“Equipment is obviously the most important thing for an adventurer going into the Dungeon, and I don’t trust the quality of the rental weapons.”
“But I can’t afford anything decent either.”
“So I had to come to you!
And my requirements aren’t high~ I just want to borrow some basic adventurer gear.”
“You’re my best and most reliable friend, after all!”
Honestly, if Hephaestus had any say in the matter, she really wouldn’t want a low-grade friend like Hestia, who did nothing but cause trouble.
When something good came up, Hestia never thought of her.
When she needed help, her attitude was more eager than anyone’s.
Hephaestus’s mouth twitched, and she couldn’t resist the jab.
“Are you sure the weapons you’re ‘borrowing’ are the kind that actually come back to me?”
“Then what am I supposed to do…”
Hestia looked up at her.
Her young face put on a pitiful expression, with a clear hint that if she got turned down again she’d throw herself on the floor and start kicking.
“…Fine, I’ll lend them to you.”
Hephaestus rubbed her temple, her eyelid twitching.
After thinking it over, she came up with a rental arrangement that fit the situation.
“In exchange, for as long as you’re borrowing the weapons, you’re going to work at the weapon branch shop and behave yourself.”
“Mm…”
“I’ll deduct the rental fee and pay you your wages as normal.
That money is yours to use however you want, whether that’s building up your Familia or something else.”
“!”
There’s a deal like that?
Hestia had no problem with the idea of a god taking a part-time job.
Takemikazuchi, who’d taught Renn the basics of fighting, worked at a jagamarukun stall to support his own Familia.
And besides, with Renn heading into the Dungeon, she had nothing else to do in Orario.
If she could earn some money and sort out a home base for the Familia…
They’d actually start looking like a proper Familia then.
“No problem!”
At least the girl was heading in a good direction.
Hephaestus was glad about that, but she was more curious than anything, and she looked at her friend standing in front of her.
“I’ve actually been wondering.”
“Hestia, why are you so enthusiastic about Renn?”
Hestia hadn’t thought that one through herself.
She didn’t answer right away, and took a moment to think it over.
“Part of it is my original reason for founding the Familia.
I want to treat my members like my children.”
“Of course…”
The Hero Raising Plan.
Hestia still hadn’t worked out whether that translucent panel above Renn’s head was something only she could see.
It wasn’t the sort of thing she could ask about directly, so she had to feel it out sideways.
“And part of it is Renn himself.
Have you noticed anything about him that’s different from other adventurers?”
“…”
“No.”
Hephaestus thought carefully back to Renn’s face.
If there was anything unusual about him, it was probably the black hair, which was fairly rare in Orario.
He looked like an adventurer from the Far East.
She shook her head, but watching her friend relax visibly at the answer, she got the feeling there was more to this.
“Don’t tell me…”
“There’s nothing!”
Hestia shook her head flatly and changed the subject on the spot.
“I just think Renn and I click, that’s all.
So can I go pick out his gear?”
“…Sure.”
It was a lie.
Even without her divine status, after knowing Hestia this many years, Hephaestus could tell she was lying with her eyes closed.
Since Hestia clearly wasn’t going to say, Hephaestus didn’t press her.
Sooner or later, she’d figure out the reason behind all this eagerness.
…
My life as an adventurer is absolutely not going to be one where a cute loli keeps me as a pet.
Renn very much wanted to change his current situation.
But looking at the full set of equipment Hestia had prepared for him, he decided that when your teeth are bad, you eat what’s soft.
A shortsword suited to cave fighting, paired with a leather breastplate, arm guards, and other protective gear.
The shortsword even looked familiar.
It was the one he’d stopped to stare at in a weapon shop window right after he arrived in this world.
It cost one million Valis.
He’d been here two days and had a rough feel for prices.
Converted into the currency from his old world, that was at least fifty thousand.
The armor didn’t look cheap either.
“Mm…”
“I don’t really know what else to say.
Just be careful when you’re exploring the Dungeon, Renn.”
[Affection +3.]
Gods couldn’t enter the Dungeon.
And Hestia had her shift at the weapon branch shop today anyway.
The money she earned could go toward better food for Renn.
Looking at the handsome boy in front of her in his full set of gear, she found him very easy on the eyes.
“If you run into a monster down there you can’t beat, just run, okay?”
“I’ll be careful.”
“Mm-hm~”
“I’ll walk you to Central Park.
You’re already registered as an adventurer, so you can go straight in and start exploring.”
[Daily Quest]
[Renn has learned the basics of combat and has decided to explore the Dungeon.
Please provide whatever help you can.]
An adventurer starting to explore the Dungeon meant he was finally getting on track.
Hestia was a little nervous too, since this was her very first follower, but it was something they had to get through.
A flower raised in a greenhouse could never survive a storm.
Looking out at the huge Central Park and the crowds of adventurers moving through it, she knew this was as far as she could go with him.
“Be careful~”
“Good luck!”
Renn watched her walk away, and only after she disappeared from sight did he turn his attention to the park.
Orario really did have a lot of adventurers, though he didn’t know a single one of them.
The good news was that with a crowd this size, even without knowing the routine, he could just follow their lead and get started on today’s exploration.
“Well, here goes.”
“Time for my first taste of the Dungeon!”
Full of anticipation and nerves, Renn slipped naturally into the stream of adventurers as they moved in an orderly line toward the towering Babel Tower ahead.
Except, during the long wait in the queue, he felt a light tug on his sleeve and turned his head sharply to look.
He found a girl in a grey-brown cloak, even smaller than Hestia, tilting her childish face up at him.
How to put it?
Rejecting the childlike aesthetic starts with you.
If he had to describe it, with Hestia he could sometimes catch a glow where childishness and mature motherliness existed side by side.
With this girl, all he saw was the childishness.
The strange part was that despite her tiny frame, she was carrying an enormous supporter backpack.
She noticed him looking.
Her eyes curved into crescents, and when she smiled, the faint dimples on both cheeks made her look especially sweet.
“Um…”
“Mister adventurer, do you need to hire a supporter?”