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A male god... never... ever...
Ares felt like she'd just heard an enormous secret.
Investigating a disappearance case would never require an S-rank goddess, one of the 13 Great Ones, to personally step in.
The main reason Ares took the initiative to get involved was that phrase, "Big-chested and Brainless."
Someone had saved her but refused to reveal his name, the only clue being: he knew her secret.
It happened that a thief who was a dead pervert had recently appeared in the God Realm, and while he was probably unrelated to the thief, this investigation involved over a hundred goddesses, with more than two hundred questioned in the process. Ares felt that going through this might turn up some clue, so she took the initiative to join in.
As a result... she found him.
But... the two of them ended up on rather bad terms.
Ares suspecting her benefactor felt a bit shady.
What's more, he actually had photos of her in his possession, an entire photo set at that, so she went to demand an explanation from the venerable Her Majesty Hera.
Yet the more she understood the truth, the more scrambled Ares's mind became. "Matthew isn't a god, but a Hero? The reason he lives in the goddesses' residential area is because his strength rivals that of a god?"
Mother Goddess Hera nodded kindly and said, "That's right. He's a kind child. Over the years he's helped a great many people, and it's precisely because of his kindness that he's quietly protected the God Realm all this while. You're the first goddess to have noticed his existence."
Ares: "..."
Scene after scene, each more striking than the last, began forming in her mind.
That man sitting in the Male God's Cabin, gazing at the sky—the moment there was any sign of a Demon Race invasion in the God Realm, he would know, and be the first to rush out.
Her Majesty Hera stood facing that man.
The former said, "Ares is no match for Hages."
That man: "Understood."
Afterward, he secretly followed Goddess of War Ares and the Hero Gangze to the Water Blue World, protecting them in secret the whole way. When Black Demon King Hages went berserk, he picked up the Dragon Slaying Holy Sword, stood in front of the unconscious Ares, faced the Demon King head-on, and struck him down.
.....
"Your Majesty Hera, I Was Wrong..."
Ares shouldn't have spoken disrespectfully to the Mother Goddess, nor should she have suspected the Kind God personally appointed by Her Majesty—that man was, after all, her savior.
"No wonder he looked at me like that. I have to go apologize... but Your Majesty Hera, why were my photos in his hands?"
The previous matter had already been settled in Ares's mind, but there was still the matter of the photos.
Mother Goddess Hera said, "That question is simple too. He's unmarried, you're unmarried, I wanted to introduce you to him, so I showed him your photos."
Ares turned bright red. "Those photos weren't meant for a man to see!..."
Old Lady Hera said, "How would he know how pretty you are if he doesn't look? How are you, a young person, more old-fashioned than an old relic like me? Once you marry him, if your husband wants you to wear something, you'll still have to wear it, won't you? I'm not forcing you to marry him—just spend some time together and see. If you feel it's not a good match, you can ask for the photos back, and he won't refuse to return them."
"Also, I'm the one who took those clothes."
"You took them?"
"Yes. I wanted to see how you all would respond, and the result left me quite unsatisfied. I went to over a hundred goddesses in a row and deliberately left openings, yet not a single one caught me. And another thing—how many days has it been since the first case, and you're only just now starting your questioning? What if it hadn't been me who'd snuck into your homes, but a Demon King from the Demon Realm instead?!..."
Old Lady Hera's lecturing mode was formidable—it only took a handful of sentences to talk Ares right out of the room.
"Clap clap clap"!
The sound of applause.
From God Matthew, who had stepped out from behind the scenes.
"I'm starting to wonder more and more just how you managed to sit in the Mother Goddess's seat," Matthew said mockingly.
Hera, however, said to him kindly, "If you like it, I can hand the position of Mother Goddess over to you. Also, I just found out you're into this too—no worries, I'll have them all marry you, and then everything of theirs will be yours, all you need to do is #@%%#*..."
Matthew: "Heh."
"You won't consider any of them? Won't you at least consider Ares? Shirley, Angela..."
Matthew: "Stop right there. Goodbye!"
.....
"Crack"!
"Crack"!
"Crack"!......
In an exceedingly dark, cramped space, Shar Pei dog Demon King Hages had his four short legs bound and spread apart, being whipped by a leather whip soaked in chili oil, fully automatic.
"Ah, ah, ah, ah!..."
In his dog form, Hages was just a dog—he had basically no Defense Power.
The countdown placard above the whip was likewise fully automatic, counting down from 10800, 10799... 5009... 999... 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, -1, -2...
Little Black, already riddled with holes: (°ー°〃), stunned into a daze?-
3, -4, -5, -6...
"Lord Matthew, I Was Wrong!"
"Lord Matthew, I'll never do it again!"
"Lord Matthew, let me make up for it—I scared off two goddesses, please tell me how many are left?!"-
5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0... 108000, 107999...
Little Black Sand Dog let his dog head droop, resigned to his fate.
.....
Matthew returned to the Male God's Cabin, dealt with the dog first, then opened the door to the Master Bedroom, and found that the entire mountain of clothes was gone.
It was Old Lady Hera's doing.
Looking across the entire God Realm, the only one who could move things in the Male God's Cabin without Matthew noticing was Hera.
He walked over to the Second Bedroom Bookshelf, picked up the 《Goddess of War Ares's Photo Selection》 that had fallen on the floor and was glinting with Holy Light coins, casually critiqued it for five minutes, then put it back where it belonged.
Just then—
"Knock Knock Knock"~
No voice followed—probably some woman fond of drink had come to apologize.
Matthew opened the door.
There stood Otaku Goddess Angela, her hair neatly styled, wearing a handmade little floral dress, head lowered at the doorway.
Her two index fingers tapped together in front of her chest, and she said timidly, "Um... Lord Matthew... actually... whatever you like... I can... wear it for you... anytime."
After saying this, she covered her face and fled.
Matthew: "..."
At the same moment, in the dark space, the chili leather whip split into eight, "crack crack crack crack," an eightfold attack, and the number on the countdown placard shot up again, surging nearly tenfold—1,000,000!
In response, the barely-breathing Little Black Sand Dog: I Choose to give up.
.....
Leaving the Divine Tree, the more Ares thought about it, the more something felt off.
The disappearance case had nothing to do with her, and the venerable Her Majesty Hera would certainly never lie—but as for the photos, Ares still couldn't accept it.
"I have to get them back... and apologize while I'm at it!"
"They" were sitting right there on the bookshelf in the Male God's Cabin's study room—Matthew had already seen them, and that was that...
"No, no, he shouldn't have seen them either!"
"But he's already seen them. I can hardly ask him to erase that part of his memory."
"He also saved me once... though that has nothing to do with the photos. If I trade him a commemorative photo from the Water Blue World for that photo album, would he agree?"
"What do I do if he doesn't agree?"
Ares grew even more flustered.
She quickly shook her head and said, calming herself, "I'll go apologize first, and if the chance comes up, I'll trade back the photo album."
No sooner said than done.
Ares went home and changed out of her leather outfit. She wasn't fond of dresses, so she chose a cream-colored robe paired with her golden hair, which at least gave her plenty more of a womanly air.
A few of the main and supporting characters have been added to the character list. Big Shots, please spare a moment to give it a like, thank you!
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