The Hostess of Fertility.
Renn didn’t really have much impression of the place.
He’d only been in Orario a few days, and he’d been cutting corners on food and everything else.
Jagamarukun and cheap boxed meals had been good enough.
But since Hestia was the one suggesting they go out and eat something nice to relax, he wasn’t about to argue with his goddess.
He had over five thousand valis on him, so treating her to dinner was no problem at all.
Except, as he followed her to the front of the restaurant and saw the crowd of adventurers inside, Renn started to lose his nerve.
Because the place was genuinely packed.
It was early evening, and the restaurant was full of adventurers.
Even standing at the door, he could feel how lively it was inside.
“Let’s go.”
Hestia waved him along with a smile.
“The food here is good.
I used to come eat with Hephaestus all the time.”
Freeloading counts as eating.
That part she couldn’t say out loud.
It would ruin the divine image she’d worked so hard to build up in front of her follower.
“Alright.”
It had come this far.
Renn steeled himself and went in, but Hestia, walking ahead of him, stopped dead.
He was about to ask what was wrong.
Then he saw the strange look spreading across her face.
He followed her line of sight.
All of them were faces he’d never seen before, but he had to admit,
the women over there were something to look at.
A tanned amazoness, a blonde girl who looked like she wanted nobody near her, and a green-haired elf.
Say what you want, another world was the right call.
Compared to the assembly-line influencers of his old world, these girls had a foreign charm that was worth the price of admission on its own.
So are these all adventurers Hestia knows?
While Renn was still puzzling over that, someone had clearly noticed Hestia’s arrival.
She had short red hair, habitually narrowed eyes, and a very feminine face.
Her figure, though, was entirely boyish.
She stood up from her seat and looked at Hestia through those slitted eyes.
“Shorty.”
“Is that the follower you recruited?”
“What’s it to you, flatland.
You don’t own this restaurant.
I can come here whenever I want, and I don’t need your permission.”
Even Hestia hadn’t seen this coming.
She’d wanted a nice meal to reward Renn, so she’d brought him to the Hostess of Fertility, and of all people she ran into Loki here.
Did they get along badly?
Not exactly.
They just sniped at each other every single time they met.
From what she knew of Loki’s personality, she wasn’t worried about the goddess getting any ideas about the follower she’d recruited.
“Fine, fine.”
Tonight was the celebration feast for the end of their expedition, so Loki wasn’t looking to cause trouble.
But curiosity was another matter entirely.
Back in heaven, this girl had never once shown any interest.
Loki had assumed she’d stay a shut-in after coming down to Orario, so it was a surprise that Hestia was actually building a Familia.
Except, when the red-haired goddess turned that curious look on the black-haired boy standing beside Hestia, she frowned.
He looked completely unremarkable.
Until…
[This character can activate the Hero Raising Plan]
Loki saw the translucent notification box floating above Renn’s head and quickly looked away.
Maybe she’d had too much to drink?
Now she was hallucinating.
She waved a hand casually, but when she noticed the bottles on the table still hadn’t been opened, her expression froze.
“You two enjoy your meal.”
“We’re about to start our own Familia dinner.”
“…”
Loki seemed a little off tonight compared to usual.
Hestia had no intention of digging into it.
She pulled Renn along to an open spot at the counter, because the important thing right now was obviously eating.
“Order whatever you want.”
“Dinner’s on me tonight.
You just became an adventurer, Renn, so think of it as a celebration for making it official.”
“I can actually earn a bit of money now, and I really want to thank you for all the help you’ve given me these past few days.”
“That’s not the same thing at all!”
She noticed the coin pouch Renn had pulled out and immediately understood what he was thinking.
Her smile turned completely doting.
He really was a good kid.
The moment he earned some money, his first thought was to buy his goddess a meal.
Hestia handed him the menu, even though this was going to bankrupt her.
“The thought alone is plenty.
Now hurry up and order.”
“Then thank you, Lady Hestia.”
Renn held back when he ordered.
A pork cutlet and an extra-large plate of chicken stew noodles.
Even so, the price still came to two thousand valis.
It was enough to fill him up.
And the taste, even after a lifetime of modern cooking bombarding his palate, was pretty good by medieval standards.
Not amazing, but it definitely did the job.
Of course,
there were plenty of reasons for that, the main one being that Renn’s attention was entirely on the status update waiting for him after dinner.
He ate quickly and sloppily.
Then he looked over at Hestia, who had cleared her plate just as thoroughly, and before he could say anything she’d already settled the bill.
“Let’s head back.”
“I know you want to update your status.
But balancing work and rest matters too, you know, and you should get out more.”
*
The table was covered in food, but Loki found all of it tasteless.
Even the red wine she’d been saving for ages tasted bitter when she drank it.
Especially when Hestia left with Renn and that translucent panel was still there, floating above the boy’s head.
[This character can activate the Hero Raising Plan]
She couldn’t make sense of it.
Even as a god, Loki couldn’t figure out what that thing was.
There was no analyzing it at all.
Not without using divine power.
Riveria, sitting beside her as the Familia’s vice-captain, seemed to notice something was off with her at the dinner and turned her head.
“What is it?”
“…”
“Is it because of that goddess just now?
And her follower?”
She didn’t know the girl’s name, but Riveria could tell she was a god.
And it seemed like she and Loki knew each other well.
“…”
“Hey, big sis.
So do you think there’s anything special about the follower Shorty, I mean Hestia, recruited?”
“Right above that adventurer’s head…”
When you don’t understand something, ask.
Loki turned a curious look on the elf beside her, trying to work out whether that translucent panel was something only she could see.
Except, all she got was the green-haired elf’s darkening face at being called that forbidden name.
Riveria spoke through gritted teeth.
“Lady Loki.”
“You’re drunk, aren’t you?”
“If you’re drunk, allow me to help sober you up!”