Hello there, a bit late, but I'm here with the chapter.
We'll have another one tomorrow, can't say the same for Zero Fate...
Anyway, if you forgot, Silver returned home and met with Cassandra after they went to the Soma Familia, that's about it.
In the most recent chapters, we're in the middle of the Recruitment arc after the POV chapters.
That's about it.
Peace.
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'With a focused gaze, Silver sat back on the couch, saying:'
"I want to hear it from the beginning, and then… We can leave that for later."
"Sigh, it isn't that complex of a story… I'll just tell you what they told me."
"That's good enough for me, anything is more than nothing."
"Here have this glass of water." Silver said slowly as a glass cup materialized on the table
"H-How... Sigh, thank you."
'Massaging her temples, she tried to process things a little.'
Where do I start?
'Daphne dropped her head in defeat, telling Silver everything that happened in great detail, trying to push the blame of this situation onto herself.'
'But Silver wouldn't be having any of that.'
...
/A few minutes later.../
"Hum... I think I understand the gist of it…"
And to that, it seems the Soma Familia was further down gone than I originally anticipated.
I initially believed them to be, at most, a few years in corruption, but I was wrong, this must be happening for decades already.
There are rumors that go rather far, Soma was here before Loki after all, but I expected things to be more in line...
The cause of this can be said to be Soma himself, but how long has their Captain been in power?
"Huh? You were aware of their condition?" She asked, even more surprised
He always brags about knowing a lot, but this is a bit unexpected…
"If only it was just that… I know quite a little about them."
I already spent quite a bit of money on the black market to acquire information about key characters and events just to increase my understanding of the city.
It isn't anything groundbreaking, just the usual, Loki has her own way of doing such things, and Hermes also has his own sources...
I originally did this to follow some things and see if some predictions would come true.
Though now that everything's a mess, they aren't that useful anymore, even then, the black market is still a good source of information.
Together with my other abilities, there are very few things I can't get my hands on.
'Silver's tone changed to one of remorse.'
"The Soma Familia is... A pitiful bunch that doesn't deserve mercy… That would be the best way to describe them."
"They are a product of their God's negligence and simple Human nature."
They are a good example of everything that could go wrong...
"W-Wait, why is that?"
Those are some pretty serious words…
"Can't you tell? Soma has abandoned his Familia."
And this has been going on for decades, their mismanagement is so severe I wouldn't doubt their Captain is preventing them from growing too strong so he can keep a tight clutch on the Familias as a whole.
Otherwise, they would've gotten a Level 3 by now... Wait, I think they once had it, but they died...
Yeah, that's how it is.
"!"
'Daphne's expression also soured.'
I've heard of many types of Gods...
But this might be the first time I ever heard of a God that abandoned their own Familia while also keeping it active…
'There are times when a God will disband his Familia, either for the greater good or because he grew bored of it, perhaps wishing to just rest for a while or restart from the beginning.'
"I heard that long ago, Soma was a very cheerful and gentle person, but upon coming here, he changed, becoming a recluse and a rather depressive person." Silver said slowly as he materialized a cup for him to drink
/Gulp.../
/Tap tap…/
'Shrugging, Silver tapped his fingers on the table next to his chair as he said:'
"But honestly, can you blame him?"
"He came down with expectations for the mortals, but they were brutally betrayed."
"He wanted to share with the world his delicious wine, but the only thing he saw in the mortals was submission, addiction… Reverence for his wine."
"While the Gods used his wine to have fun, mortals saw it as a reason to kill."
"They would do anything, perhaps even injure him just to get a sip of it."
"There was no love in this, there was no ambition… At least of the healthy kind."
"Soma at that time must've realized... Or at least imagined that he was never loved to begin with…"
"The impact of this revelation had him abandon his Familia forever… Even as the generations passed, he never really changed his ways, never gave them a chance to atone, or perhaps he did, only to once again be disappointed."
"This led them to fend for themselves, and I heard rumors that the situation is so tense in there that, if a couple has a child, they'll send the child to the Dungeon to make money just so they can buy more wine."
"It seems their Captain has no qualms about the safety and health of his companions, and neither do they seem to care about each other at this point in time."
"Each for themselves..."
This is what I believe.
"How… Horrible."
It's like… Soma took a step back, so someone had to step in as their God?...
I see it now, so this is what was weighing in my head, the strange feeling I had when I saw them.
That Familia…
"Isn't that right?" Silver spoke with a complex expression
"The God has turned his gaze from his subjects upon seeing their defects, instead of trying to change them for the better, very nondivine if you ask me."
"But then again, Gods aren't perfect, they can have their problems, if they hadn't..."
'Silver stopped speaking, clearing his throat as he continued with the previous topic.'
"..."
"At this point in time, the Soma Familia is a Familia made by mortals… For mortals, our sins can be seen there quite prominently."
"Greed."
"..."
'Daphne was silent, it was a lot to take in.'
'But when she reflected on the situation through the perspective he just shared with her, the thugs that tried to rob them went from Fools to something closer to reality…Victims of something higher them themselves.'
"Can you blame them tough?... The Divine Wine is something to kill for…"
"It doesn't make any sense."
"I've drank Soma's wine, and it is good, but… Not that good of a reason…"
It's expensive too, I know many that enjoy it but… It's not worth killing each other for it.
"Because that's the failure version." Silver said plainly
"?!"
Failure?
"The Soma Familia doesn't sell the perfect version outside of their homes."
"The perfect Wine made by Soma… Isn't something so easy to forget, and that's the very reason why I never even sipped any of his products… And I would recommend you to do the same from now on."
"Of course, if you believe in your self-control, then you're free to try it, I won't hold it against you or anyone for doing so, I'm not that petty."
"Though... I have everything to believe that, this drink... It's not a wine, it's a drug, a very addictive one."
"Would you like to gamble your life on your mental fortitude? Who is stronger, the allure of the Divine wine, or your mind?"
'Silver got up from his chair.'
"You don't have to worry about this issue anymore, it seems it's already time to report this to the Guild."
"Originally, like you, I had no intention of messing with the Soma Familia, I had bigger problems, greater responsibilities..."
"And even if it hurt my morals a bit, there was nothing I could do unless I was willing to put in the effort, which I wasn't."
Acting like now would only be the epitome of hypocrisy, but most importantly... I didn't feel like it was right to confront them.
"However, the story changed."
"Now that they started to raise their hands against others like this, it's time to raise the issue to the Guild, let them contact Soma and see if they can arrange some sort of arrangement."
In these situations, when a God is unable to manage his Familia, the Guild is always happy to help, but they would rarely do anything over the line… And that means if Soma says no, then the Guild won't do a thing.
At least until they strike someone again, if they mess with civilians, the Guild will come for their ass, if they bite another Familia, then it's a Familia problem that could result in a conflict, or sometimes, a War game.
What they can do, however, is send someone like Ganesha to have a talk with Soma as only he can change his Familia, even if he pretty much-lost control over it, he is still the owner of everything, the moment he says stop, they have to.
Because otherwise, it would be mutiny against the Familia, and I don't think there was ever such a thing in the history of Orario.
There were events outside of it where civilians rebelled against the Gods when they went a bit too far into their own delusions and aspirations.
Not all Gods are meant to be with mortals, not all deserve it, and a few simply need a little push to get within the confines of the acceptable.
Soma is one such God, he has strayed too far by giving in to his helplessness, allowing Humans to display their inner greed and emotions… He has to put a collar on them again.
This is the very reason why society has rules.
"Regardless, I think it's about time we ended this talk."
"Good work out there, you rallied everyone, commanded them, and helped them resolve a problem on your own." He said as he gave her a thumbs up, making her eyelids twitch
"And albeit I'm not exactly in a position to say this, considering what I did, I would still like to voice out that…"
"Next time, if something like this pops up, don't be afraid to share it with me if you feel it's too troublesome."
"It may sound arrogant too, but you can rely on me if the situation gets a bit tough…"
"... Alright, but on one condition."
"Say it."
"Please… Find me an accountant."
"..."
"I'm being serious here… I'm tired of doing this sort of work…"
'It was Silver's turn to smile awkwardly.'
…
/Creak…/
'He opened the door to leave her room, but Daphne suddenly said:'
"You know… It's a bit sudden, but are you related to the earthquake that happened recently?"
"Hm... What?? What's that about?" Silver asked with a genuinely surprised expression
'She looked at him, and seeing his expression, she frowned.'
'Because if he wasn't the culprit, then something pretty serious might be happening... It would still be serious if he were the culprit, but that's another story...'
"... Not long before we arrived at the Soma Familia there was an Earthquake followed by smoke coming from the Entertainment District… And it's shameful to say, some of us thought…"
"That it was me?... Hahaha!... Okay, I kind of deserve that after what I did." Silver said awkwardly as he kicked the ground lightly
"..."
"It has nothing to do with me, and if it weren't for you, I would've been late on the news…"
Seems it's time to hit the Guild, I can also use this time and see how Loiju is doing.
He was thinking about what to do with all his money, and albeit he already found a use for most of it, he should be at his home thinking about what to do with the rest.
'Not long after the War game ended, Loiju said he would, for the first time, take a full week's rest as he thought about what to do with his life now that he is… Super rich.'
'For an Elf, this amount of money may not be enough for him to live his life to the fullest, but exactly because he is an Elf, he can invest this money, looking at the far future...'
'Loiju is no adventurer, so this may also be a good time for him to join a Familia and perhaps just let his Stats rise as he lives his life, assuming he'll be quitting his job.'
'And due to that, he had to grab his Commissions with the help of the other Guild workers.'
'It was at these times he started to realize how much work people around him did for him…'
'Loiju deserved more recognition than he received, that is if he even had any.'
'And considering Loiju already voiced his opinion regarding being his advisor, Silver had at least give him a hi and see how well he was doing and what he planned to do with his long life.'
'Perhaps this will be the Loiju will cash in on the debt he owes him…'
'To introduce him to a pretty Elven girl…'
'Silver wondered what that sketch Elf had in mind as he made his way outside of the Manor, greeting the people along the way.'
…
/Sneeze!/
"That son of a... He must be cursing me…" Loiju mumbled as he read a book as he sat on a couch next to a bonfire
"Well then, curse you too! May you be forever troubled by women!!"
"Muwahahaha!"
'Laughing loudly, Loiju took a sip of the best drink the world had to offer… Water, before resuming his read.'
…
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Notes
A rather simple chapter just so we can return to the spirit of the Novel.
I would say it was a bit clunky, but it works.
Tomorrow we'll have another one, peace.