of you in such a state, normally at this time I'm doing my warm-up exercises, I hope you aren't offended." Take said with a light bow

"No worries, we were the ones that came practically uninvited." Hestia said as she raised her right hand

He's as formal as always…

"That being said… I think I ought to say a few things first before we proceed." Take said as he sat down on the pillow on the ground, without even a shred of difficulty

'This left Hestia in an awkward position... She tried to sit on the pillow again, but she couldn't do it...'

'Silver followed him and sat on the ground opposite to him.'

"First, I see that you all have already introduced yourselves, so we can jump that."

"No... Allow me to apologize first!" Mikoto said as she bowed

"Apologize?" Hestia asked

"I... I was wary of you two for most of the way so I did greet you two properly, my deepest apologies." She said, bowing even further

"Ah! Please, don't bow! Hey, you! Say something and just don't stand there!"

'Seeing Hestia pointing at him, Silver replied calmly with a smile:'

"Don't worry about it, your actions were based on what you had at hand, why would I feel offended? I'm not that narrow-minded."

"Of course!" Mikoto said with a smile

It's difficult to associate him with the man that took down Apollo alone...

Those images are still printed on my mind, a true warrior as Ouka would've said.

'With the mood a bit more lively, Hestia asked quickly:'

"Are they your only Familia members?... Ah! I'm not insinuating anything Take."

"No, but the others aren't here right now."

"You came to visit at quite the bad time as some went to buy groceries, while the rest left to do their own things… So I was left all alone until now."

"Our Familia is small and it only has 6 members, all of them are from outside of Orario."

"It hasn't been long since I established here in Orario, and I didn't think about increasing our numbers at all either..."

"Back in the Far East, I run an orphanage, and around half a year ago, I took the oldest members of the orphanage and led them all to Orario in order to raise money since our conditions back there aren't really ideal..."

'His expression became a bit sad.'

"And receiving support from others isn't really something we can always count on."

"High-Level adventurers can feed many mouths easily, and my hope is that we can raise enough to give everyone back there the lives they deserve." Take said with a small smile

'And this leads to the matter at hand…"

"You see Hestia, it was not like I came all the way down here simply for the money, but also because I learned of something that made me severely upset."

'Hearing his tone, Hestia remained silent, letting him continue his story.'

"The area our Orphanage is located in is ruled by a Noble family, the usual you'd expect…"

"Several years ago when Mikoto, Chigusa, and the others were but small children, they had a friend in this Noble family…"

"Haruhime…" Hestia said in a low tone

I heard her story from both Silver and her several times already, it makes me pissed just thinking about it, that her parents would throw her away like that...

If I ever meet the guy who did that to her... Humph!

"Exactly, it was Haruhime. By your tone, it seems you know a bit of what is going on." Take said with a small nod

'Take looked at the outside and continued.'

"One day, she suddenly disappeared, leaving us severely aggrieved since no matter how much we asked, their parents wouldn't disclose to us what had happened."

'Mikoto and Chigusa looked down, depressed.'

'His face became serious, showing his anger.'

"They were probably too fearful about their prestige and reputation being stained to even claim Heruhime existed, honor and tradition are two very important things in the Far East."

"And it was only until recently that I discovered what had happened to her."

"I followed the very faint tracks, and they pointed at Orario."

"My hopes were to try and learn what had become of her while also working towards our goal of raising money… It was more of a goal, one I didn't expect to ever accomplish..."

"So you can see how surprised I am to learn that you know her."

"It is indeed, such a small world." He said with a small smile

"Yeah… Haha…" Hestia said as she scratched her head awkwardly

'She looked at Silver, wanting him to say something.'

'He rolled his eyes.'

'While Take bowed once again, almost touching his forehead on the table.'

"With this out of the way… Please, implore you. Tell us everything you know."

'Chigusa and Mikoto also followed, doing an almost 90-degree bow.'

"..."

'Silver remained silent as he thought.'

These people do like bowing... Okay, focus.

It seems Take truly cares about her… Or perhaps, he feels guilty, since, in the end, he was the one that pushed them to visit Haruhime, something that might've led to her being abandoned by her parents.

Nevertheless, I can't keep quiet about this anymore, since that's the case, I'll go all out.

"Hey, Sil..."

'Before Hestia pinched him again, Silver said:'

"Sigh. I imagined this was going to happen sooner or later."

"Speaking of that… Mikoto said that you…"

'But Silver interrupted Take.'

"Yes, I know a lot about your culture, about you, and about everyone here… Because I heard it all from the mouth of a certain blond fox."

"Haha… I thought so as well, Mikoto made it sound as if… Mnmn?"

'Mikoto placed her hand on Takemikazuchi's mouth, preventing him from talking further as her face reddened.'

"I can understand, I wasn't subtle about it in the least… But that was all because I didn't want to put you all in danger."

"Danger? What do you mean." Take replied as his gaze sharpened once more

Just what happened to Haruhime for him to be this cautious?

"You don't know her circumstances, and that puts you in a very dangerous spot."

"But I'll say right here that, you're all very lucky for not attracting the wrong attention after all this time."

"What happened to Haruhime to make you..." Mikoto exclaimed, worried

'But Silver shook his head, continuing:'

"There was a reason why I didn't contact you all despite knowing about your existence, keeping it a secret from Haruhime herself." Silver proclaimed as he opened his eyes

"I've known about you all for a long time, and I managed to recognize those two due to their distinctive clothes and styles, it isn't really that hard..."

"Haruhime has told me a lot about you two after all."

"So you knew that we were looking for her?" Mikoto questioned with a frown

'Her emotions were complex, both happiness and sadness, her friend always thought about them, but she couldn't meet with them as her life was taken away from her...'

'In the first place, back in her homeland, did she even have a life of her own? Living inside a cage of a clan, perhaps being disowned gave her a little bit of freedom, even if that led to her being sold as a slave.'

'Rather ironic.'

"I did, and it was exactly so that I kept silent, although, I often times questioned myself if this was the best approach."

"Just why…"

'But before she could continue, Take interrupted her by raising his hand.'

"Can you please elaborate?"

"That'll depend on you, although I know you're determined, I'll ask regardless."

"We aren't dealing with a simple force here, if we were, I would've already dealt with this trouble, and Haruhime would be here with us."

"Your Familia is composed of 6 people, all Level 1, if I told you Haruhime was tangled in a mess that could very well involve First Class adventurers, would you still do so?"

'Silver stared at Takemikazuchi, waiting for his answer.'

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