Chapter 497 - Celebrations

After Eina and Vahn took their seats, it was officially time for the celebration to begin so Hestia raised up a glass mug full of alcohol called [Honey Stout] as she proclaimed in a loud voice, "Everyone, you did a great job on the expedition this time around. Not only did you increase the reputation of the Hesta Familia, but you also worked hard to increase your strengths and now our Familia has become much stronger than in the past! Most importantly, you all came home safe and sound, so thank you all so very much for your efforts~!" With Hestia's words as the trigger, everyone else raised their own cups and gave various hurrahs before everyone downed the contents of their glass and the festivities officially began.

Other than Tina, Shizune, and the pregnant Hephaestus, Tsubaki, Aki, and Arnya, everyone else was allowed to drink as it was a special occasion. The only people 'too young' were Lili, Fenrir, and Terra, but Vahn wouldn't be able to stop any of them from drinking. Lili put her life on the line as a vanguard in the Dungeon, so it would have been strange if Vahn said she wasn't old enough to drink, while Fenrir couldn't get drunk at all and Terra's body simply didn't process the alcohol in the same way as everyone else.

Terra didn't have a normal digestive tract, nor did she even have intestines. Instead, her body had two 'stomach-like' organs that processed what she ate and she seemed to be restricted to organic produce and lighter 'meats' like fish. Essentially, she was another girl that couldn't get drunk because the enzymes in her stomach broke down the alcohol into parts and then simply filtered it out instead of letting it enter her bloodstream. Vahn suspected it would make her 'sap' slightly alcohol based but he decided not to worry about that kind of thing for the time being...

As Eina had yet to be introduced to Terra, she kept sending curious glances as the mature dragon girl, who always returned a smile as if were her natural expression. Vahn saw this happen a few times before he realized he should be the one to explain such things and said, "It's a bit late, but this celebration also includes the addition of our newest Familia member, Terra. Like Fafnir, she is a True Dragon that I had tamed within the Dungeon and her original form is that of the Green Dragon that I had subordinated during the Bloodsaurus hunt. She is Level 4, but she won't really be a combatant and will instead help to guard the Manor with Fafnir in the future."

Because of her wings, which were spread out behind her since she was sitting low to the floor, Terra was a very 'obvious' presence at the table even without anyone pointing her out. Several of the girls had yet to meet her earlier, including Eina, Chloe, Arnya, Lunoire, Anubis, and Nanu. They had spotted her immediately upon entering the same room since Terra's leafy-green hair and wings stood out a great deal. It was easily understood she was another one of Vahn's 'tamed' monsters, but the fact that she was a woman caused the interest in her to increase a great deal.

Terra smiled at everyone present and said, "Greetings, everyone, my name is Terra Evergreen. I have come to reside in the Manor today after my Master helped me evolve. I will do my best to get along with everyone, so please treat me kindly and teach me many things." After Terra introduced herself, everyone went around the table and made a short introduction of their own as well before the atmosphere of the celebration became decidedly less awkward. It was difficult to open up when there were 'strangers' present, but now everyone had relaxed a lot more after knowing what type of girl Terra was. She seemed to be very popular with the girls, as her hair, wings, and tail, were all somewhat unique and interesting. Since her personality was the 'kind and elegant' type, combined with the fact she had an air of nobility while being highly receptive, made her easy to talk to and befriend.

Though their dinners usually ran very late, things continued deep into the night this time around as the festive atmosphere had become even more so after people began to get a little tipsy. Some of the girls, including Hestia, Lili, and Chloe, got outright drunk while only a few, such as the pregnant group and Syr, remained completely sober throughout. The obvious exceptions included Vahn, Fenrir, and Terra, but that was a result of their constitution and not the amount they had to drink. The truly surprising thing was that even Eina got a little drunk and eventually ended up falling asleep against Vahn's shoulder after a few glasses of beer.

When the atmosphere had slowly started to die down, as a result of several of the younger girls falling asleep, Vahn looked to Chloe, Arnya, and Lunoire, the first two of which were currently teasing each other, and said, "I'd like to check your Status Boards in the near future. I may not be able to give you flame seeds right now, but I might be able to infer some things from your-" As Vahn spoke, the drunken Chloe 'boldy' pulled off her black t-shirt and revealed a cream-colored bra as she said, "Nyahaha, nyou can chyek it nyoow~!" Fortunately, Arnya still had her awareness as the grabbed Chloe around the ribs and picked her up before saying, "I'll take this mischevious cat to her room.