Ren walked through almost every street here with Hestia, and along the way, quite a few goddesses noticed her.
When they reached the area with fewer goddesses, it turned out to be a food street. Hestia whispered, "Ren, I don't care what those goddesses think. You're my Familia member, and that's enough."
"My Familia shouldn't just take insults without fighting back. Of course, I'll stand up for my Familia. Later, we'll go to the Adventurers' Guild to register the upgrades and break the Sword Princess's fastest leveling record," Ren said with a smile.
"Ren, you really are the best." Hestia hugged him without caring about appearances.
"Hey, Lady Hestia, this is the main street. People are looking," Ren quickly tried to remove the koala bag from himself.
"What's there to be shy about?" Hestia said, holding onto Ren's arm.
"You're overdoing it, Lady Hestia." Ren rolled his eyes, thinking he wasn't the one at a disadvantage—he was a normal guy.
"The Loki Familia expedition has returned. You can see the Sword Princess's glory now."
Someone said this, and a large crowd of adventurers headed toward the Loki Familia's path.
"Ren, let's go see." Hestia was excited. She didn't want to miss a scene like this.
"Sure." Ren was actually interested in this triumphant return scene, though not in showing off in public.
The two of them quickly blended into the crowd. The dwarf led the front, ignoring the watchers, with a calm expression as if something bad had happened.
Ren immediately spotted the Sword Princess. His first impression was "expressionless woman." Thinking of the original story, he suddenly became curious.
"Hey, Ren, let's go." Hestia noticed exactly who he was looking at. She admitted that the Sword Princess's status among male adventurers was high, and she didn't want Ren to become infatuated.
"Not looking anymore?" Ren withdrew his gaze, and for a moment, their eyes met.
"Your eyes are almost falling on her." Hestia said, annoyed.
"I'm just curious about her." Ren spoke honestly.
"Ren, when a man is curious about a woman, it's never good." Hestia said seriously. In the divine realm, she had seen too many male gods interested in Freya.
"Yes, yes. Are we still going to shop?"
"Let's go back. We have no money to buy anything." Hestia sighed. They could only look, not buy.
"Yeah." Ren thought about his debt of a hundred million and resignedly turned back.
"Ais, what are you looking at?"
"Nothing." Ais spoke calmly. When their eyes had met earlier, she felt a strange sensation. The other seemed strong, but clearly, he was a rookie.
"That's the boy who wants to join our Familia, right? Has he already decided to join another Familia?" Tiona followed Ais's gaze and saw the two who had walked away.
They didn't dwell on the topic. After all, there were plenty of newcomers wanting to join the Loki Familia. If they worried about every single one, they'd never get stronger.
Night fell.
"Lady Hestia, do we really need to eat out? We can cook something delicious ourselves." Ren was dragged out by Hestia.
"We just leveled up, we have to celebrate. Let's go to a famous place here, and we can register with the guild at the same time." Hestia insisted cheerfully.
The hostess was lively and welcoming.
"Looks like someone's having a banquet today." Ren remarked.
"There's a banquet here every day. Let's just find a corner to eat." Hestia led Ren inside.
As expected, the Loki Familia was here, and the staff were busy running around.
"Welcome. This way, please." An elf guided them to their table.
"Uh, just bring your signature dishes. We're not picky." Ren said without hesitation.
"Alright." The cold elf nodded and went off.
"Hey, Ren, aren't the signature dishes expensive?" Hestia whispered.
"We could just grab something cheap on the street," Ren sighed.
"No way. Ren, you leveled up. You have to splurge a little." Hestia's tone was serious.
"It's fine. Debt doesn't bother me anymore," Ren said casually. He was already down nearly a hundred million.
"Guests, we don't allow tabs here," the elf said bluntly.
"Hey, hey, little guy, can't afford a meal? Come here, it's on me." Loki had clearly noticed them.
Hestia's ears twitched in anger, and she immediately protested, "Who asked you to—"
Ren cut her off. "Just charge them. They said they'll pay."
"Ren…"
"We follow the rule: never let a bargain slip away."
Hestia thought for a moment and realized it made sense—spending that annoying girl's money somehow felt oddly satisfying.
"Shorty, he wanted to join our familia before," Loki said, not bothered by the meal, but clearly enjoying teasing him.
"I know," Hestia replied casually, not minding at all. Ren had mentioned it himself, and after all, who wouldn't want to join a powerful familia in Orario?
"Boring, that table's mine," Loki said, then went to chat with her own familia.
"Hello, young man."
"What's the matter?" Ren turned around to see an unfamiliar beastman.
"You're the one selling equipment, right?"
"Uh, not working right now," Ren said seriously.
"Working? What do you mean?" The man looked confused, then added, "My companion bought several pieces of equipment from your shop."
"Oh, after-sales service, huh? Not available now," Ren explained patiently.
"No, I mean, could you teach me how to sell?" The man's tone was sincere.
"Teach you how to sell?" Ren blinked. Seeing the man still trying to press, he rejected him outright.
Since this was Hostess of Fertility, the man caused no trouble and left, but the mood of their meal was ruined.
"Hey, hey, our familia bought a lot of equipment too, young man," Tiona said, casually joining Ren's table.
"Loki Familia is huge, full of newcomers. They buy what they need, not because of me," Ren said seriously. Being invited meant he should at least be polite.
"Hahaha, but your idea of selling equipment is pretty interesting," Tiona said, patting Ren on the shoulder.
"Ren, let's go back," Hestia said quickly, standing and pulling Ren along.
"Um, can we get this to go?" Ren asked the elf waitress.
"Uh… sure," the elf, not looking much like a waitress, quickly packed their meal.
Knowing it was pointless, Tiona soon left. The reason she recognized Ren was simple—many of her familia had bought equipment from him, leaving an impression.
"Shorty, those who just left were some shady familia, are you okay?" Loki squinted.
"I'm a goddess," Hestia said, patting her chest proudly, then paused, worriedly glancing at Ren.
"Lady Hestia, I'll be fine," Ren gave her a reassuring look.
Thinking of Ren's stats, Hestia realized unless the enemy is Lv4, there was nothing to worry about. She finally relaxed completely.
**********
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