"…For now, we'll just make do with this place."
"Frugality is a virtue, after all!"
"As for funding, once we recruit members and start exploring the Dungeon, income will follow soon enough."
"So, to summarize," Laila said calmly, not giving Haimer any room to spin it further, "your Familia currently has zero members, and zero starting capital?"
Haimer's smile froze in place.
"A single god. No members, funds and no reputation. And even the headquarters is on the verge of collapse."
In one neat summary, Laila laid bare the current state of the Haimer Familia.
She looked at him, her delicate face wearing a polite yet distant smile.
It was the kind of expression a noble lady might offer while gently declining a suitor of unsuitable standing.
"Lord Haimer, thank you very much for your introduction."
"Your personal qualities are truly… exceptional."
She paused deliberately on the words "personal qualities," her gaze flicking briefly over his face.
"But."
There it was.
The inevitable word.
"A Familia's strength does not depend solely on its presiding god."
"Its size, the average level of its members, its reputation within the Guild, and… its financial stability, these are all factors we elves must consider when choosing where to belong."
"My family holds a modest standing in our homeland. They expect me to join a Familia rated at least D-rank, with stable logistical support and no fewer than two experienced adventurers of Level 3 or above to provide guidance."
"So this is not merely my personal preference. I cannot, in good conscience, face my parents otherwise. I believe you understand."
"They would think I… entrusted myself to the wrong person."
She glanced again at the shabby building behind him.
"And if I were to join you, would this… building… be our base?"
"If I were injured, would the Familia have sufficient funds to purchase expensive potions? If I needed to update my equipment, would we have our own blacksmith, or at least connections to a master within the Hephaestus Familia?"
After finishing her questions, Laila stepped back and performed a flawless elven bow.
"Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. However, I must decline your invitation. I sincerely hope you find suitable members soon."
"Best of luck to you, Lord God."
With that, she turned and walked away, her steps light and unhurried, without a trace of regret, as though she had merely inquired about the price of an item at a street stall and found it wholly unappealing.
Haimer's hand remained awkwardly raised midair, his smile not yet fully withdrawn.
He looked faintly ridiculous.
Entrusted to the wrong person…
Accurate.
And painfully so.
"Damn it…"
He collapsed back into his chair and raked a hand through his hair.
This was already the third time he had mustered the courage to take the initiative. The first two targets, a burly dwarf and a beastkin youth, hadn't even listened to three full sentences before walking past him as if he were invisible.
At least this elven young lady had been willing to speak with him.
Even if every sentence had landed like a critical hit.
Sure enough, in this ruthlessly practical world, good looks alone were worthless.
He gazed out at the bustling street. In the distance, Babel Tower pierced the sky, the only gateway between the surface and the Dungeon below.
Adventurers formed teams of all sizes, striding toward it with high spirits or emerging from it laden with spoils.
They belonged to powerful Familias like Loki Familia and Freya Familia, or to smaller but steadily growing factions striving to carve out their own place.
And he,
Haimer, a solitary god, looked utterly out of place.
Hell-mode start, he lamented inwardly.
Being transmigrated as a god sounded amazing.
The reality was far less glamorous.
The gods of Heaven, seeking entertainment in the Lower World, had voluntarily sealed most of their power. They retained only immortality, divine aura, and the ability to bestow blessings, Falna, upon mortals.
Everything else?
They were no different from ordinary beings.
They could grow hungry.
They could grow tired.
A god without a Familia was like driftwood without roots, powerless to accomplish anything.
His divine authority might be overwhelming,
But sealed was sealed.
Want to grind monsters? Sorry, gods cannot enter the Dungeon.
Recruiting Familia members was the only path forward.
And to recruit members,
You needed appeal.
Connections, money, and, of course, capability.
Haimer had none of the above.
Worst of all, his divine authority meant nothing here.
Though he was a transmigrator, he was far from a nameless god. In distant Heaven, within that divine domain where even time blurred, his godhead bore titles that caused even other gods to take notice:
• Lord of Armies.
• Harbinger of War.
• Sovereign of Iron and Blood.
• Gravedigger of Civilization.
• Midwife of Civilization.
• Source of Calamity.
• Ender of All Things.
• The Final King.
His origin did not lie in myth, but in concepts.
In the moment the first ape sharpened stone to pierce prey, or another's skull.
In the instant the first bronze sword emerged from the furnace, ringing bright and cold.
His divinity was born in flying sparks and flowing blood.
As long as intelligent beings fought over profit…
As long as one living creature raised a blade against another…
His sacred flame would never extinguish.
His throne would remain suspended above mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
Haimer embodied the entire arc of intra-species conflict, from its tentative beginnings to all-consuming war, to ultimate destruction, and every factor that drove it forward.
Impressive, wasn't it?
Final Boss material, through and through.
But so what?
Here, in Orario,
No one recognized him.
He could still vividly recall the day he had enthusiastically rushed to the Adventurers' Guild to register as a god.
He had recited that long list of titles with pride.
The half-elf receptionist, Eina, had shifted from polite professionalism to extreme confusion, and finally to an unmistakable expression that read: Are you mocking me?
The memory still stung.
"Sigh…"
"It's rough…"
Haimer bent down to pick up the discarded recruitment sign, preparing to pack up.
Another day, and damn, zero results again .
Gods might not die,
But hunger was painfully real.
Perhaps…
Perhaps he truly should abandon this self-made entrepreneurial dream.
The Hephaestus Familia always recruited apprentice smiths. With his divine authority, becoming a master blacksmith wouldn't be impossible.
Or perhaps he could help out in the Miach Familia's apothecary. Miach was a kind soul. He likely wouldn't mind feeding an extra mouth.
Though such a move would be a disgrace among gods.
It would still be better than returning to Heaven in humiliation or starving on Orario's streets.
Just as Haimer sank into despair, wondering whether he should quietly slip out of the city,
A series of pale blue, softly glowing lines of text appeared before him.
Visible only to him.
[Ding. Host survival duration in the Lower World has reached one month…]
[Familia Recruitment System activation conditions satisfied.]
[Initiating… 1%… 20%… 70%… 100%!]
[System successfully activated! The Trans-Dimensional Familia Recruitment System is now at your service!]
A cascade of notification chimes echoed in his mind.
Haimer froze.
The recruitment sign slipped from his fingers and hit the ground with a sharp clack.
This-
A system?
The transmigrator's mandatory cheat ability?
Late by an entire month,
But finally here?
Trans-Dimensional Familia Recruitment System…
Does that mean…
He could recruit members across worlds?
And if he traveled to other worlds, would his divine power finally be unsealed?
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