Chapter 5
What had she just seen?
This child had only just received a Falna for the first time, yet he had awakened one Skill and two Magics?
Forest of All Things: Chantless Magic.
-Allows the user to switch the body freely between wood and flesh. Can summon trees from the natural world, the size of the summoned trees depends on the amount of energy consumed, a combination of mental energy and life energy. Their form can be freely altered according to the caster’s will.
Special Effect: Can absorb energy from living beings the user comes into contact with to strengthen the Magic’s effect. A certain portion of the absorbed energy can be returned to the caster.
Yang Power: Life Everflowing: Chantless Magic.
Generates a special energy that accelerates the healing of the user’s injuries. It can also be transferred to others to heal their wounds.
----
The so-called Life Everflowing was shocking, but still within the realm of understanding.
Healing Magic was rare, yet if one searched throughout Orario, it was not impossible to find a fair number of people who possessed it.
But this Forest of All Things...
A spell that allowed free transformation and summoning of plants, and could even strengthen itself by absorbing energy from its targets while restoring the caster in return?
Hestia had never even heard of Magic like that.
And then there was this Skill, Wish of the Strong...
It was a growth-type Skill that could accelerate his development.
Something absurdly rare, all right?
At first, Hestia even worried that she might be seeing things because she was too tired from working part-time.
But after carefully reading it over and over again from top to bottom, only to find that the contents remained exactly the same, she finally confirmed that she had not made a mistake.
"What exactly... did I pick up?"
Hestia muttered to herself.
Kiriya’s forehead practically filled with black lines when he heard her.
What was he supposed to say to that?
Wasn’t this goddess usually something of an artistic, sentimental girl? Why did her words sound so blunt right now?
"What did you see? At least tell me."
Kiriya was lying bare-backed on the bed.
After waiting for quite a while without receiving any response from Hestia, he could not help asking out of curiosity.
"See for yourself."
Hestia translated the sacred hieroglyphs of his Falna into the common language and handed the sheet to Kiriya.
She then sat off to the side, still trying to digest the information.
’This... isn’t this basically the First Hokage Senju Hashirama’s Wood Release and self-healing without hand seals?’
The instant Kiriya saw those two Magics, his heart shook, and he immediately thought of the signature abilities of that God of Shinobi.
But after thinking about it more carefully, there were still differences.
His Forest of All Things did not require hand seals.
He could freely control the shape and scale of trees, making it superior in activation speed and flexibility.
Then there was Life Everflowing.
Originally, with his current pitiful physique, something like this should have been impossible.
Yet under the double boost of divine blood and Falna, it had miraculously manifested.
Not only could it heal himself, it could even let him act as support and heal teammates.
Wood Release plus self-healing.
Wasn’t this basically a Sage Body?
Only, it was the DanMachi version!
"I really didn’t expect a Kekkei Genkai from the Naruto world to produce such a strange chemical reaction after encountering this world’s Falna."
Kiriya felt as though fortune had fallen right onto his head.
He became even more convinced that choosing the DanMachi world at the first opportunity had been an incredibly wise decision.
"As expected, I really am a genius."
Kiriya could not help feeling pleased with himself.
"Kukuku..."
Unfortunately, Kiriya’s joy did not last for long before he heard Hestia letting out a low, suppressed laugh.
She was clearly a goddess from the righteous side of things, yet that laugh somehow made the hair on Kiriya’s body stand on end.
"You... what’s wrong with you?" Kiriya asked with some uncertainty.
"Amazing! Amazing! This is amazing, Kiriya-kun!"
Hestia suddenly lunged at him, wrapping both arms tightly around his neck.
"My child is a genius! No, a divine prodigy! A peerless divine prodigy! A treasure granted to me, Hestia, by the heavens! I’m so happy, Kiriya-kun!"
"Wahahahahaha! Now let’s see who still dares to call me a poor goddess with no future!"
In her mind, she had already seen the future.
Kiriya would level up to Level 2 at the fastest speed possible, breaking the record known among the gods.
After that, he would shoot upward like a rocket, reaching Level 3, Level 4, or even Level 5, creating an immortal legend in Orario!
And she, Hestia, would become the object of envy, jealousy, and hatred among countless divine friends and rivals.
Especially that flat-chested Loki. Her jaw would definitely drop.
Hmph.
So what if Loki had descended to the Lower World a few years earlier than her?
What was there to act so proud about?
As long as she, Hestia, put in just a little effort, the child she discovered would far surpass all of Loki’s children.
What was true insight?
What was true ability?
This was it!
"Hey, hey, hey, what are you doing?"
Hestia was happy, but Kiriya was not calm at all.
To prevent the plot from being censored later, Kiriya could only urge Hestia, who was clinging to his back, to get down quickly.
"What? But I still wanted to hug you a little longer."
Hestia looked somewhat unhappy.
"Hestia, there’s something I need to make clear to you."
Kiriya placed both hands on Hestia’s shoulders and spoke with an extremely serious expression.
"W-why did you suddenly get so serious?"
Hestia said.
"If there’s something you want to say, just say it."
"Hestia, you are a kind goddess, and you saved me. Because of that, I respect you very much."
"Of course. Kiriya-kun is a polite, good child."
Hestia planted both hands on her hips, looking quite proud.
"You are beautiful. Very beautiful. Among everyone I’ve met so far, you are the most beautiful."
Kiriya was not lying about that at all. No matter how many so-called "goddesses" he had seen online in his previous life, none of them could compare to the genuine goddess standing before him.
"Hehe..."
Hestia rubbed her head, her face covered in a silly smile, filled with the joy of being recognized and praised.
"But as you can see, I’m a man. A healthy, strong man."
Kiriya changed the subject and pointed at himself.
"If you keep casually throwing yourself at me like that, I can’t guarantee I won’t do something. Who knows, I might end up offending a goddess."
"Of course, I would take responsibility."
"Eh?"
Hestia froze.
It took her quite a while to understand what Kiriya meant, and her fair, jade-like little face instantly turned as red as a tomato.
"Y-you-you... what are you saying?! Kiriya-kun, you big idiot!"
After leaving those words behind, Hestia fled like the wind.
"Well... maybe I scared her."
Kiriya shrugged.
"But it’s better to make things clear ahead of time. If this goddess keeps acting so careless, then if things really turn reckless later, she can’t blame me."
After walking past the gates of death several times, Kiriya had come to understand that so-called hesitation and tsundere behavior were the stupidest things in the world.
If you liked someone, then you liked them.
And if you liked them, you should take the initiative.
Having read the original story, Kiriya had already held quite a bit of goodwill toward Hestia.
Now that she had saved his life, that goodwill had naturally risen even higher.
As the saying went, when a life-saving favor could not be repaid, one could only offer oneself in return.
Of course, if the other party had no interest in that direction, Kiriya would not force anything. It was enough to do what he could.
This time, he wanted to live boldly for himself.
Only then would this hard-earned second life not be wasted.
...
Meanwhile, Hestia, who had fled through the door, was running wildly down the corridor and nearly crashed into Hephaestus, who was walking toward her.
Her reckless behavior left Hephaestus rather helpless.
Back in Heaven, this divine friend of hers had at least been fairly composed.
How had she become so flustered and careless after descending to the Lower World?
"Hephaestus, listen to me!"
The moment Hestia saw Hephaestus, her eyes lit up as though she had found her savior.
She grabbed Hephaestus’s hands.
"Come with me. There’s something I need to discuss with you."
Before the Goddess of the Forge could say anything, Hestia had already dragged her into a nearby lounge and pressed her down onto the sofa, then launched into a full explanation.
"He said that?"
A look of interest appeared on Hephaestus’s face.
"He’s quite the honest child."
"This is not the time to talk about that, Hephaestus! What am I supposed to do?" Hestia asked anxiously.
"What do you mean, what are you supposed to do?"
Hephaestus looked completely puzzled.
"I was confessed to!"
Hestia waved her arms around in panic.
"That depends on you, doesn’t it? If you dislike him, reject him and keep your distance afterward. Isn’t that what you often did back in Heaven?"
Hephaestus made it sound perfectly obvious.
"Dislike him... It’s not that serious."
Hestia scratched her cheek.
"It’s just... just... as his patron goddess, being confessed to by a child of my own Familia makes me feel a little overwhelmed."
Gods possessed the ability to detect lies.
On top of that, because of the Falna, it was impossible for a member of one’s Familia to lie in front of their patron god.
That was why Hestia could be certain Kiriya was sincere.
If you have feelings, I will not abandon you.
If you do not, then we can each live peacefully.
If it were one of those indecent male gods from Heaven, she would have run as far away as possible without hesitation.
But this child was a member of her Familia.
He was family.
When she had been rejected again and again while trying to recruit members, when her heart was lonely, defeated, and lost, he was the only one who had wanted to become part of her family.
The existence named Kiriya was special.
Hestia did not want to hurt him.
"Oh? Could it be that our great virgin goddess has fallen for him?"
Hephaestus teased her.
"Stop making sarcastic comments. If a child from your Familia confessed to you, what would you do?"
Hestia immediately counterattacked.
"If I liked him, I’d accept. Having a romance for a while doesn’t sound bad."
Hephaestus rested her cheek against her right hand, dignified and composed, without revealing the slightest opening.
"But... it’s too fast..."
Hestia’s little face twisted with indecision, making Hephaestus finally burst into laughter.
"What are you laughing at? I asked you here to help me come up with an idea."
Hestia huffed angrily.
"Because you’re an idiot."
Hephaestus took a while to recover. Looking at the sulking Hestia, she finally restrained her smile.
"All right, I won’t tease you anymore. That child didn’t say you had to accept him no matter what. I’m guessing it was more of a warning to you."
"A warning?"
Hestia’s small face went blank.
What had she done to be warned?
"You really descended too late and don’t understand the Lower World very well. Humans, especially teenage boys, can turn into beasts at any moment..."
Inside the office, two beautiful women, one tall and one petite, sat facing each other.
One solemnly taught the proper way to be a patron goddess, while the other listened seriously and took notes.
"Well, to summarize, if you want a romance, then date him openly and properly. If you don’t, that child doesn’t seem like he’ll force you. As for everyday life, just interact with him normally, like family."
Hephaestus gave her conclusion.
"I understand. Thank you, Hephaestus."
Hestia stood up and bowed deeply to the divine friend who had helped her so much.
"When my Familia earns money in the future, I’ll definitely treat you to a proper feast."
Hestia made the promise with a serious expression.
"Hehe. Then I’ll look forward to it."
Hephaestus smiled warmly.
"Mm! Leave it to me."
Hestia patted her chest hard, full of confidence.
"But before that, shouldn’t you take him to register at the Adventurers Guild first? Otherwise, the only child in your Familia won’t be able to explore the Dungeon."
Hephaestus reminded her.
Hestia slapped her forehead.
"That’s right! How could I forget something that important? I’ll go first, Hephaestus!"
After saying that, she ran off in a rush again.
"That girl is still as reckless as ever."
Hephaestus shook her head, then looked in the direction where Kiriya was staying.
Her gaze seemed to pass through layer after layer of walls and settle on the boy.
"Let me see just how far the possibilities within you can reach."
...
"Do you remember everything I told you earlier, Kiriya?"
Before leaving, Hestia deliberately confirmed it with Kiriya once more.
"Keep my secrets. Don’t reveal any information related to my Falna, especially the fact that I awakened a Skill and Magic immediately after receiving it."
Kiriya looked helpless.
"Lady Goddess, you’ve already emphasized it more than a dozen times. I’m not an idiot. Of course I remember."
"Hehehe. After all, if your situation gets out, the whole of Orario will probably be shaken. When that happens, there’ll be countless ill-intentioned gods trying to steal you away."
Hestia felt that her child was being a little too casual about this, so she had no choice but to stress it again.
"Kiriya, don’t ever let those gods’ titles intimidate you. A lot of them have extremely twisted tastes. For the sake of entertainment, they’re capable of doing all kinds of awful things!"
"Okay, okay. I will absolutely obey the divine oracle of my goddess."
Kiriya raised both hands in surrender, but immediately after that, he pursed his lips.
"Speaking of which, I don’t even know what my own Skill does, so what information could I possibly reveal?"
"There you go again!"
Hestia stretched out one finger and pressed it against Kiriya’s forehead.
"Kiriya, I’m not telling you for your own good. Your Skill is very special and very powerful. But once you know its details, it may influence you in uncertain ways, and the effect could very likely be extremely negative. Do you understand?"
"Fine."
Kiriya finally nodded helplessly.
Seeing that Kiriya had temporarily set aside his curiosity about his Skill, Hestia at last let out a breath of relief.
Then, in high spirits, she pulled Kiriya out the door and headed straight for the Adventurers Guild.