FAMILIA CONTRACT
“Now let me explain how things are going to work around here.”
With both hands on her hips like a dignified patron goddess, Hestia addressed her newest recruits. It was the morning three days after the War Game, in the living room of their newly acquired home. Bell was away at the Guild making sure their affairs were in order, but all the other members were present. Before anybody had even begun unpacking, Hestia had gathered Lilly, Welf, and Mikoto to impress upon them the rules of her familia.
“I want everyone back home by ten, and it had better be a matter of life or death if you’re not. If you have a reason to be late, tell me in advance. Whenever you go to the Dungeon, let me know which floor you’re aiming for before you leave.”
“I knew about the Dungeon thing, but…do you really impose a curfew around here?” asked Lilly.
“You bet your butt I do, supporter girl. I know what this city is like after dark, and I don’t want my Bell to have any part in it. Who knows what he’d get dragged into if he stayed out all night drinking?”
“Your Bell?” repeated Lilly with a death stare. Hestia ignored her and moved on.
“Also, we have all our meals as a group, except for lunch. You’ll be in the Dungeon, and I have my part-time job, so we can’t really make it work. Otherwise, we eat together.”
“Works for me. In fact, that’s how I prefer it,” said Welf.
“Yes,” agreed Mikoto. “It is a fine thing to eat in good company and strengthen our bonds as comrades.”
“Well, that makes things easy,” said Hestia. Then, after finishing explaining all her rules, she pulled three sheets of paper out of seemingly thin air.
“I’ll just need your signatures here,” she said. “You all have my Falnas engraved on your backs already, but I find it helps to have a paper contract as well. After this, you will officially be members of Hestia Familia.”
“Th-this is more formal than I expected,” uttered Mikoto, a bead of sweat dripping down her cheek. But she took the contract, and so did Welf and Lilly. The Far Eastern girl sweated as she stared down lines upon lines of Koine script, but Welf skimmed the whole thing and hastily scrawled his name at the bottom. Only Lilly seemed to be examining the parchment diligently, staring hard enough to burn holes in the paper.
And when her chestnut-colored eyes reached the end of the page, they came upon a line of text printed in imperceptibly tiny letters.
“Relationships with the opposite sex are not allowed—especially with the captain. Even holding hands is forbidden.”
Without another word, Lilly ripped the contract in two.
“Aaaaghhh! Have you lost your mind, supporter girl?!”
“You’re the one who’s lost her mind!! What kind of fine print is this?!”
Still holding her signed contract, Mikoto began sweating bullets, and Welf simply sighed.
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