Fun times all around, nice to see this story back!
QA could've managed to have other people raise a powerful army with only a minimal time and resource expenditure. It was always nice to turn Friends against host-species who thought the allegiance of Friends could be stolen.
It would be amazing if QA could do this. If only she had an excuse... I still remember that it from an earlier chapter where QA wanted to gift Friends to all the Ishtar survivors to have a network of surveillance Friends throughout the city, but she couldn't think of an appropriate excuse for it.
Queen Administrator had to bribe the unrepentant adventurer just to get Lefiya to stop complaining about something that even her own Familia had acknowledged was her fault.
That is rather childish of Lefiya. You'd think she'd be trying harder to get into QA's good graces now. Also, if, as people have said, she is jealous of QA taking up Aiz's time, I didn't really see any evidence of it here. I wouldn't have noticed if not for people pointing it out.
"I mean, zero children and suddenly whoosh. A foreign, Spirit-guarded queen and a Supporter abruptly rescued from a Familia filled with alcoholics. It's pretty blatant, you know?"
...
"It's not exactly a secret at this point," Lefiya failed to reassure them. "She is practically the Goddess of Family, right? It makes sense that she'd have something related to that."
...I mean, it does kind of make sense, but I'm surprised the rumour mill is activating after only 2 incidents? Usually it takes 3 before people start suspecting a trend. And QA grabbed Lili very publicly, so it definitely looked more like QA's idea than Hestia's. If I was an average Orario citizen, I'd believe the rumour that QA's Spirit chose Hestia so QA could be the head of the Familia, and subsequently picked up Lilli as well with its mysterious spirit senses. If Hestia actually had some kind of discerning eye, she'd have picked up more members than just those two. And don't people remember that segment of time when Hestia was basically wandering around asking random people to join her Familia?
Lili hadn't heard any orders from Queen Administrator, yet Lady Sable still followed them out of the room.
Aww, it's sweet that Lili notices QA is still looking out for her.
All the kitty stuff is terribly adorable. Kitty camouflaged in Aiz's hair is really great, and so are the interactions with it and Aiz, as well as with Lady Sable.
But wouldn't she be just the same as the adventurers if she was so selfish? She already would've had to spend that money on escaping the Soma Familia. It wasn't fair that Loki's loud, selfish, inconsiderate Familia should get to have nice things while Hestia lived in a little basement. Admittedly, Lili did feel oddly fond of the idea of an underground lair. It was easier to defend and several parts of her simply enjoyed the idea of making an impenetrable fortress of a home. She should still keep some in reserve for an emergency, but donating the rest to the Familia should work, shouldn't it? Hestia didn't seem like the sort to be financially irresponsible the moment an opportunity was provided.
I like this glimpse into Lili's reasoning. Best of both worlds would be if Lili's money was used to improve and fortify the abandoned church basement instead of buying a new place entirely. Perhaps Lili's wealth can be used for magic stones to make burrowing, excavating, and construction Friends! And like any Friends of QA, they will certainly be useful for home defence too.
Lili coughed and used one hand to wave floating particles of pulverized straw and wood away from her mouth. Her other hand still gripped the maul she'd destroyed the straw dummy with. Aiz's polite clapping wasn't helping her feel any better about the feat; even if it had somehow worked, a maul-wielding pallum remained an utterly absurd idea and one likely to draw the attention Lili wanted none of.
Heavy armour and maul Lili is best Lili. Look, Lili, there will already be a ton of attention on you, just because of how publicly QA grabbed you, and the great efforts she took to keep you. You might as well show you were worth the effort of being kept.
Host's memories seemed to want Queen Administrator to hold the end of the staff before their face and pace in place as the shard finally began their chant.
... Taylor wants QA to act like she'd the head of a marching band?
There were the obvious applications for allies, of course, but offensive uses existed as well. If she targeted enemies with it, she would know exactly where their eyes were and could aim accordingly.
I'm not sure this is the best idea QA. Yes, you'll be able to aim better this way, but unless you can turn off the automatic proprioception, the enemy will be able to feel you aiming at them too, and will probably dodge.
I wonder if sending magic down the lines will allow QA to actually take control of those affected by her power here. Mini-Khepri, go?
