Standing before the dilapidated house, Hestia looked utterly bewildered.
"How strange, I thought I was the only one living around here. For three whole days, I never noticed there was a house right across from the church."
"And even now, this place looks completely deserted. So weird. But the smell of food is definitely coming from here."
"Could it be that Hephaestus is playing a prank on me? Using some kind of weird magic to hide herself?"
Orario was full of adventurers, and every time one leveled up, there was a chance they'd unlock new magic. The spells and abilities gained from leveling up were often pretty unusual.
Concealment-type magic and skills weren't unheard of.
Besides, the Hephaestus Familia was quite large—it wouldn't be strange at all if one or two of its members had access to stealth magic.
"Hmm~~~ Hephaestus, you... you really are something. As my best friend, you must've heard I found a child, and after realizing how rough things are for me, decided to send me some delicious food, right?"
"If you're pretending not to be here and left the food inside this empty, abandoned house, then I'm just gonna go right in~~~"
With that, Hestia—now convinced the food was a gift from Hephaestus—pushed open the worn-out, rickety door.
"Huh?" The moment the door swung open, Hestia froze. The scene inside was nothing like what she'd imagined—a vacant house filled with delicious food.
Instead, after pushing that old door aside, what greeted her eyes was another door: simple in design, but far from shabby. A two-story cottage came into view, and from its chimney, pale smoke was curling upward.
The delicious aroma was probably drifting right out of that chimney.
"Someone actually lives here?" Hestia stared in surprise at the little house. Realizing it wasn't a setup by Hephaestus, she muttered dejectedly, "So it wasn't Hephaestus after all... Now that I think about it, she did say she wasn't going to look after me anymore."
"In that case, the one living here must be a powerful adventurer who wants to live in seclusion. That magic even fooled a god's eyes—pretty impressive."
As Hestia mused to herself, she turned to leave.
Since it wasn't Hephaestus sending food, but some recluse adventurer living here, she couldn't just invite herself over for a meal.
Besides, the magic barrier outside clearly meant the occupant didn't want to get involved with outsiders.
So, Hestia decided not to disturb them.
"Ah well, I'll just go job hunting again this afternoon. That lady who sells fried potato balls said I could work for her if I ever got hungry. 'When the boat reaches the bridge, it'll straighten out'—I won't starve to death."
Hestia was pretty easygoing about these things.
Besides, she had a Familia now. For the sake of her child, she had to step up her game. If she kept lazing around like before, she could hardly call herself a proper goddess.
For her child's sake, Hestia was willing to strive to become a better goddess.
'Grrroooowl~~~~'
But just as she steeled her resolve, the tantalizing aroma of food wafted into her nostrils, and her stomach growled loudly, shattering her determination completely.
Clutching her belly, Hestia stared blankly at the door of Alice's house, drool practically dripping from the corner of her mouth.
'Grrroooowl~'
Another rumble.
With renewed resolve, Hestia wiped her drool, marched up to Alice's door, and raised her hand to knock.
"Whatever! One meal shouldn't be a problem. If I'm going to work, I need a full stomach to get anything done."
Knock knock knock
Hestia rapped firmly on Alice's door.
"Hm?"
The moment Hestia passed through the boundary she'd set up and reached her doorstep, Alice sensed someone had entered.
So, every one of Hestia's odd actions outside the door was quietly observed by Alice, who was hiding just inside, watching.
She saw the goddess outside go through a whole range of expressions—surprise, disappointment, resignation. She saw her turn to leave, then gaze longingly back at the door before finally marching over with determination and raising her hand to knock.
Alice couldn't make sense of this strange behavior. What was this goddess trying to do? But then she remembered she'd been impersonating Hestia's Familia, and felt a little nervous.
So, after Hestia knocked, Alice cautiously opened the door—just a crack. Peering through the gap, she softly asked, "Um, Goddess, is there something you need?"
Alice had already decided: if the goddess brought up Familia matters and tried to recruit her, she'd just say, "You've got the wrong person—I'm Marisa Kirisame from the Loki Familia."
Though only a sliver of Alice's face was visible through the crack, Hestia could still see half of it clearly.
"So cute!!"
Her features were delicate, like a doll's. Even though Hestia considered herself quite charming among goddesses, she knew her appeal lay in her childlike face, her petite figure, and—most importantly—certain physical attributes that made many goddesses green with envy.
But this girl before her, even with only half her face showing, gave Hestia the feeling that Freya's looks alone couldn't compare to hers.
Of course, if you factored in everything else, Freya would still be the most popular. After all, she was a mature woman.
The girl in front of her, though, clearly still had a childlike appearance—pretty and adorable, but not exactly mature.
Staring at Alice's exquisite features, Hestia was momentarily dazed.
But she quickly pulled herself together. She was a beautiful goddess too, after all—even if she was captivated, it was just a passing admiration.
Still, she couldn't help blushing, honestly.
Because what she was about to say next was honestly a little embarrassing, even for her.
So, Alice watched as the goddess fidgeted awkwardly for a moment, then bowed deeply to her.
"Please! Share some of your food with me!! If it's enough for two, that'd be even better!"
"Eh? Food??"
Hestia's words left Alice completely stunned.
--+--
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