After we left the guild, I noticed that Hestia was very excited. Her joy was so contagious that I couldn't help but smile. Seeing my gaze, Hestia blushed slightly, but her eyes shone with satisfaction from a successful day. After all, she had finally found a family member and was able to boast about it to her friend.
As we walked through the lit-up evening streets of Orario, I decided to ask how her day had gone and why she was in such a good mood. Her answer surprised me a bit but brought a smile to my face.
"Hestia, what put you in such a good mood?" I asked with a smile.
"After leaving Hephaestus, I was living in that run-down church and sleeping on that horrible couch, which caused back pain. I am a goddess and should sleep on a soft bed to preserve my beauty," Hestia replied with a wide smile, clearly excited about her new soft couch.
"Oh, my goddess traded me for a soft couch. Hestia, you're breaking my heart," I replied, clutching my heart and putting on a pitiful look with tears in my eyes.
After my words, Hestia began to panic and tried to explain that the couch was not as important as the well-being of her family. She was talking so fast that I couldn't understand anything. Noticing her panicked state, I couldn't help but laugh. Seeing me laugh, Hestia got angry and clung to me like a monkey to a tree, shaking me.
While Hestia was shaking me, I tried to figure out where such strength came from in such a small body, considering that almost 99% of her power is sealed. Calming the loli-goddess, I shifted Hestia onto my back, and we headed to the restaurant. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that Hestia was still pouting. I could only muster a crooked smile—after all, it's impossible to stay mad at such a kind goddess.
As I carried the goddess on my back, we enjoyed an evening stroll through Orario. This walk could be considered a mini-date with my goddess. To savor the atmosphere of the evening fantasy world, I slowed my pace to fully immerse myself in it. Noticing that I had slowed down, Hestia said nothing and also enjoyed the walk with her new family member.
But our beautiful atmosphere was interrupted by a sound coming from Hestia's stomach. It was so loud, like a whale calling for food. I couldn't help but notice it and looked at Hestia, who was hanging on my back. Her face turned as red as a ripe tomato.
First, Hestia was embarrassed, then she became angry and started shaking me like a tree again out of embarrassment. After calming her down again, she climbed onto my shoulders and told me to hurry up.
"Onward, my noble steed!" she chanted. Sighing, I decided to speed up because if she continued shaking me, I might actually get sick despite my sturdy build.
Some time later...
Having arrived at the "Hostess of Fertility" with a very hungry Hestia, I couldn't help but wonder if she had eaten anything at all since we went our separate ways. As we approached the entrance, Hestia skillfully slid off my shoulders, and we walked inside. We were greeted by one of the waitresses, Anya Fromel.
"Oh, it's you, the strange customer-nya!" Anya pointed at me with her finger.
"Why do the waitresses here call me strange?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
I was curious to hear her answer. If it's because I greeted them with "nya" the first time I visited, it would be even more awkward than I thought.
"Well, I've never seen someone who's not even an adventurer throw one of Loki's kids across the restaurant and then fix everything like nothing happened," Anya replied, crossing her arms and nodding.
"Ahem. My name is Anya-nya, and I'll be serving your table tonight-nya. I see you need a table for two-nya," Anya continued after clearing her throat.
From my memories of the anime, if I remember correctly, Anya was carefree, but it seems she behaves like a responsible worker on the job.
"Hello, Anya-nya. You probably already know my name, as others must have told you," I replied with a smile.
"My name is Anya, not Anya-nya!" Anya began to protest.
"Well, that's what I'm saying, Anya-nya," I replied with a wide smile.
We started arguing about her name, going back and forth for a while. While we were arguing, I noticed Hestia's confused look. After spending some time arguing, Anya-nya gave up, and I could say that the victory was mine. Admitting defeat, Anya stopped arguing and led us to our table with puffed cheeks.
After we sat down at our table, Anya-nya handed us the menu and walked away with such heavy steps that I began to think she might break the floor. As Hestia and I placed our order, I noticed that Mama Mia was watching me. Seeing my glance, she made a "I'm watching you" gesture with her hand. Noticing her stern look, I could only gulp and nod nervously at her gesture. Seeing my nod, she smiled and made a "Order more" gesture. Shaking my head with a smile, I couldn't help but think what a strange woman she was.
Noticing Hestia's frowning expression, I asked her what was wrong. "How do you know the waitresses here? And why are they so friendly with you? And what was that fight with a member of that flat-chested Loki's familia about?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.
All I could do in this situation was to tell her what happened after I came here. After my explanation, Hestia started laughing, holding her stomach. When she stopped, she asked me to explain what happened with the member of Loki's familia. I told her how I launched him across the restaurant through the tables and then fixed everything I broke. Then I explained that they invited me to their table to apologize, and we ended up chatting, and Loki wanted to invite me to her familia. After hearing this, Hestia started raising a fuss, yelling that she wouldn't give me to that flat-chested goddess. With a smile, I reassured her that I wasn't going anywhere. Relaxing at my response, Hestia calmed down for a while.
As we continued talking about our day, our food was ready, and it was brought to us by my favorite elf, Ryuu. Placing the food on the table, I decided to greet her and start a conversation. I asked her how she was doing and if she was tired after a long day of work. Appreciating my concern, Ryuu smiled and replied that her day was fine and she wasn't tired. She asked how I was doing. "Well, I officially joined a familia and am now an adventurer," I replied with a smile.
"Well, congratulations. I hope you remember that there are many dangers in the dungeon, and you'll be careful not to get hurt," she said with eyes full of concern.
"Don't worry, Ryuu. I'll make all the necessary preparations before going into the dungeon, and I won't go to the lower floors for now," I assured her so she wouldn't worry.
"You made the right decision to prepare before going into the dungeon because danger lurks around every corner, and you never know what awaits you. Even though there are records of monsters, the guild receives daily reports about what adventurers encounter," Ryuu said seriously.
After talking for a while longer, Ryuu wished us a pleasant meal and went back to her work. Thanking her and starting to eat, Hestia and I dug into our meal.
After a hearty dinner...
After the meal, we ordered dessert and drinks, and I decided to start a conversation about what Hestia had learned about prices and other things on the list.
"Hestia, did you find out what I asked for this morning?" I asked, sipping my tea.
"Yes, Hephaestus helped me a lot. I'll give you the note, and you can see for yourself," Hestia replied and started searching for the note while still eating her dessert.
Receiving the note, I began to look at the prices of everything listed and couldn't help but frown at what I saw. The prices were a bit different from what I had imagined. If Apollo's mansion cost around 30 million valis, the restoration of the church would be about 300-350 thousand valis. Buying the land next to the church and building a mansion would cost around 20 million valis. It's good that our church is on the outskirts of the city, and the land there is cheap and unclaimed, so the price for that land is quite low. And that's not counting the other little things needed for the house.
After roughly calculating how much I would need to farm alone, I realized I would have to single-handedly defeat more than 20 raid bosses that appear once a week, and there's already a queue for them. Alternatively, I could search for unique materials and monsters. Sighing heavily, I decided to put this off for the future.
Noticing my frown, Hestia began to worry and told me that I didn't need to overexert myself to earn such money and that she could still live in the rundown church. Laughing at her panic, I reassured her that she didn't need to worry, and I wouldn't overwork myself.
"Hestia, don't worry. I'm not frowning because of the prices, but because I was calculating how many monsters I need to defeat to earn that amount. I already have an idea of which monsters I'll be hunting, so don't worry. I'll be able to save up for our home in the near future," I said to calm her down.
Hestia relaxed after my response. We finished our dessert and decided to head home. Paying for the meal and saying goodbye to everyone, we left the Hostess of Fertility and headed home.
Once we got home, Hestia immediately collapsed into bed, instantly forgetting all her worries. Laughing at this goddess, I covered her with a blanket and decided to lie down on my shabby couch. As I was falling asleep, thoughts of quick ways to make money swirled in my head. I kept thinking until I drifted off.
The next morning...
Waking up again next to a drooling Hestia, I gently laid her on the couch and went to get ready for the dungeon. Washing up, getting dressed, and leaving a note for Hestia, I grabbed my sword and headed to the Tower.
On my way to the tower, I noticed that many adventurers were heading to Babel Tower early in the morning. As I got closer to the tower, around which adventurers were already gathering, I looked up and thought that the tower was indeed enormous (that's what she said). Remembering an old joke, I decided to follow the other adventurers into the tower.
Inside the tower, I was greeted by stone walls and a huge ten-meter-wide hole in the center of the room, leading straight into the dungeon. The circular room was filled with numerous columns at equal intervals, and above was a beautiful azure sky painting, resembling a real sky. Gentle stairs spiraled around, leading into the dungeon.
When I saw the entrance to the first floor of the dungeon, my first thought was, "What a hole." Laughing at my joke, I approached the entrance and looked down to see how deep the stairs went. Seeing how far they extended, I pondered whether to descend the steps like a plebeian or choose an easier way—just jump.
After thinking a bit more, I made my choice and... To be continued...