NOVEL WEB 4: Who Can Resist The Allure Of Money~?
The store was... quite empty. Not unexpected, but still a touch surprising. After all, anything deities involved themselves with tended to end up as either very popular or very, very dangerous. If not both, of course.
Noticing the bar—or tall counter, depending on how one wanted to describe it—the two deities stood behind, Adelyn waved as she walked over and took a seat. “Good morning.”
Getting a cheery “Good morning!” from the seated deity and a muted “Good morning...” from the aproned deity, Adelyn took careful notes about the deities’ demeanors in her mind before nodding. “Could I see the menu?”
“Is there even a menu?” The seated deity asked, turning towards the aproned one who was now turning and walking over to a shelf. “Oh yeah! I’m Astrid, by the way~ nice to meet you!”
“A-Ah... Nice to meet you too, I’m Adelyn!" She stammered after getting a squint of suspicion from the deity behind Astrid.
Taking a deep breath to ease the shivers running through her body, Adelyn calmed herself while looking over the menu. Wiping a bead of sweat off her temple, Adelyn almost didn’t register the other deity introducing herself as Valencia.
It was too early for this type of stress. Adelyn had just gotten up less than thirty minutes prior!
This was the problem with deities. They could be medium-strength (which is what Astrid seemed to be from Adelyn’s observation), strong, monstrously strong, or ‘prepped to cause armageddon’ strong.
Because she was a ‘mere mortal,’ Adelyn was not equipped with the power to sense much—even if she was near the peak of ‘mortal-hood.’
She could probably hold her own against—or even beat—a weak deity and escape from a medium deity. However, anything stronger?
Well, there was a simple problem she shared with everyone else without divinity: any deity beyond “medium” was the same. Adelyn knew if a deity could smack her around, but she had no idea if the smacking would take an hour, a minute, or a second.
And... that’s the reason Adelyn had a will prepared at all times.
“Hellooo~? Adelyn?” Astrid smiled, her hand reaching over the counter and poking Adelyn on the nose. “You’ve been staring at the menu for a while, do you have any questions? I’ll try my best to offer some help~ There isn’t too much on it after all...”
“Ah! Ah yeah! It’s totally fine!” Adelyn reassured with a series of quick nods. Feeling another bolt of freezing cold shivers march their way up and down her spine as Valencia gave her another squint from behind Astrid, Adelyn wiped her sweaty palms against her thighs. “I’ll have a small pot of green tea please.”
With Adelyn having ordered, Astrid pushed herself up and rolled up her sleeves as an excited grin appeared on her face. Yet, while not even half a step out of her seat, Astrid was pushed back down by Valencia.
“Astrid, you’re trying to do too much. No working for you today. You just woke up, just sit there and take care of yourself, alright?” Valencia murmured with a gentle smile. “Don’t worry, I’ve learned how to make tea.”
Getting an astounded, doubtful look from Astrid, Valencia pinched Astrid’s cheek with a laugh while counting off on her fingers. “Cold water without minerals, low temperature for green tea, immediately off the fire, transfer pots, remove leaves, blah blah, I got it all. Trust me~ I even got some nice tea leaves.”
Speechless, Astrid turned back to Adelyn with a faint smile, murmuring, “Maybe she does know...”
“Know how to make tea?” Adelyn asked with a doubtful look on her face. “I’ve heard the tea here is made as if it was by a master, someone who seems to have lifetimes worth of experience.”
“Cia’s tea making ability is worse than her ability to stay out of a fight,” Astrid snorted, shaking her head before pausing. “At least... last time I saw...”
Deciding to not pry for information—for the sake of her own safety—Adelyn just took a mental note of what she heard, stowing it away just in case. However, making some light conversation to learn more and also just... get closer to Astrid, Adelyn’s morning ticked by until Valencia swooped in with two pots of tea. With one for Adelyn and one for Astrid, Valencia used the two pots to pour a cup of tea for each of them.
“Thank you!” Astrid beamed, offering Valencia a sip first, “Cia~ Adelyn told me that you have a reputation of being a master tea maker!”
Almost choking on the sip she was taking, Valencia couldn’t help the grin tugging at the corners of her mouth as she shook her head, “I may have improved, but you’re still the undisputed number one, I learned from you after all.”
“Well, it didn’t seem like you were learning much from me,” Astrid teased, pursing her lips and looking away with a fake pout.
“I was!” Valencia defended with a laugh, “Don’t slander me now!”
“Of course, of course,” Astrid grinned, mocking a salute and blowing a kiss, “Yes ma’am~”
Turning back to face Adelyn as Valencia walked off to put away the tin of tea leaves, Astrid apologized, “Sorry if you feel like you’re third-wheeling...”
“No, no! You’re fine, it’s just some friendly banter, it’s always nice to see people have fun, you know?” Adelyn reassured, waving Astrid’s worries off.
Freezing as Astrid’s divinity seemed to just burst out of her for a second, Adelyn flinched as her wrist was grabbed. Astrid, setting down her tea, leaned forward. “Are you okay, Adelyn? Your finger is really bleeding right now... did you get a cut from the corner of the menu? It is quite sharp...”
“Oh, I’m fin...e?” Adelyn trailed off, seeing the long trail of blood snaking its way down her palm as her fingertip gushed with a rich crimson hue.
“It’ll heal soon enough, no worries!” Adelyn reassured, still surprised with the amount of blood gushing out, “I have some bandages here so-”
“No, no, let me,” Astrid interrupted, motioning for Adelyn to set her hand down.
Confused, Adelyn set her hand down with a wary eyebrow furrow. Surely Astrid could tell someone at her level would be healed—no scar, no marks—by the time lunch rolled around.
Watching Astrid wipe the blood away with a wet napkin, Adelyn’s eyes then widened and jaw dropped as a faint golden glow emanated from Astrid’s finger tip. As Astrid pressed her finger against the cut, Adelyn felt divinity rush through her as the wound stitched itself back together before her very own eyes.
Rejuvenated beyond healing, Adelyn felt her heart race as she reached over to comfort Astrid who was doing her best attempt at stealth coughing.
The wood felt more rich, the chair more solid, and the tea... worse.
Taking a sip, Adelyn wouldn’t deny the tea was still amazing—just, after whatever Astrid had given her, the tea seemed a lot less interesting all of a sudden...
Pressing a hand to her chest, Adelyn calmed her heart down. It was going to be a long day.
After all, it wasn’t every day that a new deity with healing powers was discovered. They had to be fought for! Now, without even trying, Adelyn had bumped into one! Astrid only had one other person protecting her too!
If Adelyn could bring them into the organization...
Promotion?
That might not even be the end of it...
She did need a new weapon, a new wardrobe, and a new apartment...
She could just report it! She was sure, with so many deities in the organization, they could lure Astrid and Valencia in as well...
Who wouldn’t want the money? Accommodations? Prestige? There was even a community of other deities to connect with! There was no way Astrid and Valencia wouldn’t want to join...
Right?
