When Ryuta had entered the Dungeon, two figures arrived before the abandoned church, now the home base of the Hestia Familia.
"This… What kind of joke is this?"
Hephaestus stared at the abandoned church, her eyes seeing through the hidden marks of runes and magic circles that lined the church walls-
"THIS IS NOT A HOME! IT'S BASICALLY A DIVINE PALACE!"
The ever so calm Hephaestus flared up, from afar she did not see it but now, standing just a few meters from the church, she had noticed the changes- no the enchantments placed on the church.
Although calling it a divine palace was a stretch, considering that the divine palaces in the divine realm were… well a lot more opulent-
Yet, for a structure in the realm of mortals-
"This is… how?"
She was left speechless, for the first time, Hestia watched as Hephaestus massaged her temples. A deep frown on her face as she realized-
'I threw out a gem…'
Although what she saw before her was not actually "smithing" the fact that Ryuta, that man was able to accomplish the feat before her eyes-
It showed potential, considering the swords he showed and the [Brand] he had made-
'Child's play but… among mortals- he even has mystery… at LEVEL 1!'
A sense of loss washed over her again, while she was going through the motions, Hestia beamed, a smug look on her face as she showed off the feat her familia had achieved.
When Hephaestus saw the look on Hestia's face, for the first time in a long time, she showed a deeply annoyed expression-
(˵ ¬ᴗ¬˵) (ㅍ⤙ㅍꐦ)
"You had nothing to do with this though?"
Hephaestus did not like throwing others under the buss, especially Hestia, although she would get mad at her, Hephaestus rarely got "pissed" at the loveable goddess…
But sometimes…
Sometimes- a smug little brat needs some "correction"-
"Eh?" ∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?
Hestia was about to give a retort when Hephaestus' expression turned dark- real dark…
⊹ ࣪ ﹏𓊝﹏𓂁﹏⊹ ࣪ ˖
"Sorry…"
Inside the church, Hestia was sitting in a her knees, she looked away as she apologized to Hephaestus who was sitting in front of her. On one of the many chairs at the church.
"Fine… I accept, I was just a bit annoyed when I saw… this-"
Hephaestus turned her gaze towards the large magic circle at the center of the church. The core of the circle bore the mark of Hestia- a hearth. But around it were various unknown yet powerful runes.
She did not know what those runes meant or where they came from but she could feel the power they carry.
"You think he's a God?"
Hephaestus had to ask, after all, the abilities Ryuta had shown were just too abnormal.
It hasn't been a day since she was shocked by his abilities when she was made to see this-
"Nope, the circle… it changed, before it was a six point star with a hexagram at the center and a circle with three orbs… yeah, it was a weird magic circle, I didn't recognize it and it didn't feel like something… of this world- but now, it bears my Hearth! Which means that Ryuta used my power to make this!"
"And you don't think that's suspicious?"
"But it didn't really do anything, I just feel like a connection was made between me and this church…"
"..."
Hephaestus sighed, she looked at her dear friend, a look of helplessness washed over her as she thought about the functions of this magic circle.
"So it protects you?"
"Yes!"
"So why didn't it attack me?"
"..."
"Why didn't it?"
Hephaestus gave Hestia an exasperated look, she really felt a deep sense of loss, after all, she could already see just how skilled Ryuta was and a small glimpse of his abilities revealed a mystery that she felt could easily shake Orario-
'Yet he's playing house with Hestia…'
She thought, but then again-
'Maybe that isn't so bad…'
Thinking about it again, Hephaestus realized that maybe- just maybe, choosing Hestia was the best choice for Ryuta.
He's obviously different, his mindset, everything was not- normal.
But, so long as he was living with Hestia-
'At least I wouldn't need to worry about him doing something real crazy'
Recalling the events that had occurred a few years ago, Hephaestus sighed in relief that the chances of Ryuta falling down that path was extremely low-
'Also, his actions- quite overprotective… very much a good match for Hestia'
Hestia is a kind goddess, she may be stupid and naive, very short and childish but-
Her kindness made her one of the God's few could hate, in fact she had no enemies, if there were any, they would be God's whose nature is pure black.
Even Loki, known for being quite the annoyance was not seen by Hestia as an enemy-
They may bicker and fight a lot but it was more a friendly spat than actual antagonism.
Yet, even Hestia may find herself embroiled in the chaos of the lower realm. After all, the God's came down not to govern but to- as the first God said- "have fun".
Even Hephaestus was not the type to meddle much in the affairs of mortals.
At best, she would take care of her children, protect them, help them and raise them-
Much like any other God/Goddess, she simply lived her life the way she wants, with her familia. But not all God's had the same simple wish-
Some were a bit more… crazy, outside Orario, there were God's that played around with the lives of mortals. They enjoyed the thrill of leading chaos and murder, some even participated in the rueful act of pillaging, rape and other obsceneties.
While many God's had lived a righteous life- or at least, one where they are respected, there are those that did not mind the thoughts of others and just spent their days drowning in their desires.
It was not unlikely that some of these madmen would take a shot at Hestia.
Whether their goal was to send her back to heaven or something else, these bastards all could do some pretty nasty things…
'Now I'm sure I could trust him'
But as she observed the church, now fortified with tons of protection magic formations, Hephaestus felt relieved.
A deep sense of loss still plagued her mind but the thought of Hestia being under the care of such a caring and powerful child eased her mind- a bit…
"So?"
"Hm?"
"Is that all you wanted to show me?"
"..."
Hephaestus knew Hestia's personality, although she liked showing off, she most likely didn't drag her all the way here just to show off Ryuta's acts-
"Well… we just moved in and Ryuta went to the Guild and… well, this place- in the state it's in there should not have a bed or any type of furniture so…"
She spoke slowly and paused continuously, her words were dragged out and Hephaestus could, in the middle of her broken talk already tell what Hestia was going to ask-
"Fine, but it's gonna be a loan"
Rolling her eyes, Hephaestus gave Hestia what she wanted, but in her mind-
'I'll take it out on Ryuta, the kid's smart so I need to hang this over him if I want to take advantage of his abilities'
She wasn't really sure how much Ryuta cared for Hestia, but- given the things he did to the church-
'Making his dear Goddess happy should cost quite a bit right?'
Smiling Hephaestus accepted Hestia's hug, the loli goddess, overjoyed at how deep her friendship with Hephaestus was secretly smirking, unaware that her "dear" friend was doing the same.
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