However, this scene was witnessed by Anya, the cat-girl waitress, who worked at the same tavern.
"Syr!!! Ryu is stealing a snack, meow!"
Upon seeing this, the cat-girl instantly flared up like a provoked cat, racing towards the tavern at top speed. In just a few seconds, she arrived in front of Syr and yelled.
"Stealing a snack?"
Syr slightly tilted her head, looking at the panting Anya with some confusion.
"It was that man, meow! Lord Lin Feng, meow!"
"Lord Lin Feng put his hand on Ryu's head, and Ryu looked like she was enjoying it a lot, meow!"
Seeing that everyone inside the tavern seemed a little unconvinced, Anya continued to loudly exaggerate the situation.
Despite Ryu having just refused, this silly Anya even thought the matter wasn't big enough and was adding fuel to the fire.
"Anya!"
Anya, who was currently inside the tavern adding color to the tale of the interaction between Lin Feng and Ryu, suddenly heard a familiar, chilly voice coming from behind her.
When she looked up and saw her companions in the tavern looking at her with pitying eyes, she instantly knew that the person standing behind her was 100% one of the main subjects of her story: Ryu.
"Ryu! I was wrong, meow! I shouldn't have talked, meow!"
Anya instantly performed a 180-degree turn in the air, kneeling on the ground obediently to beg for Ryu's forgiveness.
Is this called chickening out? No, this is following my heart!
"Washing dishes, taking out the trash, wiping tables."
However, Ryu did not even look down at Anya, who was kneeling at her feet. Instead, she spoke three completely unrelated phrases.
"I'll do it, I'll do it, meow!"
Upon hearing Ryu's words, Anya instantly sprang up from the ground, shooting off like a gust of wind to first embrace the trash can and take out the garbage.
"Ryu, where is Lord Lin Feng? Did he not come with you?"
Syr, who was leaning against a nearby wall, was still wearing her usual cheerful smile, appearing completely unaffected by what the cat-girl had just said or what she had witnessed herself.
"No, Lord Lin Feng said he had other matters to attend to…"
Ryu felt extremely awkward in her current situation, especially when facing her benefactor and friend. She didn't dare to look Syr in the eye, afraid that any abnormality would be discovered.
"Mmm... then I'll go rest first, okay!"
Syr turned around and disappeared to who knows where she was hiding to slack off. This was simply too brazen!
Seeing Syr act this way, Ryu stared blankly at Syr's retreating figure. Could it be that Syr wasn't upset with her? She finally let out a sigh of relief.
But an unbelievable thought about Lin Feng persisted in her mind.
"Sure enough... Ryu has Lin Feng's scent on her... Sigh!"
Syr, having left the others, hid in a corner facing the wall, seemingly still savoring the captivating aura emanating from Ryu.
...
"Junior-kun!!!"
"Are you... are you alright!"
Lin Feng's original purpose was to check if Hestia was working properly. If her old habits flared up again, she might be hiding somewhere, starving.
Just as he rounded a corner, he heard Hestia's voice, a mixture of cheerfulness and concern, as she ran over and asked caringly.
"I'm fine. Hestia, you must work hard. Adventurers won't choose poor Goddesses."
"Hmph! I, Hestia, am not a lazy, gluttonous Goddess! I want to earn lots of money! I want to attract adventurers to join my Familia!"
Listening to Hestia's grand yet distant dream, the corner of Lin Feng's mouth unconsciously curved into a smile.
This Goddess, who was originally super lazy and a shut-in, has changed quite a bit in the past few days. The only problem is that she still doesn't have a Familia.
Based on the original plot, Bell won't arrive in Orario for about another two months.
"Yes, yes, yes, our Hestia is the most amazing!"
Lin Feng reached out and rubbed Hestia's cute little head several times.
"Junior-kun! I'm your senior, you know…"
Hestia puffed up her cheeks, looking at Lin Feng with annoyance. She was clearly the senior! It's just... she just doesn't have a Familia! Damn it!
Hestia was filled with frustration when she thought about it now. If only... if only she hadn't been as lazy as she was in Heaven when she first descended.
She probably wouldn't be living in that run-down church now, having to carefully manage her daily expenses with barely any savings.
If things continued this way, even if a new batch of adventurers or the strongest Familias in Orario came and went, she might still fail to recruit any Familia members and establish the Hestia Familia.
"Right! Could Hephaestus or Lin Feng-kun help me out! Maybe introduce some adventurers!"
Hestia quickly came up with an idea. Hephaestus has been in the Lower World for many years, and her Familia is considered a major one in Orario. Most of the weapons and equipment are forged by her Familia.
Therefore, the Hephaestus Familia should have a considerable influence in Orario.
As for the Junior-kun in front of her, although he has only been in Orario for a little over a week, the strength of his Familia is rumored to be quite high. At least among the lower-class adventurers, the deeds of the girls in the Lin Feng Familia have been spread far and wide.
It's said that each of them is incredibly powerful, capable of defeating LV3 enemies, which is a higher level than their own.
Based on common sense, this kind of thing is basically impossible. Anyone who is able to level up from LV1 is no simple person.
After all, one of the crucial conditions for leveling up is a Great Deed/Feat!
It means defeating a powerful enemy. Although this area is vague, that's generally the idea.
To level up, one must adventure—this is also what Ryu said.
"Junior-kun... could you help me introduce... some adventurers who haven't joined a Familia yet…"
Hestia pulled Lin Feng into a corner of the fried croquette stall, asking in a low, slightly embarrassed voice.