Chapter 24: Why Does This Plain Water Have No Taste?
Crimson-red hair and crimson-red eyes, styled in the simple look she always tied back with a ribbon, were arranged into an evening updo today to match the party occasion. A narrow-cut evening gown fit her slender figure exceptionally well.
Even though she made her entrance later than Freya, she naturally possessed features just as refined as Hestia and the others.
"Oh, if it isn't Loki." Freya looked at her with a smile.
Meanwhile, Hestia glared unhappily at the tardy red-haired goddess.
"What are you here for?!"
"What, does this banquet restrict who can attend? Why wouldn't I be able to come?"
As soon as she walked over, Loki started outputting heavy sarcasm toward Hestia at maximum capacity.
"Next week, to celebrate my [Familia] returning from the expedition, we're holding a banquet too. Almost every god in Orario is going to receive an invitation—guess who didn't get one?"
Loki began dancing around, striking all sorts of strange poses, before finally raising her index finger and pointing it straight at Hestia.
"You~~~!"
"——!!!"
Right in front of everyone, she maxed out the provocation.
Hestia's face flushed bright red, so angry that she actually laughed out loud.
"Heh... A totally flat-chested nobody wearing an evening gown like that, are you planning to let everyone know just how barren you really are?!"
As she said that, Hestia puffed out her chest quite proudly.
Loki instantly took a metric ton of critical damage.
"Ahahaha!!! I'm not letting you get away with this!!"
Hephaestus, standing off to the side with her arms crossed, intended to coldly watch the two goddesses quarrel.
"They're at it again..."
As for Freya, who was sipping fruit wine, she still let out a soft, elegant laugh.
Then, her gaze flickered, and her alluring, charismatic look made a crowd of male gods' hearts flutter, all of them assuming the Goddess of Beauty was casting a wink their way.
In reality, however, Freya's gaze ultimately lingered on a red-haired, gold-eyed god who was tasting the dishes at the banquet.
With her eyes flashing slightly with light, Freya took steps forward and walked toward that red-haired deity.
Meanwhile, the battle between Hestia and Loki in the background became a noisy backdrop.
"Prepare to die, you ironing board!"
"You moron! Growing that big just to show off to who, when you're clearly someone who hasn't had a man in hundreds of millions of years!"
"None of your business! Ironing board!"
"Die! Watch my newly practiced throwing technique!"
Pushed to the verge of tears by those words, Loki finally lunged forward and grabbed Hestia.
She grabbed Hestia's cheeks with both hands and pulled them outward to the sides.
Clutching Hestia's cheeks, she stretched and ravaged them up and down, left and right, in every possible direction.
Hestia's eyes welled up with tears and her eyebrows shot straight up in defiance. She bravely put up a fight, but her short limbs couldn't reach the long-limbed, flexible Loki, and every single one of her strikes swung at empty air.
"Oh oh, it's starting!"
"I bet on the loli god winning!"
"I bet the ironing board goddess triggers her airhead skill at the last moment, ten panaceas!"
"I bet that crushed loser Loki-chan gets fully consoled by me—all my star fragments!"
"That's not even a wager at all!"
"Gambling addicts get no good end!"
A group of gossipy deities gathered in a circle, waiting to watch a good show.
"These guys, seriously..."
Hephaestus folded her arms, already weary of these antics.
The two of them hadn't gotten along back in Tenkai, and it turned out to be the exact same way after coming down to Genkai.
Having watched the same routine for hundreds of millions of years, Hephaestus was sick of it ages ago.
Hephaestus was completely used to such a scene, but the other deities found it immensely entertaining, occasionally cheering for the two goddesses brawling in the center of the venue.
"A bunch of people who just want to watch the chaos!"
Hephaestus muttered a complaint, and then began searching for Freya's whereabouts.
Soon, she spotted the scene of Freya conversing with that god from another world.
"Found a new target so fast, as expected of Freya..."
Hephaestus naturally knew about the rumors surrounding Freya back in Tenkai. Seeing Freya proactively go over to chat with the deity from another world, Hephaestus naturally guessed the reason behind it.
Freya had long since said that she was sick of the male gods in Tenkai; now she probably wanted to change things up?
Hephaestus let out a soft sigh.
"I wonder if this god from another world actually has anything special about him..."
Ever since Loki first leaked this big news, all the deities in Orario had been fiercely discussing it.
Right now, however, this otherworldly deity seemed quite friendly, without any overly strange behavior; he really seemed as though he had just come to this world to play around.
At least on the surface, that was how it looked.
As for what he was actually like, Hephaestus found it hard to judge.
Wasting no more thought on these matters, Hephaestus walked over toward Freya.
At this very moment, Freya was chatting with Shirou.
"Is the food here to your liking? I wonder how the other world differs from our side; if possible, I really would love to know~"
Those silver eyes flickered with a faint luster, and her fair skin seemed to glow under the illumination of the lights. Freya's slender fingers brushed across the cup on the table, and her jade-like fingertips lightly trailed across the back of Shirou's hand as she continued.
"Hehe..."
Shirou remained completely indifferent to the "Goddess of Beauty's" flirting, draining the wine in his cup in one gulp.
"Scenery and cuisine alike are quite nice. As for the difference between the two sides, it's probably that the other side doesn't have a special place like the Dungeon."
Seeing that Shirou was completely unfazed by her beauty and allure, Freya didn't feel discouraged at all; instead, she grew even more curious about him.
An unprecedented male god filled with a mysterious aura made Freya's heart race frantically.
If not for the occasion, she would have undoubtedly made a much bolder move.
For now, though, it was better to leave a good impression on him.
Freya shrugged her slender shoulders.
"I hope I can still see you attend the banquet hosted by Loki not long from now."
After saying that to Shirou in a teasing tone, Freya didn't linger for long, simply turning and leaving in a crisp, decisive manner.
"Hard to get... she really plays the game well."
Shirou watched the slender, graceful figure retreat against the backdrop of her evening gown, unable to help curling his lip.
Then, he looked down at his wine glass.
"Tsk, why does this plain water have no taste?"
At that moment, Hephaestus walked over.
"Was Freya just inviting you over?"
"Yeah, pretty much."
Shirou nodded, took another sip of his drink, and then looked at the red-haired goddess standing beside him.
"You have to hand it to the Goddess of Beauty; there's simply no fault to be found in her looks."
"That's for sure. After all, it's Freya—she's just a bit loose."
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