Chapter 29: Refreshed Perception, I Can Work to Support You~ (Please Follow) (Patreon)

Not updating his stats didn't mean not caring about Rozz.

At least that's what Hestia told herself — renting a place spacious enough to serve as a Familia base would cost money.

As it happened—

Her credit with Hephaestus definitely wasn't good enough to get an advance on her pay, so she'd just have to work hard.

Just putting on a show, really~

But the thought of helping Rozz gave the young goddess seemingly endless energy, enough to chase away her fatigue.

[Update Stats]

This was something that could actually help her Familia member!

Rozz

Level: Lv1

Strength: G223 → C601

Endurance: G201 → D577

Dexterity: G230 → C620

Agility: G218 → C615

Magic: I0 → I0

Once the update finished, the young goddess lowered her eyes, scanning over this... perfect exam answer sheet that had come in days late.

Truth be told,

even though Hestia had expected something this absurd, seeing it laid out before her still shattered her expectations.

Exaggerated?

No — she didn't think "exaggerated" was the right word for this stage, even accounting for how stats tended to climb faster during an Adventurer's rookie phase.

But that only applied to the very beginning!

Rozz, on the other hand...

"Your... rookie grace period... seems to be running awfully long, doesn't it?"

Hestia couldn't make sense of it.

But she was genuinely shaken — within the framework of the Falna, Rozz had already surpassed most of Orario's Adventurers.

Fun fact:

To break through to Level 2, an Adventurer needed at least one stat to reach D rank, and among the countless Adventurers in Orario,

most got stuck at this exact stage.

What Rozz had achieved in this short time was already... the ceiling for most low-tier street Adventurers, a beauty of numbers that looked almost like cheating.

If his Great Feat measured up, he could ascend to Level 2 right now.

And here's the critical part!!

Hestia knew his limit was nowhere near this. She lifted her head, gazing at the translucent screen hovering above Rozz.

[Hero Cloud-Raising Plan]

[Character: Rozz]

Strength Potential: A

Endurance Potential: B+

Dexterity Potential: A

Agility Potential: B+

Magic Potential: D

Overall Rating: A human's potential has its limits, but Rozz has already poured diligence and sweat into his own path.

Calling him an "uncut jade" would be just about right.

But he still has some way to go before becoming a "seed of a future hero." Special quests can raise this character's ultimate potential.

Hmm.

Honestly, setting Magic aside, if you placed Rozz's overall stats against Orario's standard, even the elite Adventurers of the various Familias...

...might not be nearly as balanced as he was.

And that was the charm of the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan — getting information ahead of time and being able to help in every possible way.

If she didn't raise him into a hero, it'd feel like a waste of this whole game!!

Hestia pulled her gaze back from the translucent screen, choosing not to tell Rozz directly what was required for a Level Up.

She handed him the parchment with his freshly imprinted stats, her tone light.

"Take a look."

"The rate's about the same as before... but to be precise, that unchanged growth rate is exactly what sets you apart from other Adventurers."

"..."

What was she going on about?

Just listening to her made Rozz's head spin a little. He took the updated parchment and gave it a quick once-over.

Compared to the dismal numbers from his rookie days,

at least everything now barely reached a passable level — the result of all the effort and sweat he'd put in.

During these days of hard training, Hestia had wanted to update his stats almost every single night, but he'd turned her down each time.

The reason was simple enough.

Once his stats went up, the monsters that used to pose some challenge would drop dead with ease, and he could speed through the Dungeon's upper levels.

But then how was he supposed to... hone his combat skills against them?

Besides, the underlying logic of the Falna system was that... how fast his stats grew was tied directly to the difficulty of what he endured in the Dungeon.

So—

Relying only on stats that averaged G rank just a few days ago, Rozz had successfully pushed his exploration all the way to the 9th floor.

Meeting the goddess's gaze, he said honestly what he thought: "The growth rate feels about what I expected."

"Just 'about'?"

"..."

What more could he possibly want...

Her own Familia member was clearly a hardworking monster of raw talent, yet had no clear idea of it himself — something about that felt very wrong!

But a goddess wouldn't scold her child for it.

Besides, Hestia could never bring herself to. She looked at Rozz, tenderness in her eyes. "What's your plan going forward?"

"You must be so tired these past few days..."

"Yeah..."

Exhausted, without question.

Rising early and coming back late every day to explore the Dungeon, pushing his stats up as much as he could — forget about enjoying the customs of this other world.

He didn't even have time for Cuddling with a beautiful young goddess!

Rozz finished pulling on his linen shirt, having already worked out his plan: "Tomorrow... I'm thinking of taking a rest day and going to see Lord Takemikazuchi."

"To hone the combat skills every Adventurer needs."

If he kept pouring his Stamina into Dungeon exploration, his stats... would definitely keep climbing, but that kind of growth...

probably wouldn't be enough to just brute-force his way through everything.

To stay safe in whatever conflict might erupt at any moment down the line, mastering how to fight other Adventurers mattered far more!

"..."

[Rest days are supposed to be for actually resting — or going on a date with your goddess, maybe.]

But those words,

Hestia ultimately kept to herself. She understood there were things Rozz needed to take care of right now. Her gaze drifted to the window.

Night was deepening.

She stopped sitting on the edge of the bed, slipped on her flip-flops, and set a coin purse down on the table, her smile carrying a resolve she'd never shown before.

"Do your best!"

"I've got my shift at the weapon shop tonight. I was thinking of... having dinner with you, but it looks like I won't have time."

"Just handle dinner on your own. Treat yourself to something good!"

"..."

Rozz looked at the coin purse on the table.

He could feel the sentiment behind it and didn't refuse — he'd simply make it up to Hestia properly once things settled down.

"Thank you, Lady Hestia."

"Go on, go on~"

"I need to work hard and earn money, so I can move in here sooner."

The young goddess kept her tone light as she spoke, not wanting Rozz to see the heavy worry buried deep inside her.

Still,

just before leaving the room, Hestia suddenly stopped, turned to look at Rozz, and her smile snapped back to its usual liveliness.

"Hehe~"

"If you ever get tired of living like this, Rozz, you can always try... leaning on me, you know. I am a goddess, after all..."

"I could always work to support you too!"