Silence.
A deathly silence.
Even the chirping of insects outside the window seemed terrified into absolute silence by this shrill sound of a stomach rumbling.
In the imagination of the vast majority of mortals, Gods should be existences who sit high upon the clouds, dining on wind and drinking dew, completely untouched by worldly desires.
Because they are supposed to be perfect, detached, and thoroughly insulated from low-level interests like physiological needs.
However.
Reality is often more absurd than fiction.
It could be said that when Hestia's face, with the word 'resentment' written all over it, and that disappointing stomach emitting thunderous protests appeared before everyone...
In the hearts of Onigawara Rin and the others, the sound of their 'divine filter' shattering rang out clearly.
That was probably a sound even crisper than glass breaking.
Haimer stood outside the window, looking at Hestia paralyzed on the sofa, the corners of his mouth uncontrollably twitching slightly.
This guy...
"Good grief..." Haimer sighed helplessly, walking over to push open that heavy oak door.
"Creak—"
The sound of the heavy door breaking the dead silence inside the house.
Haimer stepped over the threshold, entering the house, looking at that pile of an unidentified black and white object on the sofa.
"I say, Hestia."
"Don't tell me you haven't left the house all day?"
"I clearly left a spare key for you."
Haimer remembered very clearly that before leaving this morning, he had specifically placed a brass key on the conspicuous cabinet in the entryway.
"Uuu..."
Hearing Haimer's voice.
The corpse on the sofa finally showed a reaction.
"I... I have no money..."
Just a few simple words.
Hestia exhausted all her bitterness.
But come to think of it.
Haimer raised an eyebrow.
Ever since this guy descended to the Lower World, she had been freeloading at the Hephaestus Familia's base as a parasite, relying entirely on mooching for all her living needs.
Although Hephaestus was generous, she wouldn't keep giving pocket money to a Hestia who only knew how to mooch food and drinks every day.
However.
Just as everyone hadn't even had the time to express sympathy for this Goddess.
"Uuu..."
"This smell..."
Hestia, who was originally paralyzed like mud, suddenly twitched that delicate little nose of hers.
Following that, she immediately sensed something was wrong and sprang up from the sofa like a projectile.
She didn't even care about putting on shoes, stepping barefoot on the floor.
"Sniff, sniff!"
"This is..."
"Rye ale!"
"Sniff, sniff!"
"And roast meat! And it's the kind of thick-cut meat patty that can only be roasted over premium charcoal!"
"Sniff, sniff, sniff!!"
Silence.
This nose...
Isn't it a bit too sharp?
"This... Lord Hestia..."
Faced with Hestia's frantically twitching nose, Onigawara Rin only felt her scalp go numb, subconsciously shrinking back somewhat guiltily.
Although.
Eating behind her back wasn't really a big deal.
After all, they didn't do anything wrong; that money was earned through their desperate life-and-death struggles in the Dungeon. Eating meals paid for by the money they earned with their own skills was perfectly justified.
But.
Being caught red-handed eating a feast without her, and the victim being such a starving, teary-eyed Goddess whose stomach was rumbling, and then comparing it to the scene of them gorging themselves in the tavern just now.
It still caused the gazes of these pure-hearted girls to start wandering, not daring to meet Hestia's eyes directly.
At this point.
After learning from the girls that Haimer had actually taken this massive group of people, and even brought Loki along, to have a huge feast at the Hostess of Fertility, yet had exclusively left her alone in this empty house to go hungry.
—Hestia.
—In that instant.
Her sorrow flowed like a river.
"Waaaaahhh!!!!"
An earth-shattering, ghost-weeping wail instantly exploded in the mansion's living room.
Immediately after.
Everyone witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Hestia was dry-howling while throwing herself back onto that soft sofa.
Then.
The petite figure started rolling around on the soft sofa.
That's right.
Just rolling.
Looking at Hestia cosplaying a flaming wheel on the new sofa he had just bought.
Two bare legs kicking wildly in the air, her twin tails whipping back and forth with her body's rolls.
Haimer also helplessly massaged his forehead.
"Alright, alright, save some energy."
"You're already so hungry your chest is touching your back."
"If you keep tossing around like this."
"Careful you won't even have the strength to open your mouth and chew later."
Saying so.
Haimer, like picking up a rowdy kitten, grabbed the back collar of Hestia's clothes and directly lifted her up from the sofa.
After her feet left the ground.
Hestia was suspended in mid-air, her four limbs still paddling powerlessly.
Furthermore.
Upon hearing Haimer's words, Hestia still indignantly turned her head away, puffing out her cheeks, looking exactly like an angry pufferfish.
"Hmph!"
"Excuses!"
"They're all excuses!"
"When you guys were devouring meat and guzzling alcohol, you didn't even think of..."
"Only me..."
"Only pitiful me, left all alone guarding this empty big house!"
"So hungry I could only drink water to fill my stomach..."
"Waaaaahhh!"
"I don't want to live anymore!!"
Reaching the heartbreaking part, Hestia was about to start dry-howling again.
Haimer gave Hestia an exasperated eyeroll, applying slight force to his wrist to shake her a bit.
"Enough with the glib talk."
"Speaking of which."
"Didn't I just get back from being busy?"
"Besides, who told you not to wake up earlier."
"Since you want to sleep in, you should be prepared to go hungry."
However.
Although Haimer said so.
He still set Hestia down, casually helping her straighten out her collar that had been rubbed into a mess.
"Alright."
"Stop howling."
"Shall we go eat now?"
"Looking at your posture, if I don't stuff something into your stomach soon, I'm afraid you'll sneak into my room at night and gnaw me to the bone."
The moment she heard the word "eat".
The crying of Hestia, who was still dry-howling, instantly came to a screeching halt.
"Really?!"
Hestia sniffled, looking at Haimer rather pitifully, her stomach very cooperatively letting out a grumble.
"I want to eat meat!!"
"And I want to drink sweet wine!!"
"Alright, alright, alright."
"You can eat whatever you want right now."
"As long as you don't eat me."
Haimer perfunctorily nodded, casually helping her smooth out those messy twin tails.
"Yay!"
After getting the promise, Hestia immediately revived.
With a cheer, she ran barefoot toward the entryway, her speed so fast she practically left an afterimage.
Looking at this instantly energized back.
Haimer also helplessly shook his head.
Subsequently.
Haimer turned around.
He looked at the few girls behind him whose faces bore obvious fatigue, their bodies still stained with the Dungeon's dust and dried blood.
Although their spirits were still in a state of excitement due to the gathering just now.
But.
That radiating sense of exhaustion could not be concealed.
After all.
Ever since they arrived in this world, they had been engaged in high-intensity slaughter in the Dungeon for two entire days straight.
Today, they had even pushed down to the 13th Floor in one breath.
Their bodies were already at the end of their ropes.
Particularly when Haimer took a glance at Inaba Tsukuyo.
Inaba Tsukuyo was already very young to begin with; although she had been standing quietly to the side, her slightly swaying figure clearly showed she was desperately holding on.
"Alright."
"You guys are exhausted too."
Haimer's voice softened.
"Fighting continuously for two days, this level of intensity isn't easy even for veterans."
"Let's not fuss about anything else tonight."
"You guys can go take a nice hot bath and relax."
"Tomorrow, Miss Tsubaki might not necessarily finish repairing your equipment, so you can just take a day off for yourselves."
"If, after you finish bathing, you still don't see us back."
"There's no need to wait for us."
"You can decide what to do yourselves."
"As for the Grace update ceremony..."
"Anyway."
"That is a reward for your hard work, it won't run away."
Haimer smiled, his tone gentle.
"It won't make a difference waiting one more night."
"Only when you've rested well can you welcome a new beginning, right?"
As Haimer's words fell.
Such consideration and care couldn't help but warm the girls' hearts.
This feeling of being cared for and treated thoughtfully seemed to make the exhaustion of their entire day dissipate quite a bit.
"Mhm, Kami-sama."
"Don't worry about us."
"We'll obediently watch the house."
"Please return early as well."
"Mhm."
Looking at this group of sensible children.
Haimer gently gave a response.
"Let's go, let's go!"
"If we're any later, there really won't be any food left!"
Seeing that Haimer had finished giving his instructions, Hestia directly grabbed his arm and pulled him outside.
At this point.
The two walked out the main gate.
The night was very deep.
In this high-class residential district located on the Northwest Main Street.
Aside from the occasionally patrolling guards of the Ganesha Familia, there were only those street lamps inlaid with Magic Stones emitting light by the roadside.
The figures of the two, one tall and one short, just walked like this on the empty flagstone path.
Their shadows were stretched very long by the lights, occasionally overlapping.
"Speaking of which, you took in so many pretty girls."
"And each one of them is so capable."
"Comparing it like this..."
Hestia kicked a small pebble by the roadside, muttering softly.
"Being a freeloader all by myself makes me feel uncomfortable."
"Do you really?"
Hearing these words from Hestia.
Haimer couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"But well."
"Being a freeloader has its own perks."
"At least you're relatively less worrisome."
"Hah?!"
Hearing Haimer's response, Hestia blanked out for a moment, then immediately turned her head, her face full of 'it shouldn't be like this'.
"What you're saying is different from what I imagined!"
"Shouldn't you be comforting me at this time, telling me I'm not a freeloader?!"
"I'm not satisfied! Answer me again!"
"Yes, yes, yes, Hestia isn't a freeloader."
Haimer rolled his eyes at these words, echoing her with absolutely zero sincerity.
His gaze continuously searched both sides of the street.
Although most proper shops had already closed.
But at the street corners of those main roads, as well as some areas where adventurers gathered, the liveliness was just beginning.
Brightly lit.
The aroma of food mixed with the night breeze, wafting above this labyrinth city.
"I want to eat this! And that too!"
"Boss! Ten more skewers of this roast meat!"
"And this soup too!"
Before long.
Outside a late-night tavern open by the roadside.
Hestia was sitting on a bench completely devoid of any image, empty plates piled up in front of her.
Her mouth was stuffed completely full, her cheeks bulging like a hamster.
She even held a roasted chicken leg in her hand, eating until her mouth was covered in grease.
Haimer sat opposite her.
Holding a cup of barley tea, he drank slowly.
Looking at Hestia sweeping through the food like a whirlwind.
"Eat slowly."
"No one is fighting you for it."
Haimer pulled out a paper napkin and handed it over.
"Uuuu... mhm mhm..."
Hestia mumbled indistinctly, taking the napkin to haphazardly wipe her mouth, before burying her head back into the hard work.
Until all the plates were completely cleared.
"Haa—!"
Hestia finally let out a long sigh of relief, tossing the bone in her hand onto the plate, slumping back into the chair devoid of any image, and patting her perfectly round little belly.
"I'm alive again..."
"Resurrected..."
"The Goddess's grand resurrection!"
Hestia wore a look of utter satisfaction; that "end of the world" level resentment from back at the house had long been filled by the food, dissipating into thin air.
"Full?"
Haimer set down his teacup.
"Mhm mhm! I'm full!"
Hestia nodded forcefully, then looked at Haimer and chuckled 'hehe'.
"However..."
Hestia seemed to think of something, her eyes darting around in a circle.
"Although I'm full."
"I still feel like something is missing..."
"For instance, some after-dinner dessert?"
As Hestia said this.
A familiar scorched aroma.
Mixed with the sound of bubbling hot oil.
Wafted over along the night breeze.
"Slurp—"
Following that.
Haimer heard an extremely loud sound of drool being sucked back in from across the table.
Hestia's eyes glazed over.
She locked dead onto that small stall ahead that was still steaming.
It was a wooden pushcart.
Under the dim yellow magic lamp.
A middle-aged man wearing an apron was skillfully scooping out golden, crispy balls from the oil pot.
—Deep-fried potato balls.
"Hey, Haimer..."
Hestia tugged at Haimer's sleeve.
Pointing at that stall.
Her gaze somewhat erratic.
"That..."
"Although it's not meat..."
"But..."
"That looks like it just came out of the pot..."
Haimer looking at Hestia's incredibly obvious hint, couldn't help but chuckle.
"Alright, since you've put it that way."
"Let's have a taste."
Without ambiguity.
Haimer strode over to the stall.
"Boss."
"Two portions."
"I want the crispiest ones."
"You got it!"
The stall owner beamed from ear to ear seeing he still had business this late at night.
Moving nimbly, he packed two bags and sprinkled them with a special spice powder.
The piping hot paper bags were handed over.
The grease instantly soaked through a corner of the paper bag.
Scalding to the touch.
But warm.
"Hoo hoo—! Hot hot hot!"
Hestia couldn't wait to take the paper bag, ignoring her image as she opened her mouth wide and took a bite.
Instantly scalded by the hot steam inside, she kept inhaling sharply.
However, an extremely satisfied smile appeared on her face.
As if she possessed the whole world.
"Delicious!"
"Mmm... sure enough, this flavor is still the most reassuring!"
Hestia evaluated indistinctly while chewing.
"Although it's not as good as the red bean flavor..."
"But the cream flavor isn't bad either!"
"Here, Haimer, you eat too!"
Haimer took a bite unhurriedly.
Crispy outer skin, soft inner filling.
Truly not bad.
The two just walked side by side like this.
The atmosphere.
Unexpectedly harmonious.
"Say, Haimer."
While eating.
Hestia suddenly stopped her movements.
Looking at the remaining half of the deep-fried potato ball in her hand.
Her originally high spirits seemed to lower slightly.
"Do you think..."
"I'm not suited for the Lower World?"
"Hmm?"
Haimer raised an eyebrow.
"Still thinking about that?"
"Because..."
Hestia looked down at her toes that she couldn't see.
"You already have so many amazing Familia members."
"And you even got such a big house."
"And so much money."
"While I..."
"I've been in the Lower World for so long now."
"I haven't even recruited a single decent Familia member."
"Furthermore..."
"I even freeload off you and Hephaestus every day."
"Today, when you guys were away."
"I stayed in that big house all by myself for the whole day."
"I suddenly felt..."
"That house is so big."
"So big that..."
"It seems there's simply no place for me."
"I feel like an extra."
Hestia's voice grew smaller and smaller.
This was actually quite normal.
After all.
Even though Gods possessed endless lifespans.
But when placed amidst the bustling mortal world.
That sense of drifting without anything to rely on would still grow wildly like weeds.
Especially when seeing other Gods thriving one by one, establishing their own bonds in the Lower World.
Yet she herself.
Had become a spectator always lingering on the fringes.
This disparity.
Was the true reason why she was so angry today.
It wasn't because she was hungry.
Nor was it because she didn't get to eat a grand feast.
It was the fear of being forgotten.
Gods, too, feared being forgotten.
"So you want to recruit Familia members?"
"I don't want to."
Hestia shook her head decisively.
Causing Haimer to roll his eyes.
"Recruiting Familia members is too troublesome."
"I came down to the Lower World to experience life!"
Having said that.
Hestia finished the last bite of her deep-fried potato ball.
She crumpled the paper bag into a ball and accurately tossed it into a trash can a few meters away.
"Clatter."
A soft sound.
"Hand."
Haimer suddenly spoke.
"Eh?"
Hestia blanked out for a moment, extending an empty hand.
There was still a bit of grease and spice powder on it.
"What's wrong?"
"Open it."
"Oh..."
Hestia obediently opened her palm.
The next second.
The cold texture of metal fell into Hestia's palm.
"This is..."
Hestia lowered her head.
Borrowing the light from the street lamp.
She got a clear look at the object.
A key.
Made of brass, engraved with simple patterns.
It wasn't exactly a delicate piece of craftsmanship.
"Since you don't want to recruit Familia members."
"Then just stay at my place like this."
Haimer turned his head sideways.
Looking at Hestia, who was staring blankly at the key in a daze.
"Also."
"I'm not telling you to eat and live for free; wait until I figure out what you should do before we talk."
"Uuu..."
Hestia sniffled, a somewhat silly smile already appearing on her face.
"Well!"
"If you wanted to make offerings to this Goddess, you could've just said so without beating around the bush!"
"However!"
"Since you took the initiative to invite me!"
"Then this Goddess will reluctantly agree to it!"
"Let's go!"
"Home!"
With this.
The two of them journeyed back just like that, arriving in front of that three-story stone mansion located in the high-class residential district.
The wrought-iron gate stood quietly in the night.
"I'll open it! I'll open it!"
Before Haimer could even fish out his own key, Hestia had already darted forward to beat him to it.
Although, due to her height issue, she had to stand on her tiptoes slightly to insert the key into that somewhat high keyhole.
"Click."
The sound of the lock tumbler springing open was exceptionally clear in the silent night.
"Ta-daaa!"
Hestia pushed the main gate open, making a "please come in" gesture, raising her face that had the words "praise me quickly" written all over it.
Haimer couldn't help but smile, cooperatively walking inside.
"Thanks for the hard work."
"Mhm!"
Passing through the front yard garden, the air was filled with the fresh scent of vegetation.
The inside of the house was pitch black.
Clearly, just as Haimer had instructed earlier, Onigawara Rin and the others had all returned to their rooms to rest.
After all, two continuous days of high-intensity Dungeon exploration, coupled with two nights of heavy drinking, even an iron-forged body wouldn't be able to handle it; they were probably dead asleep by now.
Haimer entered the entryway and took off his shoes.
"Looks like they're all asleep."
"That's good."
"I'll go take a shower then."
"I ate a bit too much just now, taking a hot bath will be perfect for digesting..."
Hestia took off her shoes, stepping barefoot on the floor, stretching as she walked toward the depths of the corridor.
However.
Before Hestia could finish her words.
Her footsteps halted.
The originally relaxed and comfortable expression directly stiffened on her face.
"Who is it?!"
Hestia immediately shrank back behind Haimer, poking her head out to warily stare at a black silhouette deep in the corridor.
Haimer also slightly raised an eyebrow.
But he wasn't too surprised.
"Click."
When Haimer reached out and pressed the Magic Stone lamp switch on the wall.
Instantly.
Soft white light dispelled the darkness on the first floor.
It was none other than Amou Kirukiru.
"God."
"I can't wait until tomorrow."
The flames of desire burned in Amou Kirukiru's pitch-black eyes, so scorching it was frightening.
"Rip—"
Amou Kirukiru raised her hand, grabbing her own collar and fiercely yanking it, revealing her fair collarbone.
"My body is so hot."
"The blood inside is boiling."
"It's like bugs are crawling around."
"No matter how much I suppress it, I can't keep it down."
Amou Kirukiru's eyes were fanatical.
"I want to know."
"What have my stats become now?"
"Did those things I killed today hold any value?!"
Haimer looked down at this girl who was already somewhat obsessed.
If it were an ordinary person seeing this appearance, they probably would have been scared into retreating three out of fear long ago.
After all, the current Amou Kirukiru looked exactly like a madman who could violently attack someone at any moment.
But.
"It seems you really can't wait."
Haimer chuckled lightly, not at all frightened off by Amou Kirukiru's aura; instead, he reached out to help her re-adjust the torn collar back into place.
"As a girl, don't just tear your clothes at the drop of a hat."
"Although I don't mind looking."
"Hestia is still here, don't be a bad influence on the kid."
"Who are you calling a kid!"
Hestia's dissatisfied protest came from behind.
Amou Kirukiru didn't resist Haimer's actions, merely allowing him to tidy her collar.
"God, update me."
"Right now."
"I can't wait any longer."
"Alright then."
"I originally wanted to let you get a good night's sleep and give you a surprise tomorrow morning."
"But since you can't wait."
"Then come on."
____
👻🔥Walnut-chan in "P" for more!🔥👻
🔥 New history: Group chat of the Dead
✅ Get immediate access to 40 early chapters for all stories.
✅ Enjoy exclusive material and special announcements!
Help us unlock these community rewards:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter for everyone
🚀 140 MEMBERS = +5 extra chapters across ALL STORIES!
👻 P - Walnut-chan