"Leon..."
I didn't look away from Loki.
The goddess tilted her head slightly, studying with an intensity that hadn't been there before. Whatever amusent she'd had earlier was gone now.
Then she smiled.
"You're interesting, I like you. What do you say? Co join my familia." she said leaning forward, her tone shifting entirely.
The offer hung in the air.
Behind her, several mbers of the Loki Familia looked shocked.
Hestia went rigid beside .
"What?!" she shrieked, practically launching herself forward. "Absolutely not!"
"I wasn't asking you, shorty."
"Don't ignore !" Hestia grabbed my arm protectively, glaring up at Loki. "Leon is MY familia! Mine! You can't just—just waltz in here and try to poach him!"
"Poach?" Loki's grin widened. "That's a strong word. I'm just making an offer. A very good offer, I might add." She looked back at . "Think about it, kid. The strongest familia in Orario. Resources, support, training, expeditions into the deepest parts of the Dungeon. Everything an adventurer could want."
"He already has everything he needs!" Hestia shot back.
Loki finally looked down at Hestia, her expression almost pitying.
"Does he? What can you offer him? You don't have a ho. You don't have funds. You don't even have other mbers to support him. Face it. You're a bottom-tier goddess playing at running a familia."
Hestia's face flushed red, but whether from anger or embarrassnt, I couldn't tell.
"No."
Loki blinked, her grin faltering for just a second. "No?"
"No," I repeated, then I laughed. "Strongest familia? You think that matters to ?"
Loki's smile faltered slightly.
"Let make this clear: I don't join weaklings. And that's exactly what your familia is to . Weak."
The room went silent again.
Bete's face turned red. "What did you just say?!"
"You heard . The strongest familia in Orario? Please. That just ans you're the strongest among a bunch of people who couldn't even touch if they tried. Congratulations. You're the tallest dwarf in a room full of dwarfs."
Gareth grunted at that, but I ignored him.
"You want to join you? To follow you?" I shook my head. "Why would I downgrade? The strongest familia isn't yours, Loki. It's Hestia's. Because Hestia has ."
Loki's expression darkened.
The air shifted.
It was different from my aura. This was divine. Raw and primal. The weight of godhood itself pressing down on the room like a physical force. Her arcana. The power that gods kept suppressed in the mortal world, leaking out just enough to remind everyone exactly what she was.
Adventurers at nearby tables went pale. So gasped. Others grabbed their tables for support.
Hestia stumbled back slightly, her eyes wide.
The mbers of the Loki Familia stood firm, used to their goddess's power, but even they looked tense.
And ?
I didn't even blink.
The divine pressure washed over like water off stone. Present, but aningless. I'd faced far worse than an angry goddess trying to intimidate .
I t her eyes and smiled. Not friendly. Not polite.
Mocking.
"Is that supposed to impress ?" I asked. "Because all you're doing is proving my point. The mont soone challenges you, you throw a tantrum like a child. No wonder your familia is the way it is. They're following a goddess who can't handle being told no."
Loki's eyes blazed with fury.
"And another thing, even if I were interested—which I'm not—why would I follow soone like you? A manipulative, arrogant, flat-chested bitch."
Soone gasped.
I didn't care.
I gestured to Hestia beside .
"Hestia is worth a hundred of you."
Loki's divine pressure intensified, the air around her crackling with barely contained power. The temperature dropped. The wooden floorboards groaned under the weight of her fury.
Her crimson eyes burned like coals, and for the first ti since she'd walked in, her smile was completely gone.
"You..." Her voice was low, dangerous. "You have no idea who you're talking to."
"I know exactly who I'm talking to," I replied evenly. "A goddess throwing a fit because soone dared to say no."
Behind Loki, her familia mbers looked torn between intervening and staying the hell out of it. Riveria's hand hovered near her staff. Gareth had stepped forward slightly, his expression grim. Even Ais had tensed, ready to move.
But none of them did anything.
Because they knew better than to get between a goddess and her target.
"You're making a mistake, a very, very big mistake."
"No. The only mistake here would be thinking I'm afraid of you."
Hestia grabbed my arm. "Leon, please—"
"It's fine, Hestia." I didn't look away from Loki. "She's not going to do anything. Because if she does, she breaks the rules. Gods aren't allowed to use their full power in the lower world. She knows that. Her familia knows that. And everyone in this room knows that."
Loki's jaw clenched.
"So unless you want to risk being sent back to heaven for breaking the one rule that matters," I continued, "I suggest you take your divine tantrum sowhere else. Because I'm not impressed. I'm not intimidated. And I'm definitely not joining your familia. And one more thing—insult my goddess again. I dare you."
For a long, tense mont, nothing happened.
Then, slowly, the pressure began to recede.
Loki's expression smoothed out, the rage draining away and replaced with sothing colder. More controlled.
"Fine…Have it your way."
She turned sharply, her red hair whipping behind her.
"We're leaving," she announced to her familia. "Now."
They didn't argue. Didn't hesitate. Just fell in line behind her as she strode toward the door.
But before she left, Loki paused at the threshold and looked back over her shoulder.
"You just made an enemy of the Loki Familia, kid," she said, her voice carrying across the silent tavern. "I hope you're ready for what that ans."
"I think I'll manage."
Her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
Then she was gone.
The door slamd shut behind them, and the divine pressure vanished completely.
Slowly, the tavern began to co back to life.
I sat back down.
Hestia stared at , her face pale, her hands trembling slightly.
"Leon...What did you just do?"
"What I had to do. Nobody talks to you like that. Not while I'm around."
"But... but that was Loki. The Loki Familia. They're—"
"Sshh..Everything will be okay, my goddess."
Hestia opened her mouth, closed it, then let out a long, shaky breath.
"Thank you," she said softly. "For standing up for ."
"Of course my goddess."
We finished our al in relative quiet after that.
Well, as quiet as we could manage with half the tavern still stealing glances at us. Word was going to spread fast. By tomorrow morning, everyone in Orario would know what happened here tonight.
Still looking at Hestia across the table... I couldn't bring myself to regret it.
We paid for the al—well, I paid, since Hestia tried to insist on splitting it even though she barely had any valis—and headed for the door.
Syr appeared as we were leaving, that sa knowing smile on her face.
"Leaving so soon?"
"Yeah…Thanks for the food. It was good."
"I'm glad you enjoyed it. You're quite interesting, Leon. I hope you'll visit again."
"Maybe."
Hestia grabbed my arm and practically dragged toward the exit. "Co on, Leon. Let's go ho."
I let her pull along, catching one last glimpse of Syr watching us leave, that mysterious smile never wavering.
Freya.
Right.
I'd almost forgotten about her in all the chaos with Loki.
Another goddess interested in .
But that was a problem for another day.
"Are you okay?" I asked after a mont.
She nodded, but didn't say anything right away.
We walked in silence for a bit, our footsteps echoing softly against the cobblestones.
Then, finally, she spoke.
"I've never had anyone stand up for like that before."
I glanced down at her.
"Not once," she continued, her voice quiet. "Back in heaven, the other gods... they'd make fun of all the ti. Call nas. Treat like I was beneath them. And I'd just... take it. Because what else could I do? They were stronger, more popular, had more followers. I was just... ."
She looked up at , and in the dim light of the street lamps, I could see her eyes glistening.
"But you... you didn't hesitate. You stood up to Loki. One of the most powerful goddesses in Orario. And you did it for ."
"Of course I did. You're my goddess."
"I know, but..." She smiled, wiping at her eyes quickly. "Thank you. Really. I don't think you understand how much that ant to ."
I stopped walking, turning to face her fully.
"Hestia," I said seriously. "I ant what I said back there. You're worth a hundred of her. A thousand. And anyone who disrespects you answers to . That's not going to change."
Her smile widened, genuine and bright despite the tears threatening to spill over.
"You're going to make cry, you idiot."
"Then cry. I won't judge."
She laughed at that, a watery sound that was half sob, half genuine amusent.
"Thank you," she whispered against my chest. "Thank you for being my familia."
"Thank you for being my goddess."
We stood there for a mont, just the two of us in the quiet street, before she finally pulled back, wiping at her eyes again.
"Okay," she said, her voice stronger now. "Let's go ho. I want to update your status properly and see just how much you've grown today. And then you're going to tell everything that happened in the Dungeon. Everything."
"Everything?"
"Everything."
I sighed. "This is going to take a while."
"Good. I've got all night."
We started walking again, side by side, heading back toward the old church that had sohow beco ho.
And despite everything—despite the Loki Familia, despite Freya watching from the shadows, despite all the complications I knew were coming—I felt... content.
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