Aston twitched slightly at the sight of all-female recruits, aside from the elves.
With the new members eagerly awaiting their assignments, Aston distributed Faction Cards, officially integrating them into the Hestia Familia. Afterwards, he sought out Hestia, who was reading in the library.
"Why are all the recruits female, aside from the elves?" Aston asked Hestia, who was engrossed in dungeon strategy books.
"I don't like men. Why do you think I got the nickname 'The Virgin Goddess'? It's because I didn't like interacting with male deities in heaven," Hestia explained with a smile, putting down her book.
"But you have Miach and Takemikazuchi, two male deity friends," Aston remarked, slightly embarrassed by her explanation.
"Ah, those two. I met Takemikazuchi here on earth; though I'd heard of him, we had never met before. We became friends after having a great conversation when I was wandering the streets a few months after descending to earth," Hestia recounted. "As for Miach, it's hard for me to see him as a man. His personality feels more like a kind goddess to me. I think he chose the wrong gender at birth," she continued, resuming her reading.
Aston couldn't help but laugh at her explanation, particularly her perspective on Miach. Hestia essentially viewed Miach as female, which explained their close relationship. It seemed she didn't consider Miach to be a male deity at all.
However, considering Miach's benevolent nature, it somewhat made sense; male deities with such kindness were indeed rare.
"In terms of kindness among the goddesses I know in heaven, only Demeter could compare to him. With that personality, it's hard for me to group him with other male deities," Hestia concluded, setting down her book and spreading her hands in a gesture of resignation.
"Enough said, I can imagine," Aston waved his hands, indicating he understood Hestia's point.
"So, even though I don't like men, I would have tolerated them for the sake of the Familia's growth and strength. But now that I have a choice, I naturally prefer to recruit female adventurers," Hestia explained further. "The Xenos are an exception since there's no choice there. As for the elves, they came because of you, devoted to you, so I won't reject them. But for other races, if I have a choice, I'd still prefer female adventurers, just like Eina."
"I understand," Aston nodded. "I'll follow your wishes then. If I find anyone worth recruiting while I'm out, I'll prioritize females."
Since Hestia doesn't want to recruit males, Aston sees no issue with that. Female adventurers are more pleasing to the eye, and with the Faction Cards, the natural gap between male and female adventurers' strengths doesn't really matter.
"Speaking of which, I've already recruited new members as you asked. What about their weapons?" Hestia then inquired about the weapons for the new recruits.
"I'll forge the magic wands tomorrow. As for the melee weapons, I'll ask Tsubaki to handle it. For now, we can buy a batch of third-level weapons from Hephaestus. When Tsubaki has forged the second-level weapons, we can switch them out," Aston planned, rubbing his head, slightly overwhelmed by the thought of more forging.
Since Eina and the others returned from the dungeon, Aston had been busy forging equipment, especially in the past few days with high-intensity forging, almost working non-stop like a machine.
"Now that Tsubaki has learned the technique for forging beyond her level, let's delegate the preparation of new melee weapons for the Familia members to her. Our Familia is large and prosperous enough to afford such a task," Aston concluded, ready to offload the task.
"Alright, that's settled then. I'll go to Hephaestus tomorrow to place the order," Hestia agreed, finalizing their plan.
Just then, a commotion from outside made its way in, followed by a series of hurried footsteps.
This caused Aston and Hestia to instinctively look towards the door.
Sure enough, the next moment, the door was flung open, and a crowd of people rushed in.
"Hestia-sama!"
"Please update our Status!" The group bombarded Hestia with requests, completely overlooking Aston's presence.
"What's going on?" Aston quickly tried to calm everyone down, then asked about the reason for their excitement.
"Aston-sama, under my command, Eina and the others have teamed up to kill the floor boss of the 17th level!" Lili, with flushed cheeks, was also very excited and took the initiative to explain upon hearing Aston's question.
"Ah, you teamed up to defeat Goliath, not bad." Aston was somewhat surprised, then unreservedly praised Eina and the others.
"Truly worthy of being part of my Hestia Familia." Hestia also seemed very pleased, taking credit for their success.
"Our Status should have reached Level A yesterday, and today we've collectively defeated the Goliath. I believe we should be able to level up now. Hestia-sama, please help me update my Status." Eina nodded repeatedly, pleading again.
Behind her, the others also nodded in agreement.
"One at a time, line up, I'll update your Status right away," Hestia was equally thrilled and shouted loudly.
Soon, everyone formed a long line, eagerly waiting for Hestia to update their blessings.
Quickly, the first to have her blessing updated, Eina's blessing change was announced.
Hestia's excited shout filled the entire Hearth Manor.
"Level 3!"
Aston, watching from the side, couldn't help but feel proud.
Level 3 already, it's impressive how quickly they've leveled up.
At this rate, in another month or two, Eina and the earliest members of the Familia could reach Level 5.
The day when the Hestia Familia truly becomes the number one Familia in Orario isn't far off.
***
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