With their sauntering, by the time they reached the church, it was already past 6.
"We're home!"
Pushing the door open and entering, they spot the tiny goddess, hestia, lounging on a bean bag—spread out with a book in her hand.
"Where have you guys been for so lo—"
She turned away from her book to look towards the front entrance and was shocked to see her only familia member's clothes torn up.
"B-Bell!?"
Hestia jumped off the bean bag so fast she almost face-planted.
She rushed over, eyes widening, practically tripping over her own feet as she grabbed his shoulders.
"What happened to you!? Why are your clothes shredded—and is that blood!?"
She started checking him over without touching, her hands hovering like she was afraid he'd drop dead if she did.
Bell waved his hands quickly.
"Goddess, I'm okay! Really!"
"Okay!?" Hestia squeaked, lifting his torn sleeve. "Bell, this looks like you lost a fight with a cheese grater! What do you mean 'okay'!?"
Bell wilted under her panic.
"I-It's from earlier in the dungeon. I healed everything already. I promise."
He patted his arms and chest to prove it.
Hestia froze… squinted… then grabbed his face by the cheeks.
"You're not secretly dying somewhere, right? No broken bones? No holes? No… missing parts!?"
"No, Goddess!" he mumbled through squished cheeks. "I'm fine!"
She finally let go and let out a long breath, shoulders dropping.
"Oh thank the heavens… I swear, Bell, I nearly thought my first child would up and die early."
"…"
She flicked his forehead—not hard, just enough to show she was still stressed.
"And walking around Orario dressed like you crawled out of a disaster zone? Really?"
Bell rubbed the spot, embarrassed.
"Go," Hestia said, pointing toward the basement stairs. "Wash up and change. Before I start screaming."
"Yes, Goddess!" Bell hurried down the stairs.
Once he disappeared, Hestia put her hands on her hips and turned—very slowly—to Kaelis.
"…And you."
"Oh? You want me to go take a bath as well?"
She narrowed her eyes.
His clothes were perfectly clean—so he clearly hadn't followed Bell into the Dungeon.
With nothing to really scold him for, she just let out a small hmph and went back to her book.
Watching her, Kaelis couldn't help but be amused. She was still holding a tiny grudge over him not officially joining her familia… and maybe because he'd teased her the day before.
He smirked as he walked over to where she was sprawled out and dropped onto the beanbag beside her.
Hestia pretended she was absorbed in her book, but her eyes kept sliding sideways toward Kaelis every few seconds—just enough to check whether he was watching her, then snapping back to the page like nothing happened.
Kaelis stretched out beside her, arms spread on each side, staring at the ceiling like he owned the bean bag.
The quiet dragged on for a while as the only thing that could be heard was water splashing from downstairs.
Hestia turned a page she definitely wasn't reading.
Finally, Kaelis broke the silence.
"So," he said casually, eyes still pointed upwards, "how much do you owe Hephaestus?"
Hestia froze suddenly.
Her eyes darted, her posture stiffening—she hadn't expected the question to be asked so suddenly.
"…N-Not that much…" she mumbled, sinking a little into the bean bag.
"How much?" Kaelis pressed.
Hestia puffed up her cheeks. "Just a tiny bit! Like—like… 200,000 valis… give or take…"
She tried to downplay the numbers but no matter how Kaelis looked at it, now that he knows the price and value of things, they were nearly as outrageous as the blacksmith district.
Kaelis slowly turned his head toward her.
The look he gave her could only be described as playful disgust.
"…Hestia."
She previously said she only freeloaded for three months…Is the definition something else for the gods?
What kind of freeloading did she do?
Hestia immediately got flustered and began flailing.
"I-It's not that bad! It used to be way higher!! And besides! It's my debt! My problem!"
Totally not concerning…
"Uh-huh. Right." Kaelis snorted.
"Listen to me!!" She glared at him like a cat about to hiss.
But Kaelis kept going, voice calm all the way.
"Well, good news. We made 750,000 valis from today's haul."
Hestia's book slipped from her hands.
"W–Wait—seven… hundred… and—"
"Fifty thousand," Kaelis nodded. "And we still had around eighty thousand leftover from the Hostess of Fertility."
Her jaw dropped so hard it practically hit her buxom chest.
"And," he continued, "we spent over 250,000 on fabric and materials."
He summoned the large bags from his storage, laying them out in front of them.
Hestia blinked.
Then blinked again.
Her divine soul visibly left her body for a moment before snapping back.
"S-So that means you still have—"
"Enough to cover your entire debt," Kaelis finished.
Hestia's whole body tensed.
Her eyes darted away, and she tried pushing him, trying to hold back the urge.
"No, no, no—I can't take that! Absolutely not! It's my debt. I'm the one who dragged Bell into this poor familia—this isn't something you two need to fix for me!"
Kaelis sighed and leaned toward her so close, their faces were merely inches away from touching.
"Hestia."
She froze.
"You're our goddess. Bell's officially your child, and even if I'm not, I'm still a part of your familia."
Hestia slowly peeked up at him, eyes wide and unsure.
"What's yours is ours," he said gently. "And what's ours is yours. That's how a familia works, isn't it?"
Her lips parted, speechless.
"And aren't you," he added with a small smile, "literally the Goddess of Home?"
Hestia flinched like she'd been hit with an arrow of truth.
"So if you're the goddess of home," Kaelis continued, "you shouldn't let pride drag your household through the mud. If word gets out that you're drowning in debt, people will ridicule Bell. They'll think your familia is weak…and unstable."
Hestia clutched the hem of her skirt.
"But… I don't want to drag you two down with me…"
"You're not dragging anyone down," Kaelis said softly. "You gave us a place to call home, didn't you? It's only fair we lift you up too."
Hestia looked at him—really looked at him now—eyes shimmering with uncertainty and warmth.
"…You sure?" she whispered.
"Positive."
She exhaled shakily before turning her face to the side.
"…Fine, hmph! I—I'll accept it," she said, cheeks red with embarrassment and relief before adding,
"But only because you made it sound… like I really have to."
Kaelis smirked. A classic tsundere.
He leaned just a bit closer and next to her ear:
"Or maybe," he said with a light, teasing drawl, "you're just weak to my charm."
Hestia's eyes shot open.
Her face went bright red from chin to ears.
"W–WHAT!? N-No I'm— I— S-Stop saying weird things!!"
Kaelis burst out laughing, it resounded in the church.
"Relax, Hestia. I'm only stating facts."
She grabbed the nearest pillow and smacked him in the shoulder, squeaking the whole time.
"Stooooop!!"
Her face was so red it could rival a ripe tomato.
And Kaelis just sat there grinning, entirely pleased with himself.
Chapter 71 end.
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Had to spend a little more time on this one.
Hope y'all rocking with it.