I woke up on the hard, dusty couch in the abandoned church. The bedroom was below ground, sort of like a basement, so I could barely hear the faint sound of the wind seeping through the cracks in the stone walls and creaking old wood. Despite the cold, I felt quite comfortable—at least as comfortable as one could be sleeping on a worn couch.
I turned to the bed, where Hestia lay, completely oblivious to the world, wrapped in a blanket. Her mouth was slightly ajar, and I could have sworn I heard her mumbling something in her sleep. Her body moved rhythmically with each breath, and her ample breast rose and fell under the white shirt that clearly looked like it was about to give up. My gaze remained glued to those mountains for a moment before I quickly averted it.
'Calm down, Eithan. This is just normal, ok?'
Not that I was staring too long, mind you, but well... it was hard to ignore.
I sighed and stretched, shaking my head to clear it. I had spent the night on the couch, which was as uncomfortable as the floor itself, but I didn't want to make her uncomfortable. It was my first night living here, after all. Hestia had offered me the bed, insisting that I should sleep with her, but there was no way I was going to accept that. She was a goddess, and I was a man. The warmth of a woman's body was stimulation enough to make me aroused. I was afraid I might lose control and attack her
I chuckled to myself and shook my head.
"Well, time to do something useful."
I couldn't just stand there all day, so I decided that if we were going to live in this place, I could at least make things more pleasant.
***
The church was in ruins. Part of the roof had collapsed, the walls were covered with cracks and vines, and the floor creaked under every step. If I hadn't known that this was our base, I would have thought the place was about to crumble on top of us.
The surroundings were not much better. The surrounding houses were just as abandoned, some of them already in ruins. Moss and vines covered the structures.
As I took one last look at the two-story building once used by mortals to pay their respects to the gods, I sighed. Though it was a church, it was a ruined church. It was not a worthy place for a goddess, let alone one as energetic and loving as Hestia. I had to do something about it.
It would take time, though, so it was better to focus on other priorities.
I walked between the collapsed houses for a few minutes until I came out onto the main street. I headed toward the market. People came and went with baskets full of ingredients, fruits and vegetables, while the merchants shouted their offers.
After wandering around for a while, I bought some ingredients; eggs, bread, some vegetables and raw meat. I also bought a decent pan. And since I had no money left for charcoal, I picked up some dry twigs on the way back to the church.
We didn't have a kitchen in the church, so I improvised. I built a small fire outside, surrounded it with some stones, and put the pan on the newly lit fire to warm it up. It reminds me of camping with my family.
As the ingredients sizzled in the pan, I was lost in thought. I hadn't been big fan of cooking, but my sister and Isis made me their personal chef. "Eithan, cook this," "Eithan, make us that." Although I complained at the time, I was now glad that I had learned something in the kitchen. I was confident enough in my cooking skills not to poison Hestia...
"Huh, looks like cooking for a goddess isn't all that different from cooking for my family after all." I muttered to myself as I turned the food in the pan.
The aroma of breakfast quickly filled the air. I smiled. It had been a long time since I had cooked a meal, and I was proud of how it turned out. By the time I finished, the sun was higher in the sky and breakfast was ready: scrambled eggs, toast on the fire, and some roast beef with sauteed vegetables. So far my diet had consisted of stale bread and water, so this felt like a luxury.
I looked toward the church and thought of Hestia, who was still sleeping. I felt responsible for her, and even though there were only two of us in this Familia, I wanted to make sure she had as comfortable a life as possible. Maybe it was the fact that for the first time in a long time I had someone else to care for.
Also...
"She reminds me of my little sister."
In any case, if we are going to continue like this, I need to start earning more money, which definitely needs to be planned better. Then one day we could get out of this abandoned church and find a better place. One where Hestia wouldn't have to worry about where we would sleep or what we would eat.
I served breakfast on two plates I found in the kitchen. Hestia was still asleep, so I went over to her side.
"Hey, Goddess, it's time to wake up," I said quietly, touching her shoulder.
She mumbled something unintelligible before slowly opening her eyes. She rubbed her eyelids and looked at me with a confused expression. Then a smile formed on her face as the smell of breakfast wafted up to her.
"Good morning, Hestia. Come on, get up."
She took a deep breath before sitting down on the bed and looking at the plate with sparkling eyes.
"Eithan... this smells... amazing!" She exclaimed, almost jumping up and down.
The inside of the room was not particularly large; it consisted of a smaller, square-like room and a larger, rectangular-like room. The square section contained our room, where there were also two couches. I stepped back, breakfast in hand, and sat down on one of them.
Hestia came over, still half asleep, and sat down on the couch next to me.
"Did you prepare breakfast?"
"If we're going to be living together, I can at least make sure you don't go hungry," I replied, passing her the plate.
She looked at me, surprised, and then smiled warmly. That warm smile I was beginning to like even more than I did yesterday. She took a bite and a twinkle passed through her blue eyes.
"It's delicious! I never thought I'd eat anything so good!" She eagerly ate more food. She shredded the meat with her teeth while rubbing her chubby cheeks with her hands.
The girl in front of me was undoubtedly gorgeous. She looked like she was somewhere between a girl and a teenager, but she was more beautiful than any woman I'd ever seen. Her round face made her look more adorable than seductive, and her well-developed body made her look strikingly different. If her face had a more mature look, she'd be a beauty that men would kneel to look at. But her looks were what they were, and she couldn't change them.
In Orario, or in this world in general, it was pretty common to see a god walking among mortals. They were completely different from humans, demi-humans, or dungeon monsters. Gods transcended time and space; they belonged to a higher dimension.
A god can't die. A god can't be killed. A god can't age. Unlike humans, who change over time, gods stay the same forever.
That is, the likelihood of Hestia going from "adorable" to "bewitching and seductive" was basically non-existent.
"Heeh~ Ei-kun has gone into the dungeon without a Grace... that's both admirable and silly at the same time. You could die, you know?
She laughed and rested her cheek in her palm. Sitting next to me, she looked really cute.
"Ei-kun...?" I looked at her dumbfounded.
"Ey! That's a lovely name, don't you think, Ei-kun?" Hestia said, tilting her head to one side.
I wasn't sure if I should be flattered or embarrassed by her affectionate nickname. "I guess it doesn't suit me."
"Oh, of course it suits you, Ei-kun! Besides, you're my only Familia. So I thought you should have a special nickname too."
And now it was too late to tell her that I liked Eithan better.
"It's okay... Ei-kun is fine."
"That's great!"
She clapped her hands and smiled at me, her blue eyes sparkling with joy. It seemed like she gave me that nickname because she wanted to be closer to me, and I felt grateful for that.
Although my name is actually Eithan. Don't forget that, please...
"So, Ei-kun... what do you think about living here?" she asked, puffing out her cheeks as she took another bite of breakfast. "I'm a little embarrassed to have my first Familia here... but it's all we have at the moment."
"Don't worry about it, goddess. The place doesn't matter. I'm happy to have a roof over my head. But... if we ever have enough money, I'd like to move to a more decent place."
"Yes, I'd like that! To live in a real house with lots of people from our Familia!"
Hestia made a fist and jumped to her feet. Up close, I could see the outlines of her boobs under the white gown she was wearing. She wasn't wearing underwear, because I could see her skin. A large curve extended from her breasts and then downward, until it disappeared under the thin fabric.
I had to force myself to look away.
Hestia took a big bite of the egg and swallowed it.
"Muchi~muchi, Ei-kun is a great cook," she said with a full mouth, "and you will cook for me every day, won't you?
"No."
"Ehhhh?! Why?!"
After breakfast, I helped her wash the dishes. The tap water was cold and a little cloudy, but we had no choice. Hestia scrubbed the dishes in the sink while I dried them.
"Well, now that we're done with breakfast..." Hestia put a hand to her chin, "How about I give you Grace?"
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