"All right, then please wait a moment. Eris, what would you like to eat?" Yuto turned from Aqua to the well-behaved, lovable Eris.
"For me, may I have the same tangyuan as last night?" Eris asked softly, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation.
She was like a young girl waiting for something—cute and likable as always!
"Mm, all right." Yuto smiled slightly, and the adorable, obedient goddess narrowed her eyes happily.
Seeing her like this, Yuto couldn't help feeling emotional. 'As expected, this is what a real goddess is like!'
He turned around and walked into the kitchen.
Eris sat down beside Aqua. Even in her movements, she carried a degree of respect, it was plainly visible how much she respected her senpai.
"This place is not bad. Looks like your luck is as good as ever, Eris," Aqua noted in a strange tone.
Eris quickly nodded in agreement.
"However, simply having good luck is not enough! If you only rely on something as vague and intangible as luck, how can you properly carry out a goddess's work?"
"Mm, Lady Aqua is right."
"Of course. I'm someone who has been through it all before! I have handled countless duties! In terms of seniority and experience, I am far richer than you."
"Mm, that is indeed true. Thank you for instructing me, Lady Aqua."
"That's nothing. After all, you're my junior, so it's only proper that I guide you a little. But you also need to pay attention! Don't go competing for meaningless empty titles, those things are of no benefit to our work."
As Aqua lectured Eris, her expression gradually became unpleasant.
Meanwhile, Eris obediently lowered her head, continuing to respectfully listen to her 'guidance.'
Only when Aqua mentioned competing for empty titles did her face show some surprise.
"Eh? Lady Aqua, what empty titles are you referring to? I haven't done anything useless like that," Eris asked with nervous confusion.
Aqua's eyes twitched faintly.
"That Most Popular Goddess Contest held some time ago. You canvassed for votes, didn't you?" Aqua's brows trembled as she glanced sideways at Eris.
The obedient Eris instantly looked extremely hurt and dejected.
Being misunderstood by the senpai she respected most made her feel very upset.
"I did not canvass for votes, Lady Aqua. You've misunderstood me," Eris explained weakly.
Her eyes carried a wounded sadness, making her look like a pitiful little deer—extremely lovable and sympathy-inducing.
"If you didn't canvass for votes, how did you get first place?" Aqua gritted her teeth in a low voice.
From her current appearance, one could completely tell she was extremely unwilling to accept it.
"I... I don't know what happened either. I originally didn't want to participate, but somehow I became a candidate goddess, and then somehow I became... first place..." Eris's words contained helplessness mixed with a faint trace of joy.
After all, she had won first place in the Most Popular Goddess Contest!
Although it had happened somewhat inexplicably, she was still happy about it.
It represented another form of recognition, proving she was gradually being acknowledged and liked by everyone in the divine realm.
For Eris, whose experience was still shallow, this was truly something worth being happy about.
Listening to her helpless words, Aqua's mood became even worse.
'She didn't want to participate, yet she still took first place??? Where does that leave me?!'
She had entered the contest full of confidence, but the result...
"Hmph! Then let's just say you were lucky!" Seeing Eris's pitiful appearance, Aqua found it hard to say anything more.
She could only use luck as an explanation!
Eris wasn't angry.
She nodded gently. "Mm. It must be because I was lucky. No matter what, I could never compare to Lady Aqua."
Eris's earnest words made Aqua's expression become self-satisfied.
"There's no need to deliberately flatter me. As long as you work hard, sooner or later, you'll be able to catch up to me," Aqua said, folding her arms and adopting an earnest, instructive tone.
"By the way, I remember Lady Aqua also participated in that contest, right? Did Lady Aqua get any placing in the end?" Eris lightly touched a finger to her lips, asking with a slightly puzzled expression.
Aqua's expression instantly became stiff.
"Hmph. That kind of contest was nothing more than sensationalism. I just went through the motions a little and left." Her face remained stiff, but the corner of her mouth carried a forced curve.
Eris tilted her head very cutely, blinking in confusion. "I see. What a pity. If Lady Aqua had participated properly, you definitely would have taken first place, right?"
"Of course!" Aqua placed her right fist against her waist and laughed in an extremely exaggerated manner.
The corner of Eris's mouth curved slightly.
"Although I didn't go to the venue, I heard there seemed to be some commotion at the end of the contest."
"Oh? Was there? I didn't go to the venue either, but I didn't hear about any commotion."
"I see. What I heard at the time was that a certain goddess caused a commotion because she received the title of 'Goddess People Least Want as a Partner'."
"Oh-ho? I know absolutely nothing about that. 'Goddess People Least Want as a Partner'? My, the goddess who received that title must have been really miserable."
"Mm, that's true. Just what kind of terrible things would one have to do to be disliked by everyone that much?" Eris looked somewhat innocent as she lightly touched a finger to her lips and muttered to herself.
Beside her, Aqua wore a smile.
That smile looked as though someone had hung a smiling mask on her face—very fake.
Aqua would absolutely never admit that she was the one who had received the title of 'Goddess People Least Want as a Partner'!
She had always felt that the gods were blind.
She was clearly so perfect!
At the side, Saitama, Ainz, and Rimuru watched the conversation.
The three of them exchanged looks.
'Hey, hey, hey, this goddess is jealous, right? She's definitely jealous, right?' — Rimuru
'Judging from this Aqua's expression, I think she's the one who received that "Goddess People Least Want as a Partner" title.' — Ainz
'It's better not to make random guesses.' — Saitama
'No, no, no. I think Ainz has a point.' — Rimuru
'I see...' — Saitama
'Strange. I don't know why, but for some reason, this Aqua... gives off a slightly idiot-like aura.' — Ainz
'Leaving aside the personal attack, I actually feel the same way.' — Rimuru
'Huh. I thought I was the only one. So you guys thought that too.' — Saitama
The trio's round of eye contact made Aqua look toward them.
She frowned as she looked at the three.
A woman's intuition had always been terrifying, and a goddess's intuition was even more terrifying!
"Were you three trying to say something?" Aqua asked calmly.
"No, absolutely nothing," the three men replied simultaneously.
How could they possibly admit it? They shook their heads in perfect unison and denied it.
Seeing this, Aqua nodded, apparently believing them.
Afterward, the trio looked at one another again.
'She's really easy to fool.' — Ainz
'Indeed.' — Saitama 'Although I really want to say this is innocence, I seriously feel like she's a bit dumb!' — Rimuru
Aqua swept her gaze around the restaurant, spotting Lucoa drinking alcohol.
At one glance, she could tell that Lucoa was not human, after all, those dragon horns were very obvious.
Alcohol... she wanted some too.
"Boss, bring me a bottle of alcohol!" she called out to Yuto in the kitchen.
"Beer or sake?"
The small restaurant only had these two kinds.
Compared to vodka, sake had a much lower alcohol content. The reason he did not have vodka was because, up until now, his customers didn't seem to like drinking high-proof alcohol very much.
There were one or two who could accept it, but there were too few, so Yuto had only stocked sake and beer.
"One bottle of each." As a goddess from another world, Aqua had some understanding of beer, but she didn't understand sake.
However, as a goddess, naturally she had to have all of it!
It was only alcohol after all!
Beside her, Eris looked hesitant and worried, as though she had remembered something.
"Tohru, bring her a bottle of beer and a bottle of sake."
"Yes, Boss!" The dragon maid grabbed the bottles and brought them over.
Having seen many goddesses by now, she no longer reacted the way she used to.
With a flick of her finger, the bottle caps popped open.
Then she bowed and left.
Aqua first poured a cup of beer and downed it.
'Soooo..refreshing!'
She wanted to drink alcohol everyday, but she was always being watched and not allowed to drink.
Today, she finally got to drink!
"Um, Lady Aqua, we still have work to handle after we return, so perhaps you shouldn't drink."
"Shut up! Am I the senpai here, or are you the senpai? Do I need you to teach me how to act?"
After one cup went down, Aqua's condition immediately became wrong.
For a moment, Eris was troubled and didn't dare say anything more.
Then Aqua poured herself a cup of sake.
Although sake's alcohol content was not comparable to vodka, it was several times higher than beer.
Aqua sniffed it, then directly downed it.
"Hic!"
A belch came straight up.
The goddess-like demeanor from earlier was gone. Her face turned red, and her eyes grew hazy.
She was drunk.
Bang!
She suddenly slapped the table hard and shouted, "ITSSSS SO GOOOODDDD!"
Beside her, Eris panicked as she watched.
'My senpai seems like she's about to go wild from drinking! What should I do?'
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