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She woke up from sleep.
Ares decisively asked three questions: "Who am I, where am I, what am I doing?"
Memories surged forth.
Yesterday she'd gone to find God Matthew for drinks, drinking from the afternoon into the deep night.
Then she got drunk, and after that she couldn't remember anything.
"He didn't... did he?"
Ares looked down. Good, her robe was intact.
Wait, no, her bandage chest binder was gone!
That man!...
"That bastard!"
"Just as expected, just like Mom said, there's not a single good man in this world!"
Back in the day, Ares's mom got drunk, and Dad carried her home, and that was how Ares came to be.
Right at that moment—
"Lord Ares, you're awake?"
Spring Goddess Vivian walked in carrying a breakfast tray.
Ares: "Yesterday?"
"Oh, yesterday I was the one who brought you back to rest." Vivian said with a smile, "Last night you had too much to drink at Lord Matthew's place. I happened to be passing by, and Lord Matthew asked me to bring you back."
"Then where's my chest binder?"
"I don't know, quack. It's probably left behind at Lord Matthew's place. Do you need me to help you get it back?"
Sitting at the head of the bed, Ares immediately said, "No need, I'm already fine. Thank you, Vivian, go on and get to your business, bye!"
Bang!
The Goddess of War's home was finally free of outsiders.
Sliding down from behind the door onto the floor, Ares grabbed her own golden hair, thoroughly conflicted.
"I thanked her, and I apologized, but I still didn't get the photo album back."
"I drank too much at that man's place, and then what?"
The key question was what happened after that, and where exactly her chest strap had gone!
It was known that God Matthew's combat power was stronger than hers, God Matthew was wiser than her, and God Matthew could hold his liquor better than her.
Fine, Ares admitted it, she'd been thoroughly beaten by that man in every way.
He looked down on her, and it made her angry.
But now she didn't want to think about it too much. The gap in strength between the two of them was too great; they simply couldn't get along.
She just wanted her photo album back.
And what Ares was currently agonizing over was just what kind of embarrassing spectacle she'd made of herself at that man's place.
Ares figured that, in Matthew's eyes, she'd always been a woman who was two-faced, big-chested and brainless, and weak in strength besides.
Add to that a reputation for being easy, and where in this lifetime would she ever find the courage to stand before him again?
She was agonizing over it to death.
So humiliating!
……
The next morning, at the Male God's Cabin.
Matthew finally remembered what he'd forgotten.
When he'd gone to the Water Blue World to help the foolish goddess Ares fight the Demon King, he'd brought his personal little maid Miya along.
When he came back, he himself had to be completely unharmed, and he'd even brought back a treasure-hunting dog, but Maid Miya hadn't come back with him.
Hmm, Miya should have come back before them, by rights.
As for the reason why, it was because the Lord of Demon Gods, Niluber, had barged in to provoke a fight, and Matthew wasn't in the mood to deal with her, so he'd tossed her back to the Demon Realm.
To prevent her from coming back to cause trouble again, Matthew had activated a skill to place a restriction on the space around the Water Blue World, forbidding the Demon Race from entering or leaving, with an effect lasting one month.
So it was only today that little Miya finally made it back from Water Blue.
"Waah waah waah!... Lord Matthew, I thought you didn't want me anymore!"
"Lord Matthew, I promise I'll be obedient from now on, I'll shoot another photo album for you, okay? Please don't ever leave me behind alone again!"
……
Little Miya in her Gothic outfit clung to Matthew's big thigh, sobbing out her grievances.
The main issue was that no one was allowed in or out of the Water Blue World. Once Black Demon King Hages died, the Demon Race fell into chaos, and the Different World's native legions, led by the Four Heroes, killed any demon on sight. Miya had no choice but to find a cave to hide in.
She'd hidden for a month, gone hungry for a month, not daring to be seen, not daring to go outside, and her mood had quickly plummeted to rock bottom.
Sitting on the sofa, Matthew couldn't very well talk with her about the Demon Lord or the spatial seal, so he just said, "It's good you're back, it's good you're back. I was just about to go find you in Water Blue."
"Thank you, Lord Matthew!"
Whether or not Matthew would actually have come to find her, Miya didn't care.
Lord Matthew was the God Realm's strongest. No matter how you looked at it, being absent from her post for so many days straight—if it had been someone else with a worse temper, Miya would already be dead.
"I'll go make lunch!"
Miya wiped her tears dry, and her Gothic outfit transformed... into a black and white maid outfit, and she dashed off into the kitchen in a flash—eight dishes and a soup, coming right up!
As for Matthew, with no Old Lady Hera around to bother him, his days were quite leisurely, even though he'd be staying in the God Realm for quite a few more years now.
Time to play some games!
Knock knock knock~
Someone was at the door.
Matthew had just logged into the game. "Miya, go answer the door!"
In the kitchen, little maid Miya quickly wiped her hands clean and said as she ran, "Coming, one moment!"
Click, the door opened.
Miya's expression turned from sunny to cloudy.
Because the one who'd come was none other than that bad cow woman, Vivian.
"Hmph hmph, good thing I made it back in time."
"Hmph hmph hmph hmph, watch me send this cow packing!"
Lifting her little chin and putting her hands behind her back, Miya said to Vivian, "What are you here for?"
Spring Goddess Vivian felt a little bashful, but the sense of justice in her heart quickly overcame the bashfulness.
"Hello, Miya. I'm here because I wanted to talk to Lord Matthew. I've already taken on an assessment mission, and I'm hoping Lord Matthew can help me out."
Hearing this, Miya stuck out her fair, tender little palm and said, as if it were only natural, "Where's the photo album?"
Vivian handed over a thin little book.
"Unacceptable!"
Miya didn't even look at it. "I already showed you the sample. Do you think this one of yours meets the standard?"
Vivian hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.
"Go back and reshoot it. Bye."
Successfully sent the bad cow packing!
Miya gave herself a mental thumbs up.
In the living room, Matthew casually asked about it.
Miya answered, "Wrong door."
Matthew: "Oh."
Back to gaming.
……
Two days later.
Knock knock knock~
Without Matthew even calling out, Miya went to open the door on her own initiative.
This time, Vivian handed over a thick one.
Little Miya flipped through it from back to front, and sure enough, mixed in among the pages were plenty of everyday snapshots with not a shred of Holy Light to them.
"Unacceptable!"
……
The sky was clear.
Knock knock knock~
Miya went to open the door.
A thick one.
Fewer everyday snapshots, but the Holy Light level was still nothing special.
"Unacceptable!"
……
Cloudy weather.
At the door of the Male God's Cabin.
Vivian handed over the photo album, and Miya said, "Unacceptable!"
The previous times, after getting her answer, Vivian had always left disappointed.
Not today.
She suddenly grabbed hold of Miya's wrist.
Miya glared at her. "What are you doing?"
Vivian said in a pleading tone, "Could I ask you to shoot it for me?"
Maiden Miya was about to say no right away.
But then she thought about it again—the bad cow's willpower was strong, and no matter how hard she guarded against it, she couldn't hold out forever.
If the end result was bound to be that way regardless, she might as well seize the initiative while she could.
Such as... shooting the photos and making a copy.
As for Lord Matthew's copy, Miya wouldn't dare embezzle it even with a hundred times the nerve.
But the duplicate copy could be kept in reserve.
In the future, if the bad cow got powerful enough to climb onto Miya's neck, once the photo album came out, Miya was sure it would make her back down.
This was leverage, leverage over the bad cow for life!
Thinking of this, Miya readily agreed, "I'm cooking for Lord Matthew right now. I'll start shooting for you this afternoon."
"Thank you, Miya!" Vivian said happily.
Photographer Miya nodded. "Before we shoot, you need to get your outfit ready first. I'll tell you, you go prepare it, and don't be late..."
Thanks to Big Shot "Ten Thousand People Kneeling, Long Live Grandpa Zhang" for the reward!
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