I feel at ease when I'm with you

A rather slow chap, in fact, I could even say it's a side chapter...

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/The next day…/

/Chirp!... Chirp!.../

"Goddamn wild roosters..." Silver said as he woke up

Hum?

'He felt a weight on his chest as he opened his eyes.'

'It was a warm feeling, one he felt many times before...'

"..."

What a mess...

'It was his Goddess Hestia, sleeping with her face glued to his chest.'

'But her legs were locked to his body, preventing him from moving at all...'

"Sigh."

'He put his hand on her head and thought:'

I don't mind spending a few more minutes like this.

...

/Around half an hour later and a quick shower.../

"Will you be going to the Dungeon again?" Hestia asked as Silver brushed her long hair that was still slightly wet after her bath

'It had a faint fragrance of flowers, a smell Hestia loved very much as it was her most prized shampoo.'

'This brand was recommended to her by Silver long ago when they still lived in the old Church, he gave it to her as a present and she seemed to like it, so much so she uses it every day.'

'Long hair isn't easy to take care of, be it Mortal hair or Divine hair.'

"Not now, first, I have some things to do." Silver replied as he got distracted

"Can I ask what?... Ouch! Don't pull so much!" Hestia complained as her head twitched

"Sorry, I'm barely even using any strength here…"

If my Dexterity wasn't so high, this wouldn't even be possible...

"But yes you can." Silver said as he cleared his throat

Today is one of those busy days...

"First, I'll be visiting Miach."

"That's rare, it's been a while since I talked with him." Hestia said as she thought deeply

"What are you going there for?"

"Some time ago, I left Miach with a small project for an alchemical product, and last time I went there, he told me it would be ready by today, so I'll be going there to see how everything went." Silver replied as he continued to brush her hair

"I didn't know you visited them so frequently…"

I really have to pay more attention to what's happening...

"We do have a contract after all, so I go there every once in a while for commissions related to herb gathering and material acquisition." Silver said with a small smile

"It's good money that I can make without much effort, and it also helps in improving our relationship with them, especially when you consider I'm stronger than their Captain, so I can get rarer materials without much trouble."

Materials they would have had to buy from the market or commission to someone else... Both options end up being pricier than simply commissioning me.

"They pay me quite well for it, in fact, I do the same with the Hephaestus Familia, however in their case, they rarely have any sort of Commission for me since they have so many suppliers, so I rarely go there with that in mind."

'Hestia was impressed.'

"Ohh, I never considered that before… Hey, you can go a bit faster, if you take too long to brush my hair it won't get in shape." She said as she looked at Silver

'Silver closed his eyes, feeling defeated.'

"I'm trying…"

"Anyway... Perhaps I should've helped you understand this more, the papers I gave you lastime don't really talk about this…"

"Besides, they're boring aren't they?" He asked with a small smile

'Hestia was caught off guard as she froze...'

"Ah? No! I…"

'Silver patted her head gently, trying not to mess her hair.'

"Don't lie, such a minor thing won't really upset me, I know very well how boring those papers are because I myself felt bored when I wrote them."

'Hestia scratched her checks in embarrassment as she replied with a bit of guilt:'

"Sorry… I tried to read them but…"

I fell asleep midway through, I don't even remember what I read...

Daphne helps from time to time, but I truly know very little.

"Don't feel sorry…  Why don't we go over everything in a simple way?" Silver said as he hugged her

"Of course!" She said with a flushed smile

'Silver cleared his throat as he said:'

"In short, what I wanted from this contract was for the members of our Familia to visit the Miach Familia on a regular basis to get commissions, normally doing so every day before going to the Dungeon…"

"But reality is harsh... Everyone is still on the Upper floors, so they can't really complete any commission even if they wanted to…"

"The only ones who could complete them are Cassandra and Daphne, but they don't have the time to descend to the Middle Floors."

And by themselves, it would be quite the work to go there alone.

Speaking of them, I overheard their conversation one of these days, and they seemed to be extremely comfortable with their new home, they can feel 'free' here.

They can go to the Dungeon whenever they want, they don't have any annoying superiors, and those below them are quite likable.

Cassandra and Daphne will often go to the Dungeon, not only to make money but also to increase their Statuses…

Hopefully, soon enough we'll have multiple parties that can come and go to the Middle floors whenever they wish.

"You see, it would be bad if there wasn't anyone to take their missions. It's not like this is required in the contract or anything, as the amount we have to do is very little."

"But the thing is that these commissions are just as important to us as it is for them, as they themselves have their own commissions to complete, like making a specific potion or medicine, and those need materials if they don't get those through us, them they'll have to buy it off the market and that's expensive."

"So I visit them every once in a while to grab plenty of commissions at once, this is enough to keep our end of the contract, get some money, and help them continue their business since competition is fierce."

They can commission other people, but there is simply too much competition...

Albeit, this will probably reduce over time as the Dian Cecht Familia is gobbling up the entire business.

This will only happen if they manage to last long enough, Miach is too kind for his own sake and will often gift Potions worth tens of thousands to people like candy...

/Cough.../

'Silver continued:'

"That is only for the commissions, of course, we still buy potions in droves and other medicinal products, so they are profiting even if we didn't do any commission."

The contract was very equal in the first place, you may think they gain a lot since we can only buy from them out of the other pharmacies, but in truth, we gain quite the discount, and with the commissions, money tends to fly both ways.

"This is pretty much it for Miach, you can always visit him to ask him exactly what is going on between our Familias or Daphne."

'Silver approached her and said in a low tone:'

"But I would recommend otherwise as Miach is more focused on making potions than he is about his own health, so it would be better to ask his Captain, Naaza."

"..."

"Wait a bit, this is a tad too much information for me to process at once." Hestia said as she massaged her temples

'She raised her fingers and started to go over everything again, and after she was done, she said:'

"What about Hephi?"

"Hephaestus is actually a similar deal, but in their case, they are losing more than they gain." Silver said seriously

"What?!" Hestia exclaimed, appealed

I can't believe I'm doing this to her... Especially after everything she did for me...

The month has already ended, and it's time for me to go back to work!

"You were there when she gave us this massive 300 million Valis debt, and you were there when I suggested this deal, don't you remember?"

"Urg… Don't even speak about it, my head spins every time I hear that number." Hestia said with a frown

"Well, would you feel better if I were to tell you that I already accumulated a Sixth of that?" Silver replied with a smug smile

"You did?! Just how much money do you make?" She asked in surprise as she turned her head to face him

"I'll say how much money I make if you stop moving so much, I'm almost done." Silver said as he knocked on her head lightly

"Let's see, I did at least a dozen commissions every day and hunted in the Middle floors for close to a month, so this amount is actually low."

This is if we dismiss the money I stole from Ishtar, if I managed to liquidate everything, I would have more than enough to pay her off and much more.

And also the massive amount of materials that keep accumulating in my subspace, I normally don't sell everything at once, albeit I'm increasing the amount I sell at the Guild every day, it's still lower than the amount I acquire.

The only reason why I don't dump this in the black market is that they pay less than the Guild, even after the taxes.

If I sell everything to a good merchant, however, I would probably double what I have, going from a Sixth to a Third immediately.

"Just as I make a lot of money, I also spend it on many sources…"

"A big part of everything I make actually goes to buying more potions…"

I spend a lot of Mind, not only in the Dungeon but also on normal training.

And this will remain for as long as I am an adventurer because the process of spending a lot of Mind at once is great for improving the Magic Stat.

Even though it gives me a constant headache.

"It may seem as obvious, but my Halberd needs maintenance, and I can only ask Hephaestus for it since only another God would be able to work on it."

"And also due to the exclusivity contract."

Normally, my Halberd would be able to last longer since it's technically alive but... I use it a bit too much.

"She always asks for quite the amount as well, it's quite heavy in my pockets…"

She isn't merciful in regards to this, perhaps she is regretting asking for only 300 Million and has decided to ask the rest through this.

"Another part goes for the Familia, since we don't really have money in our reserves, I've been having to do as our vault." He said with a small chuckle

"Everyone is pretty equipped, and they make quite a decent amount of money, but it's still true that they use a fair share of it to buy supplies and fix their equipment in the Hephaestus Familia's workshops."

Depending on what happens, a knife can become uselss after one Dungeon dive, a shield may have to be replaced, a chest plate may have to be reforged…

All of it costs money, and it adds up.

"I can safely say I lost close to 30% of my total revenue to taxes, I would have a lot more if I actively sold my items to merchants instead of the Guild, but I never had the time to procure buyers for my items." Silver said in a deep tone

I hate taxes. Especially the Guild with their minimum price policy.

That is why literally almost adventurers above Levels 3 and 4 will choose to sell their items to merchants, the only times when the Guild becomes an option is to bigger Familias, they gain quite the benefits...

"I never knew that you had so many things to consider…" Hestia said in a slightly depressed tone

He told me a few of these things once, but I never really put them together and understood the bigger picture…

'Seeing her expression, Silver hugged her and said:'

"Don't worry for me, this is all pretty manageable, it may seem overwhelming when I put it all at once like this, but I rarely have to deal with more than 3 of the things I mentioned here in the same day."

"Soon enough we'll pay this dept, and most of our worries will go away." He said as he pulled her head to his chest

'Hestia felt as if she was going to melt away…'

"Uhum…"

"As for your hair…" Silver said out of nowhere

"I'm trying here okay, it's hard to brush your long hair while using little strength and being fast…"

One of the downsides of being becoming stronger, menial activities become harder.

If I get upset and grab a fork too strong it'll bend over and snap before I even realize.

"... Sigh." Hestia exhaled

"Is something wrong?" Silver asked

"No…"

But the mood just died.

'Hestia rolled her eyes, but she smiled, she was used to it, she liked it, this was the an she loved, that cared for her.'

'So she stayed put and waited for him to brush her hair, pointing out his mistakes as he struggled with her glossy long hair…'

…

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Notes