Love is a dangerous thing, especially when it comes from a glasses-wearing Onii-chan-like Eina.
For hours, he had to hear her re-schooling him on dungeon diving after his first-day fiasco of clearing out the first five floors alone and bringing enough loot that it wouldn't surprise anyone if they found him bloodied and bruised the next day in some back alley with even his clothes taken.
Hell, he was pretty enough that the assailants might not stop at just taking his money and clothes.
Orion, for once, honestly felt a shiver go down his spine. Hearing Eina casually bringing that subject up like she was talking about choosing between jam or butter for her breakfast.
"You're joking, right, Miss Eina? I mean, I do get it if I were a pretty girl like you, but I'm just an average guy," he asked, gulping and trying not to show his shaken state.
Eina's mouth curled up at his sight, then she blushed slightly at his casual statement of calling her beautiful before finally sending a glare at him, telling him to focus.
"You're too innocent, Orion. While it's indeed rare for cases of sexual assault on a man, however, it has happened," she frowned as she spoke. As she herself realized that her earlier comment to just scare him might actually not be that far off from the truth.
Especially after she got another good look at him.
Silver locks with the same colour misty eyes like they were made of shiny glass. His face had a bit of that youthful touch while still missing baby fat. He was rather tall for his age, and well built.
He was a handsome man, but by his reactions and way of talking alone, she could tell that he was quite naïve. That innocent expression on his face once again raised her protective instincts when the boy looked so startled by her random comment.
She looked side to side, as if checking whether someone was eavesdropping on them, before leaning in closer to him slightly and saying,
"Most of those cases come from Amazon women. They are a female-only race and, hmm, have peculiar tastes. More than anything, they are quite open in their way of showing their appreciation and pursuit of partners. I'm telling you this so you know before you casually approach one.
Stay on your guard, okay." She said while worriedly ruffling his hair, making him baffled.
'Wait, that really happens here...'
At least it was a woman doing it, for god's sake, but still, really...!
'Where can I find one...'
'You know, to avoid that area...I swear,' He wished to ask, but decided against his better judgment.
That was when his stomach, which was ready to go on strike, growled out, finally making Eina stop her re-schooling session for the day.
Orion just embarrassedly looked away. It was all this woman's fault. He suspected she liked seeing him embarrassed, begging for food or something. Who lectures someone for so long anyway?
Eina knew it too, but she couldn't help it. She really didn't wish for the boy to get hurt. She couldn't stop him from adventuring, and neither did she have the power to go with him into the dungeon.
Advising him was the only thing she could do.
"Ahem... This should be enough for today. You should go and eat something. And make sure you don't go deeper inside the dungeon next time," she huffed, then sighed.
"Ah, thank you, Miss Eina. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for everything. Bye..." Orion all but bolted from there. His stomach was killing him.
Armed with newly earned valis, he now possessed the power to buy food directly from street merchants.
For his first haul, he had earned quite a bit—enough to keep him going for a month if his frugal tendencies were any indication.
However, he had to find a place to stay, and thus the portion he earned wasn't enough to last him that long.
Though the first order of business was food.
By the time Orion left the Guild Hall, the sun had already set upon the distant horizon, yet the city of Orario wasn't planning to slow down. If anything, he found the streets more lively at this time of day.
Adventurers, after an entire day of toil, were migrating towards their nearest pub for food and wine with their recently exchanged valis.
Street merchants seemed to know this well enough, and thus this time of day was when they too were most active.
The bustling streets and shiny objects the merchants were hawking were captivating. If not for dying of hunger, Orion wouldn't have minded observing it for a few more minutes.
On his second day in Orario, he still had no idea where the pubs and inns were in the city. He could have gotten lost quickly if not for sticking strictly close to the market area.
By now, he only knew three places: the dungeon, the Guild building, and the Hostess of Fertility. The first had to wait till tomorrow, the second he just left, and arguably, for good reason, he should head towards the third. However, that place was a no-go.
"After how that girl Syr reacted seeing me, I'd rather stay off that entire area of the city, thank you very much..."
So this left him with only two options—either find another pub, which would take too much time, not to mention valis... or just get something off the streets to fill his raging belly before he went back to house hunting.
It was a no-brainer, honestly.
He moved around, shopping different roadside dishes until he found something he liked. His body needed energy—fast.
So he was looking for something along that line, until he finally saw a small hawker selling something fried and oily on a small cart.
Fried and oily weren't his first options for food. However, those two words resonated with the tag of being cheap and tasty.
"Health be damned, what's the worst that could happen, I'll die... Yeah right," he chuckled to himself rather darkly, like he had found a loophole in the matrix.
Marika beside him tilted her head sideways, having no idea what nonsense was brewing in her Tarnished's mind this time. But that grin of his conveyed that giving the Gift of Grace to him was rather a mistake on her part.
"Excuse me, how much for, hmm... what's it exactly!" Orion asked, a bit sheepish.
"Jagamarukun... it's called Jagamarukun. Made by yours truly with the freshest potatoes in all of Orario," came a cheerful response from opposite him.
Only now did he notice that the one selling snack was a beautiful girl.
He felt he had messed up the dish's name rather badly. However, his incoming question about where he had heard Jormungandr-kun before was halted when he saw the girl.
Wearing a white dress with an open back and a very short skirt to boot, her legs and chest were rather out there for admiration. Hair tied up in twin tails behind her gave her a rather youthful and cute appearance. Her height reminded him that size doesn't matter all the time—though that notion was quickly thrown out the window when he glanced at her chest.
'Moly of the bloody holy, those don't belong to a girl of her stature,' he almost gasped but caught himself. That one ribbon under her chest had to be a divine artifact; it was holding more weight than politicians' words back home.
Then he finally took in her entire appearance and realized who she was.
"Goddess Hestia..." Before he even knew it, he blurted it out, making Hestia—who too was rather taken aback by the handsome man—snap out of her daze.
"Ah, you know me?" she asked, a smile blooming on her cute face.
Cursing his mouth for opening when there was no need, Orion smiled back. "Hmm, well yes. I happened to see you earlier somewhere," Orion said, trying to make his sentence vague since gods here could tell lies.
Hestia didn't put too much thought into it. It wasn't a direct lie, so she just went with it.
"So, do you want some of my delicious Jagamarukun..."
"Yes... please give me some," Orion nodded, remembering he was hungry.
Handing her a few valis and eating the delicious fried potato with different fillings and crispy texture outside, a big smile spread across his face.
"Man, I really was starving to find just fried potato this good," he muttered while ferociously eating his fill.
Hestia looked at the boy with intrigue at how blissfully he was devouring the Jagamarukun. It was just fried potato—not that famous—but it at least paid for her daily expenses, so she couldn't really complain.
However, seeing the child in front of her enjoy it that much, as if his smile was infectious, she too smiled and sneakily took one of the fried potatoes to enjoy alongside him.
"What is your name? Are you new in Orario?" she asked, while simultaneously regretting copying him. The potatoes were steaming hot. The boy ate them like his mouth was fire-insulated.
"Orion... I'm Orion Star Storm. Just got to Orario yesterday."
"Oh, are you here to be an adventurer?" Hestia's eyes lit up.
"Yeah..." Orion replied happily, still too invested in his food.
"Ah, then have you joined a Familia? Wanna join my Familia." she asked with all the energy of a child on a sugar rush—eyes twinkling, twin tails ruffling in the wind, and chest out as if to prove anyone wrong who dared mistake her for a child.
Oh, they were also out to tell him it wasn't a losing deal. You would gain much by joining her Familia.
Crafty little goddess she was.
"Ah, sorry, Lady Hestia. Hmm, I'm already in a Familia," he said apologetically, pouring cold water on Hestia's enthusiasm.
Her puffed-out chest shrank back, deflated as if all the excess air burned away. Her face crumpled with a sigh of defeat.
Orion could almost hear her saying something along the lines of, 'Why are all the handsome ones taken...'
He was once again reminded that he was handsome. 'I might want to check out my own face once I get a mirror somewhere.' He added it to his priority list. If he was handsome, then that too was an advantage he should use, right...
While talking a bit more with Hestia, his eyes roamed towards a corner that had been rather silent for quite a while.
By now, Marika would have made a few sarcastic comments directed his way, so what was wrong?
He saw the beautiful ruler of the Lands Between still hovering beside him, visible only to him. However, her attention was grasped towards the Babel Tower.
Her intense gaze made him purse his lips.
Don't tell me she wants a place in that tower or something. His entire generation wouldn't be enough to pay that rent.
Orion sweat under his clothes. Whether it was the heat from the Jagamarukun finally catching up or his future life of slavery paying his goddess's bills, only he knew.
He understood—many gods lived there—but he wasn't a god, and he sure wasn't rich enough to get a place there.
"What are you planning to do now, Orion-kun?" Hestia asked, their rapport building faster than Bell Cranel charming girls—or leveling up...
Damn that OP cheat character...
"Well, I have to find a place to stay for now. I don't wanna sleep roadside anymore," he laughed nervously.
"OH... is that so." Hestia nodded, then her eyes narrowed like a cat spotting a mouse.
xXx
A/N : What was the food name again ? Hahaha...
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