Dinner room.

"…" Akio looks around in amazement. "So…he built this home…"

As Akio waits in the dining room when another goddess enters.

"Is dinner almost ready?"

"Oh Artemis! Your back! How was teaching the kids!" said Ai, yelling from the kitchen.

"They were doing well! One of them managed to get a deer! Hm? Are you Ai’s brother?"

"Yes, I am Akio, her older brother."

"Hmm…" she looked at him before sitting down. "Rethusa are you coming to eat?"

Coming in were more women, taking their seats.

"Yes we are. We just got down and checked the border of the village."

"Oh the Artemis Familia is here as well?" Kushida said, looking into the room.

"Kushida! You’re here!" Rethusa said, getting up and hugging her. "It’s been so long! Are you helping with the cooking?"

"Yes, Cirrus is taking a shower right now, so I’m pitching in for now."

"Do you have any more sake?" Phi inquired.

"Why would I you dam drunk!"

Akio simply sat as many of them conversed with one another when Aphrodite entered.

"I brought some drinks and food for our guests here!" she said, looking at Akio.

"It’s too much, please. I’m not so important to warrant such extravagance. "

"Come on! You’re here to take Cirrus to meet the head of this country!"

"Oh? You’re going to take him to see Amaterasu, huh?" said Artemis walking in.

"Y-yes um, Lady Artemis, correct?"

She nods her head.

"Well, she wished to meet him for his work on a sword that Lord Susanoo gifted her."

"We're going to go and buy some more stuff for the house!" shouted Ai.

"And I’m going with it! I wanted to see the shops in this country!" exclaimed Aphrodite.

"Hm! hm!" said her children.

‘There are so many people here! The room was filled up too quickly.’

"Say, could Cirrus bring his retainer?" said Artemis.

"He has a retainer? Um…I would assume so. But wouldn’t he bring Ai?"

"Nox would be better!" shouted Ai. "I’m not very good at dealing with important people."

"Speaking of, where is she?" asked Rethusa.

"Hey Nox!!! Get down for dinner!!" shouted Ai.

After a bit, a white-haired beauty entered the room.

"!!" for a second, Akio had mistaken her for a goddess of beauty, but quickly found she didn’t have a divinity.

"What up? I was finishing putting the books in order."

"We're going to the capital in two days. Can you go with Cirrus to—"

"Yeah I’m going with him. He told me about it. Are you making your katsudon?"

"I am so take a seat!"

Akio was amazed by the number of people in their home, but when he entered.

"Something smells good." Cirrus said.

"Heeey!!!"

He was welcomed with cheering; the mood seemed to have lightened up even more.

"How was the patrol?" He asked.

"Boring as usual, but Cale did manage to hit a bird 300 meters away!" said Phi.

"Hm! hm! my personal record!"

"And the farming?" he asked the handsome males and females. "It was fine, sir. Oh, but one of the cows did give birth!"

"That's great! Is the calf doing well?"

"Very well!"

"Half of the books are organized, Cirrus." said Nox.

"Ah, good Nox, sorry for making you do that."

He was really good at listening, able to hear all that they were saying and respond back. A truly talented man.

"Hey Cirrus, could you give us a hand?" asked Kushida.

"Yeah, coming."

Akio watched and interacted as best as he could, but with so much going on, he was rather overcome by this man's life and the people he surrounded himself with.

‘Ai seems to have found herself a good man, one who is kind enough to have gathered this many people— far better than Ayaka and her den of snakes.’

He figured that with Cirrus’s help, he could surely raise their family to become the next Jouno Family, the Kyuujouno Family.

 

After eating, he said his goodbyes and returned back to his parents' home.

"So how was your meeting?" Akeru asked.

"From what I have seen, he is a good man, surrounded by happiness in a home he built. I liked him better than Tanikawa Munemori."

"And is he going to meet Lady Amaterasu?"

"He will have no problems."

"And Ai?"

"…I think she’s better off not getting involved. Seeing her spar made me realize she could easily take down all of Amaterasu’s guards with not much effort, but Cirrus... He is worth far more than I could have imagined."

"…Akio I think you shouldn’t get on his bad side."

"Hm? he has a bad side?"

"Not that we know of, but well... I’ll just leave it at that. You should rest up. You've had a long day."

That night, Akio stayed up later than he wanted, and he thought about his father’s words.

‘If he could match Ai’s speed, then he must be a level 5. He was also sweating. Hmm... well, everything should go well.’

 

The next day, Akio felt refreshed for the first time in a long time. He hadn’t needed to wake up for drills or anything.

For the day, he figured he would just walk around the village for a bit.

"... Spring is here and there is still snow... just like when I was a boy." He looked around the village to find members of the Aphrodite Familia going around and helping with various stuff.

‘I wonder what—'

"Hey, Akio!"

He turned to see Ai.

"Oh, Ai…what are you doing?"

‘Does she want to interact with me? I guess I have never seen her since she was born.’

"I was just getting some metal for Cirrus. He is currently building a carriage so we can go to the capital more easily!"

"Is that so…"

"Yup! So can you tell me what it’s like to work under Lady Amaterasu herself!" she said with a bright expression.

"…Um sure."

They walked around the village talking with one another.

"So yeas I simply monitor the palace and often train with my fellow guards."

"Hmm sounds kind of boring?"

"Well, it’s not a luxurious job as it seems to be, but you are given an immense amount of respect and you get to see several kinds of people of influence in the country."

"Just by standing around?"

"…Well when you put it like that, it's umm... You say you were an adventure in Orario, right? How was it?"

"It was fun! But sadly, when I was there, the city was going through a dark period with a group trying to destroy the city."

"That’s terrible! Did you help to stop it?"

"Hm! we and several other Familia joined together and fought them off! Eventually, it all culminated in an epic battle where we all fought off the group's strongest adventures!"

"That sounds amazing! So, do you have a name? Many adventures have been given names, according to what I've heard.Sadly, Yamato doesn’t have good ways of getting information?"

"Hm! They called me the Flashing Saint!"

"That’s a pretty grand name, right? Why did they give you that?"

Ai stopped, and she placed her hands on her sword, and a flash raced across his eyes.

"That’s why."

Clink!

‘She drew it and sheathed her blade before I could even see it!’

"A fitting name… So does Cirrus have one as well?"

"Oh, he has a—"

"Ai!!!" shouted Aphrodite. "I need your help with something!!"

"Ah sorry! I gotta go!"

Ai quickly left, leaving Akio behind.

"Hmm... all I know is that he’s very strong… Hmm so long as I do nothing stupid, everything should go off without a hitch with Lady Amaterasu."