Chapter 273

Chapter 273: Chapter 273

"Good morning, Jeanne."

Hestia yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes as she sat down at the dining table.

She picked up a piece of bread and began nibbling at it without much enthusiasm.

"G-Good morning, Hestia."

Jeanne kept her head lowered toward the fried eggs and ham on her plate, the tips of her ears still carrying a faint trace of red.

"Where’s Kiriya?"

"Oh, he’s still washing up."

Hestia mumbled around another bite of bread.

For a while, the atmosphere around the breakfast table became strangely awkward.

Hestia did not notice in the slightest. Half of her mind was clearly still trapped somewhere in her dreams.

"Hestia... this morning, why did you... go over there?"

After struggling with the question for quite some time, Jeanne finally forced herself to ask.

The moment the words left her mouth, she stared intently at Hestia.

"Huh? Go where?"

Hestia blinked blankly before finally realizing what Jeanne meant.

"Oh, you mean Kiriya’s room. Because I’m not used to sleeping alone."

"Not... used to it?"

Jeanne froze.

"Yeah."

Hestia took a sip of warm milk, gradually becoming more awake.

"Before you came here, I always slept together with Kiriya."

"??????"

Jeanne said nothing.

A long string of invisible question marks practically appeared over her head, while her eyes seemed ready to turn into spirals.

"B-But he’s a man, and you... you two couldn’t possibly have..."

"Yep. We’ve already done everything there is to do."

A smug smile appeared on Hestia’s face as her little feet swung beneath the chair.

"What? Kiriya didn’t tell you?"

"No. He only told me that you’re the most important person in his life."

Jeanne’s voice became very quiet.

"That’s right. The most important person in his life."

Hestia nodded proudly.

"And also the one who got his first time."

Jeanne stared blankly at the goddess, who continued eating breakfast as though she had not just said something outrageous.

Her mind was beginning to fail her.

This was the legendary virgin goddess Hestia.

Was it really all right for her to casually say things like that?

"Hehehe, judging by your face, you still haven’t adjusted."

Hestia found Jeanne’s reaction extremely amusing.

"This is Orario, a city where gods and mortals live side by side. Gods falling in love with humans is completely normal here."

"I know that..."

Jeanne lowered her head again, her voice becoming nearly inaudible.

"But actually seeing it for the first time still feels a little unbelievable."

"My, my. Jeanne really is such a pure, good girl."

Seeing how thoroughly shocked Jeanne was, Hestia’s mischievous side immediately surfaced.

"You’d better be careful, you know. Kiriya is a full-blooded carnivore when it comes to women."

"Uu..."

Whatever image Jeanne’s imagination produced immediately made her blush again.

"What are you talking about?"

Kiriya walked over at that exact moment.

"Nothing!"

Jeanne jolted and immediately focused on her breakfast with exaggerated seriousness, becoming exceptionally quiet.

Hestia merely snickered and said nothing, leaving Kiriya staring suspiciously between the two of them.

Breakfast ended beneath that inexplicably strange atmosphere.

Afterward, Kiriya and Jeanne accompanied Hestia to the Hostess of Fertility.

At the entrance, they found Syr and Ryuu already waiting for them.

"Good morning, Kiriya, Jeanne, Hestia."

Syr handed Kiriya a large stack of packed lunchboxes.

"Here’s today’s lunch. Do your best out there."

"Whoa, this much?"

Hestia stared at the amount in surprise.

It was easily four or five times larger than the lunches Syr had prepared before.

"Well, there are three of you now."

Syr stuck out her tongue playfully, then glanced to the side.

"I’ll leave Ryuu in your care."

"Don’t say it like I’m helpless."

Ryuu, already dressed in her adventuring gear, tugged lightly at her hood and answered with mild dissatisfaction.

Then she noticed Kiriya looking at her with that faintly amused expression and immediately turned her face away.

"Preparing all this must have taken a lot of work."

Jeanne looked at Syr with genuine concern.

At the same time, she could not help thinking that the young man beside her really did cause trouble wherever he went.

So many girls had already become deeply attached to him, and even she herself...

"It’s fine."

Syr smiled.

"This is about the only way I can help."

She gave the three of them a slight bow.

"Then I wish you all good fortune in battle."

"Be careful out there."

Hestia offered one last reminder.

She and Syr watched the three disappear into the distance before finally entering the tavern.

...

Before entering the Dungeon, Kiriya first sent a Shadow Clone to his adviser, Eina, to collect the latest information.

After that, he took Jeanne and Ryuu shopping throughout Babel, purchasing a large quantity of supplies.

In addition to the necessary weapons and protective gear, they bought large amounts of Salamander Wool, Mind potions, and various pieces of camping equipment.

Kiriya spent money so freely that even Ryuu stared at him in disbelief.

"Do you actually have enough money for all of this?"

She looked at him suspiciously, worried that he was recklessly burning through his entire household fortune.

"What? Worried I’m wasting money?"

Kiriya grinned and pulled out a small card.

"Did you forget? I slaughtered a very fat sheep not too long ago."

Understanding immediately dawned on Ryuu.

Right.

He had defeated the Freya Familia.

The terms of their wager had stated that the victor would possess indisputable authority over the defeated side.

Kiriya had little interest in using their manpower.

If anything, bringing them along would only mean more people competing with him for excelia.

Their financial resources, however...

He had absolutely no psychological burden about taking advantage of those.

So afterward, he had extracted a very generous sum from the Freya Familia.

Freya herself had already issued instructions regarding the matter:

Fulfill every request Kiriya made.

She practically wanted to give herself to him, so mere money was hardly worth mentioning.

In short, Kiriya was currently extremely wealthy.

"You prepared this much because you’re planning an expedition?"

Ryuu had already guessed what he intended.

"Yeah."

Kiriya nodded.

"This time, my goal is to conquer the Red Lotus Mountain Range and reach the fiftieth floor."

The Red Lotus Mountain Range was the collective name for the region spanning Floors 44 through 48 of the Dungeon.

Its defining characteristics were the omnipresent heat, raging flames, and an absurd number of fire-attribute monsters.

The Guild rated the area as requiring roughly Level 5 exploration capability.

Ordinarily, a party would want at least two Level 5 adventurers before attempting to explore it with any reasonable degree of safety.

For their group, that condition posed no problem.

"The two of us should be fine, but..."

Ryuu glanced toward Jeanne.

Her meaning was obvious.

Jeanne was supposedly a newcomer.

Was Kiriya really not worried about something happening to her in an area that dangerous?

"Don’t worry. Jeanne isn’t weak."

Kiriya smiled.

"If anything, you should worry about yourself, Miss Gale Wind. Don’t let her show you up."

"Hmph."

Ryuu gave an aloof snort and said nothing more.

The confident air around her was answer enough.

"All right, let’s get moving."

Jeanne smiled and patted Kiriya’s shoulder.

Then she looked down at the enormous pile of supplies sitting on the ground and hesitated.

"What should we do with all of this?"

Ryuu noticed the same problem.

"Should we hire a supporter?"

"How are we supposed to find a reliable supporter on such short notice?"

Kiriya formed a seal and created a Wood Clone.

Then he patted the clone solemnly on the shoulder.

"Brother, I’m counting on you."

The Wood Clone stared at him.

"..."

’I may not technically be a real person, but you really are a bastard.’

Exploiting one poor clone this shamelessly—

Did this man possess no conscience whatsoever?

"Nope. Doesn’t hurt at all. In fact, I feel pretty great."

Kiriya cheerfully helped load the enormous pack onto the clone’s back.

"Now use Transformation Jutsu or something to disguise yourself. If word gets around that the mighty Sylvan was personally carrying a giant backpack through Orario, it’d ruin my image."

"You motherf—@#¥&@#..."

The clone immediately unleashed a stream of profanity.

Ryuu and Jeanne stared at the two of them with matching expressions of speechless disbelief.

Just as the Wood Clone finally accepted its fate and prepared to shoulder the massive load, it suddenly remembered something.

"Wait."

The clone turned toward Kiriya.

"Don’t you have a summoning scroll?"

Kiriya fell silent.

"..."