After mixing the taiyaki batter in the kitchen, Yuto began making the yakisoba.
Letting the taiyaki batter rest for a while would make the final grilled product more fragrant, soft, and crisp.
This period of time was more than enough to make a serving of yakisoba.
Although Yuto usually made noodles by hand, the restaurant also kept ordinary ramen noodle cakes in stock.
Right now, Hestia was in a hurry to eat.
Making noodles by hand would be relatively time-consuming.
The moment Yuto entered the kitchen, he had already tossed the noodle cake into the pot to boil.
Before making fried noodles, the noodles had to be boiled first.
His timing was extremely precise and well controlled.
Now, the noodles in the pot had just finished cooking, and the originally compressed noodle cake had completely loosened.
In the rolling noodle soup, the drifting noodles looked like silver dragons stirring up waves underwater.
Yuto picked up the strainer and scooped the noodles straight out from the bottom of the pot.
With a few light flicks of his wrist—
Shua, shua, shua.
Along with a soft rustling sound, the remaining water was shaken off through the gaps in the strainer.
Then Yuto placed the noodles from the strainer directly into a porcelain basin.
If freshly scooped noodles were left dry like this, then in less than a minute, they would clump together.
At that point, they would no longer be noodles, but a special kind of noodle cake stuck into one mass.
So he had to move quickly.
The side ingredients in the kitchen had already been cut in advance. This was a basic preparation before opening.
Yuto set up the wok, poured in oil, and then attacked with high heat.
The fierce flames were firmly suppressed beneath the iron wok.
Tiny bubbles gradually appeared in the oil.
Once the smoke rose, Yuto directly poured in the beaten eggs he had prepared.
Sizzle—
It sounded like the rapid beat of a restless little drum.
Inside the wok, the egg mixture and oil droplets trembled violently together.
The golden omelet gradually puffed up from the heat of the oil.
Just as it was about to swell, Yuto directly used his chopsticks to break it apart.
His arm quickly drew arcs through the pan.
The egg inside the wok was broken into small pieces.
When the color of the egg began to turn slightly golden-brown, Yuto added the noodles.
The entire process took only a dozen seconds.
Once the noodles entered the wok, Yuto moved his hand and flipped them with his chopsticks.
For yakisoba, chopsticks were enough.
Noodles fried this way would not break, remaining long and giving the satisfying pleasure of chewing through them.
Even though the noodles had just been lifted from the soup and shaken dry, some moisture still remained.
When water met high heat, steam naturally appeared.
Just like now.
The white steam rising from the wok was like a white dragon dancing in the air, giving the scene a strangely gorgeous feeling.
Then it was sucked away by the range hood.
The heat was just about right.
The noodles, which had previously been milky white, had now darkened just a tiny bit compared to before.
That was because the moisture had been forced out.
The egg had also taken on a golden-brown color, and its fragrance spread out without restraint.
With a flick of his hand, Yuto directly grabbed the bottle of soy sauce.
His left hand poured soy sauce while his right hand used chopsticks to stir and toss the noodles.
The yakisoba and egg in the wok were gradually stained with a layer of soy-brown color.
Even just like this, it already looked extremely appetizing.
After that, Yuto added the other seasonings and a few vegetables for garnish.
The aroma of the yakisoba became even richer.
Its appearance also became more pleasing.
Then came the final step.
Turn off the heat—Plate it.
"Tohru, take this out."
After calling Tohru, Yuto began handling the batter on the side.
He took out the mold and poured the batter in.
Then he placed it over the fire.
All that remained was to wait for half a minute.
In the front hall, Hestia had already drunk many cups of mead.
Perhaps it was because she was too tired today and wanted to properly vent, or perhaps it was because she was chatting too happily with the others in the restaurant.
Either way, the goddess had definitely drunk more today than ever before.
Hestia clinked cups with Iskandar again.
Alcohol was like that. Once people drank to their heart's content, many things stopped mattering.
They became hazy and muddled, caring only about clinking cups and drinking.
By the time Tohru carried the yakisoba over to her, the goddess already looked rather drunk.
"Oh!!! It's finally here!!!"
After drinking too much, even a goddess began showing behavior similar to ordinary people.
Hestia's face was flushed, like an apple ripening in autumn.
Although she looked very cute, when paired with her movements, she also seemed rather comical.
The moment she took her first bite of yakisoba, her face showed an expression of deep emotion and salvation.
There were even faint tears glittering at the corners of her eyes.
"Uu! Sho happy, finally got shomething to eat!"
"Ah! I'm so happy, I finally got something to eat!"
Her mouth was completely stuffed with yakisoba.
Naturally, her words came out muffled and unclear.
Right now, the goddess looked a little like an exaggerated comedy performer.
Her behavior made quite a few people in the restaurant laugh.
Sakura, who was beside her, also blushed.
Of course, seeing her own goddess act like this made her feel embarrassed.
If this were any other day, she would definitely have stopped Hestia-onee-san from drinking.
But...
Not today!
In fact, Sakura was even hoping that Hestia would drink a little more.
That would make her plan easier to carry out.
'Hestia-onee-san, I'm sorry...'
The little girl's heart was filled with guilt.
But in the next moment, that guilt turned into determination.
She still had to become stronger!
Yuto walked out carrying the taiyaki.
At a glance, he immediately saw Hestia's "abnormal" state.
His gaze then shifted toward Sakura.
The little girl looked back at Yuto with embarrassment and guilt in her eyes.
Yuto roughly understood what had happened.
He smiled helplessly and sighed inwardly.
When he looked at Hestia again, his gaze carried a trace of exasperation.
What a worrying idiot goddess~~~
"Woohoo!! Kamisaka, yakisoba is so delicious!!!"
Hestia's face was flushed, but when she smiled, she looked a little like a fool.
Yuto shook his head helplessly.
"Just hurry up and eat."
He placed the taiyaki in front of Hestia and Sakura.
Sakura smiled at Yuto, then picked up a taiyaki and began eating.
Hestia also dazedly grabbed one.
Seeing her like this, Yuto rubbed his forehead even more helplessly.
"Seriously, how did you drink this much?" He muttered softly with some helplessness.
Hestia seemed to hear him. She took a bite of taiyaki and stared straight at Yuto.
That made Yuto a little stunned.
"I'm not drunk!"
Although the words Hestia mumbled while chewing taiyaki were somewhat unclear, Yuto could roughly guess what she meant.
"All right, you're not drunk."
Yuto nodded seriously.
When facing a drunk goddess, it was better not to reason with her.
Hestia smiled in dazed satisfaction, then continued eating.
Yuto looked toward Sakura beside her.
The little girl's gaze dodged slightly.
Yuto only sighed and did not say anything more.
That made Sakura relax a little inside.
...
"Haa~~~ I'm full, I'm full."
Hestia spoke with great satisfaction.
The smile on her face still carried obvious drunkenness, and even her eyes were beginning to spin a little.
Yuto could clearly sense her wandering gaze. He sighed softly, glanced at Sakura without anyone noticing, and then looked back at Hestia.
"Since you're full, hurry back and rest."
"Mm? I only just got here. I'm not going back, not going back. Kamisaka, are you trying to chase me away?!"
The drunk goddess's mind was clearly operating on a lower level than usual.
She looked at Yuto with an expression of disbelief, and within those somewhat muddled eyes, there was even a stirring trace of sadness and pain.
It was honestly something else.
The drunken goddess's expressions were truly rich!
Yuto took a deep breath.
"Of course not."
"Then why did you say that?"
Hestia pouted and looked at him with dissatisfaction.
"Since you've been tired all day, it's better to rest earlier. I'm thinking about you."
Yuto smiled as he spoke to Hestia.
The goddess, who was not particularly clever to begin with, had become even more mentally short-circuited after drinking.
The moment she heard him say that, she was instantly delighted.
"D-don't think I'll be happy just because you say that..."
The slightly shy young goddess said something she could not hide at all.
Her twisting body and unnatural gaze were both clearly saying one thing—
She was indeed very happy!
"Ah..."
Yuto sighed helplessly.
A drunk young goddess was a little difficult to handle.
"What are you sighing for?" Hestia looked at him curiously.
"You heard wrong. That wasn't a sigh. It was just breathing."
"Really? All right..."
Hestia dazedly believed Yuto's explanation.
Her current mental state made Yuto feel that he could sell her off and she would still help him count the money.
"Hestia-onee-san, should we go back?"
Sakura tried asking.
However, what greeted her was Hestia's puzzled gaze.
"Mm? Why?"
"I feel like Hestia-onee-san is a little drunk..."
"Ah... Sakura! I'm really not drunk! Believe me!"
Hestia placed one hand on the little girl's shoulder, directly leaving Sakura speechless.
Sakura pressed her lips together in slight distress.
Things had developed a little differently from what she expected.
What should she do now?
Should she keep letting Hestia-onee-san drink?
While Sakura was thinking in distress, Hestia began speaking.
Many drunk people liked to say all sorts of messy things when their consciousness was hazy like this.
Most of the time, however, those words were actually their true feelings.
The disguises people wore in daily life would only fade away when their awareness became vague and drifting.
"Ah—so annoying!"
Hestia supported herself against the counter with one hand while propping up her head.
Her face carried a troubled and aggrieved expression, and when she said those words, there was even some venting anger in her voice.
Yuto froze slightly.
He had not expected Hestia to suddenly say something like that!
"Denatus or whatever, it's really too annoying! No, that's not right. I should say it's too annoying for a god!"
Without caring whether anyone responded, Hestia continued speaking.
Mm. This was also one of the things people did after drinking too much.
Even if no one answered, they would keep talking.
"I really don't understand. Familia members are supposed to be your family, so why do we have to take them out and compare them against each other?"
"Every single one of them... Ah... What a troublesome bunch of gods..."
"If only I didn't have to go."
"Hic!"
Hestia hiccuped, and her muttering finally stopped.
Everyone looked at her and Yuto could not help but smile.
Just as he was about to say something, Hestia began speaking on her own again.
Her gaze turned toward Sakura beside her.
There was something in her eyes that stirred the heart.
It was like silver moonlight spilling down from the horizon.
Clearly beautiful, yet for some reason, it made one's chest feel clogged.
"Sigh..."
"Sakura, I'm sorry. You ended up following a useless goddess like me. If I were a little more capable, you wouldn't have to work with me and live in an inn."
Hestia's tone was like that of someone who had fallen to the very bottom of life.
Her eyes were no longer bright and moving.
Even her usually lively, energetic hair seemed a little dim.
The goddess's already small body now looked almost humble.
The restaurant fell silent.
Sakura pressed her lips tightly together.
Then she hugged her goddess with all her strength.
"That's not true. Hestia-onee-san is already amazing. No matter what anyone else says, in my heart, Hestia-onee-san will always be the greatest goddess!"
The little girl's voice was steady and gentle.
"But I can't even protect your right to stay by my side! Those gods all want to take you away. I refused them, but I'm so scared!"
"I don't want... I don't want Sakura to leave... I don't want Sakura to leave me!!!"
"But... but I'm so useless..."
"Loki was right. Sakura, staying by my side really is such a waste for you. I have nothing. I can't give you anything. I can't even guarantee that I'll always be able to stay with you..."
Hestia's voice went from high and agitated to low and heavy.
She held Sakura tightly, her head drooping against the little girl's shoulder.
Crystal tears slid down her face.
Her words trembled, and her body shook uneasily.
Drunk people had no defenses.
Their hearts were just like their staggering bodies, unsteady and fragile.
"I won't leave Hestia-onee-san, Hestia-onee-san saved me. I said I would always stay by Hestia-onee-san's side, so I definitely will."
Although Sakura's words still carried a childish softness, they were extremely firm.
"Mm..."
Hestia whimpered softly, like some wounded young animal, her voice weak and pitiful.
But soon after, her breathing gradually became long and even.
She had fallen asleep leaning against Sakura.
She had already drunk a great deal, and her emotions had just erupted all at once.
After her heart suddenly relaxed, irresistible sleepiness followed.
This was something that often happened to people who were drunk.
Yuto looked at the scene before him and sighed helplessly.
He knew Hestia had pressure in her heart.
If she had not gotten drunk today, she probably would never have said it out loud.
Sakura silently held Hestia.
Her face showed an indescribable calm, while those deer-like eyes seemed to be holding something back.
The rims of her eyes had already turned red.
"Boss-nii-san, I want to send Hestia-onee-san back first."
The little girl's voice was a little hoarse.
"Can you manage alone?"
"Mm. I can."
Sakura nodded.
Although she was a child, she had received Hestia's blessing, so she could not be measured by ordinary standards.
Yuto stayed silent for a moment before agreeing.
The little girl jumped down from her seat and left with Hestia on her back.
Fortunately, Hestia was not too tall.
After the two of them left, the atmosphere in the restaurant fell into a slight silence.
Aside from Yuto, Tohru, Erina, and Hisako, the others did not know what had happened last night.
So they did not understand what Hestia had just said.
Only after Rimuru opened his mouth and asked did Yuto explain what had happened last night to everyone.
After he finished speaking, the restaurant became quieter for a while.
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