Chapter 70: Soma!
In Heaven, Soma often heard of gods who found the place boring and wanted to descend to the lower world.
However, Soma was among the few gods who didn't feel that way.
In his world, he only needed a few friends he could talk to and share his wine.
One day, Soma brewed a delicious wine like never before.
Excited, he stepped out of his door, a door he hadn't stepped out of for decades, wanting to see the exaggerated expressions of his god friends when they tasted the wine.
"Soma? Long time no see. You said you were looking for Rohini? She went down to the lower world to play with the children there several years ago."
"Soma? You still dare to come find me?! Have you forgotten about us?! Some of us couldn't stand the boredom and went to the lower world to play with those children! As for you, stay in your dark room, hugging your wine, until you die!"
After knocking on several gods' doors, the answers were all similar: they couldn't stand the boredom and had gone to the lower world.
So, holding the wine in his hand, Soma felt curious about the lower world for the first time.
Were the children of the lower world really so interesting?
With a glimmer of expectation for the children of the lower world, Soma descended to the lower world.
The first thing he did after descending was find a way to survive.
Gods had their divine powers sealed in the lower world, but this wasn't a big problem for him.
The wine he brewed was renowned even in Heaven.
After finding the necessary materials, the first bottle of Soma wine was created in the lower world.
Although he considered it a failure, in the eyes of the gods, it was already a rare treasure in the lower world.
Soon, a god found Soma and bought the wine at a high price.
Soma, with his first capital, quickly bought a residence and began recruiting adventurers from the lower world, and thus forming the Soma Familia.
He still remembers the first child who came to him.
Her name was Tara.
That day, Soma was thinking about recruiting new members for his Familia.
He knew he wasn't the first to come down to the lower world, and some aspiring adventurers would first look for well-established Familias with prior experience.
For Soma, who was somewhat socially anxious, actively approaching people and pulling them in on the street was too difficult.
"You're Soma-sama, the one who brewed Soma wine, right?!"
A very energetic voice interrupted his thoughts.
Soma turned to the source, a short human woman with fiery red hair tied into a single ponytail, a symbol of enthusiasm.
As she spoke, her ponytail bounced, which was quite cute.
The woman was staring at Soma with excitement.
Seeing him looking at her, she waved her arms and ran towards him, stopping about half a meter away from him.
With her loud voice, she spoke,
"I smelled the divine wine you brewed from afar! I asked god-sama over there for your location!"
"But, that god wouldn't give me a single sip! They're a god and yet they're so stingy!"
Tara seemed to recall the scene and pouted in discontent, but she quickly returned to her energetic state.
"So, I came directly to you, Soma-sama! To be honest, I've loved brewing wine since I was little! Watching those grains slowly transform into delicious wine, that feeling, Soma-sama, you must understand!"
The woman immediately bombarded Soma with a barrage of words, leaving him speechless for a moment.
But seeing the sparkle in her eyes, Soma subconsciously nodded.
His response excited Tara further.
So, she rushed forward and grabbed his hand.
"Right? Right? I knew it! Soma-sama must understand!"
"Even before Soma-sama descended to the lower world, I heard so many god-sama talk about how delicious your wine was. From that day, I felt that Soma-sama and I were the same kind of person! Now it seems I was right!"
Faced with the enthusiastic Tara, Soma silently took a step back, creating some distance.
He originally wanted to pull his hand away from hers, but the force coming from above made Soma, with his sealed divine power, unable to pull away.
"So, what do you want from me…"
"Huh? Oh! I almost forgot! Soma-sama, is your Familia still recruiting members?"
Looking at Tara, who was acting like a fool in front of him, Soma didn't know whether to tell her about his newly formed Familia that was actively recruiting.
His intuition told him that if Tara joined his Familia, his peaceful otaku life would immediately abandon him.
But it's always the hardest to start something.
If he rejected Tara now, he might not get another chance to recruit his first member for who knows how long.
Furthermore, Soma glanced at the red-haired fool in front of him.
He didn't want to refuse her.
…
"Soma Familia is recruiting! Pass by, look around! Join now and you'll be a founding member!"
On Orario's busiest and most prosperous North Street, Tara shouted at the passing crowd.
In front of her, a table was laid out with introductions to Soma Familia.
This was Tara's work, completed overnight after joining the Familia.
According to her, it showed more sincerity.
But for Soma, who had been a shut-in for decades, this situation was no different from stripping naked and dancing in Orario.
Looking at Soma, who was trying to bury his head under the table, mimicking an ostrich, Tara grumbled in dissatisfaction,
"Soma-sama, always staying indoors won't do. Our Familia's revival depends entirely on you."
"Besides, have you forgotten? Our dream!"
Tara stomped her foot on the table, pointing her finger at the distance.
Soma tried to ignore the baffled looks from the passersby who were randomly pointed at by Tara.
He then complained,
"That's clearly your dream..."
The story goes back to the day Tara joined the Familia.
As soon as she entered the Familia's residence, she was already bustling with energy, wanting to clean the entire place, saying it symbolized a fresh start.
While cleaning Soma's room, she discovered the wine he had brought from Heaven.
"Soma-sama, is this perhaps?!"
She held the wine and asked him excitedly.
"Ah… this is the last bottle of divine wine I brewed in Heaven. I planned to bring it down for my god friends to drink. But I've been too busy these past few days and forgot about it."
"Can I have a sip?!"
"Divine wine is too strong for children of the lower world, so…"
"Just a sip!"
"But…"
"Just a single SIP!!!"
Tara's face was almost touching Soma's.
To prevent her from kissing him, Soma agreed to her rather rude request.
"Gulp! What is this?! What is this?! Does something like this even exist?!"
To Soma's surprise, Tara didn't have any strange reactions after drinking the divine wine.
If anything, she seemed more energetic?
"I've decided!"
She suddenly raised the glass of wine and shouted, startling Soma.
"I will brew wine like this too!"
That's how two people with completely different personalities, connected through wine, drew closer.
---
Read More With Pictures (10+ Chapters In Advance):
Replace '@' with 'a' on your web browser.