Volume 8 Chapter 490 - The Quest
"What were you thinking, Artemis!?" Hestia shouted and waved her arms around at her best friend who was currently kneeling at a table. Although Hestia was exaggerating her movements, she wasn't angry at Artemis's actions. It was just that she was in too much shock as the Artemis she knew would never jump on a man, aside from when she was about to beat him up real good.
With a guilty face, Artemis answered, "I'm sorry. I became just really glad when I saw him."
"Glad!? You're glad!?" Hestia retorted before muttering, "This is ridiculous! That Artemis!? To a man!?" She then suddenly turned to Kisuke, who was still inspecting the spear with great fervor, "And you, Kisuke-kun! How can you flip a lady just like that!?"
Kisuke was startled when he was suddenly called out. "Hmm? Ah… Well, I'm pro gender equality. Man or woman, if they suddenly jump on me like that, I won't just stay in place.", he explained.
Hestia couldn't really say anything back to that.
Currently, the group in addition to Hermes and Artemis were meeting inside the abandoned church, just above their hideout. Ais, Riveria, and Lefiya chose to go home since they knew that this would be a Hestia Familia affair and they didn't want to step into it without any good reason.
Hestia then noticed that Artemis was giving Kisuke puppy eyes and couldn't take it anymore, so she asked Hermes who was fiddling with his feather hat, "Hermes! Is that the Artemis that I know!? She's weird!"
"Well, I guess Artemis decided to blend with the other people in this Lower World.", replied Hermes after putting on his hat again, as if it wasn't his business.
"S-she can't possibly…" While Hestia was questioning reality, Yoruichi suddenly interrupted, "So? How was she before?"
Hestia calmed herself down and sighed, "Artemis is one of Heaven's three virginal Goddesses. She is sworn to purity and cherishing virtue. Simply put, she's absolutely anti-romance." Smiling wryly, Hestia looked towards Artemis who was still giving Kisuke a puppy look, "One of the most anti-romantic people I've ever known."
"Anti-romance, you say? Can't see it, nya…" Kuroka muttered.
Scratching her head fiercely, Hestia shouted, "How did she end up like this!?"
"And? How come the anti-romance Goddess ended up sponsoring the event?" Yoruichi continued asking.
Now that they are on the main topic, Hermes' expression became serious, "Actually, a monster appeared outside of Orario."
With just those words, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa got a general idea of what 'trip around the world' really meant. However, they didn't say anything and just continued listening.
Hermes waited for their reaction, but he was surprised that they only looked at him. He smiled wryly and continued speaking, "The Artemis Familia found it and it's giving them a hard time. So she came to Orario to ask for help."
"In other words, this grand trip is just a monster quest Artemis-sama issued?" Yoruichi asked to confirm.
With a smile, Hermes replied, "As expected~! You have good intuition!"
"I knew that this was too good to be true…", muttered Medusa while sighing.
"You know that's called 'fraud', nya," Kuroka added.
"Hehe, relax now." Hermes was about to convince them to accept the quest, but Artemis suddenly moved and walked towards Kisuke until she stopped in front of him.
"I've been looking for you, Orion," Artemis said.
"The name is Kisuke Urahara, Artemis-sama," Kisuke answered. At this point, he could already see a bit of connection between the Artemis in front of him and the spear, '…What is this?'
"No. You are Orion." Artemis strongly refuted, "My hope."
"If I may ask, why me? There are stronger Adventurers out there, like the people of the Loki Familia. With enough compensation, I think they'll accept it."
Artemis touched the spear in Kisuke's hand and replied, "It's not the strength that the spear has chosen you for… It's your pure soul."
Yoruichi turned to Hermes, "Hermes-sama… This spear…"
He proudly proclaimed, "I told you, this is a legendary spear! Even Hephaestus swears on its quality~!" Although he didn't explain anything, Yoruichi already figured out that he won't be telling anything about it right now.
Hermes then pointed towards Kisuke and shouted, "You're chosen by this spear, Kisuke-kun!"
Kisuke then once again put his gaze on the spear while muttering, "Chosen, huh…"
Artemis then suddenly put her hand on Kisuke's cheek and said with a gentle smile, "I want you to come with me, Orion, pure soul and all…"
But before Kisuke could respond, from the corner of his eyes, he saw Hestia launching herself towards Artemis while shouting, "Stop!!!" And then she headbutted her. Although Kisuke could have stopped it, he thought that it was amusing and just let her do what she wanted. Besides, if Artemis didn't move her hand away, Kisuke would have given her a painful flick on the forehead.
With a loud thud, Hestia and Artemis both crouched down and nursed their heads. With a bit of tears on the corner of her eyes, Artemis complained, "Ughhh… That hurts, Hestia."
"That hurt me too!" Hestia complained back.
And Artemis's expression became worried as she touched Hestia's forehead, "Are you alright?"
Due to her gesture, Hestia grinned happily, "T-thanks…" She then realized what they were doing, "Wait! That's not it!" She hurriedly stood up and faced Kisuke.
But before she could say anything else, Kisuke declared, "Artemis-sama, we'll accept your quest."
Hestia's eyes widened, "Kisuke-kun…" She knew that he's been busy with something lately and she knew that it was very important for their group. But she couldn't leave her best friend, who needed help, alone so she intended to ask him for his assistance. Never did she expect that he would beat her to it.
Kisuke patted and ruffled her hair while answering the confused goddess with a grin, "It's Hestia-sama's precious best friend. So if she needs help, it's our duty to assist."
If not for Hestia, Kisuke's group wouldn't be able to find themselves in such a favorable situation. Aside from that, Hestia accepted them unconditionally despite their very sketchy origins. And although Hestia looked and acted childish and very lazy with everything, she acted as their senior in life when it was needed, especially for Aika, Koneko, and Sona.
There were times when even Kisuke or Yoruichi couldn't give good advice or console the three of them as the extent of their experiences only spanned around the battlefield. In those cases, Hestia, a fresh breath of 'normality' was a big help for them to the point that Kisuke, Yoruichi, Kuroka, and Medusa, who all had a not so peaceful past, learned some things from her and were able to relax more often.
With that, Hestia became an essential part of their group and not just a provider of cover and Falna. Helping her best friend was the least that they could do.
But Kisuke being Kisuke, he couldn't just settle with helping someone who was basically a stranger for them without any compensation. Kisuke faced Artemis and said, "However, I have a condition."
Artemis nodded seriously and replied, "Tell me."
"I want this spear as compensation."
Artemis was a bit shocked, but she instantly recovered and nodded her head, "Alright." Deep inside her, however, she was feeling a little bit guilty since she was deceiving Hestia's children. If her and Hermes' plan were to succeed, the 'spear' might even cease to exist. Even if it were to maintain its existence, it would at least lose all of its hidden power.
"Now that this has been decided, let's prepare to set off~!" Kisuke declared.
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