The night passed without incident. The next morning, just as Ren finished brushing his teeth, a knock came at his door. Hestia's voice rang out from the other side, "Hurry up and open the door, Ren!"
Hearing her voice, Ren walked over with dark lines forming on his forehead. Opening the door, he was greeted by a wildly excited Hestia and a thoroughly exasperated Asuna.
Ren glanced at Hestia's outfit. She had changed out of her usual blue-ribbon attire and was now wearing a proper dress, complete with actual shoes on her feet.
*Did Asuna put this together for her? She must have gone out of her way to buy it last night.* Dressed like this, she finally looked like a normal person from the modern era.
"Good morning! It's time for school!" Hestia greeted Ren with a beaming smile. She couldn't wait to follow Ren and the others to school.
After today, she would have a massive Familia! Just thinking about it made her giddy. Hestia couldn't hide the massive grin on her face; she was simply too happy.
"You're certainly energetic. Don't tell me you stayed up all night?" Ren looked at Hestia, somewhat speechless. She was way too hyped up today, acting like an elementary schooler about to go on a field trip.
"That's because I'm about to get a ton of Familia members! Just thinking about it makes me happy!" Hestia said smugly, her face radiating joy.
She was already fantasizing about returning to Orario with a group of Tier 3 adventurers. The shocked expressions on her friends' faces... just imagining it was thrilling.
Ren couldn't help but roll his eyes at her antics. Grabbing his keys, he said, "Let's go. Time to head to school. Stop acting like a kid."
With that, Ren stepped out and locked the door. Hearing his remark, Hestia hurriedly retorted, "I'm not a kid! You just don't get it!"
"Right, right, whatever you say!" Ren couldn't be bothered to argue with her. When the elevator arrived, he stepped straight in, with Asuna following closely behind.
The three of them took the elevator down and grabbed breakfast before heading straight to school. Along the way, Hestia looked left and right, brimming with curiosity at everything she saw and heard.
When Ren and Asuna arrived at the school with Hestia in tow, they happened to bump into Megumi Kato and Yukino Yukinoshita. The two girls froze when they saw Hestia trailing behind them.
Yukino walked over to Asuna, casting a questioning glance at Hestia. Asuna instantly understood her silent inquiry and whispered, "Something happened, but it's a good thing. You'll find out once we get to class."
Hearing Asuna say this, Yukino frowned slightly. *A good thing?* That surprised her, especially since it seemed to be related to the school.
What confused her, however, was why Hestia was with Asuna and Ren in the first place. No... rather, did this goddess go directly to Ren?
"Was she with you guys yesterday?" Yukino asked curiously. Asuna nodded in confirmation.
She slowly recounted the events of the previous day—how Hestia had ambushed Ren at his apartment, and how the goddess ended up crashing at Asuna's place for the night.
"No wonder you all came together." Yukino nodded thoughtfully. So this goddess had specifically sought out Ren. *Does Ren have something she desperately wants?*
Yukino's mind was full of questions. When she looked at Hestia, she noticed Hestia was staring right back at her. The goddess's gaze seemed to be filled with... excitement?
It was like a predator looking at its prey. A sudden chill ran down Yukino's spine. *Being stared at like this... is really unsettling.*
Hestia, meanwhile, was overjoyed to see the rest of Ren's party members. Now the whole crew was here. Her eye for talent was spot on!
"Hello there! We meet again!" Hestia greeted Yukino and Megumi. She couldn't help but steal a few extra glances at Megumi in particular.
*Her talent is practically overflowing! This is amazing. To think this world has so many individuals with such powerful potential... I'm so happy!*
"Hello," Megumi and Yukino replied, greeting her in return. The two girls were now even more curious about what was going on, especially since it seemed to directly involve them.
"Are you going to find the principal yourself, or should I take you?" Ren couldn't help but ask Hestia. *Stop staring at them like a creep and go do your actual job.*
Hearing Ren's words, Hestia snapped out of her daze and hurriedly replied, "Just tell me where he is, and I'll go by myself! You guys go on ahead!"
Now that she was here, there was no need to rush. Most importantly, Ren was already the Captain of her Familia, so the others naturally wouldn't be able to escape her grasp.
All she had to do now was meet with the principal and finalize the details. Then, everyone in Ren's class would become her Familia members.
Hearing this, Ren pointed toward one of the buildings. "Over there. Head straight up to the third floor. It's the room right by the stairs. Just knock on the door."
Ren had just been there yesterday, so he was quite familiar with the principal's office. Hestia nodded at his instructions, waved goodbye to the four of them, and quickly hurried off in that direction.
She could already sense the principal's aura. *He seems to be quite heavily injured?* Well, that had nothing to do with her. She just needed to get this sorted out quickly so she could bestow her Falna upon everyone.
After sending Hestia off, the four of them headed toward their classroom. Yukino finally couldn't hold back anymore and asked Ren, "What exactly is going on?"
She had a hundred questions swirling in her mind. What was this goddess playing at? Why did she suddenly show up at their school? Was it really okay to just let a deity wander around freely like this?
"The power system from her world can help us grow stronger rapidly. Once we receive her Falna, we'll be able to fight monsters and level up just like in a video game. It seems Hestia struck some sort of deal with the higher-ups, so from now on, everyone in our class is going to become a member of her Familia," Ren quickly explained.
Hearing this, both Asuna and Megumi were stunned. Their entire class was going to join her Familia? Was he serious?
"That's pretty much the gist of it. All in all, it's beneficial for us... Plus, after what happened yesterday..." Asuna chimed in, confirming Ren's words. As she recalled Ren's series of manipulative maneuvers from the night before, her expression turned incredibly strange.
"Even if our class joins her Familia, we can leave whenever we want. Yesterday, Ren ruthlessly ensured that we hold all the power." The corners of Asuna's mouth twitched upward; she couldn't help but want to laugh when she thought about it.
"It sounds like quite a few interesting things happened," Yukino remarked, thoroughly surprised to hear they could quit at any time.
If that was the case, there was really no reason to refuse. Fighting monsters and leveling up like a game? That sounded fantastic. Plus, having the freedom to leave whenever they wanted was a huge safety net.
Asuna proceeded to fill the two girls in on Ren's antics from the previous night. After hearing her explanation, the first thought that popped into both Yukino and Megumi's heads was: *This goddess isn't very bright, is she!*
Was someone like that really a deity? Wasn't she a bit too easy to fool? But... this was actually for the best. Yukino was highly supportive of Ren's methods.
After all, with a personality like that, Hestia really wasn't suited to manage a Familia. It would be best if she just obediently acted as their mascot from now on, leaving the actual management to the rest of them.
She had no objections to Ren being the Captain, and she figured the rest of the class wouldn't either. Ren's prestige in the class was second only to their homeroom teacher.
In fact, it might even surpass hers. Even though Ren had beaten up practically everyone in the class at some point, he had also helped them. While they had never officially elected a class representative, everyone had long since tacitly accepted Ren as their leader.
Lost in thought, Yukino didn't even realize they had arrived at the classroom. Everyone returned to their seats and waited for the bell to ring.
To their surprise, however, Rina-sensei walked in before the bell even rang. She told everyone to study independently for the time being and then immediately left. If Ren had to guess, she was probably heading straight for the principal's office.
Hearing it was a self-study period, the students immediately started doing their own things. A few classmates who hadn't gotten the chance to ask Ren for advice yesterday quickly gathered around his desk again.
It wasn't until the start of the second period that their homeroom teacher, Rina-sensei, finally returned. Following right behind her was Hestia. She had finished her business and was now here to officially meet the future members of her Familia.
The students couldn't help but stare blankly when they saw Hestia. Why was this goddess here? Was she going to become a student in their class?
Just as many of them were wondering this, Rina-sensei spoke up. "I have an announcement to make. This is Lady Hestia. She will be bestowing upon you a power known as the Falna, which will grant everyone the ability to grow stronger simply by defeating monsters in the dungeon."
The moment she said this, the entire class exploded into an uproar. *Holy crap, isn't this basically a cheat code? We get stronger just by killing monsters? It's literally turning life into a video game!*
"Quiet!" Seeing the rowdy students, Rina-sensei slammed her hand on the desk, demanding silence.
"Let me finish first!!" Rina-sensei could understand their excitement, but could they at least let her finish speaking before discussing it?
Hearing Rina-sensei's strict tone, the class quickly quieted down. Only then did she continue, "In order to receive this Falna, you must become members of Hestia's Familia."
The students blinked in confusion. *Familia... what's that?* None of them had any concept of what that meant.
However, Hestia was there to explain. Rina-sensei let Hestia take the floor to explain the concept of a Familia. After listening to her, everyone got the general idea.
To put it bluntly, a deity gave you power, and in return, you were responsible for providing for that deity. That was the gist of it. But they were still students, weren't they? Why was the school arranging something like this?
Many students frowned, not quite understanding the reasoning behind this arrangement. If it was purely for the sake of receiving the Falna, surely they didn't need to go this far?
"Now that you all understand what a Familia entails, let me explain the arrangements," Rina-sensei continued, looking out at the class.
Hearing this, everyone sat up straight, eager to hear what Rina-sensei had to say and what the school had planned.
"Lady Hestia forming a Familia is an initiative spearheaded by the Board of Education. Everyone in this class will become members of her Familia, and then... you will follow her to another world!" Rina-sensei announced with a deadpan, serious expression.
The moment they heard "another world," everyone was stunned. However, Rina-sensei wasn't finished, so no one interrupted her.
"Traveling to another world is a relatively dangerous endeavor. This is especially true for her world, which also centers around a dungeon—one that has been explored and developed far more deeply than ours."
"Aside from gaining combat experience, you have another mission: to gather as much information as possible about their dungeon. Furthermore, you are to establish a solid foothold and learn as much knowledge from that world as you can."
Rina-sensei slowly laid out all the details for the students. They were going there to train, but they were also carrying out an assignment. Of course, they wouldn't be the main vanguard.
The students' primary objective was to help Hestia establish a foothold and grow her Familia. This seemed to be a strategic move for the future.
If they had the backing of a massive Familia in that world, the benefits they could reap once the two worlds fully connected would be unimaginable.
"Going to this other world is entirely voluntary. If you don't want to go, you don't have to," Rina-sensei added at the end. This wasn't a mandatory expedition.
Hearing this, the class immediately broke into discussion. Sora suddenly raised her hand and asked, "Sensei, if we go over there, who's going to lead us? Are the teachers coming too?"
At Sora's question, the chatter gradually died down. This was indeed a crucial point—after all, it concerned their very lives.
What she was really asking was whether the teachers would secretly protect them like they did during their previous dungeon dives. Heading into a completely unknown world left everyone feeling incredibly insecure.
"A few teachers will be accompanying you. I know what you're worried about. You're concerned about safety, right?" Rina-sensei looked at Sora with an amused expression.
She could have just asked directly; there was no need to beat around the bush. After all, it was only human nature to seek safety and avoid danger. If their lives were truly at risk, they would definitely need to consider this carefully.
"Regarding safety, I can responsibly assure you all that the moment your lives are threatened, you will be immediately teleported back to our world." Rina-sensei revealed this crucial detail.
The higher-ups naturally had preparations in place before sending this batch of students over. If something terrible were to happen, it would be a massive loss, and they wouldn't allow that.
"We can actually do that?" Sora's eyes instantly lit up. Wasn't that basically a death-return mechanic? That meant they could go completely wild over there!
"You can, but you only get one chance. And once you're forcibly teleported back, you likely won't ever be able to return to that world," Rina-sensei said, seeing right through Sora's thoughts and mercilessly pouring cold water on her excitement.
Sora was left speechless. So it was a one-time use, and it came with a permanent ban? That was pretty ridiculous. She had never heard of anything like it. Still, as long as she could keep her life, getting blacklisted was a fair trade. Life was the most important thing.
"As for who you'll be taking orders from?" Rina-sensei paused, her gaze shifting toward Ren. Hestia had already designated Ren as the Captain of the Hestia Familia, so all the students would have to listen to him.
Her gaze made it clear to the rest of the class: once they got there, Ren was in charge. Everyone quickly realized that this goddess had likely come specifically for Ren in the first place.
"Aside from that, a few other teachers will be joining you. Consider them an extra layer of protection in that world," Rina-sensei slowly revealed the final piece of information.
Teachers would definitely be going as well. In addition to a few familiar faces from their class, two teachers transferred from elsewhere would accompany them to serve as high-end combat power.