A few minutes later, only Emiya and Hephaestus remained in the spacious office.
Tsubaki had already left to handle the Familia's internal affairs.
Erina and Hisako had gone with Hestia to receive their blessings. Soon, they would officially become adventurers.
"Are you planning to keep your origin a secret from Hestia?"
Hephaestus suddenly asked.
Emiya shook his head.
"I wasn't planning to. Erina and Hisako are still students. They can't stay in Orario forever. I also intend to introduce other chefs to Hestia, so it's impossible to keep it hidden. It's better to be upfront."
Hephaestus nodded.
"That's best for everyone."
"I think so too."
Before long, Hestia returned with Erina and Hisako.
Erina entered first and said nervously,
"Goddess Hestia already knows where we're from."
"Oh." Emiya responded calmly and didn't say anything else.
Even if Erina hadn't told her, he would have explained it himself sooner or later.
It was better for Hestia to hear it directly from her.
Hestia huffed and crossed her arms.
"I can't believe two of my Familia members are from another world!"
"If I announced this at the next gathering of gods, it would cause an enormous uproar."
"That would make you the enemy of all the gods," Hephaestus said coolly, reminding her smug friend.
"If the gods find out your children can freely travel between another world and Orario, they'll go insane. Do you think you can withstand the malice of every god in your current state?"
Hestia shivered.
"I-I was joking! Just joking! I'd never tell the other gods where my children came from."
"All right," Hephaestus said. "Just keep your mouth shut."
"No problem." Hestia patted her chest confidently.
But when she accidentally met Hephaestus's knowing half-smile, Emiya felt oddly uncomfortable.
He cleared his throat and quickly changed the subject.
"Cough. To celebrate our deal, would you like to visit my world, Goddess Hestia, Goddess Hephaestus?"
"No problem," Hestia replied immediately. She was clearly interested in the other world.
Hephaestus nodded as well. She turned to Erina.
"I'll send you two back first. When you return, have your grandfather prepare the gold and the cellphone manufacturing technology."
"Leave it to me," Erina replied.
Emiya nodded and sent Erina and Hisako back to the Food Wars! world.
Then he returned to Hephaestus's office and brought the two goddesses back to his home.
...
Because Orario was in twilight, it was early morning in the real world.
Six o'clock, to be exact.
Loki was already asleep on the sofa.
But the arrival of Emiya and the two goddesses woke her up.
She had already removed her seal.
Loki suddenly sat upright and saw two familiar figures.
"Fi-Fi... and the shorty?"
Hestia spotted Loki as well. Her hair practically stood on end.
"Why is that woman here?!"
Loki's expression darkened.
"I get Fi-Fi, but why did you bring the shorty here? You're my Familia member."
"Because he's decided to leave you and join my Familia," Hestia said shamelessly, making it up just to provoke her.
"What?!" Loki's face flushed red. She looked ready to explode.
Hestia crossed her arms proudly.
"After seeing me, isn't it only natural he'd abandon you?"
That was the last straw.
With tears welling up, Loki lunged at Hestia.
She grabbed Hestia's soft cheeks with both hands and pulled them left and right, then kneaded them up and down without mercy.
Hestia's eyes watered, her brows furrowed, but she refused to back down.
She fought back bravely.
Unfortunately, her short limbs couldn't reach Loki's long, flexible ones. Every attack missed.
Hephaestus watched the scene calmly.
She was used to this.
Although she could tell Loki had unsealed her divine power, she knew Loki would never use it to truly harm Hestia.
If she did, Hephaestus wouldn't stay idle.
Emiya, who had already seen scenes like this in the story, didn't intervene.
He let the two goddesses brawl in a completely undignified manner.
Thankfully, he had already sent Erina and Hisako away.
If they had witnessed two powerful gods acting like this, any reverence they held would have shattered instantly.
With her divine power unsealed, Loki easily overwhelmed Hestia.
She pinned her to the sofa and rubbed her against it.
Then Loki sat on Hestia's back and glared at Emiya.
"Why did you bring this shorty here?"
Emiya shrugged.
"Erina Nakiri and Hisako Arato joined Hestia's Familia. They'll be traveling between worlds often, so there was no reason to hide it from her."
Loki clicked her tongue.
She had miscalculated.
She should have taken Erina for herself.
Now she'd handed the shorty a huge advantage.
Hestia was still struggling beneath Loki.
She refused to give up.
She would never lose to this woman.
That was Hestia's mindset.
Seeing that the fight was essentially over, Hephaestus finally spoke.
"All right, Loki. Stop bullying Hestia."
"She's about to cry."
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