" Chapter 37: A New Family Member and the Demon King’s Attack"

Teleporting to the entrance of the house, Alex looked at Haruhime, who was still in shock. Smiling, he beckoned her to follow him. Seeing that Haruhime decided to follow, Alex grabbed the doorknob and turned it, intending to enter the house. However, before he could take his first step inside, he was nearly knocked over by a black-haired rocket that began to shake him. The shaking was so intense that various items for his dubious activities started falling out of Alex's pockets. Everyone watching Hestia shake Alex and seeing the items fall out of his pockets widened their eyes in disbelief. Alex realized that items were falling from his pockets and crookedly smiled, understanding he had been exposed.

Because all attention was on Hestia shaking Alex, no one noticed the new guest following behind him. Trying once again to get Hestia off him, Alex decided to try a different approach. Instead of using force, he opted for a gentler method: he gently took Hestia's cheeks and kissed her on the nose. Hestia's face turned red, and she stopped shaking Alex, looking at him with a flushed face.

"I see you've calmed down. What happened this time that made you start shaking me? Or is this a tradition now?" Alex asked, looking at Hestia, who continued to cling to him.

"Where did you go after you sent me home?" asked a blushing Hestia, not wanting to let go of Alex.

"I distracted them and then teleported to a random place," Alex said with a crooked smile.

"Couldn't you have just teleported with me right away?" asked Hephaestus, sitting on the couch. Hearing her words, Alex looked a bit embarrassed.

"Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to test the range of my mana blade?" Alex said with a crooked smile. Everyone listening nodded, understanding that he had once again done something foolish.

"Alright, so you figured out how far your mana blade goes, or whatever you call it. Now tell me, why were you gone for so long?" Hestia asked, wanting more details.

"How should I put this? I ended up in a place," Alex said, reluctant to answer.

"Can you stop talking in riddles? Just say it straight!" Lili said in an irritated tone. Alex looked at Lili and wanted to smack her for that. Couldn't she just drop the subject? Noticing Alex's stern look, Lili felt threatened and covered her behind. Everyone stared at Alex, who didn't want to answer. Under so many gazes, Alex couldn't hold out any longer and decided to tell them where he ended up.

"I ended up in a brothel," Alex said in an even tone.

"WHERE?" everyone shouted, hearing his words.

"I said, I accidentally ended up in a brothel," Alex repeated, trying to stop Hestia from shaking him again.

"What were you doing there? Confess quickly!" Hestia shouted, trying to break free from Alex's grasp.

"I didn't do anything there. I just waited for a while until the goddesses stopped searching the city and then went home," Alex answered.

"You better have done nothing, because that's Ishtar's territory," Hephaestus interjected. Hearing her words, Alex averted his eyes, not wanting to look at Hephaestus. Noticing this, Hephaestus sensed something was wrong.

"What did you do?" Hephaestus asked with a frown.

"Maybe, maybe not. I kidnapped one of the courtesans and threatened other people in the brothel," Alex replied with a slight smile. Hearing his response, Hephaestus facepalmed, realizing that this guy in front of her had messed up again.

"So where is the kidnapped courtesan?" Hephaestus asked, looking around.

"Here she is..." Alex said, turning around but not seeing Haruhime. "She was just here," Alex continued, looking around until he noticed a pair of ears sticking out from behind the door.

"Haruhime, come in, don't be afraid, they won't hurt you," Alex called to the fox-girl.

Hearing her name, Haruhime slowly emerged to face the other inhabitants of the house. Hephaestus, noticing how shy she was, began to doubt whether this girl was really a courtesan. Lili, seeing the fox-girl, realized that her position was at risk since Alex always enjoyed petting her ears when she transformed. Seeing the girl's shyness, Alex decided to approach her, take her hand, and introduce her to everyone. Haruhime, whose hand was taken, blushed deeply, and steam began to rise from her head. Hephaestus, watching this, became even more convinced that this girl couldn't be a courtesan. Leading Haruhime into the house, Alex positioned her in front of him to introduce her.

"Her name is Haruhime, and she's from the Far East. For some idiotic reasons, she was sold to a brothel," Alex said, introducing the girl.

"Alex, let me ask you, are you sure this girl is a courtesan?" Hephaestus asked, looking at Haruhime, who was blushing.

"Well, how should I put this correctly? She is a courtesan, but at the same time, she's not," Alex said, causing question marks to appear above everyone's heads, including Haruhime's.

"What do you mean?" Hestia asked, not understanding where Alex was going with this.

"Maybe accidentally or not, I peeked into her memories," Alex said, putting on an innocent face.

"Mr. Alex, what do you mean by that? I don't understand at all," Haruhime asked, not grasping what Alex was saying.

"To put it simply, you're still a virgin," Alex said, looking into the girl's green eyes.

"I remember everything that happened," Haruhime said, not believing Alex's words.

"You foolish potato. All you remember is a man entering your room and then losing consciousness. The other girls did all the work for you. It was all done to prevent you from running away," Alex said with a grim expression, remembering the purpose for which Haruhime was kept.

"If what you're saying is true, then why did they do that?" Haruhime asked, not understanding the situation.

"You'd better not know why they did it. Just know that you're free from that now, and your innocence remains intact. You can find someone you love," Alex said, shaking his head and not wanting to reveal to Haruhime the real reason she was kept in the brothel.

"Now that we've cleared that up, why did you look into her memories?" Hestia asked, clearly sensing that Alex did it for a reason. Hearing her question, Alex made a grimace. Everyone who saw his face understood that he was up to something and was planning to cause more chaos.

"I did it accidentally. It's not my fault," Alex replied, putting on an innocent face.

"That excuse won't work anymore, mister. Now, spill it, why did you do it?" Hestia said, no longer willing to believe Alex's claims of it being an accident.

"Fine. I was thinking of launching a meteor at Haruhime's old house," Alex said, his eyes beginning to shine with anticipation at the thought of the explosion.

"You were going to do what? Have you lost your mind? What on earth do you mean by a meteor?" an angry Hestia said, realizing that Alex had crossed the line this time. Hearing his response, everyone in the room broke into a cold sweat, understanding the potential consequences. Haruhime, not knowing what a meteor was, looked around and, seeing everyone sweating, began to understand that it was something bad.

"Mr. Alex, you don't need to do that. Please reconsider," Haruhime said, grabbing Alex's hand and forgetting her shyness.

"But after what they did to you, how can I forgive them?" Alex asked, looking at the girl with tears in her eyes. After his words, everyone looked at the girl, realizing there was a sad story behind it.

Alex gently wiped the tears from Haruhime's eyes and asked if he could tell her story to the others. Haruhime hesitated at his actions but eventually nodded. Seeing her nod, Alex recounted everything Haruhime had endured, her life, how her father sold her, and her time in the brothel. After sharing everything he knew about Haruhime, Alex sighed, realizing he wouldn't be able to launch a meteor, but who said he couldn't vent his anger in other ways? Everyone who listened to Haruhime's story became somber, with the most sensitive ones already in tears, sympathizing with the girl. Hestia was the angriest, as her divinity was tied to family and home.

"Alex, you must help avenge Haruhime!" Hestia shouted, pulling Alex out of his thoughts. Hestia's cry attracted the attention of everyone in the house, and everyone stared at the kind goddess with their mouths agape. Hephaestus was the most surprised, not understanding how her friend had become like this, and began to look at Alex with narrowed eyes, realizing that he had corrupted her friend.

"Your will shall be done, my lady," Alex said, kneeling before Hestia with a mad grin on his face. Everyone who knew such a smile didn't bode well could only pity the poor idiot who would fall under his wrath.

"But no meteors and definitely no explosions," Hestia said, shutting down all potential destructive plans.

"Alright then," Alex clicked his tongue.

"And don't forget the most important thing, Alex. This girl is part of the Ishtar family, and she won't let her go just like that. After hearing what you said, I'm starting to understand that she was held for a reason," Hephaestus said, drawing attention.

"What family? I don't understand," Alex said, shrugging his shoulders and pretending not to get it.

"Mr. Alex, Lady Ishtar took me into her family, and I still bear her crest," Haruhime said in a sad tone, thinking she might have to go back.

"What crest? There's nothing there," Alex said in a tone that made it clear the girl was mistaken.

"But I clearly remember Lady Ishtar performing the ritual," Haruhime said, beginning to doubt her own memory.

"You can check for yourself," Alex said.

Haruhime, increasingly doubtful about being a member of the Ishtar family, began to undress to check. Seeing the girl start to undress, Hestia, being the fastest, closed Alex's eyes. Alex felt not only his eyes but also his ears and mouth covered. He began to think they were trying to kill him rather than just preventing him from seeing Haruhime undressing. Haruhime, having removed her yukata, realized she couldn't see her back and shyly smiled, asking for help from others who were doing their best to keep Alex from peeking. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, understanding that the girl was just a bit naive and wasn't trying to seduce Alex in this manner. Hephaestus decided to tell the girl that there was no Ishtar family crest on her back. Upon hearing the confirmation, Haruhime cried, realizing she was free and felt that the only person who could have done this was her savior. Wanting to hug him, she started to approach Alex, but the girls pushed her back, saying she needed to get dressed before they would allow her to come near. Seeing their fierce eyes, Haruhime was frightened and retreated, deciding to put her yukata back on. Seeing that the girl had dressed, they decided to release Alex, who had been kept from seeing. Alex, now freed, looked at the girls with a crooked smile, thinking they probably wanted to kill him rather than just cover his eyes.

"Did you want to kill me or something?" Alex asked, his eye twitching so much it looked like he was signaling SOS.

"Did you want to watch a girl you just met undress?" Hestia asked aggressively, causing Alex's face to twitch.

"So, you did the same thing with Lily," Hephaestus said, realizing Alex was involved in this.

"I don't understand what you're talking about. Did Lily and Haruhime ever belong to those families? They could have left at any time; they just weren't allowed to," Alex said with a serious face.

Hephaestus realized she wouldn't be able to get the truth out of him this way, sighed wearily, and decided to go along with what Alex said, pretending they weren't part of those families.

"And if Ishtar starts arguing that we stole Haruhime, just act like you don't know anything and keep repeating that you don't know anything," Alex said, laying out his plan.

"And what if they want to take her by force?" Lily asked, realizing Haruhime's situation was more complicated than she thought.

"I'll help her become stronger so she can defend herself. And if Ishtar doesn't calm down, her family will meet the same fate as the Soma family," Alex said with a mad grin, causing smiles to appear on the faces of his companions. Haruhime, the subject of the discussion, was lost on what was being discussed. Tsubaki, observing the fox girl, simply put a hand on her shoulder and told her not to think too much about it for now.

"Alright, let's get back to the most important thing. Haruhime, do you want to become part of Hestia's family, or would you prefer to remain free?" Alex asked, looking at the embarrassed girl.

"Mr. Alex, are you also part of Hestia's family?" Haruhime asked, worried that her savior might kick her out if she refused.

"Well, sort of. If you don't want to, you can just stay in this house; no one's going to kick you out," Alex said, noticing the girl beginning to get nervous.

"I also want to be part of Hestia's family; that way, I can repay all that you've done for me," Haruhime said, her face becoming serious, which made everyone present smile.

"Alright, it's time for everyone to go to bed. Tomorrow the girls have training again, and Haruhime will be part of that. We also need to go invite Loki's family, and we should probably visit Freya to find out about Ishtar and prepare a plan in case she starts causing trouble," Alex said, laying out his plan for the next day.

"Why do you need to see that woman?" Hestia protested, once again clinging to Alex.

"Freya has more knowledge about other gods than you, my goddess," Alex said, patting Hestia on the head. Hearing his words, Hestia could only puff up, unwilling to let go of Alex.

Alex pried Hestia off him and told everyone to go to bed. He asked Lily if Haruhime could spend the night in her room since there were no free beds in the house. Lily grimaced again, realizing she would have to share her new soft bed. Noticing her dissatisfaction, Alex tossed her a black box, which Lily immediately caught and opened. Inside were a pair of silver gloves. Seeing the new weapon, Lily gave Alex a thumbs-up, signaling that she didn't mind letting Haruhime stay in her room. Alex shook his head with a smile and told Haruhime to follow Lily, adding that if she needed anything, she could ask the other girls. After sending the girls away, only Alex and the two goddesses remained in the hall.

Saying he was going to bed and kissing Hestia on the head before leaving, Alex went upstairs. Hestia watched as Alex went up to the second floor, then shifted her gaze to Hephaestus, who hadn't left yet.

"Hephaestus, I want to talk to you," Hestia said, looking at her friend, who had a vague idea of what the conversation might be about.

"What do you want to talk about, Hestia?" Hephaestus asked, wanting to confirm her suspicion that the discussion would be about Alex.

"I want to talk about your feelings for Alex," Hestia said directly. Hephaestus, hearing her friend's words, wanted to leave but couldn't, as Hestia had grabbed her by the hand.

"Hephaestus, don't go. Let's talk; I understand what you're feeling," Hestia said, holding her friend's hand. "I know you love Alex, and I understand you're trying to hide it because you see me as your friend."

Hephaestus, stopping at her words, trembled slightly, fearing that Hestia might be hurt by her feelings.

"Hephaestus, I'm not upset that you also love Alex. In fact, I support it," Hestia said, causing Hephaestus to look even more confused.

"Hestia, I'm not..." Hephaestus tried to argue, but Hestia interrupted her.

"Hephaestus, I see how you look at Alex, and I'm not angry at all. I'm actually happy," Hestia said.

"Hestia, but why are you supporting me? You and Alex have only just started being together, and I don't want to interfere," Hephaestus said, wanting to deny her feelings.

"Because we need to form a team. Together, we'll keep other girls away from Alex. You're my best friend, and I'm willing to share him with you. Together, we'll drive away all those clingy women who will try to get close to Alex," Hestia said, raising her fist to the sky.

"You've been too influenced by Alex since he joined your family. You've even started to imitate him," Hephaestus said with a smile on her face.

"So you agree then. Let's form a united front against other girls who want to get close to Alex," Hestia said with a broad smile.

"You do understand that other girls will still approach Alex, and you won't always be around him," Hephaestus said, making it clear that a harem was inevitable.

"Then we won't let any bad women near Alex," Hestia said, already less confident about her plan.

While Hestia and Hephaestus discussed their plan to prevent more girls from getting close to Alex, Alex entered his room with a manic smile on his face. After changing into his favorite outfit and putting on his mask, he teleported to the location from Haruhime's memories, eager to carry out his plan. Remembering that Hestia had forbidden explosions and large-scale attacks, Alex sighed, realizing he wouldn't be able to see a meteor strike the ground from a close distance. Following the memories, Alex headed to Haruhime's former home in search of his target.

Entering through the front gate, no one even noticed how an outsider had penetrated the property. Searching for his target, Alex found Haruhime's father, who was standing under a tree, gazing at the sky. Quietly approaching him, Alex decided to make his presence known.

"Good evening, what a beautiful moon tonight, don't you think?" Alex said, standing behind the man and drawing his attention.

"Who are you, and how did you get into my house?" Haruhime's father said.

"It doesn't matter, my dear conversationalist, as everything has its reasons and consequences," Alex replied, ignoring the question.

"If you leave now, I'll pretend you were never here," the father said threateningly.

"Sorry, my new friend, but I can't leave. I have a reason to be here," Alex said, ignoring the threat. "Tell me, my new friend, do you regret anything in this life?"

"Regret? My life is going great," the father said, not understanding where Alex was going with this.

"Well, from your eyes, I can see that you have no regrets about selling your daughter. That makes my task easier," Alex said, and the man tensed at his tone.

"What are you..." the father began to say, but was interrupted.

"This is for selling Haruhime," Alex said, delivering a powerful punch to the face, knocking the father to the ground and breaking half of his teeth. "This is for selling her to a brothel," Alex continued, breaking the father's legs. "This is for planning to sacrifice her," Alex said, stepping on his ribs. "And this is from me for being someone I can't stand," Alex finished, delivering a kick to the groin.

After the final blow, the father lost consciousness, covered in blood and with broken bones. Taking one last look at the man lying at his feet, Alex moved on to his next target—Haruhime's younger brother, who had betrayed her. He learned this from the father's memories, who knew the truth and decided to blame Haruhime to protect the little scoundrel.

Quietly entering the room, Alex found his next target sleeping on the tatami. Approaching Haruhime's brother, Alex crouched down and decided to wake him.

"Wake up, sunshine, it's morning," Alex said, lightly patting his cheeks. Seeing that this had no effect, Alex decided to be more forceful.

"I told you to wake up, you piece of shit," Alex said, delivering a hard slap that immediately woke the scoundrel. Feeling the blow, Haruhime's brother wanted to scream, but his mouth was covered.

"Shh, no need to scream," Alex whispered, covering his mouth with his hand. Fully awakening from the taste of blood in his mouth, Haruhime's younger brother didn't understand what was happening.

"I won't say much, just know this is retribution for what you did in your childhood," Alex said, and at his words, the scoundrel's eyes widened as he remembered his actions. "Who would have thought that all of this was motivated by jealousy of Haruhime, who became friends with Takemikazuchi's children. Jealousy is a dangerous emotion. But everything has consequences, and now you will face them."

Alex clenched Haruhime's younger brother's jaw, causing him severe pain.

"You see, I originally wanted to drop a meteor on your pathetic house, but my goddess is too kind. So I decided to punish only the two responsible for Haruhime's sad fate," Alex said, squeezing the jaw so that a crunch was heard. The scoundrel began to struggle, trying to escape the pain.

"I'm short on time, and my family might notice my absence, so I'll make this quick," Alex said, using a spell that slowly broke every bone in the scoundrel's body.

Feeling the pain from all his bones breaking, Haruhime's younger brother lost consciousness, bleeding heavily.

Alex smiled, satisfied that he had vented all his rage, and teleported home. He lay down on his bed and fell asleep with a slight smile on his face.

To be continued...