It was rather amusing for me to watch as later that same day a timid blonde Renard was more or less delivered to our doorstep by a rather unhappy looking woman. I recognized her as Heith Velvet of Freya's familia. Specifically belonging to the healing aspect of that group as to no surprise the familia regularly got injured during daily training or diving. She wasn't mean or anything like that and could even be considered kind to a degree which was likely why Freya had her drop Haruhime off rather than any of the others in her familia.-
Heith spared us no time for chatting however and promptly left the moment Haruhime arrived safely in front of our doorstep. The fox beast kin girl was quite soft spoken and timid when the rest of the familia gathered around her curiously. She ended up hiding behind Bell since he was the only person she knew while introductions were made.
"Um, Alex-san, is it true you sent those people to free me?" the girl asked nervously.
"Technically that was Freya but I was the one who set her on that path so, kinda." I said with a shrug.
"Thank you for saving me!" she said with a deep bow.
I waved off her thanks "No need to thank me, I didn't do it for you. This may sound mean but I did it because if I didn't Bell would have ended up dragging our familia into a conflict with Ishtar for your sake and that was not something I could allow. As the captain of this familia it is my job to ensure the wellbeing of the entire familia and a war with Ishtar would jeopardize everything." I said honestly.
Look I don't mind doing the right thing and helping out when I can but I at the very least have enough sense to understand that some things are way above my paygrade no matter how wrong they are. Her situation was a shitty one no matter how you looked at it as everyone willing to help her lacked the power necessary to actually pull it off. The Takemikazuchi familia didn't even have a single level three much less someone able to stand up to the high level five Phryne. Our familia was better in that I could at the very least serve as a suitable distraction for her while Bell rescued Haruhime but that was not a solution as Ishtar would absolutely not let us just get away with this.-
In an open conflict with no rules we had some wiggle room but in a war game we might be forced to fight Ishtar head on and we simply couldn't reasonably do so.
"Alex!" Hestia chastised after I spoke.
"I won't apologize for putting us first, that is literally my job." I said firmly.
"He's right." Daphne surprisingly spoke up in my defense.
"But if we did nothing she'd die!" Bell said angrily.
"And if we helped her we would all die or worse." she said and Bell looked at me hoping she was wrong but I shook my head.
"Rescuing her was doable but the problem is what came after that. I could distract the captain of the familia since she wasn't known for her speed but in a straight up fight I'd lose, badly. Ishtar wouldn't just let Haruhime slip through her fingers given how important she was to her plans and that meant a war game after the rescue. One that would end in at the very least my own and Haruhime's death if not the enslavement of the familia and banishment of Hestia. Helping her only doomed us so I was forced to get Freya to get involved." I explained bluntly.
"I get the whole enslavement thing but how would you die?" Daphne asked confused.
"Because I would fight till my last breath as I refuse to be enslaved." I said seriously. "Enough about that though as it's behind us. We should instead be welcoming Haruhime to the familia." I said changing my tune on a dime.
"Shouldn't she go to the Takemikazuchi familia though?" Bell asked confused.
"Not to insult our allies but they are too weak to have her. Ishtar is definitely not the only person who would want to utilize her for her magic and without a familia powerful enough to deter these people they'd get her through a war game or straight up kidnapping. If Freya had taken her in that would be the end of the matter as nearly no one is willing to cross her like that. Since Freya handed her over to us however that means only we have the power to keep her safest. Besides it's not like it makes much difference as they can always come visit her or vice versa." I said calmly.
We moved on after that and Haruhime was welcomed heartily to the Hestia familia and even when the entire Takemikazuchi familia arrived they agreed that she was best left in our familia for her own safety. Unlike Hestia and Bell though Takemikazuchi and his captain Ouka didn't judge me for not moving to help Haruhime personally since they understood where I was coming from. In fact they apologized to me for having to put myself in Freya's debt to rescue Haruhime. Yes I was in debt with Freya.-
Not a big one mind you since it was only a matter of time before I could have been able to solve it myself but a debt none the less. The fact of the matter was that I had asked Freya to make a move earlier than she normally would have and that meant I owed her a favor that she would no doubt be calling in soon. As friends I doubted it would be anything too extreme but I was still dreading it. I HATED owing debts as they'd be like guillotines hanging over your head until they were called in.-
There was something I was curious about though that I couldn't help wondering. Specifically why Freya passed up the chance to take Haruhime for her own. The fluffy blonde was the picture of frail innocence and purity with a soul that was almost blindingly bright to look at. Her magic that was straight up cracked aside just her soul alone was more than enough for Freya to want her as it fit her aesthetics perfectly, yet here the girl was now a part of my familia instead.