"This is the Pure-White Sanatorium."
"You suddenly passed out, so I brought you here to get checked."
After explaining what happened, Hestia lifted her gaze to the brown-haired boy beside her—Keyaru, with short hair and gentle, still-youthful features.
His background wasn't hard to guess.
Probably just a kid with a dream, who came to Orario to become an adventurer?
The Dian Cecht Familia wasn't exactly a place to chat; besides, she worried Amid might blurt out what Hestia had just claimed—she'd gone and declared him her Familia member without him ever agreeing to it.
"Miss Amid… how much is the treatment? In valis?"
…
Running the Dian Cecht Familia more or less alone, Amid Teasanare could see the little charade, but she didn't call it out. She gave a small shake of the head.
"If we charged just to look someone over, the Pure-White Sanatorium wouldn't deserve to exist."
"Please take care of your health."
"Thank you."
Hestia glanced at the boy and made a tentative suggestion:
"Then… shall we go?"
"Sure."
Keyaru didn't refuse. His plans were smashed to pieces; he'd fallen off the plotline and into a different world altogether. The future felt like a blank.
Like grinding day and night for the college entrance exam, only to realize the questions you drilled were actually Bilibili's infamously trollish entry quiz. How does that make any sense?
But thinking it over—this was a web-novel-style transmigration anyway. No point nitpicking the world's logic.
More importantly, the DanMachi world is definitely less lethal than the "Redo of Healer" one!
If skipping all the iconic scenes is the price of getting into this mortal game run by the gods, maybe that's not so hard to swallow.
At least he wouldn't run into that sadistic, conniving Freya.
Orario's fairly safe. As long as you don't get mixed up with the remnants of Evilus, there shouldn't be any massive upheavals.
They left the Sanatorium.
Noon's blazing sunlight spilled down, warm on the skin. Still not used to the glare, Keyaru raised an arm to shield his eyes.
The mark on the back of his right hand—the emblem of the "Healer Hero"—was completely gone.
"Figures…"
"When you're down, even cold water chips a tooth."
The Hero rules from the Redo of Healer world don't apply elsewhere. One bit he remembered crystal-clear: when a Hero dies, a new one is born nearby.
It's more like a job title.
They don't mothball the position just because the last employee was "optimized" out; the role simply gets refilled.
Keyaru understood the logic, but when it happens to you, "annoyed" barely begins to cover it.
…
Sensing the boy's slump, Hestia didn't know where to start. Maybe he'd been turned down by some Familia. After a moment's thought, she decided to break the ice herself, smiling as she asked:
"What's your name?"
"Mm… Keyaru."
Putting aside the fact this wasn't the Redo of Healer world, "Keyaru" fit better than using his name from his past life.
He looked down the street.
It was close to noon, and adventurers finishing their Dungeon runs—armored in every style, some with beastkin traits—were gathering.
The medieval European-style buildings made it obvious at a glance:
This was another world, with the extraordinary baked in.
"Keyaru," Hestia asked, "did you come to Orario… to become an adventurer?" Finding him passed out had felt like fate to her.
And ever since moving out of her friend's place, her thinking had shifted. Recruiting members, building her own Familia—no longer just a distant daydream.
To be precise—
Most adventurers aim for the big-name Familias. Hestia had tried inviting passersby herself, but once they heard her Familia's situation, they ran for it.
This boy named "Keyaru" might be her first real step toward building a Familia.
"An adventurer?"
"That… wouldn't be wrong."
No transmigrator turns down superpowers, and Keyaru was no exception.
He could find some job in Orario and scrape by, but he'd been a wageslave in his last life—why walk the same road after crossing worlds? What a waste of a transmigration.
To gain power, the prerequisite was joining a Familia and receiving a god's blessing.
With the Healer's authority—even just the basic Heal—getting into the Loki Familia would be easy.
That said…
He couldn't exactly blurt out that he was a transmigrator and talk Loki into "investing in him," right?
His thoughts drifted. He turned to the girl beside him, her blue eyes full of hope.
He still had no idea where the DanMachi timeline was; who knew whether the white-haired, red-eyed "rabbit" had even shown up yet. Taking everything into account—
Hestia.
Her Familia was barely off the ground and the conditions were rough, but she could update your status every day and was easy to get along with.
For now, it really was the best fit.
"It's just…"
"Just?" Hestia's eyes shone with expectation.
"It's just, I don't know if any Familia would be willing to take me…" Keyaru shook his head lightly, even his tone tinged with self-deprecation.
To Hestia's ears—
The girl tipped up her chin, her slightly baby-faced features blooming with a warm smile.
"Keyaru…"
"Um, I'm actually a goddess too. Would you be interested in joining the Hestia Familia?"
…
Keyaru turned, focusing on Hestia's face.
She knew full well she was dead broke; talking about recruiting members was practically a fantasy. She'd already braced herself for a rejection.
Seeing him fall silent, she waved a hand and gently encouraged him. "If there's another Familia you want to try… go for it. You never know unless you try."
"I'm in."
"If it doesn't work out, I can… recommend you…" Her smile was a bit forced—until she heard his answer. She froze, staring at Keyaru in disbelief.
Afraid she'd misheard, she asked again, "Um… Keyaru, did you really say you want to join my Familia?"
"Of course."
"I just don't know if I can have Lady Hestia's permission."
Keyaru lifted his shoulders in a small shrug, his smile earnest. "We'd never even met, and you still took the trouble to bring the unconscious me to the clinic."
"I believe joining Lady Hestia's Familia is the right choice."
You can't lie in front of a god—and he had no intention of doing so anyway. From any angle, objective or personal, the Hestia Familia was his best option right now. Who would turn down a kind, gentle, big-hearted, baby-faced goddess who actually understands people?
And then, before he finished, a soft, slender hand clasped his arm.
Meeting his startled eyes, Hestia answered his sincerity with her own. Her manner was steady, her tone leaving no room for doubt.
"Let's go."
"I can't wait to become your patron goddess, Keyaru!"