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"How could I waste a second chance at life without aiming for a higher realm?"
Elsa looked down at her arm, then at the rest of her body.
This body still had the same shape and appearance as the one she used to have, but everything inside was completely different now.
Because Anos's Ark Sphere had already recorded the data from his reincarnation, those same records had also been used when Elsa's new body was created.
At this point, Elsa could no longer really be called human.
In a sense, she was like an Eve created by Anos himself, the first woman of a new generation of humanity.
Of course, there was still a certain gap between her constitution and Anos's.
After all, Anos had reincarnated directly within the body of a god, while Elsa had only been reborn using preserved data. The conditions were worlds apart.
But just because she could not compare to Anos did not mean she could not surpass her former self.
The current Elsa could truly call herself the Red Dragon Emperor with the greatest potential.
If she kept growing like this, then reaching the transcendent class was absolutely possible.
"There should be powerful enough opponents in this world too, right?"
During these past days, Elsa had already heard about the existence of terrifyingly powerful Danger Beasts in this world.
Based on her own estimates, there really were species among them that were not weaker than Ddraig had been in life.
They simply did not appear before humanity very often.
"Once I finish that Lord's task, I'll go challenge those Danger Beasts."
Elsa decided in silence.
In the end, she still loved battle.
After spending such a long stretch of time inside the Sacred Gear, she had thought she no longer cared for fighting.
But after being brought back, her state of mind had subtly changed too.
As expected.
She still loved battle.
"That woman feels a little dangerous."
After Elsa left, Jeanne, who had been silently watching the whole time, finally spoke.
Maybe it was because dragons represented evil in her eyes.
Or maybe it was because, on some level, she felt a trace of jealousy toward Elsa for being someone directly revived by their divine lord.
Either way, her impression of Elsa was not a good one.
Of course, she would never admit that the second reason had anything to do with jealousy.
"Lady Jeanne, the power of protection is necessary. The power of change is necessary too. And the healing love of Lady Asia, who supports both of you from behind, is also necessary."
The church leader answered with a warm smile.
To him, those three saintesses were nothing less than expressions of the Lord's will.
"I know that."
Jeanne calmed herself slightly and decided she would offer a proper prayer to the Lord later.
Her prayers were not the same as they used to be.
Now, if they prayed sincerely enough, they could contact Anos through the holy scripture itself.
She intended to listen carefully to the Lord's guidance.
...
On Anos's side, however, he truly did not have time to listen to anyone's prayers right now.
Because he was busy with serious work.
"Please send in applicants five hundred ninety-six through six hundred."
Sitting behind the desk, Anos spoke in a calm voice.
"Yes, Lord Anos."
After setting down a cup of tea for him, Liliruca immediately went outside to call the next group in.
It was recruitment day for Hestia Familia, and a huge number of applicants had come to try out.
This also gave Anos the perfect excuse to spend his time on hiring and avoid meeting other gods in a way that would not seem suspicious.
"This really makes me feel like I'm back in my student council president days."
Seated behind the desk, Anos smiled and shook his head.
He was undeniably doing office work.
The only difference was that instead of handling a modern school recruitment drive, he was now interviewing adventurers in another world.
"Lord Anos, applicants five hundred ninety-six through six hundred are here."
Liliruca led a group of girls into the room.
Yes.
Girls.
It was not that there were no men at all. It was just that the number of men was so small they were completely drowned out by the overwhelming flood of girls.
"Hello... Could you tell me why you want to join Hestia Familia?"
Anos asked with a pleasant smile.
Of course, that was only the surface level of the interview. The truth was that the moment they stepped inside, he had already judged their potential.
Unless someone had a special skill or a support-focused role, the main combat members he accepted needed at least the potential to reach Level 4 or higher.
"I'm joining because I admire Lady Hestia."
One flat-chested girl raised her hand confidently. Apparently, she was very aware of her own advantages and disadvantages.
"I think Hestia Familia has Lord Holy Child, so it's definitely going to become an amazing Familia. That's why I want to join."
That girl was refreshingly honest.
Anos found her a little familiar. After looking at her for a moment, he finally remembered.
She seemed to be one of the girls who had confessed to him the other day.
The questions he asked in these interviews were mostly procedural anyway. They had very little effect on the final result, probably less than ten percent.
Anos's decision was practically set the moment they walked through the door.
...
"Ahhh."
After a full day of interviews, Anos stretched lazily.
Sitting in an office for too long was its own kind of suffering.
It felt fresh at first, almost like a talent show, but once you went through it enough times, the novelty vanished quickly.
"So how many did you end up choosing?"
Hestia looked at the list in Anos's hands with obvious interest.
Then the second she saw it, she lost all composure.
"Anos... Are you choosing Familia members with your lower body?"
Hestia bared her little fangs and glared at him viciously. If he tried to dodge the question with an obviously fake excuse, she looked fully prepared to bite his head.
"Of course not... Hestia, you know how my ability works. I really did choose them seriously."
Anos gave a helpless laugh.
"Hmph! Then tonight you are going to explain exactly why you picked every single one of these girls."
Hestia folded her arms over her chest. As far as she could see, Anos had simply selected a long list of beautiful girls and nothing else. She had failed to notice any of the other strengths they possessed.
Just as Anos was resigning himself to a very long argument, the voice of a small girl came from nearby.
"Lord Anos, Lord Hermes says he has something he wants to discuss with you."
"Good... Please show him to the reception room and ask him to wait. I'll be there right away."
Anos answered instantly, without even pausing to think.
At this point, he did not care why Hermes had come.
He was simply extremely grateful to him.
"That settles it, Hestia. Hermes must have something important to discuss with me, so I need to go deal with that first."
"As for why I picked these people, I already marked the main reasons in their files. You can look through them while I'm gone. I'm heading out now."
The moment Anos freed himself from Hestia's grip, he made a clean escape through the door.
Being held by Hestia did feel incredibly good.
But this was not about comfort.
It was a far deeper problem than that.
"Hey. Anos."
Watching him flee, Hestia stomped one bare foot against the floor in obvious annoyance, clearly dissatisfied that he had slipped away under the excuse of official business.
"Anos..."
But only a few seconds later, that mood vanished.
No.
Vanished was not the right word.
More accurately, she had taken off the mask she had been wearing.
"Anos... I can't shake the feeling that you're about to go far away..."
Hestia stared in the direction he had left, her gaze dim, her twin tails drooping lifelessly.
After hearing Anos explain things, she understood that this feeling came from the special method he was using to block the world's awareness, which was why being with him still somehow felt like being separated from him.
But still.
That feeling was unbearable.
She could not get used to it.
And it hurt far too much.
Meanwhile, on the way to meet Hermes, Anos used a quick judgment to determine the god's purpose.
"Is Hermes here because of something personal, or because of business?"
...
No answer came.
But not receiving an answer was itself a kind of answer. It meant it could be both personal and business-related, or possibly neither.
Click.
Pushing the door open lightly, Anos saw the blond, hat-wearing god sitting there with his eyes half-narrowed in that ever-present, suspiciously cheerful way.
"Lord Hermes, I heard you wanted to discuss something with me."
Anos went straight to the point.
"Yes, I do. And I'd say it's actually something fairly important."
Hermes frowned for just a moment, then smiled again.
Something about Anos felt a little off to him.
It was as if the Holy Child was standing right in front of him, yet somehow also very far away.
Temporarily setting aside that question, Hermes spoke.
"What is it?"
Anos raised an eyebrow. Looking at the delighted gleam in Hermes's expression, he already knew the man had stumbled across something that amused him.
A true chaos addict.
"I've got a rather special beastgirl on my hands... Want her?"
Hermes tapped the table with his fingers one after another, closely watching Anos's reaction.
The shifting balance of power that would follow was certainly interesting enough, but observing the Holy Child's response was interesting too.
To Hermes, all of it was fun.
He was simply the sort of person who loved stirring the pot.
"Special? Beastgirl? Special in what way?"
Anos frowned.
Beastfolk were not rare.
There had been at least dozens of beastgirls among the applicants today alone.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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