Facing Loki's latest bout of jealousy, everyone felt a different emotion than last time.
Yes, why was Hestia's family so lucky? It would be great if Takumi joined their family. Well, this was also the unified thought of most of the Familia in Orario. While marveling at Takumi's power, they were also jealous of the luck of the Hestia Familia. From the three Kocho sisters to Takumi—talents that were the envy of every other Familia—it seemed the Hestia Familia had taken everything, leaving not even a drop of soup for the rest.
That is to say, they still didn't know about the existence and details of Haruhime; otherwise, they might be even more bitter.
"Let's not talk about this yet." Finn took a deep breath, regained his composure, and asked Riveria: "This Takumi, what do you think of him? I mean, what kind of person do you think he is?"
With Takumi's strength exposed, the strong rise of the Hestia Familia had become unstoppable. As the leader of the Familia, it was necessary for Finn to gather information about the person who would inevitably become his opponent in the future.
Before Riveria could say anything, Ais, who had been silent all this time, took the lead in answering.
"Bad guy."
As for Takumi ruining her trial, Ais would not forget so quickly. Although she no longer felt any malice from Takumi and didn't hate him, she was just a little angry. She held a grudge.
Loki suddenly exploded again. "What? How dare he bully my Ais-tan? Unforgivable! We must let him—"
Before she could finish her sentence, she was physically interrupted by an iron fist from Riveria.
"Be quiet; now is not the time for you to play around."
"Okay, mom."
"Who do you think is the mother?" Riveria punched Loki again.
Everyone was used to this and was not surprised by it.
"Ahem, I received Ais's opinion. What about you?" Finn quickly brought the topic back on track and asked Lefiya and Tiona.
Lefiya thought for a while and said, "He's usually easy to get along with, but a little moody." Remembering Takumi's sudden change of expression, Lefiya couldn't help but shudder. It was so terrifying that her little heart almost jumped into her throat.
Tiona said carelessly: "I feel pretty good. He just pays attention to his personal behavior. He's still a nice person. He was also very wise and interesting. He said something like 'good people deserve to be pointed at with guns.' I couldn't understand it, but I was shocked. Also, although he considers himself not a good person, he is willing to reason after his change of heart. He is quite a complicated person, and I can't quite understand him. But I can feel that he actually has no ill intentions toward us. As long as we don't make him angry, he is easy to get along with."
Finn nodded while listening. It was indeed a bit complicated. Then he looked at Riveria again.
"Tiona is basically right, but she still misses a few points." Riveria first agreed with Tiona's evaluation of Takumi and then added: "Not only does he have great wisdom, he is also a very smart person. This can be seen from the fact that he persuaded Ganesha's people to retreat with just his words. At the same time, although he is reasonable, he is also a bit overbearing. Furthermore, he may value interests more. Although I don't know what his purpose was, he did break the contract and snatched the kill of Goliath for the purpose of being there. Although he was reasonable and willing to compensate afterward, he also had a limit in his heart. If pushed further, he would fall out."
Finn nodded after hearing this. "I see; I roughly understand."
Through the descriptions of the two, he had a rough idea of what kind of person Takumi was. In Finn's view, he was like a combination of a businessman, a politician, and a high-level manager. He was friendly and willing to reason because he was versatile and wanted to develop connections. Focusing on profit and being domineering were common traits among businessmen and managers. Overall, he was a very complex character.
With just his words, he had cleverly used the presence of the Loki Familia to persuade the Ganesha Familia to retreat under pressure. And looking at Ganesha's reaction now, it seemed there was no resistance. Besides, on their side, Takumi snatched the kill of Goliath but handled the aftermath very well. Not only did he provide compensation to an acceptable level, but the key point was that Riveria and the others didn't have many complaints. A combination of proactive compensation and a show of force successfully reduced a big issue to a small one.
As a result, the Loki Familia could not hold him accountable even if they wanted to. They had already accepted compensation; to continue pursuing the case would make the Loki Familia look ignorant and unreasonable. In other words, during this turmoil, Takumi not only achieved his goal but managed to keep his reputation intact. A layman looks at the surface, while an expert looks at the strategy.
As the manager of the Familia, Finn carefully reviewed what Takumi had done and found that even if he were in that position, he couldn't have done it more perfectly. This showed how powerful Takumi's skills were. Finn even felt that Takumi might have calculated every single step.
"Have I met my match?..."
Finn couldn't help but feel a headache. Whether it was Takumi's strength or his political skills, Finn felt the pressure. The rise of the Hestia Familia was inevitable. But Orario's cake was only so large; the rise of one family meant others had to share the profits. No matter what the current attitudes of the Loki Familia and the Hestia Familia were, they would eventually become rivals.
This gave Finn a headache. It seemed Takumi was a match for him in every aspect. The only advantage of the Loki Familia was their numbers and the background of an established Familia. But with Takumi there, it was only a matter of time before the Hestia Familia caught up. This forced Finn to consider how to treat this opponent.
But the time for the next expedition was imminent. Because of the failure of the last expedition, the Familia had fallen into a financial crisis. Although they survived, they still owed a lot of money. Now the creditors were pressing hard, and Finn had to speed up the progress of the next expedition. Therefore, Finn had no time to deal with the affairs of the Hestia Familia for now.
"Regarding matters related to the Hestia Familia, I can't spare time for the time being, so..." Finn looked at Riveria and said, "I'll leave it to you, Riveria. You have been in contact with them and are more familiar."