Chapter 34: Chapter 34
"Everyone, eat and drink as much as you want! Don’t be polite! Tonight, everything is on me!"
After a few cups of wine, Hestia was in high spirits.
She slapped her chest and shouted loudly, looking extremely generous.
"Ooooooh!"
The Familia members who came with those gods clapped and cheered.
They almost wanted to hug Hestia and kiss her!
A patron goddess this generous was simply too lovable!
Compared to them, the gods themselves were much calmer.
As the main goddess of Orario’s strongest forging Familia, Hephaestus was not short on money.
She was used to good food and fine clothes, so she naturally would not get excited over one meal.
She had come purely for Hestia’s sake.
Takemikazuchi and Miach, on the other hand, were used to living carefully.
They knew how hard it was to keep a Familia running, so seeing Hestia spend money so freely made them worry a little.
"Will this really be all right?" Miach quietly asked Kiriya. "If you want to explore the Dungeon, you’ll need lots of items, potions, and equipment. All of that costs a lot of money."
"It’s fine. As long as she’s happy, if the money runs out, I’ll just earn more."
Kiriya looked at Hestia with gentle eyes.
"With her spending habits, no amount of money will last," Hephaestus said, shaking her head.
"Don’t we still have the Apollo Familia mansion? And the equipment and items inside are worth quite a bit too," Kiriya said.
"You’re serious?"
Hephaestus froze for a moment and looked at Kiriya in surprise.
The Apollo Familia’s headquarters was famous for being luxurious.
Plenty of people were jealous of it.
For this young man to casually say he wanted to sell it was unexpected!
"Of course. That house is too big, just Hestia and I can’t take care of it. Hiring people would also be troublesome, so we might as well sell it and buy a smaller place."
Kiriya shrugged and explained his plan.
Of course, that was only an excuse.
The real reason was...
Apollo’s terrible taste.
He was genuinely worried.
No, actually, he was certain that place was filled with a strange gay-flavored atmosphere.
If he moved in just like that, Kiriya felt he might be disgusted to death.
"That makes sense..." Miach rubbed his chin. "But like you said, the maintenance cost is too high. It probably won’t be easy to sell."
"So, Goddess Hephaestus, are you interested in taking it? I can sell it to you at half price."
Kiriya turned to Hephaestus.
"You really are generous."
Hephaestus chuckled.
"In that case, I’ll gladly take the bargain."
"Great! Do you have any good houses? Something a little bigger, enough for around a dozen people."
They had few people now, but the Familia would definitely grow in the future.
Still, Kiriya did not plan to follow the Loki Familia’s path of having a huge group.
A small but elite Familia suited him better.
"Now that you mention it, I do have one. After we finish eating, I’ll have one of my children take you there."
"Then thank you."
The two smiled at each other and continued eating.
"Um..."
Just as everyone at the table was eating and drinking happily, a timid voice suddenly sounded beside them.
Kiriya turned his head and saw a young maid with short gray hair standing there prettily, her head lowered as she nervously twisted her fingers.
Beside her stood a young elf girl with short green hair.
He recognized them immediately.
Syr Flova and Ryuu Lion.
Although they looked like two delicate young women, both had unusual backgrounds.
The first was the perfect stand-in for Goddess Freya.
Freya often used her identity to play her little city-Cinderella game.
The second was a Lv. 4 adventurer known as Gale. She was very talented and was one of the stronger adventurers at her level.
But right now, both of them were simply ordinary waitresses.
"Is something wrong?"
Kiriya gave them a gentle smile, and both girls froze for a moment.
"Hello, I’m your fan. Could I have your autograph?"
Syr bowed deeply, almost at a full ninety degrees, and held out a small notebook with both hands.
"???"
A string of question marks seemed to appear over Kiriya’s head.
Wow.
So this world also had people asking idols for autographs too?
"Kiriya-san... is it not okay?"
After waiting for a while without hearing Kiriya answer, Syr’s delicate body began to tremble slightly, and her voice sounded as if she was about to cry!
Feeling the cold look from the short-haired elf girl beside Syr, Kiriya suddenly snapped back to his senses and quickly said, "Oh, of course. I was just a little surprised."
He took Syr’s notebook and pen, signed his name, and smiled.
"I didn’t think I’d ever have someone ask me for an autograph."
"That’s because Kiriya-san is really amazing. You’re strong and handsome. Whether you’re using a sword or fighting with your fists, you look really cool."
Syr gave him a clumsy but very sincere string of praise. Her bright eyes were practically sparkling.
Being admired by such a pretty girl made Kiriya feel a little proud.
"Oh, no, no. Compared to Lv. 6 and Lv. 7 adventurers, I’m still far behind."
That one sentence killed the mood.
Everyone around him looked over in shock, as if they were asking, ’Are you serious?’
"I-Is that so? You really are humble," Syr said.
A drop of cold sweat slid down her forehead.
She took the autograph from Kiriya, bowed again, and said, "Thank you very much. I’ll treasure it. I wish you good fortune in battle."
After saying that, she pulled her elf friend away.
"How nice," several gods nearby said, giving Kiriya strange looks. "You already have fans! And such a pretty girl too."
"Kiriya! You!"
Hestia’s eyes glowed red, and her twin-tails stood up even though there was no wind.
"The moment I stop paying attention, you start attracting other girls! I really can’t let my guard down around you!"
"Hey, Hestia, calm down!"
Kiriya was startled by the little goddess’s pressure.
He had just started to stand up when Hestia pounced on him and knocked him to the floor.
"Don’t even think about running! You’re mine!"
...
"Mmm..."
Hestia slowly opened her eyes.
What she saw was not the familiar basement of the old ruined church, but a finely decorated ceiling and a beautiful chandelier.
"Huh? Where am I?"
Hestia tried to sit up, but failed.
Her head hurt so badly that it felt like several knives were stirring around inside it.
"My head hurts so much! I really shouldn’t have drunk that much."
Ever since coming down to the lower world, Hestia had been poor and had not had many chances to eat and drink freely.
So when she finally got the chance, she got a little too excited and drank like there was no tomorrow.
And now she was paying the price.
She was in a mortal body now, so getting completely drunk had serious effects.
Her head felt like it was floating, her mouth was dry, and her throat felt like it was burning.
"Water... I need water..."
She groaned softly.
As if answering her wish, the door opened, and Kiriya walked in with a tray.
On it were water, milk, bread, roasted meat, and other food. It was a very generous breakfast.
"You’re awake?"
Kiriya walked over, put down the tray, picked up the cup, and helped Hestia drink some water.
Only then did she feel a little better.
After eating a full breakfast, Hestia finally felt alive again.
"Phew, much better."
Hestia rubbed her small belly with a satisfied look.
Seeing this, Kiriya started taking off his shirt.
"Eh? Eh? Ehhhh?"
Hestia screamed, her face turning as red as a ripe tomato.
"Kiriya, what are you doing? No, no, this is too fast! I’m not mentally ready yet!"
"Mentally ready?"
Kiriya paused and looked at her in confusion.
"Why do you need to be mentally ready to update my ability values?"
"Ah?"
Hestia felt like she had been hit on the forehead with a hammer.
Her face burned even hotter!
She buried her head under the blanket and wished she could dig a hole and hide in it.
"Pfft, hahahaha—"
Kiriya’s badly hidden laughter reached her ears.
Only then did Hestia realize she had been tricked.
She threw off the blanket, grabbed a pillow, and smacked him with it until he begged for mercy.
Then did she huff and start updating his falna.
Kiriya
Lv. 2
Strength: G(211) → F(378)Endurance: G(218) → E(401)Dexterity: G(232) → E(417)Agility: G(254) → E(426)Magic: G(278) → E(421)
Magic: Forest of All Things, Yang Power: Everflowing Vitality, Blade Storm.
Skills: Wish of the Strong, Demon Slayer.
"There! Take a look. All your ability values went up by more than eight hundred points."
Hestia copied the ability values onto parchment and tossed it to Kiriya.
She looked calm the whole time.
It was not that this growth was not shocking.
It was just that Hestia had seen Kiriya do ridiculous things too many times. She had started to go numb.
Kiriya looked at the numbers and seemed a little unhappy.
"Only a little over eight hundred points? The Apollo Familia really wasn’t good enough, they are too weak!"
He was not satisfied.
Those guys were seriously disappointing.
They were not even good enough to be proper experience packs!
Hestia was drinking water when she heard that and almost choked to death.
She coughed so hard it sounded painful.
Kiriya quickly went over and patted her back.
Hestia hit her chest a few times before finally recovering, then rolled her eyes at him.
"Be happy with it already. You only became Lv. 2 three days ago, and your ability values are already around E-rank. One battle raised all your ability values by more than eight hundred points. If other adventurers in Orario heard you complain about that, they’d chase you down."
"Haha, I was just saying it."
Kiriya laughed it off.
He knew very well that saying something like that would make people hate him.
He would only say it in front of Hestia. Once he left this room, he would keep his mouth shut.
"Right, I still haven’t asked. Where is this?"
Hestia pointed at the ceiling.
"This is our new home."
Kiriya took Hestia’s small hand and smiled.
"Sorry I made you live in that basement for so long. But that’s over now. From now on, you can wear pretty dresses, eat the best food, and live a better life."
"Mm. I always believed that."
Hestia leaned gently against Kiriya’s chest, looking peaceful and happy.
The two of them quietly stayed close like that, enjoying this rare warm moment.
Then Hestia suddenly remembered something and sat up.
"Kiriya, there’s something I have to warn you about."
"Hm? What is it?" Kiriya asked.
"Freya... that woman may have her eye on you."
Hestia’s face became serious.
"The goddess of beauty? No way!"
This time, Kiriya was truly surprised.
He knew a little about the original story.
The goddess of beauty liked pure souls, especially souls that shone brightly, like Bell Cranel’s.
As for him...
He did not think he fit that category at all.
’What would that crazy woman even like about my soul? Its pure dirty yellow though?’
Kiriya complained in his heart.
Seeing that Kiriya did not seem to take it seriously, Hestia became anxious.
"Kiriya, don’t let your guard down. If you fall into that woman’s trap, it’ll be too late to regret it!"
"You have to trust a goddess’s intuition."
"I understand."
Seeing Hestia so serious, Kiriya also became serious.
"Don’t worry. I won’t give her any chance."
"Mm, mm. Her Charm is too powerful, so she usually doesn’t appear in front of people directly. As long as you stay careful, you should be fine," Hestia reminded him.
"I understand."
Kiriya’s heart tightened.
He had almost forgotten about that woman’s Charm.
It looked like he should avoid meeting that crazy woman face-to-face as much as possible.
’Sigh. If only I had a mental-type skill. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about her Charm.’
At that moment, Kiriya really wanted a strong mental skill.
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