North Main Street was one of the vital arteries of the Labyrinth City of Orario.
This district was never quiet, constantly pulsating with commercial activity and the coming and going of adventurers.
The scent of spices, roasted meat, and steam from the food stalls filled the afternoon air.
Following the fruit vendor’s directions, Natsu Dragneel casually navigated through the crowd until he arrived at a fairly wide intersection.
On one corner of the intersection stood a seemingly new wooden food stall.
Savory white smoke billowed from its large fryer.
Behind the counter stood a petite girl, busy flipping potato dough with a spatula.
She wore a simple white dress that looked a bit dingy in places from the street dust.
Her pitch-black hair cascaded straight down, covering part of her back, looking slightly disheveled from the blowing wind and her bustling activity.
Sweat trickled down her temples, yet she continued to flash a bright smile and shout her pitches to everyone passing by.
“Hot Jagamarukun!
Fresh Jagamarukun!
Come and get it, the tastiest snack in all of Orario!” the girl exclaimed in a high-pitched, enthusiastic voice.
Natsu stopped in his tracks a few meters away from the stall.
He leaned his shoulder against a streetlamp, crossed his arms over his chest, and observed the goddess in silence.
There were no signs of divine grandeur on Hestia’s figure right now.
She did not look like an entity to be worshipped; rather, she looked purely like a hard worker desperately struggling to make a living.
Natsu smiled faintly.
Recalling the stories that this goddess used to be a massive slacker who only knew how to freeload, seeing her now sweating on the streets for a few Valis coins was an impressive sight.
Feeling the time was right, Natsu pushed off the lamppost and stepped forward, approaching the stall.
Hestia, who was busy wrapping up her last customer’s order, noticed someone’s presence in front of her counter.
She looked up and immediately gave the newly arrived youth a strange look.
The customer before her had a rather unusual appearance.
He had striking pink hair, wore a scaly white scarf in the middle of the summer heat, and possessed a gaze that was incredibly calm yet intimidating.
There was no visible armor or weapon, but Hestia could feel a dense pressure exuding from the young man’s body.
Despite feeling a bit nervous, Hestia forced her professional merchant smile.
“W-welcome!
What flavor of Jagamarukun would you like to order, sir?
We have meat broth, cheese, and spicy sauce!”
Natsu stared straight into the goddess’s blue eyes.
Without any small talk, without a single hint of hesitation in his voice, he dropped his words.
“I didn’t come to buy Jagamarukun.
I came here to join your Familia.”
The noisy chatter from the streets around Hestia seemed to just evaporate.
The wooden spatula in the goddess’s hand slipped and clattered onto the counter.
Her blue eyes widened, staring at Natsu with a shock that froze her entire body.
“Eh…?” Hestia parroted, her voice sounding like a soft squeak.
She blinked a few times, making sure her ears hadn’t deceived her.
“Y-you…
what?”
“I said, I want to join your Familia, Goddess Hestia,” Natsu repeated in the same casual tone, flashing a wide, toothy grin.
“My name is Natsu Dragneel.
And I don’t have a Falna yet.”
Hestia’s heart pounded wildly.
She knew perfectly well how difficult it was for a rookie deity to recruit members, let alone a deity with absolutely no capital like her.
Since being kicked out by Hephaestus, Hestia had tried offering her blessing to dozens, even hundreds of prospective adventurers on the streets.
Everyone had refused.
They laughed at her, belittled her, and much preferred to join the large or well-known familias that could provide them with good weapons and soft beds.
Now, a strong-looking youth had suddenly appeared and directly asked to join.
Hestia’s common sense immediately sounded the alarm of doubt.
She didn’t want to give herself false hope, let alone lie to the young man in front of her.
Hestia bit her lower lip, bowing her head slightly.
“Listen, Natsu-kun…
I am incredibly grateful for your offer.
But, have you really looked into my situation?”
Natsu simply remained silent, letting the goddess continue.
“I am a poor goddess,” Hestia said with a bitter tone, her hands gripping the edge of her apron.
“I don’t have a single member.
You would be the first.
I don’t have the money to buy you weapons or armor.
I don’t even have a grand headquarters like Loki or Freya.
My current home is just a basement in a dilapidated, abandoned old church.
Joining me won’t give you any benefits whatsoever.”
Hearing such an honest and vulnerable confession, Natsu’s smile only grew wider.
The young man snorted softly, then let out a small chuckle.
“Is that the only problem?” Natsu asked casually.
Hestia looked up, staring at Natsu in confusion.
“Listen, Hestia.
I’ve lived in the middle of a forest for five years without a roof over my head.
Living in an abandoned church sounds like a luxury to me,” Natsu said, crossing his arms.
“As for money and weapons, that’s my problem to deal with.
Money can be earned, and weapons can be bought later.
But finding a Familia that won’t chain me down, and a place to call home that suits my preferences…
that is incredibly difficult.”
Natsu leaned in slightly, looking straight into Hestia’s eyes with profound seriousness.
“I don’t care about wealth or reputation.
I just need a home, and someone I can consider family.
That’s why I chose you.”
In Gekai, the gods and goddesses had their Arcanum powers sealed away, making their physical bodies as fragile as ordinary humans.
However, there was one thing that divine entities never lost: their eyes.
A deity could always sense whether a mortal was lying or speaking the pure truth.
Hestia stared deeply into the young man’s dark eyes.
She searched for doubt, she searched for hidden motives, she searched for lies.
There were none.
There was only an honesty so pure, warm, and unwavering.
This youth named Natsu Dragneel truly did not care about her poverty.
He had genuinely chosen her of his own free will, accepting Hestia with all her flaws.
Hestia’s emotional defenses finally crumbled.
The loneliness, despair, and rejection she had bottled up for over a month exploded outward.
Tears instantly welled up in her blue eyes and spilled down her cheeks.
Hestia sobbed loudly.
Completely ignoring the stares of the people at the intersection, the petite goddess vaulted over the counter of her stall.
She lunged at Natsu and hugged his waist incredibly tight, burying her face into his chest.
“Waaaah!
Thank you!
Thank you so much, Natsu-kun!” Hestia burst into tears, her voice trembling with overwhelming emotion and happiness.
“Finally…
finally someone wants to join me!
I promise, I’ll be a good goddess to you!”
Natsu was slightly taken aback by the sudden tackle.
His body tensed up for a moment.
Such a tight and emotional hug felt a little strange to him.
However, feeling the trembling tears of joy from the petite girl who was now officially his goddess, Natsu’s heart softened.
Awkwardly, the young man raised his right hand and gently patted Hestia’s head, softly stroking her pitch-black hair.
“Yeah, yeah.
You’re welcome.
I look forward to working with you from now on, Goddess,” Natsu mumbled with an awkward yet sincere smile.
Hestia nodded quickly against Natsu’s chest, wiping her tears with her sleeve before releasing the hug.
Her face was flushed red from crying, but her eyes radiated a new light of life.
She spun around and shouted toward a middle-aged woman frying potatoes at the neighboring stall.
“Auntie Boss!
I’m so sorry, but I have to take a half-day off today!” Hestia shouted in a loud voice, brimming with pride.
“My very first child has finally arrived!
I have to go home and give him his Falna right away!”
The female owner of the Jagamarukun stall was stunned for a moment seeing her goddess employee crying tears of joy, then smiled understandingly and waved her hand with a light chuckle.
“Yes, yes, go on, Hestia!
Don’t worry about the stall, hurry up and take your child home to celebrate!”
“Thank you, Auntie!” Hestia replied with a radiant smile.
She immediately grabbed Natsu’s hand, pulling him away from the bustling crowd of North Main Street.
The goddess’s steps felt incredibly light, as if the heavy burden that had been pressing down on her shoulders had been completely lifted.
Under the blazing afternoon sun of Orario, Natsu let himself be pulled by the goddess toward the abandoned church, the place where his destiny in this new world would be officially carved.