The children murmured to each other, eyeing this strikingly voluptuous, beautiful woman with wary curiosity.
In that brief moment of hesitation, Demeter had already recovered from her shock.
Seeing the children, a smile bloomed across her radiant face - warm and sweet as spring sunlight.
Without a shred of concern for her dignity as a goddess, she set the bamboo basket in her hands down on the ground.
Then she strode quickly to the children at the front of the line and dropped straight to her knees on the dirt road.
The pose brought her lush figure - curvy enough to give any man a nosebleed - level with the children's eyes.
"Nice to meet you, my darling little angels."
Demeter's voice was soft and sweet, without a trace of condescension.
"I'm Demeter, the goddess in charge of farming and growing fruit. If you ever get hungry, or want a nice sweet apple, just come find big sister anytime, okay?"
As she spoke, she picked out a few large, freshly washed apples from the basket.
Gently, she pressed the apples into the hands of Yuzuki Katagiri and Midori Fuse, who stood closest to her.
The little cat-girl Midori Fuse, flustered by the attention, cradled the apple - bigger than her own fist - in both hands.
Her fluffy black cat ears trembled with excitement beneath her oversized witch's hat.
She snuck a glance at Haimer, and saw him smile and nod at her.
Only then did Midori Fuse gather her courage and thank her in a small, babyish voice:
"Th-thank you, Lady Demeter..."
"Oh my, what a good girl!"
Hearing that sweet, halting little thank-you, Demeter's heart nearly melted.
She reached out and gently patted the witch's hat on Midori's head.
That overflowing maternal warmth washed over them like a warm current, tearing a great gap through the defenses the Cursed Children had kept locked tight for years.
In the space of just a few minutes -
with her overflowing warmth and that basketful of sweet, fresh fruit, Demeter had already won over this wary, guarded group of Cursed Children completely.
The girls crowded around her, chattering away with questions about farming and fruit, the mood warm and cheerful.
"Big Sister Demeter, if you grind this wheat into flour, can you make lots and lots of bread?" Midori Fuse asked, eyes shining, taking a bite of her apple.
"Of course you can, as much as you want," Demeter said with a smile, pinching Yuzuki's cheek.
Seeing how quickly Demeter's warmth had won over the Cursed Children, the women of [Haimer Familia] waiting at Orario's gate hurried forward as well.
The guardsmen manning the gate gripped their spears but didn't dare step forward to stop them.
After all, as the Labyrinth City's officially chartered Constable, [Haimer Familia] was more or less their superior authority now.
As for Shakti, she leaped straight down from the towering wall and strode quickly to Haimer's side.
Shakti stared at the dense crowd of little girls, her eyes full of astonishment.
"Lord Haimer, you said you were going out to pick someone up, and you come back with... this many children?"
Shakti couldn't hold it in any longer and asked directly about the children.
"They're all homeless orphans. It was too pitiful, leaving them to wander the wilderness, so I brought them back with me," Haimer said, without so much as a flicker of expression.
Hearing Haimer's excuse about orphans, Shakti's eye twitched twice.
She knew perfectly well the wilderness beyond the walls was riddled with danger - there was no way this many orphans could all turn up outside Orario at once, completely unharmed.
The excuse was so flimsy it was practically falling apart at the seams.
But given Haimer's special status as a dread god of the Heavens, along with the authority Ouranos had granted him, and the fact that virtually every god in Orario was afraid to cross him -
- Shakti knew perfectly well she had no standing to press further. She sighed helplessly and simply agreed to handle the registration paperwork for their entry into the city.
"Since they're orphans you've taken in, my lord, I'll have the city guard let them through directly," Shakti conceded.
Meanwhile, the veteran women of [Haimer Familia] had settled down from their earlier state of high alert.
One by one, they stepped forward to introduce themselves to the Cursed Children newly arrived from the other world.
"I'm Onigawara Rin. If you ever have questions about swordsmanship, come find me," Onigawara Rin said cheerfully, resting a hand on the famed blade at her hip.
"I'm Mary Kikakujou. If any of you enjoy reading, feel free to come talk with me," Mary said with a smile, striking her most elegant, ladylike pose.
Right after her, the Holy Emperor, dressed in a flowing white gown, came walking over.
At the sight of that familiar face, several Cursed Children from the Tokyo district lit up.
Back in the old world, they'd often seen this ruler broadcast on screens. Seeing her in the flesh now, a deep-seated reverence made them start to bow.
"Esteemed Holy Emperor!"
Seeing this, the Holy Emperor quickly smiled and bent down, reaching out to steady them.
"No need to be so formal. Here, we're all comrades - just call me Holy Emperor," she said, her voice gentle as flowing water.
This small exchange immediately caught the sharp attention of Shakti, who hadn't yet walked off.
Shakti's gaze flicked back and forth between the Holy Emperor and the children, suspicion clouding her thoughts.
Now that she thought about it... "Holy Emperor" was a name that practically screamed sovereignty.
Could this Miss Holy Emperor - noble in both bearing and name - actually hold real power in some loosely-governed kingdom somewhere? Shakti's mind raced through the possibilities.
After all, Orario had a checkered history of gods spiriting away princes and nobles.
There was once a maritime kingdom's princess whom Hermes had forcibly carried off, who later became Asfi, the all-capable Captain of [Hermes Familia].
So Shakti wasn't overly surprised - the Lower World was vast, after all, and beyond Orario there were plenty of lawless territories and loosely-run kingdoms.
It was just that every one of these children recognized the Holy Emperor, and showed her such reverence.
So did that mean all several hundred of these girls came from that same mysterious kingdom?
The more Shakti thought it over, the more the logic seemed to fit, explaining why this group had simply materialized out in the wilderness.
Still, though her mind remained full of questions, she didn't dare press further, and simply swallowed her guess in silence.
"All right, save the pleasantries for when we're home," Haimer said, glancing up at the sky - the sun had already risen.
"Miss Shakti, if you'd lead the way."
Shakti set her thoughts aside and immediately signaled to the guards.
Haimer, cradling the exhausted, sleeping Tina in his arms, took the lead as they entered Orario's North Main Street.
Several hundred little girls fell into a few columns, following behind Haimer and the others.
They gazed around in curiosity at the towering stone buildings and the strangely-dressed adventurers filling the streets.
As for the commoners and vendors along the north gate street, every one of them froze what they were doing.
Everyone stared wide-eyed at the procession.
At its head walked none other than the newly appointed and already-famous Constable, Haimer.
The bone-chilling pressure radiating off him sent passersby scrambling out of the way.
Yet trailing behind him was a great crowd of adorable little girls in pretty lace dresses.
There was even Midori Fuse, with her animal ears, looking practically like a member of the Cat People race.
"Good grief... did the Constable just clear out an entire orphanage?"
A vendor muttered, stammering, in a lowered voice.
"Shh! Do you have a death wish? Can't you see the Ganesha Familia guardsmen are right there, escorting them like good little soldiers?" his companion hissed, clapping a hand over his mouth.
Though everyone's minds were crammed full of questions, Haimer's fearsome reputation as a dread god kept every last one of them from making a sound.
The adventurers along the way, including captains of several mid-sized Familias, also flashed looks of curiosity at the sight of the hundreds of girls.
As for within the marching column itself -
- as the first Cursed Children to have followed Haimer to Orario, Aihara Enju and Kohina Hiruko naturally took on the role of squad leaders.
"Don't be scared, everyone. These uncles and aunties who look kind of strange are actually just other races."
Aihara Enju explained brightly, pointing at a few Werewolves along the street.
Kohina Hiruko, meanwhile, twirled the pair of short tachi in her hands, walking along the edge of the column with a light step and a smile on her lips.
"That's right, that's right, no need to be scared. If anyone dares to bother us -"
Hiruko gave her blades a little swing.
"- Kami-sama said we're allowed to fight back against bad people! Little Hiruko will just gut every last one of them!"
At Little Hiruko's words, several of the more timid girls, Midori Fuse included, flinched and shrank down instinctively.
Yet at the same time, they felt an odd sort of reassurance.
Walking beside her, Tendou Kisara reached over and rapped the sheath of her sword against Little Hiruko's beret.
"Put your blades away. Don't go causing trouble for Kami-sama," Tendou Kisara scolded.
Little Hiruko pouted, put out, but obediently sheathed her tachi at her hip all the same.
They crossed half the district, a journey that took nearly an hour.
At last, a towering cluster of buildings came into view ahead.
This was Orario's outermost ring, once an abandoned old quarter.
Now, though, a massive ring-shaped castle sprawling across a huge stretch of land had risen up from the ground.
Sunlight spilled over its outer walls of stacked gray-white stone, lending it a weight of solidity.
Haimer came to a stop before the massive orichalcum gateposts.
He turned, handing the sleeping Tina in his arms over to the Holy Emperor to look after.
"Children, welcome to your new home."
Haimer spread his arms wide.
The girls tilted their heads back, staring up at a castle grander than any palace they'd ever seen in the old world.
Soaring towers, sturdy battlements, and beyond the gate, a smooth avenue paved with red brick.
"Th-this is all... for us to live in?"
"That's right. It's plenty big - big enough to hold every last one of you."
Haimer nodded, smiling.
At that same moment -
- word of the commotion surrounding [Haimer Familia] seemed to have gotten around.
A few more figures came walking over from another street.
It was none other than Hephaestus of [Hephaestus Familia], along with Tsubaki.
When they saw the dense crowd of several hundred little girls outside the gate, both froze in their tracks as if struck by some paralysis spell.
"Well, I'll be..." Tsubaki sucked in a sharp breath.
"Did Lord Haimer go raid some Kingdom of Women or something? This number's just ridiculous!"
Hephaestus, equally stunned, rubbed her brow, half wondering if exhaustion had driven her to hallucinate.
"Here I thought you were building a castle this huge to recruit elite adventurers from every race."
Hephaestus walked up to Haimer.
"And instead you go through all this trouble, dump an astronomical fortune into it, just to raise a few hundred little girls?"
As Hephaestus saw it, most of these children looked slight and frail, without a shred of combat training.
In the face of his old friend's skepticism, Haimer wore a mysterious smile.
"Ordinary? You might be taking that back before long."
There was confidence in Haimer's voice.
After all, once these hundred-odd Cursed Children carrying the Gastrea virus received the blessing of [God's Grace], the potential they'd unleash would be more than enough to stun the entire Lower World.
"I really can't figure out what goes on in that head of yours," Hephaestus said, shaking her head helplessly, but she quickly shifted into work mode all the same.
She pulled out a set of building blueprints and handed them to Haimer.
"I finished inspecting the interior of your compound last night. Everything meets standard - you're clear to move in officially."
"The supplies the goddesses on Demeter's side sent over are all top quality. On top of that, Demeter says she'll arrange grain carts to deliver fresh food on a set schedule every day, enough to feed over a thousand people."
"Good work. Thanks for all your effort."
Haimer took the blueprints, nodding in satisfaction.
With Hephaestus overseeing things, the efficiency really was beyond reproach.
What followed was the tedious work of settling everyone in.
Under Onigawara Rin's guidance, the several hundred girls were brought into the castle in groups.
They walked down wide, bright corridors, smooth polished flagstones underfoot, the walls set with Magic Stone lamps glowing softly.
The girls felt as though they'd stepped into a dream-palace, letting out little gasps of wonder every so often.
"Wow, the walls glow all by themselves!" one girl cried out in delight, pointing at a Magic Stone lamp.
"It's so warm in here, not cold at all," another girl said, touching the insulated wallpaper, her face full of disbelief.
The dormitory area was divided into a number of spacious rooms, each fitted with comfortable solid-wood bunk beds made up with soft, pure white cotton sheets.
For the entire morning, the compound rang with the girls' bright laughter and the patter of running feet.
Haimer stood on the ring-shaped terrace of the fifth floor, looking down at the children playing and roughhousing in the courtyard below.
His expression was calm, his eyes full of quiet satisfaction.
Time slipped quickly by.
Before long, evening had arrived.
In the new compound's cavernous meeting hall, the core combat members of [Haimer Familia] - Onigawara Rin and the others who had followed Haimer from the very start - soon gathered together.
____
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