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The more Haruhime thought about it, the further her imagination ran.
Before long, she had already pictured herself and the Holy Child continuing down the kind of path heroes and heroines took in old legends.
But then.
The habits carved into her over the years pulled her right back down again.
"But... I'm a prostitute, Prostitutes are always the ones who drag heroes down and push stories toward unhappy endings..."
Her voice dimmed as she sank back into shame over her own status.
One look at her expression was enough for Anos Kanzaki to know exactly what she was thinking.
"Lili, explain to her what a prostitute actually is. Also, explain whether someone who faints at the sight of a man's collarbone could possibly do that kind of work."
Anos felt a faint headache coming on.
He called Lili over from the side, leaned down and said a few words to her, then turned and left.
If he tried explaining this himself, between his position and Haruhime's tendency to misunderstand things, she would probably faint on the spot. So for now, he left it in Lili's hands.
After hearing what Anos said, even Lili was stunned.
She had already started feeling that something about Haruhime's way of speaking was a little off, but she had not expected the girl's understanding to be this skewed.
"For someone this innocent, sending her back to Ishtar Familia really would be unforgivable."
Liliruca made up her mind.
She was going to make Haruhime face herself a little more honestly.
She was going to make her understand that Lord Anos's decision had not been meaningless, and that he had absolutely been right.
...
"Hey."
It was not long after Anos stepped outside before Hestia came storming over.
She had already heard that another girl had joined the Familia today.
Word had spread through the household quickly. Any girl who suddenly got a private one-on-one audience with Anos was bound to draw attention from the others, so it was only a matter of time before the news reached Hestia's ears too.
And now Hestia had once again come prepared to lecture Anos before he strayed too far down some terrible road.
But the moment she opened her mouth, she found herself stalled.
"Anos, what's the deal with that fox girl you brought back today? Have you been fooling around outside again?"
Hestia planted her hands on her hips and glared at him fiercely. She felt it was time to sit him down for another serious talk.
Were there not already enough cute girls in the Familia? Was having a beautiful, kind, considerate goddess like her still not enough? Did he really have to keep picking flowers everywhere he went?
"Hestia, is that really the kind of person you think I am? I have to admit, that's a little disappointing."
Anos put on a faintly wounded expression.
Seeing that look, Hestia was the one who started panicking instead.
Had she really misunderstood him again?
Had she actually disappointed him?
Then again, almost every time so far, Anos's decisions had turned out to be right in the end. Maybe this time too he had a proper reason.
"All right, Hestia, I'll tell you why I brought Haruhime here."
Seeing her start to falter, Anos stopped teasing her and quietly explained a few things.
The moment he finished, Hestia's eyes turned glassy.
If Anos had not still been standing there, she felt like she might have burst into tears on the spot.
...
"Anos! Anos!"
Just as Hestia was sinking into sympathy, sorrow, and heartbreak over Haruhime's fate, another familiar voice suddenly rang out nearby.
A white rabbit came sprinting toward them at full speed.
Her name was Bell, one of the most gifted girls in the Familia.
She had already reached Level 2, and the name White Rabbit was slowly starting to spread.
"Bell? What is it?"
Hestia turned to ask.
"Yes... Yes, it's important, Ishtar Familia has come to the door."
Bell stopped to catch her breath before delivering the message. She had been sent to warn them.
"Ishtar Familia? Why would Ishtar Familia come looking for us for no reason?"
Hestia asked in confusion.
Anos answered her immediately.
"Oh."
"Hestia, I did not get to finish explaining earlier, Haruhime used to belong to Ishtar Familia."
"Huh? Wait, you mean..."
"The girl was not some unattached recruit you talked into joining us, She was already part of Ishtar Familia?"
Hestia's twin tails shot straight up.
Those were two completely different situations.
If Haruhime already belonged to Ishtar Familia, then that meant Goddess Ishtar had already performed the rite of blessing on her.
Which meant her ability had already been fully exposed to Ishtar Familia.
What Familia would ever willingly hand over a member with power on that level?
"There's not much point in talking about that now, you know what I'm like, Hestia. Once something lands in my hands, I'm never giving it back."
As if he already knew exactly what she was thinking, Anos answered firmly.
"Ahhh."
Hestia immediately started smacking him with her twin tails.
Why was this child always like this? Why did he never listen when she told him not to do something?
And worst of all, every single time he ignored her, it somehow turned out in the end that she had been the wrong one.
"Come on, Hestia, let's go deal with them first."
Anos casually caught hold of her twin tails, and Hestia's entire expression softened instantly.
He knew that spot well by now.
It was one of Hestia's weaknesses.
By that, of course, he meant the matter of Ishtar Familia.
By the time Anos and the others arrived, the air on site had already turned tense enough to snap.
A woman shaped like a toad was standing in the middle, radiating a pressure that could only be described as overwhelming.
Well.
At that size, overwhelming really was the right word.
"Holy Child, you're finally here, Would you kindly return our Familia member to us?"
Before the toad-like woman could speak, a dark-haired Amazoness-looking girl stepped forward first.
She sounded surprisingly polite, which made it pretty clear she did not really want things to escalate.
But her real thought was much simpler.
If only Anos could just keep Haruhime and this matter could somehow be ended without exploding.
Aisha was Haruhime's ally. She had always been the one quietly taking care of her in Ishtar Familia, and seeing Haruhime finally end up under such a reliable protector honestly made her happy.
This was the Holy Child who had defeated an entire Familia by himself back when he was only Level 3.
Now, with Haruhime's power added on top, once he gained another level of strength, he would become even more terrifying.
An even stronger Holy Child, combined with the now much larger Hestia Familia, would absolutely be able to keep Haruhime safe.
Since Haruhime was already safe, and since the Holy Child clearly had no intention of handing her over, Aisha could finally focus on dealing with her own situation.
So for now, she simply needed to look angry enough that the people in her own Familia who already disliked Haruhime would not start turning their attention toward her too.
The reason Ishtar Familia had shown up here at all was perfectly normal.
The news had spread under Hermes's hand, with Anos's silent approval.
When Ishtar Familia went to Hermes demanding Haruhime back, Hermes had smoothly informed them that he had already handed her over to Hestia Familia.
That answer had nearly made them die on the spot from rage.
After trading a round of threats with Hermes Familia, they rushed straight here instead.
Most Familias would not dare threaten Hermes Familia, since Hermes now handled weapons for so many of them.
Any Familia that spent real time in the Dungeon could not afford to provoke him.
Only a group like Ishtar Familia, which lived off the Pleasure Quarter more than dungeon expeditions, could talk that way to Hermes.
What they did not realize was that the Familia they were facing now was even more troublesome than Hermes's.
"Your Familia member?"
Anos smiled faintly and shook his head.
"Not anymore. I'm not returning Haruhime to you."
His tone left no room for negotiation.
What was happening today had been exactly what both he and Hermes expected all along.
After hearing his answer, Aisha first let out a sigh of relief, then immediately went back to looking furious.
"Holy Child, I am Phryne of Ishtar Familia."
The toad-like woman stepped forward at last.
She clearly looked down on Aisha as weak and decided she would handle this personally.
"I know what you want to say. Get lost."
Anos narrowed his eyes.
He already knew the two options she was about to offer.
Either he paid some price.
Or he returned Haruhime.
Pay a price?
He knew very well what kind of price they meant.
The last person who had tried forcing something on him that way had already been reduced to energy inside Forbidden Spell Paradise.
As for returning Haruhime, that was even more impossible.
Anos was not the kind of person who handed over his lawful property just because someone demanded it.
What he had received was a traded good, nothing more.
If they wanted to find fault, then they could go chase the thief who had carried out the original theft.
In theory, that was how it worked.
But this was also a world where the strong devoured the weak.
"Get lost, was it?"
Phryne narrowed her eyes.
The more Anos spoke, the more satisfied she became with him.
His looks.
His talent.
His bearing.
Even the way he talked.
"All right then, if you want a War Game, we accept. Go file the paperwork."
After saying that, Anos simply turned around and walked away.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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