Riveria did this mainly because Kanae Kocho was obviously interested in Takumi but didn't know how to proceed.
Therefore, following Hestia's guidance, she got Kanae drunk at the banquet and brought her back directly.
As for whether Kanae would blame her when she woke up?
Riveria didn't care; let her complain.
In her opinion, the contract had been signed anyway, and she would be bound to Takumi for the rest of her life. If she still cared about the small details, it would be more practical to confirm the relationship as soon as possible.
When there are more people in the future, Kanae will start to appreciate her efforts.
As for Hephaestus? Well... this had nothing to do with her.
Even Riveria was a little confused when she saw Hephaestus there.
She had only brought back one person; how could there be another?
So, she also turned her attention to Hestia.
"Hehe, I brought Hephaestus back," Hestia admitted with a smile.
"Wait, what were you thinking? You actually brought her back?"
Takumi rubbed his forehead speechlessly.
He really couldn't understand Hestia's train of thought.
How could Hephaestus be brought here like this?
His relationship with Hephaestus wasn't that close yet, was it?
They were just acquaintances, so why did things accelerate so suddenly?
Hestia, are you sure you didn't make a mistake?
"Okay, I'll tell you the truth. You're right to listen to me."
Hestia waved her hand with a relaxed expression, signaling Takumi to stay calm. She would be responsible for whatever happened.
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Takumi asked, still doubtful.
"Why are you talking so much nonsense? Are you still okay? Just say whether you want to go through with it or not."
"Fine! How can a man say no? I'll do it."
Having said this, Takumi naturally would not back down.
However, when he launched a tentative attack on Hephaestus, he discovered something unexpected.
"Wait! Are you awake?"
Good heavens!
It turned out that Hephaestus was only pretending to be drunk!
Wouldn't that mean...
"Stop talking and face me!"
Hephaestus launched a counterattack with fierce momentum.
Of course, she was eventually suppressed by Takumi.
At the same time, Takumi discovered that Hephaestus was a complete novice when it came to this!
But then he thought about the cold attitude other male gods had toward her, and it finally made sense.
However, Takumi was still confused by the development of the situation. He had no idea what was going through Hephaestus's head.
So, after calming Hephaestus down, Takumi quickly caught Hestia to interrogate her.
After a firm questioning, Hestia finally told the truth.
It turned out she had persuaded Hephaestus when she invited her over yesterday. Hephaestus had come to support her.
But Hephaestus had made one request: that Takumi must be able to accept her true appearance under the eyepatch.
Regarding this request, Hephaestus had already taken off her blindfold while pretending to be drunk at the banquet to show him. After seeing it, if Takumi could still approach her, she would follow him.
After all, she didn't hate Takumi.
Although Takumi would always make some cheeky jokes with her when they were together, overall, it was never annoying. On the contrary, she felt that he treated her like an equal friend, which made her feel relaxed.
So, if Takumi could accept her appearance, she could accept him.
She also longed to be loved, but because of her eye, she had been unable to find someone for many years.
After Takumi listened to Hestia's explanation, he almost couldn't help but think that this was an incredible stroke of luck.
As for Hephaestus's true appearance under the eyepatch, he really didn't think it was scary; he even thought it had a different kind of beauty.
Well, Takumi, having been exposed to all sorts of things on the internet, had a very broad range of acceptance.
Compared to strange creatures or even Nick Fury from Marvel, the injury on Hephaestus's right eye was a trivial matter!
At least Hephaestus was a complete humanoid goddess. Her appearance was stunning, and only her right eye was affected.
Even with that, she was still more beautiful than most celebrities.
Just like that, as long as he accepted her appearance, he could win her heart. It was practically a gift!
After understanding the cause and effect, Takumi quickly focused back on the situation. He turned his attention back to Hephaestus, who had just managed to catch her breath. He hadn't taken it seriously before because he was confused, but now he made up for it with effort. Soon, Hephaestus was completely exhausted. Only then did Takumi turn his attention toward Kanae Kocho.
At this time, Kanae Kocho had also heard the noise and woke up in a daze.
"This is...? Why am I here? Wait, Takumi, what are you doing? Ah!"
Without giving her time to react, Takumi moved in.
Kanae, who had no experience in such matters, was stunned instantly.
Seeing this, the three girls—Riveria and Saeko—hurriedly came to help. Together with Kanae, they formed a group to face the big boss, Takumi.
...One hundred thousand words omitted...
The next morning.
Hephaestus went back to pack her things and moved into Dimensional City with her luggage.
As for her Familia, she handed over full authority to Tsubaki.
In response to her situation, Takumi also created a Status update method specifically for her that she could operate herself.
It was a magic scroll that Takumi improved through his own magic.
For this kind of scroll, the corresponding deity only needs to drip their blood on it, and then the members of the Familia can complete a Status update by using the scroll containing the deity's blood.
Takumi quickly made a batch and gave them to Hephaestus.
Hephaestus poured her blood onto the scrolls one by one and handed them over to Tsubaki to manage.
That was how Hephaestus could leave her Familia's affairs in order and settle into Dimensional City peacefully.
As for Kanae, she had not yet returned to Orario to level up.
Because she had been thoroughly worn out by Takumi during their practice last night, she was currently recovering.
In this regard, Shinobu Kocho was quite upset.
Although she had known this would happen for a long time, she still couldn't help but feel resentful toward Takumi for finally stealing her sister away.
Her feelings were so strong that the system's hostility prompts actually sounded an alarm.
This left Takumi speechless. He didn't expect the system's first alarm to be triggered by this.
However, Takumi didn't pay it much mind and temporarily blocked the alert for Shinobu Kocho.
After all, she was just a young girl venting her frustrations; she would be fine after a few days.
At the same time, after a day of rest, Dimensional City resumed its operations.
Everyone returned to their respective posts and started their daily work.
Takumi did not disband the infrastructure engineering team.
Instead, he gave them three more small projects.
One was to build a new granary.
Since farming had resumed, the original granary was gradually becoming overwhelmed.
A new granary had to be built before the next harvest; otherwise, there would be nowhere to store the food.
The second project was a wine cellar.
It was still related to food, but specifically for processing.
Since they had decided to process surplus food by brewing wine, and the initial trials were successful, it was time to start large-scale brewing. For that, a proper wine cellar was a necessity.
The last project was an ordinary warehouse.
The main reason was that Takumi noticed there were still many supplies left over, and leaving them outside was problematic.
Although no one would steal them, they would eventually deteriorate if left out in the wind and sun.
So, he decided to build a warehouse to store them. Other items could be placed there in the future to prevent waste.
The engineering team received these tasks and started work immediately.
Takumi, meanwhile, selected a few people from the production team and began to teach them wine-making techniques.
After increasing the scale, the brewing process could no longer be handled by him alone; it needed to be delegated to others.
Since they didn't know the process, Takumi had to teach them from scratch.
Fortunately, they learned quickly after he instilled the relevant memories into them.
Just as everything was proceeding in an orderly manner, there was movement at the Dimensional Gate for the first time in a long while.
Takumi received a system notification that a new visitor had arrived. He informed the girls studying wine-making and then went out to meet the guest.
When he arrived at the Dimensional Gate, he saw a girl with long chestnut hair wearing a school uniform.
Seeing that familiar hairstyle and face, Takumi recognized her instantly.
Wasn't this Asuna?
He didn't expect her to be the one to arrive.
Judging by her outfit and temperament, it seemed she hadn't entered the death game stage yet.
At this time, Asuna Yuuki also saw Takumi walking toward her and couldn't help but take a cautious half-step back.
Takumi didn't mind. He stepped forward with a smile and said the line he had repeated many times before.
"Hello, welcome to Dimensional City. My name is Takumi, and I am the owner here."
"Hello, my name is Asuna Yuuki."
Seeing that Takumi had no ill intentions, and perhaps because the girls working on construction nearby gave her a sense of security, Asuna Yuuki responded politely.
Then she asked the classic question.
"Where is this place? Why am I here all of a sudden?"
Takumi smiled and replied patiently, "This is Dimensional City. You came through this door. It is..."
After a detailed explanation, Asuna Yuuki barely managed to understand the situation.
"It's incredible. I didn't expect that other worlds actually existed."
After seeing the construction team nearby using magic, Asuna Yuuki, who was new to such things, did not doubt Takumi's words and believed him immediately.
"If you aren't busy, you might as well stay for a visit. Since you are a guest, I would like to show you around."
Takumi sent an invitation to her.
"This... well, I'll bother you then."
Asuna Yuuki hesitated for a moment.
Although school was over, her strict upbringing made her go home as soon as possible every day.
If she went back late, she might be lectured by her mother again.
But thinking about it carefully, her mother should still be at the company at this time.
Therefore, if she stayed for a short while, she might not be discovered.
She was very curious about Dimensional City, so she agreed.
She figured if she was caught, she could just say she was delayed at school; doing it once should be fine.
Asuna Yuuki did not intend to tell her parents about Dimensional City.
She planned to treat it as her own little secret.
That way, if she had conflicts with her family in the future, she could come here to hide—it was perfect!
Takumi didn't know her private thoughts. After Asuna Yuuki agreed, he took her through the city.
While walking, he introduced her to almost every place. Then, he took her to the lobby on the first floor of the City Lord's Mansion and had someone bring tea and snacks.
"How does it feel?"
"It's quite exciting. Everything here has opened my eyes."
After walking around, Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but feel emotional.
However, her long-term upbringing allowed her to maintain a degree of restraint, and she didn't lose her composure.
"As long as you like it. You are welcome to come and play often in the future."
"Thanks."
The two exchanged a few polite words, and Takumi began to chat with her more casually.
By this time, she was no longer wary, and Takumi easily gathered some information.
Asuna Yuuki didn't mention her family much, and when asked, she only briefly described them as strict.
But Takumi didn't mind. He wanted to confirm the timeline.
After understanding the situation, Takumi confirmed that the plot of Sword Art Online had not yet begun.
SAO, the death game, was still in its closed beta stage.
Asuna Yuuki didn't know much about it; she had only heard her brother talk about the full-dive technology in the virtual world.
From this, it was clear that Asuna Yuuki occupied a secondary position in her family's expectations.
Her degree of freedom was even lower than that of her brother, who was the heir.
She had been raised strictly since childhood to be a proper lady, likely to be used for a political marriage later on.
Her parents were suppressing her, and she felt she couldn't compare to her brother.
This girl isn't having an easy time.
Takumi sighed slightly, and soon Asuna Yuuki was ready to go back.
"Sorry, I've been out for so long. My family will worry if I don't return. I'll come visit another day."
"It's okay. Go back and come play again next time."
"Mm."
Takumi watched Asuna Yuuki enter the Dimensional Gate and then received a reward from the system.
It was a piece of virtual reality technology—a later version that was even more advanced than the SAO technology currently being tested in her world.
Seeing this, Takumi didn't pay it much more attention.
This kind of technology was somewhat redundant for him. Apart from making a game to play when he had free time, it didn't have much use.
At most, he could use it to help his subordinates practice combat awareness and skills, but that was it.
It also required a lot of infrastructure to implement, which was a hassle.
It would be easier to just import ready-made equipment from her world later.
...
Back to Asuna Yuuki.
After she returned to her world, she hurried home from school.
What she didn't expect was that her mother was already waiting for her.
"Where did you go? Why are you back so late? I couldn't reach you on your phone either."
Facing her mother's stern gaze and questioning, Asuna Yuuki froze.
"I... I met a former classmate on the way. We chatted for a while and I lost track of time. My phone happened to run out of battery. I'm sorry."
Although she was nervous, Asuna Yuuki used her wits and made up an excuse on the spot.
Since her mother had called her, she knew the school must have been involved.
When she was in Dimensional City, she wasn't at school. The teacher probably thought she had already left, so she had to adjust her story to avoid being exposed.
This reason didn't stop Kyoko Yuuki from investigating further. She frowned and scolded her.
"Accidentally forgot? How could you be so careless? Will you accidentally forget to go to school next time?"
"I'm sorry."
Seeing this, Asuna Yuuki had no choice but to accept her fate and stand still while being lectured.
Kyoko Yuuki continued for several minutes before letting her go, mainly because her own schedule didn't allow for more.
"Go upstairs and do your homework. Finish it before dinner, or you won't be allowed to eat tonight."
"Yes."
Asuna Yuuki responded obediently, then returned to her room and started her homework.
Fortunately, she had excellent grades, so the work was easy for her. Although she was a bit rushed, she finished on time.
She presented it to Kyoko Yuuki for inspection, and once it passed, the matter was dropped.
"Phew... I finally got through it. I'll have to be more careful when I go there in the future to avoid getting caught."
"It would be better to find a place where I won't be easily found, but where I can still prove where I am."
Asuna Yuuki ate her dinner while silently planning how to hide her visits from her family in the future.