Chapter 58:
– Hestia –
Another night of amazing pleasure! I could get used to this!
Hestia's entire body shuddered with the aftershocks of pleasure as she felt Blake pull his cock out of her ass and roll off of her onto the mattress beside her. The cool morning air hit her sweat-slicked skin and she shivered, her naked breasts rising and falling with each heavy, gasping breath.
"Mmmhh... that was just as amazing as yesterday," she managed between pants, her voice still thick and dreamy. Her thighs trembled faintly against the sheets.
Blake chuckled and leaned over to press a soft kiss against her flushed cheek. "Glad you enjoyed it."
"Hehehehe!" Hestia giggled, the sound bright and bubbly and entirely too happy for a goddess lying naked in a rented inn room at seven in the morning.
Descending to the mortal world from Heaven had been the best decision she had ever made. The truth was that she had only known Blake for a few days now, and she would literally do anything for him. Anything. Whatever he asked, wherever he needed her, however he wanted her. She did not say any of this out loud, of course, because it would make her sound absolutely insane. Even by goddess standards.
So she just rolled over slightly and nuzzled her face into the warm curve of his neck, pressing her bare body against his side. His arm came around her on instinct, his fingers settling on the small of her back, and she let out a contented little hum against his skin.
"Blake?" she murmured.
He tilted his head. "Mm?"
"You really aren't upset about that girl from Loki's Familia attacking you in the Dungeon yesterday?" She traced a lazy circle on his chest with her fingertip, her blue eyes flicking up to meet his. "Because I don't mind going to Loki and suplexing her through a table. I would do it happily!"
Very happily!
Blake laughed. "It was fine. That girl obviously has a lot of trauma for some reason and wants to get stronger. When we fought, she didn't have any killing intent. It was just a spar that got a bit out of hand." He paused, then grinned. "I enjoyed it, honestly."
"If you say so." Hestia sat up, letting the thin blanket pool around her waist, and stretched her arms above her head with an exaggerated groan. She arched her back, rolling her shoulders, and did not miss the way Blake's eyes tracked the movement of her breasts. Good! They were her proudest feature and she had every right to show them off. "Did you want to go get some breakfast? And then maybe go house shopping afterwards?"
The words still felt surreal leaving her mouth. House shopping. She, Hestia, the goddess who had been sleeping on Hephaestus's couch and eating her leftovers less than a week ago, was going house shopping.
The amount of money Blake had made yesterday still shocked her.
Not only had he once again carved his way through hundreds of monsters by himself, the count pushing close to a thousand across the floors he had cleared, but he had also killed a rare variant of the Goliath solo. Its magic stone alone had been worth a small fortune. They could already use that money to buy a house. An actual house with walls and a roof and a door she could lock and a kitchen she could burn things in.
The dream of having a small Familia and a home of her own was actually coming together. She had never expected to find an actual lover on top of all of that, but it just made everything sweeter.
Especially because Blake's race, fallen angels, were immortal. She would never have to watch him grow old. She would never have to say goodbye.
And if anyone tried to take him from me, I would DESTROY them with everything I have!
Hestia smiled to herself, her thoughts were dark, full of LOVE, and thankfully very private, and reached for his hand.
Blake's expression softened. "You really want to do that today?"
"Yes," Hestia said instantly. Hestia leaned down and kissed him, soft and lingering. When she pulled back, she whispered, "I want to start building our home today."
Blake looked up at her for a long moment. Then he smiled. "Then let's go buy a house."
Hestia had asked many questions.
Was the roof sturdy?
Did the kitchen have enough storage?
Were there monsters in the cellar?
Had anyone died there recently?
Was the neighborhood safe?
Did the windows get morning sunlight?
Was there a fireplace?
Did the fireplace have a proper hearth?
That last question had made the Guild representative blink.
They had spent the past couple of hours that morning following a Guild representative in charge of property sales across Orario. Blake, being the amazing boyfriend he was, gave Hestia complete free reign to pick whatever she loved. He just walked beside her with his hands in his pockets and a patient smile, letting her take the lead on every viewing.
The Guild representative got visibly annoyed by how choosy Hestia was. She rejected the first house for having "sad windows." The second for smelling like wet dog. The third because the kitchen was too small and she refused to cook in a closet. The fourth because the neighbors looked like gossips. But Hestia did not care about the representative's thinning patience. This was going to be her home. Their home. It needed to be perfect.
The Guild representative definitely wanted to laugh. Or scream.
Hestia could tell. She did not care. A home was important. A home could not simply be acceptable. It had to feel right. It had to be warm. It had to be safe. It had to be the sort of place where a Familia could grow.
Finally, after what felt like the tenth tour, they found it.
The house sat on a quiet cobblestone street not far from the Dungeon entrance and Guild headquarters. It was not enormous, but it did not need to be. Not yet. Three stories, eight bedrooms, with cozy proportions and warm wooden bones that made it feel lived-in even though it was empty. A nice front yard with enough space for a garden, and a back yard shaded by an old oak tree whose branches reached toward the upper windows. The interior had solid floors, wide doorways, and big windows that let the afternoon light pour in.
And the fireplace had a hearth. A real hearth. Deep and wide and built from old stone, the kind meant for gathering around, for warmth, for home.
Hestia had stood in front of it for a full minute without speaking. The only thing she had ever truly missed about Heaven was her hearth. It had been hers for millennia, the sacred center of her domain, the place where her divine essence felt most at peace. And now she had a new one. A better one. Because this time, she would not be sitting beside it alone.
They paid for the house and signed a stack of contracts right there in the front room. The Guild representative informed them it would officially be theirs tomorrow morning, after the Guild's cleaning and fumigation crews finished their work.
The paperwork took less than an hour. Blake paid the deposit and signed where the representative told him to sign, while Hestia hovered at his side and tried very hard not to bounce in place. There were contracts, transfer stamps, Guild seals, cleaning fees, inspection fees, and a fumigation notice that made Blake raise an eyebrow.
"Fumigation?" he asked.
"Standard procedure," the representative said. "Orario homes occasionally develop monster pest issues."
Blake stared at her. "Monster pests?"
She nodded as if used to it. "Killer rats, blood roaches, basement slimes, minor curses, that sort of thing..."
Blake slowly looked at Hestia.
Hestia smiled brightly. "Welcome to Orario!" she then grinned again, realizing this was really happening. By tomorrow morning, after the Guild finished cleaning and fumigating the property, the house would officially belong to them.
Their house. Their home.
Hestia clung to Blake's arm as they walked back through Orario, giggling so happily she probably sounded ridiculous. She did not care about that either. The city felt brighter than it had that morning. The streets seemed warmer. Even the passing adventurers and shouting merchants could not annoy her.
She had a Familia.
She had a boyfriend.
She had a house.
She had a hearth.
I am winning at life!
"I still can't believe we bought a house in one day," Blake said.
Hestia tilted her head against his arm. "What do you mean?"
"In my world, buying a house takes months. Two or three at least. Sometimes more."
Hestia stopped walking.
Blake took one more step before her grip on his arm stopped him too.
"Months?" she asked in disbelief. "To buy a house?"
He nodded. "Yeah."
"When you have the money right there ready to go?"
Blake scrunched his nose. "Still yeah. Although most people don't have the money. They buy the houses on mortgages…which is erm…basically credit."
Hestia stared at him in horror. "How does anyone get anything done in your world?"
Blake laughed. "Slowly..."
Hestia scoffed and resumed walking, dragging him along with her. Her stomach growled loudly enough that a passing dwarf glanced over.
Hestia froze.
Blake looked down at her, lips twitching. "Hungry again?"
"I am a goddess," she said with dignity. "My divine vessel requires regular offerings."
He smirked at her. "Which just means food right?" Blake chuckled, and Hestia pointed down the street before he could tease her further.
"There is a place nearby you'll love. It has amazing food." She narrowed her eyes. "As long as Loki Familia isn't there ruining the atmosphere."
"What's it called?" he asked.
"The Hostess of Fertility!" She'd been taken there by Hephaestus a few times and the food and atmosphere was always nice.
Blake's mouth twitched.
Hestia immediately did not like that expression.
"Sounds kinky," he said.
She punched his arm.
"Ow," Blake said, completely unhurt.
"It is a respectable, high-end pub," Hestia said. "Mostly for gods and adventurers. The food is wonderful, the drinks are strong, and all the waitresses are very classy maids."
Blake's eyes lit up with genuine, almost boyish excitement. "I've never been to a maid cafe before."
Hestia did not know what a maid cafe was. But the name alone made something possessive and prickly flare up in her chest for reasons she could not entirely articulate. "It's not a maid cafe," she said firmly, pulling him along faster. "Stop calling it that. And stop looking so excited about maids!"
– Blake –
""Welcome to the Hostess of Fertility!""
Two voices called out in perfect unison the moment Hestia and I stepped through the front door.
I had to blink a few times.
Holy shit. This really is a maid cafe!
Not just a tavern with good food and cute uniforms. Not just a pub where the waitresses happened to wear frilly aprons. This was a genuine, honest-to-God maid cafe tucked into a fantasy adventurer city, complete with warm lighting, polished wood floors, cozy tables, the smell of roasted meat and fresh bread, and cute waitresses greeting customers like I had wandered into some anime-themed fever dream.
And one of them was a catgirl.
A real catgirl. Black hair, cat ears, swishing tail, sharp eyes, playful smile. The whole package. She was gorgeous in that dangerous, flirtatious way that told me she knew exactly what she looked like and used it to her full advantage.
The second was a silver-haired maid, and she nearly stopped my heart. She looked like a younger Grayfia Lucifuge. All the right curves filling out that uniform in ways that should have been illegal, silver hair cascading past her shoulders, and striking silver eyes set in a delicate, almost doll-like face. My brain short-circuited for half a second.
Rias had shown me plenty of pictures of her sister-in-law at this point and they were so similar it was throwing me off.
I stared for half a second too long.
Hestia smacked my arm. "Stop staring," she whispered, her voice sweet enough to fool anyone who could not hear the jealousy hissing underneath it.
I chuckled and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "Sorry."
Hestia puffed up, but the kiss worked. Her cheeks turned pink, and she clung tighter to my arm like she had just personally defeated the entire maid population of Orario.
The catgirl's smile widened at us. "Nyahaha. Welcome, welcome. I'm Chloe. Table for two?"
Her eyes flicked between Hestia and me with the kind of knowing amusement that made me immediately suspicious. She definitely noticed Hestia's grip on my arm. She definitely noticed my wandering eyes. She probably noticed everything.
The silver-haired waitress, on the other hand, did not say anything at first.
She just stared at me.
Her mouth had fallen open into a little O. Her silver eyes were locked onto my face, then briefly my chest, then my face again. She looked less like a waitress greeting a customer and more like someone whose brain had stepped outside.
I shifted awkwardly. "Uh... hi?"
No response. She just kept staring right at me, like she was looking through me almost.
Chloe glanced at her coworker, then at me, then back at her coworker. Then she reached over and pinched the silver-haired girl's cheek.
"Ow!" The girl jolted like someone had slapped her soul back into her body. A blush rushed across her face, bright enough to be visible even in the warm tavern light.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly, then coughed into her fist. "My name is Fre..."
She froze.
Chloe's ears twitched.
Hestia narrowed her eyes.
The silver-haired waitress coughed again, louder this time, her blush deepening. "Hello. My name is Syr. Welcome to the Hostess of Fertility. I will be your waitress today." Then she stepped in front of Chloe with a little too much enthusiasm, smoothly but very deliberately taking the lead.
Chloe blinked.
Syr smiled brightly.
Chloe looked at Syr. Then at me. Then at Hestia. Then back at Syr. For a second, I thought the catgirl was going to call her out.
Instead, Chloe shrugged like this was none of her business and she had decided life was easier that way. "Have fun, Syr," she said, drawing out the name just enough to make Syr's shoulders stiffen.
"Oh, I will…" Syr replied sweetly.
That response made Hestia's fingers tighten around my arm.
I looked down at her. She looked up at me with a smile that promised divine violence if I enjoyed this too much. I could tell she was already regretting taking me here. I smiled back innocently. She did not buy it.
"This way, please," Syr said. Syr led us to an empty booth near the bar, her silver hair swaying with each step and her posture just a little too upright, a little too composed, like she was concentrating very hard on not tripping over her own feet.
The place was busy but not packed, filled with adventurers, merchants, and a few people whose auras felt old enough and strange enough that they were probably gods in disguise. Conversations rolled through the room, mixing with clinking mugs, sizzling food, and the occasional burst of laughter from the bar.
Syr guided us to an empty booth near the bar, one tucked just far enough from the crowd to feel private without being hidden.
Hestia slid in first and immediately tugged me down beside her instead of letting me sit across from her.
Possessive little goddess.
I loved it.
Syr placed two menus on the table, but her eyes lingered on me again for half a heartbeat too long.
Hestia noticed. Of course she noticed. The temperature around my arm dropped by about three degrees.
Syr smiled like she had no idea she had just poked a small divine bear. "Can I get you something to drink?" she asked me, not even glancing at Hestia.
…Hestia grumbled the moment Syr walked away with our drink order.
I looked down at her. "Something wrong?"
"Yes," Hestia said immediately. She had both arms wrapped around one of mine, hugging it against her chest like she could physically anchor me to the booth if she squeezed hard enough. Her blue eyes followed Syr all the way toward the bar, narrowing more with every step the silver-haired maid took. "I don't like that maid," Hestia muttered.
I bit back a smile. "You don't?"
"No." Hestia's cheeks puffed up. "I especially don't like the way she was looking at you."
"How was she looking at me?"
Hestia snapped her gaze back to me, scandalized that I had even asked. "Like you were a piece of meat."
I raised an eyebrow.
"And she was starving," Hestia added darkly.
That got a laugh out of me. I could not help it. The image of a delicate silver-haired maid stalking me like a hungry wolf was ridiculous.
Hestia did not laugh.
"Hestia," I said, still chuckling, "I'm used to getting looks. Back when I was in high school, girls stared at me all the time."
Her eyes narrowed. "They did? A lot…?"
"More than I noticed at the time." I shrugged. "My fallen angel side was sealed back then, so I didn't really care. I never paid attention to any of them."
Probably for the best too, in hindsight. If I was as regularly horny back then as I am now, I would have knocked up half the girls in my High School…
Hestia's expression softened for about half a second. Then it hardened again. "Then why were you paying attention to Syr?"
I opened my mouth. I closed it and paused. That was a fair question. My gaze drifted toward the bar before I could stop it. Syr stood there with Chloe, saying something while filling two mugs. Her posture was perfect. Her smile was gentle. Nothing about her seemed threatening on the surface.
And yet… I don't know. Something about her made me cautious but I also didn't think she wanted to hurt me. Actually the thirsty looks she kept giving me definitely told me she didn't want to hurt me. Other than probably tying me up and locking me to her bedpost…
"There's something about her," I admitted with a chuckle, not going more in-depth with all my thoughts.
Hestia went very still.
I immediately realized that had been the wrong phrasing. "I don't mean it like that," I added quickly. "It's just... I don't know. She keeps catching my eye. Like there's more to her than she's showing."
As if she felt me looking, Syr glanced over from the bar. Our eyes met. She smiled. It was soft. It was sweet. It was absolutely not innocent.
I looked away first. I turned back to Hestia and reached for her hand under the table. "It doesn't matter."
Hestia searched my face, still suspicious.
I squeezed her fingers. "Today is about us. You, me, and our new home."
Her expression brightened instantly. "Damn right it is," she said, nodding firmly. Then she scooted even closer in the booth, which I had not thought was physically possible. Her thigh pressed against mine. Her shoulder tucked under my arm. Her body fit warmly against my side, soft and possessive and pleased with itself. "We need furniture," she announced.
I smiled. "Furniture sounds important."
"It is extremely important. We need a dining table. A proper one. Big enough for future Familia dinners."
"Future Familia dinners," I repeated.
"Yes. And chairs. Comfortable chairs. Not ugly chairs. I refuse to build my dream home around ugly chairs."
"That would be tragic."
"It would be," Hestia said seriously. "We also need blankets, dishes, cooking supplies, curtains, storage shelves, rugs, towels, cleaning supplies, and probably extra pillows."
I nodded gravely. "Can't forget the pillows."
"And," Hestia continued, her voice lowering with sudden importance, "we need a nice, big, comfortable bed."
My face warmed before I could stop it.
Hestia noticed immediately. Her smile turned smug.
"A very sturdy bed," she added.
I cleared my throat. "For sleeping, obviously."
"For sleeping," she agreed, far too innocently. "Among other important Familia activities. Like butt sex…"
I sputtered at her. "H—Hestia…!?"
"What?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at me. "You're the one that got me addicted…"
Hestia and I spent the next couple of hours wandering through Orario again, this time moving from furniture store to furniture store. Somehow, shopping for furniture was more exhausting than fighting a variant Goliath. At least the Goliath had only tried to kill me once.
Hestia, on the other hand, had opinions. Strong opinions. She rejected one dining table because it felt too cold. She rejected a set of chairs because the backs were ugly. She rejected an entire bedroom set because, in her words, "the wood has bad energy." I did not know furniture could have bad energy, but I was not about to argue with the goddess of the hearth while she was building her first home.
Our home. That thought still hit me strangely. I now basically had three homes in three different worlds…
We had spent most of the money I made yesterday on the house itself, but I had earned enough that we still had plenty left over for the furniture Hestia wanted. Honestly, I did not care about the cost. Growing up in foster homes with no money had taught me how much money mattered when you did not have any, but it had also made me weirdly detached from it once I finally did.
Especially in this world. Money was stupidly easy to earn here if you were strong enough. Yesterday, I had walked into the Dungeon, killed monsters for a few hours, soloed a rare variant boss, and earned enough money to buy a house that probably would have cost over a million dollars back in New York.
Hurray for the Dungeon! Who the hell needs a day job anyway!?
We were in the middle of buying a couch when I remembered the obvious problem. The couch was large. Very large. Big enough for a whole Familia to pile onto during lazy evenings around the hearth, which was probably why Hestia had fallen in love with it immediately.
The shop owner had started explaining delivery fees when I reached into my inventory space and pulled out a rolled storage scroll.
Hestia tilted her head, twin tails shifting behind her. "What is that?"
"A storage scroll."
She blinked. "But you already have storage magic."
The shop owner gasped!
Huh? Was storage magic a big deal in this world?
"Eh, my inventory space is useful and pretty big, but it isn't big enough to fit a whole giant couch." I held up the scroll. "These are for bigger stuff."
The shop owner stared at the scroll like I had just pulled out a live snake.
Hestia leaned closer, eyes bright with curiosity. "How does it work?"
"It works with my chakra."
"That explains nothing…"
"It explains everything if you know what chakra is."
"I do not."
"Then it explains almost nothing," I admitted and grinned at her pout.
I unrolled the scroll across the floor in front of the couch. Black ink symbols covered the parchment in neat circular patterns, the sealing formula still perfectly intact despite all the dimensional nonsense I had dragged it through. I pressed two fingers to the center of the seal and pushed a little chakra into it.
The ink flared. The couch vanished in a puff of white smoke. The scroll snapped shut with a soft rustle.
Silence filled the store.
The shop owner's mouth hung open.
Hestia's mouth hung open.
I tucked the scroll back into my inventory space like nothing unusual had happened. "What?" I asked.
Hestia slowly turned toward me. "You can just... do that?"
I nodded. "Pretty much."
The shop owner made a faint choking sound.
Hestia stared at me for another second. Then her whole face lit up. "You are amazing," she said.
My chest warmed in a way that had nothing to do with holy lightning. I smiled. "Glad you think so. It's not like I made them though, Tsunade did."
"Even so. You're still amazing." Hestia grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the door with renewed energy. "Come on. We still need bedroom furniture, kitchen supplies, curtains, rugs, and a bed."
"A sturdy bed?" I asked with a smirk.
She looked back at me with her cheeks pink and eyes sparkling. "A very sturdy bed," she repeated.
…It was early the next morning, my fourth day in Orario.
Hestia and I stood in the lobby of the inn with our few actual belongings packed and the rest of our newly purchased furniture tucked away inside storage scrolls. The innkeeper stood behind the front desk, smiling at us like she knew exactly why Hestia could barely look her in the eye. "Thank you for staying with us," the older woman said warmly. "I hope the room was comfortable."
Hestia made a tiny squeaking sound.
I smiled and placed the key on the counter. "It was great. Thanks for everything."
The innkeeper checked her ledger. "You paid for the full week, dear. I can return the unused nights if you like."
"Keep it," I said.
Her eyebrows rose.
I shrugged. "You cleaned our room and bed perfectly for the past couple days. Trust me, you earned it."
Hestia's face turned bright red.
The innkeeper's smile widened into something dangerously knowing. "How generous."
I felt Hestia grab my wrist. "We are leaving now," she said quickly.
"Have a lovely day," the innkeeper called after us.
Hestia dragged me outside into the morning streets of Orario, still blushing all the way to her ears.
The city was already awake. Merchants opened shutters. Adventurers moved toward Babel in small groups, armor clinking and weapons strapped across their backs. Somewhere nearby, a bakery had started its morning batch, filling the air with the smell of fresh bread and butter.
Hestia walked a few steps ahead of me, skipping lightly over the stone street while humming to herself. Her twin tails bounced behind her. Her short white dress swayed with every step, and my eyes dropped before I could stop them.
Her ass looked incredible in that outfit. She glanced over her shoulder and grinned. "We're going home, Blake!"
Of course, Hestia caught me. I lifted my eyes quickly. Too late.
Her grin widened. "It's going to be amazing," she said, then turned around and started skipping again, clearly putting a little extra sway into her hips.
Evil goddess.
I smiled despite myself.
We were almost to the street that led toward our new house when shouting erupted ahead of us.
"Get out of here, you trash!" a woman snapped. "We don't need beggars in our Familia!"
Hestia stopped immediately. The cheer drained from her face.
I looked toward the source of the noise, my good mood cooling fast. I did not like that tone. I had heard it too many times growing up. Different world, different city, same ugly contempt.
A large manor stood beside the street, its gates open. We both watched as a teenage boy with stark white hair was physically thrown out of the manor gates. He landed hard on the stone street in front of us with a grunt of pain, skidding a few inches on his palms and knees. He picked himself up quickly, wincing but refusing to stay down.
Hestia sucked in a sharp breath.
I took half a step forward on instinct.
The kid pushed himself up, trembling but not broken. He looked young, maybe fourteen or fifteen. White hair, red eyes, thin build, clothes worn but clean.
Damn. White hair and red eyes?
That was the shounen protagonist look if I had ever seen it. He gave off the same kind of weird narrative gravity I felt around Naruto and Sasuke, just with a lot less edge and a lot more kicked-puppy sadness.
The boy glared back at the manor gates. "All I asked was to join Apollo Familia! Why did you have to attack me?"
A woman stepped through the gate with a scoff. She was decently pretty, with long hair, and a red dress that was cut so low and tight it looked like it had been designed by someone with no respect for fabric or dignity. I sensed a moderate amount of power from her, enough to mark her as an adventurer, but not much beyond that. Probably Level One.
She looked down at the boy like he was dirt stuck to her shoe. "The Apollo Familia doesn't accept weaklings or gutter trash. You are both!"
The boy flinched, but his glare stayed. I did not sense any real power from him. He had no Falna or magic power. Just a regular human kid with too much hope and not enough luck.
Before I could say anything, Hestia marched right up to him.
The boy looked startled. He flinched as she got closer, like he was used to people rejecting him.
Hestia crouched beside him and placed one hand on his shoulder. Her expression was gentle, but her eyes had gone bright with divine certainty. "Then this goddess will accept him into her home," Hestia declared. "Since you don't want him."
The boy stared at her. His red eyes went wide, wet with disbelief. "You... you're sure?"
Hestia smiled at him. It was the kind of smile that made me understand, in one perfect second, exactly why she was the goddess of hearth and home. "Yes," she said. "I am Hestia, goddess of the hearth and home. I can tell you don't have a home right now."
The boy swallowed hard.
Hestia patted his shoulder. "But you have one now."
My chest warmed. I was not jealous. Not even a little. This was Hestia being Hestia. She saw someone alone and unwanted, and her first instinct was to pull him close, feed him, protect him, and call him family.
She really was an amazing Goddess wasn't she?
And I was glad she would have someone with her whenever I had to leave from time to time.
The boy bowed his head so fast I thought he might smack his forehead on the stone. "My name is Bell Cranel! Thank you so much!"
Hestia beamed and patted his head. "So polite! It's very nice to meet you, young Bell!"
The woman from Apollo Familia scoffed. "Go ahead and take the brat. Some random trash goddess I don't even recognize can have him if she wants."
Hestia stiffened. I saw her hand pause on Bell's head. The light in her eyes flickered, just for a moment, and I caught the flash of hurt she tried to hide.
That was enough.
I took one step toward the woman.
Her attention shifted to me. Then her expression changed completely. The contempt melted into interest. She smiled, slow and inviting, her eyes dragging over me with obvious appreciation. "Well, hello, handsome. Are you looking to join our Familia? I can sense you have a bit of power, and you're much more impressive than that brat. I'm sure Apollo would love to meet you."
I stopped in front of her. She lifted her chin, still smiling.
Slap! My palm cracked across her face hard enough to snap her head to the side.
The street went silent.
Her cheek turned red almost instantly. Tears sprang to her eyes from the shock more than the pain, and she sputtered like her brain had forgotten how words worked.
I stared down at her. "No one insults my goddess in front of me."
Behind me, Bell whispered, "So cool..."
Hestia exploded into delighted giggles. "Yeah!" she cheered, pumping both fists in the air. "You tell her, Blake!"
A man's voice shouted over Hestia's cheering. "WHAT IS GOING ON OUT HERE?"
The gates opened again, and a tall man stepped through with the stiff-backed posture of someone who had practiced looking important in mirrors. He had long hair, polished armor, and the kind of face that probably made him think the world owed him applause every time he entered a room.
Then he saw the woman I had just slapped.
Her cheek was bright red. Her eyes were wet. She looked less like a proud adventurer and more like someone who had just learned consequences existed.
The man's expression shifted to fury. "I am Hyakinthos Clio," he declared, his voice ringing with offense. "Captain of Apollo Familia. Level Three."
Bell made a tiny noise behind me. "Level Three?" he squeaked.
Hestia scoffed softly. "It's fine. Just watch."
Hyakinthos lifted his chin and glared at me. "Who are you to strike a member of our Familia?"
He had dropped his level like it was supposed to make me flinch. Like the number itself was a weapon. Like I was supposed to realize he stood above me in Orario's pecking order and lower my head before his authority.
I had grown up in foster homes where adults did the same thing with titles, belts, social workers, and locked doors.
I hated that shit.
So I stepped forward instead. "My name is Blake Himejima," I said. "Captain of Hestia Familia."
Hyakinthos's eyes flicked to Hestia, then back to me. His mouth twitched with faint disdain, like he had already decided our Familia was too small to matter.
I smiled. "This bitch insulted my goddess to her face, so I slapped her."
The woman's mouth fell open. Hyakinthos's glare turned murderous.
I tilted my head. "What of it?" For half a second, I let the silence stretch. Then I added, almost as an afterthought, "Also, I'm Level Six." The effect was immediate.
Hyakinthos choked. Actually choked. The sound came out of him like someone had punched him in the throat. His face drained of color so quickly I wondered if he was about to faint. The woman beside him gasped and took an instinctive step backward, one hand flying to her reddened cheek as if she had only just realized who had hit her.
The street went dead quiet.
A passing adventurer stopped walking.
Hyakinthos's eyes moved over me again, this time with none of the arrogance from before. He was not looking at some unknown upstart anymore. He was looking at a disaster with a handsome face and an offended goddess behind him.
The woman tried to speak first. "I... I didn't... I mean, I apologize... I..." Her mouth kept moving, but useful words refused to come out.
I stared at her until she looked down.
Good.
Hyakinthos swallowed hard. His entire posture changed, shoulders lowering, spine bending, pride folding itself into something more practical. "I apologize for the d-disturbance," His voice cracked on the last word. Then, because apparently he was not brave enough to trust her to walk without making things worse, he grabbed the woman by the waist, hoisted her over his shoulder, and carried her back through the gates.
She yelped. He ignored her. The gates slammed shut behind them.
No one came back out…
I stared at the closed gates for a few seconds. Then I muttered, "Wow. What a pair of bitches…"
Bell made a strangled sound.
When I turned around, the white-haired kid was staring at me like I had just descended from the heavens with a flaming sword and personally declared him cool by association. "That was the coolest thing I've ever seen," Bell said.
I chuckled. Yeah, I was already liking this kid way more than Naruto or Sasuke…
Hestia bounced over to my side, her earlier anger already melting into smug delight. She latched onto my arm and pressed herself against me with a pleased little purr. "As expected of my boyfriend and first child," she said proudly.
Bell froze. His red eyes widened even more. "You're dating a goddess?" he asked.
Hestia lifted her chin, looking impossibly pleased with herself.
I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah."
Bell looked between us, then pointed at me with trembling awe. "You're even cooler, big bro Blake!"
I stopped walking. Big bro?
Hestia gasped like she had just been handed a second present. "Oh," she whispered, clutching my arm tighter. "Our Familia is already growing and I'm so happy!"
XXX
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