Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?

"Ha... a goddess's feelings really are eternal. I'd completely forgotten about that."

As a goddess—and one known in Tenkai as a virgin goddess—Hestia understood this better than anyone.

Goddesses are not easily swayed. But once they change... it's permanent.

Of course, that rule applies to most goddesses. Someone like Ishtar is a complete outlier—an exception among exceptions.

There really aren't that many goddesses in Tenkai who act like public transport.

So with Hephaestus, who had her right cheek healed, it was clear she had fallen in love. Combined with what she'd said earlier, she'd already begun pursuing him, consequences be damned.

"Ah! Why does it have to be Hephaestus who's fighting me for him?!"

Frustrated, Hestia flopped down onto her bed.

If it had been another goddess, she wouldn't be so troubled. She believed Bell could easily see through the intentions of goddesses who approached with ulterior motives.

But Hephaestus was different.

The other goddesses eyeing Bell definitely had something shady in mind. But the problem was... Hephaestus had genuinely fallen for Bell, and he clearly felt something in return.

This was giving Hestia a serious headache.

'If it was just a few decades... She wouldn't even bother competing... Ugh, I shouldn't have told Hephaestus about this.'

Now, Hestia deeply regretted bringing it up to Hephaestus.

If she'd waited until Bell reached Lv. 10, maybe things would've been fine—by then, no one could've come between them. But now? It was clear they hadn't reached that point yet... and someone had already gotten their foot in the door.

"Bell-kun..."

Just imagining it brought tears to Hestia's eyes as she looked at her child.

Bell had no idea how to respond to the scene in front of him.

"Goddess-sama, this might be getting a lot more complicated than we thought."

"So you do realize that, huh? Hmph."

Hestia snorted angrily and turned away from Bell.

She was clearly upset, but as Bell looked at her back, he couldn't think of a single thing to say to comfort her.

"Ugh!"

Before Bell could come up with anything, Hestia let out a soft whimper and turned slightly, casting a faintly resentful look at him as he stood there frozen.

"Bell, why aren't you trying to comfort me?"

"Goddess-sama... I don't know what I'm supposed to say right now."

Bell knew he'd done something wrong, something that looked like two-timing—but the truth was, he had no experience with this sort of thing.

Worse yet, he didn't even know how things had gotten to this point.

Seeing the anxious and frustrated look in Bell's eyes, even though he hadn't moved, Hestia's puffed cheeks slowly relaxed.

"Then at least tell me—what did Hephaestus say to you? What did she do?"

Hestia knew there was no point in dwelling on what had already happened.

Just like Bell had conveyed Hephaestus' feelings earlier—when a goddess falls in love, it's forever.

Once a goddess decides to act, nothing can stop her.

And that's exactly what scared Hestia most—what if Freya set her sights on Bell?

If that woman decided to go after him, with her power and influence, she'd stop at nothing to take Bell away from her.

'Good thing Bell doesn't like to stand out. If Freya kept eyeing him all the time, she might seriously start having those thoughts.'

'Though he's already caught Hephaestus's attention.'

Just thinking about it made Hestia fume.

Her best friend had gone and stolen her crush—what could be more infuriating?

'Calm down, calm down.'

'Hephaestus isn't wrong. Bell-kun and I won't just be together for a few decades.'

Even though Bell hadn't fully matured yet, judging by his Status, he was clearly the kind of child who could grow quickly in the Dungeon.

Lv. 10 might still be a long way off, but with the Loki Familia as a stepping stone, reaching Lv. 6 shouldn't be a problem in the short term.

As for leveling beyond that—it would depend on his continued growth.

But Hestia was confident that once he got there, Bell would have plenty of ways to push himself even further.

'Can I even bring this up?'

Even if Bell didn't fully understand relationships, he knew well enough that he couldn't talk about what happened today. If he did, Goddess-sama might explode on the spot. After thinking it over, Bell came up with an excuse.

"Today, Hephaestus-sama spoke to me... about our relationship."

Hestia's lips twitched. She tried hard to keep her cool, but hearing that made her feel like she'd just been betrayed.

"She also brought up something about the goddess's blessing."

"The goddess's blessing!?"

Hestia instantly felt like a whole meadow had grown over her head.

She hadn't even taken the first bite of the child she'd raised herself, and Hephaestus had already swooped in for it.

"Hephaestus! Even I haven't done that yet!"

She was overwhelmed with regret. As Bell's Familia God, she hadn't even gotten the first taste—her mood hit rock bottom.

The goddess's blessing—bestowed by a deity upon a child of Genkai—was one of the most direct forms of expressing love.

And she hadn't even given Bell her blessing yet, but Hephaestus had already beaten her to it.

Hestia suddenly sat up, then pounced on Bell.

"Bell-kun, I'm going to give you a goddess's blessing too!"

Bell's thoughts blanked out for a moment from the sudden move, and in that brief second, Hestia made her move.

Her soft lips pressed deeply into Bell's awareness.

That moment lingered far longer than expected, until Hestia slowly opened her eyes.

"Bell, look—this is my blessing."

"And from now on, make sure you don't just let any goddess bless you."

Hephaestus was the only one Hestia could tolerate.

At least she knew Hephaestus—and she could handle her, to some extent.

Way easier than dealing with Freya.

Still, Hestia had to stress this now. No other vixen was getting their chance.

If another one popped up, she really might not be able to take it.

Right now, it was the goddesses aiming for Bell that worried her—not the children of Genkai.