For any struggling adventurer, or even an entire Familia trying to expand, Hephaestus's offer was impossible to ignore.
The promise of never having to worry about equipnt or supplies again was practically a blessing from heaven.
"Hestia..." August began. "She's lazy. A total shut-in. And when it cos to actually getting things done, she's not exactly reliable. As a goddess, her character is beyond question, aning she throws petty tantrums and forces her own warped logic on everyone around her."
"And her tastes are no different from the other gods. She's obsessed with pure-hearted, handso boys, not grown n like ."
August counted each point off on his fingers, listing what he considered her worst flaws.
In the eyes of many, Hestia was useless.
A complete dead weight.
If you were an adult, congratulations. You were not even on her radar.
Hestia physically recoiled, clutching her chest as though she had just been skewered by a barrage of invisible blades.
Having her flaws laid out so bluntly felt like a public execution.
"She has plenty of flaws," August admitted. "But at the very least, she would treat with kindness and accept exactly as I am: ordinary."
That final word struck at the heart of the matter.
He paused, then shifted his gaze. "Let ask you sothing. If I were permanently stranded in this world, and I didn't have my dinsional portal..."
"Would you still be willing to accept soone completely ordinary, soone with no special abilities at all, into your Familia?"
It was a brutally honest question.
If he didn't have his Cheat skill, would a God still extend an invitation without hesitation?
Back on Earth, most fans imagined that if they were ever transported to the world of Danmachi, they would imdiately join the Loki Familia. If not Loki, then maybe Ganesha or Hephaestus. Almost no one would choose Hestia.
But the harsh reality was this: if you were an average nobody in your original world, acquiring a cheat skill here didn't wipe away the fact that your life had been very ordinary so far.
August knew full well that he wasn't so one-in-a-million genius.
He was just an ordinary man who had lived a normal life.
Strip away his portal, and would any of these elite, tightly run Familias really accept soone that ordinary?
"NO," Hephaestus answered.
She would never have taken August in if he were just so talentless guy.
The mont she said it, Hephaestus understood why this traveler from another world had chosen Hestia without a second thought, and why he wouldn't choose her.
That was the deciding difference between them.
She couldn't burden the children already fighting under her banner just to take pity on soone without talent.
That would be entirely irresponsible.
"But what if Hestia had already established a Familia of her own?" Hephaestus pressed, refusing to concede just yet. "Would you still choose her then?"
She felt like she had to refra the scenario, at least.
"Yes." August nodded. "Because she's capable of accepting an average guy like . If I joined her Familia, I would at least have a baseline guarantee of survival."
"And once survival is secured, only then can I afford to think about anything else."
Hephaestus quietly considered his answer.
If he were just a powerless traveler stranded in an unfamiliar world, Hestia might genuinely be the only one willing to help him. And for a man who is only trying to survive, that kind of unconditional acceptance would be hard not to hold onto.
It was an answer with almost no weak spots.
A goddess's gentle honesty could sotis land like an unavoidable blow.
"I surrender," Hephaestus said with a wry smile. "I've completely lost."
She realized she had been thoroughly defeated.
She could not offer the sa warmth Hestia could. At best, she could approach him calmly and rationally, and speak to him as an experienced ntor.
Deep down, she also understood that this traveler had likely co from a peaceful society, not a world shaped by constant bloodshed.
"Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh~" Hestia was practically a waterfall of tears, moved by his defense.
This guy from another world was seriously way too good to her!
"Co on, let's form our contract right now!"
The thought of taking in such a sensible, wonderful child was enough to make her wake up laughing from a dead sleep.
"Hold on a second." August interrupted her. He wasn't the type to hide his cards.
Since he was actively choosing to join her Familia, there were naturally a few things he needed to lay out on the table.
"Hestia..."
"If you accept today, you might lose the chance to recruit a true hero from this world. Are you prepared to accept that?" August felt he had to make that clear right from the start.
The mont he joined her, their futures would beco tied together. Sooner or later, things would happen that would make her realize he had foreknowledge of the future anyway.
Since he had chosen honesty, he had no intention of beginning with deception.
Having taken it this far, he had to let her know where he ca from—and exactly how he already knew who she was.
"A hero..." Hephaestus's eyes narrowed.
She hadn't expected him to use that particular word. Of course she knew what a hero was, she just never thought she would hear such an ancient term spoken aloud again.
Heroes belonged to legends from ages long past.
"In my world," August explained calmly, "the events of your world are passed down as stories. Think of them as the kind of tales bards would tell."
"And in that story, you are one of the main heroines."
"Your first true Familia mber is destined to beco a hero." He laid it all out without sugarcoating a thing.
Hestia, who had been riding high on excitent just a second ago, was absolutely floored by this sudden dump of information.
However, her brain managed to lock onto the single most appealing detail.
"Main heroine?"
"You're saying I'm a main heroine?" Obviously, the idea delighted her.
It was the first ti she had ever been the star of anything.
Usually, she was nothing more than a background extra in everyone else's story.
"Uh..." August sweatdropped, entirely unprepared for her brain to take that specific detour. Still, he felt the need to issue a quick reality check. "Look, let clarify sothing first."
"You may be the first heroine to appear, but as for where you actually rank—" August started counting on his fingers.
That straightforward gesture imdiately froze the huge grin on Hestia's face.
What did he an, first to appear? And why did he need to use his fingers to figure out a ranking?
After silently tallying them up in his head, August spoke. "On the heroine popularity poll... you rank 9th."
He delivered the rough estimate without flinching.
BOOOOM!!
Hestia felt as though her soul had just shattered into a million pieces.
The first one to show up, but NINTH in popularity?
What kind of sick joke was that??
"Hahahahahahahahaha!" Hephaestus, who had been feeling thoroughly bested just minutes ago, finally lost all composure and threw her head back in laughter.
She never saw that punchline coming. She felt like she had just been handed enough blackmail material to mock Hestia for the rest of eternity.
Hehehe... The 9th heroine. How priceless.
—•——•——•——•——•——•—
Keep the chapters coming. Support the story with Power Stones!
User Comments
0 comments from readers