"Little girl, what's your name?" Hestia asked, suddenly leaning over the counter.
She stared at Sakura with intense seriousness.
Sakura blinked, slightly stunned by the sudden attention. "Ah? I'm Sakura. Are you... are you really a goddess?"
Seeing the little girl's wide curious eyes, Hestia puffed out her chest proudly.
"Yes! I truly am a Goddess," Hestia declared, crossing her arms under her blue ribbon with extreme self-satisfaction.
Standing behind the counter, Yuto was utterly speechless.
He was seriously tempted to laugh out loud. From the moment he met Hestia, he felt she completely lacked any sense of divine majesty or grace.
She was loud, unemployed, and frequently cried over food.
She was, objectively speaking, useless!
And yet, even in such a pathetic state, she could still proudly declare her identity without a shred of irony.
Yuto had to admit, he somewhat admired her bulletproof mindset.
Perhaps this unwavering confidence was the true perseverance of a deity!
"A Goddess!" Sakura gasped softly.
But the little girl quickly regained her calm.
Having already accepted that a dragon was serving her food, accepting that the crying girl next to her was a god wasn't too much of a stretch.
Even though she was no longer shocked, Sakura's posture straightened and her behavior took on a polite hint of reverence.
"Hmph! Its fine, its fine! There is no need to be so stiff and respectful. Just treat me normally!" Hestia laughed, her smug expression melting into one of warm kindness.
Yuto watched the goddess and felt a bit emotional.
Even though Hestia seemed childish and unreliable in almost every way, she truly was a god.
She completely lacked the terrifying, untouchable airs of a god—which heavily contrasted with the image of a god in Yuto's mind—but he found he actually preferred it this way.
This silly, slightly useless 'poor goddess' was much easier to deal with than a wrathful, arrogant god.
"Then... can I call you Goddess Onee-san?" Sakura asked thoughtfully.
Hearing the sweet title, Hestia's face instantly lit up with a massive foolish grin.
Since descending to the mortal realm to live among humans, this was the very first time anyone had called her 'Goddess Onee-san'.
"Sure! Sure! Absolutely no problem at all!" Hestia beamed, practically vibrating with joy.
Sakura nodded obediently.
"Now, Sakura-chan, Onee-san has a very special request for you. Do you think you could promise me something?" Hestia leaned in closer.
Her tone shifted dramatically, adopting the sweet coaxing of someone trying to lure a child into a trap with candy!
Yuto couldn't help but facepalm.
'I knew it! She really is targeting a literal child to meet her recruitment quota!'
"How..." Sakura started, tilting her head.
"Hestia," Yuto interrupted, his voice cutting through the sweet talk.
He looked at the goddess with a serious expression. "Are you really going to manipulate a six-year-old child into joining your Familia?"
Hestia flinched, shrinking back slightly.
"It's just... Sakura-chan really seems perfectly suited to join my Familia..." she whispered defensively.
Yuto planted his hands on the wooden counter and leaned in close to Hestia, making his presence feel much more imposing.
"Hestia. I distinctly remember you telling me that joining a God's Familia means becoming an adventurer. It means fighting monsters in a dungeon and risking your life to compete for honor on behalf of your god, right?"
Yuto stared seriously into Hestia's blue eyes, holding her accountable.
The goddess's gaze wavered guiltily.
"Well... yes. Thats technically true. But! But I can make sure Sakura-chan never has to go on any dangerous adventures or fight monsters!" Hestia argued in a low, desperate voice.
For some reason, the goddess's expression crumpled, carrying a heavy hint of grievance and sadness.
Seeing her look so heartbroken, Yuto felt a pang of guilt.
Perhaps his tone had been a bit too harsh just now.
"Even so, Sakura is far too young. It just isn't suitable, Hestia," Yuto softened his voice.
He knew Hestia wasn't an evil or unreasonable god.
He believed that if he just explained the reality of the situation clearly, she would drop the crazy idea.
"Mmm... fine," Hestia sighed, her shoulders slumping in total defeat.
She gave up on the idea of making Sakura a member.
But as she stared down at the counter, she whispered, "It's just... I'm always alone. Coming home to an empty ruined church every night... it's really lonely..."
The quiet admission made her look incredibly pitiful, like a fragile, abandoned child.
Yuto felt a slight stir of deep sympathy in his heart. "It is going to be okay, Hestia. One day, you will find the right people, and you will have a grand Familia of your own. Until that day comes, whenever you feel lonely, just come here. I will cook for you, keep you company, and chat with you until you find your people."
Hearing his warm, comforting promise, the goddess snapped her head up.
Her blue eyes were swimming with fresh tears.
"Waaaaahhh! Kamisaka, you are so kind to me!"
Hestia lunged forward, throwing her arms out to crush Yuto in a massive hug.
Having nearly been suffocated to death by a dragon's embrace just an hour prior, Yuto's survival instincts kicked in.
He reached out and planted his palm firmly against Hestia's forehead, pushing her back and pinning her securely to her stool.
He was deeply concerned for the structural integrity of his ribs!
"Does the Goddess really not have anyone in her Familia at all?" Sakura asked softly, watching Yuto hold the wailing goddess at arm's length.
The little girl looked at Hestia with confusion.
Hestia stopped struggling against Yuto's hand.
She sighed heavily and nodded, looking exactly like a middle-aged salaryman completely disheartened by the crushing weight of reality.
Sakura's dull eyes filled with a heavy touch of sympathy and pity.
She had been deeply moved by Hestia's whispered confession of loneliness.
After a moment of quiet thought, the little girl made a decision.
"Goddess, you said earlier that if I joined your Familia, I wouldn't ever have to go on any dangerous adventures, right?" Sakura asked, her innocent voice cutting through the diner's ambient noise.
Her question instantly drew the shocked attention of both Yuto and Hestia.
"Yes! Yes, exactly! It is completely fine if you never go on a single adventure!" Hestia nodded frantically, her blue eyes widening with desperate hope.
"Sakura-chan... are you seriously thinking about joining Hestia's Familia?" Yuto asked, genuinely surprised.
Sakura thought for a moment, her small brow furrowing, before giving a firm nod.
"Yes," Sakura said softly. "When the Goddess said she was lonely just now, she looked so incredibly sad. Even though I'm small and can't go on adventures to fight monsters for her, I can still stay by her side. That way, she won't have to be lonely or sad anymore."
Sakura was a gentle, inherently kind-hearted and tragically empathetic child.
Hestia's admission of isolation had struck a deep chord in her small heart.
Sakura suddenly thought about her own life—if she were ever truly abandoned and left entirely alone, how terrifying and sad would that be?
Just imagining it made her chest ache.
How much more painful must it be for the Goddess, who experienced that crushing isolation every single day?
Driven by pure empathy, she decided to join.
"Goddess, from now on, I will be in your Familia. You won't be alone anymore, so please don't be sad, okay?" Sakura offered a warm, sweet smile.
A child's logic is often incredibly simple and direct, yet it is precisely that unfiltered purity that can stir the most genuine, powerful emotions.
Sakura's reasoning was entirely selfless, and her pure kindness flooded Hestia's divine heart with an overwhelming warmth.
Hearing Sakura's sweet promise, massive tears welled up uncontrollably in Hestia's blue eyes.
She lunged forward and wrapped Sakura in a tight hug.
As a goddess, she never bothered hiding her emotions, her expressions were always raw and straightforward.
She buried her face in the little girl's shoulder and burst into loud, ugly sobs.
"Waaaaahhh!!! Sakuraaaaa!!!!"
The young goddess's tears flowed like a broken dam.
Sakura awkwardly but gently patted the sobbing god back, trying to comfort her.
Even though Hestia was thousands of years older and theoretically infinitely more mature than her, their roles were completely reversed in this moment.
Yuto watched the bizarre touching scene from behind the counter and let out a long sigh.
There was really nothing left for him to say.
He couldn't argue with pure kindness.
"Sakura! From this moment on, you are the very first member of the Hestia Familia!" Hestia declared, pulling back and wiping her snotty nose.
"Thank you, Onee-san," Sakura smiled obediently.
At the sound of the word 'Onee-san', Hestia finally, truly began to resemble a divine being.
A heavy touch of benevolence and tenderness settled over her youthful face as she gazed down at the little girl who had taken pity on her.
Suddenly, her entire aura transformed.
The air in the restaurant grew thick and heavy.
Hestia's bright blue eyes flared, turning into pools of molten, glowing gold.
Her twin-tails defied gravity, lifting into the air as her dark hair momentarily shifted into cascading waves of fiery, ethereal red.
An overwhelming aura of ancient solitude and blazing warmth radiated from her small body.
In this fleeting moment, she was no longer a crying, unemployed goddess.
She was a true, goddess of Olympus.
Yuto was completely astonished.
Tohru stood frozen, instinctively awestruck by the sheer density of the divine power.
Sakura simply looked up at her new Goddess with deep reverence.
"Sakura. I, Hestia, shall bestow upon you my true name and my blessing," Hestia's voice echoed with a resonant, overlapping divine authority.
"From this day forth, you shall forever shine as brightly and purely as the sacred flame, entirely untainted by any worldly impurity. On the path you tread, prosperity, warmth, and harmony shall await you. Wherever hearth fires burn in this world or the next, you shall receive my absolute protection!"
Hestia reached out with a glowing finger and gently tapped the center of Sakura's forehead.
A brilliant, intricate crest of pure, golden flame flared to life on the little girl's skin.
It burned brightly for a fraction of a second before vanishing, sinking deep into Sakura's soul to permanently rewrite her fate.
The moment the blessing was sealed, the oppressive divine aura vanished.
Hestia dropped back onto her stool, her eyes returning to their normal blue.
She looked at Yuto's shocked expression and smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.
"Usually, down in the Lower World of Orario, the Guild forbids us from unleashing our Arcanum. But the rules of my world don't apply inside your restaurant, Kamisaka! Here, it's totally fine!"
In her home dimension, gods descended to the mortal realm seeking amusement, strictly sealing away their omnipotence to live as humans.
That was why she had to rely on miserable part-time jobs just to buy food.
Only here, within the magical boundaries of Yuto's restaurant, could she bypass the laws and freely unleash her true authority.
The spectacular scene they had just witnessed was the raw, unsealed power of a God.
"So... that glowing mark just now..." Yuto started, still trying to process the light show.
"I bestowed my Falna upon Sakura! Using my True Name!" Hestia puffed her chest out proudly. "A direct blessing infused with the Arcanum of a God is incredibly precious! It will protect her soul from any corruption or malice!"
Yuto paused for a moment, letting the magnitude of what she had just done sink in.
Then, he let out a soft, helpless chuckle.
Even after flexing the omnipotent power of a god, she immediately went right back to being the same goofy, smug Hestia.
"But, Onee-san... is it really okay for you to use such precious power on me?" Sakura asked, looking up at Hestia with genuine concern.
Hestia let out a happy squeal, pulling Sakura into another tight hug and aggressively rubbing her cheek against the little girl's soft face.
"Yes! Yes! It is completely fine! Who could possibly resist blessing such a cute, sweet Sakura-chan!!!" the goddess cheered.
Though her outward nature was entirely childlike and silly, Hestia was an ancient being who could discern the true weight of a mortal's soul.
Sakura's pure, selfless empathy had genuinely moved the lonely goddess's heart!
Hestia didn't mind burning a fraction of her power to protect her first, precious follower.
Gods... sometimes they are incredibly easy to move.
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