Chapter 226: The Denatus Approaches, the Goddesses Make Their Move!
Looking at the Falna in her hands, Ais was delighted.
Her growth had actually become this fast.
That naturally made her happy. The sooner she grew stronger, the sooner she could take revenge.
The seed of hatred had taken root in Ais's heart when she was young, and by now, those roots had grown far too deep to remove.
"Ais, tell me! Which bastard was it?!"
Ais ignored Loki's impotent rage.
Instead, a certain figure appeared in her mind.
"Admiration" was, at its core, a kind of expectation and longing.
People admired others because they possessed something they themselves could not reach.
Ais admired Ethan's strength and growth speed.
In only a few months, he had already surpassed her.
Meanwhile, she had never stopped working hard throughout all these years, yet this was as far as she had come.
She had reached Lv.6, but from this point onward, further growth normally had to be measured in years.
Rapid improvement over a short period should have been impossible.
"Loki, I'm heading out."
"Eh?"
Watching Ais completely ignore her, Loki felt her heart turn cold.
Did Ais not even want to pay attention to her anymore?
The contrast nearly made Loki cry.
The precious little cabbage she had painstakingly raised really was about to be stolen by some damned man.
Tap, tap, tap.
At the corner of the staircase, Finn happened to be walking up.
"Ais? Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"To find Ethan."
"Find Ethan?"
"Mm. When I'm with him, I grow stronger faster. So I'm going to find him."
"Huh?"
Before Finn could ask anything else, Ais had already run off.
He was left somewhat confused.
Ethan was an unusually isolated person even by Orario's standards. He barely interacted with members of other Familias, aside from his cooperation with the Hephaestus Familia.
Forget looking for him. Most people could not even run into him by chance.
So Finn did not take Ais's declaration too seriously.
If she could not find Ethan, she would simply come back.
Finn was also one of the few people who knew about [Liaris Freese].
If anything, Ais genuinely becoming close with Ethan would be beneficial.
Bang!
"Finn! Have you seen Ais?"
Finn had barely climbed a few more steps when he ran straight into Loki.
"Ais? She went out."
"Went out? Where?"
"She went to find Ethan."
"I knew it! It really was that little bastard! He's the one who stole our Ais away!"
Seeing Loki explode with rage, Finn became even more confused.
What had happened?
Why was Loki this furious?
Unfortunately, Loki had no intention of explaining.
Right now, she needed to stop her adorable Ais-chan from falling into that little bastard's clutches.
...
At the same time, after spending all his Diamonds, Ethan was preparing to enter the Dungeon.
Now that he had reached Lv.6, he was curious just how strong he had become.
He also needed to test the new Magic he had awakened.
Sometimes, fate was truly strange.
Ais had been unable to find Ethan no matter how hard she searched before.
Yet this time, she ran into him immediately.
"Ethan!"
"Hm? Ais?"
Just as Ethan was about to enter the Dungeon, he suddenly heard Ais's voice.
He turned and saw her jogging toward him.
This time, however, no one else was with her.
Even Lefiya, Ais's devoted little fangirl, was nowhere to be seen.
"Ethan, are you going into the Dungeon?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Can I come with you?"
"???"
Ethan's head filled with question marks.
What was going on?
Hadn't he rejected her once or twice already?
Still, when he looked at Ais staring earnestly at him, this girl who resembled a delicate porcelain doll made it surprisingly difficult to say no.
"You can, but I'm planning to head into the deep floors this time. I might be gone for several days. Are you sure that's okay?"
"Mm!"
Since she had already agreed so firmly, what else could Ethan say?
Although Ethan preferred mature women with more voluptuous figures, having a cute girl accompanying him was hardly a bad thing.
And just like that, the two temporarily formed a party and entered the Dungeon together.
...
Meanwhile, tonight was the day of the latest Denatus in Orario.
Quite a few gods were already preparing to attend that evening.
After all, the so-called Denatus was essentially just a gathering where a bunch of gods came together.
Most of the discussion consisted of trivial matters.
The only genuinely important part was probably assigning titles to adventurers.
Of course, there was never any shortage of entertainment either.
"Artemis, are you going to the Denatus tonight?"
At the manor, Hestia found Artemis and asked about the gathering.
Neither of them currently had a Familia, so whether they attended the Denatus hardly mattered.
There was not much there that concerned them anyway.
"I'll go."
"Eh? You're going?"
"Mm. I have something I want to discuss with Freya. You know how difficult it normally is to meet her."
"Ugh, Freya… I'm not very good at dealing with her."
"I said I was going. I never said you had to come with me."
"No way. We're sisters on the same side now, aren't we? If you're going, then I'm definitely going too."
"And not just us. I'll go find Hephaestus in a bit."
Artemis immediately felt a headache coming on.
She genuinely had something serious to discuss with Freya.
But with the way Hestia was acting, it sounded more like they were preparing to demonstrate their strength.
What, were three goddesses supposed to march over and give Freya a show of force?
Artemis had never forgotten that Freya was Ethan's Familia goddess.
She was also the first goddess to become involved with him.
Unless absolutely necessary, Artemis had no intention of ruining their relationship.
"Behave yourself. I have something serious to discuss."
"Something serious? What?"
"Did you know Ethan leveled up?"
"He leveled up? To Lv.5?"
"Not Lv.5. Lv.6."
"Ethan reached Lv.6?!"
Hestia could not stop herself from shouting.
Her voice left Artemis's ears ringing.
Very Hestia.
"Yes. Once this news becomes public, it's definitely going to cause quite a commotion."
"So we need to discuss it with Freya beforehand."
"And there's also Ethan's new title. 'Beloved Pet of the Goddess of Beauty' can't keep being used."
"Exactly. It should be 'Lover of the Goddess of the Hearth.'"
"Get out."
Artemis rolled her eyes at Hestia.
'I haven't even said anything yet. What makes you think it's your turn?'
Ethan had created a miracle for her.
He was her "Orion."
Even the Orion constellation itself had resonated with him.
…
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