The situation on the three battlefields entered a stable state, where my involvement was unnecessary, just in time when more of my attention was needed inside the Hold. As the Festival of Hope was on the horizon, Elysia and her people wanted to get more involved in preparing it.
This brings me to the present when I was waiting with Sakura in the Astral Express terminal. Despite Elysia and others showing up in Hold from time to time, technically, as the current crew of the Astral Express, they have been on a continuous journey since they first set off to explore new words in Chaos. And today, they finally decided to return to Hold.
They needed to truly rest and recover from the wear and tear of the exploration, and the Festival of Hope was the perfect occasion to do so. Along their voyage, they also welcomed new crew members, and this will be their first visit to the Hold.
The next moment, the sound of train wheels and their breaks sounded from one end of the station. With occasional sparks, the Astral Express came to a stop in front of us. As soon as the wheels stopped rolling, the doors swung open, and a pink arrow shot at me. As I was in Fox form, I let myself get picked up by my wife as she began infecting everyone with her cheerfulness.
-"Yue! I'm back!"
~"Yes, welcome home. Though it's not like we didn't see each other just yesterday."
-"Mou... Don't ruin the occasion."
~"Sorry. Then how about you introduce me to your new friends?"
-"Sure. Guys, come here!"-Elysia called out to people exiting the Astral Express.
-"Yue, long time no see!"
~"Indeed, good to see you in good health, March."
-"Huh? Talking fox?"-A girl with pink hair looked at me curiously.
-"This is Yue, my husband."
-"You married a fox?"-The second pink-haired girl asked Elysia.
-"Yup! Right. The first person who spoke was Sakura Kirishima. She is a singer that even Eden praised, while the second person is Shinobu Sarutobi. She is a ninja."
-"I'm but a humble journalist."
-"A journalist who can sneak into most well-guarded castles."-A man with a laid-back demeanor spoke from nearby.-"Name Masato Sanada, nice to meet you."
-"They are well-known seven prodigies. Good that I recruited them here, right?"-Elysia smiled, asking for recognition.
~"Don't act as if you recruited them because of their ability and not because they were interesting and became your friends."
-"Haha, it would seem that your husband knows you well, Elysia."-A woman with light green hair and a lab coat.-"I'm Keine Kanzaki. I heard that you are someone who once cured the whole world, so I wanted to meet you for a long time."
~"It just happened, and this was achieved by many people working together, not just myself."
-"But one who gathered them all together was Your Excellency, wasn't it?"-A man with piercing heterochromatic eyes asked with slight sime.
-"Hey, Tsukasa! Some of those helping Yue were recruited by me."
-"Is that so? Then I'm sorry, Elysia. I'm Tsukasa Mikogami. It's an honor to make acquaintance with Your Excellency."
~"Pleasure is mine. I hope you can come to treat Hold as your home in the future."
-"True. Everyone here is nice, so feel at home."-Elysia also assured everyone.
-"Thank you."-Tsukasa acted as the representative of new arrivals and thanked us.
-"Ringo, only you haven't introduced yourself from the first party. Come here!"-Elysia called to a short girl hiding behind others.-"This is Ringo Ōhoshi, she is genius engener."
~"Engener? We are short on them currently, so your arrival is truly appreciated."
Ringo simply nodded, being too shy to speak with me.
-"Now you know the Seven Luminaries, it's our turn."-Sakura spoke enthusiastically.-"You already know me. This is my friend Karen Kisaragi and her brother Hayato Kisaragi."
-"Hello."-A younger girl in a wheelchair greeted me, looking interested in my form.
-"Hi..."-Hayato, on the other hand, had a strange look in his eyes when he looked at me and Elysia.
-"What's wrong, Hayato?"-A girl with silver hair and blue eyes asked when she noticed the strange face he was making.-"I'm Emilia Gudenburg, his girlfriend, by the way."
-"No, just... How do you marry a fox?"
-"Hayato! Behave yourself!"-A woman with blond hair and noble air around her admonished Hayato.
-"Sorry."
-"Ehem. I'm Claire Harvey. It's a pleasure to meet the person who Elysia praised so often."
~"Pleasure is all mine. Don't worry about etiquette or anything. We are here casually and not in any official setting."
-"Yue!"-Himoko called to me as she was exiting Astral Express.-"Care to help me with checking the damage to the Astral Express?"
~"Sure. Elysia, I'll leave the rest to you. Remember to be in Simulated Realm tomorrow."
-"Of course, I remember! How can I forget about meeting with the Chat Group?"
~"Just making sure."
Jumping out of Elysia's arms, I returned to my normal form, wearing some casual clothing. At the same time, I summoned two puppets to assist Himeko and me in work.
~"Where is your sister?"
-"Second Himeko? She is still teaching Stelle and Gudako. Two of them 'forgot' to do some homework she had left them, so now they have to suffer."
~"I see. Hopefully, this would teach them some responsibility."
-"I doubt that. Let's get to work, or you will be swarmed by the new guys."
Together, we started checking every part of the train, making reports of the damages, and preparing for repairs that would happen in the near future. Halfway through, Welt and Ganyu joined us, making our job easier.
The work continued, and soon the day passed. It was already late evening when I was called by Loki, who had finished dealing with her fellow gods for the day.
-"Did you do something?"-The first thing Loki did when she returned was question me.-"This whole meeting felt like I was being played, not that I was playing with others. So what happened?"
~"Oracle happened."~I explained about my meeting with Athena and the message I received from that group.~"It would seem that the situation is not as antagonistic as it seemed before."
-"I wonder... We have to remain cautious but also try to build friendly relations with Oracle. It was a good idea to send Artemis to Athena. This way, we have a higher chance of recruiting her into Hold later."
~"From what I have seen, she is not opposed to Hold, even having appreciation for us. I don't know if this will turn into anything, but at least she won't become our enemy."
-"Indeed. Now, only Ragnarök is a major threat left. The negotiations ended with us in a stronger position, but it's still far away from resolving the current situation. All gods who were making trouble were shut down and received their due punishment, but some are still trying to force us out."
~"Let them be. When the information about the Shinto pantheon joining Hold became public, their opinion would be worthless, as our position would be solid."
-"Even more if we get rid of Rakia."-Loki smiled, thinking of her plans.
~"Maiev already captured nobles and royals that escaped from the Elven Kingdom, while Riveria discovered many documents about crimes they committed. Give or take three days, and the Wood Elves will officially become part of my Spirit Empire."
-"Perfect. That would be enough of casus belli to launch a full-blown assault on Rakia."
~"Nobu already mobilized Loufu, Zhuming, and Yaoqing along with Cloud, Ember, and Ichor Knights. They are only waiting for our signal."
-"With such force, there isn't any chance for them to resist."
~"Yes, but the problem will be controlling the people. How long had Rakia existed? At least a few generations, right?"
-"Yes, even children there are hardened criminals, not to mention adults."
~"I discussed this with Astraea, and she came up with some plans to reeducate those people, but a strong and continuous military presence will be necessary there for a long time."
-"I believe there won't be any issues, but if you need any help, just tell me."
~"Sure."
-"It's been so long since I prepared and executed such an elaborate scheme."-Loki couldn't stop smiling for the whole conversation.-"Thank you for not stopping me."
~"You might be an evil goddess of mischief, but most of your stories paint you as not only loyal but even nurturing. I believe that as long as I will treat you honestly and sincerely, even if sometimes I will be on the receiving end of your mischief, you will never harm me."
-"This is what I like about you. You are brave enough to believe in a liar."
~"Let's not talk about this for now. I wanted to ask you about something."
-"What is it?"
~"Soon, I'll be going to the mortal world again, but I also located a candidate for the third trip. Are you interested in accompanying me there?"
-"That sounds fun, count me it. But I hope you can give me some information about that world before we go there."
~"No problem."
-"Then I'll finish everything on this side and go to Hold to prepare everything. Would you mind if I took some people with me there?"
~"Depends."
-"Ais and Leyfia, for sure, but I'm also considering Adi and those girls from Freya."
~"I can somewhat understand Adi, but 'girls from Freya'?"
-"Those waitresses. They are not loyal to Freya but to Syr. Right now, Freya is concerned about her destined one, and she wants a guarantee that I won't meddle with that person so I can give it to her for those girls."
~"I somewhat understand. Do as you want, but be sure nothing too important gets leaked out."
-"Easy. Then I'll find you later."
Loki left the room I was staying in with a jump in her step. Seeing her enjoying herself so much was somewhat amusing, but thinking that it came as the price of gods being treated as pawns made me sigh.
A little later, just as I was finishing my job, a surprising guest arrived in my office.
~"Ganyu? What's up? I hope you are not working at such a late hour."
-"No..."
~"Hmm?"~Taking a better look at the half-qilin, I noticed her red cheeks and unsteadiness in her step.~"Are you drunk?"
-"Maybe..."
~"Sit down, I'll bring you some water."
-"Thank you."-Ganyu sat on the sofa and stared at me.
~"Did something happen at the party?"
-"Everyone is having fun, but it's a little too loud for me."
~"I can understand you. I also prefer quiet reading time rather than a noisy banquet."
-"Yue."
~"Yes?"
-"Can you stay with me tonight?"
~"Sure. Is there something you want to talk about?"
Ganyu nodded and continued to stare at me.
~"So what is it?"
-"Yue I want to take a vacation."
~"Sure no prob..."~Reciving such a shocking revelation made me unable to comprehend its meaning for a second.~"What?! Are you OK? Did something happen? Elysia must have angered you by exploiting your goodwill. Tell me everything and I'll make everything right for you."
-"..."
~"Don't worry, while Elysia is insensitive to some things she is not bad, so if you tell her what annoyed you I'm sure she won't do that anymore."
-"No, Elysia didn't do anything bad directly..."
~"But did indirectly, right?"
Ganyu nodded and her face reddened even more.
~"Just tell me what is it."
-"I'm..."-Ganyu's face continued to redden, now even her ears were red.
~"Ganyu?"
-"I'm jealous!"-Ganyu finally erupted with what resentment accumulated in her heart.-"Elysia is my friend and I'm happy for her, but... but... She nonstop talks about you and her, feeding everyone dog food by telling how great you are and how much in love she is."
As this was my first time seeing Ganyu not being meek or polite, I remained silent and allowed her to vent.
-"She is so insensitive! Isn't she aware that many people have a crush on you? And she rubs her love in the face of everyone, it's so annoying. She pushes all her work on me, which I don't mind that much, but every time she does so she brings you up, making me unable to focus on work. Yue, tell me what is wrong with me?"
~"Ehh? Why do you think that there is something wrong with you?"
-"Because I can't do my work properly! Before, even if I didn't sleep or eat for days I still could do my tasks perfectly and on time, but now I can't focus and my work efficiency suffers. I don't know what is wrong."
~"Can you tell me why can't you focus?"
-"Every time I do something I think about how would you do the same task, if there is anything I could do better so that when you receive this it can make your work easier. Because of that, I check my tasks much more, wasting time."
~"I see..."
-"So I thought of taking some time to rest. Maybe if I can clear my mind, I would be able to return to normal."
~"Well, I don't mind. Calculating everything you can easily take two months off, but if you need even more time feel free to tell me."
-"No... I wanted to have one weekend free..."
~"I won't allow it."~I rose from my seat and grabbed Ganyu's shoulders.~"You worked nonstop for over a year at this point. From tomorrow until the Festival of Hope, I order you to not work. Am I clear?"
-"But..."
~"No buts. I'll have ten people take over your tasks so there won't be an issue if you take a rest. Focus on yourself, spend some time with Yaoyao, visit Emerald Dream, do whatever you wish, just please relax."
Ganyu nodded, being overwhelmed by me.
~"Good. I'll convey your vacation to Elysia tomorrow, I'll also make sure to instruct her to behave more tactfully from now on. Don't worry about anything."
-"Mhmm..."
~"Sigh. If something annoys you, just tell that directly to someone. Don't bottle it up."
-"But... I don't want to be a bother."
~"Ganyu, there is no living person that can think of you as a bother. Trust me."
-"Then, can I stay here?"
~"I already agreed to this, didn't I? Wait a second, I'll make us a quick supper and we can continue to talk."
Entering the adjacent room with a small kitchen, I made some light evening snacks for the two of us and returned to my office, but before I could speak again, I noticed that Ganyu was dozing off. Quietly setting the plates on the table, I sat next to the sleepy half-qilin and laid her head on my legs, covering her with a blanket that I had in my storage.
Taking out some interesting books, I spend the whole night quietly reading while petting the girl curled up on my lap. When Rin and Rita returned in the morning, two of them were surprised by what they saw, but they tactfully left the room, not disturbing the rare rest of the most hardworking goat in the entire Hold.