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Hephaestus was eagerly looking forward to meeting Dan. She couldn't wait to see him in person and ended up blurting out loud:
"If you'd told me earlier what kind of person he was, I wouldn't have even tried bargaining! No matter what you asked, I'd have agreed!"
Astraea's eyes lit up as she quickly stood up and grabbed Hephaestus's hand.
"Really?!"
"Thank you so much, Hephaestus!"
"Hehe, actually—there's something else that kid needs help with. And honestly, you're the only one who can do it!"
Looking at Astraea's cheerful, smiling face, Hephaestus's grin slowly froze.
For the first time, she realized—even the goddess of justice can look kinda... evil when she smiles like that.
Feeling something was off, Hephaestus forced herself to keep a straight face and coolly shook Astraea's hand off.
"You'd better not say it! I just know it's gonna be some huge, troublesome favor. I'm warning you now—I'm not agreeing to anything!"
Sometime later...
"Hey, can you hear me? Hestia?"
Hephaestus was carefully adjusting a large crystal ball on the table with a small hammer, completely ignoring the amused look from the goddess lying on the desk nearby.
Gods weren't technically allowed to use their powers in the lower world—but of course, gods were known to find loopholes, ways to "bend the rules" and still show off their amazing skills without actually using divine power.
As for the god of the forge, that meant preparing all kinds of special tools before descending to the lower world.
The crystal ball buzzed with some static, then suddenly a clear, untouched-by-the-world kind of voice rang out:
"Eh? Why did this thing suddenly make noise?! You scared me! I'll burn it with holy fire—!"
"Wait, wait, Hestia, it's me! Hephaestus!"
"Hmph! Your voice imitation is pretty good. But a weird monster won't fool my wise and mighty mind!"
"You know, this reminds me of when we were in Heaven and Apollo—"
"AAAAAAHHHH—!!"
A loud screech from the crystal ball cut off Hephaestus's story.
"Hehehe, of course the wise and all-knowing me recognized your voice from the start, Hephaestus~ my dearest friend~"
Hephaestus rubbed her temples. At first, she was happy to hear her old friend's energetic voice again after so long—but after just a few exchanges, she was already feeling mentally exhausted. Why?
"So, what's up? Need something from me? Don't be shy! Ask away! The ever-reliable me is here to help!"
"But... before that, can you tell me more about the lower world? I'd love to hear everything!"
Suddenly, Hestia's words started flowing at lightning speed—her complaints pouring out like a dam had burst:
"The heavens are soooo boring! I'm stuck in my palace all day doing nothing—I feel like I'm rotting! More and more gods are going to the lower world, and nobody wants to come back, which just makes work pile up for the rest of us! Even I, respected and adored by my juniors, have to work overtime now. It's pure exploitation! EX-PLOI-TA-TION!"
"Ughhh... back in the day, I could just sit on my throne and act all cool and distant, and the juniors would buy it! Now they're bawling their eyes out and begging me to help with stuff like some divine assistant. I'm working nonstop... I don't even know what my future as a goddess holds anymore..." (sob)
Hephaestus gave a tired smile and glanced at Astraea, who looked at her with a sympathetic expression. Then Astraea cleared her throat lightly.
"Well then, Hestia, how about trying to live in the lower world too? With the children?"
"Eh? That voice... Astraea!"
Astraea's suggestion seemed to excite Hestia, but right after, she hesitated, sounding nervous.
"I-I've thought about it before... but would any child really want to be family with me? I mean, once my powers are sealed, I'm basically just a useless idiot... would anyone actually accept that?"
Astraea narrowed her eyes and gave a soft smile.
"I do love you, Hestia, but kids are all different. I can't guarantee they'll all welcome you."
Hestia's voice in the crystal ball turned gloomy.
"Yeah, I figured as much..."
"But I can guarantee at least one of them will accept you. Actually, I'm contacting you on his request."
"R-really? There's actually someone that dumb? Wait—you're not talking about that handsome guy—uh, I didn't say anything! I totally wasn't using divine power to secretly peek at the lower world!"
Astraea stayed quiet for a moment, pretending not to hear Hestia's panicked cover-up.
"In any case, human lifespans are short. You don't want that child to live with regrets till the end, do you?"
Hestia's heart sank at those words. She wanted to say yes right away—but thinking of the current situation, she hesitated again.
"Ugh... but even if I do have high status, my turn to descend is so far away... I might have to wait forever..."
At that moment, Hephaestus casually brought something else up.
"Hey... do you remember how your arch-nemesis got down to the lower world?"
"Huh? Why are you suddenly bringing up that flat-chested goddess Loki?!"
"Focus! The point is—how did she skip the line and descend early?!"
"Eh... don't get mad, Hephaestus. Hehe, let me think... oh! I remember now! She... kind of eliminated all the gods ahead of her in the queue..."
Astraea turned to look at Hephaestus with a blank face. Her expression seemed to say: "Wow... didn't think someone as nice as you would suggest something so... shady."
Hephaestus pretended to stay calm, though she was definitely feeling a little guilty inside.
After all, suggesting something that sketchy in front of the goddess of justice? That took some guts—even she was impressed by her own boldness.
But this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If they waited for the official process, her friend might have to wait another 5 or 6 years!
In the end, Astraea didn't say anything.
Honestly, she wasn't the kind of god who was rigid or completely by-the-book. She had her own feelings, preferences, and sense of right and wrong.
And besides—she was the one who defined "justice." And this? This didn't feel unjust to her.
Compared to letting some annoying god descend and cause chaos in the mortal world, letting Hestia go instead seemed like the better option.
Flexible justice... is still justice.
"....."