Chapter 973: Chapter 973: A Few Things About the Goddess at Home
At dusk, in the dining hall on the second floor of Hestia Familia, four goddesses all turned their eyes at once toward Artemis, who was sitting snugly on one side of Bell, with her other half on the other.
"Artemis, aren’t you two a little too close to Bell?"
Hestia clearly remembered that these two usually kept at least some distance from Bell. But today, what was going on?
They were each taking one side and completely boxing him in.
This was strange. Extremely strange.
As the one currently in control of the body, Artemis’s face flushed bright red the moment she heard her friend’s words. She had never imagined that one day she would betray her friend so thoroughly, and not even alone, but dragged along by her other half.
Today had truly crossed a line she had always held onto.
She couldn’t even bring herself to meet Hestia’s gaze now.
Of course, this embarrassment and inability to look Hestia in the eye only applied to the Artemis from the Danmachi world, the one who still cared deeply about appearances. It didn’t apply at all to the Artemis from the Type-Moon world, who was far more open about expressing her affection.
"Hehe~"
Artemis hugged her darling’s arm, puffed out her chest, and announced with pride and a touch of flaunting.
"Of course it’s because today is such a wonderful day for Darling and me to be together!"
That single sentence plunged the entire table into silence.
Strictly speaking, most of the women in the household had already had direct physical contact with Bell. Hestia and Hephaestus were together, and Freya and Loki had each had their own experiences.
But now, Artemis from two different worlds forming a connection with Bell at the same time? That topic was a bit too stimulating.
"N-no, no! I... I just couldn’t bear being separated from Artemis, so..."
The Artemis from the Danmachi world desperately tried to explain, hoping Hestia would understand that she had been dragged into this.
But her explanation was immediately sunk by a single remark.
"Weren’t you the one who hugged Darling first the moment it happened? Where’s the part where you were forced? You were even more proactive than I was."
"Fuu—!"
Steam practically poured out of Artemis’s head. Her lie being exposed caused her embarrassment to explode all at once.
The four goddesses glanced toward the Artemis from the Type-Moon world. They knew her personality well. She was straightforward, said exactly what she thought, and her possessiveness and feelings toward Bell were almost always on full display. When it came to claiming Bell, she would absolutely never lie.
Reaching the same conclusion, the four goddesses all turned their subtly complicated gazes toward the Artemis they were familiar with.
After living together for hundreds of millions of years, Artemis had always been known as a very conservative goddess, especially when it came to relationships between men and women. She was deeply repulsed by such matters.
Impure relationships were something she found utterly unacceptable. If she encountered them, she would even step in to lecture people. Ishtar, for example, was often caught and scolded by Artemis, to the point that even fearless Ishtar was most afraid of being subjected to Artemis’s sermons.
Those lectures could last as long as seven months.
It was under such relentless scolding that Ishtar eventually decided she would never again appear in front of Artemis.
That was the kind of Artemis she was in the Tenkai, a goddess so pure she couldn’t possibly be purer.
Although the title "Virgin Goddess" carried a slightly insulting nuance, when applied to Artemis, it was meant in the most literal sense. Artemis herself fully acknowledged and accepted the title.
And yet, looking at Artemis now, practically burying herself in Bell’s arms, where was there even a trace of a Virgin Goddess left?
"...... Shorty, are all of you goddesses labeled ’Virgin Goddess’ secretly this horny?"
Loki’s blunt remark landed like a hammer, crushing both Hestia’s and Artemis’s hearts.
It wasn’t entirely unreasonable for Loki to think that way. After all, out of the three goddesses in the Tenkai known as "Virgin Goddesses," two had already turned out to be deeply repressed. Who was to say the third wasn’t the same?
"Athena... Athena... probably not... right...?"
Hestia had wanted to snap back confidently, but when she thought about herself and Artemis, her momentum collapsed instantly.
Who knew whether Athena was the same as them?
Loki clicked her tongue. If even this shorty wasn’t sure, then Athena was really anyone’s guess.
"That’s not the point. Even if Athena is secretly repressed, it doesn’t have much to do with us. As long as she doesn’t come anywhere near us, it’s fine."
Yes, Loki didn’t really care whether Athena was repressed or not. There were already two like that in the household. One more wouldn’t really change anything. The real issue was that Loki didn’t want anyone else joining the household at all.
"And another thing, this was way too sudden!"
"With us, things all happened gradually. How did it suddenly turn so impulsive with Artemis?"
"And more importantly, why aren’t you this impulsive with us?"
The moment Loki asked that question, the three goddesses standing beside her exchanged glances and quietly put some distance between themselves and Loki.
"Huh?"
Sensing the sudden awkwardness, Loki instinctively looked around. When she turned her head back toward Bell, the three who had been standing beside her moments ago were already on the opposite side.
...
This left Loki completely stunned. She couldn’t help but point at those traitors.
"Y-you... what the hell is wrong with you!?"
"Loki, don’t lump us in with you. Bell was quite impulsive with us. It’s just different when it comes to you."
Hestia stabbed straight at Loki’s heart without holding back.
"Loki, I feel the same way as Hestia."
As she spoke, Hephaestus unconsciously puffed out her chest.
"Bell isn’t very impulsive with me, but I do like how he acts like a little baby."
Freya crossed her arms over her chest, her stance just as clear.
This made Loki furious. She raised her hand, pointing again and again, only managing to choke out "you" without forming any other words.
Seeing things about to spiral even further, Bell quickly stepped in to stop the still-agitated Loki.
"Loki, calm down for a second."
"Calm down? This is just—"
"Didn’t you say you liked being the proactive one?"
"..."
That single sentence froze Loki in place for a full thirty seconds.
Then, her face, already flushed with anger, turned completely red. This time it wasn’t from rage, but from overwhelming shame flooding over her after everything else was drowned out.
At the same time, the five goddesses on Bell’s side no longer looked at Loki with sympathy, but with outright disdain.
You were the shameless one all along.
