Chapter 54 – Stopped by Ottar!
"Uu~ uu~ uu~..."
On his way to the Babel Tower, Akira suddenly heard a muffled sobbing from somewhere ahead.
Curious, he followed the sound to a small alley corner—and there, squatting on the ground and sniffling pitifully, was a girl with signature twin-tails and an all-too-familiar excessively curvy figure.
"...Hestia?"
"Hm? Akira, you're back~!" Hestia's face instantly lit up the moment she saw him.
Without warning, the Goddess sprang up and clung to him—both arms and legs wrapping around his body like a koala clutching a tree trunk.
Akira froze. What the hell happened to her this time?
"What's wrong, Hestia? Why are you acting like this?" he asked, clearly puzzled.
"Hephaestus... Hephaestus kicked me out..." she muttered, voice trembling.
"Hephaestus? What happened to her?" Akira's tone turned serious the moment he heard that name. Seeing Hestia's devastated expression, his mind immediately jumped to worst-case scenarios.
But instead of helping, his seriousness actually made Hestia feel oddly pleased. He really is a good kid... she thought. At the same time, a pang of envy hit her—Why can't someone like him be in my Familia...?
"Hephaestus threw me out! She actually kicked me out of her place! I'm homeless now!"
"Oh... is that all?" Akira let out a relieved sigh.
He'd expected something like this to happen sooner or later. After all, in the original story, Hestia did freeload at Hephaestus' place and often ate for free. Eventually, Hephaestus had enough and kicked her out.
"Wha—! So you're in on it too?! You two planned this together, didn't you?! Throw me out so you can live happily ever after, just the two of you!"
"Live together...? Hmm, now that sounds pretty nice," Akira replied casually, already daydreaming about the cozy domestic life he'd share with Hephaestus.
As he drifted into his romantic fantasy, Hestia nearly exploded with rage. I'm being kicked out and he's fantasizing about dating another goddess?! I'm just a third wheel now, huh?!
Memories of their dinner together resurfaced. It finally clicked—during that whole evening, those two had been exchanging sweet glances while she just... focused on eating.
All the things she'd ignored until now came rushing back.
"You bastard!! I won't forgive you for this!!"
Before he could react, the Goddess of Hearth and Home snapped and bit down on Akira's arm with everything she had.
"Ow—!"
Akira flinched. He really didn't expect her to go full feral.
"Hestia! What the heck are you doing?!"
"I! WILL! HAVE! MY! REVENGE!" she growled between gritted teeth, clearly unhinged.
Utterly confused, Akira tried to gently push her off without hurting her. But holding back made it hard to peel her off, and she clung on like a rabid chihuahua.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, she let go.
The result? A big ol' bite mark now branded his forearm. Yep—she'd gone all in.
"Hestia... so Hephaestus kicked you out and now you're totally broke?" Akira asked while rubbing his bruised arm.
"Well... not completely. She did give me an abandoned old church to live in. But yeah, I'm completely penniless."
"Haaah... figures."
Incredible. A goddess, and she was proudly announcing her poverty like it was some achievement.
Still, she was right in front of him, and he couldn't exactly pretend he didn't see anything.
Akira reached into his pouch and pulled out the sack of valis he'd just gotten from exchanging Magic Stones. It was still untouched.
"There's a few hundred thousand valis in here. Use it for now, just in case of emergencies."
"For real?! That much?! You're a lifesaver!!" Hestia snatched the pouch with stars in her eyes, zero hesitation.
She didn't act like an outsider at all—but it made sense. She was close with Hephaestus, so it was natural for her to trust someone like Akira.
To him, that amount was pocket change anyway. Handing it over barely scratched the surface of his finances.
"All right, I'm heading off. Don't blow it all in one place, okay?"
"Yeah yeah, I get it! Shoo!"
"Tch, you only care about the money... Not the person behind it," Akira muttered with a smile, watching her suddenly cheerful mood after getting the cash.
He didn't mind. Right now, all he could think about was one thing: his cohabitation with Hephaestus was about to begin.
Just the thought filled him with excitement.
With a spring in his step, he raced up Babel Tower and took the lift to the upper floors.
But as the doors slid open—
A figure was already waiting.
"You're Shin Akira, correct?"
A towering man with a muscular build stood blocking the hallway. A massive sword hung on his back, and the pressure radiating from him was so intense it could crush the average person with just a glare.
"And you are?" Akira asked, eyes narrowing. But deep down, he already knew.
Ottar. Captain of the Freya Familia. The only Level 7 adventurer in all of Orario. Known as the "Formidable One."
Undisputedly the strongest adventurer in the city.
"My name is Ottar. I'm here because someone wishes to speak with you."
"Wants to speak with me? Sorry, I'm busy. Maybe next time. Or better yet, they can come talk to me themselves."
"It seems... you don't understand the situation."
Ottar's tone was calm, but his eyes carried a strange glimmer—was that... pity?
Akira almost laughed. So this is their plan, huh? Trying to pressure me now?
"I know who you are, Ottar. Captain of the Freya Familia. Should I take this as a message from your goddess? Is the Freya Familia declaring war on the Hephaestus Familia?"
"This has nothing to do with our Familias. I came here of my own accord."
"Oh? You expect me to believe that? You're the face of Freya Familia. Everything you do represents them, whether you admit it or not."
"You're quite clever with words."
"Thank you. I do try."
Their eyes locked.
Akira wore a cool smirk. Ottar's expression remained stone-cold, unmoving.
But for now, as long as Freya herself wasn't directly involved—Ottar was willing to talk.
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