The Puppeteer (Patreon)

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/Sometime later in the Hestia Familia Manor…/

"And… Done." Hestia said cheerfully as she finished updating Silver's stats

'She took out a piece of paper and transcribed his new status before getting off from his back and sitting on the edge of the bed.'

"Let me take a look." Silver said with a smile as he sat next to her

"It's all yours."

'Before he could grab the paper though, Hestia sat on his lap once more.'

'This seemed to be her new favorite spot when reviewing his development.'

'Silver didn't say anything though, instead, he enjoyed her presence and camly read through the paper.'

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Mellios Silver

Level-3

Strength    H-100 -> H-119

Vitality      H-100 -> H-141

Dexterity    H-100 -> H-120

Agility        H-100 -> H-129

Magic        H-100 -> H-149

Evolved body -> H

Perseverance  -> G

Geneticist -> I

Magic:

>Magnum Opus Ambrosia

Skills:

>Vit Alhjin

>Infir David Missimus

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'This time, his change was much more contained!'

"It's much lower than usual." Silver said with a frown

"Even though it's still much higher than the norm…" Hestia said as she rolled her eyes

"You know, today was the first day I updated the statuses of everyone since they first entered our Familia."

"And the growth of the new adventures within that single month was about 3 to 5 times what you made today."

"In one month, they made around 4 times what you did in one day… So please…" Hestia said as she pulled his right cheek

"I never said I was slow, just that it was slower than usual." Silver said as he patted her head

"Isn't it normal for it to decrease when your Level increases?... Oh yeah…" Hestia said, realizing her own mistake

This guy Leveled up faster to Level 3 than it took for him to Level up to 2…

This rule doesn't really apply…

"It's probably the way I train…" Silver mumbled to himself

"At first, my training method was new and effective, but as time went on, I got better at hunting monsters and fighting, to a point I became used to it."

Even when I use poison and weights to make things harder and train other statuses, it didn't change much as I am at the end of the day, used to hunting them…

Another way to put it is that this isn't as much of a threat to me as it once was.

As my Level increased and my abilities rose, my abilities became more diversified, to a point where I can quite easily reattach a limb as long as I have a sufficiently strong potion.

I won't lie, this method is still very effective since there is still a big danger in facing a lot of enemies while under critical conditions and limitations like the weights.

And killing many enemies gives me a large influx of Exilia.

Ottar got stronger because everyday he would hunt minotaurs; the Exilia he gained was small, but meaningful.

And slowly, with each grain of sand, he built up a mountain.

"It will take much longer for me to Level up again…" Silver said in deep thought

"Is that bad?" Hestia asked as she rested her head on his chest

"Not at all." He replied as he hugged her

Although for me, the stronger I get the better my situation becomes.

"For most adventurers, Level 3 to 4 is actually quite an awkward Level since the monsters one would need to hunt to become stronger effectively lay on the Lower floors."

"The problem with this, is that it takes quite some time to go that far. If a party of Level 3 adventurers has 18 hours to hunt in a day, they'll take 16 of it to travel down there."

"That is why expeditions or longer dives are necessary." Silver said

"And your point is?..." She asked as she yawned

"What I'm trying to say is that the Leveling speed of the average Level 3 adventurer decreases even more due to the lack of proper opponents to face."

"And that they need to go further down in the Dungeon to find those, taking more time from their already short training time…"

"But this isn't going to be a problem since I can go there and back within a minute."

"This fact alone increases my total training time by a considerable amount."

"As for the Levels above that… It is a widespread 'rule' that the only way to Level up is through expeditions."

"Since monsters suitable for Level 4 adventurers and above can only be found around the lower half of the Lower floors, unless someone decides to aim for the long run and train in the Middle to Upper Lower floors…"

'As Silver spoke, Hestia's expression relaxed as she rested her head on his chest…'

'And after a few minutes he noticed her breathing…'

"Hm?"

Is she even listening to me?

'Silver lowered his head and noticed that his small goddess had already closed her eyes and wasn't paying attention to him anymore.'

"I bet it was hard for you too." Silver said with a small smile as he carefully put her on the bed

This was their first day in the Dungeon alone, so I imagine she spent the entire day worried, and it didn't help that I spent so long down there as well.

Thankfully, everyone returned safely and without any heavy injury.

The results of the one month of training are finally showing... Especially for the newbies.

And some of them are even showing considerable growth, although it's up for time to tell if they'll keep that up.

The limit of someone being able to Level up, unless they have some sort of unique way, is 1 year, so I'll at most be seeing a Level 2 out of them next Spring.

Since this is the time it takes for the Falna to settle properly and for your body to adapt to the blessing.

Of course, there is the possibility of one of the newbies leveling up before that time...

But people with Unique Skills that can allow such fast development aren't just found…

I wonder how much some of them will grow within a year… Will there be any talented adventurers on the same Level as Daphne?

Daphne had 2 stats that reached 700 before she Leveled up, those were her two major ones.

Her support stats reached 500 while her smallest stat, Magic, reached a measly 100, since she only recently awakened her magic, and even when she did, she still used it little due to her remorse for Apollo.

These stats are already considered well above the average and are not commonly seen.

But what I wanted to see was a talent that could rise above that and aim at 800 or even 900. Although that last one is a bit extreme.

I don't have any expectations for someone to Level up before that time… Apart from those that were already adventurers previously, of course.

'Silver turned his head to face Hestia one more time before he turned around and left.'

'The night was long and he had a few more things to do…'

'Such as buying a drink for his friend, he deserved it…'

'And if possible, there was a certain person he had to visit as well.'

…

/At the same time, somewhere deep underground…/

'In a well illuminated room, Dix Perdix, the adventurer responsible for the recent casualties among the Xenos, could be looking down on a spear…'

"This is?" He asked a bald man next to him

"It's a new weapon, it was given to us recently by them as a gift…" The bald man said

"Gift?" Dix asked ironicaly

Don't make me laugh.

"It is my first time seeing such a weapon, they called it a Curse weapon, and it has the ability to deal unhealable injuries to those it wounds…"

"It's honestly very scary..."

"Tsk, what a bother." Dix said as he removed his protective glasses to take a better look at the spear

'Dix wasn't pleased with this.'

They're pretty much telling me that my previous actions were subpar and that they need me to work harder…

So they are giving me the tools necessary for that or what?

"Did they say anything?" He asked as he grabbed the spear

"Yes, they asked you to bring more of the merchandise as soon as possible, and the more of that 'special' merchandise we bring, the more money we'll be given in return."

/Thud…/

'Dix knocked the bottom of the spear against the ground, testing it slightly.'

"They sure are asking something unreasonable again, Dix."

"Previously it was a massive demand for Deep Floor monsters and now they aren't even considering our current condition." The bald man said

'Dix shook his head.'

"That is irrelevant Gran, our lives are expendable to them, they only care about the results… And we need the money anyway."

"Even if everything had gone well, our situation would've remained the same."

'His expression soon twisted into a grin.'

"However... They think they can bind us because of that messly contract and weak threats, but they barely know I already have them caught in a trap."

'He took a knife and plunged it into the table, striking a point in the map.'

'It was somewhere inside the Red Light District!'

"We just need to keep acting as if we're their lackeys, so we'll use them for now as well." He said as he checked the sharpness of the spear

"Don't they seem eager for us to finish our job? To the point they gave me this? So we just need to strike that."

"They are acting greedy now that the Ishtar Familia has lost its influence, trying to gobble up as much of the market as they can before they recover…"

"And without noticing, they have simply made things easier for us and now I can bring forward my plan."

"Until the opportunity arises, we'll act as their Hunting dogs…"

"And once they're down, we'll take over their business and we'll become the rules of this market within the Black sector." Dix said with a serious expression

"Let them choke on their own ambitions and set the stage for us… And well take everything from them." Dix said with a cruel expression as he burned the map on the table

'As he looked at the fire, Dix said:'

"And once all of this is done, we'll go back to what we were doing previously."

Our biggest problem right now is accomplishing this plan while being hunted by the Guild.

It was a miscalculation, I thought I had hit jackpot, but I struck a hornet's nest...

Why the Guild cares so much about a bunch of monsters is beyond me though...

But it's not like anything changed, we need money, and we always moved while under their eyes.

Nothing changed.

"Clean this up." Dix said as he left

"Yes Boss!" Gran said with a salute

'But internally he was confused…'

Why did Boss burn such a perfectly fine map?

'Gran thought that it was such a shame…'

…

/Somewhere within Orario…/

'A blond man could be seen on top of the ceiling of a house, observing the people below with a pair of binoculars.'

'It wasn't just any place, but below him, the colorful streets of the Red Light district could be seen!'

/Knock!/

'He was completely silent, until he suddenly said:'

"Any news?" He asked the air

"A dead end once again..."

"Siiiiigh, I thought as much." Hermes said with disappointment as he took a step back and sat on the chair

"Hermes-Sama, something is wrong… This isn't going anywhere..." Asfi said with a serious face

"No need, I already figured it out." Hermes said with a smile

"You did?" Asif asked, suspicious

"Yup, there is no third party." He said in an amused tone

"What?!" Asfi exclaimed surprised

"Think about it, Asfi-Chan." Hermes said as he moved his binoculars around

"All of our clues led nowhere, and the few we have all point to ambiguous targets."

"Even after investigating them, there is no evidence that points to them ever moving against the Ishtar Familia... At least, in the way, we hopped for… Meaning…"

"They were set up." Asfi said, continuing from where Hermes stopped

"Bingo."

"Whoever did this had a clear goal in mind and several things going on for them..."

"First, they needed to be extremely capable, because not only did they leave no evidence of their existence, but they did it while leaving behind false evidence to mislead us."

"Second, they need to be fast or extremely well coordinated… Or in a sense, to have critical information within the Ishtar Familia to move so precisely and decisively."

"We investigated that, and the clues pointed out to Phryne, Ishtar's Captain…" Asfi said

"But Asfi, that is impossible… And that is proven by what we researched about her…"

'Asfi suddenly had the urge to vomit.'

"Don't make me remember that…"

'Hermes shrugged.'

"See? Phryne has nowhere to go, there is no point in her betraying Ishtar at all."

"This is yet again another case of incrimination, a bright light to draw attention from the truth…"

"The truth? And what is that?"

'Hermes smiled widely as he stared at the bright moon.'

"An organization that has a grudge against Ishtar, is abnormally coordinated, knows a lot about their inner workings and private information…"

"And they are also trying very hard to divert information from themselves… As if they are trying to buy time."

'Hermes smile became extremely wide in awe.'

"If we connected everything we have, it becomes a bit clearer."

"That this is no organization's work at all Asfi…"

"Since the beginning, this was done by one person!"

"What?! Be more clear please…" She replied with a frown

'Hermes started to raise his fingers, counting:'

"Someone with the ability to be anywhere within Orario within the span of a single moment."

"Someone with the ability to infiltrate, steal, incriminate, and flee without leaving a single trace behind… An extreme level of information forging and scenario set up."

"Someone with the goal and determination to screw with a Familia like Ishtar's without caring at all about the consequences!"

"Someone… With the balls to do it while incriminating everyone and making them fight each other fiercely… While simply enjoying the aftermath from the shadows."

"Someone who did all of this with no clear goal aside from simply vengeance as he didn't get anything from this, nor did he try to make use of the situation... Or is that so?"

"Someone with a bizarre and unique assortment of abilities to make all of this possible!"

"Tell me Asfi, who do you think meets these criteria?"

"Who?... Is there even such a person…"

"?!"

"No no no… He is absolutely out of the possible targets…" Asfi said with a pale face

'But Hermes smiled.'

"There is only one person!"

"It doesn't even make any sense! You're just assuming things!..." Asfi cried out loudly

'But Hermes turned his head towards the Northwest, where the Heart Manor resided…'

"I can see it! This stage you set for yourself! How you outplayed a God without giving her a chance to counterattack!"

"The reason is clear! This wasn't an assault, but an act of self-defense!"

"I have been testimony to one of the greatest heists ever seen in Orario's History, done in a single night silently…"

"Esplendid work! Mellios Silver!" Hermes said as he looked at the sky

…

/At the same time, at the very top of Babel…/

"Took you long enough Hermes…" Freya said with a smile

Isn't he explendid?

'Her Silver eyes shone in purple light as she gazed at the city below... Her thoughts unknown.'

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