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"I'll keep that in mind," he said neutrally. Internally, he wondered if it was still wise to ask Freya if he could borrow a map for the Deeper Floors. Freya looked displeased, if the frown she was directing at the grimoire in her hands was anything to go by. He decided against it. He'd try his luck with Loki first. He'd trust the redheaded goddess over Freya any day.
"Godou, catch."
The grimoire suddenly flew towards his direction, but Godou expertly caught it with one hand. "I told you, I don't want this."
"Neither do I," Freya said, sounding bored as she gestured to the wall behind her. It was a giant bookshelf, packed to the brim with ancient-looking tomes. "As you can see, my library's rather full. You can keep it. If you're not going to use it, then give it to someone who you think deserves it."
Godou narrowed his eyes at the goddess. He hated Gods like this. To be exact, he disliked people who were like this. People who liked interfering with the lives of others, playing all sorts of mind games. They hid in the shadows, trying to manipulate events to their liking, never actually taking responsibility for any of the messes they created. People who thought they knew everything and were always right.
"I could sell the grimoire," he said casually.
"But you won't," Freya replied easily. "Because that's the kind of man you are. You don't care about money. You care about doing what's right, which is why you're here. And you're the type of man who's going to make sure that the power in that grimoire doesn't fall into the wrong person's hands."
Godou could feel his teeth grating against each other in a mixture of irritation and frustration.
The annoying thing about those people he disliked was that, more often than not, they actually were right.
XxxxX
"She gave you the grimoire?" Mama Mia asked, slightly surprised.
"Yeah," Godou replied, feeling slightly at a loss. "Told me to give it to someone worthy. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what to do with it."
"Sell it!" Syr chimed in. "We could close the Hostess for the weekend and go on a company vacation! We could go to the beach!"
He could see the others nodding in agreement. He had to admit, the idea did sound enticing. But...
"No, that's not the right thing to do." Surprisingly, it was Mama Mia that put her foot down. "It's not wise to go against Lady Freya. If she wants you to give it to someone worthy, you'd better start looking, Godou."
He sighed. He agreed with her of course, but he wasn't sure why he was the one that had to decide. He'd been so surprised at Freya's decision that he'd ended up dumbly going with it. On hindsight, he could have just left it on her table and walked out, but that might have only angered Freya even more. Even if they were rendered impotent in their human forms, Godou knew that angering any God was a stupid thing to do.
Godou put the book on the table. This was why getting mixed up with Gods was always a bad idea. "I don't suppose any of you have suggestions? Any struggling adventurers in need of a power-up?"
He looked around. The rest of the Hostess seemed clueless.
Then Syr's hand shot up in the air excitedly. "I do!"
XxxxX
"Bell Cranel."
The boy across Godou looked nervous.
He'd seen the boy come into the Hostess several times for dinner, and even cooked most of his meals, but he hadn't actually spoken to the white-haired adventurer since the encounter where he'd knocked out Bete Loga.
"Hi..." Godou frowned when he heard the fear and awe in Bell's voice. The boy was staring at him with wide eyes, but shirked his gaze away every time Godou tried making eye contact. It was something, as a Campione, he was quite familiar with.
"So you're an adventurer," Godou said. It was actually beginning to feel kind of awkward, as if Godou was giving Bell some kind of job interview. Except Bell didn't know about the grimoire—he'd stopped by for some reason, only for Syr to drag him into the kitchen to meet Godou.
"Yes!" Bell said excitedly.
"But you're not very good."
"Yes..." Bell said again, now deflated. "But I'm working hard!" he pumped his fist, reinvigorated. "I'll become strong so I can repay Lady Hestia's kindness!"
Godou felt one of his eyebrows rise at that statement. "I remember meeting Lady Hesita before." She'd been there, together with Freya and Hephaestus when Loki had wanted to test his ability to lie to Gods. "I didn't know she had a Familia."
"Ah." Bell scratched his cheek, sounding embarrassed. "That's because it's only the two of us. We're a new Familia."
"Sounds tough," Godou said. Syr had said that Bell was a hero. Godou briefly remembered the boy trying to help him during the Bete Incident despite being hopelessly outclassed by the werewolf. But according to the waitress, when monsters had escaped from the Monster Feria, he had willingly used himself as bait to save civilians. The boy showed potential.
"It's hard, especially on Lady Hestia! She's been working non-stop, trying to make money to support us. And even though she won't tell me..." he pulled out an obsidian dagger, "I know she's in a lot of debt because of this knife she got me. I have to get stronger, go Deeper into the Dung
eon, so I can hurry up and pull my own weight in the Familia!"
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Want to read more?
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