Chapter 122: Chapter 122
Kiriya and Hestia started at one of Hephaestus’s shops, stocking up on weapons and gear—armor above all.
Kiriya laid in two spare sets, just to be safe.
Armor was basically a second life, after all. The more backups, the better.
While they were there, Hestia ran into her old friend Hephaestus, who promptly teased her without mercy.
Cracks about robbing the cradle, about how the world’s most confirmed old maiden had somehow landed herself a man—Hephaestus laid it on thick enough to draw curious looks from the shopgirls and customers alike, until Hestia’s face was burning red.
But the more flustered she got, the tighter she latched onto Kiriya’s arm.
She held her chin high, proud as a peacock, casting sidelong glances at the women around her with all the smugness of a conquering queen.
The envy, the jealousy, the sheer helplessness on all those faces—it made Hestia feel absolutely fantastic!
Even a goddess who’d spent ages as a shut-in had a little vanity in her.
With a lover as gifted and good-looking as Kiriya, how was she supposed to resist showing him off?
From Hephaestus’s weapon shop to the Miach Familia’s potion shop to the Hermes Familia’s general store, every time Hestia bumped into someone she knew, she’d clamp onto Kiriya’s arm, throw her chest out, and soak up the congratulations with a blissed-out grin!
She practically floated the whole way, and Kiriya found the entire thing hugely entertaining.
"Hey. Hey! Snap out of it."
By the time they’d finished dinner and made it back to their familia home, Hestia was still gazing off into space with a dopey smile, deaf to everything he said.
He pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed.
Then a thought struck him, and his eyes glinted.
’Not a bad idea at all.’
So he leaned down and kissed her.
"Mmph..."
The warmth against her lips snapped Hestia back to herself in an instant.
With that handsome face right there in front of her, something seemed to catch fire in her chest and go racing through the rest of her.
"Eh? Eh? What are you doing?"
Kiriya found himself towed into the bedroom and shoved flat onto the bed.
"Do you really have to ask?"
Hestia swung a leg over and settled onto his stomach.
"You’re leaving on an expedition. I might not see you for ten days—half a month, even. Isn’t there anything you want to take care of before you go?"
As she said it, she rolled her hips, just a little, in invitation.
Kiriya’s gaze sharpened on the spot.
The one who tapped out last time is talking big now?
Tonight, he’d show her what he was really made of!
Tonight, he’d show her what a real man looked like!
"Come then, temptress—taste my spear!"
...
Bright and early the next morning, Kiriya set out from home feeling refreshed.
"That girl really is hopeless, and she still loves to play."
Thinking of the goddess still fast asleep back home, his mouth curled into a distinctly shameless smile.
He honestly hadn’t expected Hestia to try playing ’the knight’ last night and take the reins herself.
And what was he supposed to do about that?
Naturally, he backed her every step of the way—hands, feet, the works.
He was the one reaping the rewards, after all!
The results, though...
All he’d say was that Hestia had badly overestimated her stamina.
She tapped out after a handful of rounds, went from the driver’s seat right back to the passenger’s, and Kiriya had teased her mercilessly for it.
"Who’d have thought one little chat with her goddess friends could change her this much? Those seasoned woman really are terrifying."
He mused on it and decided he ought to bring Hestia around to visit Demeter and the others more often.
Something told him she still had plenty of new doors left to open.
"Hehehe..."
"That laugh is downright creepy. You’re absolutely plotting something!"
A thick accent piped up by his ear, yanking Kiriya back to the present.
He looked up to find he’d wandered all the way to Orario’s Central Park without noticing.
Ahead of him stood the Loki Familia’s expedition party.
The voice belonged to Loki, who’d come to see them off.
At the moment, the Goddess of Trickery was pointing at Kiriya and solemnly lecturing Ais.
"Ais-tan, you’ve got to be careful. Don’t let this one’s face fool you. Some people look perfectly respectable and are rotten with bad intentions underneath. Let your guard down and he’ll swallow you whole, bones and all."
She sounded utterly sincere.
Her hands, unfortunately, were already sneaking toward Ais’s slim waist—only to get slapped away without mercy, drawing a yelp of pain from Loki.
"Sorry, Loki’s just..."
Riveria came over with a pained smile, trying to smooth things over, but Kiriya raised a hand to stop her.
"It’s fine. It’s only natural for a goddess to fuss over her Familia. And I get it—people do tend to judge others by their own measure."
"What was that, brat?"
Loki bristled instantly and made to charge over and trade a few blows with Kiriya, only to be pinned firmly in place by Ais.
"Judging others by her own measure, huh..."
Riveria’s expression went odd.
She clearly wanted to laugh but felt she ought to keep her composure, and the effort of holding it in looked genuinely painful.
"Good morning, Sylvan."
Just then Finn strolled up with a warm smile. "I’ve heard no end about you. Getting to fight alongside you this time must be fate."
"That’s right, that’s right."
Tiona and Tione nodded along, grins just a touch sly.
"And we’ll finally get to see the secret behind how you leveled up so fast, handsome."
"Heh, to be honest, I’m curious about that myself."
Kiriya answered without a shred of false modesty. "Also—drop that awful nickname. Just call me Kiriya."
"Then call me Finn as well."
The palum hero returned the courtesy at once.
"Riveria."
"Tiona."
"Tione."
"Ais."
The core members of the Loki Familia introduced themselves one after another, all politeness.
Only Bete the werewolf clicked his tongue, plainly unimpressed—but Kiriya couldn’t have cared less.
"Everyone’s here, so let’s move out."
At a wave of Finn’s hand, the expedition party—close to a hundred strong—slowly got underway.
"Stay safe, everyone. I’ll be right here waiting."
Loki waved them off, then whipped out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes, waving it tearfully at Ais.
"Ais-tan, guard your purity! That boy’s a beast!"
Thunk!
A rock sailed in and caught Loki right between the eyes, swelling into a large bump.
Laughter erupted all around, the air suddenly light and cheerful.
"..."
"Hm?"
Just before stepping into the Dungeon, Kiriya felt a powerful gaze settle on him—hot, surging, intense enough to raise every hair on his body.
He followed it, and his eyes locked onto the upper reaches of Babel in the distance.
"That you, Freya?"
His lips quirked. "Do me a favor and don’t take things too far. Otherwise you won’t even get the chance to be a dangerous woman."
* * *
"He saw me. He saw me..."
At the very top of Babel, Freya cupped her cheeks in both hands, bashful and glowing, like a school girl head over heels in love.
But the feeling drained away the moment Kiriya disappeared into the Dungeon.
"We were so close! One step away from finally meeting each other properly. So why? Why...? Why does fate insist on playing such cruel jokes on me?"
Resentment and sorrow flickered across Freya’s face—before the whole of it hardened into ice.
She could have met him openly, as the goddess Freya, and shown him the most perfect version of herself.
And yet even a wish that small had been put off, again and again, for one reason after another.
"Royman Mardeel... what a magnificent mess you’ve made."
She turned suddenly to the towering boaz at her side with a smile on her lips.
"Ottar—what would you say to tossing that pig into the Dungeon and letting the monsters sort him out?"
"If that is your wish," Ottar answered, his voice hard as stone.
So long as his goddess gave the word, he’d march through fire or throw himself onto a blade without so much as a blink.
"...No. Never mind."
After a moment’s silence, the goddess recovered a measure of her reason.
"That pig still has his uses. And with Ouranos standing behind him... for now, I’ll let him keep breathing."
"Your mercy lights the world like the sun itself," Ottar said, bowing his head.
* * *
Meanwhile, once they’d entered the Dungeon, Kiriya soon ran into a small problem.
Bete the werewolf had been scowling from the moment they came down, looking as if Kiriya owed him several hundred million valis..
"What’s eating him? Did he lose his life savings or something?"
Kiriya asked Tiona beside him.
"Hehe..."
Tiona and her sister traded a look, then grinned mischievously. "He just can’t stand how much attention Ais is giving you."
"Hm?"
Kiriya was a little lost.
"See, preparing for an expedition is Familia business—but Ais went out of her way to bring you along. That tells you just how much she’s got her eye on you, right? So... Bete’s in a mood about it."
"Ah."
Now Kiriya got it.
So this was the classic headache that came when the heroine was too pretty.
"...Sorry," Ais murmured, stepping closer.
"It’s not your fault. Why are you apologizing?" Kiriya smiled. "It’s just some petty werewolf throwing a tantrum. Nothing worth worrying about."
"Hah?"
Bete’s head snapped around, his beast-like eyes flashing a faint green as they fixed on Kiriya.
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