2000+ words chapter 😋
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"Thank you, Miss Ais, but I'm fine, It'll only take a little while."
Eina offered a helpless smile. Even if the offer was made in good faith, and even if the final count turned out accurate, there was no way she could agree to let them handle their own valuation.
"By the way, why is everyone from Loki Familia so late today? Did something happen?"
She continued counting as she spoke. If they had arrived earlier, she would not have had to do all of this alone.
Every day, the Guild had to sort through and convert the magic stones brought in by the two largest familias in Orario, Freya Familia and Loki Familia. It was one of those endlessly repetitive tasks that never seemed to get easier.
Normally, unless they were returning from a major expedition, Loki Familia came much earlier.
"Ah, that." Bete's expression darkened instantly. "We ran into some bad luck today."
"On the way back, we hit an area that doesn't usually spawn many monsters, but this time it went wild all at once. We also had injured people with us, so it slowed us down a lot."
His tone was full of irritation.
If it had happened in the upper floors, that would have been one thing But they had been deep in the Dungeon. Running into something like that there was a nightmare.
"A large-scale spawn in an area where it normally shouldn't happen…"
Eina's expression turned thoughtful.
Then she suddenly remembered the map Anos had shown her.
"If that's the case, would you like to try a new Guild partnership plan we've just started offering?"
"A partnership plan?"
Finn stepped forward. As captain of Loki Familia, he knew almost everything about the Guild's usual functions, but this was the first he had heard of anything like that.
"Yes," Eina said with a polite smile. "The Guild has entered into a partnership with a seer. Going forward, we plan to offer maps to families that can predict monster spawn points and spawn times."
"As payment, the purchasing family will settle the fee based on thirteen percent of that day's earnings."
"I see." Finn touched his chin. Despite his childlike appearance, there was nothing childish about the wisdom and composure in his eyes. "If the Guild is willing to introduce something like this, then I assume it has already passed a credibility check."
"Yes. The Guild has already verified that the provider truly possesses a form of precognitive ability. The map itself, however, has not yet gone through field testing."
"I understand. Then what is the actual percentage?"
"Ten percent."
Eina gave the price Anos had chosen as the starting rate.
And yes, it was only the starting rate.
Later, it would not stay that low.
"That sounds more than fair. We'll take it."
Finn answered immediately.
To him, if the map was real, this was not merely a good deal. It was an absurd bargain.
Knowing monster spawn points in advance could improve efficiency by at least fifty percent.
No, possibly even double it.
And the price was only ten percent.
That was a deal that almost guaranteed profit.
In truth, even Finn was still underestimating it. According to Anos's calculations, under ideal conditions, it could triple total output.
As they were leaving, Bete finally muttered, "Captain… can we really trust this thing?"
If they got burned by something like this, the loss would be brutal.
"Relax, of course we can," Finn said with a smile, looking down at the item in his hand. "Have you ever seen the Guild sell something unreliable? If they did, people would start questioning Lord Ouranos himself."
Although they had effectively prepaid ten percent of the next day's income, he was still in an excellent mood.
It did not look like the kind of thing meant to fool anyone.
If no one had told him it was a map, he would never have guessed it from its appearance alone. It looked more like a staff or a rod than anything else.
He tossed the cylindrical device forward.
It landed upright on the ground, then projected an image of the twentieth floor of the Dungeon.
On a blue-toned map, red lights blinked into existence one after another. Beside each point was a time marker.
Those were the predicted monster spawn points.
"Strong…"
Ais said the word quietly. Even she had already grasped how powerful the map was.
"It is," Finn agreed. "Although it would be even better if it could show monster locations in real time."
"Captain, you really dream big." Tiona wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "How could something like that possibly exist?"
She was right.
Even Anos could not do that.
Unless he pushed his ability to its absolute limit, to the point of nonstop twenty-four-hour operation, then linked the map directly to his mind and continuously burned through calculation capacity just to display everything in real time.
"Fair enough. That was greedy of me." Finn laughed and tapped his own forehead. "Still, we'll test it tomorrow."
…
At the Hostess of Fertility.
After finishing the first step of his plan, Anos finally made his way there.
"Anos, Over here, We're right here."
The moment he stepped through the door, he spotted Hestia waving both hands at him.
Judging from the scene, she and Bell had probably finished ordering and had simply been waiting for him the entire time.
But the moment his eyes fell on the dishes already on the table, his expression shifted.
"Hestia, I know we need to be careful with money, but this is not where we should be cutting corners."
He let out a quiet sigh.
Yes, all it took was one glance at the modest amount of food on the table, followed by a quick calculation of whether that was everything she had ordered, and Anos immediately understood what Hestia had been trying to do.
His conclusion was simple.
Her intentions were sweet. Even adorable.
But hopelessly naive.
If they were going to think about opening income streams and cutting waste, there was no reason to start with food.
When she had been pregnant, Hestia had never hesitated to buy the best food available, Back then she had spent generously without blinking. And now she was suddenly trying to pinch coins.
Still, that made sense.
At the time, she had only wanted to give him the best possible environment.
And back then, she had still been entertaining the idea that maybe, somehow, she could get away without repaying the debt.
Hearing him say that, Hestia lowered her head slightly.
"But… I don't want to become too much of a burden on you…"
The more she spoke, the softer her voice became.
Anos shook his head helplessly.
Hestia kept her eyes down, unable to meet his gaze.
She really was a useless goddess, wasn't she?
And a useless mother too.
The more she thought that, the lower her head dipped.
And the lower it fell, the more painfully aware she became of the sting rising in her eyes and the pressure building in her nose.
"No… no… I can't let him see me like this…"
She started to lift her hand to wipe her eyes before the tears could fall, but stopped halfway.
Because if she did that, Anos would notice.
And she should not be like this in front of him.
Then suddenly, she felt warmth on her head.
"It's okay."
That calm voice slipped into her ears.
Anos had reached out and gently rested his hand on her head.
Honestly. He had already told her to leave everything to him. Yet Hestia was still worrying herself sick over it.
Other gods in Orario, Loki, Apollo, Freya, and the rest, spent their days chasing amusement and doing whatever pleased them.
But Hestia?
She worried about things like this every single day.
"Hestia, don't worry. I've already received payment from the Guild for a partnership agreement. For now, we don't need to worry about spending."
Anos pulled out a card.
It was the one he had received earlier after finalizing the agreement with the Guild's upper management. It was not much by his standards, but it was enough to exchange for fifty million valis. More than enough for the immediate future.
"Huh? Anos… you already made money?"
Hestia's eyes widened. Had he really earned that much so quickly?
"Yes. Fifty million valis. It should do for now. There's no need to rush to repay Hephaestus just yet."
He nodded.
In truth, he knew perfectly well that even when a month passed, Hephaestus would not come pressing for repayment.
And fifty million was only the beginning.
He intended to make far more than that.
Without money, how were they supposed to build a familia?
Without money, how were they supposed to acquire resources?
"Pff~"
The moment Bell heard that Anos had earned fifty million valis in a single day, the drink in her mouth sprayed out.
"Cough, cough…"
Her face turned red as she choked.
But she did not doubt him.
Not because the claim was easy to verify.
But because she trusted Anos completely.
"So, Hestia, there's no need to save money by starving ourselves. Let me order more."
Anos smiled helplessly.
"Yes, yes, yes. My Anos is the best."
Hestia immediately threw herself at him.
If Anos did not still have so much teenage softness to his appearance, people might have thought Hestia was the younger one between them.
Right now, Anos looked about fifteen or sixteen. At the rate things were progressing, he would likely return to his original physical age within a month.
After that, his growth would normalize.
This rapid growth only existed because the Ark Sphere's reincarnation system was built to restore the host to their pre-reincarnation physical age as quickly as possible.
"Excuse me, Could we get another menu?"
Anos called out to one of the waitresses.
"Would you like to place another order?"
A short while later, a green-haired elf waitress approached the table and spoke in a calm, even tone.
Her expression was controlled, but there was unmistakable admiration in her eyes.
She had overheard what happened with Hestia earlier, and she could not help thinking that, for Hestia, this really was a blessing.
Still, the boy himself was astonishing. Had he really managed to obtain that much money in such a short time?
Her name was Ryuu Lion.
An elf who valued companions and bonds above almost everything else, she had once become an avenger and personally hunted down those responsible for destroying her familia.
In the end, she had been taken in by the Hostess of Fertility.
Most of the women working there were no ordinary waitresses. Aside from Syr, nearly every one of them was at least Level 4.
And as for Syr…
She was even less ordinary.
That was Freya's alter ego.
Syr possessed the rare talent of building relationships effortlessly with everyone she met. She looked harmless, almost like she had no combat ability at all, yet her connections throughout Orario ran impossibly deep.
"This is what we'd like to add."
After making his selections, Anos handed the menu back to Ryuu.
"Understood."
Ryuu accepted it calmly and went to pass the order along.
The moment she left, Hestia leaned close and whispered into Anos's ear.
"Hey, Anos… can you tell me where you got that money from?"
She understood there had to be some reason he had not taken her and Bell with him when he went to earn it.
But seeing him return with such a huge amount in so little time made her unbearably curious.
It felt like a cat was scratching at her heart.
"You can think of it as this. I reached a partnership agreement with some very important people. That money was just the advance."
Anos answered with a small smile.
He deliberately did not go into further detail.
But it was true.
This was a major business arrangement.
Possibly the largest deal Orario had ever seen.
"Ehh. You can't tell me a little more than that?"
Hestia rubbed against him repeatedly. This was one of their usual forms of casual intimacy.
The scent of him always made her feel safe.
And then, from Hestia's perspective, the worst possible interruption arrived.
"So this is the goddess Hestia who returned today?"
At some point, without any of them noticing, Syr had appeared beside the table.
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