"Hey, Arin, any idea why we are all called here?" Raul asked, as all of us were assembled in the main hall of the Twilight manor, "and even the Astraea and Hermes Familia members are present here."
And as he said, we were not the only ones who were present; all the members of Astraea and Hermes' familia were also present here.
"I think they finally decided to announce that." I am fairly certain that the others have also made speculations about what that announcement is, since recently all three of our Familias have been working closely together.
"Finally, huh?" Raul replied.
I could hear other people murmuring among themselves, discussing what changes the announcement would bring. Still, all the chatter stopped the moment Loki, Hermes, and Astraea climbed on the makeshift stage. All the people present turn their attention towards them,
Standing behind the gods were the captain and vice-captain of all three familias present.
"Everyone, thank you for gathering here. Although I am sure you have guessed as to why you were asked to gather here." Loki took the lead, "I won't waste time and get straight to the point." She stopped and let her words hang in the air.
"We have decided that our three familias that is, mine own, Hermes, and Astarea familia will be forming an official alliance." Her words created a small ruckus among all the adventurers. Astraea stepped forward and calmed the audience.
"Everyone, please remain calm. Even if an alliance is formed between our familia, there won't be any major changes." Here, words seemed to have taken effect as everyone fell quiet again. And then Hermes spoke next.
"Now I will announce the command structure of this alliance," he announced with his usual theatrical flair.
"Firstly, the captain of this alliance is Finn Diemme, followed by Alise Lovell and Lydia as the Vice-captains, and the rest of the executives of our respective familia, like Kaguya Gojounou, Asfi Al Andromeda, Riviera Ljos Alf, Gareth Landlock, and Falgar Batros, will be working as Advisors and will take command in an event where the Captain and the Vice-Captain are unable to." Hermes stopped, letting all the adventurers present digest the information.
"You guys don't have to worry that your actions would be restricted or anything like that. You will continue to work as you have done until now. Just when we go on an expedition or any other important mission, only then will you be required to participate." Loki words them at ease, as a lot of adventurers' main issue was how they would be affected by the new alliances.
"Though," Loki continued. "I would recommend you guys to at least make friends with each other, so when the time comes, you can coordinate better." Her words made sense, but it seemed she was not quite done yet. "And for that reason, I have taken the liberty to book several taverns for today so you guys can eat, drink, and make merry!"
"OOOOHHHHHH!!!"
All the adventurers became excited at that. But I feel like Loki used this more as an excuse to drink herself. But I guess it will help our familia members to get to know each other as well.
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With three familias combined, we had too many people for a single venue, so we split into groups, so we decided to split into big groups, with me being in the group that was going to the Hostess of Fertility.
"Didn't you say this place recently became your favorite?" Tiona asked Loki, who was practically skipping ahead of us.
"Yup, yup! They have quite the collection of cute girls, you know!" Loki replied, her excitement barely contained.
Soon, we stood before the familiar tavern. Loki rushed inside and claimed a large table, with the rest of us settling in around her. I ended up sandwiched between the girls—Riveria on my right with Ais beside her, and Ryuu on my left with Asfi next to her.
Shortly after Lunoire and Chloe came to take the order, the way they moved was a little clumsy, clearly showing they were not used to their new role yet.
"AH!" The moment our eyes met, they let out a strange sound.
"Hm? Do you know them, Arin?" Asfi asked, seeing their reaction.
"Yes, they are the assassins that I told you about." The moment I answered, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.
"I see..." Riveria's voice carried a dangerous edge, while Asfi's expression sharpened like a blade. Ryuu and Ais fixed the two girls with stares that could cut through steel.
"Eeeep!" Both Lunoire and Chloe back off, sensing the dangerous atmosphere.
"Hey, no fighting today! We came to celebrate, remember?!" Loki intervened.
"I'm sure that was just a case of mistaken identity, wasn't it?"
They caught on immediately.
"Y-yes! We just mistook him for someone else, didn't we, Chloe?" Lunoire said, elbowing her companion desperately.
"O-of course, nya!" Chloe squeaked. "N-now, what would you like to order, nya?"
Ryuu and the others clearly didn't buy the excuse, but they let it slide for the sake of the celebration.
The atmosphere went back to normal. Everyone started chatting loudly, and Loki, as usual, showed her perverted tendencies by trying to groupe Anya, who just smacked her.
I was also talking with the girls waiting for our food.
"This tavern has a pretty good atmosphere, hasn't it?" Alise observed, looking around appreciatively at the warm, bustling interior.
"You're right—it's quite cozy," Asfi agreed.
I found myself scanning the room, searching for a particular silver-haired waitress. As if summoned by my thoughts, Syr appeared at our table, carefully placing dishes before us.
"Please enjoy," she said softly, her gaze lingering on me for just a long moment before shifting to study Ryuu and Alise with obvious interest.
Just as I'd suspected—she seemed far more intrigued by Ryuu and Alise than by me personally. Whether that was good or bad remained to be seen.
Lunoire and other waitresses arrived behind her and placed the food on the table, and all the people present jumped on the food. I also stopped observing Syr, since I don't think she would do anything to Ryuu and Alise, and started eating my food as well.
"Arin-san, you should try this—it's really good," Ryuu said, placing a portion on my plate with a gentle smile.
Alise noticed the gesture and smirked mischievously. "Well, well, how does it feel getting pampered like that by our adorable Lion?"
"I think there's someone else here getting far better treatment than me," I replied, redirecting her attention before Ryuu got embarrassed and stopped her 'pampering', and nodding toward a nearby table where a Prum and an Amazon sat together.
"General, I will pour you another drink."
"Ah, my thanks Tione. But you know this is the third time already. I am not used to drinking this fast. Is this some kind of plan getting me drunk?"
"Fu fu, nothing like that, now try this one."
"Owa… Lyra really missed her chance here." As Alise said, Lyra had gone to a separate tavern.
"Oh, right, Arin, Danateus is just around the corner, so you will be getting your first Alias, right? Wonder what that will be." Hermes sipped on his drink and spoke.
"I wonder about that as well, and don't forget you promised you wouldn't let me get a weird one, okay."
"Of course, don't worry, we promise you won't get too strange."
"So, it's already decided I would get a weird one, huh?"
"Hehe–hick, Of course, you–hick Gigolo," Loki spoke, through her hiccups.
"Oh, 'Gigolo'—that's actually not bad. Kind of suits you, Arin," Alise said with mock seriousness.
"Don't encourage her, Alise, or she'll get even more insufferable."
"Don't worry, Arin-san," Ryuu said reassuringly. "Given all your accomplishments, the gods won't be careless when deciding your Alias."
"I guess you are right." But I still don't trust them. Guess I will put my faith in Astaea since she seems the most mature of the bunch.
I thought and looked at her.
She only gave a small smile in return.
I could trust her, right?
"Now let's compete for who can drink more!" Loki suddenly declared.
"OHHHH!" The adventurers throughout the tavern roared their approval..
"AH-HA, Gareth, I am gonna drink you under the table!" one adventurer boasted.
"at right? Then I will drink you under the floor!"
"I will declare that the winner will get to have playtime with Riveria's bosom!"
"I will join in!" "Me too!" "Hiccup–then I will join too!"
SHINNNN!
THUDDDD!
I withdrew my sword and slammed point-first into the table between the group of would-be perverts, the blade quivering with barely contained violence.
"Say that one more time and I will fu*king butcher you all like the pigs you are!!"
"Eeekk!!!" All of them scattered like cockroaches.
"It is fine, Arin. They are just joking around, and I am more than certain enough that they know the consequences if they tried anything funny."
Seeing that they clearly understood their lesson, I sat back down at the table.
"Here, try this dish, it's pretty good." Riviera placed more food on my plate, and we got back to our own chatting and eating.
The celebration of our new alliance continued late in the night, and seeing that everyone started fainting, the girls and I decided to go back home.