A/N: I'm back, and so are the notifications! Traffic stats are still down though on FFN. Looks like we're back to monthly uploads, but I'll try to be more frequent. No promises though.

Thank you so much for your support and comments after the last chapter! I was so nervous about putting it out. I had no idea if you'd like it or not, so you have no idea how much of a relief it was to see the positive response.

Oh! For the writers in the comments, I left an idea for a story at the bottom of the chapter. Please, feel free to run with it. I don't think it's anything I've seen before, but I have no time to write it.

All your comments and reviews are greatly appreciated, and I would be very grateful if you kept them coming!

Hearthfire

Chapter 34

Torrhen

Torrhen watched from the shadows as the crowd gathered around the large podium that was erected in the square outside Babel. In the center of the platform was a pillory and, chained to it with his newly bald head shining like a beacon in the mid-afternoon sun was Apollo. He was dressed in rags, with his hands and head thrust through the holes of the pillory.

It was the morning after the War Game and once everyone returned to the city, things had gotten hectic. Daphne and Cassandra had ensured that they were packed and ready to leave as soon as possible before they left and were able to get in and out of the Apollo mansion before anyone else arrived. Thankfully, not all of their former Familia members blamed them for their betrayal. Only Hyakinthos and a handful of others were all that offended. Quite a few understood their decision and didn't hold it against them.

Once some paperwork was handled, and the guild had time to process things, Daphne and Cassandra would be free to officially join the Hestia Familia. They'd already moved in but would not become official members for a few more days. Same with Haruhime and Aisha. The investigation had been wrapped up and they'd moved in but had not received Hestia's Falna just yet.

Speaking of moving in, they were already beginning to fill up their available housing space faster than expected. With plans being developed for a recruitment drive, the Familia as a whole had agreed to look into expanding the Hall once again. Hestia was already planning to meet with Goibniu to discuss the expansion and find out if they were able to afford it using the Familia Funds rather than her or Torrhen's own personal fortune. They would use those, if necessary, but it was probably best to check first. The extra windfall from seizing Apollo's assets would likely be enough to pay for a fairly substantial expansion. By the time they were done, Hearthfire Hall would be bigger than the Apollo Mansion. Perhaps not quite the size of Twilight Manor, but close.

The morning after the War Game had seen a huge crowd gathered in front of Babel tower to witness Apollo's punishment. Torrhen among them, though hidden in the shadows to avoid being mobbed. The reveal of his Level 10 status was still sinking in, and he didn't fancy being swarmed with people asking questions.

Apollo had started from the very beginning, listing off everything he'd ever done that hurt somebody. Which included confessing to quite a few major crimes. A Guild member was sat nearby, furiously scribbling into a notebook every time Apollo mentioned a crime he'd either directly committed or been accessory to.

This included theft, coercion, bribery, extortion, blackmail, accessory to murder, assault, and a host of other crimes. Many of which were committed by members of Apollo's Familia and Apollo had covered them up or, had happened on his orders when trying to force people to join his Familia. These admissions had, of course, incensed the crowd who had to be restrained from throwing things at Apollo by the Ganesha Familia guards.

So far, nobody had come forward to demand a personal apology, but that was about to change. Torrhen could see Daphne and Cassandra making their way through the crowd. They had both happily discarded their Apollo Familia uniforms, but their new gear wasn't ready yet. Instead, they were wearing simple, everyday clothes. The crowd quieted down as they broke through the ring surrounding the platform.

"Apollo." Daphne deadpanned. The crowd was silent as Apollo swung his head to face her.

"Traitor." Apollo tried to spit out, spitefully. It didn't come out that way. He just sounded pathetic.

"It's hard to betray someone you were never loyal to." Daphne scoffed. "I want an apology, Apollo. I was happy as a member of the Khione Familia until you came along!" The pointed at him, violently. "You got other members of my Familia arrested or killed! You bribed or extorted shops to jack up their prices when we came around. You forced Goddess Khione to the breaking point until she gave up those of us who were left to you and left the city in shame! She went back to heaven just to get away from you, and I want an apology, damnit!" She was shouting by the end of her tirade.

"You did the same thing to Lord Aristaeus," Cassandra's usually soft voice rang out in the silence that followed Daphne's words. "He cried when he left us. I, and so many others you forced to join you wept ourselves to sleep for weeks afterwards and I want an apology."

"You ungrateful traitors." Apollo tried to sound dangerous but failed. "I gave you a better home. A better reputation and you repaid me with betrayal!"

"A home they didn't want, Apollo." Torrhen said, moving from the shadows to stand behind the girls. The eyes of the crowd went wide as they took him in. He was dressed casually, just like the girls, but he did have his sword at his hip. "They had homes where they were happy, and you forced them to watch as you tortured their family to the breaking point because of your own greed. Your opinion on their reaction is worthless. Do not attempt to pin your loss on them. You would have lost anyway. Now, you owe them an apology."

Apollo tried to growl at him, but it died under the intensity of Torrhen's glare. Finally, he bowed his head and mumbled something.

"I didn't hear you!" Daphne shouted.

"I'm sorry!" Apollo shouted back, as though the words pained him. "I apologize for bribing, extorting, assaulting, and blackmailing members of your Familia's. I apologize for forcing Khione and Aristaeus out of the city just because I wanted you for myself."

"I want to hear specifics!" Daphne growled. This led to nearly a full half hour of Apollo listing out every single thing he'd done to coerce Khione and Aristaeus into giving up the two girls and leaving the city. The crowd only got angrier as the apology went on, until he was finally finished.

Without acknowledging the end of Apollo's speech, Daphne let out a sigh and turned away, taking Cassandra's hand in hers. Torrhen put a hand on her shoulder and led the two girls away. Just before they cleared the crowd, another voice rang out.

"My turn you son of a bitch! My brother has been in jail for almost a decade because of you!"

Torrhen slowly led the girls away until they were out of the crowd, ignoring the stares he was receiving from those in the back. "Let's go home, girls." He said softly, getting a smile from Cassandra and a nod from Daphne.

Hestia

Hestia sighed, rubbing her temples with the heels of her hands. The four days following the War Game had been more hectic than any she'd ever experienced. First, it had been ensuring that Apollo's punishment was carried out. He'd released everyone from his service, and the Guild had taken over the job of taking full inventory of his assets. The former members of the Apollo Familia were allowed to take their personal items, but that was it. Everything else belonged to Hestia.

Alongside this was Apollo's public apology. The god had been locked in the pillory in the square from sunrise the day after the War Game till late evening two days later. He had a lot to apologize for and if it hadn't been for Hestia's own banishment of him, the Guild would have banished him because of the crimes he'd confessed to. As it stood, every single one of his former members that he'd implicated had been detained and were under investigation. The rest had been allowed to leave and join another Familia.

Next was the political upheaval that came with Torrhen's status reveal, which would only get worse once it got out that Bell had hit Level 3. A record-breaking level cap on top of a second record breaking level-up were two shitstorms that she did not want to deal with at the same time. Thankfully, the news about Bell would likely be swallowed up in the wake of Torrhen's status.

Not only that, but the Freya Familia had come back from their expedition two days after the War Game. Ottar had hit Level 8 and one other had hit 7, but nobody gave a damn because the city was still reacting to the shock of Torrhen being Level 10. The Hestia Familia was suddenly a powerhouse that nobody could ignore. It felt great, but Hestia also felt far too vulnerable. She would have to be very careful who she dealt with and made alliances with.

Speaking of which, she'd been inundated with requests for alliances or for meetings to discuss an alliance. Her little office was practically snowed under! Thankfully, she had Torrhen, Bell, and Lili to help take some of the load. They'd agreed that the Familia would not commit to any alliances beyond their existing ones until the chaos died down. This meant that their only allies officially were the Miach Familia while their alliance with Loki remained a secret and their partnership with Hephaestus remained a personal one between Hestia, Torrhen, Welf, Tsubaki, and Hephaestus herself.

This would change in due course, but not until the chaos died down. Speaking of the Miach Familia, Hestia had already gifted Apollo's former mansion to her old friend. Miach had been looking for a new home, but this would give him the opportunity to open up his own hospital, in direct competition with Dian Cecht. Miach had been grateful, of course, but Naaza had been over the moon. Both had insisted on buying it from her, since they had amassed quite a bit of money from the Loki and Freya contracts, but Hestia had only accepted a token amount. They were already planning a recruitment drive which would begin shortly and had been in discussion with Goibniu about renovations to turn the mansion into a proper hospital.

Torrhen was already making more Restoration spellbooks for them and was in the process of teaching those spells to all their current members save for Nicholas, who was not interested. Cassandra had joined those lessons too since she would primarily be serving as support and as a healer. Haruhime also expressed some interest in learning Restoration but was primarily focused on increasing her combat skills.

Speaking of which, Daphne, Cassandra, Haruhime, and Aisha had all officially joined the Hestia Familia two days after the War Game and were out in the yard practicing with the rest of her members. Bell had expressed a desire to make it to Floor 18 the right way before anything else, so the team had gotten together to train and make a plan. Neither Torrhen nor Aisha would officially join them, making this a task for their lower-level members but with Bell at Level 3, Hestia was not worried.

No, Torrhen instead was planning on going on a small excursion below 18 with Finn, Gareth, Ais, and Riveria of the Loki Familia. Aisha was planning to take some time off from the Dungeon and would serve as a guard for the Hall while the rest of them were gone. The next headache on her political agenda was the upcoming Denatus where several of her children would receive their alias'. Welf, Lili, and Chigusa were all in the running for an alias this time, and all were rather nervous about what it might be. The last of her headaches was Rakia.

The country of Rakia was ruled by Ares, one of the most irritating gods Hestia knew. Every few years he would launch an invasion of Orario which would inevitably be pushed back by the far more powerful adventurers that lived in the city. Loki had let her know that it looked like Rakia was on the move again, and it was likely Torrhen would have to help out with repelling them if they really did invade. He didn't mind, of course, but it was still annoying.

Hestia glanced out her window as the sound of a faint explosion wafted through the open glass. She could see down in the yard where Haruhime, dressed in far more practical clothes than the Kimono she'd been wearing before, was bowing up and down in apology to a slightly singed Ouka. Cassandra was standing next to him, the light of a Restoration spell spewing out of her hands as she healed him. Hestia smiled at the sight before turning back to her paperwork.

Daphne

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." The pretty Renard, Haruhime apologized rapidly as she bowed up and down in front of Ouka.

"I'm fine, Hime." He chuckled, shaking his head.

Training with her new Familia had turned out to be more intense and enjoyable than Daphne had been expecting. Torrhen, her new teacher had given spellbooks to Cassandra, Haruhime, and their friends from the Miach Familia and was busy teaching them to use those spells while she and the non-magical members trained together.

Her new Captain, a nice kid named Bell, was working on adapting to his newfound strength as a Level 3 by fighting Aisha. How she could fight with so few clothes on baffled Daphne, but she wasn't going to complain about the free show. Chigusa and Lili were over by the archery targets while she, Mikoto, Ouka, and Welf had been engaged in a free-for-all. That is, until a stray fire spell had come flying across the practice yard and struck Ouka in the back.

Haruhime had proven to have an incredible aptitude for magic, so much so that Torrhen had allowed her to skip over the Novice spells and go straight to Apprentice Destruction spells. They weren't that powerful, but one stray Firebolt had sailed across the yard and hit Ouka. He wasn't badly burned, but Cassandra had seen a chance to practice her healing on a live target and rushed over to help him.

"Think of it as a reminder to always be aware of your surroundings," Torrhen said, jovially. "Oh, and a reminder to check your aim before letting off a spell." He glanced at Haruhime who nodded, embarrassed.

"Still, I think this is a good opportunity to do a little live fire training." Torrhen continued. "Everyone! Gather round!" Soon enough, everybody in the yard was standing nearby, waiting for Master Torrhen's instructions.

"What's the exercise, Master Torrhen?" Captain Bell asked, seriously.

"We're doing team combat training, Bell." Torrhen replied. "Split into two teams and have at each other. Magicians included. No big spells though. Focus on the Tamrielic magic I've taught you. Bell, you're leading a team. Lili, the other." He then proceeded to divide them up. Bell led team one, accompanied by Chigusa, Welf, and Cassandra. Lili was given Mikoto, Ouka, Daphne herself, and Haruhime. Bell was given fewer since he was Level 3, while the others were only Level 1 and 2.

The two teams divided up to strategize. Lili led them over to a quiet corner of the grounds before turning to face her team. "Alright," she said, "Bell is our biggest obstacle. He's Level 3 and undoubtedly the fastest of us. Mikoto," she gestured to the dark-haired girl, "you focus on him. You're his nearest match in speed so try to keep him occupied. I'll focus on keeping Cassandra distracted so she can't heal anyone. I'm confident I can dodge the Destruction spells she might send my way."

"Ouka," she continued, with the large man nodding, "you focus on Welf. Keep him occupied so he can't help Bell. Daphne, you'll focus on Chigusa. Get in close and keep her from taking shots at the rest of us." Daphne grinned in acknowledgement. Vice-Captain Lili clearly had a mind for strategy. "Haruhime, you'll be our support. Use your spells to hit anyone you think you can, but if you feel like you might hit an ally, don't fire. Watch for openings." The Renard gave a hesitant smile.

"Everyone ready?" Torrhen called out.

"Ready!" Bell shouted.

"Ready!" Lili agreed.

"Begin!"

The two teams dashed to meet each other. Daphne peeled off, heading straight for Chigusa. She dodged a hastily fired arrow and moved in for a strike with her weapon, Fencer Laureate. Not that it would be her weapon for too much longer. It had been given to her by Apollo, so she wanted something new. Welf was already working on ideas for her to look at. Unfortunately, she missed, with Chigusa agilely avoiding her and moving to increase the distance between them.

She heard the clang of steel as Welf and Ouka clashed in the center of the grounds, followed by a whoosh of air as a firebolt flew from Haruhime directly at Cassandra, who managed to block with a shield that quickly shattered. Bell and Mikoto were blurs dancing across the field, though Daphne could see their Captain pushing Mikoto back. Daphne saw Cassandra narrowly dodging a crossbow bolt before firing off a continuous shower of sparks at Lili's spectral dog. Refocusing on her opponent, Daphne moved to close the distance only to grunt in pain as a blunted arrow struck her in the shoulder.

The force of the impact made her rear back, forcing her to regain her footing before she could charge again. She could feel the bruise already forming on her left shoulder. She closed the distance, capitalizing on her superior speed. This time, Chigusa fought back. Using her bow as a makeshift staff, they shared three quick exchanges before the other girl pulled a long dagger from her back. Daphne narrowly avoided the cut, with it just barely grazing her leg before rearing around and slamming the hilt of her sword into Chigusa's head. The other girl went down, with Daphne swiftly placing the tip of her sword at Chigusa's throat.

"Chigusa, out!" Torrhen shouted. Turning to face the others, she could see Ouka and Welf still at each other's throats while Mikoto and Bell danced around them. Deciding to help, she charged Welf from behind, but was suddenly tripped up when Bell, with a nicely placed kick, sent Mikoto flying into her. The two girls went sprawling, but Daphne was able to roll onto her feet.

"Mikoto, out!" Torrhen shouted. She turned to see Bell holding his dagger to her throat. Dashing towards him, she tried to keep up with his dizzyingly fast knife-work. As they clashed, she faintly heard Torrhen shout again. "Ouka, out!"

Next, she heard a whoosh of air and a pained, "Ow, shit!"

This was accompanied by Torrhen's voice ringing out. "Welf, out! Nice shot, Haruhime. Watch it!" A squeal. "Haruhime, out! Good timing, Cassandra." Daphne continued to clash with her Captain, earning quite a few scratches from his lighting fast daggers. Relief flooded her when she heard Torrhen call Cassandra out, but the momentary distraction was all Bell needed to trip her up and place his knife at her throat. "Daphne, out! Hold!"

She slowly stood, looking around, she saw Bell not too far from her and Lili aiming a crossbow bolt at him. Over to the side were all those who'd been eliminated. Sei from the Miach Familia was holding a restoration spell over Haruhime, who looked like she'd been shocked. Shizune was doing the same for Ouka's head, while Naaza looked over the rather burnt Welf. Chigusa looked like she'd been healed already.

"It's just Bell and Lili left." Torrhen said. "Do you want to continue?"

"I'd rather not." Lili admitted. "I can't beat him one on one." Bell just looked sheepish.

"Fair enough! Lili's team forfeits, Bell's team wins!" Torrhen smiled at them. "You've all done a great job. I think you're ready for the Dungeon so whenever you decide, you're welcome to resume daily excursions. Might be a good idea to do a few before attempting the push to 18."

This was met by grins and determined faces all around.

Torrhen

"So, have you been mobbed yet?" Gareth asked, sipping his ale.

Torrhen chuckled from his seat on a couch in the Twilight Manor's executive lounge. He'd come by to deliver the twin's enchanted gear, but they weren't at the manor, so he'd decided to make use of the time to chat with Finn, Gareth, and Riveria. He swigged his drink before replying. "No, not yet. I've kept to the shadows for the last few days and the only times I go out in public, most seem too nervous to approach."

"It's the same with us." Finn nodded his head, sagely. "Nobody knows if we'll react badly to being approached so they keep their distance. Most are quite respectful about it."

"At least we aren't as bad as Ottar." Riveria sniffed, nose in the air. "He actively tries to scare people away. We, at least, are civil when approached by younger adventurers."

"Honestly, having them keep a respectful distance is kind of nice." Torrhen mused. "Back in the old days, I couldn't go ten feet without someone asking me to deliver this package or find that lost sword; regardless of the fact that I'd saved one city or other from destruction a week before. It's hard to shake the reputation of a mercenary once you have it."

"Surely saving the world fixed that?" Gareth asked, questioningly.

"Hmm… not in the way you'd think." Torrhen said, thoughtfully. "I didn't get anybody just randomly coming up to me in the street asking for help finding some lost bauble, but I couldn't even enter a city without being approached by a guard that was summoning me to meet with the Jarl or mayor or whoever was in charge. Who, of course, would have some request or other that they wanted me to fulfill and thought they had the right to ask because they were in charge."

"That must have gotten… irritating." Finn grimaced.

"After a while. The money was good though. City rulers usually pay very well for the services of someone who saved the world. After I became Harbinger and Archmage, the only people asking me to do things personally were the Jarls of Whiterun and Winterhold, along with Queen Elisif and the Emperor."

"Well, I suppose you're right about rulers paying well." Finn shrugged.

Torrhen just smiled and sipped his drink, before changing the subject. "Speaking of money, how much are you going to be spending on your next expedition?"

"We're not sure yet." Rivera replied. "It will be some time before we take on a full expedition like our last one, so it's not a major concern but we have been trying to work on the budget, so we ensure that we have enough."

"The issue is all the cool things we want to buy from you and the Miach Familia!" Gareth laughed.

Finn and Riveria laughed too, till Finn spoke up. "Gareth's right. We want to buy more Adventurer Packs, have as many of our people decked out in enchanted gear as possible, and we were discussing doubling the number of potions we ordered for the last expedition."

Torrhen hummed. "Well, in regard to the packs, why not just have anybody who wants a personal one buy one? They're not that expensive, especially with the alliance discount. Just let your people know that they're for sale, and I'm sure I'll get orders. Same with the potions and enchantments, really. Everybody will want their own for their normal Dungeon runs, so you'd only need to focus on really special things for the expedition."

"That's true…" Finn mused. "We could just put out a bulletin to the Familia with the price listing for the packs." Before they could speak further, the door to the lounge opened. Peeking her head in was Tiona, who smiled brightly when she spotted Torrhen.

"Mr. Torrhen!" She said, happily. "Please tell me you're here with presents for us!" She bounced into the room followed by her sister, Tione.

"I am indeed." Torrhen nodded with a grin. Reaching for his pack on the ground, he pulled out Tiona's dual bladed sword, Urga. The giddy Amazonian was practically bouncing up and down as she took it. "Your Urga is finished. The Absorb Health and Stamina enchantments work perfectly and are fully charged. All you need to do now is try it out. I also have a few enchanted versions of your normal clothes for you to try on." He pulled these out and handed them to the girl.

"Thanks Mr. Torrhen!" She shouted, happily. "I'm gonna go try them on, and then I'll go test everything in the Dungeon."

"Wait for me!" Tione shouted after her, before sighing.

"Not to worry, Tione." Torrhen chuckled. "I have yours too." He pulled out her enchanted clothes as well as the two daggers he'd made for her. One was enchanted with Absorb Health and Fire Damage while the other had Absorb Stamina and Shock Damage.

"Thank you, Master Torrhen." Tione bowed, before she too exited the room to follow her sister. Torrhen could only chuckle in amusement at their enthusiasm.

A/N: What did you think? Like it? Sorry it was a bit short this time, but most of what I want to get to needs to wait a little longer. Next chapter should see a segment for Naaza. Maybe even some recruitment for Miach? We'll see. I'll probably do a couple dungeon run segments in the near future. I'm also considering how to handle Rakia and maybe some Oratoria stuff? Not sure. I'd also like to take a bit of a look at Ryuu and Miach and Dian Cecht in the near future.

Speaking of things I've been thinking about. What do you think of the occasional omake looking at Torrhen's past? Like his first kill or joining the companions or something like that? They would NOT be frequent, and I won't include them if you all think it's a bad idea but I wanted to get your opinion.

About Miach and the Apollo Mansion: You have no idea how shocked I was to see how many of you guessed my plan for it! I've been intending for Miach to get the mansion since I first decided to renovate the church!

Anybody got Alias suggestions for Welf, Lili, Chigusa, or Haruhime?

Also, ideas for the name of Miach's hospital? I was thinking about referencing Tír na nÓg. Maybe Tír na Sláinte? According to Google Translate, that means Land of Health. I don't speak Irish so, correct me if I'm wrong. Blue Hospital is also a good one (Thank you, Christalm) but I'm not dead set on one yet. Please give me suggestions!

I need armor/clothing/weapon suggestions for Cassandra, Daphne, Haruhime, and Aisha! Please, give me ideas! I've mostly been taking inspiration from Elder Scrolls games and stuff like Baldur's Gate 3, and if you've got suggestions from those or anywhere else, please let me know!

About the Sword Oratoria content. I'm debating adding it, but I think it could be interesting. I just need to figure out how. What are your thoughts?

I have made up the Familia's the Daphne and Cassandra used to be part of since I can't find that info. They're not likely to be mentioned again.

For those curious about my side story: A Digital Mother, I'll be posting a chapter for it soon. I'm about halfway done with it, but Hearthfire was my priority so I wanted to get it out first.

Story Idea Please Take It: A Danmachi story focused on the Ganesha Familia being a police force. They already seem to be in charge of city security, so why not do a police kind of story focusing on members of the Ganesha Familia? No Bell, Ais, nor any of the main people except in small appearances. Just focused on an Oc or some member of Ganesha doing police and security work. Maybe even time jump it, so its from the perspective of the guards investigating Ryuu when she's on her killing spree?

Answers to Questions

On FFN

Sirleirbag: Ryuu may get another Juggernaut incident, but I doubt it'd be Torrhen helping. I'm more thinking along the lines of the Hestia Familia taking one out together or Ryuu soloing a normal one. There won't be a Torrhen x Ryuu ship though. Sorry.

Phoenix Warehouse Productions: Sorry, but Torrhen won't be teaching Shouts. It's canonical that it takes years for non-dragonborn to learn even one word, and I just don't think it would be practical to try and have the others learn them.

Lucian Naruto: I might do a few more reactions later. Maybe a Freya POV or Hermes? Might just be a city-wide thing? Not sure. This chapter was focused on the Hestia Familia.

Guest: Honestly, I've been thinking about a Finn x Lili pair, but I can definitely say Finn won't just be asking for marriage out of the blue like in canon. IF I do it, it will develop organically. I haven't even decided to go that route yet.

Guest: I have considered what other spells they might learn, but I'm only in the brainstorming phase on that. Any ideas?

Guest: I'll think about posting their statuses, but it would take a lot of work to figure out stats for everybody.

On Ao3

Godoffire: Hestia x Loki is actually what I'm leaning towards. I've never seen it done, and I think it could be fun to write! Oh, and he does not have the white phial. Sorry.

Reinkernation: I could actually give them wolf summons. Think I should? I'll probably be giving one to Lefiya at least, but I could let the twins have them too.