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He knew perfectly well just how many girls had shown up to apply that day.
Given Hestia's personality, she was probably still fuming over Anos's latest habit of bringing girls into the Familia. Trying to add one more now would be difficult beyond words.
Of course, in Hermes's view, there was no real need to bring her formally into the Familia.
After all, just like the lovers and mistresses who always seemed to appear around heroes in old legends, characters who should not really exist and yet somehow fit perfectly into the story, he was very curious to see what sort of influence such a girl might have on a hero.
If she were kept as a lover, then there would be no need to transfer her Familia at all. He could simply keep her privately on the side.
That, in Hermes's eyes, was exactly the sort of thing that suited a hero.
Yes, yes, yes.
To Hermes, that kind of scandal carried a certain flavor. It felt very fitting for a hero.
And fox people, in countless stories, were seductive, dangerous, and tied to disaster. To a Western god like him, that only made the whole thing more perfect.
...
Hermes left in high spirits, and Anos returned to Hestia.
"Anos, that Hermes guy did not notice anything, did he?"
Hestia asked nervously.
What she meant, of course, was whether Hermes had noticed anything strange about Anos himself.
Refusing to meet people all the time was impossible. If he turned down too many meetings, anyone with eyes would realize something was wrong.
"No, He did not notice anything."
No, that was not quite right.
The truth was worse than that.
Hermes had not noticed anything specific, but it was now obvious that he was extremely interested in Anos himself. Not in some odd detail about him, but in Anos as a person.
The kind of interest that made him want to watch Anos stir up every possible kind of trouble.
That was more troublesome than someone merely noticing something unusual.
Because Hermes was interested in him, not just in the anomaly around him.
"He did not notice anything... Good, that's good."
Hestia let out a long breath of relief.
As long as nothing had been exposed, that was enough.
"Oh, right... What did Hermes want with you?"
Hestia asked again.
"Oh, that... He asked us to look after a girl."
Anos answered directly.
The moment he said that, Hestia's cheeks puffed out like a steamed bun.
A girl.
Hermes wanted Anos to look after a girl.
Hestia instantly decided that the next time she saw Hermes, she was absolutely going to make him regret it.
There were already so many girls in the Familia. Why was he still sending more girls to Anos? Was he actively trying to lead him astray?
Hestia was furious.
"Hestia, this girl is... a little different."
Anos let out a quiet sigh.
...
Hermes worked quickly. In less than a day, Haruhime had already been delivered to Hestia Familia.
The very next day, Anos finally met the girl whose life had been nothing but misfortune.
She had once known members of Takemikazuchi Familia and had often played with Takemikazuchi himself as a child.
Because of her magic, she had been treated as material for refining magic items within her old Familia and kept locked away in a cage.
Then, when she was eleven years old, she was sold to the Pleasure Quarter as a prostitute.
Eleven.
That was the age when that disaster first fell on her.
Haruhime had originally been born a noble.
But one day, she accidentally fed the divine food meant as an offering to Amaterasu to a prum guest. Her father, an official who served in the rites for Amaterasu, was enraged. Only because the prum guest pleaded on her behalf was her life spared. In return, her father cut all ties with her.
But the truth was uglier.
Haruhime had actually been set up by that prum.
The moment she was cast out of her home, the prum swiftly took her in.
Because from the very first time he met her, he had liked her obsessively, enough to frame her just to possess her.
Then, while carrying her home, they were attacked by monsters.
In front of a group of beastmen, the prum abandoned Haruhime as dead weight and fled alone.
A very prum thing to do.
Just as she was about to be killed, she was saved by a thief.
The thief learned she was still a virgin and sold her to Orario.
There, she was taken into Ishtar Familia, and an Amazoness named Aisha had looked after her, both openly and in secret, all the way until now.
Originally, she should have taken customers like any other prostitute.
But she was a little different from the others.
She was so painfully shy that the mere sight of a man's collarbone was enough to make her blush and faint on the spot.
Most of the time, Aisha had to handle those situations herself.
And right now, Haruhime felt as though she might faint all over again.
The Holy Child was staring straight at her.
Her heartbeat surged. Her blood seemed to rush through her whole body.
"So, you're Haruhime, I already know what happened to you. Welcome to Hestia Familia."
Anos smiled as he studied the girl before him.
Thinking about it, while the Familia certainly had beastgirls already, they did not have a fox girl.
Fox people mostly lived in the Far East, and that region was still a long way from Orario. They were rare even there, so in Orario they were even rarer.
"Um..."
Haruhime seemed like she wanted to say something, but Anos lifted a hand and stopped her.
"I know what you want to say, Haruhime. You're still a member of Ishtar Familia. I'm aware of that."
"So the Holy Child already knows. But if you do know, then why would you want someone like me, someone who would obviously cause conflict between two Familias?"
Haruhime asked in confusion.
"Because I think I need your power too. Is that enough of an answer?"
Anos replied with a faint smile.
"..."
Haruhime lowered her head slightly after hearing that.
So in the end, she really was someone who only brought disaster.
In her own eyes, she was the source of misfortune itself.
If she did not exist, then Hestia Familia, the Familia of the Holy Child, would never need to clash with Ishtar Familia.
"Then... does that mean you also want the Killing Stone? Is that the real reason you're willing to come into conflict with Ishtar Familia?"
Her voice was steeped in sorrow.
Yes.
If the Holy Child said he needed her, then surely he must also need the Killing Stone.
Only with both of those together could her magic be used to its fullest. Only then could an entire Familia, or even several Familias at once, gain a terrifying increase in power.
"No. I don't need the Killing Stone."
Anos shook his head.
"When it comes down to it, I'm a pretty selfish person."
"So your power only needs to be used for me."
That was his answer.
He could grow stronger, that was fine.
But if the entire Familia advanced alongside him, then Hestia Familia would instantly become the target of everyone in Orario.
That was not good.
There was not enough benefit in it to justify turning his Familia into the one group everyone else might unite to crush.
The three major industries he had already built were making enough money as it was. If Hestia Familia became too eye-catching, the wrong people might start focusing their attention on Anos himself.
And if any one of those three industries were uncovered, the hidden losses could easily be greater than whatever benefit came from raising an entire Familia's level through Haruhime.
In Anos's eyes, Haruhime's greatest value was simple.
To raise his level alone.
Using her to boost only himself offered far higher returns and far more secrecy than using her to elevate the whole Familia.
After all, looking at things as they were now, he alone could probably take on the rest of Hestia Familia by himself.
"My power... just for you alone, Holy Child?"
Haruhime repeated his words softly.
To her, that sentence hit with overwhelming force.
It sounded.
Almost like a confession.
But with Haruhime's thin skin, there was no chance she could ever ask the kind of question that would make her faint from embarrassment on the spot.
So instead, she simply kept turning his words over in her head.
"So. Do you want that?"
"Don't bother yourself with nonsense like what consequences you might bring."
"Haruhime, do you want to stay here and use your power for me, or go back to Ishtar Familia and become a sacrifice for the Killing Stone?"
Anos asked her directly.
"Huh?"
Haruhime froze again as she tried to process his meaning.
Do not worry about the consequences.
How could she possibly not worry about the consequences?
And yet.
If she truly could set all that aside, then who would willingly choose to give up their own life?
Anos, after all, was clearly the type who had no interest in worrying about the flood after he was gone.
"Wait."
Haruhime felt like she suddenly understood what the Holy Child was really saying.
If the earlier words were taken as a confession, then everything else made sense too.
The Holy Child was actually protecting her.
When he said she only needed to use her power for him alone, was that his way of comforting her?
Was his real intention to make it easier for her to accept his help?
Haruhime's imagination immediately ran wild.
It's almost like... the kind of hero who doesn't walk the noble path in the old legends...
That was the thought that rose in her mind.
A hero who did not walk the orthodox path, but instead chose a harsher, more forceful road, and yet still acted like a hero all the same.
And once she connected that idea with his title, Holy Child, which already made it easy for her mind to drift in the wrong direction, her thoughts went further and further off course.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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