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The next day, Anos's routine was much the same as before.
The only difference was that Orario itself had grown far less peaceful.
The first reason was the sudden rise of a drink known as Holy Wine, which had swept through the entire city's alcohol trade.
The name said it all.
Holy Wine was on a completely different level from ordinary liquor.
Its taste, its finish, its aftertaste. None of it could even be compared to regular alcohol.
Many gods had already tried it for themselves.
And they were certain of one thing.
It was not divine wine, but it wasn't far beneath it either.
It was an astonishing drink, one capable of leaving even gods intoxicated for a while.
That said, while Holy Wine had effects comparable to divine wine in its own way, it was still closer to an alcoholic beverage than true divine liquor.
It could absolutely get people hooked, but its addictive pull was still much weaker than divine wine.
And the truly terrifying part was not just the quality.
It was the price.
A drink this incredible costs less than one-tenth of divine wine.
Cheap enough that almost anyone with a bit of money could afford a glass.
And that wasn't all.
Anos had even added a lottery system to the sales model.
Any bottle of Holy Wine a person bought had a chance of being a high-grade unfiltered batch.
That version had effects far beyond divine wine itself, yet its listed price was exactly the same as the ordinary bottle.
You could drink it yourself.
Or sell it for a fortune.
In just a few days, the unfiltered version of Holy Wine had already developed its own underground market price.
A price high enough to tempt even Level 5 adventurers.
That lottery system directly triggered the gambler's instinct in most adventurers and sent Holy Wine's sales soaring even further.
Soma had nearly reached the point where he couldn't keep up with counting the money.
He had never imagined that the mortal named Anos Kanzaki would not only produce Holy Wine, but would also use a sales strategy this advanced.
Extra bottle rewards.
Grand prize unfiltered editions.
Methods like that had set the market on fire.
This was probably what happened when a more advanced world dumped its methods into a less developed one.
The result was brutal.
Holy Wine devoured enormous profits in an incredibly short time.
Soma was practically drowning in money.
Meanwhile, outside the liquor trade, Hermes, god of travel and exploration, had also brought back something fascinating from beyond Orario.
Weapons he called firearms.
According to Hermes, they were wondrous tools brought from far-off lands, and this time he had returned with many sample models.
They came in all kinds.
Their power was enormous.
From Level 1 to Level 4 monsters, most could be dealt with easily.
And the method of using them was absurdly simple.
Pull the trigger.
Pull the pin.
Aim.
Throw.
For most of the monsters listed in the weapon descriptions, the result was near-instant death.
They were almost like bizarre magical swords.
Most magic swords were disposable. Better ones might last a few uses, but compared to firearms, they were in a completely different class.
Sure, the ammunition costs more in the long run, but the unit price was so much lower than that of magic swords that it wasn't even worth comparing.
Hermes and Soma, however, were not in the same situation.
Soma was vastly richer in almost every sense, and now that he was basically just following Anos's advice, he had fewer expenses than before.
Hermes was different.
Anos had to give him a cut.
And once Hermes saw how well Anos understood the game, the eternally "neutral" god immediately knew how to respond.
In no time at all, he had become Anos's good friend.
If he hadn't known that Anos was busy with the Familia War, he probably would have tried dragging him out to the pleasure quarter for some "male bonding."
Ahem!
There were supposedly three ways for men to form unbreakable bonds.
Study together.
Fight together.
And ruin themselves together.
That exact saying didn't exist in this world, but spending time in those sorts of places really did have a way of building camaraderie.
In any case, everything was proceeding according to Anos's plans.
Reaching the point he wanted was only a matter of time.
And just like that, time passed.
At last, the day of the Familia War arrived.
It was a battle drawing the attention of nearly every Familia and every god in Orario.
It would decide the fate of the current number one prodigy in the city, the Holy Child.
And more than that, it would be the Holy Child's first true public appearance.
That was right.
Anos had barely exposed himself to the public until now.
The reason was simple.
The monsters on any floor he visited tended to go berserk, which meant there were very few people reckless enough, or free enough, to track him that deeply.
Other than someone like Ryu, who had both the nerve and the time, almost nobody had ever managed it.
So aside from the public knowledge that Anos was Level 3, there was almost no solid information about his real strength.
People had noticed that Ais, the Sword Princess of the Loki Familia, often visited the Hestia Familia, so some had started guessing that the Holy Child was secretly training in swordsmanship.
He was training in swordsmanship, sure.
As for who was training whom, and how, that was another matter entirely.
On the day itself, both Anos and Hestia woke up unusually early.
For once, Hestia didn't sleep in.
She was up at the crack of dawn.
"Mm... This is exactly how my Anos should look."
After helping him get dressed according to her own tastes, Hestia planted her hands on her hips in satisfaction.
The truth was, it wasn't that she had done some extraordinary styling job.
It was simply that Anos looked good in anything.
"Then let's go."
Anos smiled helplessly and drew in a quiet breath.
"Mm. Let's go."
"But before that, I need to give you your goddess's blessing…"
Hestia raised a hand and gestured for him to lower his head.
He hadn't yet fully matured physically, but he was already tall enough that Hestia couldn't easily reach him otherwise.
So Anos bent slightly, waiting for the blessing of his goddess.
"I grant you the protection of certain victory."
"My Anos… go win everything you want in Orario."
Hestia's voice softened.
A golden glow shimmered around her as she rose onto her toes and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
[Ding!]
[Foreign energy detected.]
[Remove it?]
Anos heard the system prompt and paused.
He had assumed Hestia's "blessing" was merely symbolic.
He hadn't expected it to be a real blessing.
"…No... Don't remove it."
He accepted it.
Judging by the situation, Hestia had clearly used divine power.
If he rejected it, she would definitely notice.
Besides, who would turn down a goddess's blessing?
"All right. Anos, let's go."
The golden light around Hestia slowly faded.
She slapped his shoulder hard and grinned.
"Yeah, Let's."
Anos thought about it for a moment and smiled.
That blessing…
It seemed more interesting than he had expected.
He had just analyzed its exact effect, and although it had taken several seconds longer than usual, the result had genuinely surprised him.
…
Still, in Anos's eyes, that kind of blessing wasn't truly necessary.
What mattered most right now was securing the victory that was already within his grasp.
Today, the Hestia Familia was fighting on the defensive side.
Ordinarily, that would mean arriving early to prepare fortifications, but Anos and the others showed up almost exactly on time.
This battle had become something every Familia in Orario was eagerly anticipating.
Almost every female adventurer in the city was paying attention to it.
And that alone guaranteed that the male adventurers would be watching too.
The reasons the women were invested were straightforward enough.
He was handsome.
He had presence.
He had strength.
He had charm.
All of it.
Anos had actually judged it before. If he had accepted the first Amazon girl's offer back then, he could have gone into this siege battle with over a thousand people on his side.
And that only counted the ones bold enough to step forward.
Most women weren't that direct, but whether they acted on it or not, they were all watching.
"Anos… I'm back. Should we complete the transfer now?"
As Anos and the others made their way toward the battlefield, a girl's voice called out from the side.
He turned and saw the green-haired elf, Ryu, still looking somewhat rushed.
"You made it back, There was no need to hurry this much."
Anos smiled helplessly.
One look at her expression told him everything.
The moment she found Astraea, she must have rushed straight back, hoping to help before the Familia War began.
"No... Since I'm already one of the Familia now, I should do what I'm supposed to do."
Ryu answered with complete seriousness.
"You are not one of our Familia yet."
Hestia puffed out her chest and pointed out the obvious.
The look on her face practically screamed the same thought.
All of you are only here because of Anos, aren't you? At least remember who the goddess of this Familia is first.
I'm not handing him over to any of you.
"Hestia, let's handle Ryu's transfer tonight when we get back."
Anos thought for a moment before speaking.
"I understand… but… why?"
Ryu still clearly cared about that answer.
"Because everyone should finish their own matters themselves. Bell and Liliruca are only here to watch too. If you want, you can join them and watch as well."
That was the reason Anos gave.
Simple and direct.
....
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