Chapter 41: The Possibilities That Hestia Saw, the Crisis That Hestia Felt! (Please Support!) (Patreon)

By gifting a grimoire that would greatly help Adventurers, forging a Bond, and unlocking the 'Hero Cloud-Raising Plan' — that was how Syr saw the matter.

Every bit of it was worth the price.

"So..."

"What exactly does this thing do?"

The gray-haired girl was genuinely curious. Even though Rozz had already left Adventurer Street, this translucent screen of light still floated before her eyes, filled with anticipation.

Syr's gaze swept briefly over the information displayed before her. It was fairly easy to understand — it seemed to be the Potential the character possessed.

...

[Character: Rozz]

Strength Potential: A

Endurance Potential: B+

Dexterity Potential: A

Agility Potential: B+

Mana Potential: D

Overall Rating: Calling him 'uncut jade' would be just right, but he's still a long way from being a 'seed of a future hero.'

Special quests can raise this character's final Potential.

...

How to put it?

It was honestly a bit beyond what Syr had expected. Setting aside Mana Potential, even dropped into her own Familia, this level of strength would count as elite.

Top-tier, certainly not.

But the key point was that Rozz's talent could be raised through special quests — potentially to the point where every Potential stat reached S rank.

Or perhaps — in him lay the possibility of surpassing even the Hera Familia's so-called 'Monster of Talent,' Silent Alfia.

"Interesting..."

Besides that, Syr noticed that this 'Hero Cloud-Raising Plan' before her also held more detailed data on Rozz, including his Affection.

...

[Mood: 60↑100 (Relaxed)]

[Stamina: 5↓100 (Exhausted)]

[Health: 95/100 (Excellent)]

[Affection Stage: 0]

[Affection Needed for Next Stage: 3/10]

[Note: Raise Rozz's Affection Stage through daily conversation, interaction, and similar means to unlock the character development function.]

...

In truth, the specific functions of the 'Hero Cloud-Raising Plan' weren't nearly as complicated as the gray-haired girl had imagined — she could just think of it as a game.

Compared to the traditional Familia framework,

'Cloud-Raising'

this thing offered considerably more freedom. An ordinary Adventurer's Vessel was fixed, but Rozz was different.

How far could he ultimately grow?

That depended entirely on his own effort. This kind of gameplay... in Syr's — in the Goddess of Beauty Freya's — eyes, was full of unknown novelty.

"Excellent."

The crucial thing was, Freya knew that with her Syr identity as cover, she could regularly get close to Rozz as long as Hestia wasn't around.

"An affair on the side?"

That was probably the right word for it.

Behind Hestia's back, thoroughly raising her Familia member, helping Rozz through every means available... to become the hero she wanted!

At the thought of this, a strange flush colored the gray-haired girl's fair, exquisite face. She breathed heavily, a sickly hunger blooming in her heart.

"Ohh-hoho-ho-ho..."

—

Since the weapon shop had been busy, by the time Hestia finished all the work at hand, evening had already arrived. She didn't linger.

Her destination: the communal dormitory.

She couldn't wait to tell Rozz about the advance on her pay, moving in together in a couple of days, and her good friend treating her to a meal.

Only, when she unlocked the door to Rozz's room, the inside was pitch black.

"So..."

"Did exploring the Dungeon during the day wear him out so much that he's already asleep?"

Worried that switching on the Magic Stone lamp without warning might disturb Rozz's rest, the little goddess lit the candle beside the desk instead.

But when the flickering candlelight lit up the room,

Hestia looked toward the bed, only to find no trace of the boy she'd been longing for. Her expression went blank with shock.

"Where's my Rozz?!"

"!!"

He wasn't back...

It hadn't been like this before. He should have come home for some Cuddling, resting his head in her lap, and then, once Rozz drifted off to sleep, she'd give him a goodnight kiss — that's how it was supposed to go, dammit!

"..."

Could something have gone wrong during his Dungeon exploration?

After learning that Rozz had dealt with the Adventurer trouble, Hestia had been too busy serving customers to check his Exploration Log.

Surely it couldn't be... The moment that possibility crossed her mind, the little goddess felt her heart stop. Flustered, she hurriedly opened the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan.

[Rozz's Exploration Log]

[After finishing today's Dungeon exploration, despite feeling physically exhausted, Rozz decided to pause tomorrow's exploration and properly rest.]

"..."

Reading this far, Hestia's heart, which had been stuck in her throat, finally settled back down. As long as there was no problem with his safety, that was the best possible outcome.

She kept reading.

[Faced with the Supporter girl's invitation to treat him to a meal, and remembering the exploring they'd shared these past days, Rozz didn't refuse.]

"I knew it..."

"So he went off to... to celebrate with a girl, just the two of them?!"

Though she didn't know the girl's name, seeing her show up so often in the Exploration Log still stirred a bit of jealousy in the little goddess's heart.

Was she not even worthy of appearing in the Exploration Log?

Of course, Hestia didn't actually hold any prejudice against this Supporter girl — without her help, dealing with those Adventurers would never have gone so smoothly!

If anything — should she ever meet the girl, as a goddess, she really ought to thank this Supporter.

"Mm..."

"It's normal for an Adventurer to have a social life. He can't be glued to me every single day — there's so much time ahead of us, and what if he got sick of me?"

Especially when she thought about how only she had the rightful claim to live with Rozz, while goddesses like Loki, who coveted other gods' children, stood no chance at all.

Victory!

Having thoroughly talked herself into it, Hestia kept reading the Exploration Log — but the next entry made the corner of her mouth twitch.

[Rozz and the Supporter girl went to eat at the Hostess of Fertility.]

[After finishing dinner, Rozz parted ways with the Supporter girl and decided to head back to the communal dormitory to rest.]

[But on his way back, a waitress from the restaurant approached him on her own.]

[Out of concern for a rookie Adventurer, the beautiful waitress gave Rozz an 'Adventurer's Exploration Guide' to help him.]

[Faced with her insistence,]

[Rozz didn't spurn the beautiful waitress's kindness. He accepted the gift, inwardly moved by her gentleness.]

[Affection toward the beautiful waitress +3.]

"..."

This was insane!!

Hestia felt her head buzzing. Her Familia member was clearly outstanding — of course he'd draw attention from other gods.

But the little goddess had always believed that Rozz would never leave her.

Yet things were unfolding well beyond what Hestia had psychologically prepared for, because Rozz wasn't just popular among gods — the guy was also quite popular with beautiful girls.

Something wasn't right!

Could it be that the way she doted on Rozz... combined with her status as a goddess, made him see her as some kind of elder?

Hestia found herself utterly unable to figure it out.

But just then, the door to the communal dormitory swung open. She turned, and there was the familiar face of the boy, holding a book in his hands.

"Rozz."

"You're back..."

Rozz: Why does it feel like there's a whiff of sourness in the air?

[Author's Note: 2,000 recommendation votes triggered a bonus chapter — I posted 10,000 words today, meow, so when it comes to updates, this author is absolutely no slacker! As of now, every overdue update has been paid back in full, so this author-meow is a little puzzled: is it because the bounty requirements were set too high? There's no way it's because you reader-lords are too weak to make the author happy, right?!]