Chapter 73: Restaurant New Rule: Loki and Dogs Not Allowed!! (Patreon)

Today's exploration had come to an end.

Rozz hadn't actually planned on heading straight back to the Traveler's Hostel — not after running into Ryuu in the Dungeon, whose words had struck something deep in him.

Transmigrating to Orario…

"So people really did care about him this much?!"

Being cared for, actually — that was absolutely something to be happy about. Miles better than his past life, where the only holiday greetings he ever got were spam texts from his phone carrier.

So, thinking about repaying Miss Syr's concern for him, Rozz decided — no matter what, he had to stop by the Hostess of Fertility. Even if he wasn't there to buy anything, letting her know he was safe would be worth it.

More importantly — it wasn't like he hadn't eaten at the restaurant recently. He just hadn't run into her, even on the times he'd gone with Hestia. Maybe Syr just hadn't been on shift?

"Since I'm heading to the restaurant anyway, I might as well grab some takeout to eat back home."

Standing at the restaurant's entrance —

at dusk, the Hostess of Fertility was even busier than Rozz had expected. Scanning the room, he couldn't find a single open seat.

Good news: he'd already planned on taking the food home to eat dinner with Hestia anyway.

He walked up to the counter, meaning to order some takeout, when he spotted a... familiar figure walking toward him.

There was no mistaking her. Red hair tied up in a high ponytail, that habitual squint, and a figure that was — compared to his own goddess — decidedly unremarkable.

Loki.

And according to Lili's explanation last evening, the Sword Princess Ais Wallenstein — the one who'd kindly helped him in the Dungeon — belonged to her Familia.

Hm... if a member of her Familia could be that impressive, the goddess herself surely couldn't be lacking either — like begets like, after all.

But before Rozz could greet her first, he saw the red-haired goddess — looking more like some drunk loitering the streets than a deity — come sauntering over, her eyes narrowed in that habitual squint, her smile unusually bright.

"Oi~"

Hands stuffed in her pockets, back slightly hunched, Loki said casually, "Rozz, what a coincidence. You're here to eat too?"

"Yeah."

What else would he be doing at a restaurant, taking a dump?

Rozz's mouth twitched, but considering she was, after all, Ais's patron goddess, he held back the urge to snipe back.

He nodded lightly. "I'm here to eat."

"Ahem."

Compared to dealing with men, she was clearly more in her element flirting with pretty girls.

Loki cleared her throat lightly and pointed to a spot in the corner. "I've got a seat over there, actually. There's no room free anywhere right now."

"Wanna share a table?"

"Actually, I was planning to get it to go. Lady Hestia should be waiting for me back at the Familia Home, so I wasn't planning to eat here."

No one offers unearned kindness without an angle!

Something about this was definitely suspicious.

Mainly because his own petite goddess had mentioned before that he should avoid contact with other gods in Orario as much as possible. Hephaestus being the exception.

Rozz actually understood the reasoning pretty well. Put bluntly, gods were basically company owners sitting in the boardroom, steering the direction of things. Familia members were the employees.

Getting too close with other gods, even without any actual intention, would get him mistaken for someone eyeing a job change. Objectively speaking, there was nothing wrong with the logic that people rise while water flows downward.

Not to mention — the survival environment for Adventurers here in Orario was, compared to the workplace of his past life, clearly far more brutal.

Changing Familias. For the vast majority of Adventurers, that was the better choice — it meant a better platform to make use of their talent.

So what about him?

Rationally speaking, especially knowing his own absurd, uncapped talent, joining a stronger Familia would only make him even more formidable.

But then again — if he already had this talent, so what if the exploration environment was a little harder? Why not just... build up the Hestia Familia himself!

Yeah, exactly. Compared to flat-chested goddesses, he still preferred a petite, cute one.

The thought crossed Rozz's mind, unbidden.

He looked at Loki again, with no intention of dragging things out. "Lady Loki, if you're here to talk to me about changing Familias —"

"I think you'd be better off spending your time recruiting new members instead of wasting it here."

"Because when I first arrived in Orario, it was Lady Hestia who gave me so much special care."

He wasn't hiding anything. Mainly because lying to a god was basically impossible anyway, and besides, Rozz felt his own moral bottom line wouldn't let him sink that low.

Enjoying Hestia's special care while secretly flirting with other gods behind her back? That just wasn't right.

His tone was sincere. "Without Lady Hestia, I probably wouldn't even be alive right now. I'm grateful you think so highly of me."

"But once I've made up my mind about certain things, I really don't want to change it."

"…"

If you asked whether she'd been hoping for a different answer, sure, she had been.

Mostly, Loki hadn't expected Rozz's instincts to be this sharp, or for his words to carry such genuine sincerity.

Bad news… she felt more and more that a Shorty like Hestia didn't deserve a flawless follower like Rozz!

His talent alone was on another level entirely. Give it a little more time, and this kid would probably push the world's fastest advancement record to a point no one could ever break again.

'A hero's Potential.'

Most importantly, through this brief exchange, Loki could clearly feel the bone-deep honesty in Rozz. Repaying kindness with kindness. Who could possibly dislike a kid like that?!

The red-haired goddess waved a hand carelessly, though her smile turned a little bitter. "Well, that's actually not why I came to find you."

"It's just that Ais mentioned you yesterday."

"Oh?"

Rozz's expression turned a bit awkward.

It was like getting doused with cold water — to be precise, over the past couple days, especially after learning about his own talent, he'd apparently gotten a little carried away with himself.

His mouth twitched, and he decisively changed the subject. "I really owe Miss Ais my thanks for yesterday evening. If she hadn't helped me,"

"I doubt I would have made it back to Orario at all."

"Adventurers helping each other out — that's just normal, isn't it~"

Loki waved her hand casually, all while eyeing the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan — whose activation condition required forming a bond with Rozz.

Recruiting him into her Familia was clearly a lost cause.

Still, she could work with the connection to Ais — after all, she could tell the girl was pretty interested in Rozz.

"Mm."

"What I actually came to ask is — if you have time, could you drop by my Familia, or meet somewhere private?"

"She's really interested in your fighting style!"

The red-haired goddess narrowed her eyes, a hint of cunning creeping into her smile. She couldn't help but admire her own clever excuse.

Exactly. As long as Rozz formed a 'friend' bond with her Ais, that basically counted as forming a similar bond with her too.

Loki didn't worry Rozz might poach anything of hers, since Ais's only goal, start to finish, had always been getting stronger. That silly girl had zero interest in romance — there was no way this would backfire on her.

When the time came, she'd be able to smoothly carry out the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan on Rozz.

Especially given how rare a character like his was, even in Orario — Rozz was bound to remember the favor she'd done him!

With that thought, Loki's eyes practically lit up. She chose to play it coy. "If it's not convenient, I can just pass the message along to Ais for you."

"Me?"

Truth was, his schedule had been a little packed lately — when he'd run into Miss Ryuu in the Dungeon, he'd already promised to visit her whenever he had time.

Faced with Loki's offer to pass along the message, Rozz thought back to how the golden-haired girl had kindly helped him in the Dungeon, plus the fact she was a Level 5 Adventurer. He couldn't think of any reason to turn her down.

He gave a light laugh and nodded, answering earnestly. "Thank you, Lady Loki. Once I have some free time, I'll go find Miss Ais."

"No problem~"

"I'll head back right now and pass the message on to Ais!"

Having gotten the answer she wanted, Loki had never planned on lingering here anyway — especially not now, with a translucent screen shimmering into view before her eyes.

[Welcome to the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan]

Heh heh~

A smile curled at the corner of the red-haired goddess's mouth. She was curious to see just how extraordinary this Rozz kid's talent really was.

Once she reached the street outside the restaurant, Loki murmured softly, her voice brimming with anticipation. "Hestia, I'm about to start irresponsibly toying with your precious little follower…"

"Heh heh heh!"

—

So if Rozz had come to the restaurant, why did Syr still look so gloomy? Surely they hadn't had some kind of falling out?

The elf girl couldn't figure it out.

Ryuu watched her friend venting her frustration on a white radish some distance away, feeling a Mood she couldn't quite put into words.

If she had to say... when Rozz had first arrived at the restaurant, Syr had actually been happy. The turning point came the moment that goddess Loki went over to him uninvited.

"So"

"Could Syr be jealous?"

As if to confirm the elf girl's guess, noticing Mama Mia the proprietress step into the kitchen, the gray-haired girl looked up — though the smile on her face was chillingly cold.

Honestly… after finally getting a chance — with Ryuu's help — to interact with Rozz and build up her Affection with him, that Loki woman just had to show up out of nowhere and butt in?!

Goddamn it.

Absolutely unforgivable. Otherwise, when would she ever get the chance to build up the Affection — and the future relationship — she and Rozz still lacked?

Syr's gaze drifted toward outside the restaurant. Especially at the corner, where the flat-chested red-haired goddess was dragging Rozz into conversation, and the boy's face, clearly none too willing.

The gray-haired girl turned to the proprietress and said softly, "Mama Mia, I think... our restaurant could use a few more rules?"

"Mm…"

Mia Grand, who'd come to the kitchen to hurry along an order, noticed the chill in Syr's smile and got a bad feeling about this. "Uh, well, right now we don't really have any rules," she explained.

"Perfect~"

Hearing that, the gray-haired girl clapped lightly, her smile turning unusually radiant. "Then... Mama Mia, mind if I make a small suggestion?"

"Go ahead."

"'Loki and dogs not allowed in the restaurant' — what do you think of that rule?"

As she said this, Syr's eyes were locked on the corner, on the goddess forcibly cornering Rozz into conversation. "If we let her throw drunken tantrums in here every single day,"

"I imagine... other Adventurers would find it quite troubling!"

"!!"

Case fully solved.

All that could be said was... Miss Syr guarding her territory was genuinely terrifying. As for those supposedly troubled "other Adventurers" — who else could that possibly mean besides Rozz?

The elf girl couldn't help hunching her neck, and in the brief moment she'd gotten distracted watching the drama, the potato she'd just peeled had already been crushed into mush.

Having heard the goddess's specific request, Mia's mouth twitched. She had a feeling this all somehow tied back to Rozz, but running a restaurant, she could hardly refuse a paying customer.

So, in the end, the proprietress Mia turned her attention to Lion instead, changing the subject. "Ryuu, I don't remember anyone ordering mashed potatoes."

"Careful now…"

Ryuu: I was just watching the show, how did this become my problem?!

"…"

Looking at the kitchen as it settled back into silence, Syr slowly let the smile fade from her face. Mostly, she couldn't figure out what Loki's actual goal in approaching Rozz might be.

But considering that woman's relationship with Hestia, everything seemed to add up to a plausible answer anyway.

Either way — all the girl needed was to know that Rozz was hers. With nothing else left to deal with, she opened up the Hero Cloud-Raising Plan.

"This is more interesting to look at anyway."

The most obvious change was Rozz's Potential across the board — aside from Mana — had all reached SSS+. That fact alone was terrifying enough.

If all of that Potential could be converted into actual stats, Syr didn't even dare imagine how absurd this guy's abilities would end up being.

"This kind of talent really is exclusive to a 'Hero.'"

Compared to before, every time Rozz finished exploring the Dungeon, his character status had always shown him fairly exhausted — that part wasn't surprising.

What actually surprised Syr was the rough action log in Rozz's character status — it hadn't changed at all, which didn't match what she'd expected.

[Having gone through an intense Dungeon exploration, Rozz's stats had improved across the board. He reflected on how smoothly today's exploration had gone.]

[His Mood had improved.]

"That can't be right?"

[A hero's growth absolutely requires all kinds of hardship.]

After Rozz had personally orchestrated and lived through the whole Soma Familia incident, witnessing with his own eyes how his soul's light had grown even purer, Syr became even more convinced of the direction she should take.

Looking across Orario as it stood now, there really wasn't a suitable whetstone to put some pressure on Rozz. But that didn't mean she'd give up on the process of cultivating him.

If there was no hardship, then she'd just have to manufacture some for Rozz. If it worked, his soul would end up shaped exactly the way she liked. Even if it failed, it would still be a chance to raise her Affection and completely win over Rozz's heart!!

But watching how smoothly Rozz's exploration had gone today, the gray-haired girl's brow furrowed as she muttered to herself.

"Ottar had already trained up that Minotaur in advance, hadn't he?"

"That's roughly the strength of a strong Level 2 monster — perfect as a stepping stone to boost Rozz's strength at his current stage."

"How did he not run into it?"

That left only one possibility — the fully-trained Minotaur had been taken out by some other Adventurer passing by, offhandedly.

With that thought, and combined with Loki's sudden appearance just now, interrupting her time with Rozz, Syr felt thoroughly irritated.

"Why does someone always have to go grinding monsters on the side…"

She murmured softly, though her tone carried a thick chill. "Then why not go explore the deeper floors instead of wrecking the gift I prepared for Rozz."

"Why do I suddenly feel so annoyed…!"

"…"

Meanwhile, the elf girl wiping down the tables suddenly felt an itch in her nose — as if someone were talking about her — and couldn't hold back a sneeze.

[Author's Note: Thanks to Big Shot 'Anguang de Huo' for the 160 monthly tickets and 150 Blades, thank you~ Thanks to Big Shot 'Liushang·Qingying' for the panties gift~ Thank you, meow~]

[Author's Note: Today's 8,000-word update is done. My writing speed's really been wrecked by tendinitis, meow. I'll see if I can squeeze out a bonus chapter tonight.]

[Author's Note: (I'll pay off that bounty sooner or later.)]