"Whenever there's a feast, Hestia focuses on eating."
Another blonde goddess approached—it was Demeter, whom she had met before.
"Hmph, Demeter, I haven't yet settled accounts with you regarding the last time you leaked information."
After swallowing the contents of her mouth, Hestia said proudly. Demeter smiled, said nothing, and turned to look at Astraea.
"Long time no see, Astraea."
"Well, long time no see, Demeter." Astraea smiled as she held a glass of red wine in her hand.
"It's rare to have a banquet of the gods, so, of course, I had to come here to catch up on old times." Demeter shook her blonde hair and said, "Astraea, how is your family lately? I've often heard about your family's recent active performance; Alise and Kaguya should be at LV.4 soon, right?"
"Well, we just need to finish the job. I don't know what to do if I'm missing some 'great achievements'…"
Astraea glanced at Alise, who was happily chatting with Link, and then replied.
She turned around and asked, "And you, Demeter? How's your household?"
Demeter paused as she took a piece of dough.
"Are you missing the 'great cause'? Then we can only do it slowly. Speaking of which, you also take good care of my family's children, and these days happen to be a good harvest time. I've earned a lot more than last time; I'll share some with you next time, Astraea."
"Hehe, thank you very much."
The two goddesses chatted comfortably about interesting recent events and had a great time.
Clearly, the relationship between the two pillar goddesses is quite good.
Hestia was still eating a lot, savoring all the delicacies she normally couldn't enjoy.
At this moment, Astraea focused on the chain of ocean hearts around Hestia's neck.
"What a beautiful blue diamond. It must have cost a lot of manali, doesn't it, Hestia?"
"I haven't seen you in ages. Hestia has become a wealthy goddess."
"Snort!"
Hestia crossed her arms and displayed a proud expression.
"Link gave this to me. What do you think? It's super pretty, isn't it?"
"Yes, natural diamonds of this color are rare. They are incomparable to those magically synthesized diamonds."
"Hestia, you are very lucky to have met a child like Link."
All the goddesses admired the beautiful diamond necklace and felt envious.
...
Meanwhile, Link was chatting with Alise about matters related to Weiye.
"Is this true? Due to a lack of major achievements, you're now stuck at LV.3, and it's only a matter of time."
"That's right. Last time I wanted to attack the floor master Goliath together to test its effectiveness, but you ended up handling it."
"I'm really sorry, but for LV.3 like you and Kaguya, Goliath probably has little impact. Do you want to try Amphispina next time?"
Amphisbaena, the floor master on the 27th floor, is a two-headed dragon with a water force that reaches level 6.
"Challenging Amphisbaena? Isn't it too dangerous?!"
Clearly, Alise does not agree with this decision.
Currently, only she and Kaguya are at LV. 3 in the family, while the others remain at LV. 2.
If they dare to challenge Amphisbaena, who has reached LV. 6, they might have to pay the ultimate price with their lives.
"Forget it, I'll play it safe…"
"In that case, I'll reach LV. 3 soon. Let's join forces as two families. Three LV. 3s, plus a group of LV. 2s, shouldn't be an issue."
"Okay, let's gather then. Wait..."
"What did you say!? You're going to reach LV. 3 soon?!"
Alise looked astonished; she dropped the bread in her hand, and it fell to the ground.
"It only took you two weeks to reach Level 2. Now it seems like it's also two weeks to reach Level 3, right?"
"Almost, just a little over two weeks..."
"What the heck! How is it happening so quickly!? From LV. 1 to LV. 3 in just over a month?"
On one side, the god Hermes, who had been paying attention, seemed to hear something and smiled knowingly.
...
As time went on, other gods began to arrive one after another.
Among them were Artemis, Takemikazuchi, whom Link knows well, as well as Hephaestus and Miach.
Hephaestus is an old companion. As soon as she arrived and saw Link, she brought Tsubaki to greet him.
Tsubaki casually put her arm around Link's shoulder, leaned into his ear, and whispered, "Didn't you invite me to dinner last time? Why haven't you mentioned it since?"
"When does Miss Tsubaki have time?"
"How about next weekend?"
"Okay."
"Hey, let's see if I don't take you down hard when the time comes."
"I hope you'll show mercy."
At that moment, Miach also approached with his child, Miss Naza.
Like the Hephaestus Familia, Link and Miach share a cooperative relationship. Link sells a large amount of dropped items obtained in the dungeon, which can be made into potions, to the Miach Familia, allowing them to make a huge profit.
Following Miach was Takemikazuchi.
The two gods, Miach and Takemikazuchi, can be seen as siblings in need; however, thanks to Link, the Miach family's situation has improved significantly, while Takemikazuchi remains poor.
Link occasionally wanted to explore the dungeon with their dependents, but he couldn't find anything to collaborate on. At most, he could explore the dungeon with them and have someone to take care of them.
After greeting these individuals, Artemis finally arrived late with Rhetusa.
Seeing Artemis, Hestia leaped forward.
"Artemis!!"
"Hestia..."
Artemis lovingly touched Hestia's head, then looked at Link with a strange expression.
Before he could say anything, Ganesha on stage shouted loudly, "It's time! The banquet has begun!"
Of course, there was no difference between shouting and not shouting.
The gods continued to chat among themselves, but the Ganesha family members on stage started playing music.
"Good evening, Rhetusa, long time no see."
Link brought a glass of red wine, walked over to Rhetusa, and handed her the glass.
"It's been a long time since we last saw each other. It's only been a month."
"Not seeing each other for a day is like three autumns!"
"You guys really know how to talk."
Taking the glass of wine, Rhetusa took a sip of the red wine.
"By the way, are you really LV.2?"
"Yeah."
"This speed is so fast..."
"I'm almost catching up to you, Rhetusa. If you continue at LV.3, I'll catch up to you soon."
"You know how to play; wait until you reach level 3!" Rhetusa punched Link playfully.
Although she didn't use her full strength, the LV.3's blow still stung his chest a little.
Link rubbed his chest.
"By the way, how long are you planning to stay in Orario this time? You won't be leaving tomorrow, right?"
"You're absolutely right. Lady Artemis has accepted the commission and is ready to leave tomorrow."
"What kind of mission is it?"
"The commission states it's a scorpion-shaped monster. I heard from Lady Artemis that there seems to be something wrong with an ancient ruin where the monster is sealed. I'm going to check it out this time."
"Remains?"
Link was stunned.
"Is it the ruins of Ersos?"
"Eh? How do you know?"
This is a big problem.
It really is the Ersos Ruins.
Link knew that due to the Ersos Ruins, the Artemis Family was wiped out, and Artemis was devoured by the ancient monster 'Antares' sealed within, allowing her to witness it with her own eyes.
The Artemis Family used divine power to kill Rhetusa and the others.
Just as Link was about to say something, Hermes, who had been watching from a distance, approached.
"Mr. Link, I have a commission here. I wonder if you're willing to accept it?"
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